#i think emmet is charming on the second one

[cheesecake801]

I colored a sketch of our precious little twins, look at those cuties !! Also have some sketches

(still figuring out how to draw their hair without the hats)

[choochooboss]

Sketch dump! Vol. 5

September 2022 (Part 1/2)

The first piece on top summarised my cosplay rush for Tracon 2022! The second is an old idea for a charm.

"SURPRISE!!"

Back in 2022 I hosted an art raffle for reaching 777 followers on Twitter! The winner would get their submas themed idea realised (which was their friends throwing a surprise party for the twins!). I wanted to make a little comic and have the bosses walk in their office where depot agents, Elesa, Drayden, Skyla, Clay etc. would be waiting with decorations and treats and games.

Emmet is all smiles of course while Ingo gets so emotional he could only whisper a "super bravo".

Not really headcanons anymore but still funny ideas.

1. Emmet gets clumsy when off-rhythm! He starts walking in curves if there is nobody else around to match his rhythm with.

2. Emmet spaces out/forgets to say things aloud when someone speaks too long or when things go off-script! His thinking gets interrupted easily.

3. Ingo sometimes bumps into doors because he is too used to automatic doors!

4. When things go off-script Ingo speaks too much and rushes in straight lines"

Also my little inexpensive sketchbook & my trusty tools! Mechanical pencil and eraser pen are life when scribbling my skrimblos smaller than a postage stamp!

More Ingo~ I utilise a wide range of sources for references, including CSP's poseable 3D models, they can come really handy with perspectives and proportions!

The second piece is my very first attempt at cosplay in Tracon 2022: Blingo! I walked in with a sequin hat, leather jacket, leather pants and high heel patent leather boots.

The hardest part of cosplaying Ingo is remembering NOT to smile ahaha!

Some hairstyle tests

I drew these for a huge submas art collaboration over Twitter hosted by @/mimizukeii!! It was technically my first art collab before I started arranging them myself with Aggie/Magma.

While looking for train related songs I found this cute nursery rhyme to go with the marching:

"Over the mountains,

Over the plains,

Over the rivers,

Here come the trains.

Carrying passengers,

Carrying mail,

Bringing their precious loads In without fail"

I wanted to compare these silly twins, planning to do something more silly with them later. Also a sketch of @/fukurow's butler designs I never finished.. The capes compliment them so well, I love them!!

Prequel to this piece! Emmet is so confident in himself he thinks Pierce wants to learn from him but is invited for a duet on the stage instead!!

Emmet has really great voice actors in Pokemas! I especially love how his english VA gives him that bri'ish/posh/sophisticated vibe while also soft and melodic! I know for SURE this VA/Emmet can sing, I can show you later!

One of my favourite sketches!! I wanted to add a bunch of characters in the BG reacting to this sonic blast of emotion over a performance!

Heyyy it's the smile buddies comic!! I really hope Ingo gets to interact with Marnie in Pokemas one day!!

I feel Ingo's eyes in the mirror panel is a little off in the final comic, I meant to keep it softer like in the sketch!

It's Nimbasa trio!! Idea inspired by submas EX uniform colors. Might continue this later!

Some BG tests for this piece! Compositing is hard but absolutely worth the effort, it can make a huge difference in the appeal of your piece!!

Practise piece drawing over a photo I thought was cool! I want to get more experimental with lighting and perspective!

'How's it hanging bro?' Who hung him up there anyway??

Sketch for this arguing scene! Something REALLY BAD needs to happen for them to end up that tense! Even if I want to present them close to the canon material I still want to put them in really challenging situations to see how far I can push their emotions!

Thank you so much for coming all the way down here!! This set was pretty loaded, I hope you enjoyed scrolling through all this ahah!

Previous posts:

Sketch dump Vol. 1: April-June 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 2: July 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 3: August 2022

Sketch dump Vol. 4: July 2022 Part 2

[ratwithhands]

I'm astounded by how many people were interested in the magical boy AU! So sorry for not updating on it, I really didn't think it was that interesting 👁👁💦

This is Emmet's warped uniform, essentially what his fighting form looks like after his soul stones lose sight of Ingo and attempt to work alone. To compensate for not having a battle partner, his weapons and attacks have gotten more aggressive to deal the damage he'd usually get as a pair. His clothes have also lost much of their brightness and charm, getting tattered and shredded, reflecting his own outlook on things trying to fight Team Plasma alone while maintaining his normal routine.

This was fun to sketch! I had a lot of fun with Emmet's coat (especially the coattails!), having it white on the outside and black on the inside added a contrasting backdrop for his body. The torn edges were cool too, I was trying to think of how I could make him look more malicious/unwelcoming and immediately thought back to Princess Kraehe, which is where the wing shape idea came from.

I drew Ingo's warped form several months ago, but now that I finished Emmet, I have to redo him 💀 He actually had two, since his were based on the level of his amnesia. His first one retains much more of his original uniform, morphed to match the clothing of the people around him, but his second one is a completely different outfit, the result of him relating more to his new roles and disconnecting from his past. These sketches are butt ugly since they were meant for drafting, but I'll post them now or they're going forever

The weapons used are a naginata and ōdachi, I might pick different ones later but they felt solid at the time. Hopefully he will be more fabulous after a rework ^^*

[roses-in-the-shade]

For your born in death au, does anybody else know about Ingo? Like Elesa maybe? And if not, how do they react to Emmet gaining a brother over night?

In this case how do the parents react when they find out Ingo is alive now?

Also this au is very cute and cool I like it a lot!!!

Thank you for the ask! And I'm verrrry happy you enjoy my AU!

Ohhhhhhh, boy, oh, boy, the boys' parents are absolutely shocked! And also are now overcome with very, very many feelings! The first one after shock is relief, of course. They had, to begin with, convinced themselves that Ingo had passed on. It was the smallest comfort they could offer both themselves and to Emmet, but that's all it was. A comfort. They were distraught as well when Emmet told them that Ingo was gone without any explanation. It was difficult for them to lose their son all over again for a second time, and then to regain him a second time too lifted a burden off their hearts they had meant to bury away.

The second, well. In the end, it's difficult not to get past how unbelievable it is, to finally meet their formerly deceased son face to face, after years and years of never being able to see the physical evidence of his existence, so it's more disbelief, but they get over that quickly when the full family finally gets to have a group hug with Ingo included. It involves a lot of sobbing, a lot of holding, clutching, cradling, a lot of staring. In the end, everything settles down into simple love and happiness. Their parents are just glad to finally have their other son back, even if it was after a long continuous cycle of hurting and healing for them. They do everything they can to get Ingo settled into his new life in modern day Nimbasa, he has their full support.

On the topic of who knew about Ingo from the start, almost nobody! For the longest time, only Emmet and the boys' parents knew about Ingo. Emmet had a hard time making friends, both in adolescence and in adulthood, so there weren't many people Emmet would end up trusting enough to divulge that sort of secret to, when it finally settled in that he shouldn't go flapping his lips about being able to see his dead brother.

Although. When he was younger and getting help from a small number of special needs therapists, he may have quite possibly blabbed a bit before he started to keep his mouth shut about Ingo. Not that those therapists ever said or did anything about it. That was way above their pay grade. Definitely not their business.

For Elesa, this is something I was a little unclear on. I personally headcanon that the boys only met Elesa later on in life, after getting their careers started. They weren't childhood friends or rivals. What this means for my AU, I believe Elesa never knew about Ingo before his disappearance. Emmet and Elesa were only friendly acquaintances at first, despite Ingo's best efforts to persuade Emmet to interact with her more (Ingo wants Emmet to have more friends). Sometimes Elesa would challenge the Subway for a spot of fun, or sometimes Emmet and Elesa would reference each other on battle tactics, since they both have a fondness for electric types.

I think Elesa would notice how Emmet tended to space out, how he might stare at a specific area to his side, or how she would accidentally interrupt a conversation with nobody every so often. But Emmet would wave everything away as getting lost in his head or just talking to himself to work through things better. Elesa let Emmet brush off her curiosity. They didn't know each other incredibly well, but she let herself assume his eccentricities were just another of his charming points. (She knew better, but it wasn't her place to push.)

Then things went a little catastrophic. Emmet suddenly started a hiring process for a new face to manage the Singles line, and his public appearances outside of his duty to the Doubles line and Multi line began to decline. His cheery exterior seemed to become much less genuine and much more of a front. The media picked up the new gossip, and it didn't take long for Elesa to take notice that things were going downhill.

Elesa reached out to Emmet. Checked in, asked if everything was alright. (He wasn't alright, he would never say. She knew.) She started inviting him to hang out more often. ("It's been a while, Emmet! I want to catch up with you, why don't we grab some lunch together during our breaks in the next few days. Your Joltik project was electrifying to hear about last time, I'd love to learn more!")

Emmet does try to hold her at arms length. At first. But he knew it'd look too conspicuous to keep giving her weak excuses, so he would end up accepting her offers for company eventually. And then he would keep doing it. It's hard to say no after a certain point. With Ingo gone, with how he's isolated himself in his grief and obsession, he's just. So lonely now. So lonely, it's painful. Elesa eased the loneliness a little bit.

But the knife's edge that was Ingo's absence only slipped in further over time.

And one day, Emmet broke down.

When Elesa finds him in shambles in his apartment (after days of no word from him, days of waiting for him to respond to her texts, days of radio silence, why did she wait so long), that's when everything spilled. Emmet told her everything.

Emmet told Elesa about Ingo, and she believed him immediately.

Later, when Ingo comes back, she's stunned. And then his first impression of her upon meeting her again is her impulsive fist to his gut for unintentionally leaving Emmet on his own (and wow, she definitely felt that in her knuckles, he's actually real, she's not hallucinating), and then immediately attempting to aggressively befriend him in a similar fashion to how she aggressively befriended Emmet. Ingo lasts a grand total of five seconds before his kicked puppy demeanor transitions to utterly flustered.

[amaliabalash]

oh look i have more thoughts/things i noticed on the second time. but most importantly, i was wrong about the kiss at the end - just couldn’t see it properly from the angle i was seeing 😂 there was totally a proposal kiss. and uh my bias for watching what emmett does the whole time is real clear from the notes i took today.

- emmet’s eyes go so wide and he looks legit scared when elle first approaches

- when elle says “whoever said tangerine is the new pink” she covers bruiser’s ears before whispering “seriously disturbed” also they changed days of our lives to sex in the city.

- when elle asks if the paper is her social agenda, emmett laughs and then there’s a significant pause before he’s like….no….. and there’s so much i enjoy in this emmett’s delivery that i can’t describe but i’m still gonna try ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- emmett cringes when callahan tells enid that you lesbians are all alike, and i just appreciate that

- again, delivery of the give you ladies a moment line is great, it’s preceded by a comically long pause that just makes it funnier.

- in positive, instead of the fat shaming verse, it’s “what if she’s a violent nut, she might stab me in the gut, with the stick that’s in her butt” (or something along those lines)

- in a rare moment of me noticing background things (because there is no emmett in the scene lolllll), at the party when elle and warner are talking, whitney is CHUGGING a bottle of wine at the awkwardness. then when she notices elle flirting with him, she runs to get vivienne.

- when vivienne is talking down to elle at the party, she flicks elle’s bunny ear and oh damn

- i was mistaken last time, enid doesn’t throw the beer at vivienne, she dumps it over her head.

- “for not weeping at your tale” emmett breaks with a laugh on the word tale/tail in a really charming way and i just really love this emmett. as my wife said, this emmett is cheeky and i love it.

