#but i miss hearing him as a main cast in anime

[cocotome]

New anime starring Hirarin has been announced, Tsuma, Shougakusei ni naru! I can't wait to watch this in October but until then I'll be reading the manga which has great reviews and seems to be super cute and wholesome~

[weirdgenetic-fuckup]

Second Chances

A/n: first time writing for Rip Wheeler, hope to write more for him

I started this months ago and just finished but I hope it’s good :)

Warnings: implied smut, religious trauma, Beth and Rip aren’t together anymore(love Beth but it couldn’t work for the idea 😔), abuse, if you think I missed anything let me know otherwise enjoy!

He looks so pouty and cute I can’t 🥺

~October 15th, 6:37 pm~

"You got a spare room, don't ya, Rip?" John's gruff voice came over the phone, voice wavering through heavy breaths.

"Yeah, why?" Rip asked, he'd just been making himself a quick dinner, body already aching for the sanctity of bed and rest.

"I'll explain later, just get it ready." John hung up before Rip could say anything more.

~7:05 am~

There was an old abandoned shed farther away from the main house, way over a few fields. It once served a purpose but now just lay, holding a few tools that no one had ever bothered to retrieve, there wasn't enough reason behind it anyway.

However, John had been passing by it the past few months with loose cattle around and kept hearing noise coming from it. At first he didn't pay much attention to it, it was most likely just some animals that had taken it over to hide away from the cooling weather, but he wanted to check it out when the sounds started getting stranger.

"Kayce," he called to his youngest son, "I want to take you with me to check out the shed up North of here." He said.

Kayce was with his wife, Monica, and son, Tate. They were having breakfast together, Tate was going off about something and Monica was listening closely, Kayce had been as well until his father came over to him.

"Up North?" He repeated. "Why? That thing’s been here longer than me, never needed to check on it before."

John sucked his teeth and shrugged. "Just come with me later, alright?" Kayce agreed, he had nothing else to do. Nothing to do with the ranch, anyway.

They couldn't head off right away, things needed to get done with the horses and such, everyone had chores.

~4:45 pm~

The two hadn't been able to leave much earlier, just getting on their horses to head out. Kayce didn't mind leaving earlier, he'd thought they'd leave later but this way he figured he'd still be able to tuck Tate in with Monica.

They arrived at the shed and sure enough those noises were back, only this time there was a light seeping through the cracks of the old wood.

Not wanting to risk getting caught they tied their horses up further away to trees, walking through the overgrown grass lit up by the setting sun, it cast a golden glow over the already yellowing field.

There was definitely someone inside, someone doing something and clinking shit together. They drew their guns as they neared the door facing into the trees.

John kicked it open, whoever was in there jumped and dropped something. "Hey-hey! Who the hell're you?!" It was a man yelling from inside. "Show yourselves to me, you crazy fucks!" Kayce gave John a worried look.

John peered in and saw the guy, scrawny fellow, shaved head, it didn't seem to be by his own fruition with how choppy it was. His clothes were tattered and stained, eyes bugging, he was clearly on something; what, they weren't sure, but they couldn't risk anything.

Kayce took the first step in, gun aimed at the man just in case. John followed shortly after and looked around while Kayce kept the man against a wall, hands in the air defensively.

"Cooking meth, you're cooking meth on my land?!" John yelled, making his way over to the man in a few short strides, raising his fist and punching him square in the face and knocking him on his ass.

There was a second thud, it didn't come from Kayce or John, not even the addict. No, this one came a second later from somewhere else.

In the corner of the shed was a smaller closet, it had been used to keep shovels and such. It wasn't small but big wasn't a good word for it, not by a longshot.

"I'll deal with this, you check on that." John said to Kayce, taking the rope from his side and kneeling next to the man, getting him over to the broken down and chipped table in the middle of the room and tying him to it as tight as he could.

"Don't, it's nothing, nothing!" The man yelled, struggling against John's hold on him.

The door creaked open and Kayce froze at the sight. "You, uh, you're gonna wanna see this, dad."

John looked up at his son, trying to get a look from where he was but needing to stand up anyway. The tied man kept yelling and squirming, shaking the table as he did.

Kayce moved to the side to let John look. The room was small, still, it held a poorly made bed, really it was just the frame with a shitty pillow and ratty old blanket thrown over it; there wasn't even a window to cover up.

In the darkness he made out a figure, a small one. A person chained to the bed. They were on their knees, elbows resting on the wood and hands clasped in one another, lips moving subtly in a silent prayer.

"Oh, Jesus Christ..." John muttered. He knelt down, placing a hand on your shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked, keeping his voice gentle as it could be.

Your clothes, a shirt and cotton shorts, were browning with age, holes dug into them, blood littered over them, crusted into your shorts especially.

You finished your prayer and looked to him, keeping your gaze below his head and refusing to look any higher. You gave a small nod.

Kayce had gone back to the horses and returned with bolt cutters and handed them to his father. "We're gonna get you out of here, ok?" John said, rubbing your back. He reached for the chain wrapped around your ankle, hooking the cutters into one of the loops.

The feeling of him trying to get the chain off was more than you could bear, this room had been all you'd known for years, that chain had been around your ankle for years, rubbing on it and making your skin raw.

You swatted at John's hand, pushing him away and backing yourself into the corner across from the bed. Your breathing was heavy and you shook your head, this chain was keeping you here and still, you couldn't lose it.

John looked to Kayce who was chewing his cheek, thinking of ways to help.

The son took the cutters from his dad and moved to kneel in front of you. "I'm not gonna hurt you, alright? I just want to help, I can't do that with this thing." He said. Kayce was much gentler than John, his voice not as gruff and warmer. He looked you up and down, taking in your disheveled state and seeing how panicked you were. "Can you tell me your name?" He asked, not bothering to make you look at him, it was the least of his concerns right now.

You fidgeted with your hands in your lap. You thought for a moment before shaking your head.

Kayce sighed. "Well, I'm Kayce Dutton, I live on this farm land with my family... we- my dad and I” he said, gesturing back to John, “want to take you there, we can get you food and a change of clothes... a proper bed to sleep in."

"They're lying! They're liars, don't listen to them!" The addict yelled. John groaned and went to him, tying the rope tighter around him. You couldn't hear what John was saying and you were too panicked to care.

"I am not lying, I can't promise you much more than my word, do you trust my word?" Kayce asked, taking your hand in his, smoothing his thumb over the back of your palm in a soothing moment. You gave a small nod. "Alright now, I won't cut it all off, does that sound better?" You much preferred that compromise.

He didn't leave much, just keeping it around your ankle and then a few chains to keep a bit of extra weight, what you were used to, at least similar to it.

"Kayce, we gotta go." John said, peaking back into the room. "Now. Come on, let's go!" John hurried out, leaving you and Kayce alone.

"Can you walk?" You shook your head, Kayce exhaled with a nod. "I'm gonna pick you up and carry you out to the horses, alright?" You paused a moment but there wasn't much time for him to wait for you, quickly wrapping his arms around you and carrying you out of the shed and to the horses where John was already waiting, horses untied and ready to go.

The sky above you, the trees and the grass, all of it was so familiar and new all at the same time. The cool chill of the night hitting your face and body, your skin so pale in comparison to everything else. For just a moment you were struck with this envious look, all of this had been waiting for you? Just a few feet away? But then it all came crashing down as it settled in you that you were outside, alone and vulnerable.

As soon as you reached the horses you started panicking again, yelling and screaming and reaching out for the shed again as the man called out for you as well. Kayce laid you on the horse and gave it a smack to get it going, John was on the other horse, holding the reins to Kayce's horse and moving while Kayce started running just behind you both.

He didn't get far before the shed caught far, exploding. Kayce was already far enough away and wasn't injured, no one was but the man holding you captive was definitely gone, a foot landing not far from you.

You screamed until your throat hurt, until nothing came out. Your eyes red and stinging from tears as you cried out, body shaking over the horse.

John slowed down and Kayce caught up with you, taking the reins of his horse back and leading it back to the farm. "Kayce, call 911, we need to stop the fire." John spoke, taking out his own phone.

The land was damp and frosted, chances are the fire wouldn't make it very far, besides, the houses were much too far for it to cause any real damage. Still, the fire was right on the tree's edge and they couldn't risk too much.

The phone rang in John's hand, all while you wailed in the background. "You got a spare room, don't ya, Rip?"

~7:16 pm~

Rip had set up the spare room, there really wasn't much to set, the bed was made and it wasn't a particularly messy room, dusty, sure, but not messy.

There was a knock on his door and he went to answer it, opening it to find John with a more than distraught you under his arm. "I'll go get some of Beth's old clothes, get her in the shower, clean her up.” The older man ordered, gently pushing you towards Rip.

Rip was caught so off guard and just held you close to him for several minutes while John walked away, back down the hill to the main house. He looked down to you as you stared at the ground. Your hair was matted, face a mess, clothes… he didn’t even want to think about it so he just guided you to the bathroom and set you down on the floor while he ran the water in the tub, making sure it was nice and warm since you were shivering.

He glanced back at you, huddled in the corner, knees to your chest, tears rolling down your cheeks. “What’s yer name, kid?” He asked, keeping his voice gentle. You shivered and shook your head, you didn’t know him, you didn’t know what was going on, where you were. You were more than scared of this big, strange man, no matter how kind he seemed off the bat.

Rip sucked his teeth and nodded, understanding that this was something new for you. “I’m Rip… I’m a cowboy, you know what a cowboy is?” You shook your head again. “A cowboy is someone who protects the people around them… people like you, you understand?” You didn’t but you nodded anyway. “So, I’m not gonna hurt you, I’d never do that… and if anyone hurts you, you tell me, alright?” You nodded again.

Rip looked back to the water as the tub filled up. “What are you doing?” You asked, also looking to the tub as water poured out the faucet.

“I-I’m getting a bath ready for you.” He answered simply, raising a brow at your question. “You’ve had a bath before, right?” He looked you over, you didn’t look like you had.

“When-when I was younger…” You answered softly. “To wash away the day's filth is to wash away God’s path for you, your history.” You explained. Rip sighed, he wasn’t a very religious man but that sounded cultish to him, seeing your disheveled state…

“That’s not what God said, you know…” He said, hoping you’d look up at him but you didn’t. “If that’s what he really wanted he wouldn’t have made lakes and rivers for us to clean in… he would’ve made it harder to do that, would’ve put up a sign or something.” You thought about what he said. Nothing was changing overnight but after everything today you were at a loss, you couldn’t go back to the room you knew, all you had was Rip right now.

