#mew mew power!・important

[purplelea]

I see people getting enthusiastic about the player polycule but will they still be there when I'll start talking about JoshBeat, BeatShiki and Joshiki? not so sure. a shame since those three ships are extremely interesting as well

[krikidilly]

We're not so different, you and i

[sfznyxio]

-ˋˏ HEADLINES ˎˊ

SYNOPSIS. following the success of the recruitment process and their first concert, this odd combination of a band becomes busy these days. thus, they hired a manager to keep track of their schedules. and to an extent, deal with their shenanigans that may or may not feature on the news.

CHARACTERS. argenti, aventurine, jingliu, kafka, robin

CONTENT. gn!reader. celebrity au, musician au, modern au. comedy, fluff. 1.1k wc. inspired by the concert animated commercial: “before the show begins”. canon elements (jingliu - powers; aventurine - cake cats; robin - halovian features). reader’s the straight man in this chaos. cameos from yanqing (argenti, jingliu), stelle (argenti, jingliu, kafka) and caelus (aventurine, robin). brief mentions of ruan mei (aventurine) and sunday (robin). word vomit for the most part.

VERA. happy pride month, bitches. what a good way to start off the month watching the haikyuu movie, seeing volleyball boys stare at each other intensely and metaphorically stab their friends in the neck. all i can say is that the animation was insane. speaking of insane, the hsr concert was released to celebrate the game’s first anniversary. “sway to the cosmos” is my favorite out of the setlist, and i even made it as my train jam. imagine seeing it live though… i die. i had to look up what instrument jingliu plays and i strongly believe it’s an erhu based on how it looks. i kinda don’t like this; i have no idea what i wrote. it’s my worst attempt at being funny lol.

𝄞༉‧₊˚. ARGENTI

drummer argenti preaches ‘scripture of beauty’ to fans

“hey! what’s the ‘scripture’ supposed to be? actually, who is idrila? look, you can’t spout names like that and not expect a scandal to not happen.” argenti seems to be in the zone while dancing with his fans at the park, so he most likely didn’t hear what you just said. you glance at stelle and yanqing to get him to snap out of it, but they’re completely drained, on the floor from being dragged into the spotlight earlier.

“my lovely manager! since you’re here, you must be interested in being a follower?” not at the very slightest, but the name argenti throws out and about drives news outlets and his fans up on the walls. that may put the drummer at risk of being a subject of misunderstandings and fanwars, which is why you’re here in the first place. you can feel the stares of his audience burning into your skull, so you extend your hand to “express” your interest.

“wonderful. now, let us dance under the name of beauty!” throughout it all, everything blurs out. not even five minutes in, you’re exhausted out of your mind, unsure if argenti has given you useful information about his charade. in the end, you gather more questions than answers, and practically leave the drummer to handle the potential messy aftermath. he’s an enigma; anyone can tell you he’s the eighth wonder of the world, and you’ll believe it.

𝄞༉‧₊˚. AVENTURINE

guitarist aventurine adopts scientist’s ‘sweet’ creations

“rise and shine. your cats won’t stop bothering me until you wake up, by the way.” all the feline pastry lifeforms on your head, shoulder, and feet mew in agreement. caelus somehow has collaborated with the scientist who created them, making some that resemble his friends, one of which is aventurine. the guitarist adopts his lookalike for fun at first, and now his house is their haven, which makes his issue of organization worse.

“hey, pretty boy! you better wake up, or i’ll sit on your face and suffocate you!” the synesthesia beacon in your phone picks up a translation from under aventurine’s arms. there’s a cake cat that resembles you, but do you actually sound like that when you’re upset? never mind that; the most important question here is why does he have a cake cat version of you here? well, he’s already behind schedule, so out of curiosity, you try out its suggestion. 

“okay, okay. i’m up.” the cat cake version of yourself huffs at him taking forever to get ready, but seems proud of making its threat happen with your help. aventurine sees five pairs of eyes staring at him, with one in particular full of disappointment for being inconsiderate. he promises to keep track next time, but you aren’t sure he’ll truly follow through if he’s convinced to expand his cake cat kingdom.

𝄞༉‧₊˚. JINGLIU

erhu player jingliu unleashes ice blades at passersby

“for the last time, the people who watched you perform gave you strales because they appreciate your talent. this is the fourth time this week of scaring them with your sword.” you note a careful distance between the passerby and jingliu, who resumes playing her erhu like it’s none of her business. stelle has learned it the hard way so luckily she has you to deal with the erhu player. the first victim of her powers slips out from a tree to wish you luck with a thumbs up.

“ah, has that young man come yet? i would like to have a spar with him.” jingliu’s referring to yanqing, another swordsman. he loves competition, so this entire street, or the entire city even, is screwed into becoming an icy wonderland. telling her that he’s not here, she returns to performing. you notice a brilliant idea coming into fruition as soon as she stops her bow halfway, and it already doesn’t sound good.

“manager, why don’t you spar with me? let’s see who will fall first.” you immediately refuse without a second thought. jingliu would win anyway as she’s more skilled with the sword and you have no powers, so it isn’t a fair fight to begin with. you’re just relieved that she didn’t unleash her icy blades for the fifth time, and that you make it alive throughout the confrontation.

𝄞༉‧₊˚. KAFKA

violinist kafka sends many clothes stores bankrupt

“listen… i get that you look great in everything and all, but do you think this is way too much?” you gesture to the cart overflowing with concert outfits. kafka hums in contemplation as she examines her next purchase in the mirror, then nods in approval which seals the deal.

“oh, you think so too? alright then, i’ll have stelle handle all payments as usual.” stelle averts her gaze away to avoid your temper, pretending as if she didn’t enable the violinist’s unlimited shopping spree. you can sense the employees fearing for their livelihoods that are at stake, and you can feel like yours will be at the state soon if this keeps up. scolding kafka to unload everything in the cart, the wave of relief in the staff washes away when she reveals a special trick up her sleeve.

“what about your wardrobe? surely you can’t wear the same exact thing everyday, don’t you think?” kafka jabs into one of your weaknesses: the lack of variety in your closet. it’s important to appear presentable as the band manager, but your uniformity gives you not a lot of room to try out different combinations. the only hope of this store is gone, and so is the store itself as soon as the credit card is swiped.

𝄞༉‧₊˚. ROBIN

singer robin disappears once again from photoshoot

“when your brother finds out you snuck out again, he will kill me in the most painful way possible.” whenever you bring that man up, always in the worst case scenario, robin responds with a smile as reassurance that he won’t hurt you when she’s around. but it’s more like she won’t get in trouble, leaving you to shoulder the blame.

“don’t worry! caelus will take care of everything. ah, i hope i wasn’t too late.” the self-proclaimed master of stalling strikes again. knowing that man, robin’s confidence in caelus is astounding. because sooner or later, he’ll find out that she’s at a toy store with you to buy the limited edition of a clockie figurine. the singer will be happy, and you’ll end up dead in a ditch probably.

“oh no, photographers are here. can you cover for me?” robin tucks her wings beside her face so they can fit under her mask. while she browses through the aisles, you direct the photoshoot team outside, hopefully far enough from the store to remain off radar from her brother’s watch. you pray that caelus comes back in one piece as well as yourself. the cost of making a halovian’s day brighter, especially if she’s a famous singer and has a control freak of a sibling, is quite risky.

[thewertsearch]

GG: oh god, it is still a frogcicle!!!! GG: this will not do [...] GA: The Problem Is That You Were Able To Appearify It At All GA: Ectobiology Is Based Entirely On Your Inability To Appearify A Subject

It's the slime we want, not the frogcicle. But what's the cloning for?

Why are frogs so uniquely important to the fate of the session? Is this a ritual to beseech, placate or summon Bilious Slick? Are frogs the Mew of every universe, the progenitors of all species that arise in the kids' new world? Is frog breeding simply a mysterious, arbitrary requirement of the game?

Tell me about frogs, Mayram!!

GA: You Will Need To Direct The Terminal To Another Frog GA: And Then You Must Be Sure Later To Interfere With That Frog In Some Way GA: For Instance By Planning To Venture Out To Capture That Exact Frog As I Suggested Earlier GA: That Way It Will Be Impossible To Appearify The Frog Before Your Interference Has Taken Place

Surprisingly, it seems like the fate of this frog depends on Jade’s current intentions. If so, Jade's thoughts are directly manipulating the timeline – which is exactly what I think Terezi was explaining to Dave. That's Mind power, baby!

GA: When You Travel To Interact With Your Cloned Subjects You Are Also Taking The Opportunity To Explore And Discover New Habitats GA: As Well As New Species Of Frogs For Your Terminal To Track GA: Its Efficient To Go Adventuring In This Fashion While You Are Waiting For Your Young Clones To Mature

This mission seems like a lot of fun, whatever its purpose truly is.

