#hes kind of got damsel in distress realness which i guess is kind of a slay but also i just hate his stupid face and floppy hair and puppy

[wolfstrong]

I DO have to give descendants 2 props for having the two main girls turn into giant ugly CGI monsters and battle it out at the end

[psioniciris]

Creepy Cases of Casper High (Hunters, Dragons, and Damsels In Distress!)

Hello hello my cherished readers! Sorry its been so long since I shared my last case report. Just been busy with life and doing research in general to make sure I've got my facts straight. Anywho, to anyone who is just joining us now here's a bit of a refresher. Last time I shared a case with you guys we were discussing Casper High's very first major ghost sighting of a huge monster made of meat! Feel free to check out the full details of the case by following the link down below!

The official second sighting looks like it might have been more of a one off thing along with the third but I decided to include them anyway since I feel like all of them are important if we want to get a better picture of just how haunted this town is. It happened to Mikey in the library. He went to use one of the computer's in the school library to work on an assignment and ran into someone he didn't realize at the time was a ghost who turned around and attacked him! Luckily Mikey wasn't hurt, just gagged and hung upside-down by some kind of energy net that vanished into thin air a few seconds later.

According to Mikey once he calmed down enough to remember exactly what the ghost said to him, he referred to himself as Skulker. This might only be a code name though so I'll have to look into this further for another article.

Moving onto the third ghost sighting at Casper High this one is pretty incredible if you as me! Why? Because it was the first close up sighting of Danny Phantom himself and an honest to goodness dragon! A ghost dragon! That can only mean one thing folks, dragons are real is now confirmed! I mean think about it. How could there be a ghost of a dragon if there was never a living one at some point flying around?

But moving on...

Before I dive into our next story I'd like to preface this by saying most of these are based entirely on witness accounts that vary a lot in levels of detail which is totally understandable when you think about it. It's kinda hard to pay attention to the specifics when you're running for your life from a huge gout of green flames from the maw of a ghost dragon! Moving onto the case report itself the first reported sighting of this dragon was apparently at the Amity Park Mall in the Abyss clothing store.

There was a sale on the entire discontinued line of Fleecy-T blouses and somehow or another a customer wound up possessed and transformed in front of the very eyes of the acting manager on call at the time. Paulina said she sorta remembers being there that day too but was too excited about managing to guy the very last shirt they had left in her size to really pay attention to what happened when she left the store.

The second sighting of the same dragon was on campus that night at Casper High where it destroyed the girls bathroom (although this wasn't discovered until later the next day by the janitor cleaning up the mess left by the first dance of the school year) then flew off to the football field where our next two witnesses, Dash and Tiffanie, saw Danny Phantom rescuing Paulina. My guess is he saved Paulina from the dragon at some point when the bathroom was wrecked which would explain why she was out cold at the time. The dragon was then defeated by our local ghost hero and the rest as they say is history! I also wonder how they replaced that whole row of bleachers...?

To end things off, I found out there was another ghost sighting the same night by Tucker Foley and the DJ in charge of the school dance's music. Tucker didn't tell me much apart from that he was really taken aback when this ghost girl just floated up to him, insisting on enjoying the last dance with him. As for the DJ, he noticed them while getting ready to pack up his gear once the last song finished and noticed the girl Tucker was dancing with looked out of place in her get-up, aka a medieval styled gown not to mention her feet were literally gliding across the dance floor. Well, assuming they had been ever touching the ground to begin with!

Tucker tells me she was surprisingly mellow and sweet but at the time his nerves were a bit frazzled from trying to help his best friend Danny Fenton keep his parents from getting too talkative about certain happenings at school. The rest of their little waltz is a bit of blur though so Tucker couldn't tell me any more than that. As for why Danny's parents were chaperoning the dance I'll leave that to your imagination since I doubt it's a very fond memory for the poor guy.

But there you have it! I really wanted to make up for my long absence here's three Creepy Cases of Casper High all rolled up into one! And now that puts our total of ghost encounters so far at 4! First was the meat ghost, second was this ghost hunter guy Skulker, third was the dragon, and fourth was this mysterious ghost girl who according to Tucker's description of her might have been nobility or maybe even a princess! Not only that but she bears a striking similarity to the ghost dragon as far as their color aesthetic so could the two of them be connected somehow? Looks like that is yet another case for me to take a closer look into for a future post!

[mejomonster]

Mysterious Lotus Casebook, ep 2:

So I really like Joseph zengs character. He gets better at acting each show i see him in. I love Fangs personality

Fang really did follow this doctor to his tiny mobile house and said You're Having me at Dinner, I brought drinks, work with me, drink with me whether you like it or not, my shifu is like xianyu and my uncle was the guy he died for (that lianhua is relentlessly still searching for the body of). ;-;

Fang also said your cooking sucks, my case here was kept private so fuck you help me More, also I can't actually pay Even though I'm used to being a rich bitch, I hero worshipped li xianyu, I saved your life TWICE DUDE do what I say (you can tell he's used to getting his little way uvu), and "I ran from an arranged marriage I'm not made for politics feel bad for me, i was made to bring justice to the world and make a name for myself~" and li lianhua hit him back with the "-.- I couldn't give a shit about your sob story or anyone's, I'm not looking to be heroic I'm just trying to mind my business dude."

He saved li lianhua twice that's so fucking funny to me. So like, I had a running count once of How Many Times wu xie swooned in dmbj dramas (lmao you can guess how BIG that list got) and how many times xiaoge saved him (if you guess once per episode that's probably the rough average). So it is. Particularly funny to me that wu xies actor is now the guy chronically saving another damsel. I hope fang saves li lianhua at least once per episode! Fuck it, I love twice per episode why not continue that! I want li lianhua falling in his arms repeatedly, nonstop, to the point its expected. I would very much enjoy that trope (and letting Joseph zengs character get to be the savior in said trope more uvu)

It's also funny cause wu xie was a prickly kitten of a damsel in distress. Whereas li lianhua is adamantly acting like he was NEVER about to die in the first place. There's mm... there's probably character details in there... something to be said about li lianhua not afraid of dying, or emotionally heavy enough he wouldn't mind getting to after 10 years of not dying from a poison when he Should Have and a mortal wound when he Should Have. Idk about other people, but when I got really chronically sick and I was in the ER almost dying a lot for months. Mm. It got to a point where I was like why can't my body just hit me all at once and let me live or die like when I got appendicitis, why does it have to be hurting me slowly and I just have to bear it and it's slow enough I have to get up and fight it every day and it may never end. And it's like I dunno, I see in li lianhua the ghosts of those kind of feelings. Maybe. We'll see I guess if it gets that emotionally heavy. Back to the point though, I find his character interesting and different than sifeng (which again I really appreciate lol)

I just. I love Joseph zengs character in this

I like the episode structures so far??? It feels like 2 parters, which helps to break up watching. And it seems it cheapened out on wasting time on some scenes in order to spend more time on case plots, which I think is a good choice

My gay rating? Not as gay (yet) as Word of Honor or Lord Critical World. Though reminding me of both shows. (Lord Critical World is WILD BTW and full of dmbj actors so I highly recommend it for a Weird Time). It is however striking me as having the potential to have as shippy vibes (at minimum) as Ultimate Note. Which I mean. I'm optimistic I guess?

Anyone else beyond refreshed to see a real dog instead of a cgi animal in one of these shows?

I'm curious how closely this follows the novel. Because I'm quite liking the show. If the novel is Just as good or better, I'll definitely be checking out the novel.

I am l...doubting it's intentional, but li lianhua's whole Setup feels VERY modern ordinary man, despite the wuxia setting and him being The Best Heroic Swordsman ever 10 years prior (and the Miracle Medicine Man/smart liar now). Despite the very belonging to this genre Character Setup, cheng yi plays him like a modern ordinary 35 year old, and a lot of character Details just strike as. Very relatable. Having a dog you share dinner with, living in a small mobile home (ultimately), having your own little garden (and budget being tight), trying to learn how to cook because you have to make good food for Yourself, lying to protect yourself in a shady environment (rather than playing Brazen Hero who picks a fight like one expects in this kind of shows hero type), been sick a long time and in no way in their prime anymore (even though he's relatable to me thats also lol just generally relatable to anyone who's aged and realized they can't be The Best at sports anymore or something), focused on people he loves now and being roughly fair instead of Saving the World (a very relatable goal and one I feel like a lot of people gravitate toward as they age: you don't always keep believing you personally will be a superstar or billionaire or save the planet on your own, and while it's awesome if you still do, you also start realizing you're satisfied to also just make sure your loved ones are supported and your local neighborhood has a food pantry you support and you get invested in what you can do today right now everyday to help in little ways).

[starburstsobsessions]

Rangers apprentice is weird man. Like the first four books I flew through SO fucking fast because they were truly this amazing well written exciting great experience trying and aspiring to be something better. Then . Book 5. So much changes. I’ve just got things on my mind

Book 5. Everything changed here.

Rangers apprentice book 1-4 actively was showing a fictional “fantasy historical” misogynistic society and showing how the main women are dealing with that and how they are persevering and are able to aim for high status outside of just royalty. The women are high profile diplomats and go on their own missions and in due time save the male protagonists (who are shown to respect them about as much as a ya boy targeted fantasy guy is going to). Evanlyn literally rescues will from death and lives in the worst elements thus far for months ALONE and having to take care of will and his survival ALONE. She does that! She sneaks on a ship to gain information ALONE she even orders the archer line !!! and she is shown to be truly powerful.