“Do you need help out of your clothes?” He asked, gesturing to you with a nod. You’ve heard those words before, not in that order, not in that tone, but you understood that much and shook your head.

You stood and pulled your shirt up over your head, Rip looked away to give you some privacy, as if he wasn’t about to wash you himself. You pulled your shorts off and tossed them aside to the corner before going to the sink, now Rip looked at you, confusion swirling in his eyes as you placed your hands on the edge of the sink, parting your legs and looking down into the sink.

Rip stared at you dumbfounded. Your clothes covered in blood and basically standing alone in the corner, it made sense now and he jumped to his feet, gathering you in his arms and bringing you over to the tub, carefully setting you down in the warm water. “You don’t ever have to do that again, you hear me?” He said, holding your mucky hair out of your face, turning your head to look at him. You closed your eyes, refusing to look at his face. “Can you look at me?” You shook your head. “What’s stopping you?” He let go of your face, letting you look back to the water turning brown around you.

You swirled your hand in the water, amused by its ripples. “He said you may not look man in the eyes for it disrespects him and taints your soul.” Rip exhaled sharply, staring at you a moment longer before reaching back to get a washcloth from the cabinet under the sink.

He rubbed soap into the cloth, letting it bubble in his hands before running it over your bruised and battered skin, listening to every hiss you let out from the scars it passed over and caught on. Your ribs and inner thighs were the worst of it, all it did was anger Rip more and more by the second.

“I’ve got no respect to lose, you can look at me.” He muttered, running the cloth down your arm. “Your soul… that’s something you can’t touch with your eyes.” You didn’t respond.

He continued to bathe you as you rested your chin on your knees, eyes slowly closing until you couldn’t keep them open any longer, you were used to sleeping in this position, your body accepting it as normal while Rip fought the urge to pull you closer to him.

He’d never felt this with someone before, other than Beth. He wasn’t speaking to Beth anymore, she left and made sure he knew she was done with him, tore his heart out and made him eat it.

He didn’t want to think of that right now, he wanted to help you, that was his focus, his only priority.

~7:45 pm~

Rip had been struggling with your hair for too long, he’d finally managed to get your body clean but your hair was beyond repair. A knotted, matted mess that just needed to be shaved off.

A knock came to the bathroom door and it creaked open and John stepped in, keeping his back to the bath as he held out a pile of clothes. "I got you somethin' to wear, just, uh, put these on when you're done" He said, looking down the hallway with a nervous look etched on his face. "I gotta go find Rip." He said lower.

Rip stopped trying to untangle your hair, it was only harder because you were asleep and he didn't want to wake you. He cleared his throat. "I'm right here, sir" He said softly. "She needed help."

John's head snapped to him before he quickly looked away again to avoid looking at you naked. "What the hell are you doing?! She's been locked up and used like a fucking doll, you don't know what she'll think of this!" Rip hung his head, he knew what John was talking about, seen it in the way you reacted sometimes, your clothes. "You're supposed to be keeping her safe, Rip."

Even with his harsh words and the deeper meaning behind them, it was hard to take him so seriously when he was scared to look into the bathroom. "I-I know, Sir, I was just helping... she needed it..."

John let out a heavy sigh. He set the clothes on the counter beside the sink. "Just finish up and get her into bed, not your bed. I wanna talk to you for a minute." He said, closing the door behind him and heading down the hall to the living room.

Rip let out a heavy sigh, very few times had he disappointed John, he hated it every time. However, he couldn't just get this done quick.

He looked to the counter and pulled out a drawer, looking into it and seeing his razor. It was the best thing for you.

He dried you off and got you dressed, doing his best not to wake up, which turned out to be easier than he’d thought it would be, you were just out and he kept checking your pulse.

He shaved your head, it was better than leaving that mess on your head, then he washed your scalp, being careful around the sores. He carried you to the guest room and tucked you in, running a hand over the fuzz that covered your head now.

John was waiting for him out in the living room, resting his head in his hands, elbows on his knees. He stared at Rip as he came down the hall. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Rip inhaled deeply as he took a seat on the other side of the couch. “I was thinking she needed help and I helped… I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yeah, that’s what you think.” John grumbled. “Look, she seems content with you if she was able to sleep, you keep an eye on her.” He stood up and went to the door, stopping just short of it. “That’s all you keep on her, ya hear?” He stated, shooting him a look. Rip nodded and John left.

Rip stayed there a moment, thinking about… everything before eventually getting up and walking back to the guest room where you slept peacefully under the sheets.

He sat on the edge of the bed, running a hand down the side of your face. “You’re too young for this.” He muttered to himself.

You began to stir, eyes slowly blinking open and you looked up at him. He stared back at you, your eyes were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, tortured and innocent, there was a purity in them he’d never seen in anything.

“You’re looking at me.” He said, cupping your cheek in his rough, clean hand. His hand had probably never been this clean before in his life.

You brought your hand up to hold his against your face. “You’re pretty.” You mumbled, drawing a chuckle from him.

“Am I?” You nodded with a smile. He sighed and looked over you once more. “What’s your name?”

You hesitated a moment. “Three.” Rip paused.

He shook his head. “No, that’s not your name, that’s a number, I asked for your name.”

You stared up at him with a blank stare, blinking tiredly. “Three.” You repeated.

Rip stared, eyes flickering over your face, taking in your doe like features. “Is that the name he gave you?” You nodded, sitting up with a grunt, body aching. “I’m not calling you that.”

“That’s my name.” You stated firmly, Rip was surprised that you’d use a tone with him but he didn’t care, he wasn’t calling you a number.

For several moments you sat there, staring at each other. Rip brought his hand back to your cheek, rubbing it with his thumb. He leaned in and closed the distance between you both, his lips on yours.

It was gentle and warm, passionate but not heated. Love was a complicated concept but you’d never felt it before, he hadn’t gotten ahold of it himself, still, he was determined to show you there were brighter sides to this world than what you’d seen.

A knock on the door reminded him of where he was, who was with, what was happening. He pulled away, seeing the way you were now looking at him; eyes wide, full of something new, something eager and curious.

The knock came again and he got up. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He said, giving you a last kiss. “Just lay down, darlin’.” You nodded with a smile as you moved down the bed.

He went to answer the door quickly, rushing to get it open so he could get back to you.

On the other side was Beth. He hadn’t seen her, nor wanted to see her, in so long, what felt like forever.

She was on him in an instant, arms around his neck, his own lifting her up as he carried her to his room. He knew he shouldn’t, that you were waiting for him.

It kept him up late after Beth was done with him, when she was sleeping next to him, using him for warmth, what else it was she’d use him for he couldn’t guess, there were too many options.

[ecoamerica]

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[dailynoodlezz24]

Ok, i had the thought (since i love werewolves and vampire stuff, liches, all that-- I blame Skyrim and its unhealthy amount of beautiful mods-- and Dungeon Meshi just seems so perfect about it with its races and stuff) what if Marcille's a dhampir, basically a human vampire crossbreed, who seeks to become fully vampiric in order to be able to sire in lieu of the dungeon lord/universal longevity plot. (Spoilers: she still doesn't get it in the end lmao) Falin is a longtime friend of hers through a backstory I still haven't made up yet, and Marcille's introduced as a new addition to the main cast, who are a party of hikers (or for some sort of venturing activity). Month in, Falin's gone and had herself eaten by some weird dog described in only folklore, which Laios would later excitedly incite as a "lycanthrope". (They tried to call emergencies for a missing person, but they came up with nothing. Everyone thinks Laios is going insane when he concludes that the sight they saw after Falin became officially missing, blood trails and offly wolfish tracks fading off to somewhere, was the work of a wolfman, or a werewolf, and suggested going to search for Falin themselves. Namari and Toshiro leave promptly) Chillchuck and Marcille stay with him, one determined with his navigational skills and the other fully believing in this supernatural theory. They decide it's best they start camping in the forest, deeper and closer to the wilderness, prompting them the idea: hunt for their share. Which may or may not be illegal :shrug They meet Senshi, one hell of a wildchef man. (Marcille's total disgust with the idea of eating out in the wild stems from the fact she doesn't want to survive off of squirrels again. But this food is pretty good, and she's eating other animals than small rodents this time. Chillchuck just doesn't want to hear about the weird ass facts about how skinwalkers might be related to humans and their horrific hunting tendencies while eating.) The deeper they go, the more strange and bizarre this forest becomes. First normal, unassuming, then the ravens start speaking and the rabbits have horns. And if you peer into it close enough, your eyes might just find company in where the campfire doesn't reach. So on and so on, they find Falin's bones in the corpse of the creature, and suddenly there's a little guy with white hair and crazed, purple eyes(thistle), who beats them all off with a stick(not actually lmao). Last they see is Falin's remains being reanimated with the dripping blood of the stranger. (Marcille had tried in desperate attempt to revive Falin with her own blood/bite, but to no avail, revealing herself in the process. The only thing she can note is the awful taste of something doglike, aka the lycanthrope disease circulating in Falin's bones-- since they were chomped before she died RIP.) Now they're against a highly aggressive abomination under the servitude of someone out to get them. And the opps are on them(canaries) Now I'm just thinking abt whether or not to make Marcille also a werepyre? Considering it would make sense for her to also get her human-half infected into something "full-fledged" in the way she hadn't intended, and still come up without the ability to sire(she wants to make a cauldron for company, a cauldron being like a vampire made family, due to the same motives of keeping her loved ones). Thank you for reading my ramblings, I am brimming with ideas for this AU.

[aubreysheadspace]

Hmmm… real world main cast finding a stray dog? (Can be separate or all together)

-🧋

MAIN CAST FINDING A STRAY DOG

such a cute request . . . i love dogs sm !! hope u enjoy!

SUNNY

depending on how big the dog is, he’s initially startled at first. he just stares at it with those black void eyes of his, unsure what to do. the dog doesn’t have a collar so he isn’t sure if it really belonged to anyone.

he for sure can’t and doesn’t want to keep it, he’s more of a cat person. speaking of a cat, he already has a pet cat back at home waiting for him, why would he get a random dog if he already has a pet?

so even if he doesn’t adopt it, if he sees it again, he’s gonna give it some affecting like rubbing its head then leave. he’s not a monster!

