#for a second i was like well it's nice they're making the random background characters actual people but his creepy slime got in the way

[shopcat]

ALSO I KNEWWWW ETHAN WAS SOME FUCKING EVIL GUY cuz who the fuck is this and i could sense his vibes. his creepy slime

[oneatlatime]

The Avatar State

Season 2!

I KNEW Aang wouldn't be ok with getting possessed by the megafish. Called it!

As well as the most comfortable looking hammocks I've ever seen, this boat has decorative turtleshells.

Having learned the very hard way that bending is not infallible, the northern water tribe finally takes some safety precautions and installs non-bending means of locomotion on their ships.

So glowy is called "the Avatar State." I was kind of attached to calling it glowy.

Pakku continues his consistent and unwavering pursuit of being a poophead. You almost have to admire his unwavering jerkiness.

We're going to see Bumi! I like Bumi.

I don't know about constructing a building complex that near a waterfall. The cherry blossoms are nice though.

So they weren't eaten by vultures after all. Not so subtle exposition from Iroh. And then Zuko is as subtle as a kimodo rhino with his backstory rehash. That being said, there was probably a few months between seasons, so a refresher was needed.

Yes that did come out wrong. Rare misstep from Iroh.

This is Zuko's crazy talented sister right? The one he was angsting about in the snow cave? She seems to be just as much of a dumbass as her brother, although she makes her stupidity seem threatening instead of embarrassing. I don't care how much political power you have, you can't win against tides. Literally the last episode was all about how the ocean always wins.

I am begging you guys to see the pattern here. First time the Gaang got a hero's welcome, Suki's village burnt down. Second time, the whole season finale happened. At this point it's probably safer if the Gaang sticks to going where they're not especially welcome.

Aang saying "I try not to think about it too much" is kinda ouchy given his nightmares at the beginning of the episode.

WAIT A MINUTE

Gotta look something up

That's Bato's map! The animators had no reason to have such crazy good continuity.

I don't think Aang is too happy being described as "the ultimate weapon."

Thank you Katara for calling the general on his pushy steamrolling. They've committed to nothing.

I think the guy in front has a burn on his cheek. I have been surprised by how few burns I've seen after a whole season's worth of episodes. We've seen Zuko's, and Bato's. But the Fire Nation is supposed to be this all-dominating unstoppable war machine, so why isn't every random earth kingdom background character covered in burn scars?

It's amazing how many people can't see the 12 year old for the avatar. Guilting him into cooperating by showing him wounded vets? Harsh.

Also, the last time Aang tried to leapfrog his destiny he burned Katara. Yes, the war needs ending, but maybe don't skip learning the basics before you try?

Heh. Basics. I sound like Iroh.

Pretty sky. I was hoping for a continuation of the 'so pretty it hurts' background trend. I wouldn't have equated fire with electricity, but apparently Zuko jr. can make lightning? And yes, this is very obviously Zuko's sibling: unreasonable and completely out of touch with reality, although rather in the opposite direction than Zuko. The lightning you're throwing around will still kill your target whether or not your hair is pretty while you throw it.

Aang this seems like a bad idea. Even you think it's a bad idea.

The earth kingdom seems to use green lighting. It's weird.

Katara is unreasonably angry about this. The hard work being thrown away isn't really her's, it's Aang's.

Please do not give the hyperactive airbender caffeine.

They gave the hyperactive airbender caffeine. Starting to think this general's not so bright.

Shout out to Aang' voice actor for such an accurate rendition of getting sucker punched.

That's pretty good. Momo really understood the assignment.

The sacred Bellows! This just gets stupider and stupider.

Pretty.

Well in MY country, politeness is only owed to people who don't pour the power of 1000 mean girls into a single line read. I'd be quick to get to the point too if it would get her out of my house.

The ego on this girl. She drops a life-changing bombshell on Zuko, who has spent the last three weeks as vulture food, and explodes when the conversation doesn't immediately pivot to showering thanks on her for the extreme hardship of going somewhere on a royal ship? She's surpassed Zhao's whole season of assholery in barely half an episode.

Now we get the real reason Katara was so angry about "wasting their hard work" or whatever it was she said. She's frightened. I get that. Glowy floaty Aang is frightening.

Another rock and a hard place situation. People are dying everyday, Aang is 100 years late, but the Avatar state is scary, and turning a pacifist into a weapon is a bad idea. Once again the world needs a fully realised Avatar and all they have is a half trained 12 year old.

Iroh's right. It IS unbelievable. Mostly because Zuko jr. is nowhere near as subtle as she thinks she is.

Doubling down and lashing out when the truth is uncomfortable: classic Zuko. Iroh really puts up with a lot.

This is how you know it's a dream: real Zuko runs towards mysterious glowiness.

I'm not a dreamologist, so I have no clue why Aang would dream about hurting Zuko while glowy after being told that the avatar state is hard for his loved ones to watch. Seriously, why is Zuko in this dream?

"Uncle! You've changed your mind!" "Well someone's gotta save your dumb ass."

Not to imply that this general isn't INCREDIBLY stupid, but he's certainly done something right to so solidly secure the loyalty of his soldiers. That's the avatar, and also a 12 year old kid, and they don't hesitate.

It's all wibbly

Double nutshot. Boy's got heels of steel.

Apparently the horse bird things can do parkour.

Things you can get away with in cartoons but not live action: this eye colour. The only place I've seen this colour in the real world is goats.

I like how the voice acting for the helmeted fire nation soldiers sounds like it's coming from inside a metal helmet. Such a tiny detail but they put the effort in.

Nifty transition between screaming Zuko and screaming Aang.

This! Why doesn't every earthbender just to this to their enemies? Turn them into sitting ducks. You don't even need benders to finish them off, just a guy with a bat. How has the Fire nation gotten this far when their enemies can do this?

That's going to cause some trauma.

Iroh is a beast. He's taking out the whole royal guard. I also love that they're lining up to be taken out. So polite. They could teach Zuko Jr. a thing or two.

I feel like Zuko usually does better than this in fights. And really, I know little sisters are extremely talented at goading, but Zuko's really too easy to goad. His sister's not even trying that hard.

This episode's most satisfying shot. Hoping the tides take revenge for that earlier comment.

That's the lowest quality animation I've seen in this show. It bobs unmoving across the screen.

What the hell is the green lady throwing? Elaborately carved thingies?

So it's actually very dangerous to Aang to go glowy. And to the world in general. Neat. I guess an unmatchable power like that needs some sort of limiting factor.

"You're out of your mind." THANK YOU.

No, THIS is the episode's most satisfying shot. About time someone did that to him.

Katara's "I think we're all set" Is a delightfully polite 'get fucked'.

Wow she got those printed up quick.

"There will be no place left to hide" except a short run upstream.

That ends a bit suddenly.

We did not go to see Bumi. Bummer.

Final Thoughts

Quite the explosive start to the season. They really hit the ground running. Also this is very much not a show where you can skip seasons.

Katara was right about it being a bad idea to try and run before Aang can walk. You can't blame the general for wanting a quick way to end the war with few casualties (on his side at least). You can blame him for being really bad at listening. Does earthbending cause stupidity? Because I definitely remember that all non-Bumi earthbenders we've seen so far are not too bright.

