#legit all i can think of when i hear that song is 'so the hunt huh'

[itscaptaint]

Is That Alright?

Dean X reader

based off the song “Is That Alright?” by Lady Gaga

There’s probably grammatical errors, but I’m getting back into the writing game after a few years so cut me some slack...

“Why can’t I just be undercover as a bartender? That’s what I’m good at!” I argue with Sam as we are getting dressed for this shape shifter hunt. Somehow this asshat got me a legit job at the art museum’s gala tonight as the entertainment. I’ll be on piano all evening entertaining the guests as they peruse the old junk that the shifter is trying to steal. 

“Because this way if we get our cover blown, at least we will still have a set of eyes in the joint no matter what,” Sam says, straightening out his tie. “You’re also a musical genius, so that’s why.”

We’ve been tracking this shifter for days and we finally learned that it’s MO was expensive old shit. The art museum is holding their annual charity gala tonight and it will be the perfect time for extra bodies to be in the building unnoticed. Sam was the brains on this one which is why I’m stuck in the public eye all night, Sam is working security and Dean will be hanging out behind the bar. At least if Dean is slinging drinks all night, they’ll be free. 

“Are you two ready-” Dean starts to groan rounding the corner and stops dead in his tracks, staring at the long velvet green dress I scored from the closet of the shifter’s last vic. It’s simple, long sleeved with a deep V neck and a slit up the leg that shows a little more than I’d like. I can tell Dean is staring at the slit and I catch his eyes as they wander up to the neck line. By the time he reaches my face, he is pink with embarrassment. 

Not wanting to be gawked at, I turn instantly, grabbing my bag and gun and heading out towards the car. 

“Dude, seriously?” I hear Sam say through gritted teeth, thinking I was already out of earshot.

“What?” Dean whisper-yells. “I haven’t seen her dress up since…well it’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, that’s why you were staring.” I can only imagine that Sam rolled his eyes as he said that before heading to meet me in the car.

“Alright superstar, you ready?” Dean wiggles his eyebrows, sliding into the driver’s seat. 

“Not really, but at least I have the skillset,” I say, shrugging and sinking lower into the backseat to try and avoid Dean’s eyes in the rearview mirror. 

Back in college, I was a dance and theater major. I had grown up dancing and playing piano my entire life. It wasn’t until school that I realized I had a real knack for writing as well. I got really into writing short plays and original songs for musicals. After graduating, I was working at a nightclub in New York as a bartender and singer. Everyone in NYC is some sort of artist so we all had other jobs to help with that lifestyle. Most of the other people I worked with were actors and singers so we all played double duty behind the bar and on stage most nights. It was good practice for auditions and good money to get us through until the next gig. Unfortunately, the club I was working in was destroyed by a poltergeist. 

I’ve known the Winchester family my entire life. My family lived next door to theirs when I was little. Dean was my first friend. We were 4 years old and would always be playing in the backyard together. I remember my mom constantly having to drag me back inside for a lunch or dinner break. After their mom died, I remember Dean being really sad and I couldn’t understand what was really happening, but I just knew that my friend needed me. We talked about everything, and he told all about the man with the yellow eyes. It didn’t make sense at the time but I was a kid so not much made sense. Two years  later, he told me that he was moving, but he didn’t know where. That’s when John decided to hit the road and hunt down whatever killed Mary. Dean said that he would send me a postcard when they got to wherever they were going so that way it was like we weren’t going to be apart. 

The postcards and letters from Dean were coming as often as one a week. My dad would set them aside for me to read after school and then help me send one back. Even apart we were still best friends. As we got older, the letters were less frequent. We went from sending them once a week, to one a month, but life got busy. My family moved to Ohio and Dean was all over the place. I finally accepted that all the crazy stories he was telling me were true after John had to talk my dad through salt and burn over the phone once. 

I struggled when we first got to Ohio. It was the middle of my freshmen year of high school, I had no friends and I was super into dancing and playing piano.I was definitely labeled a dork the first day there. I obviously wrote to Dean to tell him all about it and his next letter came much quicker than they had been. He wanted to make sure I was ok. It was nice knowing that I had someone looking out for me even if he wasn’t there in person. Our letters were getting more frequent again and my dad noticed that I was getting a little too excited to hear from Dean. My dad, wasn’t dumb. He could tell that I was crushing on my pen pal. He tried to tell me that I was just crushing on the fantasy and the thrill of he adventure. Along with the letters, Dean had started sending pictures of him and Sam in cool places or doing silly little things. I never showed my dad any of those photos. 

My favorite photo came towards the end of my senior year. It was a picture of Sam and Dean standing next to a giant bear in the woods. They had gone up to Vancouver for what they thought was a werewolf hunt, but it turns out that it was just a bear wreaking havoc on the town. The caption on the back said big scary bear hunt, wish you were here to see this. A big scary bear hunt would be more exciting than trying to find a prom date. When I wrote back to Dean I wanted to say those exact thoughts and then beg him to come to town to go with me, but I chickened out. Instead I wrote back I’ll make sure to send a scary photo of me in a prom dress so we’re even.

As prom night approached, I had been so stressed about graduation and final exams that I hadn’t even realized that Dean hadn’t sent a letter in a while. A few friends that also didn’t have dates for the prom were over taking pictures and we were having a blast. This was definitely going to be a night to remember. The second we pulled up to the school parking lot, the sky just opened and start raining cats and dogs. Luckily we didn’t get too wet on the way in the building. By the time we got in, the music was going, people were dancing and I could tell there was already someone spiking the punch. I was having the night of my life. When the third slow song of the night started playing, I took that as my cue to go outside and hope it had stopped raining just long enough to get some fresh air. When I get to the main entrance I noticed a boy standing all by himself pacing back and forth in front of his car with a flower in his hand. I thought nothing of it until I realized what kind of car it was. 

“Dean?”

He turned his head so fast that he probably gave himself whiplash. “Hey, Y/n. Happy prom night.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask in total shock. 

“Well, you said you were going to send a scary photo in a prom dress, but I wanted to see it in person. Figured it wouldn’t be so scary that way,” we both chuckle and awkwardly just stand there for a few more minutes. “Oh, this is for you by the way,” he says, handing me the wrist corsage. 

“Thanks,” I say and I can’t help but blush. I could hear cheering from inside so that must mean that the music has picked back up. “Do you want to come in?”

“If that’s your way of asking me to prom, Y/N,” Dean sighed. “Then abso-freaking-lutely.”

Dean and I danced all night and when it was time to go we ended up driving to the park down the street to just catch up. The rain had stopped and it had turned out to be a pretty decent night so we just sat on the swings talking for hours. He filled me in on hunting life, I filled him in on high school and what I was doing after graduation. The plan was to study dance and theater at NYU and hopefully end up living in the city. Everything just felt right. It was in this moment that I knew I was falling for Dean. The way he talked about his family and how he took care of his brother when his dad was away, or the way he looked at me when I was telling the silliest of stories just made me feel slightly weaker than I should have. 

We were so into our conversation that we hadn’t realized it had started to lightly rain again until it started pouring. Dean took off his jacket and tried to shield us from getting wet. Halfway to the car I froze. I knew that if we got in that car and he took me home, I might not get the chance to do what I have been wanting to do all night. Dean turned around, having given up on the jacket at this point since we were already soaked. “Y/N, come on!” 

I still just stood there. Dean comes running up, grabbing my hand to try and get me to move, but when he does I resist, pull him in to me and slam my lips onto his. It takes me a second to realize what I’ve done before pulling away. What if he didn’t want this? What if he thinks of me like a little sister? What if he is with somebody else somewhere else? Thoughts crowding my head, I pull back and start to profusely apologize. 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I don’t know-” I was cut off by Dean pulling me back into our kiss. This time my thoughts slowed and shifted out of panic and into something else. It was something I hadn’t felt before but I liked it. We kissed for what felt like forever, forgetting that it was raining. When he pulled away he pressed his forehead to mine. “Was that alright?”

I just smiled the biggest smile I had ever smiled before. “Definitely alright.”

…..

After prom night, I hadn’t seen Dean or Sam much. I knew of their whereabouts and they knew of mine, but life got even busier. As much as I wanted to see Dean and talk about us, I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen. By the time I had graduated from NYU I had convinced myself that my feelings for Dean were just a school girl crush and that I could just get over it. The boys were hunting nonstop and I was focused on my career. I was so focused on my career that I had almost missed all the signs that the club was being haunted by a poltergeist. 

As soon as I figured it out, I had called Dean and Sam and they were in the city the next day and the problem was mostly solved. Things got a little hairy and unfortunately the club burned down and was going to need rebuilt. On the brightside, the poltergeist problem was gone. With the club gone and my job no longer existent, I had no way to pay rent so in a very quick turn of events, I ended up leaving the city in the back of the Impala and have been with the boys ever since. 

The night started slow. Sam was scanning security footage looking for any flares while Dean was trying to subtly touch every guest with some sort of silver. I was posted up at a gorgeous black baby grand piano all night and was much less focused on the hunt than I should have been. Guests were requesting their favorite songs, and some of them even asked if I had any originals I would be willing to play. I do have a few originals, but nobody has ever heard them before. Most of them are a tad too personal to be playing for this crowd, specifically Dean. 

Off by the bar, I see Sam and Dean deep in conversation. When we make eye contact, they flag me down. I announce that I’d be taking a short break and head down the hall to the main gallery. We barely make it down the hall and out of sight of the guests before I’m slammed against a stone statue and start seeing double. Well, just double of Dean. There was still only one of Sam, though he was knocked out in a crumpled mess on the floor. One Dean was laying on the floor scrambling to get out from under a painting that had come crashing down and one was strolling towards me without a care in the world. 

“Turns out shifting into the bartender is easier when he’s already half drunk,” the sauntering Dean said. “Even if he is a hunter.” 

I try to find my bag which has been knocked out of my reach when the shifter reaches me. “So you’re the pretty one he’s been drinking over all night.”

“Y/N!” I hear Dean yell. “Stay away from her, you son of a bitch!”

“‘Did you know that when we change appearance, we also get a little insight into what the human scum is actually thinking. Turns out, Deano over there has been undressing you with his eyes since you got here. But what I don’t understand is why he hasn’t done it before.” 

The shifter’s words meant nothing to me. I knew it was lying. Did I want Dean to think of me that way? Yeah, yeah I did. But this was not going to throw me off my game. My purse with my gun in it may have been knocked clear out of reach, but the knife I had strapped to my leg was already in my hands. Before I can let the shifter get any closer, my silver knife is through its chest and I’m shoving it away as fast as I possibly can to avoid any blood getting on this dress. Shifter hits the floor, Dean is finally on his feet and Sam’s eyes are back open. 

“What did I miss?” Sam groans, grabbing the back of his head. 

“Seems like Y/N had it taken care of,” Dean reached out his hand for Sam’s, pulling him to his feet. “Y/N, we can clean this up if you want to get back out there.”

“Uh,” I say looking down at my dress making sure I still look presentable. Don’t want the guests freaking out over a blood splattered dress. “Yeah, totally. I can go and finish up my set and then we can get out of here.”

“Hey, Y/N,” Dean runs over to me before I head down the hall. “You good? You look a little shaken.” Thinking about what the shifter said did shake me up a bit, but it’s not true. It can’t be true. 

“I’m good, Dean.” I pat his shoulder and head back to the gala. I stopped for a glass of wine on my way back to the piano when the event organizer stopped me.

 “Any chance you can play some of your originals? That crowd is getting a little rowdy with the classics. Maybe a few new songs will tone them back down a bit. I think the bartender is a little heavy handed on the pour.”

I glanced around for any sight of the Winchesters, knowing full well that they were going to be a while since they had to clean up our mess. If they aren’t here, then they can’t hear. “Um, sure. I’ve got a few that I can play.”

“Great! Thank you,” she says running off in the other direction to go deal with some big time buyers. 

I down the glass of wine and take my place back at the piano. A few guests clapped at my return. I take a deep breath and decide to slow things down a little bit for the crowd since it really has turned into a party out here. Well, here goes…

Life is so simple

A little boy, a little girl

Laughing and loving

Trying to figure out the world

It felt like summer

When I kissed you in the rain

And I know your story

But tell me again

Nothing you say wouldn't interest me

All of your words are like poems to me

I would be honored if you would take me as I am

I want you to look right in my eyes

To tell me you love me, to be by my side

I want you at the end of my life

I wanna see your face, when I fall with grace

At the moment I die

Is that alright?

Is that alright?

I hadn’t realized that the entire crowd had stopped everything they were doing to listen. I glanced up out of my trance to see everyone watching with eyes that were truly taken by what I was singing. Thank god Dean wasn’t out there listening to what I knew I would never be able to say to his face...

I hope you're still with me when I'm not quite myself

And I pray that you'll lift me when you know I need help

It's a warm celebration of all of our years

I dream of our story, of our fairy tale

Family dinners and family trees

Teaching the kids to say thank you and please

Knowing if we stay together that things will be right

I didn’t need to look up very much to see that furrowed brow and look of confusion that I hoped wouldn’t be watching. Can’t stop now, if he only knew this was all for him…

I want you to look right in my eyes

To tell me you love me, to be by my side

I want you at the end of my life

I wanna see your face, when I fall with grace

At the moment I die

Is that alright?

Is that alright?

Is that alright?

Finishing the last few notes was a relief. I loved this song, but it was too personal. I should have picked a different one. Luckily, the organizer was the first to applaud as she walked over with a mic announcing that the auction would be starting which was my cue to head out. I didn’t even take a second glance over at the bar to know that Dean and Sam had already headed out so I beeline it out to the Impala, hop in the backseat and sink as low as I can avoiding Dean’s gaze in the mirror once again. I was exhausted physically and mentally. I knew the ride was short but I closed my eyes anyway. The car was quiet and I took advantage of the silence to feign sleep. Turns out I actually fell asleep and didn’t realize it until I was plopped into my bed in the motel.

When I wake up the next morning, there’s a cup of coffee next to the bed already and Sam is sitting across from me at the table, laptop open. “Morning, Y/N.”

“Morning Sam,” I sat up realizing I’m still in my dress from last night. “Sorry I passed out on y’all last night.” I swing my feet out of bed and grab a t-shirt and shorts to throw on instead of my dress. As much as I was loving this dress, it wasn’t really daytime apparel. “Dean go to grab food?”

“I think so,” he shrugged.” He was gone before I got up. Should be back within the hour I assume. You wanna go for a run while we wait?” 

Sam was always down for a run. Dean hated all versions of physical activity which made zero sense. The man ate like a linebacker but was still fit as hell. It wasn’t fair. I change my clothes, lace up my shoes and head out with Sam. We reach a small pond at the end of the trail and realized where Dean actually went. 

“Did you run out here?” Sam asked, approaching Dean sitting on the sole bench next to the water. 

“Uh, yeah,” Dean scoffs, turning to look at us approaching his quiet time.

“Were you running from something spooky? Or was it voluntary?” 

“Fuck off, Sammy.”

“Language!” I scold as I finally make it up to Sam. 

“Ya know, it was quiet before you two hooligans showed up,” Dean scoffs standing up from what I have now determined was his hiding spot. We all just stand there in total silence for about a minute before Sam calls dibs on the shower and takes off faster than I’ve ever seen him run before. Clearly the silence was more uncomfortable for him than it was for me. 

“Guess he really wants a hot shower,” I murmur, turning towards Dean. “You wanna just walk back?” I shrug starting on the trail back when Dean grabs my arm and turns me towards him. 

“We gotta talk.”

“About…”

“Seriously? I heard that song last night, Y/N.”

Oh, so he did pay attention. Crap.

“It was just a song, Dean. Have you heard the crap on the radio nowadays? Songs can literally be about anything.” I try to get myself out of this confrontation. I was able to walk away from his grip for 4 seconds before he shouts at me.

“It was about us!” 

I froze in my tracks. “Dean,” I slowly turn around briefly finding his piercing green eyes. “There is no us,” I whisper, taking my eyes to the ground and shaking my head. “It’s just a song.” I turn back around and start walking as fast as I can back in the direction we came hoping I can get far enough down the road before involuntary tears start falling. I don’t make it very far. The tears start to fall and my steps slow. I freeze and let my emotions finally take over. I haven’t let myself feel what I had been wanting to feel in a long time. I hadn’t even realized that Dean had caught up.

“Did you mean what you said?” He whispered into my ear as he pulled me into his chest. “Do you really want me by your side? Because if you do, I want to be there.”

I pull away briefly looking up into his wet eyes. I want him so bad. He’s all I ever wanted. “Is that alright?”

Dean’s facial expression changes into one that is rarely seen. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s more than alright.”

[rended-symphony]

I LOVE UR HEADCANONS 💯‼️ nyways since requests are open can i maybe rq feral boys and how they would deal with a long distance relationship ? mine ended badly sooo i will be coping with this lmao 👍

honey 🥺 i’m sorry yours ended badly, i’m sure you’ll be better in no time !! (assuming “rq” means c! lol still gotta edit the “characters i’ll rite thingy but it’s fine sigwsjuswond but we all know i’m gonna make a second part with cc!’s 😐 love em to much bestie)

warnings : swearing

~ c!dream ~

- of course it’s long distance he’s in a prison wihwksys

- his smart little head made a system where he could send you letters after sam stopped letting you visit (you visited him like everyday he suspected SOMETHING)

- he always seems so overwhelmingly sweet in the letters. just

- “and my love, each and every moment without you i feel like i’m burning from my core”

- meanwhile technos hovering over his shoulder like “bestie wtf”

- if he ever escapes he immediately runs out and tries to find you. most people hear that and assume he’s gonna try to… ya know… game end you

- and them seeing you as an innocent, try to protect you meanwhile you shove past them to go kiss your villainess boyfriend

- he is very passionate about most things, mostly you though

~ c!george ~

- he just naps on kinoko kingdom all the time and you live in the old l’manberg area, literallyright next to the l’manhole (cough cough enemies to lovers, you fought for l’manberg and he fell for you while guarding the walls)

- whenever he’s up he makes sure to write to you, before going off to mess with sapnap and karl (and quackity when they eventually make up and he visits them all the time 😌👌)

- sometimes he travels to the main smp to visit you and those day are so relaxing

- just sitting on a hill, wtaching over the smp peacefully. knowing that now, finally, all the war is over

- dream xd got jealous at first but then he started spending time alone with you and adores you

- if george can’t bother with a letter he’ll just tell XD to tell you something for him since he can just teleport

- listen the postal service is absolutely shit and we all know it. like literally still trying to send letters between lovers that are shocked that celebrity tommy wifehaver innit died

- “hey can you go ask y/n if i can have that cake recipe? oh also add in a quick love you, please” “sure pretty boy”

- “y/n!!” “oh hey XD! what’s up?” “george says, “can i have that cake recipe? also add in a quick love you please!” and you pat his head and tell him the recipe <33

- he bakes as a pastime and nikki helps him out, their countries are very good allies and you and nikki hang out whenever your over there

~ c!sapnap ~

- he cannot take staying away from you all the time, cc!sapnap literally made facetime canon JUST so his oc could talk to his lovers oc and it make slight sense

- the general situation with karl and quackity is that their all dating but your dating sapnap, but none of the others, though you are pretty good friends

- he used to live with you before moving to kinoko with karl and george, and you still have half his stuff at your place because he’s their half the time

- all the workers at the train are friends with him, so used to him going back and forth

- puffy will be out on a walk in peaceful times and always go “oh, other half of the happy couples back? good for you, sweet cheeks.”

