#better cartoon. you are NOT going to waste your time doing that. it would be such a tragedy. now. remember again! absolutely do NOT follow

[ducktracy]

!!!NEW REVIEW!!!

another short prone to terminal Ben Hardaway-itis, Porky’s Baseball Broadcast is best seen as a bridge between two other Freleng directed shorts based on baseball—1936’s Boulevardier from the Bronx and 1946’s Baseball Bugs, the latter of which derives inspiration from this one. a spot gag cartoon under the duplicitous disguise of a Porky short, Porky serves as a commentary to guide the audience through a variety of baseball themed hijinks.

[thollandneedy]

Princess Leia Situation- Peter Parker

A/n: I always wanted to write this one, since i watched Friends for the first time. I hope you guys enjoy!

Warnings: Sexual but not a smut; Cursing; Awkwardness

Summary: Y/n tries out a sexy costume for Valentines day, but it goes wrong

Don’t forget to share, like, comment and leave your ideas here

Bellah’s Masterlist 🪻

Peter's bedroom door was closed, as he needed privacy at that moment. Peter's mouth descended slowly between wet kisses and hickeys on his girlfriend Y/n's neck, while the girl guided his head down her sensitive body with her hand. The girl could feel the slight pressure between her legs, and her boyfriend's heart beating hard against her chest.

The sexual air was very palpable, but lately Y/n seemed to be preoccupied with routine sex. Apart from the fact that it had already been an argument with her boyfriend, the girl had been searching every day for ways to improve their sexual relationship, but no idea seemed to be enough.

They had tried positions like 69 or a tantric massage, but nothing seemed to please Peter very much. Since they had started having sex in their third month of dating, he had always tried to show off his skills or introduce different objects to stimulate his girlfriend better. The brunette wasn't hard in bed, but he liked to learn more about his tastes every day by trying different things on his own or with Y/n.  St. Valentine's Day was approaching, as was the anticipation of a fuck he would never forget.

"'Babe?" Peter caught the eye of his girlfriend, who seemed to have lost her way.

"Hmm?" Y/n focuses her eyes on Peter, who looks at her with a slight smile.

"What were you thinking?" The boy uses one of his fingers to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, then kisses her. 

"Just about your Valentine's Day present. I want our night to be perfect."

"My darling." Peter looks at her lovingly. "Don't worry about it. It's already going to be perfect because it's you, so whatever you have planned, don't put so much pressure on yourself." 

"I know." The girl let all the air out of her chest as she replied, still staring at the image of her boyfriend with a white blouse clinging to his muscles. 

Fuck, he was so damn hot

"Sorry to break the mood. Can we go back?" The girl asks, receiving a silent affirmation in response.

Peter melted into Y/n's lips once again, bringing one of his hands up to the girl's exposed thighs and squeezing. His fingers were dangerously close to her crotch, causing a sly moan to be uttered. Y/n's body seemed to vibrate at her boyfriend's touch, making her raise her waist in search of the intimate touch she so desperately needed.

"I'll take care of you, love." The brunette slid his fingers between the girl's legs, letting all her worries go to waste when he found that perfect spot. 

(...)

Valentine's Day, and she still hadn't thought of what to do.

It seemed like everyone on earth had an idea for later, but she hadn't planned anything much, since Peter was going to cook for her in his apartment. Y/n woke up mentally yelling at herself, because as well as being in finals week, she hadn't liked the present she'd bought for her boyfriend. The white bag on her desk in front of the window was a reminder.

I shouldn't have bought a Grogu mug, Y/n thinks.

The silence in her house was customary, but she realized that she had woken up two hours before her lesson, giving her time to watch television and eat cereal like a child watching a cartoon. The girl in the pink sweater and slippers got out of bed, headed for the kitchen to prepare her cereal and watch Friends, as she did almost every day. Letting the streaming channel choose a random episode, she ran to the cutlery drawer to get a spoon, and finally settled down between pillows and a warm blanket. 

At the end of the episode, and the cereal, his brain exploded with the best idea he could have come up with. With an optimistic smile, Y/n kissed the television and laughed.

"Rachel Green, you're a genius. I love you" The girl in pajamas says to the screen, and runs to her room to change.

Later that day, in the apartment left by May so that Peter and Y/n could spend the night alone, the girl was tapping her feet frantically. The spaghetti bolognese seemed to go down her throat like water, not even giving her time to chew it properly. The lights were off, with only a few candles that smelled of pine cones. Peter, with a worried frown, asked:

"Are you in a hurry?" The brunette laughs to himself, and can hear Y/n's heart beating faster when she is asked.

Y/n brings her eyes up to his, staring at him with her mouth smeared with red sauce. The girl silently denies it, letting out a laugh covered by a napkin. Peter leans against the table, reaching out with the napkin to wipe the rest of the sauce off his girlfriend. The girl smiles, looking down at her black-heeled feet and long-sleeved burgundy tube dress. 

"You look beautiful today, you know that?" Parker compliments her.

The girl lets out a nervous laugh, looking down at her handbag on the kitchen worktop. 

Oh, fuck me

"You look wonderful as always." Y/n returned the compliment to her boyfriend, who was wearing a black polo shirt.

The student picked up the glass of white wine in front of them, raising it with the intention of making a toast. Coughing dryly, Y/n copied his boyfriend's action, smiling forcedly at him. Parker had never been much of a drinker, but he couldn't deny that wine always helped him calm down before sex, or even put him in the mood when he wasn't.

"Here's to us. May we spend every future Valentine's Day together from now on." The brunette said, causing a shy smile from his girlfriend, who still had her legs flapping under the table.

"To us" The girl clinked glasses, then drank the wine in one swallow.

"Shall we go and exchange gifts?" Peter stood up, picking up the two empty glasses and empty plates from the table covered in a gray cloth with gold details.

There was no escape

"Umm, of course! That's it, let's get to the presents. Of course" The girl straightens her babylissed locks and puts them to one side. 

Peter sits down in front of her at the table once again, but now with a small black and white bag with a red handle. As much as he would have liked to hide the brand of the bag, any woman could recognize that it was from Sephora. 

"I snooped through your Sephora bag, but you had more than 100 items curated and I still haven't been promoted to work in another area with Stark." Y/n laughs. "So, I preferred to give you this" Peter hands the bag to his girlfriend, watching her expectantly as she opens it.

"Peter! I really loved it." Y/n smiles as she finds a highlighter and a Fenty gloss. The girl stood up, walked over to her boyfriend and hugged him.

"Well, yours..." Y/n looked once more at the bag that held the mug. "It's not here right now." Y/n tries to explain.

"You can give it to me later, love. No problem." Peter nods.

"No! It's not that, I need you to wait in your room, so I can give you the present."

Peter makes a curious face, but not for a million years would he turn down a sexual offer as a Valentine's Day present.

"All right" The brunette heads for his room, closing the door and waiting for the gift his girlfriend has prepared. 

Shit! Fuck!" Y/n looked in her other bag for the mysterious gift she had rented from the costume store the afternoon after her last lesson. Stumbling over her own heels, the girl locked herself in the bathroom at the end of the corridor, cursing herself for coming up with such a miraculous idea at the last minute. 

Her hands tried to add a bun to her hair, securing it with bobby pins that fell to the floor because of the cramped room. 

"Shit!" Y/n curses as she loses the clips on the floor, then bangs her head against the sink.

The gold bikini seemed small in relation to her breasts, so she tried to make them fit without them slipping out of the factory. Her hands tried to make them fit, but every now and then, the knot on her back came undone, or one of her breasts slid to the side. When she looked in the mirror, her hair still didn't look the way it needed to. The side bun looked more like a bird's nest than a space bun. Groaning in discontent, Y/n grabbed her cell phone from the closed toilet and tried to do another type of hair that wouldn't cost her soul to make it perfect.

Peter, on the other hand, was undressed on his single bed, trying to find some position to receive his girlfriend. He didn't want to look like a sexy fireman on a calendar cover, but he didn't know where to put his hands, or even if he was going to cover himself with the rumpled sheet on his bed. 

A few minutes later, he was distracted by his cell phone, which was vibrating with Twitter notifications. As long as Y/n was taking, his lack of concentration meant that 15 minutes passed too quickly. Lying on his stomach with a pillow on his chest, the brunette commented on posts and was distracted by memes that appeared on his timeline every five minutes he slid further from the beginning.

"Peter?" Y/n's voice called his name, causing the boy to drop his cell phone and leave the shooting game he was playing on his cell phone.

"Yes?" The brunette lay down on the bed, covering most of his body as if he were already ready for bed, and switched off the main light in the room so that his lamp would be the only source of light in the room filled with posters and books.

Peter's bedroom door slowly opened, revealing his girlfriend's body in the most iconic Star Wars bikini. His girlfriend's breasts were perfectly embraced by the golden part of the bikini, while her waist was covered only by a long red skirt with golden details at the top. Her hair was in a messy braid, but nothing really said how Y/n looked. Even though many of the details were poorly finished, and especially the top was too small for her breasts, Peter looked at her as if she were too perfect for him. The boy cracked a slow smile, and his eyes seemed to pop out of his face with every step closer to his girlfriend.

"Y/n" Peter said, processing the surprise his girlfriend had given him. And without even realizing the movement of his body, one of his hands went to his mouth in an expression of surprise.

He hated it

Oh my God

He hated it or he thinks I'm pathetic

"I know! I know, it was a stupid idea, I'm sorry." The girl closes her eyes in frustration and shame. "I bought you a grogru mug, but I wanted to do something better because you always make everything for me so perfect, and I know how much you like Star Wars and I thought it would be cool to do the same as Rachel did in Friends and" The girl is cut off by a quick kiss.

"I don't have the hots for Princess Leia, but you look stunning." Peter holds both of the girl's hands, looking her up and down.

"Really?"

" Yes." Peter smiles. "And by the way, I broke my favorite mug last night. I really needed another one." The brunette smiles, which is answered by a loose laugh from his girlfriend.

"Aren't I an idiot?" The girl shrugged, looking at herself once again.

"Not at all." Peter replied, using his index finger to lift the chin of the girl, who watched him with innocent eyes. "Are you going to let me put my lightsaber on you now?"

"PETER!"

[maybeelse]

Supermarket Stillness

There's a mildly embarrassing shelf tucked away in the back of the supermarket, past the jars of pickled spells and the bottles of five-hour-Stillness. It's part of the store you've always been dimly aware of, but why would you ever need to buy some freeze-dried Purpose?

Well, today you have a reason.

You don't linger in front of it, just grab the first vacuum-sealed bag that looks right and try not to meet the cashier's eye as their hands blur through scanning it and all your other groceries.

You're sure they've seen far worse. It still sucks.

---

Back at home, your house-guest's wings twitch as she stares at the proffered bag.

"Seriously?"

"I just, I thought ... you said you needed some?"

"Yeah, but not this shit. I've tried it before, it's barely better than an MMO." She pauses for a moment, eyes you. "Or methadone."

"... oh."

"Like, I appreciate the thought," she continues as her broken halo sways above her head, "it just wouldn't help me at all. I'm sure it would blow you away, you've never even tried it, have you?"

You shake your head. "No, uh, everyone always said not to."

"Ha! They were probably right. Little thing like you's better off not fucking with that part of of the world."

"... yeah."

After that the conversation trails off into the usual day-to-day space-filling, words that hardly matter and mean less; a pantomime of connection.

You tuck the little vacuum sealed bag in the back of a cupboard (it cost too much to throw away, no matter how useless it is!) and try to forget about it.

---

Time passes, as time is wont to do.

Your house-guest leaves a few weeks later.

It's nothing to do with you, she explains. She's grateful that you were able to give her a place to stay, she's never liked having to rough it with the feral angels. But no matter those fleeting moments stolen in the depths of night, she needs something more than you can give.

She mentions that she's going across the city to live in one of the witch-houses, a place where she thinks she'll find what she needs. You wish her well, of course you do, and then ...

Your little apartment is empty again.

She stops replying to your texts after a few weeks.

That's how it goes, isn't it? There's hardly anything something like you can offer to someone like her. You're just a freeze-dried, mass-produced substitute discarded as soon as something better comes along; a worthless thing sinking deeper into depression's spiral.

A month later you're using a sudden upswing to clean out all the junk that's accumulated in your cupboards—all the almost-empty boxes, the dented cans and expired jars; the detritus of your dreams of Doing Things In The Kitchen—when you stumble across the bag of Purpose again.

It really doesn't look appetizing at all, even with the bright words and little cartoon halo on its label. Really, what were you thinking trying to offer it to a proper angel?

You really should just throw it away, but ...

You pause right before tossing it into the can.

Because, really, it would be a shame to just waste so much money on something you never try, wouldn't it? It would be a Waste, and that's so very close to a sin.

Just one taste couldn't hurt, just the tiniest morsel. Just to know what you've been missing out on. It'll be fine.

[dearcoeur]

♡ WEEKEND RESET

CLEAN YOUR SURROUNDINGS. take some time out of your weekend to clean and organize everything around you. there is nothing better than starting a new week with everything in its place, softener-scented bedding and a fragrant bedroom, right? so make sure to move your furniture around and clean every space between them. don’t forget to change your bedsheets and put a nice fabric perfume on it. 💌

PRACTICE A FEW MINUTES OF YOGA. weekends are for relaxing, just like a reset day is meant to be a selfcare day, so don’t try to do any tiring exercise to end up exhausting your body. your health requires you to keep moving, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a break and go easy on yourself for a few days; try to do some calm and relaxing yoga to stretch your body — specially once you wake up and before going to sleep. these 5~10 minutes can make a big difference.

DO A HAIR OR FACIAL MASK. or both, if you have enough time to spend on taking care of yourself. get prepared for this new successful week by treating your body like your own temple and being gentle with yourself. use your favorite selfcare products and have the perfect spa day, acting like the princess you are! there’s nothing more energy boosting and truly relaxing as getting your entire body all clean, soft and with a heavenly smell. ♡

TAKE AN EVERYTHING SHOWER. adding to the prior topics – once you finish moving around and decluttering your space, it’s time to fully relax and give yourself some princess treatment. exfoliate your body, use your favorite liquid soap to scrub your skin with, wash your hair and shave your body (only if that’s something you’re comfortable with! definitely not necessary if otherwise).

FOCUS ON YOUR SELFCARE. after showering, use some body oil and body lotion with your favorite fragrance. do your skincare, dry your hair and use some hair oil too to get it all shiny and soft. deodorant, perfume, body splash – go out and about with your products! don’t be afraid of “wasting” them just because you’re using it to stay at home and relax. you deserve to smell good and feel like a princess at any time, without any special occasion or an excuse.

HEAL YOUR INNER CHILD. to wrap it up and finish your sunday, learn to simply relax and get comfortable with your own company. get yourself your favorite snacks, a warm blanket, your pet (if you own one) or a plushie to snuggle with and choose any comfort show/movie/cartoon you’d like to watch again. it can be anything from your childhood or simply a cozy and nostalgic media. the only rule here is that you do not choose anything with angst or with any bad feelings! you want to RELAX and feel happy with yourself. pick the cutest or funniest thing you can find and just have fun. ♡

BONUS: PLAN AHEAD. not entirely necessary for a weekend reset, but it would be nice to start your new week with everything already planned and organized, right? so pick up a planner/your notes app and write down everything you want to achieve. you can also make a list of all the things you wish it would happen in your life and start manifesting them :~) you can accomplish anything if you put your body, mind and soul into it!

