#infact hes been shown to like girls and guys

[fairys-book-reviews]

The 100: Homecoming - Kass Morgan (7/10)

Just as I write this, I realise I infact read the third book of the series, and not the first, or even the second.

No matter, though. While I don't know much about the events of the first and second book, this one adequately explained the important events.

I finished this book maybe a week ago, and I wrote up a review in my book directly after, I've simply been procrastinating typing it up (I'm an expert procrastinator...)

Either way, it may be because I havent read the other books in the series yet, but i don't think that this would be one of the books that sticks with me (to be fair, over the past 5 years only maybe 20 of probably around 500 have....), although I did enjoy it!

To my pre-written review, though.

I'd heard of the 100 many times in the past, although I'd never quite figured out the plot. Going into this movel, I'd assumed it was the first (quite wrongly) and when I'd realised, I couldnt particularly bother finding the first. And its not like this was a long read, finished it in just a few nights, with only an hour or so of reading each night.

Starting with the characters. I'll be honest, it wasnt too hard to figure out the main ones (as it switched between their perspectives). Bellamy, Wells, Clarke and Glass, but also Sasha and Luke, with Rhodes as the main villain.

This book opened from Glass' perspective, and it took me a while to gain my bearings (Likely because its the third book, and I havent read the first). Hers and Lukes side of the story seemed wholly unesscary to add in, and its not shown particularly often either. Mostly just flashes of her scared, confused, or acting in love with her boyfriend, Luke. Her prime motivator also appears to simply be Luke. I believe that her perspective was only added, as it was likely a main one in the other two stories...

Luke. In this book, he wasnt too fleshed out (potentially because they did that in the first book), but he seems like a nice moral and rule abiding guy.

Bellamy was probably my favourite. I found him a bit shallow in the start (although I had no background context), But he's funny, bold, loyal, and caring, although quite reckless. He's out of action and unable to fight for most of the story, due to one of the earlier events.

Clarke is said by Glass to be coldly professional, but if I'm being honest, I couldnt see that. She seems nice, seems to know her job, and in my opinion is really quite cool.

Wells seems cool too, and we definitely see parts of his past portrayed in his personality. He seemed quite a real and pretty good guy. Shame what happened to Sasha, though.

Sasha seemed like a sweet girl, she really didnt deserve her fate.

Rhodes. The novel really was quite good in portraying him as bad, and I'll be honest, I was quite disappointed by how they didnt kill him in the end, but i suppose it makes sense.

Now, onto the worldbuilding. I get the feeling that i probably missed most of that stuff, as itd have been in the first two books, but after a bit i did understand most of it fairly well.

The plot doesnt seem too original either. Group of teens, with the wrong authority figure, wishing to be able to control their own lives.... but either way it wasnt bad!

Overall, pretty good book. Its fame hyped it up a bit much, but eh. 7/10. Read if you wanna, it's interesting but not the type i'd fangirl about. Might read the first few books though, I'm interested in Bellamy.

[kichimiangra]

Going into the new year batching and complaining about something I like (because I play digimon world next order on my switch during holidays when I get stressed or tired and just want to pass time)

-Koromon's forward facing eyes upset me. This tiny predator will eat me in my sleep I know it...

-Tyranomon needs bigger eyes on his model. Make him kawaii.

-I should not be allowed to recruit Grapleomon as early as chapter 2. I should not be allowed to just go to him and lock out all other evolution options except the one I want that early in the game. That should be a "Just before the final boss" kind of service.

-Himari I love the outfit but where the fuck were you going dressed like that¿?¿?

-(Too used to Guilmon's elmo voice from the dub to get used to Yukimura's deep intelligent sounding voice)

-okay so we doing a "pushed your digimon too far dark evolution" plot with Kouta and Yukimura and though I appreciate trying to be unique by not using Megidramon you just used Skullgreymon again. Clearly the only evil dinosaur you could ever use.

-Himari, it's nice to know your backstory of having no mom and two 2nd grade twin sisters that you are basically substitute mom for and that's why your worried and wanna go home, and imagining them hungry makes you sad but like you never said you didn't have a dad. I'm sure he's at least leaving saltiness crackers out for the ankle biters while worrying about your disappearance?

-(So used to the pronunciation "Machine'DRUH'mon" that I get angry everytime Jijimon called it "Machine'DRAY'mon")

-there is a pc port of this game and like zero modding scene. Like most of the mods are just changing the title song "Accentier" and switching it with "Brave Heart". I was hoping for like model swapping digimon using models ripped from Cyber Slueth and adding them over other models or like custom outfit mods for your player character but at best it's like a color pallet swap and I know mods are hard but still... disappointment.

-speaking of the player costumes why are they dressed like that? Mostly the girl. Ur hood isn't attached to you clothes. Your wearing a onsie with wierd panties that look like a skirt but they're so tight they're crawling up your ass. WHERE WERE YOU GOING DRESSED LIKE THIS?? Is this like Adventure 02 where the digital world gives you new clothes, which would explain Himarri but if so why is Kouta dressed like he's going to chess club?

-in some of the artwork for the girl player she's shown with Palmon and Biyomon as her partners and though superfluous it would have been a nice touch if that carried over into the game instead of both players starting with Omnimon's parts.

-I like the carnevoir vs herbevoir storyline in Oguino Wastelands but it's kinda wierd that you learn Rosemon was being sweet talked into leveling the wastelands by Myotismon because he's a real-estate guy and then the two upon recruitment are stationed right next to eachother and there's no dialogue to follow that up. Infact you recruited a LOT of digimon from both factions and there could have been a 'Two Spiderman pointing at eachother' event right in the city.

-I hate how the upgraded Floatia looks. I miss DW1's restaurant that was literally walking into a toaster oven. Now I'm just walking into a restaurant.

-Stardew valley style daily "Request board" would not be out of place or unwelcome in Floatia.

-I hate the name "Floatia."

-devs, putting big batteries and circuit board patterns everwhere doesn't make it feel digital worldy :(

-people complaining when their two digimon get out of sync are strait up fools as being a day or two out of sync is OPTIMAL statgrinding! Let the Mega carry the fresh baby through hard fights and get them stats! You'll have a rookie with Mega stats in no (ingame) time!

-Spoiler: Luche's Identity as the leftover data of the possessed kid's digimon partner is cool and I like it but Luche seems to care more about the player being their ONNI-SAAAAN than reuniting with their tamer and that feels like wasted drama for such a good set up.

-I don't want to send a townie digimon on an adventure to bring back items I WANT TO GO ON AN ADVENTURE AND BRING BACK ITEMS! What I mean is, more minigames plz.

[butch-bakugo]

I wish all the fandom fucks who constantly call obviously bi men gay guys( *cough* kirishima eijiro * cough* souda kazuichi*cough* nagito komeda* cough*) and litterally call normal shippers homophobes for shipping characters with no canoncial orientation a very happy die.

[zukuist]

stood you up [hcs]

“it sounds exactly as it looks like. they stood you up on a date, and they realize the damage.”

includes: todoroki shouto, midoriya izuku, togata mirio (part one)

your name is shortened to y/n, they/them pronouns used (quirk up to the imagination)

notes: ANGST 😳 IN MY BLOG?? never thought i’d see it but.. here we are. i plan on doing part 2 with other characters.

—

todoroki shouto

he wakes up on a saturday, as per usual.

and he’s kinda— no scratch that, he’s very irritated

because the other night— endeavor was bothering him about ‘not training properly’ and he was accusing him of slacking off.

which.. he’s not

his father also gave him a scolding (which lasted for hours.),

but nothing too bad. it was enough to make him irritated. so uh oh. todoroki’s really something else when he’s irritated.

and endeavor also blew up his phone with badly written text messages, telling him to train today.

so likely, he also woke up quite irritated.

he just wanted to drown himself in training and school work to forget about it.

completely forgetting the date HE said he’d take you on that afternoon, the date he planned a week before.

because he FINALLY got the courage to ask his crush aka you out. with the help of midoriya

like.. you pass him in the hallway— and before you were able to speak, he just kinda..

glared at you and walked away, not exchanging any words with you. he really needs to cool down

which was.. huh. 🤨 okay then. but you excused it because todoroki had a resting bitch face at some moments

it’s 5pm now, and he’s chilling in the common room— and he finally calmed down, and he’s back to his usual demeanor

midoriya walks in the common room, and he’s like “hey todoroki! how was the date with y/n?”

because midoriya helped orchestrate the date, he wanted to know

todoroki’s just like “fuck.” he forgot, and he also may have glared at you by accident.

realization is shown on his face, and midoriya is left apalled— begging him to “go find y/n quick!”

todoroki literally goes 🏃‍♂️💨 to the meeting place, which was the park in this case

and he can’t find you— so he scans the entire vicinity, and he can see you walking back to the dorm in a distance

immediately, he runs after you— calling for you to just wait and hear him out but you don’t turn back,

because you just want to lay in bed and sleep for 5 days

and besides.. he’s the last person you wanted to see right now

he grabs you, which makes him stop in place— “y/n, please just—”

“oh what now, listen? you were the one that asked me out, todoroki. and you just..” bitterness is in your tone, and he can’t even be mad.

your voice falters, and you were mad at first. but you’re just exhausted at this point

you guys haven’t spoke all day

“i’m sorry, i’m so sorry,” he apologizes, looking at your appearance.

you look beautiful, and he just wasted it by forgetting the occasion. he doesn’t want to imagine what you’ve felt in the last several hours

“my father scolded me last night,” he grips on your hands, brushing his thumb on the back of your hand,

“and it was for a long time. and i was just so frustrated by it, i even looked at you weirdly and forgot about the entire date i planned out for weeks. and i’m sorry. i understand if you don’t want to—”

“just stop, okay?” he looks up, and you don’t seem that mad anymore. “i understand. i just wished you told me about it, y’know?”

it doesn’t seem enough, so he pulls you into a hug, “i’m sorry. may i.. take you out again tomorrow? i promise i’ll make it right.”

you give him a chance, after all— you know he truly cares about you.

midoriya izuku

in this case, y’all are already together

but he wanted to take you out on a date— because you guys have been so busy, that you just had no time for any proper dates

so.. he wanted to take you out during the break, finally relieved by the hectic activities for a day.

out of everyone here, he’s the least likely to forget things like dates, anniversaries, etc.

but izuku being that person that’s always like “i have to keep training and training to master this quirk!”

he might have gotten.. overboard with the training. making him completely forget about the entire occassion.

during days like this, he’ll try to split his time by training for 2 hours and studying for the same amount

but homeboy got distracted 💀

too distracted to the point he didn’t even look at the clock once

and now it’s nearly 5pm (y’all were supposed to have lunch at 12)

when he heads out to go get a glass of water in the kitchen, he runs into bakugou on the way

bakugou looked displeased. and he hasn’t seen him look this displeased since middle school

“aren’t you forgetting something?” he says that in his usual tone, and izuku can only stare at him questioning

“your shitty thing with y/n. they walked in here looking like someone shat in their cereal.”

oh no

how could he.. forget?

izuku immediately storms off to your floor, knocking on your door

“y/n? y/n, can we please talk?” his heart is racing with worry, and he’s not even sure if you’re gonna answer the door

you begrudgingly open the door, but you’re not facing him— you’re still dressed in the clothes you wore going out

and it looks like you’ve been crying

“dear,” izuku wants to console you, but you don’t want to recieve his hugs right now— especially after he stood you up

“this is our only day off, izuku.” you try to make your voice sound normal, but it’s not really working

“i know, i’m sorry. i’m so sorry y/n. i forgot about the entire thing while i was training, and i know i made you feel bad. i’m just so sorry.” he apologizes to you over and over again

you don’t look at him, so he cups your face with his calloused hands—

his touch soft on you as he wipes your tears “please talk to me.”

you huff, “i know how much you want to train your quirk, and be the best at all times. i’m not mad that you want to do that, but i just wished you spent time with me, even if it’s just for a minute.”

izuku listens, and you’re right. you guys haven’t been the best with quality time,

and it wasn’t fair of him to just go out and suddenly forget the date he arranged.