I think it's the Quest I'd enjoy the most - if indeed, this is Jade's Quest, and not an additional objective for Forge Players.

GA: Unlike Some Appearifiers In The Veil This One Is Locked To The Present Moment GA: You Cannot Use It As A Window Into The Future Or Past And Isolate Frogs Whose Futures Are Certain And Therefore Most Paradoxifiable

I was under the impression that all futures were certain in the Alpha Timeline. Sure, it might respond to Jade's intentions, but her intentions themselves were already set in stone. From a top-level perspective, there was never any uncertainty.

Maybe, then, Kanaya's just referring to the certainty of events from Jade's perspective. Like, every frog's fate is technically certain, but since Jade doesn't know these fates, they're uncertain to her.

GA: Means Of Expedition Are Limited GA: I Suppose You Could Use Time Travel To Accelerate The Process GA: But You Would Need To Establish Weeks Worth Of Stable Time Loops GA: I Think It Would Be An Overly Elaborate And Dangerous Undertaking Personally And Anyone Who Would Attempt Such A Thing Is Reckless

I take it Dave’s firing up the Timetables as we speak.

[a-writing-otter]

WIP Wednesday - Chapter 9 of the Redemption and Subsequent Death of Bill Cipher

“Okay. Okay. One more time.”

Bill shakes himself off, eyes fixed on where Red and Dipper are standing. Dipper is sitting on the back of Question Mark’s pickup truck with his notebook and Red is standing there, twirling an axe in her hand. Bill is stanced in front of a target, facing them.

As of three days ago, Bill is back on his feet and back to work. After waking up and being cognizant enough to actually function in Ford’s room, they’d made him lay back for another day. While Bill put up a good bit of complaint about it, it wasn’t all that bad, mostly because Ford stayed with him and pet his hair and let him stay in his bed.

Again, things aren’t exactly back to the way they were before, but there’s marked improvement. Ford will be in the same room as him again, talks to him again, even seeks him out. The night before, they’d just sat on the roof of the Mystery Shack looking at the stars and talking in a way that made Bill remember again how things had been thirty years prior.

In addition to whatever is repairing between him and Ford, Bill has devoted all spare energy to trying to get that alternate form to come out. They’ve tried meditation and clenching and willing it into being, but nothing has worked. The last solution was near-death experiences.

Thus Red, her axe, and a large target behind Bill.

“Ready?” Red asks, tossing the axe up and down in her hand for a second.

Shaking his shoulders out, Bill nods.

“Ready.”

“Alright then. Three… two—“

Red throws it on two, it sails right past Bill’s ear, Bill screams, and nothing else happens.

“What happened to ‘go on one’?!” Bill shrieks when he comes back to himself, heart hammering in his chest.

“It’s no fun if you expect it,” Red laughs, going over to collect her axe where it is sunk deep into the target beside Bill. “We’re trying to simulate a ‘near death experience’.”

“Yeah, well—“

“What are you doing?”

The three of them look up to see Ford and Mabel wandering to them. Ford is staring at Bill like he’s got three heads while Red pulls the axe out and puts it on her shoulder.

“I actually don’t know how to answer that question,” Bill confesses.

“We’re seeing if we can coax that other version of Bill out through fear,” Dipper says instead.

“By throwing axes at him?” Ford doesn’t sound mad, almost unimpressed. “There’s better ways to scare him.”

“Well, if you’ve got anything better, I’ll hear it. Nothing’s happening,” Bill tells him.

“Short of just praying that it happens when it happens, we’ve tried everything I would normally suggest,” Dipper notes from the truck.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it?

“You could try the ‘Mew Mew Kissy Cutie’ method?” Mabel suggests, climbing up into the truck to sit next to Dipper.

Ford and Bill both blink at her while Red groans and rolls her eyes.

“The what?” Bill asks.

“It’s a stupid kid’s show,” Red dismisses.

“It is an ‘anime’,” Mabel corrects with a good deal of gravitas, “and it is a very important anime.”

“Those are the shows that Soos watches sometimes, right?” Ford recalls and Mabel nods enthusiastically.

“Soos showed them to me! It’s about a magical girl!”

“Magical—” Bill starts.

“Girl?” and Ford finishes.

“Well, I’m not magic or a girl.”

Dipper makes a thoughtful sound.

“You are magical and, technically, you aren’t a boy or a girl, you’re a demon.”

“I mean, yes, your binary understanding of gender doesn’t work outside of your realm, but according to the fake ID your grunkle got me so I can buy various age-appropriate implements, I’m a man.”

“It’s not about being a boy or a girl,” Mabel insists before standing, striking a pose, “it’s about saving the world and doing so in a cute outfit and magical powers! One of those things is taken care of.”

“…but I can’t access the magical powers,” Bill reminds. It’s stupid, incredibly stupid, but at this point, they’ve only got so many options.

“Alright, what do I do?”

Mabel energetically jumps down from the truck and goes over to him.

“So, the first thing you do is you have to spin around in a circle and put your arms above your head. After a couple circles, you stop, you strike a pose, and you wink.”

“…I do what?”

“You know, you—“ And Mabel comes closer before lifting her arms above her head. She turns in a neat circle a couple of times before stopping short, hip popped with one hand on it and the other holding a peace sign next to her face.

Bill blinks at her.

“You’re kidding.”

“You heard her,” Ford insists, sounding amused. “You spin in a circle with your hands above your—“

“You just want to see me dance around and make an idiot of myself.”

“The concept has merit, yes,” Ford teases.

Bill waves him off before looking down at Mabel. “I seriously have to do all of that?”

Mabel nods energetically.

The entire group is staring at Bill hopefully and— Look, they’re desperate at this point. …what’s the worst that happens, honestly?

Bill lets out a deep sigh, squaring his shoulders, and muttering under his breath about “stupid powers” and “stupid magical girls”. Stopping a few paces away, he takes a deep breath in, willing the pale heat in his face to die down.

He lifts his arms over his head, spins in two circles before doing the same move as Mabel before stopping, hip popped, hand on his hip, and peace sign near his face.

Nothing happens.

Ford immediately bursts into laughter and Bill throws his hands up.

[fallenclan]

RAVENSTAR’S APOLOGY

A fic by buttercup-unlimited :3

Author’s note: Here’s me drabbling for a while. Sorry if I get any lore/pronouns wrong, I’m trying my hardest but I am very tired 😭

The cave was vast and looming, the cracked rock face seeming to climb endlessly into the inky blackness above. A single word could echo dozens of times around these walls, spreading like a whispered rumour into the ear of another. The air hung heavy with bitter cold and silence, spare the eerie rustling of shrubbery from the clearing and the occasional warning call of a nearby bird.

Leaders of Fallenclan’s past only ever tended to use part of the intimidating space as a sleeping den, preferring to make their nests in a smaller corner and keep warmth in for as long as they could. Goldenstar infamously allowed kits to play in the space he left unused, simply stating that whatever was his, was the clan’s. Even Maplestar picked merely a decent chasm to curl up into, never needing anything more. Every leader that had come before, in fact, hadn’t dared to flaunt such a cathedral all for themselves.

But Ravenstar was nothing like the leaders that had come before. No, he was stronger. Smarter. Shrewder. Grander. The day that he had received his nine lives, Ravenstar had returned to camp to make a very deliberate show of slowly building his nest, twig by twig, in the very centre of the den. A statement, if you will, the marking of what was very clearly now his territory. His eyes had glowed in a strange sort of way that day. Forebodingly. If you looked close enough, you just might have seen the rush of power going straight to Ravenstar’s head. Leadership had that effect on some cats.

Littleleaf had been there. Every day, since they were born, Littleleaf had been by Ravenstar’s side. He had watched him through his apprenticeship, arguing with his mentor at even the most trivial of things. Older cats would often say that he was a strong-willed fellow, well suited for a powerful position one day. If only they had known who he would become.

Ravenstar had lost everything except Littleleaf. The two brothers were the only thing tying one another to reality, saving each other from fluttering away in the breeze—like a leaf under a rock, safe…and yet stifled.

“Ravenstar?”

Even the name bore a sense of importance, of tension. Littleleaf regretted the call as soon as he had uttered it, not helped by the constant repeat of his word as it travelled up the gossiping walls of the cave. He felt so small, so insignificant, in this place. Something about its legacy was an all-too-cruel reminder of the fleeting nature of existence—Littleleaf almost felt as if he could drop dead right there, on the ground, and it would only be a flashing moment in time.