- the whole smp likes to just watch you go on the longest walks. legit walked all the way to the arctic after being away from each other for a while.

~ c!quackity ~

- he honestly low key prefers it

- he doenst want you to get all messed up with casino life, he does really miss you sometimes. definitely visits you and everyone else in kinoko though

- even in peaceful times Las Nevadas is a reck, they only times there aren’t any major fights is…

- when your around. honestly the citizens just have such high respect for you they wouldn’t dare

- doenst really bother with letters but rather he just. texts you through chat. it’s easier and he gets his responses quick okay-

- but, oh whenever he visits kinoko

- days are filled with sunshine and jumping from mushroom to mushroom shouting “parkour!!”, karl and sapnap following a small distance behind, all the citizens hearing distant giggles filling the whole country

- “michelle” is his favorite song to slow dance to and he has no clue why. he just loves the look on your face when he dips you at the second “you are a monster from hell”

- love slow dancing. cant say more, he just loves to kiss you while dipping you as far as he can without dropping you

- which he definitely has done

~ c!karl ~

- cannot stand being away so much, sends like two letters a day and donates a fuck ton of money so that they can actually get to you quickly

- he loves just knowing that you giggled so he does random stuff in the letters to make you giggle.

- from just making stupid little dick doodles to literally sending it in a monster can as if he was lost at sea, he’ll go all out

- sometime he’ll hear a random noise and think it’s you doing your funky little surprise visits, but turns out it’s just a sheep that got it’s way into the house :(

- devotes lots little things to you. just a ton of rocks around the country written “karl + y/n <3”, torn up pieces of song lyrics karl wrote about you, toasts drinks to you. the kids literally make a scavenger hunt on items that like those that they found and placed around the country

- okay hear me out here- hear me out- he refers to the sun as your name. BECAUSE YOUR THE LIGHT OF HIS LI-

- ever heard “sugar rush” by addison grace? anthem

[lunarthedragon]

Blind!Jaskier Idea

I don’t think I’m going to write a proper fic about this but the idea just had to come out. If anyone feels inspired and wants to write it? Please be my guest!!! Otherwise, hope you enjoy my excited rambling.

So, Jaskier is born blind. His eyes are still blue, but they’re clouded and blank. His parents, being wealthy nobles, want to fix this and go in search of a mage, paying anything they can to find a fix for this.

Unfortunately, this is destiny’s will and no magic can fix the baby’s eyes.

Though, one mage, a bit eccentric, and very creative, offers a spell that will permanently enhance little Jaskier’s other senses. His parents accept, because it might be the best they can do, and the spell is cast.

And it works far better than anyone could ever imagine.

Jaskier’s hearing rivals that of a bat, his scent like a hounds, taste like a snake’s, and, if he focuses really hard, he can FEEL changes in the air.

At first he screams as a baby, the new senses like torture, but he is young and adaptable and soon he becomes used to it and grows up extra sensitive to the world around him.

He learns how to ignore stimuli that hurt and how to focus until he can taste a fresh-baked pie in the air one town over. He wears silks and soft clothing, anything scratchy too painful on his skin, and wears perfumes that gently ease his scent.

And he falls in love with the sweet, sweet sound of music and cannot get enough of it! Learns how to play many, many instruments through touch and sound alone because a lute isn’t enough to sate how the music makes his sensitive ears feel. Give him a drum. Give him a piano. Give him a harp. Give him a flute. The list goes on and on, but lute is definitely a favorite.

His journey takes him on a very similar one as canon (I’m basing it off Netflix btw) and he meets Geralt, can tell he is different by his scent, and that he doesn’t comment on his singing in Posada.

He follows Geralt like usual and it takes the Witcher a far longer time than he’d like to admit to realize the bard is blind.

(”There’s no such thing as devils.”

“Right, well, whatever it is I can hear it’s heartbeat just around that rock, behind the two rows of bushes, and 40 degrees up.”

“...How...?”

Jaskier proceeds to push his low-hanging bangs out of the way and wave his hand in front of his sightless eyes.)

Jaskier spots things before even Geralt does. Things that can be helpful. Things that aren’t at all. He knows when an attack is coming... but that doesn’t mean he knows how to dodge or fight back. He’s still pretty useless in that regard. And just because he can smell a kikimora from a mile away doesn’t mean he knows how to track it across the land in between.

Still, he turns out to be far more helpful in everyday endeavors than Geralt expected.

And Jaskier has the easiest time reading Geralt’s emotions.

Witchers have feelings, everything does, it is a reaction of the brain when presented with particular stimuli that will hopefully lead to a longer, happier life. It is survival. Witchers, however, learn how not to EXPRESS their feelings. Namely through facial features.

But Jaskier can’t see facial features. He listens to people’s hearts. Their breathing. The shift of their muscles. Readjusting feet on the ground. Smell of particularly powerful emotions on the air.

Geralt can’t hide those. He’s an open book to Jaskier. Even his fainter scents are loud and clear to Jaskier.

(Jaskier is also incredibly talented at telling when people are lying, thanks to these things.)

Geralt and Jaskier also, as they become closer through the years, use Jaskier’s blindness to their advantage in other ways.

Jaskier is 100% down with making people feel bad for him so he can get things. He’ll milk the fact he can’t see, pretend he’s constantly struggling, hold Geralt so he can “lead” him where he needs to go, and even when the Witcher is around people are still more willing to lessen the price of rooms or food or get Geralt paid more for his contracts.

Geralt, at first, hadn’t been sure about it, but then Jaskier began claiming Roach was emotional support for him to the stablehands, which ended up getting the horse even more spoiled than before.

Geralt changed his tune after that.

And Jaskier will joke about being blind. He’s comfortable with it. Think this kind of attitude.

(Geralt, without Cat, dead of night: Careful. It’s gotten dark out. Can’t see a thing.

Jaskier: Oh no. What a nightmare.

Geralt: ...Sorry...)

Jaskier is GREAT with memorization, too! He’s educated and a singer, but he can’t write or read and braille hasn’t been invented, so he has to memorize EVERYTHING. It’s great for studies, for working on songs, and for winning arguments!

He’ll memorize the shapes of things, too, for later. Memorize the layout of a room for if he feels like not paying too close attention. Memorize the shapes of people’s faces when they allow him to touch and feel and understand.

It takes a while for him to convince Geralt to let him feel his face, but eventually the Witcher relents. Jaskier is soft and gentle and reverent when he feels out Geralt’s features, marveling at his beauty, coming through his hair that he knows is “white” only because people have told him so.

(Edit: I did not realize this was not, actually, a thing, but instead imagine Jaskier pretending it is, because he totally would. “Oh, you sound so beautiful, may I map out your face? It is a common thing for those like myself to request.” “Sounds legit.”)

And that’s the only thing... He doesn’t know what colors are. And the only time he cares to look good is when he’s performing since it’s a pain to correct his hair when he can’t actually see it, or feel through his clothes for the doublet and trousers that have a veeeeeery particular threading on the sleeves and pant legs that tell him they are the same color because the person that sold them told him so.

So, usually,  he still looks great because he’s Jaskier, but when he’s relaxing or in the wild his clothes don’t match and his hair is tussled and messy. (until Geralt begins fixing it, since Jaskier WILL take the time to comb out his white, long hair, make it perfect, and feel out how it should look while not doing it for himself.

“You deserve nice things, Geralt! I can’t even see my hair and nobody’s around, so who cares?”

“Hmm...” and he continues to fix the bard’s hair until he’s nearly purring.)

He still wants to know about colors, though, but no one can define them to him the way he needs.

Until Geralt, who realizes if a color is to be described to the bard, it has to be done using the other senses.

At first, all he can manage is “Red feels... hot. Yellow is... happy.” but Jaskier is still pleased by it and keeps asking, sightless eyes sparkling with excitement And Geralt vows to try a bit harder.

It’s the most he ever talks, explaining the part of the world that his bard can never experience, loving the way Jaskier leans towards him, even more than when he’s talking about a hunt, and memorizes every word.

It’s the most Geralt ever smiles, too, but Jaskier can’t see that.

[hiccanna-tidbits]

Do you maybe have some headcanons or Au or something for Moana x Merida? I really like that ship! 🤗and I like your moodboards with moanida! ^^

Anon I need you to know I am literally crying TEARS OF JOY because I have FINALLY received an Ask on this humble little blog and I am OVERJOYED

Yes, I would love to talk about Moanida!!!

I’ve got a few AUs I kinda play around with for them--might make moodboards of them one of these days! A couple I really like are a Mermaid AU and a Selkie AU, probably with Moana as the mermaid/selkie because of her ocean connection??? But I really like the idea of Selkie!Merida too, since it would go so nicely with selkies in Scottish folklore and all that. Either way it solves the geographical issue because they can just swim to each other!!! Also yes, these gay girls crossing literal oceans for each other is absolutely the hill I’m going to die on. I’m also a fan of a sort of Mythology/Goddess AU where like Moana is an ocean goddess and Merida is a volcano goddess of sorts akin to Te Ka with cool lava hair and scary volcanic rock skin and only Moana’s soothing ocean waters can calm her eruptive (heh, get it?) rage. And this also means FORBIDDEN SAPPHIC LOVE FORBIDDEN SAPPHIC LOVE FORBIDDEN SAPPHIC LOVE

Also MOANIDA HEADCANONS YESSSS

I thought up some just for you <3 Some are more general and some are more specific AU-focused so I tried to sort them by AU but there’s probably gonna be some overlap.

General ~Merida is THE most overprotective girlfriend. Like she knows Moana’s independent and can take care of herself, but she absolutely will not tolerate slander of or threats to her girlfriend of any kind. If Merida were to meet Maui at any period in the timeline where he and Moana weren’t really cool yet and he was still being kind of a dick to Moana, Merida would try to fight a literal demigod. She doesn’t give a single fuck. ~Once Merida hears about the Tamatoa Incident, she wants to fight every crab she sees. She also develops a taste for crabcakes and crab rangoons because she starts eating lots of crabmeat solely out of spite. Moana finds this endlessly amusing. ~Moana definitely has the braincell between them. She’s constantly having to hold Mer back and talk her down from starting shit. Merida would unleash the Rage of a Thousand Suns upon her enemies if given half the chance. ~Merida is very physically active and loves working out--she would work out twice a day if given the chance. She’s just really about those exercise endorphins. Moana makes her fresh tropical fruit bowls and tropical fruit smoothies for after her workouts. Merida adores these and eventually she absolutely refuses to drink any smoothies not made by her girlfriend. ~They’re both lowkey caffeine addicts. Merida usually loathes getting up early (unless it’s to work out or go riding with Angus) and will snap at anyone and everyone until she’s had coffee. Moana knows how to get her hands on these really amazing-tasting, obscure types of Polynesian coffee, so she hooks them up with The Good Stuff. After tasting the coffee Moana gets, Merida honestly never wants any other B-tier type of coffee again. ~They love to go sailing in Moana’s boat. In a modern AU where the boat has a motor, Merida likes to make them go really fast for the adrenaline rush and the feeling of wind in her hair. It kinda freaks Moana out to go that fast, but it’s honestly worth it for the look of absolute elation on Merida’s face, and the way she laughs and cheers the whole time. ~Sometimes they like to go out on more calm, tranquil night sails. Once they’re a ways out, they just lie on the deck and stargaze. Moana points out all the constellations to Merida and rambles about how to navigate with them. Merida just turns and watches her with this super-smitten look the entire time. ~Moana teaches Merida some Maori. She teachers her how to say “I love you,” and, at Merida’s request, how to swear. ~Sometimes Moana calls Merida Maori words Mer doesn’t understand. Merida gets mad because she thinks Moana’s insulting her. It turns out she’s just calling Merida a bunch of super sappy Maori pet names. ~Sometimes Merida and Moana just like to talk shit about people who are pissing them off IN Maori, so they don’t understand. ~Whenever Merida absolutely goes OFF on someone for saying something homophobic or sexist or whatever, Moana just stands back and crosses her arms and smirks, and says “Thaaaat’s my girl!” It absolutely never fails to make Merida blush like a madwoman and start blubbering like an idiot and lose her original point completely. ~When they fight, they are SO stubborn, petty, and dramatic about it that they can stay mad at each other for DAYS. For really bad fights, they usually end up needing a mediator (in a RotBTD+ AU, I imagine this would be Rapunzel, Anna, or Hiccup). ~Angus and Pua are best friends. No, I will not be accepting criticism at this time. They get into lots of hijinks and shenanigans, and sometimes they sneak out together and Pua likes to ride around on Angus’s back. When Pua and Angus go missing, Mer and Mo just kind of sigh like “Oh, they’re out adventuring again, aren’t they?” ~Angus also always protects Pua so he never has to be scared of adventuring again!!! Pua still remembers his and Moana’s disastrous first sailing attempt, and Angus makes sure little Pua never gets into danger like that again. ~Hamish, Harris, and Hubert ship it SO hard! Moana turns out to be really good with kids, and has even been known to assist with the boys’ mischief from time to time. They definitely think Moana’s a good person to keep their sister’s chaos in check while not being TOO much of a boring wet blanket stifling her fun. ~Sina absolutely ADORES Merida and basically adopts her and treats her like a second daughter. After hearing Merida doesn’t have the best relationship with her own mom and feels like her mom doesn’t try to understand her or respect that she’s different from her, Sina gets like...SUPER angry and and starts doting on Merida to an almost annoying extent. She never wants Merida to have to feel forced into being someone she’s not, since she saw that with Moana and how much it absolutely KILLED her to be kept away from the ocean. ~Tui is leery of Merida at first, mainly because she seems like she’s going to be a bad influence on his daughter. However, he eventually comes around to her once he sees how much she loves his daughter, and they bond over both being ridiculously overprotective of Moana. ~Fergus also adores Moana, and basically knew Merida was gay from the jump--them dating is 0% a surprise to him. He’s honestly just glad that his daughter has someone more rational and down-to-earth to prevent her from doing anything TOO stupid. ~Elinor meanwhile, traditionalist that she is, is NOT about this whole lesbian thing and would probably be pretty homophobic...at least at first (steaming hot take, I know, she’s just got tradition so far up her ass I don’t know if she’d EVER be okay with her daughter choosing not only to forego marriage to man COMPLETELY--not just delay it--but marry a woman instead, who she couldn’t produce an heir with. Also sorry but I do not like her and probably will not portray her particularly favorably in my HCs sorry not sorry lmao) Maybe she comes around, maybe she doesn’t. I’ll leave that up to your imagination. Although I am not an Elinor fan so I think you already know my take XD ~Moana is grey-asexual grey-aromantic, so she CAN be sexually and romantically interested in people, it’s just...very rare. Merida is basically the only person she’s ever wanted to legit date. Maybe she likes boys too, but she wouldn’t know--she hasn’t found any she’s into thus far. Merida, meanwhile, has always been a raging lesbian, and has had lots of crushes on girls over the years (in an AU where she has the opportunity to, anyhow--ARE there even any girls her age in Dunbroch??? XD). When her parents would read storybooks to her as a kid, she’d always finding herself getting doe-eyed over the “fair maidens” rather than the fearless, ripped warriors who saved them from danger.  No crush ever hit her quite as hard as Moana did, though. But Merida knows for a damn fact she isn’t into men--90% of the time she can’t stand them and their antics, and the only men she’s ever really felt any kind of affection for are ones in her family or ones who remind her of one or more of her family members. ~Moana makes Merida flower crowns. Merida grumbles endlessly about how “girly” they are, so Moana hunts down some black flowers to make one with so it’ll look a bit more badass and intimidating. Merida absolutely LOVES it and wears it everywhere. ~Merida teaches Moana how to horseback ride and how to shoot a bow and arrow. She’s pretty not great at either at first, but Merida is incredibly patient with her. This shocks everyone around them, because since when is Merida patient with anyone? ~Merida also teaches Moana swordplay, and they LOVE to spar with each other. Agressive flirting during sparring sessions is very commonplace. If anyone attacks either Dunbroch or Motunui, Merida and Moana are a force to be reckoned with. ~Likewise, Moana teaches Merida how to sail and some kinda basic naval combat skills (i.e. how to shoot that harpoon gun or whatever it was she used to fight the kikimora off). ~They don’t have sex that often because neither of them has that high of a sex drive, but when they do, Merida tops if a strap-on is used. ~Moana is the kind of person who just kinda sings songs to herself as she goes about her daily routine and her chores. Merida loves to listen in because she thinks Moana has the prettiest singing voice on earth. That doesn’t stop her from teasing Moana about “singing all the got dam time,” though. ~Literally ALWAYS cuddling and kissing when they’re watching something together or just doing any kinda idle activity at home together. These girls cannot keep their hands off of each other. They hold hands in public pretty much everywhere they go, and Merida yells at anyone who makes a fuss about it.