AUBREY

she’s unsure what to do at first, she might walk past it but pets it before she does but you didn’t hear it from me. i can’t really see her as a dog person, maybe with a small dog probably.

just like SUNNY, she already has a pet at home, and especially with the terrible condition her home is in, bringing a dog in wouldn’t help. besides i don’t think her mom would enjoy another animal in the house.

she’ll sometimes feed it if she spots it again, considering that if it doesn’t have a home, it must go hungry or thirst almost all day. i like to think she has a soft spot for animals.

KEL

he’s definitely gonna play with it. he sees a dog, immediately goes to play with it. he loves dogs! it’s a big breed? he doesn’t care! it’s a small breed? also doesn’t care! big dog person, this guy.

unlike the other two, he actually tries to take it home and beg his parents for another dog. HECTOR needs another dog friend after all! of course his parents say no, much to his disappointment.

that’s not gonna stop him though! he’s definitely feeding it, walking it whenever he walks HECTOR as well, and plays with both dogs at the park or just outside his house. nothing can stop that man from befriending dogs!

BASIL

again, depending if it’s a big dog or not, he too will also be startled. he’s more nervous, as he doesn’t seem like a dog person. he’ll just say hi to it then walk away. awkward guy.

he’d love to take care of something like he does with plants, but he’d rather have something more.. introverted or something like that.

either way, eventually the more times he sees that dog, the more open he gets with it. after a while of realizing it probably wont bite and doesn’t have rabies, he would pet it and give it the affection it deserves.

HERO

the most reasonable one, he would immediately ask around if anyone as lost their dog. if they haven’t well.. that’s awkward. he can’t take it home and care for it, his parents wouldn’t let him because they already have a dog, but he can’t just leave it roaming it around the streets!

after making sure it has no rabies and intentions to bite him, he immediately goes home and probably gives it a bowl of dog food they give to HECTOR like the nice guy he is. he would keep it some company before he has to go, as he’s a busy man.

legally it’s not his dog, but in a way it is at the same time. whenever he visits his hometown, he makes sure the dogs doing alright and feeds it. even if he can’t bring it back home, he’ll still take care of it.

MARI

she would never just walk away from a random animal in the streets. she may be a cat person, but she’s also a kind individual. another reasonable one, she first makes sure it doesn’t bite before asking around if anyone has a missing dog like the one she found.

if nobody comes forward, then she kind of has no choice but to leave it outside. she can’t bring it back, they already have a cat! another pet would already be too much in the family.

despite this, she’ll take care of it when she has time. she drops by to feed it some food whenever she can. she would never leave a poor animal starving! she also hopes that one day, someone else can take the dog in and give it a nice place to live in.

[bernardellinewsagency]

Have any other Galladay shippers gone diving into HSR lore cause you're a little too obsessed with the game and ended up thinking about how you could create parallels between not only Sunday and Dominicus, but also Gallagher and Aelenev (and that you could make it gay)? Or is it just me who's spending too much time wishing we had more lore about the Harmonic Strings?

Putting my ramblings under the cut cause it's long and there's some spoilers in case anyone still hasn't finished the Penacony quests

Sunday and Dominicus, that's pretty obvious. It's the Wisher of the Harmonious Choir that he attempts to bring forth at the Charmony Festival, using his power as well as the Order to spread Ena's influence among all those slumbering within Penacony. When talking about Dominicus, "A Hymn of Charmonic Strings" says "Prayers you suckle from the millions gathered here, and the masses' heartstrings you play," which could very well allude to Sunday's plan of placing everyone into the most perfect dreams they could wish for, dreams they would never wish to wake from. And like, apparently the name Sunday is even derived from Dominicus or something, according to the etymology notes on the HSR wiki page.

But that same readable mentions Aelenev, the Commander of the Eternal Centurion, and first of all that's just a cool fucking name in general. Second of all, there's several points that can stand out when looking upon the full section of the hymn,

"O, Great One of Paradise, Caress this scripture that is stained by blood on the battlefield, and kiss my longsword of bone and soul, Life is howling, and the sharp blade of streaming colors hangs high. Aelenev, do you hear? The soldiers' bones are buried at the end of the world. Comrades' whisper united, and the gospel can be heard for miles long, Blissful rain pours out thus, and one person equals to thousands. Thought they be the invincible steeds and death, they too long for their home deep in their soul."

The main part that I choose to look at is "one person equals to thousands," as there's lots of ways that could be interpreted. There is, of course, the fact that the Family is basically a hivemind, and also how Aelenev was summoned on one occasion and his sword was "unsheathed from the scabbard of 4,630,000 Hounds" which I take to mean as sort of manifested from their collective minds and wills, so to speak. Similar to how Gallagher is a lie manifested from the traits of 52 loyal Family members, no? And longing for a home deep in their soul, soldiers' bones that have been buried, a scripture stained by blood, I personally think that those could easily be taken as references to Mikhail, the revolution that led to Penacony being formed in the first place, and how Gallagher misses those he used to know. Or maybe not references, but they certainly could hold a similar meaning. I don't know, I'm not a fucking literature major or anything, I study animals and nature. This is just me being a massive nerd on the internet.

Anyways, this is mostly just to wonder if anyone else has/is thinking of using these parallels to make really gay stuff. Sunday should get more weird and fucked up with his affection in fics, because I think it would be really fun to see. Have him call Gallagher "my Aelenev" or something, make him want to craft Gallagher into a wonderful embodiment of the Harmony the same way as he attempted to usurp Dominicus' power. Get weird with it!

Or hey go a step further and make yaoi about the Harmonic Strings themselves. I'd do it. I'd fucking do it. I'm insane about this game's lore sometimes.

Also: Robin could be a parallel for Constantina, the singer of the Panacoustic Theater. That just leaves Beatriz, the merrymaker of the Blissful Ball, who I suppose could be parallel to Sparkle? Not to say that all four of them need to be represented by members of the Penacony cast, I'm just coming up with random thoughts about it.

[ponett]

I have now finally seen the Mario movie. It was Pretty Good. Here are my wordy thoughts on it. (I am going to spoil the entire movie. Duh.)

In many ways, the Mario movie does what I wish the first Sonic movie had done. They just took the characters and the premise and the world from the games, and made it a straightforward animated adventure movie. It's bright and colorful and remixes things JUST enough to include fun elements from multiple games, and it doesn't make Mario get adopted by James Marsden or whatever. It even has the music!

That's all you really need, right? Right...?

I'll get this out of the way up front. Chris Pratt was fine. He's fine

If anything, it really feels like they did the movie a disservice by letting us hear so little of the Mario voice in the previews. It took one scene for Pratt to disappear into the role for me. It was totally fine. If anything, I found Charlie Day's normal voice coming out of Luigi WAY more distracting, even if I did like him in the role.

Everyone else was pretty good, for the most part. Jack Black was obviously very good as Bowser, but I'm biased. Seth Rogen does the Seth Rogen laughs as Donkey Kong, but I thought DK was fun, too. (I liked his little rivalry with Mario where he was just constantly giving him shit.) The only casting choice I truly hated was Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. I hated every line that came out of his mouth. He sounds atrocious. Just the worst. I swear to fucking god if they do a DKC movie and we have to hear him for 90 minutes

I did think Peach was lacking, but that was on the script, not Anya Taylor-Joy's performance. It's cool to see Peach fight, but it's one of those all too common instances where the writers put so much effort into making the main girl kick ass and be an effortlessly confident girlboss that they forgot to give her an actual personality. Not that I'd point to Super Princess Peach and its mood swing superpowers as positive representation or anything, but there's a happy middle ground, surely. Shrek was 22 years ago, just having the princess do flying kung fu kicks isn't enough.

Okay. With the voices out of the way, let's talk about the big picture:

It's way better than the words "Illumination Mario movie" implied, and I mostly enjoyed my time with it. The spirit of Mario is there 100%. But I'd also describe it as "ruthlessly efficient."

This was perhaps the main complaint critics had, and they were absolutely right. People have responded to these totally average reviews with "Well, what did you expect? Shakespeare?! It's MARIO!!" Like, yes, I would prefer it if the movie I paid to see had writing that was good instead of bad. What a shocker. My issue isn't that it's not "high-brow" enough. The problem is that it feels mercenary. It feels like an editor went through and deleted almost every line of dialogue that isn't some form of exposition, at the expense of the pacing. Any scene that's not a montage or some sort of action is kept as short as they could make it, with barely any room for embellishment, character interaction, or anything other than the bare minimum word count to hit all the typical Save the Cat Hollywood screenwriting 101 story beats to the letter. There aren't even as many jokes as you might think (and the ones that are there are extremely hit or miss, including a lot of the slapstick with Mario himself).

Mario and Peach's little arc together in the front half of the film is probably the worst example of this pacing. Even having read reviews that complained about how fast Peach goes from meeting Mario (by her admission the first other human she's ever met) to deciding to train him as the new savior of the Mushroom Kingdom, I was SHOCKED at how fast it was. They don't even lampshade it.

Peach takes Mario straight into the big training sequence where he learns how to use mushrooms and jump over platforming obstacles. Peach is apparently already a hypercompetent platforming pro and a great fighter, so there's no clear reason why she's taking the time to train this random guy to be half as good as her when the world is in danger. Then they set off on their adventure, Toad joins them, and we get a VERY brief travel montage. It's about thirty seconds total - just long enough to give Peach a line about how she wants to protect this beautiful world of hers to try and give her some stakes. We get the genre-mandated nighttime campfire heart to heart, which is exactly long enough to have Mario say he misses Luigi and to have Peach give the two sentence summary of her origin story and not a second longer. Then they reach the Kongs, and their big journey is complete. (They barely interact for the rest of the movie.) So much of the movie is like this - always ready to get on to the next scene as soon as a new one starts.

I'm not criticizing the script because I expect The Super Mario Bros. Movie to be a prestige drama - although there are certainly halfhearted attempts at a dramatic arc. The stuff with Mario's family was a fun enough idea, but again, ruthless efficiency. We get one quick scene with them at the start to give Mario some pathos, because I guess Save the Cat said he's gotta have some pathos. And then Mario gets his dad's approval amidst the action of the final battle in Brooklyn to resolve his arc, just so the movie can end as quickly as possible once Bowser is defeated. (Despite now having the approval of their family and their community back in Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi move to the Mushroom Kingdom off-screen without a single word dedicated to this decision, because that's where they live in the games.)