[powerpuffobsession]

Am I the only one who feels that Hazbin Hotel's overall vibe is far too naive and upbeat for an adult cartoon about hell and redemption of sinners?

I feel like before writing this cartoon, Vivzie and the other writers should have made a trip to unfortunate areas of the world and watch how the lifestyle there rolls. Because hell is said to be a place of misery, where there is no trust and a lot of hate, both internal and external... Adam is an object of pure unfiltered hartred (both from writers and fandom) because he dares to live in heaven, such a safe and friendly-natured place...

And yet the sinners who happen to be main characters act more like school kids on a field trip (even more carefree than those, lol) - their selfish and sinful motives are so artificial and are brought up only when these characters need to look like a victim, not like criminals who somehow deserved a place in hell

Obviously, it's a manipulative trope to put them in a better light than Heaven and Adam (who is forever silenced by the writers and not allowed to voice any thoughts and reflections other than "hurr durr murder I luuuv murdering and being evil because that's what I was since I was born, even though Lilith and Eve, born literally the same way as me, were innocent victims from the get go, and no logical explanation for that will be provided whatsoever - men bad, women good")

In the light of all that, the sinners are too eager to trust each other and form "da epic powar of friendship" mlp-sonic-style

In a society built on terror, anarchy and survival instincts, no one would ever bother wasting vital power on noticing someone's problems and helping them out. Everyone is focused on their own problems and desires, and that's what drives them to act. Well, the exception may be family members, and even that varies

That's why Husk's intent to comfort Angel after the later attacks him over nothing at the bar, looks really fake, considering the setting. At first I thought that "loser baby" where Husk insults Angel, was some sort of revenge and Husk laughing in the spider's face. But no, it actually turned out to be a comforting song that started their friendship. Husk literally had no motivation to want to help Angel, because he was annoyed by him all the time prior. If there was some kind of basis for their bonding, I would have believed it. But not like this.

And Angel had no reason to actually like that sort of comfort. I get it when your best friend or a family member cheers you up in a harsh way - you know them. And even when coming from people you trust that can hurt. Now imagine a complete stranger doing that to you. That's actually something that shouldn't be done - trying to playfully insult or jester a person you haven't communicated with for a long enough time to gain their trust. And to make this even more strange, Angel at first reacts negatively, but then suddenly snaps to liking that disrespectful way of comforting for no reason at all.

And why did Angel even vent his problems to Husk, a stranger bartender who he'd hurt before. Wasn't he actually afraid of being laughed at and of Husk using his trauma to spread gossip around or something?

Next, Sir Pentious. In the pilot (which is officially part of canon, mind you), he already felt like a joke sunday cartoon villain, but at least he had some edge to him that made him look like a sinner with some dark history. In the series however, he gets nerfed the very moment he steps into the hotel to the point where it's painful to look at

His tendency to abuse his henchmen, his physopathic demeanor, his hartred for Cherri (instead of embarrassing attempts to get blue balled by her), his sincere power hunger - where did all that go? Vanished in a blink of an eye. All that's left of a promising snake demon is a pile of fanservice. So morally unchallenging and harmless that a viewer theoretically simply cannot resist loving him

Well i'm kind disappointed. We don't even know in what way Sir Pentious had to improve, because the plot never focused on his past, his life goals, whatever made him want to lead turf wars and whatever awful things he did in life, what was the point where he started degrading... none of that. He just became a better person after one "sorry song" and acted perfectly innocent ever since and didnt put any effort into getting ready to sacrifice himself for other main characters

The sacrifice... to me it's baffling how fast the sinners, over the course of just 6 months, actually became Charlie's family figures and risked their lives for her hotel. Such pure child-cartoon-styled power of friendship, built in hell, with the aid of a princess who cant even think through her project of helping sinners without bringing them more trouble... realistically, Charlie would have had to fight angels alone (how convenient it is that no main characters died in that chaotic brawl, right?)

And Charlie herself is far too naiive and soft-natured for someone who is free to walk along the streets of hell looking at all the muder, rape and othe horrible stuff that's happening there. Given that she's 200, Charlie had more than enough time to built up her street smarts and guts and learn to be more practical and mindful, instead of staying with the mind of a 12 year old who needs other characters to do everything for her (Lucifer, Vaggie, Alastor) and then get praised for THEIR efforts. That's hell's royalty and our main character?

Aaand since sinners are portrayed as Charlie's "people" (as if they are a nationality), sweet babies who all deserve redemption and are called innocent by Emily (I can't believe how dumb the writers made angels be) - the true essence of exterminatons is never focused on. Adam and his exterminator army are seen in the wrong, like some kind of monsters who terrorize poor souls. However, think about this - child molesters, rapists, torturers, bullies, nazists, actual racists etc died in those exterminations. Doesnt that seem like something a lot of us would want? To have scum like this disappear as revenge for people they have hurt/driven to suicide?

Exterminations are not really an act of racism, bigotry or something like that. They are an excecution of criminals, which a lot of sinners are.

But the black and white writing is trying to conceal that rather prominent highlight of the rotten part of Charlie's plan (not all sinners deserve mercy or redemption). All that was needed was to make exterminators these icky "villains" who luuuv killing and are never willing to listen

All in all, a cartoon that has an ambitious premise that should be driven by psychological reasearch/analysis and dark serious themes... makes me roll my eyes with its cliche use of "power of friendship" and " strictly good main characters, strictly bad villains" tropes. Too bad such beautiful animation was wasted on such juvenile writing that never had any effort put into it

There shouldn't even be any villains or heroes in a setting like this. Allow the lead roles (sinners in hell) do something actually questionable and be unlikable, don't coddle the viewer in fear of making them even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Allow those, who opposes sinmers, have personalities and reasons, not cliche sociopathy for sociopathy's sake to cause forced sympathy for the main characters

Pristine "safe" writing should not have a place in adult cartoons. Or else they will stay a product that'd rather be watched by 7-14 year olds instead of adults (I can't picture a single adult over 22 who would unironically call hazbin hotel a show that tackles realistic issues in an observant way)

[wewerebornsextuplets]

idk how but you draw in the Oso-san style so good i need to know your secret please

HAHA thank you very much!! im glad you think so :D unfortunately im not very good at explaining how i work, but ill try my best to show what i mean!!

once again this is long as hell. you know the drill at this point

to be honest, half the battle i fight with drawing in the osmt style is just. Looking at it. the ososan art style actually fluctuates pretty wildly depending on what you're looking for, whether that be the mobile games (for instance, tabimatsu and hesowars look nothing alike in terms of style despite both being the same source material), official art and merch, or even the seasons of the show itself!

using ichi as my example here since i draw him the most, but its pretty easy to play spot the difference with the varying styles. even within a specific season you can do this across episodes, especially with season 1!

when i draw, i tend to be a bit sacrilege and use references across different media; usually ill use the show [especially season 2, if only because its a bit more "uniform"] as reference for the actual features and colors/poses/etc, but i like to use hesowars to reference proportions, since they seem to be most consistent there.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO NOTE: theres a WEALTH of fanartists that have styles that are INCREDIBLY similar to the show, so be careful to check your sources! these artists deserve credit for their hard work, which they often don't get since their work is reposted under the guise of being official art.

once you've pinned down the exact style you'd like to emulate, and the character you're looking to draw, its really just a matter of finding references, which is pretty easy! you can scrub through different episodes for good angles/shots, or if you're going for one of the game styles the AU wiki has most of the games catalogued to my knowledge. if you're looking to draw an oc, use characters you think they would look similar to in the show. if you really wanna waste your time, though, you can always scrub through crowd scenes in the show to see if any background characters might look like what you're going for; the season 3 episode Mt. Takao comes to mind, there were a lot of cute mob characters there.

using keiko as my example here, you can see that i pulled her features from multiple different characters to get her to look right in the style. with ocs, its important to reference a number of different characters, since the likelihood of a background character being a 1:1 for your little guy is unfortunately pretty low. there WILL, however, be a lot of characters that look KIND of like them. the key is to figure out what parts go where!

to this point, most prominent ososan women have very similar stock anime girl faces with very minor differences, so if youre looking to make a cute girl oc, most of the womens' faces can be used somewhat interchangeably. if you want your cute girl oc to have a more unique face, though, the movie gave us some women with more unique faces in the form of the NEETs' old classmates! theres also no harm in referencing male characters faces in this regard. #butchswag #kiruminikuya

BUT. going back to the assumption that you're drawing a canon character, today I'll be drawing oso for my example

when you're first getting a feel for the style, tracing some of your references can actually be a really great way to acclimate yourself to the characters proportions and features. think of like when you were a kid, and would trace over pictures of pokemon or cartoon characters so you could draw them better. its basically the same principle! this was especially helpful for me when it came to eyes; they vary the most wildly of any other trait that characters have in ososan, so going over the different shapes to get a feel for each of them was very important.

when you trace, though, I recommend doing so a bit more loosely, sort of like if you're doing a photo study for anatomy; block out the basic shapes and do small markers for different features (i.e small lines to denote where the eyes start and and, distance from nose to mouth, things like that), and from there draw the rest on your own.

after long enough you'll get a feel for the basic placement of where everything should go! the eyes and nose are undoubtedly the hardest when it comes to the sextuplets, since they shift around a LOT between games/seasons/etc. so don't feel bad if you have a hard time with that, since there isnt really a "right" answer with how frequently it changes. i still fuck it up all the time myself!

as for some basic tips, heres some stuff i try to keep in mind when drawing them that just helps the finished product look a bit nicer!

when drawing the hair + fringe line, its important to swoop it downwards a little bit; the flat across look Can work, but if you're not careful you risk showing the tops of their eyes, which is um. ew! ick! nast!

when a matsu is facing forward, their hair will usually tend towards one direction to keep the silhouette. in most screenshots i saw, the bowl cut points left! that said, dont be afraid to point rightwards if its better for your specific drawing!

and lastly: USE THE LIQUIFY TOOL. LIBERALLY. i am not joking when i say this has saved my ass so many times, its hard to get the placement right on the facial features and even harder to get everything to LOOK good, so if its available to you i HIGHLY suggest just squishing everything around with a liquify tool until it looks right. you can always go back and correct the blurry lines. its really a life saver

BUT YEAH! i dont know if this was very helpful but i hope you're at least able to gain something from it :-))

[midnightjewel]

BNHA Guys Reacting to Your Kids Cartoons and Movies

Kids shows and movies say some pretty out of pocket things that you usually won’t catch or find funny unless you’re an adult

Characters Included: Izuku and Todoroki

Part 1 Part 2

Izuku

You thankfully were able to get a day off of work after yesterdays battle. You had to chase after a villain who robbed a pharmacy for god only knows what! You were able to take the group down with the help of some of your other coworkers.

To put it simply, you were exhausted after that situation from overuse of your quirk. So of course your agency saw that it was best if you took the day off. Does that mean you relaxed? Of course not! There were things to be done around the house and errands to run. It was better to do it today then waste your weekend with doing household chores.

After a long day you picked your two kids up from school and made your way home. “Okay mommy worked really hard to clean the house today so let’s try to keep it clean!” You tell your kids as you pull into the driveway of the rather large house.

Being married to the number one hero had its perks but having that big house meant it took quite a bit of an effort to clean it.

“Yes mama” they smiled in the back seat not taking their eyes up from their comic book that the eldest son had gotten just last week. You smiled and shook your head, they loved all things superhero’s and it was adorable when they got along like this.

Once the kids got settled in the TV room to watch a movie and do their homework you began to get to work on dinner. Your husband would be home soon and he probably no doubt had a long day. So you figured a nice home cooked meal would be a nice ending to his day.

As you stirred the noodles to make some spaghetti you heard the front door open and close. “Hey honey” you heard your husband come into the kitchen. He hugged you from behind and you smiled “Hello my love” you responded “How was work?” You inquired “Ughhh so tiring” he hid his face in the crook of your neck

“The kids are watching a movie in the tv room, you know they always love to see you” you remind him and he nods “Of course, I love my munchkins” he smiles as he kisses your cheek and makes his way to the next room

Izuku had planned to say hi to the kids and then go shower before dinner but somehow his daughter convinced him to stay and watch the movie with them. They were watching the princess and the frog which is a movie he couldn’t say he was familiar with. Not that he was uncultured in the movie world he just never got around to watching it until now.

As you made your way to the next room to let them know dinner was on the table you couldn’t help but smile at the sight before you. Both of your children were nuzzled up to their father as they watched the princess and the frog.

You loved this movie so it most definitely caught your attention “exactly which is why a woman of your background would’ve had her hands full trying to run a big business like that” they spoke to Tiana and you couldn’t help but scoff at that scene.

“That’s crazy how they treated her” your husband spoke “Let this be a lesson, we never ever treat anybody that way” he informs his children and they nod in understanding

Todoroki

You and Shoto had to leave the twins with a babysitter tonight as it was the annual hero’s gala. It was a very exclusive event that was by invite only for all the great heroes and their spouses. It was a great night and you were able to catch up with all of your old friends from high school.

The night was successful as Shoto had won two awards and you were incredibly proud of him for it. You were sure to remind him that he would get an extra special reward from you later tonight and the blush that crept up in his face was unmatched.

As the two of you pulled into the driveway you hoped the twins hadn’t given the babysitter a hard time with bedtime. You were crossing your fingers that they were sleeping soundly in bed. Shoto parked in the driveway and told you to stay in the car as he turned it off, got out, and walked to your door and held his hand out for you to take it.

As you stepped onto the cement driveway you slightly hissed in pain. Truthfully you hated heels but it was a formal event so you felt as if you had to just suck it up for the night. “Your feet hurt?” He asks you and you nod “Yes, I hate heels” you sigh and he nods in understanding “Then I guess I’ll have to carry you” he chuckles and proceeds to carry you bridal style up the driveway.

“Let me just say, you look absolutely stunning tonight” he smiles down at you “Have I told you that yet?” He questions himself and you giggle “Yes Sho! Once before we left and at least five times while we were there” you reassured him. “Well what’s one more time” he laughs

“That dress” he sighs as he gently puts you down to get his house keys out of his pocket “as much as I love it, it’s going to have to come off here soon” he smirks as he unlocks the door and now it’s your turn to blush. “Let’s just get inside first” you remind him

When you both enter the house it’s quiet aside from the TV that seems to still be playing. You both assumed it was just the babysitter and went to the living room to pay her and tell her she could go home for the night. But much to your surprise the kids were still on the couch. It seems as if they had fallen asleep during the movie.

“Thank you so much Kimmy” you do your best to keep your voice down so that the kids won’t wake up “Here let me pay you extra, the kids love having you here” Shoto pulls $50 out of his wallet “Oh, sir you don’t have to do that” she reassures him “I absolutely do, I don’t know what we could do without you” he explains to her and convinces her to take the extra cash.