He took a few tentative steps forward, careful not too make too much noise on the cold stone floor. Most of the den was hidden in shadow, daring any cat who wasn’t Ravenstar to even attempt to venture further.

“Do you have any time to talk? I have some news…” Littleleaf tried again, cringing at how easy it was to boom in these chambers.

“News? This should be interesting.” A voice drawled from behind him, causing Littleleaf to flinch as he turned. Ravenstar had perched himself on a jutted-out rock somewhere high up the wall, his tail tucked neatly over his paws as he observed.

“Oh, hello. You frightened me, brother.” Littleleaf chuckled nervously. Something about their relationship, usually so close and easy, had felt strained as of recently. It was no longer so easy to approach Ravenstar.

The Fallenclan leader smiled, eyes glinting maliciously. His black pelt blended in perfectly with the shadows of the rock face, almost like they had belonged here all along. This was Ravenstar’s home now, and there could be no dispute about that.

“Sincerest apologies. I’m waiting…?” The leader mewed coolly. It was clear that he had no time for small talk, not even with his kin.

“Right. Of course. Well, we weren’t sure when to tell you, but…here we go.” Littleleaf took a deep breath. It was awkward, trying to give news to someone several feet above you. “Moorthistle is expecting kits. You’re going to be an uncle.”

Boom.

A million thoughts seemed to rush through Ravenstar’s head all at once. The coolly composed tomcat, usually so calm and purposeful in his mannerisms, seemed to struggle to maintain his balance from his vantage point as he took in the news. His facade flickered, just enough for Littleleaf to notice, and for a second or two Ravenstar was just a confused young tom again.

“Kits.” Ravenstar repeated, bright eyes darting to just about every corner of the den. “Kits, belonging to you and to Moorthistle. In Fallenclan.”

Littleleaf nodded distractedly, craning his neck to get a better look at his brother. “Yes, I…are you alright, Ravenstar? You look rather shocked.”

Ravenstar seemed to snap back to attention all of a sudden, jolted back to life by the attention of his brother, momentary crisis over as soon as it had began. He straightened his neck, focused his gaze and gave his chest a few calming licks, whispering something inaudible to himself.

“Yes.” Ravenstar eventually replied, keeping his answers concise and dry—he was back to normal, indeed. “I’m fine thank you, brother. I was taken by surprise, is all.”

Littleleaf nodded. “Alright, then.”

There seemed to be eons of silence between the brothers, both unsure of what to say next. When did it become so hard to conversate?

It was only when Littleleaf seemed to be on the verge of turning and leaving that Ravenstar spoke again, blurting words in a hurry as if in an attempt to make him stay.

“This is very good news, Littleleaf.” He mewed loudly. “More kin for you and I. More kits for Fallenclan. I’m sure…I’m sure that they will grow up to be fine warriors. May Starclan bless you.”

Littleleaf knew the words were intended for comfort, but all he could find within himself to feel was hurt. Why was his brother, so high and mighty now on his pretentious throne of rock, speaking to him as if he were any other old aquaintance?

“Why do you hold me so far from your heart, brother?” Littleleaf asked before he could stop himself. He wished that he had stayed silent, seeing Ravenstar’s false smile drop. The last thing he needed for himself and Moorthistle was tension with the leader of their clan.

Ravenstar narrowed his glowing eyes, looking bemused at best. “What exactly do you mean?”

Littleleaf shook his head, suddenly feeling very warm under the roasting heat of Ravenstar’s gaze. “I didn’t mean anything. I was just thinking out loud, really, don’t listen to me…”

Ravenstar did not look convinced. As if deciding something to himself, the sleek black tom began to leap nimbly down to meet his brother on the cave floor. Was he going to berate him? Banish him? …Hug him? Littleleaf wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

They stood face to face for the first time in what felt like moons. Equal, it appeared, if only for a moment in time. Littleleaf often forgot that he was larger than his brother—because, in so many other ways, he was not.

“I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Littleleaf apologised, trying to back out of the hole he had dug himself into. He had never believed Ravenstar guilty of the crimes some suggested he had committed, but he didn’t intend on finding out if the accusations were truthful tonight.

“No. I’m the one who should apologise.” Ravenstar insisted suddenly, taking Littleleaf by surprise. “I… am sorry, brother. “

Littleleaf practically sputtered. This was the first time he had ever been apologised to by his brother, and most probably the last. He felt that the occasion should become an annual celebration.

“I know I have been distant, as of late. Partly because of my new duties, but also…” Ravenstar let out a laboured sigh, full of tension and grief that Littleleaf didn’t even know he possessed. “I care very much for you. More than you know. But it’s difficult for me. I see so much of them…in you.”

Littleleaf didn’t need to ask who his brother was referring to. “I see them, too. Everywhere.” He half-whispered.

Ravenstar held up a tail to silence his brother—an old leader tactic used to indicate that he was not yet finished saying his peace.

“I wanted to protect you. Show you how strong I could be on my own. I wanted to be the best I could be for you, Littleleaf. I am sorry if this meant sacrificing the time we used to spend together.” Ravenstar confessed. It was clearly difficult for the leader to talk about his feelings for such a prolonged period of time.

Littleleaf stroked his tail along his brother’s back comfortingly, the way he had when they were kits. “Thank you.” He murmured.

Ravenstar inclined his head. “I am happy for you, Littleleaf. You will make a great father. And perhaps…perhaps I will make a great uncle.”

Littleleaf wasn’t sure what to say. Was there anything he could say?

Perhaps, in this fleeting moment in time, all Ravenstar needed was a shoulder to lean on.

(Beetle note: THIS IS SO GOOD!!!! i love the exploration of Raven and Little's relationship,,, its so awesome)

[tomatoland]

Top's wounded inner child and TopMew's (play)dates

Top has a wounded inner child. He may look like a grown man on the outside, but inside, he is stuck here.

Top's reaction to freeze or go silent when emotions are high is very likely due to his fire trauma. When Mew yells at him, I thought Top very much looked like a child being yelled at by a parent. The way he avoids eye contact and bows his head. He feels indignation when Mew asks him if he and Boston planned this together, but he's unable to verbalize anything.

I wonder if his parents blamed him for the fire because it is very much reading as someone in Top's life expressed disappointment or blamed him at a critical time. Twice, Mew has asked Top for a reason why he slept with Boston and he can't say and again when Cheum asks, he can't say.

As I'm all about pattern recognition, the show is setting us up for this to be a conversation TopMew are going to have btw.

Top does take responsibility for his actions though. I initially thought that this was a positive sign of maturity, but it can also be a sign that Top had to take on too much responsibility at too young of an age. He does what he's expected to do, which is apologize, but he can't offer any further explanation.

What we know of Top's childhood is that he was neglected by his parents because they are always too busy working or socializing and he was alone when the fire happened. The responsibility of a household is so much to take on when you're so young and to deal with a crisis alone, no child should EVER have to do that. Parents are supposed to be there to protect their children, give them space to just be a kid and Top didn't have that.

Now, I want to talk about how TopMew's dates are actually helping Top heal his inner child.

TopMew's dates are all about introducing Mew to new experiences for TopMew both to experience together, but notice how they are all very playful.

They eat ice cream together, they go to the bookstore and share different parts of books with each other, they go bike riding, they even have sleepovers where nothing sexual happens, they play laser tag, hide-and-seek, dance like nobody's watching, sing out loud badly, drink neon green apple sodas together, and Mew keeps Top company while he sketches (draws).

Top's inner child holds all these heavy emotions from the fire incident, probably to the point that he can't remember good times he had as a child because he has spent an exorbitant amount of time here, fixating on that one moment. The result of which is years of insomnia, dependence on sleeping pills, a crippling fear of dying alone, and a fear of sleep.

I don't think Top & Mew did this consciously, but isn't it just absolutely perfect that is what their playdates (because that's what they are, aren't they?) are doing, giving Top a chance for him to connect to his inner child in a more lighthearted way than he usually does and just play.

“Three things strike me about inner child work: the speed with which people change when they do this work; the depth of that change, and the power and creativity that result when wounds from the past are healed.”

This space to reconnect to his inner child is what is helping Top move past the self-sabotaging behaviors and unhealthy coping mechanisms from before. Past Top would have called up Beam, Past Top would've fallen for Boston's manipulation. Before Mew, Top had a string of short-term relationships and now, he's thinking beyond three months.

The change in Top isn't because of Mew because even without Mew's presence, Top doesn't succumb to his old behaviors. This indicates that the change that may have started because of Mew, is now in Top. Being with Mew is what gave Top the opportunity to reconnect with and work on healing his inner child that now he wants to move past the things that were holding him in place.

