#i would totally be cool if it's animated but if it's live action would be even better

[girlrandomstuff]

LOOK AT HIM, FINALLY BAIL ORGANA GETTING TO A POSTER AS HE SHOULD

[nohoperadio]

That cool bee book I was talking about a while ago mostly refrains from philosophical digressions (which I think is a strength, I appreciated how the author had total confidence that just clearly presenting the facts about his subject would be enough to make a fascinating book without the need for any "...and here's why that should blow your mind" editorializing, and he's totally right), but there was one towards the end I've found myself thinking about a lot, which is: he wants people to stop using "self-consciousness" (i.e. the concept exemplified by the mirror test but used implicitly or explicitly in tons of other contexts) as a criterion for which animals can be considered sentient/morally relevant/having significant inner lives/however you want to describe it. Not, as you might expect, because he thinks it's an unreasonably high bar to meet, but because it's such a low bar that it produces no distinctions: he argues that basically any animal with any kind of developed central nervous system has to have some kind of self-consciousness almost by definition.

The example I remember best is: imagine you can see an object in your visual field getting closer to you. No matter the specifics, it's obviously always going to make a huge difference to how you evaluate this situation whether the cause of the object getting closer is a] the object is moving towards you, or b] you are moving towards the object. If a, then something might be pursuing you or falling on you or a thousand other things that are just not even worth considering in the case of b. But visually the two cases are indistinguishable; if you're going to be able to track the difference, your brain has to be putting at least some work into keeping tabs on what your own intentions are and what choices you're making as you move through the world, predicting the expected consequences of those choices, and maintaining a fairly tidy mental separation between stuff in the world that you're making happen and stuff in the world that's just happening of its own volition. Otherwise, every time you walk towards a rock you'll freak out and think the rock is rolling into you, or vice versa.

And it's not hard to see how this applies to your entire sensory world right, it applies to sounds and tactile sensations and even feelings internal to your body to some extent, if you're going to both perceive the world and take actions in the world then it's mandatory to mentally separate yourself and the world before that's going to yield even an ounce of helpful information, you just can't function successfully on the most basic level if you're processing stuff that you're doing on the same level as stuff that's happening, if you're in that state then you simply don't have a usable model of the world at all, you just have chaos.

So you can very easily eliminate a certain seductive narrative about the evolution of consciousness, which starts with very primitive animals who are mentally processing nothing but basic sensory inputs, then as you rise up the chain more complex animals are forming concepts of objects and building up a more nuanced understanding of the world, until finally you approach humans and the mind becomes so subtle and sophisticated that it gains access to this special advanced meta-level of thought where it can even understand itself! No, the self is precisely the one idea that has to be in place from the very beginning, before any of it has even the most rudimentary practical value. Self-consciousness isn't the pinnacle of the mind's evolution, it's one of the lowest, most basic foundations that everything else builds off of.

I think this is really cool stuff! I don't know enough about the relevant academic philosophy of mind debates to say how far all this does or doesn't speak to that, maybe someone will tell me the "self-consciousness" concept being attacked here is a strawman somehow, I don't know. But it's definitely impacted the way I (just a dumb guy who likes creatures) think about our small small cousins and what their lives might be like and I think it's super interesting. If you think it's interesting too then maybe you wanna buy The Mind of a Bee by Lars Chittka and read it. It's mostly not about this stuff, as I say it's light on philosophy and heavy on bee-life immersion, but if you actually read this whole post then you're probably in the market for that I feel like.

[butterfly-writer]

Yo! I was wondering if you could do some headcannons for Hawks, Aizawa, and All Might with a Pro Hero husband reader? I think it would be really cool if reader had a quirk that gave him the abilities of a skinwalker. He could be able to shapeshifter into his beast form, mimic voices he hears, regeneration, etc. Maybe he could be really tall (around 7ft) even when he isn’t using his quirk, and he looks creepy but is really sweet? I think it would be cool to see the medias reaction too. Sorry for the length. Thank you!!!

Shapeshifter!

Keigo Takami; Shouta Aizawa, Toshinori Yagi x ProHero!Husband!Reader Summary: A character is married to a scary looking hero who’s actually a sweetheart. How does the media react? How did they meet?

★☽A/N: It’s been a while since I wrote headcannons! I really hope I improved! Oh! I had my birthday a couple days ago! September 4, hehe! So I consider this a bit of a gift to you guys for my birthday!

Contents: FLUFF – Headcannons Quirk: Skinwalker The user can alter their physical appearance to mimic any living creature, including humans and animals. This ability allows them to change their voice, size, and even mimic specific characteristics, such as muscle structure or hair. The transformation can be partial or full, depending on the user’s control. However, maintaining a transformation for extended periods drains energy, and extreme changes may lead to temporary exhaustion or loss of control.

ˋˏ-༻❁༺-ˎˊ

Keigo Takami (Keigo)

The number 2 hero probably met Y/N when he just started his agency at 18 years old. He was on patrol when he saw a thief stealing an old lady’s purse. As the fastest, he immediately got to action, chasing the thief with lightning speed. Just before he could reach the purse, a cheetah suddenly ran into him, blocking his path and swiftly grabbing the thief by the collar with shark canine teeth.

The moment the cheetah ensured that it had disabled the thief, it suddenly changed into a tall male. He was towering over everyone who walked past, staring at him with a scared glare. Keigo figured he was perhaps 7ft (213cm) tall which practically towered the hero. He looked up at the figure, watching as he looked around for the owner of the purse.

He had to admit.

The male was tall and menacing. He had piercings around his ear, colors similar to his outfit. Takami figured he was a pro hero like himself. ‘But how did I not know him?’ he wondered. ‘Maybe an underground hero?’ he thought. Keigo just shrugged it off and walked over to him.

“Hey, big fela!” A shiver went down the hero’s spine when he saw the tall H/C haired man turn to look at him, eyes piercing through his soul. “J..Just wondering if you want me to give the purse back to its owner? I’m sure she’ll be very happy to get it back!” he managed to utter with a slight stutter.

The H/C haired tilted his head in confusion, but then his eyes widened in realization. “Oh- right!” The blonde couldn’t stop the chuckle from coming out of his throat. ‘I didn’t expect him to be so awkward!’ And he had to admit, he judged the hero too soon. His menacing looks were the total opposite to his sweet personality.

“Name’s Hawks. You?” he asked, receiving the purse from the tall hero. “Chimera.” He smiled. Hawks’s heart almost exploded!! His smile was so gentle and soft, a total contrast to his terrifying aura and looks! “So… What’s your Quirk? It’s hella unique!” Keigo commented. “Uhm… like a skinwalker..” Chimera mumbled. Takami was impressed. “A skinwalker? How cool!” he complimented.

“Thank you..” Chimera smiled.

And now they’ve been married for maybe two years? And Keigo is probably one of the happiest birds ever!

In his free time with Y/N, he would play a guessing game with him where Y/N had to transform into a person or an animal and Keigo had to guess who the person was or what animal it was! (He lost most of the time since he didn’t know much about animals… but he was excellent at recognizing people!”

The media would always talk about how scary the hero was, how he would turn into the scariest things just so he could fight. But Keigo? Total opposite! He is infatuated with how amazing Y/N’s Quirk is! Imagine being able to transform into a cerberus?!

Despite his terrifying and frightening aura and looks, he was such a sweet man! Whenever Keigo and Y/N went out together, he would scare almost everyone who laid eyes on him! The rest just glared at him with disgust, which Keigo hated.

One time, Keigo and Y/N had just got out of the 7-11 where he found himself staring at a hungry kitten. Y/N looked at him with an excited face. “Wait here!” he said before rushing back into the store. Keigo didn’t know what he was doing until he came out of the store with a small packet of cat food. His heart ached out of affection when he watched Y/N give the food to the young kitten. His soft gentle smile, a rare sight, brought joy and love to Keigo’s heart.

Shouta Aizawa (Eraserhead)

Both Y/N and Shouta probably met when they were in high school! But Y/N was in a different class which made them meet extremely late. During their 1st year, around their second semester, both class 1A and 1B were going to have their joint training. This is probably the first time he met Y/N, teaming up with him to go against another team.

Shouta looked over to his side, watching the boy who was much taller than he was. He was broad and frightening to look like. He honestly believed their team would immediately win just by having the H/C look at their opponents the way he was staring at Shouta–

‘Wait-’ He realized Y/N was looking right back at him. He instantly blushed and looked away, silently cursing himself for staring at the male. “Sorry…” he managed to mutter. He heard Y/N respond with a hum.

He turned back and found the tall male walking forward before jogging, and then sprinting. Before Shouta knew it, Y/N was sprinting and quickly turned into a peregrine falcon and flew off. Shouta noticed how he was flying so fast, as if he was flying 5km per minute which was impressive to the ravenhead.

And in a matter of minutes, their team had won!

Y/N had rendered the other team’s members unconscious and had won for his team. Shouta was speechless! Even Hizashi and Oboro who were watching from the viewer room were just as speechless as their best friend!

Shouta walked up to Y/N with an embarrassed look. Despite Y/N’s spine-chilling presence, he managed to utter a “thank you..” to Y/N. Y/N smiled at him, thanking him with a gentle voice. Shouta didn’t stop the shivers going down his spine. His gentle voice and smile was different from his looks and presence, a feeling of comfort from the H/C’s gentle voice.

And now they’re much older! Like… 12-13 years older.. And their love never faded! It even grew when they got married!

Shouta had just started the year with his new students, thankfully not expelling them like the last batch of students. He genuinely saw potential in all of them and Y/N noticed and did not regret teasing Shouta about it, much to his protests.

Y/N was seen as a creepy person by the news, for his towering height and his death glares. But Shouta knew it wasn’t true. Y/N was actually a big softie and sweetheart. He was a gentleman to all women, growing up with a mom who made sure he treated women with respect.

Like one time, they were out to eat and they saw a woman walking alone with a scared expression. Y/N, with no hesitation, walked over to the lady. She was about to scream for help because of how scary he looked, but she was calmed down by Y/N’s gentle and soft voice. He ended up guiding her to her car with no troubles.

Such a gentleman! No wonder Shouta is obsessed with his husband!

Toshinori Yagi (All Might)

The number one hero! A symbol of peace! Toshinori was proud of himself for finally making his dream come true after being Quirkless and being given One for All by his mentor. Not only that, but the blonde was happy he would’ve made his mentor, Nana, proud, bringing a soft smile to his face.

During one of his missions, he had to go to America and was partnered with one of the underground heroes named “Chimera” who would accompany him.

 He had to admit. Out of all the villains he had to face, including All for One— Chimera was the most terrifying. As a tall man himself, he wasn’t scared of him due to his height, for he was taller by 3 inches but his eyes… The way he practically stared into Yagi’s soul was already bone-chilling to him and made him even terrified by thinking what sort of Quirk the H/C could have.

He was impressed by Chimera’s quick thinking and fast agility, making things a breeze. And the way the hero switched between animals was impressive! And it was on the go as well! The blonde couldn’t help but appreciate the hero more.

