#i can change my vibe so easily either for going out or just playing around in my room. my regret really was that i fell for buying lots of

[xx-justsomeguy-xx]

thinking abt how much my makeup collection has minimized and shrunk down through the years bc for some reason youtube decided to show me some old t*ti w*stbrook videos while on autoplay

[cleolinda]

Phone scam gothic

So my mom sits down and starts telling me about two weird-ass phone calls she had today—she was returning a missed call, and the woman who answered just… sobbed for a minute. I’m sitting here asking, like, a whole minute? Nothing else, just sobbing? Who did you THINK you were calling back?

“United Healthcare, they have my Medicare plan. They’ve been calling me for weeks without leaving any voicemail.”

(Are you sure it was United Healthcare? “It was the same number that’s on my card, I checked, and that’s who the caller ID said it was.”)

Are you sure it was a whole minute? Did YOU say anything?

“Yes, like sixty seconds while I kept going ‘Hello? Hello?’ It sounded like she was having a nervous breakdown, I kept waiting to see if she’d tell me what was even wrong. Finally I just hung up.”

And then my mom turned right around and called back again, because she was gonna get to the bottom of this.

This time she got a different woman, perfectly calm, who wanted to set up “your in-home direct patient care home health visit.”

At this point (at this point?) I’m staring, because no one here currently has anyone coming to the house to help with any kind of medical care. My mom might honestly be the healthiest member of the household, but even I don’t use any home services, herniated discs and all. “Did they have you… confused with someone else?”

“No, she repeated my full name and phone number back to me.”

This lady then started ARGUING with my mother. Why don’t you want us to come to your house to manage your direct patient care? Don’t you need home health care to be managed? Why don’t you need home health care? Why would you not want home health care? “I JUST KIND OF HAVE HIGH CHOLESTEROL?” But don’t you want us to manage your home health care? “WHY DO YOU NEED TO COME TO MY HOUSE TO MANAGE HEALTH CARE I DON’T USE?”

My mom finally hung up on this lady as well, without giving her any real information.

The more we talked about it, the more things we started to notice:

I was incredibly creeped out by the unsolicited use of the word “manage,” for some reason. Very sinister “write me into your will” vibes for some reason—I don’t know what these people want, but they’re gonna get you to sign something over.

My mom got especially stuck on “WHY DO YOU NEED TO COME TO MY HOUSE?!”

My mom has used home health services before… years ago, before she was on Medicare. But this company wouldn’t know about that. However, if you’re on Medicare, you’re over 65. Having not ever dealt with my mother before, someone calling a Medicare user might be playing the odds that a person over 65 is 1) in frail health and 2) old enough to get easily confused.

Fair play to my mom, she’s the one who thought of number spoofing. I’m so busy not answering the phone ever and arranging all my medical communications to happen through passworded portals that I didn’t think of it.

Hey, are you guys, like… holding someone hostage…?

So at this point, I google “United Healthcare scam.”

The “health insurance counselor”

This fraudster will offer help navigating the health insurance marketplace for a fee, capitalizing on people’s confusion about the state-based health exchanges created through the Affordable Care Act.

What to know

This sort of assistance is indeed available and is legitimate, but the people who offer it – also known as “navigators” – aren’t allowed to charge for their services. Also, remember that people with Medicare coverage don’t need to use the state health exchanges. The exchanges are for people under the age of 65, who are looking to enroll in an individual health plan.

Change “navigate” to “manage,” and I think this is it, although the lady on the phone never mentioned any fees. Either my mom didn’t let her get that far, or this is the point of actually getting into someone’s house: persuading them face-to-face to pay something, and potentially refusing to leave until the scammer has worn their target down.

Medicare does not make unsolicited phone calls.

Okay, so it was a scam no matter what it was about. As far as I’m concerned, my mom should contact Actual United Healthcare about it, and I’m here to spread the good word of Never Believing Anyone on the Phone 2k24. I don’t know what to tell you about the lady having the nervous breakdown though.

[awkward-walking-potato]

heard you were looking for some ideas for Logan! What about Logan with a significant other that’s basically an oujia board? Like they can talk to dead people, maybe possess people or haunt their dreams? How did they meet Logan, and how did they end up with him, and most importantly what does wade think of their relationship?

I am sorry this one is Longgg

Between Two Worlds

The Encounter

The bar was dimly lit, the low hum of conversations mixing with the clinking of glasses and the occasional burst of laughter. Logan sat at the far end, nursing a whiskey, his gaze distant. He had just finished a mission, and all he wanted was some peace—a rare commodity in his life. The last thing he expected was to meet someone who would change everything.

But then you walked in.

You weren’t like anyone else in the bar. You moved with a calmness that seemed out of place in a place like this, your presence both ethereal and unsettling. Logan noticed the way people gave you a wide berth, as if instinctively sensing something otherworldly about you. You weren’t particularly intimidating, but there was an air of mystery surrounding you—a vibe that made people uncomfortable. But not Logan. He was more intrigued than anything.

You sat down at the bar, a few stools away from him, and ordered a drink. The bartender handed you a glass of something dark, but your eyes weren’t on the drink; they were on Logan.

“You’ve got a lot of ghosts around you,” you said, your voice soft, almost like a whisper.

Logan stiffened slightly. “Do I know you?”

“Not yet,” you replied, a small smile playing on your lips. “But I know you.”

He eyed you warily, sizing you up. “And how’s that?”

You took a sip of your drink, your gaze never leaving his. “I can see them—hear them. The dead. And you, Logan, have a lot of them following you.”

Logan’s grip on his glass tightened, but he didn’t move. He’d seen and heard a lot of strange things in his life, and he wasn’t easily shaken. “You got a name?”

“Y/N,” you said, extending your hand.

He hesitated, then took it. The moment your hands touched, a strange sensation washed over him. It wasn’t pain, but it wasn’t entirely pleasant either—like a cold breeze brushing against his soul. He let go quickly, his eyes narrowing. “What are you?”

You smiled again, but this time it was a little sad. “I’m just someone who can talk to the dead. Sometimes they talk through me, sometimes they use me to do things, but mostly, they just want to be heard.”

Logan took another drink, considering your words. “Sounds like a rough gig.”

“It can be,” you admitted. “But it’s my life. I help them find peace—or vengeance, depending on what they need.”

He respected that. There was something undeniably compelling about you, something that pulled him in despite the warning bells going off in his head. Maybe it was the loneliness he sensed in you, a loneliness that mirrored his own. Whatever it was, Logan couldn’t help but feel a connection to you.

You spent the rest of the evening talking. There was an easy understanding between you, a mutual respect for the darkness in each other’s lives. When the night was over, Logan offered to walk you home, and you accepted. He didn’t know it at the time, but that was the beginning of something neither of you could have predicted.

Weeks turned into months, and what started as a strange, tentative friendship quickly grew into something more. Logan found himself drawn to you in ways he couldn’t explain. You were an enigma, someone who lived between worlds, yet grounded enough to keep him from losing himself in his own darkness.

You moved into Logan’s cabin, a secluded place where you both could escape the chaos of the world. It wasn’t exactly peaceful—Logan’s past and your connection to the dead made sure of that—but it was home.

One night, as you lay in bed together, you stirred awake. Logan could feel it—the change in the air, the subtle shift in your body temperature. He opened his eyes to see you sitting up, staring at something in the corner of the room.

“Who is it this time?” Logan asked, his voice rough with sleep.

“There’s a woman here,” you said, your voice distant. “She’s…angry. Betrayed. She was killed by someone she trusted.”

Logan sighed, sitting up beside you. He was used to this by now. “What does she want?”

You turned to him, your eyes reflecting the sadness and fury of the spirit inside you. “Vengeance. She wants him to suffer like she did.”

Logan could see the strain this was putting on you. “You don’t have to do this tonight. You can tell her to wait.”

You shook your head. “She won’t wait. This is her only chance.”

Without another word, you got out of bed and began to dress, your movements slow and deliberate. Logan knew better than to try and stop you. He’d seen what happened when you resisted the spirits—it wasn’t pretty.

“I’ll come with you,” he said, pulling on his jeans and boots.

You nodded, grateful for his support. Logan’s presence had a way of grounding you, of keeping you tethered to the living world when the dead threatened to pull you under.

As you both headed out into the night, Logan couldn’t shake the feeling that something was different this time. The spirit inside you was more powerful than the others, more determined. He could feel it in the air, a malevolence that made his skin crawl.

The spirit led you to an old, run-down house on the outskirts of town. Logan followed closely behind, his senses on high alert. You walked up to the front door and knocked, your hand trembling slightly.

The door opened, revealing a man in his late forties, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Who the hell are you?”

“She knows what you did,” you said, your voice filled with the rage of the spirit within you. “And she’s here to make you pay.”

Logan watched as the man’s face paled, his eyes widening in fear. “No… It can’t be…”

Before Logan could react, you lunged forward, your hand wrapping around the man’s throat. The spirit’s fury flowed through you, making you stronger than you should have been, your grip like iron.

Logan moved quickly, pulling you back before you could do any real damage. “That’s enough, Y/N!”

The man collapsed to the floor, gasping for air, while you struggled against Logan’s hold, the spirit’s anger overwhelming you.

“He deserves to die!” you screamed, your voice no longer your own.

Logan held you tightly, his voice firm but gentle. “This isn’t you, Y/N. You’re stronger than this. Don’t let her control you.”

For a moment, it seemed like the spirit would win, that it would consume you completely. But then, with a shuddering breath, you managed to regain control, the spirit’s presence slowly fading as you collapsed against Logan, exhausted.

The man on the floor was sobbing, babbling apologies that fell on deaf ears. Logan looked down at him with disgust. “Get out of town. If I see you again, you won’t be so lucky.”

The man scrambled to his feet and ran, disappearing into the night.

Logan turned his attention back to you, his hand gently cupping your face. “You okay?”

You nodded weakly, leaning into his touch. “Yeah… I’m okay.”

He sighed in relief, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Let’s get you home.”

Life with you was never boring, and Logan wouldn’t have had it any other way. But when Wade found out about your abilities, things got a little more…interesting.

“Hold up,” Wade said, leaning back in his chair, Mary Puppins perched on his lap. “You’re telling me your significant other is basically a walking, talking Ouija board?”

Logan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Something like that.”

Wade’s eyes lit up with mischief. “That is so badass! Do you do parties? Can you, like, summon Elvis or something? Wait, don’t answer that—I have a list of people I want to talk to, starting with—”

“Wade,” Logan growled, cutting him off. “It’s not a party trick.”

Wade pouted. “You’re no fun. But seriously, that’s gotta be weird, right? I mean, what happens if they get mad? Do you end up like one of those possessed dolls from horror movies?”

You chuckled, leaning against Logan. “It’s not quite that dramatic, but it can get intense. I try to keep them under control.”

“Still, sounds like a hell of a time,” Wade said, clearly fascinated. “You ever, uh, use your abilities on Logan here? Like, freak him out in the middle of the night?”

You smiled mischievously, glancing at Logan. “Maybe once or twice.”

Logan shot you a look but didn’t say anything. Wade burst out laughing. “Oh man, I wish I could’ve seen that! Logan, scared out of his mind—priceless!”

Logan rolled his eyes, pulling you closer. “I wasn’t scared.”

“Sure, sure,” Wade said, waving his hand dismissively. “But for real, you two are like the weirdest couple I’ve ever seen. And coming from me, that’s saying something. But you know what? I think it works. You balance each other out. Plus, if anyone ever pisses you off, you can just send them a nice little nightmare. That’s a win in my book.”

You and Logan exchanged a glance, both of you smiling. Wade might be a pain, but he wasn’t wrong.

[jeonscatalyst]

hi!

what are your thoughts on episode three (especially the taekook spraying jimin with water part)?

there's been some discussion, and a lot of it imo has veered into deranged micro analyzing and projecting that has resulted in villainizing taekook (more so jk....) and infantilizing jimin.

it's not just jimin biased jkkers or obsessed pjms, i've seen jk biased jkkers (one in particular that has been weird towards jimin and his work so yeah... 😃) saying how upset they are with jk's "outrageous behavior".

and then ofc there's a blogger that believes they are "spiritually linked" to jimin and are now a mission to call out taekook's "bullying and absue" of jimin (they've especially been blaming jk....) and are very much giving a white savior vibe.

SIGH!!!!

Anon, you know I watched that episode with the biggest smile on my face as there wasn’t a single thing I found to complain about so imagine my suprise when I checked to see what good things people were saying and saw some people complaining about the fact that Taekook sprayed Jimin with water. My mouth was literally open so much I swear a fly got in.

One thing I have realized is that people just perceive things so differently and most times it isn’t even about the people they are watching but about themselves. How on earth could anyone watch that part and have anything bad to say about it? Atp I’m beginning to think we watched different shows.