Lady Pauline and Alyss are both powerful diplomats with cunning words and are displayed as the highest of their order. They both are revered and put on a pedestal by the protagonists and are just as well powerful and treated as such.

and. And then book 5. It’s like a whole different series after book 5.

The writing changes. The characters change. The way background characters are portrayed changes. It isn’t heartwarming anymore.

Everything changes in 5-6, which should be a good thing but it isn’t. The characters respect is dropped. Will becomes some kind of instant disrespectful ladykiller as opposed to who he was. He’s a little bitch! Alyss gets kidnapped and mind controlled instantly and her role is merely damsel in distress who is also causing friction between Will and other women. What???? Huh??? It irked me so bad!

Book 7? Hoo boy. It’s not a fan fav. It started as if it was going to be great! And then it . Wasn’t. Were my expectations too high? A prequel was definitely the right idea but there was also ... so many wrong ideas it was just kinda... ehhhhhhhhhh idkkkkk

book 8 was WELL written again (though DEF with flaws, once again with the female characters) and it got my hopes up once again 😳 it was thrilling and the lines were powerful and the characters felt right again. That seemed like the downfall though.

book 9 was. Extremely boring. Pointless even. It had no real agenda. Tennyson could easily have been defeated at the end of book 8 and it would have been SO much more satisfying. Book 9 was genuinely pointless filler chock full of sad repeated jokes and not much else. What even was book 9???? Like it had a few fun things that could have been great. If it weren’t all thrown together for a page count.

I’m not done with book 10, and I’ve been dealing with a lot lately so it’s been hard to focus when I have been reading, but... it def isn’t there either. There’s no heart there’s no merit. More looping bad jokes and travel filler while the woman and suddenly being demoted out of their positions by like, Halt.

and like. Idk what everyone else thinks it just kinda bothers me. I bought them all after reading 4 because I went WOW this series is AMAZING I’m IN LOVE and I do have a ton of fun with it, I just wish things were different. That’s why fanfic exists I guess 🧍 ANYWAY don’t come after me rangers apprentice fandom I’m right!!!!

[otakween]

Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 - Disc-3

I've officially purchased all 9 volumes on Bookwalker (in Japanese). The scanlations are great, but they don't have the omake/bonus content consistently. Grateful I don't need to read all of it in Japanese though.

Ch. 18

-So is not!Killua's hair pink or just white and the cover has funky lighting? I kinda hope it's pink because that would be fun.

-The whole "Zeromaru doesn't want to evolve but he's perfectly healthy" thing sounded VERY familiar...

(Tho to be fair they implied he'll evolve eventually).

-Taichi's daydreaming about Zero evolving into Nanimon or "Majide-Nanimon" were really funny. I guess we're going by game logic where the evolutions are permanent? That's the vibe I'm getting anyways.

-It was nice to get a callback to those Agumon from the beginning. Love me some good continuity!

Ch. 19

-In this chapter we see digimon that are implied to be dead. This felt kinda weird to me because most digimon that "die" in the anime immediately vanish. It's weird to see bodies laying around.

-We get a backstory for Taichi's goggles which was about as necessary as the origins of Han Solo's name in that Solo movie. I guess they represent friendship and bravery because they come from his grandpa's dead pilot friend. Sure.

Ch. 20

-Neo has a peace sign on his t-shirt. How...menacing? (Maybe that's a hint at a future redemption arc or maybe the artists just doesn't know what the symbol means lol).

-Apparently going in and out of a jogress digivolution can restore HP? That seems kind of illogical to me since digivolutions have always been depicted as a tiring process...

Ch. 21

-A triple jogress!? Wild. Makes me wonder if there are any real limits to mashing digimon together...

-It's becoming increasingly awkward that Veedramon is only a champion at this point. I know that power levels aren't as simple as higher level = winner, but it does seem to go that way a majority of the time anyway. Wonder how they'll get around this...

Ch. 22

-Zero digivolution has arrived!! The Veedramon-> AeroVeedramon transition felt very reminiscent of Greymon->MetalGreymon. Very subtle changes. I appreciated the cool two-page spread. Wonder how long this version of Zero will stick around?

-This chapter was called "Butterfly" -wink wink nudge nudge-

Ch. 23

-I liked how Taichi wore his googles over his eyes while riding AeroVeedramon. Did Taichi ever wear his goggles properly in Adventure? Not that I can recall...I don't mind them being used as just a fashion statement, but we love a functional piece.

-And just like that, Neo is defeated and the 5 tags have been collected. I guess we can call arc #1 a wrap? If all arcs go at a 3 volume pace, we'll have 3 arcs total.

Ch. 24

-A random (probably not-so-random) girl appears! She's named Rei which is another word for "Zero." Makes me think...is Neo supposed to be an anagram for "one"?

-So far Rei has just been a damsel in distress, but she just got here so I'll hold my judgment on her characterization

-Neo somehow got a crack (?) in his face? I guess it's supposed to be a battle scar but it literally looks like cracked porcelain or something. Weird...

-Oh great, more edge-lord human characters. Just what we need. My initial impression is that they look kinda dumb, but like Rei, I'll give them a chance.

Omake - Episode Une

-Why did they write "one" in French but the furigana is in English? That's a choice...

-So this was just a potty humor omake where they address the need for tamers to take care of their digimon's bathroom needs. Since I'm not an 8 year old, I kinda just rolled my eyes at it.

-Rather than having Sukamon just throw poop they made him capable of controlling your bowels which is much more menacing if you ask me...biological warfare

-I thought it was pretty funny that the mangaka wrote a mini-essay after the gag chapter self-consciously asking for reader feedback and giving the origins of the chapter. His justifications for wanting to include a poop-related chapter since that was a big part of having a virtual pet made me respect the chapter more lol

Bonus Content

-Honestly, I think I kinda like dog-Zeromaru better. Digimon Adventure 1 & 2 already have dragon-like partners for their main characters, so it would have been nice to get some variety. Oh well.

-It was interesting to read about the transition between manga Taichi and anime Taichi. Supposedly the anime artist made some adjustments to make him easier to animate, but looking at them side-by-side the difference is extremely subtle.

[gaiamossiah]

Very random but hear me out, this has been in my mind for a while and finally for the first time since 2010, i can finally talk about it.

The only thing i didn't like about the 2006 animation of D.Gray-man was the filler episodes of Lulubell chasing the cross team. Actually, separating the group as they travel to get to Cross was NOT a bad idea and is actually kind of a good way to introduce Lulubell. BUT the way they got separated is quite dissatisfying 😅 like, would Lenalee really fall for something like that?? You see your double, won't you stay alert and keep your distance? Allen's eye is not reacting, yes but of all times, do we forget the Noahs now? Lenalee has been very helpful and reliable prior to this filler arc, she of all people would be on guard in this peculiar situation. Curious, but ON guard. There is so many ways to prove she's the real one haha and the writers just chose not to do it. For the plot, i guess. So i was really shocked to see them make her fell in the trap in that way. A noah popped out, out of nowhere during the Rewinding Town incident... Why not now when the Earl has officially announced war against the Order? And they are on their way to meet a General which Noahs seems to be targteting and with Allen?? The guy who can differentiate akuma from humans??? And he already met a Noah before this?

[I was actually doubting myself because i discovered that some filler episodes aren't really fillers but scenes (or at least based) from DGM Reverse, the light novel so it's not in the manga but still written by hoshino at the very least??? (the arc with Mother and the broker doctor as an example) so i was worried that that arc and lenalee being like that is actually canon but I've yet to find any written official content with it so i guess it's safe to say that the lulubell arc was really a filler. ]

That stupid act of pushing each other in circles can easily be avoided by Lenalee. I don't really get why would she go along with it instead of pushing those arms down and stop the nonsense.Tricking Arystar and Allen (with him used to relying in his eye) is one thing. But Lavi, Bookman and Lenalee??? Maybe Lulubell did such an amazing job on shapeshifting that the Bookmen, with their awesome eyes (Lavi found the real key in the Noah's ark, right?), weren't able to point the real one, i can accept that. But the pushing around in circles sh*t was beyond me. 😮‍💨 They could have done better, Lulubell could have done better. I know this sounds stupid that I can't specifically say exactly what they could have done instead but at the back of my head, i know there's a better way to do it lol. Specifically the part wherein Lulubell causes the confusion of which is who.

Haha idk it just felt like a very desperate attempt to make Lenalee look like a damsel in distress 😞(she is not btw, if there is any confusion) i kind of believe that any lenalee hate that i see mentioning that's she's like that pink-haired character from another anime, started from this arc. The portrayal was so poorly done. Which evidently clouded most people's reactions when Lenalee suffered after losing control over dark boots after the Level 3 fight.

Tch, my girl needs more respect!!!! Would you not be frustrated if suddenly you can't fight? Would you not cry if you see your teammates get injury one after another and you can't do anything because apart from losing control over your weapon, the enemy has started targeting you cuz your condition seems special?? Thuuuus having your already injured friends protect you, too???!!

I have so much more to say but I'll stop here before i offend anyone 🥹 thanks for reading if you did (hopefully no one does, i just want to get this off my chest)

[chuluoyi]

Pity 60?! ALMOST THERE! You can do it! 🥳 2 ?! Goodness how even 😭😭 The lowest I got was 6... Not any better but 2 is so close to being flat broke...

Yeahhh her dad is such an ass Maxi is the sweetest! And she's got a super hot husband now so I guess she DID benefit from being married off 😚 Oh I've read that too! Edna is such a girlboss I love her! It's different from the normal damsel in distress kind of Female lead, and it's really refreshing. What else have you read?