“i’m sorry.”

“stop apologizing,” you sigh, “just bring some snacks so we can watch that movie you’ve been raving about.”

his expression lights up, and he dashes downstairs to retrieve the items

oh and.. how bakugou knows about y’all’s date? he totally suggested it

togata mirio

mirio has always been the best boyfriend for you

never forgetting anything, infact- he’s usually the one that’s always early to the dates

because he’s so excited to hang out with you!

but because of his quite friendly nature, he’s practically a chick magnet

girls swarming him whenever they could, doesn’t even matter that they don’t have to date him— they just want to talk to him

and while he’s nice to these girls, he’s not disloyal to you at all— and that’s why you don’t mind it,

because you trust him

okay but.. you don’t mind it when girls swarm your boyfriend, until it gets in the way

like.. one time he was supposed to be at a date with you— but he got surprised by a bunch of girls

and not wanting to be rude to them, he entertained them

and he considered cutting the conversation short but.. they just kept going and going

until he’s an hour late. y’all were supposed to get lunch together.

eventually, the girls go away— which so happened to be around the time tamaki and nejire started looking for him.

“mirio!” nejire called out for him, tamaki right next to her “how was the— wait, did you have lunch with y/n?”

mirio blinks, and that’s when he realizes that he messed up.

tamaki sighs, and he can only pat his shoulder— “mirio, i k-know you’re a nice guy, but don’t let yourself get distracted.”

nejire can only agree, “afterall, y/n’s the one you’re dating, not those other people.”

they urge him to go find you, and when he does find you— you’re sitting on a bench, not looking amused at all.

“hi mirio,” you deadpan, “how were those girls you were talking to?”

mirio knows he messed up, he really does! “i’m so sorry, y/n!” he tries to explain himself “they got me.. carried away.”

“mirio, i know that you’re nice. i let them talk to you because i trust you. but when you go out and do things like this.. it’s strange! really.”

you want to not be angry, since this was bound to happen— possibly the day where mirio just forgets about you entirely

“i’m really sorry.” he sighs, disappointed with himself, “i really love you, and i’ll only ever date you! but i should’ve dismissed them much earlier.”

your gaze softens, and you cup his cheek with your hand “it’s okay, mirio. i’ll let it be just this once, but please promise me that it won’t happen again.”

mirio nods “yes, yes! i promise. it’ll never happen again.” he smiles, reassuring you

“now let’s get something to eat. i haven’t eaten yet.”

“right, right.” mirio laughs, the tense atmosphere dissipating

mirio tries to be more direct with dismissing them from now on, especially when he has to be somewhere with you.

—

©️izukulie 2021, bnha|mha belongs to horikoshi kohei. do not steal❕

[mountainscouts]

you said you had some gary headcanons? Im curious to know more of what you think of him ?

i DO! i have a lot of headcanons for sp chars like every other person but since gary is my government assigned south park one-shot episode character that i've hopelessly attached myself to i definitely have thought about him a lot! here we go!

growing up gary is a well-rounded kid, excelling at school and participating in extracurricular sports but he prefers the arts more compared to anything.

he's always been musically inclined as a kid, along with his siblings who he envisioned having a family band with when they would grow up. as time went on, his siblings grew out of their instruments. gary occasionally picks up a guitar now as he's older. occasionally.

his dad collected vinyls while he was younger but gary was the only one interested in inheriting said collection. the collection consists of 60s 70s and 80s tunes usually gravitating towards a folk and rock n roll sound of those times.

here's a playlist i made of songs i think he'd like because it wasn't obvious enough that i have waaay too much free time!

he's not a total boomer when it comes to music though, okay... he also fancies the niche genre of early 2010s to mid 2010s feel good folk rock alternative. fair warning: i am projecting

that being said his favorite band is probably like the beatles and his favorite songs by them are probably let it be, two of us, and ob-la-di ob-la-da...

gary is gay gay homosexual gay. i don't take critiscm. it makes his (nonexistent) character more interesting anyways.

he's not angst induced because of his sexuality, infact he's fully aware that he likes men and told his parents with little to no hesitation. because he loves his family duh!!!

(side note: i really don't like it when people antagonize gary's family in stories because it's genuinely not believable especially with how tight he is with his family. yeah religious familial abuse is a real thing but i don't think gary's family would disown him. especially because in mormonism its "okay" to be homosexual. of course, the fact that no one can act on it is a very huge problem of it's own but the point still stands. plz his family are nice people y'all... 😭)

since being mormon means you can't act on it. it meant while growing into his adult shoes, he refrained from ever thinking about romance in general as he didn't want to jeopardize his faith and loyalty towards the church. yeowch.

gary still lived in south park but has transferred out not from his own will but his parent's. he finishes up to middle school in some other school in park county until leaving the county.

funny enough, the friends he would make at school would be mostly girls. he just seems like a guy who would have girls flock to him just because of how welcoming he is!

he also does volunteer work as if that wasnt obvious with his family, but he is often a tutor at his schools.

as gary grows more in control of his wardrobe while getting older its shown that he dresses pretty conservatively. i simply believe that gary would look good in a slick 60s or 70s semi formal outfit. white boy rocking that white boy fashion

gary loves the summer. since hes part of the salt lake city diaspora he's well accustomed to having a hot summer unlike in south park where it doesn't get more than 70° in the middle of july.

if he could, he would live in the desert. probably somewhere in california.

gary was built for being an athlete, which he takes advantage of for the most part. he's an MVP in multiple of sports he plays in but that's just because of a natural talent of his.

he's got a slim yet hearty frame once he grows into his body. not too skinny yet not too buff. like the rest of his physical appearance, perfect!

he stands at a modest 5'9'' once fully grown and his posture is one of a pole. very straight unlike him 👬😞

when tanned from being out in the sun (which ends up being often) he is sunkissed with freckles.

fun fact: i care him

at this point this little blonde bitch is my oc. sincere apologies to matt and trey. i also have headcanons on how he'd interact with other characters but i'll save that for another time. heres a bonus drawing i did while contemplating whether to draw my main headcanons out or not!

[nat-the-cat-123]

(this will be a VERY long post)

✨Time to criticize Yashahime ✨

First of all:

I will only criticize the writing aspects, so don't expect me to say anything about the animation since I barely know about that stuff

Because of this I also won't address anything of Sessrin or the discontent because of Moroha's and Inukag's separation because that's more of a fandom thing

And this is only the opinion of someone who isn't any kind of expert in writing or something like that

Uff, Yashahime finally ended and it was... Interesting.

So let's criticize it :)

So first of all let's tell the ✨the good things✨ because even if there are more bad things, infact there are very little good things, we have to give credit where credit is due.

Good things :D

The girls' originality

Something that I saw other fandoms have complained in their own "next generation sequel" (like in boruto) is that the kids were just a "copy paste" of their parents, and when Yashahime was just announced I saw the same concerns (specially with Setsuna and Moroha)

But in the end I think any of them ended up being just female Inuyasha/Sesshomaru, and all were able to be their very own character.

Half of their relationship

Ok, I'm specifying that only half because sometimes the twins would be a little unfair with Moroha, but then be her "new family"(?), But then they proceed to leave her behind, and then AGAIN being like bff's so there is no consistency.

But in the first episodes Sunrise got it right and we could see a pretty good and functional dynamic between the 3 that was consistent and made sense.

Each one had a defined role that worked, Towa was the "moral" one, Setsuna the "cold" one who took more drastic decisions, and Moroha intervenes mediating both and brings information that may help please both sides. (At the beginning)

Moroha

I'M SORRY, I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's just that she has so much charm and is so lovely and innocent. And you can totally ignore the fact that she's InuKag's daughter and still love her just because her personality brings so much to the story.

It's such a shame that they didn't really use all her potential but I'll get to that later.

Aaaand that's all ;-;

Now let's go to the interesting part...

The bad things D:<

Towa

This point I actually want to explore it further in another post, because there's a lot I want to talk about her to specify what exactly went wrong and how I would have managed her but here I will leave it simple.

Towa in any way possible wasn't properly used, and even if almost every character suffered of bad writing, she was the most affected one.

She honestly isn't interesting, everything that could have been done with her according to her backstory was completely wasted, because even if she was the one with the least tragic story, there was a lot to work with (I mean, just look at Kagome's case and still most of the fandom loved her)

She kept changing her personality and ideology according to what the story needed, and at some point her only trait was "Setsuna's protective older sister"

And don't even get me started with how overpowered she is without any kind of training (I get she knows how to fight with bullies, but clearly that isn't the same as fighting demons with demonic energy)

Phasing

When people argue if the phasing is too fast or too slow, I think it's both, but in the worst way possible.

They waste so much time in scenes that aren't really that necessary or could be much shorter, and rush at incredible speed things that should actually be worked slowly and carefully.

The fights

I only can remember two or three that I actually liked because most of them were just exchanging hits with the sword, sometimes an special movement and that's all.

Half of the battles didn't affect the story in the least, and the worst of all was how the villains were defeated wether because they were lame as fuck or because Towa's random power up appeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile in Inuyasha even if we didn't always had the best fights of all anime, we did get some pretty interesting choreographies and some villains really had an impact on the characters in a natural way.

Talking about villains...

Naraku is laughing from his grave

You know? I'm not a Naraku fan, but he was a bastard that you loved to hate, he maybe wasn't the most powerful character when we talk purely about his strength, but he was intelligent as fuck, he was always one step ahead, he had some pretty interesting abilities and plans, with him he brought other AMAZING villains (or anti heroes) like Kagura, Kanna, Hakudoshi, the weird baby, or even Sesshomaru back at the beginning, and the best part was how he was written being a complex character (like when he struggled with his human feelings for Kikyo)

But on the other hand we have Kirinmaru, Zero, the four losers (I mean, perils), probably my boy Riku, and who knows what other random villains.

First of all, ONLY RIKU would be a good villain (maybe I should have put him in the good things ;-;)

But then we have the four perils who, out of them the only one who seemed to know what he was doing was the green guy that did weird witchcraft, but the rest? They are just randomly bothering people because they have nothing else to do and honestly they didn't seem to be that powerful.

I'm not sure about Kirinmaru because I don't see anything clear with him, I mean, I'm not even sure if he's a villain.

And Zero... *Sighs*

I don't get what the hell she's trying to do. Anything that she does makes sense. She's just alive because of Riku, without him she can't do anything.

Like seriously, half of the world was after Naraku's ass, even his allies, and still he could get away with it. Zero can't even get her army in order to take care of 3 fourteen years old girls.

(Sorry for letting myself go with this one ;-;)

Not using half of your characters

I guess the best example is Moroha because even with an interesting backstory, mysterious abilities, and most of the fandom's love, they just used her as comedic relief for most of the series instead of developing her character or explaining better her spiritual abilities or Beniyasha.

And not only her, Hisui and the rest of the demon slayers were more of a background character. For example, in Hisui's episode we should have gotten to meet him, Gyokuto, and Kin'u better, but they preferred to focus in the twins AGAIN and not work the MirSan family. (Guys, first season and I still can't tell Hisui's definitive personality)

Same Takechiyo, Kyubi, Yawaragi, Kohaku, the villains, some past characters, sometimes even Riku. Basically every character who isn't Towa and Setsuna are walking tools for them to use whenever the plot needs it.

And no, I'm not saying "The twins shouldn't be the protagonists", a I'm saying "SIDE CHARACTERS AREN'T JUST PLOT DEVICES, THEY ALSO DESERVE DEFINED PERSONALITIES AND CHARACTER ARCS TO MAKE THE WORLD RICHER, OTHERWISE IT FEELS LIKE THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND THE PROTAGONISTS"

Inuyasha knew when and how to dedicate an episode to a character, Yashahime doesn't.

