#like idk their energy is just different compared to other teams

[tar0star]

im watching haikyuu season 4 rn omg I love inarizaki high like congrats for being the team that has rintarou suna 🤭

[corroded-hellfire]

Hii I love your work I was wondering I have a request for a AYW blurb/side story. I'm inspired by the hockey game I just went to

So let's say luke is in college or in high-school and he has hid first game and reader gets mildly anxious that he gets hurt and eddie reassures her everything going to be okay and he wins and they all go out to dinner.

Idk just something fluffy.

Thank you

Hockey?! Now you're speaking my language. I can't believe I never thought of Luke playing hockey before. Thank you for putting this in my brain!

Words: 2.5k

[As You Wish masterlist]

Magenta painted toes curl inside your thick, fluffy socks. The little girl who applied the shiny polish the other day stands on the metal bleacher, between you and your husband. Her little knees bend and straighten as she bounces up and down, two curly pigtails bobbing along with the motion below the soft pink beanie on her head. 

“Let’s go, Luke!” Eliza cheers. Small brown boots stamp on the metal surface below her as she claps her mitten-clad hands.

Eddie chuckles from the other side of her, one arm hovering around her small frame in case she loses her balance. The hockey game hasn’t even started yet and Eliza is ready to hand her big brother the MVP award. 

The chill from the ice rink soaks into your skin even through the layers of your long-sleeved tee and jacket. Your gloves seem to do nothing to keep your fingers from turning into icicles, so you tuck your hands between your thighs, hoping the body warmth can thaw them out. 

“You okay, babe?” Eddie asks, leaning back to look at you around your four-year-old. 

The nod you give isn’t convincing, even to yourself. You couldn’t be prouder of Luke for making the Hawkins High School hockey team as a freshman, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t worried about him getting hurt. The fresh batch of pregnancy hormones coursing through your system isn’t helping matters either. 

An obnoxious buzzer blares from the speakers on the wall as the scoreboard sets itself down to all zeroes. The crowd full of families and friends starts cheering as the two teams pour out onto the ice. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Eliza become airborne and you look to see Eddie lifting her over his lap so she’s standing in between him and Ryan instead of him and you. A steady arm wraps around you, and you gladly lean into your husband’s embrace.

“He’s going to be fine,” Eddie tells you.

“I know.”

“Yeah? Because you look like you’re about to storm onto the ice and drag Luke home by the collar of his jersey.”

You release a deep sigh and try to get your tense shoulders to relax. 

“He’s played sports before,” you say, sounding more like you’re convincing yourself than the man next to you. “Baseball, basketball. But this is different.”

“Why’s that?” Eddie knows exactly what’s different–it’s your usual protective Mama Bear energy enhanced tenfold due to your fluctuating hormone levels. But he isn’t dumb enough to come out and say that—again.

“Because,” you huff. “Now there are blades and sticks and boards he could be slammed into or ice he can fall down on.”

Eddie rubs his hand up and down your shoulder. It helps both comfort you and warm you up. 

“There are sticks in baseball,” he points out. “They’re just called ‘bats.’ And he’s fallen and skinned his knees both running the bases and on the basketball court. As for being slammed into the boards?” Eddie lets out a breathy chuckle. “That would be nothing compared to having little She-Hulk over here as a sister.”

You let out a small giggle, peeking around your husband to see Eliza enthusiastically shaking Ryan’s shoulder, pointing to where number 86 is out on the ice, warming up.

“I guess that goes for any hockey fights, too,” you say.

“See? Now you’re getting it.” Eddie smiles fondly at you and places a kiss against your temple.

A referee blows a whistle and both you and Eddie watch as the two teams take their places for the first face-off of the game. 

Luke’s best friend Sean skates up to the blue line, right in the center and ready to battle for the puck. Next to his number 19 jersey is Luke to his side as the right winger. The referee drops the puck and the game begins. 

Both your and Eddie’s eyes are glued to your son as play moves around the ice. Your gazes follow him up the ice and back down before he hops onto the bench for a shift change. Without her brother now to focus on, Eliza comes up with a new way to entertain herself: a cheer.

“Let’s go, Tigers!” Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.

It only takes two turns of her cheering before the home crowd joins in, leaving the little girl beaming, proud to have started the trend. She’s no stranger to different cheers for the team; whenever Luke plays basketball, Eliza only cares to focus on the cheerleaders doing their routines on the sidelines. Ryan tends to pay a lot of attention to them too, but for different reasons. By now, Eliza could probably mimic most of Hawkins High’s cheerleading repertoire. 

A few minutes later, Luke hops back on the ice and you feel the nerves flutter in your stomach. It’s a very different, and distinctly more unpleasant, feeling than the fluttering of having a baby in there. 

“He’s okay,” Eddie murmurs to you, just loud enough to be heard over the din of the rink. 

You nod, but slip your hand into his for reassurance, nonetheless. 

“Mama?” Eliza crawls over her father’s lap, clearly not paying attention to where her bony little limbs are jabbing him, and reaches out to you. “I gotta go potty.”

A battle of emotions collide in your head as you nod and offer your hand to her. One part of you is thankful to get a small distraction from the game, your eyes able to relax instead of seeking out Luke’s constant presence. The other part of you is worried that something will happen while you’re not there, though. As if him getting a hard cross check from an opposing player wouldn’t have occurred if you were still in your seat. 

The ladies’ room is mildly warmer than the rest of the rink, and you lean on the outside of the stall door that Eliza goes into.

“You okay by yourself in there?” you ask.

“Mhmm! Wait. Can you hold my mittens?”

Once the stall door is relocked, you slip the pink mittens into your jacket pocket and listen as Eliza begins to hum a tune to herself. It’s difficult to tell at first, but you’re able to identify the song as I’ll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan. 

After Eliza finishes up, washes her hands, and slips her mittens back on, the two of you step out of the restroom. Before you’re able to take two steps in the direction of your seats, a horn blares, signaling a goal.

Eliza gasps and quickly tugs on the hem of your jacket because she’s too small to see what’s going on over the wall. You scoop her up and the two of you stand at the glass, near the net that was just scored upon. Both of you cheer when you see that it was the Tigers who got the first goal. Luke is sitting on the bench on the other side of the ice though, so you know he wasn’t the one who scored it. 

When the two of you get back to your seats, the first period is coming to an end. Eliza settles comfortably in her father’s lap and tilts her head to look up at him.

“What we miss?”

“Uh, Luke knocked a guy down against the wall over there.”

“Luke hit a guy into the boards,” Ryan translates into proper hockey terminology, smirking at his dad as he does so. 

“That’s what I said,” Eddie says. “And, uh, there was a penalty called on Sean for sticking a guy, so he went to sit out.”

Ryan snorts. “Sean’s stick got caught in another guy’s skates, so he got a penalty for tripping and was in the penalty box.”

“Time out!” Eliza declares. 

“Am I speaking Japanese?” Eddie asks, making Eliza giggle and curl into his lap.

“Of course not,” you assure your husband with a pat to his chest. “Just not speaking hockey either.” You giggle when he shoots a playful glare your way. But you manage to make it better by pressing a few kisses along his stubbled cheek. 

During both the first and second intermissions, Eliza entertains herself by looking for friends of Ryan’s or Luke’s in the stands and begging her oldest brother to take her to them. At one point, Eliza spots Ryan’s more-than-friend-not-quite-girlfriend-yet, Hannah, a few rows back and quickly makes her way up to her. Ryan’s face blooms scarlet as he follows behind his little sister, who has made herself comfortable in Hannah’s lap.

“Did you see Lukey?” Eliza asks the teenage girl. 

“I did!” Hannah says, smiling at Ryan as he takes a seat next to her.

Eddie leans in, his breath tickling your ear. “Do you think Eliza will ask Hannah to go out with Ryan before he gets around to it?”

You agree with a soft giggle and nod. 

“Oh, absolutely. Ryan’s so nervous and Eliza doesn’t have the patience for that,” you say. “God help any boy who is slow to ask her out in high school.”

Strong hands grab your sides, thick fingers digging into your ribs as your husband tickles you. A small yelp escapes your lips before you turn and burrow your head into Eddie’s neck.

“Hush your mouth,” Eddie murmurs. “Eliza isn’t going to date until she’s thirty.”

“Good luck with that.” You laugh and playfully shove his hands away from you.

Just as the third period is about to begin, Eliza and Ryan make their way back towards the two of you on the bleachers. Ryan has a lovesick smile on his face and the sight makes you smile in return.

“Have fun with the big kids?” Eddie asks as Eliza plops down next to him.

“Mhmm,” she nods, brown eyes scanning the ice for where Luke is. “Hannah say she likes my hat. And Juan said Mama is really cute.”

“What?” Eddie asks, arm immediately encircling you. “Who?”

“Ryan’s friend.” Eliza waves a dismissive hand in the boy’s direction, her focus still on the ice.

Eddie goes to look over his shoulder but you quickly grip his chin between your thumb and forefinger and bring his gaze back to meet yours.

“Really?” you ask him quietly. It’s impossible to suppress the amused smile on your lips. “Are you going to stare down a sixteen-year-old boy?”

“I don’t need a younger man hitting on my wife,” he says.

You laugh, shaking your head at his ever-present jealousy. 

“I don’t know if you noticed,” you say, “but I like older men. And no one is hitting on me.”

“Yet,” Eddie says, raising his eyebrows at you.

“Shoot it, Luke!”

Ryan’s shout refocuses your and Eddie’s attention back on the game in front of you. Luke stick handles the puck past a defenseman and skates closer to the opposing team’s net. You hold your breath as you watch Luke wind back his stick and slap the puck to the five-hole, between the goalie’s pads. Time moves in slow motion as you watch the black rubber disc travel over the goal line.

The siren blares and you stand up, raising your arms in the air as you cheer for your son.

“That’s my boy!” Eddie shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“That’s my brotherrrrrr!” Eliza mimics.

Ryan hoots and hollers as you clap enthusiastically, a huge smile on your face. 

