#my first thought upon seeing the thumbnail for this episode

[mlpoutofcontext]

Daring Do is trans (real)

[therealslimshakespeare]

Dear John | Unsayable Things

Masters of the Air Fanfiction

I banged this out in an hour or two, past midnight, deep in my feels, half chatting with my baby @stylespresleyhearted who put in the initial request for this series and who is now owed a few choice lines herein. If you wanna stew in the pain of Friday’s episode- this is the angst fest for you. With a tiny bit of hope at the end. Tiny. But it’s there.

Summary: months after one drunken letter of horny (and gentlemanly) admiration was sent off by one John Egan to Miss Lana Tierney of Hollywood fame, a written rapport has formed between them, based on a refreshing freedom to be perfectly frank and even trivial in their letters -a tone set by his inarguably appaling initial correspondence. But until today, he’s never dared make use of the number she gave him to dial when he needs to say unspeakable things.

Warnings: angsty as hell? morose and possibly suicidal thought processes? it’s Egan after THAT phone call so, I imagine you can envision that it’s not exactly a stable mentality portrayed here-in.

Masterlist

Date: October 1943

The hotel lobby is as chilled as an ice box with those front doors constantly revolving, letting in gusts of autumn air that’s suddenly turned harsher than he recalled when he stepped out into the daylight this morning. His ride back to East Anglia won’t be here for another two hours and no amount of charm or haggling can get him the petrol to make the journey on his own. It’s a carpool sort of life now, every man, woman and child in Britain knows that but every minute he stays in the great metropolis feels like a betrayal to those boys who just got-

-he will get back in time.

He vowed it, he arranged it, now all there’s left to do is wait until it can be enacted. John was never good at waiting but now all the activities and pastimes he’d once relied upon to fill a slow hour seem intolerable. Imbibe any more booz and he’ll be unfit to fly, seeing the sites could get him more sights than he’d like, polite conversation makes him want to scream in the face of the next passer by that he’s lost something precious today -don’t they know? -and it would be just his luck today of all days to get answered by someone who did know, some parent with a dead child, pulverized to bits while he fucked his demons out.

So John keeps his mouth shut in a stern line and stares venomously ahead at the charming little Renoir hung in the lounge. No one has troubled him yet and by the spooked face of the desk clerk who offered him a menu, he dares to think he won’t be in future.

He is sick to death of it all, of the death itself and the brave faces and the lack of bravery he suddenly feels now and the necessity of it all. He hardly recognizes the hollowed out sinner he’s become with a head full of too many griefs to even formulate a prayer.

He was close to catatonic, eyeball deep in his self abhorrence, when he realized he was spinning round the little lacquered card she had enclosed three letters ago.

“If you ever need to say those unsayables, here’s a private line. Don’t call it if you don’t want me to answer, only you, my mama and my hair stylist have it. Xoxo, Jeanie.” 💋

The unsayable would be to call one of the most successful, desirable and busy women in the world only to admit John Egan has run outta words. But with the mounting desire to do something stupidly productive, and without the kind fist of a friend to dissuade him -he knew walking in front of busses wouldn’t get him any closer to Thorpe Abbots- a starlet’s withering rejection just might do the trick. Just might hurt enough to slice through the fog. His fingers were sweating as he spun the rotary, thumbnail tracing the underside of her extension.

God knows it would be unlikely to get through even the first connection, much less get overseas, much less find her at her home. What time of day was it back there anyway? And this entire conversation would get bugged to hell, he’d have to be careful and this was a terrible idea to start with and-

“Hello you,” the airiest voice he’s ever heard warbles over the static, teasing and warm, “I’ll admit it, that lilac did nothing for my color last night. You win, I’ve got the front page of the Whisper to confirm, please, don’t rub it in.”

John stares out of his little alcove in the lounge with watery eyes, mouthing a silent -what the fuck- to himself before recalling the obvious: only her mother, her hairstylist and him. With this line, Jeanie -or should he call her Lana on the phone?- didn’t expect a stranger. This was an anticipated call and he about hangs up in mortification at not being what she expected.

But then, the hollow idea of one and a half hours of waiting for the ride catches up and John recalls that he had in fact phoned in order to be humiliated and he was a rare sort of chump to take so poorly to a plan gone off to so dazzling a start.

“Can’t imagine a shade that wouldn’t suit you.” he finds himself saying smoothly, the flirtation on autopilot.

He can hear an audible gasp on the other end of the line and a breathy sputter and what might be sheets rustling, or perhaps it’s a dress or paper or-

“JOHNNY?” she all but squeals and he winces at the blare of the receiver in his ear, the flinching crinkle of his blue eyes not without some pleased merriment at her unabashed excitement. “This you? Finally you used it, you silly old thing! Oh gosh, oh gosh say something again, your voice is divine! Oh, I can’t believe I’m finally talking to you. I thought you were my mother! Oh say something! You’re there, aren’t you? Johnny?”

She sounds so pleased he finds his eyes smarting and suddenly this feels like the worst idea in the world. He needed her to be harsh, to fit with every other disillusionment that’s rained down on him this past month, instead he’s met with -care. His stomach roils and not even the mean suspicion that she’s putting on an act can make it calm. “Well, I’m finally somewhere I don’t have to share a line with the whole group.”

