#imagine being some random store and the dark lord comes in and steals all your animal crackers. what do you even do

[i3utterflyeffect]

i imagine even if untitled didn't feel hunger he would still miss actual food terribly. which would be initially weird for TCO and TDL because they don't know what food is (besides text, that is)...

untitled: huh, text kinda tastes like unsweetened animal crackers

TCO: the fuck is an animal cracker

oh absolutely, i think one of the first things he'd do in the outernet is get food because GOD he missed eating, if there's food out here then he's absolutely getting a ton of snacks and sharing them with the other two

and YEAH GKLSDJGSG. though this does bring to mind him getting animal crackers specifically for the others and them absolutely LOVING it

[elane-in-the-shadows]

Red Queen Fan Fiction - Red Huntress Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

Find this on Wattpad and on AO3

The journey to Trial took several days, more than a week. During this time, Diana was stuck in a number of vehicles, transports, farm machines and carriages where she often also had to sleep. She wasn’t to talk to the drivers, nor to be seen. She found that a bit silly but she guessed she was only useful as an informal supporter of the Scarlet Guard if she wasn’t known as one, not to be connected to any rebel who might get caught.

Her company was a woman about thirty, with short straight black hair and olive skin. Sometimes she drove their transport; the rest of the time she wanted Diana to prepare. Or rather “Tina”. To make her memorize her role, the operative never used Diana’s true name and neither introduced herself. Diana went along with that, eager to please, yet inwardly wondering how deep the operative had sunk into the game of changing identities. She instructed Diana in the duties of a Red civil servant, so strict and exact about the required meekness she could’ve been a maid servant herself. Or still was, like putting on a mask over her rebel self. As she also told Diana how to be a spy.

“You have only women as roommates on your floor,” the operative said when they eventually arrived at the dorm in Trial. The dorm was higher than any house Diana had ever been in before, and still it was surrounded by buildings even higher, reaching into the grey sky.

Diana swallowed her nausea that rose from sudden uncertainty. Don’t be such a bumpkin. To not let her rural origins show was precisely what the operative had reminded her about.

“Right”, Diana agreed to whatever she’d said.

The operative sighed as they entered the building and went up the stairs. “All inhabitants of this dorm are some sort of servant or other. Mostly with municipal jobs, like you.”

“Sure.”

The operative stopped her at the door of the third-floor-room “Tina” was to live in. She turned to Diana, glaring. “Don’t trust them.”

Diana raised an eyebrow. “As people? Or as sources?”

For the first time in days, the operative’s features softened, although one would hardly call it a smile. “I see you understand. As the former, of course. You aren’t here to make friends. Now come,” said she, and led Diana inside the room.

They dressed in uniforms of skirts and shirts, all in light blue shades apart from the scarlet neckties marking them as Reds, to undermine any chance at being mistaken.

Diana wasn’t sure what to think of the face she saw in the mirror. With her straight, pinned-up hair and the crisp uniform, it wasn’t the face she was used to, neither a strange woman of nineteen. She was not Diana Farley of Sieverling, but someone different, someone she’d have to get to know – and shape. Into the spy the Scarlet Guard wanted.

The operative nodded. “Let’s go introduce you at the office.”

Diana took a reassuring breath, glancing one last time at herself in the mirror. You can do this.

But it was winter, and she was glad the operative let her keep her coat from home, to cuddle in something familiar during their walk.

The work itself was dull. Sorting papers, carrying forms, copying them. She wasn’t good or fast on the typewriter, unskilled compared to her co-workers, and she feared this lack of experience had to out her false identity. She tried to improve and to shift typing to other colleagues, but she realized that she failed the Guard in this regard: If she had been a quick typist, she could type documents for the Guard besides her official tasks. But they knew this when they hired you for this job.

On the other hand, when she was free of the typewriter, she had enough time to gather the bits and pieces the Guard wanted. The municipal office stored many police data Diana was to search up in the archives, at other times she could trip over some rumours regarding the forces’ next steps, both information valuable for protecting Scarlet Guard operatives. Not that she had any idea about their dangerous operations as information only ever flowed one way – away from her. Like before, Diana was to organize forms and permits the Guard needed, sometimes by stealing, other times by leaving a door open at the right time. Most intelligence she was to deliver to a drop box that changed location every week. Occasionally, a handler expected her for a briefing, and quickly, she learned to censor her words to avoid suspicion. Keeping her routes hidden was top priority, of course.

Diana had feared her absences, her inefficiency, would be noticed and chided, but soon she had realized her co-workers also stretched their tasks to fill their days, without trying to impress the Silvers for the small hope of promotion. Was there a point in trying? She guessed the real “Tina” would want to impress, to keep this position, about also that her co-workers would know better than her. The Silvers underestimated all Reds, and showed that to Reds every day.

That was why Diana had learned to freeze, automatically, lowering her eyes and putting on the vapid friendly smile, when a Silver entered the office. She saw more of them there than ever before in her life and the shock remained fresh for her. She was never able to anticipate their orders, either filled with stupid and offensive remarks, or random tasks the Reds had to figure out on their own, with little hints how much extra time they demanded. Those occasions were only sufferable because the colleagues stuck together, to distract or subtly calm an agitated Silver and to share the work.

The worst was that Diana was either invisible or a tool to be used or a doll to be stared at.

She hadn’t been aware how much it hurt, to be gawped at and not seen as a person but an object. There was one Silver, a middle-aged man with long brown hair and cold beige skin, who always looked at her in passing, harder than the others. He never said anything and every time, Diana felt her 15-year-old self like never before.

From her first day, she’d kept her knife on her person, firstly because she was used to it, later because it gave her reassurance.

No one there knew she was a young girl. No one knew her name. And she could never let anything slip. Not even in the dorm, where most of her roommates were in their mid- or late twenties, could she let go. She feared they’d smell her secrets as she claimed to be close in age yet always remained a little bit off. They even talked different from her.