We've met what I'm assuming is going to be the antagonist of the season. I don't like her. I'm aware that I'm not supposed to, what with her being the bad guy and all, but would it be too much to ask for a fun villain? This girl's just mean. When Zhao was first introduced, the episode turned into a win for Zuko. This girl's introduction just makes him even more pathetic than usual. I guess starving on a raft for weeks has negative side effects, because this CANNOT be the same Zuko who one-shotted Katara in the spirit oasis.

This does answer my question of what they're going to do with Zuko and Iroh this season. They're going to ground. Zuko's scar is pretty distinctive though. I bet that's going to cause problems.

Sokka has never suffered fools, and seeing him knock out the general is just so satisfying. Both water tribe siblings were supportive of Aang in their own ways this episode: Katara by standing up to the general and giving Aang on honest opinion on what's going on; Sokka by backing up Aang's decisions for and against the proceedings. And also literally standing up for Aang against the general's soldiers. We already knew they were ride or die, but it's good to open the season with a refresher.

Before this devolves into a discussion of the differences in required narrative elements in season openers during the bingeing/streaming era compared to old fashioned network television, let me say one more thing: poor Appa hasn't been sidelined this hard since The King of Omashu.

[silentwillowwhisperer]

Wow, I am overthinking this.

*giggle.* Imagine seeing Keef staring at you at 3am with big yellow glowy eyes and bat ears and fangs. And Lance walks in. And he sees it. And he almost proposes.

This seems to be a common thought that I have. Keith not being able to sleep so he hides in the kitchen?

Like, just think about it for a second. The castle is GIANT, bright, and everything looks the same. Also the walls are metal and completely smooth for probably 20 feet up, so they're unclimbable.

And when it's waaay early in the morning and your brain is fuzzy, people tend to do some weird crap. So Keef's Galra instincts would probably over. Which means kitty instincts. Galra= cat, cat=Galra, the words are synonyms in my head, I can't tell them apart.

SO. Naturally, he would want to go to a place with lots of small places, hiding spots, and climbable surfaces.

Sadly, his room is immediately ruled out. Despite it being a place intended for rest and security/familiarity, the canon images of the paladin rooms show that they are bare and do not have many potential hiding spots. There is a small trunk (?) next to the door, but Keith would keep his limited belongings in there and he seems to be too big to fit inside. Sure, his impulse would tell him to crawl inside, but the potential embarrassment of having to ask someone to pull him out outweighs that. His bed is exposed and there is no other furniture. Get some bookshelves! Please!

Ok the kitchen. NOW. I'm just gonna say, I don't love the design. Like, yes, I get it, for some reasons Alteans just HAD to be posh freaking minimalists and apparently never felt the need for the comfort of an enclosed space. If you're claustrophobic, this might not apply well to you, but I find that large spaces sometimes stress me out and I think better in a little corner or on a spot on the floor.

I think to start, the kitchen island thingy needs to be turned so that the person cooking is across from the door. As it is right now, someone could 100% sneak right in thanks to the door being conveniently placed right BEHIND the cook's line of sight.

Also, would it hurt to have the counter against a wall or something? It would divide the room nicely and make it look a a lot more cohesive and less like the animators were just trying to throw in a background for our characters. This is nice in some situations so that breathtaking backdrops don't take away from the characters, but have you ever noticed that they only appear in the kitchen maybe twice? That happened for a reason. If we had this dividing feature, you could put on a small table or some chairs along the long side of the counter! Why should our lovely Hunk have to cook in solitude? A good 50% of his character is centered around him seeing cooking as a love language and cooking with his loved ones.

Wow sorry I got off topic. Anyway, with these changes and maybe a bit more furniture and cabinets around the room (again, why are the walls so blank?) Keith would be very comfortable here. Maybe even comfortable enough to display Galra features because no one would expect to find him there so he would be well-hidden. Also, if the chairs along the counter were there, they face away from the door, so no one would see his Galra features.

Lets ignore the fact that this is a badly-drawn finger picture. But doesn't the whole room seem more put together? Lets say we take out the table for more space, it's still a much more effective use of this HUGE room that's being wasted by a random counter thrown in the middle.

: )

[ronearoundblindly]

sending this w love but it's really hard to read ur comments if they're purple *and* tiny

First and foremost, thank you. That is good to know, that is a great example of constructive criticism, and I appreciate you helping me make what I write more user-friendly for readers.

Second, this has stirred something in me that I cannot tamp down, and so here goes a well-meaning rant. Sorry in advance (especially if this is one of my moots on anon).

There are several reasons I do the tiny, purple text; among them are personal esthetics, good conditioning, and bad conditioning.

I don't know why I've sorta chosen purple/lavender/etc as a theme for a while, but meh, I like it, and to have purple text show up works with the theme. Speaking of themes, Tumblr has various ways you can see your dash, called 'palettes' I think, and mine is set to idk 'goth rave' or something which has purple text on black as the default. It's easier on my eyes and makes the tiny, purple text stand out nicely in my draft posts. Because that's how I see them when formatting, I didn't notice it might be much harder on a white background or any of the other palettes. Thank you for pointing it out! I hadn't thought of that.

This might also be me as a distracted person, but the visual of a divider such as this:

...doesn't seem like enough of an end-cap to the actual story portion of the post, so I change the way the A/N looks afterward to really separate the two. (Special shoutout to the fact that the divider's message seems utterly useless in encouraging/reminding readers to leave comments or reblog. You've all heard that tirade. Let's just say I know the reminder is ignored, so I gotta try something else as a transition.)

Writing/posting on this platform, as you may have heard, is a bit of a crapshoot mixed bag. Readers feel limited both in number and in time, so we creators tend to try various things to make our posts stand out, to make them appealing. Color or text variation is one of those ways. Now, I have no flippin' idea how to get rainbow or gradient text; I barely figured out how to put hyperlinks into my bio, bless my heart, so there's little chance of my blog looking super unique or fancy. Instead I vary the look between actual prose and my notes/warnings/summaries, which leads me to the sad bit.

I am conditioned by this site and others to understand that you are here to consume content. That content is the writing that I have curated and edited into a story which doesn't involve me, just the character of 'you' and other OCs or canon IP, so my thoughts and opinions are not and never have been the reason anyone follows me. Those are quite literally small compared to the actual work I generate.

I still think of comment reblogs as flooding your dash with stuff most of you have already seen. I think I'm being annoying--even though I know it's the only way to have my writing go farther on this site--and because I will do so very, very much IRL to *not* annoy anyone, I put opinion and random side comments and little thoughts in small text that is color-coded so you can ignore it as "not-story bits."

It is taking everything in me to NOT make this small text or purple. Honestly, my palms are sweating so badly, I've wiped my computer keyboard four times.

No, I don't want anything to be hard for you to see or read. Yes, I am really grateful you pointed this out. *Do* please remember that we are all doing the best we can to get the experience we want from Tumblr by customizing what we can.

*

The comment I posted in tiny, purple text immediately before this was sent to me has been changed to regular, default color. Hopefully that helps, and I will try to keep in mind how things will look in the future.

**

I did purposefully choose to not put a readmore in this post fwiw.

[cassmouse]

My ranking of Kotori's limited SIFAS cards and why

We are SO BACK with the second installment of 'I whine about anime girls in a gacha game'. Kotori this time! I absolutely love her and I had a bit more to say about these somehow than the Honoka cards- Anyway, please enjoy!

