#it just would not have gotten done with the time constraint

[143hyunes]

when you help them shave

includes: ot8 x gn reader

genre: domestic fluff, crack(?), sfw

synopsis: you ask your bf if you can help him shave

warnings: implied established relationship, use of nicknames like baby; babe, lots of kissing, suggestive (lee know & seungmin), mention of blood in han's part, extreme **fluff**

wordcount: 2.5k

a/n: i saw a similar hc a while back, so i was hesitating whether i should upload this for the longest time (i've had this in the drafts since January 😭), my version is different from that one though, i can't believe i'm finally posting this. anyways i hope you like this <33 as always reblogs and feedback appreciated !!

CHAN

Days off with Chan were always eventful. Today was one such day and he was in a playful mood. The razor was in your right hand while you held onto his chin, in order to glide the razor easily across his jaw and cheeks. But Chan had other plans, you yelped out in surprise when he pulled your waist against his naked torso, the razor dropping from your hands, luckily the razor was not near his face and he didn’t get hurt. “Christopher! You could’ve seriously gotten hurt, please don’t do that again.”

“Yes ma’am!” He cheekily exclaimed, saluting you. When his hands went back to your waist again, you gave him a glare.

“What? Can’t I be close to my baby?” He said matter of factly. You sighed, you loved his cute antics, the way he was always seeking out your touch even when asleep, if he could he would never leave your side. “Okay, ok, I guess we can compromise.”

You led him out to your shared bedroom, setting the glass with water and shaving cream on the floor. When he sat down, he guided you to sit down on his lap. After you had settled on his lap, you started your handiwork on his face again. 

“All done.” You say grinning, satisfied with your work. “Finally.” He says before pulling you in for a kiss, the kiss is soft, tender and unhurried.

Both of you stop to take a breathe but don’t pull away from each other, almost sharing the same air. “I love you.” His sudden admission makes you blush. “Like I really, really love you.” He enunciated, nuzzling into your neck.

“Then will you make breakfast and do the dishes today?” He giggles.

“Anything for you baby.”

LEE KNOW

Your boyfriend’s insistence on not keeping a straight face was getting troublesome, you had been trying to shave his face for the past half an hour. He kept making goofy, semi scary expressions, you didn’t know how he could have so much control over his features. “Lee Minho, you’re really going to get hurt and ruin your shirt and it won’t be an accident.”

“I won’t hesitate to resort to violence.” You warn him again.

That seemed to make him stop but you should’ve known better, his hand had sneaked around you to get the bottle of the shaving foam. You dodged just in time but his attacks didn’t stop after his failed attempt. He finally managed to get the foam on your face. “You’re such a brat.” You scoffed.

You had to restrain him, that’s the only way you could get work done. Your left hand held both of his wrists behind his back while you used the right to shave his face, you tried to finish as quickly as possible because he could easily break free from your “constraints”. He played along though and was surprisingly cooperative. “Damn, babe I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff.”

“Shut up.” You knew you would not hear the end of it and soon his friends would also start teasing you. After you were done, you playfully, lightly slapped his right cheek. He sent you a skittish glare before caressing your neck and leaning in. You thought he would kiss you but he pulled away at the last moment. 

“Ugh,, you’re such a menace.”

“You know you love it.” You begrudgingly agree, giving his lips a chaste kiss.

CHANGBIN

“Bin, Bin!” You slowly shake his shoulders.”Don't fall asleep on me when I’m shaving your face.” You say while cupping his face, he leans into your touch giving your palm a soft kiss.

“Mhm hmm.” He hums.

You dutifully start shaving the side of his jaw again, when you clean the razor of the foam on it, you feel soft curly hair and hot breathe on your neck as he lays his head down on your shoulder.”Oh my baby is really tired, isn’t he?” You coo, your fingers massaging his scalp and he only lets out a cute grunt still laying on your shoulder. 

“Tell you what, if you let me finish shaving your face, I’ll make pancakes with chocolate chips for you.” That seems to wake him up and he obediently faces you. You laugh at his antics, the way to his heart was truly through food. 

You quickly shave the remaining hairs on his face and give him kisses all over his face. You watch as he snuggles back into the sheets, he looks so cute and endearing, you just want to bite him.

You make the pancake batter and add chocolate chips to it. You flip the last pancake and add it to the stack. Pouring his favourite apple juice into a glass, you take it and the plate of pancakes to him, you knock on the door to wake him up. He gives you a smile that you would kill for. 

His takes his first bite and smiles up at you again. “Really delicious, babe.” he says his mouthful of the pancake, he lifts his fork up for you to taste your creation. He always does this, sharing his food and feeding it to you too. 

After he’s done eating, he convinces you to take a nap with him. You can never resist him and the way his arms around you make you feel warm and safe. Slumber soon finds the both of you as you cuddle.

HYUNJIN

Hyunjin’s leaning against the wash basin, lowering his body so you can easily shave his face, he holds onto your waist for support. His hands are rubbing small circles on your waist and he’s humming along to one of your favourite songs that plays from the bluetooth speaker. Quiet nights like this where you have his undivided attention make you so giddy. 

Hyunjin always liked to hold intense eye contact, something that made you very shy at the start of you guys’ relationship, it still flusters you. His intense gaze on you right now was making your cheeks heat up, you’re always curious as to why he does that, so you decide to ask him right now.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” you meekly ask him, the scrutiny of his gaze making you timid. 

“Nothing, you just look so cute while you’re concentrating on something.”

That makes you stop, your blush deepening at his confession. “But you always look at me like that.”

He seems to ponder over his next words, his lips and eyebrows quirking up, making him all the more endearing. A stray strand of hair falls into his face and you tuck it behind his ear, cupping his face. 

“It’s because I love you, I’m trying to commit your face to my memory, so you’re there even when I close my eyes.” He finally answers.

Sometimes you feel overwhelmed by the love he has for you, this feeling making you feel full, akin to having a meal with your loved ones where after your hunger is satiated due to the good food and the hearty conversations. 

Still cupping his face you lean in to kiss him, trying to convey your love and feelings you cannot describe through the kiss. And he understands, like he always does, both of you were so attuned to each other’s emotions and mannerisms like you were cut from the same clothe.

He breaks away from the kiss only to go back to kiss your forehead. It had become his 2nd favourite spot to kiss you, after you had let it slip one such night that you really liked forehead kisses because they made you feel loved and safe. 

HAN

Han had had a very eventful day today and you could tell from the way he was so excited to tell you all about it while you shaved his facial hair. He was a ball of energy even at the end of the day, his animated gestures making you smile.

He seemed to forget that you held a sharp razor in your hand and turned his head abruptly, you pulled your hand away but it was not soon enough.”Ow!” He yelped out in pain.

The razor had scratched his skin, making it bleed; fortunately the cut wasn’t too deep.

You remove the first aid kit from the bottom drawer, using the alcohol you clean his wound. It hurts your heart when he flinches from the sting of it, but you proceed to apply antiseptic cream to his wound, softly blowing on it, in hopes that it would hurt less.

You kiss the mole on his left cheek, you couldn’t resist it. He smiles, his thumb caressing your cheek.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve been more careful with the razor.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault babe, I should’ve been more attentive and not move around so much.” He reassured you, kissing your forehead.

“Let me kiss it better, unless it doesn’t hurt too much?” You grin cheekily.

He suddenly clutches the side of his face, acting like he’s in indescribable pain.”Oww, Y/N it hurts really bad, only my baby’s kisses can heal me now.”, he exclaims with a pout.

You giggle while kissing his soft lips, he leans into the kiss, holding your face.

Later you did each other’s skin care routine, you were of course careful of his wound, not wanting to hurt him. You spent the rest of the night watching anime cuddled up beside each other.

FELIX

Felix really liked being taken care of. The blush that creeped up his neck when you asked him if you could help him shave his face today, was indication enough. And you liked taking care of people. You were perfect for each other. 

The razor hovers just before his jaw while he looks at you with such a loving expression that it floors you. He looks so adorable even with his bed head, the sunlight streaming in through the bathroom windows, making his skin glow. The freckles on his face truly shining like constellations in the night sky. You were hit with a huge wave of love for him, you just couldn’t not kiss him, not when he looked at you like you had put up all the stars in the sky. So you did, feeling lucky to call him yours.

He smiled into your kiss, returning it with the same fervour.

“I love you, Lixie.” He only giggles, blush deepening. 

“Oh really? What a coincidence, because I love you too, baby.” His voice was deep and gravelly after the long hours of sleep and it was driving you crazy would be an understatement.

You only realise that you have shaving foam on your face when he wipes it off you, his movements delicate. You must have gotten it on you when you kissed him. 

After you were done, he made breakfast for the both of you, scrambled eggs for him and sunny side up for you. You loved how domestic all of this was and could imagine spending the rest of your days like this, basking in each other’s love. What you didn’t know was that Felix shared the same thoughts as you, already planning your future in his head.

SEUNGMIN

Seungmin was very apprehensive of the idea of you shaving his face, you were naturally clumsy and he was afraid you would abrade his skin.

“If I get hurt I’m suing you.”

“Kim Seungmin, do you want to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“No.” He says begrudgingly.

“Then you will listen to what I say.”

You gently drag the razor across his face while he stands as still as a statue. He really is afraid of you hurting him, so you decide to tease him. You flick the foam on his jaw and giggle when it lands on his hair. It looks like he has a cloud on his head, when your hand again goes to flick the foam, he grabs ahold of your wrists. “Why’re you such a brat today?”