Lack of character development

No one, except for Setsuna who is learning to rely and trust more on the girls, has any kind of development (sorry Moroha (･ัω･ั)).

I see Towa exactly the same as in the first episode, and because of how they've barely put attention to Moroha, she has barely shown any growth as well.

And I guess Hisui learnt how to trust his dad, but again, I can barely tell which is his personality, and the rest are background characters.

Powers / Abilities / Weapons

Here they neither explained ANY of the characters abilities properly or made them more powerful making sense.

Towa, just randomly learnt how to concentrate her demon energy in a sword and just keeps getting new abilities without training, and any of them seem to have any effect on Towa like (idk) having the risk of running out of energy. And at the beginning I liked how she struggled with her other demon abilities like smelling things but then they just forgot ;-;.

Setsuna's stick just produces wind and lasers without explanation, and her sealed power doesn't really work naturally.

And Moroha... EXPLAIN BENIYASHA BETTER. SAME FOR THE SPIRITUAL POWERS, that was supposed to be impossible!!! And again they recognized that at the very beginning, why did they forgot about it later???

There barely has been any "world" expansion

Something that Inuyasha never really got into was the "demon society", because with the exception of some tribes they never mentioned anything related to that BUT...

With that thing of Inu no Taisho and Kirinmaru apparently being "royalty" I thought they would talk more about that "Demon hierarchy" or if "Setsuna's courage trial" was something like a demon tradition (damn, that was honestly pretty interesting) but NO.

The topic has been barely mentioned and let's keep saying over and over again what the audience already knows for 24 episodes.

Weird Exposition

The way they threw information at us was pretty weird, like it didn't feel "organic" because instead of the girls getting into whatever situation where "x" character tells them certain things because it is related to what is happening, again, they chose pretty weird ways.

There were like 1,000 different options to tell us what happened to InuKag and Sesshomaru and all of them, like the girls talking with Myoga or Kaede...

BUT THEY CHOSE TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL.

Comedy

I'm not saying Moroha is a bad comedy relief, she actually came with many good jokes, but you can't leave only ONE character to take care of the comedy. Towa and Setsuna also came with some good funny moments, so why would they only reduce the comedy to Moroha????

(In Inuyasha EVERYONE gave amazing comedy moments, even Sesshomaru)

And the worst part is that they only use the same joke with her most of the time! Losing her bounty and being poor.

"Atmosphere" (?)

I Promise I don't want to sound pretentious with this one ;-;

Those scenes where we were supposed to feel sad because of someone's death, intimidated because Kirinmaru appeared or excited because of a fight didn't work out.

I don't know exactly why but I think that it is because of a combination of lazy animation, bad selection of soundtrack, weird dialogue and the characters' lack of reaction.

So now that I think I've said all the points that they got wrong, let's get to the conclusion.

They stablished side plots or mysteries everywhere and didn't really do anything with them.

The girls never advanced with the story, they just kept running in circles around the same point during 24 episodes. (And no matter how long or short a story is, you can NEVER do that or you'll lose the audience's attention).

And with or without a second season, they made terrible mistakes that won't be able to be fixed. If it is only one season, TERRIBLE, they left way to much things uncovered, and if they plan another season, ALSO TERRIBLE, they rushed essential things and if they work them again they'll repeat one of their biggest mistakes.

And honestly I really tried to love this sequel, almost up to episode 12 I really tried to appreciate the small good things but they just kept slapping me with disappointment every single episode, and if they release a second season, I'll watch it but this time only expecting the worst of it.

In resume, yo can only truly enjoy Yashahime if you completely turn off your critical sense, and expecting nothing from it, otherwise you'll only keep asking yourself "why?"

[kemonododo]

Decided to rewatch the whole series after seeing the finale, here's my thoughts as they come along part 3

There was an old He-man reboot that was cancelled after two seasons, season 3 was being set up as the horde conquering Eternia with He-man and his kingdom being forced into hiding as rebels. Apparently She-Ra would also appear, though knowing that show she'd be lucky to be 1/4th as interesting or engaging as our Adora. I'm saying this because, even though that cartoon was cancelled before it could finish it's story, we were lucky enough to see ours to it's end and in a way that story they wanted to tell exists here with us now. Plus I always disliked that they called themselves "The Rebellion" when they weren't really rebelling against anything, but they are now!

Poor Adora, even after all this time she still has that hero complex eating away at her, telling her she's useless unless she's serving others.

Entrapta's ramblings about space this season are very relatable.

Catra's face when she sees Glimmer be manipulated, you can see so much behind her eyes. Fear for her standing, flashbacks to her own manipulation, shock at how unprepared Glimmer is for this. Love how Horde Prime sees right through her afterwards, she has no power over him.

Poor Entrapta, she hasn't been with the other princesses since season 1, they're opinion of her has been soured by her betrayal and appearance to not care. We know she loves her friends and is trying her best, but the wound is still sore.

Horde Prime using Glimmer's dad as a bargaining chip is extra horrible when you remember that this is when she discovers he's alive.

It's great that the show takes a moment to allow Adora to come to grips with no longer having a clear destiny she can follow. She's so used to being told what to do, this is the first time she's truly making her own decisions. Agency that Shadow Weaver begins to take away from her later.

I love Catra's internal struggles in these first few episodes. She's trying to do what she's been doing, working her way up the ladder, but she can't. Not anymore. Her heart isn't in it, she knows this isn't what she wants, she's just going through the motions. Spending time with Glimmer is the only thing she enjoys, she finally slows down for a moment to just enjoy someone's company and really bond. Her turn to good isn't a 180, we see her mind working and how she comes to the decision of sacrificing herself. Seeing that Horde Prime is a complete psychopath helped of course.

I love how Horde Prime's ship has star themed beds.

I don't know how they did it, but they made Hordak recognizable among the other clones. It's like twins, once you get to know them the difference is obvious. You can look at a clone and see he's Hordak, yet he looks identical to the others. It's remarkable.

These flashbacks Catra has, wandering the empty corridors that her decisions have left her in, it's a testimony to how far she's come that they don't reaffirm Adora's betrayal to her anymore. She wants to absolve herself of her sins, and she decides a sacrifice is the best way. She wants to go out on one good grace, redemption by death, but that action and her apology is what makes Adora sure she still has good in her. Catra has shown she is willing to be good, and that alone is enough for Adora to give her another chance.

This is the first time the best friend squad has been together since Glimmer pulled the queen card, a lot of the wounds are still fresh. I definitely think this is the point Bow and her truly realize they love each other, they probably had a schoolyard crush but the realization of where they are without each other and how much they mean to each other, something really deep sparked here.

The Star Siblings are here to show what life under Prime is like, but also as a quick show of the Rebellion's message expanding. That's a little underdeveloped though, which is mostly a product of time.

Adora's little "she's not my friend" bit is adorable but a bit out of place imo, Adora hasn't really been this outwardly lovestruck over Catra before, and while Adora has decided to give her another chance I don't think that reignition of love would have happened yet.

The thought that Entrapta went out to find that LUVD crystal to bring with her in the slightest hope she would find Hordak and that he would recognize it. Plus the noises she makes and the fact she immediately adopts Wrong Hordak and that we get to see her without her mask, ah she is so cute!

Hive Mind Catra is terrifying and tragic, it feels so violating. He talks about how she wanted Adora to save her, how afraid she was when she was assimilated. We see that numbness and how it would seem appealing to her, but under the cracks Catra is still suffering, and Adora promises to bring her back, tells her how much she cares about her, transforms into She-Ra to save her. And finally, they are together again.

I love Adora constantly checking on Catra, this is the first time in years she has been with her, she just wants to be with her. Catra starts falling back into her old ways though, that anger still persistent, and Adora's honeymoon phase is over already and for a second we're all afraid nothing has changed. You can see Catra doesn't want to make that mistake again, and she finally lets Adora help her, and likewise Adora finally steps back and lets Catra help her too. They've both grown so much, and that growth is what allows their relationship to blossom.

It's great that Spinnerella and Netossa get their time to shine this season. Their arc here parallels Catra and Adora's earlier, and I would say it's unfortunate they have to go through this, but I love the angst.

Double Trouble! Back for a five minute appearance where they admittedly don't do much, but hey they're fun to watch and have some great lines so it's worth it.

Catra in a healthy relationship, with friends that don't fear her and people she sees as equals. People she can just joke around with and be teased by. You love to see it.

Melog is a pretty important addition, as he gives Catra someone that she can fully trust without the baggage from before. He's literally her therapy support pet, and he's the one that stops her from running away again.

Shadow Weaver's little speech here is great, she's been told that the First One's made the magic stronger when they did the exact opposite. It's a commentary on colonialism, "we brought you civilization, our conquest was good actually" is a very common lie.

Catra holding Adora's hand, Glitra kiss, Best Friend Squad hug, Catra's smirk when Adora says she's right. You love to see it.

I love how Noelle made a self-insert character and also decided she should be evil. "So the only person I'm fighting here is... My own wife" is a mega ouch.

I love Wrong Hordak so much, he not only shows how the Horde Clones are just regular people without the influence of Prime but he is also ridiculously cute.

Did I mention how much I love the new She-Ra look? I liked the old one but damn this blows it out of the park.

I will admit the Heart having a failsafe a d Mara having a rebellion of her own is a bit out of nowhere, but it was a nice reveal of the origin of Grayskull.

I'm a huge sucker for friendship saving the day messages I admit. Not the rainbow lazer kind, but that love and kindness reaching through Prime's control is beautiful. Plus it's wonderful for Catra to see what real friendship is like.

This is a great little moment with Castaspella and Glimmer, this is the first time they've seen Micah since his death.

I love Shadow Weaver so much, she sees Adora and immediately shifts into child manipulation mode. This is the first time I'm actually getting pissed at her though, obviously because she's starting to drive her chisel between Catradora but also because she's reversing all the development Adora has had up until this point.

Hordak: "Go, then maybe these memories and imperfections will leave me " Entrapta: "Remember, your imperfections are beautiful!" The fuck I'm crying in the club again.

I love this Catradora moment, "what do you want Adora" "I have to do this". Obviously their relationship isn't going to be easy after all these years, and both these girl's flaws and insecurities are flaring up again and driving each other apart.

Adora tells off Shadow Weaver for good, she ruins people. This is a huge moment for this character, SW has convinced herself she is the good guy and that she is making the necessary actions to save the world, but this is the one moment she really looks back at herself.

"Adora chose Shadow Weaver, not me. Adora doesn't want me, not like I want her" oof ouch my soul. That with Adora's memories, it's clear they can't just go back to the way it was anymore. They're love is too important to them now.

My headcanon is that Shadow Weaver is drunk here. She's slurring, she's drinking, her daughter is going to sacrifice herself. Maybe her decision to die was one she made totally wasted lol.

Catra promised Adora she'd look out for her, and the soft version of the promise song in the background. Ow ow ow ow my heart.

Glimbow canon!

Mara is here, telling Adora the same thing Razz told her in the 3rd episode of the entire show. Stop looking for what other people tell you to do, you have a choice.

Spinnetossa, Seamista, Entrapdak. It's cliche, but love conquers all is a message I'll never tire from.

I started tearing up with the Glimmer Micah fight, and full on sobbing when Angella appeared. Something that didn't really stop.

I was mixed on SW's sacrifice, but I think it works. Each of them were trying to take the selfish way out, to die for the ones they love. So it's fitting that SW is the one that does it.

Fuck yeah Hordak! What a monumentous but short lived moment.

CATRADORA!!! God, the confession, how Catra whispers it but how Adora hears it as a scream, how it wasn't Catra that made Adora weak but infact the exact opposite, how they're both so surprised and relieved that these feelings they've felt for years are real and strong and true and reciprocated. It's the best conclusion possible for them and it makes me cry so much.