- when he walks into elle’s dorm instead of hello kitty he says “hi barbie” after an extended looking around in alarm

- when he asks her about studying, he looks SO PAINED before asking “you do study, don’t you?” and just groans

- i mentioned before that he does some voices on certain lines, one of them being “the room just got colder” and elle’s response is so smiling and they both just smile so much at each other when teasing (and all the time) and MY HEART

- after elle gets rufus back for paulette, she and emmett have this like slightly awkward wait are we gonna high five or like shake hands or… and then she hugs him and he just looks so awkward like he just does not know how to handle it and gahhhh i love it

- right before so much better, she’s congratulating emmett while everyone else is looking at the list, and at first i thought she was like adjusting his tie but then he like holds up a necklace he’s wearing i think??? so i desperately want to know what little piece of backstory the actors or director brought into this

- during the beginning of so much better when she’s asking all the questions, emmett is there nodding and saying “yeah” in response to each 😂

- when elle starts talking to warner in the song, in the background vivienne is arguing with emmett like she’s telling him it must be a mistake or something, and then vivienne tries to go towards elle and emmett blocks her

- emmett’s eyes widen in a “oh hell yeah she went there” kind of way when elle says it’s better than making love to warner all night

- the look of horror on emmett’s face after he says nutcracker butt, he makes the “her words” comment but just hangs his head in shame and they hold the moment it’s fantastic

- honestly this production lets the jokes breathe so much and it works SO WELL

- “you trust me, don’t you?” “…ehhhhh” smile “of course” they tease each other in such a great way in this production i can’t get over it

- emmett has an adorable scrunchy face of uncertainty before nodding when elle sings “swallow your pride” etc

- each cologne joke, they sprayed emmett in the face

- the looking at at each other throughout that song /dreamy sigh

- i think this is the first production i’ve seen where emmett says “don’t watch me change” to an employee, not to elle. i have no opinion on this either way, just noticed it.

- when brooke says she just likes to watch him clean the filter, elle nods like yes girl i get you 😂

- when elle does the bend and snap, emmett like JOLTS back and upright and looks shell shocked

- warner does a sing song voice when he says “emmett nailed the pool boy” to really bring him how juvenile it is

- elle and emmett are just leaning into each other progressively more before everyone does the cheers/toast and so 👀

- vivienne grows progressively more exasperated with warner throughout act two, and when callahan makes the move on elle and warner is all shitty about it, she straight up yells when she says shut up warner and like shoves him out the door

- the lyric difference in the ballad was “is it too late” instead of “if you can hear”

- i can’t get over how they made it work for elle and emmett to fucking clasp hands over her bag during the ballad without it feeling gross 😭

- at the salon when paulette and kyle are talking about walking rufus, she’s got a customer in her chair just like ???? all kinds of uncomfortable as they talk over him and he made very good face

- when elle tells vivienne “i’m never wearing that again” this time instead of viv saying “she still hates me” or whatever she said something like “is it because it’s from a sample sale” 😂

- the delta nus yell about jury people instead of “it’s so apprentice”

- i appreciated the way brooke said “okay bye” and rolled her eyes and this tells y’all nothing but these notes are primarily for me, so.

- after the trial when warner interrupts elle and emmett’s moment, it’s so clear emmett is like okay fine let’s wrap up this warner thing because elle needs that closure but like. he ain’t worried. and when he’s walking away, he does a hand on warner’s shoulder but it’s basically a slap just THUMP and it made me laugh

- “and his wife hired emmett…” the smirk on emmett’s face A+

anyway i love legally blonde with my whole heart

Legally Blonde at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre

Just got back from seeing the Cabaret's Legally Blonde and so naturally I have to make a text post with every thought and feeling. Bullet pointed stream of consciousness ahead! And I'll be seeing this uh like six more times so I will likely add on to mention other little things I notice and like over time. 😂

This Bruiser was a miniature poodle and very cute.

When Margot is talking to Bruiser, she just held his head and looked into his eyes like she was doing a mind meld and I loved that.

Also, like seven years ago or something, the actress playing Margot played Elle in a youth production of LB that I saw, and it was fun to see her back in the show. She understudies Elle and I hope she goes on one of the times I've there, it'd be a fun full circle thing.

During Blood in the Water, when the students start echoing the phrase, Emmett started and like tried to cue them to do the same? I don't know how to word it lol but it worked for me.

When Elle asks, "who assigns reading on the first day of class?" Emmett across the room starts like reaching out towards her and mouthing "no no no" before grimacing.

Enid throws a beer on Vivienne at the party, which I haven't seen before and was fun as Vivienne runs off stage going "I'm all sticky!"

OG IRELAND LYRICS FTW

During the Christmas part of Chip, Emmett comes in with a reindeer horn headband and I just thought that was very cute.

This Emmett did a lot of like, voices when saying certain lines and it worked for me? I know the actor from many local productions and always enjoy him but he's usually playing character roles, and I enjoyed seeing little bits of that goofiness brought into Emmett.

Major height difference between Elle and Emmett. Most of the time I'm like "yeah height differences are fine" but it made it so if they hugged she's like buried in this chest and yes good I approve.

At the end of Chip right after Elle has her classroom success, Elle and Emmett like lock eyes and walk towards each other and it just felt like a magnetic pull thing until Callahan walks between them, I dug it.

And then when Paulette goes to get Rufus (she goes offstage, because they did not have a dog to play Rufus), again, Elle and Emmett just fucking gaze at each other for a moment before she goes into "is this law?" and I am so here for it.

Holy SHIT Whipped Into Shape. Always impressive to see people hold their own with singing while jump roping, but the first freeze? Forgive the random cheerleader picture for illustration, but the actress playing Brooke held this pose (without the other arm out) for the entire pause on "meet our brand new client Brooke..." through until the hit play again. I've never seen people burst into applause mid-Whipped, but like, you could feel the shock and awe just ripple through the room the longer she held it.

Take It Like a Man: okay first of all they actually put him in a good suit thank the lord, so often it's like "and he looks the same, just in black" but this was a well fitted suit so, A+ costuming, you actually did the job. And Emmett did a clear sort of lean in before Elle hugs him, which isn't anything new, but always great in my book. And when she hugs him, she just buries her face in his chest, I love it.

When Callahan makes the move on Elle, and audience member loudly hissed. 😂

Sadly. There was no Door. However, they DID make it clear that "what about love?" was an aside and not directly to Elle. There was a line change, I don't remember exactly what, so it's not "if you can hear" but something else. But when he's singing about wanting her to stay TO her, she's carrying a bag she's packed and they both reach for the handles and just kind of clasp hands for a moment. ALSO she packs the 2-in-1 shampoo after like hesitating for a moment over it, and that got me right in the heart. Well done.

During the reprise when Elle walks into the supply closet, Vivienne turned to Enid and said "she still hates me, doesn't she?" or something like that and god any little extra bit of Vivienne insight we get I looooove.

After Elle proposes and puts the ring on Emmett's finger, she jumps into his arms and just WRAPS her legs around him, full on star fish cling, I love it. No real end kiss though, which seemed weird? Like they were about to and then went into more singing. I'm not as much bothered by it as confused by the choice but oh well.

Emmett comes out in a hot pink suit for bows.

Okay that's all I got for now. I fucking love Legally Blonde.

[autumn-sweet-fae]

Ok but you don’t know how much I’m in love with Ingo spending time with the little baby sneasle. He’d never leave and he would always be talking to her to keep her calm. He’d keep his voice so quiet and soothing so not to scare her or hurt her little ears. He’d face time with Akari so Sneasler can talk to her too and maybe he’d even play his flute for her. He’d be so respectful to the nurses and other Pokémon. He’d say please and thank you and commend them on doing their jobs so well and he’d just win them all over so easily because how can this man be a criminal he’s so polite.

And when the cops come he thinks maybe they’re gonna turn him in and is like please you can’t let anyone else have the egg only the mother and they’re like “No you’re not getting arrested. We will help you sneak out the back if need be” because at this point they’re invested

This exactly. The man always has one hand on the incubator unless staff directs him otherwise. He is a model trainer and does everything they tell him without question. He’s clearly so deeply worried for her and they can see the heart break if the sneaslet ever cries out for him while the nurses are checking her.

They are just so charmed by this odd wild man and his polite honestly that completely contradicts everything they’ve heard about him. They even bring him a blanket and some food. He tried to politely refuse, not wanting to be any further trouble for them, but they insist. It won’t be good for the baby if their caretaker isn’t also taking care of himself.

Ingo definitely would play his flute to the eggs most nights while they were traveling, but would be worried that playing his flute now in an enclosed room would be too loud. So instead he asks Akari to play hers over the phone since she’s in an open space and he can control the volume of the device.

And yes! They are totally prepared to sneak them out the back! There would first be a tense two day stand off. The authorities only relenting for as long as the sneaslet is in critical condition. The researchers tried to insist they can provide all the medical care it will need if they would just hand it over and arrest the thief, but Nurse Joy would Not Budge.

Center worked round the clock to help the tiny patient, carefully removing parts of the hard shell of the egg while keeping the vital membrane intact. By the time it was finally safe to remove her entirely from the egg it was the morning of the second day. That day was spent working to get her properly healed up so that she’ll not be at risk of an infection and to have her start to drink fluids herself.

They have Ingo helping as much as they could allow. Having him hold her as they worked so that she’ll stay calm, letting him softly talk to her on and on about every little thing, which was mostly either her mother or trains, especially if he and Emmet have their reunion.

Once they finally reached the point where the best care she could get from now on would be from her own mother, with assistance from an experienced breeder such as Ingo, that’s when they start planning the escape.

Side note: I am very tempted to nickname the baby Sneaselet Peanut because then her and her big brother would be Peanut and Jelly.

[r0-boat]

Crying and begging tumblr doesn't eat this fdksajfskfjs OKAY SO I wanted to write more 'Twins stalking MC but MC is into it' bc where I left off on that last post i wrote about it lives in my head rent free. This is just under 6000 words. It's so big i had to send it in 3 parts. I hope you all enjoy. -Dom!Reader Anon ----- (part 1/3)

Anxiously fiddling with your seat belt, you held back a sigh. You were once again in your friend's car, heading home for the night, but your head was filled with thoughts over everything that had happened earlier that evening. 

When you had accidentally seen the twins in your house after coming back for your wallet earlier that day, you hadn't been able to think of anything else. Sure, you technically only saw one under your bed, Emmet, you believe, and felt who you presumed was Ingo grab your hand... 

…But those few moments have been running on repeat in your head since the second you left your house. 

Your heart had barely had any time to slow down, you just got so excited every time you thought about it. You almost felt bad for your friend, who you had decided to hang out with for dinner. They were already admittedly worried for you, and you zoning out after acting weird all day probably only made you look worse for wear. Not that you would tell her so easily, of course. She didn't need to know the specifics of your relationship until something was settled. Hopefully that would be soon. Besides, you just couldn't help it! You had waited oh so long for the twins to make a move, and you were trying to be patient! You even started giving them little shows every so often when you knew the two would be outside your house, watching. But you were nearing your wits end. You may be patient, but even you have your limits. So when you saw Emmet hiding under your bed, and had felt Ingo gently grab onto you, even if it was for a brief moment, you couldn't help but have hope. Maybe, just maybe, they will do something soon. It was certainly obvious now, that you knew the two had been stalking you. They had been at it for months, but they weren't as sneaky as they thought they were. You figured it out fairly quickly. At first, you had been concerned, and a little scared, but after a while, it quickly grew charming. They hadn't done anything to hurt you. If anything, the two of them had inadvertently saved your life a few times whenever they followed you out of the house. You never felt lonely with the two of them watching you, and their little gifts they would leave whenever they broke snuck into your house always made your day.  Wringing your hands together, you couldn't help but smile. You promptly ignored the worried side-eye your friend gave you in response.

Anxiously, you tapped your foot against the floor of the car, and looked out the window. 'What happens now?' you wondered. There were so many possibilities. Once again, you could feel your heart beat increase at the anticipation as thoughts raced through your head. Would they still be at your home? Did they leave? Will they make a move soon now that they have seen you actually know about them, and you like it?

Realistically however, they probably went home not too long after you and your friend had left. They had been incredibly close to being caught by someone other than you, after all. Still, you couldn't help but fantasize the idea of both still being there, waiting for you at home.

Would they be gentle with you, just wanting to talk? Would they be rough, after weeks of pent up frustration? Your mind went wild with possibilities, and as you drew closer and closer to home, your heart rate only grew with your excitement.

Finally, your friend pulled up towards your house, and slowly put the car in park. The silence that followed would have made you anxious, if your mind wasn’t already preoccupied.

“Hey, are you sure you’re okay…?” they asked, rather quiet. You blinked, and looked over to them. They weren’t even looking at you, just staring at the steering wheel intently. Pursing your lips, you took a moment to figure out how to respond.