“Let me help clean up” she offers referring to the coffee table that was littered with dishes and snack wrappers “Nonsense, it’s late, you should get home” you reassured her

After you both made sure she got in her car safely you shut your front door once more, and decided to go check on the twins.

As you two approached the living room you had your fingers crossed that they would be asleep so the two of you could retreat to your shared bedroom. You and Shoto leaned over the back of the couch to find Yumi, the “youngest” twin and Sadao, the “older” one both tangled up in various blankets and plushies on opposite ends of the couch. The movie they appeared to be watching was Shrek, a familiar favorite of yours.

As you proceeded to pick up the dishes on the coffee table Shoto took the liberty of finding the remote to turn the television off. But as you walked off to the kitchen with the dishes in hand the children awoke.

“Daddy?” Your daughter groggily asked as she looked at her father. “Hello darling” he crouched down and smiled at her “Do you need something? Water?” He asked and she shook her head ‘no’

“When did you get back?” Your son rubbed his eyes and yawned “Just a few minutes ago” Shoto responded and ruffled his snowy white hair

“Would you two like to sleep down here or in your rooms?” He questioned “Dad can you watch just 5 more minutes of the movie with us?” Your daughter asked and he briefly nodded, “Of course, but it is a bit late so just five minutes” he confirmed with them

As you had gotten all of the dishes loaded into the dishwasher, you made your way back to the living room to say goodnight to your once sleeping children. But to your surprise Shoto and the twins were sitting on the couch watching the movie.

It just so happened that the scene where donkey and the dragon are sitting in the pile of gold in the castle. Of course you knew that this movie had plenty of scenes that provided adult humor. But, it seems that your husband wasn’t too familiar with the movie.

“Oh my goodness” he actually looked shocked that this was in a supposed children’s movie. “Well I love you two it is getting late” he laughs and shakes his head. “Goodnight” they both say in unison as they drift off back to sleep on the couch with the television still on.

Before you knew it, you knew it you were swept off of your feet and carried up the staircase. “Shoto!” You giggle as you reach down to open the bedroom door. He made sure to shut it behind you before dropping you to sit on the edge of the bed. He then proceeded to bend down and take your heels off.

“You’re so beautiful” he smiles as he kisses your shin while tossing your heels to the side.

[sweethartlullaby]

Are you gonna do a part 4 of the cheating imagine? I don’t mind if they don’t get back together, but I would at least want to see YN happier :(

word count: 515 genre/theme: angst, fluff (?) as always imagine who you would like... find part i herefind part ii herefind part iii here sweethartlullaby ꕤ masterlist

You check your phone…again. Still nothing. 

Maybe he isn’t coming, 

Maybe he forgot. 

He probably did. 

You’ve left the movie tickets in your pocket, knowing well that it’d be crumpled up if you are holding onto it. Most people have gone in and the room feels colder. You feel lonely, standing here in the center, with all the ticket booths facing you. 

Two workers have come to tell you that the movie is about to start but you keep saying you’re waiting for someone. The movie should be starting in about five minutes. 

And he’s still not here.

You feel weird and your legs feel like they’re going to buckle underneath you soon. So you quickly make your way to the bathroom, trying to look as least awkward as possible. 

You fix your hair for about five minutes, changing the way it looks every few seconds. And you keep washing your hands. You check your reflection every time you’re about to leave to make sure you still look decent. When your mind is occupied with whether the shirt is on right, you don’t feel like crying. 

When you finally come out of the bathroom, the lobby is still empty. You take the tickets out of your pocket and stare at them. Out of all the thoughts running in your head, the only one that feels justified is how your money is going to waste. 

You’re about to throw them away when you hear your name being called. Without a second thought, you look up to see him running through the entrance. In his hand, he holds what seems to be a small bouquet of flowers and in the other, a card. 

You blink at him, tickets on the edge of your fingertips.

“I…” He pants.

“It took…longer than ex…pected at the…florist.” He lets out, breathless between each word.

“I’m sorry, I thought I’d make it.” He takes a deep breath and hands you the two objects. The flowers are yellow and just looking at them made you feel a little better inside. The card had a cartoon bear holding a heart at the front. When you opened it, you saw the scribbled words ‘I’m glad we are doing this. I hope you are too.’ in his signature handwriting. 

You smiled, and the urge to cry washed away. 

“I know the movie started a while ago, but I’d still like to watch it with you.” He says. You haven’t seen him like this, shy and timid, in a while. It makes your heart flutter.

You nod.

“I brought some snacks too.” You show him your bag full of treats, illegally brought in from outside. He laughs and you feel his smile is the brightest it has ever been. Then, he does the unexpected.

He wraps his arms around you.

“I know I say this a lot, but I’m really thankful you’re here. I won’t screw this up, I promise.” He whispers into your hair. 

You melt into his embrace before bringing your arms up to hold him. And even though you don’t say it, he knows.

a/n: hello!!!! i've been soooo busy with so many things so i am so sorry for disappearing. but i saw the asks and i had to come back just for a bit to write! i hope you like this. when i read the ask, i was laughing a bit from the excitement (of getting an ask) and also because my page is mostly angst and i rarely end with happy characters haha. regardless, i am open to almost anything so please keep asking! if you have a song recomm for this part or any of the parts at all, please comment or send it over! i always love hearing what you guys thought or felt when reading my writings! thank you so much for asking (they always make my day) and thank you for reading! i apologize for any mistakes and the delay!

[world0fmadness]

BEARS AND BIRTHDAYS

pelle “ dead ” ohlin x reader x ( platonic! ) oc daughter

♡ general headcanons for pelle taking his daughter to build a bear for her birthday!

୨୧ i had a feeling pelle would win the vote so here it is! this is kind of super fluffy and i just really hope you guys still like it, just getting back into the swing of writing and used this topic to warm me up <3

♡ view my metal masterlists here and here

reading music recommendations: home by dolkins - i love you by daniel lanois

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୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧♡୨୧

♡ it was your daughters fifth birthday when pelle decided he wanted to take her to build her own bear as a gift, after much hushed conversation with you about the topic whilst your daughter watched cartoons in the other room, her small body sitting cross legged on the warm rug as she scribbled colourful pictures on a once blank piece of paper that rested atop the thick wooden coffee table in the small living room of your shared apartment…

୨୧ pelle was planning for her birthday months in advance, he always planned for his little girls birthday so far in advance! he always wanted to save up as much money as he could before the special day arrived, wanted to have overflowing pockets to spoil his little girl on her most special day and always make her birthdays extra memorable, only the best for his little girl! he always just wants to go above and beyond for her, to give her the best life he possibly can, to give her everything she could ever want and make sure she knows just how loved she is

♡ it was no different for her upcoming fifth birthday! pelle would approach you whilst you cooked lunch or dinner in the kitchen connected to the living room, his head constantly peeking around the painted walls to make sure his little girl is absolutely not listening to your hushed conversation as he talks about his little plan for her birthday this year, quietly and almost awkwardly telling you all about how he wants to take her to build a bear for this one, how he thinks she would love being able to make her own bear, how she would be able to pour so much of her creativeness into a little plush bear that he knows she would treasure for so long! you could not be more thankful that he is preoccupied with keeping eyes on your daughter as he talks, so thankful that he cannot see the smile growing on your face at just how obviously adoring he is of her, of just how caring he is despite being slightly awkward as he speaks so… softly about such a cute topic and event to someone, he is still so unused to speaking about such… comforting things, speaking about things that he actually wants to do and things that bring him happiness to think about doing… even after so many years of being happy with the two of you, sometimes he still has trouble believing it, believing that this life he has with you, the beautiful daughter that you gave him, he has trouble believing that it is not all just one very long and perfect dream that he would never want to awake from

“ i think… i think she would like it… she likes her plush bears and making her own? she has such a creative soul, mitt hjärta, she would love it! or… i don’t know… maybe not… ” ( he begins to overthink his plans a whole lot at times, worrying that maybe she would not like it and maybe it would be a total waste of time, his worries will eat him alive for so long unless you intervene and assure him that she will absolutely love it, reassurance from you always makes him feel so much better in himself, you make him feel so much better in himself )

୨୧ well, he should really say the three of you now! since by this time, with it nearing your daughters fifth birthday, you were some months along in your second pregnancy with your son, another thing pelle has a bit of trouble believing is even real at times! he loses himself staring at your already sizeable bump so often, loses himself as he watches your daughter press a small hand to the bump and squeak as she feels movement! he can never resist letting a smile crawl across his pale face as he watches her eyes grow wide with obvious curiosity at the feeling against her hand, he can never resist meeting your eyes as you look up at him and throw him that oh so gorgeous smile

♡ pelle saves up every bit of spare change he has in the months leading up to your daughters birthday, putting every shiny coin and rustled note in a thick glass container in your shared bedroom, hiding it underneath one of his older tattered leather jackets that lays on the floor of your small wardrobe! he knows build a bear is pretty expensive, especially since the whole company is a new… fad or something… i mean, he had only found out about it through one of your shopping magazines after you had left it laying open on the bed one night and drifted off to sleep, he had flipped through it and well, here he is! saving up all of the money he gets from music, saving all of the money his parents send over to him so that he can let his little girl build her own bear for her birthday

୨୧ by the time her birthday does roll around, she knows all about what this new build a bear thing even is! just days before her big day, she had come home from kindergarten telling the two of you all about how one of her friends had gotten one for his birthday, about how he had made it into a little red fox with patchwork paws and big button eyes… she spoke about it with such excited curiosity whilst pelle held her on his hip, despite still being pretty skinny he can certainly pick his little girl up and he dislikes the idea of you holding anything heavier than a single brick whilst heavily pregnant! the two of you could so easily see the gears turning in her head as she imagined what she would make her custom bear look like, it took everything inside of him to not reveal the birthday surprise to her, took you giving him a wag of the finger and sharp eyes behind her back to make him zip his lips and look down at her with soft eyes as she continued talking erratically about how cute the fox plush bear was…

♡ as much as you adore your daughter and saw how her eyes faltered slightly when you told her maybe you could take her to make her own bear in the future, probably after you had given birth, as much as you knew you were lying to her face and as much as you hated it, you were absolutely not about to let pelle ruin his special surprise for her! not after he had done so much to keep it a secret, not after he had done so much to prepare for it and not after he had been so obviously yet so secretly excited to take her there

୨୧ and unfortunately, pelle is no better! he absolutely hates lying to his little girls face, he hated seeing her break out in a little pout when you told her she could go one day… nothing feels worse to him than lying to her, no matter that it is really for the greater good, but he tries to bury the guilt he feels by spending every bit of free time he has doing things with her! wether it was painting her face in a scary black and white, messing up her golden blonde hair just like his and attempting to teach her how to sing like him or letting her tie small plaits in his long hair whilst you watched and laughed at how blank his face was whilst hers was so bright, he distracted himself away from the strange guilt he felt until her fifth birthday eventually rolled around

♡ when the day does come, the two of you are made very aware of the exact date at a much too early time in the early, misty norway mornings as both of you awake to a light figure jumping onto your shared bed and crawling all over you, thankfully still being very mindful of your bump, like a cat as she excitedly proclaims in a much too loud voice just what day it is and huffs when you groggily tell her to just… calm it down, just a little… but she does, slinking down to squeeze in between you and pelle as the two of you slowly wake up more, his lanky arms reaching around her and pressing a soft kiss to her messy blonde bedhead before wishing her a quiet, deep and gravely happy birthday whilst you laugh at how obviously excited she is for the day! she can barely sit still in his arms, impatiently hugging him back with her short arms wrapped around his neck and head buried into his similarly messy blonde hair before quickly pulling away, crawling down the bed and jumping down before running out of the room and yelling for the two of you to hurry up and come with her to the living room so that she can open her gifts

“ happy birthday, min lilla rådjur… five years old, hm? too big… you must stop growing so quickly… ” ( do not even get me started on how badly he gets the birthday blues for his daughter, he tries not to show it around her or even you but the thought of her growing up and possibly suffering through the same things he did just terrifies him and he wishes she could stay in his arms forever with no risk of harm, no risk of sadness and loneliness )

୨୧ pelle fails to resist the sleepy smile that crawls across his face as he listens to her small feet quickly pad down the short hallway and into the living room, the corners of his diamond blue eyes crinkling slightly when he hears her sharp gasp as she sets her eyes on the gifts sitting in a neat little pile just next to the couch! he was worried, was worried that he had not managed to get her that many gifts this year as he had saved most of his money for the whole bear thing but that gasp had immediately washed those worries away, his smile only growing wider as he sees you in the corner of his eye, watching as you decide to just quickly get dressed for the day instead of stay in your pyjamas, knowing he would no longer be able to keep his little secret plan for the day a secret for much longer! his tired eyes watch as you pull on a comfy outfit for the day, watching as the soft fabric hugs your prominent baby bump and your skin glows under the early morning sunlight peeking through the blinds, his mind almost falling into a trance as he watches you fix your hair in the mirror hanging on the wall, his eyes glazing over with pure love as he realises once again that he gets to see this every morning now… he gets to see your beauty every morning, gets to feel your love every morning, gets to feel your daughters love every morning… it all just feels too good to be true for pelle…

♡ it’s only when he hears you laugh quietly and gently tell him to get up out of bed that he manages to break out of his deep trance of love and admiration for you, his pale cheeks turning a deep red and heating up as he quickly darts his eyes away from you and climbs out of your warm, cosy bed! his skinny arms welcome you as you approach him, leaning up to plant a kiss on his lips before mumbling against them, telling him to get himself dressed and join you in the living room as soon as he is ready since you do not think your daughter will be able to stay patient and away from her wrapped gifts for long! just as you pull away and go to turn around, pelle grasps your upper arm and pulls you back in for one more morning kiss, his tall body leaning down to meet you half way and his veiny hand coming down to stroke your bump as his slightly chapped lips press against yours, grinning just a little when he feels your own sweet smile against his lips…

“ sorry… you look so beautiful this morning, mitt hjärta… you’re always so beautiful… ” ( even after you had his child and are with one more, he is still so strangely shy when complimenting you and loving up on you, almost weary of pushing his luck with you and you always are so beyond beautiful to him, the most beautiful piece of art in the word could not come close to you, you are the most beautiful piece of art in the world to him )

୨୧ by the time pelle emerges from your shared bedroom, dressed in his usual casual attire of not too tattered light blue denim jeans, an old and long since faded napalm death shirt, unusually clean white socks and black leather boots, you are just barely managing to convince your daughter to hold off on opening her gifts for just a little longer until her father is ready! immediately letting out a humorous sigh of relief when you spot him walking into the living room and messing with his hair a little, his eyes coming up from the floor to meet yours and study his daughter as she grumbles quietly about wanting to open her gifts already! as soon as pelle takes his seat next to you on the couch, his hands resting limply on his knees and a tiny smile on his pale face, you let her go down from your lap and lean into his side, both of you sharing quiet laughs at her eagerness as she tears into the small pile of gifts, his eyes lighting up ever so slightly whenever she gasps in delight and excitement at the sight of what she got, wether it be a new art kit or the fairytale book she had been wanting, as long as she was happy then so was he… so long as she was having fun and being happy, then so was he! all it takes for pelle to be genuinely happy in life, to feel proud of himself, is for you and her to be happy! nothing else is more important to him than you and his daughter, nothing else is more important to him than you and her being happy and healthy

♡ with her being so excited and the pile of gifts not being a mountain high in the sky, she goes through the gifts quite quickly! constantly turning in her place on the living room rug to show you and pelle what she got, sending you both a shining smile every time as she holds the gifts in her hands and examines them before setting them aside to unwrap another! when she is done with her gifts, she has them in a messy little pile off to the side, brushing her messy hair out of her face as she decides now, well, now would be a good time for some cereal… looking up at both you and pelle as you cuddle on the couch, watching her with soft eyes, telling you in a quiet voice that she wants some cereal before pelle mumbles a gentle response and gets up to grab her some, knowing you probably need some breakfast too, especially since you’re pregnant! the second pelle wanders off into the kitchen to make some cereal for your daughter, parting from you with a quick kiss to your head, you take her to get dressed and out of her bat print pyjamas because as much as you love them and think they are just adorable, you know she will not be able to wear them outside without catching a nasty cold… of course, she has no idea why she will really be going outside, at least not yet, but she does not question it one bit as you dress her in a little black spiderweb patterned dress with a long sleeved black sweater underneath and some tiny shiny black pumps to go with! no doubt you tried to put some little black bows in her hair too but just like her father, her hair is very specific and only she decides who touches it and what goes in it, bows were a no for the birthday girl!