Look. I am not comparing it to The Godfather. Don't give me that shit. I am not asking for an extra half hour to explore Mario and Luigi's childhood trauma. I am not asking for the complex inner workings of the Mushroom Kingdom monarchy. I know this is gonna be a basic Hero's Journey adventure for kids. It just feels like it's turning down so many opportunities to have a little fun with the characters, to let them interact and play off of each other, to let there be some adventure on this adventure. This is the first time we've gotten to see these characters interact with fully voiced dialogue in a very, very long time! "Yeah, it's not High Art, but it's FUN!" Stories are fun! Character interactions are fun! The script could be having so much more fun!! It is adamantly against making the Story parts of this story-driven movie any more Fun than they functionally need to be!!!

Mario, Peach, and Toad's journey to find the Kongs is shorter than the training montage that precedes it. After the opening, Bowser mostly just sits in his castle and waits for the third act to start. Luigi's there, too, but he only gets one scene with Bowser and then the movie mostly forgets he exists until the climax. He doesn't even get to try and sneak out of Bowser's castle and get up to hijinx. He's just there to be a motivation for Mario, so he sits in a cage for half the movie. It's the bare outline of a script with action scenes added in.

Aside from the fact that it's Jack Black singing as Bowser, I feel like this overly-efficient script might be part of the reason why the "Peaches" scene stands out so much. It's a moment that didn't strictly need to be there to keep the plot moving or to provide an action setpiece. It's not even a reference to another Mario thing. It's just a fun and memorable little character moment that's there for its own sake. That's what the movie needed more of. To stop and smell the roses more often. To play in the space.

To be clear, this isn't a unique problem with this movie. Critics have been noting for years that second acts are disappearing from big Hollywood movies in favor of the Act I plot setup and the Act III action, even though Act II is supposed to be where you get to explore your actual premise. And lots of animated movies give me this exact same vibe of being too "screenwriterly," or feeling like they had an executive breathing down their necks and demanding changes based on focus testing. But these common issues are why I come away mostly feeling like the movie is on the better end of "average," rather than totally blowing my mind. You have seen this movie many times before, just not with Mario in it.

And, of course, there's the music. The score by Brian Tyler based on various classic Mario and Donkey Kong tunes (frustratingly all attributed to Koji Kondo) is absolutely beautiful, but it's unfortunately frequently overshadowed by the licensed music. Everyone already complained about things like the use of Take On Me in place of a lovingly arranged DKC medley, but it feels illustrative of the tug of war the movie is caught in the middle of, between wanting to be a lavishly faithful Mario movie and wanting to be a generic tentpole animated adventure movie. Every single licensed song used is the most obvious, overused song they could have picked for the scene. It reeks of cynical executive meddling and it took me out of the movie every time.

But there really was a lot of care and love put into this movie - more than probably any other video game movie ever made, not that that's a high bar. I don't want to underplay that too much amidst all my complaints spurred by the absolutely insane response to the reviews.

Aside from the countless background references that people will be picking apart for years, touches like the Captain Toad tune playing in the background of Toad's introduction or the Mario Kart 8 menu music playing in the kart garage really help bring it to another level of authenticity. I also enjoyed seeing some more obscure Mario enemies that felt like they were picked more for being fun to animate than for being nostalgic and marketable. No matter how many times I sarcastically pointed to the screen and deadpanned "reference. reference." I am not immune to noticing these things and smiling. I am not immune to the DK Rap. These alone don't make the movie good, but it's nice to have a video game movie that feels like it was made by people who like video games.

Most importantly, the animation is great throughout. It's leaps and bounds ahead of other Illumination work, and it's the best the Mario cast has ever looked. They even made Donkey Kong handsome, somehow. They're all so squishy and expressive, and they move so fluidly - especially in the action scenes. I particularly liked the more kinetic ones like the aerial Banzai Bill chase and the Mario Kart sequence. Truly, the Mad Max-inspired car battle on Rainbow Road where Mario literally does the speedrun shortcut is this movie firing on all cylinders.

Other, more hand-to-hand fights nail the Popeye-esque vibe Mario should be going for. He's an underdog who gets the shit kicked out of him by bigger, stronger opponents until he gets his signature powerup and turns the tables on them. My favorite animation of all probably came from the use of Cat Mario to turn the tide in the DK fight. They had so much fun making Mario move like a cat. Again, it feels like a choice made because it'd be fun to animate rather than just a nostalgia move.

It's that animation and that attention to detail that carry the film, really. They elevate it from mediocrity into being a fun watch for a fan like me, albeit one I couldn't help but pick apart with Anthony as we watched it at home. I'm glad I saw it, but there's a lot of room to improve with the inevitable sequel. I hope they do. I can't deny that I had fun with the movie, but I hope next time that fun is partially because of the script instead of in spite of it.

Stray thoughts:

Overall, I would say I enjoyed the movie a lot more than Sonic 1, but probably not as much as Sonic 2. Not that these movies need to be pitted against each other.

I hated the Luma. I hated how hilarious they clearly thought the Luma was. They have the fucking Luma break the fourth wall to end the movie and start the credits. This is going to be a deep cut for fans of bad animated films, but the whole time I was just thinking of the little fish from Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With A Kiss who's just the director's kid saying random nonsense. You know I'm right

I rolled my eyes at the "our princess is in another castle" joke and several other jokes that would have been dated in a gamer webcomic 20 years ago but I guess they had to be there

How much of Brooklyn did Bowser's giant floating castle take out? We know 9/11 happened in this universe because the Freedom Tower is there, hasn't New York been through enough

I can't believe there's a Diskun easter egg

The dog is the most Illumination character design in the movie. It felt like it wandered on set from The Secret Life of Pets

Mario being a gamer and playing Kid Icarus of all things just made me remember this tweet:

Yes Anthony did get mad at me for being thirsty for Bowser

[ecoamerica]

Apply or nominate: https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-leadership-awards-2025/

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[shortnspidey]

CHAPTER FOUR: PROBLEM CHILD

Eddie Munson x OC!Reader || WC: 1.8K

A/N: THE TENSION!! You guys better get ready for this one’s it’s a long bumpy ride! Sorry this was another filled chapter for y'all, much more to come in the next couple!! Completely worth the wait I promise!!

➩ previous chapter || next chapter

➩ main masterlist

➩ series masterlist

The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting a dull orange glow over the nearly deserted high school parking lot. The only sounds were the distant hum of the freeway and the occasional rustling of leaves in the cool evening breeze. Billy paced back and forth like a caged animal, his boots scuffing the cement, his face twisted in a scowl. "Where the hell is she?" He bellowed, the veins in his neck bulging with each word, his patience fraying like a worn-out rope.

He and Lyra had been waiting for what felt like an eternity for Max to show up. The empty spaces around them echoed the emptiness of his patience. "Would you relax?" Lyra's voice cut through his frustration with the sharpness of a knife. She reached out with a swift flick of her wrist, plucking the cigarette from between his clenched teeth and crushing it under her shoe with a satisfying crunch.

Billy's jaw clenched tighter, his eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. "I specifically told her not to be late again," He growled, his fists balling up at his sides, ready to unleash his anger on something, anything. Lyra, unfazed by her brother's growing rage, let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. She leaned against the hood of the car, her arms folded across her chest, her expression one of bored annoyance at Billy's antics. She knew Max would show up eventually, and Billy's temper tantrum wasn't going to make her appear any faster.

Almost as if on cue, Lyra caught sight of Max's red hair skating towards them. Lyra locked eyes with her sister, a knowing look passing between them. With a subtle nod in Billy's direction, she silently communicated that he was on the verge of exploding like a ticking time bomb. Max approached the Camaro, her hand hesitating over the door handle, bracing herself for the inevitable confrontation.

"You're late again," Billy's voice boomed, reverberating through the tense air as Max neared the car. She remained calm, her voice steady as she explained, "Yeah, I had to get catch-up homework." Billy scoffed dismissively, his impatience palpable. "Jesus, I don't care. You're late again, and you're skating home. Do you hear me?" Max, unfazed by his empty threat, climbed into the backseat without a word. Lyra shot Billy the fiercest glare she could muster, determined to protect her sister.

"If she skates home, I walk with her. Understood," She threatened, throwing his own words back at him before getting into the car herself. Wanting to diffuse the tension, Lyra changed the subject. "How come you didn't dress up, Max?" She asked, noticing the multitude of middle schoolers in Halloween costumes as they left the school parking lot. Max looked at her sister as if she had sprouted two heads. "Halloween's lame."

Lyra couldn't help but retort, "Tell that to your Michael Myers mask hanging in your room." Max huffed, "I wasn't about to wear a costume to school like some nerd. Besides, it's for later." Lyra nodded, earning herself a puzzled glance from Billy. "I'm taking her trick-or-treating, then I can come meet you at that Halloween party," Billy simply shrugged, nonchalant about the change in plans.

"Fine by me." Lyra could sense the brewing storm behind his casual facade, the calm before the inevitable outburst. Within the span of a heartbeat, Billy's voice, laced with disdain, broke the short-lived peace. "God, this place is such a shit hole." He muttered under his breath, his words a toxic whisper in the confines of the car. Lyra didn't miss a beat, her response sharp as she caught the tension in Billy's jaw from the corner of her eye.

"So you've said." She retorted, challenging the negative energy he exuded with every clenched muscle. Max, jumped to the town's defense, her voice a blend of innocence and conviction. "It's not that bad," She insisted, only to be met with Billy's scornful chuckle. Billy's gaze found Max's in the rearview mirror, a challenge in his eyes as he powered down the windows with a flick of his wrist.

"You smell that, Max?" He asked, taking in a deep, mocking breath. "That's actually shit. Cow shit," He declared as if his senses were the ultimate arbiters of truth. Lyra, unimpressed by his dramatics, shook her head, refusing to play into his narrative. "I don't see any cows," Max stated, her logic unassailable in its simplicity.

