#before I start rambling I want op to know that their art is very cute

[rennsdeaddoves]

journey to the west book one, thoughts

so this post is going to be really messy and jumbled, i will take my thoughts one chapter at a time. since this post contains all the chapters in book one imma but everything under the cut and warn ya'll that this is HELLA long.

ok so, before we get into it i just wanna let you guy's know that if the first 13 chapters seem like they have less it's because i only really started to do this on chapter 14 and had to go back through chapters 1 - 13 and look at the notes and tabes i left to gage my reaction to them. some of them have a bit more than others and some have like none at all.

that being said enjoy the absolute crack house that is my no cotext thoughts of Journey to the West volume one!

Chapter 1

monkey is born!!

and he's already being impulsive...

calling him the handsome monkey king is gonna go straight to his head

lier! you are a certified shit disturber and you know it!

ohhhhh so thats how he got the name Sun Wukong, gotcha gotcha

Chapter 2

the dao art seems real complex

love how they casually have the way to immortality written in this book lol

teaching a suicidaly impulsive monkey how to shape shift and fly wasn't a bad idea at all!

he's showing off- of course he is-

aaaaaand he got kicked out for showing off! idiot-

oh damn- thats actually sadder than i thought it would be...

HE CALLS THEM LITTLE ONES!!! CUUUTE!!!!

HOW DARE!?!?!

Chapter 3

holy hell....

op much???

not a monkey scaring a dragon ffs

he is just a menace this entire page! LAMO

GOD DAMN-

THEY WANT HIM OUT SO FUCKING BAD XDDDD

bruh-

ooooooop foreshadowing alert

THATS BULLSHIT!! THEIR EXAGERATING THE HELL OUT OF IT!!!

oh- oh he really fucked up the life and death cycles- damn...

smart!!!!

he was thinking of paying a visit to heaven himself?? without an invite?? oh- that would not have ended well-

Chapter 4

here we go! first rampage through heaven!!

deva

NEZHA!!!!

ITS GIVING "who's this sassy lost kid?" VIBES XD

Chapter 5

does he not have a reputation yet???

Wukong is in so much fucking trouble oh god....

idiot

going to war over wine is a very Wukong thing to do-

Chapter 6

when did Nezha get here?

shapeshifter duels man... they be confusing af

oop he got caught-

Chapter 7

they seem to have forgotten what the meaning of immortal is

oop- he's being refered to as a monster instead of a king by the narrator- thats how you know he's pissed beyond all belief...

OH HES MAD MAD

HOLY FUCK

"i have to go exorcise a demon to defend the throne." pg 193

"he ligit just wrote "sun wukong was here" oh the fucking finger lmao

man... calling the banquet that is just salt in the wound.... really it is...

Chapter 8

sandy's got green skin, red hair, noted

it's pigsy -n-

he flirted with Chang'e..... this bitch

i already can't fucking stand him

Chapter 9

so he does have parents! lets see if they ever pop up again-

WHAT!?!?! WHY!?!!

Chapter 10

i didn't take in a sing thing that this chapter sad.... why is it even here-

Chapter 11

no thoughts head empty, why are we still on this? is there any plot relevance or???

Chapter 12

awwww their cute

good for him, coming from such humble beginnings

wow- ok thats kinda a really great honour to be called brother by the emperor

Chapter 13

lots of scenery! neat!

wft....

oop divine intervention o'clock

abuse???? hello??? what the actual fuck sir???

COWARD!!!

i am going to get so sick of him so quickly....

WUKONG!?!?!?!!!!! YER BACK!!!!!! YEEEEEAHHHHHHHHH

Chapter 14

wukong- bud... YOUR FUCKING FILTHY

yell that your not lying makes you less believable

HE'S NAKED?!?! OFC HE IS

brutal.... nice

ight show off, keep rambling about the shit you can do.

gay? /j but fr- i get that a naked monkey coming to your door may be a cause for concern but there was no reason to disrespect him like that-

he has a son??? when???

gross man- like i get you were trapped under a mountain- but gross

brutal... nice

EXCUSE YOU WHAT?!?! NAH, NAH HE DID NOT

A FEW WORDS?!?! FAM YOU READ HIM FOR A WHOLE PARAGRAPH SHUT YOUR MOUTH

thats not teaching tripitaka- a lecture is NOT teaching

GUAINYIN IS HERE!!! oh... Guanyin is here...

oh... fuck...

why is his name just 'Pilgrim' like i get it but i also don't... idk

oh he's gonna do it out of spite now for being called a bogus immortal by the dragon king

that entire painting is just of two gay lovers putting on shoes and getting immortality for it

well, he actually is really convincing, i can see why Wukong went back after those words...

yeah i'd be taken aback too bud

.......YOU COULD FINISH THE JOURNEY RN.... but he won't, that defeats the entire porpoise of it all

THIS BITCH!!!! I WILL ACTUALLY KILL HIM

HE ONLY STOPPED CAUSE I WAS AFRIAD THE FILLET WOULD BREAK

ON GOD I WILL THROW HANDS WITH A MONK I WILL

HE STARTED UP AGAIN?!??!!? STOP!!!!

OH OH! so you stop when you see how the pain is LITTERALLY TEARING HIS BODY APART! fuck you

HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO KILL HIM!?!?!?!? oh my god- i mean.... jesus.....

yes. its a great idea to go to the south sea and beat up the goddess who did this to you... super smart /s

all thoughts of disobedience and rebellion? no shot

Chapter 15

ah yes, lets start the chapter with Wukong hauling ass to save Tripitaka

Jesus them some powerful eyes

omg SHUT UP

YES YELL AT HIM WUKONG!!!

namby-pamby??

lawless lizard XD

harsh

they talk about him like he's not the son of a dragon king...

OH SHES PISSED AT HIM

so he's called 'third prince Jade dragon' gotcha

he's a fucking idiot

why are you being such a baby all of a sudden??

neat, he got the get out of danger free leaves now

if Rue had been in this part of the journey she would have been pretty interested in that

plot armour be like-

impressive

more divine intervention! oh my god-

so now it's early spring. jesus that means its almost been a year

Chapter 16

i don't know wether to be annoyed or what- were only a page into this chapter

"he may be ugly" BITCH WHAT

yeah... ight... i'd be annoyed with him too

somesones butt hurt that hes oooooold~

everyone is starting to get on my nerves like jesus-

wow the murder plots are real

he askin' for favours like he didn't just beat their asses 500 years ago

he's a little arsonist

LMAO UNO REVERSE BITCH

damn- he's already on shockingly good terms with him

HE SAVED YOU AND YOUR GONING TO PUNISH HIM FOR IT!?!?!

I'M GOING TO THROW HANDS WITH A MONK ISTG

and after all that your response is still murder??? really????

goddman.... he so mad he defiled a corpse- that wasn't very buddhist of you tripitaka

Chapter 17

not tripitaka using wukongs temper against others-

jesus christ man

"thunder god mouth" XDDD best way to describe it 10/10

THE THREATS

XDD the arrogance!! he called the demon "my son" before starting a lecture XDD

he gets annoyed when people call him the BanHorsePlague now, thats so fucking funny to me

he's so real for that though, i'd wanna eat in the middle of a fight too

he is actually a menace to humans goddamn

HE REDUCED THE DEMON TO A BURGER

love how their calling him 'old carcass'

there is a lot of seemingly nice senery in this chapter

how'd they know all of that just by seeing a goddamn meat patty on the side of the road???

this is gonna be a pattern isn't it-

conversations with these two go no where but damn they do be giving me L O R E

he's being so nice now lmao

wft....

ok *fine* she gets a pass but jesus

GRAPHIC

jesus wukong

HA got'em

"don't start trouble again" "i won't" LIES

Chapter 18

oooooh this is the pigsy chapter!!! i can't wait to see some ass be beat!

i- i don't think i like these people...

Wukong really just said don't judge a book by it's cover

why does he always say "your poor monk" it's grinding my gears

"tell me everything!" .... "from ancient times-"

his surmname meant hog....

i can only picture that one manga panel in jjk where Yuta is dragging Yuji along lmao

ancient toilet humour?

"where are you going darling" he says as he returns to his original form

love that wukong is described and then called "virtually a living thunder god"

"i'll follow you to the ends of the earth" (menacingly)

Chapter 19

why do they all have caves?

it is pigsy

damn- Wukong's reading him

are they really throwing celestial law at one another??

he's bragging... really?

ah yes, a summary of the first seven chapters

he really said set your house on fire and follow me

man's really stripped him of all he was worth and then dragged him by the ear... he's like a mom...

HE'S REFERED TO AS IDIOT! oh this just got so much better

lmao both of them going "wine? oh we still drink that"

Wukong admitted to being a light weight XD

pigsy, trying to say a heart felt goodbye, the other two; hurry the fuck up

"you know him and not me? what kind of fuckery is this?"

"he insulted me and the pig?!" "how?" *proceeds to tell tripitaka exactly how he and pigsy were insulted*

Chapter 20

just by the title alone i know imma start to have beef with pigsy

they still call him idiot! YES

it's pigsy getting bullied hours!!!

that- that was a very round about way of calling him a dick Wukong

annnnnd he's boasting again...

huh? flying bricks, talking pots, and dancing tiles... interesting...

this old man has balls

"fix your ugliness" DUUUUUDE

i'm about to highlight each and every time Pigsy is refered to as Idiot! shits too funny!

ahhhhh pigsy's first kill steal!

OH SHIT NVM

dude just ripped off his own skin! what a power move!

jesus-

and we get to the first time tripitaka is truely captured!

"for you culinary pleasure" XDDDD why is that so funny?

this guy's actually quite smart for that

damn...

good wisdom wukong

i love how wukong is so often describes as "the one with the thunder god mouth and hairy face"

he's got a good sense to be this scared of him

monkey-monk?? (why is that so funny to me???)

he just told wukong he was a 'buy one get one free sale'!! AND HE'S THE FREE BIT XDDDDDD

KILL STEAL!!! +1 for butality, pigsy's score is now -99 points!

Wukong actually let him have credit for the kill? goddamn- is that character growth i see?

Chapter 21

no he does not!

Aqua man?????

Really?? *face palms*

why does he insist on calling himself grandpa?

is he about to disapline him like a grandpa too??

Coward

the divine wind of Samādhi? like the Samādhi fire? NEAT!!!

more divine intervention i see

the trend of calling pigsy an idiot continues and i am thriving in this enviornment

can he be any less annoying?

*crybaby beings to play on loop in my head*

idiot

it was the fucking gold star of venus

very humble wukong

lawless ape! XDDD

love that offending the great sage is quite possibly a crime punishable by death now

Chapter 22

its sandy time!!!

wouldn't that be qualifies as an inland sea?!

i don't know how to feel about that entire passage

cloud surfing lessons

he called Wukong his assistant- oh boy if he had heard that...

he can be there in half an hour?! wild...

sandy is aquired

Chapter 23

still love that his nickname is practically idiot

please- stop refering to your staff as a rod- i can't take reading "you'll get a ___ from this Huge Rod!" anymore T-T

you fucking idiots- your banter has now left the master stranded and he's gonna get captured by demons!

serves you right

Wu kong being so shocked he actually acted poliet?

Unreal and nonexisting- well those are some red falgs if i've ever seen em in this book

SHIT JUST GOT SO MUCH FUNNIER OMFG

she just keeps going!? dude- please- how can someone have so much

omg- this is all a test of character isn't it...

tripitaka; wukong you stay! Wukong; the fuck you mean me!? make pigsy stay

the entier latter half of this page pisses me off. fuck you pigsy

OH EW! SEVEAR ICK- GROSS

I FUCKING HATE YOU YOU GREEDY WHORE

I KNEW IT WAS A TEST OF CHARACTER!!!!!! I WAS RIGHT!!!!

Chapter 24

serves him fucking right

i agree with Wukong, leave the pig and go

holy hell they haven't even covered one tenth of the distance yet?

this is the chapter that that one monkey king animated movie was about.

to cowardly to do it himself so he's gotta wait for Wukong lmao

thus begins an entire two-ish pages of Wukong stealing fruit again

Wukong makes me nevious frfr

if it were so embarissing maybe you shouldn't have done it in the first place

Chapter 25

wukong.... buddy.... no.....

good plan boy's

dude can pick (break?) locks.... good to know

why do you fight first and ask questions later....

he escaped thrice, got catpured thrice, kept playing tricks..... dude just wouldn't fucking stop....