4 - Welcome to Kotori's Costume Room

Kotori's second fes card has always left me leaving disappointed, ever since it came out. And this is from a set of festival cards that are generally very strong, to make matters worse. It's not a bad card per se, and could very possibly be someone's favourite, but it's never been for me. The idolised art is certainly pretty, but it stops at just that. This feels like one of those cards that really just feels like it's from an event gacha, not a limited one. It seems a little aimless as a concept, like sure, it's the whole 'costume making' thing with Kotori and her character, but the outfit itself doesn't seem to communicate that like, at all? They definitely could've done something better to show off her established costume making abilities, rather than grabbing a random outfit concept out of seemingly nowhere and making it into this... Underwhelming fes card. The 3D model has a pretty colour scheme and interesting texture usage, and is very nicely faithful to the artwork, but stops entirely at that. The silhouette and general outfit concept feels pretty boring and standard, which absolutely shouldn't be happening for a lim. As a whole, it's pretty underwhelming as a fes card.

3 - Tropical Squash

Kotori's party card pretty much only made it above the second fes card because of it's art. It's a pretty standard idea for a game like this, but oh my lord does it work in this context. The colours and background join together beautifully to make an aesthetic that's certainly very strong and is communicated well instantly. However, my issues start to come in when you look at the 3D model. To start with the good aspects, I really like what they did with the little flourish on the back of the shorts (a common trick for beach themed cards like these to jazz them up a little), and the shorts themselves. The hair too is fitting and the highlight makes it unique. HOWEVER. This is almost all ruined by the absolutely horrendous top and stomach design, which, to me, looks cheap and not at all nice to look at. It might be the simplistic bikini top or the overly bright colours that create this effect, but I really dislike it. The cuts on each side also don't at all help with this, as they feel unnecessary and lessen the outfit. So this was a beach card so close to greatness, but fell short on the chest and midriff so hard that it ruins the whole 3D model for me.

2 - An Elegant Night Party

This is the third fes card and the idolised art is absolutely GORGEOUS. Fitting into a similar category as Honoka's second fes card, with the whole 'elegant and formal' theme, but in my opinion, this art is actually done better. The lighting and unique colours work wonders, and the characterisation, dress and hair are both absolutely on point. From art alone, this is actually my favourite out of the four. However, like the previous card, it fails to continue this good streak with the 3D model. The hair and overall vibes stay very strong and work well in this context too, but it's the dress that really disappoints me, it feels like a 'what I ordered vs what I got' sort of comparison. The frills, which seems to be a large focus in the art, are flattened and look much more lifeless and busy when they're all bunched up. I honestly think that had they padded out this section in particular, this model would be absolutely phenomenal. But no, it's that little detail there that seems to fail the whole thing. But, I will repeat, I am absolutely obsessed with the idolised art itself and think they did an amazing job with it.

1 - Humming Angel

Ahh the absolute classic... Kotori's first festival card. I absolutely love what they did with this one, it's a pretty safe bet of an outfit and it absolutely pays off. Everything from the pose to the hair to the theme in the art fits Kotori beautifully, and as one of the first ever fes cards, it sets a great tone for them. This card is an absolute triumph for Kotori in my opinion, and an absolute SIFAS classic. The 3D model too is absolutely brilliant, with the outfit translating excellently and in a way that completely avoids the issue with the last one, with the skirt especially being still full of life and very, very pretty. The colour scheme is well thought out, with the yellow being the same colour as her eyes and the turquoise being a bit of a play on her usual green colour. And completely unlike her second fes card, the slight simplicity does wonders in this case entirely because it already has a solid concept and it's still very unique in itself, silhouette and all. PLUS the hair in the model was done excellently I am obsessed with it, so overall- It's excellent and I love it

---

Again, tysm if you read this far! I adore a lot of the Kotori cards, and this one was an absolute blast to write honestly. Hope you enjoyed!

[bonesandthebees]

It is, once again, time to scream about sand duo: Songs of change edition.

First of all, I have a feeling Phil is going to yoink Wilbur. This has nothing to do with the ‘non-consensual body modification’ tag. Nothing at all. Anyway, I love that it’s clear that most of the adults do care, but in a “this ain’t my kid and I don’t really know what to do with him, but he’s still a kid” way. Like they are nice and they make sure he eats and has a simple job to feel useful (berries bring variety in food and they are sweet, which should help lift the mood).

At the same time, they are very stuck in the mindset the Wilbur is just a “dumb” kid and can’t actually be very useful to them. For example, he gets brushed off any time he wants to weigh in on conversation because he actually knows stuff. And even if he didn’t know anything, kid’s got no prospects. He’ll spend the rest of his life on a ship, he’s got to worm his way upwards somehow. They are denying him the opportunity to learn. And I’m getting too caught up in background characters without names. They strike the very good balance of “it takes a village” without any of them having kids or investment of their own.

Anyway, SANDDUO! I love how you write tiny Wilbur. He’s so clever, yet still a kid. He’ll use answer words he can and asks all the questions. He’s also a manipulative little shit when it comes to Phil. And the guilt tripping is working. Though getting hit and crying definitely helps too. It’s also interesting how Phil gets intrigued (read: invested and semi-attached) to second he realises that Wilbur is a smart kid.

Also, the fact that he saw Wilbur ag night meant that he was probably going to wait around for the next day and was keeping an eye on the cove. And then he had a crying kid and couldn’t leave. Also, yeay for Schlatt being protective. There’s no older teenager being annoyed at the preteen dynamic. They are friends. Schlatt definitely saw the berries and didn’t say shit. (hiding the berries was a dumb move btw, but he’s a kid and it’s literally just berries, not an entire fish or anything).

I’m interested to see where this ends up going. Though I have a feeling I should already start mourning the crew. If not because of Phil, then because they are still very much maroon with no way out.

-🌲

LMAO yeah just ignore the nonconsensual body mod tag. it's definitely not important. I prommy :)

yes!! I didn't want the rest of the pirate crew to be stereotypically Evil but they're also not super nice and loving. wilbur's a kid so they're not gonna be cruel to him for no reason, but he's also not their kid so they're not soft on him. but with the current situation, they're literally all marooned on an island and are very stressed out so they mostly just want to get him out of the way. if the shipwreck hadn't happened wilbur definitely would've gotten opportunity to move up as he got older, it's just the circumstances of the adults literally trying not to starve to death that is making them even more dismissive of him than usual.

man I love writing tiny wilbur. I didn't plan for him to be such a little shit in this, it just happened and i love it so much. he's trying so hard to be manipulative and while he's definitely clever he's also 11 so he's not that good at it.

phil wasn't planning on actually hanging out in the cove the next day because he meant it when he said he wasn't going to see wilbur again. but he was definitely going to hang out in the water near the island just to listen in and make sure he was alright. he was planning on properly leaving after another day or two, he just said his goodbyes to wilbur earlier. then wilbur got hit and was crying and he was like "well shit I can't just leave now" so now he's attached to a random 11 year old human. congrats phil.