Billy's retort was quick, a jab aimed at the unsuspecting high school population. "Clearly you haven't met the high school girls," He sneered. The silence that followed was a testament to Billy's inability to tolerate the absence of reaction, his need for engagement as palpable as the tension in the car. "So what, you like it here now?" He prodded Max, searching for a crack in her armor. Max's head shook, a silent ripple in the charged atmosphere.

"Then why are you defending it?" Billy pressed, unable to let the matter rest, his voice a mix of curiosity and confrontation. "Billy, drop it," Lyra warned, sensing the tension escalating. "Sure sounds like she's defending it," He persisted. Max deadpanned, "It's just that we're stuck here." Billy, quick to respond, shot back, "You're right, we're stuck here. And whose fault is that?" Lyra, trying to defuse the situation, intervened.

"Hey," She coaxed, placing a gentle hand on Billy's forearm. "It's nobody's fault. Let's think of Hawkins as a fresh start." But Billy shrugged her off, his patience wearing thin. "What did you say?" He taunted Max's words pushing him to his breaking point. "Did you say it's my fault?" He gritted. However, Max shook her head, and Lyra, hoping to redirect Billy's attention, interjected. "She didn't say anything, Billy. Let's leave it alone." But Billy's stubbornness got the better of him.

"Max," He eerily taunted, his voice dripping with malice. "You know whose fault it is, say it!" Frustrated by the silence, he impulsively stepped on the accelerator, causing both girls to jump in surprise. "Billy, slow the car down," Lyra urgently warned, but he only responded with a taunting smirk. From the backseat, Max's eyes widened as she spotted three of her classmates riding their bicycles just a few feet away. "Billy, please slow down," Max pleaded, her voice laced with anxiety.

Lyra echoed her plea, "Billy, there are kids on the road, slow down!" Reveling in his cruel game, he taunted, "Oh, these your new hick friends? I guess you won't care if I hit 'em, then. What do you say, Lyra? Do I get bonus points if I get them all in one go?" Lyra shook her head in disbelief. "No, Billy, stop! This is not funny. They're kids, for fuck's sake!" Ignoring their pleas, Billy pressed down harder on the accelerator, tapping his fingers to the rhythm of the song blaring from the stereo, completely oblivious to the danger he was causing.

Just as he was getting dangerously close to the three kids on the road, Lyra took matters into her own hands. She reached in front of Billy, grabbing the wheel and forcefully turning it in the opposite direction, away from the kids. The screeching of tires and Billy's laughter filled the air as both Lyra and Max turned in their seats, relieved to see the boys escaping Billy's wrath in the nick of time. Exhaling sharply, Lyra could feel the heat of anger radiating through her as she caught the smug, self-satisfied smirk plastered across her brother's face.

It was one of those grins that knew exactly the kind of turmoil it was stirring up inside her. "Pull the car over, now," Lyra demanded, her voice laced with a sharpness that made Max jerk in surprise. The tension in the car was a palpable force, thick and heavy. Max had seen Lyra and Billy go at it with their usual sibling quips and jests, but this... this was a whole new level of hostility. "Max, stay in the car, please." Lyra's command was firm, leaving no room for argument.

As soon as the car came to a stop and she stepped out, slamming the door with a force that echoed down the street, she rounded on Billy. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" Her words were like daggers, each one thrown with precision and enough venom to let Billy know that this was no ordinary squabble. This was something deeper, and Lyra was not about to let it slide. Billy's voice was a storm of indignation, his words crackling through the air like thunder. "I was teaching that brat a lesson," He fumed, his face a mask of twisted fury.

But Lyra, with a cold, incredulous laugh, countered his rage with a sharp dose of reality. "No, this was absolutely not necessary. I get that you're upset at god knows what, but nearly running over three teen boys is not going to help you feel better!" Her voice was thick with scorn, her disbelief at his actions painting her tone. She watched his jaw clench, the muscles in his neck tense as she added fuel to the fire. "Look, I get that you're upset about moving here, but scaring the shit out of Max isn't going to help."

The words tumbled out of her mouth with a venomous edge, her frustration with the situation reaching its peak. Billy's retort was swift and sharp, a verbal lashing that cut through the tense air between them. "What the hell do you know about what's going to make me feel better?" His words were a slap in the face, and Lyra recoiled, her heart racing, her breath catching in her throat. The hurt from his words was a physical blow, leaving her feeling wounded and exposed.

For a fleeting moment, as Lyra's pained expression registered, Billy's cerulean eyes softened, the stormy sea within them calming. "Lyra—" he began, his voice a tentative whisper against the howling wind of their argument. With a raised hand and a shaky breath, she silenced him. "Just get us home," Her voice a mere echo of her usual strength. And with that, she turned away, leaving the words unspoken and the air still charged with the remnants of their clash.

Billy's heart sank as he watched Lyra get back into his car, her retreating figure a painful reminder of the damage he had caused. Deep down, he knew he had gone too far, but his stubbornness held him back from offering an apology. As they made their way back home, the silence weighed heavily upon them. Billy's mind was a whirlwind of conflicting emotions, regret mingling with his stubborn pride. He wanted to make things right, to mend the fractures in his and Lyra's relationship, but the words caught in his throat, trapped by his own stubbornness.

[pancake-blogging]

So the other day, I added onto a post from @too-many-blorbos and mentioned how I thought Robots in Disguise would've been improved if it were a sequel to Rescue Bots instead of Prime. Now over here, I'm gonna expand that with the other things I would change! Also, I thought it'd be fun to call this au/rewrite/whatever Rescue Bots in Disguise, or RBiD

Putting it under a read more, because it's probably gonna be... A lot.

The first change is the starting cast. As I established in the other post, we'll be replacing Bumblebee with Chase but keep Strongarm. Then, we replaced Sideswipe with Hot Rod (don't worry tho, Sideswipe will show up later with Sunstreaker in tow)

The show starts with Chase and Strongarm patrolling on Cybertron. Chase is trying to explain to Strongarm why they don't need to be concerned with one bot loitering in a public space, only for a speeding Hot Rod to rocket past them. The two pursue him, eventually catching up with him next to a Space Bridge.

Hot Rod is perplexed when told he was speeding to get here, and as Chase tries to ask if he's okay his hand brushes against the controls. The Space Bridge suddenly activates, and all three of them are pulled through to Earth.

On Earth, I've decided it would be more interesting to replace the human characters with a grown-up Raf who has a kid of his own (because I miss my boy and I want him to be there).

And while Grimlock was one of the better parts of RiD, I still feel like he isn't quite Grimlock-y enough. So, I decided to swap him out with a new Dinobot based off Spike from the movies; all you need to do is take Grimlock's Dino mode head and make his snout narrower and longer, add a sail to his back, and bam! You have a spinosaurus that's still just as intimidating as a T-Rex, while leaving the door open for a more traditional Grimlock to show up later.

One of the main plot points of the first season is that Megatronus returns with a plan to destroy both Earth and Cybertron, hence why the Primes saw fit to revive Optimus. In RBiD, however, Optimus won't be revived.

In every episode, Hot Rod will have at least one very brief encounter with a past Prime; they might be right next to/replacing his reflection in a piece of glass, he might see them standing opposite him at base only to vanish when another bot passes in front of them, or maybe he hears their voice telling him to duck in the middle of a battle.

Halfway through the season, Windblade shows up; still acting as an agent of Primus, her role in RBiD is still to help out the team, but now her primary mission is also to help Hot Rod establish a connection with the Primes. With her help, Hot Rod is finally able to have a full conversation with a still dead Optimus Prime, who reveals that he and the other past Primes have sensed an approaching darkness. He also reveals that Hot Rod was chosen to take up the mantle of Prime when the time is right – though Optimus fears they may not have the luxury of time.

As for the Decepticons... It is very strange that virtually EVERY SINGLE ONE is partially (if not mostly) animal-like, while there are (to my memory) ZERO animal-like Autobots. That's sending a weird message. So! Some of the Decepticons will have slight redesigns to be just normal humanoid robots, though exceptions can be made for ones with bestial alt-modes or when their animal-like features have a clear translation into their alt-mode, like Thunderhoof's antlers. Steeljaw is supposed to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, but since it's kinda strange that a half wolf man turns into an SUV I've decided to just make him a beastformer that turns into a wolf.

Also! Some of the prisoners aboard the ship should've been Autobots. And I don't just mean former Autobots, I mean Autobots that broke the rules but would still refuse to join the Decepticons.

At the end of the first season, when Megatronus breaks free, Optimus and the other Primes channel themselves through Hot Rod and temporarily transform him into Rodimus Prime. Shortly after Megatronus is defeated, however, he reverts back to a HEAVILY exhausted Hot Rod – another character (probably Windblade) points out that had he contained the raw power of the Primes in his body for too much longer, he might have died. The rest of the series, he's dedicated to honing himself, occasionally getting the odd power boost until the series finale, where he's finally able to become Rodimus Prime permanently.

[intangiblyyourswrites]

Heart on Tattered Sleeves

Raul’s muscles tense, fingers itching to grab the hidden blade at his waist and hurl it at the dark haired man before him. For in the short moment that Rishe is looking down, Arnold Hein had reached out and grasped the end of her pink locks, letting his fingers comb through the ends in a way that can only be described as intimate.

Pairing: Onesided Raul x Rishe

Rating: G

Setting: 7th Time Loop 5th cycle AU in which Rishe goes undercover as a maid to extract information from the infamous Arnold Hein.

Word Count: 1,189

A/N: To my Zelda readers, I’m sorry this is not a LoZ fic but I do highly recommend 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! (light novel and manga primarily; the anime is not as good imo). It has a great cast and a great time travel plot/story. I’m actually not sure if anyone in the 7th Time Loop fandom will find and read this but I wanted to get it out of my brain. Feels good to write again. 🥰

—————

“There’s also the option of obtaining the intelligence from someone who already has it. Even if you can’t become a noble of Galkhein, you can befriend one. This method…often employs female operatives.”

The Galkhein palace is as beautiful as it is domineering. It can be seen looming over the town long before anyone sets foot in the capital itself. Several tall spires jut into the air like spikes on a crown with several winding roads leading up to them from the main gates. Piled high along the perimeter are stones that form a wall as formidable as the emperor himself. As much as he hates to admit it, Siguel’s royal sanctuary pales in comparison both in size and fortification.

