#give me back og wrench Now

[hehelegos]

Biggest downgrade ever..

[fleeglefazbeagle]

Here's a random thought I had the other day regarding the debate involving SH Tails:

WARNING: I get kinda angry and I WILL rant since that's what this is, you've been warned and please, no fighting for the love of God.

You know how this got started because of that Real or Cake vid with the Opera GX promo?

Well, I bet ya if they did this with Man vs Train or Luigi's Lament, there wouldn't be as big as an uproar.

However, since this involves SH Tails who's one of the most popular characters on Mashed's channel and given how he's a bit different animation and personality wise, well...

Speaking of which, time for a rant, yippee./neg

I find it funny how long before TSAA part 3 came out, a lot of people were wishing that SH Tails came back in a video but when he returned in that video, a lot of people were happy, sure but there were a small few folks that weren't as happy.

Considering this was during the time when Friday Night Funkin exists and especially considering that SH Tails was supposed to appear in VS Sonic.exe mod(which was cancelled) and actually appeared in the FNF: Secret Histories mod demo, a few folks were not happy with how SH Tails was drawn considering how he now has claws and is a lanky bastard.

(Way to insult the current animator for the series...😒)

The other thing was he sounded a bit different and some came to the conclusion that it's a different voice actor(it was NOT, it's still Mick) mainly because the tone and the slight softness.

Here's the thing about that, Mick is in his 40's, you can't expect him to constantly scream in a shrill voice, think about his poor throat!

Some folks went on to say that the current version and the OG version are not the same person which is bullshit because they are.

That's like saying that the OG Goku and the current Goku are not the same person or saying that classic SpongeBob and modern SpongeBob are not the same person. :(

Come to think of it, this whole thing gives "Classic SpongeBob vs Modern SpongeBob", technically.

Lemme explain: The OG SpongeBob was well loved, OG Secret History Tails was well loved, modern SpongeBob while it does have its fans, it's not as liked because it's "not the same", TSA version of SH Tails while it does have its fans, it's not as liked because it's "not the same".

In terms of Opera GX is concerned, you don't HAVE to use it, you can easily wait for the YouTube upload of part 5, don't worry.

The reason why SH Tails is seemingly calmer is because he grew and matured plus, this part is a bit of a stretch on my end, he probably doesn't wanna scare Amy off.

Animation wise, it actually improved overtime and while it's not the same as Zeurel's style, it's still memorable.

You guys are straight up nitpicking with these complaints, you CAN criticize it if ya want, just give ACTUAL criticism rather than just saying "they fell off" or "they're milking it" which, by the way, it's THEIR story, not yours, let them do what they want.

As far as why they didn't get Zeurel to animate the series, well, as the man himself said in a stream, he doesn't work with Mashed anymore since he has his own series called "Monkey Wrench" which you should check out if you like, it's good. :)

Folks would say SH Tails' return was "forced" or "only came back because of Friday Night Funkin" when in reality according to Mashed themselves on a podcast they did, the said that they've been planning on bringing him back since 2018, aka, BEFORE Friday Night Funkin even existed!

Here's the link to the short:

It's perfectly fine if you don't like the current version of SH Tails, just don't be a dick about it and don't act like you know better than Mashed.

To think this whole thing happened again but worse was because of a fucking YouTube short involving the "Real or Cake" trend that promotes the EARLY upload on Opera GX.🤦🏻‍♀️

Anyways, enough of me ranting.

Remember to drink water, take your meds, eat a balanced diet, take care of yourself, stay safe and don't be a jerk.👍🏻

[autisticrosewilson]

In Trouble

Um. This is a joke that's not a joke that spawned from a conversation with @perseus-jackass about Nurse! Jason and Red X! Grant, that spiraled into a Miraculous Ladybug style love square situation lmao. OG's will remember when this was an ML blog, you could say I'm going back to my roots. Also this story is omegaverse! It's not really mentioned till Jason's pov but I don't want to blindside anyone

"Scream if you have to." Robin says gently, before wrenching his shoulder back into place. Grant does scream, he jerks and writhes but gloved hands hold him in place while his bones shift under the skin. There's a white hot pain that spreads through his arm, an aching relief as everything is realigned, and then everything goes prickly and numb.

Grant lays there panting, staring up at the smoggy night sky. Gotham doesn't even give him the courtesy of stars after subjecting them all to her madness. Robin had at least been kind enough to lay down his cape before his impromptu field med session, but goosebumps are spreading up his arms the longer his bare torso is in contact with the New Jersey air. At least Robin had helped him remove his shirt instead of cutting it off, as he'd threatened to.

"Good job," Robin praises, "you took that so well!" He grins, a certified Robin smile. Suddenly, Grant knows where all the stars went.

"Uh, thanks." Grant says absently, eyes tracing over the glint of too-sharp canines peaking out from cracked lips. Robin's a lip biter, he notes, the flesh has been scraped off. They'd probably bleed with little to no effort.

Grant wants to try, wants to taste it.

Slade clears his throat, and Grant remembers that his family is in the room, among several other hostages, and about twelve previously armed men who are now very unconscious. Robin himself has moved onto taking stock of everyone in the room, likely doing a head count and checking for any other injuries, but he signals for Slade to wait. He tilts his head slightly, finger coming to rest on the communicator in his ear.

"Okay folks, police are en route and the parameter has been cleared. I'm going to lead you all to the nearest exit, keep your head low and try not to make any noise. Listen carefully and stay behind me." Robin pops out of his crouch, helping Grant up as he gives the group orders.

"Look, kid-" Slade starts, and is promptly cut off by multiple snorts from the other hostages. The Gothamites, Grant realizes when he notices how calm they are. The collective reaction seems to throw his father off for a moment, but he continues. Grant feels a flash of second hand embarrassment. "Shouldn't you let the professionals take care of this?"

Robin smiles placatingly, it's got customer service written all over it. "I understand this is an upsetting situation, especially for a tourist, but we have everything handled." He assures.

Slade goes to say something else but Robin doesn't spare him a second glance, pulling out a handful of zip ties from one of the pouches of his belt. He gets to work ridding the men of weapons before tying their hands behind their backs, and then looping more zip ties through those to fix them all firmly together. None of them would be going anywhere anytime soon. He kicks all their guns to a far off corner anyway for good measure, but pockets a hunting knife one of them had been carrying.

"Secured," Robin chirps to whoever is on the other side of his comm, "Where to next?" He rolls his shoulders, resting his hands on his hips. After a moment Robin nods to himself. "Got it, meet you outside."

Grant watches as he heads towards the door, most of the hostages easily following his orders, they stay close together and seem to default to herding the omegas and pups in the middle. He almost gets swept up in it, shielded by the crowd, but then Slade's big hand is on his back bringing him and Joey to the front of the group just behind Robin.

He's shorter than he seemed earlier, when he was looming above Grant, backlit by flashing red lights like a blood soaked angel. He's slimmer without the cape wrapped around him, but with his gaze stuck to the muscle flexing in Robin's thighs he can tell the dark haired boy is stronger than he looks.

Robin leads the way, crouched low and keeping to the wall. The crowd does the same, unusually calm as they gently shush the children and tourists who aren't quiet enough. The implicit trust is breathtaking, the easy way that Robin commands the crowd with a cocksure smile and easy confidence. They only run into trouble once on the way to the exit and Grant barely has time to flinch before him and Joey are both shoved behind dad. Grant strains to see how Robin reacts to the two guards rushing at them but all he can make out is a flurry of movement and flailing limbs. There's the cracking of bone and then Robin's ringing laughter and then the hallway is still and quiet again. Slade's grip on his shoulder is still tight, Joey still pressed to Slades back. Grant nudges forward in time to see Robin securing the unconscious bodies.

He turns back to the crowd, hair a little messy and cheeks a little red but hardly even out of breath, and motions for them to keep going. They do, the group easily parting around the crooks before clustering back together. Like fish, Grant thinks, absently reminded of a trip to the aquarium not long ago.

They all file out in a straight line when they reach the exit, Robin holding the door open and checking behind for any stragglers before breaking away from the group to stand beside Batman. He looks even smaller next to the imposing figure of the Bat, but the cops seem to take his orders seriously.

Grant is pulled away by Slade and he barely realizes where they're going until he hears his mom's voice. She pulls him into a hug, all warm tobacco and vanilla but it almost doesn't register. She pulls Joey in next, peppering his face with kisses and surely staining it with her dark lipstick in the process. Her and Slade are talking about something over his head, but everything sounds like it's underwater. His attention is pulled back to Robin, sitting with some of the younger pups who are having their statements taken, someone's chubby toddler being bounced on his knee. He assumes the man in the nearby ambulance is the child's mother if his intent gaze and round belly are anything to go by.

Without thinking he clutches the fabric around his shoulders tighter. It's heavier than it looks, soft but tough. The outside is plastic-y, like a raincoat, but the inside is silky fabric slips pleasantly over his skin. He feels a tug on it from behind him, tuning back into the immediate conversation.

"Now what is this?" His mother frets.

His mouth opens but he doesn't say anything at first. "Robin gave it to me." He manages, the first thing he's said all night. He clutches the cape tighter, unwilling to let it go. It's a comforting weight, it feels like all that's keeping him on the ground, like if he lets go he'll simply float away.

His mother reaches for his face, tilting towards her. Her eyes are sharp but not angry, studying his expression and the look in his eyes carefully. Whatever she sees makes him purse her lips and glance towards the ambulance. "Oh my baby, you're in shock." She tells him, but the meaning behind the words doesn't register.

"First time getting his shoulder reset, he'll be fine." Slades voice, an attempt to be reassuring. Grant tenses before the words fully compute.

"WHAT!" His mom's voice is loud and shrill enough to make his ears ring and he knows they're going to start a fight.

He's shaking, he realizes, gaze dropping down to the trembling of his good hand where it's resting on her elbow. He doesn't remember moving it. Her skin is warm under his hands, he can feel the way her muscles are tensing as the voices around him raise.