The other Tigers hockey players on the ice skate over to Luke, either tapping him on the leg or ass with their stick or knocking their helmet against his. 

The PA system overhead crackles to life before a student announcer says, “Goal scored by number eighty-six, Luke Munson!”

The crowd cheers, punctuated by a certain little girl’s shrill “Yay!” 

“Assisted by number nineteen, Sean Lowery, and number four, Alex Duffy!”

“Yay, Sean!” Eliza yells.

Luke’s goal ends up being the game-winning goal, which causes his team to pile on top of him once the game is over. 

“They’re going to hurt him,” you mumble as you stand up from the bleachers.

Eddie rolls his eyes, not unkindly, from his seat—he knows you won’t be able to see him since you’re standing. Your husband rises to his feet and presses a kiss to your temple.

“He’s fine, princess.”

He is, of course, and you’re glad to see it for yourself when he comes out of the locker room. A beaming smile adorns his face as he bounds towards the four of you, his curls soaked with sweat and his heavy gear bag thrown over his shoulder. 

“Did you see it?” he asks excitedly.

“See it?” Eddie repeats, eyebrows raising. “Didn’t you hear us?”

“I heard someone,” Luke teases, tugging Eliza’s pink beanie down over her eyes.

She huffs and quickly pushes it back up, giving her big brother one of her signature unamused glares. 

“I’m so proud of you!” You take Luke’s face, flushed from all the exertion, between your hands and press kisses over his sticky-with-dried-sweat face.

“Gross,” Ryan mumbles.

Misinterpreting why Ryan thinks the display of emotion is gross, Eliza turns to her oldest brother with her hands on her hips.

“Kisses not gross!” She hops up and down, making fish lips, like she’s trying to jump up to his level to give him kisses.

“Um, some kisses are gross,” Luke says once you’ve finished. When Eliza looks over at him, Luke’s eyes dart back and forth between you and Eddie. 

“Prepare to be disgusted then,” Eddie says, slipping one arm around your back and pulling your front flush up against his. He grins at you before lowering his head to slot his lips over yours.

“Ugh!” “Ew!” “Stooooop!”

You laugh against Eddie’s mouth, and the two of you break apart, sharing an amused look.

“Alright, goblins,” Eddie says, throwing his arm around your shoulders. “Let’s get going.”

The five of you start moving toward the exit when you tap Luke on the shoulder.

“Where do you want to go to dinner?” you ask him.

“Why does he get to pick?” Eliza whines.

“You can pick when you get a game-winning goal,” Ryan tells her, tugging on a single curly pigtail. Eliza pouts, looking suspiciously identical to her father, and crosses her arms over her chest. 

“Uhh…” Luke muses as your family steps out into the chilly October night. “I want Chinese food. Let’s get Eliza a pu pu platter.”

“Blech!” Your daughter sticks her tongue out and shakes her head. 

“Oh God, she’s going to steal everyone’s noodles again,” Ryan sighs. 

Eliza lets out the evilest giggle you’ve ever heard come from her as you reach the car. 

“I want all the noo-noos!” she declares as she yanks the back door open. 

“I’m ordering rice then,” Luke says as he climbs in behind her.

“Boo!” Eliza calls. 

“These kids are crazy,” Ryan says with a shake of his head.

Eddie laughs and musses up Ryan’s hair. It’s harder now that Ryan is almost as tall as him. 

“Okay, let’s get this hockey celebration on the road,” Eddie says, tapping the roof of the car as he walks around to the driver’s side. 

“Burn rubber, Gretsky,” you say as you slip into the passenger’s seat.

Eddie glances at you before turning the key in the ignition.

“Who?”

“Jesus, Dad,” Ryan sighs.

[deadtiredghost]

Tmnt facts that are canon cause i said so:

All Leo's are sci-fi fans of varying degrees of old sci-fi series/movies

But MM!Leo thinks the old movies are old and thus has no major franchise to obsess over, he is just big into any of the more modern movies of the genre: I'm thinking Interstellar, Blade Runner, idk many more. And then he started watching Final Space and eventually got into Futurama.

But he still would think the other Leo's are old and a bit lame for enjoying old anime so much.

All the Donnie's and Leo's are the musical fans, but that doesn't mean that Raph and Mikey can't enjoy a musical too! Especially 2003!Raph who grew up watching shit like high school musical and teen beach movie with Leo and Donnie.

The 2003 boys all teamed up to sit on Mikey and tape Mikey's mouth shut cause he would dramatically and badly sing the songs otherwise.

2018 crew are hard into Hamilton of course while 2012 have a knock off version of it that flopped but Mikey loves.

2003 have a musical version of Lost Boys and Faries that could possibly be comparable with some rap songs and some emotional ballads.

Bayverse and MM have batman while 2018 have a weird mixture of some irl media and some really obvious knock offs. 2012 has Wingnut and Silber sentry as comics to replace Marvel and DC in their universe and we all know how 2003 is on superheroes.

All the Mikey's are naturally talented at drawing apart from 2012 who's skills apparently just got transferred to literally every single one of his siblings.

2012!Mikey's writing looks like chickenscratch and his drawings are chaotic in an abstract art kinda way, while 12!Leo can draw anime, 12!Karai is decent at drawing anything reallt, 12!Donnie preffers skatching items and backgrounds rather than people and 12!Raph is the one who does art the most in the fam.

The 1987 turtles are stuck in 1987 and have been since 1987. They like crossovers for the change of pace but 87!Raph and 87!Donnie very much dislike how other turtles have treated them in the past so take any and ever chance to fuck with their alternates in retaliation, feigning innocence well enough that they keep getting away with blatantly insulting their iterations to their face.

Leo is the tea drinker in the family across iterations but most of the iterations don't drink coffee - rottmnt gets into coffee wars (sans Leo and Splinter) but other than that 2007!Donnie and Bayverse!Raph are the only rabid coffee drinkers.

most of the Donnies drink energy drinks if they want a caffeine boost - the nonbinaries and their Monster especially.

The MM kids aren't allowed coffee because Splinter read a watched of child-raising YouTube videos and banned it. Of course that doesn't stop them from sneaking out. MM!Donnie is trying to convince him to allow coffee while MM!Raph just sneaks in his energy drinks.

2003!Casey was convinced the turtles were adults for at LEAST the first month into their friendship.

The ampunt Mikey wears stickers is directly proportional to the amount of leeway Splinter gives him - with the used-to-be-human Splinters being more strict on not personalising his weapon while the used-to-be-rat Splinters such as MM gives the go ahead.

The outlines of this rule are 03!Splinter and 18!Splinter of course who have entirely different ways of handling their adhd child.

And then there is bayverse!Splinter who said fuck the stickers, yes of course my 15-year-old children can have tattoos.

(And yes I firmly believe they were 15 in the first movie, and I attribute their tattoos to Splinter not really seeing the harm in it, or caring much as long as it won't hurt them.)

18!Leo is biologically the eldest but no one knows this apart from Draxum who will never tell at this point. Splinter aged them based on size.

On the other hand, 03!Leo is the biological youngest but only Donnie knows this (science shit to find it out) and will never tell anyone because he found out that 03!Mikey hatched first and that information can never be allowed to get to the turtle in question.

2012 Casey is transfem but doesn't know it yet and 2018 Casey is what 12!Casey will look like at 20.

All Donnie's watch anime and all Mikey's watch horror movies - despite how much they may or may not scream at the horror movies.

07!Mikey sells art online and 07!Leo becomes a language tutor in their 20's. Ironic as 12!Raph attempts to sell art online but becomes too emotionally attached to his work and 12!Donnie attempts to tutor for a time but is a terrible teacher.

Leo is a basketball or baseball fan, Raph likes wrestling and basketball, Donnie will partake in basketball or volleyball and Mikey prefers dancing but is open to playing anything... just not watching.

Splinter always watched the tennis, becuase his grandmother did. Leo likes to put it on but doesn't like playing it.

Mikey will forever be confused why the others enjoy watching sport. This stemms from when he was 12 and trying to watch his cartoons and Splinter would always take control of the TV during the Olympics. Mikey is still very salty and has an agenda against the Olympics and any other big sports match on their communal TV.

All the Leo's before 2012 just didnt use the Internet or any electronics as a kid and thus struggles with electronics massively.

Conversely 2012 and 2018 Leo were both on tumblr as kids and read fanfic about Space Heros and Jupiter Jim respectively.

And in addition: Donnie was on the Internet far too much as a kid.

(12!Donnie will never tell but 12!Mikey befriending Chris Bradford on Facebook hit a bit too close to home.)

After Don, Raph is the best at mechanics, other than 18!Raph who is kinda shit at them.

Splinter taught all of the turtles first aid but Raph and Mikey are patched up the most by the other two, which leads to the other two being more confident and skilled at first aid.

Leo's first aid experience is very much similar to an army medic, using improvisation based on his prior knowledge without any of the proper hospital procedure while Donnie's is much more based on his research into medicine and thus much more clinical.

The outliers are the 18!kids cause Donnie finds biological shit kinda disgusting unless he HAS to do it.

And then there is the 87!turtles who don't really get hurt for longer than an episode's run time. Despite this every single one of them are able to accurately and skillfully carry out any medical procedure should the need arise becuase cartoon logic and convenience. It is a skill they have and its usually 87!Donnie ordering them about while 87!Raph plays nurse.

Mikey and Raph spray paint together sometimes in all iterations other than 87.

87!Mikey and 87!Leo have never kmowingly committed a crime.

Mikey looks up to Leo most out of his siblings, and Leo would look up to Mikey in turn if he could get over the jealousy towards his youngest brother.

There is not a single itteration where Leo doesn't sometimes kinda wish he could be more like Mikey - he has never voiced these feelings and hates that he feels this jealousy.