I hope so! But I'm still 18 and I wanna enjoy being single hahaha! I've seen my friends cry and weep over guys and I feel like I want to stay unburdened by the weight of a relationship till I'm like 19-20-ish? Thanks Chu! haha it's getting super rainy where I'm from... It's so cold istg...

Ahaha! I'm not THAT young. But I do agree that my watchlist is soul-sucking dhdhdh. Though, there's something about sad animes, don't you think?

HAHAHA you're young too! And you finished Naruto during your summer break?! Omg just how much did you watch per day you're amazing.

Right?! We deserve to know, Gege! Have mercy please was killing off our 3 JJK daddies not enough-

Hmm I honestly preferred the old art, even if the animation wasn't on par with Mappa's. I did pick it up after awhile, but Instagram spoiled me so I lost motivation after 2-3 episodes of season 4... I should really delete all social media accounts before watching a new anime...

Oh no is he okay HAHAHA was the ending that sad I'm slightly tempted to binge the rest of AOT after my exams are over hmm... How could he?!?! Gojo dying is one of the few anime deaths that shook the world 😭😭Or is he just jealous 🤭

Omg a fellow monkey! Sugu's monkey cult is expanding- Ngl I would gladly be a monkey if it means I can get slightly closer to Suguru-

Also I've received your TOT req!! The bakerlon card is legit so cute ahhh 😫😫

-🪩

i… gave up🥲 seems like there’s no hope for me 😩 i’ll wait until next year then and save the s chips i get from the monthly pass for the upcoming events🤧

HAHAHAH the benefit is right there!!🤭 i love maxi’s progress though and YES I LOVE EDNA SO MUCH omg she’s so badass, takes care of her own shits and the plot twist is soooo omg i finished that manhwa on one night and was left sooo full😩 it was one of the best manhwas for me

hmm i think i’ve read quite many arranged marriage stories but suddenly i can’t think of any of them🥲 but another great manhwa i read is unholy blood! i love hayan sm she’s also badass and her romance with euntae drives me almost insane bcs of the slow burn🤧 but it’s so so great by the ending i was sad to let it go. have you read it?? and do you have any other recs?

so true! i honestly don’t think there’s any benefit for us to force ourselves to have a boyfriend/girlfriend that early (especially if they say it’s for the status—a classmate of mine once told me that she was dating this guy just to know how being in a relationship was like💀 she’s messed up) because in the end, we are looking for the real thing. the real thing doesn’t come easily, it takes time. fyi my current boyfriend is my first bf, we started dating just last year, which means i have my first bf at 23🥹 and i’m so glad i heed my mom then, that it’s no use to have boyfriends when you were still in high school or college as chances are they are still immature themselves.

but if you do find someone who is good in school, then it’s okay to try! just don’t be discouraged if you don’t because nah we need the true ones😉

(aw sorry to come off as lecturing i can’t stop myself but my mom’s advice is what saves me🥹 and i really do think it’s so good)

me too!! it’s rainy and cold nowadays *sigh* but at least it’s not as hot?🥹

THERES 🗣️ SOMETHING 🗣️ ABOUT 🗣️ ANGST 🗣️ that made me feel like i want to jump out of the window yet satisfied my inner soul at the same time🤧🤧🤧

HAHAHA i felt old bcs now i’m paying for my own bills and impulse buying😭 JSJSJS nono i watched naruto from eps 300 onwards actually🥹 still, that’s quite a lot 😭 but yeah, i could watch at least 5-10 eps per day back then 🥲

PFFT DADDIES so true 😔😔 *sigh* my life has never been the same ever since that gojo sukuna fight. i started looking for spoilers (i didn’t follow the manga before), installed twitter and reading theories. my heart used to be thumping so hard each time i went over the spoilers you know? like i know gojo was going to lose somehow but i hope so much he didn’t and then when chapter 235 dropped and gege took a break i was like “!!!!” only to 236 to reverse it in the most brutal way💀

ahh i see… i’m starting to think that aot is for boys😭 like most of my guy friends are like “this is the best anime of my life” while my girl friends are just bamboozled with everything🥹

he’s mourning and coping the way we do for our jjk daddies🤭🤭 save to say that karma gets him bcs he doesn’t follow the manga HAHAHA maybe both i don’t know but he gets 🙄🙄 when i swoon over gojo ahahhaha

oh? good luck on your exam disco anon!! i know you’ll do well!!🫶🏻

HAHAHAHAH OMG that’s the term he used too!!🤣 like he’s okay being suguru’s monkey just because🥹

waah! that’s good then!! the card is so CHIC but i haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet along with the side story card🥲🥲🥲 i will after this weekend i think bcs work has been so tiring *sigh*

[akisata-moved]

crybaby miki makes me so unbelievably mad because even though it can be argued that miki's character kind of got Worse as the manga progressed (although i don't really know if that's true), at least she HAD defining personality traits. miki in the manga was hotheaded, who didn't take any shit from anyone, rather aggressive in nature and kept fighting until the very end. the only reason people say she has "no personality" is because she's very into post-merging akira—which makes a lot of devilman adaptations (even crybaby!!) automatically shoehorn her in the Love Interest spot.

but honestly her "attraction" to akira in the manga isn't even because she particularly likes akira, its because she's very attached to the idea of a Big Strong Man sticking up for her. even in the beginning she WANTS to be a damsel in distress, and gets very mad at akira when he doesn't fill that savior role. she's willing to do stuff for him after he merges because she wants to be the princess to his knight in shining armor, even though that's... not at all what she is. she even tries to play off her real personality by acting weak, telling akira that she was just carrying around the knife because she was scared, and acting much more fragile and gentle than she actually is. she downplays her own capabilities because she wants akira to defend her instead, despite the fact that she's honestly good at handling situations herself!! she's attracted to amon more than she is akira 😭

anyways. in crybaby, miki is stripped of ALL of this. what's the defining character trait of crybaby miki? .... probably that she's nice? i honestly don't know. this is an interesting phenomenon that i've seen happen A Few Times, where a director takes a female character (typically one branded as a 'love interest'), strips her of all personality (essentially making a blank-slate manic pixie dream girl whose only flaw is Being Too Perfect), and gives her a few scenes where she's a "strong female character" (such as. i guess the scene where she stands up to the cops) and everyone gets on their feet to give said director a standing ovation for Perfect Female Character Writing... when really... it's verrrrryy ... bad. miki in crybaby is not a character. she is the idea of what a "perfect woman" is. the imaginary ideal.

"never be mean, just be nice, be so perfect you make people hate you because you're so perfect. but be nice to them regardless, that's how perfect you are! never show any kind of emotion that isn't positive, but still be a Strong Independent Woman who stands up to injustice. appear to reject the main character because you don't need a man, but also you DO still want to be with him. call the main character out for being a perv but also be 'gullible and oblivious' so you also get sexually harassed and manipulated but nothing ever comes of this, and you never express any emotion or concern over what's happened to you"... crybaby miki is not a female character with any kind of agency. she has no feelings or thoughts or anything of her own. she literally only exists to be a manic pixie dream girl.

idk how to word this paragraph to make it make sense but like. it lessens the impact of the ending, too. manga miki was NOT perfect, but akira at the end still held her up as a human ideal of hope because he had absolutely nothing left. she was far from perfect but he clung to the idea of her being perfect because everything and everyone else—even his best friend—had betrayed him. crybaby miki actually being perfect... does not make any sense. obviously you shouldn't have perfect characters in any kind of writing, but especially not in a story where one of the themes is the line between human and monster and how i these two things overlap. in devilman, humans act like demons, demons act like humans, it's a story about war and how nobody wins in the end. and having miki actually be this perfect symbol of goodness... it just sucks. there's no point. it just takes away everything she has going for her

tldr they took her swag

a while back a saw a youtube comment talking about how crybaby was better because in the manga, miki was (i’m paraphrasing here), “filler with no personality made for men”

have you watched crybaby?

[matan4il]

Eddie and baby trapping

Okay, so I remember when 505 aired, I made a joke in my weekly meta about Eddie smugly looking at Buck and saying, “you’re stuck with us,” because he KNEW his baby daddy wasn’t going anywhere. I think it was about a day or so after I posted that meta, I saw the joke about Eddie baby trapping Buck in reference to that same scene for the first time, and I laughed and thought it really says something if so many people understood the scene in more or less the same way.

Some time ago, I was talking to @toughpaperround about an old TV show I love (it finished airing before my parents even met, which is why it kinda feels redundant to name it, I’m just “lucky” to live in a country where, when I was a kid, they used to air old shows during the day). I got all nostalgic and ended up looking for it online. Turns out that as a kid, I only caught the second part of the show. So guess what? I knew back then that The Hero was raising a kid on his own after he lost the kid’s mother. What I didn’t know at the time was that the kid wasn’t The Hero’s biological son. And I’m actually kind of even more in love with the fact that he raised that boy so much as his own that I had no idea they weren’t blood related. However, seeing the first part of the show made it clear that The Hero WAS, in fact, baby trapped.

The shortest version of the story is that there’s a great disaster, The Hero is sent to save and get out as many people as possible, which happens to include this very beautiful woman (and she’s also kind of famous in that reality, I think) and her son. After everyone’s been rescued and goes on with life, the mom finds The Hero and tells him her son has been distraught since he lost his dog in the disaster. She said with how The Hero treated him while saving everyone, she’s sure The Hero is good with kids, and she needs his help with hers. Mind you, she’s the actual parent, The Hero is single, has no kids, is not a professional who is trained to help or has any kid experience in any way, is very handsome and brave, saved everyone, won a medal, and looks damn good in a uniform. Did I mention he’s very pretty? And as a guy who regularly puts his life on the line to save others, he’s also clearly someone who’s not gonna say no to people asking for help. Especially not when it comes to a kid. Long story short, he helps the kid, the boy expresses a wish by the end of this story arc for The Hero to be his dad, Hero and mom get married, she dies shortly after, Hero’s left emotionally scarred, I skipped to the second part of the show.

