#i just thought ‘wait…no….did I?’ and so i re-watched the part in episode 5 where you see finn and his kids

[astearisms]

may you find peace 🌾

[moirindeclermont]

Bridgerton folks, thank you for the warm reception of my new story.

This is "5 times Colin was Pen's first + 1 she was his", second episode. Here you'll find the first episode.

Today episode may also be titled "Pen meets Mr. Fingerton" 🔥🥵

***

Pen thought she might have dreamed the whole night.

No way Colin declared he wanted her and proceed to give her the best first kiss ever, and while she had not experienced it before, she knew the stories... Usually a first kiss was not all of that magical. Maybe it was because it was her and it was Colin. Everything they did seem kinda magical to her.

She was, again, at the door of his apartment and she was almost waiting for the moment he would start to treat her as a friend.

Instead, what happened, was that Colin opened the door, gave her his brightest smile and then a light kiss on her lips. So, maybe it was real.

"Sorry, I should have asked, I didn't know if you wanted-" he was adorable when he rumbled, Pen observed.

"Don't worry Colin. It's just, unexpected. I love welcoming you like this. Every day for the rest of my days".

She didn't have to worry about waiting for such declarations. Yesterday they talked at length about the future and them as a couple.

They both confessed they were yearning for this for quite some time, and they both laugh at their idiocy. But they were on the same page now. And they both know this was not a phase or temporary. They both were fully invested since the beginning.

That was the reason for seeing each other tonight. Well, that... And other reasons, at least Pen was hoping there were also other reasons.

She waited to damn long and she was ready. Possibly in that moment.

They ate and talk, laying out plans for their announcement as a couple (next Sunday on the bridgerton brunch). Pen was to ask her boss if she could do all remote (so she could come with Colin on his travels, as by his ask) and Colin was looking for a permanent place in London, so they could have a home base to stay when they were in the city (and eventually, when they were going to have kids).

Then, they looked at each other and it was like a magnet was at work.

They find themselves on the sofa, Pen on Colin's lap, kissing and touching every part they could reach.

Colin nibbled on her neck, before asking in a very deep voice "can I try something, Pen?"

She nodded. She wanted to try everything with him.

Colin flipped their position, then threw a pillow on the floor and knelt in front of her. She had a camisole and her lacy bra was barely visible. He took his time to unbutton her slowly, and Pen gulped when he was done. "Beautiful," he whispered.

Colin cupped her through the bra, teasing her. "May I?" He asked again and she responded by unclasping her bra herself. "Wow, Pen" Colin exhaled as his fingers were tracing her areola lightly. Her nipple was fastly caught it n between his fingers, making her moan. Colin looked at her with a wicked and deeply erotic smile, as he lowered his head to touch the sensitive skin with his tongue. "Ohh," his were the only fingers outside of her own that played with her breasts, and it felt marvelous.

Colin seemed obsessed by her neck and her cleavage. Pen was on fire, but she needed more. When his hand found hers, she rather directly pointed him towards where she was aching to be touched.

He looked at her. "Sure?"

"Never been more sure in my life," and Colin kissed her again, before finding her thigh and sliding his hand. He found her bare, much to his surprise.

"Miss Featherington!"

She was a bit embarrassed. "I had them on before. But then I thought why not and asked to use the bath."

His eyes were dark with desire. "Oh I do understand. You're an eager little thing, aren't you?"

Speechless. This was a new side of Colin she could not wait to explore. She just nodded as he skimmed over her auburn curls, "yup, eager and wet," he said as he went to touch her folds, using her wetness to lube his fingers.

He touched her lightly at first, watching her reactions, sometimes teasing her nipple s again, sometimes giving her little kisses.

"I can't believe I get to see you like this, Pen" and she wanted to respond but Colin choose that moment to slowly enter her with just the tip of his middle finger. "I can't believe I get to touch you like this," as his finger slide in deeper. Her mouth opened, the sensation so different from the one she was used too when she touched herself. A loud moan escaped her lips and he started a slow rhythm that made her tingle all over.

"Yes, like that love," he told her as he begin to touch with his thumb her clït, adding another level of pleasure. After some time he asked "another?" And she nodded her consent, feeling how herself was responding to his second finger inside her.

"I want to make you come on my fingers, is that okay Pen?"

Dear God in heaven. She might as well be in paradise. "Yes, Colin. Please!" She told him and then her brain went out of service as Colin kissed her.

It was clear he knew what he was doing, as he moved his fingers inside her with a motion that was working very fast for her. That and the light touch on her nub left her breathless, as Colin watched her again. That was the hottest thing. His look on her, as she was breaking into pieces under his touch. Pen used his arms to steady herself as Colin increased his rhythm until suddenly she was on the precipe and Colin remained steady in his movements.

She moaned a loud "Colin" a moment after, coming on his fingers. She moaned when she saw him sucking on his fingers like a it was his favorite dessert. "Next time," he said to her and she trembled.

Colin sat next to her, holding her steady. "That was... Incredible!" He looked smug, and Pen was looking at his very visible erection. "Do you want to?"

He looked at her. "I want to. But I also want to wait. Just a bit longer. It's weird to explain." But she understood.

"it's not. These are our firsts. We might have some in the future, but after so long waiting for each other, pacing these experiences makes them more meaningful."

He looked at her. "You nailed it."

She grinned. "Nope, you did."

Colin laughed loudly. "Not yet, love. Not yet." As he settled her on his side, kissing the top of her head sweetly.

She always imagined cuddle was as good as people told her, but somehow, it was even better than her imagination. These days everything was.

[girlwithamissingpearl]

I finally did it. I streamed all 6 episodes of Outlander season 7. I’m not saying I was disappointed but…

First of all I immediately re-watched episode 1. And I’ll tell you why. Streaming 5 seasons of Outlander while reading or listening to all 9 books has made it difficult to separate the book from the show. Like many I discovered Outlander during Covid and was immediately addicted. I started reading the books but found I would get impatient and speed read throughout the book looking for Jamie and Claire. When I started listening to the audio versions it was a completely different experience. Also a humbling one as I started losing count of all the words I had mispronounced, and context I missed speed reading through each book. Naturally I started to notice where the series stayed true to the books and when it didn’t. I’ll use book and season 1 as an example. I watched the series first then read/ listened to Outlander and very slowly book JF and CF became series JF/SH and CF/CB. For those who haven’t spent 40 hours or so listening to each book, take it from me, you get things mixed up.

Fast forward to Season 7. Remember book 9 was released during the long drought so I was already decades ahead of where the season started. Plus I already had favourite scenes I was looking forward to watching. The reason I felt I had to immediately rewatch ep 1 was because I felt they tried to tie up too many story lines in an hour. It felt rushed to me because I was comparing it to the book and parts that were changed or not addressed. Fortunately by episode 6, all was well in Outlander land.

A few points:

For the first time I really enjoyed watching SS as Briana, especially during her scene with JF/SH by the stones

I thought the casting of Rachel and Denzel Hunter were very close to the book version

Casting CV as WR was perfection. At times I could really see a strong resemblance to SH. The scene where Rachel shaves William, in the light, his profile, jawline and clear blue eyes are so close to the book version but also SH as JF. Even off camera based on sm the way they are athletic, extreme sports, love of music, build etc. Totally believe they could be father and son. By music I mean CV can and SH wants to play😉

That said I can’t believe we have to wait to see the father/son reunion. I don’t believe that they have even done any press together

I wish my hair could grow as fast and long and lovely as CF. CB just gets better with every season. She just never ages. Perfection as CF. Love that WR referred to her as a curly wig general!

With so many stories, timelines, time travel and new characters JF sort of becomes a supporting cast member at times. The screen time with JF/CF is great to see but not given the time to let us enjoy the magic of previous seasons. But the love is still there.

Finally SH as JF. I was a bit teary watching the scenes at the stones and I’ll miss young Jemmy. Again I really want to see father and son together. As for his acting, SH has become JF. I know we joke about his 5 acting things, but even in limited scenes with no dialogue his performance is powerful.

Now if I could just sit back and enjoy the rest of the season without trying to compare it to the book, look for clues as to the future of J &C and what that blasted last page of book ten will reveal. Until then, thank fuck for great pizza, wine and twizzlers. And of course the amazing gals that put up with me in my small corner of the fandom😉

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/5/2023

moving closer to your best friend means hanging out in big groups a lot of the time. while this is theoretically good for mental health or whatever, in practice i overextended myself this weekend and am going to wake up tomorrow with the mental equivalent of a sore lower back

listening (2x bonus)

very fond of måneskin's new single HONEY (ARE U COMING?). sonically different from their other stuff, lyrics and tone-wise another incredible sad banger! spotify

my sister viewed the film Party Girl (1995, dir. von Scherler Mayer) last week at a party in philly and sent me this song featured in the film with no further explanation. Double Cross by First Choice (a Larry Levan remix) has what i want to call bollywood strings, a flute, and the funkiest bassline backing up some really classic disco vocals. First Choice were a group out of philly, which no one at the party knew at the time, and this blog calls this specific remix "dancefloor soul" which is probably as good a descriptor as any. i have had it on loop for a solid week. lyrics include

Love stealing, double dealing, two-timing lowdown son of a gun

which is just so much fucking fun to sing in the car. spotify

-

reading (2x bonus here also)

i read the mandalorian comics in between volumes of berserk, which feels a bit like saying i took a break from watching the evil dead franchise to watch some cocomelon.

the mandalorian comics are a remarkably uninspired nearly shot by shot breakdown of the episodes. not in the way most film/tv comics are, where they’re very clearly traced screencaps, but screenshots redrawn. this would be interesting if the artist was not contractually obliged to the very flat marvel comics style. i am constantly reminded of how the mandalorian is simply…not very good. it’s entertaining as a spectacle of television to watch, but there are not a lot of fun ideas in there. something that made me fucking scream with laughter are these panels of baby yoda

pápá, your son is So high

back to the other series with a dark haired, roaming, grouchy, reserved man on a mission. unfortunately i don't have a lot of berserk thoughts just yet, i am waiting on vol 4 to come off my library holds and my brain is still digesting it. anyway i think not wanting random "friendly" embraces from strangers is a very reasonable thing for guts to dislike and i truly do not understand why ppl in-universe get so fucking offended. unfortunately reading these late at night did lead to an unpleasant sleep experience.

bitches love a fucked up interior space that can't ever actually exist (it's me i'm bitches)

not to be all therapeutic but im trying to be Curious About and Gently Interrogate why i get a real bee in my bonnet once a year to read some horror comics/manga when i am big squeamish baby about film depictions of those things. i think mostly bc comics gore is so much more stylized than some of the very effective practical and cgi effects? and crucially nothing is actually like writhing around on screen it’s a still image? does anyone else’s brain have a much easier time handling still images over moving images of gore? much to consider

as with many other things, me reading berserk is indirectly @dying-suffering-french-stalkers ' fault

-

watching

i have viewed the first four episodes of Fire Force, the urban fantasy mercenary firefighter anime and do not think i will be continuing. while i have a great many questions about the worldbuilding (gravitational anomalies?? genetic predisposition to spontaneous human combustion?? solar god nuns??) it has a dead mom plot, which i am allergic to. this is also a 7.5-8 on the Ass part of the Weeb Ass Shit scale, and has a lot more casual assault than i try to encounter in anime. it's by the soul eater guy, remember the level of Stuff going on in soul eater? a little bit more ramped up groping and stuff that makes me say out loud "wow i don't like this" than soul eater.

the animation re: aforementioned fire is really top notch tho. visually complex and interesting television program.

how i found this: me and my best friend and my best friend's husband morosely poking around the anime section on hulu, looking for something to fill the spy x family void. this ain't it tho

-

playing

i have no fun genshin tidbits to share bc i am grinding talent mats while catching up with the podcast episodes of the road to partizan and i don’t have much to say about the not-fun parts of gachas. why am i playing something if it’s not inherently fun? great fucking question

-

making (3rd 2x bonus)

very uninspired (derivative, even) abbreviated sofrito thing over rice. with heavy application of Worcestershire sauce it was fine. no pics

also i finally bought a couch bc salvation army had 50% off everything for Labor Day. this is a question of ethics vs money i have decided for myself, and encourage you, the reader, to go off and quietly make your own philosophical choices without explaining them to me in detail.

it will be arriving on friday bc that is when the strapping young men who own trucks are available. my front door is a very non standard size and i have a very awkward front stair, so i needed something that could fit under the overhang while standing on its end. this one was the best size and (fortunately) the cheapest at $150. it is some sort of extremely flammable early polyester and 100% has a grandma’s soul trapped within its fibers. i will probably buy a cover at some later date to deter miss macaron but in the meantime we will do the strips of brown painters tape, which does successfully deter her. this really really does not want to be steamed so i will also be procuring some chemicals.

here are some other couches i could have bought but didn’t.