[torturecave]

HEYy anon from last questions here!! I got SO excited when you replied oh gosh it made my day!!! I love your takes on this franchise and these two so much, thank you for the insightful answer and for taking the time to reply, that was so kind of you and I appreciate it <3

I really wanted to know as like I said, literally your art is SO SO pleasing and good!!!!! your style is like nothing I have ever seen in an amazing way and I love how soft, touchy and dynamic it feels, it just gives me a sense of warmth that I cant get enough of ! <3 warning I started typing too much accidentally ops sorry in advance, excuse me any typos too its like 5am and i'm going wild hahah ;w;;

I was very curious with how you thought of Branch and Poppy now as I noticed how fond you were of their intimate pranch take, honestly maybe both takes can still coexist, I feel like Poppy was all down for being like that with Branch even before TWT, but he just wanted a confirmation to act on cuz he's a dork and needs it and fears the worst, and so Poppy found it hard to understand if there was consent in a sense maybe? The way in the start they basically hold hands (I think the hair intertwined is canonically supposed to be this, which is adorable af and shows just how comfortable Branch is with Poppy touching him ;;w;). And looking at it like that it is so sweet that he had so much fear and angst about his feelings being returned, I imagine everyone being like "wait you weren't dating already?". Pop trolls did see them ball dance in a pot while being cute as heck aughh i cant with them i love them and their slow burn. Really I still appreciate how the first movie ends with Branch asking for a hug, it shows how touch starved he was and how much he loves and trusts her now even if he's slow and clumsy at it, he doesn't ask for a group hug, he specifically waits when they're alone to get it, so adorable, he fell so hard, 10/10..

OH DON'T GEt me started on the hot air ballon scene, it is legitimately my favorite moment of the movie regarding both of them. It's filled with so much tension?... It being at midnight, the bickering, the way Poppy simply has to stare lovingly at Branch and he just can't take it, just looks!!!.... Wow. Thank you Dreamworks

Just like the first film, Poppy simply KNOWS Branch will jump in and come help her, she's really just hoping it doesn't take him a whole musical montage in which she's dying like last time, which is why I think she's so relieved, because I know she must realize Branch is following her no matter what, they just can't be separated !!! Much less now. :D

So that was a perfect little moment.. I think your wife was the one who made the little essay on how in the first film despite Poppy crashing his bunker, she's confident and not even surprised he came and how that's so telling, I just love the fact that Poppy from the start knows Branch deep down is soft and how despite being a happy bundle of sunshine Poppy also has her rather cruel ways of getting what she wants and is very very smart and smug. Makes their dynamic way more endearing X)

Incel Branch kills me, he has to be the a rare case for sure in this village help! A bit unrelated rambling coming but have you seen Holiday In Harmony special? In it he's ALL about his gf unashamed and unaware of how trolls think he's being strange and it is so funny. He also replaced all of his paranoid trauma carving in his bunker with Poppy related things and it kills me gosh, in one of the notes he calls her "My queen" too, god, hes down BAD!!! I love it T,,T

AAHH holy damn i'm chuckling hard at your observation about Girl's Just Want To Have Fun.... Wow Branch. What is up with that like you gotta wonder if it was intentional.. And he's also secretly lovingly caressing a picture of them (And on the spot /she's/ in!!!!). Doesn't help too that in the original storyboard he was naked.. Much thinking about this from now on from me, thank you very much for pointing it out X)

Those concepts/aus your wife and you had have been on my mind so often, thank to her too for her work, I absolutely also adore her artworks!! It's very nice to know that you two are happily together, I imagine it was fun for you two to grow and still keep watching the silly trolls franchise as more movies kept being done :DDD

Also she's absolutely right with her observation on TWT and TBT oh my gosHHHH. Poppy and Branch taking turns in being obsessed with each other is such a delightful way to describe it, they are so freaking cute. And the way she describes the first movie is spot on yes you get me!!!!! There's a beauty in just seeing them bond and how natural it feels. I still adore the mere fact that both of them actually have some sort of history and dare I say tension from the start that makes them so so good. The beggining in which Branch is obviously waiting for his invitation when warning Poppy and I can just imagine him sneaking into the scene to grab the smashed invitation while Poppy pretends she doesn't notice he did or deep down has to know he appreciates them because she keeps making them special for him and it is so sweetttt!!....

Stuff like that gets my imagination going wild X) and the scenery and exchanges as you say are so so nice :D I could go on and on about the first film but I enjoyed all of the movies for different reasons, definitely agree with you! I was very hesitant at first about TBT, but it surprised me for good!!! AND OH TRUE COLORS IS FOREVER BEST THEM SCENE ,,,, The intimacy and gentleness it has kills me everytime, the moment Poppy touches him and the color starts splashing back to him from the hand she touched instead of normally to emphasize SHE makes him happy is sublime and how they cant stop looking at each other gosh... Perfect perfect perfecttt !!! >www< ALSO later on their secret handshake and whole flirty dance it's just, a BIG catharsis to go after everything they went through !!!

Also I can tell you enjoyed Viva, she was so fun and well, having more than one Poppy is simply guaranteed to be a treat ;;w;; definitely a bit I loved even if I couldn't believe they were going with the lost sibling stuff first X) How do you think Branch is handling being constantly braided and hyped by basically an older version of her gf at least in a superficial level? There's gotta be some funny feelings there somehow or at least I like to think. On a related note, also notice how lowkey horny Poppy gets about Branch's brothers, she is too much, I know it's because she's a fangirl but the similarities they share with Branch have to play a part too imo 0v0

I wish the movie would have shown us more of their sister moments, really found it more endearing than the brozone plot even if that was fun too ;v; I cant stop looking at your doodle where Viva is holding baby Poppy AUugh SO ADORABLE I LOVE IT SO MUCH we needed a moment like that in the movie you are doing god's work!!!<333

Also last thing but thoughts on Branch being called a boy toy? That shocked me when I watched TWT like damn does he seem that submissive? Poor guy.. Also the whole rock zombies moment in general just had a kinky tone somehow lmao. I bet rock trolls must have different social norms, really I adore how pop trolls seem to stand out thanks to being captured for so long, so much that they're the only ones who hug each other to cope with this. I really find the worldbuilding interesting in that regard!!

Now i'm just rambling nonsense hahah i'll try to stop now before I end up crashing tumblr somehow X) I'm sorry for that, I have so much thoughts about these movies and pranch/broppy and you and your wife just get it so much!!! Thanks again for the reply and taking your time on it, really appreciated and i'll keep an eye open for more stuff you post!!! It makes me happy to see you around, as I said, lovely art and content in general (Goes to your wife as well, you 2 are very talented!!!!) and you are so so kind!!!! Thank you <3 btw no need to reply to all of this or any haha, I just needed to get out some stuff cuz I loved your replies so much! I'll try to not spam on your askbox, im just a huge fan of how insighful and how nice your blog is!!! Though if you mind me asking so much let me know and i'll stop right away ;w; !

Last thing, regarding the underwear/clothing, that explains a lot thanks for sharing your thoughts,,, it's amusing that we get to see Branch slapped on the butt casually (Which you know always wanted to see it but coming from Poppy, like that art you did years ago 0v0) yet Poppy must not be lewded because if she had the power to show us how lewd she is these movies could not go on, she would be TOO powerful!!! Just look at how she growls at Branch X)))

Once again, thank you for reading my cringy fanboying, your thoughts and content in general makes my heart happy !!! <33 Have a nice day anytime you catch this :D *runs away once more*

Hello again! ^^ / Nice to see you again, and I'm happy to see my reply could do so much for you... Your ask was very refreshing and delightful to see! The same goes for this one as well. :3 It's nice to hear from someone who not only has an appreciation for my work but also the movies themselves. So you don't have to worry about typing too much either heh. (Honestly I would've answered this question sooner — I was immediately drafting my reply — but I got nerfed by a recent power outage + getting sick bwahaha. The world trying to stop me from talking about trolls...)

I will take a moment to really appreciate how you think my art is so unique. I don't want to sound too full of myself, but I do find that what I want to make / isn't something I can easily find...! I can accept it is particular... and that it can be enjoyed for that reason. >w>

I was very curious with how you thought of Branch and Poppy now as I noticed how fond you were of their intimate pranch take, honestly maybe both takes can still coexist, I feel like Poppy was all down for being like that with Branch even before TWT

I agree! I think the reality is that whatever Branch feels for Poppy is already reciprocated by TWT... To the point where I imagine that after TWT, whenever Branch had a conversation with Poppy about dating (?) she was probably like 'haha, why didn't you say so Branch!?' If he wanted that 'status' she would've been happy to oblige I think, nothing's stopping them... And whatever intimacy that included, she'd be eager for it as well.

Trying to word something here, huhm... I wonder if Poppy, on her own, wouldn't necessarily expect to be 'more' than Branch's best friend? She definitely knows she's special to Branch, enough to tease him over it lol, so I don't think she doubts her importance to him so much. ... And perhaps it's hard to, as Branch is still less social than the avg. troll, persnickety about being touched and whatnot. There's plenty of exclusivity in their bond. (Indeed no one is intertwining their hair so cutely with Branch-!!) It might be that Poppy is just happy to be... whatever she is to Branch, in that moment.

Though for Branch, he benefits from something as definitive as being Poppy's boyfriend. Because no one else is Poppy's boyfriend. Lots of trolls in the village are Poppy's 'friends', and she's probably called many of them her 'best friends' as well — Bridget currently occupies that niche after all. It isn't exclusive to be those things... And I think for Branch, it isn't reassuring to feel as though he is 'on the same level' as... Biggie or Cooper etc.

The REASON it is devastating to watch Fuzzbert high-five Poppy after he failed to is, because, it exemplifies the very things he doesn't want to be true. Like noooo HE CAN'T HAVE A WORSE CONNECTION TO POPPY THAN FUZZBERT...!!! He can't be a lower rung! In her life! Than Fuzzbert! He needs to DO more for her than that!! He needs to have some sort of... implicit value. I'm extrapolating a lot, but I wonder if being 'like Fuzzbert' would make Branch feel expendable, replaceable, basically not precious enough. Regardless of the fact that Poppy cares muchly for her village... but well, that's the thing, as a queen she is obligated to care for her subjects... It's not special, necessarily. And further doomer-incel thinking is to conclude, it's also not 'special' enough to love Poppy because EVERYONE loves queen Poppy... loving her a lot won't set you apart from all the other trolls...

TBT adds an interesting depth to Branch's misery, he... really believes it was his fault BroZone's performance went so badly, and that everyone left. As much as he believes he killed his grandma... It seems Branch has grown into someone who is very sensitive to the idea of abandonment. Unlike Poppy, Branch cannot reassure himself that he will stay in anyone's life, definitively... It didn't matter how much he loved his brothers, or grandma Rosie, they were equally taken from him. He's been isolated for many years without 'proof' that things will be different...

(I'm not sure if Abandonment Issues Branch is really Dreamworks' intention but I like what they've written here. As you can see my mind's been running wild with threading all the events together from all 3 movies. Tasty conclusions.)

While I'm here like a madman, I will share a tangent related to this all. :) Just something I've been thinking about lately... Even though I don't see Poppy jumping at the bit to date Branch quite like he is in TWT, it isn't out of a lack of enthusiasm or interest or anything like that... JUST that Poppy is more easily satisfied with not putting a term to their dynamic. Quite frankly I think she would be completely receptive to Branch romancing her... surprisingly early in the timeline!! Like as far back as movie 1? It's Branch who's been resisting her this whole time. I think she'd be like. Kind of, agog, if he was suddenly forward with her... if he recited poetry directly to her, even? Since he won't sing.

There's a point where Poppy is so so soo determined to even crack a smile out of Branch, to befriend him and sing with him. I think you could like. OVERWHELM HER, even, with the proposal of romance LMAO, I think it'd be like akdkjf..f jgdhfk what is this /// BRANCH LIKE ME MOMENT!? BRANCH... really... THE mysterious Branch kfkdfhs he doesn't like anyone.. ... 0.0 but he liek me? // omg //// but , waitactually yeah there's always been something here.. between us... hasn't there... 😏

So yeah this is just me saying not only do I think Poppy is receptive to Branch in TWT, I think she would be in the first movie, and, I think he could do, a lot, I think he could earnestly court and kiss that one tbh. If he put on the charm. Branch could be capable of a lot... it's just that he's held back by his traummies kfdhjgjsf

I think your wife was the one who made the little essay on how in the first film despite Poppy crashing his bunker, she's confident and not even surprised he came and how that's so telling

Yes that was my wife, she's fixated on the bunker scene and compiled caps / made gifs / and discussed it. It's an incredible scene really. Her brutal counter to Branch being all smug and difficult at her... can't handle her being smug in return, for real! Then we've always loved how she reacts when she sees Branch again, after having been beaten and battered by the world, blacked out in a spider web. Somehow she goes BRANCH my man. What a funny girl... Incredibly endearing lol. I always like the flow of that scene / them leaving the forest / then them walking on that fallen log. (The log is one of my fav panning shots in the movie~)

[laughing] I'm glad Incel Branch is amusing you, I want more people to see it this way, it's just too funny. What kind of troll... Oh but I have seen Holiday in Harmony! (I like the other special as well... Hope we get another with Viva this time as main focus. :3) Lol but yeah in this special I get the impression Branch just can't seem any less obsessed, it's funny the way Prince D and Cooper are there to get kinda like 😰😰... Put-off by Branch's idea of a present, the way he would go about making something for Poppy and the lengths he would be willing to go (like secretly measuring her etc.) They're just there to be like... the normal ones... for contrast ww

I hadn't observed his crazy lil pinboard so closely, I didn't know it said things like "my queen" but that's very sick (unwell). Looking it over, also some of the things in here are just like, a drawing of Poppy in a heart, cut-outs of hearts scribbled in with ink, help... The fact that he makes that little scrapbook in the end is very sweet, but I do love that because it's Branch, it has to be a scrapbook with a bit of a Deranged quality. Frantic and kind of oddly cobbled together.