“ okay… i’ll go make you some cereal, min lilla rådjur, and you some toast, you need to eat too, mitt hjärta… ” ( this only makes you softly yell after him, telling him that he will be eating too, no matter what he says! he had gotten much better with eating the past few years but still had some occasional issues, especially in the mornings, but he could never say no to you, especially not when you are pregnant and you know that )

୨୧ the birthday surprise is finally revealed to her over breakfast cereal! her favourite kind, sugary and sweet with colourful marshmallows scattered around! pelle made you some simple yet filling toast, thankfully not burned and actually perfectly done! it was a recent craving in your second pregnancy and one he had since learned to perfect just for you and his second baby as they rest in your stomach, he has you sat atop his lap at the tiny two seater table in the kitchen, the two of you sitting comfortably just across from your daughter as she munches down on your cereal and you offer some of your own tasty toast to pelle from over your shoulder whilst he strokes your bump and waits for the right moment to drop the surprise, taking note of you nudging him gently to make him sigh softly and take a bite of the buttery, crunchy bread held in your hand…

♡ pelle drops the surprise bomb just as she finishes her cereal, his hands shaking just slighting in both nervousness and excitement whilst you, long done with your toast, stroke his upper arm to offer some loving comfort and reassurance! speaking up in a quiet voice as your daughter perks her head up and listens to him speak, her big blue eyes widening and a large smile stretching across her face as soon as she hears the words about going to build a bear… today… for her birthday… to make her own plush bear… pelle can barely even finish his sentence before she is racing out of her chair and rushing over to the two of your, throwing her small arms around both of you the best she can as she squeals and repeats thank yous over and over again whilst you laugh, watching as pelle breaks out in a large smile and lets you off his lap so that he can wrap his arms around her small frame, pressing a gentle kiss to her soft blonde hair and mumbling against the side of her head

“ it’s okay, min lilla rådjur, you’re welcome… you’ll make the most perfect bear, hm? we should go now, i think… ” ( he says it with so much obvious love in his voice, so much relief that she is so obviously beyond excited for this little trip together! his eyes meet yours as you move around behind your daughter, picking up the white porcelain breakfast bowl and placing it in the previously empty sink before sending pelle a soft smile, a smile that speaks a thousand words, a smile that tells him he did good )

୨୧ thankfully, you guys live in an apartment very close to a build a bear store! well, very close to many stores as your apartment building resides just minutes away from a pretty jam packed city centre but it comes in useful, especially for your common late night pregnancy cravings… it also means pelle did not have to save up any extra money for travel, which is of course a major bonus too! the whole walk to the store, your daughter is comfortably holding each of your hands as she walks in between the two of you, her small hands encased in little black cat mittens as she swings here arms back and fourth softly, her short little legs trying to keep up with the large steps that pelle takes with his much longer legs! obviously, her excitement is shooting up to the clouds as you make your way to the store, her quiet voice talking all about what she might do for her bear whilst you and pelle listen with matching soft smiles on your faces! his eyes, covered slightly by his long blonde hair as it blows in the gentle wind, meeting yours as he looks over at you and sends you another warm smile, something he rarely ever does in public but around you and his daughter? he can never fight it off…

♡ when you guys reach the store after a short walk and earfuls from your daughter about how excited she is, her eyes are lighting up the second she sees the large logo and open entrance door, her cotton covered hands breaking away from yours as she drags her father inside whilst his eyes widen at the sheer confidence his daughter has around other people, but no matter how nervous he might be around other people at times, he would never let that deter him from joining her, especially since he can hear your quiet laughter from behind as you slowly trail the two of them, wanting them to have their extra special moments whilst you browse through all of the cute little plush bear clothes, recognising how similar they are to the tiny patterned clothes your daughter used to wear when she was a newborn… recognising how similar they are to what your son will wear when you finally give birth… you get so lost in thinking about what your soon to be born son will look like whilst pelle wanders off with your daughter!

୨୧ whilst you busy yourself with admiring the mini clothes meant for plush bears, pelle finds himself still being dragged along your daughter as she holds his much larger hand in hers, he is secretly thankful that the store is so empty due to it being still so early in the morning, thankful that he does not feel as nervous and slightly anxious as he probably would if there were more people in the lit up store, thankful that he does not feel a major need to constantly keep his head down, thankful that he can watch his daughters face light up as she spots the custom bear section of the store, quickening her small steps to make it over there as pelle grins at how enthusiastic she is! his grin only falters ever so slightly when he realises he does have to talk to the employee standing by the build your own bear isle, his hand subconsciously tightening around his daughters as buried nerves creep through his body… but he manages to stomp them away, manages to keep them buried as he distracts himself with the thought of how excited his little girl is to do this, how much this obviously means to her…

“ careful, min lilla rådjur! slow your steps, just a little, hm? for me? i don’t want you to slip… ” ( whilst he might find her excitement to be just so cute and it makes him so happy to see her so excited, the floors are obviously freshly cleaned and he would have trouble ever forgiving himself if she slipped and hurt herself because she was walking so quickly )

♡ he speaks up so lowly to the unsuspecting and obviously young employee, his tall and lanky frame towering above them as his long blonde hair covers some of his face and he would look almost terrifying if it was not for the brightly smiling little girl next to him, quietly asking them how much it will cost and how to do it whilst your daughter is practically vibrating with excitement by his side, her big doe eyes still sparkling with happiness and her small hand still grasped around his as he gets a rundown of the process from the slightly nervous employee

“ hello… my daughter, she… she needs to build her own bear, or whatever it is, so how much do you need for that? ” ( when it comes to his daughter, he gets a bit more confident when speaking to people for her, to get things for her and such! it took him a little while to get used to the sudden and pretty unfamiliar surge of confidence he felt whenever it involved his daughter but he is so thankful for it, so thankful that he can do things for her )

୨୧ after getting the building a bear process run down by the employee and after your daughter had enthusiastically spoken up to ask the employee some… very obviously excited questions about if she can really make her bear anything she wants, after she had looked up to pelle with a face coated in pure wonder of what she would make and received a soft smile along with a gentle hand squeeze in response is when she finally gets to begin building her own plush bear! and of course, just like her father, your daughter is… beyond creative and has a unique sense of creativity, she was not the usual five year old and she did not have the most usual father… not at all! so both you and pelle already knew she would make such a unique bear, something so unusual yet so sweet but what you guys were not expecting was how genuinely thoughtful it would be, how special it would turn out to be…

♡ to the surprise of both you and pelle, your daughter made her bear a mix of both you and her father! at first it did not click in his head what she was making as she picked out colours and fabrics for her bear, it did not click that the slightly curly soft beige fabric she chose for the body was supposed to replicate his long blonde hair, that the cotton fabric she chose for the paws was supposed to replicate one of your favourite similarly patterned sweater, that the one blue button eye was supposed to replicate his blue eyes whilst the second coloured button eye was supposed to replicate yours… it only truly clicked in his head when it came to choosing out clothing for the bear!

୨୧ of course, sticking with her theme of wanting her bear to be like her parents but especially her father, she chose the most similar clothes they had that were like his! that being a tiny plain black biker leather jacket, little mock denim jeans as well as some miniature laced up black boots… that is when it finally clicked for pelle, it all pieces together in his head so quickly as he realises just what kind of bear she is actually making! but he does not bring it up, not at all… pelle simply stays quiet, brushing his long hair out of his face and letting her talk to herself about the fabrics, giving her soft hums of approval when she asks him little questions about what he thinks so far… it is not like he wants to ignore her or anything, not at all! he is just so… thankful and so blown away by how this perfect little girl came from him, baffled as to why he is receiving such a pure form of love and admiration from such a beautiful soul… he can so clearly see how you deserve this type of love, he can so clearly see so much of you in your daughter but himself? he cannot believe it, even after five years of having her in his life, he still cannot believe he receives this type of love not just from you but from your daughter now too… it almost confuses pelle, the love he feels radiating from her almost confuses him, why does she adore someone like him so much? no matter how many times you have explained to him that he is her father, that she will only ever love and admire him, that she will only ever see him as her perfect father, he still gets oh so overwhelmed sometimes…

♡ when the bear is finished, your daughter having done with putting all of her little customisations into it, it is so obviously meant to represent a combination of you and pelle! anyone who knew the two of you would be able to see it from a mile away with all of the small similarities put into the design and clothing choices! pelle has still not said a word about it, he has not mentioned how he knows exactly what it is to his daughter, he just does not want to overstep because maybe she does not want him to know that is what it is supposed to be, he does not want to intrude on something that maybe she wants to keep as an innocent secret from the two of you! so he just watches as she gets the plush bear filled with soft white stuffing by the employee, watches as her eyes gleam when they hand the now filled out bear to her, watches as she looks up at him with a huge smile plastered on her small face and holds the bear up to him, finally proclaiming about how she made it into both you and him! how she made her bear into the two of you but especially her father because she wants to be just like him when she grows up, she wants to be just like you when she grows up and pelle can just barely hold it together in the store as he takes her open hand in his, proudly grinning down at her and bringing his free hand to pet at the bear before quietly and almost shakily mumbling out a response, just loud enough for her to hear!

“ it looks very good, min lilla rådjur, so good… you did so well, you should show your mother now too and… thank you, min lilla rådjur, but you will be better than me when you grow up! you will be a greater musician or artist, you must know that… ” ( his voice is wavering ever so slightly as he speaks, his emotions still swirling around erratically inside of his head as he attempts to hold himself together at how thankful he is in this moment, how thankful he is that you entered his life and gave him such a wonderful daughter, how thankful he is that you made his life worth living )

୨୧ pelle comes so close to breaking down when your daughter throws herself around his legs, her short stature not even reaching anywhere close to his hips due to how tall he is and how tiny she is! he has to swallow so deeply as she loudly proclaims how much she loves him, how she could never be greater than him because no one is better than her papa… of course, she does not even mean to say it loudly! she just has that naturally loud voice at times due to her age but it only adds to the heat blooming like a beautiful flower all over his heart because she sounds so confident in her words as she speaks up to him, her voice unwavering and head unbowed whilst her chubby cheek squishes against the scratchy fabric of his jeans

♡ thankfully, pelle does manage to keep it together through keeping his breaths steady and taking his daughter up into his arms when he sees your figure approaching, smiling softly when you see your daughter happily perched on his hip and him obviously overblown with so many emotions as he looks to you for… guidance in a way! the second your daughter meets your eyes, she lurches into a speedy ramble about how cute her bear is whilst holding it out to you, telling you all about what it is supposed to replicate, who it is supposed to replicate and of course, you fail to stop yourself from cooing as you study the plush bear, noticing how much it looks like pelle with small splashes of you! you very quickly realise that this must be why pelle is so… almost upset looking, why he looks like he really needs a deep hug from you! he gets like this so often, so overflown with emotions and his mind is still so sensitive to love like this that it almost tires him out, almost makes him just want to go home and rest with the two, or three of you with some hot tea… pelle is the first to speak up quietly, obviously wanting nothing more than to leave the brightly lit store and go home with you and your tiny yet growing family

“ are you all done here, min lilla rådjur? we can go home now, is that okay with you, my birthday girl? we should not keep your mother out for too long… your birthday gifts from mormor and morfar should have been posted by now… ” ( of course, he was absolutely not going to leave the store without making sure his little girl had done and got everything she wanted! but he also knew that at the mention of more gifts from her grandparents, she would want to get right back home to your cozy little apartment to dig into them )

୨୧ and pelle was right, the second he mentions more gifts and gifts from her grandparents at that, your daughter is nodding enthusiastically and flashing a big smile before both you and her father share a quiet laugh at her sudden haste to get back home! but neither of you were complaining, you were just beginning to get some more cravings from toast and pelle… well, he would always prefer to be at home with you and his babies, he would always feel the most comfortable at home, he would always choose teaching your daughter more about art and music as opposed to going shopping in a city centre that is steadily growing more populated as the early morning progresses

♡ pelle never lets his little girl down for the whole walk home, not that she even wants to get down from his arms! he holds her on his hip as you guys walk, taking in her rambles about how much she loves her bear with ease and smiling at you when you take his cold free hand in yours to warm it up for him, his eyes drifting down to admire your baby bump for what feels like the one hundredth time that morning… only when you reach your apartment is when pelle sets your daughter down on the ground so that he can unlock the door and get inside, watching with a tiny smile painted across his pale face as she bursts through the door first and squeals when she sees the posted gifts along with a card! the three of you spend the rest of the morning cuddled up on the couch, with pelle stroking your bump with one hand and brushing his hair back out of his face with another, shyly accepting any kisses you lean back and press against his lips in between eating your new batch of toast, both of you admiring your daughter as she tears into the gifts sent over by his parents before she joins the two of you on the couch and settles down on top of her father, laid across his lap with her head on your bump and her newly acquired plush bear held tightly in her arms whilst he moves his hand away from your bump to stroke her hair, his eyes softening as he watches her once energetic face turn sleepy as she drifts off for a nap, the early morning awakening obviously catching up to her… the combined body warmth between the three of you and the low sound of cartoons playing on the tv only causes you and pelle to fall victim to a quick nap too but he only lets himself fall asleep when he knows both you and her are comfy and peacefully asleep, only then does he press a soft kiss to each of your heads and mumble an i love you along with a deep thank you into your hair… pelle falls asleep feeling so genuinely loved, surrounded by so much content and peace, all he feels is a sense of serenity as he lets himself fall asleep cuddled up with the people he loves most, the people that made his life worth living and the people that make him feel so deeply appreciated <3

[mayblossomss]

Whumptober Day 27: Voiceless

Being the middle child was almost like being invisible. You weren't the oldest, who got to pick out their clothes without only being handed hand-me-downs, and were allowed to be held to no special standards. You weren't the youngest, who was the family's pride and joy, being excused from any punishment no matter the crime.