After the mission, All Might went up to Chimera and gave him the brightest smile. “You’re really good with your Quirk!” he complimented. Chimera turned to him with a threatening stare, giving shivers down Toshinori’s spine. “Y-You’re really impressive..” The blonde managed to let out. “I-I’m All Might.” He extended his shaking hand towards the hero with a crooked and forced smile.

The blonde was surprised to see Chimera smile. He thought his smile would’ve been terrifying and bone-chilling– So he was shocked to see such a gentle smile. It was a small one, almost non-visible, but his smile was still there, gentle and soft. And in his voice, as gentle and as soft as his smile, he said, “Thank you” with his tender smile.

ALL MIGHT IS SMITTEN! By now, in his 20 year marriage with Chimera, he had gotten used to Y/N’s horrifying appearance and eventually loved how scary he looked, with his tall appearance and hostile stares.

The public, around 10 years into his marriage, was shocked to hear that the number one hero was married to such a creepy underground hero! And Toshinori did not care, he loved the way he was!

The public, until now, are still terrified of the hero, even after he retired before his husband. Toshinori didn’t care much about how he retired, or that he still had his scary reputation. He loved Y/N and that was that.

After Toshinori retired and used his real form, he realized how short he was compared to Y/N now. It was shocking but he didn’t mind it.

Husbands for 20+ years and they’re happy as the day they first met.

[highfantasy-soul]

Princess Yue - Netflix Edition

Yue's character concept is so cool, but in the animated series, like Suki, she was a cool concept that really just became a plot device rather than a full character.

The live-action fleshes her out as a young woman put in a position of authority over a tribe not just as a princess, but as someone with a part of the moon spirit within her, so she chooses to use that to be a spiritual leader of her people as well. She shares how she serves them, not just as a bride to be married off like in the animated series, but as someone who helps make desserts and councils them on spiritual matters. Yue has stuff going on outside getting married to Hahn and it makes her feel like a real person rather than a plot device. She has likes and hobbies and struggles like a whole character - ya know, stuff she can also talk to Sokka about to create a connection rather than just…thinking he's cute, I guess?

I love the additions the live-action gave her due to her having a part of the moon spirit within her! Being able to pop over into the Spirit Realm in her dreams was a wonderful touch and having her meet Sokka there added to their connection - she saw him as he was, not as someone trying to impress a princess. It also makes total sense that she's a waterbender - she has a piece of the moon spirit in her, the first waterbender - why would she not also have that ability? It was a great way also, to show subtly in the finale that her giving her life back to the moon would bring back waterbending as she bends even when the moon is 'gone'.

Her and Sokka's relationship, though still rushed, feels a lot more organic and understandable in the live-action. They bond over being in positions of authority and sometimes wishing they could just be 'regular people' so they both understand at least partially what the other is going through. It's beautiful that Yue falls for Sokka not because of his battle prowess or status as the warrior of his village, but because of his heart - his first words when she meets him are of concern for his friends.

In the battle, Yue takes an active role with Sokka - not to fight, but to help get people to safety - showing that there are many ways to help during a crisis other than being a master in combat. She shows Sokka the hidden oasis not to stand by while Aang meditates, but to heal someone who'd been hurt - even if that someone was 'just a pet'.

Finally, I love giving her the agency to realize that she is the one who can bring back the moon spirit. In the animated series, Iroh is the one who prompts her, but in the live-action, she comes to that conclusion herself. It's just her and Sokka in the end and she makes her sacrifice. 

I couldn't tell you what animated Yue enjoys doing, what she values in a person, or what she did in service to her people. But I could tell you all those things and more about the live-action Yue. Even though she's only in 2 episodes, she's a full person and you know exactly how her loss will affect her people: the Grans will miss the princess coming in to the kitchens and helping with dessert, the people will miss getting advice from her, but hopefully, a silver fox will still be able to roam the Spirit Realm.

[khunyuki]

Ok I thought of an idea for kn8 hear me out Pls!!!!! what about soshirou older brother aka soichiro enter the fight between narumi and soshirou but like in a funny scenario like him witnessing the love triangle going on decided to tease the two by making them jealous by using kagami in front of everyone to witness I'm talking hugging kagami , leaning towards her , putting his head on her lap, and whispering to her something that make her blush and giving her gift basically all those cheesy cliche stuff which ends up the two rival working together doing whatever it takes to get souchiro away from kagami in end souchiro revealing he won't steal kagami from them ( kinda think since we know that soichiro obviously care for soshirou that he would atleast have a great relationship to kagami in some extent to see how his brother doing)

Sorry if this to long 😭 also love your stories!!! They're amazing ♥️

Ohhhh!!! That's a very interesting idea anon! I've thought of Soichiro doing this with his brother only but adding Gen to the mix? Definitely chaos HAHAHA

Thank you very much for loving my stories, anon🥹 Also, your idea is fine, great even! The more specific the better hehehe

Anyways, here's your order! I hope you enjoy~

"I've lived my life with blade and you always by my side"

ʀᴇqᴜᴇꜱᴛ: 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍

Pairing/s: Hoshina Soshiro x Uzui Kagami x Narumi Gen, feat. Hoshina Soichiro

Masterlist: TOC

The City of Akihabara. Famous for its electronics shops, arcade games, maid cafes, and stores catering to anime and game lovers. It was not a place you would see Uzui Kagami in but here she is, standing in its busy streets, waiting for someone.

"Onee-san~ Are you alone? Wanna hang out with me?"

This was not something she could avoid could she. She was prepared to ignore the person trying to pick her up but as that person stood in front of her, she could recognize the tail of white and purple hair. And as she looked up, she could see the familiar face of her dear brother-in-law.

"Not cool, Soichiro-niisan"

She deadpanned at the person in front of her who was unbothered by her reaction.

"You would totally react if it was Soshiro who did it"

If his narrow eyes could wink, he would totally be doing so. He knew that mentioning little brother's name would make her react and he's proven to be correct as she tries to hide her blush from him.

"So~ Why does my cute little sister want to meet up in Akihabara of all places?"

"I wanted to buy a gift for Soshiro but I don't know what. My captain said there are some games good for couples to play"

Soichiro hummed as he looked around the place. He's been here before with some of his friends but knew it was her first time. He glanced back at his sister who seemed really curious about the place.

"For now, why don't we look around first"

Kagami nodded as they started walking, her eyes darting all over the place. They talked as they walked, catching up on things while stopping to window shop at some stores.

Kagami would sometimes hangout with her future brother-in-law, Hoshina Soichiro, despite the disapproval of her fiance, his brother. The reason she's doing this is simple. She knew just how much Soichiro adores his little brother yet Soshiro doesn't want anything to do with his older brother. She's tried hard to reconcile them again and again but failed everytime.

So here she is, spending her time with her big brother, just to tell him stories about his little brother. Of course that doesn't mean she'll only be talking about him! Kagami is a single child so she's really happy to have a big brother like Soichiro, as he is overjoyed to have a sister like her. Hanging out with Soichiro-niisan just to be spoiled is truly the main purpose of this event!

"Our little Kagamin is really spoiled, isn't she?"

He pinched her nose as she scrunched up with his actions, squatting his hand away. He could only laugh at her as he ruffled her hair. Her arm still link around his as she glared at him for ruining her hair.

To the two, these signs of affection are only part of their usual interactions as siblings-in-law. To a bystander, however, it seems like two lovers are having PDA on the streets.

Lovebirds.

That's what it looked like to Narumi Gen who dropped his newly bought PS6 to the ground in shock. His eyes were bulging out of his sockets and his jaw was technically on the floor as he watched his crush drag away the long haired male to someplace with their arms linked together.

"This can't be! NOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Narumi Gen dramatically reacted as he kneeled on the ground and hit it with both of his fists like a meme, the passersby avoiding him like a plague. He would wipe the crocodile tears but instead, there was fire burning in his eyes.

Who does that guy think he is putting his hands on his crush?!!!

He saw Kagami and that guy he doesn't know by the claw machines. She was pointing at the purple cat with squinted eyes as he tried to get it for her. Gen saw her laughing at him for not being able to get it on his first try as the man flicked her forehead before trying it again. He gripped the machine he was hiding behind at and is definitely gritting his teeth with jealousy.

The Strongest Narumi Gen: oi

The Strongest Narumi Gen: Kagami's with someone

The Strongest Narumi Gen: fuck they're too close

The Weakest Bastard: What do you mean?

Hoshina Soshiro couldn't help raising his eyebrow once he saw the message. His fiancee being too close to someone? That's impossible.

Big Fat Loser sent a photo

Big Fat Loser: i'm gonna kill this bastard

Soshiro looked at the photo and the default smile on his face dropped. Was this why Kagami wasn't hanging out with him on their day off? Cuz she's having a date with his brother?? He could imagine his brother doing this on purpose just to annoy him, and it's proven to be effective.

I Am Winner: that's my brother

I Am Winner: i'm coming over

Those were Soshiro's last words as he exited his apartment, heading straight for Akihabara. Ain't no way he's letting his brother get away with this scheme.

The moment Narumi Gen saw the word brother on the screen, he understood just why he found that man irritating. His hair color was different but those eyes, those narrowed eyes were the same. He had a nagging feeling on the back of his head the whole time he was watching them, about where he had seen this fox-eyed man before. Turns out it was Hoshina Soichiro, captain of the Sixth Division, the older brother of his rival.

Hoshina Soichiro was no idiot. He already saw the captain of the First Division following them as soon as they exited the arcade. There's no way he's not feeling the daggers digging onto his back nor the dark aura he's exuding. He knows what Narumi's relationship was with his little sister for she tells him about it, sometimes complaining.

The captain of the First Division likes his little sister, that part was obvious. His little brother obviously loves his fiancee. He also knows of the rivalry between him and his brother. Hoshina Soichiro grins widely at the devious plan he came up with.

"What do you wanna do next?"

Soichiro placed his arm on her shoulders as they walked the busy streets of Akihabara. She tilted her head but let him be. He could hear growling behind as the aura of seething jealousy could no longer be contained.

"I'm hungry"

She pretended to think before telling him she's hungry, which earned a chuckle from him. They entered a restaurant, sitting on a table for 4, with Gen secretly following behind them. He sat a few tables away, hiding his face with the menu.

As the two placed their orders, the door to the restaurant opened and in come Soshiro, who tried to hide the fact that he rushed there. He was going to interrupt the two before he got dragged back by Gen.

"Why did you drag me back?"

"Are you crazy? Why would you head there without a plan?!"

"I don't need a plan to talk to my fiancee"

"This bastard..."

The two bickering idiots were bound to be noticed as they didn't bother hiding while doing so. Even more as they stand in the middle of the establishment, attracting the attention of other customers, particularly the two they were spying on. The staff wanted to try and stop the dispute but were too scared to do so.

"Now now, it's not good to fight the two of you"

The two who were grabbing each other's collars just now looked at the man that placed his hands on their shoulders. The man who was sitting a few tables away was now stopping their fight. The same man who was the cause of this in the first place.