HONESTLY it's sad now that we've seen his old bunker plans, because there was a time when Branch was able to make... NORMAL NOT SCARY ART...... Not anymore though.

The visualization of Branch's brain degrading over time (lol)

Another thing I did not know: that Branch was naked in the storyboard for his part of the opening seq in TWT. I... guess... it was gonna be us seeing both of them naked as a parallel but, ultimately I have to say I do prefer his bathrobe lol, I think it conveys still 'intimate at home' but has more of a chill vibe. (Spoken as someone with a clothes fetish. :B) Whatever the case I'm just glad to have pointed those lyrics out to you heh.

Those concepts/aus your wife and you had have been on my mind so often, thank to her too for her work, I absolutely also adore her artworks!! It's very nice to know that you two are happily together, I imagine it was fun for you two to grow and still keep watching the silly trolls franchise as more movies kept being done :DDD

I'm a big fan of her work as well💞 She was my greatest inspiration back then, and remains to be, honestly she inspires me in every way now, she really helped me come into my own... I'm also glad we can be together and enjoy these movies still. I just have so many memories of talking to her about the first Trolls, and ah... IDK if I've ever posted the story here, but I actually tagged along with her to a furcon when we first met in person. She'd stay up talking to me as long as she could, then have to sleep because she was tabling at the con. I'd stay up a little later, writing fic based on our Trolls discussions... then I'd sleep in the hotel room until she came back, and between commissions she'd be drawing things based on our ideas. We'd exchange art/fic...

Recently when we were rewatching the 1st movie after watching Band Together, I couldn't stop myself from saying "these movies helped us fall in love 🥺"... pfwhsh. So yeah I have a lot of personal connection to it, though outside of that it's just a great movie. :3 The sense of history that the two have is the best...!

[simply nodding in agreement with all your appreciation for the diff scenes!] I also love how Branch's colors begin to return without him realizing, the way it starts at their point of contact... It is all perfect 💖 Oh I really love their dancing in the credits to September, seeing them bounce all along at the end of things is really so wonderful. Ugh lately I've been thirsty for every second of them flirtily dancing together. -_- I wish I could have some sort of saucy music video featuring them...

Ackk yeah I'm head-over-heels for Viva honestly... How could I not be, I adore Poppy so much. 'Two Poppies' was something meant to thrash me around by the ankles, there was no way I could be prepared for that!! Here I was concerned about being bogged down by brother stuff, I didn't stop and think... sister stuff. Goodness.

How do you think Branch is handling being constantly braided and hyped by basically an older version of her gf at least in a superficial level? There's gotta be some funny feelings there somehow or at least I like to think.

Perhaps you wrote this innocently, but, I feel like it's a targeted attack on me, what're you doing... (laughing) I accept it though. You're giving me an excuse to jump into my crazy thoughts.

I...! Do, think that Viva's attention, compounded with Poppy, will be overwhelming for Branch. As it is, I think meeting Viva is too much — kind of leaving Branch agog that Viva is so Poppy-like... Because, as we've discussed, Branch is so very obsessed with Poppy, and I think she is very unique to him, indescribably so. (It goes with the sentiment of 'of course everyone loves Poppy, she's a shining star amidst us all!!!') The idea of meeting another troll could feel like meeting Poppy... That's surreal! Why would that be the case...!? It's almost relieving, perhaps, to find out they're related.

... almost. Whatever relief and ah, placidity Branch feels about them reconnecting, I think it'll fade when dealing with them long term. Won't there be a moment where he's sitting between them, being fawned over, hugged and having his hair played with, hearing them hum together... and won't it make Branch feel dizzy, like argh where am I-? Like a bizarre dream. What's going on?

There's so little that can 'get to' Branch quite like Poppy does. He doesn't give anyone the same amount of attention or consideration he does her, and he's not as interested in others, he likes his space and privacy. Viva is going to challenge this... by being Poppy-like! On top of that, Viva has a past that will let her connect with Branch's? She'll benefit from his perspective and advice, too... This + the fact that she is Poppy's sister, of course Poppy's going to make sure Viva spends lots of time together with her and Branch — all that time lost, they need to make up for it! And because Viva is going to like what she likes then Viva must like and enjoy time with Branch! Er, and she will I think, since she point-blank goes "I like you!" after that little braid moment, after the kiss... h-hm, I wonder what it's like to have your hair missed with mid-kiss.... ueuahhg

If anything, it's like the movie is twisting my arm, forcing me to think about Branch having "funny feelings" about it all... In fact I have to think about everyone in this circumstance having "funny feelings"...! Viva and Poppy are screaming like fangirls together at the end of the movie, aren't they? And when Branch "proposes" to Poppy, the first thing she does is invite Viva to join her, ahaha.

Just to make me more insane, there's this BroZone tape inside beside Viva's rollerskate bed... So even Viva has some sort of familiarity with BroZone? A fan in some capacity...?? So could her and Poppy really just lay there girlishly, ranking the members in terms of hotness!? Per-haps........

Me and my wife have been fervidly thinking about this all... Discussing chicanery like, well because Poppy has that odd comment about her hypothetical sister being mistaken as her twin earlier, I wonder if they would have fun doing switcheroos. Dressing up as the other and enjoying acting as the other. Branch would be shaken up to have mixed them up, even for a second...

A more innocuous scene we've discussed is one where Poppy invites Viva over to Branch's bunker for the first time, though unannounced. In this moment, a sleepy out-of-it Branch could approach Viva, purring from behind — and then quickly must. Become stiff when it's like LOL Branch it's meee! & Poppy is like, HAHA did you think she was me!? XD Branch hehehee!!!! The girls are so fond of one another, I think being seen as similar would only flatter and excite them. It's more sisterly bonding. It's Branch who will feel like [cries] nooo waiit that's not-!! I- you two are individuals to me-!! [voice cracking]

[sighs] and beyond THAT... I've thought of more intimate things between all three... I can't in good consciousness go into great detail (too weird) (and it'll take a million years) but well, you can just know that this is where I am at with them. In my mind I see Branch twirling the girls around, and them all singing together... I've also been mentally making mash-ups and creating playlists basically, of things for them to sing at/with one another...

On a related note, also notice how lowkey horny Poppy gets about Branch's brothers, she is too much, I know it's because she's a fangirl but the similarities they share with Branch have to play a part too imo 0v0

LOL thank you for being willing to say it, point blank, like yes... She, just is, horny, about Branch's brothers, fsr that is the thing, ongoing in the movie. I know the idea is that they're depicting that usual "boyband fever" but, most boybands aren't composed of. Brothers-!! So I think that's what creates this strangeness ultimately, like, *doubletakes* ??

I am sure part of Poppy's appreciation of meeting the members of Brozone is her current connection to Branch. It's like something she's loved in the past now informs her about her partner... Untold levels of excitement! It's not just meeting a celebrity, it's meeting someone who was close to Branch ! That Branch sang with!! All those years ago!!! And... I imagine any resemblance between them isn't a small thing lol.

Though it kind of amuses me, the difference here is that Branch's brothers are not... deeply into Poppy... in the same way. There is a barrier. I think JD is offended by their intro and, really in general more of a Lone Ranger type, while Bruce is extremely monogamous (seeing Brandy as his Soulmate out here), and Clay is like... too orderly, not leaning into the bit of being asked to do his old dances etc...

(An aside — IG fandom fsr sees Clay & Viva as a thing but I don't?? I suppose his willingness to leave her behind and slip out w/o her noticing and, describing her as "she's got some stuff going on" doesn't feel loving to me... They feel more like co-workers, genuinely able to collaborate on their job, but that's it. Amusingly enough, even how Viva talks about Clay, calling him "Mr. Clay" and saying he does the BORING STUFF makes me feel like, it's a Funny sort of rship like, Viva feeling 'lol couldn't be me' about Clay's nature... Not like besties out here? Hence, why Viva is so lonesome and desperate to have Poppy back in her life...)

Anyways it's all amusing, the way Poppy seems to be the only one down for it. Though to be fair, I do think it'd be like, a bit Much, if Branch's brothers abandoned him 20+ years ago, and then they come back in his life, condescend him as the baby and, flirt with his girlfriend. It's for the best they don't... go that, far. Branch doesn't seem keen on sharing so much with his bros in That Way, I don't think.

Him and Poppy have such different circumstances with their siblings... IG in the case of, if Viva were to fangirl and gush over Branch, it wouldn't bother POPPY remotely... if anything it's a way of bonding. And I- guess I don't think the 'siblings' element is off-putting for Poppy, she just seems so open-minded to many things in this movie LOL... That's my takeaway at least.

Yeah I'd have loved for there to be more sister focus in this movie, I'm happy with what I got but I could always use more! I needed to draw Viva with baby Poppy especially... Poppy's fixation on having a sister throughout TBT makes me think she somehow has deep, buried memories of Viva. Enough to give her this sense that she "should" have a sister... like something is missing. She was just so young though, she can't recall it distinctly.

On Viva's end, she's so emotional when she processes that Poppy survived, that she's finally meeting her again... You can just tell that Poppy meant so much to her, even from that brief time together. And I just love how Viva describes Poppy as having been so cute, eensy and weensy... I have to believe that when Poppy was born Viva was the sort of kid to be like, I'm going to be the best big sister ever! I'll love you forever and always Poppy! We're going to be the best-est of friends! Carrying her around in her hair and whatnot... Gah. I can see it so well.

Also last thing but thoughts on Branch being called a boy toy? That shocked me when I watched TWT like damn does he seem that submissive? Poor guy.. Also the whole rock zombies moment in general just had a kinky tone somehow lmao.

oh lmao that scene just makes me laugh... In general Barb's referral to Branch as Poppy's boyfriend seems to be in a heckling manner, as he comes to her rescue, meant to be rude perhaps about his loyalty to her? He does fling himself to protect her, maybe it's all just making fun of that behavior... like Branch is her dog lol.

The rock zombie scene does have ? A quality to it? I think when you watch Poppy shredding it and throwing her head back, tongue out, it does make you feel something. The glowing red eyes. Perhaps though it's just the 'aesthetic' of rock, things like messy hair and heavy eyeliner and fishnets just have an ~evocative~ vibe, compared to their typical outfits, which are more modest. I think that's mostly what we're picking up on. 'Trashy' is often slutty as well.

I agree overall there's a gap in culture... Though I also like how the more the movies progress, the more we have to conclude King Peppy's faction of trolls are distinctly sheltered, since Viva's group managed to be more resourceful and aware of themselves? I used to think it was a result of domestication, but I think actually it's just that Peppy has specific hang-ups and wants no one to dwell on any bad memories. It's an interesting thing to instill into your group... Poppy's generation of trolls post-Trollstice tree times are quite distinct.

And, I'm glad, my underwear insight was of value to you. Omg but wrt spanking... I feel so... *tugs collar up sheepishly.....* *closes eyes* .... like I said, I don't begrudge that old art I made, but it feels embarrassingly dated... I was quite young and figuring out my preferences out, at the time. Now ermm, I'm more into projecting into the one doing-the-spanking, so my modern inclinations have been thinking of Branch as the one who spanks Poppy...

It feels silly to talk about but I'm now. Into top/dom Branch..... This is like where my thoughts terminate with Poppy being all crazed fangirliing for Branch, that she'd become an overstimulated love-struck girlie under his touch. Also we don't think about Poppy being poly anymore either kfdsgsh we amusingly hit a point in conversation recently that was like. 'Sheltered virgin Poppy.... now that is thought provoking'..... It would be a gap moe situation though, like all her natural sauciness and overt thirst co-exists with a lack of experience, so there's anxiety when things actually get intense. When it's time for private dirty dancing if you will.

(... it's hard to believe anyone would still be reading this post rn...)

WELL anyways you're a very nice person, thanks for your fun questions. *waves as you scamper off...!*

[sagegreensage]

"ay yo tell us all the reasons that Pirate is the top-tier most smoochable boi in your eyes"

(me, if I were a deep sea telescope fish, upon seeing this ask in my inbox /pos)

OKAY. SO UH. To save all who read this, im going to do this in bullet format so to minimize the risk of there just being a Humongous Wall Of Text. Also, I don't know how to add a 'read more' on mobile, so I'm sorry about how long it is regardless.

Reasons That Pirate Is The Top-Tier Most Smoochable Boi In My Eyes

Okay, so why is he so goddamned cute?????

I'm nearly in literal tears everytime i see a picture of him... He's so fricking cute.

I smile everytime I see or read that he's smiling.

And he has such a beautiful eye color! A warm, rusty red, his iris is black, and his pupil is white. Oh, gorgeous... So gorgeous.

I want to cup his face in my hands and tell him that in doing that, I'm holding my world in my hands.