I didn’t see anyone being bullied or maltreated. I saw Jimin not being in the mood to get into the pool probably because he felt queasy or was just tired and then a hyperactive Jungkook who just wanted Jimin to play with him. Jungkook was the first one who mentioned that he was going for a swim and then Tae said he was going to join but Jimin didn’t seem like he wanted to. Jungkook changed into his swimming trunks and while Tae was changing, Jungkook brought out the water gun and sprayed Jimin with it while Jimin was just laying there and then he ran and sprayed some on Tae too and then came back, opened Jimin’s legs and sprayed some on his “front” and and then went and sprayed some on his ass. This was so endearing to me because it showed that Jungkook either really wanted to get Jimin to play with him so he kept spraying him with water so Jimin would wake up and chase him, or realize that he was already so wet and choose to get into the pool too or he wanted to make Jimin feel better or more jovial. Tae was right there, all changed and ready to get into the pool and play with Jk but Jk seemed more interested in spraying Jimin with water. Even while in the pool he kept doing it and i’m sure he only gave up at some point because he saw that Jimin had just accepted his fate and wasn’t going to wake up to chase him. How could anyone look at that clip and see anything bad? Tae too was being an total cutie joining Jungkook to spray water at Jimin. If that doesn’t show anyone how much taekook love Jimin then nothing will because they could have easily not paid him any mind and gone about their swimming but they both seemed more interested in playing around with him than just going to splash around in the pool by themselves because even in the pool, they both still tried spraying him with water possibly to get him to come join them after he realized that he was all wet.

Like you said anon, that is alot of micro analyzing and projecting. Jimin laughed about it the whole time and I can bet that he didn’t even find it the least bit annoying.

Sometimes people don’t realize that these are boys. Jungkook is not some villain because he sprayed water on Jimin and neither is Tae. Jimin isn’t some damsel in distress that needs saving. If Jungkook had just left Jimin there he would have been accused of ignoring Jimin but even when he was clearly trying to get Jimin to play with him, he still got shit for it. You cannot blame Jungkook for Jimin not wanting to swim. You cannot blame Jungkook for Jimin not wanting to eat. Jungkook is the one who brought the water to Jimin when Jimin didn’t want to go the water, Jungkook is the one who asked where Jimin was when Jimin wasted alot of time outside while they were at the restaurant so the last thing Jungkook wants is for Jimin to be excluded.

People complaining about Jk’s “outrageous behaviour” probably want Jk to put Jimin on his back and keep him there like a baby. They probably wanted Jk to carry Jimin in his arms and put him in bed or wanted Jk to not have any fun at all and just look miserable because Jimin didn’t want to get into the pool. There are tons of moments of Jk literally treating Jimin like an egg, babying and taking very good care of him but these people cherry pick moments where they feel like Jk didn’t care enough. I haven’t seen anyone villainizing Jimin for laughing his ass off when Jungkook fell into water from the Kayak in NY. I haven’t seen anyone villainizing Jimin for laughing his head off when Jk slipped and fell in sapporro and I haven’t seen anyone coming at Jimin for choosing to ride with Tae while Jk rode alone but if that was Jungkook people would have bitten his head off. I really hope people would be kinder to Jk because this is sad.

[michellemisfit]

✨Weekly Tag Wednesday ✨

Thanks for creating the game and for the tag @jrooc thanks for the tag @vintagelacerosette

Today we’re talking fandom. Come play!

Name and A03 handle: Michelle, michellemisfit

Current Location: Living room, surrounded by feathers, as I’m currently fletching some arrows

Favourite picrew: This one is pretty fucking spot on. Or at least it was at the time. Hair is very different now. But then, hair is always different… lol

Also this one is spiritually VERY me

What's one thing you want in a picrew? Ability to add coloured streaks! And a wide selection of scars, or alternatively the ability to move them around the screen. Either is fine. But mostly the hair thing. My hair is generally 4 different colours. Don’t try and limit me to one!!

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom? Erm… 3 way tie between Mexico Gallacrafts, Fimo Gallavich, and Cookie Gallavich? Maybe? Argh. Turns out, looking back at my art tag… I’ve created some pretty cool stuff. Huh. Yay me.

Why is it your favourite? I don’t really do photography, and I’m really proud of the idea behind and the execution of that photo. And while I LOVE drawing more than anything, I don’t think I’m exceptional or anything. But I’m damn creative when it comes to silly 3D craft projects, so both Fimo Gallavich and Cookie Gallavich make me happy and feel like something not just anyone could do… I dunno.

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? It was LONG to create. Both cookie and Fimo Gallavich took several days in total. And I think that’s the other thing I like about myself. I am willing to put in the work, and it usually pays off.

Last ao3 fic you commented on? Hah! You’ll be able to corroborate this, I’m not just sucking up!! LOL I’m currently reading Camp is a Battlefield by @blue-disco-lights, @jrooc, and @mybrainismelted, with artwork by @creepkinginc, so that’s the last one I commented on :)

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? I mean… every single WIP I have ever started reading, only to realise that maybe there won’t be any more of it… 😱 Every. Single. One. They’re all special, and they all hurt in their own special ways. And I will remain subscribed to all of them FOREVER, because you never know!!

Also? Comment on WIPs. Tell authors how much joy the story brought you, how much space it’s occupying in your brain, how much you would love to see it continue but how happy you are to have read as much of the story as there is because it’s changed your brain chemistry… do NOT comment saying ‘next chapter when?’, cause that makes you a dick bag.

Favourite trope or head cannon you like included in a fanfic? I’m a sucker for fake dating, only one bed, and a soulmate AU 🤷🏽‍♂️

Least favourite? …not a huge fan of kid fic, but hey, all it takes is a great author to make it work.

Secret or surprising kink or trope? Again, do not kink shame, because you’re only ever one good fanfic away from discovering something about yourself you did NOT see coming…

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new? Exhausted and antsy. Is it good enough? Are people gonna like it? Should I even bother anyone with this? Why don’t I just go and hide under a rock forever?? I felt okay about this when I finished it, why is it suddenly the worst thing to have ever been created??? …I wish there was a sense of calm and accomplishment. There is not. Brains suck!

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line: @deedala - I so appreciate how we’re on a similar wave length when it comes to art as well as ‘everybody wants to hunt me for sport’ vibes. I know I can always count on you for kind but honest words, and that’s so important!!

It's been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____? Read comfort fic. Probably Like Real People Do or None the Wiser.

Edit: Also? Go and read comments and tags on old art posts. That’s a sure fire way to cheer me up!

This was fun, and made the 15 minute wait between fletching each feather pass much faster. Thanks!!

If you are currently making your own arrows and need something to occupy your wait time with… how about completing a tag game? lol

@heymrspatel @loftec @creepkinginc @deedala @too-schoolforcool @darlingian @iandarling @iansw0rld @ian-galagher @mybrainismelted @palepinkgoat @crossmydna @mikhailoisbaby @sickness-health-all-that-shit @rereadanon @rutherinahobbit @energievie @junemermaid @francesrose3 @deathclassic @faejilly @rutherinahobbit @gallawitchxx @look-i-love-u @jessij1997 @callivich @celestialmickey @wehangout @doshiart @lynne-monstr @the-rat-wins @blue-disco-lights @suzy-queued @sleepyfacetoughguy @spookygingerr @burninface @gallapiech

[lunareel]

A Heads Up

Hello everyone, I hope you all are having a great day or night, whatever time it is for y'all.

Making this post to explain and elaborate on some parts of the recent AU (Bowser's Bodyguard AU, which I'm thinking of renaming) I've been working on. This is going to cover the general story idea, overall vibe, and the games I'm covering with this along with questions I think people may have about the general au.

Don't worry I'll always have this AU tagged, so if you don't like it you can block it easily.

So as stated above this is more of a clarification post and just generally covering my plans for this AU just so people know what to expect.

So I want this AU to be around 6 to 8 main chapters, where I will see if I can combine the Paper and Mario & Luigi universes into one. The first chapter will be on the Mario Movie.

What games will you be covering?

So below are games I definitely want to cover, please note the games are listed in no particular order at the moment.

Super Paper Mario

Paper Mario Thousand Year

Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga

Bowser's Inside Story

Dream Team

All games are going to be rewritten within mind of the character/setup changes. I'm not a huge fan of just writing something that is a paint-by-numbers retelling of the original story; if that's your cup of tea more power too you this is not to throw any shade on that!

For both Superstar Sage and Inside Story I do want to include the side stories the remakes added.

I will say Bowser's Inside Story will be heavily rewritten and I plan on calling it "Fawful's Revenge." The two main reasons are that I'm having Luigi prevent Bowser from eating the vacuum shroom which prevents a lot of the original plot, and I just don't want to draw the inside of Bowser. I don't know what else to say here.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Games that will either be short stories or I'm torn on covering:

Super Mario 2

Mario Galaxy (combining 1 and 2)

Mario RPG

Mario Odyssey

Origami King

Mario Sunshine

Luigi's Mansion 1 & 2

Rabbids Spark of Hope

Paper Mario 64

Super Mario 2 is going to cover Luigi's history with the Shy Guys, particularly with him usurping King Wart. This one might become a full/long chapter.

Mario Galaxy is one that might become a full chapter. It depends on what I end up covering. For instance, at the moment I'm debating on whether to have a semi-character death in it. It's weird because on one hand I don't fully consider this a character death, but it also kind of is because they leave the comic at this point and this does heavily impact the cast. So I'm unsure how to fully label this yet.

Mario RPG is a game I am very intrigued by and I would like to incorporate it into the story, but I do not know the plot of the story so it is on the fence right now. I do have at least a few short comics planned for it.

Mario Odyssey is just going to be a few short comics.

Origami King is where I don't know the full plot, but I'd like to do a comic about Shroom City just for some fun world building.

Mario Sunshine I am so torn on whether it would be a full chapter or just a short. I'm going to have to see where I go with it. Whatever it becomes I do plan on calling the chapter/comic "Obligatory Beach Episode."

Luigi's Mansion I'm going to be combining the first two games. I really want this to be a full chapter, I have just been struggling to plan out a full story for it along with fitting it into the rest of the games. I do want to try, but just in case I can't I'm slapping it into this category.

I need to give Rabbids a Spark of Hope a comic or two as Luigi and Bowser have a mission in there that is solely tied to their characters called "The Brains and the Brawn" which helped me think of their setup in this.

Paper Mario 64 will be another backstory one where Luigi attempts to use the Star Rod to send him home, to mixed results.

Games I am not covering:

Please note the games listed below are NOT because I think they are bad games, it's more because I haven't played them and/or I just don't have good ideas for how to fit them into the story.

Color Splash

Sticker Star

Paper Jam

Partners in Time

For Color Splash and Sticker Star, I just don't know the full plots of these games. Though I might do the train scene that occurs in Color Splash when Mario talks to that one Shy Guy.

Paper Jam is similar to the two listed above where I just don't know the plot and I don't want to deal with the multiverse. As in this I'm trying to combine the Paper universe with the Mario and Luigi universe into one.

Partners in Time could change, but at the moment I'm counting it as not covering as I'm just using the concept and the machine E Gadd builds. It won't deal with time travel, but instead the concept of looking into someone's memories. I don't like covering time travel so I'm just skipping it. Like I said I might cover the Cobalt Star and Princess Shroob, but I don't have a lot of ideas going for this so it might just be skipped entirely with her and her sister as villains.

Will there be shipping?

No, I'm sorry if you were hoping for anything. The most there will be is probably implied Peach x Mario, but that's it for the moment. If any of this changes I'll give a heads up just so no one is caught off guard. But romance isn't really the focus of this comic nor do I want to write romance. Listen just trust me on this you don't want me writing romance, I'm not good at it, this is for the best.

Just in case I am also just going to flat out say this so no one gets mad or feels misled when reading these comics. There will be no Bowser x Luigi in this story. Listen it's a funny and shockingly mostly wholesome ship, but it's not happening here. So I'm sorry if you were hoping for it, but I'm not doing it.

There might be some one-sided Luigi x Daisy (honestly thinking about doing Daisy x Waluigi because their Mario Party team name is Awkward Date and that is hilarious), and/or one-sided Luigi x Peasley, but in this Bowser will be majorly crushing on Peach. Bowser and Luigi are just platonic co-parenting the koopalings (think the Dungeons and Dragon movie with Sofina and Edgin). I just wanted to state this here so everyone is on the same page.

Quick side note: This isn't about shipping, but character-wise Donkey Kong and anything related to his games will only be in the first chapter. I struggle to write him and I don't know how to involve him in the other storylines so I'm just gonna have him chill in his kingdom. He will probably be making a reappearance in Dream Team as that is where I plan to end the comic.

What is the overall story/vibe of the comic?

The main story is going to focus on adventure and learning to love yourself. That's really the main premise. The story itself is going to focus on Luigi learning how to like himself for who he is and reconnecting with Mario and others while going on adventures. The big overall conflict will be the Chaos Heart itself. In this I really want to play around with the concept of the Chaos Heart and what if it didn't just go away after Super Paper Mario. I don't want to say too much about it at the moment as I don't want to spoil that part of the plot.

I feel bad because with the initial comic/sketches of this au, I made it seem a lot more dramatic/angsty than it will be. Sure there's going to be some drama but it really is more focused on the fun of the world, the adventures the characters go on, and the friendships that form out of them. I swear it's not as angsty (or I guess edgy, not sure if it was or not??) as the original comic made it seem so I apologize if that is what you were looking for.

Why I am calling Luigi Mr. L in this?