“Where’s that, Johnny?” She sounds as eager as if he’s got a lot of options.

“London.”

“Oh!” There’s a waiver to her voice, he’s not sure why, but either way she sounds unsure if she should be merry or sober. “Business or pleasure?” she inquires levelly and it’s got all the sultry teasing he’s read into her scrawled writing hundreds of times, John finds himself flushing despite the morose sentiment that comes up right behind it.

“That, well, uh, that uh“ he picks at the sleek paint on the phone base and questions whether he’s going to use precious time on the phone with the hottest dame on planet earth to throw a pity party, “-I think the intention was a rehabilitation for the nerves. Ironically the guy who suggested it is now toast.”

“Oh John.” she sounds wounded and he bites his lip in savage pleasure at hearing what he wishes he could feel. “Was it -was it someone close?”

“A couple hundred, more like.” he sulks, his jaw ticking so hard he might break a molar if he keeps on. “But yeah. Yeah today was-“ he tries to think of the censors and that makes him laugh at the thought of all their previous filthy correspondence making it through but some slip of the tongue about a dead friend could land them in the hot spot, his following laugh is snotty and he could gag at himself for it.

“Johnny, darling man, are you-“ she shifts course and he holds his breath, depending on her for something, he doesn’t even what, “-does this happen to have something to do with our duet’s harshest critic?”

He smiles at her cleverness, she’s not a complete airhead then. And she recalls Buck. Of course she does, she hasn’t stopped sending him kisses via Egan’s letters even though she didn’t recall meeting either, not even when John had sent back photographs of the both of them to jog it. The flow of correspondence hadn't stalled despite this strike out and neither had the morale boosting glamor shots of certain of her assets which John kept locked in the false bottom of his footlocker and one small one folded in in the hollowed heel of his boot.

_“keeping it handy for the emergency tug off?” Gale had scorned him but Egan liked having her with him._

“Yeah, Shirley Temple- he’s been uh, he’s been traded, ya see.” Egan manages the metaphor once more and winces at the truth it hides.

He hears Je-Lana?-Jeanie?- suck in a breath on the other end. “Gosh. John. Any sign of, of-“ she begins to stammer, “of chut-“

-chutes, she’s going to say. John coughs loudly into the reviver and her voice trails off in recognition of his warning. “This was a mistake.” he decides, “I just -you can see why- I just thought I’d like to hear a-a-a voice, a-“

“A friend!” she replies eagerly, “I’m here, I’m here don’t go, not yet, not unless you have to, Major. Are you waiting? You’ll be wanting to get back, no? Or will you be staying on? In London?”

“I’m not staying.”

“Of course.” she whispers, “I’m so terribly, terribly sorry.”

His grip on the receiver has turned white. “No,” he decides, “I’m the one who’s sorry. Bringing this up, never even talked to you before and I go and make it this the call. Pretty girl like you doesn’t need this.”

“I told you to call.” she reminds him gently, “And Johnny, I’m ever so happy to hear your voice, I’ve imagined it a million times rereading your letters and looking at your photographs. I can concede that my imagination failed.”

“You reread them?” he is amused.

“Yes. Don’t you reread mine?”

“Mhmm you bet.”

“Gosh your voice gives me shivers.” she whispers into the phone and he feels an odd rising of the hair on the back of his neck. “Are you having to beat the London women off with a baseball bat?”

“I just let ‘em swarm.” he admits and she makes a noise of intrigue, “I was with a widow last night.” He blurts. “Polish. We watched the bombs from my hotel room.”

“How relaxing.” Without missing a beat Jeanie’s soft tease comes through, “Did the one balance the other for the nerves?”

“I’m dehydrated and hungover.”

“And grieving.” she adds.

That’s an unsayable. “I just needed to talk to someone.” he decides.

“Did she not speak English?”

He’s gone this far, he might as well be honest. “She didn’t know Buck.”

“Mm.” She makes a mournful noise of assent.

“I-I’m tryin’ not to do something stupid Jeanie,” he hates how his voice shakes but to her, it sounds more like rage than fear, “and I thought if I could hear your voice I’d -id get some peace. And wait for my ride without bustin’ up the Carleton.”

“Yes, I forbid you to bust up the Carleton without me, Major.” she warns and his pulse leaps at the simple direction, it’s a joke of course but it lodges heavy and wanted in his chest. “Promise me, Johnny, one day we’ll cause a great scandal there, you and I?”

“Miss Tierney,” he bites at his lip, “it’s a kindness for me not to make promises. To girls -to anybody.” She’s got to know that, she’s just being nice. “Especially not to special little ladies with nice long futures ahead of them.”

“It’s Turner, actually, Miss Turner if you’re going to be so formal.” She corrects, not a single part of her name Hollywood hasn’t meddled with. “But you must know, it’s far too late for that John. I miss you like mad.”

“We haven’t even met.” he reasons.

“What, and you don’t miss me?”

He curses under his breath fondly and shrugs. “I adore you.”

There’s a beat of silence in which he thinks he may have blown it by being so gushing but in fact, Jeanie finds herself milking her throat to dislodge the lump of painful glee settling there.