“...Yes. I’m fine.” you finally spoke, but held back a wince when your friend gripped the steering wheel tight.

“You keep saying that, but after hanging out tonight, forgive me for not believing you. Something seems off, and I’m worried.” they responded, their face tense.

You sighed.

“I promise, I’m not in any trouble, I swear. It’s just…” you began, and ran a hand through your hair before looking away. Deciding to bite the bullet, you came up with a half baked explanation.

“I’m in a new relationship, and I can’t stop thinking about them.” You admitted. Your friend’s head snapped in your direction, eyes wide.

“Wait, seriously?? This whole time, you have been acting like a scatter-brained airhead because you have a secret partner?” they asked, incredulously. You huffed.

‘Technically two partners, and we aren’t officially together yet…’

“First of all, rude. Second of all, yeah. I… Just entered this relationship, but we’ve been flirting for months. And earlier this week,” more like earlier today- “We just kinda, began dating?” you roughly explained. Half a lie, but they didn’t need to know that.

Your friend took in your explanation, their eyes still wide and curious. You held up a hand.

“Look, it’s still new, and it’s getting late. I’m tired. I’ll tell you more about it some other time.” you said, attempting to avoid any annoying questions, and began to unbuckle the seat belt so you could leave the car. As you climbed out of the vehicle, right before you were about to close the door, you looked back at your friend. “I appreciate you and the others being concerned, but uh, could you not tell anyone else at work about this? Like I said, it’s still pretty new, and I don’t want to be the newest talk in the gossip mill.” you asked, letting yourself look exhausted to prove your point. Last thing you needed was your coworkers sticking their noses in your business. Especially since no one even knew who you were dating yet. You doubted any of them would understand your relationship, let alone an actual one with both the Subway Bosses, if it even got that far after today. Your coworkers were awful about gossip and getting into each other’s lives, and the last thing you needed right now was the drama that would follow if this got out before you were ready to deal with it.  Your friend gave you a look, before nodding quickly, a bright smile now on her face. “Of course! Well, congrats! I expect details later! You owe me that at least!” they said, their tone now a sudden 180. You gave them a small smile, and closed the car door. Finally, Arceus, maybe they would stop asking so many questions. Turning and walking towards your house, you felt your heart rate pick up after you heard your friend drive away. It was now dark out, and your house looked incredibly intimidating from where you stood. Once again, you felt your hands begin to shake, and you reached for the knob. Unlocked. Were they still here? Slowly, you pushed the door open, and peeked into the entry hall. It was dark, but no sign of anyone so far. Quietly, you entered, and shut the door behind you. Slipping your shoes off, you carefully walked into your living area. It was dark as well, so you flipped on a light. Your heart sped up for a moment, but you felt yourself frown.

Empty here too.

Anxiously, you began heading towards your room, your heartbeat pounding in your ears the closer you got.

This is where you last saw them. Where Ingo touched you, and Emmet actually looked at you. All inside your own home. Were they still here? Nervously, you felt yourself gulp, and grabbed your bedroom handle. Mentally counting to three, you pushed your door open and flipped on the light.

Staring into the room in tense silence, you noticed a few things.

One, the room was once again no longer how you had left it. Your clothes hamper had been put back into its proper place, compared to how it had been toppled over when you caught the twins earlier that day. Another thing you noticed was how clean your room looked. Not only had the clothes that had been tossed about were put away, but your bed had been made, and your trash thrown out. Despite how tense you were, you felt yourself smile. That must have been an apology for how they had left your room earlier. How sweet of them. Eyes scanning the room, you also looked under the bed, and felt your smile falter. No one was hiding under there, like you had been hoping. You then looked over towards the closet. It was closed. Slowly, you stepped into the room, and put your hand on the closet handle. Once again, you counted down, and opened the closet, only to be disappointed. Empty. Again. You sighed, and closed it. They really weren’t here, were they? You tried not to let the disappointment get to you. Listen. You were tired. You had a long day, and it turned into one of the most exciting ones ever when you had caught Ingo and Emmet in your house, even if you only saw one, and briefly felt the other. You spent the whole evening fantasizing about it, and had your hopes up high that they would be here.

After all, as mentioned earlier, they finally knew you knew.

How could you not be hopeful about it?

Sitting down on your bed, you sighed once more. You couldn’t blame them for leaving, you supposed. They probably expected your friend to come inside after you got home, and didn’t want to risk getting caught twice in one night.

After sitting in silence for a few moments, you stood up, and stretched. You really  were tired, and wanted to head to bed soon. May as well get a shower in so you wouldn’t have to in the morning before work… Besides, you could use a long shower to relax. You could feel knots growing in your back from how tense you were..

Mind made up, you hastily grabbed some clean clothes, and quickly headed into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, you plugged in a nightlight before flipping the lights off. Stripping yourself of your clothes, you briefly waited for the water to warm up, and stepped in.

Groaning as the hot water rinsed down your body, you let yourself sit down on the floor.

You don't do this often, only when you really need to relax. Besides, everything was within reach, and exactly where you left it, cleaning yourself up would be no issue. 

Quickly, you got to work. You wanted as much time under the hot water to sit and relax as possible. 

After cleaning yourself up, you leaned back against one of the shower walls, and let the hot water wash off of you. Humming in content, you slide further down into a comfortable position.

You began to let your mind wander, and made an effort to avoid thinking of your disappointment. Instead, you focused on the positives, and what could be. 

You’re sure they’ll both approach you after this, how could they not? Especially since you practically see them every day at the station. Would they proclaim their love to you then? 

Or would they wait until you’re home alone, like right now, and greet you? 

You bit your lip at the thought. 

If they waited until you were alone, there’s no way the visit would stay innocent. You have waited too long for them to make their move. And you know they have waited just as long, if not longer just to touch you. Especially all those nights they watched you touch yourself and fuck yourself silly with your toys when you knew they’d be watching. 

They had to be just as pent up as you.

Rubbing your thighs together, you reached downward, and ran a hand down your folds. Slowly, you easily slide two fingers in. You could imagine this so easily, with how many times you’ve done so already.

.-.

You would take them to your room, having undressed on the way. You would then start with Emmet. 

Emmet. Sweet, competitive Emmet.

You would shove him onto the bed, lips locking with his as you both desperately touched the other. First just to finally feel the other’s skin against your own. After a while, you both would fall into a rhythm, trying to establish dominance while also trying to give pleasure.

Emmet is competitive, and playfully struggles against you, but eventually you overpower him. He’s breathless, as you pin him under you and straddle his waist, his cock straining in front of you against your pelvis. 

You’d look back, and see Ingo, desperately jacking himself off on the edge of the bed, eyes zeroed in on you. You’d tell him to grab a specific toy and some lube from your drawers. One you know they both had played with a time or two when you left the house alone. He does so quickly, eager to please you. 

He returns just as fast, in one hand the lube you asked for. In the other is one of your favorite straps. 

At the sight of it, Emmet bucks his hips beneath you, and groans. You grin, and ask if that’s what he wants.

“Yes! Please!” He’d barely manage to respond, squirming underneath you. You smile at the sight. 

You reach for the items, which Ingo shakily gives to you. You’d lean in and give him a long, tender kiss, with a promise of more to come for him. Only if he’s a good boy and waits his turn, of course. 

He would nod his head oh so eagerly.

“I’ll be good, I swear!”  Patting him on the cheek and running your thumb over his lips, you'd turn back to Emmet and get to work. Lifting your hips, you put the strap on with practiced ease, before settling lower back between Emmet’s legs. Slowly, you’d get to work on opening him up, easing a lubed finger into his ass.

He’d squirm at first, not used to the sensation. That’s okay, you’d reassure him. It’ll feel good soon, you promise. 

After a few minutes, you’d add another finger, and start working him open, curling and scissoring your digits to loosen him up.  By now Emmet would begin to relax, and start grinding against your hand. He’d make such the cutest noises as he ground himself against you. Soft, almost pathetic mewls that he would most certainly deny making the next morning. It’s so cute. .-. Moaning, you dipped your fingers into your core to the third knuckle, and added a third digit. With a sigh, you quickened your pace. .-. Finally, you’d push a third finger into him, and would curl your fingers juuuust right to make him see stars. “There! Right there!” he’d yell, gripping onto the bed sheets to try and ground himself. You’d grin, and bring your hand to a halt, causing Emmet to practically cry out in frustration. Slowly, you’d put pressure on that bundle of nerves deep in him. “Where, here?” you’d ask, playfully. Emmet would thrash a bit, before nodding with a whimper, too desperate to answer. You decide to make him anyway. “What’s the magic word?” you’d tease. A string of curses fall from his mouth, and you’d distinctly hear Ingo laughing from behind you. Looking up, Emmet would attempt to glare at you, only for you to press down on that spot once again, causing him to throw his head back in a sob. “Please! Please fuck me! Fuck me right there! I can’t take this!” he’d all but come undone. You’d grin as if you’d won the lottery, and decided to grant him his wish. After-all, you know he’d get back at you for this later. Quickly with hardly any time to lose, you’d align yourself up with his entrance. Slicking the strap with lube, you’d slowly begin to push in. .–. (1/3)

If you want them to come out just scream Red Robin Emmet cannot resist :)

[mamamittens]

More stuff for who is now named!

Introducing, Edna Hatch.

Some art and rambly nonsense beneath cause idk if I'll ever get to writing it but it DOES make me happy to ponder instead of stressed so ig we'll see.

Another plot bunny for the pile!

Pseudo trainer pose with Yolky, the unrealized, shiny Togetic who's shockingly as beefy as his trainer. One handed egg-crack style, not sure how well that translates. It was a joke when she was little and now it's legit a habit.

Edna is wearing her work jacket. Yeah, she's got a job now. She always wanted to travel but unless you wanted to battle professionally or coordinate (or breed Pokemon ig), there's not a lot of sustainable options. So when she gets that inheritance and several properties in various regions, she viewed it as the wakeup call to chase her dreams and see the world.

God damnit I forgot the happy egg charm again RIP

Ironically, she now has to learn how to battle because some people are needlessly confrontational when they order shit.

She starts with a shiny Eevee she accidentally picks up (I like her Eevee turning into Sylveon but ig we'll see) with show-dog style training for speed and evasion. Think the weird poles they have to dart around. Very mobile fighter. Yolky is pissed that "new baby" gets to fight so easily. Edna is blissfully unaware until she's forced to tag Yolky in who DEVASTATES the opponent instantly and is SO FUCKING JAZZED TO THOW TINY HANDS!

She has a delibird partner for work who's shiny named Parcel. All packages are required to be held by the delibird as part gimmick part protection. She's basically escorting and handling paperwork for Parcel. And Parcel HAS to be involved in delivery, so if a fight is required, Parcel has to participate.

Champions, elite, and gym leaders are required to provide an alternate time and address to receive deliveries because the staff WILL NOT be forced to do all that to deliver a package lmao

Alas, bosses for battle facilities have yet to be included, so she does have to fight her way to Ingo and Emmet. At the same time because they put "Subway Bosses Ingo AND Emmet" instead of "Subway Bosses Ingo OR Emmet" and upper management are picky bastard about that sort of thing. RIP Edna but she finds out the hard way that her Pokemon are overqualified. The seasoned delibird is literally the weakest of her group.

All professors usually end up with paranoid conspiracy theories about her because of all the dumb shit she ends up involved in. Interpol has a giant ass file and the one time they manage to get a tail on her, it's the most benign delivery despite EVERYTHING. Like, she delivers to Guzma, who failed to provide an address so she ends up fighting several Team Skull members trying to figure out where tf this man is at until she runs into the second in command. Interpol just throws their hands up in frustration.

It's a struggle, basically.

Anytime she finds an egg all alone in like, her room, it ends up being a damn legendary or mythic. First was manaphy. Then somehow Arceus and by that point she's convinced she's cursed or that Arceus is personally fucking with her. It's a whole thing and she hates it lol

Helper is laughing at her so hard all the time, having the time of their life.

It's mostly for the gag but I'd like to sprinkle in soft, genuine moments when it's least expected.