So in this, I am having Mr. L be more of his 'work mode.' It is designed to be more of a persona he puts on so he can do his job more effectively, but it is also still a part of his personality. I want to include more of his temper which is often portrayed through animations in Mario & Luigi (you know his stomping tantrum animations). Along with a few other notes, like how in the first Luigi's Mansion you kind of find some pretty sassy/sarcastic remarks through the pictures he takes with the Game Boy Horror, along with some of his dialogue in the Paper Mario games. I also want to play into him having a bit of an ego as well (playing more into the Mr. L in Super Paper Mario).

However, at the core, I do want to keep him a more socially awkward, easily frightened, and a very kind person outside of the mask/persona. At the end of the day he really just wants what is best for his friends and family. And that he is always ready to help someone even if he is scared out of his mind (though he might complain about not getting paid, or take a bit of convincing when it comes to dealing with ghosts.) I am also keeping the self-esteem issues, more so dealing with the fact he feels like all he has done is stumble through life making one mistake after another, and never being enough for the people he cares about in his life.

What are the inspirations for this?

Ghibli movies, particularly Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away. I love their world building and how they handle character stories.

Magical Girl animes, I cannot stress enough how much the masks and his powers/setup are based on the magical girl shows I grew up on.

Majora's Mask, I want to do quite a bit with the masks themselves in this setup. I'm not going to elaborate much on them yet, because I prefer to reveal how they function in the comics than through this ramble.

Funnily enough, the character design that kicked off this au, or at least Mr. L's design was Death from Puss in Boots the Last Wish. I can explain, it was his cloak and his whistle. I've been playing through Super Paper Mario and I kept wondering what if they incorporated references to Luigi's Mansion more like maybe putting in his whistling, or going with a more horror aesthetic for him. Or even goes more into the concept of shadows as well, playing not only his ties with ghosts but also how Luigi feels like he is constantly in Mario's shadow. And when I saw the Mario Movie and that he was captured by the Shy Guys I was like hey wait a minute, I can do something with that.

So this story is just me playing around with those thoughts. Don't get me wrong though, him building robots to fight you along with the absolute banger of a jazz theme, and his cocky/petty attitude I have no notes and I like how he is done in the game.

So yeah this pretty much covers everything, if you read all of this kudos, I know this was long, but I hope I clarified what this comic is going to be like. Though please note that I have a job and I'm going through school, so this is going to take a bit to get going. I'm still writing out the base story, and I like to have one or two chapters fully drawn before I start posting it. I do plan on posting some of the short comics and doodles while working on the main writing.

Thank you for reading my rambles. I hope you all have a good one! : D

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Harry is a dangerous sociopath and it is terrifying.

Posted 11 hours ago by u/owlskye

Opinion

[This is long, sorry]

I think it’s time we start seriously considering the fact that Harry is a sociopath, and a dangerous one at that. To be honest, he disturbs me quite a lot, more so than his wife. The aura both of them have are drastically different. When I look at Meghan, I feel that she’s a mean girl. When I look at Harry, there’s something darker and more sinister.

I’m going to go over some symptoms of ASPD (aka, sociopathy) and we can discuss it.

1) A Hunger for Power & Dominance

I don’t know if any of you have got this vibe from Harry, but to me, he seems extremely upset he was not born first. Every time he speaks about how the Royal institution should go away or how bad it is, I get a sense he’s not telling the full truth. It’s missing a “because.” That being: “because I can’t be King.” If this were medieval times, he would’ve murdered his brother for the throne. He is also easily threatened, especially when he see’s himself in competition with children. The way he looks at the Wales kids… terrifying.

2) Devious or Deceptive Tendencies

It is my belief that Harry either played an equal role to Meghan in their “spectacle,” or possibly even bigger than we think. I think he is a highly manipulative individual and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. I also have an odd suspicion that his complete neglect of preparing Meghan for royal life is due to something devious, but I’m not certain. I find it interesting how he frames William and Catherine to be bad people based on uncomfortable situations he had complete control over. It just seems weird, right? He had an opportunity to let Meghan know what that first meeting would be like, and instead he sabotaged it (she ruined it, too, but he’s a senior royal who could’ve said something.) Also – we know Harry lies. A lot. About everything.

3) Ruthlessness in the Pursuit of Their Goals

Harry has proven this time and time again. He attempted to blackmail his family, so they’d pay for his security. That’s absolutely ruthless, right? It seems like his goal has been to take down William, to prove that Harry is the “better son.” He has been aiming at his brother for quite some time and has said some outlandish things to try and get people to hate William.

4) Hostile or Aggressive Towards Others

As we can see, he’s pretty hostile towards his family. Perhaps if he actually had a horrible life, this wouldn’t matter. It’s the fact that he was content on being a parasite for years, and yet the entire time was seething with hatred and anger for those who gave him a free life. Also, he was an infamous bully in school, and there is footage of him becoming violent with paparazzi. He is not a nice person.

5) Easily Angered or Irritated

I used to think Harry was some type of sloth or something. He just seemed to float around, never wanting to be there. I had no idea how sensitive he actually was since he plays the big, strong military man character. This all changed when Spare came out. This “man” becomes furious at even the slightest little thing. He starts freaking out if paparazzi spot him coming out of a club, even though he’s there with multiple other famous people. He still holds a furious grudge over breakfast sausage. I have no idea how it’s possible to be married to this guy. Imagine an argument with him. Sends shivers down my spine.

6) Irresponsible Decision Making

Hey, let’s speed through the same tunnel my mother fatally crashed in. Let’s leave the Royal Family without a plan. Let’s release a book that will absolutely ruin any chance I had at redemption. Let’s marry this overly excitable egotistical low-level actress. Let’s name our daughter Lilibet, people will love that! I’m going to destroy my relationships with my family! Wait, they don’t want to give me money?! They don’t want to talk to me?! Harry smash! (hulk noises)

7) Superficial Charm & Powers of Persuasion

I hate to admit but Harry does have charisma. It’s natural to develop it from his upbringing. The reason we all used to think Harry was the lovable, mischievous Prince was not because we were told to think that – but because he was. He was very charming and funny. Harry has this certain way of speaking that makes you attentive, which is a bad thing for him because now we’re all paying attention to the spoiled and selfish bs that he’s saying. I’m not sure on his powers of persuasion as my mind is drawing a blank, but I know there’s an example of it.

8) Broken Moral Compass or Limited Conscious

Obviously, he does not care who he hurts as displayed by his smear campaign against his family. His moral compass is obviously corrupted as he thinks a foreign country should be responsible to pay millions for his security. Anyone with a shred of morality would think, “I moved here out of my own free will, therefore I am responsible for all that it entails.” He bragged about the people he killed in Afghanistan because he thought it would make him look like a badass. That’s sick.

9) Few Close Bonds or Relationships

This one applies to Harry now. Seems he has nobody left. A lot of you may think, “he had a lot of friends before he met Meghan, though.” That is true; but what is also true is that he had unstable friendships his entire life, and most long-term ones were falling out before he met her. Another thing to understand is it’s easy to have a lot of “friends” when you’re young, immature, and in the party scene. These people aren’t your “real” friends. If they are, then you must grow with them. A lot of his friends had grown older and matured, looking to settle down. Meanwhile, Harry is stuck in a perpetual teenager mindset. You won’t keep many friends being this way.

10) Manipulative Tendencies

I’ve given several examples of this, but he has some manipulative tendencies that I can see straight through. Harry has learned that all he has to do to garner sympathy and forgiveness is say, “Mum died.” It has worked for a long time. He’s not doing this because he actually cares, it’s to evoke a certain reaction – aka, manipulation. He always has to remind you that his mother, Princess Diana, was a saint sent from Heaven who tragically died when he was young. Not only that, but he also uses her name as an excuse for his actions. “My Mum would be proud of us. She’d love Meghan.” This manipulation tactic works sometimes because she cannot speak for herself, and Diana has a reputation for being “against the RF” even though she seemed to be very good at what she did. He’s putting words in a dead woman’s mouth to justify his actions.

11) Entitlement and Impunity

We all know this one is obvious. The guy thinks he deserves everything in the world for winning the “genetic” lottery (or should I say “family” lottery?). He feels entitled to be King because he seriously thinks he’d do a better job at it. He feels entitled to privileges even William and Catherine didn’t have. He literally wanted the RF to wage a war against the press, and then freaked out when “someone” (cough, William) said something super reasonable: “My girlfriend was treated badly, too. Why should you get special treatment?” According to Harry, the answer was simply: “because I am special.” His impunity reeks when he constantly complains about the duties of his job, because why should he have to do it? He's special. If he treated the military anything like he treated being a Royal, then no wonder it didn’t work out.

12) Social Deviance

He cheats on every girlfriend he has and dressed up as Hitler surrounded by Klansmen for Halloween. He hires prostitutes. I don’t know what more to say.

13) Feeling No Guilt

Harry takes zero accountability for anything he’s ever done. He manipulates, and guilt trips if he’s done something wrong. Or he turns it around on the other person. For instance, the Nazi costume. He has absolutely zero remorse for it and literally, somehow, blamed William and Catherine for it because they “laughed.” To me, it seems like they thought he was telling a dark joke and laughed at the ridiculousness of wearing a costume like that. He turns this around as if it’s THEIR fault for giving him permission of some sorts?! He does not care who he hurts and doubles down on it as well. He’s had numerous opportunities to take accountability and apologize, but instead he further escalated.

14) Failure to Fulfill Responsibilities

I personally think Harry is capable of a lot more than he’s done. I don’t think he failed his military tests because he’s stupid – I think he failed them because he’s lazy, didn’t study, and thought being a Prince would entitle him to be able to bend the rules. He complained about having to “endure” Royal Duties even though it provided him a life of luxury that most people cannot even imagine. He’s an absent parent and lives life solely for himself, and him only.

15) Aggression Towards People/Animals

I’ve heard rumors that Harry has beaten prostitutes up in Vegas. I’m not sure if that’s true but given he meets 100% of the criteria needed to be diagnosed as a sociopath – it would make logical sense for him to follow that pattern. I also do not believe his recollection surrounding his and William’s fight. He acts as if he was begging for mercy and William hit him like a maniac. From what I know about Prince William – yeah, right. (eyeroll) From what I know about Harry – he swung first, and William defended himself. Harry is obviously threatened by his older brother and thought he could fight him to prove something. When he lost, he turns into the victim, acting like big bad William is psychotic. We also have seen Meghan’s dog with two broken front legs. This cannot be officially confirmed that Harry did something, but we do have confirmation that Harry abuses horses. He kicks them so hard with the spurs that he essentially stabs them. I have never seen anything like that before. There is something deeply and psychologically wrong with him.

16) Enjoys Hurting People & Causing Discomfort

I talked about this slightly in #2. While we seemingly won’t ever have official confirmation that Harry enjoys negativity (especially if he caused it – gives him a false sense of power), you can see it by reading his body language and analyzing his words. When Harry is recollecting on stories where his family was supposedly being “mean for no reason” towards them, he has a smirk on his face and a glint in his eye. Go back and watch him telling the story of Meghan’s first meeting of William and Catherine. He’s smirking. This smirk is also known as duper’s delight because he feels this negative picture he’s painting of his family is working. You absolutely cannot convince me he didn’t know this was an inappropriate way to introduce your girlfriend to the future King and Queen. He’s smirking as he describes William and Catherine’s discomfort towards Meghan’s behavior – because he absolutely loved it. He had every opportunity in the world to say something and he didn’t. He let her act like a fool and relished in it.

Watching him at the coronation was actually super triggering for me as I have been abused by a sociopath. The way he stared at William… I’ve seen that before. His eyes were black, and you could feel the hatred emanating off of him. His eyes were wide open as well, as if he was trying to use Superman’s laser against William. This stare cannot be accurately classified as a simple aggressive glare. I know this stare. It says, “If we were alone, I would kill you.” He was hoping William would catch a glance and see this. This stare is purposefully done to make the recipient very uncomfortable or even afraid.

---

I know this man is dangerous. I can feel it. He had to beg to be deployed because he so badly wanted to fight in a war. That is not normal; and then his bragging about the people he killed is even more twisted. He is a highly abusive and predatory individual. He has no shame or guilt for what he’s done. He will never stop trying to destroy his target.

He will not stop bringing up Chelsy Davy in court. The subliminal message that he is sending to her is obvious to people who have experience with this abuse. He states she left him because she couldn’t handle the press. She was with him for 7 years, right? So, obviously she handled the press quite well throughout those 7 years. The truth is: Harry doesn’t love Chelsy Davy. He most likely never did. He is still angry and bitter that she left him. How dare she?! It doesn’t matter that he cheated and deserved it – she left him.

This is a huge blow to the ego for him. He has to be the one to want to break up, he cannot be broken up with because that implies he’s not perfect. This is why Cressida isn’t treated the same; it was mutual. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he harassed Chelsy for a long time after she left because he’s still doing it to this day. The subliminal message is: “you will never escape me. You will forever be associated with me. I will tell them that you didn’t love me enough – you were too weak – to deal with this life. It will always be your fault, not mine.”

I don’t like Meghan Markle at all, but I am not soulless. I am very worried for her if she is the one who decides to leave. I feel he has a power over her that we cannot understand and he’s the one calling the shots. People blame Meghan for “Spare,” which I think she definitely had a part in it, but his ghost writer has straight up basically admitted that Harry verbally/emotionally abused him during the process.

