#i can absolutely pirate it but issue is i'd like to watch it on a tv rather than my computer bcs

[beauzos]

i wanna rewatch Ballad of Buster Scruggs..

and not just the first fifteen minutes this time. the whole thing GRGF

[recuira]

after hours

after hours : a live action buggy x fem!reader fanfiction

for some odd reason, you have no idea who he is. and he fucking loved that.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

chapter one chapter two chapter three

chapter four | suede. stalking. silly.

his pov;

"Your wanted poster."

Those three words settled in my mind as I stared at the distraught girl in front of me, watching as she fumbled with her hands, a nervous exterior brushing over her. She seemed to be so horrified with the fact that I was once a pirate sought after by thousands- wanted dead or alive, though much preferred dead. Many still wanted me dead but due to my brilliant idea of hiding out here, the chance of anyone getting my bounty was thin. I, however, didn't see it being as much of a big deal as she deemed it so. The real issue I found was tucked away in one of the books within the nightstand which I was so fucking thankful she didn't find. I'd rather her not have been looking around but if she were to find one of the two? I was glad she found the poster.

I tossed another slice of apple into my mouth then set the knife down on the cutting board. I approached Y/N but instantly halted when I noticed how nervous and uneasy she was. "What's wrong?"

"H-How many people did you kill?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Does that really matter?" I asked, waving my hands up in the air to hopefully exaggerate my point. "It was almost a year ago."

"That doesn't change the fact that it happened!"

"I know, I know." Despite her discomfort, I took a seat next to her anyway. She tightened her arms around herself, almost to make sure there was as much distance between us without her actually moving. Clenching my jaw, I patted my hands upon my thighs. "I know it's a terrible thing, and there's nothing I can do to change that. It's in the past and if I could go back and alter things, I would. Being a pirate was all I knew. My old friend was one, too. Then we separated onto different things and-"

"Did he kill people?"

"Lots of pirates kill people. It's part of the hype, ya know? It's very unlikely to raid another ship without there being any casualties. But I stopped because I got tired of it. I wanted something more."

"It's a pretty big bounty. I mean- come on, fifteen million berries?"

"Don't think about turning me in now," I chuckled, wanting to add a bit of lightheartedness to this unfortunate predicament.

"I'm not like that. I know I'm in need of money but-"

"I didn't mean it like that, Y/N, come on. Give me some slack."

"Well, why exactly did you stop? Did you lose the thrill of stealing from others? O-Or did you get bored of killing innocent people?"

I rolled my eyes, scoffing. "We've all done some shit we're ashamed of. We're humans. I did a lot of fucked up shit," I said as I pointed at myself. "But I changed that. I moved and let all that go. I left my crew, made someone else the captain, and abandoned ship. I left all of that shit behind and came here."

"But why?"

"If I say this, I'll probably make things worse but I don't want to lie anymore," I said as I laid back, folding my hands over my chest. I stared up at the ceiling. "You've obviously heard of the One Piece, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, I was one of those pirates absolutely obsessed with finding it. Fuck, I even dreamt about it. It was the only thing I truly desired in life. It was the only thing I thought about. Not riches, women, alcohol- just the One Piece. I was making somewhat decent progress but then I heard that a group of Straw Hats-" I grimaced at the thought. "-made off with the map which they stole from one of the Marine bases. I happened to track them down and I managed to steal the map from some kid named Monkey D. Luffy. But all good things must come to an end and I lost it. I was back to square one. And then I discovered his bounty was thirty million berries." I frowned then sat up, turning to face Y/N. "Can you believe that? Some newby pirate-wannabe received a bounty double my own! Seeing that brought me back to reality. So I dropped everything then came here."

"All because of him?"

I nodded my head. Just the thought of that kid irked me. There was no one, other than Shanks, who I despised more than my own self.

"So, yeah, I know what I did was fucked up. But there's a reason I'm here now. There's a reason I've given you so much. It's because I want to be a better person, maybe redeem myself for what I've done. And I can do that by helping you, by making your life a little less miserable."

"Do you pity me?" The girl asked, finally meeting my gaze.

"What?" I laughed, almost obnoxiously. "Of course not. If anything, I envy you."

"Me?" Y/N pointed at herself. "You envy me?"

"You have no bad conscience. You've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to make up for. You have a clean slate."

She shrugged, a small smile creeping onto her lips. "Thank you."

"So, uh, do you hate me now?" I asked, forcing a frown to mimic a pouting child. She giggled at this and shook her head. I sighed in relief, wiping 'sweat' from my forehead. "Thank god. I don't know what I'd do with myself if you hated me."

"I knew you were a pirate but it's still shocking to learn about your past. It'll take me a bit to get used to it but I don't hate you."

"So, we're good?" I extended my hand.

"We're good." She shook it.

I felt as if a huge relief was lifted off my shoulders. And as long as she stayed out of the nightstand, there would be no more issues. But if I hid the book, then I would be even more safe. I pondered the possibilities before I watched as she rose from the confines of the bed and approached the counter. My eyes trailed down. The backs of her thighs were exposed and the shorts clung to her ass so divinely. I bit my lip and crossed my leg over my lap.

"I appreciate everything you've done for me," She mumbled as she started to chew on an apple, then began to cut into an orange. "I do have a question for you, though."

"Go ahead, shoot." As soon as she turned around, my eyes met hers and I smiled.

"Are devil fruits real? Or is that just an old tale? I've never seen one up close and I heard they cost a fortune, even for just one alone."

"They're real," I said with a small laugh. "I would know, I've eaten one."

Y/N nearly jumped before she darted over toward me, her hands grabbing at my shoulders. She still had a slice of half-chewed apple in her mouth which made her struggle to properly speak. "WHAT? You- NO! You didn't?!" She let go of my arms and instead planted her hands on my chest, shoving me back. I collapsed back against the bed, laughing. "You ate one?!"

"Years ago, when I was fifteen."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not. It was a mistake actually."

"What happened?"

I chuckled and pushed myself back up. "Give me an orange and I'll tell you."

If my reflexes weren't so quick, the fruit would've hit me in the face with how quick she threw it. But I caught it and began to pick apart the peel. "Easy, next time," I smirked and took a bite from it. "Well, when I was younger and was a pirate-in-training, the crew I was in raided this ginormous ship and hit the motherload. Not only gold and jewels and anything you could think of, but there was also a devil fruit. I found out how much they were worth and tried to steal it but I was caught in a predicament and I tried to hide it in my mouth."

"And?"

"I swallowed it whole."

She gasped, "And you're alive?"

"It doesn't kill you. It just takes your ability to swim when you're in the ocean, in salt water. It's like the sea turned its back on you."

"Did you get a power from it?"

I shrugged and winked at her, taking another bite. I licked the juices from my hand. "Guess."

"You can fly?"

"Ha! Nope."

"Read minds?"

"It's body-altering."

"Wait," The lovely maiden smirked, taking a seat on the bed. "Did it give you that red nose?" She snickered.

"Guess again," I said flatly, my expression turning cold as I stared at her. She gulped, clenching her jaw. I laughed and looked down at my lap, now using one hand to hold the orange. I continued to chew on it. But while she was distracted with her numerous attempts to guess what kind of body-altering power I had, I detached my left hand at the wrist. It floated behind the both of us and tapped on her right shoulder. Y/N jumped up, her head shooting to look at her side. Her eyes widened and her eyebrows furrowed together before she spotted my floating hand waving at her. She gasped and slapped it away. I broke out into a fit of laughter, my hand reconnecting to my wrist. "Impressive, huh?"

"You- what?" She was still flabbergasted.

"I ate the chop-chop fruit. It allows me to pretty much chop any part of my body. Like I can-" To avoid grossing her out, I chopped my left leg from my thigh instead of my head from my neck. She watched in amazement. I smiled at this. "I can disconnect anything from my body from my toes to my ears to my-"

"Even... ya know?"

I winked. "Oh, yeah. That, too."

"That's so cool. How come you haven't done it before around me?"

"I don't know. I just never found a reason to." Shrugging my shoulders, I allowed my leg to snap back. I continued to chew on the orange before finishing it and tossing the peel into a small bin to the left of the bedside table. Y/N finished hers as well. She wiped her hands down on her shirt.

"So, uh," I chewed on my bottom lip. "Do you think you and your mother will be okay?"

"Yeah. We fight all the time. Her drinking doesn't help."

I cringed. "Really?"

"Yeah, she's one of the reasons I hate it so much."

I pursed my lips and nodded my head. I knew I needed to cut back on it but it was something I've done for well over more than half my life. Though, I was destined to do it. Not only for myself, but for her, too. I'd do anything for Y/N. "So," I began, "what do you want to do today?"

"I need to go make up with my mother. That's a big to-do. I can't stand her ever being upset with me." The girl said as she stood up, slipping her shoes back onto her feet. "We can have dinner tonight if you want. Maybe you could meet her."

"Meet your mom?"

"Yeah, why not? She was wondering where all that money came from. She thought I stole it."

"Hell, I don't know. I'm not good with meeting new people."

"Will you, at least, consider it?"

"Sure," I smirked.

"Thank you." Y/N reached for the doorknob, giving it a strong and firm tug before it yanked open. A gush of cold wind washed over her, almost knocking her back. I tossed her my coat to which she whispered another 'thank you' then slipped it on. "I'll see you, Buggy."

"Bye," I murmured with a smile.

As soon as the door shut, I jumped down from the bed and pulled the drawer out from the nightstand, dropping it on the stone floor. I sorted through the numerous books and grabbed the novel I was so fucking thankful she didn't look through. As I opened the cover, the hollowed book had contents that almost spilled out. Papers among papers, among sketches fell out, wafting along the floor. Several notes about Y/N puddled on the floor. One, which was my favorite, was a letter I wrote to her- well, I refused to send it. If I sent it, any last fiber of my confidence would be crushed like a scrambled egg. My fingers lined the rigid edges as I unfolded it.

Messy paragraphs lined both the front and back of the page.

I smiled. How long ago did I write this? I haven't looked at it in so long. I usually added a sentence to it each time I saw Y/N, which is why it was so long. But I stopped pouring my thoughts and desires into it when I actually had the pleasure of speaking to her.

If she saw this, I would kill myself.

I'd purposely jump into the ocean with two anchors attached to my feet.

I looked over the first paragraph,

'I've never wanted something so badly in my life. To say I yearned for her would be a complete understatement. I longed for her, I yearned, I desired- In simple terms, I wanted her. I mean, how could I not? She was an angel. She was a siren. I would purposely listen to her enchanting song, allowing my boat to crash, just if it meant I could be graced by her presence, by her beauty. I was obsessed with her. If she found out my thoughts, my desires, she would never let herself be seen with me. I wouldn't blame her, though. I was obsessive. It was unhealthy, I knew that. But I didn't care. I wouldn't say I loved her because I didn't know what that felt like. I've never experienced it. But perhaps I did love her. I didn't know, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that she was the only treasure I wanted. Not the One Piece, no. Not even that could match up to her alluring person. If I had to travel every sea in order to find her, battle every sea snake in order to touch her, I would. I would in a heartbeat.'

I grimaced, cringing at what I was reading. Thank god, she didn't see this. I didn't even want to see this.

I tucked the papers back into the hollowed-out book, closing it. I slipped the other novels into the drawer then slid it into the nightstand. With the book of secrets, I needed to hide it somewhere she could never find it- where even I struggled to find it. I didn't want to throw it out for I would be completely discarding all of those moments we had together, although she couldn't reconcile them with me because at that time, I was nonexistent to her.

Maybe I could follow my own idea and form my own message in a bottle. I never mentioned her name, nor my own. To an outsider's perspective, it was anonymous.