"Soshiro and Gen-kun? What are you doing here?"

Kagami who also got up from her sit, wanting to help stop the commotion was surprised to see the people she wasn't expecting to be there at all. The two immediately wrapped their arms on each other's shoulder as they looked at her in a merry attitude.

"What a coincidence to see you here, Kagami"

"We were just in the area looking around"

Soshiro and Gen spoke alternatively, maintaining the facade. While they didn't totally answer her question, she didn't mind it.

"I knew it. You two are really close"

She smiled happily as she saw the good relationship between the two rivals. As expected, all of their bickerings and fights were just an expression of their closeness. Soichiro laughed at how oblivious she was to the situation, clearly seeing the two at each other's throats a few moments ago.

"Why don't you two join us for lunch? It would be bad for business if we continue to stand around here wouldn't it?"

Soichiro suggested as he had already dragged Kagami back to their seats, this time sitting besides her than in front. The two looked at each other before trying to take the sit in front of her first. Fortunately for Gen, he got was closer and sat first. Unfortunately for Soshiro, he had to face his brother rather than his fiancee.

"So... What brought you two in Akiba together?"

Gen was the first to ask, having been the one who's following them for a while. Side-eyeing the captain of the Sixth Division.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other so I just wanted to hang out with my little sister"

Acting oblivious, Soichiro side hugged Kagami and leaned his head on hers. This seemed to fluster her but she didn't stop him. Of course this would mean the two males in front of them were technically killing him on their heads now.

"I'm quite upset. Why didn't you tell me you're going to hang out with him of all people, Kagami"

Soshiro pretended to pout as he crossed his arms, looking quite disappointed. Kagami immediately became crestfallen, having been guilty of not telling him about it first.

"I'm sorry. You didn't want to talk about him so I..."

"It's not your fault"

It's this guy, he thought as he frowned at his brother who was clearly enjoying this.

"This brat, why are you making my sister sad?"

Soichiro pat Kagami in the head to comfort her. He pretended to frown as if what his brother did upsets him, when in fact, he was trying hard not a grin so hard.

"If you wanted to look around Akiba, you could just ask me! I know every inch and corner of this place"

Gen not liking how he's being ignored, turned back the question to him. He's incredibly annoyed but he had to hide it in front of his crush.

"I was actually going to but you said you were busy with the new game you just bought"

As if lightning had struck him, Gen couldn't help but react dramatically. It was there! The opportunity was there! Yet he blew it! He hit his head on the table from shame, crying crocodile tears, which startled Kagami who asked if he was okay.

Their orders arrived while Kagami was busily trying to comfort Gen. Soshiro took a sip from his drink as he blatantly ignored his brother. This made his brother show a sad smile, thinking his reaction was inevitable after everything.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine"

"Kagami told me a lot about you"

"I see"

The silence was awkward as Soshiro shut Soichiro down. Soshiro doesn't hate his brother but he couldn't help the feeling of inferiority every time he sees him. It's been so long since the last time they had contact so he just doesn't know what to do.

Gen could care less about their relationship as brothers but seeing how worried Kagami was, he had to at least do something.

"Remember that game I introduced to you last time? That one you liked most"

He tried to distract her but engaging a conversation with her alone.

"Which one? Oh! The visual novel one! What was it called again? Oto- Otome? Otome game!"

Kagami was confused at first as he had made her play plenty of games. Some she couldn't understand how to, the others easy but she doesn't quite like. For someone who likes to read like her, there is only one answer.

"I didn't expect you to be the type to play otome games, sis"

Amused, Soshiro and Soichiro joined the conversation. She tilted her head, not knowing what's wrong with it.

"It's unrealistic but the stories will hook you up. Though I don't know why there were plenty of guys/girls to choose from"

Soshiro squinted his also narrow eyes at the guy beside him in a 'what are you teaching her' kind of way. Gen feigned ignorance as he whistled.

As they finished eating and chatting, it was now time to leave. It was not in their plan to have two extras joining but it wasn't unwelcomed. The only thing was if they should continue their initial plan or not.

"Wanna head to the park, sis?"

Kagami nodded her head at her dear brother's suggestion, oblivious to the reactions of the two men who joined them.

"What about you guys, wanna come?"

Soichiro wanted to snicker bit he couldn't make it too obvious that he's finding their jealousy entertaining. He wanted to see how far he can go with teasing them as he whispered something to his sister's ear.

The two men saw her blush as she immediately hit his arm in embarrassment. Their glares worsened as they watched the smirk on his face growing wider by the second.

"Sure, why not? I'm free"

Gen took her side, squatting the arm trying to wrap itself on her shoulders. Once again taking her attention away to himself.

"Better than leaving you two alone"

Soshiro squeezed himself between Kagami and Soichiro as he tried to link their arms together. By now, Kagami was surrounded from both sides leaving Soichiro on the side. They started walking while ignoring the pouting man following behind them.

As soon as they arrived at Ueno Park, they could see a lot of people coming and going. There really wasn't much greenery as there were more ample pathways and flea market vendors in there. Depending on their choice, they could either go to the zoo, museums, or the lake. As they have a lot of time, they decided to go to all of them.

While Kagami was having a blast, the same couldn't be said to the three. Soshiro and Gen were joining forces to prevent Soichiro from getting closer to her which takes a lot of patience cuz he's so persistent. And when they think they fended him off, they'll be fighting each other for her attention which will give Soichiro an opportunity to take her away. Really, they couldn't get a break. As long as she's happy then they'll endure this.

"I'm gonna go get us some drinks"

They decided to rest on a bench after walking for a long time. It was really tiring but fun. So to show her gratitude, Kagami headed to the nearest vending machine to get them some drinks, leaving the three behind.

"No need to be so on guard, you two"

Once she was gone, the two unleashed a full on hostile attempt on Soichiro, finally being alone with him. He sweatdropped at them, raising his hands to show he means no harm.

"I'm not planning on stealing her"

They squinted at him, not believing his words at all.

"You better not"

They said at the same time as Soichiro just laughed awkwardly.

"I only think of Kagami as a little sister, after all"

He said this to reassure them but, in actuality, he's pointedly saying this to his brother. She'll be his sister in the future so there's nothing wrong in getting close, no?

"Umm... There are people waiting for me. Could you please get out of the way?"

The three of them could say more to each other but as soon as they saw Kagami being surrounded by two strangers who couldn't seem to get a hint. They dropped everything as they went to her. Soichiro and Gen holding on both of them while Soshiro takes her in his arms.

While they may not get along with each other, they will surely move together for her sake.

Note/s: It was fun writing this but I think I kinda half-assed it from the middle to the end😭 I'm sleepy, tired and busy so I just rushed the ending, skipped some parts, and didn't get to edit this properly. Sorry about that🙇‍♀️ But!! I think I showed what needed to be seen so I do hope you guys are satisfied🥹🥹🥹 Anyways, thank you again for reading my stories🫶💕

[ficclings]

LOST - CHAPTER SIX

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Taglist: if you would like to be tagged or I forgot to tag you, let me know! @laymegentlytorest@im-sinking-in-mud @hydroyaksha @hehe-24-hehe@neohyxn

It didn’t take a lot to panic Felix nowadays, with everything going on, but he never thought he would be panicking over the sight of water bottles. 

“What’s the matter?” Minho’s voice was groggy and filled with the want for sleep. 

“We don’t have much water left and I’m not drinking from the tap,” Felix tried to keep his voice down, as not to worry the hybrid currently sleeping for the first time in a couple of days. 

“I would suggest the water back at my workplace but I’m not even sure that’s safe to drink,” Minho paused, “I don’t know how long water can sit there and be safe,” he added with a pout forming. 

“I’d use the internet but that’s down,” Felix rubbed at his forehead and sat down on the kitchen floor, feeling defeated. 

A small smile returning when Pepie padded over to him and rested at his side to give Felix some comfort; which it did. 

“Do we go for a supply run?” Minho suggested, joining Felix on the floor, head smacking against the lower cabinets, “We just went out for one; we’re exhausted,” he hesitated for a second before putting an arm around Felix’s shoulders, “we have enough for a couple of days,” 

Felix sighed and ran his fingers through Pepie’s soft fur, “yeah, I guess,” he chewed his bottom lip and closed his eyes, “I’m so fucking tired,” 

The expletive made Minho snort with laughter; quickly covering is mouth when he heard the hybrid on the sofa stir a bit. 

“Me too,” the older man closed his eyes too and let Felix rest his head on his shoulder. 

------------------------------------------- 

“Snap!”  

The sound of a hand slamming down on a table echoed around the small apartment as the three friends bonded over a game of snap, the hybrid taking the most recent win and accepting her prize of a couple of squares of the Dairy Milk chocolate bar they had found on their recent supply run. 

“You have animal reflexes!” Minho whined and pouted despite himself making her giggle at the sight. 

“Such a sore loser, Hyung,” Felix playfully shoved the older man to the side, letting out an oddly high-pitched cry as Minho pounced on him with a cocky eyebrow raised. 

“Pinned ya again,” clearly mocking Nala from The Lion King, Felix rolled his eyes with a small smile on his handsome face, “wait, that makes you Simba,” Minho paused, “you’re not nearly cool enough to be Simba,” he added teasingly and the hybrid watching nearly choked on the chocolate she was currently enjoying. 

“I’m totally cool enough to be Simba,” Felix argued back crossing his arms across his chest. 

“You realise this means that you two have to get married now, right?” the woman across the table to them was smirking suggestively at them and it caused an immediate flush to brush over the two men as they quickly sat up. 

“Does this make you Zazu?” Minho asked with a chuckle, very entertained by the appropriate gasp of surprise on her face. 

“I happen to love that funky little bird,” she replied with a bright smile, canines on show; catching Felix’s eyes; a light dusting of pink returning to his cheeks, “I miss watching movies,” she added with a loud sigh, shoulders falling with a pout on her lips. 

The electricity had almost completely wiped a couple of days ago, causing them all to panic quite a bit as they had practically been giving themselves what little of their old lives they had, back. 

The only thing still running were the lights in the building as they were the only things hooked up to the emergency backup in case of a power outage or natural disaster. 

“And my games,” she added looking woefully at her giant collection of games that decorated the many shelves both under and beside the television. 

“I think I miss just the action of browsing through websites,” Felix chuckled as he gladly accepted a chunk of chocolate that the hybrid had kindly decided to share more of. 

“Getting updates on things,” Minho paused for a bit as if debating with himself if he should even finish his sentence, “like friends,” he flickered his eyes to Felix who was now fiddling with a loose strand on his jumper, “is something I miss; even the dumb updates that Han and Changbin used to post up,”  

This made Felix laugh, making the hybrid smile warmly again. 

“The anime updates and gym updates,” Felix shook his head, and this made her sit up a little straighter with interest. 

“Who...who liked anime?” she asked shyly. 

“Hannie,” Minho replied fondly with a tone that he had greeted Felix with when they were reunited, “he loves the stuff,”  

“Me too!” the hybrid blushed darkly at how quickly the words left her, simply excited by the prospect of somebody finally understanding her love for the animation world. 