He turns back to Robin, but the boy is already staring at him. At least Grant thinks so, hard to tell where he's looking with the white lenses, but he's facing Grant's direction. His lips are twisted, displeasure or concern maybe, and Grant wants to soothe him but he doesn't know how. Then his head tilts, just slightly, and Grant realizes that Robin had been looking at his parents. He can feel Robin's attention on him fully now, settling over him like sunlight. It's warm and grounding and he can feel his body again. Robin smiles, small and proud and encouraging. A secret just for Grant, to keep and cherish and own. And then Robin is turning, attention maddeningly taken by the others that Grant has just remembered. He feels cold, the kind of cold you feel in the early morning when you've just slipped from your warm blankets, the kind that settles on your skin and then sinks into your bones.

Grant's eyes don't leave Robin until the car pulls away, and as he's craning his neck to catch one last glimpse he sees Robin standing on his tip toes to wave Grant goodbye. He waves back, but the windows are tinted and they're already too far away.

Jason has a secret, and an embarrassing one at that. He knows if anyone ever found out he'd never be able to live it down. Jason doesn't even know how it started really, it's not like he's ever been interested in the latest trends or celebrity gossip.

Jason will blame Rena, because it's easier than analyzing the alternative. Technically it started with a routine hostage situation, but for deflection purposes, it starts with a link to an app that's trying too hard to be Vine. He'd squinted at it, toothbrush still in his mouth, half convinced it was a rickroll.

Jay: Why are you up?

Ren: Why are YOU up?

Jay: I asked you first.

Ren: I messaged you first

Jay: Not how that works.

He had rolled his eyes at the time, finishing up his nightly routine, reluctantly chewing on the multivitamins he's supposed to take every night before bed. The gummies only, never the pills.

Ren: did you watch the video

Jay: I'm not clicking an unknown link, Rena.

Ren: wow full name

Jay is typing...

Ren: Not an excuse for you to use my real full name

Ren: seriously watch the video!!

Jason remembers huffing, he probably put it off till the last second, until he was curled up in bed and on the cusp of finally getting some rest. It's all secondary to the video though, the familiar face split into a wolfish grin, those pretty eyes catching the flash of cameras and sending a wink towards the viewer. It's obviously some kind of rich person event, paparazzi lined up and a carpet laid out on the damn ground, but you wouldn't know it from how the boy is dressed. The orange and blue jacket over the button up would probably make him snort usually, but all he can think about is broad shoulders and warm skin under his hands. Unwarded he remembers what Grant's bare chest looked like, and then the image of strong shoulders wrapped in Jason's cape. He doesn't know how many times he watches the video before the next message comes through.

Ren: isn't he hot?

Jay: Who is he?

Jason already knows of course, but Rena doesn't know that, and he's not keen on informing her. She might start getting ideas.

Ren: Grant Kane, he's some old money CEOs son from New York or something

Jay: And?

Kentucky, Jason corrects mentally, Adeline Kane is from New York but the Wilson family lives in Kentucky.

Ren: I heard his mom is coming to your charity gala next week

Jason's heart skips a beat, teeth sinking into his lip to bite back the giddy grin trying to break through.

Jay: Once again, and?

Ren: And? C'mon when do we get to see new faces at these things? Especially ones as pretty as his!

Jealousy twinges in his chest, churning hotly in his stomach for a moment before he's hit with a flash of guilt.

Jay: oh? You interested

Ren: Pft nah

Ren: this is for you

Ren: my ducks are in a row

Jay: Hurtful, but whatever. I don't even know him. Maybe I don't want that duck in my row.

Ren: Start being real with yourself rn

Ren: I'm coming over tomorrow so we can decide on what you're wearing<333

Usually he matches with Bruce, or Dick if he shows up. He can only imagine what Rena is going to try to talk him into. Technically, Jason is unpresented, even though everyone else his age has already. Most pups present around thirteen, Jason is turning sixteen soon. Leslie says it'll be any day now, that with time, and love, and a steady three meals a day Jason will come into his own in no time. Jason isn't so sure.

Rena herself is a beta, but she's always been a bit of a rule breaker. More so than Jason anyway. She always goes above and beyond with her outfits for these things, with the kind of passion obviously bred from living with the biggest fashion mogul in Gotham. He can only imagine what her plans to play matchmaker are going to entail.

Ren: I've enlisted Eddie to help me

Jason stops, fingers hovering over the keyboard, jaw slack. The indignity! He doesn't need a- an intervention to help him get a date!

Jay: When did you guys even start talking?

Ren: YOU gave me his number

Jay: That was a courtesy! You weren't actually supposed to use it!

Ren: 😜

Jason scowls at his phone. He switches over to his chat with Eddie, certain the omega is still awake watching a terrible obscure movie he's going to tell Jason all about when they see each other again.

Jaybin: I've been betrayed, forsaken, abandoned.

KD: Ok edgelord lmao

Jaybin: STOP laughing I've been the victim of a conspiracy!

KD: Are people on Twitter calling you guys vampires again or do they have something more interesting?

Jaybin: Not that kind of conspiracy.

KD: ???

There's a pause as Eddie stops typing, Jason assumes to go Google it, before his speech bubble pops up again.

KD: Is this about me and Rena wingmanning for you

Jaybin: SO YOU ADMIT TO IT! FIEND! SCOUNDREL!

KD: Weird way to say thank you but okay

Jaybin: I don't need help.

KD: ok well we would LIKE to help

KD: please let us

Jason purses his lips. He hates when Eddie does this. Like he's the one being difficult here. Sometimes he feels like everyone treats him even younger than he is. Just because he hasn't presented doesn't mean he's a baby. He can't wait to be sixteen, hopefully by then he'll know his designation too.

Jaybin: Fine, but I retain full rights to veto anything you pick or any plan you make.

Eddie's response is a gif of a cat doing a happy dance, and though he rolls his eyes he likes the message. He's added to a new chat immediately, one with the three of them in it. Rena sends the video to this new chat, apparently named Operation: HONEYPOT. Jason finds quickly that his lack of admin rights means he can't change it.

He huffs, watching the two messages back and forth. Sending photos he's already seen and telling him information he already knows about Grant. The screen slowly goes dark as his eyes flutter closed, burying his face in the milky hazelnut scent just barely managing to cling to the shirt he's been using as a pillowcase, the MCTC logo pressed against his cheek.

It's a guilty pleasure, he supposes, Grant's smell in his nose as he imagines what his voice sounds like, of Grant pressing into his touch instead of flinching away. He switches to an app easily passing as a calculator, inputting the password without thought to pull up the tracking grid.

He skims over everyone else's - Bruce and Alfred are in the manor, Natalia is in her manor on the boundary of Little Italy and Summerset, Dick's phone is at least in his BludHaven apartment, Barbie is still staying at her dad's house until she gets used to her wheelchair - the one he's looking for is marked with the Robin symbol, blinking steadily, somewhere in Kentucky. The sky is probably clear for him, a star filled sky unobstructed by the pollution of the city. He imagines Grant staring out at the sky, red lip caught between his teeth, thinking about Jason. What he might be doing as he does.

Jason nods off, eyes fluttering shut, matching his breath to the gentle pulse on the screen.

[middimidoris]

Ten characters. Ten fandoms.

Thanks for the tag @acrossthesestars 💚

Vax'ildan

Vax was the gateway to Critical Role for me. I find myself constantly thinking of him or any of the other Liam O'Brien characters often. His brash actions and protectiveness over his sister and friends, is inspiring to me. Plus I love a good emotional and tragic backstory. 2. Daemon Targaryen

Listen, I love a tragic man and he is no exception. Matt Smith does such an exceptional job portraying Daemon and his reckless and overbearing personality. It's a marvel to watch.

3. Junkrat

I have been a massive fan of Overwatch for years and Junkrat is one of those characters that has stuck with me. Him having a best friend his whole life, getting into trouble and no one liking him is so relatable. Plus meeting his VA was the cherry on top of my Overwatch career.

4. Tech

Tech will always be a part of my heart even if I can't bring myself to draw him right now or watch any Bad Batch. He represented me and who I am. I still am a firm believer he is alive.

5. Sanji

I remember watching One Piece back in 2008 and obsessing over Sanji. He was everything I wanted to be, a good cook, a best friend, and a great fighter. He is a sunshine man and also genuinely so much fun to watch in the show/anime.

6. Tohru Honda

The OG anime girl I wanted to be. Fruits Basked got me into cosplay and so many other animes. Tohru is so sweet, caring, kind, and just wants to help people. In many ways, she is who I became. Tohru is everything.

7. Bucky Barnes

My boy. The man, the myth, the legend, Bucky. He got me inspired to draw after many years of not drawing. He kicks bullies and doesn't give a shit what others think. He is also another one of my trauma boys I can't get enough of. Bucky is the best and I will never get over him.

8. Dick Grayson

My DC boy. Well, one of them anyway. I have been following his journey through comics and the Titans show. It's been so nice to see him finally get some more spotlight. Plus, I can't get enough of his relationships between all the batfam.

9. Rapunzel

An artist and trying to be brave. Two things I constantly strive for. Tangled is my comfort movie and probably my most watched.

10. Caleb Widogast

Caleb inspired my OC that I feel closest to. I find his backstory so heart wrenching. Liam portrays trauma and dealing with loss so poetically through Caleb, it's hard to not love him.

No pressure tags: @eyes-of-the-rave @chaotic-fey @keylethswife @feralremy@xombigirl

[random-raven]

WHAT R UR THOUGHTS ON WD2 NOW THAT U FINISHED IT????