[callistawolf]

My thoughts while watching Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 -- SPOILERS!!

I took notes while watching Bridgerton earlier today so that I could refer back to them when talking to my ladies next week. And then I thought, I could just post them here (under a cut and with SPOILER WARNING aplenty) so I'm gonna.

Again, if you weren't aware... SPOILERS FOR BRIDGERTON S3 PT 2!!!!!!!!!

Episode 5

I'm confused on who's side I should be on. Eloise is right that Pen needs to tell Colin but also Eloise is the least observant best friend in the world and that ain't a great look.

Cressida's news about her parents marrying her off has Eloise kinda thrown and she's brooding and is this where we start to see her "everyone's getting married and i'm left alone" stuff? Cuz that's how you get an Eloise season you guys.

Maybe we'll see her writing letters in s4?

I also hope she's realizing her own self absorption here. Cressida's situation is no bueno.

re: Pen and Colin doing the deed - now they HAVE to get married. I've read enough historical romances to know that once they knock boots its imperative they get married in case of babies. No walking this back now! No matter how mad he gets, it's a done deal.

I totally get why she's too scared to tell him. But at the same time COME ON.

How am I feeling bad for CRESSIDA??

Wait. Is the Mondrich boy going to end up with Hyacinth instead of the Danbury grandson? There was a Look.

He's younger than her tho isn't he? Maybe he's a late bloomer?

Would solve the issue I have with Violet and Mr. Anderson though. Let's not keep everything in the family SHALL WE.

Anthony being loudly and confidently wrong during charades is giving me life. I love him. <3

This whole party is just a pressure cooker. I almost need to go out and get some air jfc.

Cressida announcing she is Whistledown is the least surprising thing ever but tell that to Pen. Oh wait, she's on the floor.

Honestly, Pen should just let her go with that. Problem solved. In the books, if I recall, she wanted credit for them? Or something...? Honestly, it's hazy now. But will that happen here?

Episode 6

This whole thing is an unmitigated mess.

I'm losing confidence tbh. Has Bridgerton jumped the shark? Am I just not as invested as I was? Or was I ever very invested at all? Oh hush just keep watching, you always doubt the process and it ends up fine.

I find I say "oh for fuck's sake" way too much while watching this.

JUST STOP WHISTLEDOWNING

She is doing the thing! Istg Pen. GAH.

I know this will work out but still

The Queen is READING Cressida and it's quite glorious.

I do like Pen contemplating who she wants to be. Her own significance. Can't she write something else though? A book maybe? Be the next Jane Austen?

I kinda feel bad for Mondrich giving up his club.

And now Cressida is READING Eloise. Lord. The mess.

I'm glad this light is being shone on Eloise at last though. Truth hurts.

Oh! Is she doing it? Giving up being Whistledown? DID SHE HEAR ME?!?

I know it's not for good, but she bets credit for trying. Bless.

Is Tilly setting up a threesome? Who is this guy? He's totally giving Benedict bedroom eyes. I don't blame him but like... who is he? Why is having dinner with them?

BRAVO to Francesca for calling out Violet and her single-vision concept of love.

Soma. Wooffffff this argument between Mr. Anderson (I keep missing his first name!) and Lady Danbury (SOMA!) is giving me every single feel. Compelling drama.

Benedict, that man is giving you the eye.

BINGO! I was right!

Oh, Ben. You coward.

Damn, apparently Mrs. Cowper can write.

Oh god, is Colin going to overhear Eloise and Pen?

Woah, Eloise is asking Pen to write as Whistledown again? Just one? Are we sure about that?

This whole convo is just so .... <3

This episode is lasting ten years.

Whistledown is en route! And writing!

Oh hell, is Colin following her? He is, isn't he??

OMG that is just like the book! It's just... a bit out of order. HAH!

Episode 7

He knows. Oh the drama!

Wait. Omg, is he crying? Is this the scene they talked about in the interview? Aww.

He'll never forgive her?? OMFG, Colin, don't be so dramatic.

Dear lord, Cressida is absolutely deriding the Bridgertons. YIKES.

Pen to the rescue!! Sorta? Eh, sure.

I still feel sorta bad for Cressida though. The girl is desperate and it's easy to see why. That old guy is not it.

I like seeing Pen and Eloise being friendly again though.

Spoke too soon. Come on, El, give her something.

The conversation between Colin and Eloise is glorious. Long time coming. God, I like Eloise again! Miracles happen!

I called the "having to marry her" cuz they slept together thing!

Okay but he's being an ass about it. Entrapment? PLEASE SIR.

Tilly demurring to Benedict about being caught kissing that dude... don't make me laugh, ma'am. You were not being discreet with Benedict being a room away with the door open. You wanted him to see.

I do enjoy this pragmatic discussion of bisexuality. I'll allow it.

Damn, Tilly is progressive as heck.

Benedict is considering it. As you should, sir. You are not married (yet).

Violet being flustered about Mr. Anderson (WHAT IS HIS NAME) is adorable.

Okay so Pen and Colin have ignored each other all week and they wait until the NIGHT BEFORE THE WEDDING to have it out?? Guysssss....

OMFG he is jealous, isn't he? I haaaaated that in the book! SIR. No.

God, Kate is perfect.

OMG did the Queen just figure out who is Lady Whistledown?

Always love a good Benedict and Eloise conversation, especially if it's on the swings.

Is Cressida doing a runner? She's escaping but to where?

Aww, Kate and Anthony are going to India and will have the baby there! Anthony is SO CUTE about it too! I love that man. I love THEM.

Blah blah wedding blah blah

Shit, it's the Queen!

Way to break up a party, Your Majesty. I mean, in the way only she can.

Francesca... honey... no. <3 That is not the secret. It's okay, boo.

Lady Danbury remaining when the Queen had said anyone not a Bridgerton had to get out is just iconic.

Colin! No! *thwaps him with a rolled up newspaper*

Get it, Benedict! (bow chicka bow wow)

Ooop. Cressida is on the scent!

Episode 8

She knows. GAH. Oh, poor Pen.

Oooh, blackmail! Very nice. Very villain of her.

This should be where the Bridgertons come together to support Pen and back her up against invaders, yes? YES??

Ooh, the metaphor of this chess game is delightful.

Whistledown will continue? So it wasn't just one issue. I knew it!

Protective Colin activate!

Wow, the threesome are still at it a day later?? Come up for air, guys. Have some food. Drink some water. Jeebus.

My boy, Colin, you are jealous of Lady Whistledown. But I love that he really gets Pen.

Portia is going through it.

Pen and Eloise! Are they friends again?? Please say yes.

Oh Cressida, that was a jerk move upping the blackmail. Now they can't give in.

omfg STILL???? They're STILL going at it like rabbits???

Oh wow, I lovelovelove the conversation between Lady Danbury and Violet! They are the best friends and that transcends relationships. And the shot of the crown! <3

I honestly have no clue anymore where they're going with Benedict. Not a one.

Colin's shirt here is so Astarion coded. It's the same shirt!!

What is happening...?!?!?!?!?!

Also.... Benedict? What? What is going on?

WHat. Who? What. HUH?

How is Eloise going to change the world?

I should never have read the books. I have too many preconceived ideas.

I'm so confused.

The money Pen gave the lady maid was for this tacky ass ball?

NGL though I love how "bugs" are actually butterflies.

Shit, it's the Queen Part 2!

Ohhhh... oh okay. So Pen told her she's Whistledown. And now.... Pen is just standing there announcing it to everyone.

Okay, I get it. The Queen being there and accepting it is basically telling everyone there they have to accept it too. Smart.

So, Pen is going to keep Whistledowning. And everyone is just going to know it's her. I mean, sure.

Okay but what about Cressida? Where is she? What happens to her?

Colin is doing some good here, telling her the things that need to be told tbh. A little late but I'll accept it.

John's cousin? Michael? No, wait... omfg it's MICHAELA. lakdjflasdj LMAOOOOOO oh shit.

I might need a little time to process that.

I maybe shouldn't have read the books part 2

Ooh an epilogue??? BABIES!!!! OMG THERES THREE BABIES.

One is Pen and Colin's! SQUEE.

LKJFSDL lmao of course they had the boy and the other two had girls.

Aww that means their baby has the title from the Featheringtons. That's sweet.

Annnnnd that's it. All she wrote. For TWO YEARS. Because lord knows they can't write the next season until the first is all released or something? I honestly don't know. GET MOVING, GUYS. Is Benedict next or what? We didn't see a Sophie anywhere. There was a brief mention of a masquerade ball that I need to go back and look for cuz I sorta missed it. Does that mean Eloise is next? Or Francesca? GAH.

[abysscronica]

What do you think of the one piece movies?

Oh boi, that's a loaded question. 😭 I will reply honestly but please remember this is my personal opinion, whatever you like it's all legit!

In general, I don't particularly care for the OP movies too much. I did see them, almost all, even enjoy some or part of them, but I'm grateful that they're non-canon. I don't hate them and I'm always happy when a new one is announced (more OP content!), but that's about it. Same goes for the special/OVAs, although they kinda stopped with those. I will only go through the movies in this post.

Movie 1 (One Piece: the Movie) and 2 (Clockwork Island Adventure) are basically like filler arcs in the early days of the anime. They are not bad, nor good. I haven't seen them in a long while but I remember being pretty neutral towards them.

Movie 3 (Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals) and 5 (The Cursed Holy Sword) actually SUCK. They suck so much I could hardly get to the end. The Chopper one is just a total bore with a super predictable plot, while the Zoro one is actually painful. Zoro and the crew are totally OOC, and the poorly-thought magic lore introduced in the movie just doesn't fit with the OP universe.

You'll noticed I skipped movie 4 (Dead End Adventure). And that's because this one I like. It's also like a filler arc, but it fits perfectly in the plot (love the quick reference to Navarone), it flows well, it's dynamic and engaging, and the original characters are actually good. Shout out to Shuraiya Bascùd, whose design is basically Ace in a different color palette, but has a complex personality.

Movie 6 (Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island) is a unique One Piece product, quite distant from what we're used to, and therefore I consider it a must-see. Not really for the plot, which doesn't make much sense, but for the art and the direction. In fact, it was directed by Hosoda, a very notable anime movie director (Wolf Children, The Girl who Leapt through Time, Summer Wars, Digimon...).

Movie 7 (The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle)... I remember absolutely nothing of this movie except Nami's bouncing boobs.

Movie 8 (Episode of Alabasta) and 9 (Episode of Chopper plus) are revised re-tellings of the Alabasta and Drum saga. They aren't bad, especially Chopper's, some dramatic sequences are very touching. They made a great use of the soundtrack, or lacking thereof.

I will place Movie 11 (One Piece 3D: Straw Hat Chase) here because it doesn't fit with the remaining ones. This may as well be a special: it's only 30 minutes long, most of the Strawhats barely appear, it doesn't feature a villain-based adventure, and it's in a graphic format never used again. Take it as a slice-of-life episode, and it's enjoyable.

Movie 10 (Strong World) is a turning point, because this is when OP movies became "films", Oda started to get involved, some original canon elements were dropped in, and there were theatrical releases. The difference in quality (at least plot-wise) is immediately clear. Strong World is the last movie set before the timeskip (excluding movie 11), and it may well be my favorite.

Movie 12 (Z) is probably close second. The villain is a great character, and I LOVED the inclusion of Aokiji and Kizaru, how different they were, the implications they brought to the plot.

Movie 13 (Gold) is okay. Enjoyable. Once again, good villain, nice setting, good animation.

Movie 14 (Stampede) has a special place in my heart because it included the Kid Pirates, and Kid & Killer have a few scenes. Buuuut if I have to be honest, the plot is quite weak and, if you take off the (scarce) screen time of my beloved, it's a little boring.

And finally! The most recent, movie 15, Red. I haven't had the chance to watch it yet because it didn't get a theatrical release where I live, so I'm waiting for the DVD to be out. What I can say is that I've watched reviews from my two favorite OP youtubers (Tekking101 and Sawyer7mage), and they were not particularly impressed with it. My best friend also watched it and found it incredibly boring, so my hopes aren't really too high. I think they went waaaay too hard on the marketing for this one, they pushed Shanks and Uta SO MUCH. (Also it doesn't help that I'm one of the very few people that don't really care about Shanks, huh). I heard the songs and they were amazing, Ado is a masterclass singer. I read about the plot and I do think some details are quite interesting, like Uta's whole psychology and possibly the ending (?). I guess I'll have to update my opinion when I actually watch the movie.

That's all for now. Feel free to ask for more details if you want.

[jvstheworld]

The Buffy re-watch: S1 E2 (part 1)

The Harvest

Episode 2, here we go:

-Buffy is saved by the necklace Angel gave her, wasn't that lucky for her.

-Giles is always handy when it comes to exposition, that's his job as the character so that the other characters and us the audience can follow along. He's the mouthpiece for the writers to help us understand the world they have created.

