#but here we are. the ending to this part is a callback to the high five of the first episode but with so much more passion behind it

[starryluminary]

Ridonculous Race but Noah is friends with Owen part 9: Teamwork makes the dream work!

Don't you LOVE IT when Noah gets to play the stupid game? Don't you LOVE IT when Noah and Owen work together and Owen isn't left to do everything himself? Don't you LOVE IT when they mutually support each other and care enough about each other to give it their all??? Personally I love it when that happens

No transcript cause there's no dialogue. Instead have scrapped doodles for this part that I refuse to leave in the jail of the IbisPaint canvas

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

📚inch resting bits from the march twst manga updates📚 (octa, savana, & 4koma!)

***Manga spoilers below the cut (with an emphasis on the Episode of Octavinelle, since that's my favorite dorm!)***

The 4koma manga has dropped! Again, it centers around the daily lives of the NRC boys and is shown in a 4 panel gag comic format.

In the illustration above, we see the main cast with Grim's beloved tuna cans~

This month has comics about Ace going to a supplementary lesson (to learn how to manipulate brooms to do his chores) and Leona attending his art class. The comic depicts Leona, Idia, and Rook in the same art class though we're not sure if this is true in-game yet. However, the comics do carry over the continuity of Ace and Deuce being in Trein's class so maybe the art class thing is also true of Leona?

From the Episode of Savanaclaw manga: I KNOW WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN AWE OF DIASOMANI'S PRESENCE BUT ALL I'M THINKING IS THAT DIASOMNIA HAS A MOB STUDENT WITH A BOWL CUT 😭

I'm also really fixated on how this mangaka draws her lashes and hair, they're always bangers every time 💗

Ruggie "bleh" face... Also???? That full page of him using his UM... and the visualization of the wildebeests racing with him like the people in the crowd, very Lion King.

I like that the manga really shows us more emotional and intense moments the game cannot depict due to its limited assets. Here, we see the aftermath of Ruggie using his UM on the crowd. Even with Azul's magic-enhancement potion, Ruggie has taken a great physical toll from spellcasting. Falling to his knees, panting... This will make it hurt more when Leona almost poofs him to sand later 😭

These panels remind me of like. Scar looking on from up high while the hyenas do his bidding. Ruggie's expression... it's so full of a desperate kind of hope has he gazes up at his "king".

From the Episode of Octavinelle, we get to see Leona post-OB and recovering in the infirmary. Side note, I really love how the mangaka adds these cute little faces to let us know who is speaking in certain text bubbles. The little faces make some of the cutest expressions; just look at that cheeky chibi Leona head!

Here, Ruggie is telling everyone about rumors that Azul and the twins purposefully prevent their clients from fulfilling their end of the contract so they can reap the benefits. I like how the scene shown is a boat tipping over (with the twins implied to have flipped it). Nice callback to the boat scene in The Little Mermaid!

We have another The Little Mermaid reference here, where Floyd shares his UM with the gang?? The hypothetical man here reminds me of Prince Eric, especially in that white shirt and appearing as though he is drowning.

Guys... Azul's been taking modeling lessons from Vil-- I really like these more quiet and contemplative moments of Azul; plenty of those are featured this month.

asdbhlfdbaifyoaiygoeia I WILL NOW ALWAYS ASSOCIATE AZUL THINKING HARD WITH SITTING IN THAT CHAIR... There's so many shots of him seated here...

Yuuta continues to be my favorite manga!Yuu so far by diligently tidying up Leona's messy ass room for him... asfvkyadvfialf Grim looks so goofy helping out, that tower of clothes is half his size...

FLOYD'S FACE IS SO siLLy HERE TOO (this is the scene when Ruggie recalls seeing his eel form during a P.E. class where they swam). The mangaka really decided to summon his gremlin energy here...

Aaaaah, I love this shot; it sort of parallels Azul and Leona... It also makes me realize the difference between how Leona's hair is in Octavinelle vs Savanaclaw (due to the different mangaka). In Octavinelle, his hair is usually a solid black with white highlights but in Savanaclaw there tends to be a subtle gradient/screen tone on Leona's hair.

Anyway, twins Twins TWINS

GOOD WAY TO CLOSE OUT THE OCTA CHAPTER, EXCELLENT WAY TO CLOSE OFF THE OCTA CHAPTER IN FACT 🫶 Can you tell I love the Tweel parts/j

[jojotichakorn]

ARCHER'S WE ARE FANCON EXPERIENCE

i promised i would share my feelings, so here they are!

first of all, while i do still maintain that the venue was too small for how beloved the series is, even with the split into two days, and i have some gripes with merch sales, the organisation was otherwise good. it was always very clear where and when you needed to go and what you needed to do, which is always great for an anxious person like me. all the explanations were in three languages too (thai, english, and chinese), so navigating the space and the benefits was easy. the little setup of things to do before the concert starts was also great - there were merch booths for all of the boys who had merch to sell (which is everyone aside from aouboom), there were photobooths with different 'we are' themed templates, there was also, of course, gasha (or, as i like to call them, gambling machines) but hey! i got some merch off of that as well, so i'm honestly not even complaining.

now, onto the actual show! it was incredible, i can hardly imagine anything that would need to be added or changed. it honoured both the series and the artists on their own in many ways.

there were multiple performances with the entire cast, including a surprise appearance of jj, tee, and pepper (or, our mattmickbeer trio) during one song, who then also stuck around to talk about their characters and favourite scenes. friendship is a huge part of the series and they did not forget that. a lot of stage backgrounds and props were an homage to the series too (the one that felt particularly thought-out to me was the background for 'truth in the eyes', which was a lush garden - a callback to the mv's concept metaphor). the couples performed both their main songs and also one cover each, which were picked out by every cp for different reasons, but all of which were great. before every main song, there was a little video with the couple's moments that encapsulated their relationship, and they were really lovely and well-done (a great way of giving the artists a second to breathe too).

i think there was also pretty much everything each of the main eight could want to do on stage. pond and aou got to dance (together as well!), winny got to rap, phuwin and satang got to sing together. at least from what they said, they were given a lot of creative liberty in terms of choosing what they want to sing and do on stage as well, so that is also lovely. all of the performances were, of course, absolutely fantastic and even exceeded my expectations in some ways.

all the little chats between performances were also wonderful and everyone (or, almost everyone) got really emotional closer to the end. we had marc crying first, talking about how much this experience means to him and thanking poon for being his first real partner, and then the floodgates just opened. poon also teared up, winny started crying because marc started crying, then he cried some more when he actually started speaking himself, then satang started crying too, they talked about how much all of this means to them and how much they mean to each other, they held hands. then dear sweet boom almost sobbed on stage and aou cried too - they were also very thankful for everything and especially each other. pond tried very hard not to cry (and succeeded by breathing out every ten seconds and twirling around the stage), talking about how happy he is that everyone loved the series and them so much, saying that the cast became like a little family, and thanking phuwin for being a great partner, and phuwin also talked about how he was afraid of having high expectations and how grateful he is to the cast and the fans. this was definitely one of those moments, which made the whole experience so much more meaningful and emotional. i also wanted to hug all of them and tell them how amazing they are 😭

the appreciation for the audience was huge throughout. pond kept putting his hand at his forehead to try to see all the fans sitting farther away, at one point aou asked for the lights to be turned on, so they could see everyone, during the last performance (which was 'we are forever'), they all came down from the stage and walked around us, waving at everyone.

after the huge three hour concert, there were still the benefits to work through, which ended up going on for five hours (until almost 2 am). the boys were all really lovely and nice throughout and i'm genuinely impressed by their ability not to let the understandable tiredness that they were all feeling interfere with their interactions with fans and each other.

so, to conclude! this was an absolutely incredible experience and i am so happy i decided to come here for the fancon (and actually managed to get the ticket). there are multiple countries they are going to next, as you know, and there will likely be more added in the future. so if you live in any of those countries, i am definitely saying you should go. and if you don't but it is within your means to go and you just weren't sure whether the fancon is worth an entire trip abroad - i am confirming that it very much is. i am confident you would not regret going.

[signed-sapphire]

Okayyyy rewatched Wish

Here are my notes

Valentino wasn’t as annoying as people say. Sure, he did nothing for the plot and could’ve been removed entirely, but he didn’t make near as many butt jokes as people say he did

The lead-ins for all the songs were great. Certain media (Hazbin, for example) just jump into the songs

Magnifico??? Didn’t touch the pages??? So why would he be corrupted? Why does Amaya know of obsidian oil? Don’t you just skim the pages to release the evil?

Dahlia was amazing

“At the very least break the hold it has on him” Amaya? Didn’t you found this kingdom with thin? Wouldn’t you know?

Also Amaya was very sidelined. Where’s her backstory?

Asha’s magic wand mishaps were… corny at best

Why did they make Dario high all the time? He’s not stupid. I feel like they made him try to be like Fred from Big Hero 6 but failed

“Nine zillyboo, twenty alphabet!” Val, buddy. No.

DAHLIA. MATE. TRUE LOVE’S KISS CAN BRUNG HIM BACK I swear, it feels like the directors were switched

The spider-carriage thing. I feel like that could’ve been a Disney reference instead

Gabo was still my favorite out of the teens. Bazeema was sweet too

Also. Halzeema moments were actually in canon.