She tried though. Gone out with them in their spare time, to roam the city. She couldn’t get used to it, the grey concrete everywhere, the air, the fragrances. There was a river, yes, and many canals and wells, but hardly green. And the convenience. She didn’t have enough coin to buy more than what she needed to live, but she saw enough – more than enough. Medicines, clothes, books, tools, even electronic devices were available in Trial, things she found at home only a few times a year when the right vendors bothered to visit Sieverling to sell their decidedly smaller offers.

Just the chance to buy these things at any time, to have them at hand when needed, made her envious, even though they were still unaffordable for most Reds.

“They’re traps, you know,” her handler, a young man in his mid-twenties with golden-brown complexion, said once. “The shops.”

“Hm?”

“They’re to tell us what we’re supposed to crave in the Silvers’ eyes, to ignore what we really need.”

Diana understood him, truly. But those were a city man’s words, not of a person who would’ve given – or paid – anything for an expensive medicine to save a life when purchasing that drug from another place took more time than a beloved, dying, person had left.

Diana remembered when her mother had a fever after Madeline’s birth. Papa had been devastated, but he’d gotten that antibiotic to help her, as the drug vendor had travelled on just to the next village. His own mother, he said then, hadn’t been so lucky when she suffered and died from pneumonia.

One rainy evening in late March, Diana wasn’t with her roommates when they went out. She continued to keep herself apart from them, being a stranger as the city remained a stranger to her.

One reason for that was the curfew. She just couldn’t grasp it. Lord Isère took few measures to control the private lives of the people of Sieverling, but a curfew would’ve been beyond ridiculous. Telling peasants – or hunters, like her parents – not to leave their houses at night, when the best time for work could happen to be in the dark? When an animal – or a sick person, for that matter – might be in need?

Diana knew what the curfew was for, to control the Reds. To remind them the place they lived in wasn’t their own.

She stared out of the window, into the rain and onto the wet street. Her roommates had ways to deal with the curfew, knew the right bars and places to sleep in. It should’ve been enough; Diana was alone, could forget her façade for a night and imagine she was in another place, with someone else. She missed her family, GIselle, her life so much. But she was angry tonight, full of energy and considering how lazy she’d become with her office work and lack of training sessions. She cursed at hiding herself. It was fifteen minutes until curfew, and she decided to go out for a jog.

She despised the first metres but she bit through them, pulling up her hood against the rain. She wore dark clothes, pants and a sweater, clothes she also put on when training at home. She ran on until she no longer felt the cold gushes of the weather and instead had the warmth of the runner’s high rise in her. Finally, she smiled. And squinting her eyes, she saw the two watchmen almost too late.

Cussing silently, she dashed into the next alleyway to avoid a pointless questioning. She had little idea where it led, seeing only puddles and shadows in the tight gap between houses, until two people emerged from the darkness, pressed against the wall.

No, one person pressed against the wall by the other. Diana stopped, yet a puddle splashed as she stepped into it.

“Another customer?” one of them hissed. It was the aggressor, the person holding the other, a boy, in place. A woman, it sounded like, and she turned her head to Diana, letting go of the boy.

The boy stayed fixed on the wall and Diana ceased to breathe.

The woman had to be another guard, a Silver. And, she realized as the rain formed into icicles, a shiver who was able to freeze liquid matter.

Dina only saw a pale face framed by hair turned dark from the rain as the Silver advanced at her. She prayed for her training to kick in, to tell her what to do. She fell into a defensive stance as the Silver slid on the puddles in the alley she’d turned into ice, along with the icicles in her hand she began to throw. Only then did Diana remember her lessons.

You can’t defend against a Silver. You can only attack.

The Silver was inched away from her when Diana changed position and kicked at the Silver’s leg, shattering her balance. Passing her opponent, Diana slid onto the ice puddle herself, grabbing her knife as she spun at the edge of the ice.

The Silver seemed stunned, for she hesitated. Diana’s mind ran miles but she had no time to search her memories for a shiver’s fatal weakness. She just knew how much their surroundings favoured the Silver, with all the water to freeze and turn into weapons. There were already new icicles, growing sharply around the Silver.

Diana moved forward, afraid the shiver would use the puddle to pin her place, like she’d done with the boy behind her. She ran, her left hand lifted to protect her face against the icy projectiles that pierced her belly instead.

She couldn’t stop. She charged, crashing into the Silver and lashing away her arm with the claws of ice taking shape around it. They both fell, and Diana buried her knife in the Silver’s chest.

She breathed heavily, on top of the Silver woman. She pressed a hand over the Silver’s mouth and nose to stop her from screaming.

It felt endlessly. The woman was dying and still, her ability, her last breaths, tried to freeze Diana’s skin. But it was no use, and finally, it was over.

Diana thought she must’ve dealt a lucky hit, punctured a lung. If she’d pierced the stomach, it would’ve been her who lost her life.

Suddenly, she heard a crack and the boy stood right behind her, shoving her away. Diana crouched on her haunches, staring at the hesitating boy. Then he ripped a bag open and threw powder over the body. “Go!” he spat at Diana, and turned to dash down the dark alleyway, on some path only he knew.

Diana didn’t follow. She got up, stepped out of the alley, and ran home.

A/N: This chapter finally delivers after you had to wait so long for the opening line of the first chapter to become relevant.

@elliemarchetti @lilyharvord @mareshmallow @evervaleli @avid-author-activist @marecalrandomstuff @misslucyhutton @shadykittentraveler @olivegreenolives @gamer670 @neyrriz @scxrletguardsdawn @yjlover @loveverygalaxybouquetstuff

[fandom-imagination]

𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖 ~ 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚍

Imagine: Hailee is a Winchester. One of the most notorious hunter families. Though years ago she left her brothers to hunt a different kind of monster. Now, Hailee works with the BAU, a group known for sending serial killers to jail. When a case brings her home she decides to visit her brothers, who she hadn't seen in over five years. Though it wouldn't be a Winchester family reunion if drama didn't follow.Hailee has to navigate her family business intertwining with her work life, and all the danger that it brings.