OH MY GOSH IT WAS SOOOO GOOD I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT

SPOILERS FOR WD2

SO THE WHOLE VIBES ARE QUITE A BIT DIFFERENT FROM THE OG GAME BUT I REALLY DO LIKE THE LIGHTER TONES IN THE GAME

While I’m am VERY attached to Aiden and the rest of the cast from the first watch dogs I think I might be even more attached to San Francisco dedsec

I WAS SOOOOO HAPPY THAT WE GOT MORE OF RAYMOND KENNEY, T-bone is sooo dear to me and having him back for the 2nd game was GREAT

I got VERY attached to everyone in dedsec but I immediately did adore Horatio, but also I got a serious sense of dread anytime he was on screen and I was just like “what is going to happen with him what’s going to go wrong” AND I WAS NOT OKAY WHEN IT WENT WRONG

I also got very attached to Wrench but more in a “I want to throw him into a brick wall” way than I did with Horatio

I LOVE THE LITTLE MISSION WITH AIDEN, LOVE TO SEE THAT MAN LURKING AROUND FIGHTING CRIME

Also the Defalt cult(??) thing that was happened was a mission I got very invested in, because anytime I see him I have the insatiable urge to destroy Defalt

I enjoyed being able to stun enemies too instead of outright killing them, I tried to play more into the hacktivist role so I didn’t really kill people as much as I did in the first game

IT WAS INSANE WATCHING THE SCALE OF DEDSECS OPERATIONS GETTING BIGGER AND BETTER AND OMG I FELT SO PROUD OF THEM ALL BY THE END THEYRE A LITTLE FAMILY

Also horatio deserved so much better sobbing crying

The game was INCREDIBLE- however I have started playing legion and going to legions from wd2 has made me a biiit underwhelmed by it

I am going to try and give it a chance but I’m not nearly as attached to the recruits I’m getting as I am to the established characters

BUT I DIGRESS WD2 WAS AMAZING AND IVE ALREADY STARTED TO REPLAY IT

[comatosebunny09]

Playing with Fire

Please don’t judge me for this one. I don’t condone cheating in any way, shape, or form. I just…yeah. This was going to be my OG Dirty, Pretty Things series, but I ended up taking it in a different direction. Anyways!

Genre: Smut, Angst, Modern AU

Warnings: Graphic Description of Smut, OOC Kyojuro, Dom Kyojuro, Female Reader, Cheating, Mentions of Alcohol

Please enjoy!

The outcome is predetermined.

You're a sharp woman, after all.

Kyojuro invites you over to his apartment a year after the breakup. You catch up on old times with drinks, laughter, half-grins, and...

And, you’re not stupid. You know where this will lead.

You're inebriated; not belligerent, but you can't risk getting a DUI on the drive home. Not when your career is finally taking off. So, he offers you the spare bedroom a quarter to midnight. He's had less than you to drink, but his speech is slightly muddled, and he can barely keep his eyes open.

It’s somehow comforting to see that he’s still a lightweight.

Though you're cautious at first, you accept his offer for refuge. Luckily, you did not plan for this.

He gives you one of his shirts because, "you're wearing a hoodie and jeans, and it is much too hot to sleep like that!"

It’s also nice to know that he’s still an insufferable gentleman.

It feels dirty to be wearing his clothes again. To have the soft cotton hugging your naked body. Against your better judgement, your loins throb with excitement. You know that he belongs to another, but you shrug it off. You're overthinking again, silly girl. It's not that serious; not that deep. Friends share clothes all the time.

It's barely been ten minutes since he's left the room and you to your own devices before—

"Are you really going to stay here by yourself?" he beckons through the inky darkness, voice intertwined with alcohol and sinister undertones. “Come lie with me.”

Your body moves of its own volition. Before you know it, you've fled from the guest bedroom to follow his shadow through the hallway.

His bedroom is warm and spacious, highlighted by slivers of moonlight and suburban sounds which cascade in through the curtains. The bed's closer to the window now. The blanket isn’t the same one you bought him back then. There's a flat-screen T.V. on the wall now, but the dresser's the only stagnant thing in here. That, and your labored breathing.

You've always been nervous in his room for some reason.

Inwardly, you wonder if she's the one who bought him the new sheets. If the arrangement of furniture and the new candles and curtains are her additions. His voice filters in from the closet as you fight to calm your nerves.

"You’ve been here a thousand times before," he says, "make yourself at home."

You're beneath the soft linen without thinking about it. Unblinking eyes focus on the ceiling, all senses trained on this moment. You squeeze yourself as close to the wall as you can, praying that you can be absorbed into it as Kyojuro climbs into the space beside you. There's this distance between you two, both physical and metaphorical. Enough that you can conquer it and reach over and touch his hand to memorize the firmness, roughness, and weight of it all over again. Yet, far enough to keep a wall of distrust up.

You're not blind. You know what will eventually happen. But maybe you don't.

Assumptions are what tore your relationship apart in the first place.

Sleep draws you into its murky depths. It's 00:17 and you have to be up in about four hours for the drive home. You're going to forget about him for now and this moment of uneasiness and gut-wrenching feelings. He is your ex-boyfriend, after all. However, wispy tendrils of affection still surge through you after all this time.

He's being infuriatingly respectful, as well. Has made no effort to disrupt you or—oh.

Oh, this.

What is this?

Arms snake around your waist suddenly, hauling your back into hot flesh, bottom nestling snuggly into the vertex of his thighs. You're wide-eyed and your heart thrums loudly in your throat. He noses the sensitive skin behind your ear. Whispers, "I need something to hold onto while I sleep," as if tasting your unease.

This moment feels unclean. You like it, however. Wish you could preserve it forever in the recesses of your mind like an old polaroid. The shock drains away and you settle into his arms like it's second nature. For now, you will enjoy this while it lasts and regret your choice later.

Don't friends cuddle like this from time to time, anyway?

Again, sleep promises you the best of things. You just can't win, however, because...

Well, in the impenetrable silence, he's kissing you. Lips moving languidly against your neck. An array of sensations tear through the surface of your skin, like a warm breeze coasting through a meadow. His need is apparent, prodding your inner thigh with its long, thick, blistering heat.

Just like you remembered it.

Wait. Wait. This has to stop. Yet, you make no move to slow his advances.

A hand slips beneath your shirt, over your ribcage; envelopes your breast, kneading it with the finesse of a patient artist. He plucks your nipple to its peak. Languorously, he grinds into you, humming dirty, filthy things into the shell of your ear, a breathy groan erupting from your mouth in reply.

"Did you miss me?" he croons. Spreads your thighs and tugs your panties to one side. Eases a finger into you and, oh fuck. Your eyes roll into the back of your head. It's been far too long.

"I know you did," he mutters. His finger works in conjunction with his grinding. Works your pussy into a drooling mess. "You're already so wet. Did you wear these just to tempt me?"

This is wrong. So very wrong and you are being so very dirty and disrespectful and uncaring. You haven't had sex for months, however. You counted, remember? It's not that you haven't tried. Your body just hasn’t craved another man for quite some time.

Suddenly, you’re on your back. Kyojuro climbs over you, eyes glimmering like fire in the moonlight. He pins your wrists above your head with one hand whilst tearing your panties down your hips with the other. You help him rid you of the cloth, arching up from the mattress, blaming the desire to be bare on the Vodka coursing through your system.

His engorged cock leaks pre-cum as he presses it into your slit. You writhe, missing that heat. Missing the salty aroma and the feel of jutting hips fitting to your thighs like a jigsaw piece.

"If you weren't such a temptress, I wouldn't have to punish you," Kyojuro croaks. Latches onto the juncture of your shoulder and neck, then eases home in one swift, saturated thrust.

It's a chain reaction, the way the ribbons of self-restraint rip inside of you. His thrusts are arduous and fervent to match the elevating raunchiness of his words. He alternates between pulling out of you halfway, then completely, only to piston his hips back in, hard. He releases your hands and pushes the shirt skyward, ripping it off your shoulders. Your nipples pucker as they are engulfed by his greedy mouth and rough fingers. You push against his thighs, feeling your orgasm claw upward.

You don't want this to end. Not yet. Not like this.

"Move your hands," he growls, quickening his pace. When you don't abide, he gathers them above you again. This is too much. You don't know how much longer you will last.

Abruptly, he turns you over. Shoves your head into the pillows as he bunches your hair into his fist and yanks. He forces his cock into you once more. You meld into the sheets, limbs refusing to move.

"Fuck me," he orders. Your toes curl. When did he become so vulgar?

"Fuck me. Now." A succession of slaps to your ass has you moving, throwing your hips back into him with animalistic desire. "Shit," he mutters. A shrivel of pride takes up residence in your gut. You can still get him off; bring dirty phrases to that otherwise kind mouth of his. Absently, you wonder if she can do the same.

Clearly not if he's here, letting you fuck him with zero abandon in their bed.

"Mm, fuck, that's a good girl. Such a good, beautiful girl. You take me so fucking well.”

The final constraints of your self-control snap. A shudder ricochets through your body, gliding from the tips of your toes to the crown of your head. Eyes roll back, teeth clench. Your pussy spasms around him, and you're spiraling. He isn't too far behind, dragged into his own release by your contractions. Hot spurts of cum cascade down your inner thigh as he unsheathes himself. He leaves you clawing at the sheets, trying to quell your breath in the fetal position.

You will feel this later.

An involuntary, wicked smile creeps onto your face. Somewhere far off in your mind, you should feel bad. In this moment, in this snapshot in time, however...you're invincible.

He returns with a towel to wipe you down, mindful of your swelling labia.

"Sit up," he commands, expression softening.

You abide and he pulls a fresh shirt over your head. Interweaves your fingers with his and tears you from the bed, setting you down on the recliner in the corner—another addition to the room you hadn't noticed.

You watch through a vignette as Kyojuro changes the sheets, remarking that "wow, you came a lot! I suppose you enjoyed it, even after all this time!" When he is done, he scoops you from the chair into his arms and settles you against the cool sheets again.

He pours himself into the space beside you. Stamps your forehead with a kiss while pulling you to lay across his chest. This time, sleep does manage to take hold of you. The pounding of his heart in your ear, lethargic fingers working like spidery spindles through your hair, are the last things to assault your senses before you drift off with the tide slumber.

Masterlist | Next >>

[dootiexcupcake]

cheol angst pt 2

First part

Final part

Pairing: Seungcheol x reader (not necessarily romantic since the type of relationship isnt specified)

Warnings: angst, no happy ending (again. i love these lol), miscommunication

Word count: 481

A/N: heyo this was a request for a part 2 of my og cheol angst fic so here we are! I had fun making this tbh, for some reason writing angst comes easier for me despite the fact ive only ever (officially) wrote 2 angst fics. but any ways heres the fic lol

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.

It’s been a week or so since you and Seungcheol had that nasty argument. The wounds are still there despite your best efforts to suppress them and distract yourself.

You care about him too much to let it go..

You’re sitting by your bedroom window. Staring out of it blankly as the scene replays in your head. 