“We all do, to an extent, but Han goes to conventions with Chan Hyung in full cosplay,” Felix grinned as he saw how her mouth hung open and her eyes glittered as if he was talking about an anime deity. 

“Much more fun than the gym, anyways,” Minho muttered with a shake of his head, clearly thinking about Changbin, “the number of times I saw Changbin doing suggestive stretches, is too many times,”  

All three of them fell into a quiet rumble of chuckles, a small moment of calmness, the background of the apartment filled with the loud snores of Pepie and the scurrying of Harvey kicking his bedding around the small area they had set up, once again. 

-- 

“Look after your brother,” she whispered as she cupped Pepie’s face and gently stroked his cheeks, her fingers then gently running over Harvey’s back. 

“I will,” Pepie chuffed and then whimpered, “please be safe; don’t forget about us,”  

Her heart ached as it just reminded her that he and Harvey had essentially said goodbye to their mum and dad the morning of the outbreak, only to then be left alone as the owners clearly met a horrible fate. 

“We’ll come back, I promise,” she pet his head, “I’ve put your water and food in that corner and this is where you go to the toilet,” she pointed out the places as she prepared herself to shut them both in her bedroom, an extra layer of protection. 

“I’ll be a good boy!” Pepie let out an ‘Uff!’ and nosed at Harvey; making the rabbit flinch in surprise and he stomped his foot on the ground. 

“You two are always good boys,” she added before gently waving at them, switching a battery powered lamp on for them and then shutting the door with a loud sigh. 

Exhaustion and worry for the travelling they were going to do for the next couple of days, hung heavy on her shoulders and her stomach twisted up in knots at the thought of not being able to keep her promise to Pepie and Harvey. 

“You ready?” she looked up at Minho, who was leaning against the wall, strong arms crossing over his chest. 

“Uh,” she cleared her throat, “yeah, just anxious...as usual,” she rubbed the back of her neck before tutting as she felt her hairband rub against her skin, reminding her that she wanted to keep her hair far away from both her face and prying rotting hands. 

“There,” she waved her head from side to side to make sure it was tight enough, flushing a bit when she spotted Minho carefully watching her every move, “what?” 

“Your ears,” Minho smiled a bit, more to himself than her, “cute,” he added quietly and turned on his heel to help Felix move the furniture away from the front door. 

“Oh,” she squeaked, tugging on her ear out of shyness; shaking her head soon after and rushing to help them as well. 

-- 

She had quickly concluded that owning a baton that had been modified by Minho to have barbed wire on it, was a brilliant investment. 

Despite the baton still being covered in small fleshy pus, strands of hair and jellied substances that she’d rather not think about, she was able to take zombies down a little faster than usual and it made her feel just slightly more confident in her ability to defend not only herself, but Felix and Minho as well. 

Said men were currently searching the abandoned cars along the side of the road; peeking in through the window in case one of the undead happened to be in there. 

Her eyes caught dried blood that seemed to have been seeping from the boot of the car; she had an awful feeling that somebody had had to trap a zombie in there as she could hear quiet mumblings and light, weak scratches. 

“Felix,” she whispered, gently tugging at his long fingers, “be careful,” she then pointed at the car he and Minho were currently crouched next to, “zombie in the boot,” she added when he gave her a confused look. 

She watched Minho step lightly towards the back of the car and then knocked on the boot once, before promptly jumping backwards when a gargled growl came from inside. 

“You sure it’s a zombie, not just a trapped animal?” Minho asked slightly worried that they were mistaken. 

“It’s a zombie,” she tapped the side of her nose, “they smell dead, like everyone else,” she then bent forwards to check under the car that she was about to approach, just in case a zombie was under there. 

“Oh,” at the startled tone of Minho’s voice, she and Felix spun around in their places, “it’s a zombie,” he then cringed a bit when he pointed out the large intestine that was dangling out the side of the closed boot; it had been severed in half and Minho was now looking at the bottom half of the body of whoever was in the boot. 

“Lovely,” he muttered. 

-- 

It was as if her body shrivelled several times smaller when her eyes investigated the dark train tunnel before them.  

The sense of foreboding washing over all three of them as they shuffled closer subconsciously. 

“Are you sure this is the direction your friends might be?” she asked flicking the torchlight around to try and see if anything was lurking in the darkness. 

“It’s the direction that Changbin-hyung and Hyunjin-hyung are,” Felix replied and gently ran his thumb over her soft ears to try and settle her anxiety, “you can stay here with Pepie and Harvey if you’re really that nervous, I don’t want to pressure you into coming with us,” he was faintly aware of Minho watching him as he pressed his forehead to the hybrid. 

“No, no” she pouted a little, “I want to come with you; I’d lose my mind with worry that something had happened to either one of you,” she mumbled shyly and felt a soft flush reach her face when Felix smiled before placing a kiss on her forehead. 

“I’d be fine,” Minho shrugged his shoulders as he twirled his bat around with a relaxed grace that both she and Felix were jealous of, “dunno about him though,” he eyed Felix with a teasing grin as the wind picked up outside of the train station, the breeze dancing across them. 

Rolling his eyes with a puff of laughter, Felix motioned for them to follow him into the darkness. 

“Careful of the maintenance doorways,” Minho whispered and then jiggled his torchlight towards one said doorway, “don’t want to have to save you guys again,”  

“Awfully smug today,” Felix remarked with a playful sigh. 

“I have reason to be,” Minho turned to face his younger friend, carefully walking backwards just so he could shine the light at Felix’s eyes; making him yelp and shield his eyes. 

A shiver went up her back at the sound of him yelping as it echoed all around them and she stopped walking to focus her hearing. 

“I hate this,” she whispered as she searched herself; finally figuring out how to use her bra strap to hold the torch forwards; keeping her hands free. 

“Stay close and you will be okay,” Minho replied with a very deadpan tone, his eyes squinting as he turned to investigate the darkness behind them, clearly checking their six. 

“Quiet!” Felix hissed and held his hand up in the air to emphasize his words, his feline-like eyes wide as he scanned the area in front of him; reaching behind to carefully change the direction of the torchlight. 

“Oh,” she held her breath to stop herself from blushing as his fingers grazed across her skin. 

“What is it?” Minho whispered and crouched down with Felix as the younger man slowly moved forward. 

“You can’t hear that noise?” Felix frowned as he looked back at his friends, who were now sharing a confused expression, “even you?” he watched her shake her head. 

“There’s something in that room,” Felix turned his entire body towards the room in question and it was only the that she picked up on the shuffling, scratching noise that he was going on about. 

“It sounds like a zombie,” Minho stood up straight and spun his bat around with his long fingers, stretching a bit, “stay here,” he was already on his way up the small stairs, hand yanking the door open, and she cringed at the sound of a bat crushing down into something soft, crunchy and most disgustingly of all, wet. 

“You might want to see this,” Minho’s out of breath voice echoed slightly. 

“Are you okay?” she dashed up the stairs before Felic could even stand and she was immediately on guard, teeth baring in what was supposed to be a threatening growl, but Minho found it quite adorable. 

“I’m fine but I really don’t like the look of whatever the fuck that is,”  

She could sense his nerves as he used his bat to point at a large mass of something in on of the corners. 

“I might be sick,” Felix warned them as his face scrunched up at the sight of expanding flesh bubbles, that then popped audibly, moans and scratching sounds coming from somewhere inside of the mass. 

“That’s the noise,” he added, and the hybrid had to quickly steady him as he suddenly jumped backwards with a strange noise leaving him. 

“There’s a fucking face in there,”  

Pulling the torch from her bra strap, she focused the light on where he was pointing and quickly felt the air go cold around her as a dead face, but moving, was pushing against the thin sheet of skin; teeth snapping shut every now and then. 

“Oh my god,” she felt her tail fall and hit the back of her leg, “there’s more than one face,” she watched Minho move forwards. 

“Why are bubbles around?” he asked quietly, and this made Felix tilt his head in equal curiosity. 

“They smell,” the hybrid brought her shirt up to her nose, “they smell so rancid,” she tightened her hands to try and block the scent. 

“It’s a meat...sack,” Minho frowned at his choice of words and slightly poked the place where four faces were now crowding, possibly trying to get to him, “there’s liquid in there,” 

“Hyung, don’t get too close!” Felix warned with his hands immediately grabbing his friend and pulling him back as he caught the action of a hand pushing against the skin as well, “they are trying to get to us,” Felix concluded and shared a worried glance with them. 

“We should go,” she urged before jumping at the sound of ripping; the room suddenly having a floor covered with water close to that of sewage, teeth riding the water as the heads they had seen came rolling out. 

More skeleton than zombie. 

It was then that she couldn’t care less about being quiet in the tunnels. 

“We should fucking GO!”  

[fourstarsoutofnine]

Based on the little note you left, now I know you're plenty busy so feel free to delay or ignore this for as long as you need, there's no rush at all, and don't forget take care of yourself :)

Sooooo my request was a scenario of the chain and reader waking up to start the day, when one of the Links glances at a reader beginning to wake up and only then noticing the snake chilling on reader's body. The Links begin to panic, reader's still half asleep and confused until somebody finally tells reader about the snake, and reader immediately goes 'omg new bestie' and proceeds to leave the snake to rest on their shoulders for the remainder of the morning until the group had to get going again.

Bonus points if you include any funny reactions or any silly moments in general.

Reader and a snake!

A/N:fun fact I was googling for a descriptor for a snake besides “legless” and the term for a being without limbs is quite literally “Amelia”. I was like 👁️👁️ain’t no way. That’s literally a name, I know so many people named Amelia. Anyway! Thought that was funny and interesting enough to share! Also small psa I feel important enough to share as well:don’t go messing with snakes😭as someone who lives in a part of the US with TONS of dangerous snake species, they’re nothing to mess around w/. Alright, now enjoy.

Ah, morning. Another day, another however many miles you all can walk without totally collapsing from exhaustion of all kinds. The chain slowly started waking up and getting things ready to go when something seemed…off… no one could pinpoint exactly what that thing was, either…. At least not until they looked at you. It didn’t seem like much at first, but their eyes drifted to the all too noticeable legless animal curled up on your lap as you slept. Legend was about to scream before Hyrule slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shh—we don’t want it to bite them…” he whispered and legend nodded. They took a vote(aka they played nose goes until someone realized their finger wasn’t on their nose) and the hero of the Wild slowly crept up and poked your shoulder before jerking back. When you didn’t wake, he did it again and you stirred, but didn’t wake. It would’ve been comical had this not been as dangerous of a situation as it was… or they presumed it to be, anrway. Finally after enough poking and prodding, you woke.

“???? What gives???”

“Y—y/n, theres….” Wars pointed to the snake still fueled in your lap. It seemed the boys(all besides Time and Twilight) were afraid of snakes. Especially Four, what with how mouselike the Picori looked—and snakes ate mice!