-During his expo Giles mentions the Old Ones. This does not come up in Buffy but does in Angel when we meet Illyria in season 5. Glad this was actually used at some point in the Buffyverse.

-Sewers and electrical tunnels are the more convenient way for vamps to get around during the day, unless you're vamp affectionately known as Blondie Bear and then you just say fuck it and run round with a blanket because you like to live life on hard mode.

-When Willow talks about breaking into the City Council security systems, you ca see Giles smiling behind her. It's sweet. Also is Sunnydale a town or a city?

-After all the Expo Giles gives, Xander takes it personally that he isn't strong enough to take on vampires or even remotely prepared to fight them. They have super strength and you're a normal human, of course you're being told to stay behind. I get he wants to help, but you also need to know your limits.

-And Angel magically appears. How long was he waiting for her to show up? It is later explain in an episode of Angel as to why The Master does not like him. Awww, he quietly whispers good luck to her. Cute. Though still very stalker-like at the moment.

-We get our first appearance of Harmony, she doesn't change much at all.

And that's where I will leave it for this commentary write up. I only did 3 pages of notes on this episode but I still want to break it up. Tune in for next time for the not so exciting conclusion to my stream of thoughts.

[mayhem-ensues]

Interested in your thoughts when you finish the re-watch. I've been going through it with a friend (first time for her) and it definitely changed some of my opinions (not caught up yet, but part of the way through S2). S1 felt fairly slow as a weekly release but pretty perfect when rewatching (not even binging the season at once - 2 at a time at most, but being able to do 5/6, 8/9, and 11/12 together helped a lot). S2 so far feels even faster, and we haven't even hit where it really picks up yet.

It also reminded me that some things (like the Benerit Head Office Front) were actually introduced earlier than I remembered.

On the other hand, without the weeklong waits to let theories ferment, stuff like the Vanadis Massacre not lining up with Suletta's age flew completely over my friend's head.

Yeah, having finished my rewatch I'd say the biggest difference is that the pacing of Cour 1 feels so much better in binge format than week-to-week. Especially for some of those examples you mentioned like Episodes 5/6.

Conversely, I'd say I probably like the Cour 2 better as a weekly show then I did when binging it. I think the difference is that Cour 1 is much more character driven, whereas Cour 2 feels much more plot driven and so much happens in each episode, that I appreciated having a week to dissect it, whereas watching it in the binge format felt like it was moving so fast that I would miss details on the rewatch.

The pacing is probably the only thing I've really changed my mind about on the rewatch though I'd have to say. For the most part it just reinforced my existing feelings. The things I love about the show I love even more after the rewatch, and the things I dislike about the show I dislike even more.

[bookswithsyd]

Is Spy X Family my anime of the year? [Spoiler Free-ish*]

*This article will avoid all major plot spoilers but will include some basic information about the story/characters. This will also only cover part 1 as part 2 is still airing at the time of writing.

Welcome to After Thoughts, a series where I take a moment to collect my thoughts on things both old and new. These things will include newish content that I am viewing for the first time (most of the time, month behind everyone else) or perhaps things that I am coming back to so I can re-experience (like my future plans to explain why Soul Eater is my go-to comfort anime). Now, onto my thoughts on the recently finished season one of Spy X Family!

How I found Spy X Family

After deciding that Spy X Family would be our next anime, my boyfriend and I sat down and binged the first six episodes in one evening. Around midnight, we had to drag ourselves away from the TV to go to bed because we did not want to stop watching, we were already in love with the premise of this show. We spent so much of the night laughing at the characters and guessing what would happen next. It was the pinnacle of "just one more episode" and that feeling was present from beginning to end. The next night after work, we caught up to episode 11, which was the latest episode at that point. We realized halfway through episode 11 that it would be four days until the final episode aired, crushing our spirits because we were on a Spy X Family high. The wait until episode 12 dropped was painstakingly slow and even worse knowing that we couldn’t watch it the day the last episode was released. Having to avoid spoilers was easiest to do when you just avoid social media almost altogether.

Thoughts on the show

I went into Spy X Family with decently high expectations. When I mentioned that I would be watching it over the weekend, I was told by a friend that she and her girlfriend were absolutely loving it. I had been avoiding anything related to this show for a while at that point and I just knew the premise of the show going in. A spy must gather a fake family in order to perform his mission. His new wife turns out to be an assassin and the child he adopts is a telepath. Neither of the adults knows the other’s secrets, but the child learns everything.

Spy X Family is a brilliant mix of comedy, action, a little romance, and of course, slice-of-life. This blend makes the show something that you can binge and not get sick of. The progression through the 12-episode season seems so well-paced that I was never wanting to speed up through an episode or was confused because it seems like the anime skipped over something.

I think that the art style used here really enhances the overall feeling of a cute slice-of-life comedy. The bright colors and the way the characters are drawn allow for the wacky facial expressions and actions that really sell the mood.

I'm excited to see how the plot will progress as I am waiting for the full season to be released before starting. After finishing the anime’s season 1, I am now tempted to find the manga just to see how the anime holds up to the original material and also to see what happens next. Now to answer the question in the title. Do I think Spy X Family is the anime of the year for me personally? Maybe. I think this show could definitely make my top 5 when I look back at the end of the year.

Final thoughts

Thoughts on the genre: I loved the mix of multiple genres that really keep the show moving. The blend allowed for amazing moments that pulled emotions from amusement to empathic pain.

Favorite character at the start: We really only get a good look at Loid at the start, so he was the one I wanted to know more about at the beginning.

Favorite character at the end: Normally I change who I really like by the end of a season, but I still think Loid is in that top stop. My enjoyment of other characters has certainly grown over those 12 episodes, but Loid still remains my favorite.

Thoughts on the animation style: I love the use of quirky animation to give those over-the-top expressions that really fit the fun mood of this comedy show, I feel like this is the best style to use and can’t imagine it in another style.

Grade on pacing: I think the pacing is great, I feel like the show never lags, and really made me want to keep watching.

Grade Overall: I would give this a high B to a low A grade. I think this is an amazing show, I just wish we could have seen more out of the other characters.

Does this show make me wanna read the manga: Yes! I would love to pick up the manga and I hope that if I do, I can get some of the information that I am looking for.

Who would enjoy this series: I think that this show has a wide range of people who would enjoy it. Of course, people who enjoy simple slice-of-life anime will love this. I think people who want a funny story no matter the genre will enjoy it. I think this is a good anime to start when you just want to throw something on that won’t take too much brain power or you wanna watch something short.

Now that you know my thoughts, what were your reactions after finishing this series, or do you wanna watch it for the first time?

[1d1195]

Aww thank you so much!😭You have no idea how much that means to me!💗

Omg not him getting distracted?!? Bestie that is TRAGIC! I would lose it lowkey bc sadly i get TOO invested when I like something lol But YES I would HIGHLY recommend watching the last two together! I agree Tina’s episode felt more like season 2 vibes and would have probably fit better when she started to take those fancy cooking classes. But we got Richie’s episode which was a WIN for me lol

Bestie of course I will always be rooting for you! And the fact that you're a teacher just makes you even more remarkable! Plus you’re basically in the trenches everyday with those teenagers 😭And of course rooting for you in your personal life!

I saw that you’ve been struggling a bit with part 2 but you’ve managed to get it done! Very proud of you because I can only imagine how it can be a bit frustrating! I know all of us are going to love it!

HAHA omg you’re so REAL for thinking that! I mean he is a MAN after all so I would be surprised if he wasn’t whiny lol

Hope meeting up with your friend went well! And I especially hope that you’ve survived your family because I know it can get ROUGH😭Hope the weather gets better too! I know you basically hate when it’s hot lol

I was pretty busy this weekend! I hung out with friends I haven't been able to see in a while so it was nice to have a break! It’s been so hot recently but It cooled down a bit so we had a picnic! And I actually saw a movie where the main character was named Sam/Samantha! What’s wild though is that we went out for sushi and there was a roll called Sun Kissed and I immediately thought of your fic! I MUST re-read it because it is such a cute little summer fic! ANYWAYS overall it was nice but my social battery was drained lol 

I'm wishing you the BEST start of the week! Hope you are treating yourself well! Wishing you all the LOVE BESTIE!!- 💜

BRO I TOLD HIM I WANTED TO WATCH BOTH EPISODES AND HE SAID WE CAN WATCH ONE. I COULD THROW UP. IDK WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM. Anyway. That's a good point about Richie vs. Tina. It would have been greedy to have both. Anyway. I can't tell you how much I love the Faks. My favorite bit so far has been "How many Faks are coming?" "At least 2 less than 5." I just love them so much. Barging into the hospital to see Claire??? 😭😭

Part 2 is done and posted. I'm trying not to hate it since it's only been an hour, it's Monday, and I did write a whole ass dissertation 🤦‍♀️ I can't wait to hear your thoughts if you have time to read it 💕

...he's super whiny tbh... or maybe I'm just conditioned to not want to be whiny because I'm just a girl 😂 if you know what I mean.

It was super nice to see my friend! My fam is this week and not looking forward to it exactly. I went for a walk today in this RIDICULOUS hot humid air. But I do feel better for it. I have another friend meeting tonight so I need to shower again and try to remain cool. It's also Monday so it's my list day hehehehe so I've got that going for me too! I'm also addicted to online shopping and it's Prime Day tomorrow so I gotta get shit for my classroom. So that's what I have for this week! Hopefully I'll have time to read and write too!

OMG so fun! I hope she was a good character. I'm always so sad about Sam/Samantha's in movies and shows--they give me such a bad rap. They're often a 👎 (but not Hilary Duff in A Cinderella Story but that's because Hilary can do no wrong by me). I LOVED sun-kissed. So much summer fun 😂 I've never been a sushi fan, but I love that for you! I'm glad you had a nice weekend with friends even if your battery is drained!

LOVE YOU! 💕

xoxo

[carlos-in-glasses]

Not to like start discourse anything ASHFJF, but I actually think that was the point of episode 3 when it came to Iris and Tarlos. I think the whole issue with Carlos is that he felt that guilt about skipping out on Iris’ life, which Rafa said in a few interviews. So I think they naturally wrapped that up and got the closure that he needed in being there for her.

I think episode 4, starting with TK going in frantic!feral! guns a-blazing is them wrapping up the Tarlos part of this arc and reminding the audience that it’s still Tarlos always against the world. Ronen remarked in an earlier interview after episode 1 aired that they go through a lot so that the reunion after is satisfying and it’s very similar. It’s just a very very long arc lmao because let’s be honest, Iris will be off the grid until the wedding and it’s gonna be Tarlos marriage central episode 5 and beyond.

I think it’s similar but also different than the wait for push. We didn’t have a TK narrative about the breakup really and had no idea what episode 4 held besides TK waking up and that the breakup reason would be revealed.

Haha no I like this discourse and your thoughts! I was just discoursing away merrily to myself in some tags re. that line where Carlos says "He can't let go of a bad relationship." Which I'm now hyper-fixated on. And I've flipped from thinking it was this bizarre jab at TK to thinking he meant himself and Iris, because of his guilt. It's canon that he feels like a terrible friend. In that moment, he thought she was dead at the bottom of a cliff and he's the reason she's there, and he's thinking out loud, trying to explain the whole history of his life to himself. Maybe. So it was a really nice pay off that he did rescue her and they had their moment. But I didn't like the nod to Push within it all. It felt a bit too on-the-nose and I felt so bad for TK.

I trust the reunion will feel super satisfying and I'm very happy about upcoming wedding stuff! It does seem like we were given a lot of information about this arc before it began. Maybe they felt the need to start explaining things at an early stage lol. Anyway, I'm forever jealous of those of you who were there for Push because it must have been amazing and such a relief to watch it play out in real time. Like the proposal! I wish I'd discovered Lone Star just a few months sooner than I did!

[gingersnapwolves]

so I got tagged by @cinematicnomad to pick my top 5 fics, and I thought, this is an outrage! I’ve got 99 fics on AO3 alone! though granted I wouldn’t pick anything not on AO3 since my old stuff is ... not great ... but anyway how I could pick 5? So since I missed fanfic writer’s appreciation day yesterday I decided to appreciate myself, bend the rule, and change the prompt to .... give your favorite fics awards! 

Best Epic:

The Sum of its Parts (1.2 million | T | Teen Wolf | Sterek, Scallison)

What started as a simple "fork in the road" AU became a series and ate my life.  

This obviously had to be on the list somewhere but it’s barely a fanfic anymore, it strayed so far from the source material! I adore every word. Well, most of the words. 

Best Smut:

Get Off (Me) (77K | E | Teen Wolf | Steter)

Stiles hates being left behind with Peter while the pack is fighting monsters, because he never knows exactly what Peter will get up to.

Boy did I have fun with this one. Dubcon smut turns to consensual-but-not-safe-or-sane smut turns to ‘wait did we catch feelings wtf’ smut.