I shook my head and slipped the book back into the bedside table. She wouldn't be back anytime soon so I had enough time to properly execute a fool-proof plan.

But right now?

I needed to go get another coat.

-=-

her pov;

My mother and I resolved things, just like always. And when she caught wind of a pirate suddenly becoming very fond of me, she begged me to invite him over for dinner. I didn’t think that was the best of ideas. Going out to dinner? Sure! But to have him over? At our house? I cringed at the idea.

She fell ill months ago. Nothing too major, but ever since she’s gotten better, she despises leaving the house and even made me bring her bed downstairs so she could sleep next to the kitchen just in case she had a hankering for something to eat. It was ridiculous, I knew that. But I couldn’t just tell her no. She was my own mother. While I was old enough, I definitely wasn't going to willingly disobey her.

She persisted that I go and grab Buggy so we could have him over for dinner, while I insisted we all go out to eat. She hated the idea and told me that it was her house, her rules.

I grimaced at the thought.

Now, I was just outside Buggy's home, knocking on the stone door. I hoped he was home, though there was no possibility of me being able to ask him prior to my arrival. I knew he was busy. He was a very busy man. I was surprised he made time for me.

With another knock, another silence fell. I groaned and backed up.

My eyes trailing down, I stared at the doorknob and chewed on my bottom lip. He wouldn't care if I waited inside, right? We trusted each other. He knew where I lived and I knew where he lived. As far as I knew, he never crossed any of my boundaries and I definitely didn't cross any of his- well, except for maybe 'snooping' through his nightstand.

Without thinking too much more about it, I grabbed the rusted doorknob, gave it a firm twist, then shoved it open. I almost fell through the doorway.

I caught my balance and stepped inside, closing the door behind me. Without the lantern being lit, it was rather dark, but the bright blue sky helped to illuminate the small room. He must've not been home since I left.

I looked around, admiring everything.

As I took a seat on the edge of the bed, I noticed a piece of paper laying on the floor. It wasn't there before.

I raised an eyebrow and reached to grab it but before I could, the door flung open, a certain blue-haired pirate standing in the entrance. When he noticed me, he smirked. I gulped.

"So, we're breaking and entering, are we?" The man grinned as he took a few paces forward.

"I'm sorry," I murmured, scratching the back of my neck. "I came over to ask you about dinner but you weren't here so I figured I would wait."

"No worries, I'm only teasing."

"So?" I folded my arms, leaning forwards.

"So what?" Buggy questioned as he slipped his coat off. Since when did he get a new coat? And why? I was only borrowing the one he lent me. I didn't plan on keeping it. But I guess now it was okay if I did.

"Dinner? Are you available?"

"Hmm, it depends. What time?"

"I don't know, sometime tonight? Only for two hours or so. My mother wanted to meet you. I told her about you."

"What did you tell her?"

"That you've been a friend of mine for a few weeks now and you've been fortunate enough to treat me and help me out," I said with a smile. "She thought you were my boyfriend." I chuckled.

"Heh, that's rich," Buggy said as he turned around to close the door.

"So? Can you?"

"I guess so. Just don't leave me alone with her. I really don't want to be bombarded with questions." The man said as he folded the jacket over his arm then slung it on the countertop. "Did you tell her about my nose?"

I laughed, confused. "No? Why would I?"

"It's my defining feature. It's hard not to notice it when you see me."

"I didn't tell her. I didn't think it was important. I even forget it's there."

The clown burst out in laughter, his eyes closing as he clutched his stomach and nearly fell back with his fit of giggles. I pursed my lips. "What's so funny?" I asked as I crossed my arms.

"It's cute how you're trying to be nice to me. With a nose like mine, how can you forget it's there?" He replied while wiping a tear from his eye.

I felt flustered with the first part of his monologue but I ignored it and shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, I just do. It's not all I see whenever I look at you, ya know. It's not my main focus point when we speak. I look at your eyes, not your nose."

"And yet again, you prove to me that you're different than others."

I smiled. "Hope that's a good thing."

Buggy smirked, winking his left eye. "Of course it is."

The pirated approached me before he knelt down and picked up the piece of paper. He examined it for a moment then laughed to himself. "Grocery list," He explained as he shoved the paper into his pocket.

I paid no attention to the paper. It wasn't any of my business. "Speaking of groceries, want to go help me get food for dinner?"

"What's on the menu?"

"No idea, but let's just grab something so she won't be bitching later."

"Guess I'll be needing this again," The blue-haired man said as he reached to grab his jacket. He slipped his arms through and adjusted the collar. "We match now."

"Mine's more vintage than yours." I winked.

"Oh, so it's yours now?"

"No?" I gulped.

Buggy giggled. "It is. I got my own now so no worries about giving it back. Unless you'd like to trade from time to time."

"No, I like this one."

The man looked at me, an eyebrow cocked upward.

I paid his look no attention and instead looked down at the tattered suede coat I wore. I inhaled softly. It smelled like him.

A soft odor mixed with whiskey, coconut, and cinnamon. And while I hated the stench of alcohol, it worked for him.

I couldn't imagine him without it.

[beanghostprincess]

Ok so I just finished watching film red loved it, uta is unhinged best girl. I also noticed that she's older then Luffy which means she's older than usopp as well. (I'm obsessed with ussop and just yasopp by association.)

I don't know which parts of her back story are Canon and what's not but I'm positive yasopp was there when she was found. So the red hair pirates were a thing before he was born (and most of the straw hats) so at some point yasopp had to leave, got hitched and had a baby and came back after (or maybe the red hair just separated at some point similar to 3D2Y )

They all reunite except for yasopp They find him in his childhood village. Over the span of 2 years he eloped and had a baby without their knowledge. It kinda hurt their feelings a little bit not going to lie. Not inviting your whole crew to your wedding is kind of harsh. Uta wanted to bring the baby back on the ship but had to be explained to her that the baby couldn't go with them He's much too young and he already has a home on land.

I'm so bummed they didn't interact because they must have met each other at some point. they were probably way too young to remember each other tho. I can also see after everything happens in film Red Shanks trying to get yasopp to put usopp down and get to the ship. He can't bring his son with him he's a part of a different crew. Just because he's your kid doesn't mean It's not kidnapping

RED is definitely an experience. I personally didn't like it that much but Uta and Shanks were definitely a highlight and Ado's songs are always appreciated and welcomed with a lot of love. And Uta??? Unhinged older sister my beloved. She's a bit craycray. Mentally unstable girly with daddy issues my beloved. She's sooo my girlfriend. I love her so much. Love of my life. I'd say "who wants to be the Uta to my Perona" but that's probably just,,, Me and my girlfriend. Anyway, not the point-

Ah, yes, uh, I just consider canon whatever the fuck I want, honestly. To me everything that happens in the flashbacks is canon, but the movie itself isn't. That's just what I do, at least.

I absolutely love this???? Uta wanting lil Usopp to come with them I am sobbing,,, And please, Yasopp going "I missed you so much! Come with us! Just for a while!" and he's trying to be all normal about his kid but he hasn't seen him in forever and he's literally about to cry. Shanks understands, though. Father stuff.

[chungledown-bimothy]

Are you still doing d20 hot takes? These are admittedly lukewarm (some salsa that everyone at the table can enjoy).

1) I watch for the character arcs/development, not the story, so I really enjoyed Neverafter.

2) Both campaigns set in Calorum have been really hard to get into, even though they’re really good. But I also don’t like GoT so maybe that’s on me.

3) Hard agree with everyone who said they don’t really want sequel campaigns. I would, however, be down for the odd one shot a la holiday MisMag or Boys’ Night.

4) Coffin Run is so slept on, it’s not even funny. Jasmine’s props, the letters, the Dracula wings lighting, gorgeous sets & minis, incredible RP all around, great bits, all the campy horror movie references… Truly one of my faves.

5) I really wanna see Aabria or another guest DM do a full length/over 10 eps season. I feel like Aabria’s DM style would do well with a few more eps so she can explore more. And it would just be nice to hang out with a guest DM a bit more.

6) Confession: Never finished UC2 or Pirates =< UC2 was hard to pick up with less likeable characters (to me) + feeling like Chap 1 wrapped up so nicely + I’m bad with interpersonal conflict. And then I never got past the start of ep 1 of Pirates cause bad British accents is my pet peeve and B Dave’s character was first introduced 😭

oh i'm ALWAYS here for d20 hot takes. (god i love sam says that was so fucking funny, especially because what lou then gave was the most mild gossip i've ever heard)

1- completely valid. and to a large extent, i do too- i did ultimately enjoy the season, primarily because i love the characters so much.

2- skill issue. calorum campaigns slay absolute penis. (for real though totally fair, they're not for everyone. but i do think it's interesting in conjunction with watching for character arcs/development, bc i think acoc in particular is one of the best with that)

3- ooh yes one-shots are a different thing entirely, always a fun time.

4- coffin run FUCKS. my favorite non-intrepid heroes campaign, and it's only acofaf that comes sort of close. everyone needs to watch it, and if they've already watched it and don't appreciate it, they should try again. i could talk forever about it and how great it is.

5- yes. a million times yes please give us 20 episodes with aabria gming i'm begging. and in general yeah i'd love to see a guest dm have more time and space to flex. (except mercer please no more mercer in the dome)

6- i feel you. it took me a long time to get through tuc 2, this is a cody walsh hate account (half joking). and it took 3 attempts to get through pirates as well. honestly what got me through it was myrtle, cheese, and the little bit of garthy that we got. i found the other characters kinda annoying, big same on that accent, bob's was grating, too.

[melonteee]

I've seen a ton of people on the internet praise the One Piece live action adaptation to high heavens and back and it's just confusing to me. I've even seen people claim that the anime adaptation "CURSE" is broken. Which like, for me, yes and no. Does it look good? For the most part yes but appearances does not make it an automatically good adaptation.

I've recently discovered your content last year and I thoroughly enjoy what you make and agree with your opinions on a lot of things. So when I found your responses to a few asks regarding what your opinions are with the adaptation my enthusiasm did take a bit of a nose dive. But I did want to watch it for myself so I can make my own opinions and see if I agree with yours or not.

20 minutes in and, oh boy, is it something. I can absolutely see what you mean when you say that this show is struggling with being faithful to the source material and trying to be its own thing. One moment they're trying to do their own original content and the next they're trying to shove things about one piece into your face and make you say "oh look it's One Piece!"

And the characters! The interactions between Koby and Luffy felt off. Some moments it feels like I'm watching Luffy and the next he's doing and saying things that Luffy wouldn't do. And that entire time he's shoving down Koby's throat that "you should be free" "Alvida shouldn't be telling you what to do" "If I was a pirate and I did that I wouldn't have left my Island". It's true that he does embody the sense of freedom but he doesn't blatantly tell someone it. He does it completely subtle and unknowingly. It felt like he was trying to shove the theme of freedom down my throat.

And not only does Koby not even tell us what his dream is, but he doesn't even earn inspiration to be braver or stand up to Alvida. Luffy does. And he does it in such a snarky way that it feels purposeful rather than Luffy just saying that without thinking and it happens to be mean.

Don't even get me started on Luffy's backstory and Zoro's introduction.

I know I've only seen the FIRST 20 minutes of the FIRST episode but if this is how it's going to end up being for the rest of the season I'm not going to feel too eager to watch it. There are some things I like but they're far in between each other.

Yeah there's a real issue within the first episode regarding that, when Luffy is being an ORIGINAL Netflix Luffy, he works great! It's a fun and charming version! But then they have him say lines straight from the manga, and they have him trying to replicate manga Luffy, but at this point - Netflix Luffy and manga Luffy are two different characters. So they got Netflix Luffy being aware, and then they shove in manga Luffy being an impulsive, goofy idiot. And suddenly you're stuck with this blaringly obvious contrast of character, and it feels like you're seeing two different people.