You looked down and lit up. “Oh cool! Hello little danger noodle..!” You picked it up carefully and it saw no threat to your actions, so it let you do as you please. The boys were in awe.

“It’s… not biting…” Four poked his head out from around Wars

“Of course it’s not—I’m not doing anything to provoke it or frighten it. It saw me safe enough to sleep on, so why would it bite me now?”

“…fair enough…” he said and watched nervously. The snake hung around on you until it was time to leave. You set it at the corner of the woods and patted its head. “Thanks for hanging out with me, little fella. Go find you some breakfast now.” You smiled and watched the creature slither away, before you and your group went on your way. Crazy morning, but honestly not the craziest you(or the chain) have seen. And nobody’s complaining, either. No harm, no foul.

[timetravellingkitty]

Mulan 2020 sucks lol

Written and edited by yours truly

So, Mulan 2020 happened. And I am disappointed. Seriously disappointed. It is utter garbage. I would genuinely prefer it if I watched Mulan II 5 times in a row, and that's saying something.

There is so much to talk about because this has so many issues. I don't think my brain can handle a movie as bad as this for some time. It is a disgrace to the original animated movie.

(Who cares about spoilers?)

And yes, I can and I will compare it to the original movie because it is a remake. It is totally valid to see where this fell flat and where the original succeeded. I'm not saying it has to be like the original cartoon, that is stupid. As I mentioned, it's to highlight the failures of this movie.

Besides, even if we forget the fact that it is a remake, this movie is still horrible.

INTRODUCTION

Mulan 1998 is a classic. It has great visuals, an awesome soundtrack, wonderful and compelling characters, a great message and a cool plot. It's just a great movie in general. It is an adaptation of The Ballad of Mulan, a Chinese legend. Both the legend and the animated movie are about a young girl named Mulan who disguises herself as a man to take her father's place in the army to fight back against an invasion.

As big of a success Mulan was, Chinese audiences thought some things were weird. For instance, having a dragon be a comic relief character, given that dragons are highly respected in Chinese culture. So of course, Disney decided to try another shot, claiming that they wanted to be more culturally sensitive, accurate and closer to the original ballad.

Mulan 2020 is a remake of the original animated movie, and was marketed to be more "accurate to Chinese culture and the Ballad". This claim is, of course, false, because they failed in that aspect. Say what you will about the cultural inaccuracies in Mulan 1998, but at least it was a great movie. Besides, Mulan 1998 didn't pride or market itself on being culturally accurate, the way Mulan 2020 did, so there's that.

CHANGES

I don't mind some changes. And honestly, if there's one thing I appreciate, it's that it isn't a carbon copy of the original (looking at you The Lion King 2019).

Li Shang's character is divided into two characters: Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, apparently in light of the Me-Too movement. This is a dumb reason. Disney wasn't comfortable with a superior having a relationship with a subordinate? The hell? The romance between Shang and Mulan was only insinuated at the end, when Mulan wasn't even a part of the army anymore, so there's that. Also, Mulan gave her consent, so I don't know what they’re talking about.

Mushu isn't present in the movie. I can see why though. He contributed quite a bit to the soul of the animated version but a CGI dragon would be very distracting. Also, the director said that removed him to achieve a more realistic tone.

Grandma? No grandma. Mulan has a sister though, who only exists to mess stuff up.

The Huns are replaced with the Rourans and Shan Yu is replaced with Bori Khan.

Mushu is replaced with a phoenix, who acts as an emissary for the ancestors

There are no songs, except in the end credits, which isn't a bad thing. The instrumentals of the songs in the animated one play during some scenes (I'll talk about the music, don’t worry)

CHARACTERS

The characters in this movie are so boring. Our lead character Mulan lacks the charisma her animated counterpart had. She's utterly bland, uninteresting and poorly written. In the original, she knew she wasn't physically strong and that she couldn't solve her problems with her strength, so she used her intelligence and wit. She excelled by working hard and being strong willed and determined. This Mulan is a well rounded character.

Mulan in the live action is given Chi powers (Chi is a big part of Chinese medicine, in case you didn't know). Honestly, I wouldn't be as mad at Mulan being given superpowers, had they actually done this properly! Chi isn't like midichlorians, it's something that flows through everyone. Mulan is naturally born with dumb superpowers and has to hide them because as her dad says, " Chi is for warriors, not for daughters”. There is a problem:

It has been mentioned many times that Mulan needs to hide her superpowers otherwise she will be shunned and ostracised. Then why doesn't she get more repercussions everytime she uses her powers? The worst thing that happens is little Mulan getting looks of disgust when she uses them. On other occasions, when she is now a part of the army, she uses her powers in training and she doesn't get any backlash? What the hell?? Then why even bother in the first place?

The only way for this narrative to work is if Mulan got more repercussions for using her powers.

If I were to make the line "Chi is for warriors, not daughters," work, I would make it go something like this:

*At the end of the movie when Mulan comes home*

Dad: Didn't I tell you that Chi is for warriors, not daughters?

Mulan: "I am a daughter, but I'm a warrior too."

(Yes, I know this is similar to a scene in Avatar: The Last Airbender, but this would be better, tbh. Also, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Let me compare the training montages from both movies.

In the animated one, there is an absolutely AWESOME montage of Mulan training side by side with her companions, slowly gaining their trust. She climbs the pillar with both medallions by using her wit, not by brute force. This Mulan worked hard. Besides, the fact that "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" plays over this is the only thing that makes it better (banger song, thank you Donny Osmond)

In the live-action, Mulan is supposed to lift up buckets and climb on top of a mountain. There are also other training scenes, but those aren't very important. In these scenes, she succeeds with the power of CHI. WHY? Mulan here just achieves her goal because she is oh so special. She didn't work to achieve her goal at all, because she is perfect. No struggling or development here at all.

Mulan in the animated version was more concerned about saving her father. Mulan in the 2020 version is a dumb patriot who can't even do patriotism right ("I know my place. It is my duty to fight for the kingdom and protect the Emperor") How very empowering.

In short, live-action Mulan can do no wrong. She has no flaws, no personality and no charm. Everything comes to her pretty easily, because MAGIC.

Li Shang's role in the live-action is divided between Commander Tung and Mulan's love interest Honghui, as mentioned before. Both of these characters are flat, dumb and boring. Tung exists to tell Mulan to cultivate her Chi and to train these idiots (and to offer his daughter’s hand in marriage to her, unaware that Mulan isn’t actually a guy, but eh). Honghui is there to be a stupid love interest, who gives us an “I am Spartacus” moment.

The witch is by far the most interesting character. She actually has more than one side to her, has SOME kind of depth and you can even feel sorry for her. She is supposed to serve as a foil to Mulan, given that both have similar powers. In case you've forgotten (which is something I wouldn't blame you for), she's an outcast who's now working with Bori Khan. Why is she an outcast? Because of her Chi. The witch has said many times that she could kill Bori Khan in a snap, then why doesn't she kill him? Because she needs acceptance? What the hell? She decides to pull out the whole "We're the same, you and I," stupidity to Mulan, and I can see that. It's just that the writers just didn't put much thought into it. “It’s too late for me” because you saw a woman leading an army of men? Also, why does she warn Mulan that Bori Khan is coming? Unless she's playing both sides, except her motivations aren't made clear enough for this to make sense. Finally, she dies for the dumbest reason. God, it just makes me so mad. She had so much potential, but no. They just had to mess her up.

Bori Khan? MORE LIKE BORING KHAN. Not much is there. His animated counterpart Shan Yu was scary and contributed to some of the darkest moments in the movie. This guy over here is just...nothing. That's all I have to say.

Mulan's sister is only there to mess up the meeting with the Matchmaker. What a stupid change. First off in the animated version, it's Mulan who messed up, because she isn't perfect. She fails at being stereotypically feminine AND masculine, but in the live-action, she literally pulls off a Spiderman cafeteria scene, and the blame is put on the sister. In the animated movie, this scene is groundwork for Mulan wanting to prove herself and going on a hero's journey, providing depth to her character, but in the live-action, she's perfect. What is the point? (I know this section was supposed to be about the sister, but eh). The sister doesn't provide anything else to the movie, so thanks! I hate it. Moral of the story: Girls can do anything boys can, as long as they have superpowers. If you are born special like Mulan, you can be respected, whereas if you are like the sister, you have no significance and in the end, you can just fit in and be irrelevant. Congratulations!

The live action group of guys Mulan met and befriended in the army lack the charm and comedic timing of their animated counterparts. That’s it. Seriously. I have nothing more to say about them, because they don't really have anything going on. I don't even know why they are included, because their contribution is nil, save for them blandly speaking lines from the animated version’s songs ("I don't care what she looks like, I care what she cooks like"), which is seriously cringe.

The dad is there to tell Mulan that Chi is for warriors. A shame, because I really liked the dad in the movie. He was a source of wisdom for Mulan, whose greatest honour was having her for a daughter. In the live-action, he just takes the sword that Mulan is given at the end of the movie. The mom is meh.

The emperor is also meh. At least he was wise and cool in the animated version, but here he just does bed sheet kung-fu.

Did I mention that the dynamics between the characters are unnatural, forced, awkward in a bad way and in no way indicates any chemistry between them? Oh yeah, I didn’t, until now. They don’t establish much when it comes to emotion.

Simply put, Khan (Mulan’s horse in the animated version) had more personality than all of these characters combined

PERFORMANCES

Liu Yifei as Mulan was a pretty terrible choice. She is just a block of wood, who has absolutely no range, and this isn't because of the writing. She is genuinely bad, and is regarded as one of China’s worst actors (I kid you not). She just can’t emote.

Jet Li as the emperor is meh. But hey, he doesn’t have much to do, so eh.

Jason Scott Lee as Bori Khan is fine. He doesn’t suck, but he lacks the command and authority of a character who is supposed to be intimidating, but I guess it has something to do with the writing of his character.

Donnie Yen is a martial art legend, but unfortunately, he doesn't have much range as an actor.

The best performance of this movie is that of Gong Li, who played the witch. Honestly, she is charismatic, charming and has an idea of what she is doing.

To save everyone’s time, simply put: most of the performances are bland and mediocre. Partly due to bad writing and partly due to most of the actors not being, well, good at acting.

CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ACCURACY

So Disney went all “we like cultural and historical accuracy”, which is nice. For example, the Huns are replaced by the Rourans, a real tribe in China around the time Mulan was supposed to be alive. They also removed the hair cutting scene, because as iconic and awesome as it is, it doesn’t make sense. Chinese men wore their hair long too. You know what? I like these kinds of changes. I appreciate accuracy. If only Disney didn’t pride themselves on their accuracy when they got almost everything else wrong (They somehow got Mulan's house wrong lol). I don't know jackshit about Chinese culture so just go watch that Xiran Jay Zhao video it's very swag

THE BALLAD OF MULAN

In a surprising turn of events, this isn't accurate to the Ballad, like they had marketed it to be (I know, I’m shocked too). In a reference to the Ballad, Mulan is riding a horse and she sees two rabbits running side by side. She goes home and tells her family that she saw 2 rabbits, and she thinks that one was male and the other female, but she wasn't sure. This just misses the entire point of the Ballad.