Like, subway bosses make that mistake once and the next time it's cause Emmet is DEEP in his feelings about it ALWAYS being AND not OR cause he never wants to accept his brother is gone. And so Edna has to comfort him and awkwardly call management like "hey, so dudes missing, how TF do I deliver this?" Only to find bullshit stuff finally pays off and INGO AND PLAYER CHARACTER GOES HOME DAMNIT.

Successful delivery.

Edna tries her best to either pawn off eggs to customers in the region or hatch and give the Pokemon to professors to prevent any issues with invasive species.

Low-key want her to get a Toxel in Galar trying to track Leon's ass down with the MOST UNHELPFUL DIRECTION. "Hey, I just fought like, this pissy dragon dude only for find out you're not over here and he gave me your number, wtf are u?"

"oh, uh... In a forest?"

"...got anything more specific???"

"there's a big rock 😃"

".... (Can he still sign if he's dead??? Is that allowed?)"

She's very distressed Toxel makes it look like the egg theme is on purpose and is very happy when he evolves. Low amp, because I love the lazy looking bastard.

Phrasing for fights while working "I've got a delivery! Let's get crackin!"

She drops the delivery bit when off hours.

I forgot how vexing but fun OC crafting is when it's totally based off of a random idea and not anyone specific.

Pokemon (verse pending) OC

Any ideas for design improvement, feel free to let me know. The eyes are not negotiable tho lol, I just had trouble with the hair and jacket color.

Loose Pokemon style art. Her bestie is a Togapi named Yolky who has since evolved to Togetic.

I like it when the Pokemon trainers have an aesthetic based off their main but didn't want it to look like she was TOTALLY born to have a Togapi.

She's unreasonably strong and inherited the assets and heirlooms of an aunt who ran a consulting business for breeding Pokemon. Asset includes money, a few dwellings since auntie traveled frequently, a shiny Chandelure named 'Little Helper', and a weird egg pendant that can determine if eggs are viable or compatibility (and causes eggs to spawn with increasing frequency and rarity the longer it's worn but she doesn't know that).

She has no idea Little Helper is maxed out because they're technically a bodyguard and have helped hatch many eggs, gaining experience over the years compared to more sedate trainers.

She's ridiculously strong, as is Yolky, but that's entirely by accident since she never did Pokemon battles. Yolky just trained with her over the years though they desperately want to rock someone's shit. She also has no idea they're a shiny cause Togepi is already rare and their aunt never mentioned that when they hatched. Yolky often braids random sections of her hair to have footholds for hitching rides whenever.

She's easy going, happy to help, and has a dry sense of humor. Perpetually closed eyes but isn't blind, it's just her 'polite' smile she constantly wears. That and her stare is intense with a tendency to unnerve. She's also very confused where the hell all these eggs are coming from and why there are so many irresponsible parents/owners running around. Helper keeps laughing at her because they know what the 'charm' does and their ability, flame body, is NOT helping the rate of all these eggs hatching.

Loose idea for plot, whatever variant of team rocket is in her new area absolutely notices her shiny Pokemon and surplus of eggs. Maybe even knows what her charm does. And they want that.

She is not amused. Yolky says to square the fuck up, nerds.

No idea about her name yet but was playing around with the idea of her last name being 'Hatch' or some egg pun.

I currently really love the train dudes so maybe she moves to Nimbasa lol

Not even for romance, I just really vibe with these dorks. Idk what to tell y'all

... I should try and beat the Pokemon games I missed out on cause I lost interest JUST WHEN THEY STARTED GETTING CREATIVE, THE BASTARDS.

[my-fankid-daycare]

Some Legends Arceus Spoilers under the cut cause I need to let out some thoughts.

Okay sooooo Ingo just straight up being in Hisui. Like not an ancestor, just straight up Ingo... it’s throwing me for a loop.

First of all it’s sad. I loved the subway bosses a lot. Hell I even started rewatching Emmet and Ingo utau videos again a few months ago for some nostalgia. Now I just think I was somehow prepping myself for the future emotional damage. 

Having Ingo in the game makes me want to consider how Hisui affects my fankid timeline. Like I wanted to use some Hisui lore for funsies if I could but I wasn’t gonna put too much focus on it. Now I wonder if I should make my timeline be the dimension Ingo disappears from? And that lead me down the rabbit hole of all the other stuff I could do with Hisui. 

I’m not done with the game yet, I only just got to that part with Ingo so I don’t knw everything but I’m throwing some stuff out.

1) Since Charm has both Gengar and Rhydon I kind of want to believe that this is game freak hinting at the idea that Bertha and Agatha might be related? I may be reaching but I’ve always liked the idea so I’m rolling with it. While Bertha had white hair and Agatha had light blonde hair I always thought Agatha still looked older than Bertha so she must be her older sister. Not to far apart, maybe 2 or 3 years. Or maybe they can even be twins idk

2) I thought Beni was related to Cilan when he had that handkerchief on. He cooks after all so that was my basis. But taking the handketcheif of he looks more like Wally. But now that the Cilan idea is in my head what if the triplets were related to Wally and his family. I know he already has Wanda as a cousin but you can have lots of cousins depending on the family. My dad has six sisters and a brother so I have a lot of cousins and second cousins and such.

3) Similar to that do Candice, Saturn and Bertha still all have a sort of familial connection now? Are the charm sister biological sisters or do they use the term for their little group? Labeling themselves as oldest to youngest makes me think they are biological sisters but I haven’t gotten that far in this game yet.

4) I assumed Pesselle was related to Nurse Joy but I noticed she actually has Mira’s hairstyle. It would also make sense that she is the ancestor of Mira because all the other tag team NPC’s in Sinnoh have descendants as far as I’ve seen (Buck is related to Flint so while not as obvious his ancestor is Zisu) so it would be weird to exclude Mira. Maybe Mira is related to the Nurse Joys? If so how did she manage to become so different from the others? Or am I over analyzing everything lmao

5) If we wanna make more Unova comparisons I think that other merchant girl whose name I can’t remember looks like Bianca.

6) This one has no basis I just thought it would be an interesting idea so stick with me! Johanna and Akari were sisters before Akari got yeeted to another world. I mainly get this off Johanna’s Japnese name, Ayaka having associations with the word brilliant and Akari and her Japanese name, Sho, having associations with the word for shine. Their names both represent the remakes so maybe they have a connection? Their Japanese names align better than their english names but I like Ayako and Akari together more cause they sound similar. This was just a fun headcanon I have there really isn’t much else in canon connecting them lol. 

Anyway those are all my thoughts thanks for letting me dump them all here

[backintothematrix-archive]

The cause, the kid, the course, the charm, and the curse!

I did threaten to write this. Here's Rex's trial and sentencing. It's under a read more because it's so damn long.

He was found fairly quickly by one of the members of the Assembly of Master Builders as he was trying to access his ship. The reports from Emmet and Lucy stated that Dangervest was not supposed to be a problem anymore. Why was here now? Oh well. This just created a new problem: what to do with such a destructive man.

The first thing the Assembly did was lock him in a makeshift prison, built by the best Builders be impenetrable and unbreakable. It was guarded 24/7 by the strongest figs they could find. There were some objections, of course; some arguments that they didn't do this to Lord Business. But Rex was a wild card, dangerous and unhinged. It was easy to silence the naysayers.

Rex could have called Emmet at any time during his incarceration. He didn't want to. He couldn't face him, not like this. He barely wanted to face him in the laundry room the day he came back. You couldn't expect Rex to want Emmet to see him under lock and key like this, curled up in a corner and waiting for... what? Final judgement?

That judgement came soon enough. He was soon taken by a Friends and Duplo guard to a rebuilt and very sparkly dog dome. His face fell when he saw the place, memories of the last time he met the Master Builders in that building hitting him like a crushing wave.

He was pushed to the center of the circular room and he could almost feel the Piece of Resistance on his back again. The gazes of the other Master Builders felt more cutting now, though. It was Abraham Lincoln who spoke first, his voice barely cutting through Rex's memories.

"Rex Dangervest. You stand accused of starting Ourmommageddeon and nearly destroying the world as we know it. How do you plea?"

Why bother with this fake courtroom posturing? Rex took a slow breath, finally digging himself out of his thoughts.

"Why don't you answer that, big guy? Ya clearly know the answer." His tone was defensive and defiant but there was an underlying fear mixed in. This reply earned a volley of offended whispers from the gathered Builders.

"Answer the question, Dangervest! How do you plea to the charges?" Rex couldn't be sure who shouted that, but it really didn't matter to him. This was all clearly a game. Someone up there was introduced to the courtroom dramas Finn and Bianca's mother occasionally snuck downstairs to watch.

"I'm not gonna plea anythin'. What are ya gonna do? Make me?" He kept his tone defiant as she scanned for familiar faces. Soon, his eyes fell on Benny. The one person last time who was willing to vouch for him. This time, though... He could tell the other was disappointed. Benny didn't even know who he really was and he looked so heartbreakingly disappointed in him.

"We can so make you, Dangervest." A different voice spoke, this one from someone he didn't recognize at all. Clearly, they were already letting Systarians in. Others chimed in with demands for Rex to make a plea.

"Fine. I'll play your little game. Guilty. You an' I both know I started it. Woulda finished it, too." He kept his tone flat, despite the feeling of guilt that threatened to choke him out from his throat. He was, to his credit, a good actor. More whispers from the Assembly. More heartbreak when he turned to look at Benny.

"Even the accused admits to his part in Ourmommageddeon. Is there more we need to do here?" Gandalf's voice made Rex's eye twitch. Did he always sound so damn pompous?

"Yes!" The voice of his former spaceman friend chimed in. "Shouldn't he give us his side?" The color found its way to Rex's face. Once again, Benny came to his defense. Even if the spaceman didn't know who he was.

"Intent means nothing here. He started Ourmommageddeon! That's a big deal!" Damn you, Abraham Lincoln.

"We gave President Business a second chance and he tried to Kragle us! How is that better than the Bin of Storaj?" Rex again couldn't place who said that. His focus was mainly on Benny and Gandalf.

"Because we say so, that's why!" Gandalf banged his staff against the floor, like that helped solidify his authority. The old man seemed unmoved.

"Aw, come on! Let him speak!" Benny pleaded, the voice of mercy in this kangaroo court.

"Alright, Dangervest. Speak on your behalf. "

Rex could feel everyone's eyes on him. He had their attention and took full advantage, painting the picture as vividly as he could. He held nothing back and, by the end, was shaking. He didn't like being outed like this, but there wasn't much of a choice here. Maybe the truth would grant him leniency. When his story was done, he was sent away with two different guards back to his cell, waiting for the punishment for his crimes.

The next week felt too long and too fast at the same time. He was present for every testimony, every nail in his coffin. Each person's side, depicting the ripple effects of Rex's rage induced actions made the Matrix he was dragged into feel more real. To him, it was all NPCs crying for justice, all of them imaginary pawns in a teenager's...tween's?... maybe both?... mental court of opinion. But the more the trial dragged on, the more he had to answer to his crimes, the more real it all felt. He felt weaker with each story of rebuilding after his shot against their gods. Not even this fact helped keep him from finally breaking down at the last day of testimony. He was glad Emmet wasn't there. He couldn't see Rex like this, looking so weak.

----------

He couldn't sleep so he attempted to connect to the Man Upstairs. Maybe if he did that, he could bend the verdict to his favor. He sat in his corner and closed his eyes, doing his best to clear his mind. It used to be so easy! Why couldn't he clear...

His mind. After what felt like a decade, it was empty enough that he could see into the other side of the veil between worlds. What he saw, though, was not what he expected.

He saw a woman's face. She had dark hair that was the length and style of his own, but with blue and pink highlights in the bangs like his former girlfriend. She didn't notice him as she checked her phone. "There. Never thought I'd be installing this again." She threw on some headphones and bounced her head to an unheard song. She soon started singing.

"Because the Hook brings you back! I ain't tellin' you no lie!"

Before he could register the song, he was pulled out of the vision by the guards. Who was that girl? She wasn't Finn or Bianca. Didn't matter. He had bigger things to think about.