Sabino did not act 100 at all.

Crushing wishes did nothing to people except make them sad for .2 seconds

Asha’s drawing, her magic wand, none of that was important to the actual plot

I feel like the horses could’ve been Disney references too

Why did the roof open? That was never explained

Mag’s hair needed to be messier. Evil Magnifico? Crazy hair

How did he hear them from all the way down there

Mag’s really out there beating up a minor

The curse rope green things were not scary at all

Was Simon just in the forest the entire time?

The Magnifico getting sucked inside his staff… I feel that could’ve been a play to Dr. Facilier somehow

The stars raining down were beautiful

Was Star’s nose tap a reference to something?

The people’s talking… idk how I felt about that

WE 👏 SHOULD’VE 👏 SEEN 👏 SAKINA’S 👏 WISH

Another half-assed apology. First Namaari, now you. At least Simon’s was an actual apology. Wait. More of it goes on.

Ok his apology isn’t too bad

How did the staff get all the way down there?

Changed my opinion, Amaya deserved to tell Mag off

Did Mag’s curse break once he was in the mirror? Why did he act sad all of a sudden?

I’ve heard Asha’s movements weren’t finalized until later, but her movements seem pretty fluent

Clumsy and energetic, sure, but besides from the mouth drooping part, she wasn’t that quirky

Which. Could be a bad thing. She didn’t really have much of a personality

I like the Peter Pan building a flying machine idea

Zootopia ref

DARIO. SHUT UP

Why does everyone suddenly understand Star

But off-topic they were so cute

“It” I guess

Why refer to Star as an it

“They” was too woke for the Disney execs? Why, you had a one-second offhand comment about a water cousin who’s nonbinary!

That Cinderella-reference thing… wasn’t slow enough to be a dress transformation. So I’m fine with her not having a different dress. I mean obviously I would’ve loved it but idk

SHOW DON’T TELL, DISNEY

STOP TELLING

“I understand you well enough” I DON’T! HOW ARE THEY TELLING YOU

Some of Valentino’s jokes were funny. Sue me

I liked the Tinkerbell and Mikey Mouse reference at the end

The storybook was a nice callback

The credits should’ve been moving. Also CHOOSE BAYMAX TO REPRESENT BIG HERO 6. WHY HAVE VILLAINS LIKE MALEFICENT THERE

Overall. Not as bad as people are making it out to be. But definitely not worthy to be Disney’s 100

I’d say… 7/10. The backgrounds did look watercolor, but the shading seemed off in places. Especially Sakina. There was major improvement to be done, but with the hell the execs were giving (and the proven creativity of the concept art) I feel this movie is getting too much hate. Critiques and criticism are fine. But don’t blame the writers for getting rid of Starboy. Yes, it could’ve been better. But it’s Disney. And the creators tried their best to pour their love into a movie that they didn’t have a full say in.

[jotun-design-party]

that's it for jötun design party! i had so much fun seeing everyone's designs. the most difficult part was picking the winners, but i got there in the end! here are the winners, why i picked them, and the prizes they won!

as i will not be using this account anymore, i'll leave this as the pinned post and link to This Post as well as the #orientalism search for anyone who may stumble upon this blog in the future ❄️

Jötun Design Party Winners

First Place

Prize: full-body drawing of a character (original or otherwise) of their choice. I have your discord, and will contact you when I have the time to start and complete your drawing!

@therese-lokidottir

elegant and cohesive, it's clear that a lot of thought was put into the world and culture of jötunheim. every design is distinct and filled with personality while still maintaining a singular aesthetic. looking at these designs together, it's easy to imagine how the characters might interact with each other and their vibrant world.

Second Place

Prize: half-body drawing of a character (original or otherwise) of their choice. Please message this tumblr with your preferred method of communication (Discord, Instagram, or Tumblr itself) and I will contact you when I have the time to start and complete your drawing!

@ak800

looking at this design, it's easy to tell how much love, time, and effort was put into it. with elements that mirror loki's canon moteifs altered in ways that feel cozy, it's undeniable that there was a lot of thought put into the jötnar as a people. they mirror asgard in a way that directly contrasts the claims we see the aesir make of them, while still feeling like a separate and distinct culture with their personalized magic, unique horns, and clear social dynamics

Third Place

Prize: bust-shot drawing of a character (original or otherwise) of their choice. Please message this tumblr with your preferred method of communication (Discord, Instagram, or Tumblr itself) and I will contact you when I have the time to start and complete your drawing!

@corvusartchronicles

while deceptively simple, this design is thoughtful and paints a very different picture of jötunheim than we are used to seeing in canon. this design implies a combination of mythologies, which we are very used to in marvel, while giving love and thought to a vivid world of religion which is not often given the same respect as norse or greek mythology. protected from the weather in a way that would not make a temperature-sensitive frost giant overheat, loki's design is full of love for both fantasy, and the very real people who often inspire it 💞

it means the world to me that as many people participated as they did and i really hope that this contest helped make this fandom a more inclusive space in some way

picking the winners for this was SO DIFFICULT. so under the cut, i have also enthused about some of the submitted designs because i wanted to be able to share my thoughts on more of them. i'm so sorry that i wasn't able to get to everyone!!

treacheroustrickster

all of those shades of green? i am in love

red tichel!!! was this a callback to loki's red hair in mythology? I AM IN LOVE EITHER WAY!!!

i know it's based on a canon design and russian ashkenazi fashion but the hair jewelry just looks so in-place here. if it was cold enough outside that i needed to layer my clothes then i too would prefer to wear my metals in my hair where it wouldn't feel cold against my skin

newsted

this one specifically is just so ROYAL to me. far more than most of the entries! it has my heart

the riding pants >>>

the fingerless gloves >>>>

this design, with the minimal layers of clothing mixed with the warm cloak, makes me feel like it's designed to keep loki protected from the cold winds that comes with riding horses at high speeds in the winter

vvviktor

NY FRIEND I LOVE THE DETAILS

the embroidery on the sleeves

and the idea of loki in bronze instead of gold is one that i adore. i associate gold so heavily with asgard AND with loki that whenever i try to design jötun lokis, it's incredibly difficult to pick whether to use gold or not. bronze is the PERFECT solution to this

also shut up the feet literally are not bad

du-ed

HOOVES!!!!!!

okay cuteness aggression aside i think this is such a smart idea for the jötnar.

it helps with that balance of showing them in minimal clothing to get across their lack of sensitivity to the cold while also actually protecting them from the snow they are likely at least knee-deep in half the time

like yes. just yes

of COURSE they would look like this it just makes sense to me

imreaallyasorry

look at this. JUST LOOK AT IT. what more do i need to say

its perfect. i will be following you on my new account

this is the cutest thing i've seen in my entire life

also the staff/scepter is so cool, it's gorgeous, that's MY moon queen and magic theatre

unityrain24

this one is SO COOL, it's my absolute favorite out of the designs you submitted.

it looks so warm and sleek, and the idea that travel wear is so different from everyday wear makes me wonder just how harsh the conditions on the planet are.

i'm an absolute sucker for designs that are distinctly alien like this and it has my heart i love it so so much

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: Fantasy High Junior Year and Not All Who Wanda Are Lost

This is the first time I'm watching a Fantasy High season as it airs, instead of binging it--and I hate it! I am itching to see what happens next. Itching. Like I can't focus on anything else without having that itch scratched.

Also: two things right off the bat:

One. The bitch is back. This is not a drill. THE BITCH IS BACK.

Two. GORGUG AND ZELDA REALLY ARE BROKEN UP? GOSH DARN IT!

Okay, now that I've calmed down somewhat. The episode is also a bit of a breather after the high-octane and high-emotions of the first two episodes. We do get some answers to some questions, like: yeah, Gorgug and Zelda are indeed broken up. Cathilda is at Leviathan, which is why Fabian is all alone at the Seacaster Manor.

And, yes, the projections are very much alive. Which I love.

There's an energy surrounding the Intrepid Heroes that really makes their seasons engaging even when their characters are doing bits I don't agree with. I guess because we've seen them play the most in Dimension 20, we trust that we know where they are going. And that's really the main part of why their seasons work, isn't it? We trust them. Even when they make mistakes or flub a deception that Brennan can then use against them, we trust that they mean well. That they have a story to tell.

That's one of the reasons why I've held on judgment with what seemed to be a repeating storyline for Kristen in the first two episodes. Now that we've seen the third episode, it does make sense for Kristen to enter a cycle. It does make sense for her to treat Cassandra the way she treated YES!. And, of course, Brennan is going to use this to fuck with the Bad Kids.

And Brennan is setting up so many villains, and maybe some red herrings… But it's hard not to panic. It's hard not to go into a worry. Because, yeah, I am going into a worry.

I guess, though, this season's biggest villain is real life. Not real-real life. But real life for our bad kids. Reality isn't cut-and-dry. We don't defeat monsters and then get to live happily ever after. Because life continues. And consequences matter. So of course Gorgug doesn't get an approval to multi-class as an artificer. Because of course it doesn't make sense.

