#list of biggest cave in the world

[pasukiyo]

LEECH.

| a collection of one-shots. collection masterlist.

DISCLAIMER: this fic is simply a work of fiction and is in no way, shape, or form claiming to be a reflection of how leon kennedy is canonically portrayed as a character. this is an au, meaning it is an alternate reality written for fun, so please heed this warning and keep it in mind while you read.

— to join the taglist, follow the link here and choose “leon kennedy” in the character list.

collection songbook

leon kennedy x fem!reader word count; 1,656 warnings; leon is a stalker, leon's also a bit of a loser!, themes of dark!leon, allusions to smut, mentions of oral (m & f receiving) summary; letting her go was easily the biggest mistake leon has ever made, and he's made more than he can count. so when he finds her again, he vows she’ll be the one thing he clings to, like a leech in skin.

 Leon never had a place to call his own, but he did have a home, once. 

 Home was a girl, home was a medic who, by patching him up that first time in the training grounds, prompted a rumbling from deep within his belly for a hunger he’d never had before, making him yearn for something constant, something domestic, something normal. 

 Because Leon Kennedy’s life was far from it. Years of being in all the wrong places at all the wrong times made certain of that. There was nothing normal about him to begin with anyways, even before that shitshow of a first day on duty at R.P.D..

 Although not many tried, many failed to truly understand Leon Kennedy. Before there was a top secret government agent, there was a cop and before there was a cop, there was a teenager and before there was a teenager there was just a child, mourning the loss of parents he never got the chance to really know. 

 But that was all just the surface-level shit. 

 Everyone, at least on a business standpoint, knew about Leon’s past, why he was so eager to be an officer in the first place. But no one gave a shit about the in between. Nobody really cared for who Leon Kennedy was at his core, beneath all the blood, sweat, gore, and tears. 

 Nobody did— except for her. 

 Leon’s home once looked at him with a tenderness so devastating, it was like its own cataclysmic event. Every time she looked at him with eyes so warm like a crackling fire in the hearth on a cold, winter night, eyebrows pinched and brow furrowed, it was like the Earth was collapsing around him. The world was caving in and Leon didn’t care because all he could see was her: listening to him, eager to know more, wanting to help him. 

 He could still see her eyes every night when he closed his and he could still hear her voice, her breathing, the little sounds she made in those moments they shared when they burned the brightest. His skin still buzzed where her lips once touched him, although each day that passed by, the burn her kiss left upon his flesh gradually faded, so faint now, he was holding on to cinders. Leon would toss and turn in whatever bed he ended up in every night, willing the memory of their last night together back to the forefront of his brain, clinging on to the dying embers left in her lips’ wake. 

 Her kiss felt fainter tonight than it ever had before. 

 The feeling was nearly painful. 

 Leon ripped the thin duvet off of his body, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress that was more like a box spring than anything. The motel room he’d ended up in after the last mission was small, the walls were yellow with grime, the curtains over the window thin and ripped, allowing the orange light from the lamppost outside to spill in. There were small, dark ovals on the floor in the corner that were surely cockroaches, but Leon didn’t spare them a second glance as he zipped up his jeans— he’d slept in far worse places than this. 

 He tugged on the sheepskin leather jacket that had since been draped over the top of the withering dresser, stepping into his boots and bending at the waist from the edge of the mattress to lace them up. The alarm on the nightstand read 4:00 in big, red numbers that blinked after him as he stuffed his room key into his pocket, slipping out the door. 

 The air was cold and fog rolled in the low-lit parking lot, curls of smoky air visible in the lamplight. Leon could see his breath in misty clouds with each step he took and he stuffed his hands into his pockets, disappearing into the fog. 

 She haunted his reverie as if she were a parasite, a sickness he couldn’t heal from. He still saw her the day she told him she was leaving, still felt the bile that bubbled in his throat, still saw the tears that fell in droplets of rain down her cheeks. He still felt the weight of the words he’d said, still remembered her shaking her head, could still hear her voice curling around his ears like a ghostly whisper, saying “you have to let me go.”

 He watched her walk away, let her go as she asked then, and perhaps, Leon should’ve tried to move on. Perhaps he should’ve let her go as she had asked, should’ve pushed himself harder in training, pushed himself harder in his missions so that maybe he could have forgotten her. 

 But he was still right where she left him. 

 Ever since she left, he’d been stuck as if he were in a time loop, reliving the day he let her walk away from him over and over again like it was some form of punishment, his own personal hell. He’d spent damn near every second that passed after that day trying to claw his way back to her, hanging on tooth and nail. He had to ask through virtually the entire medical team until he finally, finally found her. 

 He told himself he wouldn’t do this, told himself he’d wait until the morning where he could show up at her door, properly knock and engage in conversation. He tried desperately to resist the ache he now yielded to. 

 The place was caught in between a shithole and adequacy. It was a hell of a lot better than a vast majority of the places Leon had slept, at least. His footsteps echoed through the hallway as he neared her door, Room 210. He fished for his pocket knife in the front pocket of his jeans, unsheathing the switchblade before glancing around the hall. 

 Empty. 

 He leaned down to the lock and slowly, as to not make any more noise than necessary, inserted the blade, inch by inch until the tip reached the end. He twisted the hilt until there was a click, steadily sliding the knife back out and switching it closed, tucking it safely away back in his pocket. 

 The knob was cool against his fingertips as he twisted it, carefully pushing open the door, grimacing when it squeaked. He stepped inside the dark apartment, the shadows embracing him as if he were an old friend. Once he’d managed to close the door, he crept his way through the apartment, between half unpacked moving boxes and furniture. 

 The walls were bare for the most part, save for a painting above the television in the living room. Leon couldn’t quite discern what it was in the darkness, but through the sliver in the door beside it, he could just make out the shape of a footboard. 

 His heart pounded against his chest as he inched towards the bedroom door, palms against the wood, cautiously pushing open just enough to allow his body to slither through. 

 And there she was. 

 Leon’s home was a woman buried beneath the covers, turned on her side with an arm folded beneath her pillow. Home was the woman deep in slumber, lashes flush to her cheeks, oblivious to the man standing at her bedside. 

 Leon drew in a deep breath as he kneeled beside her, his fingers just itching to wipe the loose strand of hair away from her face. It’d been so long since the last time he’d seen her in the flesh and he’d counted down those long, agonizing days that eventually led him to this moment. The days were long and hard but finally, he’d made his way back to her. 

 The lips that used to kiss his, that used to part when she gasped, that wrapped around his cock when his fingers were woven through her hair were now pressed together in a line. The chest he’d sometimes lay on at night, the chest he’d knead in either of his palms, the chest he’d leave his marks upon rose and fell with her every breath. He wondered if any of his marks still tainted her skin, or if the time they’d spent apart had been enough to fade them away. 

 The eyes that still haunted him, even in this moment, were closed but still, their hue was forever ingrained in his memory. Leon’s fingers twitched as he raised a hand towards her face, shivering as he brushed the backs of his knuckles delicately across her cheek, the pad of his thumb just barely soothing over one of her closed eyelids. He swiped the loose strand of hair away from his face gently, the tip of his forefinger delicately tracing the curve of her ear. 

 The skin he’d been craving and yearning to touch was warm, a stark contrast from the cool of his own. Memories of nights that had passed with his arms wrapped around her naked body, with her breasts against his chest, their legs intertwined flashed in his mind. Memories of his palms soothing up and down her waist, his hands between the soft flesh of her thighs, his lips against her center made his mouth part in a gasp. 

 How he longed to shake her awake, to look in her eyes, to feel her again. How he longed to tangle his fingers up in her hair and push her lips against his in a searing kiss that would forever scar him but feel so damn good all the while. 

 But he wouldn’t wake her, not now. 

 For tonight, he’d settle on the fact that he’d found her, that he could see her once again. Seeing her again set that old flame in the pit of his belly ablaze once more, fueling that craving he had for something constant, something domestic, something normal. 

 Normalcy was hard, his line of work made certain of that. Nobody normal had seen the amount of shit he had, nor had the amount of blood on his hands that tainted his. Normalcy was practically a myth, normalcy sounded more outrageous than the outrageous did to him. 

 Normalcy may have been out of reach before, yes, but now— now it felt closer than ever. If becoming a leech, a blood-sucking parasite with its teeth sunken deep into skin was what he had to do to achieve it, then so be it. He was so tired of letting everything he’d ever wanted slip out of his reach— so when he sunk down onto the floor with his back against the wall, gaze still fixed on the woman slumbering upon the bed, he vowed to let this be the one thing he cling to. 

a/n; SO... SURPRISE! i got the idea for this while driving to work this past tuesday morning and couldn't stop thinking about it my entire shift lol i'm really excited to write more for this collection, so stay tuned for further one-shots! i just ask for your patience-- i'm a college student with a job! :) anyways, i hope you all enjoyed this little introduction to the collection :)

❕❕the next fic in the collection will be posted april 14th at 3 pm cst

💿 if you enjoyed, please consider reblogging or even leaving a reply to let me know! it means the entire world to me 🫶

TAGLIST

@corruptcoder @chaoticevilbakugo @luckypurins @glovesandhorror @xoxostarlet @illsksm @echo1200 @d3adp00ls @woahhajime @leonkennedygvrl

[sitp-recs]

15 Christmassy fics to read (or reread) this month

This rec list is for @annakendricks who sent an ask about Christmas reads and also dedicated to @lettersbyelise for supporting this idea 💜 Despite the winter blues, December will always lighten up my mood with the holiday spirit. This month has been pretty hectic for me but I can’t wait to get some time off and indulge my fave Christmassy rereads. Come and join me if you like! Here you’ll find a little bit of everything: soft and contemplative, smutty, crack-y, movie AU, holiday romance and even Gen fic, which is not my usual fare but fit the theme perfectly. Pick your flavour and Happy Holidays!

🎄A Christmas Happenstance by Only_1_Truth (E, 5.5k)

The Hogwarts School for the Gifted and Supernatural had classes year-round, but the dormitories emptied out regularly on holidays as if the students were suddenly becoming allergic to the walls. Both humans and non-humans mingled freely in the surrounding town of Hogsmeade. Draco Malfoy, however, isn't feeling in the mood after a rather spectacular break-up.

🎄A Charitable Christmas by Alisanne (E, 5.6k)

Hermione’s plans to raise money for war orphans do not meet with Harry’s approval. Fortunately, Draco steps in to help him come up with a much more enjoyable strategy.

🎄A Hippogriff for Christmas by @xanthippe74 (G, 6.4k)

Draco is desperately trying to fulfill four-year-old Scorpius’ dearest wish for Christmas: a visit with a real Hippogriff. Harry is desperately trying to be left alone, safely tucked away from the attention of the wizarding world as Hogwarts’ Keeper of the Keys and Grounds.

🎄Surviving the Horde by FleetofShippyShips (T, 7k)

Draco has managed to avoid Christmas at the Burrow for ten years, but not this year.

🎄Tidings of Comfort by @blamebrampton (G, 10k)

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. Luckily for Draco Malfoy, London has places where the tired can rest and recover.

🎄Love, Actually, is All Around by @punk-rock-yuppie (T, 10k)

It's Christmastime, and Harry has just started as the new Minister of Magic. It just so happens that Draco works in his office as well, a holdover from Kingsley's tenure. Naturally, love is in the air.

🎄break the bad luck in my life by seaworn (E, 12k)

Draco and Harry are both brooding on Christmas Eve.

🎄All Roads Lead Home by @dracogotgame (G, 15k)

Draco is strong-armed into spending the first Christmas after the War with the Weasleys. And Harry Potter.

🎄Love All Lovely by @shealwaysreads (T, 19k)

Draco comes home for Christmas, and discovers that sharing is the best way of celebrating old traditions, and new ones too.

🎄Waking Up Slow by @sweet-s0rr0w and @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (E, 22k)

'Twas the night before Christmas, although it’s July / Draco’s a shopkeeper, no-one knows why / There’s hiking and witch caves, freak snowfalls and more / Bad Christmas jumpers, nosy neighbours galore / Narcissa’s here too, but… something’s amiss / And what’s in those chocolates that’s making them kiss?

🎄I'll Floo Home for Christmas by jadepresley (T, 39k)

The Ministry Christmas party is the biggest event of the year and Harry absolutely does not want to plan it, and he certainly, one hundred percent, does not have a crush on Draco Malfoy.

🎄The Romantic Prawn Who Loved Christmas by @bixgirl1 (E, 39k)

When Draco, forced into sharing a room with Potter for the year, finds out that Potter has a sleepwalking problem, he expects the odd conversations and the weird games of chess. What comes as a complete shock are Potter's other activities...And why he seems so intent on having Draco join him.

🎄December Never Felt So Wrong by @maesterchill (E, 50k)

'Twas the month before Christmas and sixteen year old Draco Malfoy had never felt worse. His attempts to kill Dumbledore were failing and, as usual, Harry Fucking Potter was a constant thorn in his side. All that suddenly changed when Draco woke up 15 years in the future and discovered that not only was he allegedly shagging Harry Fucking Potter, he also had thinning hair and a five year old son, and no fucking clue how he got there.

🎄A Room Up There (And You In It) by @the-starryknight (T, 59k)

When Preservationist Draco Malfoy was assigned to work on Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he was excited to delve into the gorgeous Black family antiques. His excitement quickly ended when something in the House decided it did not like his presence one bit.

🎄All Must Draw Near by Saras_Girl (M, 61k)

Harry doesn't have time for rumours; he has a shop to run. Which is just as well, really.

[aquatark]

Okay! So! I'm breaking out the correct capitalization because this news is so insane! The Japanese website for Endless Ocean Luminous received a major update last night, and I want to walk through the biggest new info from it with you! This is gonna be really long, so please bare with me, there's just so much to cover...

Here's the link for people who want to check this themselves: https://www.nintendo.com/jp/switch/a7lka/index.html

The Veiled Sea is random, but not in the way you think

It has been officially confirmed that the Veiled Sea's terrain and creatures will change with each dive, and creatures will likely spawn in accordance to the nearby terrain. But don't panic!

After filling in 80% of an area's map, you will be given a map ID, which you can use to access that exact same map, either by yourself or with friend, whenever you like! Think of them like Minecraft world seeds. An example ID (which can likely be used upon release) is given in the photo above, accompanied by what looks like a photo of the one and only...! Maybe you can reliably encounter her on that map ID?

2. Salvages are back, baybee!!

In what looks to be a system similar to EO1 and the Everblue games, salvages of all sorts can be found under small glints on the ocean floor! The P earned from salvages immediately goes into your current amount once you've picked it up. According to the photo above, salvaging is "essential to unravelling the ocean's mysteries", and another photo states that you may even find traces of "ancient civilizations"...

3. A diving rank system has been revealed, along with fishy friends

As you discover new creatures and treasures, you will unlock all sorts of things, and your dive rank will increase! Higher dive ranks have access to more suit colors (which side note omg i'm loving the options), as well as larger creatures following you, and more creatures following at the same time! What does that mean? Well... you know EO1's friendship system, where if you're friendly enough to a fish, it'll follow you around? This seems to be returning, but reworked! The creatures that follow you depends on your dive rank: at a low rank, only small fish will follow you, but as your rank increases, you can have dolphins and even huge whales tag along with you!

4. Behold a whole new range of underwater environments

I already showed pictures of them in my previous post, so I won't here to save photo space, but to list a few, underwater magma flows, shipwrecks in the abyss, polar areas, freshwater caves, and active hydrothermal vent fields have all been shown off here!

5. Different missions will be available each dive

Not much elaboration is needed here, but each dive, you will be given special missions (such as seeking out a location or creature). We don't yet know what reward these will give us, but it's gotta be good, right?

6. A new method of identifying creatures

Creatures you have yet to identify will glow, and pressing the L button while near these creatures will unlock their information. Multiple creatures' info can be acquired this way at the same time, making for easy scanning of big groups! This info will then be available in the marine encyclopedia, which can be accessed at any time.

The encyclopedia will also record the creature's behavior, habits, and the largest/smallest sizes of it you have found.

7. Creature variants have been introduced

Though the site did not elaborate on this, it did showcase a picture of a creature labelled "variant".