Funniest:

The Lost Cause (18K | T | The Untamed | NHS + JGY)

AU in which Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao work together to take down Jin Guangshan from the beginning.

Or: the story in which Nie Huaisang just wants to paint fans and feed birds and he doesn't understand why this is so much to ask.

I may live to be a hundred and never write anything funnier than “you have a praise kink!”

Best Roast of the Source Material:

Adult Wolf (232K | T | Teen Wolf | Sheriff/Peter, Sterek)

As if Sheriff Stilinski doesn't have enough to deal with, now he's been attacked by some enormous dog in the forest, and that's normal compared to what happens next...

Re-telling of seasons 1-3B with Sheriff Stilinski being bitten instead of Scott.

230K words of me writing a strongly worded letter to the writers of Teen Wolf on all the things they could’ve done better. I enjoyed it.

Best Tearjerker:

picking up the pieces (111K | M | The Untamed | LWJ + JYL, WWX/LWJ)

The AU where Jiang Cheng dies at Nightless City instead of Jiang Yanli and she takes her son to raise at Lotus Pier. She and Lan Wangji bond over losing Wei Wuxian and raising their children, and over time, they start to have suspicions about what happened at Qiongqi Way....

This is probably the most poignant thing I have ever written. The whole thing is woven with grief and love. The scenes between Lan Wangji and A-Yuan still make me a little teary-eyed when I think of them.

Best Romance:

An Atypical Courtship (48K | M | The Untamed | LXC/JGY, WWX, LWJ)

Meng Shi dies with her debt to the brothel unpaid, and the madam decides Meng Yao needs to work it off for her. Eight years later, Lan Xichen meets him at Koi Tower.

I generally don’t write a lot of pure “romance”, so I’m really proud of how this one came out. The whole fic is just so soft and loving.

Best Post-Canon:

you’ll never walk alone (21K | T | Not Me | Black + White, Sean/White)

If Black got his way, he would never go back to Gumpa’s garage.

Spoiler alert: Black does not get his way.

Sometimes I finish watching a series and so desperately crave more that I just write a couple more episodes for them, free of charge. This one is probably my favorite of that variety. I just want Black to be happy, damn it!

Best Overall:

What Goes Around (71K | M | Teen Wolf | Sterek, but the relationship at the heart of the story is the father-son relationship between Peter and Stiles)

“Well,” Stiles says, “if they’re going to hunt werewolves, I’m going to hunt them.”

It’s a ridiculous statement from a ten-year-old, but he’s obviously one hundred percent sincere. For the first time since the fire, Peter feels life stir inside him, feels purpose. It’s kismet, clearly. He’ll never meet the child he would have had with Olivia. Instead he’s met this boy, this brilliant, determined, cynical child with a world of potential.

Peter kneels down in front of him so they’re at eye level. “How do you feel about doing that together?”

This might be the best fic I’ve ever written. It’s probably better than most of my original work. I love everything about it, especially the way I used outside sources like news articles and forum posts to show the passage of time. It’s just really good and I’m very proud of it.

Who else wants to give themselves some awards? I don’t really like tagging people but anyone else is welcome to steal the format and shower love upon themselves!

[tajamahals]

I think today is the day I finally talk about how angry I am at Lady Danbury and Violet for letting the Edwina/Anthony engagement get as far as it did.

In my first couple watches of the season, I absolutely loved Lady D and Violet, and I still do love them as characters. I also particularly loved Ruth Gemmel in the flashback scenes and in the scenes with Anthony in episode 5, 7, and 8.

However, in my last rewatch I was annoyed and confused by them. As great they are as characters are, it does not excuse the writing that made them encourage Anthony to propose to edwina knowing he did not love her and knowing edwina wanted love in her marriage.

Episodes 2,3, and 4 particularly are where I get most confused by their writing this season. In season 1, they were champions of true love. Particularly Lady D when she told Simon that leading Daphne on if he did not plan to propose was cruel. That was such a good moment for her! Ignoring the weird part in season 1 episode 4 where she says true love solves racism (I’m not even going to touch that), you can see that Lady Danbury believes in the true love and it’s power. And we all know Violet just wants each of her children to experience true love.

Where was this attitude in episode 3 when Lady tried to force Anthony’s hand to propose at the dinner?! Where was this when they were eavesdropping outside rooms and looking pleased with themselves knowing that Anthony did not feel anything but duty for edwina?? Or in episode 4 when edwina is clearly deluding herself about Anthony and no one says anything?!

Kate was the only person to tell edwina the truth from the start about Anthony not looking for love in marriage and she was vilified for it (we’re not going into that in this post I have too many thoughts). Violet and Lady D knew the entire time that Anthony simply saw Edwina as a duty and allowed this to happen despite them both being champions of true love in season 1, and Violet telling Anthony that he deserves the same love her and his father shared in episode 5.

Lady D knew that Anthony and Kate had feelings for each other, but her advice to Kate was convoluted and odd throughout, telling her to hide her feelings one day and the next telling her to share.

I will also die on the hill of saying Violet also knew, and the writers made her intentionally obtuse this season for reasons. It’s absurd to me that Violet had to wait for Daphne to confirm things when we had several shots of her from episode 2 on noticing Anthony staring at Kate. We all know daphne knew, but I don’t think she had the power that Violet and Lady D have in the situation and she tried her best (I think it would’ve been amazing and hilarious if she challenged Kate to a duel to get back at Anthony for last season but that’s me being petty).

I think the writers simply wanted drama for the sake of drama this season which is why they wrote several characters inconsistently, including Violet and Lady D (don’t get me started on edwina and Mary and the lack of support for Anthony from many of the bridgerton siblings - looking at you benedict and Colin). Drama is not a bad thing, but if you have to change characters, not to mention several characters to get a situation you want re: failed edwina/Anthony wedding, pre&post- wedding angst and longing, and resulting scandal, that is not good writing or good televison. It is frustrating for viewers to watch because the resulting conflict and resolution does not feel earned, it can be difficult to follow, and the resulting resolution is not satisfying,

Anyways tldr; for the sake of creating more drama, the Bridgerton writers changed the characterization of Lady Danbury and Violet against championing true love for parts of the season. They made Lady D encourage a proposal she knew was out of duty and made Violet intentionally blind to Anthony’s feelings for Kate so we could get the drama of a failed Edwina/Anthony wedding.

[littlepadika]

hi angel 🥰 i’m just in the middle of rereading calling home !!!! i was just wondering, could you ever do a one shot of like sweet pea calming frankie during the middle of the night if he has like an anxiety attack or nightmare? i love the dynamic between those 2 and would love to see how sweet pea calms frankie 🥺

Hi bb sorry this took me a hot minute to get to. First off... i'm thrilled you are re reading my series! Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: PTSD, anxiety, comfort, fluff

AN: This is early in their relationship. Probably right after chapter 5. Therapy also referred to in this drabble

source: @uuuhshiny

You blinked up at the ceiling, sleep momentarily thinning. You heard low muttering beside you.

"Frankie?" You turned reaching over to his side of the bed. He was shaking and sweaty under your hand. "Frankie!" You sat up, this time going to the other side of the bed to flick on the bedside lamp. The dim yellow light revealed Frankie twitching and muttering incoherently. Sweat clung to his forehead. His mouth was pursed in between a frown and snarl. His jaw was clenched tight. His whole body was stiff as a board. He was deep in a nightmare. You heard him say something like "no no".

You had been over this scenario with Frankie. He advised you not to touch him when he was having nightmares in case he acted on instinct and accidentally hurt you. But now that it was real, you couldn't just watch him endure a nightmare like this.

"Hey... hey..." You stoked his arm with your fingers lightly. He jerked away from your touch with a grunt. When he turned his head you saw that there were tears in the corner of his eyes. "Oh, Frankie... Wake up please. Come on, baby. Please wake up." You just continued to slowly stroke his arm, his chest, eventually making your way up to his face. He seemed to be calming down.

Then he abruptly sat up, scooting away from you reflexively.

"Wha-What's..." He looked around the room and then trailed off when he saw you watching him, concern evident on your face. He wiped his wet eyes.

"Nightmare." You explained though you were sure he already knew.

"Did I hurt you?" He immediately asked, looking away in shame. His humiliation mixed toxically with his adrenaline and fear from the dream.

"No. You didn't hurt me." You answered quickly, pushing yourself up, but you resisted hugging him for fear he was still overstimulated. You offered your water bottle to him. "Do-do you want to talk about it?"

Frankie shook his head, looking down at his sweaty self. "It's the usual dream. The helicopter crash." He shuddered, trying to pull himself into the present and away from his distorted memory. He took a couple sips of water and then handed the bottle back to you. Mentally he did the exercises he had practiced. Name one thing you see: Sweet pea. Name one thing you hear: A passing car. Name one thing you feel: Soft sheets. Where are you? Home. Home. Home.

You waited patiently through all of this, giving Frankie space to speak when he was ready. He took a few deep ragged breaths, his fists clenched on the bed below you. Too scared to touch you yet. He worried that he may have scared you off. That now you would have seen that all of his demons were real.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, sweet pea." His gruff voice was dripping with guilt. You frowned, not in frustration at him but at the stigma that led him to feel so terrible about dreams he could not control.

"Frankie...you didn't bother me." You couldn't resist laying a hand over his bare stomach feeling him relax at your touch. "I'm glad I woke up. I want to comfort you."

He sniffed, new tears in his eyes. He was still looking away from you. You understood. It was such a vulnerable state for anyone, let alone someone who had endured as much rejection as Frankie had.

"Can I hold you? Is that okay?" You feel your own voice shake with emotion. Your power and your love was limited with him not in your arms. As much as you knew your voice could move mountains, you needed to console him with more than words.

"Yes. please." Frankie exhaled finally looking at you, his brown eyes misty and wanting. You wasted no time climbing over his legs and pulling his face into your neck. His arms linked around your back, holding you close.

His skin, that earlier vibrated like it was trying to break apart, settled under your touch. Solidifying enough so he could finally sense each part of his body. Hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and so on. He mentally listed each one as it related to you. Your hands on his head. Your chest on his chest. Your breath on his neck.

"I have you." You promised, knowing the words would help ground him. "I have you. I'm not going anywhere. Just be here with me."

"I'm so tired of this." He whispered into your warm embrace. "I just want to be better."

"I know." You sat back cupping his face in your hands, rubbing your thumb over that patch of grey in his beard.

"I was doing so well." He continued to beat himself up. He had been so pleased to have gone nearly a month without any nightmares or PTSD. He tried to think of something that could have triggered him but yesterday was a normal Thursday. He didn't drink. He didn't have a stressful customer at work. He had sex. He showered. Sometimes there was no trigger and that was the most unsettling type of episode.

Frankie ducked his head, resting his forehead in between your breasts. He wished he could crawl inside you and away from his thoughts. His PTSD made him nauseous and too hyper to sleep. He was both hyper-focused and dazed at the same time. Every nightmare always felt like an omen that things were going to get bad again. He was going to start craving and then eventually relapse.

You rubbed his back in slow circles trying to coax him into a more normal breathing rate. A minute passed, the only sounds were Frankie's rough breathing and your slower one.

"What else do you need?" You asked gently.

"Can you- can you light the candle please?" He requested in a muffled voice.

"Sure." You smiled, reaching over to his side of the bed and pulling out the lighter. Your candle, already well used, was soon flickering brightly. The floral scent you and Frankie loved, filled your brain making sleep slowly start to edge its way in. You could feel his breathing slow. "That better?"

"Mmhmm." He grumbled. Something about the scent grounded him to this chapter in his life; the one with you in it. He wasn't that lonely guy anymore. He wasn't in a war zone. He had everything he could ever dream of right in his arms... and yet... this still happened. "I'm sorry, sweet pea."

"What for?" You tousled his hair affectionally.

"For-for being messed up."

"Frankie..." You nudged his head up so you could kiss him deeply. You let him take the lead, pressing him tongue into your mouth and pulling you tighter against his chest. At your quiet moan he pulled back letting you finish your thought. You didn't care how many times you had to say it, touch it, kiss it into reality: Frankie was perfect the way he was.

"You aren't messed up." You murmured, holding his eyes with your earnest gaze. "You're strong. You're resilient and brave. I love you because of that. You're like... a phoenix. You rise from the ashes." Then you giggled. "Sorry I just thought of a hybrid between a catfish and a Phoenix."

"Ha." He laughed shakily, tightening his arms around you. "A fish on fire. Sounds about right."

"Or a bird with whiskers." You snorted.

He kissed you again, relishing your little giggles against his lips. You laced your hands with his.

"I'm here to remind you to be kind to yourself. Remember how far you've come. I'm so proud of you, Frankie."

Once again he reflected on how lucky he was to have you in the flesh. Your empathy amazed him. It had from day one but his awe grew monumentally tonight. You weren't scared. You saw all of his brokenness for what it was and you only loved him harder. He had to trust your vision of him when his own internal compass failed.