We got a taste of the financial villainy last episode when Sklonda and Riz discussed how good grades might not be enough for him to get into a good college. And now Adaine is facing the reality of what being a wizard with no rich parents means. While, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Fabian is realizing how having money might get you perks but it still doesn't shield you from getting bombarded with other problems.

And then there's Fig. Our beloved wild child whose past actions are now, quite literally, chasing after her. And the poetry of Ally setting up a Hilda Hilda callback just as Brennan reveals an investigation about a missing person's case at 22 Hilda Boulevard.

If you're reading up to here, you probably understand my reason for hating having to watch an episode at a time, right? Because I am itching to find out what happens next. For each Bad Kid.

Especially after that revelation in the end.

…

One last thing: I laughed way too much at Riz using the term "constituents" when referring to the student body of Aguefort Academy.

Also: is Brennan intentionally letting the Intrepid Heroes go off tangent so he could get his almonds in?

I guess that's last two things. Oops.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

From Criminial Mastermind to Fairy Tale Hero: The End of Artemis Fowl

Here we are, everyone: The final Artemis Fowl book. It has been a journey revisiting the first series I was old enough to follow and fandom, and it's wild to me that we're finally at the end. Especially since I picked up the first Artemis Fowl book in late elementary school (I'm genuinely not sure when though, because the first book came out in April of 2001, when I was in fifth grade and it's very possible I didn't pick the book up until sixth grade, which would have put me at 11, same age as Artemis in that first book) and the final book came out in 2012, when I was in my junior year of undergrad. So at that point, Artemis, Holly, and Butler had been part of my life for a long time. And now here we are, to say goodbye to them again after this leisurely re-listen/read. Let's talk Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian.

Artemis grew and changed so much across eight books, which makes sense because holy cow do kids change a LOT between 11 and 15. We get so busy living life in those years that we don't really think about how much we truly learn and grown between prepubescence and full-on teenagerhood, but that is a time of massive change, and I think that more than anything else really justifies how Artemis goes from a chillingly vampiric child to a teenager with enough compassion and empathy to understand that sometimes the right choice is a heroic self-sacrifice for the people that your people (both humans and the people, in this case) love. Artemis also did a really interesting version of that thing so many teenagers do where they hit a point where they can't just phone in their abilities anymore and have to actually put effort in, but for Artemis it was emotional rather than intelligence. And yet even when making said heroic sacrifice, we have the absolutely beautiful callback to the end of book one, where Artemis drugs his mother, Butler, and Juliet to keep them from being harmed by the bio-bomb. To stop Holly from preventing him from stopping Opal, Artemis sedates her. The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Except where best villain ever Opal Koboi is concerned. By this book, Opal is so disconnected from reality that she is willing to risk literally going nuclear to escape captivity, and then just...casually sparks off the apocalypse because if there is one thing our girl wants, it's to be Empress of the World, and if that means using spirit zombies and an ancient fairy doomsday device, then I guess it's a good thing she's already versed in black magic. Or something. Opal is fully and completely off the rails at this point, and if you catch yourself referring to yourself as "Mommy" in reference to the spirits of several scores of ancient elven berserkers who would--barring a geas--murder you for it, you might want to stop and take a long, hard look at your life choices. And maybe don't forget that you've cloned yourself, because that's the kind of little detail that can completely ruin your chances of being Empress of the World.

Holly quite possibly deserves every medal that exists for managing to drag Artemis's extremely out-of-shape butt through increasingly dangerous and high-stakes missions while navigating fairy politics and *checks notes* breaking up with her commanding officer after a disastrous date where they both got kicked out of a crunchball match. (And once again...HOW DARE Colfer leave this in exposition and not show us this amazing disaster of a date!?!?) Holly has also just been through the emotional wringer with Artemis and every time he decided to double-cross or lie by omission to bring off a plan and every time he does something infuriatingly human that drives up her blood pressure and yet makes the mission succeed. And then she has to sit there and watch him die to save humans and fairies. Seriously, the fact that Holly Short is a functional being rather than a hot mess is nothing short of a miracle.

And then we come to Butler. Long-suffering, super fucking over it, broken-hearted Domovoi Butler. Artemis got DAMN lucky that the whole "put my spirit in a clone of me" plan panned out, because if it hadn't, Holly was entirely correct: Butler would never have recovered. Butler and Opal might be my two favorite characters in the entire series at this point. That's not where I started--for a very long time, Holly was my favorite character, and Commander Root still gets an honorable mention--but as a grown-ass adult (I'm not doing that math for you, if you want to know that I'm old, you do the math), I cannot escape how dedicated, competent, kind, and just AWESOME Butler is. I feel like the vibe here is very similar to the thing that happens when you watch Sound of Music as a kid and either Maria or one of the kids is your favorite character, but when you come back to it as an adult, Captain Von Trapp is EVERYTHING (RIP Christopher Plummer, we loved you). Butler has a similar vibe but in a different genre.

So, I was an adult and had enough experience of watching fandoms to see the mixed reactions to this book being released. People were sad the series was ending, people were disappointed because the series had seemingly drifted, and people loved it. My reaction was pretty mixed, because I had a lot going on, I knew there were good things here but I was also kind of missing the heisty, criminal mastermind vibes, but also OPAL KOBOI. So I was pretty unsure how to feel about this book when it came out, and then I didn't reread it for literal years because I went to grad school.

Returning to this book now, I have suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch respect for how Colfer tied up the series and how he pulled off a new Irish mythological cycle, but updated for the twenty-first century. I have enough life on me to appreciate the changes Artemis goes through, and enough literature degrees to have a new and deeply fulfilling perspective on the series structure. Last Guardian is not my favorite book of the series--it's not even in the top three--but I think that what it does is genuinely impressive and I love how you can finish this book and go instantly back into the OG Artemis Fowl. The story does not, strictly speaking, have to end. And that is a vibe I can 100% get behind.

I deeply love the Artemis Fowl books, and I cannot recommend the series enough. They have so many strengths, are incredibly well-written, and they live rent-free in my head even now as an adult.

[magnorious]

The Reveal that Changed Percy Jackson

*Spoiler Alert*

I’m talking about the Nico vs Cupid scene in book 8, House of Hades. I picked this scene, even though there were a great many in the original series that defined Percy Jackson as a story far more meaningful than just “cool tweenage demigods with magic and superpowers who fight evil”.

When this book came out, Nico vs Cupid was almost all anyone talked about. Why? Because Nico came out. Nico, an explicitly gay character in a book published by Disney, in a rather high profile series. Nico, the little angsty brat displaced from the timeline, comes out of nowhere with a world-shattering reveal.

House of Hades is already the darkest book in the series and, I think, the most polished and successful with this tone and how it feels so complete. While Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus, the constant clever and horrific callbacks to quests from prior books quite literally come back to haunt them. The others trying to carry on without them, the ridiculously high personal stakes, the drama, the storytelling, it spares no expense in this book.

The Nico vs Cupid scene was something else, though, and all these years later… I’m not so sure it was done for the better.

—

Independent of the Big Reveal, this scene does a lot of things we’d never seen before in this series, namely this: Cupid is scary, and no one expected him to be.

Percy Jackson, though it does have its serious moments, is the series where the god of wine wears leopard print shirts and the god of the seas has a fishing chair for a throne. These characters quip and joke even when they’re trying to be intimidating and Percy’s personality, snarky and sassy and very rarely shooting straight, undercuts a lot of the attempts at looking competent and threatening (and we love him for it).

They’ve fought gods and monsters and demigods and characters have died really tragic deaths, but for the most part, these serious moments all come when we expect them to.

This scene comes out of nowhere and for anyone who hasn’t read the book in a while, here’s the context: Percy and Annabeth are in Tartarus and Nico is kind of the de-facto leader in their absence, knowing the most about Tartarus of the remaining crew. He and Jason are sent on a side quest to go retrieve the Staff of Diocletian from Cupid and Nico is not at all happy about this venture, but we don’t know why beyond that he’s Nico and he’s never happy.

Right out of the gate, Cupid is not at all who we expect him to be and this fight scene, absent of Percy, is suddenly very serious. Cupid doesn’t quip, he doesn’t show himself, and he fights dirty. The god of love, not the god of war or anything we expect to be violent and dangerous.

He’s whispering in characters’ heads, throwing them around like ragdolls, and taunting Nico ceaselessly all in Jason’s POV. Cupid gets some seriously badass lines, too.

“I’ve been to Tartarus and back,” Nico snarled. “You don’t scare me.” I scare you very, very much. Face me. Be honest.

Love is no game! It is no flowery softness! It is hard work—a quest that never ends. It demands everything from you—especially the truth. Only then does it yield rewards.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say Love always makes you happy.” [Cupid's] voice sounded smaller, much more human. “Sometimes it makes you incredibly sad. But at least you’ve faced it now. That’s the only way to conquer me.”

In all this, unfortunately in Jason POV, we’re primed only once by a previous god finally acknowledging that gays exist in this universe. This universe, based on Greek Mythology, famous for its not-straightness. Even then, audiences have spent 7 and a half books accepting that there won’t be any gays. No one is expecting this from Nico.