This does bring up a really important fact though, change that is contingent on another person is not stable. Change must start with the individual if there is any chance for long-term sustainability. Maybe I'll be wrong and Top will self-destruct in the next episode, but he hasn't yet. He's still trying.

good article if you’re interested & cr for quote

[rabbiitte]

Sight vs. Senses: Exploring perception in Only Friends.

Because many people seem to be confused by this scene and don't know how to interpret it or simply classify it as “creepy”, I have decided to share my interpretation of how this scene uses cinematographic techniques and symbolism to influence the visual and general narrative of the series. Let's talk about Top and Mew's relationship, cinematography, visual narrative, symbolism, cinematographic techniques and the difference between vision-based perception and sense-based perception as inherent concepts in Top and Mew's relationship.

1. An introduction to cinematography, narrative and the use of visual metaphors.

Cinematography is a central element when creating movies or series, it can be used creatively to support the narrative and emotions of the story. At the same time, it contributes to create a visual narrative through the choice of camera angles, framing, camera movements and composition of images.

Visual narrative: refers to the way stories are told using primarily visual elements, such as images, composition, colors, symbolism, and camera movements, rather than relying primarily on dialogue or writing. It's about transmitting information, emotions and messages through what is seen on the screen in movies, television series, photographs or any other visual medium.

Visual narrative uses visual elements to convey emotions, themes and meanings that affect the perception of a story. Among the visual elements that are used to enrich the narrative we find visual metaphors.

Visual metaphors are visual elements in a cinematic work that represent abstract concepts, emotions, or themes. These metaphors can be subtle or prominent and are used to enrich the narrative and understanding of the story.

With this concept in mind, we can say that the date in the restaurant is a visual metaphor to address the concept of perception.

Perception is the process by which a person interprets and integrates the sensory information they receive from their environment to form an understanding of the world around them. It involves the ability to take sensory data, such as what you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste, and turn them into meaningful and understandable experiences.

In the restaurant, diners cannot see the food they're consuming until the lights are turned on at the end of the meal. This reflects a lack of literal vision, as they cannot use their sense of sight to identify food. Due to the lack of vision, diners must rely on their other senses, such as taste and smell, to experience food. This scene highlights the importance of trusting feelings and intuitions rather than relying solely on what can be seen with the eyes.

2. Narrative, cinematographic techniques and perception.

Another element that enriches visual narrative and, finally, narrative in general are cinematographic techniques. Visual narrative can use a variety of cinematic and visual techniques to guide the audience through a story, create atmosphere, reveal characters and their emotions, and convey underlying themes or messages. For example, the moment when Top asks Mew to use his senses and the camera focuses on Mew's face is a cinematic technique called “close up” and the following moment when the camera loses focus is a cinematic technique called “generalized blurring”.

Close up in cinematography and photography refers to the moment in which the camera gets very close to the subject, object or face of a character, filling most of the frame with that element. The main objective of a close up is to highlight details and facial expressions, allowing the viewer to concentrate on those elements with greater clarity and focus.

Generalized blurring in cinematography is a powerful tool in the hands of filmmakers to enrich the visual and emotional experience of a film. In this technique, the entire image is deliberately blurred or out of focus. It's used for various purposes like to set a specific mood in a scene or to represent the emotional or psychological states of the characters, among other uses.

In the restaurant scene, these techniques are used to concentrate on Mew's emotional or psychological state after Top asked him to use his senses and not his sight to perceive the food. Based on these cinematic techniques, we can infer that something important is happening in Mew's mind. In fact, judging by what happens after the scene, we can infer that something very important happened in the restaurant and that meant a change in Mew's attitude. What changed? The way Mew perceives Top.

3. Vision-based perception and sense-based perception.

In EP1, Mew told Top that he knew who was honest (about dating him) because “his sense was always right”. Basically, Mew is able to see people's intentions and, ultimately, their essence through sense-based perception.

Sense-based perception: this form of perception involves all human senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. It's based on the information captured through these senses to form a complete and rich understanding of the environment and people. Sense-based perception can be deeper and more accurate than other types of perception, as it involves multiple sensory modalities.

However, this isn't the type of perception that Mew has been using with Top until now. Mew is usually extra careful and suspicious around Top. His behaviour is usually guided by the mental image (of someone considered promiscuous) he formed of Top based on his immediate appearance. This type of perception is more related to what can be seen immediately and, finally, it's a type of perception related to the use of sight.

Vision-based perception focuses primarily on visual information. This is the most common form of perception in humans and refers to the ability to observe, interpret and understand the world through sight. Visual information is important, but it's often used along other senses to gain a complete understanding. In real life, things aren't what they seem at first glance and what it's seen doesn't always reflect the underlying reality.

An example of how Mew is usually guided by vision-based perception with Top can be found in EP2. When Top tells Mew about his trauma, Mew's immediate reaction is to laugh and not believe it. This is because what Top is telling Mew doesn't correspond to the mental image that Mew has formed of Top. The fact that Top can't sleep alone doesn't correspond to what Mew perceives based on his sight of Top.

Because visual-based perception is limited and must be used along other senses, this type of way of perceiving isn't enough to perceive the complete reality or, in this case, Top's essence.

Mew never stopped perceiving Top based on the apparent, based on the observable. We know this because Mew has never been around Top without his glasses (except in the water sports and shower scene) until EP5, episode in which Mew finally spends time with Top when he has broken glasses. The change in Mew's perception coincides with the episode in which his glasses break, coincidence? No, symbolism.

Mew's glasses: In this context, glasses could represent limited perception or distorted vision of reality.

In EP5, Top asks Mew three times to perceive him based on all his senses. All these times, Mew can't wear his glasses or Top suggests him to stop wearing them.

Situation #1: At the café, Top tells Mew that he wants to be clearly seen (although Mew can see him clearly while wearing his glasses) and recommends him to try a surgery. This time, Top suggests that Mew should stop wearing his glasses so he can perceive his essence/true self, while being guided by his sense-based perception.

Situation #2: At the restaurant, Top reminds Mew of what he said in the bookstore about sense-based perception and asks him to be guided by it. This is, again, a request to see Top as he really is and not based on a mental image.

That's why everything becomes blurry, it involves ignoring appearances or what's obvious in front of your eyes. Sense-based perception involves seeing Top's essence (and the affection he truly feels for Mew) and ignoring that which is easily perceptible to vision such as signs of lies. In this case, the generalized blur is a metaphor for saying that love is blind (in a cheesy way).

When Mew starts perceiving Top based on his senses, he loses control and shows how in love he really is with Top. Even all the people who were in the restaurant disappear because Mew and Top are not focusing on what can be perceived by sight, they're focusing on seeing the essence (and the love they feel for each other). This plane isn't on the same plane that the diners are, therefore they disappear.

I guess you can also say that people disappear because Mew is in love and he doesn't care about others, but I'd say it's more than that. It's a matter of perception. It has nothing to do with seeing, it has to do with looking and perceiving the essence of the person in front. It's not a passive activity, it's an active activity that requires collecting information based on all the senses.

No, I don't think it's a dream.

Situation #3: Before Top and Mew have their first time, Mew takes off his glasses and Top asks if he can see him. However, we know Mew can't see clearly without his glasses, so Top is actually asking him if he can perceive him based on his senses (if he can see his intentions and his deep love for him, that's why he keeps telling him that he loves him. He tries to supplant the sense of sight with the sense of listening).

4. The end of vision-based perception.

If we are guided by the idea that Mew's glasses are a symbolism that limits his perception to a vision-based perception, with no glasses Mew will be able to see clearly. Mew will see through Top's lies and that's why in EP5, Mew gets rid of his glasses and discovers Top's infidelity.

As you may have noticed, the restaurant scene is the climax of a topic that has been worked on, in relation to Top and Mew, since the beginning of the series. The restaurant scene marks a milestone in the relationship of both of them and the turning point in the narrative, this thanks to the way in which metaphors and cinematographic techniques shape the narrative. Clearly, this is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series and I think it has a high level of complexity and interpretation.

If you want to read more of my analyses, you can read my Mew analysis here. Stay tuned, I'll do a Ray analysis soon.

[thatgirl4815]

Self-Destruction

Ray has defied expectations so many times in the last two episodes. Though he is certainly bratty and impulsive, he's also not nearly as bratty as I was inclined to believe before the series aired. This got me thinking about defense mechanisms, and the way Ray's persona could be curated to match the person he wants to be, not necessarily the one he sees himself as.