It literally works fine as a show, but their struggle in knowing what to keep and what to change has just left them with this weird Frankenstein Luffy that is and isn't himself, and same can be said for Zoro and Nami. It felt like a push and pull and I felt weird about it lmao

From the first episode alone, I would honestly say that this series fails as a One Piece adaptation, but works fine as a One Piece inspiration. I'd hesitate to call this "the live action version" when it feels less like an adaptation and more like an interpretation.

[moonlightperseus]

I'm going to do my best to answer that SeaWorld question without infodumping lmao, but essentially I was talking to a friend and I said "I have always believed if I went to SeaWorld I'd get banned" and she said "now I need to know you have to go" but I was like have you considered I refuse to give them money? So she told me to break in and I said mmm but the last guy who broke in was found dead, naked and missing body parts? So really I had to do some research to find out if I would end up like Jessie in Free Willy or Craig (the name she bestowed to the dead naked guy- his real name was never disclosed). 

It's honestly pretty impressive that I was such a girly girl, given that I had three older brothers and a tomboy sister. My brother's loved superheroes, and the animated shows (at least the original Teen Titans) and I just refused.

I loved the Avengers (2012) i like made it my whole personality. I WAS younger but like embarrassingly so, and that lead me to seeing most of the Marvel movies in a certain time span. Like I haven't properly seen any of the pre-movies like iron man or the first captain america (but God did I try for Peggy) but I watched the second captain america, the thors, I think pretty Faithfully up to Endgame and now the only marvel movie I even a little bit want to see is The Marvel's. (I DID really enjoy Captain Marvel though I will say that) 

Marvel comics I read ? Black Widow, I HAVE read some captain Marvel, spider woman, and a big like Avengers AU that my teacher lent me. I don't remember what it was called but it was pretty good, part of the plot is that like, Thor claims he's a god but Loki claims he's clinically insane so they all trust Loki (and you trust Loki) until y'know he's actually the bad guy and Thor was Thor all along. It's some darker stuff but it was good.

I will just go into Dollarama and flick open justice league comics to see if they have my favorite blonde in them and if they do I'll buy it. That's like my only rule. My collection is a mess (two Batgirl beyond Burnside, and two injustice: gods among us year 4 volume 2, but one in hard cover and one in soft cover (this was accidental and NOT a sign of my absolute devotion)) I barely even have full runs for most of the comics I read, like Batwoman Rebirth (and absolute favorite of mine) I have volumes one and four. But admittedly I use Issue and Volume pretty interchangeably (though I know the difference) and have very few random issues, however, secret me lore is my older sister briefly owned a comic book store and I think I should've taken more advantage of the cheap random comic collection they had for sale. 

And that is annoying!! Especially with Bat-stories. I LOVE a good throwback (like in the gail Simone birds run when Dinah got kidnapped so it has a bunch of references to the longbow hunters comic and even Babs knowing she couldn't go through that again) but it's annoying with the bats because they're so prominent and big so it's just like "remember in issue 1045 of detective comics?" But not only is that over a thousand issues of something half of them are also impossible to find because it's so numerous that at least pirating sites really only include the most recent couple hundred and that doesn't help if you're reading older comics. 

plus there's SO much Kate Content I can't get because of the way detective comics are. 

​​​​​​I do absolutely love the BOP movie too!! It's honestly kind of annoying because I got it for Christmas- but on exclusively Blu-ray. I have a dvd player, a portable dvd player, AND a laptop with a disc drive and NONE OF THEM can play it. 

I don't have a lot of issues when people don't like something I like. I have very few opinions so I am pretty consistently just chilling to some extent. But I get what you mean, granted I think fitting or not a tractor would've been very funny and they should remake the movie just to do that. 

I don't have like real attachments, I watched one Superman movie when I was little and didn't even like superheroes yet, I've never liked the batman movies. It just really is the consistency? Like look, I don't like Marvel movies anymore, and they've got a lot of problems ethically, but one thing you can say is that they built a universe. DC just starts building one and then throws it to the ground like a toddler mid tantrum. It's SO frustrating even knowing that I probably wouldn't watch most movies anyway. 

I watched both wonderomans, I really liked the first one but haven't really been able to get through it a second time and I don't think I liked the second one that much. Everything else? Was kind of mid I think? That I watched. Like Shazam and Aquaman were all fine but nothing to write home about. Bop I also was a huge fan of. And while I wasn't excited for the Batgirl movie I probably would've watched it (which like genuinely does say something- I barely watch movies) 

I'm not the biggest fan of the Arrowverse shows, I know you are but. I LIKED Supergirl but I never finished it (I'm also had at watching TV) bit if there's one I'd try again it's that one. I also got through most of the Flash and it was enjoyable but I don't think I'd try again. I liked legends? But I didn't get very far because my streaming service short circuited and I don't think I could do it again. Then I watched the first season of Batwoman, I was PUMPED, but once ruby rose left, and Kate left, I was devastated. They were leading up to safiyah!! A KATE plot from the Comics!! I was so excited!! And then the character I was watching it for was gone so I just refused to ever watch it again.  And I have never been able to get through Arrow. I honestly can't get past Laurel or any of that. I hold the green arrow comics way too close to my heart for it to be wrong. But ofc that's just my opinion. 

I have one, and I live in like rural Canada so I feel like that's a good sign. (admittedly though it's an hour away from me and more like pokemon cards at this point. I am physically scared of the store and feel like a fraud when I'm there) it would he nice for you!! I hope you do. 

If I do I will keep that in mind thank you. It really is so exhausting and it's so funny because like? I like them?? Why is it hard?? But it is. Plus sometimes I feel bad because I'll talk to much. Like an example is the BoP run, the new one the ONE issue. I don't/ didn't really have any comic friends so I just like posted a screenshot of the cover on my close friends Instragram story and was like "I will NOT shut up about this" and then I read it and genuinely did not shut up and just kept posting stuff when originally I'd been joking and I just feel? So bad. Like logically I know none of them stopped to read it they were just flicking through but I'm still like guys im sorry you didn't want that I'm sorry I got excited 

I just bought like a very large Funko Bombshells Harley pin that sits by my comics!! Actually!! It was from the dollarstore or I wouldn't have, and honestly I'm not a big Funko fan so it was really just because I also love the bombshells design, but she's cute!! And I have a bombshells Ivy felt banner my sister bought me years ago. So I agree designs good.

And that's completely fair!! Sometimes I daydream about dressing up as like black canary for a con. But I don't think I have the confidence. I think cosplaying sounds really fun just in general. (and honestly good on you for the blonde wig I just used my 'natural' hair which was: blue)

Oh!! I LIKE year Zero, I do think it's good!! (The only injustice things I haven't read are ground zero and versus masters of the universe) HOWEVER I would say since you don't even know if you'll like it you should just start with Injustice: gods among us year one. It's up to you, that's kind of why I put out the disclaimer that I do also like year Zero. But I would personally recommend skipping it for now (or possibly even entirely, my brother never read it). (I read it last but that's because I read it as it came out). 

to restate, I think the best idea would be just start with the main plot because I think that's your best chance at liking just based on the way I know it got me into comics. I don't know about year Zero. 

No pressure to like Injustice obviously but I hope you do!! 

​​​​​​​Have a good day <3 

​​​​​​​​

bestie you are literally always welcome to infodump to me !!

also re:the break in at sea world with the mysterious death, I seem to remember buzzfeed unsolved mentioning that case? though i cannot place episode wise or if i’m remembering correctly. but anyways i think you would have a much better chance of survival so long as you don’t climb into any tanks with orcas or any other similarly large aquatic animals known for being unpredictable.

also yeah i def also got into the avengers movie at least a big, though i never watched the others i think prob just didnt have access to the others? bc i watched avengers on netflix? i absolutely devoured agents of shield and then the agent carter show when that came out. tv shows are easier for me to digest tho.

i had to google what a dollarama is and i gotta say i dont think dollar stores in the US typically have comics but it also has been quite a while since ive been in a dollar store tbh. but i did find a few places near me to potentially check out if i ever feel brave enough (and ever have actual time to go check out bc my life is very very busy rn lmao) i need to do more things branching myself out and trying new things its just very scary and i have a very small comfort zone

also, personally, i think when comics do decide to have a storyline thats gonna have multiple parts across several different comic series at the same time they should at least do something where they like, collect all those individual parts and put them all in like one like, book/volume? so you can easily read the story without having to jump to different series

(boy howdy. did i ramble again lol)

also lkajsdf i have a very complicated relationship with being a "fan" of arrowverse. (its a love hate relatioship i have lol) bc like yeah. a lot of it is. not good. and definitely not super comic accurate but its like. arrow is a dumpster fire and horrible green arrow representation however its what led me to my passion for black canary im not gonna lie and like i think honestly what led me to read actual comics (bc while i loved the animated shows i dont think i picked up comics until after i had started in the arrowverse) and like with arrowverse as a whole i think there was a lot of potential to the idea but a lot of poor execution and bad writing. the first two seasons of the flash are still very dear to me i will say but i also never finished it or... actually i dont think i fully finished any arrowverse shows, except for black lightning (did i finish black lightning???) (i dont think naomi counts as arrowverse) legends i stuck with the longest but i stopped when maisie richardson-sellers left the show (i am gay. i am gay.) i watched the last two seasons of arrow but skipped a huge chunk in the middle that i dont ever intend to go back and watch, i picked back up in s7 bc katie cassidy was a series regular again and while not my laurel i did grow very attached to the e2 version of her who i refer to as siren. (i am gay. im gay) i think i mightve picked up and dropped supergirl a few times?? i think i ended up watching up to the final season though. i never got into batwoman really bc i wasnt a fan of the casting for kate personally. (i got very attached to a fancast of monica raymund as kate kane and honestly im still attached to it) but yeah anyways sorry for rambling about arrowverse lmao i dont know how to be normal. all the parts of arrowverse that i love are my version of arrowverse that is good and exists only in my head and maybe in a few actual scenes on television. (i dont know if any of this made sense and i apologize again for rambling, i totally respect people not liking the arrowverse and completely get why... its not good. its not great. but it certainly was a huge part of my life)

literally no pressure to read the bombshells comics but can i just say you DO have a comic friend now its ME and i will happily welcome any comic book rambling in my inbox that you wish to do, encourage it even!

but i really do get that "i genuinely enjoy this thing why is it hard" like god human brains sure have a lot of design flaws i gotta say. like for me i definitely have that issue with reading in general its like i ENJOY reading I LIKE reading however the thought of starting reading? of keeping up with reading? i used to love going through books when i was a kid and now its like. have i finished 1 book over the span of a whole month? audiobooks helped me a little bit getting back into reading and comics at least, for a majority, feel a little shorter (however the longer series do feel a little more daunting)

(here have a hastily made meme i whipped up in like <5 minutes)

i do have a small funko pop collection i will admit but its mostly women from dc and i have a few different bombshells ones (theyre in a box rn but uhh i know i have bombshells! hawkgirl and batwoman and i think i have a mini bombshells wonder woman?

also finally able to look into my comic collection and it turns out i dont have the first volume of bombshells but i have 2-6 lmao.

anyways i will skip the prequel for now of injustice but keep it in mind to go back and read if i enjoy injustice. i meant to start the first issue of injustice but ive been busy back at my parents helping them pack to move and then i had to drive home and today i had to work and just didnt have the brain space but goddammitt i will find the time to start it and soon. i probably shouldnt start it after finishing responding to this bc it is 1:30am now and i do have to be awake in like. 7 & 1/2 hours BUT i did notice that the second issue of the new bop run is out so i may end up reading that in bed before going to sleep. ooh maybe i should. draft this. go read it and then come back with some thoughts before i finally publish this response

(also, sorry again for the delay in response , like i said life has been busy 😭)

okay. 2:30 am now. BUT i read the new issue and ooooh it was good! continues to intrigue me. also i had genuinely never heard of the megalodons that guard themyscira before. that’s wild (and just like that. the conversation circles back to large marine animals) i won’t say any more bc i don’t wanna spoil it if you haven’t read it yet but if you have or if/when you do please feel free to come ramble to me about your thoughts!!