So when it comes, when Nico reveals he has a crush on Percy… the fandom lost our minds.

—

And I’m not so sure that’s a good thing, looking back. On the one hand, obligatory “we need representation,” but on the other, there was this one reviewer who knew what was up long before anyone else did.

She’d said something along the lines of raising damning concerns that Nico’s entire character arc was now defined by his homosexuality, that this scene frames all his anger, all his hate, all his rage and depression, about this one aspect of his character, and diminishes him because of it.

All these years later, I’m disappointed to say I agree with her.

This book series’ only major canonical gay (so far) is forced out of the closet with a proverbial gun to his head

Now, Nico likely never would have come out without that gun, but the way it happened, especially in front of Jason who he’s not friends with, showing Jason his memories because it’s not Nico’s POV and Jason has to see somehow because Nico sure won’t detail those scenes himself is... not good?

Jason handles it well, as well as he can given that this is Nico, and Cupid is an explicit villain so him forcing Nico out is in-character and not my problem. The narrative forcing Nico out is the problem—that this is a big reveal both to Jason and the audience is the problem.

The book isn’t new and with respect to when it was written and who wrote it, it’s not a terrible scene or terrible representation. But it’s not just forcing Nico out of the closet, either.

All of Nico’s character development is retroactively pinned on his sexuality

I get it. Nico’s… 14? 14 and from an era where being who he is was a death sentence, with zero education on the matter. Internalized homophobia is a thing (though Nico doesn’t actually seem to hate himself for being gay, he hates himself for crushing on Percy. Nor does he hate other gays or the concept).

Nico, though, is the one demigod who can summon any ghost he could dream up to teach him to hate himself a little less. He could have summoned the ghost of Freddie Mercury and what a dazzling mentorship that would have been.

The way the scene is framed makes it look like all of Nico’s rage comes from this one relationship, when it comes from so much more. He’s a son of Hades, a god no one trusts or likes and is synonymous with death, evil, and deceit. His sister, his last living relative, died on a quest as just a teenager. He has no friends at camp, powers that scare people, and is almost a century removed from everything and everyone he knew in his old life.

And he went and left camp *only* because of his crush on Percy? Not for any other reason?

When he does get his crush on Will, that only makes it worse. Nico did have friends, even if he didn’t believe it. He did have Percy and he’d earned the respect of his fellow campers after the Battle of Manhattan. He back-slid in HOH for this reveal, as if a romance is the only thing that could make him happy.

Cupid’s message is the narrative’s message: The only way to conquer love is to face it [in combat]

With a gun to his head, in front of a veritable stranger, instead of in, I don’t know, therapy with Apollo? There couldn’t have been any other way to fit this reveal in? He couldn’t have made his own group therapy session with other ghosts? Persephone or Demeter never sat this boy down for The Talk with a literal captive audience?

And that it’s a “reveal” at all, in incredibly dramatic fashion, a plot twist for shock value. The book couldn’t drop hints in Nico POV? Couldn’t casually state it anywhere at any time in the previous 3 books? Couldn’t treat it at all like this is normal and not a life-or-death situation?

I just feel bad for the kid. Nico can’t be the only demigod who has a guilty, unrequited crush. Cupid is forcing this out of him because that crush happens to be on another boy.

It’s in Jason’s POV

This world shattering, deeply personal reveal, and the character who’s having it isn’t even the narrator. Jason is a fine character and I know why it’s him out of everyone who could have gone with Nico, but this should have been solely Nico’s moment, not Jason’s commentary about Nico’s moment, being a non-consenting voyeur into Nico’s very personal memories about Percy.

Even if it’s not Jason’s POV to retain the surprise, it certainly starts to feel like Jason’s POV to retain the surprise. Jason can still be present, but even then—Cupid needed Nico to face Cupid, not Cupid and Jason.

—

It sucks because the scene as a whole, removed from the context, is incredible. The choreography, the pacing, the intensity of the battle, Cupid as a villain and Nico and Jason’s desperation to just stay alive.

Its impact on the series can’t be ignored. Blood of Olympus is no one’s favorite. It’s a terrible last book and not all that great as a book, period, but the ending?

Among other travesties, Nico confronts Percy, tells him he had a crush on him, and then *immediately* starts pining after Will. Percy doesn’t get the chance to talk to him, stunned at this reveal. They never have a heartfelt conversation about it, what this means for their friendship, how Percy never noticed or how this makes him feel, if he’s at all guilty for potentially leading Nico on and being a bad friend.

We get none of that. Nico just finds a pretty blond boy after, what, four years pining after Percy? One awful confrontation with Cupid and a few lines of dialogue traded with Jason and all his angst and moodiness is cured off-screen.

Can’t Nico go five minutes where he figures out who he is before he’s trading one crush for another? Can he not define himself independently of who he likes for just a couple chapters? He tells Jason after the Cupid fight that he’s over it, but… c’mon, he’s absolutely lying there, or he wouldn’t have been so hurt and upset and hesitant to reveal himself.

I love that he’s popular now, I love that he does have a healthy relationship (one that eclipsed the whole fandom for better or for worse), but the way he went about becoming popular still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Nico did walk so the rest of the series' extended universe could run. We did get Solangelo, we got Apollo being Apollo, we got a world based off Greek Mythology that stops straight-washing history. It's just a shame that he had to be forced out the way he did, and that his whole character is now defined by his relationship with Will.

[atiny-for-life]

Ateez's Full Storyline Explained - Part 17

Masterlist

BOUNCY (K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS) (Z-World)

Throughout the MV, we'll be seeing both Ateez and the Black Pirates and based on the skills we'll be seeing each member display throughout the course of the video, the Z-like symbol we see Mingi paint on the wall in the post-credit scene, and the information we get from the Diary Version of the album, we know the Black Pirates are the Outlaws-

And Ateez are the ones in white infiltrating Prestige Academy toward the end

From the Album Trailer, we already know the following:

They've been planning this mission for 6 months ("they" presumably being Ateez, the Black Pirates and Left Eye)

The Black Pirates split up into duos and have been hiding out in different parts of the city to presumably gather intel from all kinds of civilian groups: Wooyoung and San as manager and underground fighter, Yunho and Jongho as mechanics, fake cops and potentially forgers, Hongjoong as the babysitter of a goat with Mingi who's presumably been bar-hopping (I'm kidding - their roles will become clear later), Seonghwa got himself some grillz and biker friends together with Yeosang who's apparently also a food delivery driver on the side

They've now been called into action to kick off the mission with Yeosang being the communication link between all of them

Side-note: when you watch the trailer, you can see the song titles in the neon signs and the name of the delivery service: "Blue Bird" which is a callback to Halazia where the bluebird was utilized as a symbol of reclaiming your freedom

Another thing of note: To outline the older aesthetic of this MV which takes place in the outskirts of Stirctland, the aspect ratio is kept in 4-by-3 as was the norm here up until the late 2000s

This is in stark contrast to the 16 by 9 widescreen ratio from Guerrilla which was situated in the high tech city center and very much aligned with the futuristic aesthetic by utilizing plenty of polished and sleek CGI effects and backgrounds

With that in mind, let's get into the MV:

We open on Mingi who's heading into a Cowboy/Western Steampunk-looking bar called Chilli Peppers by himself

Followed by Seonghwa with his biker-buddies (he seems to have five of them) and Hongjoong in front of his GOAT sign (I can only assume this refers to the sports term Greatest Of All Time and not the animal but I do appreciate the excuse to have an actual goat in the video and promo-material)

When we see the whole crew together, it seems to be either on the bikes, in front of the Chilli Peppers bar or in front of Jongho and Yunho's garage (aptly named Outlaw Customs) which means we're moving back and forth between seeing their time apart and them post-reunion

A big part of the MV is spent with Wooyoung and San who seem to have become quite well-known during their time in hideout

San has become a successful underground fighter with his own fanclub and Wooyoung has been hustling up quite the amount of cash as San's manager, presumably from bets made against San

We can see a bunch of signs in the crowd with some of them reading stuff like "Quitting is not an option" and "The Champ is here"

Another stick-it-to-the-authorities detail can be seen during this shot of Yunho in the garage: they've managed to acquire a police car and have slapped their own Outlaw sticker on the hood because as Hongjoong said during the showcase: "In an unjust society, doing the right thing can be illegal."

Additionally, we also get a glimpse of Yunho and Jongho's police IDs which I can only assume have been forged for research or investigative purposes, i.e. to question citizens that otherwise wouldn't be willing to speak to them and answer their questions (after all, they've been trying to get into high security places to free as many civilians as possible)

Moving on to the most mysterious part of the MV (which I'm sure will make more sense within the context of the Diary entries later on): we see Yeosang and Seonghwa with their biker friends inside a room reminiscent of the museum we saw in Say My Name

In its center, we see a container on a pedestal hooked up to a bunch of tubes and wires housing a tiny little chilli plant that can seemingly only thrive in a very specific climate, hence the red lighting (temperature regulation) and the tubing (managing moisture and oxygen levels)

I can currently only speculate what these chillis can do but I'm sure they have some properties the government wants to keep away from civilian hands since they're known to use nutrition to uphold their absolute control over the population

These are also the chillis which were used to deliver messages to the other members (as seen in the trailer) and now Yeosang and Seonghwa have stolen presumably the entire remaining supply

We can see these peppers also being served in the bar Mingi entered at the beginning of the MV and upon seeing them, the other bar guests approach Mingi with a threatening air about them

This confrontation quickly escalates to a shootout in which Mingi clearly has the upper hand as he's mowing down everyone but the barkeeper before they can fire as much as a single shot (an exchange which tells me the other bar guests may have been government spies of some kind alerted by the sight of the chillis - maybe they've become a symbol of the revolutionists?)