Long story short, Mulan in the Ballad is actually a seamstress. She joined the army in her father's place. She defeats the barbarians and goes on a ten year long campaign with her friends, after which they meet the Son of Heaven (a sacred imperial title of a Chinese emperor). He offers her a high ranking position, which she refuses, because she just wants to go home. She returns home and her family welcomes her. Sometime later, her friends come to visit her, and they find out that she is actually a woman. The friends are shocked because she has been in the army for 12 years and in those 12 years, they didn't even realise that she was a woman.

Mulan then replies:

The male hare's feet hop and skip

The female hare's are muddled and fuddled

But when two hares are running side by side

How can you tell the male from the female?

Which is where the poem ends.

So, Mulan just going on, judging those rabbits like that makes absolutely no sense. The Ballad is about how no matter how different men and women look, when they live and fight amongst each other, who gives a damn about the differences? You know what would have made sense though? If Mulan got off her horse, went close to the rabbits, examined them, and then made the conclusion that one is male and the other is female. This would actually be sticking to the message of the Ballad. Also, why do they make it ambiguous as to whether she accepts the high ranking position? I assume for a sequel (yes, God save my soul). Here we can see another example of its impeccable accuracy to the Ballad.

THIS ISN'T EMOTIONAL AT ALL

Everything that made the original film good has been stripped away. Every moment that is meant to be emotional is very dull. For example, the scene where Mulan makes the decision to take her father's place in the army is supposed to be a very powerful scene. Mulan is risking it all just so her dad can be safe. She might be killed if discovered, and her family would be dishonoured.

When Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she has a moment of reflection while singing "Reflection". This is the beginning of her personal journey, discovering who she is. In this, after Mulan comes back from the Matchmaker, she doesn't have a moment of reflection. The army immediately shows up. Am I really supposed to believe that Mulan feels bad about this? That Mulan is really struggling?

When Mulan’s friends are singing, it suddenly shifts to the striking scene of the burnt village. This, in my opinion, is the best use of tonal whiplash. From this point on, things are getting serious, and the emotional weight of this tragedy is felt. In this, they just randomly show up at the village.​​ There is no seriousness (stop trying to tell me this movie is adult, mature and serious, it just looks like that on the surface).

Their attempts at being emotional are poor and unconvincing, and ultimately, the end product is an emotionless, soulless, depthless entity.

THE MUSIC

The director mentioned in an interview that she didn’t add songs into the movie because it is “unrealistic to break into song when you're in war”, and I don't think I’ve heard anything more false (apart from the concept of a flat Earth). Even I, who isn't going into war anytime soon, know this is false. They instead inserted instrumentals from the original film. Except, it's very weirdly placed. The instrumental for Reflection is placed when Mulan is fighting the Rourans after she reveals herself to be a woman. Like, there isn't any context. In the end credits, they had the original song "Loyal, Brave and True" sung by Christina Aguilera, which was nice. I don't really have much to say in regards to the music. The music is overall forgettable.

THE ACTION

The action may seem weird, but this kind of martial arts is a part of the Wuxia genre, which is what they were going for. Well, they failed. The choreography is bad, the CGI is bad, EVERYTHING is bad. Honestly, if you want a good Wuxia movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon exists. The action is here stupid and stiff.

OTHER DUMB STUFF

Why does Mulan take her armour off before going into battle? That is just stupid. Can't you just take the bindings off? Also, WHY OPEN YOUR HAIR-

Mulan really likes kicking spears (and pointy stuff in general). Seriously. It’s weird.

The CGI is okay I guess, I don't know. The phoenix in some scenes looks pink to me. There are some pretty visuals though.

It is very obvious that there is a green screen used in the scene where Mulan and her friends find the burnt village. And it looks bad. Pretty ugly. It looks bad. The green screen looks bad.

The war strategy is just weird. I can't really say anything about it in text form because how am i supposed to describe it, help- (she literally teleported behind the bad guys in the avalanche scene-).

I like how the animated film, which had a dragon as a comic relief and other silly stuff, is more mature than this.

For what joy does Mulan get another sword from the army? Also, shame the dad is all “oh look at the values written on the sword, they are honourable” even though in the original the greatest honour was having her for a daughter.

How was Mulan even able to tell the gender of the rabbits?

Why not just try to send a warning to the Emperor that the Rourans are coming to get him?

Why does Commander Tung let Mulan lead them-

I AM SO DONE

Well, I think I have said everything I wanted to about this movie. I know I havent talked about its controversies but honestly, I am done. I am so done with this. This document took 5-6 months of my life. I am kind of proud of this, and there isn't much I have done to be proud of. I did procrastinate on this a bit, and I had stuff going on, but finally, I am done. In the future, if I remember something, I'll add it here, but I think that is unlikely. I never want to watch or even go near Mulan 2020 again. It's horrible, and there is barely anything redeemable. I hate it here. It’s been reported that a sequel is in development. If it’s true, of course I’ll watch it, how else am I supposed to validate my self hate? I am also, of course, the resident “friend who suffers for everyone else’s entertainment”. If you want a live action remake of Mulan, Mulan: Rise of a Warrior exists. Go watch it, it’s free on YouTube with subtitles. I really liked it.

If you’ve somehow made it this far, thanks for reading. I congratulate you for putting up with whatever this is. I would also like to take a moment to congratulate myself for actually committing to this. It was painful yet fun to complain about this to the best of my ability. If anyone wants to add anything to this, feel free to do so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m out. I have lost my faith in humanity, and I have other things to complain about.

[deathbirby]

What sucks about the fandom is that everybody usually defaults to make post-Crimson Flower fanfictions 'and they all lived happily ever after :)' which... sucks because CF is the most flawed ending out of all of the routes (Duscur is still believed to have killed the King, TWSITD are lurking around as seen in Edel's mural, sovereign nations were forcibly assimilated against their will into Adrestia, etc). All of these issues are ignored to default to a happy ending which is such a let down since all of these issues are SO interesting and genuinely could make really engaging post-CF fanfiction delving into them. That's not even going into how Edel's meritocracy is deeply flawed on further thought as it assumes equal opportunity (despite the nobility and the inter-generational wealth of said nobles), and an equal society where everyone is seen and treated as equals (the people of Duscur who are seen as traitors, Almyrans such as Cyril who were enslaved and forced to work, Nabataens and Edel's blatant racism towards them, etc). Let me make this clear; a meritocracy is better than feudalism or a monarchy outright. The issue isn't inherently with meritocracies, nor is it to dissuade changing the current system of Fodlan. The problems I have with Edel's meritocracy is the total lack of foresight and the refusal to engage with Edel's actions that brought in the system. Meritocracies can work but considering the broader context and political landscape of Fodlan: Edel's meritocracy was a system founded after violently conquering two sovereign nations against the leaders and the civilians wills. Many of these civilians do harbour resentment towards the government (as seen in Hubert/Shamir's ending where they act as secret cops 🤢), how Edelgard only really gives resources to people she knows aka nepotism (especially to Caspar and Bernie who are woefully not well suited for the roles the get). There's also the ugly turd by removing the corrupt nobles who kept her in check, there are no safeguards against Edelgard or future successors abusing their power (which Edel's use of her power is pretty questionable seen in Hubert/Dorothea gathering intelligence for the empire and Hubert/Shamir with being cops). ======== (1/2)

2/2 ==== I wanna bring up how Petra was treated; poor girl was kidnapped from her home, tossed into a hostile foreign land where she didn't speak the language and received no support at all from her peers. Going so far as Hubert calling her an animal (we love microaggresions if not outright aggresions to poc). Edelgard assumes her and Petra to be equals, that Petra is completely fine but Edel is oblivious or callous towards the gross power imbalance between the two. Petra is constantly trying to appease society by learning the local tongue, constantly trying to appease Edelgard and prove her own independence to ensure Brigid doesn't appear weak. Edel does show concern, I'll give her that, but she really doesn't do anything to truly help Petra. Iirc, Petra had to learn the entire language by herself without ANY help from anyone, not even Edel nor Hubert stepped in (tho Hubert can gawk at Petra like shes an animal). How is it unfair to assume that if Edel can't even address blatant inequality and oppression towards Petra, something that was in her face, how can she ensure that her meritocracy won't perpetuate further inequality and oppression on a wider scale? I really wish the fandom weren't so scared nor so adverse to exploring these issues in a post-CF fan fiction and really take a deep dive into Edelgard's rule outside of 'Fodlan was super corrupt, Rhea is the absolute fucking worst and Dimitri was just a Rhea Stan, Claude was aaaaalmost cool but he didn't want to work with Edelgard which sucks because they would SO be besties (even tho Claude experienced violent racism and would not tolerate Edel's pasty ass spewing vitriol how Nabataens are inhuman beasts) but its soooooo sad he didn't see Edelgard's goals, BTW CRESTS ARE THE FUCKING WORST :3'. Like, the only thing I have ever read to addressing the flaws Edelgard's rule was To Those Who Are Never Going Home by MadameHyde (but stiiiill doesn't hit the spot for me since its more focused on Garreg Mach than the wider society of Fodlan on itself). I believe in women's wrongs and Edelgard did SO MUCH shit wrong, let👏Edelgard👏be👏pointed👏out👏in👏the👏wrong👏. It sucks that nobody wants to engage or even play with that side of Edelgard, so I'm now stuck developing my own post-CF fanfiction/AU exploring an Adrestian-Garreg Mach and the world of Fodlan moulded by Edelgard's rule lmfao. I really want to explore a politically unstable and balkanized Fodlan, and it's so sad that nobody else sees the vision 😔 Thanks for reading my entire infodump about Edelgard and sitting through this entire essay lmfao. — 🍑 Anon

Oh dear goddess have mercy on me

CF's ending makes no sense when you realize that TWSITD can just nuke Fhirdiad right then and there and win. Thales can also just... brainwash Edelgard and turn her into a puppet according to hopes. It's the least logical ending.

Edelgard's system ultimately would only benefit the strong. The 'weak' (sick, elderly, poor, disabled, etc.) just have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps according to our emperor, but we all know how well that will work.

And yep, the nepotism runs strong with her. Caspar and Bernadetta are NOT fit to rule. We know from one of the endings that Caspar acts recklessly and dangerous on military campaigns but people just ignore it. That is a very bad look for Edelgard who just tolerates it.

Petra's whole situation deserves her own post tbh. She's a political hostage who gets treated like dirt. Edelgard couldn't even help her learn the language despite the fact that she has all of the resources to do so.

let👏Edelgard👏be👏pointed👏out👏in👏the👏wrong👏

write this on my gravestone lol

[elfdragon12]

Alright! Further about the new Transformers issue! What a way to wrap up the arc!

Past what was shown in the preview, we got this cool charge scene! Elita-1's alt mode is a sort of motorcycle-car hybrid?

Cliff is just not getting any breaks! I do love Devastator's expression.

NOOO! SWINDLE! MY BOY!