“I just really like teasing you, Seung.” You say directly looking him in the eyes, his right hand holding onto your wrist, in between your faces. 

Releasing the grip on your hand, he leaned down, his hair touching yours and now you too, had a cloud on top of your head. “Now we’re even.”

“Hey! Not fair, you attacked when I was distracted!”

“You’re the one who started it.” He says while crossing his arms. He towered over you though it was not much, you caught him off guard when you tickled his sides. Soon enough, it turned into a tickle battle and both of you were out of breathe. 

You had no idea how it happened but he had somehow managed to cage you between his arms, your back against the glass wall of the shower. “You’re really such a brat.’ He says raising your chin with his pointer finger. “But it’s ok. I actually like it.” Before you know it, he’s leaning into kiss you. 

You don’t know how he could be so passionate with his kisses so early in the morning, his tongue fighting for dominance with yours. 

“I like being a brat for you too.”

JEONGIN

It was a lazy day in and you were cuddling with your boyfriend, when you had the idea to shave his facial hair. “Can I shave your face?” You asked as you looked up at him from where you lay on his chest. He makes a distinct sound of agreement to your question.

“Okay, let’s go.” You say pulling at his hand.

“Now? But I’m so comfortable.” He says pouting.

“What can I do to convince you?” You say nudging his side.

“Can we pleasee have Mc Donald’s for breakfast?” He asks, flashing his signature charming, dimpled smile.

“Hmm, it’s not healthy, you know that baby.”

“But-I’m also craving a hash brown. Oh what the hell, you only live once.” You say giving in.

He gives your cheek a kiss when you agree to his peculiar request.

Both of you decided to place the order after you were done shaving, since the food arrives fast. 

Jeongin was really compliant and before you knew it you were done, it was going surprisingly smoothly. He must have really wanted to eat his favourite shrimp burger.

You, however, soon realised that you had spoken too soon, as your boyfriend’s hand collided with dirty soap water and it almost spilled on you. Luckily for you his reflexes were strong and he caught the glass before it could spill on you.

“You’re such a klutz, babe.” You tch, teasing him.

“That’s not how you treat your saviour.” He haughtily replies, a lilt in his voice.

“You’re also the one who put me in harm’s way.”

“Okay, fair enough. Can we please order Mc Donald’s now?”

You go to the bedroom to find your phone and place the order. When food finally arrives, the smile on Jeongin’s face is so big that it makes you smile too. Lazy days would always be the best as long as your boyfriend was with you.

[fiivela]

I think Five's arc in season 4 is similar to Hazel's in season 1. It's a shame that Five's was less developed due to time constraints and can't be appreciated by the fandom as Hazel's was. Hazel to Agnes in 1x5: "Lately, I just… find myself goin' through the motions." That's basically Five at CIA. Agnes to Hazel: "That is so sad. I mean, everybody should have… a nest to fly to when they're tired." That's what Five got with Lila. Hazel to Cha-Cha in 1x7 (talking about the birds)... H: "Pretty sure they got it figured out." C: "And what's that?" H: "A simple life with a partner." Hazel to Five in 1x9: "I'm done with all this madness. Time to start over. You should do the same."

Nonnie you're a visionary.

I love the parallels here! I had never considered this before, but it makes me want to rewatch season 1 and then season 4 again. I feel like Hazel had a profound impact on Five and it would have been great to see him come to understand Hazel's lessons left behind in s4.

I wish that Five and Lila would have gotten stuck in the subway right at the beginning of season 4. Like instead of having Viktor be kidnapped, having the big plot twist at the end of the episode be Five and Lila getting trapped in the subway. This kind have given so much more time to expand their dynamic. I could have watched an entire spin off about the 6 years.

People were shooting at them? Show us! They found a chess board in one of the timelines? Show us! I think it would have gotten a lot more people on board.

But anyway, thank you for pointing this out, I love this take!

[opbackgrounds]

thoughts on no lambast for season 2 of OPLA?

I assume you meant Alabasta there, and while I’m glad that the material that is getting covered has time to breathe, Netflix insisting on only 8 episode seasons is going to really bite them in the ass. They were gifted a series with a ridiculous amount of content (as much as I hate that word) baked into it, with big story arcs having their clear beginnings, middles, and ends, and they’re flushing the natural story structure down the toilet because guys in suits have mathematically analyzed the exact amount of time to the second a person is willing to binge watch tv, and that just feels gross.

If they had given season 1 10 episodes like was initially planned they could have gotten through Loguetown and given Arlong Park the time it deserved. Maybe then we could have gotten through Alabasta this season, but ideally it should get 10 episodes as well. But Jaya and Skypiea could easily be done in 6 or 7 episodes, so how are they going to split up season 3 (assuming there is a season 3)? Netflix seems to be doing a lot of split seasons with their big shows, so will they do Alabasta and then Skypiea after a break? That doesn’t feel right to me either, and it’s so immensely irritating that they’ve gone this route. It would be much better to let shorter sagas have shorter episode counts, but that’s not how corporations work.

To be clear: I think it can be satisfying if they’re able to elevate Wapol and Mr. 3 as villains like they were able to elevate Kuro and Buggy. The extra time will help with that. Honestly, half the reason Arlong didn’t work as well as he could have was due to time constraints. Imagine if the Garp nonsense was on Loguetown and those precious minutes added back to Arlong Park? So much have been improved if they didn’t have to rush.

I wish they’d just shell out the cash for extra episodes. Season 1 proved there’s an audience for the series, and I hate that studio interference is fucking with the natural structure of the story arcs.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

#23: “The Miraculous Ladybug Movie May Give You What You Want, but My Show Gives You What You Actually Need! You Don’t Work in Television, so You Wouldn’t Understand.”

I've been running this blog for almost three years at this point, and I've seen Astruc talk trash about various things while claiming his show is better, like Winx Club, Paw Patrol, Pokemon, and Pixar as a whole. I never thought I'd see Astruc act like his show was better than a movie based on his show though.

For those who don't know (and you'd be forgiven, seeing how Astruc has barely talked about it on his Twitter), there was recently a movie that hit theaters based on Miraculous Ladybug called Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie. Supposedly, it's meant to be a retelling of how Marinette and Adrien met as civilians and as heroes. While I haven't seen it, it seems to be getting good reception, with some saying it's better than the show it's based on.

Of course, Astruc had something to say about this.

Okay, I sort of get what he's trying to say here. It's hard to compare the experience of watching an hour and a half long movie and a TV show with five seasons under its belt, but at the same time, the way Astruc phrased it still made it seem like he was trying to say the show was the better option because it “gives you what you need”. Nobody was expecting the Love Square to be resolved in a few episodes. Most people at least wanted more stories about the two to be told that don't involve constant padding. Astruc also acts like the Love Square is the only draw for the series instead of, oh, I don't know, the superhero action? You're really telling me they couldn't have tried focusing more on that after resolving the Love Square? I'm just saying, if The Office can continue after Jim and Pam got together, you can at least try to actually write other stories after the Love Square becomes canon.

One user in particular had some things to say in response to Astruc's claims, and you can guess how well Astruc took that.

Again, nobody is saying that working in television is all sunshine and rainbows, Astruc, but just because someone isn't familiar with dealing with network constraints and test audiences, it doesn't mean that they're unable to provide any meaningful criticism.

Also, Astruc is once again using a psychology term, in this case, the Dunning-Kruger Effect, to act like he's smarter than the critics. This man took psychology as an elective in college, didn't he?

But then again, this is coming from someone who doesn't think constructive criticism is a real thing.

Funny how he once again acts like anything that isn't positive feedback of his show is delusional, isn't it?

Eventually, this devolved into Astruc posting a little tangent about how fandoms have only gotten more toxic, which would have been a decent point... it if didn't come after all the things he said about fans not being able to criticize his show.

Again, there's nothing wrong with what he's trying to say here, but it feels less like a critique of how fans have become more toxic with the advent of the internet, and more like he's complaining about how mean people have been to him lately.

And, of course, this led to the usual fare of people calling out Astruc for his close mindedness, and Astruc once again saying how people aren't allowed to criticize his show in any way that isn't blind praise.

And here's the thing. We're still not done yet. This little tangent only warranted more comments about how Astruc handles criticism, only this time, it's also about calling out the people who think they can do a better job handling the show.

First, do you mind giving us an example of what kind of constraints you have to deal with, Astruc? We all know that TV executives suck, but I think we'd have more of a reason to understand your struggles if you actually explained some things that needed to be changed because of executive meddling.

Second, nobody wants a beach episode, Astruc, especially after that one issue of the comic you're choosing to ignore. We just want a more consistent story that doesn't rely on endlessly padding out the Love Square.

And finally, did you just say you have to be French if you want to rewrite Miraculous Ladybug? What does being French have to do with any of this? I remember seeing a little tweet a few years ago suggesting you would be a good choice to write a Superman story, but last time I checked, you aren't American.

Let's review in case you got lost. Someone tweeted that they thought the Miraculous Ladybug movie did a better job at the story it set out to tell than the Miraculous Ladybug TV show, Astruc tried to explain how his show is still good in its own way while justifying how long it's been going on for, he ranted and raved at fans for daring to criticize his team's writing before going on a tangent about how the internet has made people more hostile over the years, and when people still weren't happy with him, he claimed that you could only criticize or rewrite the show if you're an experienced French TV writer like him.