Meanwhile, San's having a rough time in the ring (some bruises, blood crusting the corner of his mouth) while Wooyoung's trying to keep him motivated and to his credit, it seems to work

San gets up, kicks his opponent in the face and knocks him out cold which puts an end to the fight and secures him the win

Alongside the widespread cheers of the fans in the audience, they celebrate his win by raining down water and money interspliced with choreography clips featuring the full group

This is also where we get the iconic clip of Mingi doing body-rolls in a cropped vest on the pool table after he shot down everyone but the barkeeper

With these wins secured, we can now check in on Ateez who have successfully infiltrated Prestige Academy in white uniforms reminiscent of the one the boy at the end of the Guerrilla MV was wearing and most importantly: the windows are all cleared and sunlight is streaming inside - the kids have been woken up.

We cut back to Hongjoong who snaps one of the chillis in half and finds within a single bullet - as someone who doesn't care for guns in the slightest, I can only say it reminds me of a sniper bullet

What this means in the grand scheme of things, I'm not sure, but I can speculate:

In a society ruled by an oppressive government, weapons are usually kept far away from civilian hands in order to prevent an uprising, especially one with even the slightest chance of success

Side-note: this cannot be compared to gun control in a democratic society where weapons-access is restricted to prevent civilian-on-civilian violence like mass-shootings

Because of that, I assume the chillis are now being used to smuggle ammunition to the revolutionists so they can build up a civilian army with a fighting chance against the Android Guardians and other government-agencies

And this bullet in particular? It's not just any bullet. This is some high-tech futuristic shit - clearly an upgrade from whatever they tried to use against the Android Guardians in Fireworks/The Leaders

We get to see Hongjoong load it into his gun before taking aim and setting it on an extremely well calculated path of controlled destruction. The following shots tracking the bullet's trajectory are deeply satisfying so let's break them down:

First, the bullet pierces right through the climate-controlled container housing the chilli plant and shattering the glass as Yeosang, Seonghwa and crew are stationed there. This has the following implications: the plant can no longer produce chillis for the government and all the remaining chillis in this universe are now in the hands of the revolutionists.

From there, it moves through Prestige Academy where Ateez are gathered and light floods inside through the open windows: the kids have been freed and there'll be no more future generations of government-controlled workers.

The projectile keeps going, moving through the darkened inner city and heading straight for the tallest building in the city center - the one we've already seen in the trailer which they were heading towards on their motorcycles.

It enters through a window, flies down a sterile dimly-lit corridor, pierces through a white closed door and finally finds its mark: the head of an Android Guardian (I hope it was the one who grabbed Yeosang by the neck back in the Fever Part 3 Diary Entries)

The bullet's impact triggers an explosion, which transitions into the celebratory part of the choreo as sparks fly around the Black Pirates gathered in front of the Chilli Peppers bar.

It all culminates in this shot of the Black Pirates walking away from the government skyscraper as it goes up in smoke and flames. The mission was a success.

[waddlehekk]

some spoilers!!!!!!!! about the untranslated/later parts of the shin lupin iii manga

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Goemon Prison is a chapter I really like from the stories of Sherdog’s appearance in the manga, and it’s really interesting in how we see this conversation between Goemon and Zenigata after having seen Zenigata have to put up with Lupin’s and Jigen’s antics in trying to escape from prison. It isn’t very often that the manga gives the characters a chance to just talk without many other things going on.

A detail I like is the crooked smile that Goemon forces out while “laughing” as Zenigata speaks with him.

I think Zenigata really is concerned for Goemon’s well-being here, and I’m sure he sees through this smile too. Goemon should have been locked away in the normal, high-security prison, wearing prisoner clothes like Lupin and Jigen, but Zenigata goes out of his way, and I’m sure he had to really argue his way with other officials, to make him a prison outdoors where he can still wear his kimono. 

When he first visits him, he shows pity for Goemon when he sees him attempt to use the key he stole to get out, and he visits him with the intention of just talking with him. As he looks up at the birds in the sky, he says “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

There is so much symbolism with birds, and you can see below a direct callback to the original manga when Goemon’s masters killed a bird in front of Goemon to show him he has to be more cold-hearted as a murderer. Goemon is beginning to realize that despite his kindness, with how he has no intent of hurting this poor bird who he lets onto his head, he’s forced to lead this immoral life his masters wanted of him, and thus the bird cries out despite his intent.

Goemon has been through so much after having been tortured by the Rat Clan and then going on a murderous rampage for the kid with Gene Rosen’s disease, and his cheerful nature is beginning to go away because he can’t help but feel sorrow, but at the same time, his kindness still lingers. It has always been a characteristic of his despite his growth between the 3 manga, and even as he silently took in the pressure of his masters after each failure to kill Lupin, he chooses only to speak up when he sees the bird be hurt (and of course after he pauses and decides to leave them for Lupin).

I think at this point he’s beginning to realize how protective Lupin and Jigen have become over him, and when he sees the empathy Zenigata shows him, he feels that he doesn’t want anyone to have to feel bad for him anymore.

This chapter starts Goemon trying to pretend being cheerful like he used to be, so he really forces this smile because he realizes that Zenigata cares about him. Goemon wants to put himself down for the sake of others, such as with all the killings he does to protect them, and so he would rather not have others feel bad for him because of this. It’s a combination of all the trauma he’s faced with his kindness that causes such a self-destructive behavior.

Another hint that this cheerfulness is fake, unlike how genuinely cheerful he used to be, is how very commonly he laughs in his speech in many of the chapters after this one, but they are never as genuine as his laughter in the first chapter. (The masked man is the real Goemon)

In the ending of Shin Lupin, Goemon finally confesses to the feelings he’s felt all along, and for the first time since the first chapter, he laughs for real.

And although his forcing of emotions was never to this degree in the past, there are still many hints of this behavior earlier on in the manga.

In Shooting Goemon, which wasn’t too long after he was tortured in Strange Bedfellows, I thought the shifting between his emotions when talking to the girl were interesting, and he “laughs” here too.

He becomes so serious from here on.

In Chasing Tail he tries to cheer up Lupin when he realizes they are both stuck with the issue of having tails. There is more “laughing” here.

In Hardened Steel, though, he’s too heartbroken to even put on a single smile for the boy, who is soon to pass away. It’s interesting how the boy is so happy throughout this chapter in contrast to Goemon, who I believe has reached his breaking point here.

But back to Goemon Prison. There is this moment where Goemon asks Zenigata why he’s following the orders of the Watson machine, which he later finds out instructed Zenigata to take advantage of how he would risk himself to save Zenigata’s life. Zenigata argues he is the one instructing the computer, but in a way, he gives an actual reason why in the ending of the chapter.

It’s out of character for Zenigata to follow the orders of someone else, a machine of all things, given how he insists on capturing Lupin himself and under his own methods, but the reason why he trusts the computer, he reveals, is because he knows that what it has predicted of Goemon’s character has been true of him all along.

“That’s the kind of guy you are... Goemon...”

[jewishrizahawkeye]

hello fellow members of the tortured poets department. i’m very excited to talk about this next song as i think it ties into a lot of other songs, specifically on evermore my favorite album. so let’s talk about i look in peoples windows

previous day's here:

standard tracks: masterpost

anthology tracks: the black dog, imgonnagetyouback, the albatross, chloe or sam or sofia or marcus, how did it end?, so high school, i hate it here, thanK you aIMee

this song is one of the shortest songs on the album but i think it says the most. so much so that i haven’t properly figured out how to articulate it. i actually came up with several different interpretations for each lyric AS I WAS WRITING THIS. it’s truly a masterpiece of a song and leaves so much for the listener to ponder and reflect on.

the song feels like it’s a part of moving on and grieving something. the wondering about this person you once were entitled to know all their whereabouts and now don’t know anything (a possible follow up or callback to the black dog and another interpretation of that same event or idea). you’re wonder what they’re doing and what would happen if you saw each other one more time.

while the actual meaning is simple the lyrics and story taylor tells can be taken in many different ways. which then leads to many different interpretations of what the song is or could be.

one interpretation is the song opening with her muse reviving her via mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (“i had died the tinest death/i spied the catch in your breath/out out out out out out” “do i really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?”). but they part ways, she’s northbound and is taken away while the muse board a train south. this idea of the muses air reviving her and being separated from it can be why she’s now “a feather taken by the wind, blowing” because she’s without him to guide her and she’s now unsure what life hold for her. because of that she isn’t sure where she is or where he is. so she’s looking for him again, wondering what could happen if they meet again and see each other. would she be swept back into his airstream? who knows.