He just looks so soft and holdable. I want to hold him. Not just his hands (which, btw, are so very cute~!) but all of him. I want to be the big spoon and cuddle him and hhhhhhh. he is so cute and soft lookingggg! Me want hold. (update: *hand. If he'd like, I can design him a hand. Or hook, if he wants. Or both! he can interchange 'em :) For the material of it, I was thinking an arsenic-free alloy consisting of cold-cast bronze and aluminum.)

i bet his lips are soft too... Really soft,,, I would very much so like to smooch him 👉👈 idc if we kiss and his lips are a little dry because of the beach air or the salty sea. I just want to kiss him. Above water and under water. (actually he likely uses chapstick... What flavor of Chapstick does he use..?) (Update again: mwah mwah >3<. yeehaw. he was not wearing Chapstick because he had just woken up so... Next time. but hhhhhhh. the rp. kissie kissie in rp :D)

I would literally swoon/happy panic (is it a gay panic if I'm male But Also female?... Pansexual panic) receiving his good morning and goodnight texts. Or just almost any text from him for that matter... Basically, it'd go like this. Every time.

[over text]

Sweetie Pie (Pirate): Good morning 💖

Me irl, before replying: ASDFGHJKL bro he so cute,,,,,!?

No but, for real: he so cute. How so cute?

The way he shows his trust... Being around someone with his gloves off and or his eyepatch off. An unspoken, subtle show of him trusting that you won't judge or think less of him.

I love his interests asdfghjkl. I've been hyperfixated on marine life and the ocean since 2nd grade. idk how long I've been interested in pirate stuff. It started before Pirate101, which was made in 2012, that just helped me express it. My grandma used to tell me she wanted to be pirate, so I think it was around when i was 4 or 5 that I began thinking pirates were awesome. hhhhhhhhh me want ramble about nautical stuff with him.

me want ramble with Pirate pls.

And Please. Please, let me introduce him to Pirate101. It was the center of my pirate phase when I was younger, which by the way, never died and Pirate just nursed it back to health. I'll pay for his Pirate101 membership. We will co-op fight our enemies together. The big bad stands no chance.

his aestheticccc. fucking Superb!!! Aw, man.... Seeing him dress in his pirate attire gives me Confidence. I would like to dress up a bit more extra. My aesthetic is either tired nerd with a decent closet or near full on steampunk techwear depending on how I feel. He makes me want to dress in more steampunk techwear.

lkjhgfdsa ANYWAYS. His aesthetic!!! I love seeing art of him wearing his aesthetic. Everytime I show my friends his drip they're like, "wow, he looks so fancy," and like, yes he do. His drip is fancy in that old way, which has then been stolen and worn by a pirate. And basically, that's the pirate drip. Except, unlike your average pirate wearing fancy vintage clothes, Pirate isn't dirty. Pie's clean and they smell very nice.

And the reason he likes pirate paraphernalia is just,,,, yessir! Yes! You love that ocean, bro! The ocean loves you too :) and so do I.

and he's a trans icon :) and not only that, he goes by he/him and they/them pronouns. Amazing!!

iiiii would die and revive for a trip to a store with candles/perfumes/colognes just to look for what I imagine Pie smells like. Odd? Okay, perhaps. but listen. I would die and revive for someone irl to love me like Pirate would. If i buy that scent, you best believe im either spraying the perfume/cologne on some of my pillows and clothing or lighting that candle whenever wherever. Anxious? Lonely? Sad? Empty inside? Pirate's scent fixes all, my friend. a lifehacc, if you will.

I know he has a slight accent, although he suppresses it: i would love to hear it. And when he just wakes up or is drunk, man, oh man. pls, me want hear his accent. (WAIT. when he woke up after he got his arm fixed and i came in the room, was his accent more prevalent at that time? 👀)

I want him to trust me someday enough to not suppress things about himself, like his accent and his purring.

why does he suppress his purring, btw? that's so fricking cute why suppress that? Well, I mean, I know he's ashamed of the fact that he isn't human, and that most humans wouldn't want to be involved with a monster, much less, love and date one. but he's so cute tho. seriously, he could for real just be a scallop with sapience, but if he still was himself I would still fucking love him.

he allegedly gets some of his things out of the trash? yesss. (insert (non)gendered word of choice)boss, this is me: "bb, let's go dumpster diving imma get a ring out of there and use it to be engaged to u someday " terrible no-good very-bad date idea: let's go to the dumpster of Dunkin Donut's. (no but they actually throw away hundreds of perfectly fine donuts every damn night. mind-boggling.)

celebrating Spooky Month together would be great. I would wear whatever he designed, heck yessiree. Man, it would be so cute.

Maybe I'll add to this list later but I think I kept you waiting long enough :3

didnt manage to get all the flustered pansexual panics he gives me or how my thought-process goes everytime I fricking see him but this was a list more for reasons Pie is a total cutie. not me, my butterfly-filled tummy, and my incessant simping 👉👈

[majitek]

Do you have any Bloodborne ships you like, or maybe even actually ship? o:

OH BOY I SURE DO!!

(Answer under-cut bc this is long💀💀)

My first and all-time fav is Djura/Djura's ally :")

I like to imagine the powder kegs to be a very welcoming/warm group to be a part of despite their rough and explosive techniques. So this makes the tragedy of Old Yharnam even more heartbreaking for me dgjdhd but its kind of bittersweet thinking of Djura and his last 2 companions sticking together and dedicating the rest of their lives defending old Yharnam. (Until his disciple succumbs to the Nightmare, leaving those 2 alone💔😔I like to think his disciple was like a nephew to em both :"( )

For their specific relationship tho, I like to think ally has stuck with him throughout their entire career together, sort of like a right-hand man :") hrngg they're both old n tired n sad but they have each other  </3 (well... until the hunter comes.... BUT, not in my games😎 I never had the heart to kill either of them😤😎💯🔥😭)

I have a lot of thumbnails of drawings I wanted to make of em, but my art skills weren't capable of it at the time😭💔 I want to try again soon tho :")

I also rly like Brador/Simon!!

...which is like the complete opposite of that first ship lol💀💀😭 uhh Idk how to explain it besides complicated??  (See the last reblogged Brador post to see pretty much exactly how I see him)

Back in the day when they were colleagues, Brador first took interest of him bc... he used a bow?? Bc he just thought he looked interesting??? Idk tbh but he did okay LOL. Then he started annoying him like the lil shit he is. Eventually tho, they build a genuine relationship where theyd go drink together and talk about work or smth (in very cryptic ways bc its bloodborne and they all talk like that).

But in these convos, I feel like Simon would start bringing up his doubts about all this, about the church, about their jobs. Brador's outlook of it all is... they've already done so much. What happens in the end doesn't concern them. All he has to do is his part (Largely bc I feel his loyalty to Laurence overrides anything else). This builds a really tense relationship down the line bc as much as they may ultimately enjoy each other's company, Brador feels Simon is crossing a line, and Simon knows Brador stands with the Church.

I think Brador gets taken into the Nightmare first before anything escalated back in Yharnam though. One day after a huge unknown beast sOmEHOW appeared in the Cathedral, Brador disappeared as well. If Simon asked about it, he would be told he died in the attack (or smth idk💀). I feel this (and a LOT of other headcanons I have) would be another reason for Simon to turn on the church, and really start to figure out its secrets.

...you can imagine how he feels when they meet again.

Heres this rly well written fic about them!! I don't personally have all those hcs in the fic about Simon n stuff, but I do rly enjoy how op wrote their interactions. (Pretty much exactly how I see em talk to each other lol)

I also have a lot of drawings/comic scenes I want to make about them! I hope I get to soon as well :")

Also IM SRY THIS WAS SUCH A HUGE RAMBLE BUT hh other ships I like are

• VALTR/YAMAMURA💘💘💔

• Valtr/Henryk

• Gascoigne/Henryk

• Lady Maria/Adeline😭💘

• Ludwig/Simon is rly cute :")

• Ludwig/Laurence

• Adella/Arianna

• Alfred/Hunter

[louve-garoue]

Later,

Twilight : I just spoke with Time and he said "Those two terrors are your problems" what did you d- OH MY DIVINITIES IS THAT A CAT :D !?!?!

*gently takes the cat and start petting him with a big smile*

Where did you find him ? Does he have a name ? Is he actually a boy ? Does he have a owner ?

*Hyrule and Wild look at each other*

Wild : We found him in the street, alone and lost.

Hyrule : Does your smile means that we can keep him ?

Twilight, smiling harder : After a check-up by the Veterinarian ? You bet we do.

*Hushured Loud Cheers*

Even later,

Time, exasparated and not wanting to adopt a cat : Twilight I thought I told you to take care of the problem.

Twilight : No you put me in charge of the problem. And I decided that the problem was not a problem and wandering off to adopt cat is a noble activity that should be rewarded. Also if you want to throw Maron out of this house it'll be over my dead body.

He’s just too tired to deal with two rascals who sneak out every night to do dumb shit

[disaster-fruit]

could you tell us more about the brarg family au with the 3 babies and trans luci?

I definitely can! This au has been living rent free in my head since i started that drawing and I was actually sketching more stuff for the AU right before I got this ask so- I definitely can ramble more about it

This was supposed to be just a collection of a few hcs and now it’s a multi-pages word document the size of a fanfic so – Im really sorry.

I didn’t think a lot about their backstories tbh, though I have it in my mind that Luciano transition in his late teens and that he and martin either met after that or knew each other before luciano came out, lost all contact, and then met again after (and you can blame oxiosas fic for that yeah im not even subtle)

But I imagine them having some sort of meet cute and kinda progressing really fast in their relationship without realizing – yk, its just a fling, no big deal, yeah ive met his parents, yes I basically spend every weekend in his apartment, yeah I have a spare key now, ops I guess we’re adopting dogs and plants together- oh I think we’re married. Yeah. We’re married.

Ok but for real Luci does the proper proposal-with-a-ring-and-knelt-down-on-a-special-day thing and Martin is just bright red saying yes over and over again

It is Afonso (port) the first to be all WHERE ARE MY GRANDCHILDREN like… the night of their wedding.

They live in a house in a not too big city with two dogs, one cat, one parrot and all the birds that Luciano feeds and names that aren’t actually theirs. Still, they choose the house with two spare rooms because they always talked about having two kids.

In this AU they can buy a nice house and don’t have to worry about money and can raise kids like the world isn’t ending.

I think right after they got married they got in line for adoption. However, everything indicated that it would take a long long time so they started talking about the possibility of trying to have a biological kid. I think luci was the one to suggest it when he noticed martin had been thinking about it but not saying anything for a while.

Lots of boring doctor visits and confused doctors looking at luciano and trying to process it like the dumb cishets they are. Boring exams and all that, but everything is on track eventually, luci pauses his hrt and keeps his jockstrap on the drawer and they’re googling the best positions for fertility on those weird cishet sites and doing it like bunnies etc etc

Getting pregnant the natural way after years of testosterone is not the easiest thing in the world, so it takes a while. But eventually it works.

Both of them are kinda freaking out with this whole first pregnancy thing. Martin is the ultimate protective husband, and spends way too much time on the internet finding out what luciano can and can’t eat, what exercises he should do, and going to every single doctor visit. He’s very committed to it.

Luciano has to drink non-alcoholic beer and hates life. There’s a single teardrop shed every time he buys it. And drinks a lot of lemonade like it’s the same as caipirinha. Poor guy. Martin doesn’t help on that, life isn’t fair, he buys his own beer.

But he also has to drive absurd lengths to find the weirdest fruit or make the most hideous, blasphemous pizza toppings because Luciano is constantly craving absurd shit. But poor baby actually really NEEDS that chicken M&M pizza at 8am.

They’re super proud daddies though, and both their instagrams at this point are just baby belly pictures. Luci had top surgery on this au on my hc so also. Lots of shirtless pics. He looks like an old uncle with a beer belly and he’s PROUD. Just. Baby bellies all over.

Martin picks the entire baby layette. Because of course he does.

Their baby shower is a huge deal though. Their dads are there, Antonio brings an entire trunk filled with diapers and tells everyone how many tincho used to need when he was a baby, Afonso is cooking for everyone and talking about how he’s gonna be a grandfather (!!!). Iracema (pindorama) is scolding Luci about his bad habits while also quietly being a super proud grandma. Zola (angola) bought toys because she knows that’s what kids actually like, Samero (Mozão) keeps asking if they installed all the necessary security stuff in their house – we will, chill, we still have some months to go – Vera (Tomé) is teasing Simão (Timor) about him no longer being the family baby, Fatima (g.bissau) is another one who bought a huge amount of diapers, Rosinha (cabo verde) is taking pictures of everyone and everything, Sebas and Dani are discussing if the kid should speak Portuguese or Spanish, Maria brought a huge pink plushy as a gift, it’s quite a party.

Once they’re late in the pregnancy, Luciano mostly spends his time on Martin’s oversized t-shirts asking for foot rubs and not getting much sleep because the baby keeps moving. Martin on the other hand is a little nervous about being a dad, but absolutely loves feeling the little kicks and talking to the baby all the time, except when its 3am and he wants to sleep but Luci cant because of it so he just does his best to keep him company. He mostly ends up falling asleep on his chest though and doesn’t help much

I wrote all of this but I still don’t have a name for the girl lol Anyway, she’s finally born, and if martin was overprotective when Luciano was pregnant, he’s ten times more with his baby girl. Tbh theyre both kinda going crazy with this whole parenting thing, both are overprotective, tired, and have no idea what theyre doing.