So just keep that in mind, fanfic writers. Unless you're French and have experience writing for television, you don't have a chance in hell to successfully write your own version of Miraculous Ladybug.

[onlycosmere]

Cosmere/Magic the Gathering

'What IP do you most want to see in Magic the Gathering?' Thunderwoodd: Stormlight Archive!

thyfoolish1: Brandon said they reached out to him and he was excited and ready to go but they haven't gotten back to him. I think this was Dragonsteel last year. So there is hope.

Egi_: Even after the shitshow with the free book he gave them on the condition it wouldn't be commercialized and then WotC commercialized it?

Brandon Sanderson: I knew what I was getting into working with a big corporation. Like the proverbial frog giving a ride to a scorpion, I don't see justification for complaint regarding the eventual sting. I love the game, and the designers, so that's really my metric. As a note, everyone I worked with on the narrative team was wonderful.

I don't want a passing secret lair of five cards; I am interested in a full-blown set, so with that constraint, I wouldn't foresee a Stormlight or Mistborn crossover until one of several things happens:

1) They burn through the bigger properties that match MTG's vibe like LOTR did. Fantasy, or science fantasy, properties that feel legit as a big expansions. As mentioned in this thread alone, there is a pretty deep mine there. Dune, Witcher, Elder Scrolls, Arcane/LoL, Westeros (if they're feeling spicy.) A hobbit set is all but inevitable as well.

Considering they'd be unwise to put these sorts of things out too quickly, and should really give them time to breathe, we're looking at ten years easily before they're out of larger fish to fry. Stormlight is big for a book series, but without any shows/films/games, I'd suspect it doesn't have the casual word-of-mouth reach their marketing team looks for to justify the extra expense of licensing fees.

2) Said bigger properties decide they aren't interested, leaving things popular but without media representation. If they ever decided to experiment with a book-only series, I suspect I'd be very high on the list to approach.

3) Cosmere gets one of said media properties, something I'm actively trying to accomplish--but it is slow going, as I'm in the fortunate position of being able to be very picky about partners, and prefer to take my time.

I've made it clear to them that if a large-scale set were in the, ahem, cards, I'd be willing to make frequent trips to Seattle to be part of the design team on said set.

awakenedjunkofigure: If any author deserves the pick of the litter for production companies, it's absolutely you. Can't wait to see what your books would look like on-screen!!

Brandon Sanderson: Well, the answer to what they'd look like on screen is "Expensive," which a part of the problem...

schloopers: Any large consideration in your mind for spoilers versus fully representing a world or story?

Stormlight you’d of course want all 10 Orders, so spoilers are far as those are concerned are a given.

But maybe a legendary creature “Iron Eyes” instead of any spoiler specific proper names?

I ask because I have so far gotten one friend in the playgroup to start reading, and a couple full sets would for sure help in garnering interest, but I would worry for the story beats getting too greatly revealed out of context.

I don’t know, maybe it’s just unavoidable. I’ve had several Dr. Who episodes “spoiled” for me through that set.

Brandon Sanderson:  This is something I haven't given a lot of thought toward, but I perhaps should be mulling it over. You make a good point.

Thunderwoodd: Woah! Can’t believe you responded. Huge fan! And I loved your commander cube! Saw it on Game Knights right after I finished Rhythm of War.

Curious, do you think the Radiant orders could correspond to guilds or color wedges?

Brandon Sanderson: Yes, I've done thought experiments on that, and think guilds could actively work for them without too much trouble. Problem is, would we want a Stormlight set or just a Knights Radiant set, because ten guilds for ten orders is already a high demand. It might be better to make a wedge set, but the problem there is that the Radiants are actively all colors, so it would be hard to cut out any save black. (Willshaper individuality and artistic expression could be green red instead of red black, for example.) So maybe five four-color wedges? I think the lore could support this, and be something that MTG has had trouble conveying without the expansive worldbuilding an entire book series could provide.

Radiants and sapient spren (all but black, to indicate the inherent selfless Radiant cause)

Human Nations (all but green, to indicate triumph over nature, which is an antagonist on Roshar.)

Singers (All but blue, to indicate the lack of ability to plan for the future, dearth of scholars, and onset of madness in the fused.)

Non-sapient Spren and wildlife (All but white, to indicate lack of overriding societal structures.)

Secret Societies (All but red, indicting the deliberate and conscious planning of these groups.)

Four color signpost uncommons would be WILD, even with hybrid mana. So I can see the design team balking. This (four color guild set) is almost certainly something they've explored and specifically decided not to do.

mediocreattbest: It’s crazy coming onto this post to say “any cosmere set!” And then see you actually replying. Out of curiosity, would you prefer just a stormlight set or a cosmere-wide set? I’d love to see characters through their stories (like we had with the LotR set)

Brandon Sanderson: I'd prefer Stormlight or Mistborn alone, as the planets themselves are so much a part of the stories.

[fishsticksloser]

Hi Hi!!

Can I have headcanons for Donnie with a smart s/o (they're not as smart as him, but they have a pretty good idea of what he's saying)

Love your work!! <3

Smart S/O

Donnie x gn!reader

Warnings: aged up, fluff, science talk, 2 prompts in 1, inferred yo'kai/mutant!reader

A/N: Thank you so much! That means a lot!! <3 I'm using pop culture/memes for this because I'm not a science wiz... Second prompt at the bottom

He doesn't mind that you're not as mart as him

He thinks having 2 geniuses in a relationship would be too much

Especially if both of you were mad geniuses

“Do you want me to help you with that? I'm not as smart as you, but I think I can help you with solving these equations.”

He always says yes

You might not understand everything he talks about but you're super supportive

You sometimes think of things he didn't think of

"You know how applying pressure to gasses creates heat... and vice versa. And that density is equal to mass over the volume of something. So now they're saying that the way we view the equilibrium in stars is wrong because they found 'conflicting evidence' using the theory of consigliothesis. That's like saying the constraints of distortional drift doesn't actually hinder the progression faultian push-field energy conversion. Because they found 'evidence' against calcestic studies..."

You understood part of what he was rambling about

But he was using big words you didn't understand

"...Why would they say that?"

"That's what I'm saying!"

If you don't understand anything, tell him, Donnie will gladly explain it in more common terms

He gave you all of his user manuals so you can proofread, remove anything that wasn't needed and editing for common terms

Maybe the boys will read it now

Donnie never makes you feel like his dum dum brothers

He likes having someone to talk to, to understand

Don loves having you around his lab, helping him build

He never ever tried to make you feel lesser

As time went on, you heard yo'kai and other mutants talking

About how he should be with someone on his level

"Is everything okay? You've been quieter than usual."

"I'm okay..."

Donnie would grab your face, making you look at him

"Leo's right ... Unfortunately..."

"W-What?"

"Your 'Raph casem' has gotten bigger."

He let go and you of course touch your forehead

"Is it because of me? Have I done something to worry or upset you?"

"Of course not! It's just... The yo'kai have been talking and..."

"Ah... 'He should be with someone smarter' thing."

"H-How did—"

"I listen too, darling. But let me ease your worry..."

He scooped you into his lap

"You are much more intelligent than those cretins will ever be able to comprehend. In fact... You're more intelligent than me in ways."

"Yeah right—"

"It's true. Maybe not a tech wiz like me, but you're smarter in areas I lack. Including emotionally. Like right now, I have no idea what to say to make you better, but you'd know what to say, what to do."

He wipes away a few stray tears that managed to slip down your cheeks

"I think you did a pretty good job, DonTon."

[fast-moon]

"Agatha All Along" and "PvP" vs. "Co-op" writing styles

Agatha All Along (née Coven of Chaos) is the show that, when announced, seemed like a hastily-concocted attempt to keep riding on the success of Wandavision and its break-out supporting characters, leaving everyone wondering, "But... what would they actually do?"

I really should have had more faith in Jac Schaeffer.

A frustration I have with certain writers, Steven Moffat in Doctor Who and Sherlock being a prime example of this, is when the writer feels like they're competing against their audience. I could call this the "PvP" form of writing: The audience is a newbie, and the author is a level 100 Dark Knight who immediately slaughters the noobs to show his dominance.

The author has an adversarial opinion of the audience, and their goal is to keep the audience guessing as long as possible. But also makes sure that none of those guesses are ever correct, because that means the audience has "beaten" the author. The author claims "victory" over them when they get to "the reveal" and no one had guessed it correctly.

This is usually done by feeding the audience red herrings, and leaving out a crucial piece of information that is only known by the main character, until it's time for the reveal. Either that or the overarching mystery is simply never solved at all, aside from the main character indicating they've gotten it all figured out but there's no time to explain.

Contrast that to how Jac Schaeffer handled Wandavision and Agatha All Along. These were written under the view that the audience is a partner in this story. The "co-op" form of writing. The audience is a newbie, and the author is a level 100 Dark Knight, and the author takes the noob under their wing and guides them through how the game is played until the noob gets it. The author is victorious once the noob doesn't need their help anymore and can figure it out for themselves.

This is usually done by feeding the audience breadcrumbs. Characters behave with consistency before the full reveal, but because not all the information is available to the audience yet, there are noticeable "quirks" to characters' behavior to clue in the audience that not all is what it seems. All the necessary pieces are given to the audience in plain sight, and if the audience is able to put them together before they're completely revealed, the final reveal is more of a congratulations for a job well done.