If you wake Leo up from sleeping he will be alert, a bit grumpy about it, but will never turn you away. He rarely gets a full good night's sleep anyways, ans becuase of this he is prime target to bother when he is awake... up until they turn 14 where Leo gets into the habit of pretending to be asleep so Mikey doesn't bother him and starts meditating until he falls asleep.

The prior headcannon excludes rottmnt and mutant mayhem.

Mikey starts bothering Donnie more and joins him in the lab late at night a lot.

If you dare to disturb Raph's beauty sleep you will get a pillow to the face and a shouting to at the least.

Everyone of the turtles loves Kung Fu Panda or whatever similar movie exists in their world. They won't admit it but its because Poe reminds them of Mikey.

Raph maintains that he doesn't like physical contact much to get out of hugging the sweaty humans in his life. He is actually fairly chill with hugs he just hates the feeling of sweat on his scales so much, and learnt that the hard way when Casey brought him in for a hug after a fight and he shoved him off and blustered a bit. But any of his siblings hugging him is fine, he only ever shoves them off out of annoyance.

Donnie is the least huggy turtle, but he will sometimes lean his full body weight on April - which is fine in most iterations but some cannot handle the weight, I'm looking at Bayverse.

If Mikey were a human he would be a borderline nudist when home and everyone who lived with him would complain about it.

Like [insert hair covering here] and a fluffy dressing gown from when he was 9 wrapped around the waist if you're lucky.

[batsplat]

i kinda thought maybe casey would show up at next year’s 100km since it’s the 10th anniversary and valentino’s 46th birthday, so i figured he’d invite a ton of people and make it a big celebration? but this is perfect as it is, just valentino and casey. and there’s also someone like cristian gabarrini that casey knows well. i don’t know if you’ve known, but gabarrini’s son is now part of the academy, so not only does pecco share a crew chief with casey, but now in a way casey’s friend’s kid is in valentino’s academy! and then they all had dinner together, which was just so perfect, everything happened exactly like i pictured it! screams

I was NOT high on the chances of casey showing up for that whatsoever, mainly because this just does not feel like the kind of thing casey would cross half the world for. if you're already in the area, that's one thing, but actually going for valentino's party?? making the effort to be... one of the blokes involved in valentino's big celebrations... idk I was unconvinced. so this was!! perfect. actually their own cute little thing!! and it is just more casey somehow, like you kind of feel the Big Event isn't necessarily his vibe as much as this is

and it means he gets to be special guest... all the footage of valentino basically dragging him all over the ranch!! giving him a proper tour!! like he's so enthusiastic about it man, he really does just enjoy showing casey around. the whole thing was so in-keeping with the entire energy of the rivalry... where on casey's end I'm sure it's all still a bit more complicated and ambivalent and weird and I have no doubt whatsoever we are at most a few months away from casey saying something out-of-pocket about valentino again in an interview... but for valentino!! very obvious how there's just no grudge there from his end and never really was

idk, something about the footage really did take me all the way back to the very early days of that dynamic, 2007 and 2006 and even earlier... casey idolising valentino but more importantly LIKING him (the horror), mixed in with perfectly good interpersonal chemistry between the pair of them (certainly compared to valentino/jorge), valentino over the years consistently seeming to enjoy yapping away at casey. and isn't there just that twinge of a reminder of how nice it feels to bask in valentino's attention... all this 'honour' and 'opportunity' talk from casey!! valentino focusing so completely on him the WHOLE time!! basically insisting he sticks around for dinner!! likeeeee the fun part of that dynamic was always how casey could never quite reconcile all these different sides of valentino in his own mind... and now he is again being thrown to the wolves and suddenly getting a whole day around an aggressively enthusiastic valentino who is sending his thousand watt smile casey's direction every other minute. pray 4 him

anyway, yeah, I was vaguely aware of the gabarrini son situation and obviously know he was formerly casey's crew chief and now pecco's AND that casey was going off to chat to him before meeting pecco for the first time in 2021... I didn't clock who exactly was at the ranch dinner but that is... very cute. there was a fair bit of talk in the late noughties about the irony of valentino's team being almost entirely australian and casey's team being almost entirely italian, so this is a fun bit of extremely delayed pay-off. won't ever completely shave off the italian connections!! and obviously all the academy stuff was sweet, especially the photo with bez given what a bez advocate casey has been these last few years... (a shame pecco was consigned to his staring-at-a-wall-pre-title-decider routine since obviously I'm a big advocate for pecco/casey parallels corner.) just generally horrendously good vibes. big W for the intellectuals

[vladdyissues]

I once read the post where Vlad said: "This anime is obviously a romantic school comedy! Danny and I are the main characters, so it means we are love interests. (to Jazz, Tuck, Sam) You guys are the heterosexual support cast, so make sure do not across the line" (I saved screenshot but Idk how to add photo in ask). Developing the subject, how do you see this anime au? Sailor moon alike relationship? Should it also be a horror cause of creepy natural ghosts?

I've never seen Sailor Moon so I can't comment, but it definitely seems like Danny Phantom was heavily influenced by Yu Yu Hakusho, so it wouldn't take a lot of mental gymnastics to envision an anime version of DP being a lot like this, mixing humor and drama and the supernatural. I'd love to see some actual horror thrown in, though. Animes like Vampire Hunter D and Bio-Booster Armor Guyver come to mind. Guyver's not actually billed as horror, but there's enough body horror, gore, and horror elements in it to qualify, in my opinion. I mean, look at this thing, it's terrifying:

Aside: This ask got me nostalgic for Guyver and I went and watched a few episodes. (The last time I saw it was in the 90s on VHS.) I was floored. There is so much it has in common with DP that I wonder if Hartman wasn't inspired by it as well.

Compare: the black-haired, blue-eyed MC (Sho) who's not the best student, had a disfiguring experience involving something with lots of power and now has two different personas, human and non-human, the latter having incredible strength and unearthly energy that he uses to combat threatening entities that are Not Of This World; best friends are a glasses-wearing geek and a girl who's also the show's love interest, completing the trio. Of course Sho spends a great deal of time protecting his friends, but they also cheer him on from the sidelines and offer help when able, much like Tucker and Sam.

But get this: The only other person with a Guyver armor happens to be the villain (spoiler: not really the villain, it's all an act, and eventually they team up). This is the guy:

Long hair. V-hairline. Sideburns. Thick black eyebrows. The English dub isn't that good, but this guy's voice is deep and nice to listen to. He's supposed to be a student but looks like he's 35.

Anyway. DP anime.

I don't see much changing at all plot-wise. Upping the rating to at least PG-13 is definitely prescribed, so there can be things like blood and fantasy violence and adult humor. Let Danny say "hell", "damn", "bastard", and the occasional "shit", like in YYH. Naturally, Vlad and Danny would start out as rivals before laying aside their differences and teaming up to save the world—which is exactly the formula that YYH and BBAG follow in terms of enemies-to-allies.

I'm imagining a steady progression of saving each other's butts and fighting increasingly powerful enemies until it comes to a point that they both realize they'd die for each other. (Literally Kuwabara and Yusuke lmao.)

In fact, just do a DP/YYH wardrobe swap for all the characters, because Dan Dan Phantom Show is something I'd pay money to see 😂

[mastersoftheair]

Sorry but am I the only one that thought that episode…sucked? Like it was straight up bad. Horrible pacing, no wrap up of all the random characters and plot lines they’ve thrown around all season (the tuskegee airmen, Westgates spying, literally all the guys beside like the main 4). (Seriously it makes me so mad that the three redtails got all of 5 seconds of screen time, almost no lines. Literally what was the point of introducing them other than to pretend the show was iNcLuSiVe) Even at the end of BoB and the Pacific you get a much better idea of what happened to all the remaining guys. In this they’re like what happened to DeMarco or Hambone or Brady or (insert character here) we don’t know! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The concentration camp scene felt shoehorned in compared to how it was done in BoB. Unless that actually happened to Rosie (which i haven’t heard anything about) but it was just like.. ok? It all felt so rushed and emotionless to me. Maybe I’ve just fallen out of love with MoTA but it’s been downhill for me since episode 6 or so.

i already made a little (read: long) post-finale write-up here, where i talk about the use of the tuskegee airmen, l'sandra, and overall editing/pacing issues i felt the show had. but i don't agree with the notion that adding the redtails was in any way insincere or trying to halfass being "iNcLuSiVe", i just think they suffer from this show's obvious time constraints. and to summarize what i wrote in my linked post, there's a limit to what white writers/directors/producers can do when creating a story about black people. there are some stories i'd feel uncomfortable with them telling on their own, truth be told. dee rees wasn't the sole nonwhite director, but she Was the only black one. i think she did her job well given the limitations and i appreciate that they let her direct those episodes, rather than leaving it up to a team of white people trying their best to tell a black story.

the worst i can say about the finale is that it didn't feel like That strong of finale, tho i wouldn't go as far to say it "sucked" or call it "straight up bad". i liked it plenty, it's just the weakest of the hbo war finales imo.

as for the concentration camp scene, artistic license was taken with both shows. unlike what's seen in the BoB, easy company wasn't the first to arrive at kaufering, and there's 0 mention of the all-japanese american 552nd who helped them liberate it). similarly, rosie rosenthal did assist in liberating those camps, though it would've been after the events shown this episode. idk if he saw one in that up-close way seen in this episode, but he could've (i should research this when i have time). plus, it would've felt weird Not having him acknowledge them at all. "shoe-horned" is an odd term to use here imo, as both scenes more-or-less center a jewish character (BoB's liebgott and MotA's rosie). the former show has survivors the characters can help, the latter shows no one left to help. the former has all of easy company there, the latter has rosie there all alone. rosie's scene felt deeply personal in that way. at the end of the day, both scenes are communicating different things. that doesn't make one better than the other when they aren't trying to be identical. (disclaimer, i'm not jewish, so i'd be interesting hearing from the perspective of someone who wrt whether or not they felt it was "shoe-horned")

i can understand if you've disliked the show post-episode 6 (and episode 6 was a very strong episode i'm ngl). eps 7 and 8 were weaker in many ways, even to me, so i get it. everyone's entitled to their own opinion (i'd be a hypocrite saying otherwise). just understand that this blog is run by someone who overall enjoys this show despite its flaws! basically, i encourage you to take this energy and make your own posts.