A/N: So this is the first part of a series called Hailstorm. I began writing this story years ago and just found it while I was looking through some old files on my computer. I fell in love with the idea again after reading it again and decided to post it on here (and Wattpad). I have been wanting to post an AU where a fandom in the real world meets a fandom from a fantasy world to see how the real world characters interact with the fantastical elements. To give context this story doesn't really take place during a season in either show. But somewhere around season 12 in Supernatural (Jack is part of the story) and season 11 of Criminal Minds. Like very loosely around these seasons. Somethings may not line up perfectly with the shows regarding timelines in order to fit in this story. I wanted to include certain characters from each show and certain plot points from each show.  Enough with my rambling, I hope you guys enjoy the first part of Hailstorm.

I REWROTE THE ORIGINAL VERSION! THIS IS THE UPDATED/EDITED VERSION!

𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚖 ~ 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚍

"Our universe grants every soul a twin-a reflection of themselves -the kindred spirit – And no matter where they are or how far away they are from each other- even if they are in different dimensions, they will always find one another. This is destiny; this is love."

– Julie Dillon

A random warehouse type building stood tall in the middle of Lebanon, Kansas, a town smaller than most malls. To the unassuming eye, this building was a random warehouse or abandoned building. But to hunters like Hailee, it was a disguise to protect the research of the men of letters. Or what she liked to call the closest thing to a home.

Hailee stood at the end of the path, just staring up at the bunker. She hadn’t stepped foot in the bunker in over five years. She hadn’t even come back to Lebanon or seen her brothers in this time. Yet, she had the irresistible urge to visit the bunker at the end of her last case with the FBI. Now, Hailee found herself at the foot of the path staring at the building she once called a home. 

Hailee shook out the feeling of apprehension and walked up the path. Even though she knew she wasn’t really ready to be back, there was something pulling at her to be here. She stood at the door a moment because she couldn't decide whether she should just walk in or if she should knock. There was a time that she called this place her home, but that time had long since passed.

Before she could make her mind up the door swung open, revealing a dark haired man in a trench coat. Ever the man of few human emotions, Cass stood in the doorway wearing a blank expression. She engulfed him in a tight hug, “Cass! Oh my god, it’s been so long!

“Hailee! What are you doing here?” he asked. His voice still held that monotonous tone. 

“We just finished a case in town, and I couldn’t pass up a chance to visit!” she cheered. A small smile tugged at his lips. “They’re here right?”

“Yes,” Cass began. She stepped around him to head further into the bunker, but stopped when he said, “It’s really nice to see you. We all missed you.”

“Thanks, Cass. I missed you too.”

The bunker smelled just like it did when she was younger, a mix of old books and beer. A nostalgic feeling washed over her and it was if she was a teenager all over again. All the nights she spent awake researching random supernatural creatures. The sips she would steal from Dean’s beer, he left lying around -- sometimes she thought on purpose. Saving people. Hunting things. The family business. 

“Moose! Squirrel! I’m home!” 

“Aren’t you a little old to still call us that?” Sam asked. A smile spread across Hailee’s lips hearing the familiar voice. Sam leaned on the doorframe that led to the library. 

“Aren’t you a little old to still be living with your brother?” She quipped. He shook his head and chuckled. 

“Touché.” 

He jogged the short distance towards her, wrapping his arms around her neck in a tight hug. She nestled her head against his chest. She hadn’t realized how much she missed this place until she was back. For a while all she wanted to do was run away and join the “real” world. Now, finally hugging her brother for the first time in years and basking in the dust of the bunker, a feeling of homesickness sunk deep into her heart. 

“Ah, little bitch is back!” Dean cheered. Dean strolled into the galley, holding out his arms for a hug. Hailee’s relationship with Dean was weird to say the least. Her relationship with both brothers was weird to be honest. You don’t grow up hunting monsters with your brothers not to develop a strange connection. 

“Not like I missed hearing that,” Hailee said, rolling her eyes. She ran up to him and jumped into his arms. He wraps his arms around her, lifting my small frame and spinning her around like he used to do when she was younger. Dean had already graduated high school when she came into their lives and acted like a surrogate father from that point on. “But I did miss that.”

“I missed you too.” 

“Is she still here?” Hailee asked, breaking the hug to look up at Dean’s face. 

“Where else would she be?” Dean asked, as he pulled a set of keys from his back pocket, jingling them in front of her before dropping them into her eagerly outstretched hands. “As soon as I heard you, I grabbed the keys.”

“Yay! Thank you!” Hailee screeched . She gave him another quick hug before running off, only to be stopped short by a knock at the door to the bunker. 

The three exchanged confused looks. No one, literally no one visits the bunker. With most of their friends in other parts of the country, it doesn’t make sense that someone would come knocking on their door. Hailee asked, “Who the hell could that be?”

“I don’t know,” Sam answered just as Dean said, “Jehovah’s Witnesses?” 

“If it’s a Jehovah’s Witness or Scientologist, tell them we’re Satanists. They should go running for the hills,” Hailee said.

Sam rolled his eyes. Dean nudged her shoulder to ask for a fist bump. They bumped fists as Sam jogged up the stairs toward the front door. Sam’s voice carried across the room. “We’re Sat-”

Sam walked across the balcony, scratching the back of his neck. A moment later, another tall lanky man walked across the balcony. Sam asked, “Hailee, do you, uh, want to introduce us?”

“What are you doing here Spencer?” Hailee shouted. Hailee made sure no one saw her leave the hotel. She didn’t want anyone from her team to know where she was going or who she was going to see. She kept her life a secret. There was no way she was going to let her group of profiler friends know that her family’s business was hunting monsters, they’d surely lock her up in a mental hospital.