Sometimes I see complaints that if it's at all possible to guess the "twist" before it happens, then the story is "too predictable". But I'd argue that being at least somewhat predictable is a good thing to have in a story. It means the characters and world are behaving in a consistent way.

Contrast to the "PvP" manner of writing, where the characters "break all the rules" to solve their problems in unexpected ways. But I find this significantly less interesting, because it means the characters don't actually have to be innovative. Characters who have to devise solutions while working within the constraints of their universe are much more compelling than ones who effectively win with cheat codes.

And so that's why I really have to hand it to Jac Schaeffer. She gave us a twist in episode 7 that was wholly consistent with everything we'd seen up until that point, but then forced us to completely re-contextualize everything we just watched.

And then just to show off, in episode 8 she did it again.

I do hope that she continues to have a hand in the Vision Quest series, since I heard that project has since been passed to a different show lead. But if it means that Schaeffer has instead been given the green light to rescue Wanda from what Michael Waldron's PvP writing did to her in Multiverse of Madness, then maybe there truly will be glory at the end.

[felassan]

David Gaider on Twitter: "Going through my old DAI files and came across the original plan for a playable post-credits Epilogue... which, due to time constraints, eventually got down-scaled to the post-credits cutscene you saw on release. A lot of the meat here was, I believe, resurrected for Trespasser." [source] "At the time, I was pushing hard for an actual denouement - as opposed to always ending the story so abruptly after the climax. Considering how few players ever get that far, I suppose I can see the argument that it's not exactly a great place to focus resources. I did like where the cutscene ended up, mind you. A nice, Marvel-esque stinger that hinted at story to come. Took the sting out of having yet another story plan go awry... which is simply par for the course for game dev. Writing can always imagine more than we can produce. ;) And in case anyone wonders: no actual work was done on that playable section prior to the cut. You can imagine it being this fully-fleshed out, glorious thing, if you like... but it could just as easily have been half-baked and terrible. The team was fully stretched as it was." [source, two, three]

Some further info from follow-up tweets -

User: "It's a bummer, though I understand the logic. A proper end to cap off the experience can make or break your enjoyment of the full game though, imo" DG: "That was indeed my argument. There's a point where we have to draw the line and finish the story, however, and I'm afraid the original plan was... mmm a mite too big. This was far from the only cut."

User: "WAIT. Am I reading this right… Solas drains Flemeth and then COMMANDS the Well of Sorrows drinker to kill Flemeth?" DG: "I think it was Flemeth who commanded it. I'd have to look through the whole document. It's complicated. Part of why it was eventually cut, probably."

User: "Hold on. We were to kill Flemeth on Flemeth’s command to, possibly, prevent Solas from taking everything? Was passing whatever energy she did to the Eluvian her way of preparing for survival ?" DG: "I don't think it was going to be explained any more than it was in the cutscene you got, tbh."

User: "My WoS Lavellan is SCREAMING rn god please help her in the next game" DG: "Keep in mind that none of this *actually* happened. ;)"

User: "Interesting to see this was envisioned as having adversarial encounters between Solas & Flemeth with the well-drinker being ping-pawned between them. I noticed the Inquisitor lurking off-camera in that cutscene and wondered if they were originally meant to be part of it." DG: "Heh. I'm pretty sure the Inquisitor being placed there in the actual cutscene's level was because a player had to be present *somewhere*. Might be wrong, though." John Epler: "the way the cinematics worked, if you had them firing too far from the player character the engine would try to optimize and cutscenes would start jittering" DG: "Yeah, I thought it was something like that! Thanks, John."

User: "Does this have any link to the fact that there are dialogue audios of Morrigan reacting to solas “absorbing” Mythal in the game files?" DG: "Possibly? I finished writing the epilogue, so it's possible some of it got recorded prior to the cut."

User: "So Morrigan would've finally gotten to kill Flemeth herself, and nobody had to turn into a dragon this time? Also, this clears up what even happened to Flemeth at the end. She's definitely dead. Presumably, the spirit or essence of Mythal and possibly Urthemiel are inside Solas?" User 2: "does it? it can be theorized that flemeth commands the inquisitor/morrigan to kill her so solas wouldn't be able to take all her essence. regardless, in the ending we did get it's not entirely clear what happened. but i doubt she's truly gone. she cheated death before." DG: "And remember that what this stuff points at never actually happened. Whatever becomes of Flemeth in the future is up to the current writing team, and is based only on the cutscene you saw."

Summerfall Studios: "Our creative director davidgaider shares some insight into how Dragon Age: Inquisition's epilogue evolved over production" DG: "You want "evolved over production"? *cracks knuckles* Lemme tell you how we cut Corypheus attacking Skyhold. Now *that's* evolution."

[big-cheesy-productions]

Sonic Movie 3 Review

Non-spoiler first, then spoilers below the cut.

I've gotten some of my negativity out and am having some post movie clarity. I do think my expectations were incredibly high, but also believe the crew and marketing promised a lot more than they delivered on.

I think there was too much Jim Carrey and not enough Shadow and Team Sonic. The pacing was a bit weird and moments that should have gotten time to breath didn't in favor of gags, and I do think the Jim Carrey-ness hurt this installment more than helped.

Some story threads felt unresolved or just didn't make sense within the movie, which made it feel like the movie was supposed to be longer, or it was rewritten, or something happened to fit either time constraints or forced family-friendliness? I'm not entirely sure.

But focusing on some positives; Shadow was fantastic, the sound design was great so the hits felt like they HURT, I always love when we get a little more personality to build on for Maria, the moments we did get with Team Sonic and the Wachowski family were good, I just, again, wish we got more.

I'm disappointed that I'm disappointed, but I am excited for the future of Sonic movies, though I will be going in more skeptical than I did with this one.

6/10

Spoilers below.

I did feel a bit nostalgia-baited by the Sonic Adventure 2 stuff. I think the second movie did a really good job of making any references or nostalgia feel organic, while this movie was like "We're not doing SA2, but we are kind of doing it, and we're going to reference it a lot, but we're going to change a ton."

I want to reiterate that I am totally okay with the movies doing things differently. They are an AU, I get it. But the core of SA2 and Shadow and Maria's story felt like it was missing. I think they missed the mark on that. We got a glimpse of the broken, revenge obsessed Gerald, but the rest was just gag after gag. And GUN just released him? Because he built them the Eclipse Cannon? This is what I meant by threads that either were dropped or didn't make sense. If they wanted to include Gerald in present day, I wish they had done it differently. It's like they were really afraid to make GUN look (as intensely) bad, but that's the whole point of this story. Military and political corruption.

I don't like the implication that Shadow is just Black Arms (or just from space), and wasn't created by Gerald. I do think that changes a ton about his character and his motivations. Maybe it just worked better for movie to say "we don't know where he came from!" but they also relied heavily on SA2 references and assuming fans know that story, so why not just... do that story then?

I did like how they did Shadow's turn from revenge, which was a more gradual thing, than one big speech. That was one of my hopes, and I'm glad they want that direction. But again, just wish all that build up had more time to breath. But oh man, when Gerald shuts down Shadow's questioning of what Maria wanted, and when he told Ivo "you're no Maria"? That was juicy. I wanted so much more of that from Gerald.

I appreciate that they are setting up Stone to take over as the villain. I really, really love that, and think that would be great.

Amy is amazing, and Metal Sonic is here, and I that was honestly the part I was most excited about in the theater.

I'd really just love a director's cut when the movie is out on DVD, because ultimately, it just felt like there was A LOT missing, and they could have made this a 2.5 hour or two part movie, if they just cut it out with the Jim Carrey shenanigans. It didn't work in this one, and I can forgive everything else, except giving Jim Carrey so much screen time over Sonic and Shadow.

I could dig deeper, beat for beat, but I don't really want to, and I already did in the car with my friends after the movie.

I think Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is still the best/strongest of the trilogy so far.

[the-lavender-clown]

Gonna update the timeline for my tmnt iteration and have Donnie and Raph with the EPF for a year so that way they would have started and gotten a decent bit into their training to become operatives

Donnie having more of an aptitude for stealth and computer work causing her to be trained in hacking a variety of devices, building and deconstructing surveillance tech on a time constraint, being able to place tech ranging from bugs to bombs unseen and effectively. She trains directly under Stockman for much of the tech aspect

Raph being trained to direct his rage into fighting. Just being an unstoppable and untiring battering ram. His endurance is a primary focus. Train him to fight at least 90% peak performance for as long as possible and then some

The twins not seeing each other for days (once or twice a week) sometimes because of them for using Raph to fight for days on end and Donnie going from one intensive test to the next without a wink of sleep. It’s also important to teach them how to suppress their physical needs such as sleep to get the job done and done well

Or else…

Leo is also primarily trained in fighting like Raph but is focused more towards ending a fight as quickly as possible. Speed is his focus

Mikey is the all rounder. He’s supposed to be able to see, anticipate, and cover any weaknesses or compromises to the team. He’s trained to keep them all together and functioning

Of course besides all that they are often all together to train to fight as a team. Whether that be different duos, just three of them, or all together. They must be prepared for any possible type of fight and pairing

[yuzurujenn]

[2023.07.27] ANA Captain Yuzuru Hanyu’s Journey – Special Interview

(Filmed: 27 July 2023, Archive released: 27 Sept- 17 Dec 2023)

Ladies and gentlemen, Star Alliance members, thank you for boarding ANA’s special flight to Sendai. I am Yuzuru Hanyu, the captain of this flight, and your flight will be departing shortly. Please make sure your seat belts are securely fastened. Today's flight time is scheduled to be about 1 hour. Well then, let's go on a special journey with me.