Modern AU ~They meet while Merida is studying abroad in Tahiti. Maybe because Maui (who’s Moana’s cousin or older brother or something) has a tattoo parlor, and of COURSE Merida goes in to get some edgy bow and arrow tattoo to piss her mom off. Or maybe Merida is just snorkeling in one of the coves on one of her days off, and she runs into Moana and they just Vibe. ~I also like the idea of them meeting at a bar/nightclub type place in Papeete--like maybe Maui owns the nightclub because he just likes to party like that, and he lets his little sis Moana poke around in there because he’s lowkey a terrible influence XD And maybe one night Moana’s bartending to make a little extra cash and Merida comes in and gets really drunk on like a huge Sex on the Beach or something and starts really clumsily hitting on Moana and Moana gets SUCH a kick out of it. Merida can’t remember much of the flirting the next day, but she and Moana still become fast friends. ~Merida is constantly ditching class to sneak off and go see Moana. Her grades are plummeting. ~When the semester abroad is over, they promise to keep in touch over the internet--although Moana also wants to write letters because she loves the idea of having a pen pal. Merida teases her mercilessly for being so “old-fashioned” but also doesn’t have the heart to say no. ~They end up confessing they like each other over internet chat. Merida damn well knows she’s gay and has for a while now, but she’s terrified of telling Moana she’s into her because she’s really scared Moana’s straight. So when Moana is the one who ends up confessing to Merida, Merida has literally never been happier in her entire life. ~Once Merida graduates, they decide to just say “fuck it” and move to some big seaside city together (for some reason I really like the idea of them living in Los Angeles???). Merida needs to get away from her overbearing mom and Moana just really wants to see more of the world besides the South Pacific, so away they go! ~BROADWAY MUSICAL NERDS BROADWAY MUSICAL NERDS BROADWAY MUSICAL NERDS! They both fucking LOVE musicals, especially those with sapphic undertones (Wicked, anyone?), and will loudly and obnoxiously sing along to the soundtracks, much to the chagrin of all their neighbors. They’re also pretty big theater fans in general--especially Merida, always rather the dramatic type. ~At some point they save up and go to see Wicked on Broadway together. The trip ends up being one of their all-time favorites, and their fridge is covered in goofy, dumb selfies of them in New York. ~Moana goes to every SINGLE one of Merida’s archery tournaments, and every single game of any other sport she plays. Literally no one cheers more boisterously or enthusiastically than Moana does. Whenever Merida hits a bullseye or scores a goal, Moana grins and nudges the people next to her (even if they’re complete fucking strangers) and goes “That’s my girlfriend!!!” ~Merida is a goddamn punk, and is always walking around in spiked jackets, combat boots, and basically any other clothing that says “don’t fuck with me.” She tried to start a punk rock band once, but it ended up falling through because no one would sponsor Merida’s angry screamo songs about smashing the patriarchy. Moana still went to all of their tiny-ass, tacky concerts though, for the few months they were “touring” the city. ~Merida taught herself how to play electric guitar because she thinks it’s Edgy and Cool. Moana really likes to dance, and knows a fair number of traditional Polynesian dances and has even taught a class or two. Merida learns how to play some traditional Polynesian music on the electric guitar so she can play while Moana dances. The combination of hard rock-esque shredding and a very mellow island dance looks extremely bizarre to anyone watching, but the girls absolutely do not care.

@takaraphoenix I said I’d tag you in Moanida content I made and I am a woman of my word!!! Enjoy!!!

Please y’all, send me more asks about my ships!!! I love to talk about them!!!

[ziracona]

Tbh I used to HATE Frank/the legion but legit you made me like him and them to the point I made a whole playlist for them and can't stop thinking about writing for them lol

GOD what a mood!

I think I always liked Susie, and Joey was much more sympathetic, but I didn’t like Julie or Frank, and Frank I hated. Largely not because of his paragraph, but because of the way fanon both portrayed and acted towards his portrayls, which rubbed me /so/ wrong. When I started writing ILM, I absolutely hated Frank, and I had no intentions at all to write him as a major character or how things happened or to like him myself. I mean, he was a barely adult, and not a serial killer, so he didn’t like, die horribly in the original outline. But he and Julie ran off to an uncertain fate and were left kind of in the grey in the initial Legion outline, and a lot of other content was a but different. But, the version actually /in/ ILM—especially of Frank himself—was just...how it went. Almost against my will, but like, Jeff was Jeff, and sometimes writing—actually almost always, for me—writing is less like putting words you pick out on paper, and more like tapping into an alternate universe, and then describing what you witness, and Frank just...was how he is in ILM so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ — what can you do?

And I am glad! Because as much as the large majority of fanon takes on Frank I still find extremely unlikable and annoying as people and would hate with a passion, I really like all the Legion in ILM and Frank himself, they’re among my kids now, and they’ll always be canon Legion to me. :’-] I am quite happy their charcaters and stories turned out how they did. This is one of the most relatable things anyone has ever said to me about my Legion though. 🤣

Also I’d love to hear the playlist!! And Killer in the Mirror is a really good Frank song if you’re hunting, Partners in Crime and Freeze Your Brain good Julie-Frank songs, and Catch Me if You Can is ideal Frank @ Jeff (all except Freeze Your Brain are Set it Off songs, and FYB is from Heathers the Musical). Also a lot of Elektra Heary songs are ideal Julie, esp Oh no! and Bubblegum Bitch. So is Desire by Meg Myers. And Bullet For You by Ella Eyre is iconic Julie @ Frank. Gravel to Tempo is a great Susie song (and What I Need is good SusieMeg — both Hayley Kiyoko. So is She’s Like the Wind). Turning My Life Around from Anna & the Apocalypse is my biggest NDF mode and a good JoeyQuin but I will try to not regail you with all my JoeyQuin songs I have too many. And then Spineless by Nick Lutsko fits good conflicted Joey very well. So is Nobody Can Save Me by Linkin Park (don’t judge me I really like the last album TuT my heart...) and Champion by Fall Out Boy.

[aromantic-eight]

[id: Magnus Archives fanart depicting a woman in ripped and bloody pants and sneakers, and a long sleeved dress shirt with several long gashes down the back of it. She's crouched with her back to the viewer, one bloody hand braced on the ground and the other curled into a loose, clawed fist at her side. Blood drips down her chin and her straight hair covers part of her profile. Underneath, a huge shape resembling a toothy maw stratches out from her feet like a shadow. Small text extends all down the right side of the picture. Over the text are large messy red letters that read "STARVING HUNTING CAN'T TELL MY PREY FROM MY FRIEND." The small text spells out "sister don't you know me sister" and "sister don't you love me sister" over and over. end id]

here, have a little of crossover Hunt pain and suffer with me.

[theaspers]

Zara! I just got back from a short trip. In a perpetual state of i want to do fuck all 😑 but I really should focus n do things. How are u? Anything random u want to share? My face n upper body r quite sunburnt lol so I've been a hermit trying to recover 😂 thanks for the well wishes on the job hunting. My mood on that journey is like ⬆️↗️➡️↘️⬇️↙️⬅️↖️🤣

I revisited hades after u replied! N spoilers: I got past elysium n then died to the Chambers (items got so expensive n it's multiple pathways to find cerb's treat lol n the poison...) butttttt I came back like next run n got hades to like 1/3 of his health and then died!!!! I'm pretty chuffed tho. I know now heueueue. And I MET THAN! GORGEOUS SOFT DEATH BOI. His voice man 🥰 BTW r zag n than half brothers that share hades as their father? But he cute that ain't no lie. I um am assuming u finished at least one complete run so I hope I ain't spoiling anything? I'm really sorry if I did. Third fury sister met too heueu.

Lololol I'm not really shitting on luci's yukata haha. Tbh I've been into kpop n Korean shows for yearsssss so I feel like nothing really fazes me too much? It's funny seeing ppl shit on Satan so much but I'm like honestly it doesn't hurt my eyes that badly. N his Pepsi yukata looks pre good. Not the worst by a looooooongggg shot. I hope the devs fix up the wonkiness of obey me cuz otherwise they will keep losing players n awesome content creators. V understandable tho. That's also why I probably won't play om and genshin cuz gacha, too stressful n it's kinda nice just evolving the charas by headcanons n imagination alone. The lore is v noice tho. Have u read the genshin manga?

Hahaha it's a good thing I thought of u. The fic does have some grammatical errors (I went back to read it again hehe) but it's just so soft n realistic to me that I thought u might like it. Probably ooc for Thea tho sorry. It's alright if u never get to it or don't like it!

Aww my ask got ate up huh. I sent it in the morning after u recommended achilles to me. It just said that the song is so fucking good. So cathartic n would've been such a help several yrs ago when I was going thru some shit. I love the lyrics, the sound...it's very soothing n I love it a lot. I hope to find more English songs that have such beautiful n haunting lyrics. I'm trying not to make the ask too long so I've dumbed the original ask down a lot. It's going to be long anyways 🙃

I asked about any personal hcs u wanted to share? Mine were that I would call Lucifer: Luce Luce or Luci haha. N I would greet him by saying Luci....fer after making eye contact with his brothers above his shoulder but he would be glaring at me anyways. Ever perceptive Luci. I would like to mess around Belphie by calling him Moo Moo 🤭 I hc that once close, I would go around the dining table every morning n give each bro some individual loving. Some nuzzles, cheek kiss ya know n get to Belphie like wut up moo moo? Lplolol thanks for letting me ramble haha this is sort of embarrassing. Can u tell my love language is physical touch 💖

Haha no worries about ur messy blog tho. I love the stuff u reblog. Some legit quality content n it's so amusing seeing the juxtaposition between the sfw n the NSFW. Ur duality zara never fails to make me laugh. If u want u can guess my height. What vibes do I give off? I have a feeling my answer will make u v happy ☺️ ALSO DUDE UR FIRST LANG AIN'T ENGLISH? WAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY? THAT'S SO FUCKIN IMPRESSIVE. KUDOS TO U SON. Wow. damn. U. R. So. Cool. 🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️ Ahem finally much love to Luci anon. Better reinstate their rightful emojis hehe. Thanks for letting me visit again 💙 - (not a) worker lurker

long answer so under a cut hehe.

hey there!! sorry i took so long to reply shsjs but anw hope you’ve been doing well. i have been doing alright too? i guess? lol i have no idea. i’m simply just vibing. i hope the sunburn’s not bothering u as much anymore though! and still wishing you lots of luck on the job hunting front!

oooh, glad to hear that you’ve made some progress on hades! you’re not spoiling anything at all so don’t worry hehe. i wish you luck on your future runs, you can do it!! (side note: those stupid rats. i swear. i hate them so much 😭) AHH THAN!! isn’t he just so precious? 🥺 like i realise he is death but he’s so. soft 🥺 and no!! afaik they’re not related lol i think nyx might have just. made him and hypnos? they grew up together tho, i think. oooh, love the fury sisters. they’re very interesting hehe. definitely missed playing the game but i’m still not in the mood to play it unfortunately. i miss zag tho. and hypnos. ugh one day i’ll pick it back up again 🥺😭

shdjd same tho. and ur right. after seeing all the kpop idol outfits, nothing fazes me anymore. plus i don’t think their outfits are the worst thing ever tbh :’) ugh, i agree. the main route itself is getting harder to play and the non-stop events are tiring. i want to hope that they slow down a lil bit but idk. kinda doubt they will. and the obm gacha rate is terrible but at the end of the day, it is gacha, right? :’) genshin is horrible gacha wise but there’s always a lot to do, and places to explore. plus they’re still updating the game so i’m sure it’ll remain relevant for a little while longer. i haven’t read the manga fully but i have seen bits and pieces, and some screenshots. diluc and kaeya look amazing in them 😭

oof yeah, i still love listening to achilles come down. it’s so good!! definitely very cathartic. i’m glad you enjoy it too. 🥰

ahaha, ngl i just always call him luci tbh. i know he probably doesn’t like it. but like lucifer is just a mouthful to say sometimes hehe i just know he’ll get his revenge on u for calling him that tho. belphie moo moo shdjd that’s kinda cute?? hmm. i don’t think i have nicknames for them tbh? :0 just kinda. shorten their names lol. and there’s nothing wrong with having physical touch as ur love language!! hehe i think that’s cute. i’m sure they enjoy the show of affection anw. i think i would just be way too shy to do anything like that tho :’)

ik people tell me they enjoy the messiness but sometimes i scroll through and get so embarrassed 😭 like i would like to not be perceived, please and thank u. but i’m glad that u enjoy my blog, regardless 😭 your height? :0 oof that’s a bit tough. you don’t radiate short ppl energy. wanna say ur probably average height shdkd and no, that’s definitely not me projecting my own height onto other people :’)

yeah, english isn’t my first language shdjd 😭 but i have been speaking/learning it for a while now. doesn’t matter tho, i still makes mistakes occasionally ahdjd but i’ve stopped caring lolol luci anon has yet to pop up again but it’s okay hehe they’ll get back their rights eventually hehe oh, and thank you for dropping by!! much love 💖💖💖

[vergilboyfriend]

You should do all of them questions and 90 is true

I love you!!!!

1. Favorite instrument?

I work at a music store u can’t just ask me this. When my coworkers play it’s the saxophone or the flute, when the boys in the repair shop are testing repairs and they harmonize with each other or try to outplay one another it’s the bassoon or the trombone or whatever they’re fixing at the moment. When I hear 🎺 give his lesson on Wednesday afternoons it’s the trumpet, and when I think about middle school it’s the clarinet, the flute, the French horn. When I hear the nutcracker pas des deux is the oboe and when I hear edith piaf l’accordeoniste it’s the remarkable human voice. Really my favorite instrument is all of them, it just depends.

2. Favorite fic trope? Mutual pining 🥺

3. Sport you played for the longest amount of time? LMAO I wasn’t a sporty kid but I did ballet

4. Shoe size? 10-11

5. Most recent (good) dream? Uhh I had a dream last night about my coworker 🎹 it wasn’t bad though I can’t really remember what it was about

6. Last person in your DMs? smugg

7. Can you do a handstand? Nooo nooo lmaoo nooooo

8. Unpopular food opinion I don’t like oranges or red meat

9. Conspiracy you believe in? There’s some kind of weird weather dome in my hometown around the military base that makes most storms pass around us

10. Is your hair its natural color/style? Most of it is I dyed the bottom layer of my hair tho so it’s blonde rn

11. state a useless fact all that’s coming to mind is outright lies rn hold on. The inventor of pringles is buried in a pringles can that’s so fucking nasty omg

12. most interesting gossip you’ve heard? Idk I don’t really care for gossip uhhhh have u heard tho rin dippindogs is a huge gay hah she uhh she like men AND women lmao gaaay gaaaay

13. Middle name? Carolyn

14. Sexuality? Bisexual

15. Amount of sleep you got last night? Idk actually I think like 9-10 hrs tho I slept in until 11

16. Opinion on ice cream cake? Tasty!!!

17. Opinion on (cup)cake frosting? It’s depends buttercream is usually too sweet for me in large amounts so I prefer whipped cream frosting

18. Last board game you played? Idk??? We played hunt a killer tho last Thursday me n my family I guess that counts kinda

19. Project you want to start? I need ideas first baby

20. Project you’re working on right now? HAHAHAHAHAHA

21. TV show you’re watching? nothing rn I just rewatch bojack a lot if I watch anything

22. Last movie you watched? Lego batman I think

23. Ever left anon hate? Not legit hate

24. Ever left anon love? Yes all the time. Sometimes to strangers it’s my favorite thing to do

25. Best Disney movie? The princess and the frog

26. Best Pixar movie? Soul or Up I can’t decide

27. Best Star Wars? Um. Empire strikes back

28. Last thing you consumed? Fuit gumy

29. NoTP? Idk I don’t really hate ships unless they’re gross like pedophilic gross

30. story behind your (nick)name? When I was a fetus my great grandfather had a dream that my name should be Carolyn Marie but my parents were huge dweebs so they named me Marina after the actress of Deanna Troi in Star Trek. Idk about my nickname ive just always been Rina/Rin as long as I can remember

31. ice cream order? Lately it’s lemon sorbetto I know it’s SO high in sugar but I love it

32. describe your blog in <5 words I love you

33. how many blogs do you follow? 436

34. Describe your voice it depends usually I sound like a sick child but my customer service voice is really pleasant

35. Describe your smile it’s cute :)

36. What is the place you live known for? LMAOOO LMAO we have a military base nearby and like. I could go on abt that one but also like. There’s a lot of gang violence and a lot of the other consequences of poverty. People from the cities around us see us as “””ghetto””” or violent but it’s just. It’s more than that it’s always more than that. And idk what else there’s nothing really particularly special about this town except that we’re all here and not anywhere else

37. What is the place you’re originally from known for? (if they’re different)

38. pronouns? she/any idc

39. Languages you speak? English

40. first friend you made through tumblr? Idk. I probably don’t talk to them anymore :(

41. Person on tumblr you know in real life? my brother

42. First dog breed you think of shih tzu I have 2 next to me rn

43. room wall color? Purble!!!! The paint color is called grape juice that’s why I picked it!!!

44. Song that’s stuck in your head right now? It’s tricky to rock a rhyme to rock a rhyme that’s right on time it’s trickyyyyy

45. Favorite number? 5, 34

46. Color you associate with your name? Red

47. Favorite jolly rancher flavor?watermelon

48. Pets? 2 dogs rocket and groot and 4 cats loki danni who r from the same litter and we raised from kittens, miss kitty who we adopted from a shelter after my boy blue moon passed away and ben (his real name is Kylo Ren thanks to my mom but I refuse to call him that) he is my little baby and he has 7 toes on his front paws

49. Collections? Hot wheels

50. Character outside of your fandom you’d marry? Girl what lmaooo idk

51. Character outside of your fandom you’d kill? That’s mean :(

52. Have you met any celebrities? NO thank god id have to kill on sight

53. Favorite time period in history? Itslian Renaissance & Romantic Era

54. What time is it right now? 2:35 am oops

55. History or future? Future but like . A good one. Or prehistory

56. Space or ocean? Space

57. Fears? Abandonment

58. Command + v and post. It’s this list of questions u don’t want that

59. Favorite season? Spring

60. Describe your aesthetic. Messy just a mess, neon and old buildings and things, antiques, countryside if there weren’t so many trump pence flags still lmaoo give uppp give up, nature just al of nature and space and places humans can’t touch and places they used to touch but can’t anymore

61. MBTI? Infp but I haven’t taken it in a few years

62. What’s your relationship with your family like? Normal.

63. “Biggest fan” in your tumblr activity? I’m in mobile hold on acc to tumblr it’s akky

64. Favorite musical? Sweeney todd

65. Comfort book? Idk how to read 💔💔💔 wuthering heights tho

66. Comfort movie? Whisper of the heart

67. OTP? Girl idk

68. BroTP? Joey and Tristan yugioh

69. AUs or canon compliant? Canon ig idk

70. Opinion on the person who’s sending the ask? It’s an anon!! But I love them

71. FMK + 3 characters anon didnt leave any characters and I was going to say something very bad but I won’t

72. Dream date? I’ve wanted to do this for a while but ideally it would be after we’d been together a while maybe even engaged or whatever, I wanna go to like a Home Depot or a furniture store and pretend to be married and looking for house paints and furniture and plan what our home is going to look like I wanna do that so bad. But idk for a first/early relationship date i really want to go to the zilker botanical garden it’s one of my favorite places, we could also go to the natural gardener which is a plant nursery in Austin I really love it there too and it’s not that far from zilker.