& i hope you have a good day!! 💕💕

[lieutenantselnia]

I kinda forgot about this because I had so much to do for university in the past weeks, but it's interesting to see the results👀 Although not extremely surprising, I have some odd tastes I guess^^"

I'm going to explain the options in a bit more details now, simply because it's a good opportunity to ramble about my f/os:

Facial scars: Heinz has by far the most obvious one, as it not only goes across his left eye, but somehow also over the eyepatch he wears on it. That's certainly something you don't achieve that easily😅 Hector has a more subtle one below his right eye. And Davy has multiple, although I find it often depends on the light situation how prominent they appear. He has two parallel ones below his left eye as well as one on the right side of his nose area.

Hector was resurrected after his death, and I'm extremely glad that decision was made as it would be a shame to have thrown away his potential after just one movie. I'm also living a little bit in denial that he supposedly died a second time, he's alive and well, he told me so🥲

I randomly started learning Scottish Gaelic because of Davy. It is never mentioned if he even speaks it, but as he is a Scotsman and supposedly grew up there during the 1600s (or even earlier), I would assume it's not that unlikely? It doesn't really have any purpuse that I learn it and I probably won't ever actually use it; basically my brain just was in need for some fresh input and I already had Duolingo installed, and as a bonus it makes me feel closer to Davy <3

I'm under the impression that Davy sometimes forgets about his powers, particularly his ability to pass through solid materials if he wants to (as seen in the scene where he visits Calypso in her prison or when he chases Jack across the Dutchman). It's sad to think that he still hasn't adjusted to living under his curse after such a long time, but I have to admit I also find it kind of adorable <3

I wasn't that surprised that no one voted this as it is very specific😅 I don't know why, but somehow my faves have their issues with getting themselves hurt quite awfully :') Heinz has lost his left eye, and although in his case it isn't really canonically confirmed that it was brutal, I imagine it was still a pretty traumatising experience for him as it supposedly happened at a very young age. Hector has lost is right leg, forced to cut it off with his own hands to escape death, which I imagine must have been an absolutely horrifying experience and I am sure it still haunted him long after (on a side note, I ship myself with him before this event happens in canon, so at least there he is fine😅). And lastly, Davy has literally cut out his own heart to not suffer from his guilt and hearbreak anymore, if that doesn't sound brutal then I don't know.

I actually have two cyborg f/os, although probably no one really knew about them because I haven't really shipped actively with them in years and never really talked about them. Darth Vader was actually my first fictional crush that I was consciously aware of (I had a dream in which he was in love with me and asked me to marry him, and that kind of made me fall for him too, I was like 12 or 13 at the time). The second one was General Grievous, and to be honest I didn't really ship myself with him at the time (I didn't know that self shipping was a thing), but shipped another character with him. It only dawned upon me years later that I probably just projected onto that character because I had a crush on Grievous. I'd like to watch his source material again because I have to admit I can still see the appeal, so maybe he could even return to my active f/os one day👀

Pirates of the Caribbean kind of forced me to develop different selfship AUs as I unintentionally fell in love with two characters basically at the same time. The universes aren't that developed yet, but they're probably set at different points in the timeline, and I'm also thinking about giving my self-insert slightly different backstories. I think it was the only actual "solution" because there is no way that I can see these characters being in a poly ship with me (I feel once they're really in love with someone, commitment to that one person is a big thing for them, especially for Davy). And to be honest, I can't see myself in it either😅

I think I only really started falling for Hector (and afterwards Davy) because watched PotC for the first time in the original English tone last summer. I enjoyed the movies before, but Hectors pleasant voice, his ability to bark orders but also to speak oh so soft, and his incredibly alluring pirate accent ... that made the whole experience even better. As for Davy, he has been my comfort character for about two years before, so maybe hearing his original voice was just the last push that I needed to finally fall for him💖

Okay, if you read all that ... I'm very grateful actually🥹 I just needed to talk excessively about my f/os, I love them so much and honestly it just felt so good to get this all out there <3

I saw these polls going around a few weeks ago, but as I'm notoriously late to trends I'm doing mine just now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[amuseoffyre]

I find Izzy and Blackbeard's relationship interesting because even though Izzy sees him as superior and puts him on a pedestal, I feel like he's the one with more power over the other. Idk I'd just like to know what your opinion is on that, I'm not really one for massively analysing shows

I'd disagree with this because fundamentally, Edward is the one in control. He's the one who gives Izzy his orders. He's the one who makes the decisions, as stupid or half-mad or bizarre as they may seem.

To me, Edward doesn't want to be a captain. He likes doing the exciting and interesting parts of it but he never really liked the work of it, being in charge of people, the practicalities. He brought Izzy in to be his executive function, to shout at people and give the orders. This is especially significant when he's introduced in the show when he admits he feels "trapped, treading water, waiting to drown". He's stuck in a rut and even Izzy has noticed his "increasingly erratic moods" and called him "half-mad".

Episode 4 perfectly captures this: Izzy spends the whole time chasing after Edward trying to get him to "come up with a plan" as if Edward isn't fully aware that the Spanish are likely to come after them and as if he doesn't already have a contingency plan in place. The fact that Edward does have a plan and doesn't bother to tell him, even though it was would stop Izzy from hissing and spitting and stamping speaks measures for how frustrated Edward is with making plan after plan after plan and that's it. "Is this all there is, man?" he demands. "It's all so fucking boring!"

The places where Izzy does look like he's in charge are in episodes 6 and episodes 10.

In 6, you'll notice he doesn't bring up the issues of killing Stede himself. He makes sure that he's got back-up in the form of Ed's crew. He's making it look like it's not a personal beef with Stede (which it 100% is) but is a crew related issue. It's a reminder to Ed that he has obligations and a position to uphold and he's not someone who can just run around and have a nice time. This is their life and their business and pirate crews were democratic about leaders who weren't leading.

When Izzy challenges Stede to a duel later in the episodes, when Ed says 'we're not doing this', Izzy says 'no, you're not doing this, so I must', reminding him of that decision made with his crew and his obligation. Stede accepting the duel takes the decision out of Ed's hands as well - he can hardly tell the captain of this ship he's not allowed to duel, can he?

There's also a key factor here as well: Ed is in a very vulnerable mental state in this moment. He's just had a panic-attack about his traumatic childhood memories, where a violent figure of his past attacked the kinder gentler person. And now this is playing out again in real-time in front of him. Watch his body language throughout the duel: he retreats over to the side of the ship, clings to the rope, hides his face.

The only other time Izzy really seems to take charge is in episode 10 in the cabin, but up until that moment, grieving sad Ed is still absolutely in control. He's curled up in his blanket fort, he's eating marmalade, and Izzy is awkwardly and uncomfortably telling everyone "he's fine. he's resting everything is all right get back to work".

The change comes when Ed comes out of the cabin, soft and sad, singing and wearing nice things and announcing they're not going to be pirates anymore. This is where Izzy loses his rag, because his entire sense of self and worth is tied up in being Blackbeard's first mate. Not Ed. Not some soft and singing lad. He absolutely loses his temper with Edward, yelling at him that he's meant to be the monster that everyone is so afraid of.

But the thing is he's not in control here, not at all. What happens is that he's simply the last straw in a successive pile of equally heavy straws. Ed, who has struggled with his identity and self-worth his entire life, has been trying to piece himself back together and it was going okay.

With Lucius's help, he was almost convinced he could be enough as himself, just being Edward for a bit, and then Izzy reminds him of how Stede saw him when they first met, shoved one of those illustrations of the Devil Pyrate Blackbeard in his face, brought back all those lifelong fears and all that belief that he was never and will never be good enough. Because if he was good enough, why did Stede abandon him like he was nothing? If he was worth anything, why was he abandoned?

That's why the 'pining for your boyfriend' line is the one to get such a violent response from Ed. Izzy insulting him and wishing him dead didn't get the anger. But the reminder that he's wrapping himself in nice things left behind by the man who decided he wasn't good enough? Ed lashes out because he's hurt and sad and when Izzy says "there he is", it hammers the final nail in the coffin.

It convinces Ed that this is what he's been all the time. "This is who I am," he told Stede. "Do you see me now?" because how can he be anything else?

And as much as Izzy is the catalyst for shattering him back into Blackbeard, in reality it's nothing to do with Izzy having any control of the situation. He was just poking buttons to get a response and just happened to hit the right one for a change. It isn't about him having control. It's absolutely everything to do with Edward's own trauma, grief and shame.

[nanamis-bigtie]

So, I watched the RED Movie yesterday. I have very mixed feelings. I'll explain everything under cut since I want to talk about scenes & plot & involved characters.

So far, a short non-spoiler review:

-> if you're not 100% sure you DON'T want to see the movie, don't hesitate and get yourself a ticket, this is one of those made to be enjoyed in cinema, the experience won't be the same at home

-> if you want to see this only to see your blorbo in action...you most likely will be disappointed, unless your blorbo is Koby, Barto or Usopp

-> if Uta's design & everything told about her in promo materials didn't convince you to like her...you most likely will be disappointed too

-> ...actually, you will have much more fun, if you stop treating it as a movie and start to think about it as high budget music video with Ado's pirate-sona. a big animated fanfic with a quirky OC

-> if you can wait, do yourself a favor and watch it AFTER you read this week's chapter, you will thank me 🤭

And now to the juicy meat.

I went to cinema knowing well this is NOT a movie for me. I'm a manga-only fan, I know anime only in bits and RED is my first OP movie ever. The info revealed in campaign didn't make me enthusiastic, especially given how much they push Uta on the pedestal. Frankly, if not for sis who really wanted to see it, I'd not move my ass to cinema.

But I did. And much to my surprise, I did enjoy it lol Wouldn't call it a good movie (maybe it is for OP standards, no idea), but wouldn't call it a waste of time either. Just a fun thing to watch together with a bunch of nerds, so you can make weird noises when your faves show up.

Uta for me was the weakest point of the movie. Not because I find her a bad-written character (I actually like what they made with her but that's later), but because she has like, 0 chemistry with characters on screen. Her relationship with Shanks and Luffy are limited to very short flashbacks and a few scenes with Shanks at the very end. Luffy and Uta interact with each other but I just...didn't get a feeling they're old friends reuniting after years. I mean, compare it to how Luffy reacted to Ace in Alabasta. Everytime Luffy and Uta met, it felt like a staged scene, and given that a majority of movie is played in alter-reality, controlled by Uta's mind, it gives one whole additional layer of that weird, fake feeling.

Following with the weak points: there's a whole lot of characters who do NOTHING. If we cut all the fight scenes but the finale, a good part of the cast has nothing to do. They just...are. Because they're Strawhats/popular characters. But even with those fight scenes... Zoro, one of the most important characters in the serie, got more or less the same screen time as a fucking chibified fursona of a ship. Even Shanks and Luffy, 2 of 3 main pillars of the movie, don't do that much. Really.