This one is especially interesting, because though the scientific name here is accurate, the Japanese text below it reads... "Coco Maharaja", which is this EO2 legendary's Japanese name! Will we be able to encounter the exact legendary specimens from EO2 again in the Veiled Sea, or are these simply colored variants named after them? Either way, the creature variant system is going to be awesome, I can tell!

8. Photography is back, and better than ever!

Photos will be sent to the Nintendo Switch's album when taken. What purpose they will serve in the greater game has yet to be seen, but you can take photos with yourself in them!

9. Multiplayer and singleplayer options

I know some people were worried about multiplayer being the only mode, but this is not the case! Players can dive either solo, or with a group over the internet with the "Dive Together" option. When diving together, up to 10 random players can play... or, when diving with friends, up to 30 people can!

Additional multiplayer reveals include the ability to use tons of emotes to communicate, adding emojis to creatures or treasures you find which can be seen on the map for others to check out (the Cacao Maharaja photo showcases a bunch of these emojis), being able to teleport to any player in your current dive, and more!

10. A new mythical creature...?

The array of photos shown of new creature models is absolutely astounding... but one in particular that caught my eye is the set of new prehistoric creatures!

One of these things is not like the others though... what could "Raja Emas" be...? Can prehistoric creatures be mythical too?

This update has made me more hyped than ever for this game! I'd be curious to hear your thoughts too~ :>

[dr0wning-in-hell]

One Of a Kind- Xavier Thorpe

Summary: Y/N is a rare creature, something that’s thought to be extinct. She’s hated by all Normies, and maybe even some Outcasts, but one Outcast in particular thinks differently of her.

Warnings: a bit of angst, some fluff, probably some cursing,

Word Count: 2.9k+

Characters/Pairing: Faye!Reader x Xavier Thorpe, Mentions of Principal Weems, mentions of Tyler

Prompt: simply that Y/N feels like the biggest Outsider amongst Outsider, but Xavier is there to prove her wrong and let her know that she’s just a one of a kind.

A/N: Reader is similar to Maleficent, but without the horns. :) Has magic and those giant wings that I freaking adore

New Masterlist| Color Prompts| Prompt List| buy me a coffee!!

Y/N had been found on the outskirts of the forests in Europe before she was sent to Nevermore. Principal Weems was the one who originally found her anyways, so she thought it was her duty to take care of her and give her shelter, not just because she was an Outsider who was hated by half of humanity, but because she was one of the rarest creatures she had ever laid her eyes upon. 

That was when Y/N was 12, until she was brought to Nevermore she had spent her time as a child hiding in dense forest areas that no one could possibly get to, secret caves that held her own hideaways far from the Normies of the world. When she was brought to the school for Outcasts, she felt like a freak. Everyone at the school was pretty, popular, they all looked semi-normal, but not Y/N.

No, Y/N had to have fangs, longer and sharper than any vampire’s, naturally long nails that should have counted as talons, and ginormous black wings that shrouded her body. Y/N was, in her eyes, a human bird. 

From the moment she stepped foot onto campus all eyes were on her. At that young of an age she was scared, she scared herself and everyone else, but as she grew up she turned that frightened little girl into a power to be reckoned with. As everyone at school watched her grow into this confident young lady, they also became less scared of her. She had her times where she’d lose her temper and lash out, her magic uncontrollable as she’d stomp away and wreck everything in her path, but they knew she was just like them in that sense. Unable to control how they felt because there was not a single person in the world that understood what it was like to be an Outcast. 

By the time Y/N was 16 she had learned that it was just better for her to stay on campus at all times than to go into town and try to be normal with everyone else. The Normies may be able to hide their hatred for the Outcasts at least somewhat decently with the others, but with Y/N she could always see the look of disgust on their faces from a mile away. Every time she’d try to go into town with a few people from school she was always picked on, bullied, and it wasn’t even just the Normies who did it. She’d be invited out as a joke several times, it wasn’t until the third time she was made fun of and abandoned in town that she realized no one would ever truly except her for what she was. 

Outreach day was approaching and Y/N was dreading going, but Principal Weems was making Y/N volunteer this year by having her paint a mural of Nevermore and the town of Jericho together in harmony. The thought made Y/N gag. Why would she want to celebrate such a stupid day that obviously had no meaning to anyone in the long run?

If this wasn’t mandatory then Y/N wouldn’t be going and setting herself up for embarrassment. Rude comments ran wild in her head as she mocked what some people in town were going to say as she showed up to celebration. 

She packed up her painting materials in a duffel bag and then headed to the Quad, where all the other students would be getting their assignments. When she walked into the Quad everyone had already begun hoarding together in their cliques, so Y/N just stood next to the wall and waited till they were all dismissed. One thing about having these giant wings was that she couldn’t ride on the bus with everyone else, instead she was going to have to fly herself down the town. 

Y/N’s eyes scanned the crowd of students, watching as they opened their assignment letters. Some students were happy but others seemed upset about what they got. One of those people was Xavier, someone that Y/N admired from a far but would never confront face-to-face. He must’ve been upset about what he got, the same going for his friend Ajax.

Feeling as though she had intruded on people’s private conversations, Y/N picked up her duffel bag and headed towards the front of the school. Little did she know that as soon as she walked away from the bustling students who were rushing towards the busses, Xavier had looked up from his assignment card and watched as the black winged beauty turned away and walked away. 

Xavier didn’t see Y/N again until everyone was in the town square to listen to Principal Weems and Mayor Walker go on about how important the day was and how they created a new statue in honor of the town embracing the Outcasts. 

It was complete bullshit and everyone knew it. Y/N must’ve gotten bored listening to their speech, because once they were all dismissed to go to their jobs for the day, the Faye was no where in sight. Xavier sighed as he trudged over to the Weathervane for his assignment. Working in the same café as Tyler, his tormenter, was not how he wanted to spend the day. 

When he walked into the café his eyes landed directly on the winged beauty. She stood in the corner awkwardly looking down at her phone as she waited for her order name to be called. Once she heard her name called out she went to grab her drink quickly and bolt from the small building. Y/N didn’t even look up as she brushed past Xavier and out into the open. 

The taller boy watched as she walked with her head low, going to the designated area for the portrait she was to draw. It was the same wall that Xavier had painted on last year, on this exact day. The thought of her putting all this effort into a portrait and then possibly having it destroyed just like he had done to him, angered him more than it should have. Taking in a deep breathe he walked over to Tyler, who also didn’t looked too amused that he was in this situation as well.  

An hour, maybe two at most had gone by before he saw what Y/N’s painting looked like. It was amazing, to say the least. The wall Y/N was using as a canvas was a mirror image of the town on that exact day. Both the town and it’s people joining together with the students of Nevermore in celebration of Outreach Day. The thing that pulled it all together? The heavily detailed painting of Joseph Crackstone in the center of the town. It was perfect for that day, and exactly what Principal Weems wanted out of the feather winged girl. 

As Y/N stood a few feet away from her painting, admiring it and criticizing it, she could hear the words that the towns folk were saying. 

“What a freak.” Some mumbled. 

“Who let the little birdy out of her cage?” Some would tease menacingly. 

“If there were a contest for being the biggest freak of all the freaks, she’d for sure win.” 

One would think that on a day like today, these small minded people would put their snide comments to the side and at least pretend to be decent, but no, in fact they were even worse. Usually she could handle those harsh words, but for some reason today was just the day for her to snap.

Bawling her fists she began to pack up her painting supplies, anger consuming her as she thought about all the horrible curses and spells she could use on these lesser people. Y/N was so overwhelmed with anger that she began to shake which caused her to drop some spay paint. 

Before she could reach over and grab some asshole had to kick it so hard that the can busted open, spraying Y/N and ruining the bottom half of her painting. With tears blurring her vision and anger blurring her judgment, she stood up quickly, her hands glowing a bright green as she threw the Normie against the wall opposite of her. She growled lowly, her eyes glowing the same green as she began to close off the person’s airway with her magic. If it weren’t Xavier to snap her out of her trance, Y/N for sure would have murdered the man. 

Y/N’s eyes stopped glowing, along with her hands, her gaze moving from the man she was choking to Xavier who was standing in front of her with a very concerned look. For a split second Y/N’s eyes looked at the man, her growl scary enough to send him hurling around the corner and down the sidewalk. 

Without a word she took a step away from Xavier and turned back to her supplies. She through the busted can into her bag, zipped it up, and then tried to walk away. As she was a few steps away from the tall blonde, he reached out and gently grabbed her wrist. Y/N stopped and turned to look at the boy, confusion grazing across her face. 

“What? You gonna make fun of me too?” Y/N’s words were harsh, but Xavier knew that she was still angry. 

Letting go of her wrist he lets out a soft sigh, “I was going to ask if you were okay.” He said looking at her and watching her expressions. 

Y/N looked taken back at his question, as if no one had ever asked her that before. “I’m fine,” Y/N huffed. She was clearly lying, but why on Earth would she open up to someone she barely knew, so easily? Xavier’s look on his face was basically saying, ‘really?’ He knew she was lying and was hoping she would just talk to him a little bit, even if this was their first time really talking. 

Letting out a huff of frustration, Y/N let her walls fall down as she looked away from the boy. “Fine, no, I’m not okay. I’m pissed.” She paused and waited for a response but only got a nod telling her to continue. “This is all just so stupid, it bullshit. No one cares about today, they just care about the money they get from this stupid day.” Y/N rolled her eyes as she looked up at Xavier. “No one actually cares, they never will. We will always be the freaks and outcasts to them, they will never see us as equals.” 

Xavier could practically see the steam rolling off her skin, seeing how angry she still was. He knew there was nothing he could say that would make her feel better, so instead he gently took her duffel bag from her and offered to take her to the Weathervane.  It took a moment for  Y/N to consider the offer, thinking that this was just going to be another joke, but once she realized that Xavier meant no harm she agreed and the two began the short walk to the coffee shop. 

It was a good thing that the café was slow that day, or else Y/N and Xavier probably wouldn’t have been able to talk as much as they wanted to. The other great thing about it being slow was the fact that wasn’t a lot of people around to gawk at Y/N and make rude remarks about her looks. The only other person in the building was Tyler, but he could care less what the Nevermore students were doing, especially Xavier. 

Xavier and Y/N sat at a booth close to the counter, both of them feeling the tension as they squeezed into their seats. Well, Y/N squeezed into her seat because of her wings, Xavier was fine. 

It was quiet at first, the two just looking around and avoiding each other’s gaze for the first few minutes before Xavier decided to speak up. 

“Your painting looks great, by the way.” He smiled softly, hoping that she’d realize he was here to talk to her and not belittle her. “The detail in it is amazing.”

Y/N was a bit taken back by the compliment. She wasn’t used to people saying nice things to her, let along talking to her at all. “Thanks, though I’d rather see that stupid statue burn than to paint it, thanks.” Anyone who was listening to their conversation would know that she was joking, she was being serious. 

Xavier chuckled a bit and nodded in agreement, “Trust me, I know how you feel.”

Y/N snorted at his response. How could someone like him? Someone who looks normal, understand how she felt? The only odd thing about him was his father, and the face that he could make his artwork move or come to life. Xavier looked confused at Y/N’s slight harshness and watched as tried to lean back a bit in the booth, crossing her arms as she looked at the wall.

“Hate to break it to you, pretty boy, but you most definitely don’t know how I feel.” Her words were harsh, and completely true. While Xavier could have anything he wanted and grew up only being know as the son of a famous Outcast, he would never really know what it’s like to feel like Y/N. To be tormented for how he looked. It’s never a problem that he has ever had to deal with.  

Silence filled the space between them once more, both of them unsure of what to say next. Xavier studied Y/N’s face, memorizing every curve, mark, and point there was. To him, someone she barely knew, he thought she was the most beautiful and unique person on this planet. Even though he didn’t really know her all that well, his heart wanted to know more so he could get closer to her and learn to understand her. 

Y/N’s eyes unfortunately wandered over to the window where she could see the townsfolk pointing and gawking at her. The anger that had slowly started to subside started to come back stronger than before, her eyes starting to glow that vivid green color. Xavier’s eyes followed hers and once he noticed what, well who, she was staring at, he immediately when to  calm her down. Without thinking or hesitation, his hands grabbed hers softly, like she was made of the finest porcelain and he didn’t want to break her. 

“Don’t worry about them,” he said softly, his thumbs rubbing small circles into the backs of her hands. The action startled her at first, but then she found it calming. Her eyes stopped glowing, her heart went back to normal and she no longer felt like ripping out those peoples throats.

“Why do you care so much?” Y/N asked with a tilted head, “You don’t know me, so why do you care so much?” It was a genuine question she wanted the answer to, but Xavier wasn’t sure if he could really tell her why he cared.’

The boy gulped, trying to find a way to word his thoughts in a way that didn’t sound creepy or stalker like. There was a long pause before he said anything, it was when she went to pull her hands away from him that he sputtered out the truth. “I’ve always liked you, thought you were the most mesmerizing being to ever lay my eyes upon. I’ve watched you, since the moment I started going to Nevermore, I- I just didn’t know how to approach you. I was nervous.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow at him, thinking he was joking and was put up to this as a joke. “You’re only saying that to say it, you don’t mean it.” Her eyes averted downwards towards her lap, trying desperately to focus on anything but the feeling of her hands still holding his. “No one thinks that of me, I’m a monster.”

Xavier’s gentle squeeze on her hands was enough to pull her Y/E/C eyes back up to his blue eyes. “I don’t think that.” The warry look on Y/N’s face was enough to tell him that she really had never been told that in her life, “I promise, if I truly didn’t think that, then I wouldn’t have said it in the first place.”

The shaky sigh that Y/N let out worried him. Had he gone too far? Did she find him repulsive now? Was this all too creepy?  

“I don’t think you understand how much that means to me,” When their eyes met he finally saw the tears that brimmed her waterline. Carefully, he reached up and swiped away the stray tears that managed to slip down her flushed cheeks. The soft smile that Y/N let Xavier see was something he’d remember forever. He’s the only one who’s seen her cry, who’s seen her smile, who’s been so kind and genuine to her. 

This was the beginning of something new, for the both of them. It would be rocky in the beginning for sure, but both teens could tell that they’d let out the best of each other in the long run.

[probsnothawkeye]

hey i'm trying to get more into audio dramas but don't know quite where to start since i've seen praise for a lot of different ones, what are some you recommend? i've listened to a somewhat random mix; tma/tmagp, fawx and stallion, the department of variance of somewhere ohio, and the first season of fringes (i gotta catch up, you did fantastic work w/ the first season).

AHHH IM SORRY I DIDNT SEE THIS IN MY ASK BOX I always forget to check it

First off: thank you for listening to the Fringes! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it 😊 it's a show that means the world to me and it's always exciting when people like that.

Now onto RECOMMENDATIONS! I have so many. But I will try and keep this list controlled

Starting off with The @grottopod which is a liminal horror podcast about grief and caving. It has original songs and covers in each of the episodes and it absolutely rips my heart open. Season 2 just started so there's no better time to get caught up!

@ethicstownpod is a horror-adjacent podcast about January Johnson who is sending emergency broadcasts detailing the issues with the town of Ethics. There is something going on there with their mayor and people are dying as a consequence. Season 1 is entirely out and season 2 is coming later this year!

@souloperatorpod is another horror podcast, this time inspired by solo ttrpgs. This season follows Tessa Whitlock who has arrived in a town with no memories and no way of knowing what lies outside the town fences. It's eerie and unsettling and amazingly crafted. The first half of season 1 is out now with the second half coming later this year!

Stepping away from horror, we have @kingmakerpod which is a fantasy comedy set in an alternate history Europe in the 1900s. It's got an incredible magic system, fascinating world building, and some of the most wonderful characters around. The first 2 seasons are out now!

@woebegonepod is a mishmash of genres (affectionate) that starts out as a podcast within a podcast discussing the [fictional] online game WOE.BEGONE and developes into time travel, murder, cowboys, and the biggest horse you've ever seen. It's ongoing and there are currently 163 episodes out so you've got a lot to enjoy if you like this one!