“Then you do whatever you have to, Bucky Egan,” she commands him, imperious but fervent, “you punch and get punched and drink as much as you need and bed as many girls as it takes and go after Buck-“

“-hold up, how’d you kn-“

“-but you come home. It’s much too late to tell me not to get my hopes up. You’re all I dream about anymore. There’s got to be some future for us, there’s got to be, Johnny, I’m not asking you to promise I’m asking you to try. Do what you’re good at.”

The pause is long and heavy and Bucky thinks he hears her sniffling on the other end. Unmoored by the unprecedented honesty he’s receiving and the juxtaposition of being someone’s risky bet for happiness when just this morning he’d come to resign himself to letting go what could only ever be a passing night's comfort- “Hell of a business.” he finds himself repeating.

“But you’re the best at it.” she retorts, “So stay the best.”

Everything certain, everything he thought was a given got blown to hell with Gale’s plane today. “Used to tell him if everybody else went down it’d be just him and me. I believed that.” He mumbles into the phone, turning to tuck his neck into the device like it’s the soft crook of her neck, “Now to be the best- that’s just me, and charred Europe under me and no one else in sight. That’s what you’re asking? ‘Cause that’s how this ends.”

The sun is shining bright and brutal in California, a cheery morning to mock her cocktail hangover and now she thinks it’s to hurt him as well, everything is so far removed an ocean away. Such bleakness is hard to even fathom for her, but the man she’s come to know, to love even, on paper is hoarsely spilling his guts to her over the phone and she’s not sure what one says to such a prediction. Her agent hovers in the doorway, the angry swats of her hand not sufficient to deter him from fretting with the press conference approaching. “So what, this is a suicide note?” she winces as soon as she says it but honesty has always been their currency.

“No.” he replies at long last and her shoulders sag. “I thought- i just wanted to hear your voice once before I go up again, Jeanie.”

“And I’m glad you called.” she swears, “And now I’ll have a voice to go with all the wicked things you do in my dreams.”

“Oh fu- Jeanie that’s unfair.” He balks and she grins at the little victory.

“Alls fair in love and war, Major.” She reminds, “Now tell me, do you want to tell me about him? Buck-“

“No, fuck no!” he hisses, angry at himself, “I wanted to talk to you to forget. I wanted to hear your voice.” He repeats it like an idiot.

“Then tell me,” she soothes, unphased by his outburst, “what would you like to hear in my voice, Major? The latest score? Perhaps the front page of the Times? They brought it in with my toast. Or some dirty line from one of your letters? I’ve got them here under one of Salinger’s books. They’re safe from the fiancé there, he’s a complete ignoramus with a phobia for learning.”

Bucky chuckles at her unabashed derision for her hotel scion intended and grins at the idea of her sleeping so near to his scrawled professions of lo- obsession at the very least.

Love is another unsayable.

“Just -tell me about your day, sweetheart?“ he begs, hoarse with the need to teleport elsewhere for the remaining forty minutes of his wait.

“If you’re sure.” she sounds only mildly skeptical, “It’s been very loungey, rather frilly.”

“Perfect.” he sighs, closing his eyes.

“Well, it’s actually morning here so I haven’t been up to much,” she begins and he feels guilty for just dialing away, damn the timezones, “I’ve not even dressed.”

“What color are you wearing?” he begs before he even realizes it.

“White.”

Hey sucks his teeth and nods approvingly. “White what?”

“A silk top and- no! Go away Herbert, for the last time!” Some interruption seems to occur on her end as a man’s voice comes through in snatches and Jeanie’s raised one drifts through the hand she’s cupped over the receiver, “Herbert, for the love of God, I am talking to one of the men protecting our country, the reporters can wait!”

Jeanie’s snappy loyalty soothes some raw edge he’s felt since watching *her* leave this morning without more than a kiss. “Reporters, huh?” he sympathizes, fully ready to give her an out.

“You’d think they’d have enough to report, there’s a war on.” she seethes and he has to smile again, “Anway, where were we? Oh, my pajama shorts.”

“White.”

“Yes Johnny, white.”

“Send me a picture?”

“Awfully demanding for a man who hasn’t even promised me he’ll try to live and see them in person.”

John puffs out a laugh at being snared so easily. “Alright, I’ll try.”

“Promise?” Her voice sounds so small.

“I promise.” He’s dazed by the shift, how did he end up being the one begged by Miss Hollywood herself? Perhaps he’s still drunker than he thought.

“It’s all any of us can do, Johnny,” she says, “but we’ve gotta try. You got your pinky up?”

“What?”

“For your oath- pinky swear.”

“You're not even here.” he laughs.

“I’ve got mine crooked, come on Major, meet me halfway.”

And so John Egan finds himself sporting a watery, helpless grin as he lifts his finger into thin air and crooks it around her imaginary little digit. Her sigh sounds as if she can feel it a ocean away. Perhaps he’s gone fully looney in the way he thinks he can, too.

He doubts she’ll appreciate his choices in the next few weeks, maybe even doubt his intention to keep his oath, but what matters is he’s going to try. Even if it’s an angry, furious, blind sort of determination, it keeps him firmly out of the London bus lane until Hobbs and his transport arrive and then it’s goodbye Jean Turner, hello again Thorpe Abbots.