As evidenced by his reaction to waking up at Sand's place in Ep1, Ray's own sense of self is directly intertwined with wealth. I suspect he's lived his entire life in luxury; more importantly, he's lived with constant comments about this luxury from those around him (come to think of it, how many Ray scenes have there been so far where his wealth hasn't been mentioned?). I'd argue Ray's construction of self is tied up in his money too; he even tells Mew in Ep1 that the only thing he knows how to do with money is spend it. He knows how important money is to his image because there's no escaping it.

So when Sand references the financial disparity between them in Ep2, Ray surely expects it. But instead of growing defensive, we see Ray react to nearly every one of Sand's jabs with a laugh, even the ones that seem particularly targeted at his deepest struggles. Such as--

Ray isn't only a "spoiled, rich brat here"--he's "lonely," and that's the bit that we've seen reiterated throughout this episode. I'd wager it goes much farther back than the show itself, given the subtle references to it in Ep1 with his friend group (i.e., how when he's drunk he always begs them not to leave him). This could be a sign of abandonment issues, likely to do with his mother's death and his father's supposed lack of (emotional) involvement in his life (there's no proof of this yet, but I'd put money on it).

I think Ray has two go-to defenses. The first is alcohol. Understandably, this numbs him to any loneliness he might feel. The second is carelessness--more specifically, the impression of carelessness. There's this common notion that if one pretends to feel a certain way, they might actually begin to feel that way. The same could be said here. If Ray acts unbothered, then he can convince himself that he really is unbothered. The persona blurs with reality until they become one and the same.

Obviously there are consequences to each of these defenses. Alcohol can lead to dependency, creating a greater need that develops into alcoholism. Acting is also dangerous because it's a form of suppression--an attempt at persuasion. It's a desperate man's effort to convince himself he's fine. But this only leads all of one's bad feelings to fester deep inside and create an even larger hole.

The arguable third defense against Ray's loneliness is companionship, which he seeks out in Sand. This has its own risks, as Sand seems to understand, but Ray denies. Intimacy in all its forms is particularly dangerous for Ray because it could only breed more loneliness. If he forms a deep attachment to someone, that's only giving them more power over him later. The moment his control starts to slip is the moment his defense turns into a weapon to be used against him. Again, I suspect this has roots in his mother's death, leading to abandonment and attachment issues.

In terms of future eps, once Ray realizes the control that Sand has over him, I suspect he'll deny it and brush it off. At the same time, he'll need more of it (Sand really does say it perfectly in this last scene). Eventually, this back-and-forth will create an implosion.

[waitmyturtles]

THE MORNING AFTER: ONLY FRIENDS, EPISODE 6 ("DECIDING IN YOUR YOUTH / ON THE POLICY OF TRUTH") EDITION

In segment 2/4 of this latest episode of Only Friends, Boston let us know what year the show's mind is on.

Some stuff was percolating around this time, some of it majorly important, and other stuff important maybe only to someone like myself, a baby born in the 1980s and raised in the 1990s who happens to have a thing for 20th-century British electronic rock.

In February 1997, the infamous "The One With The Morning After" episode of Friends came out -- when Rachel discovers that Ross had slept with someone else when, "WE WERE ON A BREAK!"

In September 1997, Linda Tripp begins recording her conversations with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, about Lewinsky's affair with the U.S. president of the time, Bill Clinton.

In January 1998, the first public news of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal comes out.

And in 1998, one of my favorite songs ever, "Policy of Truth," is released by one of the greatest bands of all time, Depeche Mode (ya feel me, Sand?). I thought a lot about this song, about the meaning of truth in the hands of young folks, and I thought a LOT about politics, during this episode.

It's just time to pay the price / For not listening to advice / And deciding in your youth / On the policy of truth

Truth, Bill, Monica, cheating, Friends. It's a lot. To me, this episode dealt with politics, with the nature of what "truth" means, what truth means when it is created and/or revealed at a particular point in time, and how young people begin to learn about the correlation between truth and consequences in safe, unsafe, and enduring ways.

We meet Boston's dad, shown above. We see he's got a flavor about him. He's quite casual with his son ("Ton, you dipshit!"). He's borrowing help from his son's friend for campaign materials (ooookay, lol, where is your campaign manager), while smoochin' on a Scotch.

What are campaign materials? Campaign materials -- posters, mailers, policies, commercials, etc. -- are the selling of an image. A political campaign is not quite about truth. A political campaign is a selling of a story that candidates want voters to buy with their votes. It's reality....-ish. It's a kind of truth that is ultimately selective and marketed to a particular voting audience that will hopefully allow that candidate to win and gain power.

There was someone else playing a political game, until his game crumbled. Top was playing a political game.

Before Mew blew Top's shit UP (Mew would have made Linda Tripp proud, goddamn), Top thought his political game was selling. He thought his IMAGE was selling. He thought his secret about his sex with Boston, while him and Top had reset and were not officially boyfriends again ("we were on a break"), was safe.

We saw Top's true nature come out time and time again, to Boston, to Nick, to Sand. We saw his aggressiveness and his confidence, his assuredness about his success as a top-tier man, directed to everyone EXCEPT Mew, with whom Top had to play a different game -- a game of touch-and-go, a game of restraint, a game of change, and certainly a game of withholding and/or manipulating certain truths about himself (Top) in order to continue to win Mew's heart. Before the in-bed blow-up at the end of the episode, Top even planted a guilt trip on Mew -- digging into Mew's continued distrust of Top by asking Mew to PLEASE consider everything that Top had changed for Mew.

Someone else was called out for playing a dishonest political game. Boston calls out Ray for not being honest about his feelings for Mew. Boston says to Ray, as Ray looks on in shock, below:

In this scene, I realized something. The only person NOT playing a game of deception at this point is Boston. Boston -- while an absolute jerk and asshole -- KNOWS he is these things. He doesn't fight off allegations that he is "nasty." He knows what he likes. He is honest about how he acts. He is truthful to his feelings. He is a jerk -- but he doesn't lie. (Or at least, he hasn't lied, yet.) He happens to keep secrets and withhold truths, but he hasn't distorted his image to try to fool anyone -- the way that Top has, the way that Ray has. He is utterly direct about his intentions with Nick, and he leaves it up to Nick to deal with his (Boston's) brutal honesty.

(Before I unwind on Boston to bring together these thoughts on sex, politics, and truth, I want to note that we had two instances of advice from GROWN-UPS -- from the quartet's business professor, and from Sand's mom -- that playing with friendship, work, love, and business, can result in awkward consequences. Finally, we begin to see a creep of the grown-up Greek chorus offering its thoughts on the antics of this group of aloof students who are almost Seinfeld-ian in their disdain of how they may hurt each other, others, and even themselves with their behaviors. This group has decided right now, in its youth, on its policies of truth. And Seinfeld, along with Friends, was the aloof epitome of the 1990s.)

The reason why I interjected that thought on grown-ups and consequences here is that both Boston and Ray had different takes on "truth" in this episode than Top. Like I said: Top has an image that he had been selling to Mew until the very end of the episode.

Boston and Ray, on the other hand, have relationships with truth in which they are unaware of the consequences of their almost thoughtless honesty (and in Ray's case, his simultaneous dishonesty). What do I mean by that?

As I mentioned before: Boston isn't deceitful. He's just brutal. Boston is brutally honest about his feelings and intentions -- and he doesn't realize that people like Nick, or Gap (DRAKE) may interpret sex, and feelings that might come from or after sex, differently than him. And those different feelings, from different people, will almost always have consequences of a kind that Boston is clearly not prepared to deal with. The biological urge that many have to be close or clingy after sex? The implication that if you have sex with someone, that you might automatically be “dating”? The theory that maaaaannny people have that sex is a way INTO a relationship (and not the other way around)? All of these notions need communication. I posit that Boston’s been VERY clear in his communication that he is NOT into ANYTHING related to a relationship—but he’s not aware that others do not think like him, and that WILL have consequences for him.

Ray, in that drunk and high performance of a lifetime at YOLO (cc @liyazaki LOLLLLL), thinks that he's saving his friends with a round of truth-telling. By being so blind to the feelings of others -- and, really, to ignore the rights and privacy of others to deal with their own truths on their own time -- Ray BLASTS past any of consequences that he might face, and that his friends may face, as he reveals their secrets, one by one.

@lurkingshan noted in one of her meta posts yesterday that Mew punched Ray at the bar in part to control the release of the truth of Top cheating on Mew, to leave that little bit out, so that Mew could have his own "gotcha" moment later at home with Top.

You know what that was? That was politics, baby. That was a HELL of a power move, for Mew to literally PUNCH someone out of his way, so that Mew could clinch a win for himself -- vis à vis a brutal truth that very clearly hurt and impacted him, either through his love for Top, and/or through embarrassment for his own reputation, as Shan notes.