Thinking of so many ways you could have worded what you said differently,

Thinking of so many ways he could have responded differently.

A solemn sigh escaped your lips as you thought about a particular comment he made during the argument, “acting like a child?” You quietly whispered to no one in your empty room.

He’s never said anything like that to you before. Maybe it was stress from the job causing him to not think straight and just shoot off at the mouth. All things considered, you did catch him when he just got home from work. So your timing was way off. 

Yeah that’s it...or maybe it wasn’t?

You’ve seen Seungcheol stressed out before, you’ve seen him get angry, and unfortunately you have argued with him before. But not once has he ever came for your intelligence. Belittled you so vehemently. 

So easily. 

Was it you? Was it really you?

All that pressure could have caused him to finally snap and tell you how he truly feels about you.

You shake your head trying to rid the thought from your mind, ‘me and cheol have been friends for years! Why would he supposedly lead me on like that and then drop me out of nowhere?’ You reasonably think to yourself. The logical part of your brain is playing a good role in this! But that nagging emotional part is singing a different tune. One about him always hating you, pitying you even. Never having an ounce of respect for you since day one.

Those opposing trains of thought make your head hurt and you go and lie down on your bed, trading your view out the window for the spinning blades of your ceiling fan. Much like the machine above you, your head is swirling with a multitude of emotions. Ranging from woeful sorrow to a gut wrenching need to move forward and away from this whole situation.

Just give him some space for now! He’ll come back around for sure~

You received that message from your friend Jeonghan the day after the argument. Jeonghan, positive as ever, was trying with all his power to reassure you of your worries for your best friend.

You try to use Jeonghans words as a voice of reason to bring the polarizing thoughts in your head to a halt.

But as you look down at your phone and see the 10 unanswered calls you made to Seungcheol . . .

You think he may have meant those last words he said to you.

.·:*¨ ✘♚✘ ¨*:·.

main m.list

svt m.list

[jackoshadows]

Jon Snow and Arya Stark have quite a few parallels in their journeys, from their childhood in Winterfell as outcasts and underdogs to their joining organizations that require them to give up their family and love.

Keeping in mind the OG outline, Jon and Arya’s first POV chapters have some glaring parallels and meeting of characters. Look at the similarities here:

Jon:

Benjen Stark stood up. “More’s the pity.” He put a hand on Jon’s shoulder.

“Come back to me after you’ve fathered a few bastards of your own, and we’ll see how you feel.”

Jon trembled. “I will never father a bastard,” he said carefully. “Never!” He spat it out like venom.

Suddenly he realized that the table had fallen silent, and they were all looking at him. He felt the tears begin to well behind his eyes. He pushed himself to his feet.

“I must be excused,” he said with the last of his dignity. He whirled and bolted before they could see him cry. [--] wrenched free of their grip and ran, half-blind, for the door. Ghost followed close at his heels, out into the night. Jon I, AGoT

Arya:

The septa examined the fabric. “Arya, Arya, Arya,” she said. “This will not do. This will not do at all.”

Everyone was looking at her. It was too much. Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister’s disgrace, but Jeyne was smirking on her behalf. Even Princess Myrcella looked sorry for her. Arya felt tears filling her eyes. She pushed herself out of her chair and bolted for the door. Septa Mordane called after her. “Arya, come back here! Don’t you take another step! Your lady mother will hear of this. In front of our royal princess too! You’ll shame us all!”

Arya stopped at the door and turned back, biting her lip. The tears were running down her cheeks now. She managed a stiff little bow to Myrcella. “By your leave, my lady.” [ --]  Nymeria was waiting for her in the guardroom at the base of the stairs. [--] “Come,” she whispered to Nymeria. She got up and ran, the wolf coming hard at her heels. Arya I, AGoT

What happens next could be important, in that, Jon’s need for solitude and to get away from the reminder of his outsider/bastard status leads to him and Ghost meeting Tyrion Lannister in the courtyard. Whereas Arya needing to get away from the Septa, her sister and friends leads to her and Nymeria meeting with Jon Snow at the covered bridge.

Could this be a reference to the Jon/Arya/Tyrion love triangle in the OG outline - where with Jon’s first chapter he runs out and meets Tyrion, soon followed by Arya’s first chapter where she runs out and meets Jon.  Or it could simply be Jon, Arya and Tyrion looking for solitude to calm their mind and finding company amongst their own.

We get Tyrion giving Jon some life lessons on embracing one’s identity - “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.” and Jon and Arya debating societal rights and wrongs - ‘The Women is important too!’ and ‘Girls get the arms, but not the swords and bastards get the swords, but not the arms’.

In any case, these first POV chapters for Jon and Arya highlight that Westeros is an unjust and unfair society for our main characters. At the feast, Jon is reminded that he will never have what his siblings have on account of his birth and Arya is reminded that she will forever be compared to Sansa and never measure up to that in the Septa and her mother’s eyes.

A point to note here is that 14 year old Jon Snow made a clumsy exit, stumbling into serving girls and getting his feet all tangled up (I don’t blame him for his emotional state). In contrast, Arya made an exit befitting a lady

But if she was uncertain, Septa Mordane was not. “Just where do you think you are going, Arya?” the septa demanded.

Arya glared at her. “I have to go shoe a horse,” she said sweetly, taking a brief satisfaction in the shock on the septa’s face. Then she whirled and made her exit, running down the steps as fast as her feet would take her. - Arya, AGoT

Snarky Arya FTW!  I thought this was worth highlighting considering fandom often labels Arya as being too emotional.

[drwhitefox]

Full resident evil village review: SPOILERS

So, let us start from the beginning. We began with Mia telling a fairy tale to Rosemary Winters (Rose). The fairy tale coincidentally falls in line with the four houses, Dimitrescu, Heisenburg, Benevento and Moreau. However, Mia cuts off the fairy tale in mid-sentence when she sees Rose had fallen asleep, leaving the fairy tale unfinished until the end of the game. There, the gameplay begins. We know that it has been three years since the Dulvey incident, and it had been covered up as a gas leak. After some shenanigans, Mia is gunned down from multiple points and killed by Chris Redfield. He takes Ethan and Rose, and the game begins. Ethan finds himself stranded alone beside a corpse, and he began strolling through a snowy path until he reaches the Village.

Ethan reaches the castle and meets the Dimitrescu family, which they proceed to torture him. For the rest of the castle gameplay, you will sneak past Lady D and take down the daughters one by one as they try to kill you. By killing them, it will anger Lady D in which she will turn into a Bloodborne type dragon. It was so fucking cool. After killing Lady D (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`), Ethan will find a jar not knowing what it is, he shows it to the Duke and tells him that Rose was not at the castle in which Duke answers that he is holding his daughter, specifically her head. DUN DUN DUUUUUNN. That revelation hurt my head and made me not care about Lady D, to be honest. So, Ethan now has to collect four yellow jars containing Rose’s body parts for all other houses to assemble his daughter back. (Poor Ethan)

So on to the best part for me. The scariest part. I don’t want to spoil this, but that Baby was fucking nightmare fuel, like who in their twisted mind could create such an atrocity. The Benevento house reminded me so much of PT which was fucking amazing. It would be best if you played it yourself to feel what I’m saying. While at the Benevento house, Ethan hears Mia on the radio pleading with Ethan to forgive her, which was weird because she’s dead, right?

The Moreau house, or swamp, I have to say it’s one of my least favourite gameplay, though it’s still far better than Heisenberg gameplay. Salvator Moreau and Ethan’s interaction was hilarious. I loved how Ethan cannot see past this guy and kept underestimating him. I loved their interaction. And that’s all good, I have to say about that battle.

The Heisenberg, Ughhhhh. The part of this scenario dragged on, and I wouldn’t say I liked any part of it at all. I think the reason had to be the strip of the gothic aesthetic and villains variants that made this part not good. Heisenberg’s character arc felt rushed or just unfulfilling. Either, I had more enormous expectations for him.

After beating Heisenberg, Ethan faces Mother Miranda as she began teasing him. There we learned that Rose was perfected Evelyn or E type. And mother Miranda, by shapeshifting into Mia, wanted Rose to resurrect her Daughter Eva that died hundred years ago by Spanish Flue. She then rips out Ethan’s heart, seemingly killing him.

There we switch to Chris bolder punching Redfield. We found out that Miranda kidnapped Mia and turned into her, and took Rose, He no longer works for BSAA for some reason that is still unknown, and Canine began racing with BSAA to Miranda. Chris goes through a many Lycans hoard, stumbles upon Miranda’s lab; there, we got a bunch of lore dump.

Ozward E Spencer, you’ll remember him. Yeah, Miranda, on the path to reviving her daughter, invited young Spencer to the village to work with her. However, their ideology clashed, and Spencer thought that he should work to further human development, not for one person like Miranda. There Spencer revealed that he found “the Progenitor” in Africa and began developing the viruses and Founding Umbrella logo that was carved in the cave, creating the Umbrella Corporation. The village is the origins of the Umbrella and everything that follows.

Chris finds Mia (the real one)

Ethan wakes up in a wasteland, incredibly cold and suffering. Evelyn appears out of nowhere and reveals that Ethan shouldn’t be walking. She was indicating that Ethan died three years ago in the Baker mansion by Jack Baker. By unknown means, the mold consumed his dead body and revived him, making him a perfected E type. (irony with his name starting with letter E)

Miranda resurrects Rose from the mould, and Ethan fights Miranda, killing her and killing himself in the process. Ethan and Chris take Rose, trying to flee, but a giant mutation is heading their way, and the only way to stop it is to blow the whole village sky high. Ethan, already dying, couldn’t move forward, takes a detonator and gives Rose to Chris, telling him to take care of her and (teach her how to be strong)(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞. Chris, Mia and Rose, along with Canine, escapes the village before detonation. Ethan dies a hero. (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`) Then time skip happens, IDK how long, but we see a girl who is merely identical to Ethan exited the bus onto a graveyard; it’s Rose visiting Ethan’s grave. A man in a black suit was waiting for her in a black car, and he makes a joke calling her Evelyn, which angers Rose. She enters the car, and the man tells her that she’s a lot like Ethan. While the vehicle droves away but suddenly stop beside an unknown person that we will not see. It ends with a cliffhanger, setting up the next entry.