Because watching the first part, I was like... “Oh, she baby trapped him for real. Not as a funny joke fans tell.” And I came to realize, I quite detest when shows do that. When they’re too lazy to work on building a real connection between two characters, so they shove a damsel in distress with a kid into the path of a Good Guy, and the initial, deeper bond is between the guy and the kid. The damsel sort of... comes with the package of wanting to be the kid’s actual dad and all sorts of family feels that muddy the water.

And the beautiful thing about Buddifer is, that's NOT their story. During 201, when Eddie is trying to get into Buck’s good graces? He clearly never even thinks of bringing up Chris and using him like that. In 202, when Buck asks about the phone call, Eddie is hesitant when it comes to telling him about Chris and showing Buck his photo. We never see Eddie explicitly asking Buck for anything regarding his son, he never tries to dump a part of his parental responsibility on someone who isn’t a professional in a relevant field.

It’s Buck who in 202 chooses to go on consoling Eddie with why Chris is actually real safe, in 203 it’s Buck who chooses to right away alert Eddie that cellphone reception is back, in 204 Eddie still never asks Buck for help (presumably indicating that he also didn’t ask for any at the end of 203, it must have been Buck who offered to drive Eddie to Christopher’s school) and so it’s Buck who smooths things over with Bobby before any problems might arise, and it’s Buck who’s thinking about how to help Eddie when talking to Maddie, and it’s Buck who decides to set up the connection with Carla.

I just need to say how much I love Buck for being that person, not just the man who feels compelled to help when asked to because he’s a Good Guy, but the person who is sincerely interested, and who for real falls in love with Chris as well as with the way that Eddie loves his son. See, when they reach the school at the end of 203? It’s very evident that Eddie isn’t thinking about Buck for a second when he runs in to hug Chris. He’s not concerned about what anyone else might think, their hug is the most genuine expression of love, and relief and their strong, beautiful bond. And Buck just sits in the car with the biggest case of heart eyes ever observed on any TV screen.

And I also love Eddie for being that person, who can accept help when it comes to Chris (help for himself is a different matter) from professionals, but isn’t looking to dump his burden on others. He won’t actually baby trap anyone into helping him or being his friend or involved more than they actually want to be. He’s the man who hesitates before he shows his son’s picture to a relative stranger, because that’s a part of being a protective parent as well, but he’s not closed off to the point of being suspicious and rejecting Buck’s wish to be there and step into the mess with them. Eddie somehow manages to find just the right balance between not dragging Buck into Christopher’s life more than what Buck might be comfortable with, and yet not shutting off his new friend either. That’s not easy in this sensitive situation, especially for a man like Eddie, who has never had a good role model in terms of how to let people in and accept the right amount of help, how not to become extreme in either direction.

I still think the joke is hilarious! But if we’re being serious, I believe a part of Buddifer’s magic is that there was no baby trapping. They really chose each other and became a real family. The show took its time investing in them and building them up as a family. It’s at least a part of why I personally love them so much!

~ ~ Thank you so much to the wonderful @buckleyirondad for helping me with the gorgeous gifs for this meta! You’re a star! xoxox

[discoveringsandra]

Characters I project my transness on: Shrek's Fiona

GENERAL SPOILER ALERT FOR THE SHREK MOVIE FRANCHISE

A subversion af the damsel in distress trope, Fiona isn't an ordinary princess. She burps, kicks ass and is generally disappointed by actual princes.

In the first movie, she transformed into an ogre by night. She saw this as a curse until she learned to love both another ogre and this side of herself. Even if she hasn't always looked like an ogre, she ends up renouncing to normative beauty and living as one.

Then, she spends the second film trying to convince her parents to love both her husband and her identity, while his father tries to get her to fit into the fairy tale princess role she was meant to have. It turns out her father was just preventing her from risking his own position as human-looking king, since marrying her with a prince was part of the deal he made with a fairy when he was a toad (I can't blame him for wanting to make Julie Andrews his queen, though).

This film has many queer experience parallels, with both Fiona's parents and Far Far Away's elitist society being outraged by her life choices, as well as the father projecting his own anxieties about fitting in this society on to his daughter. I would say that there are a couple of kind of queerphobic jokes, one about the Big Bad Wolf being gender-confused (which is more or less okay since it comes from the main villain) and a really weird one on pinocchio wearing women's underwear (which is not okay since he is a child and they are mockingly confronting him on this to use his elongated nose).

Going back to our favourite ogre princess, the plot of the third movie has her staying back home while Shrek goes to find a heir for the kingdom's throne and overcome his parenthood anxiety. However, the Charming Prince she was supposed to marry on the second movie comes back and takes the kingdom during her baby shower. We get to see her starting a princesses' escape and fight evil goons while being pregnant, but I think se was kind of separated from the main plot so Shrek could come to her rescue again at the end, which is why this is the least interesting movie in the franchise.

The fourth movie does the "Its a Wonderful Life" thing where an unsatisfied Shrek goes to an alternate reality in which he has never been born. The version of Fiona we see there is a warrior, the leader of the ogre resistance to Rumpelstilskin tyrannical rule. She rescued herself from the tower she was locked in in the first film and it's implied she still becomes human by day and does some reconnaisance, but she is fully accepted among the ogres. Although she's got her own revolution going on, her whole arc is learning to trust Shrek so he can learn to not give her for granted once he comes back to his reality, which kind of undermines the whole revolutionary leader thing.

Still, drawing my own transgender parallel, the difference between this two realities in how ogres are treated can be seen as the difference in how real world countries treat the LGBTQ+ community. Main timeline Shrek and Fiona are more or less respected because they had a chance to fight for their rights as well as the privilege given to Fiona for being a princess. Resistance leader Fiona never had a chance to convince her powerful parents to respect her identity as an ogre because they lost their kingdom to Rumpelstilskin, who then started hunting down ogres, forcing them into hiding away from the rest of society. That's the present many queer people around the world have to live, the past those who live free can't forget and the possible future we'll never stop fearing.

This took a pretty dark turn so let's ask ourselves "what if Fiona was actually trans?" Well, if Fiona was a transgender male ogre, the plot would be essentially the same except the pregnancy in the third movie would be replaced by an adoption waiting list and the transformation in the second movie would be a metaphor for detransitioning out of family pressure. Also, male ogre Fiona (Finn?) would wear lumberjack shirts and his alternate reality version would cosplay Braveheart.

If Fiona was a transgender female ogre, though, the plot would be radically different. I think she would still dress as a princess when she was in human male form and there would be jokes similars to those on the Ugly Stepsister (oh, I forgot about her and her deep voice, she's "ugly" because she's got masculine traits, so funny 😒) but with some sort of catharsis once she becomes permanently an ogress. I guess Farquad would be extra rude to her but she would still think she had to marry him to break the curse, then Shrek confesses her love, enter the dragon and I'm a believer. I guess Prince Charming would still try to marry a remasculinized Fiona in the second film (come on, he's a queer coded villain) and, for sure, the king would still try to fool her to do it. The third and fourth movie wouldn't change much, as Fiona's past human form is irrelevant in the third and she never appears in human form in the fourth. Maybe her daylight human male form would be a more obvious parallel of how trans women have to go on boymode to survive.

To finish this already too long tirade, I just want to add that the idea of Fiona's true form seems to be fluid. Had the hero of the story been a human peasant, she would probably still stay a pretty normative princess, even if he accepted her as an ogre, like a gender reversed Beauty and the Beast. I love that they didn't go for that ending.

[oitommothetease]

Invisible String (2/?)

Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Female reader (Modern AU)

Description: James Buchanan Barnes, the owner of the most expensive-looking club in town and your new apartment. He was a dick and you hated him. What could possibly go wrong when you, the new girl in town, start bartending at his club to pursue your dreams?

Warning: Sexual assault, mention of an anxiety attack.

Word Count: 1641

It turns out you definitely can't do this. Working in retail sucks, majorly. Customers are so awful to you and other employees as well. You didn't make the products, you don't control the prices, then why should you listen to them rant about it all day?

This job was from 9 am to 4 pm, which reminded you a lot of your previous job. By the time you got home, you were exhausted mentally and physically. Your current schedule was eerily similar to your previous lifestyle, which left you with no time to work on your book.

You felt like you were stuck in an insufferable loop that you just can't seem to escape no matter how hard you try. You thought about Mr. Barnes a lot, too. If only you weren't so egoistic and been a little nicer, then maybe you could have had that job.

With each passing day, you were becoming desperate. The only reason why you didn't run to Mr. Barnes a week ago was your pride. A pride that would not let you bow down to that rude, egoistic asshole.

It's like the universe could hear your thoughts and the devil himself walked through the doors of the store. Fuck, he can't see you here. He's going to think you're some nut job who's chasing stupid dreams after having an excellent degree. At least that's what your parents think.

You were about to run and hide behind an aisle when the voice you knew too well called out for you.

"Hey, do you know where I could find-"

"You," He said, without an emotion. "What are you doing here?"

You pointed towards the badge with the name tag on your shirt and mouthed working.

"Why?"

"Why?" You pretended to think, "I don't know, I interviewed for this other job about a week ago, but the boss was an ass."