YEAHHH I wanted to strike a balance with schlatt between him being this older kid who isn't soft on wilbur or anything but they are definitely friends. they had solidarity on the ship with being the youngest members of the crew, so that's continued on with their current situation. even if schlatt is being treated far more like an adult than wilbur is, he still is gonna call out bullshit if he sees it: like wilbur getting slapped for stealing a few berries

(hiding the berries was extremely stupid. he literally had no reason to do that and given how stressed out the adults are while the reaction isn't okay whatsoever, it's understandable to a degree. all food is important, but also it was a handful of berries. like c'mon guys)

so glad to know you're enjoying spruce <33

[bearpillowmonster]

Prince of Persia (2008)

This is actually the first PoP game that I bought because, well-

Just look at it. It appealed to me most, he's got what looks like a cybernetic hand, a blue and red head scarf keeping some sort of mystery about him, nice balance between grit and cartoon. And really even the gameplay, a big wide open world, and the girl stays right along side you. It was the makings of something great, but then...I played it.

I don't even know if it was two hours. I just felt like I had enough, like I had seen everything it had to offer already and here's why:

STORY

Background information first. The game has a decent story with the Prince looking for this donkey that has a bunch of treasure alluding for an adventure that happened off screen when he comes across Elika who is being chased and one thing leads to another and she releases darkness out of a tree. Ok, maybe that doesn't sound too great but it's more character based. The struggle between her and her father is interesting as you see the darkness overtake him, which gives you all the reason to bring an end to this madness. You see flashbacks of her because she doesn't really want to talk about what's going on or give you context so it's fed to you little by little, she's not even interested in the Prince, she just sees him as beneficial to her journey and over time the two grow fond of each other, which is how it should be.

The cartoony nature lets for a variety of unique animations, like her climbing on your back when you're climbing up vines, doing a little twirl when you switch positions, catch each other when they fall and just overall a ton of fun stuff that makes up for the fact that you can't play as her. Unfortunately, the Prince really just makes jokes, he isn't given much, they made him too pun-oriented as even Nolan North was confused by it but whatever, it's a disconnect. So what's the issue here?

THE PREMISE

Well, you have to get your fair share of light orbs- wait an effing second-

Yeah, that but it's the whole game. Like there aren't even enemies to keep you busy really. It splits the map up into sections where you climb these huge towers and trek landscapes to get to what amounts to a fountain, you fight a boss at the fountain, unlock it, and poof, light appears so you backtrack through the level (which does have varying paths but you definitely backtrack) in order to collect the orbs. There're little dark blobs that block your way sometimes and platforms can indeed have an enemy every now and then but it's not rewarding for anything, you don't get light, you don't get currency, you don't get anything, they're just another obstacle, not anything special, just a random nuisance.

COMBAT

The combat is a lot different, it has a sort of fighting game element where it locks you in a battlefield, and you skirt around each other like Contest of Champions. It's not "bad" but it can be annoying because of the control scheme. I learned it over time but it basically creates its own buttons. Red glove. What does it refer to? What did you map that button to? Grey glove, uh, block? Sword is obvious. But it doesn't show you the buttons, just the symbols and it's not much more in depth than that. I played this on PC and honestly those colors resemble the Xbox control style, the PS3 version has the actual buttons (and I don't have an Xbox controller so I had to fight with my PS4 controller to figure it out) but I think it helped that I played with a controller this time around because I used a keyboard and mouse on that dropped playthrough.

You get the rapid press sometimes but it's not necessarily how fast you press it, it's how early you start. And like sumo wrestling, getting too close to the edge for either of you will lock you in a heated quick time event to launch the other over the edge.

Perhaps one of the divisive parts though is that you don't "die". It's like this, falling will just have Elika catch you and put you at the last platform. Fighting, you're given a chance to save yourself with a quick-time event and even if you fail, the enemy just heals themself a little.

Then you have the "hub" of sorts which leads to the temple but traveling this empty wasteland takes a while because of your walk speed. I don't mind it in the confinement of these areas with the structures but when there's nothing there and you're just trekking...speed it up. Luckily if you unlock the fountain then you can fast travel.

They even have cool traversal methods that you learn by taking so many light orbs back to the temple (in the hub) but they're not free abilities, they're limited to where the spaces are.

The "power plates" eww, that's their official name? You couldn't say like "Ephereal Tiles" or some sort of lore based jargon like spirit energy emits from them, juicing you up with power for a short burst? Spirit Burst?

And you have what amounts to this huge wide open and lush background painstakingly created with breathtakingly beautiful places that you can't wait to explore but you barely even notice them. Like you probably see this picture and think what fun is in store for that place and what set-piece it might hold but the camera pits you against these wood and stone structures and that's about it, the rest goes relatively unnoticed, you don't go and walk around these places at all like you'd expect.

WHAT BROUGHT ME BACK

This.

A three hour video but a well made one at that. He mentioned that it's enjoyable playing as a side gig, just something to turn music on and play like it's Minecraft parkour and so I lodged that in the back of my brain and here I am, with a new approach and a new opinion on a game that I thought I'd never return to.

So I'm done complaining because I did indeed keep coming back to it and enjoying myself by viewing it from a movement standpoint. And yeah, it's not the best use of its appealing assets but I still found something in it.

[dialovers-translations]

Sooooo, now that you've finished translating Yuma's route, when can we expect that rant post? Lol

*DEEP BREATH*

My anger has somewhat subdued by now because I've been playing Azusa's route which is AMAZING so far.

However, I do want to address a few main points of concern regarding Yuma's DF route:

・ Yuma as a character: In the situation parts in particular, there were a lot of moments which struck me as 'OOC'. :/ In the Ecstasy scenarios in particular, he often seemed so unreasonably cruel??? Like where did that come from?? I thought Yuma was the 'simple kind' of guy who doesn't care for using torture devices or weird kinks, yet he's out there WHIPPING poor Yui in the Ecstasy 3 scenario.

・Messy plotline: ーー Or should I say, PLOTS. It really did seem like the writers could not make up their mind between three possible points of focus:

1) Yuma's memory loss and his past with Shuu (and Reiji)

2) The threat of the Founders and their plan to take Yui for their own

3) Mertz being a sneaky snake in the background and trying to also steal Yui away so he can revive Cordelia

So what did they do? Make a mish-mash of all 3 plot lines. However, with only so many chapters to work with, they weren't able to fully flesh out any of the storylines, which just leaves you with an unsatisfying mess. :/

Also why is the whole 'the Mukami's can't become Adam' thing COMPLETELY disregarded until Yuma's Vampire Ending when Karl is suddenly like 'Oh btw I'm not gonna save him because he's useless to my plan anyway trolololol'.

Ruki is over there sabotaging the relationship between Yui & Kou in the latter's route, but in Yuma's route, he doesn't care that they're together despite this potentially ruining Karl's plans. :////

・Random new information: A lot of DF routes are guilty of this but was it ever mentioned before that Yui's heart is the reason why she can't become a Vampire??? (Pretty sure it's the opposite in HDB but hey. Rejet has long forgotten about HDB by this point, let's be real). I know the 'Vampire virus' has been mentioned before, but her blood being a neutralizer for this makes absolutely ZERO sense. Even if the boys don't drink a whole tub of her blood at a time, they sill feed off her very frequently in the games/CDs/etc. so I can't believe that it wouldn't have had any effect on them before. > < Especially since it was suddenly capable of turning Yuma back into a Yuma without actually killing Yui from blood loss.