But Raul is not here to appreciate the architecture–though he does take note of the greenery and trees with branches that might give just enough height and length to trespass the walls. It is common knowledge among hunters that the brittle clay of the fortress made climbing by hand impossible, but every structure and strategy has their pitfalls or weak points; it is just a matter of finding them.

The knights guarding the gate stiffen as he approaches. While onlookers are plenty, few approach the castle directly, especially those who are not dressed for the occasion, and right now, he is dressed only a step above rags.

“State your purpose,” the one on the left grumbles, fist tightening around his spear. Perhaps Galkhein knights are trained to always be weary, or perhaps the man’s senses told him to be alarmed despite how docile Raul meant to come off.

Red eyes scope the courtyard, counting guards and scanning weapons. “Just here to pick up my sister. She’s a maid here,” he says easily, tipping his pauper hat and settling into his current disguise. There’s an unkept area on the far side of the wall that he can exploit if needed, but he is reserving that for emergencies only. Use too much and it’ll be discovered, and the treasure inside is too valuable to risk. He really should have never agreed to this plan.

The left guard grunts in acknowledgement but otherwise stays silent. At precisely a quarter past noon, he hears familiar footsteps approaching. Her footfalls are deliberate, a soft and steady cadence so that her presence can be heard. Her bright pink hair, the color of flowers, sway in the breeze as she greets the guards she past. Her smile is infectious; causes her to stand out despite the black and white uniform that is supposed to make her blend in.

She pretends that she only notices him when she nears the gates, and he does the same when she waves. “Rishe—“ he starts, but the air suddenly chills and her smile, once merely pleasant, is now radiant.

“Prince Arnold,” she bows, mirth dancing in her eyes, “What brings you here?”

He doesn’t miss her tone of familiarity, nor does he miss the icy glance sent his way by the prince. He bows deeply to avoid further inspection.

A sigh. “I’m here to ask you to bring back one of those auspicious looking fruit when you return. Oliver keeps insisting they are doing me some good.” The prince pauses, and a sense of bloodlust befalls the air. “And who is this? Your keeper?”

If Rishe notices the change in atmosphere, she doesn’t flinch. It takes Raul more effort than he cares to admit to also not react. “This is my adoptive brother!” she exclaims, their rehearsed ruse flowing past her lips with perfect precision. She threads half truths into her lies to make them believable. “The one I told you about. If he hadn’t found me when my parents kicked me out, I’m not sure where I would’ve wound up.”

He feels the appraising look more than he sees it, though the prince’s attention had shifted back to Rishe by the time Raul looks up again. “You were once a noblewoman, isn’t that right?”

Rishe nods and dips with crossed ankles, her curtsy elegant and trained. “Your Highness, I am flattered that you listen to my ramblings.”

Raul’s muscles tense, fingers itching to grab the hidden blade at his waist and hurl it at the dark haired man before him. For in the short moment that Rishe is looking down, Arnold Hein had reached out and grasped the end of her pink locks, letting his fingers comb through the ends in a way that can only be described as intimate.

“A title stripped can be restored.”

Rishe is startled but not alarmed, and Raul now knows with certainty that he will never regret anything as much as allowing her within arms reach of this monster.

“What do you mean—”

“—I’ll let you go now,” said monster interrupts, likely having caught on that Rishe is too pure to catch on to the implications. But Raul hears it, and Arnold Hein was surely counting on that. “Enjoy your outing with your…brother.”

A shiver works its way up his spine. Raul grits his teeth to keep the smile on his lips. The prince smirks and drops his hand; doesn’t even glance towards the gates as he walks away, steps heavy with authority.

Raul hates him. He has always despised Galkhein, but he loathes Arnold Hein.

The gates finally open for Rishe to come out, and she latches onto his arm like a little sister who missed her brother. “I have so much to tell you! They made me the head maid!” she says excitedly. She keeps everything coded while they are still within hearing range of the guards. They trust me. They let me near him.

“That’s wonderful,” he says instead of angrily retorting too near. “I knew no one could outmatch you.”

The truth in his lie is that to him, she has always outshined the rest. Romance is an impossibility in his field, and he never minded because no one was worth his affections. But then she came along, unassuming but full of excellence and curiosity, and the blood that pumped for Siguel began pumping for her. He can never cage her though, refuses to trap her despite being the lead hunter that he is, not when her beauty lies within her freedom. So he keeps his feelings under layers and layers of disguises that there are days even he can’t recognize them.

But the crown prince of Galkhein does not care for that. He sees a free dove and wants to ensnare her, to contain and suppress. Raul has seen how Galkhein wilts even the most vibrant flowers.

“A title stripped can be restored.”

He isn’t sure how much of their ruse the prince suspects or sees through. All he knows, as he listens to the way she covertly gives her report and hears the hint of adoration when she speaks about the man that should be their enemy, is that he needs to somehow pull her from this operation fast. Before she is harmed. Before his heart is torn to shreds.

Before Arnold Hein reinstates her noble status and puts a ring on her finger.

(Before she can accept.)

[nikoshinigami]

Reborn: Special Fan Disc Dub Review

I still have no idea why they chose the episodes they did. The first episode of Kokuyo is the only one that makes sense and even then, I'd have picked one from later in the arc when Mukuro is showing off. This is a Fan Disc so the audience is made clear in the title alone; this is not intended as an introduction to the series and so why they avoided spoilers and chose such milk toast eps is beyond me.

Also, why is it pronounced Von-go-lay instead of Von-go-lah?!?!

VAs I thought were okay: Lambo, Reborn, Ryohei(ish), most side or minor characters, Mukuro (though why no attempt at the laugh?!), and Yamamoto(ish). I would prefer more gravel in Ryohei's voice and I didn't hear Yamamoto's enough to make any real determination.

Tsuna's VA left a lot to be desired. She was good at his screaming and freaking out but the general husky whisper performance was not good meaning his normal speech and especially his dying will voice were very flat.

I literally laughed out loud when Hibari spoke. I get they wanted to match him with a deeper voice per the original but... no. Wow, no. The cadence is off, the emotion--the VA is good but not for this character. At times he was fine but "I will devour you" instead of "I will bite you to death" also made me laugh. Baby boy walking up to Mukuro lounging on his gross couch with a line like that is like.... read some yaoi before you make a change like that, translators. Hibari is not there to offer Mukuro a good time, and yet that line...

Gokudera I was always going to be very picky about and I was definitely disappointed. Oddly enough, the performance in ep 77 was not bad--much more gravely and what I would expect. His ep 20 performance is nasally and just not what I want from our pack-a-day basketcase. This idiot is all about putting forth a tough exterior from his dress aesthetic to his words and sound of his voice (when interacting with an enemy especially). It was just a miss, though ep 77 did make me think the VA could be a passable Gokudera if he had a better understanding of the character. Also? Juudaime was translated to Decimo and that made me so incredibly happy. I did not want it to be Tenth if they had to change it at all.

Overall, not terrible but what a missed opportunity! The episodes they chose are just not great. Gonna be honest: I did not even watch episode 1 because I don't want to watch it; I don't need to when all the good stuff comes later. I'm a manga girly; I have seen some of the anime, not even close to all, but certainly enough to know there are far better ones to have chosen for a disc specifically released for fans of the series. I love the songs from the series and Rebocons so I'm very familiar with the original voice cast, but also being a fan of the stage plays, I would say I have realistic expectations for how others have embodied the characters in their vocal performances. In a few very notable cases, this is a miss.

If Tsuna's performance had been good, this could have been a low A grade dub, but when your main sounds like the VA is not speaking in a comfortable range and is losing their ability to properly emote because of it while surrounded by people who are giving lively performances in the same scene, it's a C. Do not want more of this. Will pop in for a laugh now and then but otherwise simply a collectors item.

[ecoamerica]

Apply or nominate: https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-leadership-awards-2025/

Calling all organizations, individuals, and small businesses successfully engaging Americans on climate! Showcase your creativity and climate solutions by applying for @ecoamerica’s 2025 American Climate Leadership Awards. You can win $1K - $50K by submitting your efforts for consideration by a stellar line-up of judges and individuals leading on climate. It’s quick and easy to submit your application or nominate inspirational climate leaders. Apply or nominate today!

[purplecritter]

Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance (Ep. 4)

Official episode transcript here

My notes while I was listening under the cut... Spoilers ahead!

I did not miss the templars bro…

I am really hopeful that Arlathan will have similar vibes to the Brecilian in Origins! I loved the talking trees and lurking demons etc etc. Bring back the whimsy to Thedas ya know

This was wayy too offtopic to go in the main post but the beginning with Bellara hidden in the trees reminded me of (improbable reference in 3, 2, 1…) Jasmine in Deltora Quest: The Forest of Silence

Yikes I bet Tevinter has some pretty stocked up museums with all these artifacts 💀 No wait we literally already know they do, the fucking Archives in episode 1 were full of things that didn’t belong there

“Call me rabbit again and I'll run your throat, shemlen dog” Bellara 🥰

I love a duo that can slip into scathing banter so easily but they actually like each other a lot. I’m so glad the writers didn’t go the (overused) “I insult you and create a huge argument but you didn’t realize that it was only as a distraction and I meant none of it but now it’s too late and you’re mad”

(Said by Bellara to temporarily animate the surrounding trees, using an amulet) Var vhen'alas var vallasdahlen. Should translate to something like “Our land, our life-trees*” *vallasdahlen = trees planted in remembrance of those who dedicated their lives to the Dalish kingdom

I want to bring our Inquisitor to this river specifically so they can walk on it and maybe learn how to stop drowning in puddles 👉👈

Bellara’s 10 steps ahead of everyone and I love that for her

Bellara loves books! Which tracks with her fangirling over Neve heh. I wonder if she’s ever read anything of Varric’s lmao

Bellara & Drayden: nerd to nerd communication

Every time Nadia refers to Elio as “my love” I go 🥺

Ohhh Bellara wanting maps of the tears but also not having been able to save someone important to her vs Aldwir Rook losing a map specifically to save other veil jumpers... If you hear distant barking that’s just me

The Flicker = ancient Elven device, built with secret metallurgical techniques lost to time, that can act as a guide = technomancy → Dagnaaa where are you

Arlathan having “lyrium fields” makes me so nervous

Drayden: “I get the feeling our paths have converged here for a reason. This all feels connected” 🧐🎤agent of Fen’Harel

Drayden’s whole backstory 🥺

AWE Flicker sounds ADORABLE

“Remember Nadia, the Fade is capricious. It lies and it obscures. There's also truth. In all of my research and experience, I've learned one thing above all else: Trust your mind more than your heart. The demons beyond the veil, they will use your feelings against you. They will reshape reality. You must put a thought in your mind's eye and weight it like an anchor, immovable and untouchable. Focus on–” “Elio. I will focus on Elio.” “But focus on how you know him to be and not–” “–on how you want him to be.”