"You tired, little pea?" He chuckled when you yawned cutely, after trying to hold it in.

"No." You told a small lie, just to keep him from trying to put your needs first. You weren't going to sleep until you knew he felt safe. "How are you feeling? Be honest, please."

Frankie searched his body with another deep breath. "Better. I'm just really amped up from the adrenaline. But go back to sleep, little pea. I'll read or something.”

"Mmm read to me?" You asked holding back another yawn.

"Sure." He chuckled. You rolled off of him pulling the covers back over you both. Frankie grabbed his copy of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. You latched onto him like a koala bear and hung onto his deep voice. Frankie appreciated the weight of your arm on his stomach and head on his chest. You could hear his heartbeat below your ear slowing.

Frankie paused his quiet oration to peer down at your relaxed face and fluttering eye lids. "I love you, sweet pea."

"mmm love you too." You breathed in reply.

For the first time, Frankie was able to go back to sleep after his nightmare.

~~~~~~~~~~

My masterlist

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Frankie Morales Taglist: , @evildxad @a-skov @pasckles @goddessofsprings

[stillness-in-green]

MVA In Memoriam (2/5)

The Comprehensive Account of the Butchering of My Villain Academia

(Introduction and Part One, Episode 108: My Villain Academia)

Part Two, Episode 109: Revival Party

Chapter 224 – Revival Party

• Mr. Compress’s side comment about how the distance Re-Destro wants them to travel means he must know they have warp capabilities. Also shortens his subsequent line, removing the bit about how their position has been locked onto, leaving only the marveling about the dude on the phone being the kind of person who has access to a satellite camera. Not a major cut, but it did strip out a bit of reiteration on how very Seen the League is. The warp line is another nod to how the MLA’s been doing their research—in particular, it ties in nicely with RD’s observations about the Noumu. He talks, there, about something Dabi said after the High End fight, which means he must also know that Dabi was warped out by an “Ujiko-san.”

• Also Mr. C’s observation that they haven’t broken Machia yet, and his posed question about what to do. Mr. Compress, I’m so sorry that you’re so wordy and lose so many quips and asides because the anime was set on brutally scything out every line of non-essential dialogue it could find.

• Ujiko’s extremely hilarious, “Listening to Villain Radio is my new favorite hobby,” line. Why would you cut this; this line is hysterical.

• The bit where Mr. Compress has the bright idea to use a High End Noumu like the one Dabi used, Ujiko rejects the suggestion out of hand, citing production woes, and Shigaraki says that he wasn’t going to ask for one of them anyway. Aside from being more cut Compress content (or “Comptent,” for short), it helps center the timeline somewhat at a point where the manga is jerking it around all over; it also shows that the League has been keeping up with news from the outside world. It also shows that at least one of them thought about using the Noumu—and since we know Re-Destro did some rationalizing on that scenario too, it’s good to see that it is at least briefly on the table.           Further, Ujiko provides a few rare details about the Noumu creation process. Firstly, that AFO is normally involved, so his absence makes the procedure much more difficult (though not, apparently, impossible). Secondly, that Hood-chan was the only Noumu who’d actually reached the testing stage. This will be important later, for Ujiko’s agonizing about unleashing them early/Mirko having to fight four of them at once.           Also, I just miss Mr. C’s funny little head wilt when Ujiko immediately turns down his “use some Noumu” idea. Ditto Shigaraki’s blasé shrug and little grin. Again, not to harp on the art too much, but man I wish the anime had kept all the fierce little grins and tight, incensed smirks Shigaraki has through the majority of this and the phone call sequence.

• Spinner’s line, “Without knowing squat about what we’re up against?!” A minor cut, as these things go, but it reiterates that there’s a chance RD is bluffing and the League has no way to know one way or the other, and demonstrates that the League can give Shigaraki some pushback on his decisions without having to worry about getting dusted for the temerity.[1]

• Takes one of Spinner’s lines—“Wait. I get it. Wherever you go, Shigaraki, he’ll sniff you out and hunt you down.”—and gives it to Shigaraki instead. Because fuck Spinner’s growing understanding of Shigaraki and the way his mind works, I guess! It’s especially notable that Spinner figures this out when Mr. C had completely the wrong idea about Shigaraki’s intentions—it demonstrates the way Spinner is gradually aligning himself with Shigaraki’s way of thinking, which we’ll see even more clearly during the War Arc. Also, again, it’s good to see the moments where the League weighs in on Shigaraki’s plans.

• The visual of Twice lashing out at Dabi with his razor-edged tape measure over Dabi’s dismissal of Giran, though all the relevant dialogue was there. Possibly this is because, having cut the CRC bit, the audience has no way of knowing that Twice’s tape measure is razor-edged, so why bother raising the question, “Why is Twice trying to attack Dabi with a tape measure..?” Possibly it’s because showing that attack would require animating movement, and MAN ALIVE, did Episode 109 ever want to do everything it could to avoid animating movement.

• Slidin’ Go’s line about how Deika isn’t usually his turf, but today is a big exception. This makes the hearty affirmative with which Trumpet announces himself a response to Shigaraki’s half-phrased observation about the reason behind the city’s emptiness, rather than a response to Slidin’ Go. It works, more or less, and probably even flows more clearly, all things considered. I’m always sad to lose lines from the vanishingly few named/characterized MLA members we have, though. I like, too, that it hints at the machinations that have to have been involved with setting things up for the Revival Party, and the way those plans were carried out with confidence that Re-Destro’s “bait the League into coming for their broker” plan would work despite the total absence of a response from the League in any of the time Giran was missing/his fingers were cropping up on the nightly news reports.

• A few shots of cameras in the city, which foreshadow Skeptic’s watchful eyes and ability to track the League through the city. In retrospect, this isn’t surprising, since the anime went on to cut basically any indication of Skeptic’s entire plan re: the footage of the League attacking, so why bother keeping the cameras? (Oh, right. Skeptic’s whole thing is cameras and information/disinformation. Skeptic for second-most screwed-by-the-anime MLA member.)

Additions

• Showed Toga having stood back up somewhere during Shigaraki’s explanation of their throw-Machia-against-the-MLA plan. A simply appalling choice. In the manga, she stays crouched down by Twice the entire time Shigaraki has his mask pulled off, because Toga cares about reassuring Jin-kun when he’s in a bad way.

• Rephrased Compress’s dialogue somewhat, also giving him a new line about the MLA’s forces in Deika when the League was still in the hills looking down at the city: “The so-called Meta Liberation Army has a force of 110,000 here.” I assume it was because the scene falls in a different episode than the tactical discussion did (in the manga, they’re the same chapter), so the anime was reminding the viewer of the stakes, but it’s potentially awkward because, er, no, the MLA categorically did not bring their entire army to Deika. We’ll find out as much for sure later, with the note that the regiment advisors weren’t in attendance because they were occupied at the bases they command, but even with only the knowledge we have here, Re-Destro’s statement about his numbers is that they’re scattered all over the country—hence the shot of Japan with a bunch of lights scattered across it to represent said numbers.           That said, to be (briefly) charitable, there’s no particular reason for the League to assume that, and they did discuss the possibility that there were going to have to fight 110,000 people. So it makes sense that Mr. C might state as much when recapping for the audience.

Chapter 225 – Interview with a Vampire

• Re-Destro talking about Deika’s geography and why they chose it strategically. The anime dropped so much about the MLA’s planning and information-gathering beforehand; it really made the MLA look ludicrously overconfident. And while they don’t lack for that trait, certainly,[2] this is also an organization that has meticulously grown its membership for generations right under Hero Society’s collective nose; you don’t get to where they are by being unduly foolhardy. Erasing so many scenes demonstrating their caution and forward-planning undercuts the threat they represent to both the League and society at large.           Also too, the descriptor of Deika as a nice, quiet, isolated little town in the mountains gives us some hints about how the MLA has avoided notice for so long, when you consider how the Hero business works: because so many people who get into heroism want to make it big, like celebrities, they don’t want to stick around small-town beats, and so the rural areas are understaffed.[3] That’s presumably why groups like the CRC and the MLA grow their numbers out in the boonies: much less attention from the Powers That Be. You can guess at some of that from how Spinner describes the place—“not too small, not too big”—and what Trumpet says about the percentage of the population that’s MLA, but RD adds that key “isolated” descriptor, and says that it’s a place where they “lay low.” That gives us some potential insight into how many—likely the majority—of the MLA came to their beliefs: by being raised to them, because their hometown was infiltrated by the MLA generations ago and they have literally never known anything else.

• RD’s phrasing, “Counter to point one,” when he makes his second point about the Noumu. He acknowledges that it’s counter-intuitive to his first argument, that he knows it would normally be an argument against that opening point, not in support. It’s just conversational padding, really, but “conversational padding” like that does a lot to distinguish character voice, so that not everyone talks the same way.

• A panel showing a trio of unnamed MLA warriors strategizing about how to divide their forces now that the League has split up. It’s the little cuts like this that gradually remove the agency of unnamed characters, such that they’re left looking like unthinking puppets instead of real people with the ability to register and respond to their circumstances. It also points towards the truth of what the MLA warriors are and one reason they’re so dangerous (for all that the manga itself will neglect this most egregiously later on): they’re trained in regiment tactics and accustomed to working in groups. This contrasts them both with villains, who might group together, but certainly don’t usually fight that way, and heroes, who are so unaccustomed to working in groups that it’s cited as part of the reason to have named super moves.

• Curious’s little pageboy-cut middle school kid line telling Toga to back off when Miss Curious is on the job. This is an early example of how defensive the MLA are of people above them in the hierarchy, an important thing Spinner will pick up on and attempt to use against Trumpet. Again, it’s little moments like this that both add some welcome notes of individuality to the MLA warriors (if only by virtue of Horikoshi and his assistants’ traditional talent for distinctive character design) while also fleshing out who the MLA are as a group, and contrasting them with the League.

• Deleted Toga’s line IDing her “on-the-go suck-suck mask,” but did insert a nice little bit of her expression shifting when she whipped it out. It lost a bit of the self-conscious silliness of her support item name in exchange for a cool little animation beat. I don’t dislike it, particularly, but I am, as previously stated, very leery of edits that make the League more polished in their villainy at the cost of their human foibles.

• Curious’s line about having come prepared to counter Toga’s moves, which was supposed to further reiterate that the MLA has done their research on the League; they didn’t just decide out of the blue to target the most notorious Villains in the country without studying up on them first and planning accordingly!

• Curious’s line about how she’s going to get started with some background info while her people use their meta-abilities to keep Toga and her buddies on the ropes. A marvelously characterful line! It speaks especially to that edge of formality the MLA brass observe that even as she’s ringleading this attack, Miss Curious is still set on going through her interview process step by established step.

Framing Shifts

• Made some of Curious’s lines spoken dialogue instead of internal monologue. That’s probably fine for when she’s waxing enthusiastic about Toga’s lack of hesitation in committing murder or how she’ll use Toga’s story to further the MLA’s agenda. It’s less fine when she’s rattling out the entire name, brand and patent status of her support item for no particular reason when Toga is already halfway through trying to knife her (that’ll be next chapter).

• The anime implied pretty firmly that Curious’s bombers died. And like, yeah, that’s always made more sense than the idea that anyone could survive something like that, but I hate it anyway. For one thing, it makes it even harder to credit the idea that Toga’s still on her feet afterward if Curious’s supposedly not-very-lethal explosions merk all her own people. People in this series survive ludicrous amounts of damage, and these random MLA devotees are no exception! For another, it leans into the narrative that the MLA higher-ups throw away the lives of their minions without the slightest care. It’s a lot harder to make that case when it’s explicit in the manga that Curious’s people survive the blood explosions—the blonde in the tracksuit is unharmed enough to snicker about it, and the noodle chef is even doing well enough to continue attacking! I’ve always been of the opinion that the MLA are, yes, willing to spend the lives of their underlings on attaining goals, if that’s what they think is necessary, but that is not at all the same as gleefully throwing them onto the pyre to watch them burn.

Additions

• Some individual shots of Mr. Compress, Dabi and Twice fending off or fleeing from various MLA types. A nice try on getting the group split up, but it feels kind of budget save-y, when we could have gotten actual animation of those fights instead.

• Inserted a quick shot of a headline about Toga’s first attack as Curious was rambling on about why she’s interested in Toga but not the League in general. Actually a fairly reasonable insertion, given how much text is crammed into her talk bubble in the manga while the dude standing next to her is already getting a knife in the neck.

Chapter 226 – Bloody Love