Now to talk about some redeeming factors of the route...

・Yui as a character: Yui is an absolute Queen in this route. She accurately reads Yuma's emotions and takes a lot of initiative to help him. (Too bad he brushes her off most of the time <o<) She isn't a push-over and has a few moments where she really stands up for herself.

・Shuuma BROTP moments: Out of all plotlines they tried to squeeze in there, I think I liked the one regarding Yuma's memory loss the best. There's some nice moments between Shuu and Yuma and I also enjoyed the Shuu & Reiji moments in his Manservant ending. It just felt like it belonged in either Shuu's or Reiji's route and not Yuma's. ^^;;

Also, the whole point which sets DF apart from MB is the focus on the Founders. :/ Yet they're kind of only present in the background this time. It was like the writers sometimes forgot about their existence, then remembered, and decided to quickly throw them in there for a couple of seconds to remind the player: "OH HEY! THESE GUYS ARE HERE TOO."

・The Heaven scenarios: These were very cute and showed a very wholesome Mukami family moment as well. It finally felt like the old Yuma was back. Approved.

[lizardrosen]

for the ask game!! i’m an acting student at university who spends a truly concerning amount of time thinking about tragic shakespearean women (especiallyyyy ophelia, desdemona, & portia from caesar). i also sing, play a lot of animal crossing, & collect squishmallows :)

Hamlet by the Rutgers-Camden Theater!

They do some really neat things with the architecture and lighting to make it feel like you're inside an industrial gazebo, so it's at turns light and airy or imposing and dangerous. The transition music is all sustained stately cellos which contributes to a real mood.

In that second picture you can see most of the main cast during "I know not seems". From left to right: Hamlet, Gertrude, Osric, Polonius, a random soldier, Claudius, Laertes and Ophelia right next to each other, a court lady who's doublecast as Rosencrantz.

SPEAKING of doublecasting, Claudius is doublecast with the ghost, and I know that's a pretty common convention, but it really, really works here, it made me feel like maybe they were actually twins. Claudius is charming and personable and genuinely friendly - he chats with Osric when he brings him a bloody mary and just seems to have a good rapport with everyone - and the ghost is just pale and staring and lost, so they seem very very different, but after the Murder of Gonzago he unravels a lot, and ends up doing the whole chapel speech while pacing and drinking right from the bottle, and you see, oh both these brothers are just sad kids who started out trying to do the right thing by Hamlet and failed miserably.

And then there's the Polonius family! Laertes and Ophelia are just adorable and teasing together, and you get the sense Polonius really cares about his kids but doesn't quite know how to talk to them (maybe if his wife were alive she'd know what to say). The first time I watched this, I thought it was just inconsistent characterization, but no, this is an intentional choice to have someone who's struggling to do and say the right things.

This production goes hard with the interpretation that Ophelia is pregnant, which might not be your cup of tea, it's definitely not my default interpretation, but it commits to that idea nicely, it's not just incidental, and I can respect that. During the nunnery scene she silently moves Hamlet's hand to her stomach so he understands what she's trying to tell him, and then he's not just talking about how he's a bad man, he's telling her he'll be a bad father, and it adds a lot to both their performances, and in her madness she says "I hope all will be well" and gets this stricken look and puts her hand on her stomach, and Gertrude rushes over to comfort her, it's great and miserable.

Hamlet is extremely high energy and fun to watch, you can feel him bouncing around in his thoughts and on the stage like a pinball, but there's times where he's really trying to connect to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and is disappointed that they don't understand that no, really, what a piece of work is man is how he feels.

There's lots of good moments I haven't described because they're much better to feel them for yourself, but do pay attention to Ophelia's scarf, this becomes important. Osric is worth keeping an eye on, he's just a huge nerd who fanboys over Laertes and Hamlet, and he's always doing little character building stuff in the background. The play within a play is very well done, the intermission cuts at a moment I don't usually see them break, and then the ending made me just need to pause and stare into space for a bit while processing what I'd just seen (complimentary).

[4aloysius-porteu]

i really wish i hated you || tsukishima kei

masterlist | 1 | 2 | chapter 3

pairing: tsukishima kei x f! reader

sypnosis: It was an accident that (Y/N) met a certain tall, blonde male; a memory she isn't fond of remembering, but it is where it all started. And ever since, she magically makes her to his path. The image of the bespectacled man dwelled in her mind more than she thought. Tsukishima pushed away his softer emotions and denied their existence, or at least that's what he told himself. But then, he couldn't believe that this girl he labeled as a clumsy, unlucky creature who smashed his glasses is slowly bringing these strange emotions back to him. She might be irritating and dumb sometimes, but he couldn't get himself to completely hate her. Either that destiny was stupid, or he was blessed or cursed.

genre: fanfiction, fluff

wc: 2.6k

She has met the tall, blonde, and bespectacled male yet again.

"Oh, the midget stalker is here."

"You again?! Seriously, I think it's you who's following me!"

"Hah, what do I get from following an extremely short person like you?" He said, borrowing her words from yesterday.

(Y/N)'s eyebrows creased further in irritation. "Why do you keep mentioning my height?!"

"It was you who started it. Anyways, can you shut up? Do you know that you're in a library?"

She didn't retort back and simply sat on the chair with her arms crossed. It was a fine day then —BOOM— this giant decided to appear out of nowhere. She was trying to forget this person who's associated with some of her embarrassing moments but those just got smashed back to her mind. (Y/N) sighed and pulled a book at the bottom of the stack to start reading, but noticed that the blondie is still standing near the edge of the table, hesitating to sit down while glancing somewhere and back to her.

"What?" (Y/N) frowned.

"Why am I unnecessarily stuck with you on this table?" He sighed, pulling out the chair.

"Because all of the tables here are taken? If you're worried about your glasses being knocked off, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless anymore."

"That's a nice reassurance," He settled down and brought out his studying materials.

Both of them shared the table in the crowded library. Ignoring the people, between them was a silent atmosphere. No one was talking as they both minded their own studies; he was reading quietly and turning pages of a huge book while (Y/N) wrote key points from the printed work and highlighting her notes. Sometimes, the other would leave to return books to their shelves and came back with new stacks. This went on for a few hours until her pen ran out of ink. She scribbled at the back of her notebook in hopes that the ink just got stuck, to no avail. She sighed, resting her head on the notebook. But she really needed to take down notes for her upcoming entrance exam.

"Hey." (Y/N) reluctantly said.

The blonde male looked at her, confirming if he's being called, "What?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your business but... do you have a spare pen?"

He stared at her with a straight face and placed his chin on the top of his knuckles, implying his refusal to lend one.

(Y/N)'s mentally gritted her teeth. I'm just going to borrow a pen and he's making it hard for me?!

Swallowing her pride, she said, "Look, I need to finish my notes. I'll return it to you right away when I'm done. I promise. Please?"

He scoffed as brought out a pen, "An inkless pen is all it takes for you to become a less lively puppy? You better keep your promise."

A puppy?! "You didn't need to compare me to a puppy but, thanks."

She continued her work but her focus was a bit shaken. This happens whenever she's interrupted or took a break away from writing. Soon, her focus vanished and boredom took over. She tried to read a book to review ideas but her brain won't cooperate. She groaned, her head and arms fell to the table again. The blonde saw but chose to ignore her.