Taglist: (I’m sorry for tagging y’all twice in a single day, oops)

@stylespresleyhearted

@ab4eva

@earth-to-lottie

@suraemoon

@blurredcolour

@steph-speaks

@crazymadpassionatelove

@rubyfruitjungle

@taestrwbrry

[thebaddexample]

FILM THEORY: DEATH RETURNS TO INANIMATE INSANITY!! BUT IT'S NOT TACO OR LIGHTBULB!!

Warning, spoilers and possibly cringey or bad writing, but it's 1am for me so eh

(First off, shout-out to my mom for coming up with this idea for me to make a theory on- You're the best :3)

(Second, thumbnail by me :])

(Thirdly, I might rewrite this during the day at some point because I'm really tired, but had to get this out before I slept bcs I'd forget to otherwise)

(Fourthly, I know that this isn't a completely original idea, and people have done it already, but I wanted an excuse to make a theory and there's evidence, so I thought "why not?" It'll make people upset with me if I'm right, and I get to pretend to be Film Theory for a bit. It's a win-win!)

(You are legally required to read this post as MatPat's voice /silly /j)

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With the horrifying tweet that Brian made last Saturday, there's a lot of people (including you, probably) worried about who will die in the finale, the harsh battle between whether we say "bye" to a bright light, or "so long" to our sour cream schemer. My answer? Neither!! Object show community, inanimate fandom... whatever we call ourselves! I'm about to present to you why our beloved (and somewhat recently hated) host is going to be the death of the season.

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First of all, the trailer (and @inanimateinsanityfan 's recent tumblr post "invitation") has somewhat implied that the focus of the movie, the A-Plot at least, will be around Cobs attempting to get to MePhone4 somehow, whether it be luring him up to Meeple Headquarters or trying to get down to him. We've seen from previous episodes that Cobs wants him dead, but it's hard to tell if he's changed his motive, since we haven't seen him since Episode 13 "Mine Your Own Business". However, he has been consistently sending his newer MePhones to eliminate MePhone4, as 5C clearly states in Episode 6. The newer models have features like tracking (much like MePad) and knife hands (NOT like MePad), which MePhone4 doesn't have, which should in theory have made him easier to kill.

Speaking of the abilities, the MeLife function is only ever used by MePhone4, or at least we only ever get to see him do it. Why? Well, I have an idea but that's a theory for another time. The point is; MePhone4 seems to be the only Meeple product with the ability to bring people to life, and has all of the contestants on there as far as we know. This means that, unless there's a creative solution to perma-kill one of the contestants, MePhone4 needs to die first for any perma-death to occur in the first place.

And hell, removing the regeneration ability as a whole would be a great way to cap off the season, to establish that there's no more retrying and that everything is now set in stone. And even if we do get that damn FOURTH season (bonus points to whoever gets the reference), it'll at least spice things up with having, say, MePad as a host instead, leaving the spot open for someone else to claim and have an interesting story arc of their own.

This shot already pulls up a parallel between MePhone4 and MePhone3GS, and though 3GS isn't really confirmed dead, they're definitely not gonna be alive any time soon. The parallels could imply that MePhone4 is destined to a fate similar to 3GS; no longer in service, probably broken, and maybe even killed of by Cobs himself.

In addition to this, all of the other MePhones we've seen have all died; MePhone4 technically died with 4S and 5 in the Season 1 finale "Journey Through Memory Lane", 5S and 5C were introduced and immediately killed in Season 2 Episode 6 "Let 'Er RIP", and MePhones 6 and 6+ were also immediately killed upon introduction in Season 2 Episode 8 "Theft and Battery". The MePhones all have something in common, and that is unavoidable and quick death, much like real iphones honestly.

Does this mean that MePhone4 will have to die as a result of MePhone's faulty creation? No, but there is a pre-established pattern with each of the MePhones that goes as a cycle, perpetuating Cobs' cruel style of doing things; he creates something, claims it's his favorite for a year, then makes something a little better and throws the pre-established bond away to die, and rinse and repeat.

But hey! That's just a theory!

An Object Theory!!

Uh- what's the opposite of "greetings and salutations"-?

"Goodbye and see-you-laters!!"

[zacki0gaming]

Any Thoughts/Theories On Pink Corruption S2 EP 3 Part 2 Preview?

So when I woke 5am in the morning, I immediately got onto my phone. While scrolling on YouTube, guess what popped up on my screen, "the next preview"... and when I saw that thumbnail I was like, "It's gonna happen... God no..." If you know what I mean by that...

You know what let my analyze here start to finish.

*SPOILER WARNING WATCH THE PREVIEW FIRST SEEING THIS*

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The preview starts showing Ajaceare happily laughing after stealing even more tree pieces, most likely from the other Spherical Forest' Groups. But the way she's moving looks like she's like the fucking Little Red Riding Hood bringing her basket of goodies toward her grandma's house.

Anyway, Ajaceare receives a call from from Dub and gives him the news on the amount of tree pieces she collected inside a pink bag. How many damn pieces did she just collect...?

After receiving praise by her boss and hangs up the call, Ajaceare senses nearby unknown shapes, at least 3 who are most likely a new group we haven't seen before. OH SO NOW YOU SENSING SHIT LIKE HOW YOU OR LYCANTHROPY DIDN'T SENSE PENTELLOW AND THE OTHERS FROM THE BEHIND IN THE PREVIOUS EPISODE!!!