When people have nothing left to lose, that is when it becomes most dangerous. This is a special situation for him as it’s his first marriage, they have children together, and he destroyed his ties to the royal family for her. If she leaves and takes the kids, what does he have? Nothing. He has no family to run back to, no friends, no allies, no job. Remember that coronation stare.

A lot of you may hate me for claiming to be worried about Meghan, but I don’t care. Like I said, I cannot stand her, and she’s definitely played her part. I’m not entirely sure what Harry is capable of, but she doesn’t deserve violence or endless stalking/harassment. I seriously am sick to my stomach thinking about how much danger she is in, and I wonder if she even knows it. I hope that if she leaves, she plays it intelligently.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

no i love this so much..... imagine professor evans looking like That in class but when you stumble upon him in a bar he looks like That?!? it's either chris just likes to separate work from play in a more visual manner, or it's subtly because he knows he won't get recognized as easily...

(college twink!seb is horny for both btw 😉)

but damn, i wanna throw in the idea of nerdy!seb who wears glasses and his long hair in his face when he's at campus, but when he has the time to go out, he's in his Full Slut Outfit that makes fratboy prof!chris drool 🥴🥴

related to this

Fuck yeah!

I LOVE this idea.

I mean, whether it's intentionally a vibe change to hide in plain sight or just because he has those two sides and it helps him let loose it's... 😮‍💨😮‍💨 yeah. It's a lot.

It's too much to deal with!

He's breaking necks because he looks so fucking good that everyone's eyes are tracking his every move, but he's also breaking necks, giving everyone whiplash, because to those that do know him it's, wait, is that Professor Evans? Intellectual, prim, proper Professor Evans who's passionate about his work and happy but definitely formal and a little rigid, controlling of his rules and attire effortlessly? Huh? What the fuck? He's so... hot. Like. He's hot all the fucking time but whereas he's buttoned up suave during the day, the sun has set and he's unbuttoned, rowdy, drunk hot. Fuck me.

Ohhhh my god, you're so right, though. If we have code-switching Professor Evans, then we need his matching Sebastian. Absolutely! We need good-boy, rule-follower college student Sebastian who becomes a full-on fucking hot mess when he's out partying on a Friday night. Sebastian's long hair hangs over his face, falling into his eyes during lecture, making him always twitch, shaking his head to push it back, blushing whenever someone tugs playfully on his hair, commenting about how cute he is, but when he's out-? His hair is a mess from dancing. Sometimes, it's down and curled from sweat and heat, other times it's tied back, back from his face to show off that pretty bone structure and especially those red, bitten lips wrapping around the rim of any bottle he can get his hands on (and some other things too, mostly, really, anything he can get his hands around and some things he can't 😘)

Oh my god, though, what if they run into each other at an off-campus party? Close enough to campus for Sebastian to make it there in the first place but far enough away that Chris feels comfortable partying there, no fear of running into students, it's mingled ages of Chris and Sebastian and... they drink, making eyes at each other, Sebastian watching Chris' big hands as they wrap around a cold bottle, Chris watching Seb's lips and throat as he takes another shot, throwing it back, they dance, hands everywhere, pushed up under tight, sweat-transparent clothes, grabbing bulging muscles, grinding indecently against each other admist writhing bodies, practically having sex already, and they hookup, world-spinning, sloppy drunk, moaning so loud people on the other side of the wall start shouting and pounding on the drywall, telling them to shut the fuck up, it just makes Seb moan louder (the exhibitionist he is) and Chris laugh, reckless and stupid. And. Get this. They don't recognize each other. They're just acting and dressing so differently from how they normally do. There's nothing to get ahold of. Nothing to recognize. But...

The sex is wildly charged, it's hot, it's too good to give up, they have chemistry, so they're drawn back to each other again and again, back to that fucking place and their recurring, insane parties. How long do you think it'll take before they realize who the other is? What'll it take? 🥴

[sasazusa]

A Date with Death — Review

Game Details: Release Date: December 7th, 2023 Platform: Windows, Linux, and MacOS Where to Download: Steam | Itch.io

Synopsis: "You're just an ordinary person... or so you thought. For your entire life, you've been narrowly avoiding death by pure luck... or is it something more? When a strange program suddenly appears on your computer, and someone claiming to be the Grim Reaper says he's come for your soul, your life as you know it is thrown upside down. As you delve deeper into the mysterious man that calls himself the Grim Reaper, you begin to wonder if fate brought you two together for a reason. Can you resist his charm, or will you fall for the one destined to take your soul?" — via Two and a Half Studios on Itch.io and Steam.

When I first heard about this game, I was super happy! I've always loved how "Grim Reaper" characters were written in media. Plus, he has a little axolotl plushie! I knew this game was up my alley, and I'm so glad I discovered it.

First, I'd like to say — he's absolutely my type. Grim has his share of tsundere moments, which I love since tsunderes are my favourite. He's kind, and he's honest. I really love the balance in his character. He's edgy and grumpy, but also has a soft side. I think that's what drawn me into this game. Also, he had me SWOONING within the first 20 minutes. He's a natural at sweeping anyone off their feet.

It's also hard not to tease this man. His blush. That damned blush. His reactions to the teasing are really funny, and my god, his pouty blush is so cute. It really pulled at my heart strings.

I find it really precious that he's trying to learn how to communicate with humans. The kaomojis are definitely adorable. (Y'all, I wanted to say "slang", but I had no idea if that would make sense. I hope you understand what I meant either way.)

I really enjoyed the MC's options to tease him. Teasing about marriage? About going on a date? Even coming over to your place? It's in the options, and I love that. It made this game really enjoyable for me. It made it feel more realistic to me.

I find it really sweet when it comes to MC and Grim's dynamic. "You're annoying, but I like listening to you." or "I hate having company, but I enjoy yours." vibes. I really enjoy their grumpy/sunshine trope. The trope is one of my favourites, so I really enjoyed reading through their conversations. And man, I'd love to read more between them.

Customization Praise!

When I first saw the extensive customization options for the MC's appearance, pronouns, and even an biography that you can type, I was so excited.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy otomes that have a set MC, but it makes the game stand out more when you're able to customize something that is uniquely yours.

You can also change around the appearance of your living space, and even the music anytime within the game.

I really give the developers credit. They shaped the game in a way that everyone has a different experience.

You can easily make a self-insert of yourself, or even an OC of yours with the options available, and that to me is very important.

Protagonist Praise!

As stated above, I'm really glad the game allows for customization of the MC. Whether it be with how they look and appear, their personality, and even their name/profile picture in the chatroom.

The one thing that stood out to me is the options you have. I've played my fair share out of otomes through out the years, but this game really tops it when it comes to what YOU want the MC to say and convey.

You can be a tease, be sarcastic, or even a mix of both.

It really gives you a even a unique playthrough experience. So, each time you go through the game, you may have a different experience than the last.

Art and Character Design Praise!

I absolutely adore the art in this game. From the background stills to character design — I really love everything about it.

Grim's design is so jawdropping. He's the perfect balance of edgy, but cute. (Each of my playthroughs, I wanted his jacket so bad. It looks so comfortable and is very fashionable.) PLUS, he has white hair. White haired anime boys for the win. (Kinda wonder what he would look like with black hair, though.)

As someone who has issues with their visions and bright colours, it really didn't mess with my eyesight that much. So, I really appreciate that the colours are more toned down.

Overall Thoughts and Conclusion!

This is one of the best otomes I've played in quite a while. Hands down one of my top favourites.

Each ending is unique, and I love that about games.

I really appreciate that this game is free with an option to purchase DLCs. I'm really excited for the upcoming DLC for this game! You best believe I'm going to purchase it the moment it's released.

This game has brought me comfort. It's made me laugh in moments I haven't felt quite myself, and I really thank Two and A Half Studios for that.

You can tell the developers and their team put so much love and care into this, and I really think that's incredible.

So, if anyone is looking for a heartwarming, bittersweet, and funny game, I highly suggest playing through this and giving it a shot. You won't be disappointed. Plus, you get to have some lovable moments with the Grim Reaper. That's a 10/10 in my book. :)

Final Thoughts: Rating: 10/10! Recommended: Yes, definitely!

Please go and support Two and a Half Studios! They have other games to play from, so if you enjoyed this one, I'd recommend checking the other ones out!

As of right now, A Date with Death has one DLC. Which you can purchase on Steam or through Itch.io.

Another DLC was announced, so please keep an eye out and support the developers when it's released!

Beyond the Bet DLC — Steam

[yuncheoligans]

Chapter 14: Better

“Mingi you can’t be here.” I said hiding behind the door.

“Like hell I can’t!” he pushed the door open. 

“Min please you’ll get in trouble.”

“I don’t care.” he sat on the couch. “Take it back and I’ll go.”

“Mingi I already told you I’m not taking it back.”

“Then I guess I’m staying until you change your mind.”

“Mingi.” my lip trembled. “Please just go. You can’t be here.”

“I can be wherever I damn well choose to be with whoever the fuck I want!” he moreso shouted at the tv than me.

“Mingi” my voice cracked, tears falling. “Please.” I tugged at the end of the hoodie I was wearing…his hoodie I was wearing.

I didn’t want him to go, I wanted him to stay right there. I wanted both of them to stay there I wanted to crawl into that couch next to them and disappear. I wanted to take it all back, but they were better without me. No hate, no threats, no scandals.

“Tell me you didn’t mean it and I’ll go….y/n….Tell me you don’t love Yunho and I’ll go…tell me none of it was real, you were using us for fame and I’ll go. Tell me you don’t love me and I’ll go. ” he stood in front of me. I shook my head no. No….I couldn’t….I couldn’t tell him that. “I’m not going anywhere.” he pulled me into him gently and lifted up my face to look at him, I couldn’t meet his gaze. “You’re crazy you know.” he smiled softly.

“What did you mean no?” I hiccuped.

“I meant no, you can’t just break up with me that easily.” my eyes flicked to his face briefly. “Remember we said we’d deal with it together? Let’s handle it together.”

“I’m too scared Min.”

“That’s why we’re both here. Yunho and I. You don’t have to worry about stuff alone. You weren’t ever alone.”

“Please don’t…….”

“If you think I’m not scared of this every damn day of my life you’re wrong. I’m scared of all of this. I don’t run from it because no matter what my best friends are at my side. Y/n, my love, please…don’t run away from this. If you think Yunho doesn’t feel the same either you’re wrong…..stay here baby….you’re safe here.” he squeezed me tighter and started humming softly. 

It was that stupid voicemail all over again. I started crying against his chest, his shirt getting drenched no way around it. 

“Hey maybe we just moved a little too fast okay?” Yunho spoke up popping in finally. “Sorry I was waiting for the right time to come in with food. I said I was bringing dinner.” I turned around and hiccuped or coughed…still unsure which one kind of in between the two. “It’s okay, let’s pump the brakes a little and just…take our time.” he smiled softly.

Always the voice of reason.

“Please don’t go.” I whispered as he handed me the bag of fried chicken and beers.

“I’m just clearing a space at the table.” he smiled and patted my head. “I’m not going anywhere Tiny.”

“Told you so.” Mingi nudged me gently.

“Min?” Yunho held up my broken camera. “Did you?”

“They did that.” I said quietly.

“The fans?!” Mingi grew hot with anger.

“No the airline….they threw my bag on and it got smashed…I don’t need it anyways.” I sighed.

“You’re a photographer you need a camera.” Yunho deadpanned at me and looked at Mingi.

“Probably not for much longer. It’s fine…Wooyoung was right I don't….I don’t need the job and I can figure something else out.” I shrugged. “I’m okay not having the job.”

“It’s your dream.” they both looked at me.

“I have other dreams too.” I played with the hoodie. “I’m just saying you don’t have to worry…about that.”

We sat down to eat finally, my face puffy from tears. The vibe was tense but slowly calmed as we started eating. I really was happy they were here….I was happy they fought me so hard. I guess sometimes they are right. Yeah…. I needed a hard slap to the head.

“Ow!” I looked at Mingi.

“You said I could slap you when you’re being ridiculous.” he smiled.

“I said that in high school.”

“Still counts. Because you said “as long as we’re together.” he hit me again.

“You bastard.” I rubbed the back of my head. “You’re so getting it later.”

“Promise?” he winked.

“You’re gross.” I stole the piece he was reaching for to eat it.

“Hey! Yunho!!!” he pointed at me stealing the chicken.

“Just take a different piece.” he shrugged his own mouth full.

“Whoa whoa this is a partnership, you can’t just take sides like that.”

“Just did, eat, there’s too much chicken here.” he gestured towards the chicken.

Okay….maybe I was stupid for breaking up with them for 4 days….

“You know you talk a lot of shit for someone who’s single.” Yunho winked at me while looking at Mingi.

“Oh I’m single? Guess who else is.” he pointed at Yunho. “You betray me all the time anyways. Just like those letters! Every time!”

Oh god….losers….my losers.

~Prev/

tags: @yunbug, @gxlden-bxbyy, @byuntrash101 <3 <3 <3

[just-call-mefr1es]

using my big brain skills, i will now use my band-o-meter to guess what instrument the basement boys™️ +others would play💥 i am totally a professional, expert at vibes n shit😎 each word i say is canon /j

Griffin

ngl, i can see him in the clarinets section. definitely a woodwind, no arguments on that. hes a lil squeaky (WHEN PLAYING YALL) but pretty good overall. probs sits at the end of the row. memorized all of the fingerings and can switch between them pretty well. THE BEST at fast paced pieces, will spontaneously combust during slow ones (honestly same)

Billy

i feel like he would play tuba or euphonium, leaning more on euphonium. at first, i thought he seemed more like an art kid, but now that i have the mental image of him playing euphonium, i change my mind. hes pretty good, part of an endangered species though. 💯💯 has complained about his instrument being too heavy, but enjoys just resting against ghe case whenever he brings it around.