During a credits a woman finishes the fairy tale.

I didn’t go to up most detail in this, trust me when i say you have to play the whole thing to experience what I’m saying. I loved it, yes there was some flaws but it was in a sense minor.

Welp, there was a lot of plot twist and a gut-wrenching revelation that I didn’t expect from this game. I loved Ethan not as a character but just as the protagonist in the Resident Evil game. I always felt that when Re goes back to the og characters, it becomes an action game. Ethan was to be a breath of fresh air. Even though he has gone through a lot, he endured every single pain thrown towards him and pushed forward. He isn’t Leon and Chris or even Jill and Claire, but I think that made him more unique.

I gave the game 8/10 hahah.

[bubmyg]

there was no particular reason i wrote all this down other than reading the translations to my universe made me cry last week because i’m just Like this. this is a mini compilation of yoongi lyrics that i hold gently in my palm and close to my heart in a he’s my artist for life kind of way. these aren’t all my favorite yoongi lyrics, i certainly have more but not ones that fit this general vibe. 

this is like extremely disorganized, i kind of just wrote it like a journal (and i’ll probably copy it to my bullet journal at some point actually). interpretations are my own, music is cool in that we can all read and hear the same thing and get different things out of it (which is why yoongi has often said he doesn’t attach specific meaning to things, giving it up to the listener instead)

so yeah. here’s me being fond of yoongi in 4k for no reason other than. idk. i wanted to. all translations are from doyoubangtan and doolsetbangtan. 

song request - lee sora ft suga

“I’ll be with you, for your birth and your end; That you’d remember that I’m with you, wherever you are; I’ll be a comfort for your life at any time, and so; please, that you’d lean on me and take a rest, every once in awhile.”

to me, this perfectly encapsulates what creating music is for yoongi in a two-fold kind of way. not only does he want his music to be a source of comfort for those who listen to it (just as the art of music is for himself), he’s also consistent in his assurance that taking a rest is okay. not being okay is okay. simply existing for the time being is okay. it’s a gentle empathy that comes from the experienced heart of someone who’s not going to tell you that it is okay, but will tell you that it won’t always be like this. friendly little moon trying to get you to smile with him on sleepless nights.

so far away - agust d ft suran

dream, will eventually be in full bloom at the end of hardships

this was on my undergrad graduation cap. it’s one of my favorite lyrics of all time. if so far away is my heart song, this is my heart lyric. this is a common motif in yoongi’s lyrics; dormancy is only temporary, you will bloom at the end of the cold winter.

dream, hope it to be there with you at your creation and at the end of your life

creation to end is another common motif n his lyrics. in this specific context, i imagine it to most closely be analogous to holding dreams close to you your entire life. dreams are dreams no matter how they manifest, even if they’re simply something you long for until your “end”.

Hope it to be there with you at your creation and at the end of your life; It will be generous to you wherever you stand; It will eventually be in full bloom at the end of hardships; The beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will the future be

the entirety of this song reads like a story and this last refrain reads like the conclusion (kind of). the slight wording change from the previous choruses means a lot in that regard, more definite and firm. you will be okay. maybe not now, maybe not next week. but you will be.

suga’s interlude - halsey ft suga

Though the dawn before sunrise is darkest; don’t forget the stars you longed for only rise in the darkness

just a really pretty but heart wrenching lyric in the context of the entire song. he’s also used this metaphor several times. i love me a good string of consistency with minor adaptations to fit the vibe. this song also made me cry the first time i read the translations lmao.

my universe - coldplay ft bts

Because the trial we face now is just for a moment anyway; All you have to do is to just keep shining bright like now; And we will follow you, embroidering this long night

this could mean so many things depending on how you wanted to contextualize it. of course the song is about love, so you could view it in that way. we’re in the midst of a global pandemic where we can’t see each other. or maybe it’s simply existence. continue to exist and one day your bright light will be followed even in the darkest of nights.

also the og title of telepathy being 잠시 (for a moment) is so...min yoongi you are so cool

people - agust d

Did someone say humans are the animals of wisdom?; The way I see it, humans are the animals of regret

Your ordinaries are my extraordinaries; Your extraordinaries are my ordinaries; Your ordinaries are my extraordinaries; Your extraordinaries are my ordinaries

super simple to understand which i think makes it more poignant. especially if you contextualize it with everything he’s said or written regarding the plight of fame and how he himself grapples with it as min yoongi.

28 - agust d ft niihwa

just this whole song. if song request encapsulates yoongi’s musical ethos, this captures a lot of his general musings.

paradise - bts

Just living like this, surviving like this, that’s my small dream; Dreaming dreams, grasping dreams, breathing breaths, it’s often too much

a more blunt take on the simply existing is a good enough dream. yoongi’s 2018 new years message was one of the things that made me go “yes. Him™” so paradise is very <3 for me

interlude: shadow - bts

Flying high scares me; I mean, nobody had told me; how lonely it is here –;how my leap could be my fall

another thing he uses frequently, even as recently as an interview regarding permission to dance. the contemplation of how a fall is far scarier than landing because getting back up is uncertain.

Yeah, I’m you and you’re me, do you finally get that now?; Yeah, you’re me and I’m you, do you finally get that now?

the entirety of this song is haunting particularly paired with the sampling and the music video as a visual but this part is just...the whole idea of competing internal voices throughout the narrative of the song or if you’d rather truly treat the lyrics like a piece of literature, you have quite the unreliable narrator, one that’s trying to grapple with his own sense of self.

140503 at dawn - agust d

Pretending that I’m not lonely, pretending that I’m not suffering; needlessly pretending that I’m okay, and pretending hard that I’m strong; I built a wall in front of me, “Don’t come inside”; I’m an island in this wide ocean, “Don’t abandon me”

the entirety of agust d just makes me ache but i mainly pulled this part because he uses the island metaphor consistently. here, it’s used like i said before; achingly.

this song also gets overlooked a lot in the larger context of agust d but anyway

eight - IU ft suga

Island, yeah this is an island; a small island that we made for each other; Yeah, mm, forever young, the word ‘forever’ is a sandcastle; A farewell is just like an emergency text warning of a disaster; A morning met together with yearning; As each of us pass this eternity, we’re sure to meet again on this island

can i be honest and say i forgot this song came out at the beginning of the pandemic. anyway, if you haven’t heard the various times that jieun has spoke about this song and it’s conveyance, i encourage you to. the music video also gives a beautiful visual.

i wrote a small analysis of this when it came out so i’ll just put it here 

burn it - agust d ft max

I hope you don’t forget that giving up decisively also counts as courage

of course this can absolutely be taken at a literal meaning especially considering he said a similar iteration of this to someone on kkul fm BUT i also like looking at it in context of the entire song because maybe this is him trying to convince himself too, especially considering the wording of the last chorus doesn’t change it so it implies in order to get past the fire u need to let it burn first? burn it = giving up on some aspect of pain?

i see why max didn’t shut up for eight months about making this song i wouldn’t either hello

outro: tear - bts

im including this one firstly because i love the song but secondly to say i knew the second u all were surprised by yoongi saying he wrote this as essentially a break up song for bts and they all cried while listening to it that y’all don’t actually read or interact w their lyrics fjdklafjsd

just bc it’s a rap song doesn’t mean it’s a diss or a flex. weirdos.

intro: never mind - bts

I hope you forget about all your mistakes and such; Never mind; It’s not easy, but engrave this in your heart; If you think you’re going to crash, accelerate more, you idiot; Never mind, never mind; Whatever thorny path it may be, go run; Never mind, never mind; There are a lot of things that you can’t control

the entire composition of nevermind is similar to first love and shadow to me where you can just hear the emotion in his voice while performing it

this is also another general idea that he mentions a few different times through different songs which as we’ve seen i am <3 for

intro: the most beautiful moment in life - bts

once again i don’t have a specific lyric to pull i just love this song so much and i feel like it isn’t talked about enough because first of all the use of the basketball throughout the instrumental, the incorporation of the origin of his stage name into an entire song regarding his general existence as a performer and coming into the beginnings of sizeable fame, and just his general way of essentially writing one giant ode to something he loves and analogizing it to something else he loves to talk through internal struggles.

aka im once again saying min yoongi you’re so cool

first love - bts

same line of awe from above this whole song is just a story, a poem, a journal entry, a beautiful confession, i don’t know. this is yoongi’s best bts solo u can argue with a wall about it also if you were able to see this live i hope u have a terrible week (im joking)

every fancam i’ve ever seen of this makes me cry. so. do with that what you will in regards to how i feel about this song.

[buckleyirondad]

we stick together (and see it through)

After a bad call, Buck shuts down, but luckily, Christopher is there to pick him back up.

Christopher Diaz Week, Day 4: Buck & Chris + “I’ve got you.”

Read on AO3

TW: OG Character Death (Implied Drowning; child) & Panic Attack (Buck)

Bobby had rules.

Like the ‘Q’ word, Bobby was planning to ban the term ‘simple call’ because more often than not, when those words were uttered, the call seemed to take a nasty turn.

They were called to a house where a teenager collapsed in her bedroom.

While her mother was distracted, knelt on the carpet as the team were handling her daughter, she suddenly realized that her young son was unaccounted for.

The boy was only five, and among the chaos, he’d ventured outside, falling into the outdoor swimming pool, hitting his head.

Buck, who'd headed downstairs to grab the backboard, was the first to find him; he sprinted across the grass and leaped into the pool, locking an arm around the child’s front as he screamed for help.

It was too late.

Trying to hide the tears filling her eyes, Hen called it.

With a gut-wrenching scream, the mother collapsed to her knees, comforted by a shaken Eddie, who knelt in front of her, uncertain of what he could but say, he didn’t flinch when her face collapsed against his shoulder. Tears filled his eyes, thoughts obviously locked onto Christopher as he pressed a hand to the woman’s back.

When Buck stood, he wavered on unstable legs, held up by Bobby’s firm grip on his shoulder.

It wasn’t anybody’s fault.

Although Bobby could count seven people who would blame themselves. Including himself.