“You have been acting suspicious lately, I got worried,” Spencer answered sheepishly, walking towards Hailee only to stop and stare at Dean. “Weren’t you on the FBI’s most wanted list like 6 years ago for a whole list of crimes including murder? And aren’t you both supposed to be dead?” 

Hailee’s mouth dropped open. Curse Reid for having an eidetic memory. And curse her brothers for being former FBI most wanted criminals . Hailee replied to him, “No, no. Dean, why don’t you tell him?” 

Dean gave her an incredulous look, shaking his head, “No this is your problem little sis.”

“Bitch,” She mumbled, under her breath. 

“Slut,” he responded with just as much sass, although not as discreetly. Hailee turned her body enough to conceal her flipping him off .

“Do you mind explaining to me what’s going on?” Spencer asked. He held his hand on the waistband of his pants, where Hailee knew he kept his gun. 

“Ok, first off-” Hailee began before being interrupted by the horribly timed Cass returning from his convenience store run. 

“Hey, who is this?” Cass asked, eyeing Spencer. 

“Isn’t that the missing James Novak too?” Spencer exclaimed. “I don’t know what’s going on right now, but all I see are people who have been reported as missing or are convicted criminals.”

“They’re not criminals,” Hailee said, even though she knew that wasn’t true. In their line of business it’s hard not to do the frequent illegal thing, but it was always for the greater good. However, Spencer wouldn’t understand. Him being an FBI agent and person living in the real world and all. 

Spencer glanced at the ground. Dean’s fake FBI badge sat open on the ground between their feet. The next moments happened in slow motion. Spencer pulled out his gun, directing it at Dean. Dean’s eyes went comically wide and he held his arms up in surrender. Cass dropped the bag of groceries in his hand. Cans clinked together and a stray tomato rolled out of the bag. He pulled an angel blade from the sleeve of his trench coat. Spencer redirected his gun to Cass. 

“That can’t do anything to me,” Cass stated, motioning to Spencer’s gun.

“What do you mean? It’s a gun?” Spencer exclaimed. The only thing that crossed Hailee’s mind was Please don’t say what I think you're going to say.

“Because I am an angel of the lord.”

“Castiel!” Hailee shouted, beyond aggravation. 

The feeling of happiness and nostalgia disappeared as quickly as it had come. One of Hailee’s worst fears looked her right in the eyes in this moment. Spencer, the man of facts and books and what you see is what’s real, finding out about her past. Hailee’s mind drifted from everything happening at that moment. The shouts from the men around her sounded like they were miles away. All Hailee wanted was to disappear. If she had known this was going to happen she never would have come home. Honestly, she still didn’t understand why she even wanted to come back to the bunker in the first place. 

“Everyone go sit down,” Hailee said, a calm tone to her voice. 

“I don’t ha-” Dean began, but Hailee’s death glare made him shut his mouth. 

The four men rushed to take a seat at a table in the library. Hailee sat at the head of the table with Sam and Dean to her left and Spencer and Cas to her right. Spencer noticeably shifted in his seat to create as much distance between himself and the man beside him.

“So, first I guess I should introduce everyone. These are Sam and Dean, my older brothers. And this is Cass, you already know what he is,” Hailee explained. 

“Wait you actually believe him?” Spencer said and whipped his head to stare at Hailee in shock. Hailee nodded briefly before continuing. 

“Guys, this is Spencer Reid, my coworker, and uh… boyfriend.” 

Dean’s dismissive expression morphed into that of a protective older brother. He was always distrustful of the people Hailee dated. He never believed someone could be good enough. Sam watched Spencer warily. He was also an overprotective brother but more the “I’m skeptical but trust your decisions.”

Cass, again oblivious, outstretched his hand, “Nice to meet you Spencer.”

"I don't shake hands. It spreads to many germs," Spencer said. Hailee was unsure whether he said that simply because it was true or to avoid Cass at all costs.  Cass pulled his hand back and dropped his attention to the table. Spencer turned to Hailee, his eyes burning with anger, “You mean to tell me he is an angel of the lord? Just reassure that I gauged your answer correctly.”

Hailee’s heart sunk in her chest. She assumed Spencer would take some convincing but not that he would be so angry. Pain shown through her next words, “Spencer, what I am telling you, and about to tell you, is all the truth. Monsters, they’re real. What my brothers do, what I used to do, is hunt them.”

“I can’t believe you're pulling all this. Lying to me, just to cover their tracks. I thought you had more trust in me than that!” Spencer said, abruptly standing from his seat. He stormed out of the bunker without saying another word or giving Hailee a chance to explain. 

Hailee blinked a few times, staring at the empty space Spencer once occupied. She was pulled back to reality by my Dean’s next words, “That was a dick move.”

“Don’t ever say that,” Hailee growled, pushing her own chair back as she stood up. She stomped off, only turning back to utter her next words before walking off down the hall, “I wish you never convinced Dad to let me stay with you guys. I wish I just went into foster care to live in blissful oblivion, without you.”

“Go away!” Hailee shouted at the person who insistently knocked at the door. Even with her constant yelling, they kept knocking. She abruptly picked up a pillow and threw it towards the door. 

“Hey… Hailee. Can I come in please?” An unfamiliar voice asked. 

Hailee pushed herself off the bed and threw open the door. Standing in the entryway, hand still raised to knock, was a smiling Jack. “Hi. Uh… who’re you?”

“I’m Jack.”

“Jack?”

“Yea, Lucifer’s son.”

“What?” Hailee screeched. She was tempted to slam the door in his face, but the pure innocence in his expression told her not to. 

“Well, I guess now I’m Cass and Dean’s son or something,” Jack explained. He smiled. Which seemed to be his default expression. “Also, this is my room.”

“Oh, shit. I didn’t realize. I thought it was just another guest room.”

“No problem,” Jack said. He walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Hailee stayed in her spot holding onto the door. The thought of the devil’s son sitting in front of her did not put her at ease. “You look like you’ve been crying. Are you alright?”