73. Relationship status? Single

74. Ever dyed your hair? Do you plan to? Yes and perhaps. Maybe

75. Dream job/career? Idk anymore I used to have big girl goals and I haven’t had any in a while. But when I was younger I wanted to be a game warden

76. Favorite band/singer? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

77. Something that makes you soft/that you find adorable? My cats

78. The first thing you would do if you won the lottery? Buy a house

79. Are you superstitious? Yes

80. Character you project onto? Shizuku tsukishima

81. Fictional character you’ve had a crush on? Vergil devil may cry. Forever husband

82. Celebrity crush? LMAO

83. Person on here you’d date? my mutuals

84. Person on here you’d marry? 🥺 my mutuals

85. Person on here you’d throw into the void? Smugg

86. Other social media you have? I’ve got a photography insta that I barely use and a Twitter that’s just nintendo switch screenies that’s it

87. Finish the sentence: Due to personal reasons, ___________i will be passing away

88. Bad habit? I find it rlly hard to say no or like to say when and why I’m upset I don’t feel like for the latter I don’t feel like I should bring something that’s upsetting me up because I know I’ll get over it on my own and I don’t really trust myself to be upset about rational things. Idk I’m working on it

89. Three things you like about yourself? I’m hot, I’m kind, I’m resilient

90. Ily and you deserve the world I love you!!!!! YOU deserve it too!!!

[hiraethrph]

                                     Six the Musical Starters

“Listen up, let me tell you a story.”

“We know you know our names, and our fame, and our faces.” 

“I’m done ‘cause all this time, I’ve been just one word in a stupid rhyme.”

“Histories about to get overthrown.”

“Welcome to the show.” 

“All you ever hear and read about is our ex, and the way it ended.”

“A pair doesn’t beat a royal flush.” 

“So if you try to dump me...you won’t try that again.” 

“When my son was newly born, I died.”

“Funny how we all discuss that but never {Name}’s little-”

“Lock up your husbands, lock up your sons.” 

“{First Initial}-{Last Name} is here and the fun’s begun!” 

“I saw him to the end of his life.” 

“I’m the survivor!” 

“I never lost control no matter how many times I knew you lied.” 

“No matter what I heard, I didn’t say a word, no.” 

“if you think for a moment, I’d grant you annulment, just hold up there’s no way.” 

“Daughters are so easy to forget.” 

“I won’t back down, won’t shh!” 

“No! I’ll never leave.” 

“If you can just explain a single thing I’ve done to cause you pain, I’ll go.” 

“Life was a chore.” 

“I didn’t know I would move in with his misses.”

“You’re living with his wife?”

“What was I meant to do?” 

“Sorry, not sorry ‘bout what I said.” 

“I’m just tryna’ have some fun.”

“Don’t lose your head.” 

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” 

“Go to hell.” 

“If you wanna be wed, make up your mind!”

“Your comment went viral.”

“Maybe I’ll flirt with a guy or three, just to make him jel.” 

“Mate, just shut up. I wouldn’t be such a bitch, if you could get it up!” 

“Is that what you said?” 

“You’ve got a good heart, but I know it changes.”

“You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”

“But I know without my son your love could disappear.”

“Soon I’ll have to go.”

“I hope my son will know, he’ll never be alone.”

“I’ll be by your side, cause my love is set in stone.”

“Welcome to the haus of Holbein!” 

“Hans holbein goes around the world painting all of the beautiful girls.”

“Ignore the fear, and you’ll be fine.”

“Sitting here all alone on a throne in a palace that I happen to own.”

“Fill my goblet up to the brim.”

“I wanna go hunting, any takers?”

“Too bad I don’t agree.”

“Now I ain’t sayin’ I’m a gold digger, but check my prenup, and go figure.”

“My horses can trot up to twelve miles an hour.”

“I think we can all agree I’m a ten amongst these threes.”

“I feel the chemistry like I get you and you get me.”

“He just cares so much, it feels legit.”

“We have a connection.”

“Run your fingers through my hair.”

“Tell me I’m the fairest of the fair.”

“Playtime’s over.”

“Yeah, that didn’t work out.” 

“I decided to have a break from boys, and you’ll never guess who I met!” 

“This is the place for me.”

“I’m finally where I’m meant to be.”

“I guess it’s not so different.”

“There’s no time for when or how ‘cause you just got to have me now.”

“The royal life isn’t what I planned.”

“I thought this time was different.”

“When will enough be enough?”

“I wish that I could stay with you and keep the life i made with you.”

“It’s true, I’ll never be over you.”

“I’ve got no choice.”

“No matter how I feel it’s what I have to do.”

“I’ll never belong to you.”

“I am not your toy to enjoy ‘till there’s something new.”

“Ha! Darling, get a clue.”

“I’m through too many times it’s been told, and I have had enough.”

“He got down on one knee, but I said no way.”

“At the top of the charts is where I’m gonna stay.”

“Since my first son, our family’s grown.”

“We made a band and got quite well known.”

“We’re one of a kind, no category.”

“We’re free to take our crowning glory for five more minutes.”

“His mates were super arty, but I showed them how to party.”

“I learn everything, now all I do is sing, and I’ll do that until I die.”

“Nothing is for sure, nothing is for certain.”

“You can say ‘oh well’.”

“All you wanna do babe is sing along to your favorite queen’s song.” 

“It’s time to rise above.”

[retvenkos]

ahhhh congrats on 2.5k! i am in fact using this as an excuse to put sommat in ur ask box (bc i certainly haven’t always wanted to but been too scared nO) 🔥- mayhaps.... a ship for Harry Potter, a series of unfortunate events and the marauders era (also Harry Potter lol). idm what gender the person is btw. I love to read, write about anything that comes to mind, write poetry, I love musical theatre, and my fav genre of music is songs that make you want to throw urself into a bog in the best kinda way. im smart, quite anxious, low-key a train wreck, I’m so sarcastic it’s bad, m pretty well-liked and kind sometimes. and i don’t like when ppl cross boundaries that have been clearly set out, or those foam banana sweets. other stuff is that I’m a Ravenclaw, intj, secretly a 7 year old. thank you!!! and well done again on 2.5k! (that’s a crazy number homie. not surprised they follow u but it’s a lot 😳)

I don’t write for “A Series of Unfortunate Events” so I can’t do a ship for that show, sorry!

HP Golden Trio:

I ship you with Ginny Weasley!

okay, quick side note but you would be best friends with michael corner, you cannot convince me otherwise. in my mind, michael corner is the most sarcastic ravenclaw and generally a disaster, and the two of you together would be peak friendship.

first of all, you’re both hella intelligent, even if it’s not the first thing people recognize, and you both have strong wills - you are a power couple if i’ve ever seen one.

i 100% believe that ginny is shocked by your sarcasm at first. you’re introverted and a little shy when you first meet people, so she wasn’t expecting you to come out with the big guns, but when you do she loves it. the two of you can rip apart anyone you come up against.

but, what’s also good about you guys is that you are also kind and pretty charismatic, when you want to be. you both are softer underneath your intense independence, and so in the vulnerable moments, the two of you can lean on each other for help.

ginny is a music lover, but i don’t imagine she’s too into musicals, so the two of you definitely do some music hunting together, finding songs that both of you adore. due to your natural curiosity, you’re open to new music, which is good because ginny has some that are very near and dear to her, and she can be just a little stubborn when it comes to her tried and trues.

we all know that ginny is the biggest extrovert we’ve ever met, and you’re more of an introvert, which is going to be interesting, to say the least. the redeeming quality here, though, is that you are fairly versatile and so is ginny, so both of you are willing to try out what the other loves.

i imagine that you were friends for a long while before you got together - and that happened kind of naturally, with ginny telling you, once she realized it - so you’ve definitely figured out activities that the two of you do well together.

but, both of you value your independence and are totally fine for the other to do something without you - as long as they bring you food after, or at the very least, a good story.

i think that ginny loves your way with words - your writing and poetry is something she finds very sweet and interesting. she’s never been one to pour her heart on on a page, and to see you do that is something really special.

(don’t @ me, ginny send harry that poem when she was in her first year and then never did so again. she probably got a really bad taste in her mouth for writing down the her feelings - the diary, anyone?)

at least once, you have convinced ginny to try and write poetry, but she insists that it comes out all wrong - she’d much rather use something like songs - ideas already written down - to profess her love for you.

there’s a lot of dancing in the living room in your relationship, the music on full blast.

HP Marauder Era:

I ship you with Remus Lupin!

i kind of went in the opposite direction, but stick with me.

alright, so we all know that remus is an awkward mess when he’s first meeting people, but then he has the (quiet) confidence to rival his fellow marauders once he’s warmed up to you. i imagine you are much the same way, so i’m going to say that the two of you end up meeting because you have a class together and end up being partners after the marauders get split up. maybe charms? either way, the two of you meet and over the course of the week that you work together, you become comfortable and get to know each other alright.

but then, because i am a cruel writer, you don’t properly talk again until you are in the same apparition class. the two of you definitely see each other in the halls or you pass in the library and you’re kind to one another, but you don’t have drawn out conversations until you are learning to apparate, and you are terrified that you are going to get splinched.

(which is a valid fear, tbh, remember how susan bones legit lost a leg? and poor ron?)

remus is, again, assigned to be your partner (no doubt mcgonagall told the instructor to split up the marauders) and having been well versed in coping with paralyzing fear, he help you calm down and over the course of the class, gets you to apparate multiple times (enough to get your license) without having a single accident.

it’s also during this time that the two of you start hanging out more. a couple times the two of you skip lunch (which is right after your class) and head to the library or courtyard to work on homework or studying. you’re very clever and very creative in the way that you study, so you are a big help to remus, who is perpetually behind in school work.

and on your little study dates (which are not dates, it’s not like remus has had a crush on you for years or anything) you both realize that together your sarcasm is unparalleled. it’s enough to shock lily evans, who is known for her sharp tongue.

and you realize you really like this side of remus - you love all of his soft kindness, of course, but this? this is legendary. remus doesn’t hold back and his comments never fail to make you scoff and laugh in disbelief. he can be so savage in his remarks - it now makes sense why he is friends with the marauders.

eventually, you hear the marauders teasing him mercilessly about his crush on you - “ever since you were charms partners in 3rd year, moony!” - and he doesn’t even deny it.

and so you bring it up in some roundabout way the next time you’re walking to the quidditch pitch (you often keep him company when he has to support james’ matches) and remus stumbles over his confession, but you kiss him right as the game starts (and james is too busy rooting for remus that he gets hit with a bludger)

i can 100% see you and remus hanging out in the ravenclaw tower (it’s one of the few places he can go to escape his friends), reading or working on homework while listening to music. 

he especially loves musicals, and the two of you debate over what song in the show is the best, and whether contemporary musicals are better than golden age musicals. a lot of the time he’ll play devil’s advocate just because he loves the fervor with which you defend your opinions. 

[au-tumn-al]

So after 110 hours, I finally beat Persona 5 Royal. Before going into complete FFVII mode, I wanna lay out all my thoughts.

Blah, blah, blah, spoilers for everything under the cut.

To start off, I loved Royal. The gameplay was so much fun and it felt like such a natural evolution from vanilla P5. Probably my favorite change was what wad done with Baton Pass. Trying to pass to your entire party was very fun and very satisfying, especially if Joker got the ×4 or even ×3 and got to abuse a possibly charged Hassou Tobi lategame. It was pretty broken, but I don't mind things being broken once you go to the effort of figuring things out. Speaking of broken things—

Showtime attacks are super cool. I didn't know what to think of them at first because of how stupidly strong they are, but after I got to some harder boss fights where doing about 1k damage per attack would only get rid of about a small fraction of the shadow's health, I wasn't complaining.

(Also, I never actually got to see Joker and Violet's showtime. Oops.)

The fact that the damage scaled like that was really good, especially once you get into the third semester where party members have severe and colossal damage moves and even healer Morgana can do 150 damage per basic attack without buffs on an enemy without debuffs. The enemies' damage output remained kind of sad though, but uh....you can't win 'em all ;;

To finish showtime talk, Joker and Crow's showtime was heccin' great. I never skipped it. It was Batman in my animu JRPG so it was 10/10. It also did way more damage than most of my party members' showtime attacks so ey. It finished off that Yoshitsune request boss too with around 2.4k damage so I'm obligated to like it. On that note, how is showtime damage calculated? Do certain showtimes do more damage, or does it just depend on the offensive stats of the party members using it?

Technical damage was beefed up too, and I probably should have tried to take advantage of it more than I did but I never figured out how to make technical damage reliably knock an enemy down. I know that there was a way to do it but I never figured it out. Yes, yes, I know it was because I skipped tutorials but everything else was so busted, I never felt the need to go back and read said tutorials. I did read that book about technical damage though in-game, but it just added more technical combinations.

Onto other changes though, it could have been because I was playing on hard, but status ailments became about 10 times more useful. ...Actually, no, it was definitely because I was playing on hard, but even so, I felt like more bosses were weak to them when compared to P5. They went back to being mostly immune to them, especially in the new semester, but during and before October or so, status ailments became invaluable. It could have been because I sucked that much, but my party members, and even sometimes Joker, would get left with double or even single digit HP by near everything, even if I debuffed and buffed. Queen got regulated to a forget bot, but man it carried me through some boss fights. ... i.e., Kaneshiro's fight. Well, that and Mona's confuse.

I liked the Will Seeds too. They were a fun way to kind of change up the palaces and for me to hunt down. Even though yeah, they are pretty broken (especially with the accessory you get from the 2nd palace being able to get rid of elemental weaknesses for whoever has it equipped, not to mention the ability to give charge or concentrate to another party member), I still can't say I used them over my SP adhesives most of the time. I used the one that got rid of elemental weaknesses on Crow, but that was just because I could only use him and Joker at the time and did not want enemies to get another move on him to get another chance to hit either of them.

The changes to Mementos were amazing. Like the rest of them, they were pretty busted, but still. Amazing. I feel like I'm in the minority with this, but I didn't mind Mementos. In fact, I kind of liked going through the grind of going through it. Although...tbf, I kind of liked Tartarus too. Its 264 floors were a bit much, but I liked being able to turn off my brain, put on a podcast or YouTube video in the background for me to listen to then go through Tartarus in one or two in-game nights.

Back to Mementos, collecting stamps and flowers for Jose was fun, and being able to change the cognition for Mementos was busted. Since you can get EXP from auto-killing, you get over-leveled very fast. It doesn't help that you have to backtrack floors for stamps since they randomly generate, so you get even more money, experience, and items. On the bright side though, no, I didn't need to wander around singing "I've Been Working on the Railroad" with Mona and Skull for an hour and a half trying to find the materials for the Eternal Lockpick (which was renamed in Royal to Permapick ... I guess???)

Because of the changes you can make to boost item, money, and EXP gains, Mementos became the prime grinding area. Even more than the card shuffle thing in P3. Since you got so much EXP from ramming shadows even without leveling up EXP gain. I put all my stamps into getting more items and money until I couldn't anymore and I had near max every single crafting item, and never had to worry about the cost of anything ever. Combined with the money gains from killing shadows, you can also pick up sellable treasure from the item cubes in Mementos and it can end up selling for well over a million yen. So getting to max didn't even require Joker abusing the confuse status ailment or abusing the shadows with "You can do better than that."

I didn't mind the Mementos music, even when I was playing the game without something else playing for me to listen to, but now that Mementos does have new music, yeah, I realize now how much better it is. I wouldn't listen to it alone like I would Rivers in the Desert or anything, but it was a nice change. I listened to one of the songs before the game had its western release and didn't like it all that much, but actually playing the game while hearing it made me actually like it.

I got to level 99 though before the game was over. It made it so Joker and Crow were able to tag-team the Reaper then kill it in 3 turns. I had thought that trophy would have been a lot harder to get lol. It was pretty weird seeing the Reaper in such clear lighting though due to the new Mementos area though, I have to say.

Onto the bosses though...

I loved the changes to the bosses (except the 5th one but that's just because I hate everything about the 5th palace, even if Royal did make it about a million times more bearable).

Kameshida having cognitive Shiho and Mishima as helpers for the boss fight was such a good change, and made him about that much more hateable.

Madarame's boss fight in vanilla P5 was the hardest boss in the game for me, even on normal mode, but it was made so much easier in P5R. Madarame didn't bring back his painting form, but instead brought back elemental versions of himself specifically so the player can abuse Baton Pass. Baton Pass combos are extremely satisfying to pull off, so I enjoyed it immensely. Honestly, having that as the second boss in the game was so much of a better decision than what was in P5. That, or I'm still salty about all the deaths I had from fighting him the first time.

Kaneshiro was definitely harder, and I was a little stuck when he called his cronies out to guard him. Mona and Queen using confuse and forget while Skull and Joker attacked Kaneshiro made it a lot more bearable though. I also kept using spotlights on Joker so the enemies would attack him. He had Shiki Ouji equipped and they only ever did physical moves when my status effects missed, so I was never at risk for losing the fight. ... And then of course Skull and Queen finished it off with a showtime attack after Mona got yeeted.

Sphinx mom was a lot easier. I didn't know that the right dialogue choices made it so Oracle would guard you until someone told me, so I was sitting there surprised at how much easier it was lol. I did get stuck at the end though because it didn't look like I was damaging it. I thought Oracle needed to bring back the crossbow so I just kept buffing and healing. It took about 10 minutes for me to get bored and start attacking it again and it turned out I could attack it, but it was just that sphinx mom's HP wasn't visually moving before eventually going down. Joker still used Shiki Ouji which had learned an immunity to wind so. Easy victory (ignoring the part where I'm a dumbass).

I switched to easy mode for Okumura. I just did not care at all. I hate his palace, I hate the music, and the enemies could range from being easier to kill than the enemies in the first palace to being a pain in the ass, so I wanted to have it be over. If I didn't have an unreasonable hatred for the 5th palace though, I probably would have liked the change. It was challenging without being complete BS, at least much more challenging than how it was originally in P5. Having the enemies run off though did get pretty annoying when I was trying to beat it legit but I was just so done at that point, it was more on me than the game lol.

Part of the reason why I was so eager to get through Okumura's palace though was to get to Sae's palace. Because I love Sae's palace, and just in general, the entire month of November. It has amazing story bits, still the height of P5's story if you ask me, a great palace, and Whims of Fate is one of my favorite tracks from P5's OST. Sae's boss was even changed to when she spins the wheel, whatever element it goes to, she uses that element and her resistances would change. I loved that, and it was extremely fun to take what you more or less should have learned about enemies' attacks and their correlating weaknesses and use them for a boss fight. So much better than the original where you don't need strategy at all other than "hit her hard lol."