I'm gonna tie this ALL together in just a moment -- but I want to make one very last note about the truth and a character. Sand runs to Ray in the parking lot after Ray's blow-up. Sand admits his feelings to Ray. Ray pushes him away and gets behind the wheel. And Sand hops on his bike and follows Ray.

At this point in the series, I posit that Sand knows exactly what he is getting into. (I'm SMDH about it, but he knows what he's getting into, god fucking damn it, SAND, baka.)

He's NOT deceiving himself. He's being honest with his feelings, like Boston is -- but, unlike Boston, I believe Sand is very fully aware of the consequences that his feelings may lead him to face. Remember that Sand is not a part of the original aloof quartet. He's not one with the liars, like Cheum and Ray. He's not one with Boston, who doesn't think ahead. He's not one with Mew, who is insecure, conniving, and now potentially vengeful. Sand, the goddamn romantic, is caught beneath a landslide on a champagne supernova with his feelings, and will clearly ride them out, with intention. (I want to SHAKE HIS DAMN SHOULDERS, but anyway.) (GMMTV, why do you have to play First like this. I just finished Not Me. You took the anarchy outta my boy. Now he’s blubbering for another problematic dude. Can we just. Let. First. I dunno. Anyway.)

So.... whew. What of all of this?

I take this episode as one that says:

Truth is what you make of truth. Truth -- whether it's the presentable truth, the not-totally-complete truth, the whole and unedited truth, or in the words of Californians, your own truth -- will have consequences when it is revealed. And a huge part of maturity is in one's handling of those revelations when they are made.

When you are young, you don't have the benefit of years and years of time and life to recognize that your actions may have consequences, some that are fleeting, some that will last a lifetime. A huge point of one's young adulthood is how you are shaped by the consequences of your actions and your decisions -- and by seeing how your actions affect other people, either intentionally or unintentionally.

Sex and politics rarely, if ever, mix well. For Boston's dad.... what will be revealed about Boston is not gonna be good for his campaign. And Boston's own life may well be impacted for a good chunk of his lifetime.

But, more than anything else, this theme of politics that I saw in this episode reflected for me -- of course, as always -- a kind of ephemerality in this series. You know why?

Politics, unless it is INCREDIBLY corrupt, always has term limits. Unless you're Putin or Mugabe: power unto a leader, or a group of leaders, will almost always come to an end.

The image will fade. The rhetoric will wither out.

The politics will always change -- because people always change, ideas always change.

HOWEVER. The consequences of one's actions in politics may last a lifetime, or lifetimes. If you REALLY fuck up? You’ll be known for that for your life.

The OF quartet is heading into a dalliance between impermanence and permanence, as well as with consequences that their aloofness has not prepared them for, and it's bound to be devastating. Many of them tried to play games in this episode. Almost all of them are unaware that these games will have long-lasting effects. Some of them (like Nick and Sand) are still playing games. And these games, these risks, are bound to end in many of them ending up as losers.

The following rule is NOT ephemeral — it is a permanent truth: in politics, there will ALWAYS be losers. That is always the case, and will always be the case. There are going to be a lot of losers by the time this show ends.

(EPHEMERALITY SQUAD, HAPPY SUNDAY! Thanks for tagging me in your meta yesterday! @ranchthoughts @chickenstrangers @slayerkitty @twig-tea @clara-maybe-ontheroad @distant-screaming @lurkingshan @neuroticbookworm)

[fadelbison]

Boston giving Sand the Reality Check he needed Part 1 of 2: Boston's Reasoning

This is my thoughts on Boston and Ray's fallout, how and why it came about and how Sand did really need it - which I start talking about in this meta - even though despite Boston's insistence his purpose was never to help Sand. I didn't mean to make this two parts but I started writing the Boston portion of the meta and it turned into what it did kajsfhsdkjfh and I needed to approach Sand and Ray's portion a little more seriously. Without further ado, here goes:

[SCENE START] Imagine you are Boston, the son of a politician, loaded with money but not a lot of visibility or acceptance (I mean if you watch enough Thai dramas you know what politician is code for - corruption, deception, selfishness, entitlement). You are extremely entitled, extremely guarded and extremely unscrupulous and this is what you've been taught life is, what successful, powerful people are like and you are successful and powerful even though things have not quite been going your way recently. Even though earlier on in the day you had your first human emotion:

(give the boy a break he is starting to figure out why people have boyfriends okay? much less that he also kind of wants one??? the emotional TOLL he is under oh boy)

and on top of all that suddenly you have been called for emotional support??? Mew is supposed to call Ray this is very much not your job!!! Can Mew's virgin ass please get over one stupid kiss already???

So Mew has called you and he is THE LAST person you ever want to help with THE LAST problem you've ever wanted to help him with. But you squeeze down the sting of rejection, the inferiority you feel from it - are you perhaps?? not as successful and powerful as you thought??? - and you try to be a normal, human person for A SECOND TIME in ONE day (!!!!) and be a good friend

And you did such a good job!!! You didn't play into his insecurities or try to ruin it for him - even though you wanted to!!! - because at the end of the day Mew is your friend and you know how important his virginity is to him. And now you are ready for some MUCH NEEDED REST from all that decent human being cosplay that you've been doing. And there is a cute guy who likes you and he has an apartment where you can go and fuck him and even though the day is ruined there is still chance for the night to recover but uh oh!!!! What's that???

A Situation You Do Not Understand!!!!! Involving the man who fucked up being manipulated so badly that you had to do 5 seconds of emotional labor earlier that day. Now, you have a choice as an adult to mind your business and walk away into that promised room of fucking that cute guy you were going to fuck. But you are also The Son of a Politician and if there is one thing you know it's that information is power and the instinct to meddle like a 70 year old auntie is slowly overtaking your senses. And so you ask a seemingly innocent question with auntie-adjacent straightforwardness:

And your hot mess of a best friend comes up with the shadiest, juiciest answer while his partner is looking at him like his soul is leaving his body:

On top of that there is weed????? In the form of a delicious looking cookie?????? At this point you are on a missive FROM GOD to find out What The Fuck is Going On.

And what the fuck IS going on?????

An absolute bonkers situation is unfolding, Ray somehow in the mess of his life and his unrequited feelings for Mew is living some romcom with the cute bar singer! Ray!!! The alcoholic!!!!! the one friend you could always count on to make you feel better about the mess that is your life. The one friend you will always be superior to - THAT RAY???

And to make matters worse!!! The cute guy you're with Knows Everything. You have been so busy squeezing out three drops of human emotions because you want to keep the Cute Guy You Kind Of Sort Of Might Like around that you forgot to get around to the 'so do you know any gossip' portion of the casual fucking programming.

Not only are you fucking up your duties to the Politicians' Son Upbringing but the dormant auntie inside you gets another whiff of that fat, juicy gossip as Ray pulls a second 'We Are Just Friends' after you JUST witnessed Sand feed him an edible WITH HIS MOUTH

And you're not trying to stir shit - promise!!! - you just want to see your alcoholic friend stutter and get awkward, put in his place a little bit because Mew might have you beat but there's no way that this flaming hot mess has you beat.

Except!!! UH OH!!!! Ray is an idiot! He is so in wanting of love and finding himself undeserving of it that he has genuinely Not Noticed that the man next to him is In Love With Him. He is not you!! - acutely aware of how his cute guy is in love with him - he is Discovering That Sand Likes Him and somehow you have been duped into helping????

Sand's soul is back in his body and they are somehow Being Worse than before. But your Help A Friend Quota is OUT! You have spent IT ALL on Mew earlier and You. Are. Done. Only one person is allowed to cosplay a decent human being tonight and BY GOD it will not be Ray! The only thing left to do is To Bring Out The Gasoline.

And So? You Do.

[END SCENE]

[honey-minded-hivemind]

hi again so I was thinking about the vampire au and I think I have an idea of a yandere vampire parents gambit and rogue [ the animated series ] x baby vampire reader.now in this au story is that gambit and rogue have been alive for centuries and have everything they can ever want wealth, power a happy loving marriage...everything explanied for one thing....child so imagine one night gambit and rogue realized that she's pregnant with their baby...their very own flesh and blood , a gift from the gods .so 9 months later when reader was born. they just can't help but love their baby even more. and they made a promise that they would love and protect their baby always.so what do you think.

That sounds really good, @roxanndrummond! I think it's kinda sweet, with a bit of darkness to it. I'll try a few headcanons for this (I haven't forgotten your other requests! I'm on a break from most requests right now, but I can do asks, and a few requests that catch my eye in particular). Let's do this!

• Being alive for so long can lead to many new and strange ways to pass the time.