Vance

Percussion. I don’t need to elaborate.

Bruce

first of all, definitely in the woodwinds (again lmao). i was thinking either a bass clarinet, oboe or a saxophone? if saxophone, definitely an alto. although, i am thinking more oboe/bass clarinet….. yk, knowing bruce, he probably plays all of em, or maybe im just lazy. we’ll go with alto sax. vance has totally made a ‘saxy’ joke about it (projecting cause my wife does that with himself)

Robin

I think he’d be a trumpet. yeah, he would. he loves that thing. he probably has blasted it on accident though so r.i.p woodwinds in the row infront💔 he probably thinks that he can hit high notes easily, so he tries to on the first try and fucking dies. hit or miss with fast pieces, he likes them but also hates them. has asked finney how to subdivide because he zoned out

Finney

same issue with bruce, but with clarinet and saxophlne (no hobo). then i thought about it and went, ‘yeah, he’d be an oboe’. at first, i was thinking of making bruce play the oboe and finney the sax, butttt i like this better ngl. part of an endangered species, only two other hobo players with finn🙏 god at sightreading

Gwen

looking back im realizing how indecisive i am lmaoo. so our two options were clarinet n trumpet. took me a lot of back and forthing until i thought, ‘hell yeah she’d be a clarinet’ so here we are. carries the clarinets, and is probably louder than most trumpets. she’s 50/50 on sight reading. she could be awesome at it or terrible, depending the piece. complains about eighth notes.

Amy

let me project for a second and just- ‼️‼️flute‼️‼️ damn i love me flutie patooties. anygays, she has more luck hitting high notes than robin (rip) but flutes are built like that, but she can hit them without trying. she shifts 294749103 times in her seat because flute can get uncomfortable (projecting some more). sits next to gwen and they compare what each of their pieces are constructed 💗 (i do that with my friends too lmao)

[kmze]

Thoughts on 2x01 - 2x11 So much better than S1, I am so much happier having more characters involved in the storyline and Katherine is such a great villian. I also noticed the lighting is warmer and brighter this season. I think I read somewhere that was intentional because they were introducing werewolves (warm orange hue) whereas the first season was vampires (cold blue hue). Also feel like I can SEE the scenes now (modern lighting on shows is the bane of my watching experience everytime) Random thoughts under the cut!

I cannot stress enough how much Katherine makes everything better, Nina deserved more accolades for how she played two very different characters interchangeably so flawlessly. Her presence even made me care more about the love triangle and the albit messed up dynamic. I mean her and Elena look EXACTLY the same and the Salvatore's want me to believe there's no transference issues? I'm so sure.

I definitely get more from Stefan and Katherine than I do from Damon and Katherine though. Katherine brings out the meaner side of Stefan that he pretends doesn't exist and I appreciate that. She is clearly still under his skin though as much as he wants to deny it because I really loved their scenes in 2x04.

Damon and Elena have great sexual tension and chemistry but I just cannot vibe with it because he killed her brother like a month ago?? I just continue to be flabbergasted by that (I am a hater).

Obviously I have seen the Stefan and Caroline scenes from 2x02 and 2x03 dozens of times but watching them like this in a rewatch makes me love them even more. Especially their scenes in the woods and at the swimming hole, Stefan is so much lighter around her. Even his scenes with Lexi last season didn’t feel as effortless. I know this early on he's friends with her because of Elena and "hero-boyfriend" duties but he still let her distract him at the grill because I think he genuinely likes being around her. Him showing her his insecurity about Damon and Elena already shows they have a lot of trust building between them. I love them.

I was so happy and almost cried at Liz being the first person to see how much Caroline changed when she became a vampire! The physical strength gave her so much confidence and Liz saw that instantly. It was so sad watching Caroline (kudos Candice) have to compel that away. I was just thinking in S1 like damn I can't believe their relationship was this rough but this moment sold how and why they become so close in the later seasons.

It’s really not a surprise Aimee and Sarah died, they were always too eager to get wasted in a town with mysterious deaths weekly. The odds were never in their favor. Katherine killing Aimee on the dance floor in front of everyone had me cracking up though! The best crazy bitch ever. The masquerade episode was probably my favorite so far in my rewatch, this is when the contrived events work with everyone playing a part in the game!

Caroline turning into a vampire really helped start to remove her from being stuck under Elena. Especially now as she's getting involved in Tyler's storyline who truly has nothing to do with Elena narrative-wise. She's even got her own love triangle brewing already.

I like how easily Stefan accepted he was going to be stuck in the tomb with Katherine for a few days, as if it was a weekend retreat. In all honesty he probably wanted to avoid Elena and the self sacrifice mission so he wouldn’t have to go along with it since he’s in “boring-choice-matters-self” mode. Because I thought it was odd he wouldn’t let Elena even see him and then told Damon to keep her away from there, so that's my theory.

Trapping Elena in the house was the best move for everyone involved. I’m sorry but the whole suicide mission was getting on my nerves. Girl shut up and sit down.

Someone should really have told Jenna already about vampires because then she'd stop inviting them into the house! Sadly I do not care about Alaric and Jenna either, I remember when I first watched I did but now, meh.

Bonnie and Jeremy are cute I don't care what anyone says! I know they have their issues in the later seasons but they could have come back to them, I can't have nice things.

Bonnie and Damon really do have great chemistry as enemies to reluctant allies, I will never forgive TPTB for denying me this.

Elijah is zzzzzz so far.

Lines that made me laugh:

Damon: Elena’s on a martyr tear that rivals your greatest hits (I yelled! he wasn't lying oh my god!)

Caroline: They were more... gold with amber highlights (she's so unintentionally funny)

[jakethesequel]

My Scott Pilgrim Takes Off Review

From a long-long-time Scott Pilgrim fan.

Quick-form style:

PRO: The animation is stellar, does a great job at both adapting and upgrading the original artstyle with a bunch of motion.

PRO: I especially love all the little background references. Not just the ones related to the original comics or whatever either, there's a lot that are just aesthetic references to gamer stuff or Toronto landmarks (Honest "Ed's"!). Does a lot to make it feel more like it's really set in late 2000s/early 2010s Canadiana. I think you could fill a whole wiki just categorizing all the little connections they fit into every episode.

PRO: Truly a once-in-a-lifetime voice cast, I'm actually amazed they got the whole cast of the movie to come back after thirteen years.

PRO: Extremely funny with the jokes, as the comics and the movie both were, but even more concentrated, especially if you're sharp enough to catch all the background details and references.

CON: The main storyline feels rushed. More on that later.

PRO: Both the licensed soundtrack and the original compositions go fucking hard, rivalling the movie's already impressive album.

PRO: A lot of characters who didn't get a ton of development in the comics or movie get extra screen time and are seen in a new light that really fleshes them out as complete personalities where they might have been one-note before.

CON: A lot of the characters who were more important in the comics or movie have underdeveloped arcs in the anime, so they feel half-baked.

PRO: The scene-to-scene dialogue, and the way the characters socialize with each other, often feels fresh and real the way they were in the comics. It's cartoonish, of course, but they talk like long-time friends talk.

CON: Lisa Miller, my favorite tertiary character, was not included. Unforgivable.

Overall? Takes Off was an enjoyable addition to the series. Even with all its glitter, it's not as good as the original comics, but that's a high bar. I would say that Takes Off is equal or even better than the VS The World movie, and that's a good ass movie! The attention to detail and production quality is substantial in both. I personally think that the story in Takes Off had a little more substance, but I think opinions are going to vary strongly on that, and I can easily understand the other side. In any case, if you're new to Scott Pilgrim, Takes Off is a lot of fun, and if you end up liking it, the comics are even better. If you already enjoy Scott Pilgrim, Takes Off is a strong spin-off and worth watching.

Points heavier on spoilers below, and heavier on details as I slowly forget what "point form" means:

PRO: From the start, the first episode is bursting with love for the original series. There are multiple scenes that are shot-for-shot recreations of the comic, and it's a real treat to see the comic panels animated and voiced by the movie cast.

CON: Knive Chau's introduction is kind of brushed over. They basically say "Knives Chau: Scott's 17-year-old fake girlfriend (more on that later)." Except: There's never really more on that later.

PRO: A lot of the first episode's changes are done in a really funny way that fits the vibe. Obviously the Amazon -> Netflix change is just corporate politics, but delivering Netflix DVDs makes it feel like even more of a period piece. And changing Scott's awkward infodump from Puckman to Sonic cartoons - "one guy playing two versions of the same character" - is a cute lampshade hang.

CON: A lot of people are going to be turned off by the show's central twist. Everyone expected this to be an adaptation played straight, since that's what was advertised. It sure as hell shocked me when Scott "died"! I have no doubt some people are gonna have a more intense reaction and feel shitty about the rug-pull.

PRO: However! I came around on it pretty fast myself once I figured out what they were doing. While I would have adored a direct adaptation from the comics, I cannot complain about getting a brand new story by the original creator, and I think the whole AU idea of "what if Scott lost to the Seven Evil Exes" is a really fun one to explore! Regardless of execution, it's a cool concept and I kind of admire the balls of sucessfully pulling a bait-and-switch on such a major production. Managing to keep your main plotline a secret while working for a major production company and hiring box-office-topping actors is no small feat!

PRO: Again, the AU-fanfic-type stuff is a lot of fun. It's great how the League of Evil Exes finally gets to do their whole evil plan, and succeed in killing Ramona's date, then fall apart when they realize this didn't actually get them anywhere.

PRO: Also, while their fight does kind of unfairly nerf Gideon compared to his other appearances, it rocked seeing Matthew Patel clean house. I'm just a sucker for when a weak early enemy managed to usurp power through some bullshit. And of all the Evil Exes, he needed the glow-up the most, he got the least scenes out of any of them.

PRO: METRIC'S BACK!

CON: Even though he comes back to life, the funeral scene has weird vibes. Scott's friends and family reacted more emotionally when the comics did the "extra life" gag, but this is to their knowledge an actual permanent death. Even if she feels responsible, it's jarring that Ramona, who knew Scott for like two days and has an established habit of running from difficult feelings, seems more affected by grief than friends Scott that had known for years like Wallace, Kim, Stephen, even Envy. Hell, Knives was "dating" Scott for longer than Ramona's one-night stand, but she moves on quicker from the death of her fake boyfriend than her comic/movie counterparts do from just a breakup.

PRO: The casket just having spare change in it is a fucking great visual gag.

PRO: KIM PINE YURI???

CON: Kim's backstory and character arc gets shafted, and Scott's backstory loses complexity. More on that later.

PRO: There's less typical-late-2000s-loser type jokes about lesbians, and less catty bodyshaming, which is good. It might have been realistic dialogue at the time but it'd probably feel out of place in a modern production, even a period piece.

PRO: Related, Ramona has less internalized biphobia and doesn't make "experimenting in college" excuses about her sexuality. Some may feel like this simplifies her character, because her treating Roxie like an experiment is an important flaw, but I think it's a positive change. I'd rather her character be a bisexual girl with relationship issues than a comphet girl with relationship issues. The latter just reinforces bi erasure too much for me.

CON: Ramona inexplicably feels more loyal towards missing-presumed-dead Scott who she has had one date with than comic Ramona felt towards comic steady-boyfriend-of-several-months Scott, despite anime!Scott not getting to apologize for two-timing Ramona and Knives like comic!Scott did. I think this oversimplified her character and weakens her arc. More on that later.

CON: There's obviously an issue of balancing plotlines with runtime, but Roxie has a much more involved and interesting role in the story in the comics. She even moves in with Ramona for a while. The drama!

PRO: It's very cute seeing Knives hang out with the Sex Bob-omb crew on her own terms. She does that in the comics too, after she and Scott break up, but it's mostly offscreen unless Scott or Ramona also happen to be in the room. It's also a good addition to have her involved with the music herself rather than just be a fan.

PRO: Dead Kennedys needle drop. Fuck yeah.

PRO: In general, spending time with all of the Evil Exes is a lot of fun and does a lot of work to make them feel like well-rounded, fully realized characters. For me, I think this is the biggest benefit Takes Off brings to the series, and something that genuinely makes re-reading the comics more enjoyable. The Exes' scenes in their books pop more with the added detail to their personality from this anime.

PRO: Each Ex (sans Gideon/Gordon) gets their artstyle-shift backstory with Ramona lifted right from the comics.

CON: Even so, the Exes' appearances aren't totally even. Particularly Roxie, Todd, and Gideon/Gordon. Matthew, Lucas Lee, and the Twins benefit the most from the extra screentime, but every Ex has a few of their bumps shined off. Mostly in their backstories: while I love the flashbacks, they're all a lot less confrontational with Ramona about her own faults than their other appearances would suggest, again simplifying Ramona's story and weakening her arc. In previous appearances, many of the Exes were a lot less "fight Ramona's new BF to win her love back" and a lot more "fight Ramona's new BF because she broke my heart and I want revenge."