• A panel of interviewees talking about Toga’s first victim being sociable and popular. It gives a bit of context on what he was like, what people thought of him, but given that we know enough about Toga at this point to know that his popularity was entirely incidental to what she liked about him, it’s not a huge loss.

• The detail of the broadcasted interviews censoring Toga’s name. Considering how Japanese media normally treats minors accused of crimes, this is an eyebrow-raising change—the manga censors it because Japanese media outlets would have done the same. No idea why the anime didn’t, unless it’s another of those places where it would feel too “real,” to have something that so closely mirrors real life treatment of criminals?

• Everything about quirk counseling, and whoo boy, that is a loaded cut. There is exactly one other mention of quirk counseling anywhere in the manga, and, curiously enough, it also comes up in relation to a villain: in the U.A. faculty meeting after the USJ attack, Midnight muses that maybe Shigaraki never received quirk counseling in elementary school. It’s a weird little non sequitur there—exactly what sort of program did she expect could single-handedly make the difference between a well-adjusted adult and a gleefully murderous manchild with aims on killing Japan’s Number 1 Hero? Just over two hundred chapters later, we get a hint: a program designed to fit people “neatly into society’s little boxes.”           Quirk counseling, then, is not about helping children find healthy ways to process their quirks, but rather, about teaching children what is and is not acceptable in terms of quirk use—and as Curious says, Toga’s admiration of blood was never going to be acceptable.[4] This explanation doesn’t just tell us a lot about Toga—that she wasn’t only failed by the hysterical condemnation of her parents, but also by a society that had no interest in helping her if it didn’t see a use for her—but also provides some insight on the viewpoint of the Meta Liberation Army vis-à-vis mandatory state-funded programs that dictate what “normalcy” looks like to impressionable children.           Curious is, of course, not a particularly trustworthy narrator in this, as one might expect of someone who uses language like “society’s little boxes,” but it does track with Midnight’s earlier musing of, “Maybe the anti-social dude never took the program intended to make sure he was a functioning member of society.” That kind of statement—“State-sponsored educational programs are there to program children into becoming unthinking cogs of society, actually.”—is one that it’s all too easy to imagine the people with an eye on broadcast standards taking issue with, even coming as it does from the mouth of a villain.

• Curious’s line, “Let’s turn your death into a legendary tragedy, shall we?” and its accompanying visual of two different papers with imagined headlines. The dialogue doesn’t strike me as crucial—Curious’s fervent belief in Toga’s story is amply demonstrated elsewhere and her intent to turn that story into a legend reiterated in the line immediately following—but it is a shame to lose the headlines. They tell us, in Curious’s own words, exactly the tack she was planning to take in telling Toga’s story to the general public, without the constant namedropping of the Liberation Army that she does when talking about it in person. One headline in particular—The Price of Suppression: A String of Bloody Murders—is an especially useful reference for discussing whether the MLA actually wants, as is popularly claimed, completely unhindered quirk use, even for people like e.g. Muscular who want nothing more than to murder people with their quirks.[5]

• Curious’s initial wait what response to getting Floated, and her people’s focus shifting away from Toga and onto Curious instead. On a surface level, that focus shift helps explain why Toga’s able to zip around the ground and touch nearly twenty people before they even react: because they’re afraid for Curious. It also hurts the ongoing characterization of the MLA rank and file as being fanatically devoted to their higher-ups which, again, is something Spinner is supposed to notice later. It’s the worst kind of plot device if that devotion is completely told to us rather than consistently shown!

• Toga’s internal reflection that she’s seen Ochaco use her quirk, and knows how to use it. It’s obvious from the panel that she knows how to use it, but the manga implies that Toga transforming doesn’t automatically grant her an understanding of peoples’ quirks; it’s only in observation (and possibly love) that she can reach this particular unlock. Leaving out that information leaves open the possibility that she can just do this all the time now, with anybody she transforms into.

• The reaction from the surviving crowd to Curious’s death. See above re: STOP FUCKING ERASING HOW MUCH THE MLA CARES FOR EACH OTHER.

Framing Shifts

• When Toga bolts, Curious in the anime sounded serious, her expression alarmed, like she was actually worried that Toga might escape, even though her dialogue said just the opposite. Maybe you could say that she was afraid Toga would die before she got her statement, but given that she tried to kill the girl herself moments later, I’m skeptical of that claim. Regardless, in the manga, she never loses her smile, and she flashes a Liberation salute as she stands up to give chase. It’s a characterization note, that she’s so wildly confident about this that she never stops being completely enthralled with whatever Toga has to show her.

Chapter 227 – Sleepy

• The last of Toga’s conscious dialogue, about how she’s lost a lot of blood, is fading out, can’t move—but more notably, the way that this state of things makes her feel closer to “them,” that it’s “the same sensation.” And who is “they” here—her victims? The people she loves? More alarmingly, why does the line sound like she’s been this beat-up before, and remembers the sensation? Does that tie into e.g. her comment during the training camp that she doesn’t want to fight too many hero students at once because she doesn’t want to die? Has she actually been subject to this kind of violence before in the past? Does that tie into her still-unexplained ability to erase her presence? It’s an interestingly loaded little line, for being so vague, and illustrative of Toga’s mentality on becoming the people she loves. Which also lets the scene segue nicely into Re-Destro’s observation that, in Toga Himiko’s world, there’s no such thing as “other people.”           On which note, guess what else the anime cut?

• The entire fucking scene where Re-Destro actually reacts to Curious’ death, the motherfuckers. This lost:           1. RD’s talk about the way Toga sees the world and how that led to society casting her out, which he points to as evidence of said society clinging to old ideals even though the nature of humanity itself has changed. It calls back to his methodology with Detnerat, marrying his lines from the commercial to his overarching ideals; it also shows that he understood very well what Curious saw in Toga, and demonstrates that he can express that understanding and empathy even in the face of losing one of his closest allies.           2. Skeptic’s reaction to Curious’s death, which is pretty sparse, but at least present. He says she never should have been on the front lines—an excellent reminder to the people who’re always going on about how the MLA brass thinks themselves so above their followers: Curious was on the front lines, against the wishes of some of her peers!—and calls her a valuable resource.[6] You can theorize about Skeptic not caring for her beyond her usefulness to the cause, or just that Skeptic is a huge autist who processes his emotions differently than most, and isn’t going to stop to do that when there’s still a battle going on, but either way, you need this scene to do it accurately.           3. Speaking of people who process their emotions in unusual ways, as I said above, this scene also shows Re-Destro openly crying over the deaths of Curious and each and every warrior diving into battle with their hopes for the future. They’re not crocodile tears, either. As was the case with Miyashita, there’s no one in this room that Re-Destro would need to perform grief for: Skeptic clearly doesn’t see a use for tears right now, so I don’t see him expecting them from Re-Destro, and the only other person in the room is Giran, a hostage who the MLA—very probably Re-Destro himself—maimed! It’s not like RD’s tears are going to change Giran’s mind about him (indeed, Giran gets a comedic reaction beat at the absurdity of the dude who started all this up here crying about it)! But RD says life is precious and he cries anyway, briefly, before he ruthlessly turns it off.           RD’s valuing of human life—especially his own peoples’ lives—crops up in roundabout ways twice more, both leading the fight with Shigaraki (“It angers me.”) and ending it (“Any more would bring about meaningless death.”). This, though, is when he’s most open about it, to the degree that—as with Machia’s grief—it’s kind of off-putting and strange. Cutting it makes it that much easier for people to get entirely the wrong impression of RD as a character.           4. The delightful scene where Skeptic berates Giran about asking brainless questions and then answers his question anyway. Fuckin’ hell, why cut this?? So much of Skeptic’s character is in this scene! You get moments of his neuroticism later on, but never in so concentrated a burst as this (there’s one other sequence that could compete, but—spoilers—the anime cut that one, too). The exchange also explains the cameras placed throughout the city—which are visually referenced early on—and what the MLA is planning to do with their footage. Without that explanation, the audience has no idea how, exactly, the MLA was planning to use wiping out the League as a springboard for their grand return to the spotlight. That footage is the crucial part of how the rest of the country reacts to Deika in the Endeavor Agency Arc, and the anime never even mentioned it! The audience was just left to assume that all the media came in afterward, not that there was the slightest whiff of footage from the battle itself.           5. Once again brings up Re-Destro’s belief in the power of the heart to move other hearts. We get a bit of that in Curious’s flashback, but here he says it in his own words—as he will also bring it up to Shigaraki. Once again, Shigaraki is going to be challenged about his conviction, which ties back into what Spinner and Ujiko demanded from him earlier in the arc. With so

many people set to be grilling Shigaraki on this front, it tells us again what the arc is for: Shigaraki’s conviction, and him demonstrating it to the people who think he lacks it.

• The panel of Spinner asking how long they’ve been at it and Mr. Compress responding. This line helps manage the pacing, giving the audience an idea how much time is passing as we cut around to different places. It’s also, you know, more cut Spinner dialogue, and shows the beginnings of Shigaraki and Spinner getting split off from the rest by Shigaraki’s sleep-drunk staggering angling him off in a different direction. The rest of the scene is moved to after Toga’s fight with Curious, but not otherwise tampered with.

• The other big reaction to Curious’s death, which is Trumpet using it to rile up the crowd. The group that attacks Shigaraki isn’t just some free-roaming mob—they’re coming at him in a grief-stricken frenzy, which they’ve been goaded into by one of their leaders.           This sequence also introduces the campaign van—a vehicle that will have several more appearances—to events, and hints at Trumpet’s meta-ability. Further, it’s one of the scenes that outright states that the MLA is less an army than a religion, in Mr. Compress’s line about how Trumpet is like a preacher rallying his flock. That understanding—that the MLA may style themselves as an army, but what they really are is a cult—is key to the way the MLA members act, from the very bottom to the very top.

• Trimmed Shigaraki’s flashback down, cutting—among other things—the very first lines Hana speaks, and her namedrop. This moment is the first one Tomura gets back, and the very first thing we find out is that he was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. The anime also failed to identify Shimura Nana’s relation to Tenko/Tomura and Hana—helpful to remind the audience of a plot thread they haven’t heard about since Kamino. It also cut out the silhouette of chubby baby Tenko and Tenko’s first line, asking why Hana’s showing him this, a line which clues us in that Hana was the impetus here, not Shigaraki as he was back then. Still not satisfied, it also cut the phrase, “Daddy said all that stuff,” which is a clear and ominous warning that there was some conflict going on between young Shigaraki and the Father whose dismembered hand he now wears on his face.

• Left the dialogue but cut the silhouette of an airborne Geten with his enormous ice fists coming in hot behind Dabi when he was smarming about it not being his style to take the pacifist route. It’s not crucial, since we see the fists again shortly (it’s the end of the chapter page, whereas the anime rolls right on into the continuation of the scene), but it’s a shame, since framing Dabi from below with this sudden presence behind him is a much more fun, dynamic angle than the dead-boring medium shot the anime used. Also too, it’s good foreshadowing for the fact that Geten can fly, since he certainly didn’t get that kind of air by jumping off the roof of the mini-mart across the street.

Framing Shifts

• The crowd attacking Tomura came at him from the back of the shot, whereas in the manga, they’re surging forth from the front; that is, the anime had Shigaraki between the crowd and the POV of the viewer, whereas the manga has the crowd interposing between the viewer and Shigaraki. It makes a huge difference in the impact! Running up from a nebulous background distance, the crowd looked small and futile. Crossing directly in front of the viewer as they attack Shigaraki makes them look like the crashing human wave that they are. But, you know, coming in from the front would mean they’d have to be animated with more detail, and again, Episode 109, more than any other episode in the arc, clearly didn’t have the budget to spare on such things.

• The moment Shigaraki first uses the spreading Decay is horrifically clear in the manga. It’s full of speed lines, Shigaraki moving so fast he decays a dude mid-word, but the impact itself is spread over two pages. We watch his hand literally cleaving through the leading attacker’s face, and then are encouraged to linger on the oversized panel below, the intricately drawn crowd, full of individual faces, still intact on the left, scattering to dust on the right, all fully lit, with Shigaraki—still drawn with speedlines to emphasize his movement—the focal figure in black at the center.           The anime rendered this moment in two stills—Shigaraki’s hand about to hit the lead attacker’s face, and then the crowd already decaying. There was virtually no movement to it, the crowd was so heavily silhouetted against a glare of daylight that it was difficult to tell what was going on, and the moment stayed on screen for only two seconds before Shigaraki landed and threw up, both actions favored with more animation than one of the signature moments of the entire arc. Hell, it even left the walls on either side of the alley intact, when the manga shows them dissolving into ash as well, decay traveling through the ground in a deadly, destructive radius around Shigaraki’s attack.           The anime ever-so-graciously allowed Spinner his line to explain to the audience what just happened, but I think that’s mostly because it would be genuinely difficult to parse if he didn’t. It also gave him a flashback to what we had literally just seen, except this time it wasn’t silhouetted for some reason, so at least the audience got another chance to look at it, I guess?           “Am I seeing things? Just now, his decay effect spread to people he wasn’t even touching!” Well, I guess we’ll have to take your word for it, Spinner.