She closed her eyes for a second, however, her gaze fell to the blank paper in front of her face. Her hands are itching to do something other than reviewing and writing, so she put down the pen she borrowed and took a pencil out of her pocket. She placed a pile of books near her notebook so that the male won't notice what she's doing. There, she started to sketch the base of the figure.

She would observe the four-eyed guy who's busy reading some sort of article while taking notes. He has a calm expression on his face rather than an irritated scowl or a mocking grin he usually has. He wears a long blazer and probably a long-sleeved shirt inside. His blonde hair is short yet the edges are a bit curly and his upper eyelashes are prominently long. This was the first time she stared at the jerk's face who she kept bumping into random places that irked the hell out of her, but for some reason, she felt that she had seen this person before the accident in the park, albeit she doesn't know where. (Y/N) came to a conclusion; he was a little good-looking.

The girl looked back to her drawing and shook her head at her own ideas. I can't believe I actually thought that this guy is handsome. How can such a mean creature be blessed with such looks?! Ugh, don't mind, (Y/N). I'm only drawing him because he seems like a great canvas subject, it's not like I haven't done this to other people before...

She went on drawing and drew details to the sketch similar to the boy in front of her. To make the drawing more accurate, she stole small glances at him. She kept things low key because it'll be another embarrassing event if he found out what she's doing. She made the lines smoother in one swift move. The hair and clothes' folds are already well-drawn while she focuses on the detail of his eyes and glasses. She was about to shade when the male finally caught her.

"What is it?" He questioned, closing his book with a low voice and creased eyebrows.

(Y/N) froze on the spot. As much as she doesn't like it, she maintained eye contact with him, thinking of the best alibi that he couldn't argue with. Then, she remembered that she doesn't know his name.

"Uhm... nothing. I was just wondering if you have a name." While talking, her finger subtly moved to grab the nearest object it could get to cover her drawing.

"I have, but why would I mention it to you?" He cooly replied.

"It's alright. I'm not asking you to. Unless you want to be referred to as he/him or the tall, blonde glasses guy all the time?" (Y/N) countered.

He silently turned a page before answering, "Well, it's not like we'll meet every day."

"Oh," was her only reply. Looks like he will stay a nameless guy in her head for a long time. She was about to get back to her business when he spoke.

"Tsukishima Kei."

(Y/N) looked at him in surprise. "I'm not going to repeat it." He added.

She smiled, having clearly heard it right away. "Can you tell me how it is written?"

He looked at her to check for ill intentions but found nothing in her eyes. He hesitantly wrote the characters of his name on a piece of paper.

"I'm (L/N) (Y/N), nice to meet you again, Tsukishima-san." She'd like to initiate a handshake for peacemaking, but she knows how he'd only decline it. She wrote her name for him to see as well.

Tsukishima Kei. She repeated in her mind. What a nice name.

With a notebook covering the upper portion of the paper where she had drawn his portrait, she wrote his name at the bottom. She proceeded to the shading and background features. Backgrounds are one of the things she hates in art because it takes too long to draw one compared to the subject itself. Luckily it's only a sketch so she won't have to suffer. Although she doesn't know if Tsukishima had seen whatever she's doing so she's still cautious. She peered at him for the nth time so she could distract his peripheral vision. Maybe to test the social initiative skills she hasn't used for a long time too.

"Uhh, can I ask something?" She started.

"Hm?" He responded without taking his eyes off the page.

"What school are you from?"

"Amemaru Middle School."

(Y/N) hummed, thinking of another question, "Then, what school are you enrolling to? It must be an upper class one since you had to read those large books and all."

"Not really," Tsukishima closed the book, "I plan to go to Karasuno High School. They may not have a difficult entrance exam, but these readings are for decent grades and some stock knowledge."

"Decent grades, huh... you look like you could achieve more though. I'm pretty sure you'll ace it." She answered, "I was from Kitagawa Dai Ichi. I'm taking an exam in Shiratorizawa soon."

"You're going to that high-class academy? I see, I failed to notice that because you don't look like one. Have fun clashing with other elites there."

"Elites? What are you talking about, you still believe there's such a hierarchy?" (Y/N) chuckled.

"There is though. A gap between them and mere humans in terms of skills and power."

"In the end, they're still humans though. Be it numbers, hard work, or some unique strategy, those 'mere humans' you say will always struggle to step on equal levels with those on the highest rank."

Tsukishima only hummed and stared down at her, "Perhaps I was wrong on assuming you're an elite. You're clearly not."

"Are you underestimating me?" She challenged.

"No, I was just saying. Can I ask something though?"

"What?"

"Why are you suddenly talkative?"

She was caught off guard but tried not to stutter, "Me? Talkative? I'm always like this."

"Really?" He raised his brows, totally not buying it.

"Ugh, fine! I'm tired of studying!" She sighed, "I was scribbling some doodles on my notebook because I'm bored so I thought it wouldn't hurt to talk to Mr. Beanpole in front of me. Forgive me and my awkward social skills."

"Your social skills are not bad. I'm just thankful you aren't using the precious ink of my pen for drawing." He said, stacking the books he used.

She gasped, panicked inside, "You aren't looking at my drawing, are you?"

He got up to return the books,"Don't worry, it's none of my business."

She exhaled in relief, spared from another memory of embarrassment. Her eyes followed his walking figure and watched his movements. She looked at her drawing to compare and used her fingers to define lighting. When Tsukishima got back and placed new reviewers on the table, (Y/N) asked him once more.

"Do you ever get tired of studying?"

"Sometimes I take a break, but I can only do that if I have finished everything."

"What a diligent student you are."

"I hardly see any benefit in being dumb and slacking off all the time."

"Eh, I hardly see any benefit in studying Algebra and Calculus. I have a lot of questions. Do you use derivatives in counting money or salary? Do you use trigonometry in dividing pizzas or corn chips? Why do I need to find the limit of a function if numbers are infinite? Why do I need to get the formula of a certain point in each line or curve I draw on the graphing paper? What is the correct answer for?" (Y/N) complained.

Tsukishima looked at her blankly, doubting her chances of passing the Shiratorizawa's board exam. "I couldn't argue with that, I'd rather read a book composed of words than formulas, but you don't have a choice. Although, if you plan to be an engineer or something, that'll be a different perspective."

"No, thanks, I won't eat math books for breakfast. Other subjects are interesting enough to keep me awake in class, but numbers don't really entertain me."

"Then, what do you do?" He asked, writing on his notes.

"Not much. I just draw, paint, listen to music, and watch anime."

He let out an amused hum, "How about you? What do you do other than to study?" (Y/N) asked.

"I play volleyball, listen to music, and read narrative books."

"Volleyball? So that's what your height is for! I thought it's just for cleaning and reaching high places."

"That's rude."

"If I am, what do you call yourself? Besides, I don't want to make wrong assumptions."

"You just did."

"...right. I'm sorry."

The sense of familiarity took over (Y/N)'s brain, telling her that she definitely had met this Tsukishima guy before. Her face scrunched a little, trying to search her memories and connect the dots. Her eyes found his face again.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" His eyes narrowed, his annoyance towards the girl slowly rising.

"I HAD met you somewhere... before that accident, where did I see you?"