Shido's boss fight was changed to be super climactic. They made it easier for the sake of Joker being able to confront the dude that got him a criminal record and directly ruining his life, and I can't complain. It felt amazing to 1v1 him. The game fixed the possibility of being screwed by it by having him attack in a certain order like the twins do in their special fight, so that was nice at least.

Yaldabaoth's boss fight was the same. Still easy enough, as long as you're careful. Or...not careful but extremely lucky. I wasn't able to finish it off while it was charging up its almighty attack, but my entire party ended up dodging it so it didn't even matter lmao. Now that I think about it, it very easily could have been because of that one Will Seed accessory that makes you dodge attacks but... I don't care. I was still super lucky I didn't get wiped and be forced to start the fight over starting from the Holy Grail.

The new boss... Uhm... It was taking way too long so I ended up cheesing it with Haru's third persona's new move that basically makes you invincible for a turn halfway through the fight. ^^; Noir was a Vault Guardian bot, Queen just healed and took advantage of one of the tentscles' nuclear weaknesses to Baton Pass to Crow when she could, and then Joker and Crow did all the work. Crow's third tier persona's almighty move kicked ass and you know what else kicked ass? Hassou Tobi abuse. The other 2 phases weren't even really fights, so at least that kept it from dragging too much, despite all the phases it had.

When Joker and the boss had that punch-out fight though, I lost my shit. I was laughing so hard I started to cry and my back was hurting. I don't even remember why I thought it was so funny, but I was laughing my ass off. I couldn't even press X to get Joker to punch because I was laughing so hard. Right before it happened, I joked to my sister that a tutorial would pop up and suddenly the gameplay will have the controls from that P4 fighting game and you have to learn that in order to have one last showdown. And then I got the prompt to punch. Then Joker punched. And I started laughing.

11/10 would punch Adam Kadmon man again

On the topic of the new stuff though...

Kasumi/Sumire/Violet was pretty fun to use but badly, badly overshadowed by both Joker and Crow, at least during boss fights. She offered to join the party before Shido's palace and she really should have joined then. Maybe she would just be absent for the Mementos dungeon & Yaldabaoth/Holy Grail boss fights, but she should have been there for Shido's palace. I liked her wanted gimmick of being the crit'er, but when you get her, Mona's third tier persona learns an AOE Lucky Punch, Joker already has high crit, and I would always baton pass to Crow because of his severe almighty AOE ×3. Plus, the way I built my Joker with practically exclusively two personas, Yoshitsune and Kuguya Picaro, he was already the phys and light attacker except with the addition of being able to have an auto-concentrate at the start of every fight (I have no idea why—it's something with Yoshitsune but idk what it is), the charge skill, Yoshitsune's nature of tripling the effect of charge, and the additional electric damage. She should have been a party member before the new semester. Obviously this isn't the case for everyone, but for me personally, I didn't often find use for her, especially since she can't do colossal or even severe magic damage. She is a very good physical party member, but again, Joker already covers that better than any other party member can, including Skull.

Crow was a great party member though. I used him in every request and boss fight after I got him. I was a little salty he couldn't switch back and forth from Loki and Robin Hood but I suppose if he did, he'd make Violet even more obsolete lol. I liked Loki while playing P3, so I'm glad I was able to use that persona again. He had Debilitate which was amazing. Queen learns Checkmate when getting to the third tier persona, which is an AOE version of it, but honestly, whenever I was fighting a boss that I thought needed it at that point in the game, I didn't need it to be multi-hitting. Plus, it costed about 90 SP and no way I was using that over her healing, defense buffs, and nuclear damage.

But anyway, back to Crow, I loved using him. He basically turned into my almighty damage dealer, even with his somewhat weaker magic, at least compared to his strength stat, but considering the final boss fight, it was extremely helpful. It did take up a lot of SP, but I had 5 Somas, a ton of SP restoratives, and had basically asked Kawakami to make me either curry or coffee every single night I was able to, so I pretty much had an infinite supply of it.

It helped that P5R made Akechi a much more likable character too. I liked him all right in P5, but didn't find him all that sympathetic, and thought that the characters treating him so sympathetically was extremely jarring considering all the horrible shit he did (which includes making orphans of both Haru and Futaba). That still kind of holds true, but since you can actually build a social link with him outside of the story, you can see more of his character and it improved him in leaps and bounds. Not to mention that his 8th confidant rank was....something else ^^; having a section of the new story too with just Joker and Akechi, (and kind of Sumire too, but mostly just those two) was awesome. I loved seeing them team up to punch Adam Kadmon man in the face. Plus, having more time with him in the Phantom Thieves without pretense had him going "I am surrounded by idiots" basically the whole time he was there. Like—I even felt disappointed that Akechi was actually dead and he didn't survive. That's a huge improvement over from me wishing one of the dialogue options was "fuck you lmao" during his death scene at the end of Shido's palace when he asked the Phantom Thieves to promise him to change Shido's heart.

For Sumire though, she had a good character arc. Like her gameplay though, she was badly overshadowed by both Akechi and Maruki. Even still, I liked her character arc and everything, and her social link. Even if I ended up liking Kasumi more in the end anyway rip

That's kind of all I have to say about her, oof. She was good, but other elements took attention away from her pretty badly.

Maruki though... Maruki was amazing. He was a fantastic antagonist because I got to punch him in the face, his palace was amazing, I loved the music, the different sections were cool, and I even liked the color maze bridge puzzle thing. I definitely wouldn't like it so much if I ever replayed it, especially if I try to get that final Will Seed, which wasn't hard, but did take kind of a while, but I don't think I will be so it's not a problem.

He had such good motivations, and the fact that he didn't ever actually hurt anyone other than when he punched Joker in the face made him really sympathetic and redeemable to me. At the end of the day, all he actually wanted to do was make people happy and not have to suffer, and was willing to destroy himself in order to achieve it. But just like with every belief, it went too far and he took away people's free will and ability to pick for themselves. The kind of moral question about the entire thing was very interesting, and I kind of wish it was more further addressed. There should have been Sojiro or some other character that was perfectly happy in Maruki's alternate reality so they could challenge the Phantom Thieves in a way Maruki wasn't able to. Still, what was done was really good and I liked it a lot.

...

Even all that said, I have no idea why the hell Joker could not use Satanael. There was such a perfect opportunity to use it once Maruki evolved his persona to Adam Kadmon, a giant persona. Hell, it was still small when compared to Satanael. It's after beating Yaldabaoth so Joker should have access to it. It would have been epic to be able to use a giant Satanael in a normal-ish boss fight. I'm sure there are some explanations as to why, but the game never mentions it or even acknowledges Satanael so it doesn't count and I'm still bitter. The writers forgot that Joker has a persona literally as big as a cognitive god and that kind of broke some immersion for me. Immersion completely went out the window once Joker and Maruki started punching each other but STILL. Satanael's not that great a persona, but having it show up in the story again would have been so awesome to use a persona about as big as Shibuya more than once.

Hardly comparable to my beef about Satanael, but I wish that while the party members were acting as Phantom Thieves, or at least while they're in the metaverse, the names on their text boxes would change to their Phantom Thief names. There's no reason why they didn't, especially since the characters exclusively use their Phantom Thief names to call each other anyway. It's not a huge deal or anything, but I would have liked it.

I loved Royal, and totally think it's better than P5 vanilla. Its new semester kind of takes away from the superb ending of the vanilla game, but the new stuff still makes up for it. Don't get me wrong, you can still get the original ending from the vanilla game in Royal, at least I'm pretty sure you can, but it involves you missing out on all the new content, including Violet as a party member and getting Crow back, plus Joker's showtimes so it's not worth it imo

I wasn't actually looking forward to the game when it was announced, or even planning on getting it, but I had the Phantom Thieves' edition pre-ordered for me as a Christmas present so I wasn't going to...not play it lol. I'm extremely glad I got it though, even if I otherwise wouldn't have, and now that I have finished it, I'm very happy with the game. The gameplay's improved by leaps and bounds, and the new content was all amazing.

... And I got to punch Maruki in the face.

I did end up getting the platinum trophy for Royal too, so despite the Phantom Thieves den thing, I don't see myself going back to it, at least any time soon. It was an amazing experience, but I can set my sights back to FFVII now lol.

...Although, I did hear you can fight the twins and Lavenza so uhhh maybe i won't be shelfing it so soon—

[whydoyouwantmyname]

Imagine Dean comforting you....

You were completely head over heels with him... even if you met him on the stupid dating app Dean used

You didn’t know what it was about him, but in the short time you knew him, you felt the spark. It was perfect, you talked whenever he was available, and eventually you even arranged a date after three failed attempts. He made you smile, laugh, and you felt butterflies every time you saw his, or thought about him.

And then he ghosted... and after three days of silence, you knew it was over.

You were heartbroken, and for the first day all you wanted to do was cry and listen to sad songs on your Bluetooth. However your best friend was not about to let that happen.

As soon as Dean heard the mellow melody of Hurt seeping our from under your door he knew something was up, his hand immediately going to the handle of the door. Opening it slowly his heart shattered, your whole body was covered by the soft, red, plaid, fluffy blanket he had gotten you for Christmas, but he could tell that you were laying on your stomach, face buried into the black pillowcase. Even though the music was loud Dean could still hear the muffled sobs, and that your body was shaking under the blanket. You were clearly unaware that Dean was in the room, and as quickly as he was inside the room he was gone.

Moments later you felt a hand touch your back lightly which caused you to jump. Your bloodshot eyes met Dean’s sympathic glaze as he knelt to your level, his hand rubbing your back lightly as he whispered, “Has anyone ever told you that your eyes look gorgeous when you cry?”

“That was awful.” You deadpanned, however were not surprised by the remake. You had both always used terrible pick up lines on each other whenever the other was upset.

“I made your favorite tea, maybe we can turn off Johnny and watch a movie?” He replied, gesturing towards the steaming Batman mug with his head.

All you did was slowly push up more, your body turning as you sat up, and reached for the tea. He took it as a signal to advance around the bed and flopped next to you, reaching over you for a remote before he switched off the music, and turned the television on. Your head slowly lowered to Dean’s arm as he started browsing through your Netflix, however he stopped as soon as you whispered, “Why would he ghost?”

“Because he is an asshole.” Dean started, however you cut him off

“But he seemed so nice, and it really felt like we had a connection. I mean he started all of this...”

“And he ghosted you, probably because he realized that you were way too good for his dumbass. I mean think about it, the guy sounded like a jerk, he was way too preoccupied with acting like a teenager to even give you the time of day. He legit stood you up, he ignored you most of the day, and you had to demand a date while drunk to even get one. You ask me he was just being nice, and realized after meeting you that you are an actual angel, and deserve someone who can appreciate that in a way he never could. I mean you have a smile that can light up any room, your laugh is like listening to Hey Jude on repeat. You are so compassionate, and gentle, and so sincere in everything that you do. You are so unafraid to be yourself, and it is amazing to watch you hunt, drink, and just be a human. He is a fucking idiot for ghosting, and honestly you are probably better off without him.”

He looked down at you, your head tilted up towards him as tears streamed down your cheeks. His hand gently raised towards your cheek as he wiped the tears away, your eyes shutting as he did. His fingers lingered linger then he expected before he slowly lowered them again, however your fingers entangled his once they were at his side. He gently squeezed your hand as you whispered, “You are far too good to me.”

“What can I say, I hate seeing a princess cry.” He whispered, his heart aching a bit as he turned his attention back to Netflix.

This happened everyday for the next four days, you and him would just sit in your bed, hold hands, sometimes cuddle, and watch Netflix. After the first day he got you to smile, and soon you were laughing again at the movies, and his stupid jokes. Dean would also fall asleep in your bed, and normally awoke to see you fast asleep, except the morning of the fourth day.

Dean awoke to the sound of you sobbing, his eyes shot open as soon as he registered the sound. He saw you curled up in a vertical ball, your head buried in your knees as your arms hid your face, in your hand you clung to your phone. His body rose immediately as he wrapped his arms around you, trying to stop that your body from shaking from the sobs. Your own body leaning into his as his lips touched your hair, his eyes closing in pain as he did. Somewhere in the tears you turned your phone towards him, his arm staying wrapped around you as he took it into his hand and unlocked it. A quick smile spread across his face when he saw that your background was a picture of the two of you, but it quickly faded when he saw the text that was opened on your phone.

“You’re great! I just don’t think it will work, cause you can’t handle my ass! Beside I am too absent minded for you!”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Dean growled as he pulled you closer, your sobs increasing as he wrapped his other arm back around you.

After several minutes your sobs weakened to muffled sniffles, and your voice was raspy and a whisper, “What does that even mean?”

“That he doesn’t deserve you, and never did. This sounds like a fucking poor excuse on his part, and unfortunately he chose the worst possible way to tell you he wasn’t interested. Besides there is someone out there for you, and they will love you for exactly who you are.”

“I am starting to think he doesn’t exist.” You replied, your eyes closing tight as Dean whispered, “He might be closer then you think.”

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2010s: 15 - 11

15. Ieva Zasimauskaitė - “When we’re old” Lithuania 2018

[2018 Review here]

~wen wir owld HOOOOOOOOOOOO~

So close to the endgame it’s time to open all of the emotional registers. Much like Hovi, I did not expect to love Ieva as much as I do, however unlike Hovi I had already fully embraced Ieva and “When we’re old” long before rehearsals started.

And for good reason because Ieva fucking disarms me every time without fail. She herself is of course a hilarious, relatably weirdo indie girl, this time in the guise of a Born Again Hindu who ~FELT A COSMIC PRESENCE~ on the stage with her. 😍 Telling the true story of how she overcame depression by falling in love with her hubby. Flanked by holograms that project Ieva’s life dream: to be happy and grow old with the love of her life. All my hopeless romantic triggers are activated by this song. ALL OF THEM.

People are generally divided on Ieva’s voice, but um hello welcome to BorisBubbles. I ranked Nina Kralic and Jana Burcheska hellow-high. I LOVE Ieva’s husky, nasal, ovine, falsetto whine of a voice. It makes “When we’re old” for me. Ieva injects so much vulnerability and authenticity into a song that whenever she performs it, all I can do is sit in silence, tears welling up in my eyes, bleating along with the WHAOHHHHHs. Time truly stands still during “When we’re old” and I’m speechless.

________________________________________________________________

14. Conchita Wurst - “Rise like a phoenix” Austria 2014

You can be damn’ sure the highest ranked powerballad on this list is “Rise like a phoenix”. It isn’t as much as a song as it is an INSTITUTION. 

Which is why, symbollically, “Phoenix” is a very important winner. It’s a plight for overcoming hate, for overcoming bullying, from being yourself in the face and of adversity and rising from the ashes reborn, reinvented, reinvigorated. Its presentation is provocative, yet secondary, putting vocals and song on the foreground. It is rooted in the political zeitgeist of its winners, like most modern winners, obviously, 

however, ask yourself this:

Would “Phoenix” have won if it hadn’t been a great performance of a great song? 

I don’t think it would have. Take away the powerful composition and leave just the politically correct message, and you get Bilal Hassani. Take away the beard and you have, well, a really good song bond theme by a talented vocalist, that probably would’ve finished top ten, if not top five in most years. 

It’s easy to get distracted by Tom’s stick because a “Bearded drag queen” provides a lot of cognitive dissonance, which I personally love because it forces me to think, keeping my mind sharp. The use of a gimmick does NOT cheapen the talent on display here, however. Tom’s delivery of the song is flawless, hitting every note, delivering both ‘feminine’ nuturing comfort and ‘masculine’ strength to his glorious song. He even throws in some small nuggets of fierceness, providing levity, reminding us of Conchita’s drag queen roots

The act is cut from the same professional cloth; it is maybe a tad provocative, but at it’s core it remains dignified and classy, maintaining a moral high ground that instantly sheds a bad light on any hater. You may pull her down, but she’s gonna FLYYYYY.

Conchita Wurst is the best winner of this decade, period. No winning performance is as ironclad, vocally, musically or stagingwise as hers. No other winner has shown as much raw performance talent as she has. No winner has been able to make such a statement while at their core maintaining a high-quality musical standard. No winner has been such a champion of those whose voices are trampled for being different. To use Conchita’s own words after she won: “WE ARE UNITY. AND *WE* ARE UNSTOPPABLE.” 

________________________________________________________________

13. Zlata Ognevich - “Gravity” Ukraine 2013

This is the last female fronted act from 2013, you know what that means: EPIC ENTRANCE TIME 😍

What a beautiful dreamscape. I felt bad ranking Elina Nechayeva in a fairly low 39th place, but honestly, “Gravity” vibes very similarly and does the same things a lot better: Breathtakingly regal woman, a mirage of near-divine grace, stunning visual effects... SIGN ME UP ALREADY. At the core we of course find Zlata, the winner of the Best Human Award in 2013. Zlata’s backstage bits were rife with personality facts that instantly endeared her to me. A praraphrased selection from her infinitely quotable interview gold: ”I PRACTICE BIG VOICE BY HOLDING BREATH UNDERWATER”; “I COME FROM PLACE IT’S CALLED CRIMEA, IS LARGE ::reads from online dictionary:: PEN...EEN...SYOO..LA(?) WITH BIG MOUNTAIN AND LARGE SEA ^_^”; “I LOVE UNICORN IS FAVOURITE ANIMAL”. GODDESS. 😍

Fortunately her overpoweringly loud, yet disarmingly weird personality is also omnipresent during her big screen performance. “Gravity” is a mirage of Disney mojo and Zlata absolutely fucking hits it like A SHTRIKE OF DUNDAR

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a song that is legit quotable at every interval? There is not a single line in “Gravity” that doesn’t bring out the bedroom karaoke: “IMMA LIIIKA BADDERFLYYYYY.” “NOTHING COMES FROM PRIDE, -*HAYLALE*” “NOW I FEEL NO FEEEEE-AAAAAAR.“

And I’m not even done because Gravity ALSO features an excellent backing choir (the male backing vocalist is incredible). It’s just a perfect example of world music, conjuring three minutes of pure, unicorn-endorsed magic. IMMA LIIIKE A BADDERFLYYYYY. 🦋

________________________________________________________________

12. Juliana Pasha - “It’s all about you” Albania 2010

YUARDAWAN 😀 YUGIMMEDATSAMTINANEED 😀 ITZMI 😀 ENDAMFOLIN 😀

We are at #12, which means we’re at that Olympian milestone where every entity ranked is a fucking supernatural force. In Juliana’s case a forced of pure, unfiltered, streechy harpism. 😍 It is so weird to think that she was the first of Albania’s now iconic ‘Shrieking Boss Hag” archetype because it feels like a alliance older than time, sealed and styled in cuneiform onto a shard of Sumerian pottery, blessed by the Annunaki and then embedded into the muddy banks of the Euphrates. 