Zola and Sebastian are the girl’s godparents. Sebastian isn’t very good with kids so when he takes care of his niece he either puts on a tv show and lets her eat whatever crap she wants, or relies on Daniel to do the actual taking care, since he is good with kids.

Luciano and Martin are very much neurotic first-timers and have all this schedule of what their girl can eat and when and when she has to sleep etc etc.

When Zola takes care of her, she just ignores it and does it her way. She helped raised Luci since he was a baby anyway, he survived just fine and even married and reproduced, she knows what to do better than both the dumbasses, and they never even find out.

Afonso on the other had follows everything when he’s with his granddaughter, determined to be a better grandfather than he was a father, and the baby loves him so he’s doing a good job.

They’re a very cute family yes yes

She grows up well and happy, a bit shy maybe but very smart and sweet, loves the dogs and her aunts and uncles and granddads (afonso more than antonio though)

By the way, Iracema is soft like butter with her granddaughter.

When she’s about four or five years old they start talking about having a second one, considering the age difference and all. So back to doctors, Luci stops the hrt again and they go back to trying, but again it’s not the easiest thing in the world to do it naturally after years of hrt.

But god listens to the prayers of such good catholic family, and right after they start thinking about a second child, they receive the news they will finally get to adopt a baby.

Luciano is the one to receive the news, he’s working at home when the social worker comes to tell him they can finally adopt. He’s extremely happy, he hugs the poor lady and is barely able to concentrate as she explains the paperwork that is left and the details of it because he can’t stop smiling.

He immediately texts martin saying something like “CALL ME RIGHT NOW WE NEED TO TALK” and it’s in happy caps but martin understands it wrong and thinks someone is dying or dead but then his phone is what dies so he gets home as fast as he can thinking all the worst scenarios just to find luciano jumping on him with a smile for ear to ear. It’s such a shock he takes a while to react but when he does you have two idiots so happy they can’t function.

It’s another girl, she has big brown eyes like her sister and it’s a few months old.

They quickly reassemble the crib and paint the second room to get everything ready in time to take her home, and the next week or so it’s nothing but all the family visiting to meet their new baby.

Since they managed to adopt, they decided to stop trying to have another kid. Luciano goes back to the doctor do some routine exams so that he can go back to testosterone and the doctor just awkwardly explains that, well, that won’t be exactly possible. Not for the next eight months, at least.

He’s quite shocked at that, and takes him a while to tell martin. They just got a new baby and do they even have space to raise three kids? Eventually it just escapes from him and martin is shocked as well, but ultimately both of them are just worried about their place being too small, and once they relax about that they can’t shut up about having another baby on the way to anyone.

Still, it’s not easy to manage, martin is just as worried as he was with their eldest, except that this time he’s simultaneously worried about their new baby and about Luci’s pregnancy. Poor dude needs a break asap. So he’s trying to do most of the work of caring for a little baby to spare luciano from the stress, while also taking care of him as well as he did the other time.

Luci is more chill about being pregnant, he’s done this before, he’s fine. He’s even a little too chill about it, as shown in the art, he still wants to carry their kid on his shoulder and having a few sips of martin’s beer is no big deal and honestly he’s fine, he can help with the baby, and Tincho just needs to relax and it will all be fine.

Again, poor tincho needs a break.

Some things don’t change though. Them being super proud daddies who do nothing but take pictures of their kids and Luci’s belly every chance they get. And they’re really happy and excited to have their house full and this big family.

Just a good cute family AU where nothing bad ever happens thank you very much.  Yet it took me almost 2k words to say it. I have no self control and I’m very sorry. However, if anyone has their own hcs to add about this whole au, I will be more than happy to hear and talk about this AU even more than I’ve already done.

[january-summers]

Fight Breaks Sphere Thoughts

So I started watching Fight Breaks Sphere, also known as Battle Through Heavens, and I have a few confessions to make (some thoughts to ramble about):

First of all it's based off a book which I haven't read so these thoughts are specific to the drama. (also I've only finished up to the end of episode 17 and am about to start 18.)

I honestly started watching it because I found out Xiao Zhan was in it (Wei Ying from The Untamed), and I think that's why I didn't enjoy the first episode enough to immediately go to the next episode, because Xiao Zhan wasn't in it and I was only there for him.

Now Xiao Zhan's character doesn't actually show up on screen until about nine minutes into episode four, and he's very much a supporting cast member, a secondary character, and he doesn't get a lot of screen time while he's there. I knew this was likely going in, because he's listed as a secondary character in the wikipedia entry about it, but he gets less screen than the other secondary characters 'of the same importance'.

His character, Lin Xiuya, also had to go 'do a thing' at the end of episode... 12 or 13? I think it was 13, but this wasn't the worst thing ever for me as a viewer, especially since I'm pretty sure he'll be back later.

Regarding Xiao Zhan's presence in the show though? I would not have made it to his appearance if the story line hadn't 'picked up'.

Now, to be fair my primary dislike of the first episode was a combination of new episode issues (so many new characters and names and relationships and histories to keep track of, I have a whole new type of lore to start getting a handle on) but it was also a lack of Xiao Zhan.

I think if I hadn't gone in waiting for him to show up I would have enjoyed it more, but again, I was only there to see him, so...

Once I chose to watch episode two I was more prepared to be there for the story itself and I found myself getting engaged with the plot.

I'm about to start episode 18, so that should tell you how much more I'm enjoying it, but I have a few issues.

Main character is Xiao Yan, of the Xiao clan (an important sect in the land, part of important lore and backstory of the world).

He starts off as a child prodigy, and then his mother gives him a Spatial Ring right before she dies, and he suddenly finds himself with basically no Fighting Qi. (Fight Qi or 'Dou Qi' is the spiritual energy used for their fighting magic. I'd call this show a Xianxia rather than a Wuxia/ Mystical Ancient 'China' rather than a Fiction Historical China.)

Spoilers for the first episode: his mother's master/teacher is stuck in the Spatial Ring and has been absorbing Xiao Yan's Fight Qi to survive being killed, which has been leaving Xiao Yan drained of Qi and therefore unable to use it and most folks now consider him a bit of a dud.

The thing is these folks use Fight Qi for basically everything, so even though Xiao Yan has been training the physical aspects of the martial arts/Kung Fu of his clan, he's still considered no good at it.

He's told to become an apothecary's assistant and, god he's just the whiniest little shit. I get where he's coming from, I do, he wants to be a Kung Fu bad-ass, not a freaking pill maker... except being a pill maker is a super important and well respected job in this world, it's like 'yeah fighters are cool, but the dudes who make the pills are top notch!' But we'll circle back to this.

The point is, he's a typical teenager whose life isn't going the way he wants it to because he can't do this one thing, but he doesn't want to do anything else.

And then he finds out about the lavender haired lush living in his magic ring aka his mother's teacher. (Legit his old-man-hair looks vaguely purple, I don't know if this is on purpose or just the colour adjustment on my screen, and he somehow stole a crap load of wine from inside the Spatial Ring.)

And well.

Xiao Yan takes that about as well as can be expected, and tries to get the teacher to teach him, it takes a while but the guy agrees, and most importantly now that the teacher has stabilised, he no longer needs to drain all the Qi from Xiao Yan. (or something?)

Plus Xiao Yan got to watch the teacher, his mother's master known as Medicine Lord (or Medicine Elder in the translation I'm watching), make a fancy medicine which improves Qi Levels, and takes it to get back up to snuff. (Medicine Elder actually made it so Xiao Yan could sell it to buy a supply of wine for him, only Xiao Yan's dad saw it at auction and went: 'aha! A way to help my son not suck at fighting stuff' and buys it and gives it to him.)

(There are performance enhancing drugs abounds in this show.)

And just like that he's become the smartest and most wisest and most capable of all his peers, he is once again a prodigy. Which is where my main problem is with this show.

I don't mind an OP protagonist, but this guy gets a new McGuffin  or super power every other episode I swear.

Worse, we have to assume he's leaps and bound above his peers because he leads the first years to victory against their senior students in their first week, and then beats a few seniors one on 'one' after a new power up is acquired, but for the most part the guys in his year level are shunted out of the way when the good fights/skill tests come along, so we don't really get to see them enough to make a comparison.

(There's a fist fight in the water room, but there's so many people in there that the screen time is pretty split amongst the 'not the protag' characters, so still hard to get a read.)

Not only with fighting skills, but he's also learning all the cool tricks to become the best medicine maker (they use the term Alchemist) ever, like he's just so good, he's better than even the seniors at this thing which he scorned back in the first episode when he wasn't allowed to learn to punch things with magic powers.

Of course, if Xiao Yan does come up against something he doesn't know how to handle, he can just pop into the Spatial Ring to ask his grand master for help and boom: new training montage and ability.

Literally time passes super fast inside the Ring so he can learn a technique that takes him a long time to master basically over night. Downside is he's dead to the real world while that happens.

And oh yeah, he keeps getting power boosts, generally its presented as he's grown wise enough to find ways to increase his power and he's just so intuitive but...

Look, long and short?

I'm sad there's not more Xiao Zhan in this show, The protag is increasingly OP, but he's increasingly OP in an obnoxious way and his primary moment of character growth just seemed to have happened 'at some point', he went from whiny angry teen to team leader and it seemed to happen very suddenly, but I can't say when, and the supporting cast feels like they're just there to let us know how awesome the protag is rather than be people.

Also, and I mention this because I had to reverse charge so hard: I did ship Xiao Yan with Xiao Xun'er, because they had this cute childhood friends to budding teen crush thing going on, and the wikipedia says she's one of his two wives in the novel, so I was all aboard cause she's adorable... she's also his biological cousin. Like I had assumed their shared last name was just a 'it's a sect name that many people in the sect have but he's from the main branch in charge' kind of thing, but no, she's full on adopted by Xiao Yan's dad, because reasons, and also Xiao Yan's mother and Xiao Xun'er biological father were siblings. So now I'm stuck with the knowledge that this really cute ship is incest, (and not just 'technically because adoption' either,) which ruins a lot.

Overall I'm definitely enjoying it, I wouldn't be about to watch episode 18 if I wasn't enjoying it, but I could be enjoying it more.

Also I much prefer his hairstyle from episode 4 onwards, it's just a superior hair style.

[theartofdreaming1]

B99 Fanfic Recommendations (Peraltiago Stylez)

Since I’ll be off to visit my sis for about a week now and then will be busy with an internship for the following 6 weeks, I’ll probably not be able to post much during that time. So I decided to assemble a nice, mostly fluffy collection of b99 stories centered around Jake and Amy I very much enjoy :)

Canon (or canon-divergent or possible-future fic... just non-AU ;) :

One-shots

Enigmatic Easter Bunny by huffellepuff (“The Nine-Nine does a Secret Santa of sorts, and Jake gets Amy.Takes place very shortly before 2x21, Det. Dave Majors.” This is so sweet!)

Untitled Prompt 1 by @elsaclack (”What if Amy and Teddy got engaged during Jake’s undercover op and when Jake’s back the wedding preparations are in full swing and he tries to be supportive but can’t bring himself to go to the wedding?“ It’s by em, so of course it’s friggin’ amazing, duh! ;)

Untitled Prompt 2 by @elsaclack​ (”The night of Captain Latvia, Jake talks to Amy about his thoughts on what Boyle said about Jake never becoming a dad.” Aaah, I love this one so much! So great!)

Untitled Prompt 3 by @elsaclack​ (Amy finds Jake’s folder about her Dad while he’s still in prison. It’s... so... great? And the ending is super sweet!)

Untitled Prompt 4 by @elsaclack​ (Jake moves in with Amy and Amy finds a box with his mixtapes... one of them labeled with the date he went into witness protection. Good lord, this is so amazing! Just... amazing.)

Untitled Prompt 5 by @elsaclack (A father’s day fic. I squealed so hard reading this the first time! It’s super cute!)

Oxford Comma by grapefruity (”She’s got a system, and it isn’t going to come to a standstill just because her messy, disorganized, wreck of a partner makes her sometimes feel things.” The evolution of Jake and Amy’s relationship from Amy’s perspective. Really, really great! I also really love the description of their first encounter - heelies are involved; it’s amazing ^^)

Untitled Prompt by @haylestorming​ (”Amy and Jake talking about their future after the Rosa/Pimento (cancelled) wedding” ADORABLE!)

Untitled Prompt by @hotelsweet (”Random girl at bar starts flirting with Jake, Jake is clueless and it all goes right over his head, Amy steps in and gets her to back off” Do I really need to say more? It’s glorious. ^^)

what’s a home without you here? by @jcobsperalta (”amy comes home, jake is still in prison.“ Oh boy, my heart! But great!)

you’re a sky full of stars by @oceanvirus (”Jake discovers Amy's secret stargazing spot, but he can't seem to focus on constellations as much as he can focus on the one excitedly pointing them out. Takes place between Boyle-Linetti Wedding and Det. Dave Majors.” So. Friggin’. Cute.)

it’s amazing what baking can do by @sergeant-santiago (Jake and Amy face their biggest challenge yet: baking a cake for Charles. Whee! It’s super fun and cute and awesome!!)

all the way home i’ll be warm by @the-pontiac-bandit (“We’re in an abandoned lodge in the middle of nowhere. Sure, you’re totally right, nothing bad could ever happen here.” Cute Christmas fic with all the Santiagos and Jake. Sooo adorable! Get ready for pure joy!)