No, as the middle child, you were given the hand-me-downs and you couldn't buy new clothes unless you absolutely had nothing else to wear. You were treated as though you had no opinions of your own and were mere reflections of what your older and younger siblings wanted.

You didn't stand out from your athletic superstar brother, and you were an academic failure compared to your genius brother who skipped a grade while you were on the verge of failing yours.

You were always "Darrel Curtis' younger brother" and never "Sodapop Curtis, his own person, with a personality and hobbies and an entirely different story!" It was like he was defined by his brothers and nobody gave him a chance to introduce the real him. And it hurt, it really did.

Since Darry was so athletically talented, everybody assumed that Sodapop would be too. His parents enrolled him into sports like soccer, baseball, and cross country, all of which sports that Darry had done and excelled in. Soda was decent at them, no better than any other kid on the teams, but preferred to spend his practices chatting near the back with the other lazy kids. His parents stopped making him go after realizing it was a waste of money, and that focusing on their more gifted son would be a better use of that money.

Nobody asked him if there were any other sports he was interested in, because if they had, they would've found out that Soda loved badminton, and every time he went over to Two-Bit's, the boys would spend forever hitting the birdie back and forth.

If Ponyboy wanted to go watch a movie, or needed to head to the library to pick up a new book, Soda was the designated person to accompany him. Sodapop adored his brother, and would happily escort him to wherever he wanted to go, especially when he was younger, but sometimes it was annoying. Soda would have plans with Steve or Two-Bit, but without even asking him first, his parents would sign him up for babysitting duty. If he spoke against it, he was being a brat.

He was voiceless at the end of the day. Nobody listened to him,he may as well have been muted. Soda knew his family loved him, and he loved them too, but they didn't understand that he was his own person most of the time. They treated him like a shadow, one that followed exactly what they expected him to, and mimicked whatever they did.

Sodapop felt especially voiceless whenever an argument between his brothers would break out. It had always been like that, since Soda was thirteen, and Ponyboy discovered how easily he could get on Darry's nerves. They didn't fight too badly then, only an occasional squabble that always ended on a positive note, but ever since their parents died, their fighting became constant. Every week, Soda would sit on the couch, staring absently at the cartoons playing on the TV as Pony and Darry hollered at each other from the room across from him.

It was exhausting, and it took a lot of willpower to keep from blowing up. He was expected to see both of their sides and completely empathize with them, while disagreeing with the other.

Soda could see why they fought so much: Darry was stressed from having to go from a boy to a man within hours. He spent all day working, whether it be at work or at home doing chores, the last thing he needed was to constantly fret over Ponyboy. With Ponyboy, he was only fourteen-years-old and still trying to handle his grief. He was a teenager, of course he's both hormonal and ready to pick fights over every little thing. Neither of them were wrong to be prone to fighting.

Neither of them could stop and think about the other person's point of view, though, as they were very stubborn. If Darry paused and thought about the fact that Pony was trying his best to accommodate to Darry's authority shift, and if Pony stopped to think about all of Darry's stresses, maybe the two of them could tone down the bickering.

Soda tried explaining it to them, but it went right through one ear and out the other one, as always. His words were passionate, but they were weak to his brothers' hard heads.

On one particular morning, Soda wasn't woken up by birds singing outside his window, but by screaming coming from the kitchen. A part of him wanted to roll over and shove his pillow over his head, but ultimately, he pushed himself out of bed, threw on a shirt, and walked to the kitchen. There, Ponyboy was screaming away, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms like a kid. Darry was a few feet away from him, eyes narrowed and jaw tense as he yelled back, their voices overlapping and coming out unintelligible.

"What's going on?" Soda asked, his voice drowned out by their fighting, so he repeated himself with more force. "What's happening?"

Ponyboy noticed him, shoulders slumping and a hint of relief flashing through his eyes. "Soda! Tell Darry he's being unreasonable!"

"What's this about?" Sodapop questioned tiredly, looking from Darry to Ponyboy.

Darry turned to him, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. "Ponyboy got a B- on his history test even though I told him to study. What did he do instead? Went to the damn movies with Dally and Johnny!"

"It's one B-, Darry! What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal?" Darry scoffed. "Soda, tell him what the big deal is, since it doesn't seem to get through his skull any other way!"

Soda's body tensed as their fighting continued. They asked him to pick sides, assuming he'd pick their own, but it wasn't fair to him. They were both right and they were both wrong. How can they make him pick when there wasn't a correct answer? If he picked Darry, Ponyboy would be upset with him all day, but if he picked Ponyboy, Darry would be mad.

"Why don't you both stop yelling?" Soda suggested, taking a slow step toward them. "Can't we talk about this rationally?"

They ignored him, their voices only increasing in volume. It got to the point where they were practically chest-to-chest, screaming in each other's face. One of these days, one of them were going to take their fighting too far, and Soda dreaded it, knowing he'd have to stand witness to it, but ultimately be helpless. Tears of frustration began to brew behind his eyes, but he pushed them down and kept trying to speak.

It was pointless. Soda's pleas for them to quiet down fell deaf ears. After a few more minutes of it, he couldn't take it anymore. He crept away from them, heading for the front door. Neither of them noticed, after all, he may as well have been invisible, his voice silenced by their refusal to acknowledge him.

As always.

[warsamongthestars]

ONTO TBB - POST-SERIES

I am going to need to sit down, and go through all of the show, and I hope to (energy providing). Mostly to make a review, or series of reviews. Produce a few what-ifs. Someone might want the fanfic inspiration.

( I hope, I'm not going to promise because I am bad at energy, and I'm not going to promise things until I can actually deliver. So let's just say I want to do it, but we'll see if it happens or not. )

Look, I still dont' want to rain on people's parades this close after the Finale, so read at ye own risk. Lots of critical down below.

I would call the TBBshow a waste of time. But its not a waste of time, the reason being is that, I have dedicated an enormous amount of energy, to tearing this show into pieces. It soothes and enflames the rage that lies in my heart.

( Remember, I do love Star Wars, and I love the Clone Wars. And Anger and Fury are what happens when something you love, or something you cherish and care about, gets hurt very badly. And I find that the TBBshow is both the weapon and wound. But its a weapon I can turn against itself. And it is a wound I can remedy. )

Now for my bit thoughts on the finale, and bit thoughts on the show itself.

They're just big bits, because when I want to really tear into the little issues of this show, I will go molecule-by-molecule, atom-by-atom when I do.

I am going to be the fucking Saturday morning cartoon villain, with suit and cape and evil laughs, about it.

So...

One). Fifth Enhanced Clone and Omega wasn't it, remember? You remember that from the first Finale?

I remember. The show didn't.

I 'd like to think it was Emerie. It points it that. But even now, I have doubts.

Because what was the point.

They oh so twittered about Emerie, and that didn't end up much--and I'd know because the biggest TBB Fans here haven't talked jack about her. That's how good her character is.

Just listen to the silence and all those crickets.

Two). Remember how this was supposed to be the Republic becoming the Empire?

They didn't act like it, did they. You could place these scenes in the Clone Wars, and y'know, it would not only still make sense--it would be more pointed on how the Republic had always been the Empire underneath.

Because you don't get the evil of an entire instellar Empire out of nowhere. That just doesn't happen in stories that have any depth.

If it does happen, you're reading a kindergarten story then.

( ... Frankly the kindergarten story would prolly tell it better, honestly. )

THree). They killed Tech, and CX-2 meant nothing.

You can't tell me they didn't have time, because they spent 3 seasons bullshiting and then at the last minute went "Oh shit, we're supposed to have a plot! Uhhh THORW SOMETHING AT THE WALL AND WE'LL SEE WHAT STICKS"

They knew full well how much fucking time they were alloted, because TV time always allows at least 3 seasons unless you have fucked up that royally.

It is by Contract. They Knew, and they still Bullshitted.

They murdered Tech for Shock Value. Oh someone is going to say "But George Lucas didn't Like Tech--so it made sense to kill him!"

I know they're going to say it.

If they didn't want Tech, then they shouldn't have created him. If you didn't want the Apple Pie, you shouldn't have made the damn Universe. When you introduce a vital character, a main character, people are going to care about them, especially upon character development.

So when you kill that character for Shock value, and then made that value meaningless by lack of conversation and perceived impact, then all you've done is spat in the face of everyone who cared about him--who might've identified with him--or felt that they needed a fictional example of grief--or fucking hells, just WANTED TO HAVE CHARACTER IN YOUR FUCKING CHARACTERS.

Tech was the point where my fires started. He was the point, where I realized, there was no hope in this show. Can't repair the character dynamics, can't do anything of significance now.

And by their refusal to allow the characters communication and grief, they stamped Tech into the dirt by the heels of their imperial boots.

CX-2 had all this development, for fuck all. What was the point of the CXs if they weren't going to do jack with them.

Four). Spent an awful lot of time shitting on other ideas.

Every possible guest character that could appear, did appear, and it took away from the story. Worse, it took away from Authors, and Game Makers, and spat all over them with a "Haha this is OUR CANON NOW!"

Cid lost her appeal. Because it was an episodic format, and the series did not stick to an episodic format. Would've been a great minor villian, too fucking bad though.

Phee was a phenomenal character (even if I don't care for Indiana Jones / Lara Croft archetypes), and she didn't go anywhere. She stood nearby Tech, gave him a pet name, and that's it. They wasted her.

( I would say that the shippers went too hog wild--but shippers have always been hogwild. To say that they're overdoing it, means they've been underdoing it. They will go hogwild for "Nameless Twi'lek in Background". That's the beauty of the shippers. Keep shipping folks, the Empire can't take all of us out. )

They killed Scorch. Scorch, from Republic Commando, is dead now. You remember that happy go lucky guy? The one who wanted to go back for Sev?

( HE WAS MY PARTY MEMBER, GODS DAMN IT. I PLAYED THE GAME WITH HIM. )

Well. He can never go back now.

( From the bottom of my gamer heart--I felt like this was the greatest Fuck You of all time. Tech's death was already unforgivable, but this? This is as if you just executed Carth Onasi in front of me. )

( The only way they could've done worse, is if they had made a poor copycat of the deathstar as some star destroyer with a rip off of Darth Revan except he's like, the grandson of Darth Vader or something. And he like, murdered a lot of Jedi again, because they wanted to rip off the prequels... )

Why is VENTRESS EVEN THERE.

Why did we need KANAN AGAIN!?

Oh look, Rex, and... Clones... Fucking wonder what's going on there. I can't imagine that the sequel of the Clone Wars would have anything to do with Clone Wars maining Clones. Can't imagine why they might've been important for the Star Wars audience. They're just CLONES AREN'T THEY ITS NOT LIKE THE AFTER EFFECTS OF THE CLONE WARS WOULD HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH CLONES.

Completely dissed the Chip plot, for victim blaming, and all the victims paid for it. In fact, they even villianized the victims and punished them dearly. Through execution, or dismemberment.

And they just straight up murdered every villian they could get away with, for... no reason. It wasn't satisfying. It was bullshit.

The sheer audacity to fuck Echo up. He was our Audience Surrogate, on par with Ahsoka, and THIS IS WHAT THEY DID TO HIM? Made him a bit player in his own show?

Only gave Fives, one of the most important people of Echo's life, a mere throwaway mention.

Not gonna get into what they did to me boys the Bad Batch, because we'd be here all day. And I've got other things to do.

And finally, because this made me rage so fucking hard.

FIVES) The Spoken Message "Now we can be who we want to be!"

...

ARE YOU FUCKING FOR REAL. WHAT IS THIS SHOW'S MAJOR MALFUNCTION.

The Entire Point of the Bad Batch, was that they were already being who they wanted to be or who they were, since their introduction in Clone Wars. They were Unique Nonstandard Clone with Unique Abilities and excellent character (In the Clone Wars)

And suddenly the show wants to say "Oh by they weren't really being themselves--"

They didn't set that the fuck up. The TBBShow, spent the last 3 years fucking around in the ether. They had plenty of time, and they squandered it, and then they rushed jobbed like kids on final group project day.

If the "Good Soldiers Follow Orders" was the set up, then that is akin to saying "Oh don't worry about being drugged into doing something you didn't want to do, you can learn from the experience of having all your choices forced from you and against your consent, and be better from it!"

We can even take in-story!

They spent, so much time, never once talking to one another, about one another, setting up jack all. In fact, vast majority either followed Hunter's lead or ignored him, and left the Camera--there has never been any "Oh we can be who we want".

Unless you're Omega. And y'know, I tots watched a show called the Bad Batch, because I was totally clearly there for an original character not apart of the Bad Batch.

At the end of all it, I have to ask... what... story were they trying to tell exactly?

The show didn't dedicate itself to anything. It spent so long avoiding dedication that it robbed all impact, and left a constant sense of tension in every episode.

It didn't dedicate to a story. Oh it dedicated to the Rush, the New AND SHINY CONTENT--but that's it. Honestly, if they wanted the feeling of rush, they should've just dedicated themselves to Youtube Shorts, Vines and Tiktok.

I'm not here for the rush of content. I'm here for a fucking story, with characters. I have games that are decades old, I have the original Han Solo Trilogy, far before that fucking film.

And I go back, and I reread and replay, because I fucking love them. And that's what you do with something you love, you return to it constantly, its not a Fad that passes once the rush stops.

But I can only go back to the TBBshow, to take what little is good, And destroy the rest, and plant garden above the ashes.

(There are things good in this show that I want to drag out into the light and into better things. And I know, plenty of people have found that good too, and they have done the same. The sheer dedication of interpretation is a beautiful thing. )

There is no Replay Value here. By all accounts, they turned this into a throw-away show, that I guarantee, in about six months, half the fandom is going to be gone from because there's no substance here.

( I'd be shocked, but also not shocked, if it isn't, but I'm not hopeful here. )

And I'll guarantee to you, my audience, that I am going to be here with a never ending coal-fire in my chest.

Because as a lifetime Star Wars fan, from birth and unto where ever the end of my journey is, it has me--it can have my Love, or it can have my Never Ending Rage, but it has me regardless.

ADDENDUM

There are other things, believe me, I am not finished, but I wanted to get the big points down and out, to air my grievances. Twas an emotional response of sheer fucking unbelievable rage. The fires of mustafar would mean nothing in comparison to fires that lie inside. ( i'm in my darth vader arc. )

This hasn't been a waste of time... But fuck it was a Waste of Story and a waste of characters, and I will never forgive the TBBshow, for the fact that the Clone Wars lead me to love, and the TBBshow lead me to antagonizing rage.