[ednito]

pretty please talk about your crane.

Yes!!! I'd love to talk about him!!!

TW: gore and abuse- I'm sure there's more but I'm blanking on what it could be so be careful on reading!! Also sorry I'm on mobile and idk how to insert the keep reading thing LMAO

So in my verse my crane has been scarecrow for much longer then others, it started immediately after killing great granny- he grew up tortured by him and he hated her and his birth mother with all of his being. He never knew his father and his mom died in childbirth, while pregnant with Jonathan though she tried her best to kill him without getting an abortion which led him to have fetal alcohol syndrome disorder, he was also born with coloboma, scoliosis, and had a bad overbite when he was younger. Before going to college (I'd say around 17 to 18) he and his grandmother got into a tussle that lead to her death, he was so angry he skinned her face off and drenched her blood into her prized white scarf, he wears the face as his mask as scarecrow and also wears the scarf.

No one in Gotham knows he's scarecrow, most people if not all believe scarecrow is just a rumor, a boogeyman of sorts to warn people to not be so reckless but no he's real. He stalks at bars and strip clubs waiting for the right people to jump out and beg for him to swoop them away (in his mind at least), he's pretty well connected with people and holds a lot of black mail on specific bar/club owners so they let him do his business. Scarecrow has a lot of hideouts around Gotham that he dubs as "crows nests" where he keeps most his equipment, not a lot of them have victims but when they do they're organized but it's extremely disgusting. He keeps them in dog cages (sizes very) almost to completely naked, the cages are rusty and more then occasionally has someone in it still (dead or alive is 50/50), these specific crows nests is where he experiments his fear toxin on them, to see how strong it is and the affects- he does a lot of experiments from very simple ones like just injecting it into the vains to extreme or questionable like seeing if body excrement like urine or sweat can extract the fear toxin if injected in high enough doses. When people die though depending on their usefulness he uses in creative ways, some he creates as human chemical chambers as he'll insert a bunch of chemicals that when given energy (like from a defibrillator) would cause a chain reaction and produce fear toxin or a close equivalent to it (usually these are people who are still alive somewhat), others he'll dump them in the Gotham bay or dump, places he knows people don't care about.

As crane he pretends to he jolly, he's always smiling calmly and us very kind and gentle with his patients though realistically he doesn't care about them whatsoever. Nurses think he's got an ugly boy charm about him and are friendly to him and most psychiatrists there are pretty respectful of him, no one ever questions him and his actions as compared to everyone else he's the smartest member of the team, only one to question him is arkham but he's too intimidated by him to do anything.

He's extremely cunning and violent, he often plays games both as crane and scarecrow and is often in a goofy silly mood- a serious crane/scarecrow is an absolutely scary thought ngl! He doesn't really have any friends, closest I'd say is arkham (who when finds out he's scarecrow is forced to become his assistant) and riddler, I think I've mentioned it before in the post about Quandarism but riddler does a lot of exiling and he usually give those exiles to scarecrow as he knows he'll wipe them out of existence

Also here's a list of little tidbits about him that I'm only now remembering

He was born with bad joint and muscle problems and thus is always in discomfort or pain, because he's so used to it he can't tell the difference in pain when being punched compared to his joint and muscle problems, he's pretty resilient because of it

Also because of his joint problems he has a cane, the handle is in the shape if a crow

He uses Sickles instead of a scythe

He often has trouble finding companionship or even the heart to care, when he does he doesn't know how to handle it and usually leads to death or even worse

When not being scarecrow or pretending to be dr. Crane he's just dissociating.

He doesn't have DID, I can definitely see him having it but I just don't feel comfortable writing that for him (reasons)

He doesn't care or like most things, he doesn't like animals, he's not a fan of music or movies or art, he doesn't eat a lot of food so he doesn't care. When he does like something it's extremely specific and nothing is consistent

That's a gist I think, there's a lot more about him but that's all I can really think of for him atm. I have another anon asking about my riddler that I'll get to later- hope you weren't too grossed out! Lmao!

[aces-to-apples]

Fic Self-Recs

Fic authors self rec! List your favorite five fics that you've written, then tag at least five other writers! Spread the self-love 💞

Tagged by @dead-cowboy!

It's crazy just how many of these bastards I have published under my own names and yet wouldn't recommend someone read with a gun to my head lol. Also I went with six so I could include one from my SourFacedLemon account:

i. hold it in your mouth for a minute (real hunger has a real taste) (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Glitch/Savage Opress, Explicit)

From the inaugural year of Smut Wars, this actually holds up pretty decently. Takes place vaguely within the Season 5 Crime Lords arc because that must have taken months to accomplish and the visual of Savage and Maul desperately trying to get along with Death Watch for that long amuses me. Included some thoughts about Nightbrothers and clones that I don't usually get to explore since Maul isn't, you know, culturally a Nightbrother. Also I reject the cultural obsession with dick size, I hate it, Savage is the embodiment of "small, leave me alone" and I'll die on that hill. Also also, Glitch is here! He's sweet! He's Force-sensitive! The narrative is in love with him and wants him to live and thrive! It's me, I'm the narrative!

ii. self/less (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulsoka, Teen)

Older, and imperfect, but I had a good time with it. This fic has everything: the unhinged Maul-Ahsoka team-up that a Star Wars What If series should explore, Maul being traumatized and terrified and not hiding it well, genderfuckery, two forms of mind-control, the Son and the Daughter escaping Mortis because what do you mean they're just dead now??, Jesse surviving... Short and sweet and well beyond my writing skills to fully flesh out, but I genuinely think there's a decent premise buried in there.

iii. a beast within you (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulrex, Explicit)

Also notably imperfect, but another 2023 Smut Wars gift and I spent so much time trying to research octopi and tentacles without actually consuming any tentacle porn, and I want that effort acknowledged. It's a vague Percy Jackson fusion AU, if that's any more enticing. And if you get to the end there's links to some beautiful fucking fanart someone (@omaano) made of it!

iv. pretty (handy with that iron) (Jak and Daxter, Jak/Jinx, Teen)

Transmasculine!Jak who not only has terrible taste in men (Jinx) but also has a vaguely-emasculating-pet-names-induced gender crisis during the sewers escort mission and Daxter doesn't get to rest for a single second. Idk I was feeling silly with this one. It was fun to write and I actually don't regret it lol.

v. all restraint and poised bones (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Maulakin, Teen)

I just love a confused Maul POV in general and also an outsider POV on time travel. It's just so much fun for me personally. Also I know it's because that's the way the timeline shakes out but the fact that Anakin missed meeting Maul and all that that entails by like two hours is as ridiculous to me as the Grievous thing; their unhinged chaotic goblin energies would have bounced off each other and created a feedback loop that would give Sidious a heart attack, so I understand why it never happened. But still.

bonus vi (and vii and viii). The Expansion of Clan Mudhorn (The Mandalorian, Djarin/Leia/Boba, Teen)

I have written non-TCW, non-Maul related Star Wars fics, as difficult as it is to believe. These ones are also silly, and strangely fluffy compared to most of my other content, but it was 2021! Mando S2 had just ended, we had canonical Tem-as-Boba-Fett and were all so excited and optimistic, it was a different time! Honestly my only regret is that I haven't thought until just now to go back and edit them to fix Djarin's name. Everyone is surnaming this poor man who misses his baby so, so much, you guys, that's tragic lmao.

No pressure tagging @hawthornsword @hjbender @darthlivion @mandalorianbrainweasel @inqorporeal and anyone who sees this and wants to play!

[flygonee]

introduction!!

umm.. hello! my name is honey, i am a bug/dragon type trainer (but i do have other types of pokemon) and my goal is to catch all bug and dragon type pokemon!!!! (ง'̀-'́)ง

i am nonbinary, a minor (not saying age for privacy reasons), and i go by they/them!

i travel alllll around the world.. i love to see all the beautiful pokemon!! as of right now i’m exploring paldea :D

my bestie is fay, he’s actually the one who convinced me to make this account hehe…. whenever i remember his @ i’ll link it here ^_^

this account will just be for me talking about my journeys.. pokemon i catch…. yada yada all of that stuff

if you wanna talk to me pls shoot the dm first.. i get a bit nervous when speaking to people i don’t know (●´⌓`●)

i use way too many emoticons, and i say hehe and lol a lot.. sorry if that annoys you :(

my favourite animal of all time is cats!!! aghhh just sooo cuteeeeee :333 (so i have lots and lots of cat pokemon :p)

tbh it’s easier for me to act more energetic while typing than irl.. so that’s why if you meet me irl i’m a bit nervous, but on here i’m way different :0

now it’s time for my team! >:3

FLYGON ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

they are my first ever pokemon, they just wandered into kanto and i caught them after choosing my starter! my best friend!! they are really close to me and protect me like their life depends on it lolol

such a sweetheart.. very clingy too! and they are kind of tired all the time hehe!! they have a good sense of humour and feel like the one out of all my pokemon who really gets me

not to say the rest don’t,, flygon has just known me for way longer!! i even use my z-ring on them.. and besides they’re my main pokemon for a reason

MEOWSCARADA ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

he’s a sweetheart! so nice to everyone else and he LOVES attention, he begs for it all the time (he reminds me of my old ragdoll cat hehe)

he is the pokemon i tried to get the most (and got the easiest) when traveling over to paldea, cause i love cats! and grass types are like my 3rd fave type (bug and dragon 🔛🔝 though ofc ofc)

he’s really strong for a meowscarada idk why.. i did train him a lot though lol!! he loves to fight, very active kitty