This beautiful moment, where Adora saves Hordak, the ultimate repayal for him saving her all those years ago. He remembers her. Fuck I'm sobbing again.

Scorpia sees Catra again after leaving her, and of course she hugs her.

And it's over. The best show ever made. Netflix automatically resets your watch history and here I am looking at the button to play Season 1 Episode 1 again. This 1 and a half year journey feels like a millenia, it feels so long ago that Adora first picked up that sword. This is a show I will cherish forever, I can see myself binge watching in the retirement home already.

[emilyschoi]

Falling

From First to Last Series Included:  Eunha (Emily), Jupiter (Lucas), Serenity (Jane), Venus (Minah) Daehyung (Daniel)  Mentioned : Endymion (M), Sungjae 

⁺˚*･༓☾ kitchen ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Jupiter stood by Princess Serenity as the Elysian’s elite gathered around her, gawking like she was some sort of exhibition. Prince Endymion had held a ball in their, well Princess Serenity’s honour. The night had been tense, to say the least, half of the earthlings thought they had the right to ask whatever they wanted not showing any of them an ounce of respect while the other half were more forthcoming about the disdain for them. The other Senshi were spread out across the room, Mars was leaning against a scowl permanently scarring around most people away from him as he eyed the exit. Mercury was a bit more civil but Jupiter could tell she was forcing a smile while dealing with them. Venus was nearby but surrounded by Elysian men who were making passes at her, he half expected her to pull her sword out and slice them up. The prince’s royal guard were also around each of them watching over their Prince and Princess Serenity.

“Are you okay?” Jupiter asked as the latest hoard left Serenity to no doubt go gossip with their friends about the princess from The Moon Kingdom. Serenity turned to him a small smile on her face as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I am fine,” she assured him but Jupiter knew better, there was sadness in her eyes. “I am just-” she said eyeing Prince Endymion who was stuck talking to bureaucrats and court officials. “I know the Prince means well, I can see it in his eyes. He truly believes that we can have peace but -’ she frowned as more people walked past her hushed whispers escaping their lips. “I have to wonder if it is worth it for him?” she said.

“Of Course it is, these people are probably stuck in the old ways and don’t want to change it because they might lose their power,” Jupiter said. “Plus they are jealous that I have managed to nab the prettiest girl in the room,” he said nudging her lightly. Princess Serenity smiled a real smile at him.

Venus finally made her way over to the pair muttering about how she needs a drink. Princess Serenity giggled turning to Jupiter with her eyes wide. “Lu-Jupiter, sorry i keep forgetting i meant to use your codenames, but could you get Venus and I something to drink, oh and maybe one of those delicious cakes we had at lunch?” she asked. Jupiter looked to Venus waiting for her permission, Serenity was their Princess of course but Venus was their leader. Venus nodded, her hand casually grazing over her waist where her whip was wound around unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

Jupiter walked away not trusting any of the already filled glass of champagne, Venus was still wary of the royal staff and until she was sure they would take no liberties. He made his way out of the ballroom heading in what he had hoped was the right way to the kitchens. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed he had a shadow following him.

Once he was far enough away from the party, in a dimly lit empty corridor he turned catching his new shadow and pinning it against the wall. His eyes widened as he recognized one of the royal guard, Eunha, the only female Knight. “What are you doing?” he asked softening his grip but not letting her escape.

“Getting my arm broken by you apparently,” she said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing sneaking around in the hallways?” she asked, pushing him off. Jupiter blinked, surprised that someone so small could push him away. “Well?” she asked her hand moving to reach for her sword.

“Stop,” Jupiter said holding his hands up. “Look i am trying to get the princess a bottle of champagne or actually she prefers wine, i don’t suppose you have any Plutonian red?” he asked.

“No sorry the ship hasn’t come in yet,” Eunha responded sarcastically. “And why do you need to get her a bottle there is more than enough in the ballroom,” she pointed out.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but your people have been a little hostile,” Jupiter said. He knew he shouldn’t explain anymore, Venus was still not sure about the royal guard, she believed that Sungjae was loyal to the Prince so, for now, they could trust him but the other three not so much.

“Oh so you want to make sure it’s safe,” Eunha said nodding, “Makes sense,” she said. Jupiter let out a relieved sigh at least she understood. “But can you explain why you are headed towards the Astronomy tower?” she asked raising an eyebrow

“I may be a little lost,” he admitted scratching the back of his neck. Eunha giggled and it might have been the sweetest thing he had ever heard. “Can you show me to the kitchen, the princess also wants cake,” he said.

“Well i can but first we are going to make a pit stop to the wine cellars, I know it’s not Plutonian red but we have a lovely Sauvignon from Komo,” she said. “I think Princess Serenity will like it,” she said with a grin. “Come on,” she said turning around and walking in the opposite direction that he had been headed. “Are you coming or should i let you just wander around on your own?” she asked tilting her head to the side as she looked back at him.

“Huh, no I,” he started to say before Eunha raced back grabbing his hands and pulling him along.

“Just come on,” Eunha said pulling him along. Jupiter smiled to himself that he would follow this girl anywhere, at least for the rest of the night.

☾

“Are you sure you can reach it?” Jupiter asked as Eunha climbed the least sturdy ladder he’d ever seen.

“Give me some credit,” Eunha laughed, “I got it,” she said, she turned to show him the bottle proudly. Jupiter gave her thumbs up, wishing she would just get down. As she moved to climb the room shook, the wine bottle fell to the ground with a crash as Eunha clutched onto the ladder for dear life. A second wave hit the room and the ladder lunged backwards, Eunha falling off with it. Without a moment hesitation Jupiter raced forward catching her in his arms.

“Uhm,” Eunha said, her cheeks heating up. “Guess Princess Serenity is going have to drink something else,” she muttered, tapping Jupiter’s arm to be put down. “What the hell was that?” she said as he placed her firmly on the ground. “We should have known if there was an earthquake,” she mumbled a frown on her face.

“I am glad you are okay, we are lucky we didn’t get hurt,” He said, a wine cellar full of glass bottles, they could have been covered in glass shards. Eunha turned to him a small smile on her face.

“Thank you for before,” she said. “That would have been a real pain in the -” she trailed off with the laugh. “Anyway should we just grab something and get out of here, i think they might need our help up there,” she said going to the door trying to open it but nothing happened. “Ah i hate to say it but do you think you could -” she said gesturing the door.

Jupiter nodded trying to open it himself but frowning it seemed the Earthquake seemed to have lodged into place. He tried to put his whole body into it but it still didn’t budge.

“Okay change of plans then,” Eunha frowned, walking over to a nearby barrel. “Come sit,” she said tapping the leftover space.

“Shouldn’t we send for help?” Jupiter said siting down. “I can try and get one of the guys to come down,” he said, pulling his communicator out, frowning as he looked over the screen, it was glitching, he couldn’t even get it to turn on.

‘I take it, it didn’t work,' Eunha said looking over his shoulder. “I guess there are worse places we could be stuck, at least we won’t dehydrate,” she joked. Jupiter continued to frown as hit the side of his communicator. “Hey, I’m sorry you are stuck down here, I should have just shown you to the kitchen like you asked,” she said softly.

“No you were just trying to help,” He said. “I am sure the will come to find us eventually, they are probably just helping everyone else get to safety,” he said. “So…. you look nice,” he said. “I mean you look good in a uniform, no that's still not right,” he said, shaking his head ignoring the giggles that were coming from beside him.

“Thank you, your suit looks very nice as well,” Eunha said, “It must be nice to be able to wear whatever you like,” she pouted. “But i guess since you are royalty you can -” she said, frowning. “Though the four heavenly kings title, though it would have to be changed to a queen - sorry i should stop talking,” she said closing her eyes.

“While i am sure you would have looked beautiful in a dress you look great in what you are wearing now,” He said. “Plus it’s pretty cool that you are the only female knight, your family must be proud,” he said, eyes widening as Eunha frowned. Did he say something wrong? “I’m sorry-” he started to apologize.

“No you did nothing wrong,” Eunha said softly. “It's just my family should be proud but apart from my cousin who is also part of the royal guard but they aren’t,” she frowned. “Infact, I am pretty much disowned until I give up on this foolish escapade and accept Lord Gideon’s proposal, be a proper lady of society, live the aristocratic life,” she said fiddling around with her bracelet.

“Well they are stupid,” Jupiter said, grabbing her hand and threading his fingers through hers. “On my planet, you’d be praised for your bravery and hard work,” he said. “And what are you talking about, you are a queen aren’t you,” he said causing Eunha to laugh. “A queen should not be slumming it with a lord,” he pointed out.

“Do you happen to know any single princes?” she joked.

“Just one, I think you’d like him, he wouldn’t care that you are a royal guard he’d think it’s pretty cool,” he said. “Plus he is very handsome,” he said.

“Oh really, well you will have to introduce me to him one day,” Eunha giggled.

“Hi I’m Lucas, Prince of Jupiter, “ He said squeezing her hand lightly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said letting go of her hand to stand up and bow.

“Oh,” Eunha said purposely avoiding eye contact, her falling to frame her face trying to her pink cheeks. “Is Lucas really your name?” she asked not looking at him. “It doesn’t sound very Jupitery.’ she said as Jupiter snorted. Jupitery.

“It’s the Elysian version,” he shrugged. “You wouldn’t be able to pronounce my name,” he said.

“Well that somehow sounds you like are insulting me,” Eunha said as Jupiter spluttered ready to apologise to tell that he didn’t mean it like that. “But I’ll allow it since your very handsome”“ she laughed.

‘I have been told i look good in a suit,” Jupiter laughed.

They both stopped as the door opened, one of the royal staff, Eunmi, a friend of Eunha’s stood there a look of confusion gracing her features as she took in the scene in front of her. They weren’t in a compromising position by any standard but still, the look on Eunmi's face was one of disapproval.

“Eunmi,” Eunha called, “You are okay? Is everyone else okay? How bad was the Earthquake?” Eunha rushed over as her friend’s brows furrowed.

“What are you talking about? There was no Earthquake?” she said looking from Eunha to Jupiter barely hidden her very obvious distrust.

Eunha frowned, “Yes there was, I almost fell off a ladder, if it wasn’t Jupiter i would have broken my neck,” she said. Eunmi shrugged pushing past them and grabbing two bottles of champagne

“I think you should go back to guarding Prince Endymion,” she said as she walked past them. “Maybe he’ll know about this earthquake,” she said with an eye-roll. Eunha scowled at her friend, wondering what her problem was.

“Sorry about her,” Eunha apologized to Jupiter. “She just really hates most people actually,” she said frowning. “It’s not as good as the Komo but that Antares is pretty good, very sweet though,” Eunha said nodding to a bottle a lot closer to a reachable level.” Jupiter nodded, grabbing it. “Do you still want to go to the kitchen?” she asked.

“Hmm I am feeling a little peckish how about you?” he asked.

“I could eat,” Eunha said with a grin.

“Ladies first,” Jupiter said holding the door open for her.

“Age before beauty,” Eunha said with a giggle as Jupiter rolled his eyes walking out of the wine cellar. Eunha followed, looking down the hall to see Beryl, one of the workers sneaking out of a room. She frowned.

“Are you coming?” Jupiter called out with an eye roll Eunha followed after him thinking nothing more of Beryl or the weird not quiet Earthquake.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“Daehyung you can’t let them to this me,” Eunha cried as she was thrown into to the cell, soldiers ordered by her so-called leader, locked her way with a harsh glare. “Dae please,” she whispered looking at her cousin desperately hoping some remnant of her cousin was left.

“Oh Eunha,” Daehyung spoke, his normally vibrant brown eyes were cold and maniac. “This is only temporary just till we defeat those bastards and get you free from his control,” he said, stepping forward and trying to reach out to her, she stepped back a cold glare of her own thrown his way.