Honestly, fight scenes but the last one disappointed me. I'm a simple One Piece simp: I want to see my blorbos flexing muscles in crazy fights. I know this is not the essence of plot, but it's the flavor. One Piece wouldn't be One Piece if it wasn't boiled in broth made of bloody, sweaty tits, goddammit. In RED majority of fight scenes are edited like AMVs. With insane graphic quality, but with the same chaos and level of cuts and edits. Plus Uta being Uta through majority of screen time. Which is...UGH. The way she fights is really interesting! Whenever she does it, the jaw just drops! I wanna see her fighting with that power! Not look at heavily edited idol performance!

Luckily, at some point movie finally chills down and lets the plot breathe. And once it stops being an AMV on speed, it becomes quite interesting. Especially with the way it flashes out those few characters who got something to do. BIG kudos for choosing less obvious ones for pushing the plot motor: Bartolomeo, Koby, Blueno, Usopp (feat. his daddy issues). Koby was the absolute MVP. Holy fuck. I hope this is just a foretaste of what we're going to see in manga.

Fan theories connoisseurs will be over the moon with the number of symbols and wink winks. Not gonna lie, I focused on lyrics on purpose, to avoid sensory overload from those shaking AMVs and was surpirsed how much info is hidden in them. Like one, big teaser for the upcoming events.

I wonder how many connections will be revealed later. The robots from library? Hell, guess what just happened in chapter 1065 👀 They weren't lying that events aren't canon - but lore definitely is.

The animation & music combo is INSANE. Especially when they let Ado sing instead of pushing her to perform as a candy idol girl (the opening song made my skin crawl jesus christ that was horrible). Gods, the more crazy Uta gets, the better songs get and when the music goes low ohhhhh yes, that's the good shit.

NO FANSERVICE. IN ONE PIECE MOVIE? MORE LIKELY THAN YOU THOUGHT! Except for one very toned panties joke and one not-moving panel from the credits there's literally no fanservice. Null. Zero. Nada. And they let female characters fight to their fullest! Nami, Robin and Brulee do in comparison as much as other background characters.

The final is. IS. I swear, it's one of the best directed fights I've seen in One Piece EVER and hello, forget about the non-anime thig, I watched the famous Katakuri vs Snakeman and the Rooftop. The combo of powerful music, smooth animation, characters cooperating in perfectly-balanced yet unexpected teams, the multi layered attack lead by Usopp and Yasopp, Snakeman-Nika fusion & Shanks finish, fuck, I swear, I was shaking.

I hope this is how final fight in OP will look like. A whole team of our faves from various fractions against Im maybe? 👀

Loved how balanced the humor was. Characteristic for One Piece yet, tamed. Nothing too perverted, nothing too gross, everything chaotic as fuck. Love you, Bepo.

But my favorite part is probably the way they handled the conflict and the case of who's a villain. Don't wanna say too much cause imho this is something everyone should interpret according to their own judgement, but liked how they placed the core in the moral dilemma between bringing relief and utopia for the cost of freedom and remaining free but having to face the reality (oh, someone was inspired by The Matrix). Should I run into lie to comfort myself? Is it a wise idea to try and shield someone from consequences of their actions, even if they were not fully conscious? Does one have a right to decide what's good for others?

If not for the BULLSHIT finish, I'd say the second part saved the movie in my eyes. Sadly, it added to a bad aftertaste. Well, at least I have the OST. And soon-to-come shirtless snake gifs.

Overall, not a tragedy, thing more enjoyable than irritating even if you are easily distracted by things you don't like (like me lol), worth spending money and time even if for just watching an AMV on big screen.

And the obligatory traditional number scale: 4/10 as a stand alone movie, 6/10 as a meat for OP fan, 10/10 of Law's hairy leggies my beloved.

[iggy-hands]

I only watch the ofmd fandom from afar but some people give the impression of not conciliating well how the show is light hearted and comforting but also deals with heavy subjects in a general violent contex. the fact I've seen people say there's no homophobia when it's the central driving force of the plot is the most exaggerated example. but it's also in this attempt to flatten characters into "uwu baby" and "who's right vs who's wrong" (or at worse who's an abuser) when the show clearly does its best to create a likable flawed cast. Stede is extremely insecure and a horrible father/husband even before he abandons his family. Ed is an abuse survivor and he struggles with anger. Izzy is an asshole and it's funny- I mean he's a brit working class caricature. those things interact and its what makes the show human and interesting. why try to smash it into a simplistic dichotomy. it won't work 😭😭

and obviously you know all of this. so I guess it's: thanks for having braincells 😘😘

I don't actually know how old this ask is, but, it's been in my inbox for a while lol, sorry!

I think observing from a distance might be the most enjoyable way, it's been years since I was this close to the centre of a fandom and it's wild.

But yes, you're absolutely correct, it's a show about flawed characters and their ability to realise they're in the wrong, and change themselves - if that's what they want! Obviously not every character is given this opportunity, nor should they be, but I think my main issue with people coming down on the characters either way is that currently, they're unfinished!

...maybe Izzy will get worse next season, maybe his racism/general abusiveness and manipulation will become his main character traits, maybe his arc is that he rejects offers of kindness and belonging because of his own prejudices/self-importance and in the end this destroys him. I'd love to see that play out, but I'd love to see whatever they do with him play out too.

Taking a break for a while really made me realise that actually, this is a comedy show about pirates? What Are We Doing??

I love the meta and the drawn out explanation - I am an English Literature and Media Studies graduate, like literally I dedicated years of my life to this stuff! But one of the main reasons for these analyses is that it's supposed to be a discussion, there are supposed to be disagreements and alternative theories, and you should look at whether the evidence is actually in support of what is being said.

It isn't about deciding what is moral/immoral content to consume. Especially in a comedy show, where the character people are angry about is so cringe-fail within the show itself, and who's worst traits seem only to be evident through close-reading.

One of the first things you learn if you take Lit/Media in higher education is that you can be wrong about a text. You can't just say whatever you want without actual textual evidence (and, pet-peeve, but I personally do not count interviews etc). And sometimes, completely contrasting information can be true - because of the ambiguity! Whether these meanings are intentional or not - this is unknowable. And of course you can have your own personal opinions or readings of a text, but it's weird to decide that because you are right, everything else must be wrong.

I also see posts that essentially read - "this character is deep and multifaceted and we should look closely at them. But this character sucks and if you engage with content that looks closely at them then you suck too!" And I can't help but feel that that's worse than if we weren't to engage with textual analysis at all. Ignoring the actions of "evil" characters, who shape the narrative, feels very dismissive to me - disrespectful both to the text itself but also to the real world issues that it draws from.

I suppose in conclusion, everyone continue to think critically, consume media critically, but also, touch grass sometimes. and maybe read a book too.

[throughdarkeningskies]

my kindle fire is nearly 12 years old at this point and I thought she died for good BUT SHES STILL KICKING. can't keep a bad bitch down. anyway I finished the book

- they are betrayed by a pirate thief. from this point on the book is much more in line with what I was expecting when I picked it up. there's a nice bit of action, the romance is fairly okay, there's some spooky mcguffin magic.

- however am I letting it off the hook? NO! first book ever to make a lesbian wedding feel homophobic

- the Queen of Kingdom A has a curse on her bloodline. Any man who touches the skin of a royal woman falls instantly in love w her, and slowly goes mad and dies from lust. this is what happened to her first husband. thus, she has sworn off taking another husband or ever having children (even though only her female kids will be affected apparently). she hides away from her kingdom and from diplomats in case she were ever to brush against them and curse them.

- so the male MC gets a piece of information by bargaining his hand, and thus his kingdom, to Princess B. he later gets out of this by arranging for Princess B to marry Queen A.

- but the curse????

- Well, conviently, the curse only affects men she touches.

- otherwise, we might have to admit - gasp, shock, the horror! - that women can feel lust for other women.

- like it's acknowledged on page that the Queen only needs someone to negotiate on her behalf. we already know she doesn't want heirs. but the author has to make absolutely sure that we know the curse doesn't affect women.

- also. every royal power has a 'power'. however, the MC's and the Princess's ones are revealed to be fake? why did the Queen get so unlucky?

- also the dialogue is. it's very quippy, which would be fine if it was just between the two mains? but every character talks like that

- there's a scene where the main two are flirting, and then a different couple starts flirting with each other, and the exchanges are interchangeable. character voice who

- anyway.

- I've noticed a trend in YA fantasy the past couple of years where they're all 300-400 pages long. this book was 352, by my kindles count. and most of this books problems stem from the fact that it's way too bloated

- I mean you could chop fifty pages easily. 100 if you were pushing it. very little seems to happen in the first half of the book, and that's what allows all these worldbuilding and character issues to rise to the fore.

- if the plot were sweeping along the whole way, would it be a great book? or even a good one? no. but I'd be happy enough to suspend my disbelief and follow along for a while.

- the female MC's arc is genuinely compelling. I liked her as a character. The male MC is... okay.

- LMAO I'm lying. In the first half of the book especially, he's so obnoxious that it loops back around and ends up being really really funny

- like in his very first chapter he mentions there's a dead siren in front of him. he then goes off on a massive paragraphs long monologue about his backstory. his crewmate reminds him the dead body is there. he goes yeah yeah yeah whatever, and immediately launches into another monologue

- it comes off as him just staring into space thinking about how epic he is while his crew are just standing there looking at this dead body like 🧍‍♂️

- anyway this is getting. really long. I don't want to think about this anymore

- final verdict 2/10. should I stop grabbing books at random on the library app without checking ratings? probably. am I going to? no definitely not. watch me get hit with this same issue in like a weeks time

was NOT vibing w the book I'm reading so I googled it to read the one star reviews on goodreads and the first result calls it a TIKTOK SENSATION!!!!! and now I know why I don't like it

[dasozelotvonnebenan]

OC Interwiev: Faladlain Farstider

Draw (or use an old drawing, don’t worry!) or take a screen of your character in an interview setting and make them answer the following questions!

This Interview is sponsored by @i-mybrunettelady

INTRODUCTION

Can you introduce yourself?: Of course! My name is Faladlain. Just Faladlain, the "Farstrider" is just on my books. I am 9 years of age and I've spent those nine years travelling the entire continent and writing about it. I have at this point written and published sixteen books, seven Traveller's Guides and nine City Explorers, the newest one being the Elonian Expansion. I am currently applying the finishing touches to City Explorer: Amnoon and already have my eyes on Palawadan as my next project.

What is your gender identity, orientation and relationship status?: I am a man, I am oriented in a north-north-westerly direction and I am currently single.

Where and when were you born?: Well the where is pretty obvious, and as I mentioned I was born in 1325.

What is your weapon of choice and fighting style?: My preferred fighting style is "not", but if I have to I have a custom made sword fashioned to look like Caladbolg.

Lastly, are you happy?: I am very content with my life yes. My friends joke that I always in a good mood because I walk too fast for my problems to catch up. Would probably be true if I had any problems.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

What’s your family like? What is your relationship with them?: I have thousands of siblings and a mother who is quite busy caring for all of us, you can imagine the drama. I've talked to mother directly, which not every one of my siblings can say of themselves. Twice actually. People not so familiar with Sylvari always ask how it is to live with such a distant mother, and what I think they don't grasp is that she isn't that distant at all. All the teaching and caring happens when we are growing in our pods, when we wander the dream. In a way us awakening from our pods is similar to a young adult moving out of their parents home.

Have you ever ran away from home?: That's the first thing I did after awakening actually. I returned about an hour later because I wanted to thank my siblings that cared for the pods and they advised me to stay in the grove a bit. Learn from my older siblings so that I don't venture into the world without any preparation. There isn't really something as running away from home with us, some just take off earlier than others.

Would you consider marriage or having children?: No. I don't think that kind of commitment is for me.