Anyway, Juliana earned my HEART once she greeted us with her uncanny-valleyesque diction and cheshire-catesque leering, all YUARDAWAN! and proceeded to throw everything, both vocally and facialexpressionly, into the mix, in ascending degrees of deafening loudness. 😍

With a criminally addictive electronic schlager song too boot! One which, like Zlata features an INCREDIBLE supporting cast in a bangin’ gospel choir, as well as a very generous dollop of ❤ ELECTRONIC VIOLA REALNESS ❤

One of the fave musicians of NaziPope, btw. “It’s all about you” is such a Triumpf of the Shrill. 😍

Anyway, this high quality list of ingredients make for a very replayable ride that never spoils or grows stale, no matter how often I listen to it. Which is actually a lot. I’ve looped “It’s all about you” at countless occasions since 2010, making it perhaps the song on this list that I have to the MOST often. (Or second most because there IS a song I still have to rank that may challenge Juliana for that title.) If that ain’t a hallmark for quality, I don’t know what is. 

________________________________________________________________

11. Koza Mostra ft. Agathonas Iakovidis - “Alcohol is free” Greece 2013

Has life been letting you down? Have you been struck by a financial crisis? Do you no longer know how to continue living. Fear not, because :cracks knuckles: we are about to embark on a MASTERCLASS of unabashed drunken REVELRY:

Um a small disclaimer though. This song has a really really, really, REALLY irresponsible title. DO NOT at any circumstance use alcohol as a coping mechanism, engage in drunk driving or other activities under influence that you may life to regret later, if you live to regret it later. Also don’t drink if you’re underage. Also also, alcohol can cause obesity and cardio-vascular arrest. and cancer, possibly. Drink, but do so RESPONSIBLY. 

HOWEVER, what if this song is... a PSA???😈 An Anti-Crisis PSA that is, lol. A group of folk hipsters literally PARTYING AWAY the misery of the financial crisis in a delightfully self-deprecating fashion is just the pinacle of fun for me and Koza Mostra fucking ROLL with it. Watching them dart out in all wind directions, interacting with each other gives me LIFE.

It’s exactly that sort of industriousness which sets “Alcohol is free” apart from other party songs. There is a LOT of randomness going on in the background and it gives you ZERO time to process all of it, making every rewatch an easter egg hunt.

This approach to staging usually doesn’t work, but here it is actually very intelligent and I’ll explain why: The act places a lot of focus on Agathonas (which it should because he’s the lead singer despite his featured status), but by the same token offers constant distraction by all the Koza Mostra shenanigans in the background...  In other words, it’s an act that forces your attention away from the main event by confusing your senses, requesting all of you concentration keep up with everything that’s going on... which is actually a brilliantly accurate simulation of how 'being drunk’ works.

(btw if you listen closely you can hear the sound of Agathonas tapping his skull lol <3)

So the next time you listen to this song, pour yourself a drink (ONE drink!) sit back and embark on a Waldo-esque hunt to see how many beautiful nuggets you can find hidden in that splendid act, as the upbeat sirtaki madness fills your head with cloudy thoughts. As far as I’m concerned, Koza Mostra have WON the Eurovision Fun Contest. 

EVERYONE RISE AND APPLAUD THE  10 BEST ENTRIES IN THIS DECADE:

From now on, I’ll only include maximum 2 songs per update :o

And in this update we finally say goodbye to Greece, Albania, Ukraine, Austria and Lithuania. Read my thoughts on them, below:

LITHUANIA

Lithuania was hands down the worst country in the 00s and look at their chart now. They are slowly getting their shit together and it shows. Keep on going, darlings!!

AUSTRIA

God Austria are so boring. At least they occasionally provide us with a great entry here or there, but they’re so inconsistent in their entertainment. 2 great - 6 okay - 1 terrible is NOT a great ratio by any means. 

UKRAINE

ALBANIA

Albania are very hit-or-miss, but I really like their presence in Eurovision actually. Like Georgia they entries are so left-field that they are always *interesting* even when they’re not good. Except “Fairytale”. Fuck “Fairytale”.

GREECE

Fuck this decade was ROUGH for Greece. They are a shattered nation and if you think this chart is bad, let me remind you that their best result in the past five contests is 19th place. Same in fact, as San Marino’s highest and lower than the highest placements of Albania, Montenegro, Slovenia, UK, Ireland, North Macedonia,...

[tomeandflickcorner]

Movie Review- Ghostbusters

The 1984 film Ghostbusters was the brainchild of Dan Akroyd, who had been a long-time believer in the paranormal.  When he first started writing the script, his intention was to have the movie center around three people traveling through time and space to hunt down ghosts.  He also planned to have the movie star himself and John Belushi, his close friend and fellow SNL alumni.  Unfortunately, Belushi’s untimely death in 1982 made that impossible.  However, in spite of the tragedy, Akroyd decided to press on with his project, and he presented his proposed script to Ivan Reitman, who convinced Akroyd to revise the premise to take place solely in modern-day New York City and then brought in Harold Ramis to help Akroyd rework the script.  Eventually, they were able to pitch the revised project to Colombia Pictures. The studio saw the potential of the proposed project and, even with the absence of a final script, they greenlit the film with the understanding that it would be ready for release in the summer of 1984.

So, I’m sure we all know how the movie opens, with the middle-aged librarian at the New York Public Library simply doing her job in reshelving some books before she gets terrorized by the sight of the old card catalogue’s contents flying out of their individual shelves and nearly running headlong into something that makes her scream in terror, right before the instant dissolve into the iconic Ghostbusters logo, accompanied by Ray Parker Jr.’s classic theme song.  But even in that opening sequence, I was quite impressed how well the effects hold up, considering this move was made in the 80s. It still looks good when the books float across the shelves on their own. Although, it occurred to me while writing this that there might be some mild confusion among younger audiences watching this movie now, considering many of them have probably never had to use an actual card catalogue in their lives.  Boy, I feel old.

We then shift focus to the movie’s protagonists, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, a trio of scientists who study the paranormal at Columbia University.  At the moment, Peter is seemingly in the middle of conducting an experiment in ESP by having two people guess what’s on those ESP cards.  Basically, the gist of this experiment is to deliver a mild electric shock on the subjects every time they guess wrong.  I guess this is done in an attempt to trigger the test subjects’ clairvoyance or something. But it becomes obvious rather quickly that he’s fudging his data, as he’s only delivering the electrical shocks to the male test subject while refusing to extend the same treatment to the female test subject.  Peter’s obviously a bit of a womanizer in that regard.  When the male test subject finally has enough of the constant electrical shocks and storms out, Peter proceeds to try and charm the young woman out on a date.  However, he’s quickly interrupted by Ray, who bursts into the room in a fit of excitement. He announces that they’ve been called out to the New York Public Library in order to investigate the strange happenings that were shown in the movie’s opening.  Peter, despite trying to make an excuse to sit this one out, is pretty much dragged to the library.

It was at this point in the movie that I started to raise an eyebrow at the very presence of Peter in this movie.  Don’t get me wrong, because the whole franchise certainly wouldn’t have been as popular without this character, or the characteristically phenomenal presence of Bill Murray.  But I do question why Peter, as a character, is even here.  Yes, a deleted scene indicated that he was the one who introduced Ray and Egon to each other, meaning they might not have ever met if not for Peter.  However, Egon and Ray seem legitimately interested actually studying and researching the paranormal.  Peter, on the other hand, comes across as someone who really doesn’t want to be there. He can’t even conduct a legitimate unbiased experiment, choosing to instead use said experiment as a front for getting dates.  It’s almost like someone who hates the performing arts going to Juilliard. Like, why are you even here?

Anyway, Peter and Ray soon join up with Egon at the library to investigate the disturbance, starting with the interview with the terrified librarian.  At first, the interview seems rather straightforward, with Peter asking if she has a family history of mental illness, or if she’s currently taking any medication or drugs that might cause her to hallucinate.  This, I find, is rather smart.  From what I’ve seen, the best type of ghost hunters approach each case with an air of skepticism and try to find a more rational explanation for the supposed paranormal activity.  It’s the only way to determine if you have a legitimate haunting.  However, Peter then asks the librarian if she’s menstruating. To which the library administrator wonders why that should matter.  In response, Peter simply states ‘back off, man. I’m a scientist.’  Um, no. I’m sorry, but that was a legit question.  I’m asking as a female.  Why would the librarian’s menstrual cycle be of any significance?  Last I checked, menstruation does not trigger hallucinations. So, what’s the joke here? I don’t get it. Unless Peter is suggesting that the librarian’s emotional state might have influenced her to think she saw something due to PMS? Because that’s quite a leap in logic.  Not to mention rather sexist.  Just saying, if there was supposed to be a joke here, the fact that I have to think about it so hard makes it fail as a good joke.

Iffy attempts at jokes aside, Egon interrupts the interview to inform them that he’s got a read on the specter with his PKE meter and that it appears to be moving.  So the trio proceed down to the lower level of the library, where they find a bunch of books stacked up between the shelves, as well as the card reader completely drenched with ectoplasmic residue.  And once again, while Ray is approaching the while situation like an excited kid and Egon is gathering samples for further study, like a proper scientist would, Peter is just hanging around in the back, visibly bored and all but rolling his eyes. (Side note, really awkward line in this scene.  Ray says ‘listen, you smell that?’  Normally, when someone says to listen, they want you to hear something.  So if Ray was inquiring about a particular scent, shouldn’t his statement have started with ‘hang on’ or something?)

Eventually, the three of them come face-to-face with the Library Ghost.  However, they’re all a bit stumped on how to proceed.  Because this is apparently the first time they’ve actually seen a full torso apparition in person.  Not even Peter’s attempt at establishing communication with the Library Ghost seems to work.  Because, hey, it’s a ghost of a librarian.  They insist on people being quiet in the library.  But then Ray gets an idea.  Only his idea is to charge at the Library Ghost, shouting ‘get her!’  Needless to say, this plan doesn’t work, resulting only in the Library Ghost to instantly shift her appearance into a menacing looking creature that sends Peter, Egon and Ray running completely out of the library in terror.  (So much for the famous Ghostbuster motto of ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost.’)

Interesting tidbit about the transformed Library Ghost, though.  The original design of the puppet they used in the scene was deemed too scary for the movie’s PG rating, so they had to set it aside and start from scratch.  But they later repurposed the initial design of the ghost for the original Fright Night, which came out the following year.

Sometime later, the trio return to Columbia University, with Peter teasing Ray about his impulsive plan. However, it comes out that the data Egon managed to gather on the Library Ghost during the brief encounter has led him to an interesting prospect. Through some technobabble about ionization rates, they theorize that might be possible for them to actually catch and permanently confine a ghost.  However, when they get back to their lab in order to report their findings, they are confronted with the college dean, Dean Yeager.  It turns out that the college’s board of directors has decided to terminate their grants, which means they’re being kicked off campus.  Thing is, I can totally understand why they’re giving Peter the boot.  Because as I said before, I have no idea why he even bothered getting the same parapsychology degree that Ray and Egon got.  Unlike them, he seems purely uninterested in actually researching the paranormal.  And the brief glimpse of his fake experiment on ESP demonstrates that he will willingly fabricate his data.  Everything we’ve seen from Peter so far seems to support everything Dean Yeager is accusing him of.  So yeah. I totally support them terminating Peter’s employment at the university.  But…why are they kicking Egon and Ray out?  They seem like the legit scientists here.  I haven’t seen any indication that they’re abusing their positions as paranormal researchers the way Peter is, and they appear to believe 100% in what they’re doing.  Is it just a case of them being guilty by association?  It would be one thing if they showed Ray and Egon trying to stick up for Peter, being all ‘if you fire him, you’ll have to fire us, too!’  And then immediately cut to them sitting outside on the curb, with boxes full of their stuff.  But they don’t do that.

Regardless of how it doesn’t make much sense, all three of them are now out of a job.  And Ray is taking it particularly hard.  Because without the money and facilities the university provided them with, it’s going to be quite difficult for them to continue their research.  Or something to that effect. However, Peter seems quite cavalier about the whole thing. Seemingly on the fly, he comes up with the idea of him, Ray and Egon opening up their own business as paranormal exterminators by running with Egon’s theory about catching ghosts.  The only thing is, for them to fully realize the ghost containment system that they have in mind, they’ll need to have a substantial amount of money.  Because the necessary materials and power system they need to keep it running don’t come cheap.  Of course, Peter’s got it all figured out, and he manages to coerce Ray into mortgaging the house his presumably dead parents left him in order to obtain their start-up loan.  Something that Ray isn’t pleased with, but Peter is confident that the franchise rights of being paranormal investigators and eliminators will make them super rich, so there’s no need for Ray to worry about losing his childhood home.  

Next up, they have to find a center of operations, so to speak, so they turn to a realtor to help them locate a vacant building they can utilize.  The realtor ends up bringing them to the iconic Firehouse, which has apparently been sitting empty for a while and is in a state of disrepair.  So much so, the ever-serious Egon finds nothing but faults in the old structure.  However, Ray, ever the optimist, falls in love with the place, particularly when it comes to the fire pole.  So, despite Egon’s objections, they end up purchasing the Firehouse.

We then cut to a rather fancy looking apartment complex, where a woman named Dana Barrett lives. We join up with her as she’s returning to her apartment with a bag of groceries.  Before she can reach her apartment, she is briefly held up by her dorky neighbor, Louis, who works as an accountant.  And he, I guess, has a bit of a one-sided crush on Dana, as he keeps inviting her over to his place for some refreshments.  While Dana is clearly not interested in him like that, she continues to graciously turn him down, though she does noncommittedly state she’ll ‘try’ to stop by at a party he’s planning on throwing for his clients in the near future.  Right before Dana retreats to her apartment in order to get ready for work (she’s a professional musician who plays cello in a symphony orchestra), Louis informs her that she accidently left her TV on when she went out, which greatly puzzles Dana as she doesn’t remember leaving it on.  This does end up being beneficial, however, because when Dana enters her apartment, the TV just happens to be playing an advertisement for Peter, Egon and Ray’s new business, Ghostbusters.  Dana, briefly watches the commercial in bemusement, but then turns the TV off, continuing to the kitchen in order to put away her groceries.  

And that’s when the disturbance happens.  While Dana is putting things away, the eggs she set out suddenly start flying out of their shells and proceed to cook on the counter.  While it takes Dana a few seconds to notice this, she is visibly stunned by the phenomenon.  Before she can recover from the strangeness of this, she hears a menacing growl emanating from her refrigerator.   Deciding to investigate the growls, Dana opens the refrigerator to see the interior has been replaced by some dimensional portal to a demonic looking realm. Before Dana can slam the door with a scream, she witnesses the image of a bear-sized creature roaring out the word ‘Zuul!’

Quick question before I continue. I know that the movie pretty much implied that Dana really had simply forgot to switch off her TV before heading out to the store and all, but was that really what happened?  What if the TV being switched on while Dana was out was another paranormal happenstance?  I know it was probably the more rational explanation, but Kid Me always kinda wondered about that.

Cut to two days later. The Ghostbusters are still trying to get their new business off the ground.  They’ve got a rather basic sign for the front of the building, which Peter isn’t too impressed with, and Ray has purchased an old hearse to function as the company car, even though the car is in need of some serious maintenance. They’ve even found a secretary in the feisty and intellectual Janine.  She seems to have a thing for Egon, though he seems to be a bit bewildered by her at first. Just look at the way he’s looking at her when she’s rabbling on about how much she likes to read.  Maybe he was expecting her to give up on making small talk with him when he retorted that ‘print is dead.’  Maybe this is the first time he met a woman who wasn’t immediately scared away by his overly serious demeanor, and he wasn’t sure how to handle that.  In case you couldn’t tell already, I ship these two so hard.

That’s when Dana enters the Firehouse.  It seems she has remembered the commercial she saw and has come to the Ghostbusters office to seek their help in figuring out what happened at her apartment two days ago.  (Side note, I do get a chuckle over how Peter popped up like a Jack-in-the-Box when he overheard Dana talking to Janine.)  Since the Ghostbusters haven’t had any other prospective clients yet, they are quick to offer her assistance.  After hearing about what she experienced, Egon and Ray immediately start formulating their hypotheses on what might have caused Dana to witness the things she did and decide to get right to work on researching the history of Dana’s apartment building and searching for any information on the name Zuul.  However, Peter volunteers to go to Dana’s apartment and take a look around.  Though it’s made very clear that he’s only doing so because he finds her attractive.

Of course, when they get to Dana’s apartment, Peter is unable to find any evidence of paranormal activity.  Even though the remnants of the eggs are still on the counter, everything else is completely normal, with the refrigerator being just an ordinary refrigerator.  Not even the ghost sniffer that Peter brought along seems to be detecting anything unusual. This frustrates Dana, who begins to partially question her sanity. However, Peter decides to be Peter and proceeds to lay on the charm, even going so far as to confess his love, even though he only met her that day. Last I checked, this isn’t a Disney movie.  I don’t think the Disney Corporation even owns Columbia Pictures (yet).  Dana, of course, is not having it and instructs him to leave.  Peter complies to her request, but not before vowing to prove himself by solving her case.  Dana simply rolls her eyes at his declaration and practically has to push him out the door.

That night, our protagonists are sitting down to a dinner of Chinese takeout, where they toast Dana as their first and only customer.  Peter, not giving up on his intent to woo the lady, voices his intent to take her out to dinner in order to keep her invested in their services.  However, Ray informs him that the food in front of them has effectively used up what was left of their funds.  It seems that the necessary repairs they had to do on the Firehouse and their chosen vehicle, not to mention the advertising costs and construction & upkeep of their equipment, has taken a sizable chunk out of their monetary account. If they don’t start making some revenue soon, they’re pretty much sunk.

As luck would have it, at that very moment, Janine answers a phone call at the reception desk.  And I do get a chuckle out of her ‘yes, of course they’re serious.’  It makes me wonder if they were getting a lot of prank calls after their advertisement started to air.  However, this particular phone call ends up being legit.  It turns out there’s a disturbance at the Sedgewick Hotel, and the hotel manager has decided to call in the Ghostbusters. Prompting Janine to excitedly press the alarm bell to announce the Ghostbuster’s first official call, which they respond to almost instantly, driving out to the Sedgewick Hotel in the newly-dubbed Ecto-1.  (Question- how much time has passed since Dana approached the Ghostbusters?  When she first walked in, we see Ray hard at work in fixing up the car’s multiple mechanical issues.  And now it’s apparently been repaired to full working order, complete with a new paintjob.  I find it doubtful that they could have completed all that work in only a day, so there must have been a small time jump at work here.  Also, there are two arcade games and a pinball machine in the Firehouse.  Which of the three purchased them?  Inquiring minds want to know.)