He was soon at the dog dome one last time. Rex felt sick from worry, but he kept his composure. He scanned the stands where his former peers sat, trying to read his fate on their faces but couldn't.

"Rex Dangervest, we have heard testimony from the people of Syspocalypstar about what chaos your crimes have wrought. Are you expecting mercy from this court?" Gandalf seemed particularly melodramatic today.

Rex shrugged. "You can do whatever ya wanna. I'm not expectin' nothin'." He sounded as weak as he felt. Just get this over with.

"We have taken your tale into consideration, however we do need to make sure you really have learned your lesson. You are to help rebuild the Downstairs Realms to the way they were before untill such a day as this Assembly believes your debt to society has been paid. We will assign you to a new place every month. If you are to move away from your current residence, we must be informed. Is this understood, Rex Dangervest?" Abraham Lincoln read this sentence from an official looking scroll.

Rex felt a little relief. "Yeah. That works for me."

[girlywholikesninjago]

All four Lego movies: Worst to Best (may be some spoilers)

4. Ninjago Movie: I hate to say it, but this one was the worst out of all of them. I liked it, but compared to these other masterpieces, it isn't fantastic. I think the main reason I didn't love it was because watching all the ninja be mad at Lloyd and at one point choose Garmadon over Lloyd was really hard. I didn't enjoy seeing Lloyd so embarrassed and cast out, not by society, but by the only people who actually accepted him. Moving away from that, I did like how all of Ninjago was scared of him, that was kinda funny. Wu and Zane were also icons throughout the whole movie. Lloyd was precious and when him and Garmadon bonded throughout the movie, my heart warmed, it was beautiful. The Ninjago Movie I'm pretty sure wasn't as successful as the other three and it makes sense why. The other ones aren't seperet Lego franchises like Chima or Ninjago, Batman is DC and the other two were its own thing. People probably weren't very interested in a movie based around a show originally made for kids.

3. The Lego Movie 1: What a fun and exciting movie, iconic. It's one of those movies you can just rewatch over and over again. I don't really know why I don't like this one as much as the second. I think it's cause the second one is just really unique. This movie is incredible and I absolutely adore it. It introduces great characters and a great plot line. Emmet is a cutie and I would die for Batman and Benny (I think that's his name). I love seeing all the different worlds and how creative everything is. The storyline of Taco Tuesday is funny and creative. Spectacular movie, 12/10.

2. The Lego Movie 2: Magical. The songs in this movie are absolute bops and I live for them. Emmet is such a sweetie in this movie and Wild Styles secret past was a unique touch. The apocalypse at the beginning was really funny. Emmets house he built was so cute and my heart melted during that scene. Rex was a cool character and (spoiler) and the whole thing that he was future Emmet was insane. The use of real life and real people in this movie was more effective than the last movie. I don't remember a lot about it, but I just remember under a table (idk). Also the use of Duplo was cute. The ending was great and fun. 15/10, adored it.

1. The Lego Batman Movie: This movie was just hilarious. Batman was so funny and Alfred was iconic. The message about family importance was really cute. Robin is best child (besides Lloyd) and will forever remain in my heart. There isn't a lot to say about this one, it was just the most enjoyable to watch. It was charming, funny and overall just super entertaining. The main reason this is number one is because I laughed a lot in the theatre and remember it the most clearly (which must mean something). Funniest Lego movie of them all.

Overall, every single one of these movies are great and I recommend all of them.

[mx-ishikawa]

F/O February Day 1: Reverse Self Ship

welcome to F/O February y’all!! :D for this prompt, I decided to do a little drabble! because I felt it would be easier to explain that way XD” honestly the reverse selfship AU is so good??? so here’s my contribution for today! XD (warning for brief mentions of self-harm and other injuries, other than that this should be a perfectly safe read!)

           “Rex Rex Rex! It’s on!! Quick, we gotta catch it!!!”

           “Okay Emmet, I’m coming, jeez!”

           Rex hoisted himself off his bed with a low grunt as Emmet scurried to the living room couch. He knew how excited his brother got over his favorite show. Four years ago, popular sitcom Where Are My Pants? had been his all-time favorite television series, but then his heart was stolen by a quirky cartoon called Light in the Darkness that he stumbled upon by chance. The show followed an adventurous, tomboyish young woman dubbed Light and her interactions in the secret world of monsters of all kinds, fighting the evil ones and befriending the good ones. There was quite an uproar within the fandom when the titular lead came out as agender a year before, and quite a bit of discourse since she still considered herself female in a vaguer sense. But none of that mattered to Emmet. He loved the character for her personality, and couldn’t care less about her gender or lack thereof.

           Oh, he loved her alright… his Tumblr was filled with screenshots and fanart of Light, he had all the merch of her he could afford, he even had a plush of her, which he was currently holding in his arms. He was immediately attached to her as soon as he got into the series; at first he thought she was just a comfort character, but before long, he realized he was actually flat-out in love with her. He had always gushed about her, and occasionally other characters, to Rex, and constantly pushed him to watch it. Rex always listened to Emmet’s gushing and supported his love for the character, but for the longest time, he didn’t get around to watching it. He was in a terrible mental place at the time; he engaged in risky and destructive habits, he drank, he smoked, he self-harmed, he got in trouble with the law, and developed other unhealthy coping mechanisms for his insecurities and mental issues. He was a troubled soul who was paranoid that their mutual circle of friends hated him and that he’d never be good enough for anyone. He distanced himself from everyone he loved—even his dear brother Emmet, with whom he had always been joined at the hip before. It was only when he got involved in a reckless motorcycle accident after an argument with Emmet that Rex realized just how much danger he was putting himself in, and how much he was worrying his brother. After that, he vowed to better himself and get some help. He also moved in with Emmet as his insistence, saying he wouldn’t worry as much and that he could help Rex get on track. That turned out to work like a charm, and he was happier than he’d been in a long time ever since.

           It was only then that he was finally able to watch an episode of his brother’s favorite show with him. He didn’t know exactly what he was expecting from the cartoon, but it certainly surpassed whatever those expectations were. Rex was surprised that Light in the Darkness contained more adult-oriented humor, as Emmet typically didn’t watch those kinds of shows. And he also understood why Emmet loved Light so much—she was a goofy, funny, charming, kind, and humble hero who knew what it was like to feel like a nobody or that you’d never be good enough. It also happened to be an episode in which Light tried to talk to and reform one of the main villains, and she gave a clumsy but convincing speech about how she could relate to the villains struggles, but wished he would handle them in a way that benefited both parties. Rex didn’t want to admit it, but that damn speech pulled at his heartstrings. And by the end of the episode, Rex found himself smitten with Light as well. At first he tried to hide his feelings from Emmet, thinking he would be angry with him for encroaching on his selfship. But Emmet did find out eventually—and he was ecstatic. He was beyond happy to share her with his brother, as that meant they could gush about her to each other more often, and soon the brothers agreed that Light had enough room in her heart for the both of them. After coming to that conclusion, they created their own self-shipping sideblog that they co-modded together.

           Now Emmet wasn’t exactly the creative type, and sometimes he was jealous of all the great artists and writers within the community, but he did enjoy remaking the three of them in Picrews and other character customization games. He also gushed about Light a lot, using lots of capitals, exclamation points, and heart emojis in said gushes. Rex, on the other hand, was beginning to dabble in photo editing, so he took a screenshot of Light and Photoshopped her into a picture of him and Emmet, among other such edits. He gushed about her too, of course, but his were more straightforward and consistent to whatever specific quality of hers he was talking about, with less weird emojis.

           Neither of them told anybody in their respective workplaces about their love. Emmet tried way too hard to fit in and was already seen as weird despite that; he didn’t want to add onto that as a grown man who was hopelessly in love with a cartoon character. Meanwhile Rex didn’t give a damn about fitting in or what his coworkers thought of him, he just wasn’t the type to open up to people he didn’t know well enough. However, their mutual circle of friends knew very well about their selfships with Light, and they all shipped them. Their best friend Lucy had even created a few artworks of the three of them, which they both proudly displayed on their blog (with proper credit, of course). They had been doing this for almost a year, and at this point they were perfectly content opting out dating real people in favor of shipping themselves with a fictional character.

           “It’s a new episode!!” Emmet squealed, plopping onto the couch and kicking his feet excitedly. “I can’t wait to see what she does today!”

           “You think she’s finally gonna give Lord Beelzebub what’s coming to him?” Rex asked.

           “I hope so! Now that guy is a real jerk.” Emmet puffed his cheeks out. This particular villain was beyond hope of reformation—Light tried, multiple times, but it was clear that he wouldn’t be happy until his evil deeds were done. Emmet pouted very briefly over this fact before perking up to sing and shimmy in his seat to the theme song. Rex chuckled at how excitable his brother could be. He kept his mouth shut after that, as Emmet hated when people tried to talk over his show.

           The episode started out with Light hanging out with some of her monster friends and being her usual dorky self, but that only lasted a couple minutes before she was alerted of some other villain’s plan. The scene then transitioned to a dramatic montage of Light putting on cool-looking armor, then panning from her toes to her head as she heroically posed in the armor.

           “Wow…” Emmet swooned. Rex gave a low whistle.

           She only stood like that for a few brief seconds before random pieces of the armor suddenly fell off and clattered to the ground, much to Light’s dismay. “Aw damnit, no! Get back here!” Light complained as she crouched to pick up the fallen pieces. This elicited a giggle from Emmet and a chuckle from Rex. “Dork…” Rex lovingly muttered.

           By the next scene, she has duct tape all over her armor, making the brothers laugh again. She and her monster friends were devising a plan of attack when Emmet’s phone buzzed. “Shush,” he said, keeping his eyes glued to the screen. He was mesmerized as Light led her friends into battle, but before they could see just who they were up against…

           “Gahh, commercials,” Rex groaned, muting the TV. “This is why watching things online is so much better.”

           “Yeah, but this is a new episode, we gotta catch it as it airs and support the creators!” Emmet argued.

           “Yeah okay. Aren’t you gonna answer that text message?”

           “I suppose I could since it’s a commercial break.” Emmet reached into his jeans pocket. “But whoever it was should no better than to bother me during my show!” He pouted as he checked his phone. “Oh, it’s Lucy…” He opened the message, and a mere second went by before Emmet cracked up laughing.

           “Must’ve been a good one,” Rex chuckled.

           “Oh my gosh, Rex, look at this!” Emmet laughed, shoving the phone in Rex’s face. It turned out Lucy sent a meme that read “when you storm a dragon’s cave and discover it’s hoarding mac and cheese” with a redraw of Light in the “it’s free real estate” meme. People who weren’t fans of the show wouldn’t understand the meme, but it made Rex burst into raucous laughter.

           “Oh my god!” he roared. “She would totally say that!”

           “She would!” Emmet giggled. “That’s amazing.”

           “Our datefriend is high-key a dork,” Rex laughed. That statement sent Emmet into another fit of giggles.

           “She’s our dork though.”

           “Hell yeah.”

           “I just wish I knew her real name in full.”

           Rex sat up, surprised. “What do you mean, ‘in full’?”

           “Well, remember in Clash of the Chimeras when she was signing the form thing for that order? She could only write the letter K before she got interrupted by the gremlin breaking things in the other room. So that means her real name must start with a K, and we don’t know anything else about it.”

           Rex nodded. “And you would rather call her that because…?”

           “Because it would help me feel closer to her.” Emmet held his plush a little tighter.

           “Well, you could always give her a headcanon name. or just call her K until her real name is fully revealed, if that ever happens.”

           Emmet pondered this for a moment. “I suppose that could work.” Suddenly, he perked up. “Oh! It’s back on!” He hurriedly un-muted the TV and his eyes were glued to the screen once more.

           Soon enough, Light and her friends were battling the villain, and at some point, her left gauntlet fell off. Emmet gasped as the villain used this opportunity to slash his claw across her arm.

           “Oh no…” Emmet whimpered. Rex lightly traced his own scar on his shoulder from his motorcycle accident. The two were at the edge of their seats until the end of the fight scene—the villain was defeated, but Light was still bleeding. Her worried friends crowded around her, but she still seemed in high spirits.

           “Guys, I’m fine!” she insisted.