-Thank you for having me. How are you spending this hot summer?

-Summer huh... I don't go out much, but I feel like I'm busy every day doing creative work, training, and taking on various offers. Actually, the condition of the ice at the skating rink has gotten quite bad, so in that sense, I'm getting anxious because it's taking a long time to get to the right conditions. It's a restless season for me.

Is the skating rink also affected by the season?

-Yes, as the indoor temperature inevitably rises, the ice will melt, it will become loose, the strength will weaken, and so on, so I spend the summer thinking that it's going to be a challenge.

It’s been 1 year since you turned professional. How do you feel now?

-When I had the press conference, I was very nervous. I remember that scene very well. After the press conference was over, it was on this very day that I approached MIKIKO-sensei to direct the show, it was also the day that I met MIKIKO-sensei for the first time. In a way, it was a day that determined my "GIFT", and then "Notte Stellata", "Fantasy on Ice", and various ice shows. I think it was the day that Yuzuru Hanyu's future was decided.

Has the past year been long?

-I think that this one year was quite short. So many things happened. There were a lot of things going on and I didn’t really have time to catch my breath, so the year seemed too short. But when I say 365 days, if I look at each one of them, each day carries its own weight, I think I’ve spent fulfilling time every day.

Yuzuru Hanyu's new journey begins with "Prologue" (2022.11)

"Prologue" (2022.11) Yuzuru Hanyu's first solo ice show after turning professional

When I made "Prologue", the first thing I thought about was that there was something called "GIFT" that was like the main story, and I wanted this to be a prelude to it. I thought it would be nice by looking back on my life, it will remind them of this when they see “GIFT”, so I created ‘Prologue’ to serve as an introduction to explain the story. In fact, when I finally finished "GIFT" to the end, I really thought that it was like a prologue to my current life now. I feel once again that I want to do my best so that I can continue to produce various chapters of the main story, like the first chapter, the second chapter, the third chapter, and so on.

It was also the prologue of your life, right?

-In fact, initially I just had "GIFT" in mind when I was creating it. However, the story changed in many ways as I progressed and started to skate, and I also received various thoughts from fans. As I went along with the story and the programs, various values emerged in my mind. Through this process I felt like my life as a professional skater had gradually started all over again.

Tokyo Dome performance “GIFT” (2023.2.26)

The first solo Tokyo Dome performance by a skater, Yuzuru Hanyu's life and future on the ice

-It feels like it happened a long time ago, right? But it’s only been half a year, it's strange honestly. If someone says that two or three years have passed, I would believe that indeed that much time has passed. To that extent, I feel that I have done something where I left my soul in the work.

What kind of "GIFT" did you receive from fans?

-Well, I'm a pessimistic person, I think negatively about a lot of things, and I have various constraints within myself, but I realised my existence can also be of use to someone. I think this realisation is the gift that I’ve received from everyone. During the show, there were various effects, lighting, and the light from the wristbands that everyone was wearing. Whenever I saw these, among the 35,000 lights, even if it was just one person, if it makes them feel some colour or emotion for a moment in this world, then it makes me think that my existence is a good thing.

[There were many things that I couldn't do, but little by little, I could do more. Each time, the world became warmer. I loved that world. That’s why I wanted to become warmer and warmer, by learning to do more - Quote from [GIFT] narration]

-When I looked back on my life so far, I had this image of being involved in skating and have been living with skating, but when I dug deeper into why I chose skating, I realised that I liked that world when skating went well. I wondered how I could convey this feeling to everyone, regardless of age or gender, in an abstract way. If the whole world could be like the warm world that I am talking about, then maybe everyone could be kinder. I chose those words with this in mind.

Did you enjoy directing?

-It's fun, but at the same time I feel like I have to dig into a lot of things within myself, and in the process, I found that I've been carrying all kinds of walls within me or I've neglected some issues. So that is tough, but I'm sure by reflecting on myself deeper in this way, I can purify my thoughts. The various suffering you may be carrying, such as pain or loneliness, I hope that if I show you my own heart, it can be an opportunity for everyone to re-examine their hearts a little more closely. This is what I think about most now that I am involved in production and direction.

YUZURU HANYU x [TRAVEL]

-Physically, traveling to different countries or other places was only for competitions or expeditions. In that sense, I may not have ‘travelled’, but I often went abroad, and even went to many places in Japan for competitions. Even now, I go to many places to perform in ice shows.

What do you bring on board a plane?

-Earphones, audio player, battery, a game console, what else, supplements, I think. It's heavy every time. There were batteries and various cables, and there were about 5 earphones in the case, so every time the inspectors from overseas would ask, "What are these?” I will be stopped.

5 earphones are too much, isn’t it?

-Maybe there are too many cables.

How do you spend your time on board?

-For example, when it comes to traveling before a competition or a show, I would spend most of my time thinking about the time difference, stretching, jet lag, and so on. I would calculate these things, considering how much sleep I could get and also making adjustments to make sure that I could get the right amount of sleep. But on the way back, I would be completely free. Since I could spend my time as I wanted, I would play games of course, but I also liked to look back on my performances during the expedition, or look at the clouds outside the window, the sun above the clouds, and the way the light reflects off the clouds.

Do you prefer the aisle seat or the window seat?

-I like the seat next to the window. I think it's great that airplanes can go above the clouds, even if it's cloudy or rainy. Of course, there are times thick clouds will make it difficult to reach above, and there may be a turbulence, but you know that there is always a sun above the clouds during the day, and there is the moon at night, I really think that is a unique sight on the plane. The rays of the sun, or the light of the moon reflecting through the gaps or the uneven surface of the clouds really look like a scenery out of this world. No two sceneries are ever the same, they change every 0.1 second. I think there must be some meaning in having encountered such a scenery. I like spending my time on the plane like this.

What are your memories of your travel time?

-When I was a student, I spent a lot of time on airplanes doing reports or research. When I had to travel from Canada to Japan or other countries, I had a lot of time, so during those times I tried to finish my assignments on the plane so that I could concentrate on my performance. Of course there were people around me, but when it was dark and I only had my book and reading lamp on, I felt as if I was in my own space, so I was able to concentrate and relax while doing my assignments.

What's your routine for the day you depart on a trip?

-When I go on a travel, usually there must be a competition scheduled, so I try to clean my room as much as possible before I leave, not to make a wish, but to prepare myself for the performance. After all, tidying up the room is like a time for me to put my thoughts and feelings in order. Especially when I pack, things tend to get messy, so I try to keep it as clean as possible. Yes, I try to tidy up every time before leaving.

It's amazing how you can tidy up when you have the least time.

-It’s really hectic, but on the contrary, I will feel uneasy if it is not organised. Sometimes I’d think about ‘I didn’t tidy up here, will I make a mistake in my performance?’. I’ll get caught up in the thought. So, every time I’ll point my finger to confirm and say, ‘Ah, this is sorted, that is sorted’. It is always like this.

FLIGHT LOG: What does "journey" mean to Yuzuru Hanyu?

A mirror to know yourself

Finding a mirror in the middle of life

-For example, it's really difficult to feel your own existence in the dark. If you were to stand somewhere with all five senses gone, and stay there for hours, you would lose track of who you are, you couldn't touch anything, you couldn't feel anything. After such an experience, when you go outside and feel various things, you can really feel that you are alive, can't you? That's an extreme example, but I think that maybe we’re experiencing the same thing in life. As we live our lives feeling all kinds of things, I'm sure that at some point we’d feel lonely and become isolated, and there must be something that can only be felt because we’ve been in the darkness once. I think that it's because we're able to feel such things that we come to understand our own existence. Those stories and events are like mirrors, and we live our lives searching for where that "mirror" is. I think that this is the so-called journey of life.

- (Wearing the captain’s uniform) It's embarrassing, it's embarrassing. I don't get a chance to wear this often, so I'm very nervous. It's so embarrassing.

What is the key point to distinguish a captain’s uniform?

-Line?

Yes, the captain's uniform has 4 lines, and the co-pilot's uniform has 3 lines.

-It definitely has a weight to it. It makes me nervous, and excited at the same time.

With Hanyu dressed as the captain, let’s move to the next scene!

(Virtual Tour)

-Wow, awesome. This is fantastic. It’s so dreamy. Wow, I can feel the Earth.

How many countries have you been to so far?

-About 16. I went to many places in Europe in my junior years, like Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, and more recently Sweden. I guess a lot of European countries. Of course, I also went to Canada, the U.S., and Russia. There were people who I competed with and improved together in these places.

Where was your first international competition?

-The first time I participated in a competition was in Finland. Tampere, Finland. Ah, I found it, it’s so big (points to the map).

[Tampere, Finland. Finland's second largest city. Since it can be accessed from the capital Helsinki in as little as one and a half hours, it is a popular city for day trips. You can enjoy nature while cruising the lakes and rivers.]

-I was 9 years old, and I celebrated my birthday in the airplane. I turned 10.

On the plane?

-Yes. I'm not sure if it was on the way there or on the way back, but I was told that I could see the Northern Lights. I wanted to see it, but I was on the aisle side so I couldn't see it at all. I really wanted to see it.

Was there any celebration on the plane?