Multi-Chapters

breaking the first rule by @heart-eyes-santiago (“When did Jake Peralta fall in love with Amy Santiago? And when did she fall in love with him?” Soo good! Really sweet insights on Jake and Amy’s thoughts throughout the show. Complete. 4 Chapters.)

and all my world is losing light by @jakelovesamy ("Day one is listening to Captain Holt telling them not to give up hope, but then overhearing him calling Karen, and telling her in a quiet voice that her son has been sentenced to 15 years, telling her not to cry. Day one is spent filled with fear, and tears, and she punches a wall in their bedroom (because it is still theirs) so hard that the skin on her knuckles splits open. Day one is a cold side of the bed and a thick silence filling up the space where Jake used to be. Day one is overwhelming, plain and simple." Amy finds out she’s pregnant after the end of S4. Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster of awesomeness! Incredibly good. Complete. 2 Chapters.)

it’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams by @oceanvirus (”In which Jake Peralta showing up at Amy Santiago's door in the middle of the night in need of a place to stay is simultaneously the best and worst thing that's ever to happened to them.” temporary roomates... Oh yeah! Excited for more! In-Progress. 1/6 Chapters as of yet.)

Nothing’s Normal in Texas by @okayokaycoolcoolcool (”She started feeling something in Texas. Maybe it was the mind-numbing fear that came with being locked in jail unarmed with murderers.  She probably could’ve blamed how annoyed she was at Jake and his tendency to jump in and make her job harder. Although, now that she thought of it, it was probably just the fake pregnancy that was making her mind funny.  It was probably nothing.” Or was it?! ;) Very cool. Complete. 8 Chapters.)

What to Expect by @three-drink-amy (”After a crazy night together, Amy finds herself pregnant with Jake's baby. They have to learn to be parents while navigating their partnership. Set in season 2.” Really interesting read! In-Progress. 9 Chapters so far.)

AUs:

One-shots

you, me, and the moon by @heart-eyes-santiago (“Amy Santiago's whole world is turned upside when her brother, Manny, invites his best friend and college roommate to stay for the summer. Enter Jake Peralta, his inability to win a game of scrabble, and his ability to win Amy's heart.” Cuuute!)

it’s shaking the sky, and I’m following lightning by @hotelsweet (“jake + amy + meet-cute on a plane = loveliness” Amaazingg! So fun, so cute!)

Untitled Prompt by @the-pontiac-bandit (“Meeting in the ER AU“ Amy is a young doctor and Jake is her patient. *wiggles eyebrows* It’s super fun and flirty, yay!)

Multi-Chapters

if you want me to stay, i will stay by your side by @elsaclack (“For someone whose job requires an unusually large amount of personal risk on a near daily basis, Amy Santiago has not dedicated much time considering how she might one day die. The vague assumption that it will probably happen on the job - via stray bullets or careening cars or massive explosions - has been enough to satisfy any musing.She never imagined doctor's visits or specialist consultations or diagnoses. She never imagined hospital gowns and thinning hair and chemotherapy. And she never, ever imagined cancer.“ 50/50 AU.The Ultimate Angst fic, but it’s amazing! (Better have some tissues ready, though.) In-Progress. 6/11 Chapters as of yet.)

Amy and Jake’s Epic Detour by @hotelsweet (”When 18 yr old Amy Santiago needs to make the trip to New York City for her first year of college, family friend Jake Peralta steps in as a favour- but the week that's about to follow is one that neither of them could have predicted.” THIS. This story is an experience, my friend, and you really should read this because it’s amazing and has an awesome playlist for every chapter and is just AMAZING, okay? Okay. Complete. 10 Chapters.)

everything is easier when you’re home by @sergeant-santiago (”Amy Santiago loves her new apartment. One bedroom, one bathroom, good neighborhood and decent rent. One thing she does not love? Her neighbors. More precisely, whoever lives in the apartment that shares a paper thin wall with hers.” Neighbor AU. Awesome! In-Progress. 4 Chapters so far.)

Camps Safe and Amusing by Talking_Bird (”Amy Santiago was NOT excited to be a camp counselor for a bunch of bratty twelve-year-olds, but she was even less excited to have a jerk like Jake Peralta be her group partner. A fluffy, slow-burn fic with awkward, nerdy Amy and cocky, insensitive Jake.“ Really cool and sweet, it has an awesome bet and everything! Complete. 8 Chapters.)

You’re the Only Song I Want to Hear by Talking_Bird (”Amy is having a really hard time adjusting to college life as an Art Major, but a mysterious pianist in the music conservatory keeps her sane // Jake just wants to do what he loves, but everyone else wants him to be practical. Everyone, that is, except for one person...College AU.” Highly recommended because it’s stupid good. Really. Plus, there is a great piano piece to go with each chapter. Complete. 10 Chapters. )

The Detective and The Squad by @three-drink-amy  (”Amy Santiago is a brilliant detective, quickly burning out on her job. Jake Peralta is a famous actor recently relocated to NYC for his new TV show "The Squad." What will happen when Amy is assigned to be the police consultant for Jake's new show?” Goood... Really good. In-Progress. 6 Chapters so far.)

around my heart like a coronary artery by @the-pontiac-bandit (”Amy Santiago enters NYU Medical School with prep books, a 60-set of colored pens, and a plan. Jake Peralta walks in with gummy bears and orange soda.” Medical students AU. Every chapter represents a year. AMAZING! In-Progress. 2/5 Chapters so far.) 

Sooo... this is a fic rec of quite respectable size, huh? ^^; Would anybody be interested in me continuing/updating this? Let me know! (I assembled this in various stages of consciousness/being awake, so I’m sorry if some of my “reviews/thoughts” on some of the fics are a little too rambly or short - I love them all so much, my dear writers; you are all incredibly awesome! 💕 )

[multi-fan-dom-madness]

JaxCon 2017

Wow. Just wow. I’ve not stopped internally screaming since I stepped foot in the hotel where the convention was being held. That feat becomes much more ridiculous the further away from JaxCon we get, but then again, I’m always screaming about something. So, without further ado, here’s how JaxCon 2017 went down in the eyes of a first-time conventioner. (Sidenote: what even is the term for a person who attends a convention? Is there a term? Because there should be if there isn’t already.) (Another sidenote: I have literally 13 other videos, one of which is Matt and Rob doing imitations, which is always hilarious, so if you want those just lemme know. Now keep reading :P )

THURSDAY

I went to this convention with my mom. It had been a high school graduation present for me last June, so for months and months I’d been dreaming about what it would be like, what would happen, who I’d meet, what I’d say. I can confidently say that no amount of daydreaming (or even dreaming in general) can prepare one for the atmosphere and the pace of a convention. We rolled into Jacksonville around 8 o’clock, but by some cruel twist of fate, we did not end up eating dinner until after midnight. Thank Chuck god for early registration. I went to bed after reading a mind-numbing 30+ pages of my Colonial America history textbook. Yay me.

FRIDAY

We were up early, on account of my need to take care of some homework before the weekend’s shenanigans got underway. But as soon as work was finished, we were ready to roll and boy, did things roll. After a quick exploration of the vendor hall, I made the spur-of-the-moment decision to buy photo ops with Rob and Richard (separate). My mom looked surprised, I guess because after all my antics about how much I love Lucifer, I went with God. Anyways.

As much as I love J2, I can proudly say that Rob and Richard made my top 5 favorite things of the con. Aside from being utterly adorable awesome, the men are geniuses. I mean, who else stands in front of a full convention hall and declares, “We love KoC!” (And if you don’t know how to pronounce it for whatever reason, it sounds exactly the way it looks.) Friday would also begin the weekend-long trend of referencing “lumbersexuality,” as well as the entire cast’s undivided support and admiration of the Women’s Marches occurring all over the country.

First panel of the day was the lovely Alaina Huffman (Abaddon). She’s so pretty!!! And funny!!! And amazing!!! Unfortunately, none of my photos of her came out any kind of decent, which really sucks, because she is really beautiful. She talked about her background in modeling and how she became an actress. But by far my favorite quote from her was:

“You guys write porn about us. It’s weird.”

Apparently she had either been sent or had found (I forget which) a fic in which Abaddon was with Dean, who was wearing a very nice pair of pink panties. Props to whoever wrote that.

Next up was Death himself, Julian Richings. Apparently none of my photos of him turned out decent, either. Regardless, I think the best part about his panel was his uncanny ability to sound like either Ron or Harry from Potter Puppet Pals depending on how he was talking. In his “I’m from England and this American stuff is all new to me!” bit, he sounds like Ron. When discussing why he gets cast as the “bad guy” in certain productions, he is able to imitate Harry as he lists the two things necessary for a villain: cheekbones and an accent.

He also told his concussion story, which apparently had kept Rich up the night before. I don’t have video of it, but if you can find it, it’s pretty hilarious. Long story short, he was running to catch a bus/trolley/some form of public transportation when he ran headfirst into one of those clear bus stop walls, knocking him over backwards. Forehead bleeding, concussed, a knot the size of an egg where he hit the glass. He’s a crazy old guy, but he’s got great energy. I admire that.

Jason Manns. Unf. What can I say about Jason Manns other than he was unexpectedly and wholly attractive and so sweet. He’s honestly such a nice guy. He told us how he tried using his Apple Watch to scan his airplane tickets. Someone said he was being hipster. He replied, “It would be hipster if I did it right. It was much more dad the way I did it.” Basically, he was trying to scan a ticket at the wrong gate, holding up a line of people, and only after about five minutes of confusion the airport people realized what was going on.

Someone asked him something about how he gets his lyrics/writing to be the way he wants them. The two things he said that stood out to me were:

“Art is not perfect.”

&

“Not trying to be perfect is the way to get it closest to perfect.”

Simple advice, really. Hard to put into practice, though.

He sang “Stand by Me” and then the question right after that was about what song he thought fit his life, and he said, “I wish you would’ve asked that before I played that song, but um, I’d like to think that Stand by Me would be that song for me.”

I got to ask him a question!!! Excitement!!! Here’s the gist of what happened: I asked what it was like working with Jared and Misha on the Christmas album a few years back. Jason explains that he enjoys collaborating with a lot of people and makes the point that those two are some of the busiest guys you’ll ever meet, so he had about two hours to record their songs. Ends with, “Somewhere in that long rambling attempt, did I answer your question?” Cutie. (I’d embed the video but Tumblr only allows for 5 videos. Sigh.)

He also sang two songs with Rob, but for whatever reason only one of the videos actually works, and it’s the better of the two songs anyways (in my opinion, at least), so enjoy that:

Oh, and as a follow-up type question to mine, someone else asked about the Christmas album as well. They wanted to know why he chose to switch the traditional gender roles in “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” His answer?

“I think we can all agree it’s kind of a rape-y song.”

He also wanted to recreate the original scene that that song was choreographed to, but it never happened. There’s always hope, though!

Last came Gabe Tigerman, who was filling the space that Emily Swallow was supposed to be in. (Kinda bummed she didn’t get to make it, but hey, Gabe was hilarious so I guess it worked out alright.) He got asked if he would ever go on a ghost hunt with Chad Lindberg. He rejected the idea right away, because Chad is always talking about how he got scratched by like, a demon, “but it’s fun! You should come!” or how something followed Chad home, “but you should come!” Gabe was like, 

“I don’t like ghosts, and maybe that’s close-minded of me.”

On the subject of Chad - someone asked Gabe what he thought his character Andy’s personal heaven would be like. He started out describing a very Scooby-Doo-esque scenario in which Ash and Andy would just drive around heaven, and then it turned into a discussion of a fanfic he’d seen involving Ash and Andy (or Chad and Gabe, I don’t remember which to be honest). After about five minutes of recounting this fanfic experience, he stops and goes, “I just learned a lot about myself, wow.”

He also recounted his college road trip for us, which was one of the funniest stories I’ve heard in a while. If you haven’t heard it, go look it up. It’s about the world’s largest groundhog (which turned out to be the world’s largest groundhog statue) and the world’s only 5- and 6-legged cows. Seriously. Just YouTube it. I’m cracking up writing about it.

And that was it for Friday’s panels. But there were autograph signings by Richard, Gabe, Alaina, and Julian and we did those. Since they were pretty much on schedule that day, we got to have our autographs personalized. My name is kind of a weird one - Rhiannon - and at first I was only going to have them put “Rhi” simply because it’s easier to write, easier to spell, etc. But I changed my mind and put my full name.

Richard looked at it, started writing it, and when he got to the second “n” he freezes and goes, “Wait. Did I do that right? That’s a lot of n’s.” 

PSA: If you have not yet noticed, Rich has some of the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something because I’ve also seen Jensen’s eyes up close. Fuck, man. Sunlight through whiskey, indeed.