           “You’re bleeding,” a friend argued.

“Just out of my arm. I’ve bled from far worse places.”

Emmet made a choked-out noise in surprise.

“Oh my god,” Rex laughed.

Still, Light let her monster friends bandage her up. Luckily, there were plenty more laughs to be had by the end of the episode. As the credits rolled, Emmet kicked his feet excitedly again.

“Ahh, that was so awesome!”

“As it always is.”

“Poor Light though. She doesn’t deserve any nasty scars.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Rex agreed. “But it won’t get her down. Knowing her, she’ll probably be proudly toting it and bragging about her battle by the next episode.”

“Yeah, probably,” Emmet chuckled. “But if she was real, or if I lived in her world, I’d take care of every single injury she got and kiss it better!” His loving smile gradually morphed into a longing frown. “I’d give anything for that.”

Rex patted Emmet’s back. “Me too, kid. Me too.”

[deathofamemer]

✨ 💕 💔 💢 all of them

✨ what draws you towards your hyperfixation? what is interesting about it?

lego movies: there’s just something so lively and fun about them... the world they exist in and craft throughout the four warner brothers lego movies is fascinating and complex and has a lot of nuance to it that makes rewatching the movies a delight just to catch little things that got missed the first time around! the characters are vibrant and lively and there’s not really any who fall flat (outside of the lego ninjago movie but the main lego movies are my focus), there’s a lot of tropes that i personally enjoy (particularly the meta stuff, i love meta humor), and the style itself is gorgeous and unique. using CG to mimic stop motion? that’s genius, and it makes for a beautiful set of films

danny phantom: danny phantom as a series is just a bundle of a trillion of my favorite tropes and the amount of content that can be created from it is truly overwhelming. part of the allure of danny phantom is actually the fandom, for once, because while it’s not free of issues, there’s a sense of continuity. there’s a lot of widely accepted fanon in there, including whole fandomwide ocs, and it’s really something spectacular. i’m a sucker for the supernatural and superheroes, and danny phantom mingles the two nicely.

greek mythology: greek myth is one of those things that just perfectly slides into the academic portion of my brain, tbh. it’s a vast mythos with colorful characters and epic stories and quirky anecdotes and scraps of information spread across history, and the fact that it can be collected and looked at and interpreted even today? it’s super interesting and good. for a mostly dead religion, it’s still fairly ubiquitous in society, and i love seeing all of the variations on each story, seeing what various places thought were fit to keep or discard.

pokemon: pokemon, as a franchise, is immensely soothing. you get to raise animals and befriend them and play with them, winding your way through the countryside, facing challenges and stopping strife. the characters are memorable, the pokemon designs are generally really appealing, and the lore is crafted in such a way that it feels like something you could examine for a long time. there’s a lot of heart in it, and it shows.

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

lego movies: you’re expecting me to put rex, aren’t you. i’ve given my diatribes on rex fucking dangervest enough, i’m talking about my original fave, gcbc. gcbc is a charming character with a neat concept, embodying the lego minifigs with two faces as a single character, providing some of the only positive DID representation i’ve ever seen. liam neeson’s voice acting for them is really stellar, and back in 2014/15, i read all of the gcbc-centric fics i could get my hands on. they’re just interesting to examine.

danny phantom: i’m betting you’re also expecting me to talk about danny’s evil future self because i’m a predictable shit, but NO i refuse. clockwork is one of my favorite fucking characters of anything ever, because he embodies the whole ‘father time’ concept in a neat way, transitioning from child to adult to elder as a constant cycle. he’s also clever and witty and makes a good mentor, showing consequences for actions without forcing danny’s hand. clockwork is just great, honestly,,,

greek mythology: everyone in greek myth is terrible all the time, but dionysus is really fun? he’s a male god who got raised as a girl, so like, trans rights, he’s equal parts party god and brain ruiner, he’s got a million conflicting portrayals that make him fun to examine, and he’s actually one of the oldest gods in the pantheon in terms of historicity. there’s more to him than meets the eye, for sure, and his myths are fun.

pokemon: i really love zinnia... she’s a badass dragon lady who’s super lively and fun, she kicks ass and knows she does, she nearly wrangles rayquaza themself in order to save the world... god i just adore her

💔 tell us about one of your LEAST favorite characters and why you dislike them.

lego movies: lord business don’t even fucking look at me i swear to god, capitalist ass bitch, abusive boss supreme, tyrannous dickmunch,

danny phantom: it’s kind of hard to place least faves? if i have to choose, though, probably gregor. he’s a one-off asshole liar trying to get into sam’s pants, gregor gets no rights.

greek mythology: HEY ZEUS QUIT BEING A DICK, YOU TOO KRONOS, AND GAIA—

pokemon: hey. hey ghetsis. hey lusamine. look at me. be better parents. fuck you

💢 what do you NOT like about your hyperfixation? is there something you would want to change about it?

lego movies: tlm2 was weaker than the first due to the change of directors, i’m happy that we got rex and watevra and mayhem, they’re all fun and great, but the characterization of everyone is really fucking off and emmet gets treated like shit when he doesn’t deserve it. my rage over rex’s fate is well documented, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. i think often about a hypothetical tlm2 that actually resolved things and kept people in character and featured gcbc for more than 5 seconds

danny phantom: butch hartmann can suck my ass AND DO NOT FUCKING TALK TO ME ABOUT LIVIN’ LARGE AND PHANTOM PLANET THOSE TRAIN WRECKS DO NOT EXIST IN THIS HOUSE

greek mythology: why did the ancient greeks like incest and rape so much what the fuck is your goddamn deal guys just chill out and suck a dick that isn’t your cousin’s

pokemon: i’m very fucking angy about the pokemon company trying to wring money out of people with swsh, everyone i know who’s played it has enjoyed it but the fact that there’s expensive dlc for a pokemon game like this, that you can never have all of the pokemon in the game, the fact that even one game is the cost of a double pack for the previous ones, it irks me deeply

[mellicose]

Theo Howard, "discharge", fluff (but heavy)

DT’s small but powerful part in an episode of Foyle’s War in 2002 is seldom spoken of, but it’s a treat. Even if you haven’t watched it, you can still enjoy this bit of angsty fluff.

“Howard! How the hell are ye!” Emmett yelled as they walked into the clearing. He rose to hug him, and he let him wrap his beefy arms around him andleaned into it. Emmett was nearly 7 feet and 250 lbs of muscle, so itwasn’t only affection, but a healthy dose of respect. In any case,there was no room for timidity during war. A man never knew when he’dget his last hug, so he took what he could get.

Emmett walked them to the picnic table, which was strewn with delicacies. He uncovered some cold roast and wiggled his brows at him.

“Fancy a wee taste?” he said, ready to serve him. One of the young women sitting at the table conversing amongst themselves turned to Emmett.

“Aren’t you gonnae introduce us, then, ye great big lummox?” she said,snatching the plate away to serve. Emmett blushed underneath hisbeard.

“It’s Captain Howard, remember? I told ye he was coming,” he said, gripping the smaller man’s shoulders. The woman, beautiful but hardfaced, lookedhim over.

“It explains all the tin on his chest,” she said, spooning mashed potato onto hisplate. He didn’t blame her – how many men did she meet, and thennever met again since the beginning of the war?

“You’ll have to excuse her for being so familiar-” Emmett started, but she rolledher eyes.

“You’ll nae excuse nothin’. I’m not fighting. I’ve no need to salute to‘im,” she said as she stood to fetch a cool bottle from thestream nearby.

Emmett shook his head, still blushing. Theo patted him affectionately.

“Calm down, man. She’s right,” he said, and sat down to his plate. He hadn’teaten anything since the night before, and his flat belly growled atthe generous spread.

She sighed and shook her head. Although it pained them both to admit it, the war had been kind to their family – their father was one of the largestsuppliers of dried beef and mutton for the British army. Theirparents were horrified when he ran away to join the effort. Theyfelt there was no need to risk his hide. But he insisted, and upuntil that day, survived.

But she detested every reminder of it, and the snippets of news from the front of seemingly interminable degradation and cruelty. It made her chesttight, and her belly gurgle. Her parents didn’t quite feel thesame. Every minute the war continued, their pockets got fatter. Itmade her skin crawl to know that their new home, and their life ofcomfort and ease were financed by the suffering of others. She toldthem in a moment of passion, but they didn’t see it that way –they were butchers and ranchers, and they would always be butchersand ranchers – although it was horrid, they were proud to do theirbit for Britain.

She planted a bottle of fresh milk in front of him.

“Hmmphanks,” he said, his mouth still full. He ripped the metal cap off and drank deep. The milk was rich and creamy and cold – a delicious luxury.He closed his eyes, trying to think the last time he tasted somethingso good.

“Shall we leave alone with it, or what?” she said teasingly. He opened one eye,then the other. Emmett smiled wide at him. Her eyes danced withamusement.

“Isn’t that the best drop o’ milk you’ve ever had?” he said. “My ma insistson keeping milk cows. She doesn’t trust the stuff ol’ McKenneysells down the road.”

“It’s chalky water,” she said, nodding. “Awful stuff.”

“But most of us have to endure it, and imagine it’s good,” Theo said, licking hislips.

Now she blushed. “Quite true. We know we’re blessed,” she said, and started to tidy up the table. The servant standing off to the side steppedforward, shaking her head.

“Nae, madame. Let me-”

“Don’t ye bother yerself, Mrs. Kerlin. I can handle it,” she said, gently slappingat the older lady’s plump hands. “Enjoy the day. It’s glorious,isn’t it?”

He observed her. Although Emmett was in luxurious mufti befitting his station outside of the Army, she was in a simple white cotton frock. There was only abit of lace around the neck, as well as a worn silver locket. Otherthan that, she wore no other decoration, or cosmetic. Was she … inmourning?

She. She. He realized Emmet had not formally introduced them.

He stood up and wiped his hands.

“I’m afraid McGillis didn’t properly introduce us,” he said, bowingshallowly. “I’m Captain Theo Howard, at your service.”

She nodded. “I’m called Elizabeth,” she said. He raised his brows, waiting for her to finish. “McGillis. Not married,” she finished, and fingeredthe locket around her neck absently.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said, nodded, and sat again. The other two women were off near the stream, flirting with Emmett. She sat at the table,but he ate in silence. He wondered whether he had offended her. Itwasn’t his business whether she was married.

He cleared his throat. “I apologize if I was rude earlier,” he said. “Yourpersonal life isn’t my concern.”

She stared at the two women, who were now playfully hanging off Emmett’s large arms, her face serious. He was always the playful one. The charming one.The one who could talk his way out of a scrape. That had kept himsafe before. But war was no scrape.

“Emmett’s doing his bit?” she said, poking at a plate of biscuits.

It took a second to catch up. “Yes. He might play around now, but he’s 245 lbs of fury on the field,” he said. “It’s quite extraordinary towatch, really. I feel privileged to have him fighting at my side.”

“Och aye?” she said, flicking the dried fruit from a cake. He stared at her. She had Emmett’s strawberry blonde hair and wide, inviting mouth, but herface was longer, and finer. He felt a flash of heat underneath hisuniform, despite the cool breeze coming in from the stream. Her eyesdrifted to meet his gaze. Now, she raised her eyebrow, waiting.

“Ever have hand-to-hand combat with any diabolical Germans out in the field ofbattle?” she said.

He was thrown by the question.

“I reckon. Once,” he said, then they both jumped as Emmett shot his revolver into the woods. The two girls squealed with glee and ran around him.

“What fun!” the taller of the two said, clapping.

“This is nothing,” Emmett said, blowing on the muzzle of the gun. “You can’t imagine what we get into in the front,” he said, smiling devilishly atthem.

“Nothing, eh?” Elizabeth said, popping up. Her face was splotched red. “Silly git! Put that thing away before you blow someone’s heed off!” shesaid, slamming her hand on the table.

Emmett shrugged and took the bullets out of the revolver. It was thin-muzzled Luger, a German gun. Theo frowned. He didn’t know Emmett had it.

“I didn’t mean tae give ye a start, Lizzie,” he said. “I was just showing theselovely young women a little something about war.”