The TBBshow story should've been a tragedy. That would've set some things to rights. If they had just, killed the team, and finally made the Empire into the tragic but villianous threat it really is, then that would've at least, made up for somethings. It wouldn't have fixed the show--S1 and S2 are still bad and no amount of good endings will fix that--but it would've been an anchor for it.

[dutifulsnack]

Here's an incentive - There's a short, generic HDG adjacant story below the cut

I think I would like someone saving me from all of this. I don't know if I need to be saved, but I would like to be saved nonetheless.

Where are they? Superheroes, Affini, Prince Charming, Santa Claus? Where are they?

I have been vividly imagining my self insert getting aged down by a supervillain and adopted by Wonder Woman for years now. When's this due, huh?

When can I actually dump my emotions? I don't get it. I guess people would rather have good vibes around them, huh? Is the answer never? I guess I should have learnt this at some point in my life, "this" being "regulating my emotions", but I guess I never got around to it.

I wish someone knew me.

What do I even tag this as? It would be rude to dump this on any tags. It's already rude to dump this on my 20ish followers' dash, even though most of you don't exist.

My head hurts.

Story

You kneel before the massive plant, your head pounding and psyche crumbling under the weight of nothing.

The world is supposed to be a utopia, with resources in excess and everything at your fingertips, and yet you cannot find a way to keep yourself together.

You cannot find a way to be pleasant company, your friends would rather spend time with someone else, every creative endeavor is a hill you cannot overcome. You were meant to be better than this, and yet here you are - on your knees, broken and guilty, awaiting an execution that will never arrive.

The silence is deafening, you can't hold back your tears and you shouldn't let out your sobs. You failed at being a person.

You can barely bring yourself to a chair. You don't get a chance to test if you actually could before you are gently lifted and placed on your couch.

You feel the plant's vines carress you as the pounding in your head subsides. You feel numb. You hate this. You don't want help.

There is a gentleness here that you don't understand. You don't get it, why would they want to help you? You don't need help, you have everything you could need. They are wasting their time on-

You thoughts are cut short as one of the vines hands you a small carton with a straw attached. It has a cartoon apple on it, you would wager that the contents inside taste like apple, like the commercial juice boxes in the old worlds. You have always liked apple flavored drinks, but not the fruit itself.

"Really, petal? Why is that?" You hear the plant ask. You notice shuffling around your hab, as the massive creature's vines put things back in their place.

You never considered why you didn't like apple, you assume it's the lack of sugar in the natural fruit, while the juice boxes have a lot more of it. You think it's not healthy to drink sugary drinks, but it doesn't really matter because you wouldn't look good even if -

You are cut off as you feel a small vine hands you the straw. You know what to do with this. You enjoy a little drink. It's nice and cool. You were correct, you do enjoy the flavor. You don't quite remember why or when you stopped drinking it.

"Perhaps you should get some rest."

But you can't. You really shouldn't. You probably should try to push yourself a little now that you're feeling better, before tomorrow comes.

"Petal, you slept for four hours last night, and it's dark outside. You need to sleep."

You know that you should, bu-

You are lifted off the couch, to the plant, and find yourself unwilling to let go of the plant. You are moved to your bed, made and inviting. You feel sleepy. You feel tired. You feel better.

You really want to keep talking to the plant about your problems.

"We will have more time tomorrow, I promise."

You believe it. You drift to sleep.

[corellianhounds]

Criticism of Ahsoka Tano’s Character and Role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian with Suggested Changes

Word Count: 2.8k

—

I’m largely indifferent to and more critical of Ahsoka Tano’s live action appearances in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett than favorable. The short reason for why is that my introduction to her was the second season of Mando with “The Jedi” episode, and your audience only cares about Gandalf the White if they already know Gandalf the Grey.

The longer reason is that I don’t think she’s utilized well for Mando’s story. When I saw her for the first time I only knew through cultural osmosis that she was in TCW and was Anakin’s padawan. That’s it. I don’t know anything about her character and that episode doesn’t give me much to go on. I haven’t seen The Clone Wars or Rebels cartoons and I think it’s unrealistic to automatically expect your audience to know who this person is when this show was introduced as a standalone story with brand new characters, simply set in the world of Star Wars. There’s no indication that I should have seen two unrelated cartoon shows before going into The Mandalorian, so if you’re going to have this pre-established character from another medium, she should be written as if you’re introducing her for the first time. Don’t rely on what part of your audience knows about her, introduce her to this story as a new character because she’s entirely new to your main character (who in this show is also the audience’s proxy for new information). You shouldn’t be relying on our hypothetical prior knowledge for us to trust her or know where she’s coming from regarding the Jedi as a whole.

If your intention as the show runner is for your target audience to be people who have consumed select pieces/all of Star Wars media in the past forty years so you don’t have to do a lot of (or better) exposition, you have to be okay with automatically limiting your audience and likely having casual viewers (of which Mando had many) drop off when you start writing in characters without having more thorough storytelling establishing their place in this show. From a casual viewer’s standpoint, her character isn’t all that interesting, forthcoming, or fleshed out in “The Jedi,” at least not enough for me to care about the fact she’s apparently the main character of that episode since the central conflict/physical plot doesn’t affect or pertain to Mando’s overarching plot or character development, and the Thrawn name drop meant nothing to the audience regarding Mando’s story that far and— in the rest of two seasons of his own show and his participation in TBoBF— has yielded nothing as a result. What the episode did was introduce Ahsoka so she could get her own show and it largely wasted Mando’s episode and his involvement with Ahsoka for that entire season. We’re not given any indication that the information he gets could only come from her and not another Force user, and at that point the show would have been better served with an original character not constrained by or beholden to an established (apparently canon?) history or the episode’s focus on her.

Bo-Katan comes back at the end of Season 2 and is involved with the overarching plot. Cobb Vanth was apparently from the comics but I didn’t need to have read them for his character to make sense in the Krayt dragon episode because they DID lay out his character well enough I didn’t need prior context. Objectively, “The Jedi” episode is poorly written as an episodic installment of The Mandalorian, the script and characters on their own aren’t all that compelling, the music is what really indicates I’m supposed to care about Ahsoka/her decisions, and if you look at it from the POV of knowing Mando’s story with no knowledge of Ahsoka, she’s kind of wishy-washy and vague in her response to testing/training the kid and her explanation as to WHY she has reservations. I don’t find her character admirable when she refuses to go through with their deal in the end, especially since it’s apparent she has bigger priorities she should have been clear about from the beginning.

I know her being clear about her priorities would negate Mando’s purpose in staying there and the episode would follow him off to wherever he went next, but keeping Mando there for her for the whole episode only for her to go back on their deal makes her seem deceitful and not much different than Bo-Katan, who also used him for her own gain and changed the terms of their deal partway through the job once Mando was already working for her. The only difference is in their deliveries and personalities. The showrunners relied too heavily on the audience not wanting Mando to separate from Grogu to be what kept us from protesting about/criticizing Ahsoka’s decision; audience emotions are irrelevant to what will make a stronger story that will have more impact in the end. We don’t have to like every character who’s introduced, and our opinions about them can change over time as the story progresses and we see them develop.

If you don’t want me to think negatively of Ahsoka but you’re dead set on these circumstances being what keeps these two characters together for the length of the episode, she can’t have her mission take priority in the end. It’s that plain and simple. If she was never going to train the kid, she needed to be upfront about it AND you need to explain to Mando— somebody who has zero clue about the Jedi code or Force powers or the caution against attachment and it’s reason for existing in the first place— why the kid seeing him as his father is relevant to Jedi training at all. You can’t just say “You're like a father to him. I cannot train him,” you have to explain to Mando what being a Jedi™ means. The Jedi were peacekeepers specifically trained to uphold and defend what was best for the greater good and to serve as protectors of other people, meaning the choice to train the child as a Jedi would mean Grogu dedicating his life to this schooling, and that people with strong emotional personal attachments tend to have a harder time separating themselves from their loved ones and tend to prioritize those loved ones over everybody else, meaning they’re less likely to be good at doing what the Jedi specifically were called to do. That doesn’t mean the kid or anybody with similar tendencies is ‘bad,’ it means they shouldn’t dedicate their life to being a Jedi™. There’s more than one way to learn how to use the Force.

Does that ruin the chance of Mando staying there on Corvus because he would logically move on, meaning we as the audience wouldn’t see Ahsoka’s Cool Samurai Episode™? Yeah, but those are the circumstances Favreau and Filoni came up with, so either you change the story or change Ahsoka’s character or change Mando’s role in the Calodan conflict. Kill your darlings and write a better story. It’s not the Ahsoka show, it’s Mando’s.

However, the episode isn’t unfixable.

One of my biggest complaints with Season 2 is that it failed to establish/drive Mando’s character with the inner motivation of why he’s bringing the kid to a Jedi in the first place: yes, the Armorer tasked him with returning the child to the Jedi so that the boy had the chance of being raised by people like him who may already know him and would understand how to raise him to control the powers he has, but that’s the external reason. The whole premise of the show is predicated on the child being in danger and Mando wanting him to be safe. The Armorer says in the finale for Season 1 that the boy is too small and young to be trained as a Mandalorian, but given the fact he’s capable of powers that allow him to do these incredible things, there’s a possibility he can be trained to defend himself in other ways. The point of giving the child to a Jedi is that he’s given the cultural upbringing closest to what he would know as his own (an ideal the Armorer, Mando, and Mandalorian culture as a whole would understand the importance and value of), and so that he can learn to protect himself.

“The Heiress” should have established that as Mando’s internal motivation, and “The Jedi” should have been where the character voiced it because by this point in the season he should be at his most desperate. He’s finally found a Jedi and she’s reluctant to take him. Ahsoka’s his last lead. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there is only one way for Din and Grogu’s story to end, and it’s with one of them dying before the other. The child does not age the same way humans do. He needs to be trained to use his powers so that he can defend himself when he’s alone. His proximity to Din makes him a target by association because Din simply being a Mandalorian invites conflict. Even when the Empire isn’t after the kid, the child is constantly in danger. Even if Din lives to a remarkably old age, the boy may still be a child by his species’ reckoning. Who’s going to take care of him once Mando is gone? What happens if they’re separated now and the child is in danger?

That’s a very real and compelling motivation for Din to want to give the child away for the child’s own good, permanently if he has to. If giving the boy to a stranger means he will be safe and taught how to keep himself safe, that’s the sacrifice Din is willing to make. That’s the kind of sacrifice any good parent with empirical evidence backing up their reasoning would understand, and Din has seen that evidence in spades.

We should see Din being scared for the child. That worry fuels his mission and it should stoke his anger and frustration when that mission continues to be foiled by dead ends (Cobb Vanth not being a true Mandalorian, therefore having no contact or information to give him), side journeys that cost him time, resources, safety, and possessions (the Frog Lady’s contact for information contingent on traveling sublight, which garners them the attention of the law), and personal conflicts and compromises (Bo-Katan’s heist, deception, and their culture clash). “The Siege” re-establishes that the child is still in the greatest possible danger he could be as a target of the Empire, and Mando is following his last flimsy lead to a Jedi who may or may not exist or even be on the planet he’s been sent to, considering the person who gave him that intel deceived him once already before giving it to him.

Mando should have been desperate for Ahsoka’s help. If she refuses to train the kid, he (as far as he’s aware) has no other options. If Ahsoka were honest about having larger priorities to attend to (ones Din wouldn’t object to if she explained she was fighting the resurgent Empire too), she could have told him about Tython at the beginning and the two would have parted ways without wasting Mando’s (and the audience’s) time on the Calodan storyline.

Mando wasn’t given enough time or personal connection to the people under the magistrate’s despotic rule for his bleeding heart and sense of honor to compel him to stay, and Ahsoka was honestly capable enough I don’t think she needed Mando’s help. She was planning to storm the castle herself anyway. Mando could have gotten the spear another way if that was to be his incentive for taking down Elsbeth.

In order to fix “The Jedi” and still have Ahsoka as the main secondary character and still have her be an honorable person by the end, a few things need to happen:

If Ahsoka was going to be a genuine option to take the kid under her wing, she should have been sent there by somebody else to depose the magistrate and gain the information about Thrawn that she would then relay back to her partner or employer, or she should had a personal vendetta against the magistrate (devoid of any connection to Thrawn) and genuinely needed help getting close enough to take her out.

Mando needs to be given more story and connection to the given circumstances of Calodan, forming connections with and gathering exposition from the people in town

Ahsoka and Mando’s discussion where she’s already reluctant to take the child as a student for personal reasons needed a better explanation based on how she saw her own master fall because of his flaws (just enough to flesh her out and give exposition to Mando/the audience who have no idea who she is), and Din’s own reasoning and desperation need to reach a boiling point where he reveals why he’s so insistent on the child needing a teacher (so the child can be taught to protect himself). This discussion needs to establish tension and stakes that make the emotional conflict (having Ahsoka take the kid and Mando’s mission being complete) dependent on the outcome of the physical conflict (the liberation of Calodan, Ahsoka resolving whichever conflict she has with Elsbeth)

That revelation allows Ahsoka to say she’ll consider taking the child as a pupil, but that it can’t be done until her mission is completed

The two of them have contact with other characters introduced from Mando’s more fleshed out connections and the story in town, grounding Mando’s involvement in this physical conflict

And most importantly, something Mando does in the ending fight/s inadvertently affords one of the citizens the chance to kill Elsbeth themselves before Ahsoka can get the information she wants. This reinforces Mando’s character as somebody who puts power into the hands of the people most affected by the conflict they’ve asked him to help with, and it inadvertently thwarts Ahsoka’s objective in obtaining information, forcing her to forgo the kid’s apprenticeship and forcing Mando to continue ahead, trying to find the information elsewhere. This outcome, based on consequences driven by character decisions, is much more compelling and satisfying and more naturally prevents the main character from achieving his main objective, forcing him in the story to continue forward.

This doesn’t mean the two of them have to be enemies. Conflict from outside factors prevents Ahsoka from being the child’s teacher and gives a logical segue for Ahsoka to give Mando the next best thing since she can no longer help (information about Tython and the chance of finding another Jedi or Force user). It provides a more natural exit for Ahsoka to either stay or go in the larger story of Mando and the kid, and her character doesn’t end up being wishy-washy or deceitful at all. Things just didn’t work out for the three of them, and it’s time for them to part ways.

If anything, doing that episode right could have meant it became a two-parter in order to really get into some of the nitty gritty of each of those characters and more worldbuilding and hey! Now die-hard Ahsoka fans get two episodes with her, and Mando’s character is given meaningful involvement in town and we can flesh out the storyline with Elsbeth a little more, raise the stakes and really give it some tension.

(This episode could have also had the optional bit of exposition of the two of them coming to the realization that the child doesn’t necessarily need to be a Jedi, that was just the information Din was operating under because that was what was available to him, and what Din really means when he says he needs to find a Jedi is that he wants the child to be protected by people who understand him and can teach him the kind of effective self defense he’d be capable of. Ahsoka or whoever you have filling her role (or even somebody in the town) can tell Mando that being a Jedi is not the only way to master use of the Force, that there are other avenues that would achieve Din’s inner objective, which in turn foreshadow and/or parallel Din dealing with challenges to his faith and the other ways he sees people being Mandalorians.)