He was about to say something when (Y/N) stopped him, "Shh, I'm thinking."

He crossed his arms and frowned at her. Volleyball, Amemaru MS... She was about to say it but Tsukishima spoke first.

"Were you one of the audience who watched the middle school volleyball inter-high a year ago?"

"I was! Wait, you remember?"

"That was the only place where I could find someone from Kitagawa Dai Ichi." He confirmed.

"Correct. I was a part of the school paper where I was assigned in the sports category. I took a picture of you when my senior was interviewing you! You were the tallest middle blocker in the games! How could I forget that! So that's why whenever you irk me, it was familiar!"

"How am I annoying you? Aren't you the one who kept on talking right now?"

"I've figured out that there's no kind bone in you. And the way you keep on stuffing the spikes from the opposite team. It was never-ending that they didn't have a chance to score properly." She pouted.

"What do you expect from a middle blocker? It was my job to block spikes."

"You could've gone easy on them."

"The game would lose it's sense if that's the case."

"Fine. You're not wrong." Their conversation was cut short after she ceased talking. At least she found out where she first met Tsukishima. She finished the portrait sketch. Grinning, she believed that she captured his features accurately in her drawing. She'd like to hold it near him and compare to make sure though. Satisfied with her work, she went back on turning pages.

"So, you've finally decided to continue to study?" Tsukishima prodded.

She smiled, "I guess. Thank you for talking to me. That was a great stop."

Both of them worked quietly, but now, the irritation they felt towards each other lessened. After some time, a person in the speaker announced that the library will be closing before 6 pm. Tsukishima returned all the books he borrowed and packed his things.

"You're going home?"

"I don't want to come home late. You aren't finished with your notes yet?"

"Yeah, maybe I'll leave five minutes before six."

"Alright. I'll get going now." He swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey, wait! Your pen!" (Y/N) abruptly remembered seconds after.

"I don't need it anymore. It was useful, apart from its close on running out of ink."

"But it's yours and you told me to keep my promise!"

"Whatever. Keep it or throw it." He walked out and wore his headphones, having no intention to listen to anyone.

She sighed and checked the ink. More than half of it is gone, but she can use it again if she wishes. (Y/N) placed her fist to her cheek while writing.

Random Tsukishima Kei facts:

In the second prototype chapter (unserialized, one shot, the first idea of the author on how haikyuu will go) Tsukishima was a second-year, which was changed in the serialized version where he's a first-year. His initial height in the prototype chapter is 184cm, a little shorter than his official height (190.1cm). In an extra sketch, Furudate commented, "Tsukki and Tanaka being in the same year would spell chaos!

©4aloysius.porteu.2021. please do not repost, copy, or edit. plagiarism is punishable by law. 

[nothingbutfangirlsmut]

The Maze Trials: A Gally Fanfiction

Pairing: Gally x Emi(OC)

Background: Emi, first girl the Glade has seen. Tougher than she looks and more than ready to prove it. Since day one her and Gally have been at each other's throats. Fighting constantly and not just with their words.

(Gally fanfiction which will include smut. It also has an actual story line. Think of it as an AU to the original Maze Runner. It'll mostly follow the main story line with some changes. Mostly focusing on Emi and Gally and their relationship.)

Chapter Six

This morning I'm with Newt trying out the job of a farmer. We are in the middle of the gardens. He's showing me the difference between all the plants.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked suddenly standing up and facing me.

"Sure" I said.

"What happened between you and Minho? I saw the two of you walking into the woods together then this morning at breakfast he was uncharacteristically quiet." Newt stared at me awaiting my answer.

"Well, he kissed me and the kiss progressed and got pretty heated but I stopped it. I told him I wouldn't let him go any farther than that kiss. Then I walked back to the homestead." I explained kicking at the dirt.

"I knew he had a thing for you. Pretty much everyone knew. The guy can't be subtle at all." Newt chuckled.

"You think he's mad?" I asked him.

"Nah, he will be over it before you know it and he will be right back to hitting on you again. Minho is not one to give up." Newt smiled.

"Do you like him?" Newt asked me taking a step closer.

I shrugged.

"I don't really know. I only remembered my name yesterday. I've only been here a few days. I'm still trying to fill everything out. I don't think I'm ready to like anyone yet."

"Well warn me before you get there cause I have a feeling most of the guys are going to attempt to get with you." Newt laughed as he bent back down.

"What about you?" I asked curiously.

He seemed to freeze for a moment. Then he started picking at the weeds in the dirt.

"I think you're wonderful Emi but not really my type." He said slowly and quietly.

I bent down to help him with the weeds.

"What is that suppose to mean?" I questioned quietly.

Newt chuckled. He popped his head up to look around him before turning back to me.

"It means you're not a guy so you're not my type." He gave me a small shy smile.

I couldn't help the large grin that spread across my face.

"No way!" I shouted earning me a slap on the arm from the blonde.

"Sorry" I whispered.

I laughed but made sure Newt knew his secret was safe with me. I think I just found my best friend. It'll be nice to have someone to talk to about these ridiculous boys.

"Anyone you have an eye on?" I asked quietly as we walked towards one of the tree stumps.

"I use to have a crush on Minho for awhile but that went away awhile back. Now I'm not really into anyone. Maybe one of these days a boy will come out of that box and change that." He smiled hopefully.

"I swear I will get you hooked up with someone one of these days." I grinned at him.

He laughed then started wacking away at the stump. The day went by quickly thanks to Newt and I chatting each other up. I couldn't remember the last time I laughed this much. Before we knew it the bell for lunch sounded.

"I figure after lunch I'm gonna throw you with the builders if that's alright. Speed up the process a little bit." Newt said as we walked towards the hut.

"Yes!" I exclaimed happily.

Newt laughed shaking his head. I think he already knew I was interested in being a builder. I just feel like I'll like that the best. Like I'll be the best at that. Plus I want to out do Gally in any way I can. Not sure why I have a need to do that but I do.

I got my food and found my seat. Newt took a minute to let Gally know the plan. I watched the blonde boy inform the angry one. He nodded once then glanced over to me. When he saw I was already looking at him he quickly looked away.

"I told Gally you were very eager to try being a builder." Newt laughed as he sat next to me.

"Why would you want to be a builder?" Clint asked scrunching up his nose.

"They're all idiots." Jeff whispered.

I just laughed and shook my head. They wouldn't understand if I told them why. I don't fully understand why. I just have this feeling and I think I should follow my gut. After lunch Gally came over and got me so I could follow him to work.

I was practically skipping as I walked with Gally. I was so excited to get my hands dirty. Of course Gally didn't trust me with a big job so he told the other builders what to do then made me go with him to gather more wood and other materials.

Gally took us to the edge of the woods to work on cutting out some wood to use. He handed me an axe then started chopping. I followed his lead chopping on the opposite side of him.

"Don't cut any of your fingers off. I'm not dealing with it." He grumbled as he continued to swing his axe.

"I won't cut off any of my fingers." I snapped at him.

He slammed his axe into the tree and left it there. He stepped closer to me his chest out like he was ready for a fight.

"Do you have a problem princess?" He asked harshly as he glared at me.

I swung my axe hard sticking it in the tree just as he did. Then I stepped away from the tree and towards Gally. I stood toe to toe with him. I wanted to make sure he knew he didn't scare me. Not even a little.