another idea following this similar interpretation can be that after he revived her she was supposed to be northbound, but instead she got swept away in his airflow/jet steam as she followed his train south (“my baby’s fly like a jet stream” “windows flung right open/autumn air/jacket around my shoulders is yours” “life was a willow and it bent right to your wind … the more that you say the less i know/where ever you stray i follow” “when you blew in with the winds of fate”). this is a common idea that’s shown on the album, her making her life about whomever she’s with to show devotion and them not caring/reciprocating. so with this metaphor we see taylor describing how her whole world was him, which isn’t anything new, but the opening merely discusses taylor meeting this muse and not them parting ways. but by the time we hit the pre-chorus we’re shown she’s now alone, something happened and they lost each other. so now she’s floating aimlessly completely alone in a world she doesn’t know and is stuck looking for him.

the opening can also be referencing back to willow. the mention of a train and that he “borders your train south” meaning he didn’t take taylor’s train home. but this song is feel like ADDS a lot of context to willow. taylor describes her muse as being able to conquer any form she takes and guide through her. she’s the ocean on a rough, stormy night? he’s a boat gliding through it flawlessly. she’s a willow and he’s the wind blowing through her leaves, moving her every which way. this then lets us see that she let him in easily and guide her however he pleased because she loved him. this continues then when we hear “you know that my train can take you home/everywhere else is hollow”, she’s begging him to join her world, that no one else will ever match or compare. but with this idea i look in people’s windows then feels like a sequel, a sad sequel. he doesn’t take her train. he blows her away (i spied the catch in your breath/out out out out out out), sending her away while he takes a different train. separating them. which means she isn’t allowed to know his whereabouts (the black dog) and she’s cursed to look for him, meaning she could be hollow now because she’s without him,and wonder what would happen if they saw each other again.

those are just a few interpretations, and there’s probably more out there. but the second verse details her questioning the last thing she saw of her muse:

“you had stopped and titled your head/i still ponder what it meant/now now now now now now”

because any interpretation we follow can lead to this idea. the last thing she saw was him questioning his actions/watching her leave. like he was second guessing it was considering if this was the right thing or something else. she doesn’t know. that’s why she still thinks it over now. she’s still so lost in his world she analyzes everything trying to make sense of their goodbye.

from here on she describes all the ways she’s looking for him. people on streets, looking at christmas parities from windows, watching family’s sit down for dinner, etc. they’re all creepy. they’re all unsettling. and she’s openly admitting it. that she’s so hung up and lost without him she’s looking for him everywhere she goes. she doesn’t know what it will produce or lead to but she is cursed by not knowing and it’s killing her.

this is why it’s one of the best songs on the album. it’s very short and open to the listeners interpretation. but it really shows us an aspect of taylor we hadn’t seen prior of her write about prior. she’s being honest about her feeling lost and looking for him. it feels very honest and brutal. one of the top ten tracks on the album. i’m so serious.

[blaperile]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon (reactions page 666 up to and including "flarp manual" path)

Woah, I didn't even have the time to write down my reaction the initial update before the second update of this page already arrived, hahaha

I'm a big, big fan of where this is going.

After Vriska's first initial conversation with Erisolsprite and Davepetasprite^2 upon arriving in "hell" I already had kind of high hopes of the potential where this was going, and it's definitely exceeding it.

She's making up with Tavros and Aradia, the conversations are glorious, and I'm not even mad that these Tavros and Aradia aren't actually really there. That may even be the BEST part.

It's providing Vriska some real and amazing character development, while not even giving her the "reward" of it ACTUALLY improving her relationship with them.

This shows Vriska what her relationship with Tavros COULD have been if she hadn't done all those awful things to him. But in "real life", she DID do all those things to him, and now he's gone (his pre-retcon self at least), and his post-retcon self is stuck as a Sprite.

So I really hope that in the future we get to have a "real" conversation between this grown Vriska and Gcatavrosprite, I'm very interested how that will turn out.

I find it hilarious that the way for Vriska to get past the Tavros "stage" was for her to finally listen to him and what he wanted to do… which was basically what he was already trying to say to her the first day she got there, but she just wouldn't listen and repeated the same mistake she made all those years ago, trying to make Tavros "braver" and stand up to her, and be more like herself. But it was never what he really needed.

Man, the 2 Pages (Tavros and Jake) sure have been having some amazing scenes these past few updates.

Also "based on the rules of gay, we both have to shut up and game" may be one of the best quotes Beyond Canon has delivered us so far, hahahaha.

The way Tavros could get under Vriska's skin in this update was brilliant.

I absolutely love all these references and callbacks to early Hivebent, what with Tavros not fitting in his recuperacoon, cavalreapers, flarping, etc.

And at the end, the visual callbacks to Vriska's fight with Aradia and her ascension to God Tier (with her instead now climbing her helltier echeladder, I LOVE IT!)

Of course, the return of the look-and-feel of the Alterniabound-like talksprites and conversations is also absolutely great (plus the fact that we even got a Sprite Mode of her in this outfit at the end with the helltier echeladder is also a nice bonus).

I'm very curious just what the rest of her stay here will be.

Originally, I was pretty much convinced she'd stay at least 6 years here (because 666) and possibly even 8 years (because Vriska). But I'm kinda shocked that already in year 2, she's making this kind of progress.

So if she's really going to stay so long here, what else is going to take her so long?

Once we got to see Aradiabot I wondered if it meant Vriska was going to see Terezi next (so that in this "flarping book" path she'd get to see all of her old flarping partners). But she didn't, not in this path anyway.

But if I think about it, perhaps it would be even better if she never gets to see (a fake) Terezi during her stay here?

Aradia's dialogue here that some people would be willing to be friends with Vriska even if she's "useless", instantly makes me think of Terezi.

If there's one person who truly cares a lot about Vriska, it's Terezi.

I mean, Terezi even sacrificed her comfortable life on Earth C to go out there for a long time and search for Vriska. Sure right now she's ended up with Dirk and trying to save John's life, but it doesn't mean she wouldn't still want to find Vriska.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole helltier will eventually end up with Vriska also wanting to find Terezi. And dear god, I'm so looking forward to an eventual reunion.

But anyway, that raises the question of what else will be happening in [S] Begin Session. If the "flarping manual" path is about reconciling with Aradia and Tavros, what will the other paths be about? What other conversational partners will she have?

The feather path seems like a giveaway that it will be Vriska talking to Davepetasprite^2 again.

There's Mindfang's journal, which I'm sure will be about Vriska's introspection of how she practically based her entire personality around her ancestor's journal. But the question is, who will she talk to about it?

It would be very interesting if she talks to (a fake) Aranea here, who is pretty much the best possible substitution for Mindfang for her to talk to.

But what will that be like? I don't think this post-retcon version of Vriska ever met Aranea, right? It was only ever her pre-retcon version that encountered her.

So if she really does meet Aranea here, that ought to be interesting.

I'm curious about the cueball path. I mean, that will probably be about Doc Scratch's manipulation of her, but who could she talk to about that? I'd be down for (a fake) Doc Scratch to return here, but I kinda doubt it. But I'm not really sure who else would be a good conversational partner for her about that. Maybe Arquiusprite???

Then we have the 8-ball path, which is the object most closely associated with Vriska herself. I'd love it if she gets confronted with (a fake version of) her pre-retcon self who already went on a huge path of character development and this Vriska didn't want to believe/face it.

[leonawriter]

Going back through the case for reasons, and again I'm struck by how callous Shinichi is or could be here?

There are multiple times that Kaito has helped Shinichi out in the past at great personal risk. Times when Shinichi could potentially have hurt Kaito far more than Kaito has ever hurt him (I'm not counting the taser, that's on Gosho deciding how much harm a taser does or doesn't do).

Shinichi has SEEN how Kaito will go out of his way to do the morally right thing - be it "return gem to its actual owner (Fairy's Lip)" or "save someone's life at risk of his own (Twilight Mansion, Three Instruments, technically Iron Tanuki)", or.... "a murder was committed at a heist and Kid is seen to have helped with the investigation (Four Masterpieces, technically Magic Lovers Murder Case).

It's SO easy to list even only the ones that Shinichi himself has been present for, and not even counting the movies, where they've worked together far more than they will on this case here, and so that just makes it kind of... jarring? When Shinichi says-

"Then they catch you, so what?"

Like... there's a big difference between Kaito becoming known as the true identity of Kaitou Kid via arrest, and Kaito being arrested as both Kid and as a murder suspect.

And Shinichi's answer to that? "It's retribution for all the crimes you've committed."

Sure, only two panels later Shinichi is agreeing to help, but - that's after eight panels of Shinichi being suspicious of him, and him freaking out. I mean, there is NO poker face during that early part. Just panic all the way up the wazoo.

Look at this boy. He currently has no chill whatsoever.

Whereas Shinichi? The first thing he does is accuse Kaito of murder. After that, his face is set at a constant resting bitch face. The most that a physically seven year old could have.

Then we get the scene I showed at the start. Still with Kaito imploring Conan to listen. Look at the way he's leaning forward in the second panel, where he says "Are you okay with that? Not solving the murder case?" - he's leaning forward, arms out.