Buck slipped away before Bobby could say anything to help Chimney who’d remained upstairs to care for the daughter.

***

Parking the truck, Bobby was the first to notice that they had visitors.

An excited Christopher was hanging beside the main entranceway with Carla.

Buck muttered to Eddie, his voice hoarse, “Go and get him.”

“See you out there,” Eddie pressed a kiss against Buck’s temple before spinning to unbuckle himself.

With morbid curiosity, Bobby watched as Eddie shook off what he’d witnessed, plastered on a grin, wiped his eyes, and hopped out of the engine.

“Christopher!” Eddie sang, holding out his arms, kneeling to pull his son into a needed hug; Bobby knew that he’d seen Christopher in that little boy, which is probably why Eddie didn’t let go, lifting Christopher clean off his feet.

Another station has transported the daughter on Bobby’s order, his team needed time to breathe.

He was going to play counselor soon enough; Hen, Chimney, and Eddie insisting that they should have noticed that another child lived in that house, or Buck believing that he should have run faster.

When the truth was simple, a scared mother was spread too thin, and it led to the most unfortunate of accidents.

That boy died; long before Buck even reached the backyard.

Bobby unbuckled himself, gazing up into the mirror.

Chimney raised his hand, patting Buck’s shoulder, his brow furrowed in concern as he reached for the door, jumping out.

Running her hands over her face, Hen made her way out of the engine as she scrunched her nose with a defined sniff.

When Buck’s eyes found Christopher, he titled his head to his shoulder, hiding a muffled cry behind his closed hand.

Bobby’s heart jumped into his throat, he went to speak but realized he wasn’t sure what he could say.

Buck scrambled to undo his belt before sliding to the opposite side of the engine, jumping out and taking long unconfident strides towards the locker room, actively avoiding Christopher.

Bobby leaned his hands against the dashboard, cursing himself inwardly.

Swimming pool. Tsunami.

The boy. Christopher.

“Oh—” Bobby couldn’t believe it taken him that long to put two and two together, “Crap.” He jumped out, closed the door, and sprinted towards the locker room, “Buck!”

Buck was sitting on the floor, back pressed up against the lockers, and arms wrapped firmly around his locked knees.

Bobby slowed his breathing, gripping the doorframe a little too hard, “Hey, kid.” He said, using the softest tone that he could muster.

Buck’s eyes widened startled, and the gaps between each breath grew shorter, the action itself more labored.

Buck hadn’t dried off since diving into the pool, his forever growing hair was wet-through, dripping onto his pale face. On the scene, Hen had wrapped a foil blanket around him, but he must have brushed it off while they were driving back.

“Okay.” Bobby got onto his knees, in front of Buck, giving him enough space to escape if he needed to, “I need you to look at me, kid.”

Buck locked eyes with him as he panted through a strangled breath.

“Copy my breathing, all right?”

Buck shook his head, frantic in motion, only exalting his panic, “Bobby—”

“Buck.” Bobby remained gentle but spoke strictly, “I’m gonna need you to listen to me.”

“Can’t—”

“I know you don’t usually want to,” Bobby mused, “But I’m gonna need to you, this time around.” He held up his hands, raising them as he took a deep breath in, “Just like me, okay?”

It doesn’t take long for Buck to fall into rhythm with Bobby, but as the panic attack slowed, the delayed reaction to the cold kicked in, Buck’s teeth chattered as he spread his fingers across his knees.

It didn’t help that the station had the air conditioning at full belt to beat the California heat.

Bobby pulled off his turnout coat, “Come here, kid,” He beckoned softly, with careful hands he pulled against Buck’s shoulders, coaxing him forward, making room for Bobby to wrap the turncoat around him, “That better?”

Buck nodded, darting his eyes around, “Yeah.”

Bobby combed his hand through Buck’s hair, allowing formalities to slip away as he gave his pseudo-son the hug he needed.

Christopher’s worried tone filled the room, “Buck?”

Bobby moved, perching on the edge of the bench as he spun his head.

Christopher hung in the door with a concerned Eddie lingering behind, their eyes locked onto Buck.

Christopher didn’t waver as he tossed his crutches aside and moved around the bench, throwing himself into Buck’s arms, tangling his legs across his lap as he muttered, “I’ve got you.”

Buck froze, not moving as he scanned Christopher with his teary blue eyes. Studying him like he would disappear if he dared blink.

Christopher noticed this, reaching up to grab Buck’s cheek with his small hand as he instructed, “Don’t be sad, Buck.”

Buck’s lower lip trembled as he cried out a lie, “I’m not sad.”

“Yeah, you are,” Christopher told him with a frown, “But that’s okay!” He ducked his head, laying it against Buck’s shoulder, curling himself around him.

Buck crumbled, his forehead falling against Christopher’s side as he released a sob, “Sorry.”

Christopher breathed, looping his arm behind Buck’s neck, “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”

Buck gazed up at him, “You promise?”

Christopher nodded, “I promise.”

Buck melted, folding his arms behind Christopher’s back, closing his eyes as he held him. Relishing in his safety, knowing that he was alive and that he was okay; at least, one kid he fought hard to save, was safe, well within his reach.

“Proud of you,” Christopher muttered, earning a slight sad chuckle from Buck.

Christopher was, hands down, one of the cleverest people that Bobby had ever met, he learned from his surroundings, and the world was better off with him doing so.

Bobby blinked away tears, his eyes finding Eddie, who was leaning against the doorframe, tears running down his cheeks as he crossed his arms. He wanted nothing more than to gather his son and husband into his arms, but this was once of those times where he couldn’t.

Nobody would ever understand what Buck and Christopher went through during the tsunami, that was an experience the pair went through together, which meant at times, such as these, they relied on one another for support.

Christopher probably didn’t even realize that the help that he was providing, but Buck relaxed, the tension rolling off his shoulders as he melted into his stepson’s embrace, the grief of the day dissipating, even if it didn’t last, it would have been worth it.

Remembering the loneliness behind Buck’s eyes when Bobby first met him, and now seeing the family that surrounded him, Bobby couldn’t help but smile.

Even following a bad call, Bobby was proud that Buck was no longer finding comfort in self-destructive activities but with a support network that would never let him fall.

Christopher Diaz-Buckley would always be around to catch Evan Diaz-Buckley.

[evakuality]

Mia, episode six

1.  Mia is faaaaaar too nice, even if it is because she’s happy after the evening before.  There’s no way I’d clean up someone else’s mess like this.  I mean, I had to once but that’s because it was New Year and in our open doorway and the guy was passed out.  But I literally only did it so I could close the door and keep the place safe overnight.  In a situation like this, you can bet that guy would be cleaning it up himself.  This puts an interesting spin on Hans and his irritation at Matteo for not helping clean after their party, though.  Like.  He really doesn’t have a leg to stand on here.  Poor Hans, though - has the unfortunate honour of being the one who gets confused by happy flat mates who are acting out of character because of the guys they like.

2.  I don’t remember the og for this very well, but did they give a reason why it had to be kept secret?  I don’t feel like I’ve had an explanation for why Mia thinks they need to keep quiet that they’re together.  I assume it’s the Kiki thing, but I haven’t seen it articulated yet?

3.  This little interaction between Hanna and Mia is so nice, though.  Hanna is such a sweetheart; I adore her.  I love that they have this friendship with the two of them.  It’s so nice to watch it growing more through the two seasons and seeing the consistency of that friendship over time as well.  I’m glad they decided to bring this through from the og.  I also really like that the Hanna/Jonas thing is different to the og’s one with Eva and Jonas.  Parts of that one I found quite.... uncomfortable, I guess.  And I didn’t think they should get back together.  Much as I disliked him, I did think P Chris was a better fit for Eva than Jonas, so the whole turn of that at the end was blah.  But here, I do believe Hanna and Jonas work together and I like seeing the way they work through this over the seasons.  By the time they get back together, I actually believe it.

4.  This whole ‘we have to keep it secret from Kiki’ conversation with the girls should imo have come before the morning meetup with Alex.  The whole ‘but Kiki was all cool with it’ ‘yeah no she wasn’t’ vibe works better with Mia making sure Alex keeps it quiet AFTER hearing that.  I don’t know.  This is a consistent problem Druck has.  Much as I love it, pacing etc isn’t their strongest suit.  But I live for my woman Sam being out here and making sure Mia knows exactly what she’s doing if/when she decides to carry on with Alex.

5.  Mia trying to slow Kiki’s exercise/healthiness drive and getting left further and further in the dust is truly funny to me.  I know of course that what Kiki is doing isn’t healthy at all and her obsession is too much.  But the fact that she’s clearly fitter than Mia does shine a light onto Mia’s way of going about stuff.  She is always certain she knows what’s right for other people, and that her way is always the right way.  While Kiki is taking things too far, Mia doesn’t have all the answers either.  Giving Kiki some respect and allowing her to voice how she feels is a better strategy, but it’s not one Mia (who we already know is super in need of being the one in control) is very good at doing.  Given that Sam literally just told us that Kiki semi-worships Mia, this whole image is interesting.  They are two different people with two very different sets of needs (in all aspects of their lives, but visually we are seeing this in the exercise) but neither of them is allowing the other to be who she is.  Mia tries to micromanage Kiki and Kiki tries to make Mia do exercise/live exactly like her.  There are clear reasons for this of course but the upshot is that they aren’t able to communicate effectively because they each assume the other needs what they themselves do.

6.  I have nothing much to say here except that I still really love the Hanna and Mia friendship.  I love that they discuss stuff with each other that’s quite important to them and worry about what’s troubling them.  If Mia struggles to communicate with Kiki, she doesn’t with Hanna.  And it’s nice that she’s got this person.  But what I don’t like is this sneaking around Mia’s doing.  She literally told Hanna about Alex, so there’s no reason to be this evasive about meeting him.  It was also a weird decision to have the lipstick thing be with Leonie and Sara rather than the friend group.  In the og it made sense and heightened the tension with Vilde.  Here, it’s just a random nod in a meaningless way.