Do you secretly hate one of your friends?: This question is odd to me. I value honesty very much, and I'd always tell someone if they were really annoying me. I don't think anyone genuinely hates a friend. Some behaviour or view of theirs? Sure, but not enough to hate the whole person. Not someone you'd consider a friend.

Which friend knows everything about you?: Any that reads my books. I put enough of my soul in there that you could probably make an identical copy of me just from those pages.

ASKED BY FANS

Are you literate? Have you been to school?: I can obviously read and write but I have not been to school precisely. I awakened with that knowledge from the dream, as most sylvari do. But since then I have learned both Asuran and Elonian. I'm not particularly good with either, but it's enough to get by.

The eeriest prediction you made that later came true?: To count this as eerie is questionable, but the moment I first saw a map I looked at Elona and said "I will go there". I promptly informed that that would not be possible, I'd either be stopped by pirates, risen or the absolutely inhospitable land route.

What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize?: That my books would motivate others to travel. I began writing them so that people could stay at home and still experience the wonders of Tyria, so quite the opposite. I have quite a dedicated group of fans, some of which try to retrace my journeys.

Do you have mental health or physical issues?: I've sustained a large collection of injuries over the years, but nothing that left any permanent damage. Mentally, well, I have been told that some of my travel plans are crazy. Climbing up a volcano to get a better view of the surroundings is a little reckless I admit.

What is your current main goal?: Travelling to Palawadan to write about the city, after that I'm not sure. I'd love to visit Fahranur, but the pact has it under lockdown. Oh and I've always wanted to write more about the Hylek.

CHOICES

Drink or food?: Hard choice. Drink I think. Hate eating with a dry mouth.

Cats or dogs?: Dogs. I've had to run from quite a few of them. Very dutiful animals.

Early bird or night owl?: I'm a duskbloom, so I don't have a preference. Though I am not often awake at night, walking all day really helps you sleep.

Optimist or pessimist?: I am very optimistic. And so far I haven't been wrong haven't I?

Sassy or sarcastic?: Can I be neither?

HAVE YOU EVER

Been caught sneaking out: Yes, very uncomfortable situation actually. I was travelling down the Lionsroad with a group of charr traders, and one night we were camping on the roadside because we didn't make it to the next haven before dusk. I had heard of a lake in the area which was unusually deep, probably connected to a cave system, and at night glowing skelk would swim closer to the surface and it would be a beatiful sight. It was a spontanious decision to go see it, and I hadn't mentioned it to anyone so when I got up at night and carefully snuck away -I didn't want to anger anybody by wakeing them- the night watch got suspicious. She thought I was a bandid trying to sneak away and alarm my bandid friends.

Broke a bone: My leg once, two fingers, my lower left arm twice and I have sprained sooo many ankles. Thank the Dream there's magic, I wouldn't be here without some quick healing.

Received flowers: Many times. Can't excape them if you are somewhat famous.

Ghosted someone: Not that I can remember. I mean it could've happened accidentally, walking away is kind of my thing, but that's not really the meaning of the word is it?

Pretended to laugh at a joke you didn’t get: More often than I'd like to admit. Distant places have a lot to joke about that you never even encountered.

[ultraclops]

Semi-Live Blogging: Finale Time!

With reaction images this time!

Adoradad

TRAINING EXERCIIISE

Adorabat's practicing her screaming! Bet that's gonna come in handy later.

"Fneh!" Wow what an introduction Eugene

His design is like? Really cool?? He looks practically nothing like Adorabat tho. And why does he have a spade on his stomach instead of a heart??

Badgerclops drew him with a giant ass mustache lol.

Adorabat takes banjo lessons? More importantly, Eugene thought she was at a banjo lesson FOR 8 MONTHS?!

"She scares me" lol

Adorabat ran away from home? Why?

"I thought you were a ward of the state!" Remember when everyone thought Adorabat was an orphan? Yea.

"I thought you were my conscience!" Badgerclops...you've lived with Adorabat for a year...went to her school...AND YOU THOUGHT SHE WAS A PIECE OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS?!

...why did Badgerclops use Adorabat as monster bait...

I expected to hate Eugene but he's actually really cute and interesting?? Aside from the fact he thinks Mao Mao & Badgerclops are criminals. Love to see him again sometime!

Wow her dad has a whole badass mansion!! Why doesn't she just stay there...

Oh...her mom died...that's why he's so protective of her and was so upset when she left. Also her mom looks amazing & I wanna see a flashback episode with her. For some reason I can imagine her sounding like a deeper version of Scoops?

Aww Adorabat's room is super cool! Also Eugene cracking the door for her asfgjkl

"Do you think that monsters attacking the city are gonna - wait, does that have peanut butter in it? " (Cuts to MM & BC eating ice cream while crying) That's a perfectly rational reaction to losing your adoptive daughter

"I can keep it together!" (Cut to Mao Mao trying and failing to shovel ice cream in his mouth with his helmet on) NSADGEDHAMADH

Wait a second. Mao's eating mint chocolate chip ice cream. ISN'T CHOCOLATE TOXIC TO CATS?!

"But you said I was part of the team!!" "Then you're...off the team."

Adorabat crying while showing Eugene the picture OUCH MY HEART...

"I used to go exploring in those caves with Mom all the time..." I'm guessing those are the caves from the promo?

"She wasn't afraid of anything!" " Well Adorabat definitely takes after her mother...

"And then one day, Sonara didn't come back with you." Ooh her name's Sonara!! Pretty!! I can't tell if they chose it cuz it sounds like Sonar or because it means "pleasant sounding"

Glad to see Adorabat's still a die-hard metal fan, even with Eugene

Oof Mao isn't taking this well at ALL if he's pretending Adorabat's molt is her...

OOH SHIT ADORABAT RAN OFF TO THE CAVES - wait a minute no she didn't. OH NO EUGENE WENT TO THE CAVES

Ooh there's Sonara's looking glass, bet that's gonna be important

Yay Adorabat saved her dad!

Damn Adorabat must be super traumatized after basically watching her mother die. No wonder she tried to murder Boba-Chan!

Oh the only way to stop the monster is by screaming!

(Mao Mao hears Adorabat scream) "ADORABAT?!" ADOPTIVE DAD POWERS ACTIVATE

Ooh her mother's figure appears over her when she says she's not afraid of anyone...maybe her spirit's inside of her or something?

REVENGE TIME BAYBEY

HOLY SHIT ADORABAT FUCKING MURDERED THAT THING

Eugene & Adorabat both apologized to each other I...

"You can't just leave without the most fearless member of the group!" YAAY ADORABAT'S BACK (Also how are we gonna explain to Eugene Adorabat's scared of the dark?)

"I'll mess 'em up real good! So good, their mommies and daddies won't be able to recognize them when I'm done..." Daaammmnnn...

"She scares me :)"

I wonder...is Sonara really dead? Or are they gonna pull a Kipo & have her still be alive but in a different form?

Badge-A-Fire explosion

Uhh...where is Badgerclops? And why is Mao Mao on the top bunk?!

Of course Badgerclops is petty enough to install a fake monster alarm on his laptop to wake Mao Mao and Adorabat up.

"This is a super-serious work meeting, as you can see by the fact that I haven't provided any snacks!" No snacks?! This must be a serious issue!! /s

"As you know, I am a creative genius. Sometimes there's so much natural creative genius that my brain overloads, and I enter a heightened state that I call 'Ultra Focus'..." Oh so basically like hyperfixation?

"...where I break into a creative sprint, inventing super-advanced technology at supernatural speeds, unparalleled by anyone in the entire field of science." Okay maybe only a LITTLE bit like hyperfixation...wait a second, IS THAT WHY BADGERCLOPS IS SO TIRED ALL THE TIME?!

Uhh did he get his arm stuck in the front door? HE TOOK THE AEROCYCLE?!

"...I forget everything the next morning." Remember my headcanon that Badgerclops represses his memories? Yea...

"Which is why it's not my fault and I don't think I should be criticized :D" TBH I screamed with laughter at this scene solely because of the expression he made

...HE GAVE THE SKY PIRATES THE GEM CELL?! I mean he clearly wasn't thinking right when he did it BUT STILL?!

"Oh hey, I told you I'd use that weird elevator thing!" Dude you LITERALLY used it in Ultraclops. What are you talking about.

"If the Sky Pirates had the Gem Cell, they would've used it already!" That is a fair point ngl.

Umm...did Badgerclops give Adorabat a BOMB?!

Tbh if my friend woke me up in the middle of the night with weird-looking eyes and handed me a timer while saying something about an explosion I would DEFINITELY not go back to sleep afterwards...

I'm sorry, IS THE WHOLE VALLEY GONNA BLOW UP?! WHAT THE HELL DID HE MAKE?!

Mao wiping Badgerclops' tears I'm

A paper towel dispenser? Well that's not that bad - IS THAT A GIANT PAIR OF PANTS?!

Ooh it's not a shock collar it's a translator!! That makes a bit more sense... "I HAVE NO REMORSE OR CONCEPT OF EMPATHY!" ...if the monster doesn't have remorse or empathy how does it know what those words mean...

Badgerclops keeps telling Mao Mao & Adorabat not to criticize him...hmm...I wonder who criticized his inventions that made him that way...*cough* HIS MOM *cough*

"Are all your inventions this weird?!" "YOU'RE WEIRD!!"

IM SORRY DID BADGERCLOPS BUILD A DANCING MACHINE INTO MAO MAO'S BONES?! HIS BONES?! AND HE MADE ADORABAT A SECOND MEGAPEG?!

What in the absolute hell is going on dgaadhdagdadga

Okay but when Badgerclops clutched his head and started shaking when Mao Mao asked why he made those things...I FELT THAT IN MY HEART I FELT THAT IN MY SOUL

Ngl this scene really hit home for me cuz that's how I act when I have a breakdown...

The timer went off but nothing blew up - WAIT, IS THAT A REPLICA OF MECHA HOSSORAFFASNAKEARANG?!

"Initializing Totally Humane Knockout Procedure." (Proceeds to slam the Sheriff's Dept. into the ground) ajdajdgdad

Ooh...ohh they're on some sort of water park...ride...thing??

"And if I didn't want us to get out, then I made sure we couldn't...with super-strong shoe things." But there isn't any on Adorabat, can't she just squeeze herself out?

Ooh I'm getting Pirates of the Caribbean vibes

There's the Gem Cell, it must be powering the ride! Also the robotic arm slaps Mao's hand the same way Mao slaps Badgerclops' hand in Flyaway skkkk

"My amazing creativity is finally gonna destroy us all..." "Hey, at least we'll be destroyed together!" Fair point, fair point

The shoosh returneth

"I always loved inventing." So he was an inventor ever since he was little? Daww.

YOUNG BC IS SO ADORABLE!! He has a lil medical patch instead of an eyepatch which is def more accurate to real life...but what's the vest for? Protection in case he falls? A pressure stim?

That figure's def his mom since they rejected his ideas & he mentions she was mean to him. Also the theory that his mom's a villain seems a bit stronger since they straight-up hand him a tool kid + a set of blueprints with no regard to his safety...

"Also there was a bunch of other kids at school and some other people throughout my life who mocked me relentlessly." THEN WHY'D YOU TELL ADORABAT YOU COULDN'T RELATE TO HER WHEN SHE SAID NO ONE WANTED TO BE HER FRIEND?! (Also I noticed literally all the kids are other badgers, so I'm assuming Badgerclops grew up sheltered like Mao Mao did.)

So the Ultra Focus is basically a really weird coping mechanism to deal with all the abuse and bullying he went through? Holy fuckkk

"They only made fun of you because they were jealous. Happened to me my whole life!" Umm...