“Right,” Eunha said. “I am the brainwashed one,” she said rolling her eyes. “You are so stupid Daehyung,” she said mockingly.

“I am going to forgive you for saying that because i know it’s not you,” Daehyung said eyes narrowing. “But i would suggest thinking very hard about what you say next, actions have consequences,” he warned.

“Threatening me now Dae?” Eunha laughed darkly. “So when exactly did my cousin die? Was when you decided to betray our prince or -” she trailed off. “Just go, i never thought i would have something in common with your father but just seeing your face right now is making me sick,” she spat. For the briefest second her Daehyung came through, her harsh words managed to get through if the hurt look on his face was anything to go by.

‘And your mum is right you should never become a member of the royal guard, you are too emotive, too easy, one guy gives you a little attention and you’re ready to betray your entire planet,” he spat and like the Beryl controlled Daehyung was back. “I’ll make sure to bring back lover boys corpse, maybe that will snap you out of this,” he said.

Eunha said nothing, turning away from him instead of looking at the wall. Was it to make a statement? Sure, but it was mostly to hide her tears. She waited until she heard his footsteps disappear to turn around. She couldn’t stay here, she had to get out of here and warn Endymion and Serenity.

She was about to enact her escape plan when she heard footsteps coming down to her. She frowned, who was left. Daehyung had surely gone.

  “You should have just agreed to marry me,” Gideon said, stepping out of the shadows. Eunha bit back an annoyed groan, seriously. She looked over at him dressed in the new Elysian uniform. “If you did you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Gideon?” she said softly, “My head hurts,” she lied as he stepped forward. She felt bad for playing on his emotions, sure he was arrogant normally but deep down he was a good guy, well normally, now he had been corrupted Beryl who knows. “What is happening?” she groaned grabbing at her stomach. “Make it stop,” she whined. Gideon stepped forward putting his hands throw the bars only for Eunha to grab the back of his head and slam it against the bar, knocking him out.

The idiots, in a rush to get out of the way, didn’t check for weapons, well they thought they did but they didn’t look at her jewellery, an anklet from the Mercurian Royal Family, one Lucas had given to her on their last visit, just incase something happened to her. Well, this definitely counted as something happening to her. She stood as far away as from the bars as she could before breaking the chain off her anklet and throwing it at the bars blowing them straight out of the way. The blast wasn’t as large as she expected but it did the job and thankfully left Gideon and his uniform completely unscared.

“I am sorry Gideon,” she whispered as she stripped him of his uniform, smiling as she found his credentials. She threw his uniform in a rush racing out the garden where ships we being filled with Elysian soldiers. She couldn’t go with them she would be found out in instant but the transporter pods, those would be useful. She saw Parker one of Sungjae’s right-hand men about to take forward, she ran forward pushing him out of the way stepping on the pod and instantly being transported to the moon.

She looked around seeing wave after wave Elysian soldiers storming through the moon kingdom. To her left, she saw a Lunarian family quivering in fear staring at her wide-eyed and shaking. She shook her head removing the dagger Gideon had on his uniform and passing it to the mother who looked at her unsure. “Use it protect your family,” she said. The woman said nothing grabbing the dagger and looking at once more before nodding.

Eunha nodded racing forward pushing past Elysian soldiers as she got into the castle. It seemed the Elysian army had already managed to make it’s way into the castle because all she saw was ruins and bodies. She shook her head looking around for anyone she knew, ideally finding Prince Endymion would be the best option but she would take anyone right now. She saw sparks coming from further inside, Jupiter, she ran forward spotting him.

“Jupiter,” she called out running forward. “Look it’s not them, they are being controlled by Beryl,” she said as she got to him. She didn’t notice the look Jupiter and Mercury shared, “We have to find Endymion and Serenity, Beryl wants them -” she said, Jupiter grabbed her holding her still. “What are you doing? They are coming? They are going to-” she spoke as realization hit her like a punch to the gut. He didn’t believe her or he thought she was part of it.

“Lucas, you have to believe me, I am still me,” she said. Jupiter whispered that he was so sorry. She looked up at him, a frown on her face as she felt the dagger pierce her skin, her eyes widened as her hand went to her chest, she felt the warmth of her blood being spilled.. Stumbling forward Jupiter’s arm wrapped around her, she choked trying to speak but her mouth was full of blood. She tried to push away from him, desperately trying to breathe but her body had stopped working.

[fieldfullofbangtan]

bts reaction: them being hunted by you -mafia!au-

this gave me an idea for a short series... hmm...

A/N: I just felt like writing about the reader trying to kill them would be funny lol sorry if it wasn’t what some of you wanted. :c

Seokjin

Everybody knows. if an assassin if after you, you run, but if the assassin is you, the only option is to pray. Seokjin wouldn’t be an exception, as soon as he heard you we’re after him he would be scared shitless. 

- WHY ME WHAT HAVE I DONE

- Jin-hyung calm down, we’ve got your back.

- ... I DONT WANNA DIE

Namjoon

- Let her come.

Knowing he has some of the best men on his side he wasn’t too worried. He almost wanted to meet you since he’d heard so much about you and your gang. After your run in with the youngest three of them a while ago they can’t stop talking about how amazing, and dangerous, you were. Now all Joon wanted was to meet you, and maybe make you change sides.

Yoongi

He tried to act like he wasn’t afraid, but when his mates wouldn’t stop babbling on about your previous kills etc. he couldn’t keep his cool any longer. He would lock himself into their bunker and refuse to leave until they had either secured the entire place or you were dead.

- NO I’m not gonna come out! I can’t fight that superhuman, have you seen the shit she can do?

Hoseok

Normal people would probably be sad about possibly dying, but Hoseok was upset for another reason. Sure he was in a vicious gang... but he was the most likable out of all of them! Why would you be after him and not the others?  While Hoseok kept on questioning this the others actually came up with plans to save his ass.

- Do you think she dislikes me...?

- Hoseok she’s in our rival gang, ofcourse she doesn’t like you. 

- But do you think she likes me less than you guys? Ugh... this is so unfair.

Jimin

His demeanor would change as soon as he heard the news. Thus far only a few have been able to remain alive despite them being one of your targets. And never has it been because you’ve missed or not found them, but because you’ve shown them mercy. He knew what he had to do, charm your socks off, literally.

- I’ll just make her fall in love with me then.

- Jimin are you seriously basing your survival on that?

-  He’s so dead.

Taehyung

Game on. Sure being an assassins target is pretty serious, but for Taehyung it was also kind of fun. The act of chasing or being chased had always been something he subtly enjoyed so he wasn’t complaining too much. Instead he started to not only leave clues for you, but in a way he was chasing you as well. It didn’t take long for the seriousness to fade away and the playfullness started. 

- I don’t get it Tae you’re gonna give her your phone number? Isn’t she still out to kill you?

- I guess yea in a way she still wants to kill me... but we’re having fun! Plus I’m not going to tell her where I am att all times, we’re just gonna talk!

- This is the unhealthiest relationship I’ve ever witnessed.

Jungkook

Boy has a lot of enemies. He had just recently joined his brothers in the gang and it didn’t take long for him to become great at pretty much everything. Obviously he was seen as a threat by everyone else so it wasn’t uncommon for Jungkook to always have people trying to kill him. Though he noticed you were different because you actually almost succeeded, several times infact. 

He started to think that maybe you chose to come close but never close enough.

- I met her last night. The girl who’s trying to kill me. She was in my bedroom.

- What?!

- Yea it was really odd. She just stood in the room watching me sleep, when I noticed her she just left though my window. She had the chance to kill me but didn’t.

[calliecat93]

SWAT Kats Episode 1 Review: The Pastmaster Always Rings Twice

In the early 90's, Cartoon Network made it's national debut to the public airwaves. With it not only gave people the chance to see all the cartoons that they grew up on when it only came on Saturday Mornings, but it also let them bring in some new shows... well before the Cartoon Cartoons era. Some of these titles included 2 Stupid Dogs, Space Ghost Coast to Ghost, and the one that is probably still the most fondly remembered, SWAT Kats. Debuting in 1993 on TBS and The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera block, the series was produced by Hanna-Barbera, finally getting them out of their rut since... IDK, since whenever Scooby Doo got rid of the “Where Are You?” part.

While the show sadly didn't last long, it is still fondly remembered by those who grew up on it through Cartoon Network and Boomerang. And who can blame the,? Great characters, fantastic animation, memorable villains, and of course a LOT of explosions and general destruction! It's a superhero show folks, is it a surprise? I grew up on the show (infact I was only six months old when it came out) and swathed it frequently when Boomerang aired it. I recently got a friend into it, so I thought “wow, this would be such a fun show to practice my reviewing on!”. So here we go! The first episode of the most radical squadron in animation, SWAT Kats!

Overview

We begin with the most child friendly of activities... grave-robbing! Sheesh, Batman just started with a giant man bat... though they got to have blood in their first episode. We watch two grave-robbers trying to find stuff that they can sell and come upon a coffin. Inside is a short little cat who seems to be trying his Dungeons and Dragons cosplay. But it turns out he's an actual wizard. He is The Pastmaster, a dark sorcerer from the Dark Ages sealed away long ago. Because locking away the dangerous, supernatural villain ALWAYS works out! While not at his full power without his spellbook, the Tome of Time, he DOES have enough power to create zombie cat skeletons to drive the graverobbers off. He doesn't get much time to look around though as he's spotted by The Enforcers, the police/military force for the shows main location of Megakat City. The skeletons are destroyed and they take the coffin tot he museum,t he Pastmaster hitching a ride.

We then cut to our main heroes... but there's not much to talk about so lets skip ahead tot he museum. Don't worry, we'll talk about the SWAT Kats soon but trust me, this 9sn't their best introduction. We meet the museum curator, Dr. Abby Sinian, and the deputy mayor Calico 'Callie' Briggs. Huh... a cat girl named Callie... who has glasses... why do I feel this weird sense of irony? Anyways, the good doctor explains about the upcoming exhibit, which is coincidentally about the Dark Ages. And also by coincidence, the Tome of Time is there. Pastmaster uses his powers to cause havoc, distracting the two women and occupying the guards. During his search, Pastmaster accidentally signs the SWAT Kats through a signal device that Callie has. They arrive and take care of the forces and the good doctor realizes who's behind this... too bad that the Pastmaster already got his book and is summoning dinosaurs! You Tried guys.

The SWAT Kats, of course, try to fight them with their badass jet... but get knocked through a time portal and straight into dinosaur times. Welp. So while they deal with surviving and getting their jet back in the air, The Enforcers led by Commander Ulysses S. Feral, deal with The Pastmaster. The city's mayor, Manx, gives Callie permission to negotiate with the evil sorcerer when he tries to use City Hall (a clocktower) as a point to bring back the Dark Ages. It fails. Luckily the SWAT Kats make it back to the present, destroy the spellbook, knock The Pastmaster through his own portal, and fly off triumphantly into the sun! Hooray!

Review

Wow, that is the shortest overview I have ever written in my reviews. But to be fair, I guess it's because there was very little of a plot. This was a very basic episode that you can probably find a better version of in any other Superhero cartoon. Evil Sorcerer? Been done. Time travel? Been done. Dinosaur invasion? Yep, been done. SWAT Kats is nothing groundbreaking, but they try to be at least a bit creative. This was just... basic. Basic, unoriginal, and The Pastmaster is every other 'world conquering demonic wizard locked away cause plot convenience' character in every show ever! He's the lamest recurring villain in the SWAT Kats Rogues Gallery who I think only got intimidating like... once. In his final episode. He's just lame, even if I do like his design and voice. RIP Keene Curtis.