7.  This scene with Mia and Alex should feel sort of lovely (they certainly have a nice chemistry together as actors), but I’m not feeling it because it’s such a short time since he was apparently the depth of all that is wrong with men, and I just didn’t believe her change of heart.  I’m not sure how you go from the awkward sort of ‘he is an asshole but I’m drawn to him anyway’ to this very easy happy moment.  Best thing here is Amira and her absolute insistence that no-one cam know she has a job - and also, like Sam, telling it like it is.  Keeping Kiki in the dark is both difficult and unkind.  But we already saw that Mia and Kiki are on different playing field so to speak and so obviously this is going to be an issue.  But now that literally all of her friends know, Kiki is going to be super devastated once she finds out they kept it from her.  Mia calling Amira out about having a job and not telling is real sidetracking as well - it’s not the same.  Amira having a job affects only her.  Mia and Alex affects other people and as Kiki’s friend, Mia should be telling her.

8.  It’s really interesting seeing Linn in this season.  I know her, obviously, from Matteo’s and in that one she’s not quite so bizarre or alarming.  She’s still quirky, but standing in someone’s room or hovering like this while talking nightmares isn’t really part of her thing there.  I’m finding her quite creepy in this and I’m glad this wasn’t my first introduction to her.

9.  But also, I do have to commend the acting in this season.  Mia is so comfortable around both Hanna and Alex, but with Kiki she’s so much tighter, more wound up and anxious.  And there’s a reason for that, of course, but it’s done so nicely.  And the way this scene with Kiki plays out is very good.  They both do a stellar job of expressing the emotions of the two characters.  And at least Mia told Kiki - clearly her friends talking to her has had an impact.  The way the scene is shot makes it all the more painful too.  To start it is, like Kiki jokes, like a date.  Very close and intimate, lots of PoV shots across the table, but by the end there are a lot more shots of them with the wide expanse of the table between them.  The more distanced they are emotionally, the more often we get that shot.  

10.  I know we’re supposed to feel Mia agreeing to give up Alex for Kiki’s sake is a wrench and we’re supposed to be heartbroken about it, but I can’t feel it.  There wasn’t enough of ‘nice’ Alex after the assholey bits for me to genuinely believe that giving him up would be a struggle.  Kiki even reminded her - she thinks he’s an asshole.  He is an asshole.  Just because he’s nice to her when he wants to be doesn’t change all that other stuff.  So, yeah.  The end of this scene really isn’t having the impact on me that I think it’s supposed to.  The acting is great, and both of them are doing a wonderful job here, but the romance to this point was too rushed and/or he was shown to be too much of an asshole for this to actually have any impact on me.  

11. And the fact that she literally goes from Kiki and that conversation to Alex makes me actually dislike her.  He is not worth it.  Plus, if she was going to carry on seeing him, she should have been honest with Kiki.  Yeah, I lost a lot of respect for Mia after that.  Yikes.  I don’t remember this from Noora’s season at all, not being so direct in saying ‘yeah I’ll stop seeing him for you’ and then literally running straight to him.  But I could be wrong - I did block out a lot of her season, after all.

[editoress]

20. LOST & FOUND trunk | trapped under water | solitary confinement Lucien (A Court of Thorns and Roses)

This one’s for those of you who respect the OG, the only book in the series that matters.  I miss them so much.

*

No one stopped Tamlin as he ran in powerful, lunging strides, paws eating up leagues upon leagues.  There was nothing here that would dare face a high lord.  But he was most certainly being watched.  No doubt Rhysand’s creatures were eager to report back for their master’s amusement.  Later, that would infuriate Tamlin, but that was not the offense for which he would kill Rhysand with his own hands.

Rhysand had come to the Spring Court to bear the news himself, alone.  He was, if anything, more confident than he had been under Amarantha’s rule.  His lands were his own again, not only untouched but thriving over the years that had been an unspeakable hardship for the Spring Court.  He coolly radiated power, and he had clearly enjoyed the disparity as he stood before Tamlin, who was still spending himself to restore the essence of the land.

Tamlin had met him with harsh, wary stoicism.  He had believed he could endure this encounter without giving away his increasing worry, and get back to far more pressing matters than Rhysand’s preening.  But then Rhysand’s air of lazy smugness had sharpened into a knife of a smile, knowing and eager for blood.

“Wondering about your envoy?  You should look into getting a new one.  Yours offended me.”

Tamlin would kill him.  He would kill him for this, and if Lucien did not survive, then neither would the Night Court’s high command.  It was brash, coming to another court himself, his desire for bloodshed.  He was likely playing into Rhysand’s hands.  But right now, Tamlin could do nothing else.

The lake was black and still.  Tamlin leapt, changed, and dived.

There was no splash.  The water swallowed him up silently in its icy grip, thick and half frozen.  Tamlin struggled to swim down.  There were not the buoyant, easy waters of spring; they were dark and crushing.  Only thirty feet down, he could barely see, and there were only shadows beneath him.  He descended.  He did not swim in water so much as suffocating blackness.

Eventually, there was a faint glint of metal, then glass.  Tamlin could feel very little.  He had to get his arms around the object to be sure it was there.  The lightest tap was muffled almost instantly in the water.  Tamlin held on and pushed off the bed of the lake.

Ascending again was an eternity.  Even a high lord had to breathe eventually, and Tamlin was in the grip of a strange land, wearied already and fighting forces that did not answer to him.  But he did emerge, crawling onto the shore and dragging with him—in the light of the moon, it was a casket, such as might be used for the dead who didn’t rejoin their own land.  Tamlin wrenched it open in a wild fury.

Lucien did not emerge at once.  He was breathing, but he lay faded, red and gold and russet drained into a dull shadow of his usual vibrance.  He stared uncomprehendingly up at the starry sky for a time before his gaze moved over to Tamlin’s face.  His brow furrowed.

“I should consider,” he said in a slow, hoarse voice, “not being too honest with high lords.”

“Get out of there,” said Tamlin, and helped pull him out.  Lucien was cold to the touch.  He moved of his own accord but sluggishly.  “Are you all right?”

Lucien let out a wordless noise of dread.  “It was taking something from me.”  He took a deep breath and added in a stronger voice, “No surprise that even the water in the Night Court is shit.”

“Lucien—”

“I’m all right, Tam,” he said, bravely and completely without his usual energy.  He grimaced.  “Or at least, I’m not under a lake.  Augh, it’s freezing.”

Later, they would argue: Lucien that a war was exactly what Rhysand wanted before the Spring Court got any stronger, and Tamlin that whatever it took and however it was done, Rhysand would pay.  For now, Tamlin only said, “Let’s go home.”

[maschotch]

penemily?

hiiiii i think theyre soooo cute i think they're girlfriends :3

again, firm believer that everyone has been in love w emily at some point. so i think maybe late s2 early s3 they're dating like they're girlfriends. not like. super serious. but they're just sweet and like each others company and think the other is hot and sexy so like.. why not lol

its not an endgame ship for me tho. like its a casual thing that penelope starts putting more and more weight to in kind of an unhealthy way. i think s6 they try to start again just to take the edge off after jj leaves, but i think the whole doyle thing happens and emily starts pushing people away. which hurts penelope, who's now getting kind invested, bc whats going on why wont emily talk to her gee doesnt emily look pretty today?

so she's devastated by the lauren arc. and that speech she gives?? fucking kills me. idk i just think it would be a little more fun if the significance of emily's dream speech and penelope's come home speech were padded with a little extra emotion.

i think at the beginning of s7 penelope's too excited to start something again and something that was casual and fun suddenly has serious emotional meaning bc thats her dead friend come back to life and thats uhhhh kinda crazy lol. not quite abandonment issues?? more... fear that its not real?? fear that they'll lose her again. emily's kind of burdened by the sudden pressure of penelope's delicate state and ends things before she can accidentally hurt penelope even more.

but post s7 right before s8 i think they fix things and realign the casual nature of their relationship. its just a fun thing to make them both happy! and i think that continues in an off and on relationship as emily's in london (why the team can always tell when penelope's going to visit emily "because nothing would make you this excited") and i think its healthier now.

i havent given much thought to unit chief penemily? again, i think emily would be cautious of the sudden power shift and try to hold everyone from the og squad at arms length while they figure this whole thing out. then the shit w reid happens and that throws a wrench in things and then the not-strauss lady who's name i forget... i think by then its just too late to start something again. emily's closer with tara by then and garcia's still reeling from the loss of morgan and hotch and by the time she recovers, luke's right there waiting for her.

i think its a very sweet and cute relationship but i think its more of a casual thing. they both just have so much love in them and it really is magical when they share it <3

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

pretty sure I've asked you this before, but since you've seen more operas/opera productions since, what's an opera you've seen more than one production of, and what are your thoughts on those productions? What do you like about some over others? How do you feel about the various casts? Do certain production concepts work better than others, and why?

Okay, so I’m gonna go ahead and do what I did when I hijacked your trouser role quiz post (sorry about that) to talk about a bunch of different Faust productions except I’m gonna talk about them MORE. so INCOMING:

Vienna 1985: first full production I ever watched, so it has that sentimental value. the biggest no for me is that the director decided to make Marguerite a nun??? (she gets kicked out after Act III) the production is set somewhere in the French countryside during the Napoleonic Wars and it actually works pretty well overall! not a fan of the extraneous ballet dancers, though. but there’s some really great stageplay and special effects (the golden calf is a sight to behold, and the church scene is incredibly creepy and I like it even though once again, LOSE THE EXTRANEOUS DANCERS PLEASE). the cast is really fantastic. Raimondi is still one of my favorite Méphistophélès(es?). even in the nun costume, Benackova is an amazing Marguerite. all in all: good show. lose the dancers. also the apotheosis is creeeeeeeeeeepy.

Paris 1975: the video quality was...kinda bad, not helped by the fact that the production is somewhat dingy. I like the vibe it was trying to go for but it just didn’t really work. the ROH did it way better. cast is excellent: Gedda is Gedda, Freni is Freni, Soyer is Soyer (and pulls off a baby blue suit at one point which is itself no mean feat). I like it! not my favorite though.

Geneva 1995: not great video quality either but pretty pretty PRETTY. the garden is particularly wonderful. also tries to go for the same vibe as Paris/later ROH and falls short of the latter. Samuel Ramey IS Méphistophélès. rest of the cast is wonderful too. not sure if there are any other Ramey Faust productions, but even if there are, must watch just for him.