ESPEON ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

she’s a bit more independent than my other pokemon, and only really is affectionate towards me.. but when she wants attention she’s really clingy!! she just sits on my lap while i do work or something

overall she isn’t that hard to manage compared to my other pokemon (especially my pidgey i caught back in kanto.. he’s so hard to deal with ಥ‿ಥ)

she’s also a shiny?? forgot to mention earlier but it’s pretty cool imo.. :0

RAICHU ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

now it’s time for her!! little buddy,, i love her so much, she’s so sweet!!

for some reason she always wants me to make her waffles, maybe she just has an addiction to them cause of how often i eat them hehe…. (and maybe i slip her a bit too many waffles a bit too often..)

she was actually the starter i picked in kanto, then she evolved into a raichu.. we traveled to alola….. you get the rest

she’s insanely clingy just like flygon.. probably cuz i’ve had her for so long? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SCIZOR ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

MY SCIZOR!!! really tough gal, although.. truthfully? not on the inside, physically very tough though!! she’s a really strong pokemon

she doesn’t often show it, but she’s quite the softie! she only really shows that side to me though, remaining tough to the others.. because of this she seems to be an idol for my younger pokemon, so not too bad

MILOTIC ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

such a beautiful pokemon, i always loved him even during his pre-evolution. i don’t get the hate,, feebas isn’t ugly guys!! >:(

my house is right next to a huge lake, so i just keep him there and he seems happy with it

he always manages to calm me down,, something about sending energy? well whatever it is he’s a great listener! he always encourages me to vent to him hehe

NOW FOR THE BONUS POKEMON!! cuz why not,, the pokemon below are just the ones not on my team! just some of the pokemon i’ve caught (not all of them cuz i’m lazy)

PIDGEY ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

he is such a hyper bird!! i don’t get how so much energy is stored in such a little guy (ᗒᗜᗕ)՛̵̖

raichu was the first pokemon i had ever, and pidgey was the second!

out of all my pokemon he’s the hardest to take care of.. he’s a handful for sure :p

he’s very small for a pidgey actually! he’s the size of my hand, and kind of just likes to sit on my shoulder, or fly with me on my morning walk!! he doesn’t eat much cuz of that

he usually sleeps in my collection of plushies,, it’s really cute! ˶ᵔᗜᵔ˶

GOODRA ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

she is so silly, very good cuddle buddy tbh.. she gives the best hugs

she’s so motherly and friendly towards everyone, especially my other pokemon

love her <3

if i had to describe her in one word, it’d be motherly

not much to say she’s just really kind (but oh my arceus is she so cool when fighting.. fay agrees!)

CUTIEFLY ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

a wild cutiefly i found on one of the paths in paldea, make sure to contact me if they’re yours!! for now i’ll keep them safe ^^

DRAGONITE ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

silly guy! forgot to add him to this post actually.. he’s very close to me much like flygon, but he acts a bit more overprotective over me o_o

he’s very clingy,, literally too! he clings onto me a lot

not much to say he’s just very friendly

MIMIKYU ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

one day i was having my morning walk, and felt as if i was being watched.. only to see this little fella following me all the way home!

ever since then they’ve been apart of my team, and i have been happier cuz of it! :3

they’re more independent than the rest much like espeon, except a little less affectionate. i don’t mind though! everyone expresses their love differently, and i don’t need a cuddle session from either of them to know they love me

sometimes mimikyu makes me little gifts like gloves or just any clothes and i always think it’s so cute

DEWPIDER ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

a dewpider given to me through a pelipper mail, the very same one with that.. strange beast ball o.o

umm for now i don’t know where to put this little guy on my team. soooo…. kept at home for now! ^_^"

ok uhh.. that’s all, i hope you like me!!

-

now it’s time for the ooc info

hai! my name is stitch, i go by she/her and this blog is kind of just for me to pretend i’m in the pokemon world cause.. why wouldn’t i want to LMAO

my main blog is @stitchthelilo so my main content is there

i have a bad sense of humour so beware and i do use a lot of emoticons which is why honey does

ooc mark will be // and the hashtag #ooc

pelipper/musharna/any kind of mail, sapient pokemon, and magic anons are on!

[staurora]

My Thoughts on Xikers debut!

(gif retrieved from @hunternity )

So Xikers recently debuted with the album House of Tricky: Doorbell Ringing and I wanted to share my thoughts! I’ve been keeping an eye on them as KQ has released more content to build hype and I think they were very easy for me to get interested in compared to many other groups. And their album did not disappoint!

I won’t go into my specific thoughts on every song but I think the entire album as a whole is very well done. Its cohesive and high energy in a way that doesn’t feel annoying or dull, due to the great musicality from the production team (Hongjoong, Edenary crew, ily). If I had to describe the concept, it’s a sort of trickster concept with a modern, youthful kind of twist. They play around a little bit with varying genres while keeping a distinct Kpop sound as the through-line. I enjoyed it very much and I’ve been listening to it often since release!

(I hear they also have lore. I’m not gonna dive into that until like. Next comeback. It looks complicated and I don’t have enough material to judge yet lol)

When you look for negative opinions of them so far, the biggest thing I’ve seen is that people think they’re too much like Ateez, that KQ is just making them Ateez junior, etc. I can see why they feel like it sounds a bit similar, but at the same time, Ateez has a particular sound that I just… don’t really hear in these tracks? Idk how to describe it, like Ateez songs tend to have a more cinematic feeling most of the time I think? I could see a comparison between this album and maybe Fever part 2, but even then its a very vague similarity and I’ve always felt that particular album kind of stuck out of Ateez’s music. I think if Xikers were under JYP, everyone would compare them to Stray Kids in the same way, right? They just sound like a kpop boy group.

Also… yeah I’m sure KQ is trying to make a follow up to Ateez, one of their most profitable business moves to date (come on, KQ fellaz and then KQ fellaz 2? It’s pretty clear). But the members of Xikers are distinct individuals, and their personalities will naturally influence the direction of their music and performances. They will eventually move out from the shadows of senior performers. Hopefully they can bring something very new or innovative to their second comeback, make a wave like hala hala did but in a whole new way.

Anyway, to close on a positive note, here are some of my favorite things I’ve noticed from Xikers thus far!

Sumin! He’s probably my bias, along with Hunter? Hunter’s dance skills are CRAZY (and he did that one performance to all time hit Juggernaut by my fav Tyler the Creator so I’m. Biased.) Sumin kinda snuck up on me tho, for some reason he reminded me a bit of Changbin? But distinctly different, he has this particular kind of coolness yknow? I’m always rapper biased😔.

In Xikey, Minjae’s shout of “Xikers” rly gave me goosebumps! So powerful, he went all in and it paid off!

Edenary, HJ i am Kissing u deeply for Dynamic, that track fucks severely

Yechan… that kid has some crazy potential and I think everyone knows it. With him as well as the other members, I look forward to learning more about them as individuals and seeing those traits shine through in their music.

[onerabong]

Dm rambles Ch40

When Iryo came to save them all my heart was SWELLING with excitement and joy. He is so badass. Of course he felt it the moment the killer made an appearance, and he comes running right away.

And the way he just LOOKS at the killer first. It’s so chilling. In moments like these you’re acutely reminded of just how absolutely deadly Iryo is. He has complete confidence in his abilities, and he will use them.

Bitch just WALKS up to the killer like it’s nothing, cuz he knows for a fact he’s stronger.

This fight showcases just how much more capable and experienced he is compared to Boros, further highlighting how Boros was just fighting with his purely instinctive powers alone, not of his fault, but because of their difference in rank back in Xaria Vecta. (And their age. Boros is literally just a bby).

This whole Horizon’s refuge arc actually, is a great highlight of that. Like that scene where Iryo teaches Boros how to detect the killer’s energy. It reminded me of this lmao

Anyway, the fight. HOW IS THAT KILLER SO STRONG WTF

To go against IRYO, that is no small feat. Just who is he. And he somehow possesses the power to affect another’s aura. One that isn’t shown on either Iryo or Einaros, as mentioned. (Kinda reminds me of an esper? Or the Mindtaker. Messing with people’s aura. Idk why since none are mentioned to do so)

But Iryo seems to be unaffected by it- or rather, has experience repelling them off? Though he still has to give effort with the sheer power it exudes. And the way it’s described is just- so fucking cool. I have to geek over whenever there’s a fight scene in this fic- it’s just so good. The way Iryo’s red energy flares up. So potent and dangerous but somehow, at the same time, cold and calm like his demeanor. This killer might be deadly, but he’s got nothing on Iryo. This criminal may be a cold blooded killer, but surprise surprise- Iryo is also. Only difference is that Iryo’s been trained for years and years by the strongest in the Universe. Your days are numbered murderer.

But still- to go against THAT. That is very impressive. I can’t wait to see who or what this guy turns out to be. And if they are a robot- though with the mentioned charred flesh it may be a cyborg?- that in itself would be so damn interesting cuz all the powerful beings, including in opm, are organic ones. So to imply that a robotic being can have such an energy- adds so much to this Universe as a whole. (For obvious reasons my mind goes straight to the bald hero’s beloved disciple.)

Oh right and did i mention how Iryo snarling is the most sexiest thing ever. Like. Dude. You’d think he’d be this cold headed soldier that simply follows orders to fight- but no, in this instant you can SEE his Xar instincts- to fight and WIN. He was angry that he was even gave an inch, he was angry that this enemy was able to go against him. That animalistic urge to win in a fight- for him to have shown it- I love this so much you have no idea.

Now- Iryo’s interaction with Boros.

Im not kidding when i say i get giddy when Iryo even mentions Boros. So him calling Boros ‘deserter’ when addressing the others that maybe he could face the killer, and Caleb saying that he could just call him by his name got me smiling crazily like a maniac.

You can imagine my reaction when they eXCHANGED NODS- i was dead that instant. I died.

Iryo was probably just doing it to acknowledge that yea- ur going patrolling, i’ll be here on lookout. Not thinking much of it- and Boros is like- ????????and nODS BACK not knowing what else to do i fucking love this idiot so much. God why is he so cute.