Anyways. Gabe looked at my name and held up a finger as he spelled it out. “R-H-I-A-N-N-O-N. Is that right?” The volunteer at the table asked my mom, who was behind me, where she wanted him to sign her thing. She said he could sign it wherever - hell, he could draw a flower for all she cared. He looked up and grinned and said, “Oh, you’re getting a flower.” And he drew one for her. 

Alaina didn’t even blink at my name, just wrote it out like she did it every day. She told us that her kids all have unique names, and that it was because of her ex-husband, but she was like, “Really, you want to give our kids weird names? Okay, John.” She’s so cute, I love her.

Julian looked at it and asked, “Is it Welsh?” My mom and I both answered that it was and he asked what it meant. My mom said something about how it means goddess, water nymph, witch - and that I embody every single one of those. (I’m flipping my hair right now. Bow before me, peasants, I am your goddess.)

After that we had a bit of a break, so we ate dinner and then sat around for like an hour and a half before the karaoke party started. Once it started, it was great. We had Matt Cohen and Rich dressed up quite hilariously-

And if you haven’t heard about it yet, this is where Matt’s moose knuckle comes into play.

His mustache kept falling off and he had glue running into his mouth, poor dude. He and Rich were great, though. They made all the karaoke participants run in front of the stage whenever there was an instrumental break in their song. They were joined by all the people who had panels that day, as well as Rob, Jason Manns, and his college buddy Hayden Lee. Look at these precious friends.

Somewhere in the midst of practically screaming the words to all the songs, I realized I had a much bigger crush on Rob than I originally thought. It was one of those odd moments where you can feel yourself slipping down the slope of “oh god they’re really great I love them” and I’m still sliding down that incline. I’ve had like five Louden Swain songs stuck in my head for the past couple days, send help.

Anyways. Somehow the people singing karaoke went from nice classic rock to Toxic and Hollaback Girl and shit like that. It was weird. But a good time.

SATURDAY

Explored the vendor hall some more after we had breakfast. I found this shirt-

which I thought was great. Should’ve got it - I was a Friday person - but I didn’t. Oh well. Next time. After the vendor hall we had to go sit in the ballroom for the opening bit by Rob and Rich. They talked a little about the Women’s Marches going on all across the country, but veered off course when Rich missed the second “r” in Rob’s name, calling him “Robbit.” (Rob replied by calling Rich “Richad.”) One of them mentioned the similarity to The Hobbit. They called the Shire “the Squire” and “Hobbitville” and said,

“We’re not the tallest guys but we are the tallest Hobbits.”

One of them (I think Rob? Correct me if I’m wrong) spoke as a Hobbit in a high voice. Rich was like, 

“In the new Trump America, Hobbits have high voices.”

They talked about deporting all the Hobbits in the country, building a wall around the Squire, etc. And then somehow the topic moved onto Rich’s ice cream van. If you can find a video of this, please please PLEASE watch it. Funny shit. My favorite interaction to come out of it, though, was:

Rich: I do have a van.

Rob: Don’t...don’t get in Richard’s van.

Rich continued the trend of calling Rob “Bobbo” which I will never ever let go of. If I ever get around to writing all the Rob fic ideas I have now, he’s being called “Bobbo” at least once in all of them. Sorry not sorry.

I don’t really remember much else from their introduction on Saturday except Rich proclaiming,

“We are all parishioners in the High Church of the Holy Dick!”

To which I had to “woot!” in agreement because, I mean, c’mon. I’m totally a part of that now.

Jim Beaver was the first panel of Saturday morning. According to him, the elixir of life is Dr. Pepper, which I wholeheartedly second. Early on, he was asked a question pertaining to what he was recognized most for, Bobby or some other character. He said,

“A lot of people recognize me from prison.”

And when everyone laughed:

“I used to do outreach programs, what did you think I meant?”

He was asked how he prepared for the scene where Bobby dies, and he said, “I just...pretended I was dying.” He also said that during that entire scene, Jared was twisting his toes so it was a bit difficult to act like he was dying when that was happening. Towards the end of his panel, someone asked him what he would rename vampires. His answer:

“What’s wrong with callin’ them vampires? ... Toothy fang buddies.”

So now that we have a new name for vampires, I expect you all to adjust your lives accordingly. Petition for Twilight to be remade specifically for the purpose of replacing every instance of the word “vampire” with “toothy fang buddy.” (I’m laughing at my own idea, but just imagine: “Say it. Out loud.” “A toothy fang buddy.” Dear god I crack myself up.)

After Jim, it was Mark Pellegrino. Though his entire panel was extremely entertaining, the only things I wrote down had to do with what Lucifer did in the cage with Sam, Adam, and Michael as well as pre-release. To the first one, Mark said that the last time he answered that question, he’d been attacked on Twitter for merely suggesting that they were all getting it on, basically. So he changed his answer to, “A perennial game of strip poker.” (Someone write the fic.) In answer to what Lucifer did before he was freed from the cage, he said,

“Whatever he was doing with the others, he did with himself. Take that however you want.”

Somewhere in the panel, someone asked him how they could go about showing that they were a Supernatural fan without looking like a Satanist. Mark basically told the person to think about what other people think and say, “Fuck ’em.” Middle fingers all the way. Who cares what they think? Solid advice.

After Mark went off-stage, there was a bit of a break during which Rob was signing some things and the Misha photo op was going on. I had that photo op, and it was my first one, and I honestly don’t remember much about it, but here’s what I do remember.

I remember going upstairs to the room where they had the photos set up. As soon as I saw Misha, that was it, I started freaking out almost as bad as the girl in front of me. But the closer I got, the more I calmed down, mostly because he’s really tall and I was so focused on that I forgot why I was nervous. Like, I’ve seen posts about how he’s actually a normal-sized human being but damn, you don’t realize just how tall he really is until you’re about 10 feet away from him, starstruck.

When it was my turn, I just kinda forced the words out past the residual nerves and asked, “Can we do back-to-back with our arms crossed?” He gave a little nod and that was that. I looked up at him right after and thanked him. (My internal monologue at this point was something like: “holy shit this is Misha Collins his eyes are sO BLUE WHAT THE FUCK.”) As soon as I walked away I started crying, but I calmed down pretty quickly. Here’s how that op turned out:

Right after that, we had to go back downstairs for Mark Sheppard’s panel. I knew going into it that he has the tendency to make fun of the people asking the questions, but my mom did not know and so the first person he messed with she looked at me like, “What the hell???” But Crowley is one of her favorites and she soon was in tears laughing so hard. Just some quick interactions:

Fan: What’s it like being the King of Hell? Mark: I don’t know, I’m an actor who plays him.

A fan in the crowd hands him a rose. Mark: *to the fan asking a question* Yeah, I got a rose, you can go home now.

A fan dressed as Castiel is asking a question. Mark interrupts to ask who they’re dressed as.  "Um ... Castiel?” “Who’s she?”

A fan has their question written on their phone. Mark looks at it and says, “Will Crowley ever be the King of Hell aga- go away.”

After a fan calls him pretty: “I haven’t been called pretty in a long time. But it’s nice, and I appreciate it.”

He also stopped to play with probably every baby in the room. He’s such a dad, it’s so cute. 

After that was another break, so we were going to eat lunch, but as we were walking through the vendor hall, Louden Swain came out to their table to do a quick acoustic performance. Jason Manns and Hayden Lee joined them. We got lucky; we were able to be at the front of the crowd, close to the table, so that was super cool. In order, the songs are called “Night Light,” “Revolution,” and “Stowaway.” Here’s the full performance:

Afterwards we were also lucky enough to catch Jason and he was kind enough to take a quick photo. Like I said, real sweet guy. Also very big and I mean that in the best way because he made me feel small and I could get used to that. I did get used to that, actually, by the end of the con. I’m 5′2″, I can’t really feel anything but small. But anyways, Jason was great and he’s adorable. 

Not long after that was my photo op with Rob. He’s such a cutie oh my dear lord. I was one of the first maybe 20 or 30 to take a photo with him. When it was my turn, I asked, “Can you hug me from behind?” He was like, “Yeah!” (So cute, ugh.) After, I turned and thanked him and he said, “Thank you.” Maybe had a hand on my back/shoulder? I don’t remember. I was freaking out too much. He’s seriously attractive and I still can’t handle it.

Next was the panel with Rob, Rich, and Matt. Very first question was about the train story, so we got a super abridged version of that. Someone else asked if they could do their impressions of each other.

My favorite part of their panel was when Rob was asked what he would do to Rich and Matt if he had God’s powers for a day. Someone suggested making them make-out. Rob laughed and then gave his answer. I didn’t get the full quote, but this is basically the gist of it:

“I’d make Rich my go-get-me guy. You know, like, I left my bag in my room, go get me it. ... And Matt, Matt would be my body guard. ... And then I’d make them make-out.”

Rob was also asked how God would come back to the show. He said, “Sam or Dean would be praying, and I’d just walk around the corner, eating a bowl of cereal in my boxer shorts. ‘You called?’”

Look at these cuties.

Misha was the last panel on Saturday.

I didn’t realize until making this post that Misha’s feet are off the ground. Dorks. Anyways, the four big things I remember from him are:

House lights come up. Misha looks out at the audience and says, “Wow, this is almost as many people as were at Trump’s inauguration.”

A man asked a question but started with, “She said she’d hit me if I didn’t come ask you this.” Misha went on to interrogate the man about his marriage to this “she” only to find out that the woman in question was the man’s daughter. Misha’s face was priceless.

He was asked which bad habit of his he didn’t want his kids to inherit. He went on a rant about technology, and as soon as he finished, his phone rang. It was his mother-in-law, but when he called her back she said she hadn’t tried to call. She was so cute to listen to.

Someone asked about his internship at the White House. He said he expected it to be much more political, but they had him licking stamps all day. He told us, “I remember thinking, ‘This isn’t fun, I don’t like licking stamps’ - which is not entirely true. They’re kinda tasty.”

Me too, Misha, me too.

After that was my photo op with Rich. I was a little less nervous for this one than the previous two, but I mean it’s Richard Speight, Jr. of course I was excited. I got up to him and said, “Hi!” He said, “Hi, how ya doing?” to which I replied, “Good! Can you hug me from behind?” (I’m so original, I know.) He was like, “I sure can!” And like the other two, I thanked him afterward and he said thank you as well, one hand on my back. Squee!

As soon as that was done, we headed back downstairs for the next round of autographs: Mark Sheppard, Matt, Misha, and Mark Pellegrino. These went quick, because they were running a little behind schedule, so no personalization on these, sadly., except from Pellegrino Mark Sheppard asked me if I was having fun, to which I replied, “Yes! Very much fun.” There’s that wonderful English I was talking about earlier. Matt said he was going to take his two year-old to Disney Land in Cali. Misha didn’t say anything. Straight faced the entire time. Was a little unsettling. But I suppose that’s Misha. Mark Pellegrino was super nice. The woman in front of me shared a name with his mother, and my mom was like, “I bet no one in your family has her name” (”her” meaning mine). He kinda laughed and said, “Nope.” He wrote “Love you!” on it but at first I thought it was “fuck you!” and honestly I would’ve been happy either way.

We finally ate dinner. And then it was the Saturday Night Special with Louden Swain. We all got kazoos and glow sticks! We also raised over $5,000 just in the ballroom alone, for a total of more than $70,000 overall. It was nuts. When Misha announced it towards the end of the show, he got quiet and went, “Holy shit.” The show itself was amazing. I’m just going to put a few of the videos, but know that they also sang “No Time Like the Present,” “Whipping Post,” “Fare Thee Well,” “Wagon Wheel,” “Juliet,” “Amazing,” and some others (not in that order but you get the idea). The only thing I will say is that between songs, someone yelled that Rob gives good hugs. He asked, “What was the question? Free hugs?” The fan repeated their statement and Rob grinned really big and said, “Oh! Thank you. I- I like to give hugs.” Could he be any friggin’ cuter? (The answer is yes. So much yes.)

Superman - Rob and Rich

She Waits - such raw emotion from Rob. He’s a beautiful singer. Fuck. (Sidenote: after this song he got really quiet and got that 50-yard stare and I just. I love him. Precious man.)

Medicated - ft. the best kazoo solo ever (please listen to all the comments Rob makes because they’re hilarious. And so are Rich and Pellegrino trying to smoke their kazoos. This is also where the “Goddammit I love you” comes from.)

And that was the end of our Saturday night! Well, sort of. I'm pretty sure when we got back to our room I went and read some fanfiction, and my mom was like, “What are you reading?” After a long pause, I answered, “Fanfiction.” I read a bit more and then my mom told me to go to bed and said something about it being weird that I was reading porn in the same room as her. I believe her exact words were, “That’s kind of fucked up.” In my defense, only one of the five quick fics I read were porn, as she put it.

SUNDAY

First thing Sunday morning was the J2 Gold Panel. And yes this is when Jensen was asked the Destiel question, I don’t wanna talk about it, don’t ask me about it, just stop with it. It happened, now move on.

Jensen said that on set, whenever Jared doesn’t want to laugh out loud, he just hums. Straight up hums.