The Fade without being a mage / conscious that it’s being manipulated by a Demon is nightmare fuel btw

The bridge specifically being described by Elio as being made of obsidian makes me 100% sure that the obsidian part of the previous episode’s mirror/eluvian/portal was at least fade-touched, if not directly from the Fade

“I can't leave the way you came. In order to protect myself here, I had to cast a spell disguising me as an inhabitant so the spirits of this realm didn't come for me [...] I can't [end the spell] unless I destroy the font that I used. But I hid it for safekeeping. Back there. Just outside of the Black City. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what made it safe.” 🧐Eliooooooo what did you doooooo

Mhkay demon Templar raising an army of lyrium-corrupted knights from the Fade. What.

dathrasi = qunlat for animal (derogatory)

[linesonscreens]

Let's Read Peanuts (Only 45 more years to go!) – December 1955

There are lots of great strips I just don't have room to comment on. I strongly encourage everybody to read the full month at the official GoComics page. Today's month starts HERE.

December 2 1955

Linus, that’s what we like to call “noclipping”. It just means that you live in a simulation and everyone and everything you’ve ever known or loved is a lie generated by an unfeeling algorithm. Once the novelty wears off though it’s really nothing to write home about.

December 5, 1955

Hey man, I get it. We’ve all fallen down the Wikipedia rabbit hole at some point.

December 8, 1955

Wait are those terms like, dog slurs? Am I going to wake up someday to find my inbox flooded with very angry call-out messages about my past usage of the M-word?

Look, I didn’t know OK!? That’s just how everybody used to talk!

December 17, 1955

Seems a bit mean, but I imagine you can only hear this speech so many times before you get numb to it and start thinking up zingers.

December 18, 1955

Oh. Good. The religion stuff is finally starting to work it’s way into the strip.

Yaaaaaaay.

December 20, 1955

Santa being a tragic figure with a checkered past is hilarious and I’m going to start telling this version to small children.

December 25, 1955

Oh piss off you two. Even if Snoopy was just a normal dog this would be an exceptionally cool thing to do.

Thoughts:

Sorry for the delay! I recently moved and it’s made doing anything beyond opening boxes a challenge. Let’s do our customary look at how the art has changed, shall we?

Charlie Brown

(October) 1950

(December) 1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

Linus

(September) 1952

(December) 1952

1953

1954

1955

Snoopy

(October) 1950

(December) 1950

1951

1952

1953

1954

1955

At some point (I think around March) something I can't quite put my finger on shifted and the strip has felt a bit different ever since. I think a big part of it is how he draws his characters with the heads getting smaller and rounder while character's faces get much more tiny. It's not necessarily a bad thing but it does make them look a bit less cutesy and approachable in exchange for them feeling a bit more grounded. I'll let you decide if that's a good, bad, or lateral move.

Meanwhile, certain individual characters have evolved a LOT this year independent of everything else. The changes around Linus are the most obvious what with him growing up and becoming a proper character, now capable of walking, talking and constantly imagining the violent demise of his many enemies (#relatable). Visually, he's still got a big head and stubby appendages but he’s starting to reach a point where his look is more or less in-line the rest of the main cast.

Snoopy on the other hand is going through a much more interesting change where we’re seeing the entire visual aesthetic shift dramatically. He started as a stylized but fairly grounded depiction of a real world dog but over the course of this year he's transformed into some kind of Looney Tunes character. I suspect that this was because Schulz wanted to draw Snoopy doing goofy faces/impressions but his old design just just wasn't very flexible due to how blocky it was. Again, it’s not ~bad~ really, but I miss the cute simplicity of the original look.

Meanwhile, Charlie Brown’s changes are more subtle but in some ways more profound. While Snoopy has gotten more animated and expressive, Charlie Brown is actually a lot more deadpan with a tiny face on a smaller, now almost perfectly circular head and a more stocky frame that gives him a much more “neutral” or "static" feel (for lack of a better word). He's also almost completely lost that goofy edge he had early on in favor of an early version of the constantly depressed and put-upon personality he will have for the rest of the strip. Personally, I think it's a bit of a downgrade but considering how successful this version became that's probably just a me thing.

Finally, the background art continues to become more loose and less complex. Schulz is still capable of some incredible compositions, but intricate backgrounds are becoming rarer now in favor of minimalist options like using few lines to indicate grass. I don’t really blame him for that one though. That’s a LOT of saved time which is important in a daily comic strip where you constantly have another deadline looming. Still kind of sad to see it happen though.

Overall, this feels like the awkward early middle school years of the strip. It's a transitory period where Schulz is trying new things and figuring out a more sustainable long-term workflow. It's no longer the Peantus of 1953 but it's also not the "classic" Peanuts of the 1960s we're all familiar with yet either. Which is interesting in and of itself, I think.

-------

Thanks again to everybody for reading! It's been very heartening to see that I'm not the only one who finds digging through the archives of this silly strip interesting. I'll see you all in 1956!

[madlyn5ever]

Another part to my cast list for HSMTMTS for different musicals, but I lack the energy to refamiliarize myself with the full casts of stage musicals so tonight I’m gonna do musical episodes of tv shows and based purely on vibes

Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Once More, With Feeling

Buffy: Gina!! Maybe a part of me just thinks HSMTMTS would so make some sort of call back to Andi Mack like they did with the airport episode with Asher Angel, and I’d eat it up honestly. But also Gina is the strongest contestant to play THE SLAYER HERSELF.

Xander: Ricky would get Xander but find out in secret that his actor irl is entirely problematic and offer the role to EJ as if they need an extra person and EJ, entirely unaware, happily obliges and even gets all giggly and peppy (yes PEPPY as he practices his lyrics.

Willow: Ashlyn. Listen, she doesn’t get that much here and her voice deserves more and better, but redheaded and gay and gets to wear a renaissance fair style dress is the vibe and trust me the outfit would get a ‘dying deceased yes’ from her.

Tara: Maddox. Okay stick with me. Dresses are clearly not her thing, nor is acting, but this whole episode is just singing, basically no other lines. Literally. And besides I think she’d play my favorite Tara SO well. They’re kinda similar to me idk, it just fits. And she gets to wear the green ren fair dress to match her girlfriend, and her big song is a love declaration to Willow, so I need this immediately.

Anya: Nini or Seb for sure (I was gonna do Maddox cause Anya’s the autistic coded one but these two fit better.) (she sings -and really goes for it- about her bunny phobia and it’s one of my favorite moments from the episode.)

Dawn: she doesn’t sing. So, I’m gonna give this one to someone who deserves to play a younger sibling who’s naive enough to get kidnapped by a musical devil. Danny.

(Bonus points that Lily is coaxed into joining and thinks she’s getting a good role but SHE’S playing the devil.)

an alternate for Dawn would be Emmy, but there’s no singing for this role and her voice is too talented for that. So maybe they’d make a new song to add just for Emmy so she could sing.

Giles: Ricky. And yes it’s entirely awkward that he’s playing his girlfriends mentor who has gotten with her characters mother. But Ricky’s siked about wearing ‘specks’ as he’d call them to get into character.

Spike: Jet! He’d be so good as spike he’d live for playing a vampire and he’d love the leather duster coat. Maddox would get tired of hearing him talk about this coat. But it’s a good coat!

Ensemble: Carlos would get the role of the guy in the dry cleaning flash mob who sings “they got, the mustard, OUTTT!”

And Kourtney would be set to be chosen for one of the main cast roles, but some antics would lead to a domino affect that gets Kourtney stuck in that musical number and nothing else, holding a plastic dry cleaning bag with clothes in it doing the full ensemble flash mob with Carlos instead. She will not let it go until they finally perform and she admits she had a good time.

(Also Miss Jenn is low on students, so the main cast has to join in on the flash mob scene, including herself and Mazzara, in separate costumes that look like their characters in disguise. It’s all very chaotic. Nini ends up in an animal maybe cow, or farmer costume because of some mix up and she just goes with it because she’s not even sure why she decided to come back to East High but she’s happy to be here.)

[stitchandani]

Stitch and Ani contradictions

Hello, I really liked the idea of your continuation of the "Lilo and Stitch" franchise as "Stitch and Ani". But I have noticed several storylines that contradict the canon. Maybe you can answer them? 1. Using 621 as the main villain is a good idea, but in your story he was in prison until he escaped. However, in "Leroy and Stitch" it says that Lilo found one true place for all 624 experiments (including 621). There were also 624 experiments on the battlefield, that is, including 621. As a result, this is the first contradiction with the canon.

2. Your story begins from the moment Stitch made a choice between Ani and Yuna, eventually choosing Ani. However, then everything that has been in the anime up to this point is also your canon. However, then Gantu should be evil, not kind as in your story. All experiments should be at Hamsterviel and transmuted, not in Hawaii. Also, Hamsterviel, Gantu, Reuben and Delia should not stop trying to catch Stitch and, accordingly, should hunt for him even in Hawaii.

And now there are many contradictions, although I have not read all your posts. What can you say about them?