PRO: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost guest cameos!! That's how you KNOW it's an Edgar Wright project through and through

PRO: Young Neil becoming a cinephile and an accidental screenwriter is a great storyline, and the ongoing lampshading of adapting existing storylines makes room for a lot of good jokes at the creators' own expense.

PRO: WALLACE WELLS YAOI? Well, that much was more expected. But Todd Ingram/Wallace Wells yaoi? That's new ground!

CON: Again, it's a question of managing runtime and work-hours, but the Envy->Todd<-->Wallace love triangle isn't as interesting as the "taking a full page out of this volume for a relationship chart" love lattice from the comics, though it's still hilarious and a delight to watch. It would be fully in-character for Wallace to steal Envy's boyfriend, but that's nowhere near as juicy as the web of jealousy and desire between Scott+Ramona+Envy+Todd+Lynette+Knives(+Gideon, later on).

PRO: I'm glad they didn't re-cast Kieran Culkin, but I'm also grateful they wrote in a mea culpa about casting straight actors to play gay characters.

CON: Envy herself has very little character in the anime besides being Scott's bitchy famous ex-girlfriend, where the comics paint a much more sympathetic picture. Maybe an issue of Brie Larson being busy with Marvel, but unfortunate all the same. More on that later.

PRO: "Edgar Wrong"

PRO: Narration by Weird Al Yankovic

PRO: They have a lot of fun joking about Scott Pilgrim VS The World thanks to the set-up. I feel like every time there's an in-universe joke about adapting Scott Pilgrim (real life guy) into Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (movie) it also works as a fourth-wall joke about adapting Scott Pilgrim (graphic novels) into Scott Pilgrim VS The World (movie). If the writing was less tight I think it'd be grating and either feel too meta or too avoidant, but I think they walk that line with talent and make most lines work on both levels. It's nice to see the creators take a good-natured jab at themselves for the issues the real movie ran into adapting a not-yet-finished 6-volume comic into a sub-2-hour super-overbudget studio movie with a professional soundtrack from several major indie rock stars. That joke about the movie not being able to make up its losses didn't come from nowhere, unfortunately, but I'm glad they can laugh about it.

PRO: The Chau/Stills songwriting team is great. They develop their own friendship in the comics, too, but it comes to life way more here. It does see them relegated to more of a comic relief role, rather than their more complicated arcs in the comics, but more on that later.

PRO: Gordon Goose from North Bay Ontario is an inspired choice, as is him friendshipping it up with Lucas Lee after they're both broke, as is especially him hooking up with Julie. I could honestly even see them getting together in the comic or movie versions too, if the story had gone a little differently. They've got great chemistry that I never even considered.

CON?PRO?IDK: Gordon Goose from the anime is an entirely different character from the comic's Gideon Gordon Graves. Some parts could fit: him originally being a loser from North Bay, him hanging out with Julie and Lucas Lee, even the anime-binge depression spiral could fit if events conspired for him to lose everything. Other parts, though, are trickier. I mentioned that he was a far weaker fighter than in other works, but that's minor and idk maybe it's a rock paper scissors thing (Scott is stronger than Matthew, Matthew is stronger than Gideon, Gideon is stronger than Scott). The BIG changes are that he doesn't seem to have any of his evil genius plots going on besides the League of Evil Exes. In the comics, he infected Ramona (and later Scott) with the Glow, a kind of emotional infection that enables and encourages avoidance; and in the movies, he stuck a mind-control chip in Ramona. (Also in the comics he kidnapped and cryogenically froze his 7 ex-girlfriends sans Ramona in a giant machine to "save" them until he could convince them to take him back, because he's a massive fucking asshole.) He did both long before Scott and Ramona met, so it's odd that there's seemingly no counterpart in the anime. It's also super different that after losing his wealth he stops being obsessed with Ramona. Where the other exes might have been more revenge motivated, Gideon was the one who really did want to try and win Ramona back by any means. His main character trait is that he's pretty much incapable of letting go when women reject him. There's echoes of that when Julie talks about his high school years, which I think is a good addition, but it makes it odd that in the final few episodes he's almost entirely uninterested in Scott and Ramona. Maybe that's Julie's influence, but that's a hard sell without actually showing it. (Plus, Julie didn't want Scott and Ramona together either, so almost a shared goal.) All in all, this makes Gordon Goose feel way more divergent from comic/movie Gideon Gordon Graves than any other character is. Still, I'm hesitant to commit to calling this a negative. It's different, but it might have been a difference needed for Takes Off to do what it wanted to do. Part of me wonders whether a Gideon played a tiny bit closer to norm would have been better, but I'm not confident in that, so decide for yourself.

CON: Gideon/Gordon never mentions his fetish for dressing people (Envy in particular) up like dolls.

PRO: While I know time travel plots get tiring, I much prefer it to Scott just being dead, or someone having just kidnapped him regular style.

PRO: The aesthetic for future-Toronto - and especially Old Wallace's sugar daddy's Nintendo mansion - fucking rocks.

PRO: Old Scott's character design, both in his time travel gear and his street clothes, totally nails the "Scott Pilgrim from a Bad Future" assignment. No notes.

PRO: He keeps his X-Men jacket (of course) while literally playing out his own Days of Future Past storyline. You absolutely know he's loving that fact. He wants to be Cable so bad.

PRO: Lots of characters in the future timeline wear masks, and the bus has a little disinfectant machine. These are already kinda staple tropes for dystopian futures, but there's another layer that makes it even better: If you look at the timeline Old Scott lays out, saying that about 13 (or maybe 15) years have passed since Young Scott's era, it seems pretty clear to me that they're referencing the 13-year gap between the movie and final book releasing in 2010, and the anime releasing in 2023. Suggesting that Young Scott is from around 2010, and Old Scott is just from... this year. So it's entirely possible the masks and disinfectant aren't for ANY kind of cool futuristic reason, that's just how alt future Toronto dealt with Covid-19. Personally I find that detail clever and also hilarious, it really got me when I realized.

PRO: Old Scott, subtitle: 37 years old, looking a solid decade older than that. I know red hair can go gray quick but he is not looking great for his age. Which isn't at all surprising considering his lifestyle.

CON: Some people, especially those who were heavily invested in the Scott/Ramona relationship from the comics or movie, are going to be upset over Old Scott and the divorce/separation reveal. I get it. Especially in the comics, they go through a hell of a lot of growth, and learn to genuinely love each other in a way they never had with anyone else. It sucks to see them fall back to their worst habits, Scott turning a breakup into a neurotic attempt to fix anything except his own behavior, and Ramona running away from a relationship with zero communication or closure and creating another resentful ex.

PRO: However, I'm not one of them. I have my gripes with the time-travel plotline in general that I'll get to, but I think Old Scott and Old Ramona going through a separation and a rough patch after several years of marriage is realistic and an interesting place to go. The comic had (still has) the most deeply developed relationship between Scott and Ramona, and left them on the strongest footing possible for their happy ending. Even the comic, though, never really promised them "happy ever after," it just said that they had all the skills they needed to make their relationship work, and left it up to them to traverse that long journey. Now, maybe you disagree with me and you think that comic Scott/Ramona should have been able to handle a rough spot better than anime Old Scott/Old Ramona. Thankfully, the anime gives you an out here: Old Scott's VR photo album has a couple details that show his timeline isn't exactly the comic or the movie storyline, so we can avoid stepping on the toes of existing endings, and explore new possibilities without overwriting your old headcanons. Personally, I think that even with all the growth they've had at the end of the comic, it's believable that Old Scott and Old Ramona could have a big argument that leads to them temporarily separating. Even when you've got good interpersonal skills, big arguments happen, and even when you've worked on them, your gut-reaction coping mechanisms still come up. Whatever the argument was, it's not hard for me to imagine avoidant Old Ramona to put up space between her husband instead of dealing with a stressful argument. It's easy to imagine dumbass Old Scott interpreting their separation as a call for permanent divorce, and no matter the age Ramona Flowers is never the kind of person to proactively call up an ex to resolve a misunderstanding. I think it's a really interesting and juicy narrative choice. If they had really landed the execution with this, I would outright love it and think it was a great addition to their love story.

PRO: DP input for the VR vault which is a giant Game Boy. Sick.

PRO: THE VIRTUAL BOY! (Or "Virtual Guuy")

PRO: For some reason Old Scott bro-ing it up with the Old Katayanagis and making retro throwback music in the garage works really well? Like for some reason I could see it happen even in the comics continuity if they (a) came back to life and (b) did a redemption arc for kidnapping Kim Pine.

PRO: Callback to episode 1's sugar daddy joke, and they genuinely had me wondering if they were going to make Wallace hooking up with Scott on the rebound a thing.

CON: Honesty I think they should have just committed to the (not really that old) Old Man Yaoi! Live a little!

PRO: Silver Fox-y Wallace Wells living up to his destiny of being a rich drunk trophy husband. And aging more gracefully than Scott despite going fully gray.

CON: You've got to wonder where the rest of Scott's friends are. Again, we've got to consider the runtime, and that he's in an unusual life situation, but in the comics when he gets into a similar depressive funk, a lot of his friends and family reach out to him, and he tries to reach out to them. A "17 missed calls from: Stephen Stills" or a "Kim doesn't talk to me anymore" line might have gone a long way to excuse their absence. It's also notable that despite his extremely unsuccessful music venture with the Old Katayanagis, Old Scott seems to still be unemployed, which is an example of his character development being cut short compared to the comics. More on that later.

PRO: Old Ramona's character design is as stellar and on-brand aesthetically as Old Scott's, plus the benefit that Ramona actually knows how to dress cool. Fucking baller.

PRO: Also she looks exactly her age (not given in the show but likely 38). Not surprising given she's got a healthier lifestyle than Scott, but I guarantee her natural hair color has gone completely white by now. You cannot be doing a full bleach and dye job every morning ma'am! Those follicles are stone dead!

PRO: It's incredibly endearing seeing her try to undo Old Scott's time travel plan through giving Young Neil the screenplay, and even more endearing when she calls Scott her one true love. The contradiction between her thinking of Scott as her true love and going through this massive effort to stop his time travel plan, but not being willing to go to Old Wallace's house and actually talk to Old Scott, is great. It's the closest the anime has gotten so far to giving Ramona her original character arc, which really got sidetracked by Young Ramona playing Columbo. More on that later.

PRO: For those who weren't keeping track of the meta Scott Pilgrim story, it now goes: Scott Pilgrim (real guy, old timeline) -> Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, a memoir by Old Young Neil (memoir) -> Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (movie script adapted by Old Ramona, credited to Young Neil) + Scott Pilgrim (real guy, young timeline) -> Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (failed movie and making-of documentary) -> Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Musical (adapted by Stephen Stills and Knives Chao). It's also entirely plausible that all of these versions eventually inspire Old Young Neil to write his memoir and create a bootstrap paradox. Incredible. Plus, the musical part continues the metacommentary by being roughly analogous to the real-life anime!

PRO: Delorean rollerskates, need I say more?! Actually, the choice to use this kind of Back to the Future "one timeline that corrects and adjusts when time travel happens" is really smart. Especially when Old Scott says he doesn't want to send Young Scott back because he seems to always end up marrying and separating from Ramona regardless, or when Old Ramona's script doesn't stop the eventual divorce and Old Scott getting unstable. In this part of the story, it's a great way to show how them trying to literally change the past instead of resolving their current issues will never get them anywhere.

PRO: Old Ramona and Young Ramona failing to synchronize on a vibe for their photo

CON: This is where I started to feel the ending getting rushed. Over the final episode, it felt like all the existing plotlines sped on to a quick resolution to make room for the very sudden AK field and Even Older Scott climax, which itself felt in a hurry to finish.

PRO: Scott apologizing to Knives and taking responsibility for being an asshole creep.

PRO: Knives saying she's glad he's not dead but she's glad that it broke them up. Get his ass, Knives! He's earned it!

CON: While these are super important scenes to include for both Knives' and Scott's character arcs, and I'm super glad they made it in since it'd be weird if they left it unspoken, it does feel unearned. Scott has barely been away a couple of days, and it doesn't seem like either he or Knives have had the time for serious introspection they would need to get to this point. Scott could have been inspired to be better than Old Scott's example, I guess, but he clearly thinks of Old Scott as a different guy and doesn't feel responsible for Old Scott's actions. Even if the memoir/movie/musical/VR robot experience showed him Old Scott apologizing at some point, I don't buy that he's emotionally intelligent enough to internalize doing it himself, and if he did it would still feel unearned because he'd basically be following a walkthrough rather than understanding it himself. And Knives? From her perspective, in a couple of days her inappropriately older fake boyfriend introduced her to his band, cheated on her, and then died. Since then she's been hanging out with his old band rather than any friends her age, and writing a musical about the life of her dead ex. She has not been in a position to realistically process that their relationship was fucked up. Both the apology and Knive's response, though necessary, feel rote rather than genuinely felt.