"Yea, I have a problem with the way you talk to me. You think because I'm a girl I can't do the same things you can? You think I won't make my corners as tight as you, I'll cut my fingers off, or I can't beat your ass. Don't you get tired of being proved wrong over and over?" I spat at him stepping even closer.

He growled grabbing my arms and shoving me against the tree our axes were in. His face was so close to mine I could feel his hot breath on my skin. I hadn't noticed the boys in the Glade that could see and hear us stop what they were doing. I was too distracted by the one holding me against a tree.

"You are either very brave or very stupid." He growled in my face.

"How about a little of both. I'd say I tip more to the brave side while you overload into the stupid." I said harshly as I stared him down.

His hold on my arms tightened. His face was getting redder by the minute. I was enjoying this way too much. I think pissing him off would be my new past time.

"I'm very close to beating the klunk out of you." He growled inching his face even closer to mine.

"I mean you can try but I can almost guarantee It'll go about the same as the bonfire." I smiled wickedly at him.

With a very loud growl he let go of my arms. I knew what was coming next. His big fist pulled back and went straight for my face. I let out a howl of a laugh when Gally punched the tree I was just against. He hissed turning around when he heard my laugh. I had moved out of the way at the last second. I could hear the shouts of the other gladers coming our way.

"You better get your swings in now big boy looks like the cavalry is coming to save you." I smiled wide as I did a little side to side dance.

"To save me?" He growled out in disbelief.

I nodded still doing my little dance.

"Gally! What the hell are you doing?" I heard Alby's booming voice.

I did the stupidest thing and glanced towards the leader's voice. Next thing I know I was tackled to the ground with a steaming Gally on top of me. He went for my face but it was easy enough for me to block him. I had to struggle a little to fix myself enough to roll us. 

Once I got myself in just the right angle while blocking Gally's random throws I pushed him off me. His hands held tightly on my shirt pulling me with him. We hit a slight slope perfectly causing us to roll a few times. I made sure that when we stopped I was on top. Gally groaned when his head roughly hit the ground.

"What the shuck are you two doing?" Newt asked in bewilderment.

I grabbed Gally's shirt and pulled lifting his shoulders and head a few inches of the ground.

"Gally here keeps looking for a fight. I think it's time I gave him a proper one." I stated while glaring at the boy below me.

"Enough you two!" Alby shouted.

My head snapped over to him. Those words threw my mind back into the dream I had. I glanced back at Gally who was laying very still. His hands tightly holding my wrists. I let him go and quickly stood.

What the hell is going on? My mind kept bouncing between reality and my dream. The similarities were seriously giving me a headache.

"Take both of them to the pit. Make sure they are next to each other. And no one is aloud to visit them. Make them talk to each other or not at all." Alby ordered angrily.

"The pit?" I questioned looking at Newt who was grabbing my arm.

Two boys went for Gally but he just growled, shoved them off, then stomped around Newt and I to where ever the pits are. Gally knew not to argue with Alby. I could tell just from the look on Alby's face he wasn't the person to cross.

Newt pulled me over to some horrible looking makeshift cells. They were built into the ground. He opened one of them up and gestured for me to get in.

"You've got to be kinding?" I asked staring at the hole in the ground.

"You two broke a big rule. I don't know what your issues are with each other but Alby wants them worked out. So, yes, get inside." Newt said sternly.

I huffed but did as he said jumping inside the small dirt hole. Newt quickly locked me in somehow then opened the one right next to me for Gally.

"Have fun you two." Newt said as he walked away.

—

[redrosewhiterose]

Continuing my The Tudors live blog! I had these on my drafts for like a week but I hadn't properly finished writing it until now. I made some live comments only for ep 5 and 6 so here they are; ep 7 is just my afterthoughts.

Episode 5:

- The opening song goes so hard it's insane

- Why do they keep putting the women in off-shoulder dresses make it stop

- Catherine and Mary are cute!

- Why do they portray Mary being sent to Ludlow as a bad thing? She was literally being unofficially made Princess of Wales

- "HIS FUCKING UNCLE??" I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING HELP

- This show is weirdly funny in moments I'm sure are not meant to be funny

- Oh Margaret Pole exists in this show, nice!

- Henry gaslighting Margaret lol

- Henry's whole monologue interpreting the meaning of that ship Anne gave him sounds like an absolute reach but then I remembered is almost line by line Eric Ives' interpretation bye

- Brandon and Margaret are the worst storyline in the entire show they're so annoying together.

- They did Fitzroy dirty, I think he has never appeared in any Tudor visual media as an adult (well, grown teen) right?

- Bechdel test time! Only three interactions between women, all of them between Catherine, Mary and her ladies. I could count that scene in which Catherine talks to Lady Salisbury about Mary's education in Wales as the first scene in the show that passes the test, since here we have two named female characters talking about something that isn't a man but I'm not satisfied with it since this scene lasted like one minute and Lady Salisbury could as well be just a random background lady (she isn't a proper character - yet at least). So no, I'm not counting it.

Episode 6:

- "El emperador es el cabeza de la familia" LA cabeza, it's LA cabeza

- They let Queen Claude speak! Only one line but well, at least she didn't just stand there in the background

- THE ARM WRESTLING SCENE OH MY GOD. Henry and Brandon's faces?? The high stakes ost that indicates that it was 100% meant to be a serious thing?? PEAK television. This show is a COMEDY and I love it, the Gregoryverse shows WISH they had a scene like that.

- Honestly so far my biggest surprise with this show is just how heavily they rely in portraying Henry and Anne as a mutual love match. So far I'd seen Henry becoming obsessed with Anne the second he laid eyes on her, but Anne either: only falling for him years into their "courtship", or never falling for him at all. This depiction of their relationship is certainly a choice.

- My fav thing this episode? The use of Thomas Wyatt's poems.

- Once again, time for the Bechdel test: only two interactions between women, namely Catherine and Anne. They only talk about Henry.

I watched these two episodes back to back and they really felt like the same episode (hence the fact that I barely commented on ep 6, I felt I had already said it all). The focus is mainly on the end of Wolsey's rising star and the beginning of Anne's, as she goes from "potential mistress" to "wife material" in Henry's eyes. Charles Brandon is back in favor after the funniest scene in the entire show, and Catherine continues to plot with the Spanish ambassadors. These were solid episodes, but not too memorable. 7/10.

I didn't live comment episode 7 but so far I think this is the BEST episode of the show: the sweating sickness episode! First of all, because I'm fascinated with the fact that this whole highly contagious disease existed for like a century and we just have no idea what it was. Insanity. But second of all, because I think it actually managed to be emotional and make you feel that the stakes were high. Maybe is just that I lived through a pandemic and now these storylines hit close home, idk, I just thought it was a well written episode. Also, I loved that they showed Henry's fear of disease, so far in all the Tudor media I've seen that never pop out. That scene in which Henry shows off all the remedies he has for different illness like if he was a salesman? Hilarious. 7.5/10, really good episode.

Oh, and we still don't pass the Bechdel test because only one time two women talked to each other: Anne when consoling her sick maid. I liked it that it showed Anne being compassionate and kind, however that maid had never appeared before and was dead by the next scene so no, she wasn't a proper character, and therefore no, it doesn't count.