Now, I love that line of Kaito's since it gets a callback at the end of the case, but look at his expression, his body language - we can only see his face and his neck/top of his chest, but we can see how he's still leaning over, the way he's speaking loudly or giving the impression of it.

Another point I'll make about Kaito from the first time we see him here is that he's wearing sweats and his top hat/monocle. And... just that, really. He's literally and symbolically stuck partway between his two personas; Kid's hat and monocle are hiding his face, but there's no mask there, and he isn't wearing the suit.

He's just a kid with a big hat and an eyepiece on right now. Lower case kid, not upper case Kid.

And then there's Shinichi, who's just... sure he's agreeing but he doesn't have to like it.

Part of me wants to say "this is because Shinichi knows that the optimal method of getting out of this intact for both of them is what they end up doing, as in, Kaito pretending to be him while Ran is there, and he resents that as well as giving his identity, even temporarily, to Kid, who is a criminal, and effectively become party to aiding and abetting said criminal."

However there's another part of me that's seen Shinichi kick a football at high power at Kid with the force to knock him out of the air, and aimed a sleeping dart at Kid when he could have fallen out of a helicopter (or, in one movie, near the top of a skyscraper), as well as various other terrifying things, and I just... sometimes, Shinichi makes me concerned.

With Kid at least, there seems to be a sense of "I don't know you, you're a criminal, you're infuriating, therefore whatever I do to you is justified."

It's a return of Kaito trusting Shinichi more than Shinichi trusting Kaito, which is why it feels rather like Kaito is treating it as if... if Shinichi really had just left him for a false arrest on murder charges he's innocent of, that'd be a betrayal, while Shinichi doesn't see it having the same weight.

But, like... bringing this back to point.

I'd also say that Shinichi's also distracted and only half paying attention to the panicking thief in the room because excuse you, he's doing his job, here. Every moment we see him beyond "Did you kill him?!" has him investigating something or other.

So in a sense, the way he's coming off as cold and callous is because he's already cataloguing everything he needs in order to prove Kid innocent.

That... still doesn't excuse the way he talks, though, because with most other people he'd say something to calm them down - while with Kid, he doesn't even bother just saying "Shut up and let me concentrate." He's almost cruel in how he responds, making Kaito panic more the longer it goes on - which I don't think he was doing intentionally, but it does have the side effect that when Shinichi sets his conditions, it does rather feel like Kaito's about ready to say "anything. I will do just about anything if you will help me out here."

The very next time we see either Shinichi or Kaito, they're in performance mode. Kaito is now Shinichi. He has a smile on (Poker Face, most likely). I can easily imagine that Shinichi just gave his condition and Kaito went "what, that's it?" in pure relief.

But... yeah.

I'm still stuck on those lines.

"Then they catch you, so what?

"It's retribution for all the crimes you've committed."

"I'm willing to ally with you... but there's a condition."

It's just... harsh, man. Real harsh. It can be hard going from Shinichi talking to Ran or something to being reminded that he can be like this with someone who hasn't deserved it.

Sometimes Shinichi will talk about how important it is to communicate clearly, and value your friends, and to not do the kinds of things that lead to the murders he solves. And then he'll turn around and- tbh? I'm morbidly curious what would happen if he had this sort of acerbic relationship with someone who wasn't Kaito, who didn't have a "will not kill/some moral lines don't get crossed" boundary.

Personally, I'd say that if it weren't for Kaito being a good person, Shinichi would have been in trouble ages ago.

[spacedykez]

my favorite things about epic the musical

but now we'll be the ones who ✨SLAY✨

i love how fast and intense the part where ody's giving orders is

the soldiers' little "WHOO"s after ody's lines OUGHHHH

*hawk screech* A VISION

"I know that I'm ready!! // I don't think you're ready..."

ody's voice is so SOFT when he's singing "it's just an infant"

zeus's voice is so deep. it fits him

the backing vocals on "if you don't end him now you'll have no one left to save // penelope!!"

ody & zeus's duet. no more needs to be said

"PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS, DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS" sobs. ough.

"is the price i pay endless pain?" yeah. seems like it. i mean the odyssey makes sure to remind us that you have endured "much suffering" like fifty times so.

the second repetition of "when does a comet become a meteor" with the whole chorus singing....

"and ithaca's waiting!!" is such a satisfying line for some reason

"PENELOPE'S WAITING!!" they have the best relationship of anyone Ever actually.

the men singing "captain, what's the plan?" so satisfying

"we're up we're off and away we go!" yayyyyy

"captain! :D" "polities! :D" (dont talk to me SOBS)

this whole song is just so great tbh.

I LOVE when ody and the men are singing together. so fun. idk why its just satisfying

jungle noises!! also the beat to Open Arms is just SOOOOO very nice i don't know why something about the drums is just so very /pos though

the lotus-eaters' voices are very fun tbh. i love the overlapping vocals. they sound like Creechurs /pos

when the lotus-eaters go "oooooh!" after polites' lines >>>>

the high flute/whatever it its thats playing the melody of athena's lyrics as she sings them? oughh >>>>>

"Let's go!!"

ody's smug little "ha-ha-ha-ha"

you can HEAR the smile in athena's voice when ody tricks her. like. ooh yes this one this is my favorite mortal.

"nah, don't be modest, i know you're a goddess" >>>

i just LOVE how ody sings "you are ATHENA badass in the ARENA unmatched witty AND QUEEN OF the best stra-te-gies we've seen"

ody's little "ohkay" after athena's "we'll see where it ends." god he sounds so just. blorbo. in this song. yknow. hes just so smug cat /aff

warrior of the mind, just, like, in GENERAL, is great

THE ARROW FLYING AT THE START OF POLYPHEMUSSSS

"WHO ARE YOU." you can HEAR the oh shit

i love ody and the Cyclops' whole exchange. just something about it.

i love the cyclops' voice filter? whatever he's got goin on. very cool

"hey cyclops do you know what's better than eating me? GETTING DRUNK!!! yeah trust me dude youll NEVER wanna eat me now"

i appreciate him repeating "nobody" three times so absolutely NO ONE can miss it.

"I'm so glad we see eye to eye" hehe. cause. yeah.

"what..? WATCH OUT!!" >>>>>>

THE BEAT HERE GOES FUCKING CRAZYYYYYYY /pos

the whole not exactly call-and-repeat thing that ody and his men do during this song. just. man i love this musical.

when the men r singing in the background of ody singing >>>>

"captain..?" POLITESSSSSSSS :((((((((

the BANGING... like. its so emotional /pos.

the cyclops singing a version of the song ody and his men were singing before >>>>>

the sort of focusing-in thing at the start of Remember Them? i dont know. its just very satisfying

remember them is just a great song all around. amazing. 10/10 no notes

i lied i have notes. i LOVE the guitar riff thing? that happens around when ody says "SCATTER"

"captain" "wait" >>>>>

the cyclops sounds so SAD when hes saying "don't go! :("

"my comrades will not DIIIIII-EEE-IEEEE in vain." they always say it like "diii-EEEE-iiiiiieeee" and its very funny

the line "selfish and prideful and vain" is so funny after reading the odyssey. this goddess raised your child for you and saved your life like 1932094234 times. have some goddamn respect. gods.

"YOU'RE NOT LOOKING FOR A MENTOR I'M NOT LOOKING FOR A FRIEND!" callbacks to previous songs >>>>>>

"wiser, why's your" love that. (sounds alike)

the little stuttering the music does at the end of this song!!! so satisfying.

[imaginespazzi]

Nivi, bestie, I can’t believe this is it! The final part, and hence the final review (and potentially the longest? 😅):

The flashback scene is so incredibly perfect. I can’t really describe how much I loved this scene – probably one of my favourites of the entire fic. Just thinking of how far they’ve come since then, with their first kiss not happening until 5 years later, then finally being together in the same place at the same time almost a decade later.

You talk about being a nostalgic writer and this scene just fully encompassed the feeling of nostalgia, you know?

Their WNBA game against each other was also so good, and it just really boosted my craving of a Paige-Azzi rivalry in the W irl for at least a few years. With the way everybody’s tuning into all the W relationship drama right now, I just know that Pazzi on court rivalry mixed with all their off-court sweetness would hit like crack for everyone haha.

Even though I know we already saw it in the snippet, seeing Paige bring up the bloody UCLA decision again and using it against Azzi took me back and still got me a little mad lol, but I know it was necessary to show the growth and I did love seeing that play out. Plus, you had to add in a little bit of angst, and I’m always appreciative of that.

Side note: Cam being in charge of recruiting – ofc she would be, who else? The sweetest soul, indeed. This actually also made me think of what if Azzi gets drafted to GSV, then after Cam’s rookie contract ends with the Sparks, the Currys also lure her over to GSV. And then the year after that, Paige goes over and joins them?! Let me cook (and be delulu) here, bestie. Ofc, I still would love to see our big 3 that never quite was (Li, P, Az) but I wouldn’t be opposed to a P, Az, Cam Big 3 either.

The 2am phone call took me back to that phone call, but a much happier version this time ofc. The “come home” – yeah, there were definitely tears by this point.