Additions

• A quick shot of a camera, there and gone almost too fast to register. I want to compliment the anime for adding a camera back in, since it removed the shot of the cameras earlier, but honestly, given that it cut all the scenes about how and why the MLA was gathering footage, I really don’t know why it even bothered. Also too, the camera was gone so fast it felt more like a marker for a scene change—which it also was, segueing the scene from Toga collapsing (only to cut back to her later staggering down an alley) to Spinner and the rest still trying to hold their own—than it did something the audience was supposed to really notice.

Chapter 228 – Wounded Soul

• Twice in the opening pages left out scattered members of the MLA that were around for the start of the Dabi/Geten fight. Leaving them out raises the question of where all the people attacking went, but it’s also the first demonstration that Geten is a danger to his own allies. We don’t see any of them dying on-panel or anything, but we do see them having to dive frantically out of the way because Geten demonstrates no care to the collateral damage of his attacks.

• Cut a small flashback, presumably from Twice’s perspective, of finding the site where Toga and Curious’s fight concluded. You can see the ground covered in blood, and a body that looks a bit like Curious if you squint (distinguishable by the sleeves of her jacket), as well as a small group of people kneeling on the ground in various poses suggesting mourning and a paying of respects. Yet another shot demonstrating the depths of care these people have for their leaders, that they’ve completely let the battle fall by the wayside in favor of their grief.

• Drops the “those zealots” phrase from Twice’s, “I’ll rip those zealots limb from limb for this!” line. Damn, the anime really was determined to erase everything that even hints at the Liberation Army being something much creepier and more damaging than just an underground militia, huh?

Framing Shifts

• For all my complaints about the material, I generally like the voice acting quite a bit. I don’t love the first exchange between Dabi and Geten, though. It’s not a fault of the voice actors themselves, but rather the delivery. Geten was very cool and level-headed throughout, which is all right to a point, but he’s a gremlin under that troll parka, and this fight is where we hear him as close as we ever will to how he is before the multi-layered humbling he’s subject to over the course of this fight. It’s a bit of a shame to play him totally straight, without any of the snark he’s so clearly capable of—and without the tick upwards in vehemence his talk bubbles indicate in his last lines.           Meanwhile, it’s fine for Dabi to get more heated as the scene goes along, and indeed he does, but he also plays it pretty cool at first. You can tell in the shape of his talk bubbles that he’s completely unruffled during his delivery of that, “Consider this a freebie, just for you: ice melts,” line. The anime had him raising his voice for it, and it just loses a lot of the humor of Dabi’s own snark to have him yelling it instead of just laughingly stating it, voice barely raising enough to give his talk bubbles some straighter lines instead of being all undisturbed curves. (For comparison’s sake, it’s about the same level of angular as Geten’s, “You’d best not think your little campfire can melt my ice!” line, but the anime had Dabi shout his line, while Geten continued at the same unperturbed volume he’d maintained since the beginning.)

• As with Shigaraki’s first mass decay, the shot of Geten’s ice dragon did not make the impact on me in the anime that the manga did. I think it’s mostly the way the ice was colored? The claw’s pretty good, but the head looks blobby and indistinct, more like blue soft-serve than the shifting, sharp-edged, brilliantly bright sculpture-in-motion of the manga.

• Twice’s voice actor did his best to sell the scene of him finding Toga, but I wish they’d kept that tight close-up on his mouth when he says, “Give it up. The girl’s dead.” They animated him leaning closer to the camera, but that doesn’t have the sharpness of that sudden cut to being right there on his lips, like some malevolent thing is using them to speak words so terrible that they can’t even be associated with the rest of his face.

                                                          ---

Come back next time (and hopefully in less time) for Part Three, Episode 110: Sad Man's Parade.

FOOTNOTES

[1] We would, of course, have an even clearer idea of that had the anime not cut the scene of Spinner shouting in Shigaraki’s face.

[2] It seems particularly strange to me that Curious and RD both mention quirk evolution as a thing they know can happen in extreme circumstances, but didn’t predict that backing the League into a life-or-death corner might provoke one or two members to undergo exactly that evolution.

[3] Mount Lady is the obvious example, but you can look to places like the island in Heroes Rising, too: one hero, and when they retired, a group of high school kids had to go sub in for a while until a replacement could be arranged. It’s not like retirements just happen overnight; the Commission had to have known it was coming. Still, they had to scramble to find someone. It doesn’t suggest they had anybody just champing at the bit to take the post, you know?

[4] In Chapter 140, we see a young Tamaki Amajiki in a class called “quirk training.” It’s uncertain how connected this P.E.-like class is to quirk counseling, but Toga wouldn’t have been getting much help there, either, seeing as it’s all about figuring out how to use one’s quirk in a way that’s “useful to society.” I can think of some ways, but nothing that I expect would be very popular or liable to be explained to a grade schooler in a country with as long a history with ritual cleanliness as Japan. To a Shinto mindset, Transformation isn’t just off-putting or unhygienic; it’s spiritually unclean.

[5] The answer there being, no, obviously not, or Curious wouldn’t, in all apparent sincerity, be trying to characterize Toga using her quirk to murder people as an undesirable outcome, a cost society is paying for its current stance on quirk use. Yes, you can gather that much from her calling Toga a tragic girl, and Re-Destro concurring later, but listen, I will take every line I can get that I can use to push back against the wretchedly widespread idea that the kid whose name means Apocrypha is the be-all-end-all source on MLA ideology, somehow more reliable and trustworthy than every other MLA character combined, including Destro himself. I would very much like it if the anime had not deleted a bunch of my talking points while making good and sure to leave all Geten’s most damning lines intact.

[6] Not that an anime-only person would fully understand why some random reporter was all that valuable a resource, since the anime cut the explanation of what Curious actually does for a living.

[popculturebuffet]

Talespin: Plunder and Lightning Review: Spin It! (Comission for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy people! SPIN IT, HO HO HO HO LET’S BEGIN IT, as it’s FINALLY time to talk about TaleSpin, what I consider to be the best of the Disney Afternoon’s funny animal stuff (Gargoyles is in a class by itself and thus I feel it’s unfair to judge what i’ve seen of that against everything else)  I still love me some Darkwing Duck and to a point the original DuckTales and I haven’t tried Chip N Dale yet but out of the three TaleSpin just alwasy spoke to me. While as I admitted in a recent house of mouse review i’ve never been all that attached to the Jungle Book, it’s weird AU spinoff where Baloo is a devil may care seaplane pilot, has a loveable kid sidekick, works for the bear version of Rebecca from Cheers, takes care of her adorable kid, goofs around at Louie’s bar and deals with wacky air pirates and a badass buisness version of shre kahn whose funko sits lovingly between my ones for kingpin and ash williams? Sign me the fuck up. 

I admit i’ve only watched a handful of the show, but it’s always a delight to enjoy and I kick myself for not having watched more. So getting paid by Kev to revisit the pilot was a treat and paid for my nieces birthday present. It’s a two fer. Thanks Kev! If you’d like to comission your own reviews please hit up my ask box or patreon. 

Plugs now out of the way there’s another special reason i’m spinning into this show besides sheer love for it: see Kev has, for almost the entire time he’s been comissoining stuff, wanted me to review the Disney Adventures 5 part comic “Legend of the Chaos God”, which took all 5 of the main Disney Afternoon Shows, Talespin, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Ducktales and Darkwing Duck, and crossed the mover.. sadly not all at once , as far as I know no one from any of the shows crosses into the others, but all facing the same deadly foe. The catch was he also wanted me to wait till i’d reviewed the pilots of each show since I was accidently slowly doing that: I did darkwing duck last year, and ducktales and goof troop this year for a patreon stretch goal. So he graciously agreed to comission the last two and then chaos god since I had some space between his weekly reviews before his next paid retrospective in october... if your curious. 

So be ready for that. Point is it’s time to delve into the last two bits of the Disney Afternoon before we get to one of it’s most famous magnum opuses so join me under the cut as I spin it, begin it and bear and grin it because you can only win it when you spin it spin it spin it and take a look at the four part pilot of talespin!

Behind the Scenes:

I don’t have as much making of stuff as I did for Goof Troop but the story of Talespin is still engagingly nuts. 

See series creators Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove were tasked with coming up with a new show for The Disney Afternoon. As the deadline approached though they had nothing.... so Magon, thinking about how the Jungle Book had been recently re-released, thought “hey what about something with Baloo since kids like him and he’s a good character’. This quickly escalated as, since aeiral hyjinks and cargo delivery had done well when it copped up on ducktales, why not have a whole series about pilots, base it in an area much like the then recent adventure show tales of the gold monkey, a 30′s and 40′s archapelgo full of adventure, and the rest is history.

They built up from there giving him an impressionable kid to be a half-assed parent too in Kit, a foil in Rebecca (who they modelded after Rebecca from Cheers), added in a cutsey little girl because network, and wildcat based on a drunk pilot from a film i’ve never heard of. Shere Kahn was later added as a buisnessman, Louie as the propeiter of a neutral zone bar, and Kaa and bashera were told to fuck off they don’t need them. I actually don’t know why the two never showed up in Talespin, they may of just not had room I don’t know, though a pilot resembling the latter does show up in the first episode. 

So with that out of the way let’s take off 

Part One:

Part one opens with a daring raid on a Pilot working for Shere Kahn by the ruthless Sky Pirates lead by the fearsome Don Karnage

Close.. it’s the ORIGINAL Don Karnage, father of this one. Yeah Tailspin is one of two cases in DuckTales 2017 where instead of rebooting the concept from the ground up, they just outright say “the original show happened in some form”.  So much like Goof Troop ALL of this is likely canon to DuckTales 2017 at most simply being updated here and there to account for being set 25-7 years in the past of present day, meaning it took place in the mid90s instead of the 30s. 

Karnage was after a small box and successfully takes it.. only to loose it to a young member of his crew, one Kit Cloudkicker who sasses him before running off and then cloudkicking his way out of the ship, i.e. using a custom board to navigate the clouds. 

He ends up at Louie’s. As mentioned Louie’s is a neutral zone for the various forces of the Tailspin Universe, where pilots can come to relax, have some TOTALLY NOT ALCHOHLIC JUICE, and party down with Louie, based on King Louie but no longer wanting to conquer the world in a sea of fire. That we know of, for all I know he’s buildling a massive flamethrower in the back and it backfiring is why he didn’t show up in Ducktales 2017. We don’t know Louie’s life. Point is it’s here we meet our other hero, Baloo, who honestly hasn’t changed mcuh: he’s still about havin ga good time, avoiding responsiblity and what not, ik’ts just here instead of being understandable because bear, he comes off as a slacker 30 something year old man who needs to grow up slightly. Basically the Jake Peralta of the skies. 

So naturally here comes a little 10 year old moppet to warm his heart and change his life.. instead of an elderly gay black man who becomes his new dad. Look everyone has their path in life, I can’t help if Baloo got the short end of the stick. 

Baloo however not only takes to the kid interupting his groove well, but protects him from a random asshole and instantly adopts the kid> That is the second fastest adoption i’ve seen in animation history. The first well...

Look no one beats donald at rage, self pity, sucking at life or adopting children. It just can’t be done. 

Baloo gladly takes the kid with him even when the pirates come, with Kit stashing the loot and making a daring escape. .as you do. Our heroes escape, and Baloo takes Kit back home with him.

What I like about this episode is that it shows off BOTH sides of baloo easily: it shows how carefree he is at first, but also shows how, kind, warm and loving he is with his rescue of kit.. and then shows what a mess of a person he is by showing his messy home. Just like you could see what a mess of a person I am just by looking at my room. It’s just how life works.  But Baloo’s got bigger issues than clutter as he has tons of unpaid bills and notices of said bills.. which comes to roost when a weird little man tells him he has till the end of the day to pay said bills, which he’s ignored by not going home for several weeks a solid strategem, or they’ll take his plane, aka the only thing he’s cared about in life up to an hour ago. 

So to save Baloo’s plane wife he needs to take a job, as he’s a work for hire seaplane pilot. And to get the money needed to not loose his baby, he needs to take the worst and most lucative job avaliable: transporting gorilla birds, noisy super loud birds that don’t shut up. So imagine a plane full of the Three Cablleros version of Daisy, and you understand the hell our heroes are dealing with. 

But the pirates attack, and have been attacking with baloo finally putting two and two together....