-No, not at all. At that time, even though it was before my birthday, I already had my birthday present in my hands. I thought it was a great event. My birthday was on December 7th, and I left on the 6th, but I was really happy to have the birthday present already. I was feeling like “Not until the 7th, it's not my birthday yet, so I shouldn't open it yet”.

What were your memories of your first international competition?

-It was my first international competition and I was very confident, but in fact, I was competing in a category higher than usual. Generally speaking, it would have been impossible to win, but I won somehow. It was the ‘Santa Claus Cup’, so all the judges were dressed up as Santas. That was very memorable.

So Santa Claus gave you the score?

-Yes. Back then, the scoring system was different from now. They were holding up scoreboards with a score of 4.3. It was a great competition like this.  

Were you nervous about competing abroad for the first time?

-No, I was an overconfident person at that time so I thought I could win no matter what. On the way there in the plane, I was listening to "Eikou no Kakehashi" (Bridge of Glory) thinking, "I've finally come this far", and I was feeling emotional. It felt like I was finally embarking on a journey out to the world.

Did you have time for sightseeing in Finland?

-Since it was my first competition, I wanted to do some sightseeing, and I had a little bit of time, so I went to a place called the Moomin Museum. You can look it up. I’m curious to see what it's like now.

(searching) It may not come up. Maybe I'll search for Tampere Moomin or something. Where is it. Ah found it.

Is this it? Wow, that brings back memories. I don't remember it being this big. It looks quite spacious. I didn't know it was this big. I went there at night at the time, I didn't remember it being that big at all. But I remembered the interior very well. There was a corner where you could experience all kinds of things, and there was an information section about the person who made it. Tampere is like the birthplace of Moomins, and I even bought a Moomin souvenir. It’s really nostalgic.

[Moomin Museum. Approximately 2,000 items are on display, including the original drawings of Tove Jansson, the creator of Moomin. Various interactive exhibits are also popular.]

-Wow, this is the first time I've seen it since then, it brings back memories. I think we went by car, but I don't remember how we got there. But it was December in Finland at the time, so there was very little sunlight. It was mostly dark. I think the sun was up for only about an hour or two at that time.

Memories of Europe?

-The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. (searching) From Denmark. Maybe this one.

[13 years old, a brief sightseeing in Copenhagen, Denmark]

-Ah, I went there. Ah, it was around there. I remember this place quite well. You can see the park from the street here. I passed through it to get there.

When did this happen?

-I think this was at the end of my first year of junior high school, around March. It’s quite nostalgic. This was the last time I was able to do any sightseeing during the competition. But I didn't have much time for sightseeing other than here and Tampere, so it’s a very memorable place for me. I think this was my last competition before entering the junior level. I was about 12 years old.

[Little Mermaid Statue (Copenhagen, Denmark). A bronze statue based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". It stands quietly by the sea as a symbol of fairy tale land.]

[Hanyu Yuzuru’s training ground. Canada] - (searching) As expected, cricket club may not be searchable, if I don’t type ‘Toronto’... Ah found it.

Yes. I often come here. Wow, Wilson Avenue. How long I’ve been here. Yes. This is my practice place, how nostalgic.

[Cricket Club (Toronto, Canada). The skating rink where Yuzuru Hanyu was based for about 10 years]

- I had been practicing at this rink for almost 10 years. Amazing. It was about three years before the Sochi Olympics.

Looking back now, what was your time in Canada like?

-Well, at first I didn't know right from left and I couldn't speak English, so I was full of anxiety, but I gradually started doing things like self-checkout and tried to stay away from English as much as possible in my daily life, and I gradually started to feel more comfortable.

[A Place of Growth: Hong Kong]

-I went to Hong Kong twice. I don't really have good memories of either since I couldn't win. In the first competition, I simply didn't have enough skill to win. And in the second competition, I was in an unusual situation where I couldn't even advance to the free skate, so I was really frustrated and I cried a lot. But then, for the first time, I landed the triple toe loop really cleanly. It was at a skating centre in a shopping mall and there were a lot of people watching, and they were cheering excitedly and saying how amazing (that kid) was, so I was really fired up at that moment.

It sure brings back a lot of memories.

-It does.

Did seeing the world lead to growth?

-For me I experienced a lot of growth in competitions, like when I first landed a triple jump, it was during a competition in Hong Kong. It was the first time I felt like I had landed a clean triple jump, but when I was training in Japan, I couldn't land it at all. As I thought, if I had a rival, someone to aspire to, or a good image right next to me, I felt like I could do it too. It seems like I had grown without even realising it.

[Yuzuru Hanyu’s hometown: Sendai]

-Sendai. Sendai has its urban areas, but there's also an abundance of greenery which is really nice. Also, the climate is very pleasant. It doesn't rain a lot, and it's not unbearably hot in the summer, and although it's cold in winter, it doesn't snow like it does on the Sea of Japan. I think it's really comfortable to live there.

As it is the town where I was born and raised, whenever I recall the various sceneries and think of the people who have helped me, I am filled with gratitude, and I often think about how much support I have received in order to get to this point. As such, I hope to give back in some way for the time, energy, and money that was spent on me, whether through my performances, donations or any other ways to express my gratitude.

[FLIGHT LOG: What does “the world” mean to Yuzuru Hanyu?]

Hope and anxiety, brought together by gravity

-It’s a combination of hope and anxiety brought together by gravity. The world, through my experience in all the competitions and travels I have been on, is that it is full of hope, it gives me hope, it teaches me things, it makes me happy, and when I come back to Japan, I can come back with that hope in my heart. But there is also a sense of anxiety when I travel, a culture that I don't understand, or a language I don't understand, or other things that are different, and these things are also part of the world, which is brought together by the gravitational force of the earth and the connection between people and the community. I think it’s a collection of various things.

What is the charm of travel?

-I think just making a lot of plans for a trip and thinking, ``I want to go here'' or ``I want to go there'' is already like a journey of thought. But when you actually go and try things, you'll experience many things up close, or you'll feel scared when you're there, or maybe not everything will go smoothly. That's why there’s a sense of thrill, and that thrill will turn into excitement and joy. I think that's what makes traveling fun.

A message to everyone who challenges the world.

-I think it would be more difficult to find something that doesn't make you anxious when you start out in a new environment. Honestly, at that time, I was excited every day taking on new challenges, and if it was something I liked, I would be thrilled to move forward to the next step, and proceed with much curiosity and excitement. But if I take a step back and think about it calmly, I’m sure that at the same time there is anxiety attached to it too. I think that hope exists not only because things go well, but also because there are things that do not go well. So it is definitely okay to feel the fear of taking on a challenge. The sense of accomplishment you feel when you succeed after trying is surely multiplied many times because of that fear. I believe it turns into joy.

I am sure that everyone is challenging themselves every day, not because they have a goal in mind, but just by living life, you keep challenging yourself. Even if you are never praised for doing things that others think are normal or taken for granted, I think for some people that life will be happy, and for others that life may be boring. So, I believe that by just thinking that you are challenging yourself every day and moving forward, your value ​​of happiness will surely change too.

After becoming a professional, for me, improving my skills and acquiring various ways of expression are my daily gifts. I challenge myself every day, encounter failures, but there are fewer instances that lead to success, so I think I'm accumulating failures every day. But that may be skating for me, for you that may be housework, or that may be your daily work. But I've come to value those small daily failures and joys, and I want to cherish that happiness too.

(end of Virtual Tour)

The second journey in my life

-Talking about it, I now feel like I’m on the second journey in my life. For me, the first journey was up to the Pyeongchang Olympics. When I started that journey, my goal was to win the Olympic Games back-to-back. At that moment, I think that my first journey had already ended. Four years passed from there that led to Beijing, but I don't really think of the time leading up to Beijing was much of a journey.

It’s Pyeongchang, not Beijing?

-Well, I think that for everyone, it’s probably Beijing, or till the day before the press conference. But for me, Pyeongchang was the moment when my dream came true. I think that the first journey ended there, and looking back now, I think after that it was the preparation period for my next journey.

[What was Yuzuru Hanyu’s “First journey of life?”]

-In my mind, travel is a kind of journey to look at oneself, to touch on various things, to gain various insights, to find out what one wants to do, etc. I think it's like a journey of self-discovery, but in a way, my first journey was not like that. It was pretty much like a predetermined destination, and I was being taken there on an airplane. The route was already decided, there were probably various layovers along the way, and amongst those stops, I'm sure there were things like this stop was good, or the next option was better, or that this plane was better, etc. But looking back now, I didn't feel like I was navigating it myself.

[And now, to the “Second Journey of Life”]

-To be honest, I don't really know where my destination is. Maybe as I gain more and more experience and re-examine myself physically, my thoughts, and various other aspects, I may come up with a destination that I want to aim to. But for now, I'm just flying until I run out of fuel, and when I feel like I need to refuel at a certain point, I’ll make a stopover, refuel and fly again.

I’m curious, what kind of fuel does Yuzuru Hanyu use for his airplane?

-I wonder. It's really difficult, but it runs out of fuel all the time. I wasn't the captain on the first trip, there were maintenance crew, assistant staff, I had a lot of supportive people around my seat and I spent my time being very dependent on that support. Now I'm more like the captain and also the control tower. Of course, I’m in charge of the approach of the plane that I'm flying, but I also have to detect the radars of the planes flying around me, thinking about what to do, so in a way it's a bit chaotic.