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Analyzing The Unknown Shapes

Let me put this down first for you guys!

Alright, from the look of this group, there is at least 3 individuals here while one of them isn't speaking. There is very high possibility that this is a new group we haven't seen before, but... One of their voices catches my attention.

It is because one of them sounds similar toward Iris's father's voice. Ok, here's what I want you guys to do, analyze Iris's Father's voice from the these timestamps I'm gonna provide for the "Circubit's Reoccuring Memory" and this preview together and see if their is anything off about it.

Timestamps

Circubit's Reoccuring Memory: Here

The Preview: Here

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Unbeknownst to them being watched by Ajaceare, the unknowns shapes were having a private discussion. The first individual wanting to return to the village because the area is giving them the creeps.

The second individual says that they knows, but they can still fight, tell off the first individual's to stop worrying about it. The first individual says that they never knows because they thinks that their is a monster somewhere around here, while the other yells at him to stop it.

Ajaceare than starts menacingly laughing, presumably gonna start attacking them or not. The scene than shifts toward Pyrare and the others finally spotting Ajaceare from the distance. Ajavex tells Pyrare the plan while cutely giving him a nickname, "Tri-Py". Alright...😂

Ajacenus pauses regarding the nickname, prompting Ajavex to clarify it. Ajavex explains that she bestowed this moniker upon Pyrare based on her perception of his appearance, as Ajacenus explains that it is because he looks like a "triangular-shaped pie." Alright...😂 Pyrare than tells the ladies to remain focused on the mission. Pyrare and the others notices Ajaceare disappearing in front of them as Pyrare asked where did she go.

Gold response as he says she's up there, presumably from the trees as the video ends.

Alright, finally done. Let me know your thoughts/theories down in the comment section below!

[fullscoreshenanigans]

When and how did you get into TPN? For me I discovered TPN in 2021 through the Fandom page where I spoiled myself about Conny and some other stuff which I forgot and in 2023 I purchased the first two volumes of the manga and I fell in love. And the rest is ancient history!

Sorry about my little history lesson!

You're good! (If anyone else wants to share how they got into the series on this post I'd been down for that too)

My sister and a friend recommended the anime to me at some point (I want to say after it was on US Netflix) as something I might like. I did not pay any attention to this at all lol. They did lord this over me when it became one of my favorite series. But I managed to avoid all spoilers for it other than the orphanage being a farm, which wasn't a big deal to me since it happens so early on.

Fast forward to March 2021, within the ballpark of a day or two of the season 2 finale airing in Japan. I finished watching another series on Netflix, and it recommended TPN to me. I thought, I vaguely recognize this title, the description sounds interesting, and the thumbnail looks cute, so why not check out the first episode.

(dmotta3's blind reaction lives rent free in my head and inspired this post)

I got to the end of episode 6 and realized that my idea to just check out one episode at 1am was terrible because it was now 4am. But I had the day off from work, so after going to bed and doing everything else I needed to do that day I wrapped up the rest of season 1 because was hooked. I had to know what the fuck is up with these little babies with the mental fortitude and emotional maturity to handle this fantastical dystopia they found themselves in so well. And the final six episodes delivered and then some for me.

Me within watching the first ten minutes of S1e01: oh this kid with the black emo hair is going to be my favorite :)

Me upon watching S1e11: LKJFSDLKFLKDFJL OMFG?? OM?FG?? 🥴🙃🥴 THERAPY! THERAPY FOR A THOUSAND YEARS FOR YOU!!!

I noticed the second season wasn't on Netflix, so while avoiding as many spoilers as I could I took a peek around and discovered that a lot of people were unhappy with season 2. I asked some friends who had watched it if they liked it, and they said it was all right, but not as good as season 1. So what I ended up doing was figuring out where the first season left off in the manga, and then read a few chapters before watching the corresponding parts in the anime to see where it really diverged. By the time I got to the bunker in the anime and saw there was no dad to go in it, I dropped it entirely to focus on reading the manga. It took roughly four days from me putting on the anime on a whim to me reading the bonus chapters and epilogue, and I was initially kind of bummed about it for reasons I've discussed here.

(Chart I made to explain to a friend group my personal enjoyment of the series by arc because it's one of the silly things we do with each other, while avoiding some spoilers by removing the names of the last few arcs. I'd rank Cuvitidala and the human world arc a bit higher now and Return to Grace Field arc lower, but the rest is still largely the same.)

But even with my gripes with the series, it had nestled itself inside my heart and mind, and I was endeared to it enough to buy the blu-ray of season 1 and import the soundtrack.

Another crucial aspect for me was that @1000sunnygo was translating the mystic code book around this time as well as a plethora of other content that wasn't receiving official English releases. This kept me engaged with this silly little shounen that had endeared me so deeply, as I had new official content and information to look forward to every now and then in addition to latching on to some fanfics that proved to be foundational for my personal interpretation/enjoyment of the series. It also helped explain some of the issues I had with it, one of them being the pacing toward the end due to Shirai trying to salvage his health after being in serialized publishing for almost four years while still maintaining his sense of artistic integrity by ending the series on his own terms. I don't think this frees said choices from critique, but it helped me personally accept them more.