As of now Lumi and Iryo is my favorite duo on the team but if Boros and Iryo keep this up.. and they somehow grow more closer.. i MAY die. That’s a warning.

Anyways, speaking of Lumi.

What Iryo has with her is so SWEET OH GOD IT MAKES ME FORGET ALL ABOUT THE ANGST OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ZAEL which was exactly what Iryo was thinking too. How different it is. And now he’s admitting that it was very dark and twisted. And he’s realizing that now, admitting to even, (though i’m pretty sure he already knew it was bad even back before everything when to shits) because he has a friend that genuinely cares about him. He can make the comparison now. And it hits all the harder. The way he softens to tell Lumi not to worry- fills my heart with joy and warmth and LOVE I love them so much and I will keep saying that until i die.

And his convo with Draas.

The two antisocial fools coming together with the power of Lumi- is perfect. They agree on one thing, that Lumi is a precious lil bean that they will protect at all costs. As it should be. Draas opening up is always so nice to see, especially to someone he had doubts about at first. And Iryo.

God this fucking albino.

‘,,You mean that I haven’t been useful already?” Iryo retorts, allowing himself a small smirk.

,,Do I get on your nerves?”’

Are you KIDDING ME calm the fuck down diva oh my GOD LMAOOOOO i love this twink so much.

I love that Iryo’s growing more and more comfortable around the pirates- not just for this moment alone, but the way he speaks a lot more with them now, even if it;s mostly case related. He’s a part of the quirky funky crew now and has to accept that.

But still despite all that- his signature professionalism and indifference when they’re in a stressful situation is *chef’s kiss* such a good contrast. The way he looked at Boros with no emotion after the fight. Offering(?) his own energy field for Boros to get back up quickly. All business. I love it.

And lastly-

AERON

first of all the whole robot thing Horizon;s refuge’s got going on is so cool. Like, in any other sci fi universe with robots, star wars for example- they’re treated like seconds to organic beings, no questions asked. But here it’s not- as seen with Aeron, and that in itself was interesting but actually, no. Here in Horizon’s refuge it different. Like the moment you see a robot here you go- huh. That’s just a robot. That;s weird. Cuz we’re so used to Aeron and he’s just a dude. A person.

Anyway, thought it was a very cool background for the robotics in this Universe.

And with this chapter, im now almost certain the killer’s got to do something with Aeron. Maybe it was just his weird field affecting the nearest robot the worst, but maybe something more. Im sure it has connections with his headaches, Valenterra, and his past.

[iruludavare]

{ ooc. Honestly I think about this bit of the interview a lot and the fun fact that while Floette is described as having eternal life, they skirt around describing AZ that way

The giant man named AZ was a surprising addition to the story of the game. Was everybody from 3,000 years ago on the Pokémon planet as big as him? What story was the team trying to express by including this character?

AZ used a machine to bring his beloved Pokémon back to life. By doing so, he gave his Pokémon eternal life, and he was also affected by this. Part of that was him turning into a giant and still living even after 3,000 years have passed. However, unlike his Pokémon, he still grew old. Was living so long a good thing for AZ? Was using the machine to give his Pokémon eternal life a good thing? I wanted to express these things as well as as the differences between the encounters and losses that we experience in our lives compared to what AZ feels about the encounters and losses he has experienced over 3,000 years. However, what I most wanted to express with this character was the bonds between people and Pokémon.

LIKE.... the implications.... his height was, for whatever reason, a side-effect of him being indirectly exposed to the light when reviving Floette. Almost like a curse or a last fuck you from the Aura Trio. He's the Only person who goes through this issue with immortality. Cogita ages yeah, but she wasn't turned into a giant. Floette doesn't age, and she wasn't turned into a giant either. It's like idk divine retribution?? But he's never described as also receiving eternal life like Floette is so?? Is he incredibly long-lived?? Also immortal??

The wording is so interesting. It's not "he gave his pokemon eternal life, and he was affected this way too"/"and he received it too". It's "he was also affected by this". It also implies that he never intended to make Floette immortal-- just revive her. But he didn't know what sort of power he was playing with (which makes sense. It's literally Xerneas' energy) and it bit him in the ass. He's implied to be extremely long-lived and punished for it beyond what we see in-game (aging, still living after 3000 years, the height which... I gesture to his knee brace....) with no way out. What other side effects are there gf??? HELLO????

Honestly, it'd be a cool concept if Xerneas or Arceus cursed him for what he did and they're just keeping him alive to force him to repent for his actions. But even then, not letting him rest once that's happened. Because the laundry list of 'side-effects' he deals with is... it feels very deliberate and not what would normally happen}

[happyendingsong]

5star thots <3

i had sooo much fun with the quarter final night, every match was banger after banger after banger and the crowd was eating it up and i was so excited with the final four.

and unfortunately the finals didn't live up to it for me ! mayu vs maika felt like it ended just as it was getting going which was a bummer, and saya vs hanan was hard to really get into because obviously saya would be going over and we had just seen this match a few days ago.

i wish there was one more big match on the card and not just filling time with anna jay and xena, hashtag hater hashtag the hater's temperment.

the god's eye vs neo genesis match was fun (love the spot of all five members of neo genesis in like a starburst formation crashing into their opp sat at the ring post, so cute). i love getting to build neo genesis's identity as a unit, but i was a little disappointed with this being the next beat in syuri's story after such an on-the-warpath 5star. the promo package for the goddess league used a clip of syuri and saki teaming together and if we get them as a tag team all will be forgiven. <3

hanan looking on during rina and hina's match was sooooo :( <33333

looooved the natsupoi/thekla moments during the cosmic angels vs h.a.t.e. match, woof. a lot of what thekla is doing doesnt fully work for me (like part of her h.a.t.e. manifesto calling out girls holding starbucks coffee cups. boo corny stupid boring fart sfx toilet swirl sfx. call the audience perverts again.) but with everything with natsupoi she brings SUCH great character work.

looove the energy ruaka and yuna are bringing too and i loved yuna getting her licks in! i feel like there's such a disparity between the cosmic angels that means tam/natsupoi/saori (the cule) and the cosmic angels that means all the others, like it's hard imagining them all standing in the same room and having a conversation, let alone being in the same faction and working towards the same goals. (which speaks to what theyre doing with tam being a shit leader, like it does seem like a conscious choice but i wish it manifested in some more friction or smth.) it was v sweet getting some interactions between yuna and poi and saori here at least!

i was really looking forward to the tora vs tam match, especially after the tag team match on the quarterfinal night where tam clocks that tora's knee is also in bits. the second she started targeting the knee, tora just fell apart and tam mocks her for it after, very smugly "we're not so different huh." and tora lashes back like "do not fucking compare us, you havent been through a fraction of what ive endured, ill show you when i finally rip your leg off this weekend" etc.

i loooove that angle. tam wrote that thread about how this 5star was about overcoming the fear she's had with wrestling since coming back from injury at the start of the year. having her knee brutalised again and again and getting these losses made her face that fear head on, and she's finally ready to hit play since time stopped with her match with tora last year.

and it's clear that tora is SO consumed by that fear, like that acl injury took a year and some change off her career and every time she gets an inch she loses all momentum. she's trying to consume tam with it too, she wants to inflict the worse thing that ever happened to her onto tam because she needs to leave her broken. tora offers her the title match not to have a match but to land the finishing blow and kill her herself. idk it's fascinating!! girl the neuroses the paranoia the projecting!!

and we'll see how all this plays out obviously, maybe they're cooking, but i really wanted tora to go over here u_u. i really want tora to be a credible threat and i think there are so many directions to go with this big bad leader of hate compelled by this really deep seated fear and bitterness. i really wanted to give that more time to grow and fester and spill its way into every fracture of the roster so that it'd be way more satisying when love/frindship/whatever eventually wins out.

i wanted tam to get swallowed up by this manifestation of her fear, by someone who was swallowed up themselves. if we're doing tam at rock bottom, lets fucking do tam at rock bottom like ! like having her lose here and have her scratch and claw to earn another title shot at the end of the year or whatever wouldve been so satisfying.

i was really really into the match until the interference stuff. and i loooove shitheel interfernce stuff but h.a.t.e. are always booked to be such fucking morons, this is so humiliatinggggg...... like tora getting the steel chair and hitting tam in the head, HELLO? this whole thing started with her chairing tam's knee, the whole point of this match is meant to be tora getting tam in a confined space to finally saw off the piece of thread holding her ligaments together. why isn't she using the first instance of the ref getting distracted to drop any pretence of this being a sports match to put tam in a saw trap. what's happening.

and oh my god im so sick of h.a.t.e. being used as these bumbling fools what the fuck are we doing...... literally lining up to trip over their own banana peels one by one. like the spot of konami accidentally spraying tora in the face and flailing her arms, then ruaka accidentally crashing into tora and flailing her arms too, MORTIFYING. i wanna be on board with h.a.t.e. sooooo badddddd there's so much fun to be had there but this is such a fucking farce like. can tam even be proud of a win here, like it's such a lose lose for everyone involved. poor tora, jesus christ.

i was pretty sour going into maika vs saya as a result and it took me a while to get into it, but they did kill it and they ended the night on a high note for me! loooooved the spot of maika holding onto saya's wrist and not letting her go as she hits her with the lariat again and again, and then saya doing the same with her kicks. wah.

saya's acting at the end was crazyyyyy, the crybaby heel shit is really really fab as a nod to the "i wanted to see you cry" thing. soppingest wettest meow meow fr.

love u maika <3333333 so glad she got her win here, i was really on edge after tam's win that they'd be going with saya instead but i think maika is still the right call. tam had been saying before maika lost the belt, smth like "bc i had to drop the belt due to injury, maika never got to experience taking the belt out of someone's grasp, someone who poured everything they are into that belt. ill show her what it's like from the other side when i take this belt from her." so there's obviously a lot of ground to build this feud on and they're gonna kill it etc

this is a chapter they never got to have the first time, and im glad they're getting to have it now, but i REALLY wish we were getting it months from now. it's such a shame to treat tora as a footnote in all of this when there's soooo much to be tapped from that. she had a long fucking reign in her! what's the point in pretending h.a.t.e. are this big threat putting the entire company on notice, the successors/dismantlers of both queen's quest and oedo tai, if they're so easily thwarted and forgotten. they're bumbling!!!!!

and with maika and tam, they've already set that match to be a couple weeks from now BOOOOOOOO. why are they so eager to burn through everything so quickly, chew your fucking food!!!!! like there's such an easy and fun plot beat to have in everyone who beat tam in the 5star rocking up to the ring like hello where are our title shots. and tam wanting this gauntlet challenge over a few months overcoming all these past losses from this year, like tam eats that shit up!!!! and then have her vs maika at queendom at the end of the year so there's actual momentum and intrigue in it.

idk this breakneck pace they're doing with everything makes it hard to get my teeth into anything, like it's hard to feel like the investment is gonna be worth the payoff. which sucks that im feeling like this after ive been so into the rest of the 5star! like having tam completely and immediately wipe out was so exciting, and i love how open the field felt for everyone.

it's a shame to end the 5star on a sour note, and maybe it'll be clear in a few months that this was all part of a bigger better plan. one can hope

but jesus christ they need to book h.a.t.e. better. babygirl tora you will always be famous.