While there's not much to say about the plot, the characters... are no different. This was not a good introductory episode. I mean don't get me wrong, it does introduce us to our primary characters, their roles, and we get a bit of a feel of who they are. The SWAT Kats may be the one exception. They're badasses... but that's about it. What do we know about T-Bone? He's a pilot...t hat's it. What about Razor? Well... he shoots stuff... and his name is Jake... and he's the smarter on... that's better, but still not much. At least with the others we see that Callie is a competent and hard-working deputy mayor, Feral is an arrogant but determined commander, and Manx is a petty loser. But that's it. Seriously, The Giant Bacteria should have been the premiere episode because it gives us a MUCH better showing of our characters, the SWAT Kats especially. We don't even learn T-Bone's real name. I'm surprised we learned Razor's. It gets the basic bit down, but it doesn't let our characters be.. well, characters. Also, really? Using volcanic gas as a fuel source? There is NO WAY that's scientifically accurate.

But probably the most telling is the pacing. This episode is FAR too fast for it's own good. It starts okay, letting us see The Pastmaster and establishing his power. But after that it just goes by SO FAST. From the point that Pastmaster gets his book, the entire episode is just a long fight sequence. One in the past, and the one in the present. We get no time to breathe or take in what's happening. Hell, IDT the SWAT Kats even face The Pastmaster directly. He just gets knocked into a portal, the book is blown up, and our dynamic duo fly into the sun with no sense of finality. When I finished the episode, I just went “Huh... guess it's over”. Then again with no real character stuff and lack of a subplot, guess there was nothing to give closure to. Ah well!

So a meh plot, a lame villain, and one-note characters. Are there any saving graces to this? Well... yes. First,t he action. The shows largest strength is it's action sequences, and it certainly delivers here. We get to watch our heroes, both the SWAT Kats AND The Enforcers, fight FREAKIN' DINOSAURS. That is BADASS. The Turbokat is a very awesome jet and has creative weapons, like the cement blaster. The Enforcers are shown to be competent and at least able to ho,d their own... trust me with how they're shown in later episodes, that is a VERY refreshing thing. The animation... it's not as good as other episodes, but it still overall fluid and expressive. The action is fun to watch and never felt like it dragged or got boring. With how basic the plot is, it really helped the episode be fun and enjoyable.

And despite what I said about the SWAT Kats characters, we DO get to see their chemistry. And it's great! There really this sense of friendly rivalry with their little competition on who can handle the most G's. Razor keeps passing out while T-Bone can last up to Mock 5 until the end where Razor finally lasts and T-Bone doesn't. Sedulously, Razor not ejecting just to see the look on T-Bone's face got the biggest laugh out of me. The banter, but it feels very natural and, again, very friendly. They act like brothers, which is the greatest strength of the two. They have a great relationship and truly care for each other, something that just gets better as the show goes. We may not know a lot about the two, but you get this feeling that they've been through a lot together and a truly brothers in arm. I like that.

Final Thoughts

So my verdict. Is this a good episode? No. is it a bad episode? No. My conclusion is that the episode is... average. That's it. It's not great, but it's not horrible. The plot is lame, the pacing is way too fast, the villain is average at best, and the characters get no time to be fleshed out. It's got plenty wrong with it, but plenty to enjoy form it. Awesome action scenes, some good character chemistry, some very well done voice acting (they had a 90's All Star Cast for this show) and overall fluid animation that keeps things fun visually. It's an episode I recommend, but not the one I would suggest starting with if you want to get into the show. Which one would I recommend though? Well tune in next time as we discuss Episode 2 where we gave mutants, garages, and plenty of child unfriendly deaths! Yay! Up next: The Giant Bacteria.

[lil-miss-methodical]

I enjoyed the concept of woman in the show

All the guys feel like they have to protect Monse - but there need to protect does not come from 'you're a girl and therefore you're weaker'. They all know Monse is the strength of the group. No their protection comes from the place of 'you're becoming a woman and so the world becomes that much more dangerous for you'. It's a total different message than the prior because it speaks on the reality of being a female.

The show doesn't place any blame on Monse for the men who start to over sexualize here. She's walking the streets and in reality she ain't even noticed the girls have blossomed - she's just happy them teeth now on point and then comes the catcalls.

After she stops the car and ends up having the conversation with Spooky, Ruby wraps his sweater around her shoulders. Not in placement of saying she should've did that in the start but because he knows how she feels, how shut in that moment can be.

Same with Jamal, when he tries to give her his jacket before she goes to the house. He doesn't say dumb shit like I can see your boob flesh so you need to wear this so there's no problem. No he places the reality of her womanhood - you have boobs now and the danger is over there, those men are thirsty hoes.

Jamal and Ruby end their friendship with Cesar because of his outright claim that they slept together. They didn't care what context it was in or why he said it they only cared he said it and wouldn't take it back because they understood the danger of rumors for a female. It doesn't matter that two people would've been in the sexual act, only the female would get the negative offsets.

They also highlighted the fact that men respect men's so called claim on woman more than a woman's actual interest. This is shown in Cesar needing to 'claim' her in the first place over Spooky's so called notice of her. And again when the women talk about the dance and how the guy danced all up on the girl and how that led guys to thinking she was 'claimed' and how that meant the girl had no other option than the guy she was with. It was a funny moment but they were speaking on a serious problem between the sexes. Men often times when they stop you...they don't gage your interest, instead the first thing they ask you is if you have a boyfriend...and then they ask for your number. Neither of which ask if you're actually interested. The first ask of your claim (even if they don't care that you are) and the second behind the first is just a validation. "Oh so you don't have a boyfriend"...then give me your number.

Ruby's entire conversation with Olivia about being a feminist.

This one is not directly about women but given what women go through --- Ruby waking up under Jasmine saying he hoped nothing happened cause he's all about consent.

Our 3 main females are not shown to be at all weak. Monse is actually toted as being too courageous. Olivia has strength of character - she's lost everything and yet still she remains strong, giving and very compassionate, and Jasmine is just that confident chick that doesn't really care - she has bounce back material out the ying-yang.

The show highlighted these important aspects while still remaining authentic and real. They still had the guys looking at the female body - but I appreciated the fact that it stayed within their own circle. The didn't feel the need to try to bring the girl's attention into it so they can feel bigger. They were real but not disrespectful. They had Latrelle call Monse Cesar's bitch - we of course know that's not how their dynamic works, Monse is no ones bitch...but that dialogue is reality. That's a term and reference that's often used.

When it comes to the concept of womanhood I enjoyed what they did. They didn't try to falsify what is, they infact showed how women are treated while also highlighting how woman should be treated without trying to outstretch the limits of reality. They didn't say stop being men, stop gazing at the female form - they're just pointing out the nature of going too far and being disrespectful/overbearing with it all.

[mustard-doctor]

The Family Stone

5/5

Not sure what I really like about this one. The Family Stone is a comedy drama about the Stone family at Christmas, which consists of a star cast with Diane Keaton, Craig T Nelson, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Luke Wilson. The story revolves around several plot threads, such as the eldest son Everett bringing home his new girlfriend Meredith, with Meredith trying really hard and failing at impressing the Stone family. We also have Sybil, the mother of the household, who’s dealing with the return of breast cancer and may be spending her final Christmas with her family. We also meet the other siblings, what they do with their lives, as well as Meredith’s sister who comes into the story and we see a contrast between her and Meredith. I found the story quite soothing, and something that I admired the most about this film is the large and tight knit family they all are, even when most of them have moved out into the world. The large house, some kids being married or have successful careers, we see each of their struggles. The mother, acting as the heart of the family and what keeps them all together, and we see with her incoming cancer, her worries about what will happen when she is no longer there to keep them from falling apart. It also shows the family’s reaction to when an outside suddenly comes into the picture and struggle to let her in. Meredith, who can be related, nervously tries to fit in, but ends up making loads of upsetting comments, as well as resentment from the youngest sibling, and she begins to feel as if she isn’t welcome there. Now when her sister, Julia comes into the picture, we see a huge contrast here. Julia is instantly welcomed by the family, even trying to pair her up with one of the other sons, whilst Meredith has essentially been quietly frowned upon by the family and persuade Everett to call things off with her, even though he intends to propose. Things develop in this film though, where Meredith ends up falling in love with Ben, while Everett falls in love with Julia, leading to a confrontation on Christmas and they have to make some important decisions going forward. What I also like about this, is that it didn’t do a whole cliched romantic way of things where the guy just gets the girl. Instead, we see Everett, chasing Julia before she leaves, and whilst she doesn’t stay, she asks if they want to make plans for New Years, implying they’ve got at least a date to look forward to, as opposed to a cliched she just stays, and they live happily ever after. Meredith, we see fall for Ben, who is more laid back and helps Meredith to relax herself and not to try so hard and leads to a beautiful and warm connection between the two. One of my favourite aspects of though, was how the youngest son in the family, Thad, is deaf, as well as gay. The family have already accepted his partner fully and they plan to adopt a child in the forthcoming year. The family have also all learned how to sign, as a way to communicate with Thad, who can also lip read at times (although shown in the film that sometimes he can’t). Infact they all automatically sign when speaking at the dinner table so they can keep their brother in the loop about things. I found this heartwarming and it shows how much the family care for one another to keep Thad included, and how accepting they are of him. The last scene of the film hits a little hard. We fast forward one year to the following Christmas and we see that things everyone is now getting along, Meredith is now accepted as she has developed a relationship with Ben, even being accepted by the rest of the family and is much tighter knit with them. Everett and Julia only appear briefly but implied enough they’ve developed into a full relationship by this time. The one aspect that’s missing though, is Sybil, which implies the cancer has taken her during the year and the family is spending their first Christmas without her, even taking a moment of silence when they finish the tree. The last shot is lovely too as we see a picture of a younger Sybil pregnant with her youngest daughter. This really gives off that the family is okay, and remains strong despite her passing, and will continue to be strong without her, and that she’s proud of that in wherever after life she may be. I love the cinematography in this film. The film isn’t overly colourful, and applies lots of natural, and warm, comforting colours and vibes, to give that sense of being at home with the ones you love and how comfortable you feel. There’s also something about lots of the establishing shots that I love, such as the opening scene with the house covered in snow, and lots of wide shots used when the characters are in town. I definitely recommend this film, especially around Christmas as its themes highlight family, and love. Infact its one of my favourite aspects of the film and makes me wish I had such a tight knit family such as them (not to…you know brag).

[safitheartist]

Honestly I'm not really mad about this endgame at all.

Like yeah, I would have prefered KiyoYachi, but in the end I knew it was unlikely for Haikyuu to go that direction.

Like you said, Tanaka (and Nishinoya too), wasn't always the best in that regard. He would say and do uncomfortable stuff all the time.

Because he was a stupid 16-17 year old child at this point who didn't know how to approach having a crush.

And he and Noya weren't the only ones who did that really. A lot of the boys could be stupid at times when it came to Kiyoko. Even Suga, Daichi and Asahi.

Tanaka just had a really childish view on how to act around girls. And most of all? He was encoraged to behave that way by his enviourment.

A lot of the times he and Noya only really actted so extreme because they basically were goofing around and spurting the other on.

They had fun while exagerating their own behaviour together but in the end they really did respect Kiyoko and wanted her to be happy.

I am sure, if Kiyoko had told them she feels uncomfortable they would have stopped their antics immediatly.

Now, looking at the time skip, Noya isn't around Tanaka at all. I think that is suppose to signal us that they didn't go to the same university, while Kiyoko and Tanaka did.

Without somebody to perform his wanna be macho acts with Tanaka probably grew out of his behaviour and most of all, started talking to Kiyoko like a god damn normal person. And we see that, they act normal around eachother, he isn't over bearing or annoying.

Over the course of the Manga it's asked quiet often why Tanaka and Noya aren't popular with girls, but the answer is very obvious, infact Tanaka has stated it several times himself as one of his weaknesses:

They don't have the corage to talk to them like normal people and come off as scary/weird to girls because of it.