Optimus not making the same mistake twice! 😭😭 I love him!

Uh, just what were you about to say, Vortex?

Woof. I mean, Shockwave totally deserved this, but I can definitely see why these actions would bring corruption to the flashbacks of baby Spike.

(Is Shockwave dead? I will say probably. It looks like Optimus killed him, but DWJ is writing these guys as robots who can live through nightmarish amounts of punishment and we know some other characters aren't dead yet despite what we've seen. So maybe.)

"LET'S GO HOME" AND BY HOME HE MEANS EARTH! WAUGH, MY EMOTIONS!!

Man, Elita-1 has been experiencing, in real time, the continual death of her home. While killing another living planet full of people and animals is absolutely wrong, I get it. The pain and struggle of millions of years and there's a solution just right there. My heart breaks for her.

BEACHCOMBER, HERE TO SAVE THE DAY!! DWJ, YOU BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL MAN!!!

Another issue full of beauty, action, and heartbreak! What a way to revisit the "Ultimate Doom" episodes! There are more moments that I haven't shared here. I don't want to post the whole thing here to tumblr.

This was a really good issue and I am eager to see what the consequences are... Also, wondering where Cliffjumper is. Pretty sure he didn't die, but he wasn't with Optimus. We'll see!

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

Ask game for Skye?

Aw yes our beloved tiny Cockapoo XD

My first impression - Why is there only one female pup and why is she so much smaller than the boys-- Is she a Cocker Spaniel?? Could've been a bit bigger...

My impression now - "Thank you Mighty Movie for giving her some lore and anything at all other than what little the show gives us"

Favorite thing about that character - She's one of the only three characters who are girls in PINK that I think the color actually fits them really well, instead of just color coding girls with pink just because. She DOES look good in it, it fits with her actions and general behavior, just as well as all pink/violet shades she wears with other colors for highlights. It may sound of not much importance, but pink is a strong color, not a "feminine" color. It shouldn't ever be "lowly/lazily coded" for girls just because girls, it can and should be used by anyone, as long as they get it. Don't see pink as "feminine/gay" color, see it as "lighter red, passion, fire, love, care, nurturing, protecting". Someone who takes others under their wings and care for them, protect them, fight for them. Skye is persistent, she cares, she's passionate, she's always giving it her all and some more. She deserves the pink color.

Least favorite thing - Being the only girl in the main team when there's a demand for female rep makes it so she's exhaustively OVERUSED to the extent of shading out other pups who would be more suited for certain kinds of rescues, kicking them out of the scene only for being males and their need for showing more girl power. I've been missing Everest showing up more times, heck she lives just close to them, it's closer than Liberty, at least they wouldn't need to overuse Skye so ridiculously much...

Favorite line/scene - This scene lives rent free in my mind

Favorite interaction that character has with another - That moment in the first movie when she went to pick Chase from the rooftop and bring him back down to ground level. I think she could understand he was panicking and made sure he would hear her voice, state her intention and next moves "I'm coming to get you" so he wouldn't be caught by surprise, she asked what happened, made sure he would know people were safe now and he could let go and go with her, she was a total darling there. 10/10 emotional support pup.

A character that I wish that character would interact with more - Chase and Liberty. First I miss Skye and Chase being absolute dorks together, second I loved Skye's dynamic with Liberty in the Mighty Movie, with the two often talking and throwing shade at others or being generally sarcastic to make each other laugh

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character - Uran, from Tetsuwan Atom, specifically the 2003 anime version - you might know her as Zoran, Astro Boy. But the American dub for that anime literally changed EVERYTHING to the point if you watch the anime dubbed and subbed, you feel it's two entirely different stories. "Zoran" was nothing like "Uran", they managed to change and reshape her personality in such a way they're literally two completely different characters, so I'll be precise and say I'm talking specifically about the Japanese Uran character, not the dubbed Zoran character.

A headcanon about that character - The show gave me nothing to develop ideas about her, sadly. So I don't have any interesting headcanons to go about- just that I believe she loves strawberry bubblegum scented shampoo lol

A song that reminds of that character - "Defying Gravity"

An unpopular opinion about that character - I prefer her movie verse over the show verse. I can't feel a "personality" in the show... She's cool, but if it wasn't for the movie, I feel like we wouldn't ever have anything to work about her at all?? She's just-- always happy, likes to play Pup Pup Boogie, flies her 'copter, is afraid of eagles. Isn't it weird that I just listed four things about her and still feel like I don't have much to work with her at all??? The only friend I know who has her as his favorite pup told me it's because she's the flight rescue pup - he's hyperfixated on aircrafts. It's not for who she is, only for her being the one to fly 'copters/jets. It could be ANY pup instead of her. That's just freaking SAD. The Mighty Movie wasn't perfect but at least it gave her SOMETHING ELSE if you get what I mean now.

Favorite picture - I didn't get there in the show yet but this is my favorite outfit of hers already, hands down. She looks hella cool.

[tenowls]

The ONLY person I can imagine for a live action casting of Muderbot is Kit Young as Ratthi. That fake wannabe Murderbot white guy could totally play a corporation rim character, maybe someone who gets creamed by the real Murderbot.

Had no idea about this life action until now, but I was secretly hoping for an animated series with cool colorful visuals (like your blue pixelation for ART's presence, maybe a signature feed color for when people speak in the feed? Life action feels like such a cop-out)

hmm personally i imagined ratthi to be at least late 30s ish and also i would choose a south asian actor based on his name!! i don’t watch a lot of tv shows tho so i don’t know enough actors to have my own fancast lmao (martha wells’ pick of sendhil ramamurthy def works tho)

definitely agree however that if there had to be an adaptation (altho i think the series works much better as books) i’d prefer an animated one!! u could do so much…..

[macravishedbymactavish]

Neko (Alex Keller x GN! Reader)

| Blog HQ | Modern Warfare 2019 Masterlist |

No TW, just Alex being a cute cat loving dude and a fluffy morning together.

Sighing softly, you smiled as you snuggled further into the warm embrace of your boyfriend. Feeling his arms unconsciously tighten around you as he slept. You were teetering on the edge of sleep, body relaxing further into navy sheets as your thoughts slowed.

Until something cool and wet touched your cheek.

Eyes snapping open, adrenaline flooding your veins you were met face to face with small green eyes. Saturated with curiosity and passive aggression.

"Who are you?" Amusement replaced the adrenaline as you reached a hand out. Letting the small animal sniff your skin before totally disregarding you. Stepping across your side to snuggle into its owners back.

"Mmm, is that Neko?" Alex rasped from behind you, voice thick with sleep as he slowly stretched. Reaching a hand behind him to locate his cat before rolling onto his back. Chuckling softly as it crawled onto his stomach, purring loudly as it nuzzled its cheek into his hand.

Rolling over, you watched as his sleepy expression filled with pure joy. Scratching the cats cheek as it nuzzled into the touch.

"You never told me you had animals." You yawned, covering your mouth with the back of your hand. Smiling as his free hand came to rest on your thigh.

"Just Neko, I've had her for…" he trailed off, raising an eyebrow in thought. Directing his attention toward the animal in front of him. "How long have I had you?"

Lip caught between your teeth, you held back the amused sound as Alex spoke to the cat like it could respond. Fingers never ceasing as he continued petting her fur.

"Three years? No, four. Three. You're turning four next month." He confirmed, rubbing his palm down her back. Letting his hand rest there for a moment.

"I adopted her when she was just a kitten." He beamed. Explaining to you the story of how he wasn't looking for a companion at the time; but the little eyes watching his every move the one time he donated cat food to the shelter caught his heart.

"What about on deployment?" You asked curiously, the tips of your fingers brushing over the fur on her cheek. The action causing her to immediately stand and hop down off the bed. Squaking as she strutted to the door.

"Don't be dramatic," Alex groaned, rolling his eyes playfully before rolling on his side to face you. Thumb drawing circles over the skin of your hip. "My brother takes her when I'm gone. She doesn't mind him; but gives me the cold shoulder for at least a week when I get home."

Humming in response, you shifted closer. Cuddling into the warmth of his bare chest as you felt your muscles relaxing into sleep again.

The feeling was short lived when you felt the mattress dip slightly due to new weight. A small, impatient trill interrupting the moment.

"And when the cold shoulder is done, she goes back to being my girl." Alex sighed, pressing a long kiss to your forehead before rolling out of bed. Slipping on a shirt as he followed the animal out of the room.

Staying in bed for a few minutes more, you listened to the commotion happening outside the bedroom. Mainly your boyfriend responding to the various sounds Neko made, like she could understand what he was saying.

Padding into the kitchen, you couldn't help but smile at the sight of Alex pulling ingredients out for breakfast and coffee. Neko rubbing between his legs, eyes locked on him as she demanded attention.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear you." He brushed off the constant meowing as she followed him around the kitchen.

Smiling widely when he noticed you. "I'm working on breakfast, but your coffee is ready."

Whispering soft praise, you grabbed the mug and sat by the island. Observing as your boyfriend reminded his cat she was well loved, well fed and could wait an hour for breakfast to be done before they would cuddle on the couch together. You couldn't help the amused sound you made hearing that disagreement.

"Say what you will, but there's crazier cat dudes out there!" He pointed his spoon at you, a large smile on his face as he turned back to the stove.

"I guess so, at least you're not one of those people who buys their animals gifts for Christmas and their birthday." You chuckled, taking a sip of your drink. Feeling the silence weigh on you.

"No. Alex!" Cup now on the counter, his ears turning red as you giggled. Imaging your boyfriend wrapping gifts labeled to his cat.

"She's family. She's deserving of gifts like you and I." He defended, not turning to look at you.

"Oh my god," you laughed, cheeks aching from the smile you wore. Leaning forward to rest your chin on your hand, you continued. "With her birthday coming up soon, what are you planning to get her?"

Glancing around, making sure Neko was out of earshot, he softly whispered, "A new scratching post. It looks like a cactus"

"I don't think she'll understand what that means." You whispered back, receiving an eye roll in response. Waving you off as he finished cooking.

"Between me and the cat.." You started, receiving a pointed look from over his shoulder.

"Don't even finish that sentence."

Taglist: @bloodonmyhands-1221 @v1naco @bowtruckleninja

Alex Keller Taglist: @glitterypirateduck @deadbranch @gcing-back-to-505

[spontaneousful]

Amber and Xiao friendship incorrect quotes + headcanons

yes, this is based on that Xiao demo video where he and Amber fight together to show-off Xiao's moves

Xiao: Hey, thanks for checking in, I’m ✨still a piece of garbage✨

Amber: Do you need help getting up? Xiao: Nah, I'm cool down here on the floor.

Amber: Don't quote me on this, but I believe murder is illegal!

Xiao: Okay, if we can't do it by sheer force, we'll do it my way. Amber: But your way is sheer force?

Xiao: Are you listening to me? Amber: *nods* Xiao: What did I just say? Amber: *nods* Xiao:

Xiao: WHOEVER CAUSED THIS MESS IS GOING TO- Amber: It was me. Xiao: ...Is going to be forgiven because everyone deserves a second chance.