And now for the ongoing ROH production saga:

Three broadcasts, all of the same wonderful McVicar Belle Époque Paris production. (This was the setting that both Paris and Geneva tried to get right but simply didn’t measure up). It’s a lot of fun, start to finish. Great visuals, great choreography (we get the ballet! and well done at that), great costumes (the Walpurgisnacht costume for Méphistophélès is iconic). No wonder it’s a company hit. Also this is just me personally but I fall hook, line, and sinker for any over-the-top Belle Époque aesthetic.

ROH 2004: Alagna, Gheorghiu, Terfel, Keenlyside, Koch. What more could you ask for? They’re all great (even if, sorry, that blonde wig is ugly as sin. just let Gheorghiu use her normal hair or at least a wig like it and stop trying to associate blondeness with pure heroines. end mini-rant). this is the first of 3 Alagna Fausts I’ve seen and he’s great in all of them. Gheorghiu is her amazing self, so is Terfel, Keenlyside is pure luxury casting in a pretty small role, and in Koch you see the beginning of a very nice career. the OG. it’s great.

ROH 2011: Gheorghiu is back! I liked her more in the 2004 outing tbh but she still does very well. Grigolo is Grigolo—I actually do like his voice but a) not as good as Alagna IMO and b) he’s a total creep/milker (ironically, it was a different run of this exact production that caused everyone to realize that and in turn was a pretty big scandal last year but I digress). Pape is glorious—this is one of 3 Fausts I’ve seen him do and he’s also great in all of them. Dima is even more of a luxury casting and Losièr is her utterly adorable self as Siébel.

ROH 2019: probably my least favorite overall cast of the three but still very, very good. they have tough competition. Fabiano and Schrott are my favorites in the cast (and not to be shallow but Schrott by far does the best job of pulling off the iconic Walpurgisnacht outfit IMO). Lungu is also very good (although we seriously need to lose the wig because it flatters no one). Dégoût and Fontanals-Simmons make good work of their roles.

I’m still mad that no one filmed the 2014 Calleja/Yoncheva (no wig!)/Terfel/Keenlyside/Pokupić revival.

Orange 2008: Once again a Belle Époque look, once again well-done overall. I have conflicting feelings about using such a huge space and huge forces: it feels right for some scenes but feels completely wrong for others. the effects and sets the space allows for, however, are very impressive. Siébel is sung by a tenor which is unforgivable (also the amount of abuse the poor child goes through...give him a hug). Alagna and Pape are both back and glorious. Inva Mula isn’t my favorite Marguerite but she does perfectly well. Jean-François Lapointe is a very good Valentin. not sure how I feel about this one overall.

Met 2011: the concept is kinda wonky to me (is it a flashback? is it him actually becoming young again? who knows?) and the visuals can often be off-putting, but it sufficiently works as a concept overall and makes for great theater. Pape once again proves how devilishly awesome he can be, Kaufmann is wonderful as always and I stg he MUST have actually sold his soul to the devil for That One Diminuendo (you know the one), and Poplavskaya is nothing short of wrenching. Losièr is yet again a completely precious Siébel and Russell Braun may not exactly be luxury casting but he still holds his own in a great cast.

Paris 2011: what??? the??? everloving??? hell??? is??? going??? on??? here??? seriously, this production (especially the first act and the final scene) is nothing short of bonkers. where are we??? when are we??? it’s impossible to tell. which is a crying shame because the aesthetic itself is good (a very impressive unit set) and the cast is excellent. Alagna and Mula team up again with great results, Paul Gay is a surprisingly good Méphistophélès (I had only seen him in one other production before and wasn’t a huge fan), Tassis Christoyannis is great (although I pity the nonsense stage business he has to do), Angelique Noldus is cute as cute can be, and even the smaller roles are well-cast (Marie-Ange Todorovitch and Alexandre Duhamel!). the production is just...what even, though. 

I hope that answers it!

[taocastleprincess]

shaman king (2021) ep 1

i said i was going to type smth up last night but teaching is literally so exhausting sooo i'm here now!! i have watched the episode like a million times since Thursday LMAOOOO i think i mostly have the dialogue memorized, that's how much i've watched it. i'm just so happy though, i've been a lifelong fan of SK, i was obsessed w it in my teens (still am but i was on a DIFF LEVEL in HS), and i'm just SO HAPPY we finally got a reboot!!! Shaman King deserves a canon adaption, so glad that Takei got it :)

this post got super long rambly so my thoughts/glows/concerns are under the cut!

gonna start w the GLOWS

-- honestly, i am in LOVE w the new OST!!! i have had it on repeat since it was released in Japan!! Megumi is a godsend and i feel like both the OST and the ED kept the same vibes as the og adaption OSTs and EDs. can't really explain why that is but the melodies and the feelings you get from the new OST are very authentic to the SK-verse.

-- the animation is absolutely beautiful and i could hardly focus on anything else the first 2 times i watched it. i was really scared about how the animation was going to look bc so many weird rumors about the animation team were circulating on twitter but it is nearly perfect. they stayed true to Takei's style and the background scenery is out of this world. i also think all of the characters look brighter and more... like them? like, i love the og SK but even as a kid i felt like the animation did not really capture any of the characters (especially Yoh, Ren, and Joco) in their true essence. Like, it was just very dull and didn't accentuate any of their key features. The reboot is beautiful and I love the way certain characters' eyes are drawn. I thought that the look of Ryu's crew was a great example of the animators highlighting and emphasizing defining features of certain characters. They aren't major characters at all but we know they are important to Ryu (and his story) so their designs are given their rightful due.

-- i know that a few people didn't appreciate the beginning scene of the episode for a myriad of different reasons and i find them all totally valid and understandable, tbh. however, i think the opening scene was really great. i had a few problems w it (i do think the 'chosen one' set-up for Yoh was heavy-handed and weird bc i don't think the source material really wants us to believe that Yoh is the stereotypical 'chosen one' and i think it pushes back on that trope quite a bit but i'm open to hearing diff opinions on that) but overall, i think it gives a very cool and mysterious set-up for the anime. i don't think it does much to spoil the eventual ~Hao is Yoh's twin!!~ reveal because, to me, personally, it wasn't that big of a reveal/plot twist. what i WILL say is that the opening scene was very diluted in comparison to the manga vers and that was a bit disappointing but i think they might revisit the scene/make it more dramatic later on in the series when there is more context around the events of that night so that may just be a little tease, you know?

-- this should not be shocking to read from an account that is named 'taocastleprincess' but... AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH THE ENDING SCENE WITH REN AND BASON WAS SOOOOO PERFECT AND I DIDN'T EXPECT IT!!!! ON MY FIRST WATCH I RAN IT BACK LIKE 300x!!!! THEY BOTH LOOK AMAZINGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

moving on from glows and to CONCERNS, i spy a lot of possible issues w pacing, character development, and authenticity. the series is currently only slated for 52 episodes, a whole 12-eps shorter than the OG adaptation, and the entirety of the series is supposedly being adapted so... 52 eps for 300 chapters? to me, that seems extremely rushed even with best-case scenarios. i have read opposing views on twitter, people think that 52 eps is just enough if they cut 'filler' and 'stick to the most important arcs.' i don't think i can agree with any part of that argument. i really think that it's a REACH to say that Shaman King has filler chapters or filler arcs. there is a purpose for each and every chapter/arc in the series. plot development, character development, foreshadowing, etc. those all hold distinct and important purposes and the love, thought, and time put into the SK manga is exactly why people love it. 'filler' does not have a true narrative purpose, it only serves to lengthen the story, so to say that there are scenes/chapters/arcs that can be glossed or skipped over you would have to make the argument that they have no narrative purpose or bearing on the story. i personally think it would be extremely difficult (near impossible) to make that argument for anything within the og 300chap work but, again, i'm open to seeing if anyone can change my mind.

the first episode of SK flew through and glossed over a lot of important scenes for character study/development. by the end of the first episode, you don't really understand or relate to Morty as one might have done after the first episode of ogSK. and although Yoh is supposed to remain mysterious/confusing/weird for the first couple of chapters/eps, at the end of ep1 there is no GRAND interest that has been developed about him. The first episode operated at a breakneck speed and to its detriment. the characters so far are extremely flat regarding everything beyond character design. the viewer is hardly invested in the partnership between Yoh and Amidamaru because there is (little to) no build-up of their partnership and both of their characters are... not real to us yet. even the scenes regarding Amidamaru's past and his friendship with Mosuke doesn't affect or interest the viewer at all because it is referenced, addressed, problematized, solved, and wrapped up all within 3.5 mins.... huh?

what REALLY destroys me, though, is that the anime seems to be foreshadowing that Manta's character will be playing a backseat role.... the first couple of adventures are from Manta's perspective. he asks the questions that we have, situates us in this very weird world and helps to world-build without it being obvious or heavyhanded, and we start to understand the nuances of his character. none of that was present in 2021 ep1. it kinda felt like Manta was a plot device instead of a character. granted, like i said, none of the characters feel real yet but Manta getting this sort of treatment so early on is dismaying. i really do feel like Manta and Yoh's (developing) friendship and trust in each other is the heart of the first quarter of the series (and is continuously referenced and exalted throughout). rushing through (or, really, just straight up cutting out) the first couple of subplots/mini-adventures that they have together feel really weird and detrimental to the overall tone and purpose of the series. those early adventures cement so much and really lay the groundwork for the rest of the story. it's disappointing that they didn't get their due.

this isn't a very organized review/breakdown, i'm just typing as i think, but to sum up what i am REALLY worried about is this: if the series continues at this extremely crazy pace, i'm a bit worried that the characters will never feel fully developed. not only that, but SK has a lot of heart-wrenching scenes and also a lot of scenes that are beautifully filled with hope and care. i just don't see how those scenes are gonna hit quite as hard or even as they SHOULD if the pace doesn't slow down and let us really sit with these characters and their feelings and motivations.

i mean, i know that this is only the 1st episode of a 52ep series but a lot of things don't look too promising... anyway, these are my initial thoughts/concerns/feelings. i'm way too busy to actually sit down and plan out all of my millions of thoughts but hopefully this was good enough!