• New ways to hunt for prey, new games to play, mew members to add to their coven, new powers to discover... Yet out of all of these new things, they craved the one thing they hadn't had yet- A child.

• The two tries for several years, decades, even a century or two, and finally, after all that time, they were successful... They finally brought into the world a healthy, happy baby. And the two were in love at the first small cry. Of course, having a vampire baby is not an easy task...

• Trying to feed Reader takes gentle hands and gentle words. They need blood, but they need their parents' blood at such an early stage of life. Drinking another vampire's blood, especially from their parents, helps dilute the richness from pure human blood, that could make Reader sick before they've built of immunities. But they make such cute noises when they eat, and their little hands are so soft, so small, when grasping their parents' fingers...

• Getting their baby to sleep is also it's own task. Baby vampires and fledglings need lots of sleep, yet sometimes they aren't tired enough to do it on their own. Lullabies can help. So can gentle rocking and soft humming. A dark room and soft bit of noise is always good, helping them feel calm and secure when they struggle to sleep peacefully. Of course, simply sleeping with their baby between them always seems to do the trick... And neither one wants to leave them alone, afraid they'll be gone the moment they leave...

• Having a coven to help them is a blessing. Plenty of members, all joyful over a new little one, and who would kill and die for them, each one ready to watch them if their parents can't. That earns them the titles of Aunts and Uncles amd Auncles... And their baby seems to enjoy the company, babbling away and cooing when their tummy is tickled, or their hair is stroked.

• Playing games is a good bonding activity. It creates positive emotions and a feeling of safety and happiness. It's important for little bèbès... Peek-a-boo always earns a few giggles. So do stuffed animals and soft blocks. And reading to their baby usually makes them sleepy, so they always finish their play with a baby book, letting their little one touch the pages and see the colors...

• They'd do anything for their baby. They'd hunt down every last vampire hunter, and they'd let a hunter kill them if it meant their baby lived. They'd never abandon them, they'd never leave them, if they could, they'd take Reader everywhere with them... In the end, they'll do their best for their baby, be the parents they need, keep them warm and happy and fed. It's the right thing to do, and it's what they want to do. Even if their baby tries to leave when they're older, they won't let them. How could they? This is their baby... And Mama and Papa would never let them down...

[talenlee]

Flygon Isn't Gunna Happen, People

When I talk about big game media franchises I’m often left with the thought that they are less an experience like a TV series, where you start out at the start and then you get to the end and eventually everyone either quits or resolves, but instead that they are like maps, where the past is a place you can just walk to. The oldest versions and oldest ways of playing games like Dungeons & Dragons still exist, and you can just go and find those communities who are not only still playing that game but playing the old game in ways that have continued to change and spiral off in their own directions over the fifty years of their life. This is too, too true of Pokemon, a game that has an active player community who focus their efforts on competitive head-to-head play of the very first generation of the game, down to the point where their metagame is upended upon the discovery of bugs or glitches the emulation software hadn’t quite properly implemented.

Navigating this map, though, especially when you stop treating the pure play forms of the game as the only ways to experience it, there are trends and mysteries that have endured and form their own cultural space. Game Freak are a positively inscrutable mistrix especially from the Anglosphere and people will invoke them like they’re talking about some sort of extrabiblical deity figure who can be appeased and whose intentions and demands can be defined through some kind of mystical analysis of stat changes. Amongst those myths there is the strange story of Flygon, the Pokemon that has never been much but has always felt like it should be.

If you’re not familiar with it, Flygon is a Dragon/Ground Pokemon with the ability levitate. This means that Flygon is immune to Electric Attacks and Ground Attacks and also resists Fire, Poison and Rock, things that a new player might assume are good to use to attack it, and its weaknesses are limited to Dragon (not that common) Fairy (all too common these days) and Ice (always common because it’s one of the best attacking types in the game).

In the context of Pokemon, a ‘good’ stat spread is hard to describe simply, so some benchmarks are that Mewtwo, a very, very strong Pokemon and in contention for one of the best Pokemon of all time, has a stat total of 680, which is the number used for very, very important and powerful Pokemon, Mew, a mythical Pokemon has a stat total of 600, which is shared by all the mythicals, and starter Pokemon (that all evolve into something pretty strong) are 530. Other hallmarks that I find useful are that Gengar has a base stat total of 500, and Toxapex (a Pokemon that held a stall-prone metagame in its tentacly grip) has 495. These are the numbers attached to a lot of Pokemon that are ‘good.’ Pikachu, which isn’t fully evolved has 320, which is very low and part of why people generally think Pikachu sucks.

Because it sucks.

Flygon’s stats are 520, and almost all of them are 80, with two 100s. Speed and Attack are its exceptions, meaning it’s biased towards attacking, and quickly, but it could hypothetically do other stuff.

Flygon also looks extremely cool. This is not normally important in a conversation around competitive Pokemon, but it’s important here because we’re not just talking about what Flygon did in competitive Pokemon (the answer is almost nothing). We’re talking about Flygon as a Pokemon that people could get into, like to be fans of.

What of that competitive history?

Well, I went searching and I found two times a Flygon showed up to a VGC tournament that got saved in the Limitless Database, which is to say, one person brought their Flygon to two different tournaments and their best placement was 21st. It’s hard to talk about the competitive history of Flygon because by all honest accounts it doesn’t have one. It does have something of a presence in Smogon, the place which tries to adjust power level in environments through entirely exclusionary choices, ie, bannings, but it’s also worth noting that one of the things that makes it ‘good’ in the spaces it’s been good is ‘we have also banned a bunch of other stuff meaning Flygon is almost the only good Dragon type left.’

I have nothing else to say about Smogon’s opinion of Flygon because I have a note from Smogon’s mother that it’s very special and I shouldn’t be mean to it.

Flygon isn’t ‘bad’ per se, but it is an all-rounder in a game that rewards specialisation, and it is a creature weak to Fairy released before the Fairy Type redefined the world and threw a lot of Dragons into the toilet. But even when it was new and in its element, the novelty of what it offered was clearly not enough to bring it up to speed in the competitive environments… since there were no competitive environments supported by Nintendo when it was new. VGC, the official tournament format, wasn’t being supported by Nintendo until 2009, and that’s where one of Flygon’s greatest problems started.

One of the most important parts of this story about Flygon though, isn’t that ‘Flygon Is Bad Because’ of something it lacks. It’s that Garchomp exists.

Garchomp is a black hole of a card. It too is a Ground/Dragon Pokemon, but it’s also got 80 more stats than Flygon and they’re arranged more carefully – instead of even 80s and a pair of 100s, Garchomp is a tiny bit faster than Flygon and hits a lot harder. Garchomp isn’t immune to spikes or lightning but also it’s so fast and hits so hard who cares. Garchomp distorted the game around it and that meant that people were packing team structures to try and take out Garchomp as aggressively as possible. And know what that means?

It means that Flygon got hit with Garchomp Shrapnel. If you can take out a Garchomp efficiently, you can absolutely take out a Flygon more efficiently — it’s the same basic structure but weaker, slower, and less threatening when you leave it on the field.

Okay, so Flygon was doomed in competitive environments. So what.

There was a moment of bright light when we saw the Mega Evolutions made available in Pokemon X and Y. In this, Pokemon would get a cool new temporary, powerful form, and this was distributed to Pokemon at semi-random; popular Pokemon got a mega (or two if you’re Mewtwo or Charizard) sure, but some oddballs and weaker types with a cool idea got one (hi there Mawile).

And Flygon almost got one.

It almost got one, and then Ken Sugimori, the designer, got artists’ block and they just scrapped the idea.

But don’t worry, then there was another game with more Megas.

And it didn’t get it.

But then the next game introduced Z-moves, where Pokemon got sometimes unique and iconic super-powerful use-once-only moves.

And Flygon didn’t get one.

Then the next game introduced Gigantamax, where sometimes Pokemon could get a uniquely powerful shapeshift form that made ’em real real big and let them sometimes deploy special powers?

Yeah Flygon didn’t get one.

Fear not, though, then we got Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, where you uh, couldn’t get it. It became available through trade and DLC, but Flygon is well and truly a Pokemon of the Past, its Glory Day behind it. It doesn’t matter of course; Flygon is a cool monster and it’s fun to like it, there’s nothing wrong with that. But it is weird the way that Flygon has had so many opportunities to be improved or even just made meaningfully different to its later little brother of Garchomp and we’re just never going to see it.

By the way, Garchomp got a mega evolution. Don’t worry, nobody used it because it wasn’t necessary because Garchomp was good enough without it.