And then after almost ten months after first watching season 1 on a whim, I made this blog, though I didn't really start using it until February 2022. It was a first for me since I usually just keep everything on main in a random hodgepodge, but the brainrot wasn't going away, and I couldn't put my mutuals through another major interest, so here we are roughly 2.5 years later.

[chirpingchorus]

Alphonse elric 25 & 26 please!

I took forever to answer this one, but I need you to know I woke up super tired and seeing this got me out of bed this morning. That, my friends, is the sway Al has over me.

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Oh man, oh man... I don't remember my impressions of him from the very first episode, just that I really liked both of the Elrics. I had the feeling starting from a few episodes in that he was going to die, and have fond memories of looking at thumbnails for future episodes and breathing out a sigh of relief upon seeing he was still intact. During the confrontation with Scar in ep. 15, my jaw was on the floor and I legitimately thought he was a goner. That episode had the first Al Moment (TM) that really got to me, when he urges Ed to keep fighting even if he dies, and gets upset at him for staying to try and save him instead of fleeing. That scene says so much about him, and I love thinking about it in regards to the show's ending.

My initial impression of his personality was just that he was a gentle giant, and Ed was the impulsive and violent one. In the 5th Lab, he begs Ed not to make the Philosopher's Stone, even though it means he'll die. This gave me the impression at first that he really didn't like the idea of killing/harming others, but looking back, I think it's more that he didn't want to force his brother to go through the trauma of killing dozens of people just to get his body back. He really wants his body back, yes, but he values Ed's safety and sanity more overall.

Al, as it turns out, can be quite cruel at times for the sake of his brother--I'm reminded of when he suggests they just. Rip off Wrath's limbs and give them back to Ed. Because that's how limbs work. It was really at that point in my first watch that I started to see how Al's unfortunate disconnect from humanity could be impacting the way he sees the lives/feelings of others. My gut feeling is that if he were somehow in that 5th Lab position where he could make the philosopher's stone not only to save Ed but to restore Ed's body, he would absolutely do it, even if it would cause him distress. There's a lot more I could say about the 'deeper' parts of his personality that others have elaborated on with far better understanding and knowledge. But he's Not Well and I'm 100% here for it.

More of my opinions now: On my rewatch, I'm noticing how painful it is to see this kid in a huge suit of armor. The scene where he pretends to eat food for Nina while Ed just has the saddest look on his face? That killed me. He can't relate at all to the feeling Ed had as he felt Barry was about to kill him. He thinks the best way to avenge Nina is to use Tucker's research to prevent future cases like hers. He points out in episode 5 that (even before joining the military!) the brothers had no control over what happened that day. Bonus amnesiac Al point: He says in CoS super nonchalantly that his soul seems to leave his body easily!?! Girl!!!!!!

I'll hopefully have a better grip on his personality once I'm done with my rewatch, but there's something about it I can feel but can't quite articulate that just draws me in like nothing else. In case it isn't obvious, I'm pretty darn sure Al is my favorite character this time around.

26. What's something the character has done you can't get over? Be it something funny, bad, good, serious, whatever?

I already talked about a lot of these, but I have more--we'll do a few serious ones and a funny one.

Ep. 6 - He says, "I wonder if I was that warm and soft when I was born." Then starts to cry a little. (I hate this show, I wrote down in my notes.)

Ep. 1 - It's a very small detail, but Al seems to believe resurrection could still occur with the Philosopher's Stone, while Ed doesn't buy it for one minute. This reminds me of Al's similar hopeful attitude in episodes like 10. I think he has a habit to look at things as they're given to him and not much further, as long as they make him happy--of course the Stone should have all those powers, and of course a woman just like his mother would be incredibly kind. He's very much the type to march on ahead no matter what and ignore the implications of doing so. That's not to say he's stupid--I don't think he is. He's quite introspective and insightful, he just chooses not to dwell on some things as he tries his best to reach his goals. Maybe I'm a bit closer to understanding him now...

Ep. 5 - Alright, a silly one. When he's about to beat up the criminals and he appears all menacing and says, "いらっしゃい" ("welcome"), that got a great laugh out of me. He's so silly.

[rei-caldombra]

Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic Anime Episodes 4-9 Review - Rose is a 10/10.

Back for another post about Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic anime, covering episodes 4-9. I’m still loving this show and wanna talk about it more without waiting until the end. Spoiler warning. I edited the image used for the thumbnail, feel free to use it fellow Rose simps. 

The greatness in episode 8 and 9 is the main reason I am writing a new post now and will be the bulk of the post, but I’ll talk a bit about the earlier episodes. Watching the three main characters slowly grow and come into their own has been nice to watch. I still enjoy seeing them have slightly different outlooks while still connecting on the basis of the crazy situation they were thrust in. They all needed different amounts of time and experiences to process things and make up their mind. Hopefully we will get some more great stuff from seeing them be together again for the big battle. We got some solid new characters

I didn’t mention how I feel about the OP in the first post, I think it’s really great. The music really gets you hyped. The art is great, everyone looks awesome and has very detailed and expressive looks. I don’t have too much to say about the ED, it’s fine but nothing notable to me. It does remind you of the life Suzu had before coming here, which at least gives some relevant purpose to the visuals. 