"Even the dance chip I surgically implanted in your brain?" Excuse me the dance chip that you WHAT

"I love you-" HE SAID IT 💗💓💗💓

"I'm finally around people who love and understand me..."

Wait did the cannon misfire? DID IT BLOW A HOLE IN THE GROUND?!

OH HE ACTUALLY DID CREATE AN ANIMATRONIC BAND?! I THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE!!

"Take it away, Boss Hosstritch!" (Distorted garbling)

Oof Mao caught all the water

"We hope you all enjoyed being Badgerclops' friend." 💞💕💞💕

Not that anyone cares but I noticed there's a picture of some of the Sweetypies on the monitors, meaning 1. Badgerclops tested it out using them first, or 2. Badgerclops just likes those Sweetypies for whatever reason. Tho that makes me wonder why he'd choose Pinky of all people...

THE SKY PIRATES WERE INSIDE THE ANIMATRONICS THE WHOLE TIME?! THE MAN BEHIND THE SLAUGHTE

Zing Your Heart Out

Why are they giving out rotten sushi??

"HOW DARE YOU LAUGH AT ME EATING SOMETHING GROSSLY?!"

Ooh god Chester's gonna be super freaking annoying in this episode, I can feel it.

"What's blue and smells like red paint? Blue paint!" BAYBEY

Jesus what a prick. GET HIM MAO MAO

Ngl that background's really pretty...

Oooh no the Ruby Pure Heart's being weird again. Ooh no.

FUCK YEA ROAST HIM BABY - Did Adorabat's eyes turn purple because the Ruby Pure Heart gave her powers?

Oh so the siren in Badgerclops' robo-arm is a backup monster alarm?

More Sky Pirates - and the Pure Heart's being weird again...

"I'd tell you but despite your height it'd go right over your HEAD!" Asdfgghjjk

"For someone with two brains, you're not very BRIGHT!" EVEN BETTER

Kevin said he was raising money for a school trip, then for a trip to the hospital...which one is he raising money for?!

"SILENCE PANCAKE, LEST YE BE BUTTERED"

OOH NO SHE ATTACKED MAO AND BC

"IT FEELS LIKE THE WEIGHT OF ONE THOUSAND PLANETS!!"

"One second, I'm getting mad, and the next thing you know-" Is she freaking possessed??

Wait, is the Pure Heart TALKING to Adorabat?! How?!

Cluckins you don't ask people what's wrong with their eyeballs...even if there is something wrong with their eyeballs

"I CAN'T FEEL MY SELF-RESPECT!!"

The pure 'oh shit' on Marion's face when Adorabat turns to her

Half of the people she insulted showed up to her party! Didn't that mean she loved them?!

Oh god not this bitch again - nvm, thanks Adorabat

"Taking over the castle and ruling Pure Heart Valley forever does sound nice..." This is starting to remind me of that one AU where Adorabat turns evil, becomes the ruler of the Sky Pirates, then convinces them to kill Snugglemagne and becomes the queen of Pure Heart...she isn't gonna kill Snugglemagne, is she?

What did Adorabat tell Snugglemagne?! I WANNA KNO

Why is Pinky stealing teeth...reminds me of this

NO BC DON'T EAT THE TEETH

"I...hate myself! Therefore, I'm invincible!" So the trick to not getting your ego destroyed...is to not have an ego. Sounds reasonable.

"Your bug platter, my king?" Genderfluid Adorabat rights

"Mao Mao, your head looks like a CROW!" (Mao Mao caws) IT WAS A LIE HE ISN'T A CAT HE WAS A CROW THIS WHOLE TIME-

"It looks like a half-melted ice cream cone!!" That is...a strange way to describe your own neck...

"Well, I'm...bad (◡‿◡)" Kinda weird that the canonically depressed character can't even cleverly insult himself

...why does Adorabat's skin smell like old cantaloupe

OH SHE IS POSSESSED!!

HOLY SHIT MAO WAS GONNA FUCKING MURDER ADORABAT TO SAVE THE KINGDOM?! THANK GOD HE SAW HER JOKE BOOK, HOLY SHIT

Positivity outweighs negativity!

"WHERE DOES A 800 POUND GORILLA SIT?!" "Where ever it wants!◝(⁰▿⁰)◜" Curse you for making me laugh...

OOH NO THE JOKEBOOK! - Wait nvm Mao remembers Adorabat's jokes!

I think the reason they used that joke is because it represents Mao Mao and Adorabat - Adorabat is blue, and she wants to be like Mao Mao, who wears red. What is BLUE, and smells like (is similar to) RED paint?

YAAAY HE BROKE HER FREE FROM MIND CONTROL!! And did BC get Thanos snapped in the background?

"Thank goodness you're alright! We almost..." Fucking murdered you? Yea

"Might we have our crown and kingdom back, yes?"

"Sorry for being such a monster today." "You're a monster everyday." Is that a joke because she was today's villain, a reference to Sleeper Sofa or foreshadowing?

I hope Mao Mao and Badgerclops decide to investigate what's up with the Heart in Season Two, cause I highly doubt they'll let Adorabat getting fucking possessed go under the radar.

The visual gag of Mao trying to stomp out his ice cream cone like a cigarette is perfect. This is peak comedy everyone else go home

WHOOP CHESTER'S ASS GUYS

Strange Bedfellows

"So, your name is Boss Hosstrich, but you're not actually the boss?" How long did it take him to realize that

JFC Mao & Orangusnake are REALLY hellbent on killing each other huh...at least the deputies and the other Sky Pirates have common sense.

Hahaha nice Dragon Ball Z reference - and they both got crushed by the monster! Lovely.

...did Mao seriously think he died and went to heaven?

So does Orangusnake breathe through Tanner or do they both breathe independently & Coby can feel when Tanner can't?

Dang those skeletons remind me of the Steven Universe Future episode Growing Pains. And why is Lucky inside of Orangusnake? "THAT WAS MY LUNCH, JERK!" Ooh that's why.

"They're full of these tiny, little cracks or, as they're known in the medical field, 'whoopsie-boo-boos'." AGSADGASGADGDASG

Damn their skeletons are just gonna freaking evaporate huh...

"The doctor said I was very brave :D"

Ooh shit the Deputies and the other Sky Pirates met at the same elevator, are they gonna fight - nevermind, they're still calling time.

JESUS CHRIST ARE MAO & ORANGUSNAKE EVER GONNA STOP?!

"You don't have the guts!" "I have a million guts." That is...mildly concerning

"Yeah, I wanted to be a baker, before I realized I liked hurting people so much." Then why doesn't she just like, help Muffins or something?

Tbh I thought Ratarang was holding a gun and I'm glad it was just a weirdly wrapped banana

CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME. CONE OF SHAME.

"Aww, y'all shouldn't have - this is empty." "Just like my heart when you injure yourself!!" He loves him sm...💓💓

"Why didn't you bring me weapons?!" "Because this is a hospital, and I'm a good boy (◡‿◡ )"

"I really feel like this could be a turning point in their relationship." (Mao and Orangusnake proceed to try and kill each other again) *sigh*

Ngl Mao & Orangusnake constantly repeating themselves is getting super annoying.

That hospital bed beeping is giving me flashbacks to all the times I went to the hospital for seizures...

"You know y'all could live like this, like, all the time if you didn't go around hurting people, right?" "Pssh! Tsk-tsk, boy. You know I gots to hurt people." Uhh you guys should really listen to Badgerclops he knows what tf he's talking about

UUhh, whose egg is that? "MAMA" ASGagddahDh

Of course they had to land in freaking CEMENT to realize that maybe they shouldn't kill each other

Did Mao just deflate like a ballo- oh nvm there he go.

Boneless Mao. Boneless Mao.

And Mao saved Orangusnake!! By...breaking every bone in his body somehow.

"I'm the kind of hero who wants to save you so I can fight you later...at the right time and place." Just gonna file this along with the credit score scene from Perfect Couple in the 'Orangumao' folder.

Is Badgerclops duct taping Mao to the stretcher? I mean, at least he won't move & hurt himself again but geez

Tbh Zing would’ve made a better finale than this ep. At least it had a sequel hook

[secondsofhappiness]

THANK YOU so so much for posting your photographs from the village tour. You look so happy to be there. Can you tell us any stuff from the tour because so many of us can't get to go and I'd really like to know the things you said they told you about filming there. I hope you come back very soon ☺️

Aww thank you so much!

Of course, I’d be so happy to. I wish you could all go visit, as a really big fan it was rather special for me so I wish there was a way for us all to go.

I’m sure this kind of thing has been done before but I’m happy to post everything I can remember! I was like a school kid, I’m sure the tour guide thought I was an enormous nerd but I wasn’t the only excited one.

MY EMMERDALE VILLAGE TOUR REPORT ❤️

First off, I’ve visited quite a few TV sets with work and attended a few studio TV tapings but this place is something else. It’s so immersive. It’s little wonder the cast feel like it’s home, it feels so real and is absolutely cared for and feels extremely lived in.

It’s tiny in real life though. Not the village itself (I think the “set” is 11 acres they said but the houses. They look SO SMALL and everything feels dainty which was precious to me, the Woolpack specifically. It’s so iconic and yet when I saw it, I awww-ed :)

For those of you who are planning on going at some point, it might be a shame to know all this before you go as the tour guides seem to tell people the same stuff so I’d maybe not read - wanted to warn in case!

It’s a little long so be prepared!

Ok, so first off, for me the thing that struck me was how green it was and how perfectly the village fit into the surroundings. It feels VERY real and is so bedded into the grounds that they barely need to do anything to make it appear “life like”. There is a gardener (one lady!) who looks after all of the plants/trees and foliage. She has her work cut out as most of the greenery is real but it obviously reacts to seasonal changes so due to how far in advance they tape, she is sometimes up against it and has to glue leaves to trees or add extra flowers in or potentially has to replace or hide foliage with stuff to make it look dead. I spotted a few fake plants too, especially in tubs and pots. She keeps her equipment in Tall Trees (Marlon’s house) which is actually located behind the cricket pavilion over the “bridge of tears”. I did NOT know Marlon lived so far out of the village, actually the opposite side of the village to The Dingles. There are issues with grass though. Some areas get worn away and there was a rule on the tour not to stand on it because they’d be filming Monday etc. So all of the grass outside of David’s shop is fake and there’s also a patch of fake grass near the bus stop and the Thomas’ cottage (Mulberry).

There are things that are placed VERY differently to how they seem on the show which makes the tour pretty funny at first. The Sharmas is less then a 30 second walk from the factory in reality but Jai uses his car to travel there… haha. The Sharma’s house is definitely supposed to be elsewhere but in reality it’s right next to Wishing Well! Same with the scrap yard… it’s mega close to the village but Rob’s always driving there and giving Aaron a lift etc. Dude just wants to have Aaron in his car!

Also, hilariously, (someone who has done the tour can correct me on this if I’m wrong) but I’m almost certain that the road in from the security hut that allows you on site is the “Robron first kiss” road… which, if I’m right and let’s face it, we’d recognise that road anywhere, is a short walk from the village. So Rob’s whole “I’m stranded, save me Aaron!” thing becomes hysterically funny.

Butler’s Farm is set alone out of the village near a local pub and looks as quaint and is pretty much a working farm…!

The Dingles, Pollard’s house and The Scrap Yard are all set a little outside the village (a very short walk) and so aren’t on the tour. Home Farm also isn’t a set, external shots are filmed at a nearby estate which I always expected but when Declan set fire to it (ah happy memories) I presumed it was a set… and I was right! They did build a version or started to build a HF set but planning permission failed so, they set fire to it! SO THIS MEANS MY DREAMS OF A FULL HF FIRE ARE DASHED :( Dog is going to have to find a different method than knocking over a candle!