Oh and that their clearly after Kit for some reason. Still that’s tabled as Kit gets sore that Baloo cares so much about his plane getting damaged and runs off. 

I mean it’s just kinda there to create conflict. It’s not the most guilty of it in this pilot but still. 

So Baloo goes after him, lettnig the birds get loose and loosing his job if it means saving his buddy, a father and son relationship is forged and our heroes escaped. Baloo finally confronts kit about his treasure and after some incredulity finds out it’s a jewel.. and thus he could buy a whole FLEET of planes with that kind of money. 

Before we move on i’m saving the voice actor introductions for the end of the first two episodes, both for time’s sakes.. and because I forgot to thread them throughout the first episode. 

So Baloo is played by Ed Gilbert. They tried to get Baloo’s original voice actor, but the man’s age had affected his timing and it would be hard to get him out where they were recording so they let him enjoy retirement and brought in Gilbert. Gilbert is a minor voice actor having done some supporting rolls but is best known for this one... and for his work in etemology in which he descovered a new form of Beetle. I’m entirely serious, and find it a very notable and noble persuit good for you dude. 

Kit is voiced by RJ Williams, who was a child actor but went on to be more of a mogul owning a bunch of media companies. Again good for him , but a genuine suprise. 

Don Karnage and Louie are voiced by the one the only Jim Cummings who had it in his contract back then to show up in every disney series at the time: He voiced El Capitain in DuckTales,  Montery Jack in Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers for the pilot i’ll be covering later this week and seasons 2 and 3 replacing Peter Cullen,  Darkwing Duck as his breakout role and of course Pete in every disney production from Goof Troop until the day he dies. He also did some smaller work for gargoyles just in case you thought he missed one of the big ones. I frankly miss the days when he showed up in every disney show that came out and hope he appears in owl house or amphibia before both shows end this year. 

Part 2:

So naturally having an instant solution to his problems... Baloo instead naps all day and wakes up to the new owner barging into his house. I’d mock him more but I also sleep all the damn time so glass houses, throw stones, you get it. 

The new owner is Rebecca Cunningham, a naive go getting young woman whose trying to make something of the buisness and thus sunk all her money into a plane and the shop, so she also owns baloo’s house/office. She brings along with her her adorable as a button daughter Molly, who instantly endears herself to Baloo. Baloo also introduces Becky and the audience to his mechanic to get her goat, Wildcat, a scatterbrained cat who nonetheless is a mechanical genius and proves himself despite Becky’s skpeticisim. He was based on an alcholic pilot from some film i’ve never heard of, and knowing that puts Wild cat in a whole other light.

While Baloo is getting a rude awakening, we cut breifly to Kahn industries where we meet the best part of this already great show, Shere Fucking Kahn. In the movie if I undrestand right he was a powerful, cunning, nightmarish villian. Here he’s still every bit as pants crappingly intimidating and using an heir of class to mask it slightly, some things never change.. but is now instad of king of the jungle, king of cape suzette, owning countless companies, being richer than god himself, and being far from helpless in a fight.. he just rarely has to get his hands dirty. He’s a wild card: sometimes he’ll be the obstacle our heroes need to overcome, other times he’ll be their client, sometimes he’ll be int he middle like he is here, not HELPING them but not actively against them neither, just a force of nature that helps move the plot along and looks damn fine in a suit. 

So while we wait to find out what it is, our heroes first have to go get it, bullshitting rebecca by agreeing to tow the line and what not, while really planning on darting to louies during thei rnext job to fetch the gem, have Louie apraise it, cash it in somehow, then come back with a succesful job done AND the money to buy the plane back. This does miss some steps such as “what if rebecca dosen’t WANT to sell the plane” and “how will they sell it” and “what if she gets supecious with the time”, but if planning ahead was something Baloo could do well, he wouldn’t have to buy his plane back in the first place. 

They soon find an unexpected complication, Molly who not only stowed away on the Sea Duck but also threateans to rat them out if they go back right away. Not having a choice and with Louie’s being safe enough as it’s not happy hour nor baloo’s week to get blackout drunk, our heroes head back. There they have Louie appraise it. And let’s face it this isn’t the weirdest thing he’s appraised. 

He finds out it’s artifical which should be an issue.. except the box says Kahn Industries so they can make a tidy sum giving it back to the guy. 

After the fact their persued by the pirates who haven’t given up just yet. A scuffle insues, and Baloo cleverly uses their cargo, a bunch of fruit as child friendly ammo since sadly you coudln’t flame thrower a wolf to death back then. Now though stabbin a child, aging a guy to death, showing glomgold shirtless i’ts the thunderdome, they’d let Baloo put a grenade in one of the pirates mouth and pull the pin out. It’s awesome. 

So with that Baloo returns home and naturally gets dressed down by Rebecca, but Molly covers for them, botha dmitting to stowing away and that baloo saved her, bonding the group. So they settle in for the night and it’s all wholesome but Baloo and Kit sneak awya, leaving the gem in molly’s doll. 

Shere Khan.. is a man of honor and reason and thus isn’t put off by them not having the jewel on them, as he gets negotiations, and is willing to pull a dumptruck of money up to baloos house for his services. Baloo is naturally exastic goes back.. and finds the place ransacked. See this is why you take the jewel with you and just hide it under the boy’s hat or something. Less kidnappings that way. 

Okay quick voice actor breakdown

Rebecca is played by Sally Struthers , best known by me as Babette from the Gilmore Girls, but also known for all in the family and dinosaurs. The fact I coudln’t recognize it was her speaks to her talent as an actress and voice actress, though weirdly this and Dinosaurs are her only starring voice works. 

Molly was voiced by Janna Micheals, a child actor whose since retired and hasn’t done a lot of note outside of this. She was in Bushwacked so.. that’s something. 

Wildcat was voiced by Pat Fraley, a va i’m less familiar with than most storied va’s but he’s got a hell of a career. Just looking at wikipdiea he has a giant list of credits, most for “additonal voice” and smaller parts but his vocal flair is notable. His biggest and most recontlizable role is as the TMNT 87 versions of Krang, Baxter Stockman and Casey Jones and he’s got my full respect. Anyone whose played Beta Ray Bill gets that automatically of course but Fraley gets it for being a workhorse in the buisness and a damn nice guy. 

Finally we have a compete and utter legend in Tony Jay. If you grew up in the 80′s, 90′s or 2000′s, you know this voice. Even after you probably have.  In addition to Kahn he’s the voice of Frollo, Megabyte, Galactus, Lord Dregg, Chairface Chippendale, The Magic Mirror, Dr. Lipschitz, Spiderus, Rex Smythe Higgens, and Lickboot. He’s also done live action work but my point is the man is the voice of my childhood and is sorely missed. No one could play a villian or narrate something quite like Tony. 

Part 3:

Now back to our reguarlly scheduled pirates. So Baloo and Kit get to work trying to find their friends, with Kit’s past giving them an advantage as he knows something all of Cape Suzette dosen’t: where the pirates lair is. And it makes sense: if their lair were a known secret Kahn would’ve sent a battalion over to wipe them out by now. The show’s also clever in having it be under a waterfall so even know the heroes KNOW where it is, it’s not somewhere that can easily be bombarded: easy to exit, not so easy to enter, perfect hideout

We also get a great emotional scene with Kit as he explains his past: He was an orphan, left to fend for himself and joined the pirates because he had no where else to go, being utterly ashamed of being part of them. Baloo comforts the boy which is both heartwarming.. and makes what’s about to happen immensley frustrating. 

So our heroes sneak in, rob some pirates for their clothes and disguise themselves, going in to save becky.. just as Becky flirts with a guard, takes him out, get shis keys and frees herself, because despite being a bit naive.. she’s still every bit as badass as her employee. 

The two sneak around and find out the pirates big plan and plan for the jewel: the jewel as it turns out is a super battery, something that holds enough energy to power all of Kahn’s many buisnesses for free. The reason there’s only one is simple: it was expensive and harrowing enough to make ONE, the scientests reasonably feel, as they told kahn in an earlier scnee i glossed over, they can’t produce another. 

Don Karnage plans to use it like any resonable man would: to make a giant LIGHTNING GUN and use it to fry the formidable defenses of Cape Suzette, a bunch of turrents kahn keeps staffed every hour that can blast apart any plane that isn’t welcome, as demonstrated in an earlier scene I genuinely forgot to mention because my memory is a styigian bog sometimes. 

Cue a big musical number, which Cummings naturally nails with Desi Arnez flair, but sadly our heroes can’t escape the rythum or the pirates and get captured. Which brings us to the dumbest part of this 4 parter and the only real story cul de sac: With Karnage threatning Baloo and Rebecca, Kit makes a sacrifice: He puts on an act claming the other three mean nothing to them, he was just playing them the whole time and rips the head off molly’s doll to give it to karnage, givnig him the jewel back. This itself isn’t bad: Kit is forced to stay behind in a place he hates to save the people he loves and I buy that Karnage would buy it as Kit feeds into his own ego and frankly it gives hi mthe gem back so what does he care. Kit pushes away the people he loves.. to save them from his past and it’s heartrending. 

See.. that’s not the dumb part. The dumb part is baloo FULLY buys the act. Hok line and sinker. Thinks Kit betrayed him and washes his hand of the boy depsite Rebecca INSTANTLY figuring kit didn’t betray them. And Kit.. just didn’t do enough to really sell it. if he’d really said something hurtful to baloo or done something bad but at most he called him a sucker and again, given context, it should be easy to figure out that you know, he was faking it to save their collective bearskin. Baloo is smarter than this and the pilot didn’t bother setting up any emotional baggage to  make this credible. 

It also spoils what SHOULD be the emotinal cliffhanger of the episode: Baloo buys the plane back, having both swiped the deed earlier and making sure to give becky some treasure as compensation showing he’s a good soul before flying off into the unknown. But instead of Baloo abandoning his future to embrace his carefree ways it comes off as an ass basically stealing a plane in the nicest way possible, abandoning a woman who wants to help him and her young child, and leaving a child in a cave because he bought a fucking 9 year olds ploy to save his fucking life. 

Part 4: So we’re finally to the finale of this four part as the Air Pirates begin their assualt with the LIGHTNING GUN and decimate cape suzette, taking out the guns (the gunners flee for their lives because disney again wasn’t willing to get blood on it’s hands yet and deer blood didn’t count), and threatning to destroy the city.

In said city Rebecca is trying to find another pilot and comfort her child but finds herselft stuck in the storm instead. Kit’s no better off, stealing the gun’s gem the first chance he gets.. and getting caught meaning he’s on borrowed time till they catch him and skin him. And Baloo?

Burying his depression in a party hole the same way I do in a nintendo switch hole. Did you hear we got a castlevania advance collection today? Maybe once I can afford that it’ll help fill the void inside!

Anyways, kit sends a distress signal to whoever and Baloo FINALLY pull shis finger out of his ass, realizies “gasp” the child was lying to him to save his life and goes to save him with a daring aerial rescue and a heartwarming reunion.

Thankfully with that nonsense done we can get into the thick of it so Baloo can.... try to convince everyone to run away and let Cape Suzette burn to the ground. 

It takes everyone else deciding no Baloo we won’t let people die and the city we all live in burn to a crisp to save our own asses, let’s save them. Rebecca being the only one of the team with a brain cell has a plan thoug: rubber! Since they have a bunch of tires from a cargo she was going to deliver, they can coat the Sea Duck in rubber, thus making it lightning proof, with everyone riding along

This being a cartoon that science does check out and our heroes are thus resitatn to Karnage’s best weapon, forcing him to rely on fighters which can’t outbadass a bear and thus crash. Still the heavy resitatnce forces Baloo to take drastic measures and our hero has the others bail out.. so he can dive bomb the lightning gun himself. As Shere Kahn elquonetly puts it, “Now that.. was a pilot”.  Side note I want to fuck a tiger man. 

So we get yoru standard death fakeout and while Baloo surivived, his common law wife didn’t and the sea duck is dead... until the next day where it’s been resotred, Becky having used the money and the druken cat what sleeps under baloo’s house to fix it... and kept ownership again. So Baloo agrees to stick around till he can buy it back, though even he dosen’t seem to buy that, and our heroes head off into the blue to have wild adventures for another 60 or so epsiodes till Kit eventuallyg rows up and this story repeats all over again only with more john caprentery-body horror and a bunch of ducks. But that’s a story for.. earlier this year. 

Final Thoughts: Plunder and Lightning is an excellent pilot that fully sold me on the series both times. It’s adventerous, has some good slapstick, and sells just how great the cast is and introduces all of them perfectly and with good rythum, only taking two episodes to bring everyone in, much faster than both other 4-5 part piots and then letting them bond naturally enough to have an emotional connection. The anmation is fucking breathtaking, taking a page from the the Myazaki manga that would become the wonderful film Porto Rosco, seriously check it out it’s amazing and I will be covering it some day, and holds up shockingly well, the voice acting is top notch. Everything just comes together for a perfect storm of adventure, fun and awesome in the classic disney manor. The best of the pilots i’ve seen thus far. We’ll see with Gargoyles some day. Probably next year. Next time, some crimes slip through the crack, but these two, gumshoes, have your back. It’s c-c-hip n dale baby! If you enjoyed this review consider commisioning your own or checking out my patreon. It’s been a pleasure