A minor gripe is that as of now I really don’t see the purpose of the future vision that Usato was shown. I don’t really feel like it changed his way of thinking or his actions. I did not feel like he was especially cocky or not taking the situation seriously, and he already had Rose instilling in him (and us as the viewer) that war is terrible and that he will be responsible for keeping people alive. Maybe there will be more to it later but I do not think this did anything for me as of now. It may have just had the purpose to drive up tension but I do not think forcing it with something dramatic like this was needed. 

Now onto the highlight of the middle section of the anime, episodes 8 and 9 which cover Rose’s backstory. Hearing my favorite voice actress Konomi Kohara in episode 8 was a welcome surprise. Her voice for Aul is probably the hardest to recognize out of anything I've heard from her as the tone is very different. I immediately thought about it upon hearing her talk but was not certain until her crying when she got punched convinced me. I’d know her yelling and crying noises anywhere. Kohara excels at bringing cute, cheerful energy that immediately makes you endear for the character. 

I think the time we got with Rose’s original squad was well done. It gave us enough time to let us feel the bond, but not so long that we felt we were wasting time with characters we knew would be dying. Aul is the only one who gets proper focus, but for the purpose of the unit focus on all of them was not needed. We also did get a nice moment that helped us feel that the other members were all people with names and lives. The scene where Rose talks to the parents of Josh hits hard and got me genuinely emotional. It's great for the world to have the events of that fight have an impact on more than just Rose. Hearing such a positive spin on the death of a soldier really hit hard. I hope most parents of fallen soldiers can reach the point of healthy acceptance that these two did. This scene both helps Rose and for the point of this blurb, reminds us that even though the other members like Josh did not get focus, they have some more substance than just extra soldiers. 

A criticism I have seen levied was that it took too long to get the war content that it’s been building up to. It did take quite a while to get some proper action, but the action delivers. It is by no means at the top level of anime action that we have gotten in recent times, but it is good. The art is pretty great while being fun and engaging, with one of the best moments of the show being her chucking trees. There was solid pacing too, with the action not being stopped for too long by exposition. I enjoyed this fight and hope the upcoming fights are up to its caliber at least. 

I really appreciate the show bringing up how losing her eye in the battle made a big difference in the moment. A pet peeve of mine is how often shows degrade the impact and weight of a character losing an eye. Most of the time they just keep fighting the same as normal or acclimate way too fast. I love her mentioning specifically that her depth perception is off because of losing her eye. In a proper battle that would make a massive difference. And while losing an eye only takes away about 30% of your vision, that could also mean the difference between life and death when you have arrows and magical blasts aimed at you. Characters barely changing from losing an eye sabotages dramatic weight and breaks my immersion in combat. I appreciate that this show gave her losing her eye the gravity it deserves in the moment even if it was just a bit of dialogue. Just the proper acknowledgement of the issues losing an eye brings means a lot to me. 

The battle ending with the demon commander being saved is also an interesting one. They’re clearly setting up here that the demons are not meant to just be evil adversaries. It also shows the strength of Rose’s character by not having her fall into a blind rage and completely flipping as a character. Even after seeing her friends be killed, she still saw the meaning in her adversary wanting to save someone dying on the battlefield. This hits Rose at the core of who she is. Both humans and demons have people they care about and want to save. Up to this point I honestly didn’t have anything to say about the demons as they seemed like your standard demonic adversaries, but this makes me feel positive that we will get solid substance from them.

I think Rose’s fall into depression and recovery is well done. I like how we got a variety of her thoughts rather than jumping straight to a strong reaction. She did contemplate suicide, but she is engaging in self-punishment and doesn’t believe she has the right to die. But what should she do with this life? She thought about going on a demon murder rampage and getting revenge, but she already recognized that is not the right thing to do. She spent over a month stuck in her depression rather than going back so we can infer she considered quitting altogether. Another great aspect of Rose’s emotional side of things is how she gave herself the pep talk based on her memories, rather than getting a stereotypical pep talk from someone else. It’s important to show how support from others is important for emotional processing, but getting over every emotional hump doesn’t come from someone telling you how great you are, and sometimes you do need to work through things yourself internally. The king and other knight checking up on her likely helped but this is clearly not written the same as a pep talk. Sometimes people can work through things on their own with enough time to process. And this isn’t from negative behavior like her not accepting help or having a bloated ego. The problem was all internal and there is no way anyone else could have properly related to her as no one else has the capabilities she does. I love that it took a long time for her to reach this. It’s important to note how long it takes to cope with your emotions. And to return to the pep talk point, sometimes those pep talks that make a person’s emotional state do a complete 180 make it seem like overcoming bad emotions is easy. I really like her growth comes from her thinking about their lives rather than about their deaths. It’s obvious that after a horrific event like she experienced, she would hyperfixate on their deaths. She already had the answer as Aul was dying, that she should not hate herself and to continue being the strong and kind person she is. 

She was also told by Josh's parents that she should not be ashamed of herself and what she has done. But the severity of the moment muted the positive impact of those words. When she is able to think about what came before that terrible event, she realizes the proper way to think. By remembering what her squad said while they were alive, she was able to put her own life into perspective and find a goal. Knowing everything that happens, it feels like a logical conclusion for Rose to focus entirely on saving lives. As a character within the archetype of the tough brutal teacher, Rose feels far above the rest as a dynamic and fleshed out character who does not exist just to be hated. She does the usual drill sergeant type of thing while having proper motivation and emotional reasoning behind it. She’s not brutal just so the main character has to struggle, she is brutal because of her backstory that stands entirely on its own. Rose really is a fantastic character by all metrics and she alone makes this show worth the watch. 