“Yea.”

Jack narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying.”

“And you’re direct.”

Jack shrugged his shoulders. “What’s wrong. Why were you crying?” Jack’s shoulders perked up. “Do you need help with something? I can beat someone up if you need.”

Hailee chuckled. She let the door swing shut and took a seat beside Jack. “You’re kinda weird. But sweet.”

“Thanks.”

“I don’t really know you or quite trust you on the basis you’re Lucifer’s son. But I don’t have anyone else to talk to so… I thought I would be coming home, a nice visit to see my brothers. You know, nothing wrong there. But of course, drama always follows. My boyfriend, Spencer, showed up and found out about the supernatural, but didn’t take it too well. Not that I expected him too.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Hailee jumped to her feet and paced in front of Jack. He eagerly watched her, ready to help if needed. She didn’t trust easily and never talked about her problems. It was always easier to deal with it herself. But right now, she needed someone to vent to and despite Jack being probably the least trustworthy person around he was the only one around. The words spilled out of her. “Spencer literally ran out without giving me a chance to explain. And of course because he has a fucking eidetic memory he remembered that Sam and Dean were on the FBI’s most wanted list six years ago. He thought I was making up the whole monster hunting thing to cover for their criminal past. But let me tell you, if I was covering for them I would have come up with a way better story and he should have known that.”

“Well, I could show him my powers and then he’ll definitely believe you,” Jack said. He smiled, proud of himself for coming up with a solution. 

“Thanks Jack. But I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

Hailee pat Jack on the shoulder. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She held it to her ear, “Winchester.”

taglist (message me if you want to be added -- this is a rewritten version)

@jjmaybanksrings​ @alex-rose-boi​ 

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Reflection 12 (FINAL) | Netjuu no Susume 1 | Mahoutsukai no Yome 1 | Code:Realise 1 | Kino’s Journey (2017) 1 | Dynamic Chord 1 | Houseki no Kuni 1 | Anime-Gataris 1 | Idolmaster Side M 1

Kekkai Sensen seems to be off limits, even when I try to comprehend the relevant JavaScript after dodging region lock. Grr…I spent and hour and 30 mins just trying to figure out that code!!! Oh well (dejected tone), at least I have Classicaloid…

Reflection 12 (FINAL)

Oh please, X-On. Fighting fire with fire is the worst thing you can do. Haven’t you learnt that over the course of this show?

Gahhhh! Finally, the magical girls have arrived! Thank you, Stan Lee!

Wowee, that was some concentrated sound, so to speak.

Well, that’s just original, y‘know? Pyramid. In the desert. Whoop-de-doo.

Rule number 14138008 of crime-fighting: Always make sure you have a backup in case someone uses yorur kryptonite against you. Or in this case, a superpower-stripping technique.

I don’t think X-On’s become one with the Darkness yet. He has some flippin’ plot armour on his side, after all. Why haven’t any of these guys succumbed to the ageing process yet?

Well, I got my answer to my previous question, but how did vision!Eleanor appear, anyway?

Wait…wait. I knew he had plot armour! Argh! X-On! What the heck did you do to deserve plot armour???

Oh, the magical girls are part sentai and part actual magical girl. Notice they have kanji across their chests for their associated element.

“Why won’t you accept Darkness’s darkness?” – Okay, “Darkness’s darkness” is a bit too redundant, y’hear?

Wait…wait. Ninth Wonder only had 4 members??? Wat. Then Ian goes and undoes all their hard naming work by calling them by their real group name, dangit. You ruined a perfectly good magical girl show, Ian.

They didn’t even put in the crack on X-On’s helmet…head…thingy.

Okay, I am so confused…Guh. Thank goodness it’s over.

Netjuu no Susume 1

I like the rare stories where a girl transforms into a boy for non-hentai reasons. This is the closest anime I’ve gotten so far to that concept, so…yay, me?

“Recommendation of the Wonderful Virtual Life” and “Recovery of an MMO Junkie” mean two very different things on the same topic. What was happening in the localiser’s mind when they created this title for the English-speaking audience???

That scene where Moriko collapses on her bed…for some reason, someone was watching a show with the Moonlight Sonata in the background, so now I think MMO Junkie is sad. (Which is probably wrong.)

Oh, by the way. The –juu in Netjuu gives the word a special kind of connotation. A riajuu is what’s known as a normie, or a non-otaku, non-gamer sort of person. A netjuu must therefore be a net addict. Kiznaiver taught me that.

“I chose the NEET life.” - I know that feel, Moriko.

Oh, they even gave Moriko’s character Saiyan hair for a moment, LOL.

Okay, here’s a pun. Mori (forest) is 3x ki (tree) and hayashi (grove) is 2x ki. That’s using the kanji, though.

The guy with the glasses looks like a dude from Occultic;Nine. I have bad memories of that show because of Ryouka…er, big knockers girl.

Owee. I once joined an RPG because of some IRL friends but I forgot to ask them what group they were in, and so I was a solo quester…so I know that feel, Moriko.

This is based on a Comico manga, so the designs are simple to draw and they were originally in colour, so they just needed to be reworked for animation. See? Backing Comico in my Superstar wa Nemurenai days wasn’t such a bad idea, now, huh?

Himeralda? For a guy character? Well, that broke the gender barrier.

Christmas is a holiday for lovers in Japan, so I suspect it’s something to do with that.

Lawson -> Cowson, LOL.

Despite all the obviously still motion shots, I’m really enjoying this. Why does it have to be 10 eps??? (By the way, why didn’t I get Kekkai Sensen??? Dangit, Funi!!!)

Oh, this is so adorable! Lily even dressed up and Moriko got her chicken! It’s such a heartwarming Christmas for these guys.

These transitions, while not original, I find are really cool. Not Disney-level, but still inventive. Also, that green dot is definitely Hayashi and the pink one Lily.