Highschool kids think about attraction in a really superficial way. They somewhat have the right idea, by pointing out how Tanaka and Noya actually are pretty neat guys. However, they think their physical atributes are what makes girls dislike them. When in reality, they just don't act themselfs around those girls they are interested in.

None of them actually see how cool these two are, they constantly sabotage themselfs in their behaviour do to their immature views on the matter.

Remove that and have them act like they do around the other boys in the club?

Absolutely, a girl like Kiyoko who doesn't care much for outwards appearance at all would potentially like them.

Him and Kiyoko getting married is signaling that he grew up and became a guy who's actually mature enough to be in a relationship with.

He stopped objectivying her and started seeing her as the person she actually is.

A very socially awkward young girl who has a hard time opening up to others and showing her emotions.

On the other hand, it also shows that Kiyoko is a lot more open and expressive then she used to be. She grins when we see her, instead of having a timid smile. She openly conveys her thoughts regarding the game to Tanaka and they have proper conversations.

Thinking about it, Kiyoko must have been pretty lonely. Everyone was always too intimidated to talk to her and get to know her, even other girls it seems.

Yachi seemed to be her only actual school friend if you think about it. The only person she really was at ease around in a long time.

She clearly liked the Vollyball club members and was friendly with them, but she wasn't close with any of them really.

The fact that she is comfortable around Tanaka now and is more able to express her emotions is a clear indicator for her own personal growth.

This relationship benifited both of them a lot and helpped them grow and it's shown quiet nicely.

I personally would have prefered other outcomes, but honestly? This isn't too bad at all.

TANAKA SPOILERS

SPOILERS!!!!! SPOILERS FOR MANGA!!!!

TanaKiyo thoughts

So I was watching season 4 of Haikyuu with my partner and he looked at Tanaka and was like “She (Kiyoko) marries him? That’s stupid.”

I laughed at the time but I’ve thought about it since. I recalled that in the manga both Oikawa and Terushima have both tried to get her number. At first I was like ‘wow, she picked Tanaka over Oikawa but then I was like ‘no wait, of course she did.’ I mean, Tanaka is legitimately a great guy. He’s stupid and a bit creepy but he’s a teenage boy, I would say despite those things he’s got a lot going for him. I think more than Oikawa or Terushima, Tanaka would provide a more stable, healthy, and lasting relationship. 

As I thought about how great Tanaka is, I had another thought. What if Tanaka is her beard? Like I have zero doubt in my mind that if she went up to him and was like I need to marry a man but just for appearance because I like girls but like my family sucks/work sucks and I want to stop being harassed, that he wouldn’t say no. He’s be like, alright! 

Either way I’m not mad about that relationship, but it’ll always be EnnoTana and KiyoYachi in my heart.

[4aminutethere-blog]

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 1 Review

Hi so I don’t usually do this but I just finished season 1 of the Handmaid’s tale and let us just say that I am pretty shook. I would like to apologise about how messily my thoughts have been written. Right off the bat, let me just say that this is hands down the best show I have watched in 2017. It was literally so good. So the premise follows our lead character, Offred. She is a handmaid assigned to the Waterfords. A handmaid is basically a person that society has decided has only one sole purpose: breeding children. Yes, in this book set only slightly in the future (yikes), fertility rates are so low that society feels the only way to get the human race to continue existing would be to fuck up society as a whole. I wish I was doing a better job explaining this but just trust me when I say that it is fucking brilliant.

I would firstly like to seriously appreciate the acting brilliance of the entire cast. Amazing performances throughout. Elizabeth Moss fucking killed it. She was a protagonist people could feel sorry for and root for. She was strong and she did what she had to, to survive. Her portrayal of a girl suddenly thrust into a world so backwards and lets be real: wrong was somehow very believable and relatable. The rest of the cast put on stunning performances as well. Yvonne Strahovski, who played Serena Joy aka Mrs Waterford deserves a special shoutout. She so brilliantly played a fucked up bitch that you actually felt sorry for at times. Whenever you started hating her you saw that she was only human and just desperate. This made her a very convincing and dynamic antagonist. Samira Wiley, Alexis Bladel and Madeline Brewer played fellow handmaids as well. They were all so different and I loved that about this show. Every single character had a personality and you couldn't confuse one for the other because of the presence they had and the energy they fed into one another. As for the male leads, O. T. Fagbenle who played Offred’s husband from her previous life was very likeable. His character was very down to earth and he was basically the perfect lovable family guy. However, we didn't get to see much of him this season so I am hoping for more next season. I felt similarly for most of the male characters. Nick, played by Max Minghella, played the loyal (or not so loyal???) soldier but I want to know more about him. Who is he really? Also, I am not convinced by the Offred/Nick romance aspect of things. Honestly most of the time they just seemed like friends with benefits of sorts. A lot to explore in a possible second season but this was a great start. What probably captivated me the most about this show was how even though society was so fucked up in this portrayal, was it so far from reality??? Research has shown that fertility has been going down over the years and we all know women are losing control of their bodies in a sense when abortions are harder to have now??? The parallels to real life were too real. I especially liked the scene in one of the earlier episodes when they showed how in the past, they fired all women and froze all their bank accounts and Moira was trying to say how misogynistic men are the cause of this bullshit situation and then Luke was like it’s cool like now I get to take care of my wife and then she said “maybe you really are part of the fucking problem”. That hit me as some people don't understand sometimes that even if your intentions are good, you should never make someone, anyone really feel like they can't take care of themselves like they are below them. If even the “good ones” like luke have such thoughts then the fucked up ones like Commander Waterford and all the other leaders in this messed up society will feel like they have some base to their beliefs and accusations and we should never allow that.

Another thing that really moved me was the support the handmaids had for each other. They were all extremely terrified of being fucked but sometimes, they took a leap of faith and with such remarkable courage, did things for their fellow sisters. Because all in all, they knew they were here in this situation together. Nobody could truly relate to them, except for each other. They had that at least. This was exemplified when Offred and Moira tried to escape from the red centre and only Moira got out, she was whipped and beaten for trying to escape. She felt weak, spirit destroyed and totally hopeless. But alas, the handmaids come in one by one leaving a small offering for her on her bed. Their way of saying “Fuck yeah!!! you lil badass...We wish we had your guts but for now we got your back”. That was really beautiful because at the core of this show, in a society where women go back to being treated as scum, women supporting other women is so so so bloody important. This was especially showcased in the finale where the girls were told to stone their ex fellow handmaid, Janine to death. What got to me the most was when Offglen: a girl so against breaking the rules because she was counting her blessings and grateful that she even had a home, risked all of that just to speak up for what is right. And then of course, the handmaids together, as a united force, refused to stone their “sister” to death. Of course punishment was to follow thought it was not made clear as of yet what it was but it was nice. All these girls knew the risk of disobeying. All of them had put their heads down and obeyed orders for fear of their own lives. But when they saw Janine there, they saw someone they couldn't do such a cruel thing to. Given, she was probably going to end up being dead anyway, it was not going to be at their hands and they would not have a part in it.  As Offred said in the finale I believe, “If they didn't want an army, they shouldn't have given us uniforms”. The sisterhood is strong amongst these girls, praise be.

To end off this very messy but important discussion I would like to put in some thoughts about the finale itself. I think what I take away is, although society may be filled with fucked up males, it is us women who need to stick together and have each others backs cause if not us then who. The reason why aunt lydia and serena joy are so terrifying and captivating at the same time is because they chose to support these inhumane acts on their fellow women. This is what makes it so hard and what makes the sisterhood that the handmaids share, so fucking important. Fuck the rape and the murder and all the other political messes in this show (be it important. I am not saying it is not), the real villians in the show were infact the women as well. If such a situation ever happens where society becomes so fucked up, I hope that us women will at least have each others backs through the tough times.  I hope we won't let our brilliant educated women become whores because they feel like this is the best they can get. NO, I hope we can support each other and have each others backs when such ideas persist. So much could be prevented if the women in the show were all united. And this is why, what happened at the end showed strength. These women really did stick up for each other, consequences and all. We end with Offred getting into a black van. Who knows what awaits her, but in a sense we know she isn't that afraid because she knew what she had done, was worth it. Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum bitches!

[philsdesktopcomputer]

Early morning starbucks

read on wattpad here

Dan's pov

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping. My nights consist not of peaceful slumber, but of tired thrashing. My eyes burn and for some reason I am unable keep them closed for more than an hour at a time.

I know the looks of my ceiling like the back of my own hand. I've memorized the way shadows move across it as the dark night hours transform into early morning light.

No matter how hard I try. I just can't fall asleep.

Insomnia. That's what the doctor called it. I am an diagnosed insomniac.

3:37 is the number that flashes on my cheep alarm clock, an item that is virtually useless considering I use my phone alarm. I sigh and pull the covers from my body, twisting on the mattress till I am standing. Through my tired haze I'm able to stumble down the stairs and warm up a glass of milk.

I have tried everything. Sleeping pills and cold medicine alike practically knock me out for days at a time- so I try to only take them when I am desperate and I don't have anything that I need to do. But I have class tomorrow and I'm trying really hard to keep my grades up.

I pour the white liquid into a mug and pop it into the microwave. One minute later I sit cross legged on the couch, some random tv show playing quietly. I sip at the warm liquid and try to convince my mind that it wants to sleep.

No such luck.

I'm still blankly staring at the tv one hour later.

After a long internal debate, I decide to make a quick trip to Starbucks. There's no way I'm going to sleep now and I have class in 5ish hours.. might as well attempt to un-zombiefy myself.

Besides I am an adult and there's no one here right now to tell me no.

I smile to myself and grab my absent roommates car keys. He's staying at his girlfriend's house right now and he'll never know.

•*•*•*•

The second I step into the small street corner coffee shop my nose fills with the strong scent of coffee. The Starbucks is empty, take away the attractive slightly older guy sitting at the counter typing something on his computer.

"Um... hello can I order?" I ask shyly once I reach the counter.

The man's head snaps up and my breath instantly leaves my body when his blue eyes catch mine. Beautiful. A shade of blue that prods at the soul, mesmerizes you and pulls you into its depth. If I were in some cliche teen movie about kissing in the rain and crap, I would probably compare their blue to that of the ocean. The way they seemingly move in waves and stir with emotion. Dang.

"Yeah go ahead, sorry, I don't get that many customers at 4 am."

I blink a couple of times, bringing myself back to reality. No, Dan, you cannot just fantasize about some random guys eyes. He's likely not even gay. Besides it's not like he'd be attracted to you of he where. I smile and pretend that I wasn't just admiring his beauty, and then mentally beating myself up for doing so.

I place my order, a simple caramel coffee, and with a smile he prepares it. "So, if you don't mind, may I ask what you're doing in Starbucks at 4am?" Great. He's chatty. Not that I'm complaining, his voice is lovely. A type of voice that a school girl would probably fawn over. "I just have trouble sleeping, and was board." He finishes my coffee and hands it to me, "You could't sleep so you decided to get coffee?" I roll my eyes and take a sip of the coffee. "Don't judge my life choices."

He laughs, lightly, and I decide that this will not be the last time I visit this small, 24 hour Starbucks.

.*.*.*.*.

A mere two days later I find myself stepping into the small, warm coffee shop.

I also find myself hoping that blue eyes'll be there.

And sure enough he is.

"Hey- dan was it?"

"Yeah t-that's my name" I stutter awkwardly.  Great going Dan.

He giggles and proceeds to take my order, which happens to be the same thing that I ordered a couple days ago.

"So," he playfully says as he hands over the warm drink, "couldn't sleep again?" I laugh and pull out my wallet , quickly passing him the money, lightning shooting across my skin when our fingers brush.

"Yeah... I can' sleep well most nights."