Also, and this is very important: The thing that crystallised this article and made me think about it enough to make it happen here, in this month, is my friend Corey mentioning it on Tumblr. This isn’t quite at the level of ‘a fourteen minute video that’s just mad at a tweet,’ but just so you know, credit where it’s due.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[niphredil-14]

if request are still are open here’s a fun idea you could try- like the Rottmnt bros with a younger sister reader with unknown origins but she’s MAGICAL. Think like the characters from magical girl shows

this request should tell you that am a huge magical girl fan😅

sorry this took so long to get to, life's been hectic, also sorry if this kinda sucks, i'm running on no sleep, and have only ever watced two magical girl shows, neither of which I finished.

RISE BOYS WITH MAGICAL GIRL LITTLE SISTER

I feel that it's important to point out the fact that they all use mystic powers, they are all magical. So I don't really feel like they would view you any differently based on you being magical. But for the sake of writing this, I am going to assume that the Magical Sister is like a typical magical girl from an anime (im gonna use inspo from Tokyo Mew Mew where the girls have animal powers, since I feel like it would tie in well with the whole mutant turtle thing.) (also gods that takes me back to my early anime phase yikes) This means I am imagining someone who does flashy magical wardrobe changes and is 60% aesthetic, 20% girl power, 10% love, and 10% cringy tweenage girl emotions.

Leo:

Leo is the ultimate hype man, super supportive.

I feel like he might be slightly jealous of your transformations though. He's the face man, and feels that he should get to be the flashiest.

Would def be like your partner in crime.

Raph:

the definition of "protective older brother"

he doesn't care how strong/powerful/capable you are, he's gonna worry.

Frankly he doesnt even want you going on patrol. You're his baby sister, and the only reason he let it slide is because you and Mikey teamed up on him.

If you have a boring love interest, like most magical girls do, he will be repeatedly giving the shovel talk. Does NOT like your LI, though he'd be glad that they were some boring normal person and not anyone dangerous to you.

If they are someone dangerous, he will forbid it, like the absolute asshole of an overprotective brother that he is

Donnie:

Don would be mostly indifferent.

Might wanna study whatever item turned you into a magical girl (if one did)

Prob isn't as big of a fan of all the magic,

But he is ALL for the showmanship. He will help with the theatrics, and making sure that you're safe, but that's it.

Mikey:

if im being honest

mikey is also a magical girl

there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise.

Magica girl team-ups ^u^

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #3130: Pikachu & Zekrom-GX (Team Up)

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX was given almost everything a card could ask for. There were ways to accelerate Energy early on, making a big turn 2 hit very possible. Said attack also got even more Energy from the deck and into play. The GX attack was not only strong, but Energy stacking could let it hit two Pokemon at once. There were also ways to boost damage here due to being a Lightning-type. It was like they built the format for this card. On top of that, they put Pikachu on it, making sure the mascot of the series got serious play. This is not to say that Pikachu & Zekrom-GX was by any means unstoppable, as other very good Tag Teams existed and there were viable decks beyond that. It is probably quite obvious that this card would at minimum be a threat for quite some time due to just how much help they gave it.

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX was actually on the lower end of Tag Team HP numbers, coming in at 240. This was still going to have the same result a lot of the time, but it did do things like save an Energy for Blacephalon or Turtonator, as well as letting Zoroark-GX get the 2-hit KO if fully set up. A Fighting Weakness occasionally mattered for the short time where Buzzwole was still hanging around. It also mattered just before this card rotated out with the rise of Rapid Strike Urshifu VMAX, a card that could get a clean KO and do 120 to something on the Bench. The Metal Resistance was there, but it did not actually prevent an ADP boost from letting Zacian V reach a big KO. The Retreat Cost here was 3, and being a bulky Pokemon that gave up 3 Prizes meant that this was quite notable. Most decks running this card ran a few copies of Switch, with some going all the way to 4. This worked well with the combination of big HP and the ability to get Energy onto a new attacker while still making progress.

Full Blitz was a spectacular attack. 150 damage for 3 Lightning Energy would have been solid even by itself. Tapu Koko Prism Star or Boltund V could help get a 2 turn set-up for this, making the deck rather quick. It somehow got even better from there. You also got to search your deck for up to 3 Lightning Energy and attached them to 1 of your Pokemon. This could power up a second Pikachu & Zekrom-GX, or could go to another partner like Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX, Boltund V, or Vikavolt V. This was generally set up to take down multi-Prize Pokemon in 2 hits, and single Prize Pokemon right away, but you could use Electropower to get a big KO in an important spot since the power was good enough to get close a lot of the time.

Tag Bolt GX did take up the team's GX attack, which did mean giving up the giant hit that Raichu & Alolan Raichu-GX provided if running that too. It was still very good, and if not up against another Tag Team it tended to be the better GX attack. The base was 200 damage for 3 Energy, which was in a nice spot to take down 2 Prize Pokemon. If 3 more Energy on top of that were attached, it also did 170 damage to 1 of the opponent's Benched Pokemon, potentially getting another KO in the process if Mew wasn't there to protect everything. Getting a big hit on 2 Pokemon could be game changing, even if it did require sticking a ton of Energy on one Pokemon. The strategy could definitely work considering how Full Blitz worked.

Pikachu & Zekrom-GX was given the right combination of support and powerful attacks to be a threat for multiple years. It made top cut at Worlds 2019, won a few regional tournaments with plenty of top results, and even once things shut down for the pandemic it was a top tier deck in online tournaments. The deck won at both the Pokemon Online Championships and Players Cup II, and only fell off right at the end when huge VMAX Pokemon and the rise of Fighting as a type finally caught up to it. This was one of the most popular decks of its era and saw a lot of success, and it deserved a lot of praise. This was not just being used because people liked Pikachu, after all.

[loupy-mongoose]

How I've collected an Army of Mews. :3

@puzzled-zebra asked me in a chat how I get my Mews, and it made me realize something. While I did make a post awhile back talking about how I easily get my Mew characters in-game, there are a few aspects that I feel need more attention (some of which I've learned since that post). So I figured I'd make a new and improved, deeply in-depth post about it! :3

It is important to know, though, that the Mews (and Jirachis) obtained this way are SHINY LOCKED! You cannot reset for a shiny this way! (I have a post about how I got Akoya here~)

The Lindens, the Branch crew, and my first gift Mew Pearl. All safe and sound in Scarlet. :3 Every Mew here except Akoya was obtained in Shining Pearl.

What you need: Nintendo Switch/Lite Brilliant Diamond OR Shining Pearl Let's Go: Pikachu OR Let's Go Eevee (For Mew) Sword OR Shield (For Jirachi)

First off, it's best to do do this on a user with HOME access for a few different reasons. First and foremost, Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has a lock that makes it so you can send ONLY ONE Mew per file into HOME! I learned this the hard way, as I made the mistake of stockpiling my Mews in a Shining Pearl file, only to find out that I had go through convoluted hoops to get them all into HOME. XD This issue is ONLY present in BDSP--Sword and Shield, and Scarlet and Violet do not lock you in this way and you can transfer as many Mews as you want to your hearts content. (Currently--please don't change it GameFreak!) (I don't fully understand the mechanics of it all, but Mews obtained in previous games pass through this lock--Akoya and Randy were consistently able to be put in HOME together from the same file. It's only when they're obtained in BD/SP that the lock applies, or so I understand.)

The second reason for HOME access is, you have to beat the first Gym to do this method. I have in the past done it using the starter Piplup and catching Starlys and Shinxes, but if you have access to HOME and powerful Pokemon, then you can borrow some to help you get through. I use the Linden Shiny Squad since their levels are between 65-70. They scarcely listen to me, but when they do, it insta-KO's their opponents. (I recommend having Piplup or a Lv. 10-ish powerful Pokemon on hand, especially for Roark's Onix, as it has Sturdy. I have had them all disobey themselves to death.)

Make sure you put your borrowed 'mons back into HOME before deleting the file, if you want to do so!

How it works is, there's a lady in Floaroma Town that will give you a Mew, at Level 1. (The guy next to her will give you a Jirachi at Level 5 as well.) In order for her to give it to you, you need to have save data of LG;P or E on the same user. It doesn't matter how far in the LG file is; it just needs to be to the point that you can save the game. And you don't need to touch it after you save--One LG save gets you as many Mews as you restart BD/SP for. (For Jirachi it's the same, but instead of LG save data you need Sword or Shield save data.)

So you start BD/SP, play up to Floaroma, and boom, Mew! You can save by the lady and reset for a specific nature, and even name it! With the Shiny Squad's help it takes me roughly an hour of play time to get to that point.

Anyway, a little long-winded, but I thought I'd put this out there for peeps who have the means and want to build their own in-game army of adorable pink cats. :3