LOL, Lawson was a sponsor this ep, it seems. Had I paused a little later, I would’ve missed its credit!

This is a keeper for sure. I’m just disappointed about the short ep count (due to the nature of Comico)…and Kekkai Sensen, uwu…

Mahoutsukai no Yome 1

Le hype. That’s all. I’ve been watching 1 – 2 eps per day (for these first eps of the fall season) and since the weekend is so full of good shows, I don’t know how people can watch entire seasons like this…As for my take on this show, it’s pretty and well-received after the OVA and advance screening, so hopefully this will deliver. I’m not an AMB manga fan by the way.

It’s normally a bad sign to start with an OP, but it shows off the animation, so I’m not complaining.

The English title shows how interconnected the world is these days…it’s kinda scary, actually.

Chise looks lke a bride here, or she’s on her deathbed. Both symbolic meanings are applicable.

I never thought Japanese people would be able to capture Western elegance so well.

The chibi-ish style doesn’t suit such a serious show. Are these chibi-ish sections also part of the manga?

I thought the woman with the bonnet was called Silky? Not Silver? The promo materials all say “Silky”, and the OVA did too IIRC.

I think the biggest descriptor of this show is “whimsical”.

Historically, fairies lure people into Fairyland like the stereotypical portrayal of sirens, and they’re not as benign as my portrayal of them in One Wish They Never Wanted.

The irony of a dog-face skull calling you his puppy. It really brings an odd sense of humour to this show.

Welp, that’s another safe keeper. I’ve being quite definite about my choices, as you might have noticed, since the weekend is positively overloaded with shows (as I mentioned earlier).

Code:Realise 1

It’s an otome game adaption. They don’t always go down well, but it’s worth a shot.

Isn’t it “London Bridge is falling down”?

CR seems to have forgotten to title this ep “London Steam” on their site.

Well, they’re guards. Y’think lowering their guard would’ve been a funny pun, at least if this were dubbed in English (which this will be…eventually).

Ooh, so this plain bishie is Arsene Lupin? Me likey.

Like, seriously, Where are this tiny spark-star-thingies coming from?

Impey…who? Update: Google (plus previous spoilers) tell me that Impey is Impey Barbicane, accomplice to Lupin.

LOL, I’ve watched me too many Kaito Kid heists. Me likey, once again. However, the thing I don’t get is the voiceover. Couldn’t Lupin have actually said these lines instead of putting them on voiceover???

Gahhhhhhh! This eyecatch’s bishie has such horrible eyes that they burn mine! Get me out of here!

How does Impey know Cardia’s name??? Update: You’ll get the answer later…

It’s a few generations too early for a man to go to the moon, LOL. Poor Impey.

Victor…well, I never. Anime really does cover everything. Plus, Frankenstein ain’t his monster in this one, which would make Mary Shelley proud.

Hey, Kaitou (Phantom Thief) Lupin is one thing but using your real name as your kaitou identity is taking it a bit far. Sure, there was Kaito Kuroba, but at least he was Kaito Kid as well.

Sheesh, the Horologium sounded like nuclear power before Lupin explained it was Cardia’s heart…that would’ve been tonnes scarier, had Cardia been a nuclear monster.

LOL, Lupin’s so tsundere! Hahaha…

Oh please. Don’t let the vampires steal away Cardia (LOL)!

Victor being pegged as a terrorist has something to do with Isaac, right?

Lupin’s so effin’ short. No wonder he stands in high places when he lords over the British Army, haha.

Smol corgi with cyborg leg is probably my new dog aesthetic, haha. Plus top hat. I like top hats.

Shouldn’t the corgi have died when Cardia grabbed it though, or was that because of its leg?

The rainbow transition was a bit much, but okay. I can live with it.

So smol corgi is called Sisi? What a weird name.

It’s…not bad, I could probably watch until the end. However, the colour scheme seems to be “bright” with these recent female games (see Sengoku Night Blood for another example of what I mean). Well, since I said that, it’s a keeper. (I think the random James Bond-esque scene involving shooting guns then being in front of an explosion in the ED sealed the deal though, LOL.)

Kino’s Journey 1

I’m a noob to the world of Kino, so please don’t spoil me on anything you’ve seen in the previous adaptations! All I really know is the shtick: Kino is neither a guy nor a girl. They stick around in a country for 3 days then leave. They have a talking motorbike named Hermes…that’s pretty much it.

Lerche? On Kino? Y’think someone else could’ve done it better? I feel like a washed-out, subdued feeling would suit this show best. However, these words are coming from a Kino’s Journey noob, as I just said, so disregard me if you want.

Mori no naka de…b? What’s the “b” for?

A few times when they say “country”, I imagine a sea. That makes sense, considering it’s the sea that separates a lot of us.

How does Hermes talk???

Hermes is CGI. Trust my eyes, they’ve seen a lot of CGI for their time.

The gun is called Cannon? Wuh? The other gun is called the Woodsman? Wuh wuh???

A motorrad appears to be a motorbike, but…okay. It’s a BMW make of motorbike. Like a Ford Gran Torino.

*Kino points the gun* Whoa! What a fakeout!

Kino is CGI sometimes, too, it seems.

Those cows seem to be angry at Kino for some reason…

Why does no one question the talking motorbike???

Oh, I see. That was what I suspected from the moment the rifle was shown in the store. Public order is good here because people simply turn a blind eye.

I think Kino hopping behind Hermes should’ve been 2D. It’s not fluid enough in 3D…not quite yet to convey a proper sense of action, but enough to create a sense of disquiet. (Which is what I believe the show wants, so I’ll take my words back for the moment.)

“Ow!” is an understatement, considering it (the arrow) must’ve severed a muscle or two.

Ah, loophole. I didn’t see that coming.

Whoa. What dramatic irony.

I swear they recycle parts of this footage over and over again. I’m getting dejavu.