"You lied to me," he stated as if it wasn't the most obvious thing.

"Gee, sorry, dad."

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what again?" You questioned.

" Diverging a question with a joke," He answered with an unaffected tone like he was studying you and your reaction.

"You know who I am." he stated. It should have been a question, but both of you were aware of what he meant.

"A vampire?" You mocked. He didn't look like one though, but hey, neither did Edward nor Stefan. But God, those steel-blue eyes could drink you up and you wouldn't complain. Focus.

For the first time you saw an emotion on his face that wasn't unaffected or bored, he was confused. Of course, he was confused, you were referencing twilight to a mob boss (you think, you weren't sure, but that's all you could gather from all the articles you found about him online).

"I need that job," you confessed. " I know it's not very convincing, but I need you to trust me-"

He raised a brow at that and his lips turned into a smirk. God, you wished you could swipe off that smirk from his stupidly handsome face.

"But you don't trust me, " you stated dejectedly and started turning around. "You wanted something? "

In an instant, his hand wrapped around your wrist gently, stopping you in your tracks. You ignored the involuntary shudder that ran through you and immediately yanked your hand out of his grasp.

You turned around and were about to give him a piece of your mind about how he shouldn't just come to your place of work and touch you without consent. He clearly guessed your thoughts and cut in.

"Clint Barton, the manager, he will tell you everything you need to know about bartending and handling the customers."

Did he just hire you? What changed between this and your previous meeting with him?

And just like that, he left. There was a part of you that wanted to say fuck off I don't need your help, but you knew better, so you went to that club later that evening. You found the Manager, Clint. He told you he was expecting your arrival and that made you feel weird because Mr. Barnes was totally opposite the day you met.

Your new job required you to be at work from 8 pm to 3 am, which was ideal for you. You usually reach home and pass out till 4 in the morning and wake up around noon. This schedule gave you a lot of time to work on your book.

You ended up making friends with some other people that work there as well. Wanda was the smart, sarcastic one that you'd have died to have as a friend in high school. Pietro, her twin brother, was also nice, a bit fast and impatient, but he was nice to you. Peter looked very young, but he knew what he was doing and he'd help you out a lot. That kid had a lot of energy and adrenaline, which surprised you every time he'd be done with work way before you.

You didn't see Mr. Barnes frequently. You saw him one time entering the club, and you tried to give him a smile which he ignored and went straight to his office upstairs. And then you decided to ignore him as well. It wasn't like you to be petty, okay, maybe you were being petty, but in your defense, he started it.

You were finishing up cleaning the table and were about to call it a day when a man you didn't recognize, probably wasn't a regular, came in asking for a drink.

"I'm sorry, sir. We're closed." You told him politely.

"Whiskey on the rocks."

You wanted to refuse him again, but you stopped yourself when he came into your sight. He didn't look like the kind of man who'd take your no seriously. He looked just as intimidating as Mr. Barnes, even more, but Mr. Barnes knew his boundaries, whereas this man in front of you evidently didn't. You could tell this by the way his gaze was slowly taking your body in and stopping a little longer at your cleavage.

You wanted to cringe and curse yourself for choosing to wear a top like that in a place filled with drunk men. The smarter part of your brain told you that he can go fuck himself, and you shouldn't think about men when you dress up. Women are entitled to wear whatever they want to and fuck men and people who tell them otherwise.

Carefully, you made his drink and handed it to him. His hand lingered on yours while taking the glass from you, and you wanted to just throw the drink across his face. His gaze remained on your chest even when you fixed your top and coughed twice to call his behavior out.

"What time do you get off?" he asked, eyes still on your chest.

Is this guy for real? , you thought.

"Um, this is highly inappropriate and I think you should leave now because I have to call it a night." you rejected politely, raising your hand towards the door, hoping he'd leave.

He chuckled darkly, his stare still drinking in your body as if you were a piece of meat, and it made you very, very uncomfortable. He obviously wasn't taking no for an answer, and you had no clue what to do. You were the only person left, and you didn't even know who to ask for help.

"Come on, baby girl," he said, walking towards you and forcefully snaking his hands around your waist to settle on your hips. " Don't make this harder than it should be. "

"No!" you yelled, pushing him away and creating some distance between you.

"Hard way it is then," he decided, walking towards you and forcefully holding the hem of your shirt in his hands to remove it. You struggled, yelled, and pushed him off you again. He furiously lunged forward towards you and hit you hard across the face. "Fucking bitch."

"Rumlow!" a voice boomed from behind you, and you hated yourself for being in such a vulnerable state. As much as you tried not to, tears welled up in your eyes and you hated being the helpless damsel in distress.

"Get the fuck out of here." the familiar voice ordered.

"Chill, Barnes. We were just having a little fun," the man known as Rumlow reasoned nonchalantly. "Besides, it's not my fault if she wears clothes like this."

You were all about feminism and how women should be treated equally with respect despite their attire, but at that moment you hated yourself for choosing that deep-neck shirt this morning.

"I'm not going to chill while you sexually harass my employees, so get the fuck out of here," Mr. Barnes warned again.

You closed your eyes and hoped that maybe this was a shitty dream and you'd wake up in your bed and have an anxiety attack because of the nightmare. You hoped that maybe the ground beneath you would open up and swallow you, so you could just not think about this ever.

You heard two sets of footsteps faintly in the background, one dragging its way away from you and the other rushing towards you. Furthermore, you didn't have it in you to open your eyes and meet the ocean blue ones that you knew were waiting for you.

In your head, you had already taken up the blame. The verdict came out the moment his gaze landed on your chest that it was your fault that you wore this shirt. Of course, if you were thinking right, you would have realized that you were undoubtedly the victim here and Rumlow was an asshole who assaulted you, but in your helpless state, your mind decided you were at fault here.

TAGS: @bananapipedreams​

[matcha-chai-latte]

Yona made the deliberate decision to go and Hak saw it. For some reason, I guess their default mindset is seeing her as a damsel in distress yet again, rather than a woman on a mission.

Yep that’s what I’m getting at. Why didn’t it occur to Hak that she went there by her own will and for a reason?

Both Hak and Soo-won have acknowledged how amazing Yona is and always say they believe in her. But do they? When will Yona finally be seen as a strong, independent individual that doesn’t need saving? She wasn’t working on herself this whole time to be saved again.

That’s why I think it is relevant for her to come out of this by herself. She would finally prove her own force to them and to herself. I don’t want Hak and Soo-won to succeed in going after her. I think something will go wrong and force them to leave. Maybe Yona’s actions in there will trigger something.

I remember how Hak disappeared and Yona was scared and devastated, but she did believe in his strength and didn’t immediately rush after him to save him. At least she tried. That’s more like belief in one’s abilities. Hak says he believes in her all the time, but I don’t see it.

Yes based on their last interaction, an, "okay for now, let's put the grudges aside, so explain to me how you decided xyz", is preferable to a "actually I believe in your intelligence no matter what, let's try harder next time and go back to the old times, buddy" lmao.

Exactly. It is unclear to me how Hak suddenly came to understand and warm up to Soo-won again after yelling at him last time. What happened? What changed?

Perhaps Su-Won really did say "farewell", but then they reunited later on anyways. It made him realize that such goodbyes might be meaningless after all.

That is still my number 1 guess.

Hak was painfully reminded of Soo-won when they talked about coming back, which can imply that Soo-won did say his final farewell and that he wouldn’t be anyone to come back to. Soo-won also said he said his goodbye to Hak. So yes, I suppose it was farewell or something related.

They stepped into that mausoleum once; it could have been a good callback to that if she had joined Hak and Su-Won in ch 262. I hope she barges in, I miss the days where she was relevant okay 😭

I can potentially see Mundok dying. He's the last parental figure of the three.

I think the way Lili noticed the mausoleum is on verge of collapsing is a hint that it will in fact collapse completely while Soo-won and Hak are inside.

Actually this made me come up with something. Mundok may not know where that mausoleum is situated but Lili does. We saw her discover this place with Soo-won, maybe that was done for a reason. She might be the one to lead Mundok there to get Hak and Soo-won out. She’s very persistent, she might just run in and Mundok will follow her.

Or she will be there with Yoon to help them out. Either way, I have a strong feeling she will play a role here.

If this theory really happens, I wouldn’t say saving Soo-won and Hak would waste Mundok’s character. On the contrary, it would be a great, epic end for a great character. He would do it without hesitation or regret. Of course Hak will be broken by this, but so will Soo-won. I remember how Mundok once said he was disappointed in Soo-won and that he used to think of him as a grandchild along with Hak. Him saving Soo-won would symbolize his forgiveness and deliver the message that he should live on.

It will shake Soo-won greatly too. He admired Mundok since childhood.

Now imagine a future where Yona doesn’t convince the dragon gods and when she returns to the real world, she finds out that Hak and Su-Won died due to their reckless actions, aligned with her original visions after all.

That’s the kind of thoughts I got from reading this last chapter. Death flags everywhere, but still I have a hard time imagining such a horrible tragic end. Even secondary characters didn’t die in this story and suddenly two main characters / one of them dies in the end? Mundok sacrificing himself for them would be tragic but also makes much more sense. Yona would also be devastated upon coming back, she loves him as well. Sometimes mutual loss and grief unites people, it could unite the three of them too.

On the other hand, if Mundok sacrifices himself and Hak and Su-Won are hit with grief and also fail to find Yona, that might be a good time for Lili to come back into the picture.