As most people know, most of the inside stuff is in the Kirkstall Road studio in Leeds but there are a few indoor sets at the village including the B&B, the church, the village hall, the vet surgery, Rhona’s cottage, Eric’s House, the pirate ship and the barns (I think they’re all of the interior sets at the village). They do have a Woolpack set that can be placed inside the village Woolpack building because they used it for the Live episode but it’s rarely required.

The Barns! Ok, so we’ve all been a bit confused about the barns on the show and which is which so one of my aims while I was there was to work that shiz out. First of all, it’s probably important to say that I got mega excited seeing the barn where Sarah died. It took me right back and it’s quite far out of the village and is the security hut to allow you onto the set. It’s quite bleak where it is so I can imagine in Winter it’s mega exposed.

The “near proposal/bread barn/affair barn” is just a random barn on the way into the village. It’s close to The Dingles and not far from the scrap yard etc but is just this little random barn… and is entirely separate but hilariously overlooked so you can’t exactly be inconspicuous! It’s a different barn to the one Charity and Ross got it on in and Sarah found Faith in as that’s a much smaller barn further out of the village. Hilarious how many random barns there are!

The graveyard is something I was surprised by! I thought they’d just put the graves out there when they needed them but nope, if a gravestone has been shown on the show then it’s an ACTUAL gravestone buried into the ground so there were so many recognisable ones - especially for long time viewers! Half the King family take up a corner…! Sarah’s is off by herself at the top (definitely felt super special seeing that!) and Val’s sits proudly in the centre at all times!!! We saw Ashley’s cross and apparently they use that cross for all characters so it just gets moved around hahaha. They’re apparently giving Ashley his own grave stone (obviously!) so it’ll be shown in the show at some point. The other random graves are actual gravestones taken from a graveyard in London somewhere as it was being “closed”… creepy. Some ex- crew who were heavily involved in the early success of the show have their own graves!

The village was built in 1997 but obviously had to be made to look worn in, old and imbedded. They used a yoghurt and manure mixture on the walls to encourage lichen to grow! They also used grinders on stone steps and other techniques to make the houses/stone work appear worn from use/weather.

The cars. I kind of got a bit excited as the first thing I saw was The Dingles van. Most of the cars are purchased by the show but some are actually the cars of crew members… apparently Cain’s BMW belongs to the cleaner! I was gutted I couldn’t see Rob’s Porsche but I was told some cars are kept at the scrap yard and as much as I tried, I couldn’t spot it. They had a car park near the drop off point that had character cars in it and I saw “the digger” hahaha, had a giggle to myself.

The fact that the buildings are either empty, shells or are used as make-up, costumes, toilets (Ness’ cottage is the toilets!) or prop storage, it means that obviously special effects are required to make them look lived in. That includes smoke from chimneys, interior lighting etc which is all via remote control. I found that incredibly cool. They all have entrance ways built onto them so when the characters are at their doors, it looks like it’s an actual house though, which is obvious but still a fun little detail.

Apparently the B&B has only one internal bedroom and so if they need to make it look there are more than one like if they shoot in a couple supposed to be used for guests, they just have to change the bedding and lamps etc to make it look different.

It’s hilarious looking at the size of some of the houses and wondering how the heck the families fit in ESPECIALLY The Bartons. It’s one of the smaller cottages and has like one room upstairs… haha

I actually didn’t get an answer to my question about The Mill and if any of it is on location at the village but from what I could see, the downstairs windows look dressed with pull down blinds and looks “used” but the upstairs looks blank. I’m not sure if the ground floor has an internal set (the tour guide didn’t know) or if it’s just got window dressings for external shots but either way it is HANDS DOWN the prettiest house in the village and has the most beautiful location. It looks so grand and cosy and I am biased because it was ALWAYS my favourite set when The Kings lived there and now my other faves are taking it over but genuinely, it’s mega pretty.

Another thing I found funny was the layout. I have been watching this show for nearly 22 years and I still got a shock when I realised where the village hall and church were in comparison to the rest of the village…! Hahaha. It’s so lame of me. I didn’t realise that the back gardens of the cottages that The Bartons and Vic/Adam live in back onto the village hall and that the hall and church is as far away, also the garage! How the heck did I NOT realise where it was?! I didn’t realise it was so close to the Woolpack… also the cricket pavillion is entirely NOT where I expected it to be and is also on a really steep bank. Rob and Aaron’s picnic and Gabby stripping off and all of the other scenes have NEVER made it look like it was on a proper hill! Camera magic, eh?!

And yes it is real beer/lager/ale that comes out of the pumps. The way they do it is, if a pint is being poured and scene requires the actor to drink it immediately, they’ll be drinking real alcohol but if not then their pint will be replaced by the fake stuff and if there are scenes where drinks are already poured, it’ll be fake and also if drinks are downed! That said, some of the stuff the actors drink is actually the proper stuff. Makes sense why some of them always have a swig as soon as Chas passes them it ;)

So! That’s everything I can think of. It’s probably massively boring but I thought I’d write it up anyone for those that are interested. If you can get to visit then I’d definitely recommend it. I found those moments of looking back up behind me to the empty village ESPECIALLY from the direction of The Mill Upwards towards the Pub and bus stop… that was quite special for me. It felt really strange as I’ve grown up watching these places every week night for most of my life and to stand there was surreal and all I kept saying to my friend was how pretty and peaceful it was and how homely it felt. Makes sense as it’s our lovely cosy crazy little show!

[mrs-bartowski]

THIS THO because this isn't the first time, either!!! The way y'all treated Rahul just for being CAST as Jack?!?! Hell, just for Jack EXISTING as a character that might interfere with the endgame they've told us time and again we're never gonna get?! Absolute bullshittery and VERY telling.

Same with James and Lena. Like, Mechad has his own issues that have caught him some deserved flack at times (as do Jeremy and Mel, arguably even more-so) but they didn't warrant nearly as much backlash as he got and you'd be hard pressed to convince me that's not part of the reason he left the show.

The CW chews up and spits out their minority rep every chance they get, and MOC are no exception. More often than not, they're part of the rule, because the CW writes POC characters in knowing that they will exist solely for the purpose of progressing the white lead's story (Kara, Lena, Alex, Nia with the QTPOC friend of hers we saw for 0.2 seconds and never heard from again, etc.) and then lets the actors take the heat when their character isn't overly compelling and seems to interfere with more than bolster the story because the writers are entirely incapable of writing anything with more than 2 dimensions.

It's despicable, as is the entire network, and those of you who feed into it are no better - arguably worse, considering you have access to the perspectives of the people this impacts and don't seek them out before you open your big mouths and cause more harm.

We should be just as angry if they kill William off as we'll be if (when) we don't get endgame. Maybe even more-so if we DO, because the only discernable purpose he has right now is as a love interest for Kara (which is a crime in and of itself because he did half the work for everything they exposed Lex for yet Kara accepted the Pulitzer ALONE because they wanted to be able to have the reveal moment there, where Lena could profess her "forgiveness" publicly and make the choice not to out her), which means he would have lost use to them the second they decided on supercorp endgame and they just didn't bother giving him another story line because they were too lazy and indifferent.

The CW's writing teams - Supergirl's in particular, but don't even get me started on the shit the Flash's writing team has put Candice through over the years - is consistently careless and, frankly, pathetically unskilled. They truly are just...bad writers. They don't take advantage of half the storylines they set up, they squander the potential of the ones they do, and they suffocate their supporting characters with tedious, often largely meaningless interactions that render them useless as anything other than support.

And it's sad. Because I can't count the number of fanfics that I'd pay to watch them act out because the writing actually makes sense and takes advantage of the characters' strengths and weaknesses and relationship dynamics whereas I only ever pirate sg episodes because I can't fathom the idea of giving them any more ratings when they can't even manage to hire writing teams that can actually...write.

But to kill off yet another MOC because you couldn't manage to find the time to give him literally any story arc whatsoever - never mind the fact that we wasted how much screen time watching him stare at a screen and get angry over Lex's trial??? Really? Not that he was allowed to have the motivation to do anything about it like he could have - I mean, you wanna talk about wasted potential, there it is right there.

This is a man who has dedicated the past several years of his life to taking down Lex and Leviathan after HIS BEST FRIEND WAS MURDERED, has presumably developed feelings for Kara and watched as Lex targeted her and then kidnapped him - leaving him to think she might be in danger until Lena reassures him - before finally having Lex get caught. Only to be sidelined in the recognition of exposing Lex's crimes and made to watch helplessly as Lex gets away with everything anyway? Absolutely the fuck not.

SO MUCH could have been done with this. We could've seen exactly how far he would go to get Russell justice - if he'd retaliate physically against Lex or pour himself even more to finding something else to nail him with that would stick this time; he could have worked with Andrea after she lost Obsidian to brainstorm how to rebuild CatCo into a proper media empire again; he could have taken on a story that set up 6b's big bad; hell, he WOULD HAVE looked into where Supergirl disappeared to for a week after Lex giving himself powers, you're really telling me NO ONE noticed that?!?!?!?!?

But instead they write nothing of substance for him and y'all wanna act like it's his fault and say whatever you damn well please no matter what impacts it has??? No. The white people in this fandom need to put A LOT more effort into educating ourselves, because the treatment of these actors is beyond unacceptable from all angles. It's bad enough they're forced to be tied to networks that couldn't give a shit about them just to get the roles they want, let alone having to deal with all the people who turn around and blame them when the network fails to deliver on the potential of those roles. It's infuriating and exhausting and it needs to stop.

So, the next time you find yourself wanting to blame Staz - or any of the actors, for that matter - on the direction their characters are taking, remember that they have about as much control over that script as a minimum wage worker has over the corporate rules that today's Karen is about to spend the next 20 minutes reaming them out for. Don't be a fandom Karen. Recognize that it's not their fault and speak out for them instead of against them. That's the only way any of us will ever start getting what we want and deserve from these network execs - by sticking together.

As a WOC and Supercorp fan, I have to say this. I get that people don’t like William, but if the show kills him off, it’s going to feel a bit off, just because this show has a terrible track record with sidelining and getting rid of POC. I don’t know, I’ve in general seen a good amount of casual racism directed to him as well from fans and. Well. It feels kinda weird. I don’t know.

[melonteee]

There were def parts of the live action that I enjoyed but my biggest issue was how much was said OUT LOUD, so many moments were ruined by characters shouting out what should be subtext, especially with Luffy.

My favorite thing about these characters is how there are so many layers to discover if you just pay attention, but the LA didnt really give you that chance, everything is so over explained and in your face, it made everything feel way more shallow.

That was and is also my biggest peeve, the writing of it was just...awful. Like genuinely, speaking not as a one piece fan here, this script was really bad. Not only was it full of contradictions when trying to include the loyal scenes on top of the original scenes, there was zero subtlety in it. It's like they don't WANT you to have your own interpretation, you NEED to be told how to feel and what these characters are thinking at ALL TIMES. It was driving me absolutely nuts. Like yeah, you can turn your brain off for it, but as I said before I don't watch One Piece to do that. I don't watch One Piece for Zoro to go "I'M dangerous I'M not your FRIEND. PIRATE....HUNTER." like....why are you treating me like I'm 5 years old for the love of god

One Piece has incredible writing, the dialogue always serves a purpose and is layered with nuance, this god damn script kept hitting me over the head with a sledgehammer in regards to what I should be feeling. Like even if I weren't a One Piece fan I know I'd watch this show and think the script was the most obnoxious thing ever like it felt as if it thought I weren't smart enough to WANT to look into things or something ???