"Oh," my breath hitches as we make eye contact "Well you can always come and hang out with me here. Wait that sounded really creepy... what i was meant was, like y-you could like hang out and get and coffee and stuff and like-"

"No it's okay..." My eyes travel briefly to his name tag his name tag "Phil. I know what you meant."  We share a laugh and continue to talk.

With every sentence we exchange I can physically feel ("pheel" for all you die hard phannies out there) a crush on him growing. A small spark igniting in my chest every time he laughs, every time our eyes meet.

"You're brother really did that?!"

"Yeah I know!"

We've been talking for an hour when i finally realize what time it is, a glance down at my phone screen displaying a bright 5.   "Hey sorry to cut you short, but I'm suppose to meet my friend for some sort of workout thing she's doing to try to get me healthy, in like twenty minutes." I nervously say, my intense fear of sounding rude making it come out stuttered and way faster than I meant.

He laughs, light shining in his eyes, and suddenly I just want to protect him. He has such a beautiful smile...

I shake off these feelings as a walk out of the coffee shop, trying as hard as i can to suppress the light curving of my lips.

.*.*.*.*.

"You're most definitely in love!" Louise exclaims the second I finish telling her about Phil and our conversation. We're jogging down a relatively deserted sidewalk, her in fancy athletic wear- she does this every other morning- and me in sweatpants and an old tee shirt- this is the first time I've exercised in literal years. "What!" I say back instantly, "That's not possible! I just met him!"

Louise rolls her eyes and speeds up her jogging speed. I scoff and attempt to catch up, failing miserably.

"Loouuiisse, waait" I whine when I can't seem to match her pace.  

She laughs and slows slightly to jog next to me again.

We jog the next 10 minutes back to my apartment in silence. The air filled with only the sounds of our heavy breathing and feet hitting the cement.

When we finally reach my home, I go to unlock my door, glancing over my shoulder to say bye.

Right as I'm closing the door Louise yells something that i almost don't catch through the crack.

"You're in love Daniel don't deny it!"

I roll my eyes and finish closing the door. I love her, but sometimes she can be stubborn.

.*.*.*.*.

The next time i see Phil is a week later. I had been assigned a very large essay and spent all my time working on that. I had been missing Phil, for some reason, considering the fact that I've talked to him about two whole times.

I mentally roll my eyes at myself and push open the the glass doors, instantly being hit with the heavy and comforting scent of coffee.

My heart stops when I realize Phil isn't, infact, siting behind the counter.

I blink and shake my head out of the crushing wave of disappointment.

Walking up to the counter I smile shakily at  the woman sitting there.

"Hello sir, what can I get for you?"

"Uhh... I'll have a caramel coffee please."

Her face lights up in a smile "AHHH! You must be Dan!"

Confusion sets in on my features. "H-how do you know my name??"

She laughs, and turns to start my coffee. I stand in the suspension shes left me in for over a minute.

She turns, handing me the warm cardboard cup. "Phil talks about you all the time," My confused stare must've shown off more than i thought it would, as she continues, "The day he met you he called me and literally talked my ear off, it happened again that time you two actually had a conversation. He's head over heels  and won't shut up about it."

"I-I.. Uhh," I stutter out, "Well, uh, you can tell him i, uh, like him as well," I blush and look down at my coffee. When she doesn't respond i look up to see her looking at something over my shoulder. I turn to see Phil, eyes wide, much like a deer caught in head lights. I sputter, as he's close enough to have most definitely have heard me.

"Ummm hi," I cautiously raise my hand in an awkward wave, his sunshine of smile ghosts over his lips in reply.

His blue eyes roam the empty dinning area, almost in search of something to say. Finally after an eternity of waiting he makes eye contact again. "Dan, uh, can I uh talk to you outside, please?"

I lightly set my drink on the counter and nod my head, following him out through the doors into the early morning light. "You're not a murderer, right?" I joke, he laughs in reply and turns to look at me, "No, I don't wan't to murder you I just want to kiss you."

"W-What?" It's then that I notice how close we actually are, only a few inches of space between our two bodies. "I- Uh, can I kiss you, Dan?"

I feel the corners of my lips pull upwards, our eyes lock and we seem to subconsciously step closer together, both the space and our eyes closing slowly.

"No,"

His eyes shoot open in panic , and he goes to pull away, but I grab his arms, laughter bubbling out of my throat. "I'm sorry i must've read this all wrong oh my god i am..." I cut him off by pressing my lips to his, my hands spread on hid chest, and his cautiously touching my waist.

We break away a mere seconds later, Phil staring at me with a baffled look, "But i thought you said.."

" I was kidding you dufus."

"Oh,"

The sun rises and the street busies but we don't notice as we're to busy kissing and distracting each other with sweet words.

[andymull]

The WWE Superstar Shake-Up Review - Raw

Welcome all, after the recent big shake up between the two brands its that time where we can take a quick look back and review the moves that occurred, the right and wrong decisions made as well as the potential this has promised us viewers. First we shall examine the Raw side of the shake-up and the talent traded, then a following piece will focus upon Smackdown with a write up to end, wagon’s roll.....

Dean Ambrose

The IC champion makes his way to Monday nights with his title in tow, first thoughts are that this is a good move for Dean to freshen his act up as well as getting new competition as he’s become stale on Smackdown.

Then came the next two points, first that he is being moved away from Renee Young his wife which would be awful for anyone. And the second is that he is back to seemingly feuding with Miz again on Raw, the same guy that bored me silly to see him feuding with on Smackdown, where’s the new matches?!? But after a quick look at the Raw roster there really arent that many new heel’s for the guy to work with, Samoa Joe and Braun? Really may be time for Dean to go heel his-self to work with Balor, Rollins, Reigns, Cesaro, sounds like a much better idea now doesnt it.

The Miz & Maryse

Initially I dont see this as a good move, both have improved greatly this past year since Maryse returned to give Miz a more well rounded character/gimmick/act. Their program with John Cena and Nikki Bella saw them both become the stand out performers on Smackdown, just a shame about the fact they were booked into an engagement angle they could never come out of positively. All of this for me would see The Miz hold the Smackdown world title later this year no question about it.

But, moving to Raw he has to contend with being on a show where the champion isn't even on tv anymore (quickly in 3 seconds name the Raw world champion..........they wont mention him until they come up with his next dates/match), so going for the world title soon isn't an option as well as the fact he now drops behind Braun, Wyatt, Joe in the heel rankings and also the champion when he returns.

The benefits for Miz on Raw are that he will definitely get more tv time being on the 3 hour show to attempt to get his-self higher up the card, him having Miz tv will be vital for him in staying in peoples minds and providing new ways to start/progress feuds as compared to others who cant talk as well as Miz. He should get more ring time too which is his big opportunity to show his improvement over the past year to those who may not watch every Smackdown episode, not just fans but also higher ups in management who dont pay the show the same respect, infact the word respect is something that Miz will vitally need to demand to get his-self back to his previous Smackdown position and demanding to be in a feud with Balor instead of Bray getting it first could be vital.

Bray Wyatt

In a way Bray faces alot of the same issues that Miz does, moving from being the big fish in a small pond to Raw. His gimmick is awful and boring now and has been for awhile, thankfully for him the key people backstage in the company think his act is great.

Hopefully we see him get more ring time to show his skills, rather than just his ‘spooky’ promo’s then appearing from the dark to attack whoever he’s in a feud with. Sadly I see this staying as is, his first Raw feud is seemingly going to be with Finn Balor (although that may have been altered this week) which should be good match wise but the build is going to be all kinds of goofy interviews leading to Balor becoming the Demon.

Truthfully Wyatt remains over until they get bored of his gimmick or viewers turn over on Raw when he comes on, which could be a key factor, but really he needs a face turn just slightly tweak his act and let the fans get behind him more.

Alexa Bliss

My favourite female in the company gets shook up to Raw, she has shown so much growth since debuting on Smackdown from the level she was at on NXT, both in terms of ring work as well as her skills on the pole (mic) and a move to Raw could be seen as well deserved move for her.

The benefit of the women’s division on Smackdown was that they were able to keep everyone fresh and didnt just produce the same old matches like Raw, so Bliss will bring more than just herself to the Raw scene in that sense. As she will be in fresh matches with Bayley, Sasha, Paige (???), Emma, Dana, and also will get the chance to work with and learn more from Mickie James.

The only slight negative for her could be the potential Sasha Banks heel turn over Bayley, Id imagine that would occur whilst Bayley is still champion and will be focused around the belt which could deter a big Bliss push as the lead heel on the show and see her positioned as the firm second heel on the show.

Mickie James

An interesting pick for Raw as she was originally placed on Smackdown to help give some legitimacy to their women’s division as well as helping some of the new girls there, looks like the helping out factor could be needed on Raw with her working the likes of Jax and Dana possibly to try and see them improve on the job.

Im not quite sure if Mickie is a heel or face and to be honest I doubt they've made their minds up on how they want to book her yet on Raw, a heel probably works best but if the Banks turn occurs then she will be able to get a higher spot on the face side as well as being able to work more with Jax which I think is her key reason to be moved.

Apollo Crews

A vital time for Crews and his future in the company, not in terms of him losing his job but more in him coming back to Raw and instantly impressing fans and showing his true ability in the ring. Its needed because the guy has just gotten lost on the roster, hasn't been in long tv matches allowing him to shine and his promo skills arent at the level where he can keep people engaged well enough. If they dont quickly inject him in fun matches and think of ways to allow him to connect better with fans on the mic he will be lost again, he really was brought up too early from NXT.

So far they let him have one backstage segment with Tozawa, a former tag team partner of his, who he has fun with and may be the key in getting him to produce more in promo’s or just in backstage segments.

In looking at who he should feud with there comes the problem, the Raw side has main eventer’s, upper mid card guys and then the big drop to guys who arent being used and guys who are just bodies on the show. Crews should really be made a pet project for one of the booker’s backstage, similar to how Steph/Hunter/Vince have taken guys previously in that kind of a role and only they book their segments with the main focus of getting them more and more over and used well.

Kalisto

At last the guy gets moved to Raw, meaning at last he gets placed on the roster where he can perform on 205 Live (the best hour of wrestling on tv......that isnt on tv), and then he isnt used on the show and gets used with Braun? I mean they gave him a win over Braun, just that it was a meaningless one where people solely remember the angle after the bout.

This should be simple, move him to 205, let him wrestle with Neville, TJP, Metalik his natural environment and the place he can produce the best results from, easy.

Heath Slater & Rhyno

They needed a team to be moved to Raw with The New Day going to Smackdown and this team got picked, that’s it sadly, no idea of moving them for greater things or planned storylines, just that they needed a team. Infact they were planning on breaking the team up awhile back with Rhyno blaming Heath for losing the titles on Smackdown, then they gave up and decided to leave them together.

They will quickly slot theirselves in above the likes of Goldust/Truth with the odd tv match and defeat, as well as being seen in backstage segments for other people, not sure of the possibly positive outcomes for either guy on Raw as once they slip to the backburner its all lost.

Curt Hawkins

Brought back into the company at the time of the draft as a face that people knew to help put over and establish some of the newer/ younger talent, he really hasn't much room for anything outside of that as his ringwork isn't anything that great and to be honest he hasn't been able to out over people to the point where they improve by doing so.

This really is the case of how long can he stay employed by not doing much instead of how can he affect the Superstar Shakeup

David Otunga

A guy employed and used on tv for two reasons, his wife and the colour of his skin, sad but true, each commentary team on WWE tv has to contain at least one person of colour it seems and Otunga has that role. He isn't around for his excellent wrestling knowledge, his awesome mic skills/ talking ability, it really cant be denied can it

Overall the top few picks can be a positive for the show over different areas, with the last few picks just being harmless trades which isn't what was needed in getting the show some solid depth. Spoiler, but Raw got the short end of the stick when it came to the shake up.

Smackdown review coming soon

Bye for now

Andy