Doverstar Hi, stranger! I'm glad you like the fancanon. It is, however, our fancanon - mine and Arti's. Please don't tell us what we should and should not do! Suggestions and ideas are fun to hear. Corrections and commands are not. I'm happy to answer you as best I can if you're interested below-

The only thing that should happen is that the story should remain in-character in regards to the cast and accurate in terms of canon source material. The anime Stitch! is confirmed to be not canon. I have also stated multiple times that in Stitch and Ani, Yuna and the anime are never mentioned, because the events of the anime did not happen - the only things in the anime that are similar to the Stitch and Ani story is that Lilo and Stitch had a falling out, Stitch left, Lilo had a daughter named Ani, and Nani and David have a child. That's it. Because I can! Because it's fan-made. The fancanon was created over a decade ago by me, because I was dissatisfied with the anime but liked the idea of a grown-up Lilo and her daughter and wanted to do a story set in the future for the main family in the franchise. I have the story set up to where if you like the anime, you can still kind of include it in your head, and that's fine, but it's very obvious why that wouldn't fully work. The anime didn't happen in Stitch and Ani. Where Stitch went to when he left was not important - what is important is why he left, and why he's back. And because the anime didn't happen in Stitch and Ani (and again, the anime is not canon in the franchise according to creator Chris Sanders), there is no Delia, Yuna, etc., the experiments are not "transmuted", Angel is not a pop star Miss Piggy wannabe, Gantu did not go through all that character growth just to lose his job doing karaoke, and everyone is on Hawaii. No one is after Stitch. This story is not a Stitch worship-fest. It's for the whole o'hana! As for 621, Arti has explained his side of the story repeatedly, but I'll just say this: if you did not see him "on the battlefield" in Leroy and Stitch, please assume he was not there in-canon and that there is wiggle room to work with! The Grand Councilwoman stated that Lilo and Stitch had "successfully captured all 625 of Jumba's illegal genetic experiments and found each a place where it can belong", but that most likely means they captured all the experiments within the 625 on Earth that needed to be captured and given a home. For 621, that means his "One True Place" was in prison. Because he's crazy, and evil, and has not been reformed. He was already dealt with, never dehydrated into a pod, and never dropped in pod-form on Kauai. His activation and incarceration happened before Lilo even came into the picture! Would it have been nice to see him fighting Leroy clones in the final film in his mutated form? Sure. But he wasn't there. Obviously - he was never once seen or shown. Disney themselves contradicted their own canon, didn't they? They created the video game wherein 621 was introduced, and they created Leroy and Stitch too, and they chose not to include him - they gave a name to his number in the end credits and that's it. If they contradicted themselves, we can tweak the story a little to give 621 more of a spotlight. Because it's our fancanon. He was always going to be the villain in Stitch and Ani. We can do whatever we want - but we choose to make it as close to canon as possible, because that's good storytelling! 621 was in prison, he broke out, and now he's causing trouble for Lilo and Stitch and their family. That's okay. If you prefer a story all about Stitch, where Stitch is being hunted down by aliens, living with someone who is not Lilo, and has to deal with other experiments who should not be where they are according to canon, good news! There is not one, but three non-canon spinoffs to enjoy where that happens! I'm sorry if any of this bothers you, but the nice thing about a fancanon is - you can just ignore it! Because it's not canon either! It's just for fun. If you don't like what we're doing with Stitch and Ani because it doesn't fit what you consider the overall franchise canon, please feel free to keep walking and enjoy other portions of the fandom. We're sticking to what we're doing, and we appreciate that you gave us a look!

[ecoamerica]

Apply or nominate: https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-leadership-awards-2025/

Calling all organizations, individuals, and small businesses successfully engaging Americans on climate! Showcase your creativity and climate solutions by applying for @ecoamerica’s 2025 American Climate Leadership Awards. You can win $1K - $50K by submitting your efforts for consideration by a stellar line-up of judges and individuals leading on climate. It’s quick and easy to submit your application or nominate inspirational climate leaders. Apply or nominate today!

[ecargmura]

Haigakura Episode 5 Review - Those Are Some Tiny Peaches

The flashbacks are finally over and now we’re back to the main story. There are actually some antagonists now and I’m curious to see what they’re like because they seem very dangerous since they can traverse back and forth and are targeting Hakugou.

The way that Kashis can travel back and forth from the fantasy world to Japan is through small peaches that look more like lychee than actual peaches. Consuming one can allow the transportation, but consuming more than one under 24 hours Is practically a death sentence. However, Ichiyo doesn’t need to eat a peach to teleport. This is considered odd. I feel like it has to do something with those wings on his neck? He is an enigmatic presence after all. In fact, none of the higher ups actually knew about this other than Ran Saiwa who kept mum about this.

A new character is introduced. Ryusei was introduced in the previous episode as the man who was watching over Tenko which then changed him from white to red haired. He’s the one who is accompanying Ichiyo and his entourage on a mission to investigate missing peaches. He seems like a composed guy. He also has a servant named Sanhime.

Then, there are two suspicious looking villains. One is blond but also wears a rabbit mask and the other wears a gas mask. Despite their introduction, not much is known about them. Are they from fantasy land because they sure know a lot about Kashis and fantasy land lore? The blond one is very dangerous because he can summon servants but they’re very monstrous. Saiwa had mentioned that there were two guards that were posted in Shurin’s place who disappeared, so could they be it? They’re after Hakugou’s Moon Egg. I wonder what that is.

The Eight Immortals do talk about an inside informant of sorts, and judging from Sanu’s expression at the end, he’s probably that. However, I don’t trust Tekkai. He seems suspicious. Heck, everyone is pretty suspicious, even Saiwa.

The voice cast for the new characters is pretty stacked. I think this is the first time I’m hearing Gakuto Kajiwara voicing an adult character, like not a young adult or a teenager, but an actual grown adult. He sounds nice. Sanhime is voiced by Fuka Izumi, who I am familiar with as Meme Bashame from Nokotan! Her voice sounds so cute in this anime. The blond rabbit mask is voiced by Kazutomi Yamamoto, who’s actually playing an adult character for once, but still has his trademark high-pitched voice. I think it adds into the creepy factor. The gas mask is voiced by Atsushi Tamaru. I don’t think I’ve heard him voice a villain before, so this will be interesting.

But yeah, I think I am doing a decent job of understanding what is going on. Still a little confused, but I’m sure I’ll understand. What are your thoughts on this episode?

[mejomonster]

Checked out Desire Catcher ep 1:

Thrilled the lead actors aren't as young as I expected

The main Luo guy looks so familiar to me, what have I seen him in before....

The other guy looks familiar too, but I think he looks like Khaotung from gmmtv and that's why

Luo Fei.... Luo fei.... Luo fei? You mean like Luo wenzhou and fei du????!!! I am aware the fei in fei du is费, and this one is fei 飞. But. Hear me out. Is this an original script? Maybe the script writer ships zhoudu. I can imagine, even if its not true. ToT

The setup, if at any point it turns magical/sci fi etc, reminds me of death note: being able to kill remotely and investigating that and all. And I do love some magic in an otherwise mundane reality story

Right now it's like that movie where ppl hear a trigger word then kill, except here they die

For some reason I heard some ppl saying this was gonna be bromance vibes? Well, I'll find out. I do think though that it will likely lend itself to such option (like Under the Skin perhaps? I haven't seen Under the Skin yet though)

I WILL say that... while there's the whole danmei not airing situation, and completely made shows not airing that were bl novel adaptations... mango TV is just the kind of bitch to drop an original script bl through the cracks. First, because they've written original script bl before (wasn't Killer and Healer an original script first before novelization?). Second, because it seems original scripts With bromance undertones is getting a much easier time airing right now: one example being League of Nobleman, another being Pledge of Allegiance. So any original script with Any level of gay stuff I imagine is having an easier time airing rn (also in mango tvs case right now? They're not high Press releases. There's a LOT of eyes on say Sha Po Langs drama than on this random one).

I like the vibe of this show. It's leaning darker/more realistic, feels like the kind of novels I read. Like Justice in the Dark, it has a dead animal early on and a murder scene early on. Not sure how many cdramas skew that direction in scary (or dark idk?) But this one clearly is going that route. Which I personally like (again giving me Under the Skin vibes).

ZHAO YUNLANS DAD IS IN THIS PLAYING A SHADY BITCH (GO FIGURE)

the old professor man almost... looks like he could also be Shen Weis old professor mentor from Guardian, but I don't remember that face as well... so this old professor guy could be from a number of dramas I've seen

Not to compare to Justice in the Dark cause I imagine it's totally unintentional, so it's just funny to me. But I Did Notice we have a Captain Luo, a girl cop whos on his team with That Haircut, and a guy cop who's a little less put together than Luo who talks to That Girl and you... you gotta admit visually they look a lot like Lang Qiao and Xiao Haiyang in casting and just character roles (initially) in the story. If I saw someone filling Tao Rans role I'd be really !!!. But no Tao ran like guy yet. However, our consultant? Ohoho... he's a criminal psychology consultant is he (like Fei Du), his professor helped get him in with the cops (like fei du you say?), he's a bit of a little shit (!!!fei du?!!), he's got slightly longer hair (was that a character design choice or just how the actor looked, either way very Fei Du). And I find it all just a Touch funny. ToT (also I miss Justice in the Dark). It's not Actually like Luo wenzhou/fei du though, as these two don't seem yo know each other and therefore Luo hasn't raised him for like 7 years. The dynamic is therefore Way Different.

I almost get a touch of Guardian or Torchwood vibes and I'm not even quite sure why, cause this first episode was Not campy at all or comedic. It's fairly like Beyond Evil type, murder mystery procedural and a bit heavy. But mm just like... design choices I think. Not the writing, not the directing or sound, just like the sets. The sets look way less bizarre than guardian don't get me wrong. But something about certain choices In them. The touch of bright colors at the first murder scene. The odd pink light. The glowing globe on the desk. The room of papers on the wall and a big crane light. The weird dining table on the roof with a big outer building sign in neon across the street. The focus on the Nokia phones, the Lolipop. Just like... lots of small detail decisions but they strike me as Not quite usual, enough to make it not seem like The Bad Kids (and those kind of realistic shows) in set design. Maybe... a bit like Tomb of the Sea? How tots was mostly realistic looking but there'd be a fucking stuffed animal in a kidnapping living room. Little details you notice enough to oddly remember.

All that said? I Like the set designs a LOT. It feels like Watching a murder mystery novel. It's similar to Justice in the Dark in NAILING the right atmosphere, a good coloring gradient for realism but also Slightly distorted/unknown, in sets that look done enough to feel lived in and like actual places, and with the kind of unique small details a Real place might have (like a fake office might just have office stuff, but THIS Xue guys office has some unique knick knacks so it feels more like an actual place thay could exist, etc).

I'll probably give it more eps. It was my kinda thing. Didn't absolutely capture me in ep 1 but honestly I saw just enough familiar faces that I was partly playing guessing games of where they were from in my mind and so it'll probably take me a few eps to settle and just click or not with it

I loved it's opening and ending though and... usually if I like those 90% chance I like the shows