(Him deviating from the exact wording of the mission the Armorer gave him is a non-issue. She gave him an objective with the broadest and biggest target she herself had knowledge of and she wouldn’t have cared if the kid ended up being given to a non-Jedi provided they were still a Force-user and they were who Din decided was best suited to fill that role. She trusts his judgment. This show had the opportunity to branch out into what else the world of Star Wars has to offer and diversify the setting so that we could have either gotten away from the Jedi or kept from rehashing things the audience is already aware of concerning them.)

[diy-fire-water-pups]

Can yall send me encouragement. I recently relapsed in self in*ury and I’m struggling trying to stay clean again

Dude, why would someone do that?!? It makes no sense!!!

Some people feel bad to the point they think they deserve nothing but pain, or something like that... I read about it when I was studying possible cases I could maybe be called for as an EMT.

Still doesn't make any sense to me, that's so untrue!! Why would someone believe that?? I mean, not even bad people deserve anything like that. You shouldn't mistreat yourself like that, Anon!

I don't even know what to say. That caught me completely off guard. I'm not able to process this.

Well... What I can say for now is that it's not worth it. If you're already suffering due to something else, when you do that you just add even more to it, instead of making things better for yourself.

First of all, you need professional help in person, there's not much I could possibly do from over here and I'm just a first responder EMT, not an actual psychologist or psychiatrist. Second, a wrong move and you'll just create even more trouble for yourself and everyone else around you, especially the ones you care about and those who care about you, which is certainly not what you're looking for. Keep that in mind. If not for yourself, then don't do it for them.

Last, but not least, leave everything that can be harmful absolutely out of your reach. Make it all very hard to get, with as many obstacles as you can ever come up with, like it's the most cursed ancient artifact ever created, which no one should not even take a quick glance at. Just the huge trouble and long time spent to get to it should give enough time for your mind to distract with anything else and give up in the meantime. Work some laziness to your favor!

There are alternatives which won't get you in trouble and will keep you clean, if it comes down to it. Play with some ice cubes, or scribble angry or sad stuff down in a paper, then rip it and throw it away. Writing down all your thoughts and then getting rid of the paper with them is good too. It's all psychological play, and you can play this to your favor as well.

Always remember: Your body is yours, you own your thoughts, not the other way around! This is the only body you have, you can't move to a different one if it breaks down, so take good care of it!

Go for a walk around the block where you live. It doesn't need to be a fancy walk in a fancy place like in the movies, just around the block is already something! Sit under the sun for a while - don't forget a sunscreen! Feel the warmth of it. Stand in the rain for a couple minutes and then have a nice warm shower, wrap yourself in comfy blankets and go watch some cartoon that makes you happy. Forget complicated series or movies, go for the easy to understand stuff, preferably something you've already watched before, because as you already know how it ends, you won't work yourself into anxiety by wondering what's coming next. Your brain needs some down time too! Get yourself a tasty snack. Stop checking the news about the world for a while, most of them are currently tragic and you need some "you time", get it? Call a friend over to just spend time together, play a light game (avoid online games with toxic players), or go over to someone else's house. Changing the air you breathe and seeing different things is always good for getting those thoughts out of your mind too, as it'll get you distracted.

There are just lots of simple things you can do and enjoy, rather than wasting time with that. Sometimes even just sleeping through an entire day is a good start, just don't stay in bed forever, otherwise it might go up to a depressing level! Make good and necessary things easier for yourself, like leaving a water bottle somewhere next to your bed or desk, so you don't need to go all the way to the kitchen for some water. Gotta stay hydrated or your brain will start eating itself out!

Wait, that actually happens?

Sort of. The cells shrink when they're dehydrated and it causes damage to cognitive functions, memory loss, brain fog, stuff like that. You can't think clearly, nor make clear decisions at all. And no, Zuma, salt water doesn't count as keeping yourself hydrated, before you even ask. The salt absorbs the water in your body and the effects will be even worse if you don't get yourself some fresh water constantly.

No wonder Ryder always made me carry a big water bottle in my hovercraft. Anyway, I hope you'll feel better soon, Anon. I don't know if it's any help at all, but I like to remember that after every bad storm, there's always a rainbow to appreciate. And even when the storm takes a very long time to pass, you can remember that above it, there's no storm at all, it's all peace and quiet above the stormy clouds. It's like that one song... "Behind the clouds, the sun is shining! Believe me, even though you can't quite make it out! You may not see the silver lining, but there's a big blue sky waiting right behind the clouds!"

Wow, you got Zuma to sing just like that. Anyway, same here, I hope you'll get help and recover well. That's totally messed up... Please don't do that ever again, stop lying to yourself to such a point!

[powerpuffobsession]

First time writing an essay about Helluva Boss. Episode 2.10, Ghostfuckers

So, episode 2.10...

I have a lot to say about it considering all the previous episodes. First of all, I'm glad that the senior man managed to punch Millie through a wall. She deserved that for all the innocent humans she, Blitzo and her husband murdered in episode 1.3 (I remind you that this is a cartoon about imps who are serial murders, and DHORKS are not the villains but rather just looking for revenge, uguuu U_U)

I'm just disappointed that Blitzo didn't get punched (because he's a traumatized uwu baby in this one and that would break him in half, I guess)

Now, let's get to it, to the bad and a bit of good

Animators and voice actors are still killing it, they are the ones single-handedly saving this show (had it not looked so pretty compared to Family guy or RiIck and Morty, I'd never even given it the light of day with its writing, because my eyes would just bleed and I'd close the tab. I'm a sucker for beautiful animesque designs, what can I say)

The fighting scenes are much more fluid now, my head doesn't hurt from watching them too

But the writing... The best way to describe this is "Uncanny Valley"

Because Brandon Rogers basically made fanfic inside fanfic. The whole show is already full of loopholes, strange turnarounds and retcons, etc. And Ghostfuckers looks like a stand-off fantasy that first goes on about some fanon version of Millie Brandon would like to see if he was the one who came up with the idea of Helluva boss... And then it switches abruptly to canon Millie, because we have to remember that this is still an episode of Vivziepop's show

This is what we get when Vivziepop is too grossed out by having to develop her female character and dumps it wholly on another writer (for the second time in a row already)

The switch between that cold-blooded and unfriendly Millie and the current awkward happy-go-lucky Millie is just too unnatural. I don't see any hints in the previous episodes about her being such a stock "cool gurl" in the past. It feels like yet another idea that was mashed into the show out of nowhere with no planning (like Stolas and Blitzo meeting as kids or Stolas being a helpless soy-bean victim)

I hate how the show tries to go in the direction of posing Blitzo as a local savior-wannabe who supposedly made the lives of Moxxie and Millie better.

No, he didn't....

I have eyes and ears. I saw how he humiliated Moxxie and made fun of him, he made threats to him and Millie, stalked them outside of work and he still refuses to stop doing that, he DOESN'T EVEN PAY THEM, INSTEAD WASTING ALL THE MONEY ON RANDOM STUFF AND SHAMELESSLY TELLS THEM ABOUT IT DIRECTLY (especially in episode 2.10, do you know what it means not to be paid for a MONTH when you are depending on yourself and not living off your parents money, like Millie and Moxxie?)

In real life, Blitzo would have been told to go fuck himself and all his workers would have left him a long time ago. But in vivziepop's verse Blitzo is apparently the only employer in Wrath ring, I dunno...

I feel like Millie comforted and thanked Blitzo out of pity just so he would stop whining. I remember how she didn't show up to help him escape from the humans in the last short (Moxxie wasn't captured that time unlike in 1.6 episode, so she was unbothered). I tell you, the gurl is hiding her true disdain for Blitzo, since he's her boss. I know two-faced when I see one (and I don't blame her at all)

However, with what condition Blitzo is in in this episode, I have quite a few nasty words to say about Stolas

This is the second or third or maybe even fourth time we've heard how Blitzo ruins the lives of everyone in hell (literally, he gets a whole ass party dedicated to how bad he is, thrown by almost half of hell - writing overkill much?), how he should change, etc... My question is, when will the same be said to Stolas?

Stolas performed the same disgusting scheme a lot of toxic partners have always been using: he tamed Blitzo, he made Blitzo feel like he (Stolas) is important and irreplaceable, Stolas pretended to be kind to Blitzo (when in reality all he wanted from the imp was sex, otherwise he would have requested something else in exchange for the book, it was not that hard to do you know)... And then Stolas got all offended completely out of the blue (just because Blitzo hesitated before accepting his gift, seriously?) and ditched Blitzo while sincerely partaking in an insulting song dedicated to Blitzo at the "Fuck you Blitzo party)...

That bird bitch knows exactly what he's doing. He knew Blitzo would get used to the idea that Stolas only wants sex and doubt Stolas' attempt at selflessness (with the Asmodeus' crystal). Stolas can't be so clueless if he's 30-something years old, I can't stand how Vivziepop infantilizes her characters right at the times when they should realize their wrongdoings and self-improve

If Stolas is not going to understand the damage he did to Blitzo and apologize to him, AND if they are going to still be the end game after all... That'd be a pure romanticization of Stockholm syndrome

You can't have Blitzo as this scapegoat who is somewhat held responsible for his actions (he is at least feeling guilty sometimes and trying to do.... something??? to fix things) and then show someone who's emotionally abusing him as this innocent suffering being. I hate black-and-white writing where the author is playing favourites when it comes to conflicts between characters

Now the small things:

Moxxie wears a bra apparently. Transmale Moxxie headcanon confirmed? (I know his horns are black and white, but he could have dyed them)

I find it funny how the characters keep conversing smugly while fighting and jumping all over the place. Can you stop for one minute and breathe? You're all gonna end up with pink eye one day I swear

The fight scenes are still a repetitive mass of random noise and movement. And that's why in my opinion they last for longer than they should. Helluva Boss is trying to be Samurai Jack with its suspense and various styles/pacing of action, but fails

I loved the scene where Blitzo was tortured by the hallucinations of his past. Helluva boss does a decent job at creepy stuff for a stupid comedy-drama cartoon. The scene where a fantom of his mother shows up and burns in his arms is especially cinematically strong. Blitzo really got stabbed where it hurt the most

Blitzo is more vulnerable than Millie in this episode in general. His past is screwed up big time for a lot of reasons, so he's got a lot of trauma buttons one can push to easily drive Blitzo into a helpless snotty-teary state. Millie, in contrast, is living her best life in hellish terms - she's got loving parents, strong body and personality, no guilt on her shoulders, literally nothing to be ashamed or guilty of. The villain tries to tell her that she's miserable, and she's just laughing in his face because she KNOWS it's not so. That's why Millie keeps protecting Blitzo in 2.10 episode. It's an interesting chemistry and I'm glad it got explored

Though I still don't get how Millie meeting her husband is Blitzo's merit. Not like he actively helped them get together, to of the goodness of his heart too, I sincerely doubt it, given how egoistical, abusive and immature Blitzo is

I hate how Blitzo keeps talking about sex only at some times. It's like a psychosis or something. "Adult cartoon should feature sex talk, because that's how it happens in real life, grow up". In real life anyone would get dirty looks if they spoke in "sex fuck FUCK SEX FUCKING FUCK I want to get it up my ass I WANT SEX" only at the most inappropriate times, so piss off, it's cringe. I get it how Vivziepop and her crew find the mere word "sex" funny, as well as swear words (someone did not grow out of their middle school phase), but can we have other jokes please? The "read the chains" one was kinda funny as well as the high five scene from the 1.3 episode. I want more comedy stuff like that, though it takes effort to come up with that

Speaking of which, I hated the part where a disfigured person who can't even blink is made fun of. Especially how Blitzo and Millie demonstratively express disgust upon seeing her. Unhealthy people are not a joke!

The villain was bland. He's basically just a tool to make Millie and Blitzo get character development. No charisma, no memorable lines or scenes (his transformation to his true form was sort of spicy but lacked something still), no clear motivation. He didn't pass the sexy tumblrman test, I have no memories of him

No s*icidal Millie in this episode. I'm glad about that because that conflict just doesn't suit her (I also think that her reflections about feeling unimportant in 2.5 episode were bullshit, she has no reason for that). If anything it would have been logical to give Moxxie the s*icidal tendencies and the problem of feeling unimportant - he's weak, sensitive, gets mocked and bullied a lot, has a troublesome and dark past with an abusive father.... It'll be a missed potential if until the very end his suffering is going to be taken as just a joke instead of being explored as a serious issue (though we all know vivziepop is going to leave it as that)

Thankfully Luna didn't murder Moxxie at his most neurotic and vulnerable state and didn't ignore his attempt at burning himself with all the papers (I get you, man... Paperwork sucks majorly sometimes). She even gave him an ice cream! When Millie asked Luna to watch over Moxxie, I actually was worried she and Blitzo would return to see Moxxie dismembered and pissed at all over or something. Because this is the same Luna who abused Blitzo (someone who literally allows her to live carefree at his expense), and bullies Moxxie on a daily basis... Blitzo didn't even die when making her do the unnecessary work of burning the owl taxidermy. Is she on antidepressants or something in this episode?

I rate this episode as 7/10

[sesamestreep]

New Taylor Swift prompts! 16, Matt/Foggy

16. I’ve missed you all this time (from this prompt list) I don't know what this is, but it's technically set in the 60s, even though I did not make that explicitly clear anywhere in the text and it serves no purpose beyond just...vibes. I mostly just wanted to write silly new year’s fic, don’t worry about historical accuracy or world-building, everyone be cool! happy 2024, you silly and sultry geese! on ao3 here 🥂✨

Matt can still hear the noise of the party, barely dampened even when he's several rooms removed. He’d be able to hear it from the lobby of the building, truth be told, but here he can still make out conversations without having to focus that hard. He tries to direct his senses somewhere else—somewhere with less overlapping chatter and clinking glasses and shuffling feet over plush carpets—and breathe deep, so that maybe he can regain some equilibrium and hopefully go back to the party in a few minutes and act normal. It’s almost midnight, after all, and who goes to a New Year’s Eve party just to ditch out before midnight?

“Matthew Augustus Murdock,” a voice calls out from the far end of the paneled hallway.

“Not my middle name,” Matt says, smiling, “as you already know.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if it was?” Foggy asks, as he slides down to sit next to Matt. 

“Yes, I imagine I’d have lived a much easier and more successful life, if only my middle name was…what was it again?”

“Albert,” Foggy says, “or something. Who cares?”

“Good point,” Matt says, pressing his shoulder into Foggy’s happily. “How’d you find me?”

“I used the one and only superpower God graced me with: I’m like a homing pigeon for you specifically. I always know where to find you. It’s eerie, frankly, and damned useless, but—“

“Not to me,” Matt interjects, too readily. “I mean, for what it’s worth.”

Foggy nods, his overly long hair that he keeps meaning to get cut rasping over his shirt's stiff collar as he does. “That’s a good point.”

“I make those occasionally.”