“And shooting a gun off into empty woods is teaching ‘em about war, then?” she said, but she settled back down to sitting. She smoothed her skirtdown over her legs. “Nonsense,” she mumbled.

“He’s just trying to impress the ladies,” Theo volunteered.

“And war is impressive?” she said tersely, giving him a sidelong glance.

His eyes remained on his empty plate. After a few moments, she softened.

“Would ye like some more? We’ve got loads, and you look like you can use it,”she said, giving him a brief smile.

“Yes, please,” he said, and nodded. She served him again, even as the maidsat on a checkered blanket nearby and smiled up at the sun peekingthrough the leaves, eyes closed with pleasure.

She piled his plate high again and placed it in front of him. “More milk?” she said. He noticed her eyes were a breathtaking ashy green, and definitelynot like Emmett’s deep blue.

“No thanks. Any more o’ that and I’ll soon not fit in my uniform,” he said.“I’ll have a drop of water, if you have it.”

She produced a bottle of mineral water from a picnic basket. “You can drinkdirectly from the bottle, if you don’t mind. I forgot to packglasses,” she said, and flushed.

“It’s nothing,” he said, and drank. Before the war, he despised fizzy water, but living abroad had refined his tastes. Honestly, mineral water was thesafest water to drink in some places, and disease ran rampant on thefront. The bubbles dancing on his palate made him smile. “S’good,that.”

“It’s from our own spring,” she said, smiling.

“Lovely,” he said, staring at her. Now that she wasn’t frowning, she lookedyounger than she did earlier. He calculated. If Emmett was 22, andshe was 6 years older, then she must be … 28. And unmarried. He wascurious, but he didn’t know to to broach the subject. He stareddown at her long, slim hands. They were pale, but her fingernailswere not long. They were short, with ink worked deep into the quick.They closed slowly into a fist, and he lifted his eyes. She looked athim pensively.

“You do a lot of writing?” he said.

Gladly, his frankness only delighted her. “Sometimes. I’m not Emily Dickinson– I just teach reading and figures to the kids of all the workerswho live around here.”

“You mean, your father’s employees?” he said, nodding.

“Yes,” she said.

He looked at her with new eyes. Most young women of her station rode horses and bought pretty dresses and jewels, regardless of the war that raged aroundthem.

“Don’t be impressed. It’s the least I can do to help. Those women work theirfingers to the bone, and the last thing they need is having theirchildren fall to the wayside as their fathers and sons fight on thefront,” she said.

“I’m afraid it’s too late,” he said, smiling.

“Well, don’t,” she said, but she smiled.

“It’s women like you, and the women you help, that keep a soldier’s body and soul together on the front-”

She interrupted. “What do you get from it?” she said. Her brow knitted withintensity. “You must’ve had a nice home before, a beautiful girl back in England…”

“I had no home outside of my friends’ kindness. And no girl. And my best friend David was murdered for being …” he leaned forward “…for being a conscientious objector.”

Her face turned milk-pale. “Murdered. Why?”

“Because they were cruel. Because he told them the truth to their faces,” he said, blinking slowly. Memories of his best friend still hurt deeply, evenafter 2 years.

Her mouth worked. “A conchie.”

“Lizzie, darling, let him shoot off his pistol again,” one of the girls whined.

“Let me shoot off my pistol in front of the girls,” Emmett said. Theo looked at them, frowning at the innuendo. He was mystified at her reaction.

“Do what ye like, but not here. I want to keep my hearing,” she said, waving them away. They ran, giggling, deeper into the woods. Again, Liz wasfingering her locket.

“Is it precious?” Theo said gently.

She turned to him. “What?”

“The locket,” he said, nodding at the necklace.

“Ah, this old thing,” she said, letting it go. “A friend lent it to me.”

“Interesting. An old school girlfriend?” he said.

She rose and turned to the maid. “Won’t you pack up this mess, Mrs. Kerlin? I’m about ready to go back.”

“Aye, ma’am,” she said, and stood up much quicker than he thought a women like her could.

She walked along the grassy bank of the stream, her hands held behind her. She looked to him, and he realized she was waiting. He walked beside her, closer to the water.

Again, he watched her lips work, as if she was trying to untangle and voice a thought.

“I apologize for my confidence earlier. I didn’t mean to perturb you,” he said.

She shook her head, and her thick hair haloed in little curls and tendrils. “No. It’s not that.”

They walked together in silence for a few minutes, until they lost sight of the clearing.They jump as Emmett discharged his revolver nearby.

“Don’t shoot toward the water, boy!” she yelled loudly, making him jump, thenchuckle.

“Okay!” he yelled.

“You’re not that far apart, but you call him boy,” he said.

“Admit it, now. He is, just a big, lumbering, soft boy,” she said.

“He’s a good man, and I’m glad he’s my friend,” he said firmly. Her eyebrowrose. She appreciated his sincerity.

“And he’s glad as well. You wouldn’t believe how much he goes on about you. It’s ‘Captain Howard’ this, and ‘the Cap’ that,” she said, kicking at a bit of sod. “He seems delighted by all the action. It’s inexplicable.”

“There’s a reason, Elizabeth,” he said. She looked up at him. “He’s good,and he’s brave.”

“But is it monstrous of me to wish that it was someone else out there in themud, saving the world? Or that the fighting-” she stopped abruptlyand bit her lip. Her eyes rimmed with tears.

“That the fighting wasn’t necessary at all?” he prompted gently.

She sobbed once, but sucked it in. “Is it? Monstrous?”

“Not at all. I wish that we lived in a world where such suffering and pain didn’thave to exist to make a political point,” he said. His own eyes stung suddenly. David said the words to him not so long ago, verbatim. “And that it had not devolved into such inhuman cruelty and mass murder.”

Although he missed his friend to his bones, he was glad that he had not lived to see what Hitler was doing with the Jews. He would’ve wept for them,suffered greatly. And perhaps, fought and died an even crueler death.His stomach gurgled.

“I reckon I’m glad I was born a woman,” she said softly. She looked out at thewater.

“Because you don’t have to fight?” he said. He’d heard so many women say the same thing, and he didn’t think them crass, or selfish. War was ahorror.

“Your friend David. He was a clever lad, like you?” she said.

“He was very clever. And a promising writer, before the war.”

Her eyes narrowed. “A good and just man,” she said. “And brave for stating hiscase.”

“He didn’t succeed,” he said shortly. She noticed his change of tone, anddared to touch his arm.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said. “It’s dreadful to lose a friend.”

“We were brothers,” he said. His lower lip quivered, but he kept himself inline.

“I completely understand,” She said, and opened the locket around her neck.Inside, there was a photo of a couple – young and happy. Both ofthem were raven-haired, and attractive.

“They’re our childhood friends,” she said. “She’s off in America. She leftright before things got really bad.”

He nodded, understanding. “Jewish?”

“Aye,” she said, and closed it. “She gave it to me before she fled. To keep, youknow, until she can return home.”

“Is he fighting the war?” he asked.

“No. He fought his fight,” she said, closing the locket. Her eyes watered again.

“I am sorry,” he said, putting his hand over hers.

“David was okay with you enlisting before he, uh…” she said, starting to walk again.

He looked around, as if there were spying ears ready to hear his confession. But he realized it didn’t matter. He did his duty, and he would continue to due so, despite his reservations.

“I felt the same way he did, before he died,” he said softly. She stopped walking.

“You were a pacifist?” she said.

“Yes. But after he died at the hands of scum for having a gentle soul, I realized that remaining behind as others fought made me no better than those whorun. I’m healthy, and I’m clever, and I love my country. Andmaybe, in the face of such villainy, the wisest course is to activelystand against it.”

She looked at him. “So you’re not a pacifist anymore.”

“I don’t like it. But it’s necessary,” he said.

“I want to believe you,” she said carefully. “I really do.”

“Why did you say that earlier? That you’re glad to be a woman?”

“Because, were I a man, I think I wouldn’t be as eager as my brother to fight,” she said. Before, she wasn’t quite comfortable voicing it. But Captain Howard wasn’t who she originally thought he was.

“Everyone’s afraid. That doesn’t change, no matter which side you’re fightingfor. But you do it. For your country. For your family. To hopefully end the bloody conflict,” he said.

“And the woman sit back and watch the world burn, waiting to sweep up the ashes,” she said.

“That’s poetic,” he said.

“It wasn’t me. An old American Army nurse wrote it,” she said.

“America,” he said. “Land of opportunity.” He was friends with a few Americansoldiers. The stories they spun about hometown pride, apple pie, andmama’s spaghetti made him want to see what they lived. “I want togo.”

“I love Scotland,” she said simply. “I don’t think I’m built for rodeos andbroadway shows.” She was glad of the change of subject.

He chuckled. “Yet you’re a farmer’s daughter,” he said.

“A boring, rich farmer’s daughter. I’ve never bucked a bronco in my life. Itwould be a disaster.”

“You watch too many films, I think,” he said, laughing now.

“I take the kids sometimes to see the westerns or the musicals,” she says. “Itdistracts ‘em.”

He was enchanted by her unlikely kindness. And even more so curious as to why such a woman did not have a husband.

“May I ask you something … delicate?” he hazarded, turning to her.

“What?” she said. “And just in case – of course I buy ‘em some candy, andcrisps. They need to enjoy being children, even in the midst of allthis … mess. And I confess, sometimes, I go see a romantic filmwith the factory ladies. They love a good onscreen snog.”

He laughed as she pursed her lips comically, simulating a kiss.

“And you don’t?” he said, then he flushed. He didn’t mean to be so forward. But she wasn’t offended.

“It’s been a long while since any of that nonsense. There’s no men about.They’re all … gone,” she said, giving him a lingering look. Again, he felt heat underneath his uniform. “Or, they’re old and had it.”

“I’m sure that there’s many a soldier who would find it an absolute delight tocorrespond with you,” he said. The heat rose above his collar. Hisearnestness resonated with her.

“And, what might I have to correspond about? The complexities of teaching a child to multiply? Healthy hair tips?”

“I’m sure he would just be chuffed that you took the time to write,” he said.“And I have a feeling you’re a bit more complex than childhood maths andbeauty tips.”

“D’ye get all that from a conversation?” she said, but she smiled.

“I suppose I got all I need, yes-” he said. Emmett broke through the brush before he could finish his statement.

“I’m out of bullets,” he said, smiling at them both and waving the gun in his hand.

“Good for you,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m heading back. The girls want to change before the dance,” he said, and took long strides toward the clearing. “Gotta drive ‘em home.”

“Dance?” she said, walking after him.

“Yes, there’s a dance in town. The Regency ballroom, for the soldiers,” Theo said.

“Fancy,” she said. She took a few steps and turned to him. “Are you going?”

“Yes, in support of my men,” he said.

“And not for the pretty young women?” she said, smilingwistfully.

“Would you like to step out with me tonight?” he said, not mincing words.

She reddened. Captain Howard was very handsome, and clever, and good, but she had made a promise to herself not to fall for a soldierbecause- she looked in his his eyes, and she couldn’t quite remember.

“I’m a bit old for such revels,” she said.

“No, you’re not,” Emmett yelled from somewhere nearby.

“Mind your business, boy!” she said, blushing harder.

“Good luck with ‘er, Captain. She’s a difficult lass!” he said, his voicefading. He was running across the field and to the house, where theyoung women already waited.

“Tell me you’ll consider it, Elizabeth,” he said, smiling.

“Maybe,” she said, biting her lip. “I didn’t get much notice.” She patted her hair playfully.

“Luckily, we’re close to home. How about we take the long way to the house, and you can tell me then?” he said, pointing to the circuitous path that ran around the field and to her home. She might love a long, slow walk with the handsome captain.

“I think I can do that,” she said. He extended his elbow gallantly for her arm. She waited a beat, then grabbed it.

[oscar-isaacs-number-one-bitch]

“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” Movie Review

Back on Oscar nomination day in 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 5 nominees for the Best Animated Feature of the year, and while that list included some crowd favorites like Big Hero 6 and more mature blockbusters like How to Train Your Dragon 2, the largest story that day wasn’t about any of the nominations, but one film that was left out of them. Most pundits and basically any critic who had seen the brilliantly creative, immensely funny, and more-emotionally-affecting-than-it-had-any-right-to-be Lego Movie had it pegged as not only a surefire nominee, but surefire winner of that award, and our jaws were left hanging on the floor at the lack of its mention during the announcement.