So, it feels like my fuel runs out very easily. If you ask me what fuels me, well, I guess it's the impressions and the reactions on everyone's faces when I perform. After all, I’d like to know how everyone felt about my performance, the thoughts I put into it, the various techniques and expressions I put into it, how those things were conveyed to the audience, what they liked about it, what they were interested in, and so on. I think that maybe that’s the fuel for me.

[The many "walls" I've encountered in my life's journey]

-The "wall" is there every day. I think about various things every day, and every day there are moments when I feel like “I want to do this”, or “I can't do what I want to do”. I wonder how to overcome that, how to face it, should I just give up today. I think there is some kind of wall that exists every day. The thickness of the wall varies from day to day, and there are days when I have to put a door on the wall, or climb over it, or kick it down. I feel like I spend my time every day looking at and colliding with the walls within myself and my heart in some way.

How did you overcome the obstacles?

- I don't actively try to overcome them much. For example, there was the injury I got when I collided with someone in China, also I've had a lot of injuries myself and I remember how I felt when I got injured at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and in Beijing Olympics I got stuck in a hole and made a mistake in the short program, such are the various obstacles in competition. And I still feel the towering wall that stands in the way of my quadruple axel dream, but more than that, I think that there are ‘walls’ in just living each day. I'm sure there are many different routes out there, and I have to make choices every day, and when making those choices, I wonder if there will be an obstacle in the way or not, or if there will be obstacles later on. I think that's the biggest ‘wall’ for me.

FLIGHT LOG: What are the words that Yuzuru Hanyu value?

-What I value, yes. “Never forget your original intention”.

This is a phrase that I have always treasured ever since I was in junior high school, and it is also my motto. Whenever think about various things and work hard towards something, there will be times that I feel like my footing is unsteady. It is common to gradually forget the feelings you had when you first set out to achieve it, so if I can live without forgetting those initial feelings, I think I can overcome most things. When you start something, you’re probably having fun or enjoying it. You begin with that feeling, being curious and wanting to move forward, but gradually that feeling fades away, it becomes monotonous, and you lose the joy of it. Such things happen. I think it would be nice to always feel something like that initial joy or sense of accomplishment you get as you grow.

How have you taken care of yourself?

-I think I'm probably strongest when I'm thinking about skating, so in a way, those moments may be a situation where I’m taking care of myself. When I move away from skating, my existence… in a way, I think that my skating, the people who watch me skate and my programs are like a mirror of my existence, so I think those moments are the most comforting for me. However, the most difficult moment is when all the effort and preparation I've made, all the things that I've carefully imagined, doesn't translate into results or reflected in my skating, and it's not just my fault, but all sorts of factors pile up which prevents me from doing it the way I wanted. That’s most painful for me.

When you hit a wall, what should you do? Do you have any advice for everyone?

-I think it's good to feel a lot of walls. There are times when you can overcome them if you try, but there are also times when you think you can't overcome them. And before you know it, someone may become your ally and open a door for you, or someone may also tell you that there is another way without breaking down the wall, and I think it's okay for various ways depending on the circumstances around you and how you feel at that time. So, experience many obstacles, think about what you have now, or return to your original intention and think, ‘Why did I come up against this wall?’, or look back in retrospect at the various obstacles you have faced and reflect what you have done repeatedly to get here. I think it is good to have such an opportunity.

[FLIGHT LOG: Captain Yuzuru Hanyu’s journey. Where are you heading to?]

-Uncertain future. I don't think that the person I will be in a second from now has everything decided, and looking at the person a second later, the current self is already in the past, and that is the path in front that I have already walked. All this while, when I was chasing various goals and dreams, I didn't know how the journey would turn out, but I could see the goal, and even though I didn’t know if it was certain or definite, but I have always lived my days trying to make it certain. To be honest, I don't know where the destination is now, but I think that the present is possible because the future is not decided, and the future is visible because it is not certain. I think that is the purpose and goal of my journey from now on.

Are you enjoying the journey now?

-It's not fun, to be honest. It's funny that it’s not fun. But I think I'm having a fulfilling life every day, thinking about various things, absorbing many things, learning various things, and then from there it would be great if I could find a mirror each day in which I can re-examine my existence.

[A message from Captain Yuzuru Hanyu to everyone]

-Thank you for watching. I look forward to seeing you again soon on your journey through life.

Source: Own video audio transcript

Online video: https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:5046894632566792

[wenellyb]

I’m going to be controversial and say a big moment is maybe a break up but not in like bucktommy bones 🤪 way but in a way that if something happens to Bobby I don’t think he’ll be in a the headspace for a relationship 😭😭 but then in season 8 we see Tommy be there for him in the most smallest ways and worms his way back in (he’s not doing it on purpose he’s accepted the break up but buck is still a friend whose grieving so he’s there for him) and buck is like actually no dick really will help me get through grief what was I thinking and they get back together.

Hi Anon!!! I don't mind the headcanon as long as it's not done in a hateful way.

I don't think something will happen to Bobby because 911 is not the kind of show that kills off their Mains, they might do it with side characters but I'm not sure this is where they're heading. But yeah something big is probably going to happen.

If it does happen, your theory might be right about Buck not being in the roght headspace.

The problem with this season being so short is that we obviously missed some scenes due to time constraints so we don’t know how long Buck and Tommy have been together. I would agree with your theory if they had just gotten together (just a couple of months).

But if Buck and Tommy have been together for some time, Tommy would be there for Buck, no matter what he's going through.

The scene with Bobby let me think that Buck and Tommy are serious and have been together for a little longer that what we may think.

TL:DR: Headcanon accepted but I think it will depend on how long they have been dating.

As long as they get back together, I'm good! This is a drama series after all.

[sixth-light]

Love your Wheel of Time posts on the impact of Jordan's time in the Citadel on his understanding of the world. Have gotten to book 13, the Black Tower focused sections- do you think if Jordan has survived to write that book, the Black Tower would have its own version of gay-for-the-stay pillow friends?

Hmm, interesting. In general I am very reluctant to give dead authors credit for stuff they never got a chance to do. You see a lot of this around for example Terry Pratchett, where people are pretty quick to claim he would have taken X or Y opinion (also an opinion they hold) due to the generally progressive trajectory of his work.

And, like, maybe he would have! And maybe Jordan would have had gay Asha'man! You can certainly see a more openly queer trend in the parts of the series he wrote as it went on, though still under certain pretty strict constraints. I think ultimately I'm less interested in the question of whether people might one day have done those things had they lived longer, and more in where they fit into the wider picture of queer representation in fiction. I think it would be utterly wrong to say Jordan would never have represented queer men in the text of his work, and it seems likely on the balance of things had he done so, it would have been similar to the way he represented queer women. (I would be remiss if I didn't note there's been plenty of discussion about how the subtext of WoT resonates for a lot of queer men - even if it's not as explicit as for the women, there's not nothing there!)

But I think it would also be wrong to say he certainly would have. That door is shut. All we get for sure is the knowledge of what he did write for publication when he wrote it, and the knowledge that he was willing to be a lot more frank in his personal notes and worldbuilding material about sexuality than he was in his actual work - which was not because SFF of the time made it impossible to depict queer men. Not doing so was the choice he made when he had the choice. That's not meant as a judgement on him or a declaration he should have done it differently; it's just the reality of what he did.

Now, if the question is "how would Jordan have depicted gay men had he been willing to do so" then yeah, 100% we would have seen Asha'man hooking up because there were no women, that seems to have been his baseline understanding of homosexuality (see also Shalon having an affair with Ailil because her husband was somewhere else). In fact, I suspect the whole thing he set up with wives/girlfriends accompanying men to the Black Tower was to avoid having to write the Asha'man sleeping with each other! It's kind of noticeable that in absolutely none of Jordan's societies that we see significant depictions of (i.e. I'm not counting places like Shara) are there ANY celibate/separatist male groups. Even the Whitecloaks, unlike some of their historical inspirations, have no expectation of celibacy or avoidance of relationships with women.

No-homo-ing his way towards greater involvement of women in society is the most Robert-Jordan-esque thing RJ could have done as a writer. You kind of have to respect it.

[kristailine]

Tekken 8 storymode thoughts/rant/review

Obviously will contain spoilers

But I have to say that

Surprisingly, I really liked Tekken 8's story (which is something I really didn't expect. I was preparing to gaslight myself that I liked the story because I was expecting a mid plot. But I can definitely say that I genuinely enjoyed this installment's storymode)

I'm going to remove my kazujun stan lens for this review

Jin has always been an after thought to me. The only time I care about him is if it's connected either to Kazuya or Jun (as a kazujun shipper). But the way he was written in Tekken 8 added layers to him and developed his character well. Don't get me wrong though, IT WOULD NEVER REALLY ERASE THE FUCKED UP SHIT THEY DID WITH TK5-7, but Tekken 8 was sweeping up some of the garbage left behind.

I always joke about Jin and his war crimes. Obviously, waging war is bad irl, but this is fiction okay. Anyway, Tekken 8 somehow managed to make me really feel like Jin didn't want to wage war. It was more of a result of his own self deprecation. Add to this, he was already suicidal before he took over the Zaibatsu, but after Tk6, he just really sulked into the idea of having to carry his sins and let it define him for the rest of his life.