And then the airport reunion 🥹 “Do you want me to drop you woman?” – was that a callback to an earlier flashback scene (I could totally be making things up here but that was the first thing that came to mind haha)? Also, I see you let P really be her 6ft self here 😂. Nah I believe her.

Then ending it the way you did, with their first WNBA championship, it doesn’t get more perfect than that. And when you talked about Azzi having been there for the state championship, then the college natty, and then finally the league championship. Man, I so hope that’s what reality has in store for them too. Like just how special it would be having been there for each other’s high school achievements to hopefully winning the natty together next season, then hopefully winning a WNBA championship together at some point. It’s the way that if you described their story to a random stranger, it really would sound like a piece of fiction, fairytale and daydreams, but like it’s not, it’s real, they’re real. Insane.

And tying it all back to that first scene. You’re like the master of that. Like I said, it was the perfect ending.

Well this is usually the part where I would put my thoughts for what’s next but I guess there is no next huh (big sad):

Nah for real, cannot thank you enough for letting me, well all of us, live out this Roman Empire.

Who would have thought one comment from 5 months ago would have led to all this?! The one good thing that came out of that horror UCLA game 🤭

Also, if somehow Paige does end up at the Sparks and Azzi at GSV, I will never not think about UCLA fic Paige and Azzi ya know, they’ll be my roman empire forever now. It would be incredibly poetic though if they do both end up at Minnesota someday. Then I’ll know you were just writing the script for them all along 😌

Oh and I see you incorporating “in between shades of blue” at the end there 👀 I’m sorry we never used the actual title when referring to the fic 😭 You ate with that though.

Favourite lines:

“It’s peaceful out here,” she says quietly, sounding shy even to her own ears and she can’t help but wonder when the hell that happened, “you wanna stay a little longer?” “Yeah okay let’s stay longer,”

She swears she feels her before she sees her.

“This. The same exact thing you did. For someday.”

Alternate lyrics:

I don’t have one this time. I was hoping you’d use This Love tbh and had the biggest smile when I saw the lyric. I think I recall you mentioning one time how much UCLA Azzi was This Love-coded and I’d always thought it was the perfect song for this fic so, no notes.

Instead, as I was listening to This Love, I was kinda replaying the fic in my mind, and these were the scenes that came to mind so I guess you could say they’re my favourites (with the ones in bold being the most special to me):

When Azzi first shows up at Paige’s Airbnb in LA

Paige seeing the pictures of them on Azzi’s wall

Their first kiss outside the bar

Paige circling the Fudd house a billion times while Drew’s dying in the passenger seat

The phone call after Azzi’s date with Zoe

The night at the Cayman Islands

Azzi returning P’s stuff

All of Paige’s unanswered messages

Paige seeing Azzi at the natty game and Azzi celebrating with her and the team

Draft night

The date

Dancing in the snow

Their kiss after Azzi wins the natty

Stargazing

The phone call where Azzi finally chooses Minny

The ending

You did it, bestie! I don’t know if you have a holiday planned during your summer break, but I hope you do (get those 3,562 pictures taken! 😂), you definitely deserve it after gifting us with this masterpiece!

I don’t know what’s next but trust I’ll always be tuned it to whatever you write, whenever that may be again. Got a fan in me forever 💗

See you around, Nivi!

Much love always,

-🙋‍♀️

WE DID IT BABEEEEE <3 Before I start replying to what you said, I just wanted to THANK YOU BESTIE because this fic wouldn't exist without you. You've shaped so much of the story and your chapter reviews were my biggest source of motivation.

I'm really glad that sense of nostalgia came through because I definitely felt it while writing it. And I couldn't help but think just how far they've come since that scene and just the beginning of the fic tbh

Fun fact, the WNBA scene was initially a part of Here's to Eternity but I didn't like something about how it fit with that fic so I had it saved to add into this one. And I've been so tuned into the Nai-Lyss drama, that I just had to include Pazzi-esque version of that tension.

LMAO I knew you'd be mad at Paige lol. Listen in this fic, she's the kinda person who needs to take a step backwards so she can take five forwards. But yeah, I really wanted to bring things full circle with her being supportive this time, so I hope that came through!

PAIGE AZZI CAM BIG THREE WOULD SAVE LIVES (well after everyone dies of happiness first lol) but I'm a big Cam Brink fan and she felt like the perfect cameo to add here

The way you just get my writing >>> Cause I was fully gonna add in a throwaway line about the other 2 am phone call but then I was like nah I'mma do the show not tell thing and hopefully people will see it anyway (idk if anyone else did but as long as you did I'm happy)

I really hope that even if this an AU, real life mirrors it a little bit and they're about to get a championship at every stage of their career and live it out with each other. And you're so right, they're straight out of a novel by God Himself.

As we've established now I think, I do love a good full circle moment.

Why did you saying "I guess there is no next" make me so emotional like damn

That UCLA game might have given us emotional trauma but at least we made lemonade out of the lemons and all of that right?

AHAHAH yeah I wanted to do an ode to the title at the end even if nobody really refers to this fic by it's title because I did have some reasoning behind that being the title and them finding forever in between shades of blue

This Love is honestly the overarching theme for this whole fic so it felt fitting to the end it with that as the main theme song and I'm glad you approve!

3,562 picture is insane and unlike Paige, I literally will not let anyone take that make photos of me

Please keep coming back here bestie because I'mma miss you so much if you don't. Love you babes <3

[brisquad-unit-4402]

infinity thoughts

ok so 🍰 anon asked me about my infinity thoughts and an explanation here but unfortunately i'm american and got access to the song with the official mv release, so when i answered it i was in a post-negibanana haze and unable to comprehend abstract thought. sorry!

so anyways it's such a fire song. easy top 10 nijien songs. i'll be honest and admit i don't pay attention to a lot of niji music, even for some of my oshis, but hear me out. infinity bangs slaps bops jams etc

i'd like to point out the parts that i adore/can explain a bit

imma player imma play my game / imma slayer and i claim the fame

i'd like to imagine this is a double entendre for being a heartthrob AND a #gamer lmao. especially with the tiny internet/vtuber references all throughout

i make the dream that make believe

that should be "make-believe," with a hyphen. never catch 'em slippin

not a lyric but i'd like to formally thank yga for deciding that shu should be wearing a sleeveless hoodie and a turtleneck and a half-off jacket AND an arm garter. that arm garter is carrying everything

not a lyric but also thank you lord for giving sonny a scarf. he looks cozy and i'll be thinking of this factoid later. also the lightning effect in the rain/monster line 💛

we stay young forever

lol i see u anime boy png reference. also the ad libs here are peak. wait hold on classic og lxm fans: shu was the one that did the brr woo right? ...that a callback?

(yes sir)

YES SIR?

YES SIRRRRRRRR

i am not mentally well about an ad lib of all things. i'll be there for him. with open arms. and open legs. and an open mouth

better move that body that the big man gave ya

this is just funny to me. like yea this is what i wanted to hear in my kpop inspired dance song by two anime boys. a line that just barely dodges religion. that's hilarious and i want someone to sample this line specifically for a rap beat

ain't no gravity in my galaxy / we soar like planes, like birds, like angels

i get why they end the lines with "angels" (ethereal, beautiful, a body that the big man has given) but... if it ended with planes... it could be a slant rhyme with sonny's next lines

hundy degrees

also just funny to imagine sonny unironically saying "hundy." i can only see him in my mind's eye saying it when he's putting on the Big Stereotypical Bogan Accent. not so out of character for him now is it

you on your knees

ok wait hol d on hwat the fuck

tell me are you ready for me

ye s

honestly that whole bridge just fucked eternally and again, will not stop thinking about it. what tf are those high notes. knees, huh. the whole theme going on through the entire lyrics where the singers r nonstop but everyone else needs to be prepared/can't go on as long as they can (tehe stamina joke). whatever they were doing with the ascending "are you ready for me." whatever SHU was doing with that high note into the chorus SIR ?

so when this got announced post-ar live i threw the preview into my playlist bc it was just that good, and i always imagined it as one of those radio bumpers. so so so so so happy it was everything i dreamed of and more.

i love negibanana as a duo a lot and i'm glad they were the first to get an encounter, since neither have a original/cover song on their channel yet. especially for sani. he's my oshi but tons of tons of tons of people have expressed he's a very underrated and very talented singer, and if you don't happen to be there for karaokes or his features on other songs (ringo! mogire! beaaaaaam!) then it's easy to sleep on him.

and what can i say about shu that hasn't been said before. his voice is lovely and his high notes shine. negibanana is such a good duo because of their strengths. you can really tell that shu's at his best when he gets to use his falsetto and show off vocal runs, and sonny's energy when he raps is so infectious.

but never forget the goofy bits 💛 shu has no idea how to whisper sexily like "infinity yeaah" in the beginning sounds like a kid trying to learn how to do a death metal scream without waking their parents in the next room 💛 what was the entire verse about your neighbor and the big man who wrote that 💛 every time the pre-chorus hits i wait for the hyphen in make-believe and yet 💛💛💛💛

peak nijien in 2024 experience tbh