Upon arriving at the Sedgewick Hotel, Peter, Egon and Ray are approached by the hotel manager, the one who called them in.  The manager explains that the twelfth floor of the hotel has always experienced the occasional disturbance over the years, but it’s always been easy for the hotel staff to cover it up so the guests wouldn’t notice.  However, two weeks ago, the paranormal activity has intensified, which has left him no choice than to try calling in the Ghostbusters.  After the brief discussion with the manager, the Ghostbusters head to the elevators in order to head up to the twelfth floor. But first, we get a possibly dated joke where a hotel guest takes in the appearance of the Ghostbusters in their coveralls and proton packs and asks if they’re cosmonauts.  I had to look up was a cosmonaut was because I was not familiar with that term.  FYI, it’s basically the Russian equivalent of an astronaut.  Which basically means that the hotel guest was suspecting them of being Russians.  That only makes sense when you consider the fact that this movie was made during the time of the Cold War, when there was strong tension between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Moving on, as they make their way up the elevator, Egon and Ray admit that they never properly tested their equipment. Meaning this first mission is going to be a crash course, so to speak.  Of course, they basically do have their chance at testing out their proton packs when they impulsively fire off Proton Streams at a housekeeper who just happened to be passing by.  (Thankfully, she wasn’t harmed and only her cart got toasted.)   After the slight mishap, the trio decide to split up in order to cover more ground. As such, Ray is the one who comes across the ghost first. As those of you who are familiar with the franchise knows, it’s the green potato-shaped entity that will eventually be dubbed as Slimer.  (Although the creature was originally called ‘The Onionhead Ghost’ by the film crew, as the ghost was supposed to emit a particular odor.)  At the moment, Slimer is stuffing his face with the food on a room service cart.  Because Peter and Egon are out of earshot, Ray decides to try and catch Slimer himself, but his attempt only ends up spooking Slimer, who zooms off and escapes through a wall, leaving behind a bit of green ectoplasmic residue.  This results in the green ghost crossing paths with Peter.  To his credit, Peter seems to take it a little more calmly and contacts Ray over the walkie-talkie.  But before anything could be done, Slimer flies toward Peter almost menacingly, prompting Peter to scream (which is probably the most emotion we’ve seen Peter display so far. He didn’t even scream during the scene with the Library Ghost.)  By the time Ray appears on the scene, Slimer is once again gone, but Peter is lying on the ground, drenched in green ectoplasm.

At this point, Egon manages to contact them, announcing he witnessed Slimer entering a ballroom elsewhere in the hotel.  So the Ghostbusters head down the ballroom in question, instructing the manager to wait outside while they deal with the matter.  Eventually, they do manage to capture Slimer, but only after causing extensive damage to the ballroom, including destroying a rather expensive looking chandelier.  Although, this scene does contain a moment when Egon informs Ray and Peter of an important safety precaution involving their Proton Packs.  Because of the nature of the Proton Streams they use to restrain the ghost while the Ghost Trap is being set up, it is vitally important that they don’t cross the streams.  Because if they do, it would result in a total protonic reversal that would cause every cell in their bodies to explode.  Which is obviously a rather gruesome way to die.

Upon the successful capture of Slimer, the Ghostbusters exit the demolished ballroom and approach the hotel manager, seeking the payment for their services.  But the manager balks at the knowledge that they’re asking for $5,000. (Because I’m a nerd, I actually took the time to adjust this amount for inflation.  That price is equivalent to $12,326.42 now.)  At first, the manager refuses to pay that much.  Until they threaten to release Slimer back into the ballroom.  Now, on the one hand, I can appreciate that the Ghostbusters are in desperate need of funds at this point, and they need to be properly confiscated considering how expensive it is to maintain their equipment.  At the same time, they could have offered a slight discount, seeing as how the hotel is now going to have to pay for the damage to the ballroom. Still, we do get a nice moment of seeing Peter and Egon playing off each other.  If you watch carefully, you can see Egon trying to covertly signal Peter in how much to charge the hotel for trapping Slimer.

And thus begins the montage scene of the Ghostbusters doing their thing in busting the various spooks that continue popping up around the city as their popularity continues to grow, with them making the front page of newspapers, appearing in various magazines and even scoring TV interviews. (Along with brief cameos of Larry King and the now-late Casey Kasem.)  Of course, there is one moment in this montage that appears to be a dream sequence of Ray’s, in which he’s visited by a ghost lady who, despite not actually showing anything (the movie was rated PG, after all), clearly performs oral sex on him.  It’s a bit of a weird moment, to be honest.  Of course, that brief sequence was actually recycled footage from a scene that didn’t make it into the final cut.  The scene in question had the Ghostbusters investigating a haunting at the fictional Fort Detmerring.  Though knowing that doesn’t make the scene any less weird.

As the montage wraps up, we get introduced to our final main character, Winston Zeddemore.  He arrives at the Firehouse in response to an ad the Ghostbusters put out, asking for additional help.  It seems that the ghostly activity in the city has gotten to be too much for Peter, Ray and Egon to tackle on their own, and they’re hoping to get more assistance.  So Winston has decided to come by and apply for the job out of a desire to have a steady paycheck.  And because Peter and Ray are particularly exhausted over how busy they’ve been lately, they hire him on the spot upon returning from a bust.

Now, I probably should acknowledge the fact that Winston seems to get the short end of the stick among the Ghostbusters fandom, with him being regarded as the odd one out due to the fact that he doesn’t join the team until halfway through the movie and isn’t actually a scientist like the others.  There was even an episode of Stranger Things that brought this up.  But honestly, I think Winston is one of best members of the team.  Because he’s the everyday guy.  The one who pretty much gave us ordinary folks the hope that we could be Ghostbusters, too. And, as an adult, I can appreciate Winston’s whole attitude when he straight up tells Janine ‘if there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say.’  This is a guy who just wants a job that will help him get food on the table, and just happened to end up landing the coolest job on the planet.  That is awesome!  I wanna be Winston!

The movie then cuts to Carnegie Hall, where Dana is just getting out of work after a rehearsal. She and a fellow member of the orchestra, a male violin player who Dana later describes as one of the finest musicians in the world, are complaining about the guest conductor who oversaw the rehearsal, and how the conductor in question seemed to prefer shouting at them in German rather than actually do any real conducting.  Their conversation is cut short when Dana spots Peter a few feet away, and she goes over to talk with them.  Strangely enough, Dana seems to be rather taken with Peter now.  The last time we saw these two together, Dana seemed a bit annoyed by Peter and his unwanted advances.  But here, she seems to have warmed up to him.  Were there additional scenes that showed further interactions between the two that wound up on the cutting room floor?  Because if the movie really wanted to sell these two as the main couple, they could have really benefitted from showing them interact a little more.  While the actors do play well off each other, it seems a bit odd that Dana seemingly went from viewing Peter as an annoyance to her regarding him as a friend without showing us how she got to that point.  Granted we saw her appear a few times in the movie’s montage segment, but that was only her reacting to the various news stories about the Ghostbusters’ rising fame.

Anyway, Peter reveals he was true to his word.  Even though they’ve been busy dealing with other hauntings and whatnot, they’re still working on figuring out what caused the paranormal activity at Dana’s apartment. Their research has found some information about the name of Zuul, who was a demi-god worshiped by some various ancient cultures around 6000 BC.  He was also said to be the minion of a being called Gozer.  Of course, they’re not quite sure why Dana seems to have been targeted by Zuul and Gozer, so Peter suggests they could get together Thursday night around 9 to discuss the matter more thoroughly.  Of course, Dana sees this for what it is and knows Peter is just trying to trick her into a date.  But she ultimately agrees to the arrangement, because she is now apparently charmed by his advances now.  Not sure why, but whatever.

It then cuts back to the Firehouse, where Ray is busy showing Winston how to load a captured ghost into their custom-made Containment Unit, which basically works as a jailhouse for the imprisoned ghosts.  Meanwhile, Peter is upstairs, dealing with a visit from Walter Peck from the Environmental Protection Agency.  Basically, Peck is there to investigate the Ghostbusters and check if their operation is creating a significant impact on the environment.  As such, he wants to inspect their equipment, particularly the Containment Unit.  Ultimately, Peter refuses to comply with his demands.  Now, as someone who actually has a BS in Environmental Studies, I have to admit that…. Peck is not necessarily in the wrong here.  He’s simply doing his job in investigating the Ghostbusters and making sure they’re not releasing any toxic substances into the environment.  So I don’t fault him for what he’s wanting to do.  However, I don’t think he went about it in a good way.  Especially since he really does give a pretty big veiled threat to Peter during their conversation.  Not to mention that he seems to indirectly accuse them of purposely releasing noxious gas into the atmosphere with the intention of making people hallucinate into seeing ghosts.  Because of that, I also don’t blame Peter for refusing to comply with Peck’s demands. If Walter Peck had just been a bit more professional and respectful about his intentions, things might have turned out differently.  After Walter Peck storms out, Peter rejoins Egon, Ray and Winston down in the basement, where the three of them inform him of some fresh concern of Egon’s.  The Containment Unit, it seems, is getting close to maximum capacity due to all the ghosts they’ve been catching.  To make things even more concerning, the data he’s collected from their various missions throughout the city suggests that something much bigger is on the horizon.  Which he explains with a Twinkie analogy.

However, I have to pause for a moment to really look at these last few scenes back-to-back.  This is probably a nitpick, but the continuity of these scenes seem a bit off.  If you look carefully, you see that Peter is wearing his Ghostbusters jumpsuit during his meeting with Walter Peck.  And that the jumpsuit is stained with ectoplasmic goop.  Which is exactly what he was wearing when he and Ray returned to the Firehouse during Winston’s job interview with Janine.  So, taking that into account, it seems like the correct order of events would be 1) Winston being hired into the Ghostbusters, 2) the meeting with Walter Peck, 3) Ray instructing Winston on how to operate the containment unit and then 4) Egon’s Twinkie analogy. Based on the characters’ wardrobe throughout those scenes, it seems like they all occurred simultaneously. Of course, that would put into question where Peter and Dana’s meeting outside Carnegie Hall would fall on the movie’s timeline.  Especially since Winston later will state that, as of the movie’s climax, he’s been with the company for a few weeks.  So, since the climax really starts to kick off on the night of Peter and Dana’s Thursday date, it makes sense for the Carnegie Hall scene to come after Winston was hired.  But if they had aired the scenes in the proper order, we wouldn’t have gotten that dramatic cut that the movie gave us.  Because the way the movie plays out, we immediately cut from Peter saying ‘what about the Twinkie?’ to the top of Dana’s apartment building, where a pair of stone statues of demonic creatures (known as Terror Dogs) start to break open, revealing there are real Terror Dogs encased inside the statures.  Apparently, they’ve been lying dormant until the opportune moment and are now being unleashed.  (Which is that big thing that Egon saw coming on the horizon).

As the Terror Dogs are emerging from their stone statues, Dana arrives home in order to get ready for her date with Peter at nine.  By coincidence, her neighbor, Louis, is also holding his party on the same night and, despite Dana’s best efforts at sneaking past his door, he somehow hears her moving down the hall and comes out to greet her.  Louis is crestfallen when he hears that Dana scheduled a date on the night of his party, but quickly takes in in stride, suggesting that Dana can bring Peter to the party, too.  (Dude, take the hint.)  Dana, more to appease him than anything, states that they’ll try to make an appearance. However, it doesn’t really matter either way.  Because when Dana returns to her apartment and starts to get ready, demonic hands burst out of the chair she’s sitting in and forcibly hold her down so the Terror Dog known as Zuul can possess her.  I don’t have to tell you that it is a really chilling scene to witness.  To this day, I cannot sleep with the closet light shining through the door gaps, and I blame it on this scene.

While Zuul is possessing Dana across the hall, Louis is having some paranormal issues of his own. It turns out that the second Terror Dog, this one named Vinz Clortho, has targeted Louis as his chosen vessel. Because both Terror Dogs need to possess a human vessel in order to prepare the way for their master, Gozer. Not really sure why Louis was selected, however.  Sure, he’s the only other character we’ve really been introduced to so far, outside of the actual Ghostbuster crew (and I’m including Janine in that).  But to our knowledge, Louis didn’t experience any sort of paranormal warning the way Dana did with the eggs cooking on the counter and her refrigerator becoming a portal to the demonic realm.  Unless the running gag of Louis constantly getting himself locked out of his apartment was his paranormal ‘warning.’

Anyway, Vinz disrupts Louis’ party, terrifying the guests while Louis runs out of his apartment, prompting Vinz to give chase.  (Is that why Louis got selected?  Because he was the only one who ran out of the apartment? Do Terror Dogs hunt by movement?)  Despite Louis’ best efforts to evade the demonic creature, Vinz eventually corners him outside Tavern on the Green, the well-known restaurant in Central Park.

This scene, admittedly, confuses me to this day.  When Louis is cornered and subsequently possessed by Vinz, he is in full view of the people eating at the restaurant.  But even though they all look up when they hear Louis screaming outside, they immediately go back to their meals as if nothing happened.  Did they not see Vinz standing outside with Louis? Was Vinz invisible to everyone except Louis?  That doesn’t make much sense, since Louis’ party guests, his elderly neighbor, the apartment building’s doorman and the number of people who happened to be driving by clearly saw Vinz as well.  So was this supposed to be a bit of social commentary about how New Yorkers often don’t lift a finger to help people in distress? Because I can see the reasoning behind such a thing.  After all, there was that famous news story about the homeless man bleeding to death on the ground and how nobody stopped to help him.  And there was a similar story back in 1964, when a 28-year-old woman was raped and killed while at least 38 bystanders didn’t bother to intervene or respond to her screams.  Even so, you’d think that someone in that restaurant would have reacted to the sight of Vinz.

Back at the apartment building, Peter has just arrived for his date with Dana.  While he does react to       the presence of the police who have been called out to investigate the disturbance at Louis’ party (as people had mistook the Terror Dog for a cougar), he makes his way to Dana’s apartment.   Unfortunately, by the time he arrives, Dana has already been possessed by Zuul, and is now wearing a rather provocative orange dress.  (Can’t see Dana having something like that in her closet based on what we’ve previously seen her wearing, so I’m wondering where that dress came from.)  Despite Peter’s best efforts at reaching out to Dana’s consciousness, Zuul’s hold on her mind is too strong.  Which of course leads to the iconic ‘there is no Dana, only Zuul’ line.  Though it’s important to note that Zuul refers to herself as ‘the Gatekeeper,’ and that she’s waiting for ‘the Keymaster.’  I’m sure we all know the sexual undertones of those monikers, so there’s no need for me to comment on it.

Meanwhile, Louis, now possessed by Vinz, has been picked up by the police because he’s been causing a bit of a scene in Central Park with his search for ‘the Gatekeeper.’  But since the cops aren’t sure what to do with him due to his erratic behavior, the police captain has decided to bring him to the Ghostbusters.  (By the way, I love Janine’s immediate response when she opens the door to find the cops standing on the doorstop.  This woman is awesome.)  Egon, upon seeing how the possessed Louis is making the PKE meter spike, agrees to bring him inside the Firehouse, where we get this awesome effect of Vinz’ true form appear on an infrared monitor.  Upon being questioned by Egon, Vinz explains that he’s waiting for a sign from Gozer the Traveler, who will come in a pre-chosen form.  Janine, growing a bit worried by what she’s hearing Vinz say, briefly pulls Egon aside to voice her concerns, stating she’s got a terrible feeling that something awful is going to happen to him.

The tender moment between the two is broken when Peter calls the Firehouse to inform Egon of Dana’s possession by Zuul.  At present, Peter has managed to knock Zuul out by injecting Dana’s body with 300 cc of thorozine.  (Does Peter normally carry around thorozine?  Particularly when he’s planning on going out on a date?  Do I even want to know?)  Egon instructs Peter to return to the Firehouse straight away, also warning him that they cannot let Zuul and Vinz meet.

Elsewhere, Ray and Winston are off in the Ecto-1, apparently coming back from a call.  Strangely, Winston is still wearing his civilian clothes while Ray is in his Ghostbusters jumpsuit.  As previously stated, Winston is supposed to have been with the Ghostbusters for a few weeks by this point.  So where’s his jumpsuit?  How long does it take the uniform store to design a Ghostbuster jumpsuit?  Anyway, Ray is busy studying the blueprints for Dana’s apartment building, currently unaware of what happened with Dana and Lewis, and is taken aback by how the top of the apartment complex was constructed by a magnesium-tungsten alloy, which is apparently very peculiar.  Winston, seemingly out of nowhere, interrupts Ray’s musings to bring up God and Jesus.  However, the reason behind Winston’s choice of subject becomes clear when he asks Ray if he remembers what the Bible said about the last days, when the dead would rise from the grave.  To this, Ray states he remembers Revelations 7:12 and proceeds to recite a Bible verse.  However, if you actually look at a Bible, you’ll see that the verse Ray recites is NOT Revelations 7:12.  It’s actually Revelations 6:12.  You got the wrong chapter, Ray, but points for trying.  Either way, Ray basically shrugs and states all ancient religions have their own myths about the end of the world.  But his mood shifts when Winston points out that perhaps the reason why they’ve been so busy lately is because the dead HAVE been rising from the grave.  While this particular scene doesn’t really contribute much to the plot, it is still a good scene, and one of my favorites in the film.

Back at the Firehouse, Egon is awaiting the return of his fellow Ghostbusters and performing a few tests on Vinz while he’s waiting.  Because of course Egon would want to gather some data on the possessed Louis. Unfortunately, that’s when Walter Peck returns.  This time, he’s brought in the cops and a worker from Con Edison.  Janine does her best to stop them, pointing out that she knows they can’t barge onto the premises without a writ or warrant (which is further indication that Janine is highly intelligent and not just a pretty face), but Peck counters her denial of entry by showing he does have a warrant.  Upon storming into the basement with his reinforcements in tow, Peck demands that the Containment Unit gets switched off.  Egon urgently warns the Con Edison man against turning off the protection grid, as does Peter when he arrives on the scene.  However, Peck is persistent and forces the Con Edison man to comply with his order, despite the Con Ed Man’s hesitations.