Absolutely. I can imagine Soo-won sitting alone somewhere, stricken with grief and Lili appears behind his back to ask how’s he hanging on. Then the talk happens.

Every time Hak and Su-Won talk there's just so much history and insight you see in their dynamic. They act like totally different characters, they're more open and it's like no one else in the room, just them. And while Hak definitely believes in Yona, with the fact that Hak still believes in him despite it all, I honestly think SooHak gives them a run for their money even though they have had considerably less interactions than HakYona.

[aspoonofsugar]

Jaune: Zero to Hero

Pyrrha: It's not about why; it's about knowing. Understanding dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both.

Knowledge, Creation and Destruction all lead up to Aura. This is just another way to say that they lead up to individuality, which is something Grimms lack:

Pyrrha: They are creatures of Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity.

Individuality is conveyed through Choice. This is why Choice is the most important and final gift. It is symbolic of self-actualization, which is what our characters are pursuing in their coming of age story.

Jaune’s personal arc comments the group’s collective journey and marks each stage very clearly.

In which way does it happen? And what do these stages mean for Jaune’s growth as an individual?

THE IGNORANT WARRIOR

Pyrrha: Jaune, do you... know what Aura is?

Jaune: Psch! Of course I do! Do you know what Aura is?

Jaune is introduced as inexperienced and ignorant. He lacks combat experience and knows nothing about key concepts like Aura, Landing Strategy or Semblances.

His journey starts because Pyrrha shares her knowledge with him:

She awakens his aura, his very soul and later on trains him, so she helps his body get stronger:

In other words, Pyrrha is the one who puts Jaune on the right path to become a true “hero” and a “warrior”.

This is Jaune’s objective since the beginning, but he initially pursues it in the wrong way:

Jaune: I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero!

He is fixated on an idea of hero which is outdated and has its root in toxic masculinity:

Jaune: Cause this is always what I've wanted to be! My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors! They were all heroes! I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough.

This is why symbolically Jaune wants to be like his male ancestors. He wants to grow into “a real man”:

Cardin: Let's see how much of a man you really are...

And this is conveyed also through his Weapon:

Jaune: It's a hand-me-down. My great-great-grandfather used it to fight in the war.

Jaune did not forge his own Weapon, but he inherited it. Crocea Mors initially represents the legacy he wants to live up to. However, this legacy, instead of driving him, slows him down because he can’t grow until he remains in his ancestors’ shadow. Jaune needs to develop his own individuality instead.

In order to do so, he needs to grow not only as a figther, but as a person too.

As a matter of fact, Jaune’s ignorance is not only limited to the world he has stepped into, but also to the people around him:

Jaune: That's easy for you to say. You've probably got guys clamoring over each other just to ask you out.

Pyrrha: You'd be surprised.

He is so self-focused that he does not notice others’ feelings and hurts them unintentionally.

However, Pyrrha teaches him once again:

Pyrrha:Tell her exactly what you said. No ridiculous schemes, no pick-up lines. Just... be honest.

 It is thanks to her that Jaune manages to become a better man:

He is even able to call Neptune out the way Pyrrha did with him:

Jaune: Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go.

And as a result, even Jaune’s relationship with Weiss gets better:

Weiss: You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?

Neptune: You're looking at him.  You got some good friends looking out for ya.

Because the girl realizes Jaune is not only after her money or her romantic attention:

Weiss: All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name.

But wants to genuinely be a good friend to her.

In short, Jaune starts the story as immature both as a fighter and as a person to the point that he is considered unfit and annoying by other characters:

Glynda: I don't care what his transcripts say. That Jaune fellow is not ready for this level of combat.

However, thanks to Pyrrha, he is given the chance to mature.

Not only that, but while other characters see a weakness and a nuisance in Jaune’s ignorance and inexperience, Pyrrha sees it as a possibility:

Weiss: Jaune, is it? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?

Jaune: Not in the slightest, snow angel.

Weiss: This is Pyrrha.

It is specifically because Jaune is new to Pyrrha’s world that he is free from bias:

Pyrrha:  That's what I like about you. When we met, you didn't even know my name. You treated me just like anyone else. And thanks to you, I've made friendships that will last a lifetime. I guess, you're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me.

This is why Pyrrha feels she can forge a genuine bond with Jaune. What is more, the girl has faith in his potential:

Pyrrha: It's all right. I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own. You have a lot of it.

She sees in him what others do not and helps him develop both as a man and as a warrior.

This is well highlighted by the metal motif the two characters share.

As @hamliet explains here Rwby has several characters linked to the seven metals of alchemy.

The goal of alchemy is to create gold thanks to a process of refiniment that purifies the metal and has it go through several transformations. 

The seven metals are nothing, but a scale that goes from the heaviest and most raw metal (lead) to the most purified (gold) passing through the others (tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver).

For a story, it simply means that a character goes through a process of change that leads to self-actualization.

In Rwby this idea is conveyed through specific characters embodying a metal (Ironwood, Penny, Mercury) or even thanks to metal motifs commenting a specific part of a character arc.

For example, Yang is associated with gold:

I am the golden one Who burns just like the sun

But Adam takes her arm away and has her regress in the scale of metals to iron. This regression is not simply physical, but psychological as well:

However, Yang re-affirms herself and moves forward. The first step of this process is to symbolically make her new arm “gold” again:

When it comes to Jaune, I think that he may be the character associated with lead aka the “prima materia” that needs to be molded into gold. Even if this is not true, metal is at least definately still a motif in his arc, as it is in Pyrrha’s. This is why both characters wear metal armors, differently from others.

Pyrrha is already close to her self-actualization and she reaches it in the climax of the Vale arc, where she completes her (tragic) arc and dies a Maiden.

This is why her armor is gold, while Jaune’s is white and gray. Pyrrha is at the top of the metal scale and close to the end of her journey, while Jaune is respectively at the very bottom and at the very beginning.

He is the embodyment of the prima materia that has potential for greatness, but only if he is rightly guided and if he himself works hard.

Pyrrha takes over herself the duty to help Jaune mold himself.

This is underlined also by Pyrrha’s semblance:

Pyrrha: Well, Ruby has her speed, you have your glyphs. My Semblance is polarity.

Pyrrha can control and bend metals and she shows her power for the first time when she helps Jaune against the Ursa, so that he can overcome his self-issues.

So, Jaune starts the story as the lead and is going through a path of self-refinement which will lead him to become gold, so more similar to Pyrrha herself.

Pyrrha offers him the basic knowledge to start this journey, but unluckily leaves him too soon and now Jaune has to move forward on his own.

THE CREATIVE AVENGER

Pyrrha: I want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you, Jaune.

Even after Pyrrha’s death, this stays true:

Blacksmith: That was some fine metal you brought me. Accents the white nicely. Where'd you get it from?

Pyrrha has become a part of Jaune.

This is a recurring motif in Rwby:

Penny: I won’t be gone, I’ll be part of you.

It is the idea that grieving is a process that leads to acceptance, but also to integration with a lost one. It is a way to have the deceased keep on living through the survivors.

In Jaune and Pyrrha’s case, this is conveyed through Pyrrha’s metal being used to enrich Jaune’s Weapon.

As stated by Ruby:

Ruby: Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool.

Weapons are symbolic of the self, just like Semblances.

What is more, Weapons and Semblances are also a declination of the dychotomy of body and soul, presented by the series.

Weapons are wielded by bodies, while Semblances are a materialization of the soul.

In other words, Pyrrha’s gold becoming a part of Jaune’s Weapon is symbolic of Jaune’s first step in a painful process that will lead him to overcome his partner’s death and to inherit Pyrrha’s legacy.

Jaune must keep on learning from Pyrrha and become more like her. As noted by @hamliet​, this is symbolized also by Jaune’s design aquiring more golden details as he goes on in his journey:

Jaune: Guess I was going to grow out of it eventually.

Ren: A sign of progress.

Jaune: Progress.

That said, grieving is not easy and Jaune must struggle with much pain and negative feelings.

This is why the changes he makes to Crocea Mors are finalized to increase its attack power:

It is because Jaune feels anger over Pyrrha’s death and wants revenge.

In the Battle of Haven he gives in to his fury and tries to kill Cinder. He is trying to superficially imitate Pyrrha’s sacrifice:

Jaune: If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones that matter.

However, he is not doing it out of bravery or necessity, but out of recklessness and self-hate. This is why his actions lead to this:

Once again, Jaune risks to lose another loved one:

Jaune: No, no, no, no, not again! Weiss, c'mon, please!!

However, this time he is able to save Weiss thanks to his Semblance:

Jaune: My Semblance?

Nora: How else do you think you're healing her, dummy?

Jaune gives up on using his Weapon to fight and chooses to use his Semblance to cure. He chooses soul over body and Creation over Destruction.

At the same time, Jaune’s activation of his Semblance is meaningful on two levels:

Jaune: No. I don't think I'm healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels... it feels more like I'm using my Aura to amplify hers!

Nora: Wait, aren't you worried about running out?

Jaune: Pyrrha once told me I've got a lot of it. I still believe her.

First of all, Jaune’s Semblance is rooted in the idea that people heal themselves. His power is not to cure others, but to amplify others’ auras, so that they can become stronger and can heal. It is about bringing out the best in others. It is a power fit for a leader, but also an ability symbolic of Jaune’s own process of healing. He can heal himself through helping others to heal.

Secondly, Jaune’s Semblance is in itself a nod to Pyrrha. Pyrrha used her own aura to awake his and Aura Amp is simply an evolution of this idea. It is not about activating others’ auras, but it is a power that lets Jaune share his. It also makes good use of something Pyrrha noticed immediately aka Jaune’s huge quantity of aura.