[tutuandscoot]

Ok so I’m obsessed with VM’s Rhumba….

Here’s why…

First few things:

E D G E S (I’m not a skater but I have watched enough at this point to know what edges are and that VM have all of them..) so low down in the knees and the side of their boots nearly catching the ice. I know T got called on the edge in the Choctaw in the TE and… again… I’m not a skater but from what I could see.. and I’ve watched this event a lot I really couldn’t see any difference/ stronger edge in any of the the other girls/teams- Tessa’s seemed the same or at least very close in both the TE and IE.. but WHATEVER.. (like even all the commentators said how good it was so idk)

What Tessa does with her arm. She does like a push out movement on the side step that mirrors the movement with their legs-then keeps it beautifully extended into the first Choctaw step. It just works so beautifully with the music and the vibe of it all- she just exudes confidence and the quality of it just adds the the whole ‘sex on ice’ vibes we got.

The… kinda (I can’t think of the exact name for the movement) but on the last ‘OWW’ as the music transitions from SFTD to HC and they’ve already started the rhumba they.. well in ballet it’s like a pas de chaval- but it’s when they extend their right legs to arabesque and bend it while it’s still close to 90 degrees, and like a cat bend it back in as they go into the next step. It’s so musical and so fitting with the animalistic vibes and energy. They’ve done it in the past where on that step they would leave it extended and that was beautiful too, and most teams this year (2018) did an extended leg but it’s turned in and often the legs aren’t matching height. It doesn’t look as good. What VM did with that was just so perfect. They lift from the glute even more to give it extra stretch and height before retracting it. *chefs kiss 💋:

But here’s what I’m really obsessed with:

So I can’t really emphasise enough what a good partner Scott is. Like really I’ve never seen a male dancer partner his girl so seamlessly- make it look so effortless, while at the same time be as charismatic and engaging of a performer and equally talented dancer as their partner. There’s great male ballet partners but usually in ballet- during a pdd, the man is literally just their to support the girl- he isn’t really dancing. In most ballets the structure is the pdd, man solo, girl solo, coda. So what makes Scott so special is he is dancing and partnering her at the same time without ever compromising one of the two. He truly makes it all about her and is not at all resentful of that- he knows people watching her doesn’t mean he is bad- it means he is presenting her and matching all her lines, complementing her movements, playing off her and interacting with her. A lot of male dancers say it’s about the girl but will often compromise or risk their girls’ safety at times- not always intentionally, but they forget that the pdd is about the girl and then they can have their moment in their solos. So what makes VM so unique as dancers (notice I almost always refer to them as ‘dancers’ and not simply ‘skaters’) is in their discipline there is no ‘solos’ (even hardly ever in shows- they are always together unless it’s a boy/girl no.). There’s no chance for one of them to shine without the other- they shine together. Its not quite like you are seeing only one person, but I feel even if you are watching one of them specifically, you are still seeing the other because they’re are so connected and every movement one of them does relies on the other to match/compliment.

So: the one thing I watch on repeat over and over is Scott’s hand placement in the rhumba pattern:

(And it’s not just in the rhumba, it’s anytime he’s holding her like this)

You will notice if you look carefully how far he has his hand around to the front of her waist compared to the top teams:

You will notice of all the teams here (top teams coz there’s no point comparing to lower ranked teams, but for the record I can’t think of another team at all that partners as well as Scott partners Tessa). In the first set of screen shots (sorry.. they’re fuzzy) the guys have their hands flat-palm just sitting on the crest of the girls pelvis, or in Alex’s case on her ribs. What Scott is doing, and you can see it in motion in the top video, is he bends his fingers round and digs into the space- kinda between her abs and her obliques- the soft(er) part/muscle between her ribs and her hip bone. His arm is also bent at nearly 90 degrees which means he holding her much closer than the other guys are holding their girls. The others just have their arm curved around the girl’s back and resting their hand on her side- they aren’t ‘holding’ them, more just ‘touching’ them.

What all this means and shows (at least to me in my experience) is that Scott is actually partnering Tessa through this whole pattern, rather than what the other guys are doing is just doing the steps with their partner. Scott is actually aiding and assisting her through this entire pattern. Giving her that feeling of being lifted (through her upper body), helping her feel lifted out of her hips. The way his arm is bent- he is partnering her with his whole arm (really his whole body) but he can make minor adjustments without anyone seeing them because he is holding her so close. If she is a little off balance, or to close/far away, he can use his forearm to bring her back a bit, or give her more space if she needs it. You will see in the top video how as they step right, left (just before it cuts out) that he re adjusts his grip. He reaches his hand around a little further and digs his fingers in again and lifts in and up towards her ribs. If you go and watch every performance of this- you’ll see he does this hand movement on this exact step every time.

He isn’t helping her through this because she needs assistance- as if she’s weak and doesn’t have the strength to skate it and hold herself up, it is literally him being the perfect partner for her and making it easier for her so she can use her upper body and feel more free. You will also notice in the second set- him holding her left hand- how parallel her lower arm is to his upper arm. Again, go watch any performance of this- his left arm DOES NOT MOVE. It is so strong and ridged. He is basically acting as a ballet barre for her- screwed into the wall that doesn’t move, so Tessa and lean in an out of his hand, use it for balance and feel her whole left side stable. He is holding her so steady that there is no movement in her left arm at all- it stays so straight. This whole pattern is almost like he is driving her through it. Having his left arm so strong and ridged however, isn’t visible, that stiffness isn’t reciprocated in the rest of his body. His neck is so lose and he too is able to express through his upper body, while being so strong and supporting for Tessa.

You will see compared to other teams, how this partnering allows them to match. Their lines are better because they are closer together. If you look at the second set with B/S - he is the one guy who is holding her kinda like Scott with his right hand, but his left hand is not assisting her, they are much further apart and their hips aren’t level.. in that second set with VM, their shoulders are level, her free hand extended is in a straight line with her left and his upper arm holding her. Their hips are only centimetres apart and are at the exact same level and completely square. Free legs PERFECTLY parallel and straight and POINTED with THEIR HEELS REACHING FORWARD WHICH MEANS THEY ARE TURNING OUT FROM THE TOPS OF THEIR LEGS (urrggghbb I can feel my piriformis switching on just writing this, FUCK I love them 💞).. their chests lifted without pocking their ribs out (no banana backs) and those beautiful, confident smiles. Seriously this whole pattern is perfection and like honestly, the neck kiss was a moment, but this is like satisfaction porn..

I love this slo-mo part where they (idk what it’s called in skating so I’ll just say it’s a pivot round the corner..)

But just watch his right hand. The way he shapes it, uses his fingers to direct her, the heel of his hand and his wrist/forearm to form like an arch for her to sit in where he can use each part of his hand/arm he needs so keep her on balance. Watch in the second gif how far his around his fingers are and presses into her abs as she combrés forward, he is holding her steady to give her freedom in her upper body to bend forward while staying on balance. You can see as they complete the last bit of the pivot he pulls her closer to make it round the corner. (Like pulling tight at the end of a spin to go faster- create less friction against the air). Straight after that you can see he shifts his hand as their transfer weight to their left leg, he moves it more to the back of her hip to use the heel of his hand to assist her in changing direction- as she as to step her steps out a little further- and he is more doing his on a pivot point as she goes from being in front of him facing the front to stepping in front of him facing the back in only one ‘ball change’ (sort of step).

The way he shapes his arm reminds me of how guys are to taught (at least the guys at my school) how to do partnered pirouettes: they are taught, when the girl is standing on point, or in 4th preparing to relieve to pirouette, if you are turning to the right, (which most of the time we are) to have (I think it’s this way around but I could be mixing it up) to have their left hand in an ‘L’ shape and their right hand with their fingers on the crest of our hips, the left hand in the L shape is for us to ‘sit’ in as we turn, and kind of keeps us on our axis (like a spinning top) where as the right hand does the turning, flicking our hip around, in each turn. Here’s a gif of some partnered pirouettes not that you can really see the hand technique but give you an idea: (they aren’t really doing this technique- that more for training but with multiple pirouettes like this there’s more movement to keep us spinning, btw this is Marianela Nunez for the Royal Ballet who is STUNNING and reminds me soooo much of Tessa)

So what Scott is going here in the rhumba is he is doing the job of both the left and right hand all in his right + arm.

I would really be so interested to hear about VM’s off ice training coz even tho the basis of Ice Dancing is ballroom- I see so many similarities to ballet/contemporary partnering in their programs- so I wonder if they did lots of off-ice pdd and partnering training because with don’t see this type of partnering in other teams.

You will also notice if you watch any version of this, but I especially noticed it on the olys version, he talks to her the whole way through it- up until the the end of the side step where they curve round into the Choctaw and the judges can obviously see them. I like to think the little minor squeezes and adjustments he makes with his right hand are also little communications.