“Occasionally,” Foggy repeats in a comically shrill, tiny voice, like he’s doing an impression of a cartoon mouse, for whatever reason. He’s a little drunk, clearly, which Matt could tell from the way he’s talking and the way he’s moving and the way he smells and, well, that’s probably enough evidence. 

“If I’m ever in trouble, I know who to call,” Matt says, which is maybe too honest, but Foggy doesn’t have to know that.

“You wouldn’t even have to call, Matt,” Foggy replies, solemnly grasping his shoulder. “If you’re ever in trouble, I’ll know and I’ll come running.”

“I would pay real money to see you actually run anywhere.”

“You’d have to, my man. I imagine it would take a massive breakthrough in science for you to see anything at all, and those things tend to cost a pretty penny,” Foggy says, grandly. “And also, on a much more serious note, go fuck yourself.”

Matt laughs and collapses against Foggy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, I just know how much you hate running.”

“Which means you’ve entirely missed the inherent capital-R romanticism of me offering to do it for you! Classic Murdock. Absolute philistine behavior. I should expect it by now.”

“Your gallantry is wasted on me,” Matt agrees, still doing that thing of being too honest.

“I know,” Foggy sighs, theatrically, “and yet, here I am.”

“Why are you here, anyway?”

“Missed you, came looking. Same as ever.”

“Aw,” Matt says, leaning into his side even more. “You’re right, I really don’t deserve you.”

“I never said that. You said that,” Foggy says, poking him. “But anyway, I lied and the real answer to your question is that I got tired of girls coming up to me and asking where my handsome friend had got to.”

Matt knows two things with a decent degree of certainty: Foggy hadn’t been lying when he gave his first answer (Matt would have heard it in his heartbeat and likely noticed any other number of tells that Foggy has when he does lie, besides) and that no one would have had to ask him to go looking for Matt after he disappeared. His joke about homing pigeon-like tendencies is more truthful than either of them would like to acknowledge. When Matt goes missing—as he very frequently does at these types of things—Foggy always comes to find him. Matt’s been doing this since way before he met Foggy—having overly heightened senses does not make crowded social functions more manageable in general—but he can probably admit that he does it more now that he knows someone will come looking for him.

He also knows that girls like Foggy a lot more than Foggy thinks they do. He’s always talking about how girls seek him out to get in with Matt, but Matt doesn’t really believe that. There have been a few girls, here and there, certainly enough that Foggy’s right to be a little paranoid about it, who have turned their sights from Foggy to Matt, which on top of being unkind is just bad business sense. Anyone with a brain in their head would see that Foggy’s the better option of the two of them. And Matt’s got plenty of flaws, but he’d certainly never take up with anyone who hurt his best friend, so it doesn’t work out the way anyone hopes it will, anyway, when they do. Still, he's sure Foggy could have found a nice girl to keep him entertained until Matt got back to the party, if he put his mind to it, and that maybe he'd just been looking for an excuse to duck out himself when someone asked about Matt.

“This is where I got to,” Matt says, with a slightly pathetic shrug.

“Who says I meant you?” Foggy asks, absently. “I have other friends that are handsomer than you!”

“Not only do you not have a single handsomer friend in all the world,” Matt says, belatedly unsure if ‘handsomer’ is even a word, but otherwise too confident to turn back, “you don’t even have another friend at this party.”

“I’m exceedingly charming, Matthew,” Foggy over-enunciates. “Everyone at this party is my new best friend.”

Matt loops his arm through Foggy’s and leans his head back against the wall. “Sounds like I’ve got a lot of competition.”

“You’re not having fun?” Foggy asks, the change of topic so sudden and his tone so unexpectedly serious that Matt has a brief moment of confusion that he means with this joke they’ve got going. It takes a second to realize he means at the party in general.

“It’s fancy.”

“Too fancy, you mean…”

“You know I don’t go in for all this stuff,” Matt says, shrugging. 

“Like I do, you mean?” Foggy asks, lightly, even though Matt can feel him warming with embarrassment. 

“Like I used to,” Matt clarifies, and trusts his meaning to be clear.

“Right,” Foggy says, and the tone in his voice is the one he uses exclusively when he refers to Matt’s ex-girlfriend from junior year who almost caused him to drop out. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

“You can head back. Really, I don’t mind. I just need a few more minutes.”

“No, you’re right. It’s…a bit stuffy, isn’t it?” Foggy muses. “I mean, I didn’t even know people still had apartments like this, outside of, well, the Rockefellers.” 

The apartment belongs to the parents of one of their friends from law school and the only reason they have free rein over the place is because the parents are vacationing in Aspen with friends. Even without being able to see it, Matt can tell it’s a swanky place. The rug he’s currently sitting on is so plush that he can basically sink his entire hand into it. Every table he passed on his way to this hiding place smelled so strongly of Pine-Sol that there has to be a maid on staff, if not a team of them. He’s fairly certain this random hallway he discovered is actually a back passage to the kitchens, so the servants don’t have to be seen coming and going. He's not sure if he asked their host about it that they'd even know it existed. And Matt’s shoes, as well as most of his clothes, are secondhand.

“You were having fun until I made you feel bad,” Matt says, tucking his chin onto Foggy’s shoulder and trying to look contrite.

“No, I mean—I like having you around, Matt. You keep me honest,” Foggy laughs. “Two and a half years of law school, four years at an Ivy before that, I think I’ve just made peace with having to go to parties in uncomfortable clothes and to make conversation with people I don’t really like. I don’t think I’d call it fun, but it’s a social life of some kind, I suppose.”

“We should have gone to Josie’s,” Matt says, holding onto him too tightly, even with the excuse of a few drinks.

Foggy snorts, thinking of the beloved dive bar they sneak off to in Hell’s Kitchen whenever they can, whenever they’re home. It’s only a matter of blocks to get there, but sometimes, at school, it feels farther away than all that.

“I don’t dare imagine the caliber of our prospects for a kiss at midnight there,” Foggy says, with an exaggerated shudder.

“Can’t be any worse than our prospects here,” Matt replies. 

Foggy whistles, low, under his breath. “You’re going to be disappointing a lot of nice girls with that kind of talk, Murdock!”

“Better to disappoint them now than later,” Matt says, fully burying his face in Foggy’s shoulder now. He gets like this when he drinks. Foggy's used to it.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t do the whole ‘going steady’ thing anymore,” Foggy says, leaning in conspiratorially. “You’re too damaged and that means you’re never going to get married, so you’d rather not lead anyone on.”

“You say that like it’s not true,” Matt whispers back.

“It isn’t true, you moron!” Foggy laughs. “One day, some beautiful girl is going to turn your head so quick, you’ll have neck problems for the rest of your life!”

“Sounds uncomfortable,” Matt says.

“And I’ll be there,” Foggy continues, like Matt didn’t even speak, “laughing.”

“Well, as long as you’ll be there, Foggy.”

“Did I mention you’re a moron?”

“Yes. A few times now, in fact.”

“Then, I’ve done my duty.”

“And what about you?” Matt asks. “When’s somebody going to turn your head?”

“Somebody turns my head every goddamn day, it feels like,” Foggy grumbles. “The problem isn’t my head. It’s everybody else’s.”

“There’s plenty of girls who’d be more than happy to trap you in matrimony.”

“Hmm, well, I’m sure that’s true enough,” Foggy replies, thoughtfully. “I guess it’s more about finding someone you wouldn’t mind being trapped with.”

“And you haven’t found her yet, I take it?”

“No,” Foggy says, sadly. The girl he dated for most of their sophomore year—the one everyone had been certain Foggy was going to end up marrying—had just gotten engaged last month. Foggy still wasn’t entirely over it, Matt was pretty sure.

“And you’re certain she’s not here?” Matt asks, encouragingly.

“Unlikely,” Foggy says. “None of the girls here would be caught dead with me in the daylight. One of them might be unscrupulous enough to let me kiss her at midnight, though.”

“So, go back,” Matt replies. “Find the girl in that room with the lowest standards and lay one on her!”

“I will if you will.”

“I don’t know this for sure, but I do have serious doubts that any girl in the room will let the both of us kiss her at midnight.”

“I meant, you should—you know what I meant!” Foggy exclaims, embarrassed again. 

“I was trying to be funny!”

“‘Trying’ being the operative word there…”

Matt sighs. “What’s the point of kissing someone at midnight when there’s almost no chance of seeing them ever again after tonight?”

“You’ve just described the point yourself! It’s just for fun, to start the year off right! There’s no pressure!” Foggy says, disbelieving. "What’s gotten into you? I thought zero expectations romance was your specialty!”

“Maybe I’m just not a New Year's kind of guy.”

Foggy hums thoughtfully. “Can I tell you my theory?”

“Your theory? About what?”

“About you, and New Year's, and all of that.”

“Oh. Sure. Go ahead.”

“I think you’re afraid,” Foggy says.

“Afraid?” Matt asks. “Of…New Year’s Eve?”

“You don’t want to participate in these silly little rituals, like kissing someone at midnight, because you’re secretly terrified that something good is going to happen to you, and then you won’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Really, Foggy. Be serious!”

“I am serious,” Foggy replies, casually. “You’re scared of being hit over the head with it again.”

“Hit over the head with what?”

“Love,” Foggy says, simply. “You felt it once and it nearly derailed your whole life, so now you avoid any situation where you might accidentally meet someone interesting or have more feelings than you’ve carefully rationed out for yourself for that particular day.”

Matt swallows, feeling utterly exposed. It’s not something he would have been able to say for himself an hour ago, but the words feel true to him coming from someone else. He doesn’t like anybody knowing him well enough to know all of that, though, and if it wouldn’t be so utterly obvious, he’d pull away from Foggy right now just to be safe. Like that would even help, he thinks reluctantly.

“You missed your calling not going into psychiatry, Foggy,” he says, stiffly, once he’s gathered his wits enough to form sentences.

Foggy’s hand, warm and a little damp, closes over Matt’s where it’s still resting on his arm. Matt wants nothing more than to flinch away from it, but he controls the urge in the interest of saving face.

“Don’t be mad at me,” Foggy says, quietly, like there’s a chance they might be overheard somehow and he wants Matt to be the only one who hears this. “I’m just trying to tell you that, in avoiding fun and frivolous things, you are not sparing yourself from being hit over the head. If you’re meant to get hit over the head, it’ll happen whenever and wherever Cupid so chooses. It’ll happen at the deli or the bank or while you’re waiting for the bus. Which means that the only thing you’re ultimately sparing yourself from is fun and frivolity, and that’s a stupid way to live your life. That’s all.”

“I think you just called me a moron again,” Matt says, weakly. He doesn’t know what else to say. The rest of it is...too much to consider.

“I called you stupid, actually, but I see your point.”

In the distance, Matt hears the noise of a crowd of people all simultaneously trying to shush each other, with limited success. He imagines even Foggy can hear it too a moment later when they all begin counting aloud.

“Last chance…” Matt says, tipping his head backwards in the direction of the room where everyone’s gathered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Foggy says, apropos of nothing, as far as Matt can tell. He’s about to ask what he means when Foggy continues, anyway. “I have someone who meets your criteria.”

“My criteria?”

“Yeah. You’ll only accept a kiss from someone you’ll see again after tonight, right?”

“Uh, I don’t think I said ‘only’, I just meant—”

“Too bad,” Foggy says, as the countdown reaches its conclusion. “Happy New Year.”

Matt’s halfway through formulating a question or an objection of some kind, which is the only reason he turns in Foggy’s direction at that moment. It’s clear from the noise of surprise Foggy makes that he absolutely had no intention of kissing Matt right on the mouth and was probably, in fact, aiming for his cheek, trying to be funny and charming after Matt was such a spoilsport about the whole kissing at midnight thing. If Matt hadn’t moved, there’s no doubt in his mind that that’s what Foggy would have done and then it would have been over and they’d already be laughing about it and moving on. But Matt did move and, even awkwardly off center, Foggy is kissing him on the mouth right now and they’re both just frozen like that, shocked and useless.

Matt doesn’t give himself much credit for genius. He’s reasonably smart, and can be even smarter if he applies himself to a subject and really studies up on it, but there’s plenty of people in any given room smarter than he is, most of the time. He has his moments, though, and this is one of them. He sees very clearly the two paths available to them. Down one, this moment stretches awkwardly and they allow it to become a source of discomfort and then outright pain that they'll avoid talking about for years, or maybe possibly forever. Regardless, it has the power to ruin their friendship and Matt simply can't abide that. Down the other, they don’t flinch from it and they don’t make it any stranger than it has to be and it becomes one weird but not fully objectionable moment in their long and storied relationship. They’re not going to trot it out as an anecdote at parties, sure, but they’re not going to become crazy about denying it happened either. If Matt can steer them in the direction of the latter, he thinks maybe it will all be okay, but it’s going to require him not to make matters worse. For whatever reason, the only way he can think to not do that is by kissing Foggy back.

It’s immediately apparent that, momentary genius or no, while it does not technically make things worse, it also does not make them better. Then again, Foggy makes a sort of interested noise as he feels Matt return the kiss, which Matt is infinitely better off for knowing about and having heard and being able to think about some other time when he’s alone preferably. 

They don’t take it any farther than just that. They’re not necking in some random person’s hallway or doing anything truly objectionable. They just stay there, mouths pressed together so that Matt can smell (and sort of taste) the champagne Foggy’s had and the last cigarette he smoked and a hint of that sugary gum he always chews, even though he hasn’t had a piece since before they came to the party. It mostly feels, more than anything else, like they’re breathing together and it’s not sexy the way wild, passionate groping in the dark can be, but it’s intimate in its own unique way. Matt, against his own better judgment, puts a hand on Foggy’s cheek, and he doesn't really know why beyond just really wanting to and that seems to be reason enough.

Foggy doesn’t try to slip his tongue into Matt’s mouth—despite the alarming reality that the moment Matt realizes that’s not what he’s doing, he also realizes he’d let him—or try to escalate matters one bit. His hand is still grasping Matt’s collar from when he first pulled him in, but his other one doesn’t roam. His lips, still pressed to Matt’s, only move to exert a little more pressure and to alter the angle at which they meet slightly. He takes precisely zero liberties and makes no effort to get fresh with him at all. It’s very gentlemanly, and Matt doesn’t know what to do with himself because it doesn’t feel awkward or fumbling at all. It feels like restraint, and once he knows that, everything is different.

The tune of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ reaches him from the other room, but it’s drowned out almost entirely by the sound of Foggy’s heartbeat in Matt’s ears. Foggy must hear it too, though, because he breaks their kiss with the worst sort of gentleness, pulling back only enough for them both to have space to breathe but not far enough that Matt can’t feel that breath on his face.

Matt traces his thumb over the curve of Foggy’s cheek before dropping his hand back down into his own lap and licks his lips as he slowly turns away. 

“Happy New Year,” he says, aiming for calm and unaffected and likely missing it by a lot.

“You too,” Foggy says, even though he already said it first. His heart is still beating too fast and too close and too loud for Matt to read his tone, which is too bad, because he’d really like to know how Foggy feels right now and if he feels anything like Matt does.

Because Matt feels like he’s been hit over the head.

✨