Despite that though, The Lego Movie went on to be an animated hit in the homes of people all across the world, two mildly-to-wildly successful spinoffs were launched to critical praise, and the studio immediately began plans for a sequel, with directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller not returning to the project as they were already booked to direct the Solo movie for Lucasfilm (which they were fired from, and then they moved on to Into the Spider-Verse and we all saw how that shook out). Thus, we have The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, which finds Emmet and the rest of the Lego people 5 years removed from the ending of that first film. Bricksburg has been ravaged and destroyed by the toys of DuPlon, and our heroes now live in Apocalypseburg. But when some of the residents are captured by a mysterious new character from the Sistar system, Emmet must embark on a daring new mission to rescue his friends and prove that he truly is The Special.

I’ve made it no small secret that I love The Lego Movie and thoroughly enjoyed Lego Batman. Lego Ninjago was…fine for me, but I mostly chalked that up to it being very much tied into the popular children’s Ninjago series, which I hadn’t watched. With the direct sequel to the film that birthed them all being not only released but also set 5 years after the original, I was curious to see if the team at Warner Bros. would be able to pull off the same magnificent feat they did in 2014, especially without the direction of Lord & Miller. And, for the most part, they almost do. Much like How to Train Your Dragon 3, I thought Lego Movie 2 was pretty good – just not as good as those initial outings. While there are certainly moments of levity and plenty of jokes from a script by Lord & Miller, something did feel missing in its direction and pacing.

For a start, there are too many musical numbers in this movie. That may seem like a strange thing to say about a Lego movie, especially as a critique to start with over something more significant, but that’s exactly my point. It doesn’t make much sense until one realizes that the studio fell so in love with what worked in the original that they just decided to do that again – but a lot more. Sure, the original film this one is following had an iconic original theme song, and even Lego Batman dabbled a bit in the introduction, but Lego movies are not musicals. Even Tiffany Haddish (who can’t sing very well, as we find out) gets no less than two numbers essentially all to herself, and basically all of them take place in the second act. This not only overcrowds the movie as a whole, but the second act is simply too repetitive. On a story level, that means there’s less time devoted to moving it along rather than just using the same jokes for a little while longer than necessary. They’re not bad jokes, and some of them are actually quite funny, but that zippiness that was so profound in the original film is missing here, giving way to a slightly more elementary-style humor, which follows, considering the director they found to replace Lord & Miller is Mike Mitchell, director of Trolls.

Not only is the second act overly repetitive and reliant on the same jokes, the newer characters added to the franchise aren’t exactly super memorable. None of them leave the lasting impact that a character like a Lego Batman did on the first movie, and there are basically zero interesting cameos throughout (save for one that actually does turn into a pretty hilarious real-world reference joke during the third act). General Mayhem seems to be the stand-in for the Batman character this time around, but apart from capturing the main heroes and transporting them to the Sistar system, there’s really not much else to her until the final couple of minutes and she doesn’t help craft other characters’ development like Batman did for Lucy. In addition to this, the villain this time around (whose name I’m not even going to attempt to type since I’m writing this at almost 2:00 in the morning) might be a more intimidating presence than Lord Business, but she’s not exactly as or more compelling.

One of the things that made Lord Business compelling was his tie-in to the real world that informed the surprise reveal at the end of the original Lego Movie, but while the added-on real-world element to this entry in the series presents a beautiful intent with its message, the actual Lego sections don’t handle telling that message quite as clearly as the first one did its central themes, which makes understanding the villain character in The Second Part more difficult than it honestly should be. Most of the supporting cast that are introduced in this movie aren’t very memorable, which doesn’t bode well for a franchise plan. Even though the Rex Dangervest storyline does go to some pretty ambitious places, he remains sort of a watered-down version of what he’s probably meant to be, and a lot of that is wrapped up in his very convoluted storyline.

Even the animation seems to have taken a bit of a hit; in the original movie, it was made fairly obvious that everything was made of legos, and that was a super cool and innovative way to create an animated movie, but when this sequel gets busy in the Sistar system or with characters not from the Lego world, it becomes difficult to get very invested in the animation, as it no longer carries that particularly unique look. If we’re going to continue to get Lego movies in this vein for a while, spending more time outside of the Lego world than in it is a bad idea. Legos are fun! Spending time in the Lego world should take up the majority of a movie in this franchise, not a minority.

There is a fair amount to like about this movie though; pretty much all the original characters carry the same weight and charm they have since 5 years ago, and the story and themes this movie presents in conjunction with the last one are actually very sweet. Some of the music is actually quite catchy as well, and The Lonely Island come back again with a stellar closing credits sequence. While the direction could have used quite a bit of work, the script by Lord & Miller does what it can to keep the franchise fresh and new, and if nothing else, most of the jokes are funny on first arrival.

It may sound like I’m knocking on this movie too much, but much like How to Train Your Dragon 3 (the superior film between these two, if you’re wondering), I did enjoy it – I just find it to be a bit disappointing as a sequel. That’s the tough part about being a film critic; if you’re reviewing a sequel, talking about the stuff that worked again isn’t nearly interesting as what doesn’t work as well this time around or what works better because that sticks out more, which can make it sound like that’s all you think of the film. With Lego Movie 2, that means telling you that while what worked last time mostly works again this time, there are a few spots that don’t work as well, and that’s okay, if a little bit of a bummer.

“I’m giving The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” a 7.6/10

[mwolf0epsilon]

What are the Top 10 most undignified (and hilarious) villain defeats you've ever seen in media?

Oooh boy, I’ve never really thought much of villain defeats, mostly because getting them out of the picture has always felt somewhat satisfying to me, no matter the execution.But there are at least 10 assholes I think got what they deserved in pretty funny ways. I’ll be counting down from 10 from least satisfying to most satisfying:

10 - Mitch Conner (South Park: The Fractured But Whole) - I don’t know, there’s something very unsatisfying about Cartman getting away with shit despite all the horrors he puts you through in the game. So when Mitch Conner was finally defeated by, you guessed it, Cartman himself and his other character Mrs. Conner, it didn’t sit well with me.Sure, Cartman makes a complete fool of himself in front of a crowd, but the people of South Park aren’t smart. They don’t realize they’ve been conned, which unnerved me to no end. And the worst part? You’re left with no other option but accept it for what it is and carry on with your day as if nothing happened. Bullshit.

9 - Lord Business (The Lego Movie) - It’s an undignifying defeat in a very different way to the rest of the villains on the list, mostly because it breaks the role completely. Emmet’s speech at the climax of the final battle hit me hard when I first saw the movie. As an artist I understood what it was like to feel unmotivated and overlooked when there were better artists out there who could do so much more than I could. Lord Business felt like a more personal villain to me in terms of what his role really was.So his defeat, ending with him turning good and still getting blown up, just to get back up again and fix things? It certainly is undignifying to a villain, but not so much for an actual person, which is why I enjoy this defeat so much, yet don’t really count it as much of a villain defeat, rather, turning a new leaf.

8 - The Fabrication Machine (Shane Acker’s 9) - There’s something somewhat sad about this defeat that I never could put my finger on until recently. The Fabrication Machine is the result of corruption, a machine taken from it’s creator and forced to endlessly build for a cruel man. Its revolt was innevitable and its next acts were monstrous…But seeing it defeated at the end, through the same means it took the lives of more than half of the stitchpunks? It left me with a bitter taste in my mouth afterwards. Perhaps because it felt to me like the B.R.A.I.N. could have been so much more if it had just had the chance instead of being forced into a life of slave labor…

7 - Handsome Jack (Borderlands 2) - This one has an explanation and a half. Handsome Jack is one of those villains you love to hate, because they are exceptionally good at being a villain. So why would I place him so low on my scale? Well…If you listen through his final dialog you don’t get the option to kill him yourself. Lilith does, and it angered me to no end that she’d cut him short when I’ve always loved hearing the final monologue of a well written villain. It felt like your victory was being robbed from you, and while Jack getting shot for his troubles was indeed an undignified death after the hassle it was to end him, it was still not a sweet victory…With that said, fuck you Lilith, why couldn’t you just let me savour the moment?!

6 - Scar/Gaston/Clayton (Disney’s The Lion King/Beauty and the Beast/Tarzan) - At number six we have a bit of a tie. Scar, Gaston and Clayton were always three villains I vividly remembered as a kid. They were charming, they were cunning, they were terrifying when they had to be, at least in the perspective of 7 year old Eps. They also had very satisfying defeats that, because they held the same meaning to me, ended up being placed kinda low on my scale. It doesn’t feel fair putting them above one another so they share the same level of scrutiny. They are also low because I don’t think they got enough after what they did.They make up for it for having pretty brutal deaths tho, which are still somewhat satisfying when I watch them to this very day. Their blind ambitions got them in the end.

5 - Frank Fontane (Bioshock) - In the middle of the scale we have Frankie “Atlas” Fontane himself. I see him as the perfect medium between unsatisfying and satisfying because, while technically you’re not the one who gets to kill him in the end, it felt pretty good watching the little sisters he’s tormented for so long going to town on his sorry excuse for an ass.Big and strong won’t do you good when the juices that keep you going get stabbed out by needle-weilding angry children. Sucks to be you buddy, now would you kindly shut the fuck up and let Jack live his own life?

4 - D-Reaper (Digimon Tamers) - This one comes off as a bittersweet defeat. It’s no less satisfying but the aftermath of the deconstruction of the D-Reaper is what kicked me in the gut.On one hand I was happy to see this programming mishap gone, on the other I was upset that the only way to do it involved sacrificing the Tamers’ digimon as well. It was a good defeat but the price always felt heavy to me in the end. It’s why Digimon Tamers is my favorite incarnation of the Digimon Series. It always felt heavier in context of self-sacrifice and trying to make things right. A++ final battle, lots of angst and self-reflection moments, good final villain, and very clever execution of its termination.

3 - Chakal (The Book of Life) - For me, bigger is usually better. I’m a sucker for stupidly big characters, so having a villain who is ridiculously big compared to his enemies? It was awesome to see so many people determined to defeat the towering beast that was Chakal, even more so when Manolo, Maria and Joaquin worked together to defend their home town. The final part of the battle however, took the cake.Manolo’s clever thinking and Joaquin’s quick reaction was the final push for Chakal’s imminent defeat, via a well placed bell tower and a LOT of explosives. This one felt satisfying to me because of just how much of a kick those explosives really had. They were just as powerful as Chakal himself, which we don’t really take into consideration since Manolo came out alright thanks to the medal…But consider this: Nothing was left of the bandit king, so yeah, he was completely desintegrated.Go big or go home right? Or in this case, don’t go home at all because you are GONE for good.

2 - Thighten (Megamind) - Lets face it, Hal Stewart was the biggest animated creep of 2010. He’s one of those so called Nice Guys who flirts awkwardly with very creepy subtext, then when he doesn’t get what he wants, he reacts violently just because he’s bigger and stronger.The more of him was on screen, the more disgust I felt of him, because it was obvious he didn’t care about Roxanne or anyone else, just of himself and his big ego. So seeing this guy, who’s gone and become the perfect picture of brawny asshole, being outsmarted by someone physically weaker than him? It felt satisfying to no end. Big isn’t always better. Sometimes clever is all you need.

1 - Ernesto de la Cruz (Disney Pixar’s Coco) - From the moment it was revealed Ernesto killed Hector without a second thought just to steal his songs and guitar as a means to rise to fame, I knew I HATED him, specially because I’d begun liking him during his bonding scene with Miguel. It felt like I’d been backstabbed. He’s a pretty well written villain in the sense that you don’t realise he’s the villain until he is exposed as such. He’s charismatic, funny and cunning. Also very ambitious and willing to put himself before others, which is a terrifyingly bad mix. Re-living his undignified death after being tossed around by a pissed off flying jaguar was definitly well deserved, and the loud crash of the bell hitting him marked the end of his many victories in life.