@tellnotalespod is a story about ghosts without being a ghost story. Leo Quinn is an administrative assistant to the CEO of Better Place, a company that removes unwanted ghosts from places. But Leo is determined to give these ghosts a voice and be able to tell their story and give them the right to stay. It's wholesome and heartbreaking and amazing in every sense of the word

The last thing I'll shout out here is @audistorium which is an anthology podcast that runs the genre gambit but does have quite a good amount of horror in it. All of the stories are super well written and the soundscaping is divine

I have. So many other shows I could recommend. If you (or anyone else) want more recs, feel free to reach out again!

[popculturebuffet]

Top 20 Animated Episodes of 2023 Part 1

Hello all you happy people! It's now 2024, and with 2023 behind us it's time for my faviorite yearly thing on this blog: my top 20 episodes of the year list!

For those of you new to this tradition or needing a refresher, each year I take 5 episodes each (or less if the show had less), from the various shows I watched that year, and then slowly wittle it down from a massive pile to the 20 best, split into two digestible parts, and let you all enjoy the results. It's one of my favorite things as it gives a nice, personal, wide berth of what happened in that year, gives this blog something unique to do, and allows me to touch on shows I haven't covered yet or may simply not get to for some time, if ever.

2023 was a mixed bag for me, both professionally and personally: It started.. with a kick in the teeth as my cat Stewie died after living a long, fufilling life of looking mildly pissed at everything but still being cute.

He was a good cat and his loss is something I still haven't fully gotten over a year later.

It was a harbringer of change: with Stewie's death we finally moved out of the house I lived in pretty much my whole life, and into a smaller, nicer and far better apartment with my own mini office in my room even and all my children/books/children returned to me. It's taken 6 months but I feel like i've fully settled into my new, wonderful home.

And towards the end of this year as the loss of Stewie still stung all this time later, I got another great change with the addition of Maddie

Maddie was the dog of a close friend of the family who had to go into a retirement home. She needed a home, and now has one in my room looking morose, licking my face and occasionally going under the bed for hours at a time like the cave goblin she is. She was a much needed bolt of sunshine in this storm of a year. I do metaphor good.

So with all these c-changes, how did this blog fair? Suprisingly great but not entirely in tact. Quality wise I do think I did some of my best work this year: I tackled the first apperances of every spider-man, woman and pig in into the spider-verse, the movie itself, finally web swining around a bit thanks to kev with a little more spidey planned for this year, with a tie in for Kraven later this year that's exactly what you think it is. I finally got to do an x-men month, covered rocko's modern life static cling for pride month, and in one of my finest hours, got to do a retrospective on one of my faviroite fairly recent comic strips breaking cat news with the help of my friend emma. Her sponsorship meant I got to cover something great and while few people have read it, i'm happy just to have it out there.

In addition to that I covered Tugs, an osbcure UK series and spirtual brother to thomas the tank engine that involved state mandated death dates for boats, pirates, and eleven minutes of explosions. I finally got to enjoy the madness that was the Telltale Sam and Max Games, with Save the World in the pocket and Beyond Time and Space wrapping up next week. And biggest, best and brightest of all I did a retrospecitve on little shop of horrors, finally seeing both the stage play and original corman film, as well as little shop. And someday i'll have recovered from seeing little shop.

The delay on that though brings me to the other shoe.. this year my productivity was in the basement and my week was at an all time low. Several reviews got delayed, from stewie's death leaving me unable to work for a few days for damn obvious reasons, to the move frequently taking my time or leaving me off balance. Not only that I didn't plan my time off for the move well, so I was left having to rearrange my whole schedule. It's why both pirate month and pride month, proud institutions on this blog, were reduced to a week and a three part special, something I wasn't remotely happy with. Things kept slipping by, and in general it wasn't my best year for getting shit done. I realized i'd simply taken WAY too much on, and thus have scaled back to ten reviews instead of 12 a month, and may scale back further if necessary: i'd rather these reviews be their best and get put through a spellcheck than be glad it's done only to realize I have nother thing that's due yesterday.

Not helping were towards the end of the year, a massively loud noise from my computer fan that made it hard to concentrate, something that's hard for my adhd ass in general let alone with a giant whirring fan that nothing can out loud, and having finally solved tha tproblem thanks to my dad's help.... then having my wrist go out, and while it's recovered now, it meant an extra week off, which sounds nice and was in places.. but was mostly spent in pain or asleep to escpae the pain till I got things to help with that. Then after a nice christmas, a lovely few days after... I got a cold, which spent up a large chunk of my vacation in a sick coma.

I apologize a bit for all the venting as you can tell this year's been a long one. I came out the otherside well with a loveable dog and a great new work/living space, but it was a bitch getting to here.

Thankfully animation wise, the industry wasn't in as MUCH turmoil this year. It still wasn't great: We got more cancelations with Lumberjanes and Phoebe and Her Unicorn announced formally dead before arrival had even started, and cancellations for Inside Job, Star Trek Progidy and Praise Petey, the last two seemingly in limbo as a result, with only one getting saved. While it wasn't the cancelnado of last year that wrecked many a service and nearly ended me, it was still pretty bad and Warner showed zero signs of learning from their lessons: after taking a few months off thinking the heat died down they tried canceling coyote vs acme.. only to then nakedly start a bidding war, making what they were really doing with most projects obvious: making them unaviliable.. and then starting a bidding war for other streamers. I'm not upset many of these shows are on other streamers as their safer from Zaslav there, but it shows just how nakedly greedy, transparently corrupt and blatantly fraudlent Warner Bros Discovery has become.

While the sales of the brilliant Merry Little Batman and sure to be great Batman: Caped Crusader to amazon are GOOD as Amazon has learned what animation means, it unmasks warner as simply doing all this tax writeoff shit to make money.. and then often forgetting to even sell the shows, not carring if no one's buying and just shrugging off someone's heart and soul being cast into the void. The loss of Final Space and Close Enough STILL stings and hasn't gone away even with the maker of the former both having found a way to finish the story and move on with his life.

The cherry on top of this shit sundae is Zaslav, no shit, saying the decision to shelve Batgirl, a movie that was entirely done and could've had the elseworlds label slapped on it if they didn't want it in the DCU, BRAVE. Yes that.. really happened.

It wasn't just Zaslav fucking up this year though, as other execs certainly tried their hardest or were arm and arm with him: The biggest blunder is obviously the strikes which while not affecting animation for the most part, was still a long dark night of the soul that was entirely the fault of executives not wanting to give up the precious theorietical money they could make once AI gets to the point it can create actual things, nor the likenesses of DEAD PEOPLE they should have no right to. Exec behavior was at it's most disgraceful this year... I don't know how that bare somehow got lower but that's the hellscape we're in with both zaslav and iger beign part of the corprate hydra that kept rejecting any deals presented and tended to flip the table and leave in a huff , leaving the negotations for weeks at a time till it became apparent that no amount of veiled threats of starving them out.

That said the strikes... were a net positive: they were long, brutal and threw tv off and delayed a show or two.. but it was well worth it. It helped show just how much actors and writers of all pay levels are needed, got them badly needed pay increases and protections and left the door open to help fiddle with AI protections as while AI isn't remotely good at creating scripts, that's never stopped execs from promoting something anyway. Despite MANY attempts to demonize the strikers, frame them as hollywood elites despite the fact the bulk were just trying to live on and were putting their liveleyhoods at stake to make sure they had one, or paint them as the bad guys.. it never worked. The public held firm, the strikers held firm and deflected most attempts with solidarity, with said big fish they tried to use as propoganda.. instead gladly donating to help the strike keep going. Fran Drescher and co fought hard, and the result is a slightly better hollywood.

And that hope for a brighter future really radiated this year: while Animation is still in flux in places, a lot of the networks hit hard by corprate dumbfuckery last year started to regrow: Netflix, after a year or two of rapid cancellations and baffling decisions, finally regrew it's animation divsions: Outside of Inside Job, most cancelations were shows that really weren't the best idea or execution to start with, and most hits got renewed, with them even picking up Star Trek Prodigy for another season and likely as many as they can carry. They pivoted more to adult animation with hits like Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Pluto, Castlevania Nocturne, Carol and the End of the World and Blue Eyed Samurai, the latter three I wish I got to but i've heard are incredible.

While WBD was still BURNIN DOWN THE HOUSEEEE, it snuck in a few hits with My Adventures with Superman and tons of great stuff I did'nt get too like Scavengers Reign, the beginning of the end for Craig of the Creek, Fired on Mars, and Hair Love, while having a suprise banger in the form of Tiny Toons Loonveristy, proving just how to reboot a classic property once again. Not only that the finale movies for Venture Bros and Metalocalypse came out, which given the last year was a huge fingers crossed thing. But both came out, I got both on blu ray, and got neat posters with them in the bargin and both closed up two of adult swims best series in the way they richly deserved. We also got an Urkel Christmas Movie. I guess.

Amazon continued it's own building: in addition to the dark knight picups mentiond, Invincible and Legend of Vox Machina both had amazing season 2's, with Vox Machina picked up for two more seasons to close it out proper and a Mighty Nein spinoff, with a Belles Helles Spinoff all but guarnateed at some point, and Hazbin Hotel after a truly agonizing year of waiting for someone to announce they had it, finding a perfect home for the happiest place in hell.

Finally, the indie scene, already thriving blew the fuck up. For the first time I nominated six diffrent pilots from various indie creators who all did a fucking great job: Godspeed, Lackadaisy, In Limbo, Atlas and the Stars, and Swift Spark and the Defensive five all had impressive showings and I regret not watching Lackadaisy in time to support it, but I can't wait to see what it brings to the table and to see all of these shows make it to series, not to mention up coming ones like ToonrifiqTariq's "Hey" that are likely going to come out next year.

It's a strange time for animatoin.. but one tha'ts proven you can make your own way, that the big coprations are trying and that in film.. is at one of i'ts brightest: while there ere some stumbles we had masterpieces like Nimona, which also made disney look horribly stupid for homophobically canceling it, Across the Spider verse (which needed to treat it's animators better but still deserves mention), and TMNT Mutant Mayhem.

It was a hell of a year and I can't want to share the best of it with you. And as a result of such a good year there's a few firsts: This is the first year with Anime included and if you want to know why i'ts taken so long it wasn't snobbery.. I just.. plain forgot to watch the ones I DID want to watch the past few years. That's... really it. I usually prefer reading the manga, as it's both faster and less time consuming, and Some of the best often aren't on the streaming platforms I do have. Pluto and Scott Pilgrim got by by being adaptations of something I love with all my heart a piece and thus coudln't bear myself to miss, but I might try to vary up my viewing more next year. I do want to check Zom 100 out at some point.

Anyways the other is that I allowed two dtv movies in here. Now this is with a caveat: It has to be directly linked to an existing animated series, a sequel, a prequel, etc. It's something I never really thought about before, but makes sense: While Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart and Army of the Doomstar were both considered for my film list too and are films.. their the proper conclusion to their stories. Not only that with Pluto's inclusion on this list, we have a series that had episodes only about ten minutes or so shy of both films runtime, so I figured fudging the rules like this was fair. I would've included Craig Before the Creek, but I want to wait to watch it when it comes on HBO Max next month.. and buy it on Physical as I don't remotely trust WBD to keep digtial copies up forever anymore. And really it feels in the spirit of things like operation zero back in the day or in both metalocalypse and venture bros own histories, all this and gargantua 2 and doomstar requieum.

Okay now that's settled this years list is intresting as while there's a decent amount of returning shows most haven't been on this list before. Of the nominees the only returning shows are The Legend of Vox Machina, Invincible, Helluva Boss, The Great North, Miraculous and Big City Greens, with mainstays like Tuca and Bertie and Close Enough sadly gone thanks to WBD being pralines and dicks. Thus our shows competing are an eclectic mix of returning combatants, one for sadly the last times, revivials of old shows, reboots of old shows, two limited series, and a handful of spectacular pilots

These are the shows that I got to see this show and thus entered the running, all sorted by platform since.. there's a lot.

Amazon Prime: The Legend of Vox Machina Invincible

HBO Max: YOLO: Silver Destiny Clone High Tiny Toons Looniversity Adventure Time : Fionna and Cake Aqua Teen Hunger Force My Adventures with Superman Disney+: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur The Owl House (Final Year) Kiff Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir Big City Greens Hulu: The Great North Futurama Bob's Burgers The Simpsons Netflix: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Limited Series) Pluto (Limited Series) DTV: Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Special) Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar (Special)

YouTube: Helluva Boss Godspeed Lackadaisy In Limbo The Amazing Digital Circus Atlas and the Stars Swift Spark and the Defensive Five

So with our nominees in clear view, who shined the brightest, who didn't and whose going to yell at me over my choices? find out under the cut!

FULL SPOILERS FOR MOST EPISODES ON THIS LIST. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

20. The First Episode (Atlas and the Stars, Pilot)

"Sorry for dragging you into this man. You don't have to trust me but I promise to make this up to you, I swear."

Coming in just under the wire as the last released episode on this list, it's placing is just a fun concidence, we have The First Episode... the pilot for new series Atlas and the Stars. You can watch it here

So it's come up soon but the reason I put MOST episodes on the spoiler warning.. is this pilot and another on the list, I really DON'T want to spoil much as both rely on you watching it, this one in paticular not revealing what the show's premise will be from here on out, instead telling the parallel tales of Atlas, a human from a dying planet who hyjacks a space ship to acheive her dream of endless freedom in the stars, Atmosphere, a shy loveable alien embarking on his first day regestring ships at a space port, and Quasar, the lord of a mysterious planet who keeps having to sacrifice.. somethign to a portal to keep it alive... and it can't keep up forever and his beligeured assitant nebula. ALl of this comes togeter in a beautifully animated, well active and creative sci fi adventure with one hell of a hook from where it goes form here, awesome character desgin work and some neat sci fi tek in Atlas' googles. Miranda Toomey used every inch of whateve rbudget she had to make this and it turne dout gorgeous, and I can't wait to see the next episode in this and how this story progresses. It's well done, gorgeous, heartfelt and engaging and I recommend you go watch it before we move on to our next entry.

19. Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Venture Brothers, Finale Movie) "All you need to know is the person who gave birth to you loves you, I promise you that"

From a start to a finish we have Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, the long awaited and thankfully came out with a dvd and everything ending of the Venture Brothers. It's shockingly low on this list, but as much as I love this series.. it came out in a tight year with some even better finales, and had the burdern of having to cram in a season's worth of content, even with the cuts they made, into an 84 minute film.

The results are still excellent: Radiant is a fun, frantic race to the finish line that satisfyingly answers a lot of the series biggest questions: Who the boys mom was, how Monarch and Rusty are related, can HELPER fire a shot gun, will Hank and Dean reconcile... all the closure we needed in a tight 88 minute story that also includes classic hip hop traick it's takes 2, magnetic shenanigans, Hank using giant novelty checks for money, dermott using a piss filled super soaker, dean thinking he's a vampire, a halfway house for supernatural heroes, and Mantilla, one of the series most delightful villians and one I really wish we'd gotten proper time with. It's a joyous reaffermation of what this series is about, has nice moments for most of the best cast members, including Brick Frog my beloved, and ends on a mostly satisfying note. It also gives us a golem made entirely of pants and isn't that the greatest adventure of all?

18. "Lights, Camera, Sparks?!" (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, Episode 5)

"You've known him for three f***ing days!" "Is that all it's been?!" Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was an easy faviorite this year and given my longstanding love of the Scott Pilgrim comics and like of the movie, it wasn't a huge shocker i'd love whatever the anime turned out being. I was pumped from the announcement, worried it'd just be "the movie but animated" when the cast was announced.. and then over the moon when it turned out that no, the cast was all coming back but the take on the franchise was all new.

What we got wasn't the straight adaptation that was pitched.. and was all the better for it. If you haven't seen Takes Off.. please do it's fantastic, I did a whole review on it, go, and if you won't then this is your last warning as I can't really talk about the episodes of it on this list without getting into spoilers as it's one of those series where the first episode twist.. defines the rest of the show.

Okay we good. So the first episode progresses as normal, a few tweaks to let you know this is it's own universe, enough character moments to show that even with the film voice actors the main cast is closer to the comics..... then Scott seemingly dies.