Of course, the moment the Containment Unit’s protection grid is switched off, alarms start blaring, and everyone is forced to run out of the Firehouse before the Containment Unit explodes with such force, it blasts a hole into the Firehouse’s roof.  The instant this happens, Zuul/Dana snaps awake. Because this was apparently the sign she and Vinz/Louis was waiting for- the release of all the ghosts the Ghostbusters had previously caught.

As a crowd gathers around the damaged Firehouse, Ray and Winston return back from their bust.  As such, they are present when Peck angrily charges forward, demanding that the cops arrest them for being in criminal violation of the Environmental Protection Act.  To Egon’s enragement, Peck even tries to blame them for the explosion.  Which was really a jerk move on Peck’s part.  While I won’t deny that he was just doing his job at first, it was his refusal to listen to Egon and Peter’s multiple warnings that make him lose my support. They TOLD him repeatedly that shutting off the Containment Unit’s protection grid would have led to disastrous reproductions.  But he refused to listen to them out of what I can only imagine was the result of him having a chip on his shoulder because Peter ‘insulted’ him.  To make matters worse, Vinz/Louis manages to slip away amidst the chaos.  And throughout the city, the newly released ghosts proceed to wreak havoc.

Sometime later, the Ghostbusters are confined to a rather large jail cell, which they’re sharing with some other prison inmates.  I admit I don’t know much about prisons, but… do jails often have cells large enough to hold up to ten people?  Regardless, Egon and Ray are busy studying the blueprints of Dana and Louis’ apartment building, commenting on how bizarre the structural framework is.  Long story short, it turns out that the building was actually designed to be a super-conductive antenna designed specifically to pull in and concentrate spiritual energy.  Egon then goes into storytelling mode, explaining to his compatriots (as well as the other inmates, who also seem interested) that he has previously discovered that the building’s architect was a man named Ivo Shandor. In 1920, following WWI, Ivo had decided that society no longer deserved to survive, so he formed a secret society.  He and his many followers began to worship the ancient god Gozer.  And, atop the high-rise that would eventually become Dana and Louis’ apartment building, they conducted many rituals that were intended to bring about the end of the world.  Now, it seems like the rituals they performed might actually succeed.

Clearly, this is really bad, and the Ghostbusters know they have to do something about it.  Even though Winston seems doubtful that they convince a judge to believe their tale and let them go.  Thankfully, luck is on their side, and a jail guard, portrayed by the same actor who played Carl Winslow on Family Matters and Sgt. Al Powell in the Die Hard movies (that man loves playing law enforcement, doesn’t he?), appears to announce that the mayor has asked for them.  So the Ghostbusters are all brought before Mayor Lenny.  And not a moment too soon, as time is running out- Vince/Louis and Zuul/Dana have already found their way to each other.

When the Ghostbusters arrive at Mayor Lenny’s office, he’s already in a meeting with his advisers, discussing all the turmoil that’s been going on because of the escaped ghosts now running amok.  Of course, Walter Peck is also there, once again accusing the Ghostbusters of being con artists who have been making people believe they’re seeing ghosts by releasing a hallucinogenic gas into the air.  Thankfully, Mayor Lenny’s advisors are skeptical of Peck’s accusations.  The Fire Commissioner states he has no explanation for what he witnessed when the explosion occurred at the Firehouse, despite seeing every form of combustion known to man. And the Police Commissioner points out there’s no rational explanation behind the walls of the 53rd precinct bleeding.  Eventually, the Ghostbusters present their case to Mayor Lenny, warning him that if they don’t act quickly, a disaster of biblical proportions will occur.  The Mayor is ultimately convinced to give the Ghostbusters a chance when Peter presents a wager of sorts.  He tells Mayor Lenny that if they’re wrong, they will willingly go to prison.  But if they’re right, and they’re allowed the chance to stop Gozer, then the city will view Mayor Lenny as the man who helped save the city by not preventing the Ghostbusters from doing their job.  Like most politicians, Mayor Lenny is all for the option that could get him re-elected.

And so the Ghostbusters are off to the Ivo Shandor building, complete with a police escort.  Only now Winston is finally sporting a Ghostbuster jumpsuit.  That was convenient timing.  Did his jumpsuit arrive at the exact moment they returned to the Firehouse to pick up their Proton Packs and whatnot?  Either way, upon their arrival, a sudden earthquake erupts, breaking up the street and swallowing up the Ghostbusters.  I guess Gozer sensed the Ghostbusters arrival and, recognizing them as a threat, attempted to get rid of them.  Somehow, they survive falling into the gaping hole and manage to enter the building.  But the elevator is apparently out of order as they’re forced to climb up the stairs to reach Dana’s apartment up on the 22nd floor.  When they do reach the apartment, they find the place in a shambles, as the whole side of the building exploded during the earlier sequence where the escaped ghosts were terrorizing the city.  Although, they do locate a staircase that leads them up to the roof, where the Temple of Gozer now resides.

It’s too late, however, as Zuul/Dana and Vinz/Louis have already started the ritual to summon Gozer. (It’s somewhat implied they had sex on a stone alter).  The Ghostbusters arrive on the scene just in time for the pair to complete their transformation, shedding the appearance of Dana and Louis and becoming full Terror Dogs, and they can only watch as the temple doors open, revealing Gozer in the flesh.  After another iconic moment where Ray attempts to instruct Gozer to leave only to get blasted backwards for not identifying himself as a god, the Ghostbusters attempt to take Gozer out with their Proton Packs.  To their astonishment, Gozer vanishes when they fire their Proton Streams at the alter Gozer is standing on.  For a few seconds, it looks like they succeeded in defeating Gozer, but of course it’s not that easy.  As Vinz stated earlier in the movie, Gozer typically takes a pre-chosen form before beginning his destruction.  And that proves to be the case here, as a disembodied voice instructs the Ghostbusters to choose the form of the destructor.

Peter, stepping up to the plate, takes the initiative.  Realizing they’ve only got one shot at tricking Gozer into taking a form they can easily overpower, he encourages his teammates to clear their heads so they can think of something.  But unfortunately, not quick enough, as a thought has already entered Ray’s head- Mr. Stay Puft the mascot of an in-universe brand of marshmallows.  A minute later, a 50-foot-tall Mr. Stay Puft manifests down in the city streets below and begins making its way toward them. In order to try and stop Mr. Stay Puft, the Ghostbusters attempt to fire their Proton Packs at the creature, but this only makes Mr. Stay Puft angry, and it begins to climb up the side of the building, King Kong style.  So now the Ghostbusters are in a bit of a tight spot.  Obviously, they have to defeat Gozer’s chosen form, but how?

That’s when Egon gets his last-ditch idea.  He suggests, since the door to Gozer’s temple swings both ways, perhaps they can close it and therefore put a stop to all of this by reversing the particle flow through the gate.  Unfortunately, the only way to accomplish this is by crossing their Proton Streams- the very thing Egon warned them against doing on their first mission as Ghostbusters.  Peter is quick to remind him of this, pointing out how that plan would put them all in danger.  But he quickly shifts gears and becomes in full agreement with the plan when Egon suggests there’s a slim chance they’ll survive.

Egon’s plan ultimately works, with the four Proton Streams merging into one big one that helps close the gate.  This results in the Temple of Gozer exploding, with Mr. Stay Puft getting incinerated and melted marshmallow raining down onto the streets below, with one particularly large mound of it falling right onto Walter Peck.  (There are some deleted scenes that show Peck was still trying to get the Ghostbusters arrested, even after seeing Mr. Stay Puft.)

As the smoke clears atop the building, we see the Ghostbusters have all miraculously survived the explosion.  Though they’re all drenched with marshmallow fluff.  Except for Peter, who only got some in his hair.  How he accomplished that is anyone’s guess.  As the Ghostbusters check up on each other to make sure they got through the ordeal in one piece, Peter steps away to take in the charred remains of Zuul and Vinz, who were also consumed in the explosion. Ray, realizing that Peter’s thoughts are of Dana and how she had transformed into the creature, offers his condolences.  Of course, the movie didn’t want to go out on such a depressing note, and it’s quickly shown that Dana and Louis both survived as well, as they slowly break out of the petrified remains of the Terror Dogs, a bit battered but still alive and well.

And so the movie ends, with the Ghostbusters emerging triumphantly to the cheers of the crowd of New Yorkers.  Peter even gets to share a kiss with Dana in full view of everyone.  Which would be awesome if the movie had actually shown us more of this pairing’s development.  Then again, the fact that Peter seemed particularly upset when it looked as if Dana had died does suggest he does genuinely care about her.  So I guess I can buy this kiss.  And we also do get one final scene with Egon and Janine, as the latter had actually came out to the site of the final battle and embraces Egon upon seeing him unharmed.

Dana then gets to essentially ride off into the sunset with the Ghostbusters in the Ecto-1.  Which is a bit odd, since we see Louis is escorted away by some Red Cross employees.  What’s with that?  Why does Dana get to ride off in the Ecto-1 while Louis has to stay behind to receive medical care?  Dana went through the exact same ordeal as Louis.  So if Louis has to get checked over at the hospital, then Dana should be, too, right?  Especially since she was the one who seemed to be the most disoriented after she was freed from the petrified remains of Zuul.

Despite the few issues that arise with the movie, I still enjoy it.  It’s easy to see why Ghostbusters took the world by storm. While I wouldn’t say it’s a laugh-out-loud comedy, the jokes they work in are really smart and clever.  The effects are impressive, even by today’s standards.  The ghosts featured in the film still look amazing (excluding this one moment when Vinz is running across the street.  I admit something looked off at that moment).  And there are so many iconic lines that I’m pretty sure this movie is right up there with Star Wars in terms of quotability.

In fact, my only real complaint is the character of Peter and how we never got any indication on why he even got involved in parapsychology like Ray and Egon in the first place.  Instead, he comes across as a bit of a jerk who is only in it for the money, and to pick up good-looking women.  Admittedly, that seems to be a trend of Bill Murray- playing a jerk character.  (I’m looking at you, Groundhog Day and Scrooged.)  But at least with those movies, Bill Murry’s character underwent a character arc, and by the end of the movie, he had stopped being a jerk.  But that’s not the case with Peter.  While he didn’t display any of his jerk-ish qualities by the end of the movie, we never saw any real indication that he’d undergone some sort of character development.  I know no one had much in the way of character development in this movie, but the point still stands.  It just would have been nice for the movie to give us some indication why we were supposed to root for him.  Because the only thing we really got was that he had a thing for Dana, and that’s it. All the other characters are all very likable, though, so that does help balance out any negativity Peter’s presence might have caused.

One thing that stuck out to me while watching this movie now, apart from the presence of the 80s-style technology (case in point that huge 80s cellphone a movie extra was using in one scene), was all the product placement that cropped up throughout the movie.  As I watched this movie, I saw appearances of Cheez-it crackers, Coca-Cola, Perrier, Oscar-Mayer bologna, Wise Potato Chips and Hi-ho crackers (which are now called Ritz crackers).  And, of course, Twinkies.  I might be wrong, considering I don’t normally watch for this sort of thing, but I don’t think we generally see this much product placement in movies coming out today.  So seeing that many recognizable brands was quite interesting to me.

That pretty wraps up my review of the original Ghostbusters movie. I’ll be sure to review its sequel, Ghostbusters II on a later date.  But first, I think I’ll look at the episodes of the movie’s animated spin-off, The Real Ghostbusters.  Even though the series technically takes place in a separate continuity, I do remember there were a few callbacks to the events of the movie, so that should count for something.

(Click here to read more Ghostbusters reviews)

[iamcole]

Cole’s Journal

So I’m in a DND campaign playing Cole as a Human Revenant Rogue (With miscellaneous magic abilities to cover his passive Pain-Hearing and not-so-passive memory-seeing.) In this campaign, Cole doesn’t yet know he died and came back. He was by himself for a long time. People not seeing him started to make him think he wasn’t real. I tried to adjust his DA backstory to fit his “Not Actually A Spirit” bit in DND. So replace the White Spire with regular old Biased-Against-Mages prison. Before he died he was a mage, but when he died he lost almost all of his magic save for the emotional abilities he possesses. His memories are incredibly fuzzy, some not even close to uncovered, but he has a journal. At first, all that was in it was this first page.

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

My name is Cole I know how to write and how to speak. I know how to braid things like flowers and hair and ribbons. I like the colors yellow, green, and blue. I know how to cook and how to hunt. I can hear the old songs beneath everything. I hear humming and reach out to hold it. But it’s sand slipping swiftly through my fingers. I can fight. I scare people. They think frightened things if they see me. People don’t see me. Am I real? I think I would like to be real. There were names in my head once. I know there were. Try to remember. Please remember. Sometimes people can see me. They are scared of me.

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

After finding a party full of people who could both see and remember him, he started to travel with them. He made new memories, and he gave them all pages with descriptions and things to remember and things that would make them happy. Things like flowers or colors they like, objects they’d like to have.

I legit wanna buy a leatherbound journal irl so I can do this and write down bits about people at cons I meet (Bc I have memory issues too when it comes to cons) so yeah this is a thing.

[lunima]

@@@@@ SPREAD THE LOVE BABE

   // HEAPS LOVE ACROSS THE DASH / SELECTIVELY ACCEPTING

@hybridea​ : RYE, MY FAVORITE LOAF OF BREAD. I’m so glad I found Rye again after like?? a solid YEAR and a half I think?? It’s been a fucking MINUTE. Rye is so endlessly gotdang kind and wonderful. She’s an absolute ray of sunshine on this blue hell and we don’t deserve her tbh. I am filled with so much joy whenever I talk to her ( even if she’s fucking hURTING ME WITH PAINFUL REPLIES/MEMES/HEADCANONS ) She’s the type of person that shows up in your life that instantly makes you feel like “yes, you’re a good and safe person to talk to and to hang out with.” and i feel like that’s really huge on this site where we have so many people that are needlessly cruel or simply don’t care about who’s on the other end of the screen. Rye is endlessly talented too (like don’t even get me STARTED) she is so passionate about every single one of her muses and it SHOWS. Whether it’s a headcanon or a meme or a thread (no matter the size) Rye writes the most beautiful and heartfelt content. She really taps into the soul of every muse she picks up. LIKE HONESTLY ITS ALMOST SCARY how well she’s aced every single one of them.    

@fractempyreal : ALRIGHT I’VE SEEN WHITNEY AROUND FOR LIKE YEARS TBH but i just kind of admired from afar 1) bc she’s so damn quality I was like wow pls don’t look at my MESS here and 2) I still didn’t know enough abt the OG DMC to be like 👉😎👉 (bc my first dmc experience was the reboot game) ANYWAY RECORD SCRATCH HERE WE ARE TODAY Whitney is a fucking delight and absolutely hysterical. Like hands down. She’s wonderful to talk to (even tho she likes to hurt me w/ her headcanons and everything tOO) She’s also like the honorary president of the dmc rpc tbh (we voted for u in our hearts, i speak for everyone here ok) when I think about the dmc portion of this rpc hell I think of Whitney and all of her awesomeness. Her love for Vergil is like THE REALEST THING OUT THERE. Her dedication to his characterization, to his story floors me every time I read her work. I can literally hear his voice in all of her replies (LEGIT ITS SO GOOD I GET GOOSEBUMPS SOMETIMES DON’T @ ME) the attention to detail and her writing is absolutely gorgeous and provides such incredible insight into one of the most complex video game characters i’ve come across. since I started playing dmc5, reading her work (and also rye’s, the two of them together are a damn menace to society) has enriched the game even further and I just ADORE THE HECKY OUT HER.  

@destructivour​ : Honestly i’m Mad that no one told me to watch Bleach YEARS ago but I couldn’t be more thrilled that Grimmjow is my first introduction to it tbh. I’ve still got a LOT to learn about this world but I love this scrappy lil trash cat a Whole Lot. HE GENUINELY MAKES ME LAUGH SO HARD whether its some canon thing I stumble across or one of your posts, he’s an wonderful disaster and the fact that he’s still like 200 episodes away from me (even tho i’ve cheated and skipped ahead a few times bc I wanted to see dah boi) your writing is so wonderful and immersive, WHETHER I KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON OR NOT I just love to sit and read your threads and headcanons (especially with whitney okay, I need you both to write me a grimmjow x vergil book bc I could read that shit forever tbh. You’ve both crafted such a beautiful and turbulent relationship it’s sO FUN TO READ) and JARVIA YOU’RE RAD AF?? You’re so much fun to talk to and i’m absolutely in stitches (or fucking crying bc grimmjow makes me sad too) when we’re yelling about this absolute furry. I’m rly glad we found each other and I can’t wait to further lose my mind @ you as I continue my descent into the world of Bleach uwu.

@devilrev​ : GALE!!!! The Nero to my Kyrie ! I’d say i’m sorry for dragging you into nerokiri hell with me but i’m not!! And honestly I didn’t expect to fall in this deep with them. They give me so much life. They’re genuinely probably the least angsty and most “healthy” and loving ship I’ve ever shipped. You write Nero so beautifully and have such a wonderful understanding of his character. I can’t get enough of your headcanons tbh. I SAID THIS BEFORE ABOVE but your portrayal also brings such a richness to the games for me. Your understanding of the way that he thinks and behaves and reacts to things are so on point I just *CHEFS KISS* You’re also an absolute delight to talk to. It’s hard for me to click with people sometimes but we hit it off so well it’s been marvelous!! Thank you for letting me sob about my girl, and also spam you with sad songs and headcanons. The post 5 world (and honestly pre-5 too) we’ve been discussing is so vibrant and massive and exciting already I can’t wait to explore it all more tbh.

@daemominus : OOZE!! Honestly ooze I think it’s safe to say you helped drag me down into this hell okay. The second I finished watching the gameplay I was on the hunt in the rpc and I found you!! I’m like 900% sure I told you back in the day but I’m telling you again you NAILED him. As someone fresh out of the game, I read every word you wrote in his voice. You set each scene perfectly it’s been a delight to have had you on my dash for all of these years. YOU’VE SEEN SOME REAL CRINGE STUFF COME OFF MY BLOGS SO THANK YOU FOR STICKING AROUND TBH. I feel like Ezra was just destined to be Tired and ready to beat the ass of every iteration of vergil, reboot and og alive at this point in time so thank you for putting up with every iteration of her too. At least this version of her can’t sass him into oblivion like she once did. ON TO YOUR V NOW THO I GOT SO DAMN HYPED WHEN YOU MADE HIM TBH. You have such an spectacular flare and I’ve loved seeing the direction you’ve chosen to take and i’m so stoked to write with you again.