In other words, Jaune ends up acting like Pyrrha in the Battle of Haven, but not because he fights Cinder, but because he shares his gift with others, just like Pyrrha did with hers.

Pyrrha is a part of Jaune both in body (Crocea Mors) and soul (Aura Amp), but Jaune must still truly understand what this means.

He makes progress in Lost:

Red-Haired Woman: She understood that she had a responsibility... to try. I don't think she would regret her choice, because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be.

This is the essence of Pyrrha’s sacrifice. Jaune comes to understand it and chooses to make a similar choice together with his team:

Jaune: I think... I think she knew she wasn't going to win. That she might not come out alive. But... she also knew she was the only one that could try.

Ren: So she did.

Nora: Maybe we should too.

Jaune: Yeah, we should.

In this way, it will be as if Pyrrha were fighting together with them:

Nora: Pyrrha may not be by our side anymore, but we can fight like she is.

Jaune: And in a way... she will be.

Jaune tries to overcome his anger and his sadness for Pyrrha’s death in order to keep fighting like she did.

So, once again he chooses this:

Ruby: I wanted to protect my friends.

Maria: Precisely! It is the desire to preserve life which fuels the light inside you. And to make no mistake, it is light. Preservation is an extension of creation, or, at the very least, an enemy of destruction. The Creatures of Grimm were made by the God of Darkness, but your light comes from his brother.

He chooses to protect life and this is the essence of Creation.

Once he confirms this choice, he is free to explore Creation’s potential and he does so in the land of Creation itself, Atlas.

He strengthens his shield instead of his sword:

And he trains his Semblance:

Oscar: Nice, your recovery is getting faster.

This all leads him to become stronger psychologically:

Ren: Him on the other hand... There's no fear at all. I can see it, he believes we're going to get this done.

That said, Jaune starts meeting limits to his new found strength rooted in Creation:

Jaune: Ah, sorry. No matter how much I boost you, they won’t go away.

Jaune: Did... I stop the virus?

Penny: No. It’s still there.

Jaune’s way to move forward is to heal himself through healing others. Still, what to do when this is not possible?

THE DESTRUCTIVE HEALER

Penny: No… there’s not enough time to heal me…

Penny: But there is something you can do…

What happens in Atlas is an inversion of Haven.

Penny pushes Jaune’s Semblance away and touches Crocea Mors.

Jaune is asked to give up on healing her and to speed up her death instead. He is asked to choose his Weapon (body) over his Semblance (soul) and Destruction over Creation.

This marks the characters entering the Destruction phase:

Leaving Creation (Penny) behind.

For Jaune, this means that his own self image that he has worked so much to build and to make his own:

And that has been enriched in Anima thanks to Pyrrha...is shattered:

At the same time, he is once again put in a similar spot as Pyrrha:

They both become unwilling agents of Penny’s death because of Cinder (and Emerald and Mercury in the first case):

Pyrrha: Ruby, I... I'm so sorry.

Ruby: Me too. But it wasn't your fault.

Jaune: She's right. Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else.

So Jaune’s journey to integrate with Pyrrha, to understand her and her struggle continues.

What now?

It is too soon to say because we have yet to properly start our journey through Destruction and what it is about.

That said, there are two things that are worth highlighting. The first is a motif Rwby is following, while the second is a general theme found in many stories.

1) As @hamliet​ has stated in many metas and as I have written here, Rwby is an alchemical story. Alchemical stories are usually marked by three important deaths. Each death is symbolically linked to a color. They are usually black, white and red. However, sometimes there can be yellow instead of the white or the red. This is the case here, where a resonant death is the yellow death aka Penny’s.

It is a death that happens while the characters are surrounded by yellow:

And it happens through a weapon called “Yellow Death” (Crocea Mors’s meaning). So, it is really not subtle. Penny’s death is meant to mark an important passage for our protagonists, just like Pyrrha’s one (the black death).

2) It is common in stories that deal with healers to explore the concept of death as well.

The basic idea is that a healer is a person meant to cure. That said, they will meet people impossible to cure and that will die on their watch. This is an unescapable truth a true healer must live with.

Let’s highlight this theme is found in works very different for genre and culture.

Let’s have two examples.

Scrubs aka an American comedy about doctors deals with this theme multiple times. In many episodes the characters must simply accept they can’t save a life, but must still not lose hope and keep on living themselves.

Yosano from the manga BSD says so:

Her backstory explores the link bewteen life and death further since it is shown that a power that cures fatal wounds can be used to cheapen life itself:

It is too soon to say if Rwby will explore a similar theme, but the fact that Jaune, (the healer) is the one that has to speed up Penny’s death might be a very powerful and poignant choice. This is true especially because Rwby does not refuse Destruction (and so does not refuse death), but presents it as a principle equal to Creation (so as a part of life).

THE CHOOSING HERO

Jaune’s arc is about living Pyrrha’s death over and over again with different scenarios and outcomes. This happens so that in the end he can finally overcome it.

So far, it has happened three times and each time has been in the climax of an important battle.

The Battle of Beacon has him witness powerlessly to Pyrrha’s death (lack of knowledge and passivity).

The Battle of Haven has him saving Weiss (creation).

The Battle of Atlas has him killing Penny (destruction).

What is more, every time Jaune becomes more proactive and conscious of what he is doing.

In Beacon he has no idea of what is happening. He works with little information and things happen to him without him being able to do anything.

In Haven his actions lead to Weiss being in danger, but he manages to save her. That said, he does not do it consciously. He unlocks his Semblance because of emotional stress. It is an unconscious choice and not a conscious one.

In Atlas he makes a specific conscious choice, but it is a choice that is forced on him because of external circumstances. It is also a choice that is meant to challenge and temporally break him.

In other words, he is slowly and painfully approaching Choice aka self-actualization. Right now, he has to face the consequences of Penny’s death, but this will probably lead him to finally enter the Choice stage and to complete his arc by becoming a “hero” aka gold (probably).

At the same time, this final choice will also be about healing and overcoming grief. It will be the final integration with Pyrrha and him being able to honor her legacy.

After all, we have been told from the beginning what Pyrrha’s fate would have been. We’ve just failed to notice:

Pyrrha: For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee.

June and Pyrrha’s bond is eternal and she is meant to be the key character in Jaune’s arc. It is only through confronting and finally overcoming her loss that Jaune can finally self actualize and become the person Pyrrha has always known he could be. Pyrrha will symbolically be with him in this struggle. Her memory will protect and inspire him. 

[kustas]

finished samurai champloo do here is my attempt to keep my opinions about it brief. REALYL good show. im trying to find a playlist of the soundtrack in order bc the music in it is SO interesting like first of all obviously the hiphop and its used vv creatively but i also am a huge fan of that fast drum beat that i think they only used twice? both times mugen was fighting someone and its just a very interesting sound for both scenes, also thw whole show was visually soso beautiful and interesting and i want to eat it. u already said everything about mugens design but i also loved that jin's clothes were long and flowy and gave him a much larger shilouhette (not how thats spelled i think) which contrasts his restrained fighting style/persinality and also kind of fun bc of his like legend thats larger than him. fuu's design was cute and i loved her dagger i wish shed used it more but tbh i think more couldve been done with her than the constant kidnapping. i also really liked that the tonal shifts were natural and it changed between fun anarchronisms and zombies and like the harrowing inner life of the characters and the real struggles of the era. overall best show ive watched this year i think. now onto mind game

hello hi! Glad you had a good time! Champloo is such a ridiculously rule of cool show, it deserves all the good press :D

You are on point about the design for the leads, in the shape language and contrast and all those little details...:) About Fuu, she's a character I'm torn on. I love that she's a rare example of a teen girl character who actually feels like a teen girl, she's peppy and cute and kicks ass when she needs to and the writing of the show and other characters (even Mugen...lmfao) treat her like a person albeit an immature one. But her role in each episode...sheesh. it's one thing to talk about how sexist that era was because it absolutely was the case, but it doesn't do much with it. She's supposed to be the protagonist, her being the damsel in distress all the time got on my nerves and I agree way more could have been done with her. I really appreciated the episodes where she solved problems with her personality in ways the two guys wouldn't have been able to. But for how rare it is to have cool girls in shows...always dissapointing to see them become secondhand sometimes.

And about the historical stuff, the "real struggles of the era", I found that for a show that openly embraces "not historically accurate get off my tits" , it does a weirdly good job teaching about aspects of the time that aren't known about in the mainstream. Jokes on the writers, I guess! Even if it's mostly played for jokes, several episodes touch on the attempts at contact/colonization by Europe especially the Dutch, and I found the mystery around the rise of Christianity one of the most interesting parts when I first watched it.

As for the music....damn right it bangs. OP/ED alone are some of the best I know in anime. Was already the case for Bebop, but Watanabe has a thing for picking really good music and using it in slightly unconventional but awesome ways. If you haven't, I strongly recommend checking out nujabes, the artist behind the opening track. Unfortunately as far as I know he's not worked on other shows, as he tragically passed away only a few years after Champloo was released. He might be the one to have popularized chill beats especially among anime fans. I'll recommend my favorite track of his, Lady Brown, the sweetest love song I know :)... As well as another unrelated track that you might dig, kode9's 9 samurai, who's beat revolves around sampling what I believe to be a Kurosawa movie soundtrack. Bit off topic but hey that's the vibe with Champloo's writing too isn't it

Thank you so much for sending me your thoughts! I hope mindgame won't blast your brains too far out :D

[i-like-writing-stuff]

definitely love [five hargreeves x reader]

request:  Could you do a Five x reader fic where the reader is kidnapped by the Handler and Five comes to save them. Thx

a/n: it’s kinda short, but i feel like it’s pretty sweet, i guess??? the only warning is some curse words here and there cause i cant help myself and maybe the handler being like a huge y/n x five shipper lmao

perhaps therell be a part 2???

summary: when the handler kidnaps you, don’t you dare think five wouldn’t come to your rescue as soon as possible.