CON: Likewise, Ramona and Scott being so madly in love when reunited. They've known each other for one and a half dates, 1.75 at most. Scott is slightly ahead because of the VR memories and meeting Old Ramona, but not by much. Now, Scott is honestly the kind of guy to fall headfirst into a romantic fantasy with a woman he's barely met, but Ramona is not, as shown in the anime when she decides to pull back and not have sex on the first date. In the comics they take things pretty slow to accomodate her needs there, not moving in together, not saying "I love you" for a while, taking a break from each other midway through, they go for a couple volumes before she even tells him how old she is. It's super out of character for her to go head over heels like this without hesitation. She has been trying to solve his disappearance for a while, but that hasn't really caused her to get to know him any better. Someone might argue it's because she's seen how their lives play out in Old Ramona's movie, but that has uncomfortable elements of predestination and denying free will that I'd rather not think about. If I was trying to fix this, I'd maybe say that talking with her exes and making peace with them while looking for Scott helped her get over her issues, or that being more impulsive than comic/movie Ramona is actually timeloop-style the reason their future marriage is unstable. But that would all be fanfic, it's not present in the actual text, so I've got to call this one against the anime's favor. In general, the anime tends to take a very love-at-first-sight ("sparks") view on love, which is in opposition to the comics' more mature view of love as an ongoing practice. More on that later, maybe.

PRO: AK (Anti-Kiss) fields taken visually and conceptually straight from Evangelion's AT (Absolute Terror) fields. I'm a sucker for eva! This and a few other references seem to make clear that the creators are gunning for Takes Off to be to Scott Pilgrim as the Rebuilds are to NGE.

CON: I genuinely don't think Old Scott is smart enough to come up with this. I know the Old Katayanagis are said to have designed the nanomachines, but I don't mean the technical side, I mean the strategic side. Scott is pretty stupid, bless him. Old Scott is still not very smart. Scotts Pilgrim are just not the kind of guy to ever consider a Plan B. I just don't buy that Old Scott would ever think to himself "I should have a backup plan in case my first doesn't work," he's too confident and too stupid for that. The AK field feels like a red herring for Gordon Goose going evil again, since it's similar to the Glow and mind-control chip, but it ends up going away without much fanfare. Even Older Scott even admits they would always figure out a way to get rid of it, so it's kind of a lackluster final mystery.

PRO: All of the evil exes showing up the musical but being totally uninterested in fighting Scott is a fun reversal of the norm. Especially the Katayanagi twins being totally fine acting on prophesies of bro-ship from their special little vegan robot oracle.

PRO: Despite being a downgrade from megalomaniacal genuinely evil ultimate villain to greedy but affably evil Saturday-morning-cartoon villain, seeing Gordon Goose get back to sinister plots is a big plus, and "It wouldn't hurt any of us! ...Maybe some cast and crew," is a great line for him. Even when he tells Even Older Scott that he has no interest in what's going on and wants to go back to the play, though it's an unthinkable sentiment from obsessive comic/movie Gideon, the line goes out with enough confidence and disrespectful disinterest that for me it actually makes up for it!

PRO: In general, I love when a show gets an opportunity to bring the whole cast to the event, putting all the personalities on display. Especially a formal event, because then sometimes you get fun new outfit designs! In Takes Off it feels even more special because this isn't just all the characters getting together at Scott Pilgrim the Musical for a last hurrah, it's also metatextually all the creatives from previous Scott Pilgrim projects reuniting against the odds in Scott Pilgrim the Anime for a last hurrah.

P: Speaking of all the characters getting together, there is - by technicality - an appearance by Lisa Miller, one-hit-wonder extraordinaire, in the finale. She's in the crowd of graphic novel characters drawn in to populate the musical's audience, face partially obscured. I do not consider this a proper appearance and will still count the lack of Lisa against the anime. However, in the sprit of fairness, I will offer a partially obscured PRO for this cameo.

PRO: Even Older Scott has clearly given in to the Satsui no Hado! Design elements like the hair, bandana, raggedy gi, wrist wraps, and inexplicable tan all call to mind Akuma and Dark Ryu from Street Fighter. I wonder if the Shoryuken input for Old Scott's vault was intended to tie in to this?

PRO: Even Older Scott acts like Master Roshi even though he's only 47. That's only like, Bulma in Dragon Ball Super years, man! How are you that buff but aged that poorly?

CON: Even Older Scott's plan makes zero sense. You've seen Back to the Future. You can't kill your younger self, dude! Total paradox! You'll cease to exist and therefore can't have killed your past self and therefore your past self should exist blah blah blah.

PRO: Even Older Scott is absolutely stupid enough to have tried it anyway. Especially after 10 years isolation.

PRO: "Even Older Scott VS Everyone" and "The World VS Scott Pilgrim" are nice wordplay, I'm here for it.

CON: The confrontation between Young Scott (and associates) VS Even Older Scott lacks emotional stakes, since it kinda came out of nowhere. There's the AK field, but Even Older Scott says they would figure that out anyway. There's the barebones stakes of Even Older Scott turning everyone into spare change, but nobody really seems to be afraid of that as a threat, and it's confusing what that would even mean with the time loop. Their dialogue suggests kind of a philosophical conflict between Even Older Scott trying to control Young Scott's life, and Young Scott wanting to make his own choices, but that also seems undercut by the time loop: if Young Scott was actually going to make different choices, Even Older Scott wouldn't exist. Maybe this is just the dialogue having some trouble getting the conflict across? They could be going for Even Older Scott futilely trying to change the past, VS Young Scott wanting to have the freedom to make those choices even if it causes him to suffer in the future, "better to have loved and lost" and all that. That's thematically cohesive so I think it was their intention, but I don't think it was communicated well in the fight.

PRO: Nevermind anything else, the fight scene itself is fucking fantastic. Expressive and punchy animation everywhere, banger music, and a chance to show off just about every character's personality as they contribute to the fight! Even some characters who haven't had major animated sequences yet get a shot in the spotlight, and often with a bonus to boot, like Knives finally getting her trademark knives from the comics/movie! We get even more chemistry between the characters when they team up and work together for combo moves, so not only does it give a moment of glory to everyone's individual personality, it gives us a spectacle to the relationships they've built, too. The circumstances surrounding the fight might not make a lot of sense, it's unclear why they're fighting or what they're fighting over, but in HOW the cast fights this whole sequence evokes an astounding amount of character.

PRO: Even Older Ramona. Gets another great design. Actually looks her age, and good for it. Actually looks like Bulma in Dragon Ball Super.

PRO: Even Older Ramona, to her credit, returns her original character arc. She stops running away from the romantic messes she's left behind, and comes back to fix it. A+

CON: I don't buy that Young Ramona has internalized that message enough to mind-meld about it. Ramona after 13 years of marriage and 10 years to think about it, sure. But not Ramona on her third actual date with Scott, 3.25th at best.

PRO: Human Instrumentality Quantum Super Reimona I'm drowning in Evangelion references here

PRO: Super Ramona finalizes Ramona's missing character arc! It might be a bit rushed, but it is a complete character arc. It might have taken her 23 years longer than the comic, but hey, this is a different story working at a different scale. They got there in the end.

CON: Even Older Scott never really gets his character arc. Super Ramona gives him a second chance and reverses his villain arc, but he's really at the same place at 47 that he was at 23, which kinda sucks. But, more on that later.

PRO: Super Ramona's "it's never too late to try and mend what you've broken" ending still leaves open the possibility of a rekindled Scott/Ramona romance, and at the very least implies they stop isolating themselves and develop a healthier, friendlier relationship. As far as I can tell, this fully resolves the timeloop AND gives a relatively happy ending to a complicated romantic relationship, both of which are hard as fuck to write. I salute the writers. Even if Scott and Ramona are destined to have a falling out 13 years down the line, they're also destined to forgive each other after 23, and who knows, maybe they've got a chance to get back together again in after 24. It's a messier narrative than the comics to reach the same basic message, but in it's own special way it's still beautiful.

CON: It does kinda leave Scott and Ramona's non-romantic relationships in the lurch, though, after a decade-long absence. Even Older Wallace deserves a thousand apologies and a foot massage for putting up with these two.

PRO: I love a good "where are they now" sequence! Matthew, Gordon, and Julie settling their differences and sharing the evil plots amongst themselves. Young Neil driving the mario karts on movie sets. Stacey getting some eye candy at the café and resolving Julie's joke from earlier about Luke getting a job there. Good stuff.

PRO: Knives fully joining Sex Bob-omb is a particularly genius choice.

PRO: It's true. As an anglo Canadian, our French does suck. (Our schools can never decide whether to teach us Parisien or Québecois and we end up speaking neither)

CON: Is it bragging if a Netflix show includes a scene of a video rental place shutting down? Feels like... when a cat wants to show off the mouse it killed lol

PRO: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost eating Cornettos. Magnifique.

PRO: Also hey! It's Mobile! Wallace's boyfriend from the comics! He's also psychic! And I guess works for Nintendo also? Damn, he's the total package.

CON: No real representation for Lisa Miller, the world's best D-list failgirl! 0/10

CON: NO STEPHEN STILLS YAOI! I joke, but I do consider it a major flaw that Stephen Stills never gets to come out. The movie got a pass because he hadn't come out in the comics yet, but there's no excuse here. The subtly concealed subplot in the comics of him breaking up with Julie and coming out of the closet in the comics is one of my favorite parts, and in the anime all he gets is an ex-girlfriend with no reference to him coming out at all.

CON: In fact, almost all of the original supporting cast gets this treatment. Scott, Wallace, Stephen, Knives, Kim, Envy. Even arguably Ramona, despite being the new protagonist. While their jokes are fun and it's a treat to see their personalities on screen, their pre-existing character arcs get neutered, disappeared, or straight up reversed. Sure, though I hate to admit it, it makes sense to cut Lisa's character, since she has no reason to show up in the first place if Scott's gone. But the rest of the supporting cast were the heart of the original comics; Their complex development over the books is what made the comics so special in the first place, and it's a heart all adaptations and spinoffs since have mostly lacked. I want to go into more detail on how these characters got done dirty, but I'll save it for another post. I'll link it here if I ever finish it.

PRO: Through the whole show, it's clear everyone loves Scott Pilgrim in all its forms: comics, movie, video game, anime. Bryan Lee O'Malley, Edgar Wright, the entire movie/voice cast, Metric, Anamanaguchi, and now Science SARU clearly have a lot of passion for these characters. There's a ton of work put in to bring this to life that wouldn't happen if they didn't genuinely care for the series. You think Chris Evans isn't getting better offers?

PRO: THE FUCKIN PLUMTREE SONG THAT STARTED IT ALL. FUCK. YES. WHERE MY HALIGONIANS AT

A NOTE IF YOU'VE GOTTEN THIS FAR:

I know I've written a lot about how the anime doesn't compete with the comics, or where it's fallen short, but I want to be clear that I actually really really like the anime. I think it's great! It's clearly a labour of love. It's just a lot easier to write a lot of words analysing parts that fail than parts that succeed. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off succeds at A TON OF THINGS!

I would honestly say that it succeeds far more than the movie, and people love that movie, myself included! It's a cult classic! The Scott Pilgrim graphic novels are just that good that it's hard for spinoffs to match up. If you ask me they're some of the best comics ever made, but I'm long biased by my personal history with them. You can never really be neutral about a high school favorite.

I think "spinoff" there is the right word, despite the show's marketing. It's not an adaptation by any means. It's not a sequel. It's doing its own thing, and it did it really well. If you expected an adaptation, I understand your frustration, it's shit as an adaptation. But I'd encourage you to give it another chance as a spinoff, it has a lot of value to add to the whole Scott Pilgrim experience, just as much as the game, and just as much as the movie.

[gummybugg]

Meet my OC Elijah from Crater City!

I have another profile! i had to redraw him from this post because it was time for a change.

Inspired by that one picrew @ reelrollsweat made!

Detailed Bio under the cut!

˗ˏˋ [intro]

Name: Elijah (he/him)

Role: secondary protagonist

Dob: Sept 21; aged 24

Sexuality: bi

Mbti: istj

Occupations: fast food employee, electronics employee, and arcade employee

bio / summary: At 18, Elijah is kicked out of his home and must juggle three jobs, his family affairs, and the threat of becoming “repurposed”—a procedure that implants biotech in the body to “fix” unruly/indebted citizens. As much as he wants to maintain a quiet life, he knows that in order to make it in Crater City it takes grit—a daunting fact he must face even if he is afraid he’ll turn out like Him. 

˗ˏˋ [appearance]

Height: 5’9”

Hair: medium brown, curly, undercut with a star shaved on either side of his head above the ear

Skin: fair

Eye: brown

build / physique: medium build (not too fit)

notable features: tooth gap, covered in freckles, slit in left eyebrow, left brow piercing, industrial piercing in left ear, double lobe piercings in each ear, snake bite piercings

clothing style: punk/alt, heavy/dark makeup…

˗ˏˋ [more]

tag for your oc: elijah

aesthetic / vibe / tropes: star motif; punk/alt

traits / quirks: generally hopeful, friendly/polite, will tell others great advice instead of following his own, loves to help, overthinker, blushes easily, non-confrontational, very resourceful, dresses more intimidating than he actually is, indecisive, takes a bit to warm up to others, quite defensive

quotes: “Blair, you can't just tell a man—who's clearly out of it—to ‘suck it up’ because the world has already ended!”, “Look around you, Blair. We live in a fucking hellscape! The water is red, the sky is green, and we're about to be turned into scrap metal! This is not a joke!”, “Oh, this is it! We're going to have to go back into hiding again, and he's going to call the police, and we'll be repurposed!”

fun facts: hemophobic, enjoys letting Blair do his makeup, has out-pizza’d the hut, gives the best hugs, has a pet hamster called No-Clip

hobbies / skills: coding, gaming, can drink up to 7 energy drinks in one day, plays guitar, sings, skateboards, can deliver punches so hard they make you see stars

likes: video games, the color yellow, cartoons, doing makeup, spontaneously dying his hair at 2 am, sci-fi movies/media, punk rock, collecting pins/buttons/patches, info-dumping with his friends

dislikes: Feeling stuck or useless, feeling like a victim, slow work, discourse, blood/gore, organizations, cultists, his family

moodboard:

playlist:

(may update this page as I see fit!)