Someone asked them what Jared and Jensen would tell Sam and Dean and what Sam and Dean would tell Jared and Jensen. Jared replied, “As Jared, I’d tell Sam that there’s probably some demons in Hawaii. And as Sam, I’d tell Jared to watch out for Ruby.” Jensen answered, “As Dean, I’d tell Jensen to enjoy his blissful domestic life. As Jensen, I’d tell Dean to oil the freakin’ hinges on the car doors.”

I think after that was the Jensen photo op. I was shaking before I even got in line for it. As soon as I got in the room and saw him I started to tear up, but I held it together. About 60 seconds before it was my turn I decided I was just going to hug him - and I planned to say that - but once I stepped up next to him all I managed was, “Hi!” Damn his hair. Damn his height. Damn his eyes which were more hazel than green thanks to the shirt he wore. Just damn him. I don’t remember much except he was warm. I don’t even remember if I said thank you. As soon as I walked away, that was it, I started sobbing. Full on sobbing, with big fat tears and everything. Cried for probably half an hour, not gonna lie. He’s a beautiful human being.

lOOK AT HIS TONGUE THOUGH OMG.

Once I calmed down, I redid my make-up and then we walked the vendor hall one more time so I could get a Louden Swain t-shirt (and also bought their new album, No Time Like the Present - go listen to it, it’s great). Not long after that was my photo op with Jared. I was less nervous for this one - must have gotten it out of my system after Jensen. Jared was so cute. And so, so, so very tall. When it was my turn I asked him, “Can you use me as an armrest, for the height difference?” He was like, “Yeah!” I managed to sneak in a quick hug right after and good GOD his back muscles, you guys. So firm, so defined. Anywho, this was my favorite op of the weekend.

He’s so tall that his knee is bent even with his arm on my head. Amazing.

Right after that we ran back downstairs for the Louden Swain autograph signing and I talked to Rob!!! He’s so cute!!! No hesitation, I said, “I’m writing a story about you for my creative writing class.” He said, “Oh really?” and I was like, “Well, not you, more like God, but same difference, right?” My mom jumped in with, “She’s meeting you in an elevator.” I stepped to the side at this point as he had passed along the CD they were all signing, didn’t catch what he said (or even realize he said something until I noticed he was still looking at me). “Pardon?” I asked. He said, “That’s a good idea. Good luck!” and wINKED and I still haven’t come back to life from that yet. I’m a ghost now. He’s so goddamn pretty. Such blue eyes and a cute smile and I just. *buries face in hands*

Anyways. Jim Beaver had a Sunday panel. Here’s some of what stuck with me:

“I write pretty well when I get around to writing.”

(on kissing Mark Sheppard) “...it was like kissing a dirt sandwich with stubble. No, it was the most romantic day of my life. ... I don’t lose as much sleep over it as Mark Sheppard does. I’m not as needy as he is.”

“You’re asking me to be creative up here, which is more than I’m willing to do.”

(after answering about a Bobby and Rufus spin-off) “You guys would be there for an episode about a can of corn that was in an episode.”

“I really hate to disagree with the current administration, but there is actually a thing such as facts.”

After Jim, it was Jared and Jensen’s main panel. 

Honestly the main things that stuck with me from this were that “Pudding!” was written as Sam's line, and that the grenade launcher scene wasn’t scripted. 

Oh, and we sang Happy Birthday to Clif after the last question.

Mark Sheppard’s Sunday panel was the last thing before autograph signings. I was working on homework for most of this panel (and by homework I mean my God story), so the only things I caught were:

“Lumbersexual? Sounds like a back issue.”

&

“Word of the Day: Lumbersexual.”

After that Rob and Stephen sent us home and then the only thing left was the J2 autograph signings.

Oh, boy. We got Jensen first, and now that I had a little more time (because they really do rush you through the photo ops) it really hit me just how goddamn pretty he is. Obviously he’s an attractive guy, but in person? With the hair and the jawline and the lips and the eyes? Some lucky person ahead of us in line got the full force of the lip bite. Oh, to be that fortunate. Sigh.

Anyways. We get up there, in front of him, and after he asked how we were doing, my mom said something along the lines of, “I just wanted to thank you, because this show is the reason she is who she is, and her dad hasn’t always been the best dad, but you guys have kind of been like stand-in fathers for her.” She was tearing up and I just nodded in agreement and Jensen was smiling so soft at both of us - smile lines in full effect (did I mention he’s pretty?). I jumped in here and gestured to her crying and said, “She wouldn’t stop making fun of me earlier for not being able to say anything but ‘hi’ at the photo op.” That made him laugh and he looked at my photo and was like, “Look at that smile though!” Then he looked back up and grabbed my hand (*internal screaming intensifies*) then my mom’s and said that he loves hearing stories like that from fans. And that was that.

When we finally got up to Jared my mom had calmed down - like me, she got it out of her system. I had two things I wanted Jared to sign: my photo op with him, and this:

It was a chalk piece I did at a local street painting festival in February 2016, and I got so many compliments on it just for the quote alone. So I stepped up to the table and the first thing Jared said was, “I like your shirt.” I handed the AKF photo to him to sign and he got this big grin on his face and asked, “What’s that?” My mom and I both were like, “That’s you!” He said, “I know that, but what is it?” I explained what it was, then gave him a smaller version of it, saying, “That one’s for you to keep.” He looked at it, looked at me, and said, “Wow. This is amazing. You’re amazing.” Gave me a high five (his hands are so huge, damn). My mom said, “You’re amazing” and Jared replied with, “Well, that’s only because I get to be around amazing people all day.” He put his copy of the photo in a little box with other things people had given him, then when he turned back around he grinned again and said, “Fuck that’s cool.”

So he signed the AKF one, then my mom again explained the impact both he and Jensen have had on me and how “she fell in love with the show and the characters and then with you as people and as fathers, because her father isn’t always around.” Jared said, “Well thank you for being part of the family.” I was like, “No thank you.” Because seriously, without them, none of this would be possible as a fandom. Then he went to sign my photo op and said, “Now I feel bad for putting my arm on your head.” We laughed and said it was perfectly fine.

My mom asked real quick if he could write out “always keep fighting” for the tattoo I’m going to be getting, and the people at the table were like, “You only had two autographs” or whatever but Jared immediately said, “No I’ll write it. My handwriting is horrible, though.”

And that was it. I’m still overwhelmed by it all. Meeting them has been my dream for years. It doesn’t really feel real. But hey, Jared said I’m amazing and Jensen held my hand and Rob winked at me (and liked my tweet!!!), so I’m happy. Can’t wait to see what surprises the next go-round brings. But until then, stay lovely.

(If you’ve made it this far, congrats! I apologize for the ridiculous length. But while I have you here, if you have any fic ideas/requests, my inbox is always open.)

[murasaki-murasame]

Monogatari Series Rewatch Part 1: Bakemonogatari [Hitagi Crab]

I was planning to keep up with the rewatch going on over at the anime subreddit, in preparation for Owari S2 coming out, but I got sidetracked and now it’s been going on for like a month and a half. Hoo boy. Let’s try and get this done before the next season starts. This whole thing is just gonna me my vague unplanned ramblings as I rewatch each arc. I’m caught up on the anime, outside of the Kizu films, so I’m not really gonna avoid spoiling later stuff. Keep that in mind.

More under the cut. [This got a bit longer than expected. Huh]

So here we are. Owari S2 is finally approaching and so now I’m finally getting around to rewatching the entire series. Woo. Truth be told, I haven’t actually rewatched this series at all since I first saw it around 2013 or so, outside of stuff like the OPs/EDs and a few random good scenes I could find on youtube. So it’s been a while since I first watched this arc, to put it lightly.

Probably the most surreal part of this was just how much I actually remember quite vividly. But that’s largely due to having seen like a thousand screenshots and reaction images from the show over the last few years. I’m almost more used to seeing this show in static image form rather than in motion, so this took some getting used to. It made it feel pretty nostalgic, at least.

I’d definitely forgotten the extent of how bizarre and sort of creepy and tense the early parts of the show were. It definitely gets toned down a little in later seasons. It makes a lot of sense in hindsight that the director of this season worked on Kizu after this and someone else took up work on the rest of the series. I kinda wish that some of the artistic decisions from this point were used more/at all later in the series. Like that really Sayonaya Zetsubou Sensei-esque part of Araragi having his head ripped off and spaghetti flying everywhere. I completely forgot that happened, so that threw me off a bit. I kinda loved it, though.

On the topic of artistic elements, it’s interesting to me how ambitious and dense this still feels even though you can tell how Shaft was probably falling apart at the seams as a company behind the scenes. It still feels remarkably similar to later parts of the series, just less polished. It probably helps that the version I’m watching seems to be the BD version. Not sure how that’ll hold up for future seasons. Anyway, I love the attention to detail with how all the characters move and pose and talk. This show really knows how to sell you on it’s characters immediately. The whole first-person POV scene of Araragi talking to Hanekawaw and fidgeting with his pen, with it almost always covering her eyes, was a pretty fantastic scene in general, with setting up the dynamic they have, and his personality. I kinda wish there were more scenes like that, but even in Bake I don’t remember there being any others. It’s fitting that it’s one of the first proper scenes we get of Araragi, though, since it helps to immediately set up the idea of us seeing things through his eyes, both literally and metaphorically. The way that this show plays with concepts of unreliable narration in a visual way really is amazing, even if most people, including me, tend to not notice it before we start getting arcs from the POV of other characters. But I’ll get into that when the time comes. Which won’t be until the SS arcs, really.

I read this arc in LN form a few months ago when it came out, and seeing this arc again in anime form, it just makes me more and more surprised at how much Shaft added to the experience. Logically I knew that the LN wasn’t exactly gonna have art or music or voice acting, but it surprised me how relatively . . . barren it felt, and how much slower the pacing seemed. But I’ll talk about that more if/when I do a big review post of the three Bake LNs.

The relative plainness of the LN’s tone made it even more surreal and interesting to be reminded just how dark and creepy and sinister and fast-paced this arc in particular feels in the anime. I really love it. Especially the weird little Kizu recap at the start [which was kinda odd to watch when we now have the Kizu films to compare it with]. And the rapid text flashes and such. It’s a great example of how much artistic direction can affect the atmosphere of something like this.

It feels weird to talk about the actual story of this arc, at least since I don’t want to literally recap the entire thing or anything. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself and talk about how this plays into other arcs, especially Kizu. I guess I’ll work it out as I go along. Anyway, one thing I definitely want to talk about is that I’d somehow forgotten, at least before I read the LN version of this arc, that Senjougahara was a victim of sexual assault. Since it’s basically never mentioned again after this arc. I really appreciate how this series can touch upon some surprisingly serious, real-life stuff in realistic and nuanced ways, while still having such a bombastic, comedic atmosphere most of the time. It’s neat. It makes me appreciate that she’s depicted almost always as being completely in control of herself and her body, and that she’s the one who tends to be romantically forward with Araragi. Obviously this is part of the unreliable narration and everyone else sees her as being way more ‘normal’, so to say, but still. Sometimes the fanservice in this series is a bit . . . iffy, but as a whole the story avoids handling Senjougahara in too gross of a manner, in the context of what happened to her in the past.

Which reminds me, it still surprises me how much I like their relationship, considering how much I tend to be turned off by perverted male MCs and tsundere female love interests. I honestly can’t really fully explain WHY I like them so much, but I do. It’s actually one of the few m/f ships I genuinely really like, instead of feeling sorta ambivalent toward [or outright disliking]. Who would have thought?

I don’t have a lot to say about Araragi at this very moment, at least since the more interesting parts of his character play out in later arcs. But I do really, really like Senjougahara, and I wish she appeared more in later arcs. She’s just immediately compelling as a character. I love how weighty and overwhelming and sharp her presence in so many scenes feel, as Araragi tries to keep up with her. And I quite like her softer side, which we see at the end of the arc.

I also still really love basically every OP and ED in this entire series, even though I feel like I never quite liked this arc’s OP and Bake’s ED as much as most people do. I feel like a lot of the later OPs feel more interesting and memorable, and I tend to find all the EDs in this series to be a bit forgettable for some reason. Oh well. I still love the art in the ED though, and I appreciate that they kept that style intact for the later ones.

I feel like this post in particular might end up being longer than later ones since there’s a lot to get off my chest right at the start. Hah. My other ramble posts will probably be shorter. Dunno about the review posts I might do for each entire season, though.

P.S: If there’s anything I’d like to get across in this entire rewatch, it’s that, even if there’s some iffy elements that I sorta ignore, there’s still a whole list of elements to this series that I adore, which have nothing to do with fanservice. As a gay man, it sometimes bugs me when people act like this series is nothing but cute girls, as if there’d be no room to like the series at all if cute girls aren’t your thing. So I want to let myself ramble about all the other parts of the show and how much I love them. [Though, ironically enough, there’s actually some elements to the fanservice that I genuinely appreciate, which I’ll probably mention as they appear. Which I already sorta did a bit in this post. Sometimes people go a little overboard about acting like the fanservice in this show is pure art and that all of it has purpose and meaning outside of, ya know, fanservice. There’s definitely parts of it worth discussing and praising, but lol let’s not kid ourselves, this series is definitely aimed largely at people who like cute girls, and that’s fine.]