From there things go off the rails, and that's where the magic kicks in: While Scott's still key to the story and turns out, naturally, NOT to be dead, instead kidnapped by a mysterious portal, Ramona takes the lead, with us getting to know her better now she's the pov character instead of the guy worshipping the ground she skates on. While Ramona was fleshed out in the comics, the series gives her more to do as she solves this mystery. It's intriguing, it's fun, and it gives Mary Elizabeth Winstead the chance to play a more fleshed out version of the character with more sides to her than "aloof".

What the series also does well.. is go the fuck off the rails. Matthew uses his newfound confidence to punch gideon out of all his companies and fancy suits, Gideon becomes the best worst couple with julie, and Young Neil becomes a spacey moron who assumes the mysterious person writing a script based on how the story originally went is his sleep paralysis demon. The series has a lot of great character, animation and development as Ramona's forced to .. talk with her exes instead of her new boyfriend punching most of them for her.. but it can't be forgotten it's also delightfully nuts, easily the goofiest this franchise has gotten and i'm here for it.

That brings us to "Lights, Camera, Sparks?!", easily the biggest shit post of the entire series, and one of the funniest episodes of the year easily. While the previous ones are a bit melancholy in tone with the goofy stuff as a nice side dish, fitting how scott pilgrim rolls, LCS is just one long farce with Ramona struggling to get any detective shit done while Wallace wrecks envy and todd's relationship, Edgar Wright but voiced by Kevin McDonald slowly looses his mind, and Neil gets into various shenanigans while only being a quarter aware of anything going on, including what was in the script his sleep paralysis ramona from the future wrote.

The setup is simple: Toronotwood is making a film based on how scott's story usually go, again ghost written by a mysterious sleep paralysis demon, and hired Lucas and envy to play scott and ramona. Lucas got can...something for dating a 30 year old who looks like a high schooler, so now i'ts todd clumisly shoved into Scott's clothes. Wallace is also there, having throughly humilited the notoriously straight actor playing him out of a job and letting his ego grow 15 sizes that day.

What follows is a mocumentary masterclass as Envy and Todd can't stop being horny for two seconds, Wallace making out with Todd and being his bi awakening reading them to constantly "run lines in his trailer", Neil is hilaroius and you will repeat everything he says and Ramona is left bobbing around unable to actually get any answers.

This all leads to a delightful explosion as Todd falls in love with Wallace, Wallace is a callous dick, Wallace sicks his stunt doubles on Envy, Ramona is sicked on them, and everyone is confused, all cumilating in todd binge eating poutine and crying, an option I wish americans had but alas we are poutineless while Matt shuts down the production then sputters like a kid who got a lucky punch in on his bully when he finds out Scott is alive. Also Knives and Stephen get a meeting with him leading to the greatest musical of all time.

As you can tell this episode is very stupid and I love it. It's just 100% nonsense the whole way through, letting Wallace do something since the only main character who isn't Ramona he interacts with is in the future right now. There isn't much to disect, i'ts just pure comedy gold with props to both Kirean for really nailing a more douchestastic wallace and especially Brandon Routh who has shockingly deep comedic chops. A great episode and a nice break before we dive full speed into just where Scott went.

17. Lackadaisy (Pilot Episode)

Old Man River! That seems far too austere a name for something made of mirth and rage. O, roiling red-blood river vein. If chief among your traits is age, You're a wily, convoluted sage.

Is "old" the thing to call what rings the vernal heart of wester-lore? What brings us brassy-myth made kings. And a preponderance of bug-type things.  To challenge titans come before!

O, demiurge to a try at Avalon-once-more?

And what august vitality in your wide aorta stream. You must have had to oversee alchemic change of timber beam to iron, brick and engine steam!

Your umber whiskey waters lance the prideful, sober sovereignty of faulty-haloed temperance, and wilt her self-sure countenance; Yes, righteousness is vanity.  But sport's for imps, not elderly.

So if there's a name for migrant mass of veteran frivolity That snakes through seas of prairie grass and groves of summer sassafras; a name that flows as roguishly as wild waters, fast and free, It's your true name: Mississippi.

That beautiful poem opens up Lackadaisy, thank you wiki so I didn't have to transcribe that whole glorious thing, as a roustabout cat in 1927 St. Louis names rocky spends the first few minutes playing fiddle, basking in the glorious moonlight and waxing poetic about the mighty missisipi. It's a beautiful opening that shows off the series deft animation and MIssouri setting, something that makes me want to learn more about my own state's history. It's clear from the word go a LOT of love and research went into this setting, and given creator Tracy Butler had started Lackadaisy as an even MORE lavishly drawn webcomic.

Lackadaisy has a simple setup: three cats working for the titular saloon, Rocky, our dreamy narrator and mild loon, Freckle, his grumpy sidekick whose perhaps a bit TOO good with a gun, and Ivy, a peppy girl who takes jabs at Rocky and flirts with Freckle. I .. I ship the fuck out of it. These two are adorable. The three are robbing a body for canadian hooch but have to deal with the deathly serious and deathly hot, Mordecai Heller and his much more excitable, jokey and bloodthristy associates Serfafine and Nico Savoy.

The short is mostly a tense back and forth between both parties as our heroes barely surivive, we get a lot of good Ivy and Freckle content and Rocky saves the day by hyjacking a goddamn steam shovel and loading it with dynamite while waxing poetic and laughing madly. If that's not enough to get you to check it out if you haven't, I have clearly failed in some way as Lackadasiy is excellent and like Atlas and the Stars, leaves me wanting more of this cast. I'll defintely be reading the comic and plan to at least try to get the print editions coming up soon, as the pilot does a good job of showing who these characters are simply by action.. but leaving you questioning WHO they are and how they all ended up in a failing saloon, and why say Mordecai spares Ivy towards the end. Whatever it is I only want more of this, and am so happy those of you who weren't late adoptres like me helped get us a full season 1. Thank you so much and I can't wait for this show to show up here again. It's gonna be a riot and Micheael Kovach steals the show any time Rocky speaks, while SunWongCho is just... amazing as Mordecai and gives us a great antagonist to work with, a classic mystery man whose side your not sure who he's on, you just know he's a threat when he shows up.

16. Simon Petrikov (Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Season 1 Episode 2)

Does somebody jump for joy? Does somebody cry? Now that I'm not part of that sadness? Does somebody want me now? Now that I can’t fly? Now that I'm not part of the madness? Part of the madness?

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake surprised the hell out of me in the best way possible. See while I never stopped caring in SOME way about adventure time, my dropping off mid series after ... THAT happened in Breezy, only coming back occasionally for an episode or two, the orgalorg arc and the finale, I really wasn't interested. I did enjoy the two episodes of Distant Lands I saw, Stakes was excellent and Together Again felt like a more fitting final chapter to the series. Both didn't feel like continuation of the story: Stakes was a coda giving us the Bubbline content CN denied us and Together Again is an Epilogue, set at the very end of Finn's story.

So I was kind of.. Meh on Fionna and Cake's announcment. I wasn't against it but I'd just never really cared about these two, with the series having made two great episodes about them (and two more I hadn't seen at the time), but the whole "created by a creepy old guy" part of it always held me back from fully embracing these two. I was badly hoping they'd throw away the whole fanfic conceit and just move on.

They didn't do that.. but Fionna and Cake not only found a way to revitalize that, but reminded me WHY the original series was so strong. Fionna and Cake grew up with the original audience, a piece about metafiction, fandom, growing up, and depression all made wonderful and really stretching the property as far as it'll go and i'ts unexpected season 2 greenlight makes me all too excited.

The thing I was most excited for though.. was still greatly done. Alongside Fionna and Cake getting a slice of life makeover thanks to Simon going back to "normal", we get some closure for Simon who ended the series seemingly fine: Betty is gone, but he's sane, Marcy gets her real dad back, job done right?

Adam Muto, Adventure Time's ep from season 6 and the archeticht of most things from Rebcca Sugar's leaving till present day, disagreed, planning a simon special for distant lands before rewriting it for this series. And it points out something a lot of fans noticed about this ending: it's.. not okay. Simon lost betty AGAIN, and is now trapped in a world he never made.

And the series makes this into his arc, how does he fit into this world, and what he tries to do to escape it instead of dealing with it. Simon Petrkiov paints a picture of where Simon's been in the 10 year time jump between Come Along With Me and his debut in this series, Simon Petrikov.. and it's a deeply depressing picture.

Simon's a living exhibit on the humans floating island, unable to connect with his fellow humans as he can't relate to them in any way shape or form. He's a 20th Century man and their 24th century men and women. Not helping is an overzealous, or sweet fan girl he keeps shooing away who just CAN'T understand that the man who wrote Fionna and Cake.. ISN'T the same guy making toast in a fake apartment and watching Cheers every day. The Ice King was PART of simon, but they were never the same person and every reminder of the hell the poor man went under, the things he did, the people he hurt just reminds Simon how far away he is from home.

Not helping is something all too common with depression and trauma, something I know all too well... Simon won't open up to people. He doesn't get help (and as we learn via a minerva bot in the finale Therapy was ALWAYS there for him), and he keeps space from the surrogate family he does have. He dosen't want to "ruin" marcy finally being in a good place and thus barely calls her, content to just visit and pretend things are okay. Finn TRIES reaching out.. but while he's older, wiser, and beardier now, and to my delight still with Huntress Wizard (and in headcanon in a throuple with Flame Princess, but that just me. ), but he's still an adrenline junky raised by a loveable manchild who can't quite relate to someone like Simon, who just wants his old life back.

All this is punctuated by the return of Rebecca Sugar, who sings the beautiful and tragic "part of the madness" which sums up where Simon is: he's normal, he's who HE wants to be.. but the world simply feels like it rejects him, when really he's just as much rejecting it. Instead of trying to find some calm in the storm of this life and admit he needs help.. he chases betty, trying badly to get her back even though it just.. isnt' possible.. and causing this series as a result. He just can't let go.. but the series shows him he has to if he wants to truly live.

15. Miraculous World Paris : Tales of Shadybug and Claw Noir (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir World Special 4) | In the daytime, I'm Gabriel Just a normal man, with a normal life But I have a secret I must keep at any cost Or all hope will be lost. Miraculous! Fear is a cage! Hear the message, answer the call! Miraculous! Yes, you can change! The power of love will free us all! Miraculous!

Yeah after two years of watching it, Miraculous Ladybug actually made this list. I'm shocked i'ts both this high AND this good. See while i'm a fan of Miraculous Ladybug, most of the fandom is more a fan of what it could be, the potetial it'd have if Thomas Astruc hadn't been the one mostly running it for 5 seasons and running it straight into the ground into the molten core of the earth. The Recent film, while far from perfect, felt like more what the series SHOULD'VE been, with the secret id bullshit resolved by the end of what's essentially movie/season 1, Gabe given more depth etc.

So i'ts ironic that in the same year the show itself, via it's spinoff specials gives us ANOTHER universe that's way better than the mess they've made of the main timeline with Miraculous World Paris. Mirror Universes are nothing new, to the point Kev and I have a whole series on mirror universe episodes featuring this very special planned, starting later this month.

With Ladybug's lack of subtley, misuse of good ideas and goofy incompetence, I assumed this special would be at best goofy fun with overblown multiverse and mirror universe tropes. Instead... it's the single best episode of the shows run, a truly moving piece that made me enjoy mirror universes again the same way Fionna and cake has made me enjoy AU's again

Miraculous knows just the right way to make evil counterparts: instead of the earth 3 versions of Marinette, Adrien and Gabriel the complete opposites of our heroes or just "Evil, Evil and less of a prick", Shady Bug, Claw Noir and Betterfly are all the same people we've come to know, simply gone down a diffrent route. Gabe is a better person, having STARTED as his earth 1 shitheal self working with his earth's eviil shadow overlord supreme... the loss of his life somehow changing this course. Instead of using the butterfly miraculous to try and bend the world in shape to get his wife back, he honors her legacy as Betterfly, helping others, something that seems IMPOSSIBLE for our gabe to consider without an ulterior motive.. but all too plausible if he just let go of his ego and his wife and let her die in peace instead of holding her in a dome coma and fighting teens. If he accepted he can't control something

Likewise Shadybug is Mari if Alaya hadn't befriended her, if Chloe just kept bullying Mari and Mari never stood up to her, the bullying just made her worse. If her parents WEREN'T there to support her: the bakery and her room is.. but it's very clear her alternate parents just aren't the loving duo our Mari's are. This is the kind of Mari that would've easily become an akuma.. but instead becomes something WORSE thanks to Supreme, a mysterious entity linked to the guardians, very heavily implied to be earth 3 Master Wu, who gives out the miraculouses to those who can tighten his grip on earth, and selected Mari and an Adrien who never went to school and thus never got out of his shell and is even MORE distant form his dad due to Gabe's new job as his pawns.

It results in a tearful battle as our heroes are both forced to TRUST the best life version of their nemisis, and battle what easily could'e ben them, while their counterparts find out , after Shadybug tries the wish thing, that supreme was using them and their lives are being drained by overusing their powers, explaning why the regular miraculouses limit our heroes to one use of their powers and limited timing. This is what happens otherwise and Monarch is all too happy to take advantage of that. There's more to this special, a lot more I can't wait to explore in april, but needless to say Miraculous World Paris.. is what I wanted from this series: a creative, tightly told, heartbreakingly well done superhero story with tense action, creative uses of the kwamis, and good character stuff for BOTH versions of our protagonists. I'ts a true masterwork and I wish THIS is the show we got more consistently.

14. The Amazing Rudy (Bob's Burgers, Season 14, Episode 2)

"I kinda walked away on dinner with my dad and her boyfriend and dad and his vicky for the first time which I guess how family dinners are gonna be from now on and I guess technically... I ran away"

It's weird but despite my deep love of the Great North (Which for the first time since it's debut missed the list this year, but damn did it have a good one, even if season 4 had to wait for 2024), until this year I wasn't consistently watching it's sister show Bob's Burgers anymore. I liked Bob's, I loved the movie, I had nothing against it. But any time I tried to get back there'd be an episdoe that just took me out. So now while I won't watch every episode, I still watch most, as the show is good as ever, if not on a comeback after a few seasons apparently felt (if TV Tropes is a good indciator) as very hit and miss. Season 14 is fantastic and it's no surprise it's second episode ended up being one of the series best.

The Amazing Rudy is something completely different in tone and staging, with a more melancholy peanuts style soundtrack, a somber tone and more muted humor. It fits perfectly, as the episode isn't centered around the Belchers this time but Louise's best friend, future husband and morality pet Rudy. The show has had secondary character spotlights before, Rudy getting a few himself, but usually the Belchers are still front and center and one of them still plays a major role in following this character around. For instance a few episodes later we get "bully-leive it or not" a zeke spotlight episode, but one where the other three kids are still very present: Zeke and his shameful past are the focus, but Louise and Tina still figure heavily into the plot, louise nearly bullyign Zeke's former bullying victim thinking the guy bullied zeke and that's why zeke freezes up seeing the guy, while Tina guiding the kid around is what kicks things off. The two aren't the focus, but it still feels like a bobs burgers adventure, helped with a bob subplot where he grapples with Jimmy Pesto, now played by Eric Bauza after a long absence thanks to his previous actor being an insurrectionist which lets face it Jimmy totally also was or at the very least thought about before finding the air fair was too much.

Here the focus is on Rudy to the point it feels like an episode of a Rudy spinoff show that does not exist but we now all want it too. It's still in Seymour's Bay (Which I forget is the name of the town this show takes place in as mostly people we know are in wonder wharf or on ocean avenue), just following Rudy as the lead instead. The Belcher's show up, in the middle of a bob's burger's episode we'll never see about Gene getting good grades and thus getting baked potato lasagna, a recipie he made up and assumes "everyone else must enjoy" is part of the reward, with the payoff him realizing he can't force someone to love his abomination, but he CAN have their portions. Being Rudy's closest friends and future wife it makes since there the ones he talks to when he goes to the mall with his dad to get a magic trick for the night and a snappy hat when he crosses them.