“Listen, lady!” You yelled, rolling your eyes at your former boss, “I have no idea where that dipshit is, alright?!”

The Handler raised a brow at your seventh burst this hour, taking a long drag out of her cigarette, before puffing out the smoke with a laugh, “I’m sorry- I can’t take your seriously when your boobs haven’t even kicked in yet.”

“Oh, you did not go there.” You squinted your eyes at her, trying to launch forward, but to no avail, as the Handler kept on laughing at your attempts of attacking her.

You only laid back in your seat, feeling the ropes around you squeeze you into place. You had been tied to that chair for the past three hours, although no real torture had been inflicted upon you- other than having to listen to the Handler talk for three hours.

Even when you worked for her in the Commission you didn’t like her much. She was too extra, too much work for you, in spite of her gorgeous sense of fashion. All you wanted to do was retire as soon as possible, but when Five Hargreeves got a job there, your world was turned upside down and before you knew it, you were a teenager again, in 2019, trying to stop the apocalypse with his other siblings.

Except that you failed, and you ended up in 1963... with another apocalypse on its way... because somehow you brought it with you.

“What do you even want with him?” You asked, as she stopped laughing to drag another long puff out of her lit cigar.

“Let’s just say I have a deal.” She smirked, turning to you, “And I need to make sure you two will hear me out.”

“Is that why you kidnapped me and brought me here?” You raised a brow, looking around the abandoned warehouse, “That’s cliche.”

“What’ll be cliche is if he finally admits to having feelings for you when he comes to your rescue.” The Handler scoffed, making you raise a brow at her, “Oh, please- we all had bets going on in the Commission on the two of you.”

“Wonderful...” You dryly said, shaking your head in disbelief.

However, somewhere deep within you, you hoped that what the Handler said would become true. You met Five on his first day working for the Commission and you quickly warmed up to each other since you had basically the same personalities, but you, yourself, were having a hard time understanding your feelings. 

You found that sarcastic piece of shit adorable and charming, but you were not gonna admit it to his face- you didn’t need him to get even cockier. He may or may not have shown in the past two weeks signs that he shared your feelings, but you decided not to put that much thought into it, since saving the world was the number on priority on your list.

“Hey!” Five’s voice suddenly rang through the room, as he stumbled in, holding Lila by the arm.

“Lila?” You wondered, confused by the presence of Diego’s crazy girlfriend which he picked up from a... well, crazy house.

“Well done.” The Handler smirked, placing her hands in the pockets of her coat.

“What is Lila doing here?” You frowned, watching as Five threw her on the floor, glaring at the Handler, “Five!”

“You were right to think she is familiar.” Five told you, placing his foot on Lila’s neck, “She is one of them.”

You perked your brows upon hearing the news, looking at the girl on the floor. She helped Diego escape the mental asylum and she’s been on his side ever since, but when you first laid eyes on her, you couldn’t help but get a familiar vibe off her.

Until you realized...

“That’s your kid?” You turned to the Handler, “The girl you adopted?”

You had heard years ago that during a task, somehow the Handler returned with a little girl, but you didn’t put that much thought into it, even if it was a bit strange. Five had a job in London and the Handler accompanied him, but you figured she just wanted to get some- come on, she is really creepy and kinda flirty!

“What?” Five raised a brow, looking at the girl beneath his foot.

“No matter.” The Handler said, stepping towards you, “Here we are... together again.”

“Yeah, it’s a real party.” You sarcastically said, “Ow!” You immediately yelped, as the Handler pulled on your rope, making you jerk back against the chair back, causing Five to tense up.

“I’ve gotta ask.” The Handler said, not once letting go of the rope, making sure the grip on you would be tightened, causing Lila to laugh, even if her throat was being stepped on, “Did you miss me, you little shit? Or did you miss your little girlfriend more?”

“I’ve been gone for only three hours.” You chimed in, making Five shake his head in disbelief, “Besides... nobody ever misses you, really.”

Five decided to put on the same tough guy act, not wanting to reveal his concern, because truth be told- when you didn’t show up at the family meeting that morning, he began feeling stressed. It was not like you not to show up, especially since his brothers and sisters treated you like their own, so that made him tense. 

But, when Lila showed outside the store with a smirk on her lips, he knew immediately she had something to do with it.

Because, truth be told, you were not expecting to let yourself get kidnapped by the Handler. Yeah, she was a great assassin, but you had been holding the title of the best agent in the Commission for the past seven years. That was, before betraying it to help Five save the world and his family.

“Ah, this one.” The Handler smiled sarcastically, letting go of you in order to push you forward.

“Woah!” You yelped, almost losing balance off the chair if Five hadn’t caught you. 

Lila quickly got up coughing before Five could return, but he couldn’t care less. At least you seemed to be fine, no cuts or bruises- the Handler did nothing to you, she was just toying with him to ensure he’d come here to hear out her proposition.

“Now that we’ve made the exchange...” The Handler said, as Five started untying your ropes, “Lila, darling, would you give us a minute, please?”

“Go play with your toys or something...” You taunted the girl, getting up from the seat after three, long hours, rubbing your sore wrists.

“Yes, the grown-ups need to talk.” Five backed you up with a smirk, as Lila only rolled her eyes, walking away from the three of you, knocking something off a table angrily.

“Very mature.” You raised a brow, “I can see how she and Diego made quite the couple.”

“Don’t make me vomit, Y/N.” The Handler scoffed, before changing the subject nonchalantly, “So... do you two lovebirds like jazz?”

After an interesting discussion with the Handler, you and Five walked out of the warehouse in silence, contemplating your decision. She made you two a tough deal, which needed some time to be thought upon, but, unfortunately neither of you had that kind of luxury.

“You know, if we do take the deal...” You spoke up, turning to Five, causing him to stop in his tracks beside you curiously, “It’d be like... one last job together.”

You and Five had been on jobs together before, but you never officially called yourselves partners, even if your success rate was off the charts. You had a great teamwork, so you were not that surprised when the Handler chose you two for a job of this level and risk.

“I don’t even want to think about that just yet...” Five sighed, covering his face tiredly, “We still have another option.”

Your heart ached at the sight- watching Five rub his small face tiredly, all stressed out and overall exhausted, you truly felt bad. You tried helping him, after all that is why you followed him through time, but this was beyond you, and him. 

You knew how much Five loved his siblings, in spite of his attitude towards them. Everything he has done so far it was for him... and you.

You had no idea, but to Five it was surreal. He accepted the fact that he loved his brothers and sisters, but it took him a lot longer to accept that he was actually in love with you. However, it did make sense- you always made him feel better, ever since you guys met. He wasn’t sure if it was love at first sight, but right now, in this moment, he knew it was definitely love.

“But...” Five spoke up, putting on a weak smile, as he placed his hands in his pockets, “At least you are safe now.”

Hearing those words come out of his mouth, your knees felt like they were about to fail you. As Five looked into your eyes, you knew he was sincere, so you couldn’t help the heat rushing to your cheeks.

“All thanks to you.” You quickly smirked, trying to brush off the nervousness, “I mean... she could have picked any one of your siblings to provoke you, but I had the pleasure of spending three dreadful hours with her.” You sighed, folding your arms over your chest, “So, thank you for coming to my rescue.”

“Thank you for playing the damsel in distress.” Five teased you, playfully flicking your forehead as he picked up the pace, “If things don’t work out with dad, now we have a plan B.”

“Hey, don’t let it get to your head!” You quickly yelled, rushing to catch up to him, “I still am a trained assassin!”

“And how exactly did the Handler get her hands on you, then?” Five asked, brushing off the way you absentmindedly locked your arm with his in an attempt to slow him down.

“I was baking cookies.” You slightly shrugged with an innocent smile, “And Frank Sinatra came on the radio, so of course I blasted it through the kitchen.”

“How do you survive?” Five wondered, looking down at you with a small smile on his face, watching as your lips turned to a playful pout.

Yeah... it was definitely love he felt for you.

[deathinfeathers]

"Beebs! You're so smart! I didn't think of it like that! I guess I have been a little bit salty! My perspective isn't very nuanced sometimes—I get stuck in that heavenly way of looking at things, you know? All black and white."

A friendly little cheek nuzzle. This girl is such a peach. She'll have to make sure she is well taken care of when the next purge rolls around—Adam's increasingly unstable ass will, no doubt, ensure there won't be much left of the Pentagram once he's done with it.

"It's just, I can always tell when people assume the worst of me, and I think I let it get to me more than I probably should? I'll be real with you Barbie, because you're always real with me. I got into a pretty nasty squabble with your brother earlier. He seems to think you're some kind of damsel in distress, and it made me upset, because you're like, one of the coolest and bravest people I know, yeah? Some choice words flew and he pretty much hates my guts now, which is fine, a lot of people hate my guts, but I just wanted you know, before he tries to paint me out as the villain that he obviously thinks I am! I'm really sorry! Honest! I don't want to be a source of stress for you or anything, so I'll try to give him a wide berth from now on."

"Why does everybody think I'm mean? I'm not mean! I'm a sweet. Fucking. Treat!!"