...

🚗 Want to rot your brain with each sporadic Crater City post? Join the taglist! Maybe I'll finish this wip someday, who knows! (dm to be added/removed): @writeouswriter @lyra-brie @digitalsatyr23 @talesfromtheunknowable

[mondscheinprinzessin]

Idk if I sent one before so feel free to discard but:

❝  when your eyes are on me,  i feel like something worth seeing.  ❞ with Joel/Joonas/Aleksi? Or Joel/Niko 🖤🤲

it's established Joel/Joonas, and developing Joel/Joonas/Aleksi

Aleksi was watching Rilla on the couch.

On most days he felt guilty for bringing her with him to the studio, he doubted it was exciting for a dog to lay around and watch them figuring out a song or wait the endless hours Aleksi could be absorbed in production. But then again, she seemed to love the attention she got from the other band members whenever they were around, and he couldn’t deny she was good for the spirit.

His eyes wandered up to Joel who was so deep in his own world that he couldn’t suppress the small light in his eyes while rubbing Rilla’s stomach who didn’t seem to mind the hand on her at all.

He liked to pretend that Aleksi’s dog was merely a distraction to their work, or that he didn’t like dogs (or pets in general, Rommi wasn’t an exception to this), but Aleksi had caught him several times cuddling and playing with Rilla, to the extent that Joel’s mentality obviously had changed in the past weeks or months.

Furthermore, Aleksi was relived to see a little spark to Joel’s person, as everything about him could only be described as dark since a week or so.

Joonas had assured him that it was nothing to be concerned about, or rather nothing Aleksi could do anything about but nonetheless Aleksi had wished to be able of help, and even this tiny change to Joel’s demeanour was a comfort for Aleksi’s soul.

It wouldn’t be a very productive night if Aleksi kept on eyeing the cuddling pair on the couch, but he couldn’t look away from the picture either. It warmed his heart, and he was aware of how quickly it could get creepy if he kept this up, but could anyone blame him?

“You two are cute.” It slipped out of his mouth before he could really think about it.

Joel looked up at him right away, hand stilling. “Sorry.” Came to Aleksi’s surprise an apology. “We will never get finished if I just sit here. Where were we?”

Aleksi had simply given a compliment, how did Joel twist it into an accusation?

“I don’t think we will finish this anyways, not the right vibe today, you know?”

Joel nodded slowly; Aleksi not sure if he understood him right this time.

“We can’t produce a banger every night.” Aleksi clarified therefore. “And Rilla absolutely loves your cuddles, don’t disappoint her by stopping now.”

A sad smile appeared on Joel’s face, and he directed his attention back to Rilla who had been watching him attentively with her dark eyes, undoubtedly waiting for his hand to come back pet her.

“That’s all I’m good for today anyways.” Was said in a quiet voice, as if the casualness could deter from the dejection of the sentence.

“Hey, that’s not true.” Aleksi cut in, not willing to be a bystander of Joel’s downtalk.

“No? I haven’t given one good idea, and all I’ve done was sitting around. All I am today is a burden.”

“Joel-” Aleksi began to defend Joel from himself.

“No yeah you’re right, sorry. My mood has been absolute shit recently, I can go home- I-”

Joel interrupted himself when he clearly didn’t know what to say anymore, and Aleksi easily discarded his work to join him on the couch.

“You’re not a burden.” He started. “Your mind is shit, yes, but you’re not. I want you around, even when you feel like this.”

‘This’ didn’t need to be spelled out; they both knew what it entailed since it wasn’t the first time Aleksi experienced Joel in such a terrible state. Although before, when Aleksi had been relatively new, Joel had still tried to hide it as best as he could, even going so far as to find appointments as an excuse not to show his face in the studio.

Joonas, as the loving boyfriend, had always tried to distract Aleksi from the reality despite Aleksi having found out quickly that he had only been doing this based on Joel’s wish. And Aleksi couldn’t be mad at Joonas since he was just trying to help his boyfriend.

Not that Aleksi hadn’t been sad that Joel apparently didn’t trust him enough to let him in far enough to show his real self.

That’s why he was actually feeling somewhat proud that Joel now trusted him enough to even admit he was feeling this way right now. Even if he was ready to bolt at any wrong move.

Joel blew out air from his nose, disbelieving, almost a sarcastic expression joining it. “I’m feeling worthless.”

His eyes were stealing a look of Aleksi, most likely searching for assurance. And Aleksi would gladly give it to him, oddly not losing his brain with Joel’s blue eyes watching him carefully.

“When your eyes are on me, I feel like something worth seeing.”  

“You sound like Joonas.” Joel said with a little pout, evidently not accepting Aleksi’s words.

“Yeah? Then he might be smarter than he acts.”

This evoked a start of a full smile on Joel’s lips, and Aleksi allowed himself to reply in kind. He has never been one for serious and heartfelt conversations, but he had sensed Joel needed this, and it has been easier to tell Joel this earnest truth than it had ever before, and he had discovered long ago that Joel sparked new, unknown feelings and reactions in Aleksi, so he shouldn’t be too surprised at this turn, but it nevertheless felt like a victory to be so open with another person.

But it was Joel. Lots of things have been easy with him.

“If you start being poetic with me too, I will go to Tommi next time. He’s realistic at least.”

“He will give you a reality check in 2 minutes, and give you a good meal and the advice to be honest to Joonas, and send you on your way so he can watch his sports match.”

Both laughed at this more than realistic story, and Aleksi was pleased he could distract Joel enough that he forgot about his worry for a few seconds.

At the sudden noises, Rilla looked up from her blissed state to watch them both but was quickly satisfied when the petting continued.

It felt so harmonic, and frighteningly intimate to be sitting here with Joel, both so close, and in Aleksi’s opinion growing only closer, that he felt horrifyingly caught in the act when the door opened and Joonas stepped in with their food.

“They were out of that sauce you love Aleksi, said to come earlier if we want extras with our orders.” Joonas started to talk without batting an eye at the situation on the couch. “Bullshit if you ask me, they were just too lazy to ask the cook to fill up a portion, but what do I know. But hey, if you want, we can meet next weekend to make dinner and do our own sauce, I bet we can find a recipe online. We will have unlimited saucey access for our midnight soul food, how does that sound?”

Putting the bags with the food containers on the little table in front of the couch, Joonas walked around and to Aleksi’s confusing surprise, not only gave Joel a kiss on the cheek but Aleksi as well as if they’ve always done this.

“And for my beloved, two fortune cookies for extra luck.” Joonas said and showed two cookies in his hand which Joel took with an eyeroll.

Sitting down next to Rilla, the couch just so big enough for them all, he began unpacking their food, still ignoring the situation they found themselves in. If ignoring was the right word. Aleksi wasn’t sure if Joonas just happily enjoyed this all.

Like Aleksi did. And his guilt over this diminished with every minute they ate and talked.

He also couldn’t suppress the blush when Joel without warning kissed his other cheek that he recognized as a silent thanks Aleksi didn’t feel he deserved, and he averted his eyes back to Rilla when he saw Joonas’ very knowing smirk.

[itz-bug]

Saw blue beetle today !!!! And i am happy to say it was very good and fun :D definitely go see it if you can

Gonna talk about it lots under the cut! To be honest, this post is more for me to just record my own thoughts for myself, but you’re welcome to read if you’re looking for the movie opinions of a certified Blue Beetle Enthusiast, or if you’re desperate to feed on the Ted Kord crumbs the movie leaves for its viewers. (To be honest most of it is me talking about Ted sorry. hes my bbygirl)

- very minor spoiler warning -

First things first:

Jaime was so good!!!! His character was so sweet and earnest, and they aged him up to around 22 (he’s literally just graduated from college), which I think makes him a very unique superhero. He’s just returned from school as a first gen college student and feels like he’s finally in a position where he can provide for his family, only to realize he’s still totally unprepared for the real world.

Speaking of family, the Reyes family is the backbone of the film, and each of Jaime’s family members is given their time to shine. Another breath of fresh air for comic book movies! Not only does the hero have a family, but the family consists of fleshed-out characters who all bring different strengths to the group. I liked Milagro a lot specifically. Like Jaime, she’s also been aged up and is now probably 17-18. I thought she was written super well. She’s sarcastic and relaxed, and her relationship with Jaime is perfect sibling representation. Milagro is given a surprising amount of emotional moments, adding to her depth but also not taking away from any of Jaime’s development. Honestly, if you’re on the fence about going to see the movie, go see it just for the Reyes family dynamic. They’re seriously all great.

The other main supporting character is Jenny Kord, Ted Kord’s daughter. Jenny is smart and resilient, and I enjoyed her a lot, despite her bearing very little resemblance to Ted personality wise. I know why she exists: to push the plot and act as the link between the two blue beetles. She’s also Jaime’s love interest because of heteronormativity reasons. Still, I thought her character was done very well. Jenny is half brazilian and thankfully NOT Beatriz da Costa’s daughter. Her relationship with either of her parents isn’t explored much. Her (unnamed and presumably unimportant) mother died when she was young, and Ted disappeared off the face of the earth when she was only eight— I think. To be honest, the timeline confused me a little.

Anyways, Ted Kord is portrayed very interestingly in the movie. Not in a necessarily bad way, though. Ted makes zero physical appearances in the film outside of a single, vague painting of his likeness where he has a mustache and maybe a beard (wow!). That being said, his face is totally unremarkable and unrecognizable. Which is fine. I’d almost prefer them to keep him vague unless they give him a full-fledged appearance.

BUT, there is a scene where Jaime has to change clothes, and Jenny offers him some of Ted’s old clothing, and Jaime walks out in a bright blue windbreaker tracksuit. It’s totally 80s, totally silly, and totally Ted. The nod towards not only Ted’s outrage fashion sense but also his 80s dad vibe was very much appreciated.

There are lots of little moments in the film where Ted’s silliness seeps through. His lab is one example. Jaime describes Ted’s gadgets as “batman but if he had ADHD.” In the Bug, the computer has a female robotic voice that addresses him as “Teddy,” which Jaime’s uncle compliments as sexy. Ohhh the Bug. Easily one of my favorite parts of the film. It’s beautiful. It looks just like it’s comic book counterpart, with the little trapeze rope swing and everything. It also has a “beast mode,” where, when triggered, the Bug plays 80s rock and starts destroying everything around it. It’s also capable of poison gas farts. Perfect. Ted’s personality shines through everything he’s left behind, giving me hope for whatever might be in store for his character on the big screen.

The only reservations I have about Ted’s transition to film would he his relationships. His sister, Victoria, functions fine as a villain but isn’t anything special. She’s a capitalist. She’s evil. Like Jenny, lacks similarity to Ted himself. As for Ted’s dead wife (sad but also it’s hard to care), Jenny describes her mother as the one who “showed Ted the world was worth protecting,” which doesn’t sit quite right with me. For one, it seems weird to make a dead, non-comic-canon character so relevant to Ted’s superhero origin, and also, I think Ted deserves a little more credit than that. I’d like to think he’s always been a good guy, plain and simple. It also means Ted couldn’t have been a superhero for very long, which I think detracts from his coolness. I think Jenny even said Ted became blue beetle when she was a young girl, so it sounds like he couldn’t have been a hero for more than like 10 years? It just seems like a strange and unnecessary change to make. Then again, I realize most of the people watching the movie care very little about the second blue beetle, so I guess I can’t complain too much while knowing the intended audience.

That’s not gonna stop me from talking about boostle though!!!!! Unfortunately, Booster Gold is not so much as even hinted at in the movie, which I kind of get but still mostly hate. It just feels wrong to have a movie where Ted Kord’s career is one of the driving plot points and Booster is nowhere to be found. They are a package deal, DC!! I wasn’t even really expecting a verbal mention of him. Literally just a gold star somewhere in the lab, or a pair of yellow visors, or a blue and gold poster, or SOMETHING.

The life of a boostle fan is one of disappointment.

Still, the optimist in me is saying to hold onto hope. There’s a Booster Gold series in the works, so maybe DC is saving up for a totally reinvented blue and gold origin, or there’s some connection between the two that has yet to be discovered. Hopefully. Surely DC wouldn’t be stupid enough to overlook one of its most iconic duos? haha?

Okay. This post has run a lot longer than I thought it would. Ultimately, Blue Beetle is a very good movie that does the characters of Ted Kord and Jaime Reyes justice. It’s fun and silly but also heartfelt. Even though there’s a few minor things I’m hung up on (because I’m insane), Blue Beetle did a lot of things right, and I feel like this movie has been one of the best comic book adaptations yet. Here’s to hoping we see a live action Ted one day, and he doesn’t totally suck ass.