The Belcher's presence also hammers home what Rudy's dealing with though and that's.. a loss of family. Rudy's Parents are divorced. This isn't a new fact as it's come up casually in the past: being the kids Teddy, i.e. the person closest to them in their age group to be clear, not the person who defintely has passed by the restraunt at night every night and just.. stares in the window. But being the kids most prominent supporting character, with Jimmy Junior and Zeke a close shared second, we've gotten to know him: his parents divorce is amnicable, he alternates weekends, and they've both moved on. We haven't really seen his mom but Rudy seems just fine with her and with his dad being his primary caregiver, is a bit closer to him, as shown in this ep as the two are adorably in synch and have their rythm.

See Rudy didn't LOOSE his mom or dad, both are still very present.. but he lost the three of them as a family and until recently had their monthly "We're still a family' dinner", what, as we learn in a heartbreaking montage i'll get too shortly, was a monthly family dinner and became a way to show that both his parents still loved him and still liked each other even if they weren't together. The problem is while a well meaning gesture, both parents have started bringing their partners, which is fair but makes it less a family dinner.. and more Rudy stuck with four adults having a hangout who accidently forget he's there. While I never went through one of these as a middle schooler when my parents broke up, I know the type of event Rudy deals with all too well: it's mostly adults, there's no one to talk to and your alone. Granted I was fine with it because I just.. read whatever book I brought anyway, but rudy is a social butterfly, an awkward awkward butterfly, so he has no idea how to handle this, or really deal with it.

His one ace in the hole is a magic trick, from his faviorite shop, the same one we saw in the magic episode way back. See while Rudy's love of being a magician is another character trait that's come up, this episode gives weight to it: Rudy got into magic not just because he dearly loves it and the person at the shop gladly mentors him and supports his talent, but it's seen in a montage of previous dinners that any time his parents started fighting, before and after divorce, a simple trick reentered the night and reminded them what's important.

Naturally the trick, done using a glass of drinking water and some tablets, goes wrong, and while Rudy's parents encourage him to try again and no one really is mad at him or upset it went wrong and spilled everywhere, he feels utterly humiliated, something we all went through as kids: you screw something up and while your parents don't make a deal out of it, you just can't. Hell I still have that problem. So combine that with already not wanting ot be here and Rudy bounces, his parents not aware he's gone.

Naturally, given the earlier setup, he bounces to the Belchers. And it's easy to see why: The Belchers are a loving, wonderful family, and Bob and Linda not only gladly let Rudy join, but engage with him in a way Rudy's parents simply forgot. Rudy's parents aren't callous... adults simply make mistakes and in likely trying ot make sure rudy's okay with both their partners being there, their partners feel good, the million other things they got going on.. they talked over Rudy. It's what makes this work: we feel for rudy, but it stings more that this isn't some problem with an easy fix. There will be plenty more dinners where he's wallpaper and plenty more times they likely forget him without meaning to. The trick COULD'VE helped.. but it failing was a reminder it was just a distraction from the fact his parent's aren't a family anymore, just two people who share a kid, loving him and caring about each other.. but what little bit of what he had before the divorce is just gone.

Brian Huskey's voice as he gives the monologue I used for this episode's quote is just heartbreaking.. you can feel the kid just.. relaizing he can't just run away from it. It's just.. how things are. HIs sad revelation of this just hits, Louise's "Oh boy", and Rudy sounds on the verge of tears.. we've seen him mad, we've seen him kinda sad.. but never like this. Just a child realizing things won't be the same and he has nothing to do but go back to it.

Thankfully as bob and linda mindly panic after realizing "oh god this child just ran and his parents don't know oh god", Louise knows what her best friends need and offers to walk him back. not only is the moment shiptastic.. it's sweet. Louise gets Rudy is having a hard time with all of this and needs some support, needs someone his own age there to talk with and to help deflect attention. And to punch out anyone on the way who tries to hurt them with brass knuckles, which naturally linda gave her as santa. After all he IS from the streets. It provides a pretty morose episode an utterly sweet ending as the two walk back, Bob couldn't be prouder, and Rudy.. for now at least.. isn't alone among his own family anymore. He may never have what he had back.. but he's gained someone pretty good along the way.

13. Watching and Dreaming (The Owl House, Season 3 Episode 3, Series Finale)

"Eda, King, Thank you for Everything" "Right Back atcha kiddo" "Weirdos?" "Weirdos"

The Owl house was the best show of the 2020's and while it had some stiff compettion this year, it still hasn't been surpassed. It was hilarious, had a wonderfully built messed up world with lots of thought, deep character arcs, and was sadly cut short way too soon, but will never leave the hearts of those of us who loved it.

So thankfully they stuck the landing, as Watching and Dreaming was a worthy conclusion to the series. After the decent but easily weakest of the three season 3 specials "For the Future", Watching and Dreaming is a nicely packed finale that wraps up the series wonderfully and while it leaves me wanting only MORE, MORE DAMN YOU MORE, as the series always had, it's a good note to end on while Dana gets the hell out of mouseton for a while.

It was also the last episode of a show I covered as it came out, with an attempt to do so with legend of vox machina adding way too much to my work load this year to really work out, and as a finale to that.. it was just as welcome.

Watching and Dreaming spends it's first third on the Collector, and while there is a bit of disconnect between what he puts our heroes through and where he left off, with Luz once again hving her anxieties reinforced via a horrifying puppet show, the show quickly recovers as the big three are reunited after two long episodes and several long months in and out of universe: Luz has her other mom and little brother back, Eda has her kids back and King has her family back. We also get a quick show of just how far they've come since the pilot as each one easily bodies the collector's games... and leaves him wondering why they won't play fair, why this isn't working. It takes three people who had to learn their lessons the hard way through tears, isolation and learning their life was a lie, to teach the boy god empathy and unveil that at his heart.. he's just a kdi who REALLY didn't know what he was doing was awful.

Unfortunately just as the collector learns friendship, belos POSSESS THE TITAN'S CORPSE ITSELF and plans to do .. something.. genocidey and after an attempt to just forgive him fails, the only thing our heros have is each other, with Luz's friends aka our other heroes busy saving allt he puppets with their new starry pjamaed pal.

Luz gets a last minute somewhat asspully upgrade, but it's all three together that defeats belos. It's an epic finale but one that nicely focuses on who Dana intended as the core of the series: a child who found her place in another world and learned responsibility and to forgive herself, a witch who learned to forigve and let others in, and a titan who learned empathy, all kicking that blobs ass. And then curb stomping it. It's a moving, fast paced, excellently animated finale with a fun time skip epilogue to tie it all together. Owl House may be gone... but it'll never be forgotten.

12. Army of the Doomstar (Metalocalypse, Finale Movie)

"I am a wheel in the gear of the Klok. I feel not my mortality".

The other adult swim finale movie this year and the one that had the harder road. While Venture Bros got it's movie offer at the same time as cancelation, it took Brendon Small a decade, a whole ass album designed to be as close to a finale as he could get without a lisence and a LOT of campaning to finish his story to get here. Metalocalypse ended just as the final verse of blood, metal and stupidity was about to be written, and it was thanks to Small and the Fans themselves that we finally got it with this movie.

Army wraps up 4 seasons and another movie, a movie I dearly loved when it came out and still do, with an epic. It's darker in tone as the metalocalypse that begun at the start of the series is almost here and Nathan Explosion has a full on existential crisis trying to write the song that will save the world, having no idea how and not helped by his disasterous attempted propsoal to abigail while on a lot of wine and xanax (Props to small for ending a pretty disliked subplot exactly the way it shoudl without just.. tossing it out for time or some shit AND making it tie perfectly into the plot). The films dives into the overexpecations we put on creatives to MAKE US MORE DAMMIT, and how hard that actually is.. but also how fans.. are something to treasure and not spit in their face as our heroes have the whole series, seeing them more as parasites than people.

It maintains the series ballance of having an epic story.. but not sugarcoating that these guys are fucking morons with Nathan charging into a funeral on xanax and telling everyone, Pickels having ot literally be everyone's mom, and Pickles ordering a last meal fo rnathan of cool ranch diritos and choclate milk. The shows as goofy as ever, but adds a heart that's been only glimpsed on occasion as our heroes are allergic to feelings, as our heroes must save the world. We also get some kickass metal music as always, with SOS being a standout, giving us one last awesome dethklok performance and song as our heroes rally the world to show them their not alone.. and they never were. An epic, hilarious, and well done film that manages to cover all the bases it needs to and wrap everything up in 96 minutes. Pretty brutal.

11. The World Vs Scott Pilgrim (Scott Pilgrim Takes off Episode 6, Series Finale)

"Hey, because I'll have a lot of trouble saying it later, let me say it now: I love you, Scott. And I run away from the thing that I love. But what I've done in the past doesn't have to define me. Help me keep remembering that, okay?"

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off was a thrilling watch but there was one worry I had as it went.. sticking the landing. It set up a compelling mystery, to the point I genuinely wasn't sure who would kidnap scott as while the twins DID have to show up and were likely involved.. it just didn't fit that it was them. It being their robot who being a robot has never eaten anything, thus never eaten meat and would have none of the bilogicial weaknesses of a human, was brilliant as it is hilarious bonkers.

Who sent the robot.. was even better as it turned out to be Scott himself, a twist that told me everything was going to be alright. Specifically this is a scott who lived what this story would've been: Scott beats the exes, gets the girl, and they have a happy relationship and then marriage for 15 years, having become their best selves. The thing the series challenges though .. is if they can STAY better versions of themselves. It's something the other versions didn't really WANT to poke at because it makes the ending less happy: if they don't end up together, what's the point of all this. Yet.. relatoinships break up. Hope Larson, the real life inspriation for Ramona, divorced Brian Lee O Malley. The relationship COULD fail and where would that leave them.

As it turns out.. not great as Ramona bailed when it got hard while being vauge as usual, and Scott spiraled hard into his worst habits, moving in with wallace, again, and rather than figure out where he wen twrong.. wanted to hit undo on what he felt was a sunk cost, a relationship he put his heart into only for it to seemingly fail, even if he still had a chance to save it. Hence the brilliant and only not making this list because this year was paccckkked with good episodes, 2 Scott 2 Pilgrim before this. It also helps the takes off scott spedrun his charater development as future him is everything Scott tries to ignore about himself, his laziness, selfishness, short sightentess and very stupid brain, as a person he really can't ignore because that person kidnapped him because he took a joke Wallace made seriously.

So Scott naturally motors with the help of Future Wallace and Older Ramona, who was indeed the sleep paralysis demon and like her ex husband really sucks at plans, but gives Scott a lift home. So.. everything good? Ramona Grew, Scott Grew, Scott acknowlegeds he never should've dated a literal teenager... we goo dright? Right?

Thing is as this episode reveals midway through... Older Scott REALLY didn't want his past self to take the gamble that he could do it the right way and instead of giving himself tips.. gave himself anti kissing nanites so he and ramona can't kiss, the two naturally thinking it's the exes. We get a great opening here as scott confronts each of them, having only kinda witnessed their changes.. and most don't care. Even Gideon's moved on to Julie, his perfect match and a pariing I can't belivie I love and fits perfectly: their both the worst, and together their awful. Brilliant.

The two seemingly don't solve things.. but thankfully Old Scott is more than willing to show his hand.. as even older scott. Even Older Scott is terrifying, taking some of Scott's good traits.. and making them into something nightmarish. After his failure to change the future, not considering that

Instead looses his mind, training himself in video games and the martial arts for 10 years, all to counter everything his friends and the exes can do... all so he can KILL EVERY LAST ONE. Scott's worst nightmare across all realities has come to past, he's an evil ex.. and the evilest ex of all. Well in terms of power and madness, Gideon still put a bunch of women in jars because they broke up with him who Matt hopefully let out in this timeline.

We get a great fight as the utterly jacked, utterly terrifying even older scott, who nicely resembles evil ryu from street fighter and has pixel effects ala movie!gideon, cleans house, with Ramona wondering if she should just.. leave all this. It's only realizing that's literally all she does that gets her to realize she want sto fight for this, even if it ends poorly, and Scott, already all in, helps her.

Ultimately it's not the duo who win their future this time.. but Ramona's own future, what could be, even older ramona, saving her past self via fusion, a super mode (Just like Sonic 2.. or 3.. or dragon ball.), and some words of encouragment, giving EOS another chance and Scott the beautiful words above.

It's a powerful message and one that's real: it's hard to change.. but it's even harder to get change to stick. You just have to keep remembering it.. and keep trying. No matter how bad things seem.. you can make it better.

This is all helped by the beautiful ending, a pixel version of god only knows as everyone, exes now included, gets to live their best life and we last see Ramona as she dons what we finally find to be her natural hair color, blond (with some highlights because, hey, it looks badass), ready to face the future)... and the best worst couple hyping a sequel that will never happen, but frankly it'd be werider if they didn't, A truly spectacular finale to what may be the best version of this story.

[gemsofgreece]

Hello, could you tell us about Kalymnos and the history of weaving in Greece?

Hi! They are both broad topics, however I will do my best to summarize the most important and interesting information about them.

KALYMNOS

Kálymnos is an island which belongs in the Dodecanese, the southeasternmost islands of Greece. It is 26th in the list of the 50 largest Greek islands. It is the third most populous island of the Dodecanese.

Kalymnos was first inhabited by Carians and Phoenicians. By 1100 BC the island was inhabited by Dorian Greeks. Kalymnos participated in the Trojan War and Homer mentions it with the name Kalydnae. In the late Archaic period, Kalymnos was a democracy. For a time, it was captured by the Persians. When liberated again, Kalymnos remained an ally of Athens, however it did not meddle much with the Peloponnesian war. Like all the other regions of Greece, it fell under Roman rule and was a part of the Byzantine Empire in the middle ages. In the 13th and 14th centuries it came under the control of Venice and the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Ιωαννίτες Ιππότες - Ioannites Ippotes in Greek) AKA the crusaders, just like most of the Dodecanese islands. The knights expanded and reinforced the original Byzantine fortress of the island which was there since the 10th century.

The ruins of the castle above the main town (Chora) of the island.

The Ottoman Turks attacked the island for about 80 years until they conquered it in 1522. Kalymnos was relatively privileged in the Ottoman Empire - islands were always more privileged compared to mainland Greek regions. In 1881, the Ottoman General Census found that the island had an overwhelming Greek majority (9,482 Greeks out of 9,716 overall population). In 1912, Italy conquered the island during the Italo-Turkish war and kept it until 1947, when, in the form of reparations after the Axis Occupation, Italy ceded the Dodecanese islands to Greece. The Dodecanese were the last region to get united with the Modern Greek state.

Kalymnos has a diverse, arid landscape. It is hilly and very rugged, while its coastline is very indented, forming numerous cliffs, caves and coves. This is why Kalymnos is an internationally popular rock climbing destination with more than 3,000 climbing routes. Kalymnos also has a small archipelagos of its own.

Kalymnos' economy is not based on agriculture, but rather tourism, traditional head scarf painting production and, most notably, sponge diving, which is the best known tradition of the island. Greece is the biggest exporter of natural sponges in the world, largely thanks to Kalymnian spongedivers and the island's seabed. Traditional sponge diving is extremely dangerous and potentially fatal and involves wearing a very heavy suit and holding your breath underwater for extended periods of time.

Artwork depicting the life of a Kalymnian spongediver © Francesco Zizola / NOOR

A folk song sang by Kalymnian sailors and divers has become popular around the world after French singer Dalida made a cover of it with romantic lyrics in 1970. The actual song however was sung by the ship's crew and it was meant to rouse a reaction from the spongediver so that if he struggled underwater, he would have the will to fight and manage to come to the water's surface. For example, the song makes references to the little joys of life, food, a comfortable sleep in a warm bed, sex, making a family, it mentions women (who could be real islanders the spongedivers were interested in), it mentions taking the City back (AKA Constantinople!), it mentions turning against the privileged lords of the island, it "threatens" the spongediver with unfairness ("you lads, I will give violets to you all, I will give two to each, but hey I am giving none to Yoryis (the spongediver)!"), it criticizes the spongediver's unresponsiveness (not pulling the rope) and implies his sister is with the crew, so anything that could potentially make a young man's blood flow and rouse a reaction from him and help him rise to the surface. I link the song below, performed by an actual crew from the island.

After the 60s a lot of Kalymnians emigrated to the USA and Australia, where they were usually employed in hard jobs, like constructing and painting bridges, used as they were in the demanding job of their island.