Again, this has nothing to with Tessa being weak and him needing to support her. It’s literally just good partnering. It’s the tiniest little things he’s doing but it just helps her so much and makes it so easy for her. That’s his superior partnering skills and him just putting her safety and ease of movement as first priority. Like other guys probably don’t even see the difference. So many skaters are taught by the same small group of coaches at this level so I don’t really think it’s something-a style taught- I think that’s something TS mostly developed between themselves, however there are clips from when they were very young where you see he has similar hand placement, so it could be something their first coaches taught them. The big difference, just me imagining doing these steps and knowing what it feels like to be partnered well and also by weaker partners, there is so much difference and just watching all these teams, I can feel that Tessa feels so much more assured and supported in her movement than the other girls would, just by the way the guys are partnering in this killian hold. It’s the difference between doing really hard ballet steps at the barre vs in the centre, or like if you start class in the centre without barre and it takes you so much longer to find you legs (balance)-being at the barre is just inherently easier.

The other difference is Scott and Tessa are doing it together- they are connected and their partnering just as intricate and necessary as their skate placement. All the other teams- they are touching just coz it’s necessary- they aren’t actually helping each other. The guys are just resting their right hands on the girls hip. That’s not helping her in anyway. Funnily enough it’s kinda the same approach some teams have to the whole sport- only touching coz they have to. TS’s partnering is literally the core of their programs- it’s so complicated and so nuanced and they way partner is like a language of communication. They talk through their programs but I feel lots of talking also goes on just by the way he shifts his hand or squeezes her.

Everything about what they do is just crazy fascinating when you get down to the tiny details.

[haleigh-sloth]

We're due to get like at least 5 more pages so there is some stuff we are missing, obviously.

But, thoughts on the summary and the leaked panels so far:

I stand by what I said after last chapter---this wasn't really positive development for Bakugo--he still isn't there yet. I mean.....show me where the positive development was. I don't see it. Team work is great and all, but when the team you're working with is not so great idealistically, by the story's standards, well, things don't work out for you.

This is definitely NOT Bakugo's "greatest moment" 🙄

Bakugo getting seriously injured is really rough, but no I don't think he's out of the battle after this, so....hopefully hysteria doesn't arise from this. I don't have the energy.

As I guessed based off of last week, Bakugo went for the kill, and now....things are worse. This battle is so much mirroring Endeavor vs. AFO, and the tables are turning in the villains' favor at both of these battlefields (it's supposed to), and now Bakugo is seriously injured. They both lost use of their right arm, even if Bakugo's will be fixed later---they both went for the kill and now they're going to have a very difficult time for the rest of the war it seems. Again, not to compare the two characters, but these fights are distinctly similar and paralleling each other. There is development and growth to be had for both of them, clearly.

The identity crisis is still happening (I mean, it's not gonna stop any time soon). It seems to go back and forth between Shigaraki and AFO, at certain times. If the summary is accurate though, it seems that Shigaraki is the one connecting Bakugo to Midoriya in this moment, as the lip scar that was previously very noticeably NOT there, is there when he is saying this.

The Big 3....tbh I'm not expecting much. I was wondering why Mirio wasn't brought to this battle field at first because he's perfect to combat decay, so it's cool that he's there. But tbh....I don't care lol. He always gets a super grand entrance and it never really matters later, I'm not expecting anything different here. Yes, they'll probably have a badass "Big 3" moment next chapter, but honestly, how much will that really hold up in the end lol.

Some rambles that aren't super serious:

Shigaraki....that one panel, Horikoshi stop it I can't take it. He's too pretty

Bakugo, you don't deserve what's happening to you, but the growth is coming and I'm sure you'll have no regrets later

Hori please don't dedicate an entire chapter to the Big 3, I am begging you, we don't need it

Aizawa...I hope your time is coming soon. I'm sure when we get back to Spinner we'll finally kick start your growth

I don't think Shigarako/ShigAFO is gonna kill Bakugo, as stated that he could be useful. So maybe, just maybe, Shig will take kidnap him again and leave Sky-High UA (idk how this would happen but god I can dream)

This looks like a fantastic chapter, and I'm so excited.

[hotwaterandmilk]

Have you been watching the new Tokyo Mew Mew anime? If so, what do you think?

Hi, thanks for the question! Yes, I have been watching Tokyo Mew Mew New, but I don't have a lot of insight to share and I think a lot of that owes to my age and overall interest level in magical girl titles post-2000.

TMM was a formative magical girl series for many young people in the early 2000's. However, when it was being published in Nakayoshi I had stopped buying the magazine regularly and basically moved on to other things, so for me it really didn't leave much of an impact.

The original anime adaptation left even less of an impression on me because 2002 had things like RahXephon, Princess Tutu, GitS:SAC, Witch Hunter Robin, Gravion, and all manner of other anime that I focused more of my energy on obtaining (and back then, boy did it take a lot of energy to get fansubs).

What I'm trying to articulate is that Tokyo Mew Mew is something that I've watched and read, but due to my own circumstances it has never been a stand-out title in my mental map of anime/manga. So coming to Tokyo Mew Mew New I really didn't have many expectations and now that I've watched it... I still don't really have any strong feelings either?

Why the long face? Horsie DNA?

I think overall the attempt to be true to Ikumi Mia's updated designs is admirable, everyone looks good when they're in key scenes. It does feel as though the animation slips "off" throughout these first 3 episodes and is operating within a particular budget though. The animation here is hardly comparable to the awful magical girl reboot animation we saw in Sailor Moon Crystal's broadcast version, I do think that the fact TMMN looks decent most of the time makes those moments of off proportions or long faces stick in my mind more than, say, the first anime adaptation (where everyone looks wonky all the time and nothing matters).

This looks cute, 0 notes.

No shade to the artists, I feel like Ishino Satoshi has done well returning to these characters he clearly feels passionate about designing for animation and the animation team is really working hard. And I absolutely LOVE that they kept in all the ridiculous expressions from the manga. It's just this anime is a mid-level project from Yumeta Company and Graphinica, neither of which are fantastic studios. Still, the passion is there and I respect the team for doing their best. Natori, the director, is very average in my opinion though, there's nothing that stands out much about his work here (so many of the shots etc. reflect the manga which is good but also not overally inventive or challenging for viewers).

When looking at the approach to the story I really respect that they went with the changes Ikumi helped develop before her death. I know a lot of people want anime to be 100% accurate to the original manga and that's definitely an opinion plenty share, but I appreciated that they went with something different here and respected the way the original creators wanted to change their work after 20 years. It's a gamble to do something like that and I think it pays off, it changes things up a little but feels respectful to the vision the creators wanted so yeah.

TFW the DNA hits

In saying that though, damn I wish they changed some of the crappier aspects of the series. The lack of consent re: The Mew Project's DNA Digivolving sciencemagic is something that could have been adjusted quite easily here, but they opted to keep it basically the same. Hey kid, you're part animal now go fight. Ryou grabbing Ichigo's face like she's a fucking bread roll. Ichigo just bleating on and on about romance and first kisses. Minto now kind of stalking Ichigo to set her up for the DNA digivolving sciencemagic knowing what she’s in for and not giving her the chance to make an informed choice on her own? Idk man, I feel like a lot of this could have been changed to be less icky quite easily without impacting the characters or scenario too much. Maybe that’s just me.

:) gonna get u filled with hot DNA

Umm what else? It's all very rushed (I mean 12 ep season, no shocks there) and while that's very much on par for the course I still feel like if you had no background with this title whatsoever it would be difficult to get invested in these characters at this point. Rettasu is the one with the most background given in these first few eps, Minto remains a cipher, Ichigo’s character is extremely tied to Masaya’s and Bu-Ling is monke hehe acrobatics. There’s no meat on the bones of these introductory episodes.

So she was made of chimps!

Not a criticism of TMMN specifically though, I should point out. We only just saw the exact same INTRO INTRO INTRO INTRO INTRO thing happen in the Majo Kaitou LIP☆S manga recently where it felt like having a cannon loaded with a new magical girl pointed at your face every chapter for the first half dozen months of serialisation. I get why they do it, got to get those girls introduced and all the little trinkets out there for kids to latch onto, but it still makes forming an attachment with adaptations like TMMN a little tough if you don't already know that there's more to these girls than what is shown ever so briefly in these first few eps.

Hey, I just met you and this is crazy. But who are you, and why we dressed all same-y?

The seiyuu are fine, I think they all sound about right for each character. The one area where TMMN does nothing for me at all though is the OP/ED, they’re extremely generic and while the ED at least gets close to recapturing some of the spirit of the original ED, the OP is just... put the nonsense lyrics aside and it could be for almost any generic series airing right now. There’s nothing that makes it stand out and that’s a shame, because if you’re forming a seiyuu group for a show at least give them some decent bangers (Franchouchou, for example, objectively rules and they’re a seiyuu group formed for a random anime so... it’s doable).

I think at the end of the day if TMM was a series that meant a lot to you growing up, you’ll appreciate revisiting the tale in a modern adaptation. Yeah there’s always plenty to nit-pick, but it’s rare to see shoujo anniversary adaptations like this and I’d love to see more titles get a chance at a redo so I hope TMMN does decently for those involved in its production. The loss of Ikumi Mia before this adaptation started airing has definitely put a sombre spin on things for me, but knowing how much she wanted this to succeed and how much she cared about this series made me watch the episodes going, “This isn’t for me but I’m glad other people love this and are having fun.” And ultimately that’s my take on the whole thing.

:)

Is it going to reset the magical girl genre? No, I don’t think so. Does it do anything shocking and new? Not particularly. Is it comforting for adults who have grown up in the past 20 years to watch something that cares about the environment and is joyful about life even after *gestures at the world* ALL THIS SHIT? Yes, and I think there’s value in that even if I’m a bit too old to have the same level of investment as people in their 20s.