Hahaha, that crepe ending was funny. It wasn’t an ideal way to finish such an unsettling episode, but it was a good punchline.

Well, I think this is going to be really repetitive, so I’ll put it on hold and roll the next show up.

Dynamic Chord 1

More Ume. As an Ume fan, I’m spoilt for choice this season.

Cherry blossom opening is probably a bad omen. It’s probably the most cliched opening you could go for.

Holy eye colours, Batman! “That yellow should not exist as an eye colour,” is all I’m saying.

Honestly, this is the least gripping band/idol anime I’ve tackled all season. If they’re just going to be angsty in the rain, they should’ve been one season earlier because I would’ve taken this over The Reflection or In Another World With my Smartphone, laser eye boy be damned.

Wait, is pinkhead in the car or out of it? Update: He’s in a convertible. So it’s a yes and a no.

That metronome transition was pretty bad. Really hamfisted.

That transition away from the metronome, I couldn’t even tell that was a transition!

Aw gawsh, spare me. This looks like one of those ads you see play between shows on TV channels without company sponsorship. Or an only-half-decent MV.

I think they’re trying to be Dark and Edgy (TM) in comparison to, say, TsukiPro, but that was better than this.

Extended Pans for No Reason Whatsoever (TM)! Also, Bumblebee car. I’m having fun ripping this show apart, man. Now I see the real quality of Hatewatches (with a capital H), but it’s only been 5 minutes...

Dual eye colour boy (Reon), oi. You really didn’t do anything. Don’t give yourself unnecessary credit.

Bumblebee boy has way too long eyelashes, by the by. Did I ever mention that?

At least they justified the previous shots. That one there, at about the 6 minute mark, was not justified.

Based on Dai Murase (Ume’s role in TsukiPro), I thought the Kyohso doppleganger was gonna be Ume, but he thankfully got someone more attractive (Kuro of apple polisher). I still don’t like the name apple polisher though, how the heck did that name “get popular overseas”???

The camera shakes sometimes for no reason at all.

Reon seems constantly grumpy for some reason…

C’mon…this production is visually quite junky. Admit it.

Please don’t make this another ad fakeout. Only play your cards once for a certain trick…

Pink and blue eyed boy looks like a villian, but he’s probably a “hero” in this story.

This is probably a music video, but if I wanted a music video, I’d go to YouTube. Not an anime, unless it were an anime musiv video (a proper one, not an amateur effort YouTube Poop).

Wait, they spent 5 minutes just showing us a music video? It was pretty bad, so of course I noticed it in a bad way.

What is up with black and blue guy’s hair? I thought bumblebee guy was bad enough.

Sometimes removing the volume is all you need to figure out if an anime is good, since if they cared about their visuals and plot enough, then they wouldn’t be relying on shots of dudes rocking backwards and forward so much.

I get not all band people are singers, but still…bumblebee boy, if you’re so willing, why not you take Reon’s place?

Wait, so pink-haired convertible boy is the famed Yorito??? Dorito, more like it!

If the animators for this show were any good, they’d animate the fingers when the guitarists play. I’ve seen people play the guitar before. I used to take music classes. Geez, Pierrot. Stop skimping.

Another Skimping Technique (TM) – Speedlines in Replacement of Actual Motion (sic).

Too bad Dorito’s skipping practice, eh, Reon?

C’mon, Dorito. First it’s an angsty rain scene, now it’s an angsty shower scene? You don’t even look half hot here. Or half wet, for that matter.

I know anime is meant to look flat, but these sections I’ve been calling “music videos” are…superflat, to give them a name. They look like paper overlaid on the anime background, with little to no real animation being done, and that’s why I’m giving this show such a bad rap.

All that angst…for this? It seems a little anticlimatic, is all I’m saying.

Well, I made it through one episode. It’s probably not as bad as I made it out to be, but I do hatewatch picks for my own pleasure and this just became one of them. Onto the drop pile it goes…

Houseki no Kuni 1

This is the last debut of the fall season, at least until someone hands me Kekkai Sensen. Okay, here’s the story about why I’m here: I heard good things about Steven Universe in my home country, so I went on a trip and tried some Cartoon Network there. Thing is, Steven Universe didn’t resonate with me as much as I thought it would. Therefore, to take the concept and turn it into a real anime – would that do it for me? Let’s find out.

Hmph, I had the sound on this time and I had the feeling all the gems were voiced by women. Like Steven Universe.

When they said “sunspots”, they…uh, kinda meant it.

I feel like Master Kongo’s VA is a bit too soft. Otherwise, this show is pretty good.

Whoa. Seeing Phos shattered like this and still conscious must be freaky. Makes for some good body horror, eh?

Well, this show has some excellent worldbuilding. That’s something I haven’t said in a few seasons…in this simulcast commentary, that is. Made in Abyss has good worldbuilding too. The only problem with this is…where did Phos’s gloves come from?

The eyecatch seems to be in English. Like Princess Principal last season.

The echo, I think, had a worse effect this time than when Kongo destroyed Phos.

“Don’t use that hand!” - LOL.

So Cinnabar’s poison creates amnesia and (an indirect need for) amputation, eh? What a duo of afflictions.

Well, it’s…actually pretty good. Let’s press on.

Anime-Gataris 1

I actually wanted to pass on this, but after seeing Karandi pass judgement on its second episode and seeing a Haruhi reference, I decided I would pass a judgement on it too. Well, it’s an anime about anime. What do you expect, really?

Hahaha…Oarai is known for being popularised by Girls und Panzer, so Galtan is short for Girls with Tanks.

Haritaro = Hamtaro, Dezumon = Digimon, PreFae = PreCure. Haha, it’s an anime watcher’s paradise of parody anime!

“Double riding is illegal.” - I think that’s a reference to the first episode of Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun and the tandem bike.

Fish??? Wuh???

Aw. That fakeout, I was hoping for it to be A Certain Magical Index or something.