WEAVING IN GREECE

Weaving is a big, broad topic, especially because it was a well attested practice in Greece even in the Homeric Age. Therefore, and because the post is already long, I found some links that are very helpful and detailed and way more informative than whatever I would write here!

In this link here, there is a pdf about Byzantine weaving and textiles.

[q-ueen-potato]

For no reason here is how was the currency on the past on the Stolen Throne AU.

So....we all know the currency in One Piece world is called Berry. On my au they had this name because they are made from something called Berry glass, that is actually a kind of stone/crystal but for being translucent was called glass.

Each part of the money was made after a kind of berry

Cents

-the cents on the currency was made after the elderberry

This was a small black crystal, it is the easiest berry glass kind to be found on nature, commonly used on jewelry too. Usually found on caves with rivers inside

-1 Berry

The unit of berries is shaped after the cranberry

3 easiest to found on nature, is a dark red but translucent crystal found mainly on dry lands can also be found around farms. Is seen on nobles jewelry and in medals.

-10 Berries

Each 10 berries is made after blueberry

Being a blue-purpish stone, those are the 4 easiest to find, is usually found on the rivers banks and commonly used on marines medals too.

-100 berries

They are shaped after the bayberry

They are the 2 easiest to found, usually found on wet land and rainy places. Most commonly used on jewelry and in competition medals

-1.000, 10.000, 100.000 berries

Those are all shaped after the same berry but on different colors, the berry being the mulberry

1.000 is in the light red/pinkish color, the 10.000 is purple while the 100.000 is black. They all are saw on royal crowns and jewelry.

-1 million berries

One million berries is shaped after the cloudberry

Is commonly found on high places and cold. Is saw too on noble jewelry and in cities expansive decorations.

-10 million

Is shaped after the goseberry

They are the 2 biggest berry currency in size. Is saw on marine medals and is found on woodlands

-100 millions

Shaped after the cape gooseberry

On that, only the 'cape' is truly orange, the stone being most translucent. Is found at same places the gooseberry. Is saw on royal crowns and jewelry.

- 1 billion

The only one on the billion house to have a independent shape, is shaped after the snowberry(the only non edible on the list)

Is the most rare to be found and can be found anywhere, is saw on the tenryuubito clothes and in Marijoise.

[captains-price]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR OCS

I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT MY DND CHARACTERS

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET TO YOU IVE BEEN ON A TERRIBLE ROAD TRIP ALL DAY AND MY PHONE HAS BEEN DEAD FOR MOST OF IT

Thank you so much for asking about my ocs tho!! I love you forever and ever!!! And yes PLEASE tell me about your dnd characters, I wanna hear about them SO BADLYY❤️❤️❤️

Also this is actually the second time I’m writing all this out because the first time i got an error bcus of the terrible service where I am 🫠 god has forsaken me

I’m also putting this under a read more bcus the first time made me realize how carried away I got but I’m not gonna be deterred, I’m determined to talk about the weirdos in my brain

This is A LOT so proceed at your own risk

Ok take two

So I have a lot of ocs(last check was over 100, not including the ones I’m still developing), all spread through various original stories and including self inserts for a lot of different media.

But by far the biggest project for my ocs is my fantasy world I’ve been making since I was 18 ish? It’s called Omirus and 62 of all my ocs come from this world, also not including minor characters and villains.

The story essentially revolves around 8 different teams of adventurers and the quests they go on(speaking of dnd, this originally was a campaign idea before it evolved into what it is now!). Each team has a leader and I usually refer to the teams by their leader. When I’m thinking about them, I’ll say ‘team Name’ in my head.

In my first go at this, I shared a bit about all 8 leaders, but I’m so tired now, I’m just gonna share my four favorites and if I have the energy tomorrow, I’ll try to share the other four as well

Effie:

THIS IS MY MAIN GIRL!! SHE IS MY FAVORITE!!!

Effie is a young witch in training after she came across some ancient runes and an old magic infused itself with her, and now she has this crazy amount of magic that she doesn’t know how to control or use, by she’s determined to conquer it. She’s very chaotic and loved causing problems on purpose, and dreams on standing on top of the world one day. At any given time, I am most likely thinking about Effie and her team.

Her story revolves around maturity and overcoming her past.

Tager:

THIS IS MY MAIN BOY!! HE IS MY SECOND FAVORITE!!!

Tager is a were-cat who’s actually the rookie in a secret organization of powerful soldiers. He’s very sweet and has a deep love for most people he comes across. All he really cares about it helping out whoever he can, especially those closest to him.

His story revolves around finding positivity in dark times.

Rune:

Rune is a dragon hybrid who was created by a goddess a long long time ago. However, for reasons he can’t remember, she abandoned him and left him imprisoned in a cave for thousands of years. This caused his mental state to become a bit unstable and he struggles with his animalistic side now. The only thing he remembered about himself was his name.

His story revolves around his identity and humanity.

Dally:

Lastly, Dally is a performer with a great singing voice that often draws people into her orbit. Her girlfriend is also an adventurer(and is even apart of a team not listed here), and she decided to go on a quest of her own to see what else the world has to offer and bring her own stories to tell her girlfriend the next time they meet.

Her story revolves around love. Both romantic and platonic.

That’s all I’ll share for now since I’m writing all this for the second time and I’m so tired, but THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ASKING!! THESE CHARACTERS MEAN SO MUCH TO ME AND I LOVE TALKING ABOUT THEM

I might share more tomorrow, but for now, I sleep 😪

[maddygoesthemiles]

Mid-Year Book Update

Number of books read so far: 32

Best book read so far in 2024: Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Best sequel read so far in 2024: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

New release you haven’t read yet but want to: I don’t really keep up with new releases but The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland is on my list. I really enjoyed House of Hollow, which is by the same author.

Most anticipated release for the second half of 2024: hard to say. The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali looks interesting.

Biggest surprise favorite new author (debut or new-to-you: Janika Oza, whose debut novel, A History of Burning, I absolutely loved.

Newest fictional crush: Soshiro Hoshina from Kaiju No. 8. Manga counts!

Book that made you cry: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. His essay on the Lascaux cave paintings really got to me.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year (or received): Dubliners by James Joyce, I guess. Specifically the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition. I don’t buy a ton of books.

Book that made you happy: Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin made me laugh a lot!

What books you want/need to read by the end of the year: I’m going to start Same Bed, Different Dreams by Ed Park for book club soon!

I wasn’t tagged, I just thought it looked fun. If you happen to come across this in your infinite scrolling and you think it sounds fun, please do it and tag me! I just can’t remember who reads on this app even though I know I follow some of y’all on goodreads.

[flecks-of-stardust]

Stardust's Ranking of Rain World Custom Regions

It's late and I'm bored and I love mods, and if you can you should try some of them because this community creates some incredible stuff and you better appreciate that.

These regions are loosely ranked with an emphasis on my enjoyment, not necessarily the quality of the region, though those can be linked! I will clarify where necessary. You can use this post as a recommendation list, or you can just read my thoughts and reviews of various custom regions for fun or some shit. I dunno. For some reason I end up making lists a lot.

This post will be updated as I try more mods and as more mods come out. The post is current as of October 14th, 2023. Some regions have additional notes, which are elaborated on under the list. Also note that for the vast majority of these regions, I am talking about my experience going through them as Survivor. Additionally, assume all regions have a pup spawn chance unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Highly enjoyed, strongly recommend

Stormy Coast*^ — and another usurper with lots of room to spare. Stormy Coast is the most incredible region I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The atmosphere is just incredible, especially if you do as intended and revisit it across the timeline! The concept of Stormy Coast, its design as an abandoned shipping port, the changes as you move through time, the lore, all of it is just amazing. I just adore it. The music is also absolutely fantastic. I don't know how to describe the experience because it's. Quite literally indescribable, honestly, looking through it yourself. Go get it. It's just fantastic. I would recommend picking one slugcat from Hunter to Monk's time, and then visiting as the rest of the slugcats. (Also, fun fact: the creator of Stormy Coast is the same person who made Lush Mire and Undersea!)

Far Shore^ — I'm a little surprised to have to say this, but this supplanted Howling Rift as my favorite region very quickly. The overall design is just lovely. The threat music is amazing, and there's a lot to see because Far Shore is a very big region—one of the biggest available right now actually! It's hard to summarize what it's like going through it because different parts of it have such a different vibe; the above ground parts are somewhat like Shoreline, but with more options for traversal, while the below ground parts are sort of like Shaded Citadel (but cooler. I'm biased though, I like the horror aspect). Additionally, there's a certain part of Far Shore that really made it feel like I was playing the game for the first time again. No other region has ever tackled something like Far Shore has, and it's really an unforgettable experience. I recommend entering from the Pilgrim's Ascent gate! Additionally, and this might sound strange, but DO NOT play Far Shore as your first region. Go try some of the other ones on this list first, like Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District! It just works better that way, I promise.

Howling Rift*^ — this region is kind of like if you took Memory Crypts and made it as big as Shaded Citadel is, but with amazing music and a much more foreboding atmosphere. There is also an Underhang-like part with some of the most interesting (and difficult) platforming I've had the pleasure of playing in this game so far. It's definitely not going to be everyone's favorite, but it's my favorite. I recommend going in without neuron glow for the optimal experience. The Mark is unnecessary.

Coral Caves and Hanging Gardens^ — absolutely stunning regions, I loved the aesthetics and the level design. They use a mechanic that I haven't really seen in any other custom regions (except Lost Cranny, kind of), and it makes for some really interesting platforming. Hanging Gardens in particular also has some fascinating geometry, which I won't elaborate on because it's a delight to discover on your own! I will say though that Coral Caves in particular is definitely a little more difficult than some of the other regions on this list, but it's not unmanageable as Survivor. Coral Caves also boasts a unique world state for Saint!

Lush Mire and Undersea^ — technically not connected regions, though they share Shaded Citadel as a connection, but come on you have to play these two together. Hollow Knight fans in particular might enjoy these two regions; Lush Mire takes obvious influence from Greenpath and Queen's Gardens, while Undersea has a subregion that looks a lot like City of Tears. They both have gorgeous level design and are not super difficult. I would recommend having neuron glow for Undersea, and the Mark for Lush Mire. However, some people are experiencing issues with pipes breaking and trapping them in walls when Lush Mire is enabled. Mergefix I believe is one way to fix this issue? But so far there hasn't been a concrete fix.

Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District^ — intended to be played together and very seamless in the integration. Really cool designs for both regions, in particular PA personally. Did you like Pebbles' broader superstructure or the Exterior? Well I have good news for you. SD is also a fun mix of superstructure-like parts and more Metropolis-looking rooms, and it also has a unique end of cycle effect. Neuron glow isn't necessary for either region, but it would probably make certain parts easier for some people. Definitely have the mark for SD though.

Drainage System Plus^ — the coolest vanilla region expansion I've seen so far. It at least doubles the size of DS and adds a ton of complexity to it, as well as some secrets. It was like exploring it for the first time and it was amazing. Some paths got a little tricky to navigate, but largely I had a lot of fun, and there's generally bubble weed around where you'll need it. I believe it is also fully compatible with Saint's world? So it's technically DS+ and UG+. There may be mod conflicts with DS+ in some cases though.

Hallowed Grotto^ — a very creative concept for a region, featuring unique world changes for every, and I mean every, slugcat. Yes, even Inv. The region itself isn't very big, but that's because each slugcat has a unique version of it. Neuron glow could be nice, but definitely go in with the Mark, and I recommend going once as every slugcat. It is probably better to explore this region in expedition mode to prevent you from restarting your entire save.

Enjoyed, would recommend

Neuron Forest^ — a pretty small region, but a very lovely one! If you like iterator aesthetics and are looking for a calmer experience, Neuron Forest has plenty of that to offer. It is, however, Saint exclusive, but for what it is, it works pretty well. There are also some secrets to be found here, so make sure to check every room! (Also, the creator is on Tumblr! Vela if you see this, hiiiii)

Marshland Wastes — nifty, plant filled region that feels a bit like a more flora-filled Garbage Wastes with Shoreline elements, in a sense? It's hard to nail down. I don't know if I'd call it particularly unique (though it's been a while since I played it), but it's still really well designed and overall fun to play through. There are some really memorable moments though, and personally I really like the crossover room(s). That's just me though. Mark not necessary, neuron glow maybe helpful?

Five Pebbles Expanded* — another expanded vanilla region, which mostly combines pre-Rivulet Five Pebbles with rooms from The Rot. It's done really well though, and there are some aspects to it that are unique to Ex5P. It's nice seeing Cystic Conduit rooms in his superstructure before it rotted so badly. Also! You can enter the cell chamber! It doesn't kill you though, or at least it didn't when I played it, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to become fried slug. Do note that the Cystic Conduit rooms have not been changed to be more friendly for other slugcats, nor does any bubbleweed spawn, so uh... have dev tools ready.

Expanded Industrial — and another expanded vanilla region! I liked the new rooms quite a lot, the aesthetics blend in very well i think. It adds a surprising number of rooms with water in them, I will say? But i think it works out overall. The map was broken when I played, I don't know if it's been fixed, but I think it's still worth checking out. Unlike EXSU, EXHI kind of adds a bunch of rooms that don't connect as much to the vanilla rooms, as far as I've noticed, so it's like getting a new subregion of rooms rather than a mix of them. Still, it's pretty cool!

Expanded Outskirts — and yet another expanded vanilla region. It's not as extensive as DS+ I don't think? But it still adds a ton and the room designs are really neat. Certain rooms were a little strange to me? ExSU adds a lot of routing complexity in a way that I like, and now that the map is repaired, it's a lot easier to navigate. It is also fully compatible with DS+! Playing with both mods enabled gives you... three? Four gates? Into DS, which is kind of wild. It also appears I missed a new gate into Industrial Complex!

Timeless Conservatory/Quiet Gardens — a small new region connected to Pebbles' can. It's got a bunch of new screens since I last played it, as well as a subregion for Pebbles! It's very creative, I like it. Currently it's still fairly small, and it doesn't seem like there's any lore pearls in there, but it's a pretty region with some cool aesthetics. Good for a quick play. Mark not required, and I went in with neuron glow but the glow seems to be forcibly disabled in certain rooms?

Enjoyed, wouldn't readily recommend

Lavish Knack — this one's weird. It's a pack of several custom regions, all interconnected, but when I played it only one of them had full backgrounds and foregrounds. The rest were very... bare. It was kind of funny though. Some of the design choices are also a little peculiar, though thankfully, not typically in a way that makes platforming or traversal difficult. It did have one specific mechanic that I really liked, some strange pipe launching thing, but it was used only in one spot. Most of my enjoyment was from baffled laughter at how this region was designed admittedly. I wouldn't call it a bad region, it's just a little funny going through it at times. The Mark won't be necessary for Lavish Knack, though neuron glow might help in some parts of it.

Aerial Arrays*^ — this one will ah... not be a favorite of many people, I think. I found it interesting, and I enjoyed the platforming, generally, but. Um. It is. Pretty cursed. In several ways, and in ways that a lot of people won't like. Some of the camera transitions are a little rough, some of the design choices are a little... peculiar, and some tiles are a little bare in a way that's a little noticeable if you're really looking at the aesthetics, but considering this is the dev's first region? It's pretty damn impressive. It's pretty well made too, imo. It also boasts a surprising number of unique pearls, two of which uh. Are pretending to be white pearls. I'll... leave that for you to figure out. Do note that some parts of Aerial Arrays are bugged right now, but I've given the dev my feedback and they'll be pushing a hotfix for bugs soon. The Mark is not necessary, and you can skip grabbing a neuron since there's neurons in Aerial Arrays.

Washroom — rather small region, but it was pretty neat. There's not much to it, but I think it achieves its purpose well. It made me feel like laundry as I was going through it. A surprising amount of worm grass was in the region though. Mark and neuron glow not necessary.

Lost Cranny — possibly the smallest region available at the moment, but considering it was made in just three hours, I say it's pretty damn impressive. The map was unfortunately broken when I played and I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed, but truthfully the region is like. 8 rooms? So. It's hard to get lost anyways. Short and sweet, imo. Could be worth looking at, and Balagaga said the region might get expanded if people are interested, which could be interesting. Also, this region is Monk exclusive.