Amber: *casually taking four stairs at a time* Xiao, falling behind, taking two stairs at a time: Fuck you fuck you fuck you fuck you fu-

Xiao: I’m terrible at expressing myself. Amber: Don’t worry, actions speak louder than words! Xiao: Yes, but my actions are also bad.

Xiao: I’ve been described as a ‘heartless villain’ and a 'little shit’, but I prefer… 'has alternative ways of having fun’.

Amber: We have to plan, we have to figure something out. Xiao: When have any of our plans ever actually worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose.

Amber: I would say I outdid myself, but I’m always this good, so I simply did myself. Amber: Wait-

Amber: *Hugs Xiao from behind* Amber: *Tucks Xiao's hair behind his ear* Amber, whispering: Eat all the frosted animal crackers again and they'll never find your fucking body.

Xiao: What's that? Amber: Chocolate. Xiao: What's chocolate? Amber: Candy. Do they not have candy where you're from? Xiao: Yeah. Grapes, nuts. Amber: No wonder you're so bitter.

Xiao: What happened to your nose? Amber: I used it to break some guy's fist.

Xiao: I have a plan. Amber: Good! As long as we aren’t breaking the law again, I’m open to hearing it. Xiao: Amber: Xiao: I no longer have a plan.

Amber: I made tea. Xiao: I don't want tea. Amber: I didn't make you tea. This is my tea. Xiao: Then why did you tell me? Amber: It's a conversation starter. Xiao: It's a horrible conversation starter. Amber: Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

The last one is totally how they met. Amber was going to Liyue and Xiao appeared to save her from some monsters (whether she needed the help or not is debatable) She wants to find out who he is and asks around until she finds out about Xiao living at the Wangshu Inn. She tries get him to come out for multiple days. One day, she decides to bring tea and the ^ conversation happens. (Xiao was going to disappear after he aaid he didn't want tea so Amber blurted out the next line and Xiao was so confused he had to stay lol)

Also, for the stairs one, they're both the same height but Amber has longer legs + she's used to having to keep up w/Eula. Zhongli would slow down for Xiao whenever he used to follow him around

Their relationship is basically:

Xiao: oh, look at this tiny little mortal who is naive to the suffering of this world and is so fragile any wrong move will make her fall over and die. She needs to be protected from everything and herself.

Xiao: baby

Amber: he reminds me a little of baby collei. he's so sad and has that self-deprecating edge. He's an angsty teenager who needs to be shown the bright side of life.

Amber: baby

[saltydkdan]

Yo, Salt man. Decided to finally bite the bullet and dive into One Piece. Currently on Volume 4/Chapter 27 of the manga (also episode 2 of the Netflix live-action, really good ngl). I'm excited to read it, but the sheer length of the manga is extremely daunting to me, and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth reading at this point. Dunno if you got any sort of tips or such to help someone like me through this, or at least boost morale?

Don’t worry! I felt the exact same way. The length of One Piece can feel really daunting when you start. However here is what I tell people to keep in mind:

Get to Arlong Park

This is what EVERYONE SAYS. But it really is true. Get to Arlong Park, and if you enjoy it, then you will 100% love this series. Arlong Park is the arc where One Piece starts to really become what it is known for (and in some senses Baratie too). And what’s cool is that as someone who has caught up, Arlong Park isn’t even my favorite anymore, far from it. Arlong Park made me a fan, but later stuff like Alabasta, Skypeia, and Water 7 especially made me HYPER FOCUS on the series.

Basically if you think Arlong Park and stuff like Baratie is good, it really only goes up from there, as it’s more or less a taste of what you’ll be getting as Oda develops the story. If you don’t like it tho? No harm no foul! You’re allowed to feel however you want! You can move on to something else if you feel like and that’s super okay. Though based on your current reactions I feel like you are def gonna like it LMAO.

You don’t have to binge ALL of it

You are totally allowed to pick it up and read a saga and then put it down to switch to something else for a bit. In fact, if you do find yourself getting too tired at points, def switch it up with another series, TV show, or video game! Nobody expects you to finish reading it in a month or something. It took me a full year to catch up after jumping on and off of it and I had a blast because I didn’t force it!

There’s a reason that the series is broken up into arcs and sagas! The end of a Saga specifically is meant to be a very good break point for you to do something else if you like!

And trust me, if you’re anything like me, you won’t want it to end. After I passed chapter 1,000 I had a sudden violent awakening that I was going to catch up and become a week to week reader and I got really sad LOL.

Being a One Piece reader feels rewarding!

This is something I would have loved to know going in, but reading/watching One Piece (especially nowadays) feels like an insanely rewarding experience.

I have no idea how Oda pulls it off, but there is information that is as immediate as Chapter 1 that is still relevant all these years later in Chapter 1,000+, it really feels rewarding to be into the series for so long.

I’ve never read or watched anything THIS LONG that rewards the reader like this, it’s so fun. And it’s also something that makes One Piece great to re-read or re-watch.

There are so many fun twists, turns, and reveals that are either foreshadowed, or established in a very small way early on. I can’t emphasize harder how fun and connected it makes everything feel.

I call it the opposite of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Because while Jojo will constantly reset itself with a new cast and characters every arc, instead One Piece doubles down, and is still revealing massive bombshells that we’re hinted at ages ago.

The series does show it’s age at times

I don’t like ending stuff on a bad note, but I like to let people know to keep in mind that One Piece has been running for a LONG time, and this can be both good and bad.

It’s good in the sense that I think it gets better and better over time, but bad in the sense that it does feature a couple of outdated depictions, as well as “Pervy” anime-esque humor that I honestly cannot enjoy personally. Just make sure you’re aware going in because some of it has aged… horribly.

That being said though, when One Piece gets depictions right it gets them SOOOO right.

There’s a reason that there’s an ongoing joke in the community that “Luffy would have died multiple times over if not for the Queer Community” lol it’s extremely correct

Reward yourself with the side content

One of my favorite things to do, is after I caught up to a certain point in the manga, is that I rewarded myself by watching one of the One Piece Films from around that time.

It’s a great thing to use as a rewarding little checkpoint and be like “Omg now that I’m this far, I can enjoy this fun animated film without fear of spoilers”.

And while a good chunk of films are very obviously not canon and don’t clearly fit into the overall story (I.e. there is not a good space for them to canonically exist) some of them actually do fit super well, and in my opinion, even add greatly to the overall story.

A big favorite of mine, One Piece: Baron Omatsuri, fits this description like a glove. Not only does it easily fit between the sagas of Skypeia and Water 7, but it even adds to the later themes of the story, and even foreshadows certain elements later on in a super fun way! Plus it’s one of the only One Piece films to have a very experimental direction, created by the guy who made Summer Wars. It feels very different, but in a super fun way, and works as a great little treat for getting as far as you have in the manga!

Anyway, I hope that this helps you out? Remember it isn’t a race, and you can pick up and put down the series whenever you want! There’s absolutely no pressure at all.

A part of me wants to kind of make a “read/watch list” for people who get into the series based off my own recommendation/experience. Obviously everyone is going to read and watch the anime in order, but it would probably be cool to know when you can check out certain side content like Anime-only specials and animated films during your read-through.

If anybody wants that let me know! (I’ll probably end up making it on my own time anyway I have zero self control).

Anyway yeah, enjoy One Piece!

[yumeka36]

After hearing all the hype, I finally decided to watch Frieren. I was 99% sure I would like it based on what people were praising about it. And now that I've watched all (currently) 28 episodes...yeah, it's really good.

I knew it was gonna be a slow-paced series that's mostly driven by the characters and world-building as opposed to an ongoing, impending plot...and I'm totally okay with that. While I do enjoy series with a lot of flashy action and emotional angst, I also like when series don't pander to this typical way of being entertaining. Cool fights and suspenseful plots will always be popular, especially for anime/manga, so I greatly respect a series that dares to be different and still delivers. While the characters in Frieren do have an ongoing goal, it's not the main focus of the series: the focus is on their interactions with the world and each other. This is especially unusual for a series that takes place in a D&D fantasy world with monsters, demons, and magic. Such a world is full of potential for fast-paced fights and angst-ridden action, but Frieren does it differently. The handful of battle scenes in the series so far are handled very "matter of fact" - they're not given any more fanfare than other things that happen. Anyone who's watched a decent amount of shonen anime is probably used to all the intense violence and raw emotions that pour out during fight scenes, so seeing how relatively calmly the characters in Frieren handle similar situations may not be for everyone. It even took me a while to get used to how the more suspenseful action scenes in Frieren are handled compared to most other anime.

One of my favorite things in anime, or any medium really, is having characters with appealing but also unique relationships - relationships that can't really be defined by "typical romance," "typical friendship," etc, but something special and unique that I want to see develop as the series goes on. This is a big reason why I like Spy x Family so much, and why I like Frieren as well. The relationship between Frieren and Fern is something like this: On the surface they have a "master/student" relationship, but there are so many more layers to it, like Fern often being exasperated by Frieren's obsession with new spells or the fact that her interpretation of time is so different from that of humans', that sometimes Fern acts like the more "mature" one of the group. But at the same time, despite her elegant air, she has a childish side to her in how she pouts and sulks whenever she's upset with Frieren and Stark, plus her no-nonsense personality that often clashes with Frieren's easy going approach to things. But despite this, we still observe the intimacy between them and how comfortable they've gotten with each other over the years. Then there's Fern's relationship with Stark, that I find incredibly adorable mostly because, again, of how nuanced it is. They're not constantly emoting or yelling at each other, yet you can tell there's something going on between them based on more subtle things, like Fern giving Stark a hard time compared to how she relates to everyone else, and Stark being sensitive to her mood changes.

Another interesting thing about the series is how long the timeline is. Over 100 years have passed for the characters, Frieren in particular of course, since episode 1 to episode 28, yet nothing seems rushed. The series focuses on the bits of their lives that matter through flashbacks here and there, and that makes the series' world more engrossing when you have an idea of all the events that transpired over such a long time. Characters who aren't even alive/present during most of the story, particularly Himmel and his group, can have so much influence in the narrative. All the scenes where Frieren is reminded of things Himmel says and does make so much sense, not just because he was such an important person to her, but because someone who's lived for as long as she has is bound to have these deja vu moments where she had experienced a similar situation before.

The latter part of the series involving the mage exam made me a bit apprehensive, since I don't like when series introduce a bunch of characters at once in a competition with the protagonists. When there's so many new characters that need to play a role in the current plot, they probably won't be well written. But honestly, by the end of the series, I thought they were all interesting characters. This is mostly due to, again, the series giving ample time showing how each of them thinks and strategizes, how they work together with others, what their motivations are, etc, rather than just showing off their powers. Even a character like Serie who's shown to be an antagonist was still interesting as I could at least understand her motives and beliefs.

There's more I can say about Frieren but I'll stop there. Overall, an excellent series and one of the best I've seen in recent years. Looking forward to more anime, and I may even check out the manga!