Geez, typical School Council Pres with optional Ethereal Glow. Now available in Blonde too, it seems.

Sebastian Michaelis right there.

The teacher just did the flippin’ Ringo (from UtaPri) intro! Holy gender-barriers, Roppongi is a man??? Why I don’t react like that to Ringo, I’ll never know.

The “I should go by myself” bit is also from UtaPri, IIRC. The bit where one of the boys reveals he’s actually the star Haruka likes.

Obvious Chuunibyou with extra Fake Magic. Geesh, if it weren’t for the anime references…I really wouldn’t be covering this…

That’s my face when people talk about anime, LOL. Hero School = Boku no Hero Academia while R:Zero is Re:Zero.

Shika = deer, hence the weird deer. I don’t know what the references around the Shikabari one are, though, including the fence jump.

You picked a fight with the wrong anime lover, Anime-Gataris (I specialise in recent anime, for obvious reasons)! Tamukeda = Tanakeda (Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge) and Toramiko = Kumamiko. Clearly someone doesn’t remember that Kumamiko was a controversial flop, anime-wise.

Bakusou = Bakuon. Therefore, Shikabari is probably…Kiznaiver? No, it’s Kabaneri. That’s the best match, considering we’re talking about spring 2016. Time Travel Shonen = Time Travel Shoujo. Still don’t get the fence jump though.

Kyou Kara Sessha Wa!! = Kyou Kara Ore Wa!!, where “sessha” is an pronoun for…I think it’s older males. Angel Story = Angel Legend (Angel Densetsu).

The OVA references went over my head again…

Gachiemon = Doraemon, naturally. Nobue = Nobita and Karashi = Takeshi (Gouda). Well, while looking for the Gachiemon movie, I found Reddit spoiling it all for me. Refer to it if you don’t want me doing it for you, because I’m going to...ignore it! Haha, you thought I was going to use it as a crutch now, didn’t you? I like this challenge.

The dog one is A Dog of Flanders, Everstrike is Evangelion. I thought the Cinnamon Roll one would be the not-often-mentioned Powerpuff Girls anime  but Reddit says it’s Dragon Ball??? Autumn Wars = Summer Wars.

Light music club = K-On, classical literature club = Hyouka, NJ club = GJ Club.

The cover of this magazine appears to be Newtype or Animage, which I think both started around the 70s or 80s. That’s definitely Urusei Yatsura on the front, though.

The Girl who Slept Through Time = The Girl who Leapt Through Time and Replica…Paprika, perhaps? (Think I was recalling Reddit there.)

Is that…a Boueibu reference?! Or is that just a cliché…? (If it’s a cliché, I’d feel sad, man.)

I feel like the video quality seems to warp a little at infrequent moments. It’s quite disappointing for a 2017 anime to be suffering from strange visual problems like that.

There’s a KonoSuba poster…sort of.

Maria Clara doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen although it does kind of look like Hatsune Miku or Elsword.

Dang that fakeout, I thought she meant the beret.

I feel like this is best binged to get at all the references, so onto the on hold pile it goes. I think its plot will be cliché but its references are the best thing about it.

Idolmaster 1

Time to thin out the herd! This’ll be tough, since all the contenders I’ve kept have the potential to be great.

The pun here is that 315 (saikou) can mean “the highest”, or in this case, “the best”.

The eyeless producer (and Saito, by the by) was probably a bad idea.

Hey, it’s a 315 business card!

The cardboard boxes say “Bear Mark Moving Company” (Kuma no Ma-ku no Hikkoshi Kaisha).

Ooh! I like ponytail boy. I have a thing for bishies with ponytails.

“Handwriting” is probably the wrong word for a typed contract, CR subbers.

An odd juxtaposition between lawyer (or any other job) and an idol. That’s what piqued my interest about this idol anime specifically – because there is clearly going to be some dirty stuff that comes to light once characters have debuted as idols, and the more disconnect between the past and the present, the more the paps are gonna eat it up. At least, that’s my thoughts, having written Half-Paid Heroes. (I’m currently not sure if I should continue on HPH though, since I had a fight with fellow Honeyfeed writer Aura…).

Nice shirt, Teru (LOL).

When Kaoru broke the cheery atmosphere, Teru’s shirt suddenly said roiya (“lawyer” in katakana, transposed to hiragana).

Dandou literally translates to “male way”. It’s actually hilarious since it sounds really macho…in a bishie show intended to capture a female audience.

“I want us to work together…”

Does this producer have a name? I get the feeling he doesn’t. Maybe, instead of that woman producer they were hinting at at the end of Side Jupiter (was that a woman?), it was this guy.

Sakuraba’s being kind of awkward on the side with his fistpump. I like him.

“Then from now on, the three of you…”

If you know me from Boueibu, you’ll know the line Saito says should actually be “Boys be ambitious”.

The board up the back of the Dramatic Stars’ party says “Celebrate! Dramatic Stars’ Formation”…or something like that, anyway…(Happoro beer, LOL.)

Oh, it’s Hokuto, Shouta and Touma from Jupiter.

It’s this shot from last episode. Oh, okay. It’s kinda like Death Parade in that there are two backstories leading to the same ending shown in ep 1.

What’s with those 17 badges, guys???

This frog mascot looks kinda funny in a (LOL) sort of way. I think Ume’s character will be in a unit with the shota that likes this frog mascot, so…good on me.

At least “Drive a live” doesn’t sound as bad as “Burny!!” or “Crazy Baby Show”, namewise. It does, however, sound like a slogan for a drink-driving government prevention scheme.

I think Ume’s character is the guy behind the counter, although I’m a bit sketchy on that. We’ll see in a few eps.

I think I’ve probably been missing out on something by not listening to the trio with the music. Even though I threw the others out based on visuals and plot, an idol/band show is nothing without its music, so I’ll put Idolmaster on hold so that I don’t become too attached to any of the trio and maybe someday I can evaluate TsukiPro vs Idolmaster better.