Did not like, would not recommend

Expanded Leg — full disclosure, this is mostly a me thing, but ExLeg was eh. I already don't like the Leg, so I don't know why I went into it expecting I might enjoy it. (I do know. It's because of PA.) It's just... Leg. But the other side of it. I will say though that some of the platforming in ExLeg feels even less clear than in the vanilla Leg? But maybe that's a skill issue on my part, I dunno. If you like the Leg you might like ExLeg, but I wasn't a fan personally.

The Tower (not the Daszombes one) — this one wasn't particularly interesting to me. It was basically just pole hell, and some of the design was... eh? The camera transitions were also a bit jank imo. Very much not my thing. Some rooms were pretty though, and it's also the dev's first region, so I have to cut them some slack.

Honorable mentions

Fortunate Development — not fully a region mod, but it cleans up the rot from all of Pebbles' superstructure. It was bittersweet to play through this, and I enjoyed it, but ultimately it's just Pebbles. Still worth checking out though imo. I don't think this one is compatible with Ex5P? I'm not sure though.

The Tower (the Daszombes one) — I actually have not watched most of Das' content, and certainly not the Iterator Logs, so I was very out of my depth when playing through this. it seems interesting, I just have no context for any of it. It was heavily unfinished when I played it though; one room would be fully designed, with foreground decor and lighting and stuff, and then if you go through a pipe, you end up in a bare room with literally nothing but the geometry. It was jarring, but also clearly unfinished, so I can't judge it too hard. If you like Das' stuff, you might be interested in this.

Additional notes

* These regions have some fairly intense flashing in some parts:

The Underhang-like section of HR has electrical storms like vanilla Underhang, but they're far more intense and far more constant than what Underhang gets. It also has a pretty strong particle effect in a good bunch of rooms; it made my game lag in some of them. Honestly HR just has a lot of eyestrain-y graphics in general, which is a huge shame because it’s basically my only complaint about it.

Ex5P has Primary Cortex rooms that still feature the (harmless) green lightning, and that too can get pretty flashy.

Aerial Arrays' upper part is full of slug zappers. Yes, seriously. They flicker on and off. If you dislike RTA because of the visual flashing effect, you'll want to avoid playing Aerial Arrays, because they're unavoidable.

Stormy Coast is, well. Very stormy. There's lightning effects in most outdoor rooms, and they're unavoidable.

None of these mods have a config menu to reduce or disable the flash effects, so be careful if you're sensitive to flashing. The mod No More Flashes may help with some of these, but not all.

^ There is at least one unique lore pearl in this region.

Note that Undersea's pearls currently do not give the correct dialogue. Wrayk (the dev) has been notified of the issue, though fixing this hasn't been a priority for him as of late. Additionally, any Saint timeline pearls are currently unreadable by Moon, but the dialogue is available on the mods wiki(!).

& The review for this region is currently outdated, due to there having been an update to the mod since I wrote the review.

[1americanconservative]

My fellow Americans: 

This is Vivek Ramaswamy. I hoped to email you on a lighter note but I didn’t have another choice with everything happening right now. 

The unholy alliance between Joe Biden, the corrupt Deep State, the DC Swamp, the Liberal Media, and the Radical Left Democrats is a national disgrace. 

We, the American People, will never forget what they’ve done to us. Luckily, we have a plan to stop these radicals who: – Desecrated Easter Sunday with wokeism – Arrested the leader of the Republican Party – Removed Trump from the ballot in key states – Raided Mar-a-Lago with armed agents – Censored Conservative voices – Spied on Catholic worshippers – Gutted election integrity measures – Peddled the Russia Hoax for years  – Threw open our border to illegals – Abandoned Americans in Afghanistan – Caved to the Chinese Communist Party – Moved to pack the Supreme Court – Forced propaganda into classrooms

And the list goes on and on and on! Never before in the history of the world has a truly great country fallen so far from grace in such a short time. If the Radical Left Democrats somehow win control of the White House, the Senate, and the House… America will be lost forever. 

I know this to be true. You know it too. But when everything is on the line, moments like this separate the strong from the weak. And make no mistake – the future of our country hangs in the balance.

That’s why I’m partnering with Majority Leader Steve Scalise for the FIRST TIME. Together, we’re rallying the STRONGEST American Patriots from across the country and building the biggest surge of grassroots support this country has ever seen.

If you consider yourself a strong American Patriot – like the two of us do – I’m personally asking for your full commitment right here and right now. 

The resources we collect today will help build the largest GOP voter turnout operation in history, deploy an army of volunteers in swing districts, run hard-hitting ads in battleground states, harvest ballots where it’s legal, and help make this the most secure election EVER. 

THAT is how Conservatives will win in a landslide…

THAT is how we take control of the White House, Senate, AND House… 

THAT is how we stop the Radical Left Democrats from destroying America…

THAT is how we save our country as we know it…

AND THAT is how we send shockwaves through the heart of the Deep State, DC Swamp, and Liberal Media…

[shoyoist]

Hii rekha, long time no talk, do me a favor and make a small list of your fav anime characters in the order of who would vs who wouldn't survive NNN (no specific fandom) I just wanna see your opinion that's all.

hi xyhoo 💓 lmaoo okay i thought about it and tbh NONE of my faves would survive, either because their libido is just too high to manage or because they think NNN is fucking stupid. but okayy let's do it. you asked for a small list but i'm incapable of keeping things short when it comes to my faves so i am sorry in advance!!

haikyuu: the only man i see in this world is shoyo<33 he has the discipline to get through it but he believes in keeping himself at 100% physically, so he would turn me down even if i suggested he try NNN 😭 so no! he doesn't survive.

tokyo rev: (this is in order of biggest fail to almost-made-it)

1. sanoshin my beloved<33 he CANNOT survive. he jacks off like every day. look at him you know i'm right!! baby boy lasts a week max and that is if he physically restrains himself or something. and it's only a couple of days if you're around to tease him through it.

2. izana cannot survive. he's way too needy to make it. an entire MONTH without your touch?? without indulging in his lil dirty fantasies about you? he'll go insane he can't do it. he'll be in tears.

3. shuji cannot survive. he thinks it's fucking stupid. and if he does participating he makes it look like he survived but he's locking himself in the bathroom to jack off on day three. you ask him how he's doing and he's all nonchalant like "yeah it's not that fucking difficult alright" but he's secretly busting his nuts as per his regular schedule :P

4. kakucho goes pretty strong!! he nearly makes it. it's just that his balls are so full and heavy by the third week, and every time he looks at you his vision tunnels. and then he wakes up in the mornings and grits his teeth like goddd FUCK IT. he makes it three weeks and then fails.

5. kisaki would actually make it honestly. he thinks it's the stupidest, most childish thing ever but if you beg him to try it he would. says “you'll be the one that comes begging to me.” and he's determined to not cave. he busies himself with work to keep his mind off of it and most nights he's so tired when he gets home he's so tired he just falls asleep the moment he hits the bed. he would fail the moment you get too forward with any teasing tho v_v he's the type that cums in his pants real easy <33

blue lock: (again, in order of biggest fail to almost-made-it)

1. SHIDOU RYUSEI. no explanation needed.

2. reo also thinks it's stupid, but not because he thinks it's like dumb or childish or anything, it's just that he gets in on every NNN but has always failed halfway through. he just can't take it anymore by the end of the second week</3

3. chigiri would make it pretty far, but at some point he would just conveniently forget he was trying to survive a month without jacking off. one morning on the last week he's staring at himself bleary eyed, his dick in his fist and cum on his stomach, and he's like “oops.”

4. rin <33 he doesn't make it. he doesn't participate. he thinks it's stupid and he's not about to get coaxed into participating. he doesn't like restraining himself, and he doesn't like being restricted from your touch for too long either. so like shoyo, he's not in the game :P

[thewhumpyprintingpress]

Resources for Academic Publishing

This post I made a while back got quite popular. One of the things that showed up often in the tags is "what about paying for academic publishing?"

Basically, the same idea applies. If a journal approaches you and says "hey, we'll publish your article super fast and your just need to pay us this fee," be wary. Academic publishing is slow by design to allow for the peer review process. Predatory journals will take your money and publish your article, but skip the peer review process that makes sure your research is sound. So if you publish with them, not only will you be out a boatload of money, but your integrity as a researcher will be tainted.

That being said, there are many academic journals that do charge fees to publish with them. This article does a good job explaining the different fees that a journal might have.

Since we live in a capitalist society, academic publishers need to make money. To do this, they have to charge the reader and/or the author. Because the potential audience of an academic article is much smaller than the potential audience for, say, the latest vampire romance, publishers by necessity often have to charge authors to publish.

In the rest of this very long post, I'll try my best to give you an overview of ways to publish your research without breaking the bank.

So what's an aspiring academic to do? You are probably not swimming in cash (I just finished grad school, l feel your pain). That's where the magical world of grants comes in. If you are associated with a college or university, see if they offer publication grants. These are often administered through the library, but they can also be available by a department. At my university, the Graduate and Professional Student Association offered quarterly publication grants of up to $1,200 for graduation students to publish their research. There were several funding cycles a year where nobody would apply, which was always sad. There's money out there, if you know where to look!

Also look at professional organizations in your field. Many offer financial assistance to graduate students through grants or fellowships. When you are applying for a grant, make sure to include publishing expenses in your cost breakdown!! This is something that so many people forget to do. And don't just look at the biggest, national/international organizations in your field. There are probably smaller regional organizations that offer funding as well, and they probably aren't as competitive as those national ones.

A pro tip from me is to think outside of the box in terms of what grants/fellowships you apply to. For example, my research focus is the historical archaeology of caves in the southeast US. So I can apply to grants for research in archaeology, caves, history, historical archaeology, cave archaeology, cave history, southeast American history, southeast American archaeology, etc. Look at your research topic and make a list of all of the different umbrellas it can fit under. Then search for organizations that are related to those projects. You might be surprised by what's out there! And if you're unsure if you research topic fits into the scope of a program, it never hurts to send the coordinator a quick email.

Another option is to carefully consider what journals you submit to. A highly prestigious journal is likely to have higher fees than a less prestigious one. As long as your article is peer reviewed, the prestige of a journal is not as important as you might think (The only time is might be important is if you're trying to get tenure).

If you take nothing else from this post, take this: do not self reject! Imposter syndrome is real, and you might feel that you don't deserve funding. That's the devil talking. You, my friend, are an academic badass. Your research is awesome, you're awesome, and you deserve to share your awesomeness with the world. So apply to that grant, even if you don't think you'll get it. You might be surprised.

[withoutalice]

more Gin Ichimaru headcanons that No One asked for (1/2)

(This post is about Gin Ichimaru from BLEACH. It is talking about eating disorders so TW for talk about weight, mental health, and self-destructive behavior)

Gin has an eating disorder.

Or, has cycled through many eating disorders over the years.

Let me list some canon traits he has that could mean he has a disorder (with pictures!).

First off, and most obvious: He's abnormally thin. I mean, just look at his wrists? Also his narrower face, prominent collar bones and jugular.

His actual personality isn't known, even though he was well known by his squad, popular in the Soul Society and could even be considered friends other squad captains. "Gin" was simply a character for the outside world. This can be a sign of emotional isolation, which individuals with eating disorders tend to do as these disorders can have feeling of hopelessness and low self-esteem. It can also be attributed to people who struggle with depression, anxiety, and trauma.

In Gin's case I attribute him hiding his true self to his possible insecurities and lower self esteem (you can also say he has had lots of pressure on him because of his prodigy status in the academy). High expectations and stereotypes can lead to imposter syndrome, low self esteem, and a desire for control in one's life. That control is often found in the restriction of food and the numbers on a scale...

Even Rangiku, (regardless of what he believed he needed to keep secret from her because of Aizen) didn't know basic things about his life, it could mean he possibly didn't think he was good enough for her. I assume that she didn't know much about his life during captaincy because when we get flashbacks from her life that involve Gin, he is usually portrayed as his child self. Everything Rangiku believes and knows about Gin is from their childhood together (The Gin we see in her vision, after the battle with Aizen, while she's standing outside the cave Toshiro is training in, is still her imagination based on child Gin).

He really really likes persimmons. You may be thinking "Alice that general Gin Knowledge that's his biggest personality point" and you're right. But if I stretch it a bit, it's his safe food. He eats mostly persimmons (besides from the fact that it's probably the only thing he could get as a child) and he made sure that the 3rd division filled it's garden with the trees. Many people with eating disorders have a food they are hyper-focused on. Also, he was known to give out the persimmons whenever he "dried too many" (Bleach Official Bootleg). Perhaps they were a binge trigger?

TW AND NOTE (AGAIN):

FROM HERE I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT BMI AND EXACT HEIGHTS AND WEIGHTS.

NOTE: GIN ICHIMARU IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER AND IS IN NO WAY CONNECTED TO REALITY AND HUMAN PHYSICAL HEALTH.

I UNDERSTAND BMI IS NOT A MEASURE OF ONE'S PHYSICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH. FOR THE SAKE OF MY ARGUMENT, I WILL BE CALCULATING GIN'S BMI FROM THE DATA PROVIDED ON HIS WIKI PAGE

Gin's BMI (using the most recent BMI calculator) at 73 inches and 152lbs is 19.15. The underweight BMI point range for adult males is 17.501-20.70.

According to BMI, Gin is classified as underweight.

Remember "less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as “underweight.” Nevertheless, if we take in his BMI when looking at the possibility of him having an eating disorder (and not, say, just a fast metabolism) all of these observations lead me to believe that he is affected by either anorexia or bulimia.

And that is all for canon evidence that sparked my headcanon

Headcanon coming up in part 2

[sunshine-vx]

Across Space, Time and Dreams (ASTaD) (Ch. 16- Part 2 of 2)

(Blankshippers DNI)

(Please refer to beginning of chapter 1 post for complete list of CWs/TWs)

(This chapter's first illustration done by @sforspoot , second illustration done by @requyem (main drawing) + @moonlightalpha666 (background), and third illustration done by @scribblesscribblings (+ their twitter) ! Thank you so much to all of them!)

(Read it on Ao3 here!)

(Reblogs are appreciated!)

-

Emmet was reaching Wayward Cave, which would lead him to the end part of the Coronet Highlands. While he felt excited to keep looking for Ingo, he still had that anxious feeling in the back of his heart. Eventually, the exit end of the cave came into sight, and Emmet thought he saw movement inside. Something welled up inside his chest. Emmet decided he'd call out into the cave. He put a hand up to his mouth and shouted.

"Hello! I am Emmet! I am a Subway Boss! I am looking for my twin brother, Ingo! Do you happen to know him by chance?"

Emmet half expected no one to respond. But then, the exit of the cave glowed as a torch was lit in someone's hand. Emmet's eyes widened. The person set the torch against the cave wall and stepped forward.

Emmet's eyes filled with tears and the biggest, most genuine smile he had produced in years spread across his face.

It was Ingo. 

Ingo held one last torch as he reached the exit of Wayward Cave. He thought again about the rift, his origins and the items he had found. Would he really be able to find something about himself via the rifts? He wasn't even sure if he had fallen through one. But Akari, someone from his world, had. That had given him hope, and continued to do so now. With all that had been happening, Ingo was determined to get some type of answer.

Now, the exit of the cave was in sight. Ingo swore he saw some sort of movement from outside the cave, and he paused. Suddenly, he heard someone shout towards the cave from the outside.

"Hello! I am Emmet! I am looking for my twin brother, Ingo! Do you happen to know him by chance?"

Ingo's eyes widened, and something welled up in his chest. That voice.

Emmet.

Ingo quickly took the last torch and lit it, leaning it against the cave wall and stepping forward. Now he could properly see the person who called out. 

Ingo was struck with a strong wave of emotion; Confusion..nostalgia..happiness...longing….

Emmet looked..like himself, except his coat was the opposite color. Ingo could barely see a smile on the man's face, and his stature was more expensive than Ingo's own. One of the gloves Ingo once had and the armband he still had were missing on this person. Small amounts of water began to prick at Ingo's eyes. He was so familiar…

A blur of white…a smile…

Someone who looked..like me… 

We'd battle and discuss Pokémon, I think…

"Subway Boss...twin brother..."