The way they turned Jin from this guy who's hopeless and is submerged in his own hatred towards his bloodline and himself to this guy who finally acknowledges that all of the bad things are a part of who he is, but it doesn't have to be who he completely is, was really really really written decently. This whole character development with Jin instantly makes Tekken 8 on par, if not equal to, Tekken 4 story writing. And I was really impressed and blown away with how they unfolded the development. Because I really didn't want the romanticization of all his past mistakes, and his allies just cheering him on. Instead, his allies actually acknowledge JIN AS A DEVIL literally and figuratively (e.g Hwoa saying Jin has those dope-ass powers, Leroy asking Jin who is he, Xiaoyu saying she isn't scared of Jin despite the devil look), but they all believed in the chance they gave him to atone for everything he's done wrong.

I wish we could've gotten more about the history of the devil gene. It's still a very vague concept, and I was kinda expecting Tekken 8 to answer most of the questions about it, but still no.

Although as a Jun stan, I'm upset she never really appeared in the real world, I have to say that I really like how they still kept going with Jun's persona as a mysterious woman. If you see a previous post of mine, I have always been scared that Tekken 8 would finally be the franchise who would ruin Jun's character, but they played safe with it. She's still as mysterious as ever, but they allowed her to show more of her kindheartedness.

Like I said, I really wish we could've gotten more. I wish we could've also got to explore Kazuya's perspective. It's been like 6 consecutive games, and we still haven't had a storymode that focuses on Kazuya's character (always the one sided villain). Although, I understand why they couldn't do it (maybe because of budget constraints, and it would really diminish and compress the quality of Jin's char dev if they're gonna focus on both of them). I'm assuming at least that we get Tekken 9 and have it shine a spotlight on Kaz.

Overall, I really liked it. It gets an 8/10 for me!

More things I kinda didn't like:

- Where the hell is Yoshimitsu???? He appears in the tournament and then goes Bye Felicia once Kazuya absorbed Azazel LMAOOOOO. His bio about investigating the Mishima bloodline and whatever didn't really reflect on the storymode :<<

- Nina and Steve.... Uhhh.... We already had them in Tk 7, and I was at least expecting that they would continue it in Tk 8

- The Asuka Kazama erasure.... She's just treated as another one of the side characters at this point. I fear she's just only in the game now because of Lili. She's very underdeveloped and underutilized and I feel so sad about it :<<

Tekken has a very interesting set of characters with amazing dynamics and chemistry with everyone else. It has a huge amount of lore to explore as well. And they could really do better by exploring and developing most of the characters. Here's to hoping we get a story expansion DLC not just for the main story, but also for the other beloved characters in the game.

[sharpexgoodwin]

I do think Tim’s decision to wrap up the show was a good decision especially with the strikes happening at the moment. However, I feel like there was still so much more stories to tell with the characters and so much more that they could have done if we got another season.

Some things I wished we could have seen this season and if we got a season 5:

A prom episode: I would’ve loved to see how rina, madlyn, seblos asked each other to prom. I feel like prom episodes always bring some sort of drama as well so that would be interesting to see how that played out!

More focus on Ricky’s future: I wish we got more of a focus on Ricky deciding what he wanted to do in the future. We did get a little in season 4 but i felt like it was a bit rushed. I was really happy with how they handled Kourtney’s college storyline this season though!

Kourtney and Jet: I understand this season has already so much going on so it was hard to flesh out Jetney but if we did get a season 5, I would’ve loved to see them more and their dynamic.

Boys and Back and Just Wanna Be With You: I feel ROBBED !! I wish we could’ve gotten these performances this season. I feel like they had plans to preform them but because of time constraints they couldn’t. Also Jet mentions the place he felt the happiest was preforming the Boys and Back with Ricky, it would’ve been nice to see the moment he told he realised that and not just have it told to us.

Emmy: if we got a season 5, I would’ve loved for us to learn more about Emmy. She was so funny this season !!

Maddox and Jet: same as the last point. As Maddox said in episode 406 they just got here and I wish we could’ve learned more about the both of them and even regarding Jet why did he get expelled? How’s their home life?

I loved season four so so so much!! I believe they wrapped it up the best they could as well! I just want more of the wildcats on my screen. I hope we get a movie/spin-off or something !!

[skeletonpunching]

Buddy Daddies interview with Ayase

Interview with Ayase (musical artist for the opening theme, SHOCK!)

Interviewer: What impression did you have of the series "Buddy Daddies", which features "SHOCK!" as its opening?

Ayase: When I first received the basic rundown of the series, I thought, "This girl's (Unasaka Miri's) level of cuteness is going to be really essential when it gets animated." And then I actually saw the footage, and Miri was absolutely adorable.

Interviewer: Did the anime production staff have any specific instructions for the composition of the song?

Ayase: They didn't really request anything specific. Just that since it's meant to be an anime opening song, they'd like something more fast-paced, rather than mellow... That was the vibe they were going for, and it was what I had in mind as well.

Interviewer: How did the worldview and atmosphere of the series inspire your ideas for the song?

Ayase: I knew that the plot of the series was the protagonists parenting, and so I wanted to use that as one of the themes of the song - the part where they confront the question of "love", and find themselves steadily changing. But in fact, this song isn't entirely about the series itself; it's connected to the series, but it addresses the themes of what I've personally experienced in life, and my feelings about the responsibility of loving others. 

Interviewer: And is that also what inspired the title "SHOCK!"...?

Ayase: When you're emotionally devastated, or when you've turned away from precious feelings like romantic love, you suddenly meet someone who has a huge influence on your mindset and your way of life. The title is connected to the anime storyline, but it also expresses that sort of tremendous effect. "SHOCK!" is meant to literally convey that impact.

Interviewer: Is there anything you were especially concerned with when creating the song?

Ayase: I'm usually part of a group called YOASOBI, where I have the role of composer - I focus exclusively on songwriting. But YOASOBI's central concept is "making novels into music", which means I'm always drawing inspiration from other people's stories and sentiments for my own writing. So I inevitably come up with a lot of songs that have strong narratives and thematic messages.

This time, I was inspired by "Buddy Daddies" as well, but since I was performing it as a solo vocalist, I wanted the phrasing of the lyrics to also reflect my own personal tastes to some extent. I was trying to make something that would be easy listening, and could be enjoyed with no constraints. But when I say "easy", I don't mean I didn't put any effort into it. What I mean is that I wanted people to enjoy it simply, and so I kept things simple and loose as well. It doesn't carry any sort of deep message - rather, it's about the fleeting doubts that surface as I go through life, the feelings I have for people who are kind to me, and the casual thoughts I have on a daily basis. I took all those things and focused on putting them into words. I couldn't have done this if I wasn't releasing it as a solo artist.

Interviewer: I guess it's different when you're performing the vocals yourself.

Ayase: I just thought, "Man, singing sure is fun." (laughs) I'm also a Vocaloid producer, so when I compose songs for other artists, I often send them a Vocaloid demo with Hatsune Miku first. But since I was performing this song myself, I recorded the demos with my own voice right from the start. I explored my comfort zone as I sang, and I had a lot of fun striving for the best results. 

Interviewer: Please tell us how you felt when you saw the opening sequence accompanied by "SHOCK!"

Ayase: I usually picture scenes in my head while composing, and since I'd gotten to see the "Buddy Daddies" character designs, I had thoughts of "it would be cool if they put in a shot like this at this point", or "that might be interesting". And I think it turned out incredibly close to what I had in mind. Of course, I didn't say anything like "I'd love an opening like this", so it's not like they were trying to reflect my preferences, but I could tell that they crafted the footage while taking into account the song's intent and atmosphere. So it made me very happy to watch it.

Interviewer: Is there anything you keep in mind when working on tie-in songs - not just the one for "Buddy Daddies"?

Ayase: Different musicians and artists all approach songwriting with different mindsets, and there will be more tie-in songs in future - for anime, commercials, and so on - but when I'm lucky enough to be chosen, I always want them to come away thinking, "I'm glad I worked with Ayase." That's my top priority, and I think that's how it should be.

I said just now that I produced this song simply and loosely, according to my own tastes, but I still thought carefully about the series. I want people to feel that I have a strong sense of professionalism and am producing work that no one else could do. Not just for anime, but for other tie-in songs as well - I don't just want to make cool songs. I understand that I've been called on for a certain purpose, so I want to create the best work I possibly can. That's why I give it my all, every single day.

Interviewer: How has the public reaction to "SHOCK!" been?

Ayase: When I release songs as part of my regular YOASOBI activity, or when a tie-in series gets broadcast, I'm usually very curious about the public reception. So I check online almost right away. But this time, since I was singing the song myself, I couldn't quite bear to see the reaction. Plus when the anime first started airing, I was really too busy to be on social media much. Honestly, I'm kind of scared to vanity-search myself this time. I've just been getting LINE messages from my family and close friends, saying things like "it's good", and of course that's a huge relief. As a vocalist, I still haven't built up a resistance to public reactions, so if anyone says anything mean I'll probably cry. (laughs)

Interviewer: Please tell us what you think are the selling points of this series "Buddy Daddies".

Ayase: It's got lots of comedic elements and lighthearted scenes, but the serious parts are also legitimately serious. And that also makes the comical bits stand out all the more - it's like a fun black comedy. It kind of has the vibe of a foreign series, and that's an interesting aspect I haven't really seen before.

Interviewer: Finally, please give a message to everyone who is enjoying this series.

Ayase: To all the viewers watching "Buddy Daddies" every week, I hope you enjoy both the opening sequence and the song "SHOCK!" Thank you so much for everything!