"I can't remember my own home, nor my family, if I had any…"

Ingo took in a breath. He did have a family.

Emmet. 

Emmet froze in place. For a moment, he couldn't move, but when he could, he put one foot in front of the other, beginning to move his legs. 

One shaky step at a time, before he was in a full on dash, soon barreling into his brother's arms, gripping him with a hug that time and space could rip from his cold, dead hands. He tried to say something, but all that came from his mouth was whimpers that accompanied the stream of tears that started rolling down his face almost immediately after he spotted Ingo.

Upon stepping out from the cave, Ingo also felt himself move towards the man who looked like him, if not much slower and making much less distance. 

Ingo didn't have much time to process what was happening. He felt confused, excited, happy...and sad. Ingo almost immediately returned the hug. He was crying. Tears stung at his eyes, and when he tried to blink them away, only more came. Eventually, he allowed them to.

Finally, Emmet spoke between sobs.

"Ingo..you are here! You are really here..I knew I would find you! I knew my searches would not be useless, no matter how many people told me they would be..it worked! I found you! I am sooo happy to see you! You can finally come home.."

Home.

"I can't remember my own home…"

Not only did Ingo have a family, he also really did have a home.

A home he had before Hisui.

Suddenly, Emmet pulled away, tears still streaming from his eyes.

"We have to tell Elesa! Our Pokémon, too! Yup! The Subway System has been verrry lonely without you, you have not been there to even battle! Are you alright? You look a bit sickly..you have grown a beard, too! When–"

"Wait." Ingo said suddenly. 

Emmet was important. Very important. He could feel his mind grasping at it, but it couldn't quite grip it.

Emmet stopped talking and blinked.

"You look like me." Ingo said simply.

Emmet was taken aback, but nodded. "Yes. Yes of course, you do. We are brothers! A two-car train!"

A two-car train.

Yes. Ingo knew that. The moment he saw Emmet, he knew he was important.

He was his twin brother. One part of their two-car train.

Ingo was so happy to see Emmet again.

And yet, as a moment of silence wavered through the air, Ingo realized 

He hardly remembered anything about Emmet.

"I'm sorry, I'm just..a bit delirious," Ingo then said, focusing, "I'm really happy to see you."

Emmet nodded "I am happy to see you, too! So verrry happy! Although, about being delirious..you look…beat..are you okay? You are acting a bit strange. We should go find someone who can fix you up."

Ingo appreciated the thought, but he was thinking of something else.

How would Emmet react if Ingo told him he didn't remember? He would be heartbroken.

But somehow, it seemed worse to keep it from him.

Ingo spoke, "I'm sure there's many things that must be done, Emmet..but there's something..very important I need to tell you. It will be unexpected, but please, just listen."

Emmet's smile dissipated a bit, but he nodded. 

Ingo took in a breath.

"I…I really don't want to have to tell you this, but…when we were separated, I…"

Emmet blinked, looking at Ingo.

"I had..forgotten about you, and I still don't remember everything…"

Emmet's eyes widened.

"What…?"

Ingo winced, but continued regardless,

"Let me explain. One day I woke up in this land called Hisui that I had never been to, and I couldn't remember anything but my own name. All my time there, I knew there were things I was forgetting. Things so important. But I could never remember."

Emmet's chest was tight, and he had a horrible feeling in his stomach. He felt like he might throw up. Ingo? Forgot him? 

"No. N-No, you know me! I am your twin brother! Your best friend!" Emmet blurted out.

"You're right, I do know you." Ingo responded, "From the moment I saw you, I knew you were important. Family. But I only know so little."

Tears welled up in Emmet's eyes, and he used his hands to pull on the hair on the sides of his head. He began to weep. 

Emmet felt like he couldn't talk. His legs collapsed from under him and he landed on his knees, his tears coming down harder

"I knew it was something I did. You would not say such a cruel joke otherwise."

Ingo's eyes widened. He rushed to sit in front of Emmet. 

"Emmet, I'm…I'm not joking…but I swear, everything will be okay–"

Emmet was hyperventilating at this point.

"How could this ever be okay…?" He whimpered.

Seeing Emmet like this broke Ingo's heart. What he felt and how he thought was endlessly complicated, but he had to try and explain it. 

Ingo paused, before he seemingly instinctively hugged Emmet, holding him gently but securely. Tears stung at his eyes. He felt terrible. But he needed to stay strong. 

"Emmet. I know your heart is broken. My heart is broken, too, but I want to fix both of them as much as I can, because I care about you. So please, hear what I have to say."

Emmet didn't respond, but he relaxed somewhat from his previously tense position, lowering his hands from his head. 

After a moment, Ingo continued,

"In my time before today, I would do and say things for reasons I didn't know, but they gave me strength and comfort..there were rare instances where I would recall things that were from my lost past because of small aspects of things that would make something click in my head…"

Emmet wrapped his arms around Ingo. He was silent. Ingo supposed he was listening.

"A few months ago, someone appeared here…she helped me regain some knowledge of my original time and world, as she was from there, too…but again, I only know so little compared to what I could possibly remember…"

Ingo pulled away from the hug, his hands on Emmet's shoulders. Ingo looked into Emmet's eyes, which were filled with mixes of emotion. 

"But I can remember, I want to remember …I had recently begun to recall tiny bits and pieces of my home, of you…and the moment I saw you, I knew you were somebody key to my life and memories."

Emmet took in a breath, stammering. 

"S-So…even if you can't remember everything, you know how important the people and things from your home are…and you still care about us…?"

Ingo nodded firmly, "Of course. Even if the memories themselves have faded, much still lives on in my heart." Ingo dug into his pocket, taking out the torn glove and piece of blue fabric he had found earlier in Wayward Cave, holding them out for Emmet to take, "Even if I can't remember the memories that make it up, I can still feel the bond between us and how important you are to me. My twin brother. My best friend."

Emmet gasped, taking the piece of fabric and the glove.

"Where did you find these…?" He murmured.

"In that cave you saw me come from. It was there I remembered multiple important things; It almost seems as if the universe wanted me to find them." Ingo explained, "I had a good feeling they traced back to someone special, and now I know that's true. I knew it was true from the moment I saw you."

"Ingo…thank you so, so much.."

"You don't need to thank me for anything."

Before anything else could be said, Emmet felt something from within his coat. He gasped.

"Our Pokémon".

Ingo was confused for a moment, before it hit him, and his eyes widened. 

"You said something about 'telling our Pokémon'...we were Pokémon trainers back in our..home..too, weren't we?"

Emmet nodded, but as he opened his mouth to speak, a blue beam of light shot out of a Pokéball in his coat, a Pokémon forming. It looked confused, before it turned to Ingo, and stopped.

Ingo's eyes widened

Its name escapes me, but I remember it wielded flames with mastery..

His Pokémon.

-

Chandelure had felt as if something was off. She didn't want to jump to conclusions, but she felt as if their trip with Emmet had come to an unexpected stop. 

So she left her Pokéball to see.

And what she saw was certainly unexpected, but absolutely welcome.

It was Emmet. And Ingo.

Ingo. It was Ingo!

-

Ingo blinked in shock as he took in the sight before him. A Pokémon, resembling a chandelier with purple flames.

Its name escapes me…

Chandelure.

Chandelure made a noise of much excitement, tipped with a mix of other emotions. She swiftly floated towards Ingo and hugged him as tightly as she could with her strange yet welcoming appendages. 

Then, a multitude of other beams of light escaped Emmet's coat, 12 other Pokémon forming in total! They were also confused for a moment, but made noises of their own unique excitement and emotions as they spotted Ingo. 6 more Pokémon surrounded Ingo, the 6 others behind him.

Ingo seemed surprised, but not bothered. Emmet had a perplexed expression, but then he smiled, shrugging. He knew he should probably give Ingo a moment to take this all in.

"They missed you a lot."

Ingo's eyes filled with tears as he returned Chandelure's embrace. Then, after a moment, he let go of her, going to give the other Pokémon a warm greeting. He listed their names in his head as he scanned them.

A creature made of gears and other items. Klinklang. A yellow and black dragon with blades on the sides of its mouth. Haxorus. A small brown and white creature with a long face but sharp claws. Excadrill. A creature composed of garbage, yet had a charming demeanor. Garbodor. A creature resembling a strong human, but not quite, carrying a red metal rod. Gurrdurr. And a creature with pincers and a large, square rock on top of it. Crustle.

These were his Pokémon, although he had equal ownership of the last one, sharing it with Emmet, a strange detail he seemed to remember off the top of his head. These 7, out of the 13 he could see. They were his. He fought the tears filling his eyes. 

Ingo went over to the other 6.

Another creature made of gears and other items, identical to Ingo's own, except the gears turned the opposite way. Another Klinklang. A long, blue and yellow creature with fins and a large mouth. Eelektross. A yellow creature with 6 eyes and 6 legs, and blue and purple patterns. Galvantula. A colorful creature with feathers yet also scales, bearing wings and claws at the same time. Archeops. A small, gray creature, seemingly made of metal, with 6 legs and pincers in its mouth.  Durant. And a blue creature seemingly made of rock, 3 legs hoisting it up, with smaller orange parts, and yellow carving out its eyes. Boldore.

Ingo blinked, the tears in his eyes rolling down his face. This prompted the Pokémon to move positions, Ingo's own Pokémon scattering around him and patting him, the other Pokémon chirping sounds to comfort Ingo. Ingo laughed and patted the Pokémon in return, his laughter assuring the Pokémon he appreciated their gestures. 

Chandelure had returned to be positioned in front of Ingo. Her flames wavered brightly.

I remember that it wielded flames with mastery…

Ingo smiled.

But then, that smile vanished. He glanced at Emmet, who by his facial expression, Ingo was able to tell he was thinking the same thing.

"Better sooner than later. I will help." Emmet stated simply.

Emmet was stressed, but he knew it was the best way to go. Ingo was certainly stressed as well. As anxious as he still was, Ingo's words resonated with him, and he was able to feel somewhat calm, and know what he said was true. At the end of it all, he was glad Ingo told him sooner than later. He'd rather get it over with. 

"We had an unexpected stop in schedule." Emmet spoke.

"The reason we had an unexpected stop is because I had to work something out with Emmet regarding something important," Ingo explained, "and it's only fair that I tell you all, as well."

The Pokémon gathered around Ingo.

"It's..not good news. It's going to be hard to take in," Ingo said, "but please trust me when I say it'll all be okay. I just need you all to listen".

"Ingo loves you all verrry much." Emmet added, "Please keep this in mind."

The Pokémon were concerned, but also confused. They had been through hardships before; what could this bad thing be?

It came to them that they underestimated what it was.

Ingo repeated what he had told Emmet to the Pokémon; That before today, he did not remember them. As expected, the Pokémon did not react well. They made noises of distress, some arguing with the absurd concept, others panicking or shutting down. Some threw fits and others went to hide. Emmet's Pokémon scattered over to him. He tried to comfort them, petting them and trying to reassure them. 

Haxorus shrunk away, lowering his head. Chandelure's flames darkened just a bit. Garbodor cried, its defeated arms hanging at its side.

And with the others' grief forming in their own ways. 

Ingo had expected a negative reaction, but it seemed he had overestimated his ability to take control of the situation. 

"Everyone, please listen–" Ingo called out.

A few of the Pokémon looked at him, but most of them were too upset.

Ingo took in a breath and went into thought. How could he calm them down? 

After a moment, something clicked in his head. It was odd, but it felt right. He reached into his cloak and took out the Celestica Flute. He put the flute to his mouth, and without any outside guidance, played a tune he had never heard in Hisui, yet it was so familiar. 

Emmet smiled, holding back tears, and the Pokémon began to calm down. The noise lowered, any fits began to calm, Pokémon hiding peeked out to look. Haxorus looked up, Garbodor lifted its arms, Chandelure's flames grew just a bit brighter.

That tune was only something an Ingo that remembered would know. 

It may seem silly to some, but Ingo and Emmet had grown a special attachment to that tune ever since they were boys. Their parents sometimes whistled it to them to help calm them, and the brothers learned to whistle it themselves to help themselves and each other when they needed it. As Pokémon trainers, they passed this tradition down to them– they'd whistle it to their dear Pokémon when they needed it, too.

Ingo lowered the flute and put it back in his coat. He sat down and patted the ground to his side.

"Come here and listen. I promise, everything will be okay, even if it seems like it won't be." Ingo averred. 

Emmet shuffled towards Ingo a little as his Pokémon approached him as well, a soft smile on his face. He had a warm feeling. Despite claiming to have failing memory, Ingo had remembered how to calm both him and their Pokémon down; Close, calming gestures and shared, special things. There was no way it was a coincidence.

Ingo continued to explain the situation to the Pokémon, making sure to communicate well to them; how he did things for reasons he didn't know, how he knew there were things missing, how he started to remember, could and wanted to remember more, and how he wanted to mend this all. 

"You all are my family, my best friends." Ingo stated, looking at the Pokémon, "I want everything to be okay again, and I'll make sure that that happens."

The Pokémon chattered among themselves, perplexed..but glad. 

Ingo glanced around, looking at Emmet and the Pokémon around him.

His family.

A sad look then flashed across Ingo's eyes. Tears filled his eyes and he blinked them away, but a few rolled down his face. He glanced down for a moment.

"I'm so sorry about all of this, that I forgot you all…I still missed you before today, even if I didn't know it…I didn't mean to forget you, and I would never want to.."

Emmet and the Pokémon were taken aback. Emmet rushed over to Ingo and pulled him into a hug, surprising the older twin. The Pokémon, who had surrounded Ingo and Emmet, patted Ingo and chattered noises of comfort.

Ingo always liked the company of his loved ones. Emmet and their Pokémon remembered that for sure.

"Ingo. You have no reason to apologize. I am sorry if I made you feel bad. I am not upset with you. I never was." Emmet affirmed, "This situation is not your fault. Even though you do not remember, you are working with us, like you always have. We are grateful for that." The Pokémon made noises of agreement.

A warm feeling grew in Ingo's chest. 

"No, no, you didn't make me feel bad." Ingo responded, then letting out a breathy laugh, "I am glad I could do something. Thank you, Emmet. All of you. Thank you so much."

After a moment, Ingo and Emmet let go of each other. Emmet looked at the ground for a moment, thinking, before he looked back up to Ingo and spoke.

"So you are…willing to regain your memories, like you said?"

"I have wondered about my origins for all my time here," Ingo responded, "I would want nothing else. Which reminds me; Emmet, my Pokémon friends, I have decided on something, and I have something important to ask you all."

Emmet seemed a bit perplexed, as did the Pokémon, but nodded, with the Pokémon making noises of affirmation, assuring Ingo he was in the clear to ask. 

"I am willing to regain my memories." Ingo said, tears welling up in his eyes as he looked at his brother, "Will you all be willing to once again start up this two-car train," Ingo looked around at all his Pokémon, "along with special, dear passengers," Then back to Emmet, "and set out on a new track; Helping me reclaim who I once was, as I will help you, and mend this all?"

A smile spread across Emmet's face, tears forming in his eyes as well, the Pokémon showing delighted movements and making noises of happiness, "That is exactly what I want to do. You said you wanted to fix our hearts; You should not have to do that alone. I want to do that, too. I have no doubt that our Pokémon feel the same. Yup! We are a two-car train with our dear passengers, like you said, after all, and we want nothing else than to go down this new track with you."

Ingo smiled as well and stood up, reaching his hand out to Emmet, who grabbed it and stood up with Ingo, then embracing him once again. Ingo returned the gesture. The Pokémon huddled with them, Ingo and Emmet patting them softly. Neither twin, nor the Pokémon, had to say anything; The message was already clear.

Thank you for being here with me.

After a few moments, they let go.

"We have much to do." Ingo said, "It will be a long track forward."

"That is okay. It will be alright as long as we all are together; You think this, too, yes?" Emmet responded.

Ingo nodded, "Absolutely."

The Pokémon chattered in contentment. They agreed. 

Chapter 16 (part 1 of 2)

Chapter 17 (part 1 of 2)