This show continues to have great characters and excellent execution. We did have to wait a little too long for some great action with overall slow pacing, but it was still enjoyable, and I see some value in the slow buildup. The buildup was very successful for Rose’s side of things, so I feel confident that the buildup will have been worth it for Usato’s side as well. Hopefully this anime will continue on strong through to its conclusion. Thanks for reading!

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 15)

Can you believe this is my 10th round of doing these Power Rankings? Despite the ups and downs of the season, it's been super fun to see this through throughout the entire season. Let's hope that my 10th ranking will bring a 10/10 score! (Or, rather, a 6/6.)

In case you haven't seen my previous power rankings, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Aiden's Elimination

Current Score: 65 acquired/97 total

(Points versus @venus-is-thinking: 16 acquired/23 total)

Seems like it was finally Aiden's time to go. Although, really, it should've been Jake's time to go (in universe), he just won immunity. Still, Aiden has gotten so much spotlight these past few seasons that the end of that focus felt inevitable. I'm not too mad that he was eliminated in this way, only upset that I didn't put him lower on the list. Damn you, Grett, and making it sound like you would vote with the heroes...

I still don't completely understand the logic behind Grett making this move (as I elaborated upon at the end of my initial thoughts), but I'm way less confused about this than I was about, say, Aiden's plan to expose the kiss, or even Magenta's choice to eliminate Hunter way back when. I think it'll make for a more exciting finale either way, so it's probably for the best. Again, only mildly frustrated with myself that I didn't call it better.

Trailer Analysis

Okay, so this definitely seems relevant to the challenge. Given all the other stuff we've seen, I'm guessing it's the end?* Go through a bunch of obstacles; first person to zipline to the flag gets immunity. Seems simple enough...? At least Aiden doesn't have to once again face his dubiously remaining fear of heights.

What a surprise that they're fighting again. They're in their pajamas, meaning that this is probably at camp near the beginning of the episode.

Emily is real again! Seems like they may be plotting their revenge this episode, as opposed to actually carrying it out. Or, this could be Trevor changing his mind about revenge in the first place.

Connor giving Riya the silent treatment. Good for you, king.

Okay, I wouldn't normally put this in, but given that they put it in, clearly there's something to be gathered here. This really seems like it would be a non-team challenge, meaning there's probably only one challenge tester? If so, then I think the relevant piece is that neither Derek nor Trevor is testing the challenge. My guess is that Derek is exempt via Kristal, but Trevor may have ditched in his rebellion.

Okay, so sandbags are part of the challenge, and it appears Connor and Alec reach them first.

There's also rock climbing.

Riya is potentially sabotaging Yellow? From the previous shot, it looks like Alec is blue, so it's not him. Interestingly, Connor also seems to be running past Yellow, so it's not him. It's also not Grett, as she's shown as Orange in the thumbnail. Maybe Jake is Yellow? Or maybe Riya is just picking up her own bag.

More of Riya using her feminine wiles.

Ally is black, and *it seems like that wasn't the challenge endpoint after all.

Ally and Jake's fighting will get physical, as well. Given that we don't really see Ally's hair messed up elsewhere, maybe the rock climbing is the end of the challenge? Although then, where did the bags go?

Riya's trying to kill people again, including her (former?) allies. Typical. (Alec is the question mark; Connor is clearly a former ally if you even count him as ever being an ally at all.)

"Don't mind him. He's just moody~"

The malewife-ification of Alec continues. Riya has definitely gone mad with power if this is how she's treating her only real alliance. I feel like Alec's gonna snap sooner or later.

Power Ranking

#1: Connor

Venus and I talked about this one a bit after last week's episode, and, it would be way too sad if Connor was taken out in this time in this way, right? He literally directly vowed that this time, he would be the one to take out Riya (and win), and he even has a totem now. If he went home with an idol in his pocket, that would be devastating, and totally go against all the positive momentum he's been building up to this point.

Now, it's certainly possible that Connor will have to play his idol this episode if he wants to survive, but that still means that he wouldn't be going home this time. Especially with Grett potentially giving him a tip-off about what the vote would be, he really shouldn't fail in this regard.

Now, I'm still torn about whether Connor will be a finalist or not, and I don't think he'll win. Or at least, I hope he doesn't, because other contestants need the money way more than he does. And, you can't even really argue that he played the best game, considering that he literally got voted out once before and only managed to get back into the game with Ashley's help. I think Connor could be a losing finalist, or get eliminated at final 4 or 5. However, I don't think he's headed home just yet, so he's at #1 for me.

#2: Ally

Perhaps it's Ally's fate to ping pong across my list, this late into the season. Or, maybe just pong. That's the video game version.

As Grett pointed out, Ally is now in a swing vote position. It'll be up to her and Grett to determine whether one of Alec and Riya or one of Jake and Connor is going home. Therefore, there really shouldn't be any reason why Ally would be going home this time. Sure, Jake might want her out, but him choosing to either A) convince Alec and Riya to work with him and Connor to take out Ally or B) convince Grett to likely send it to a 3-3 tie both seem incredibly implausible. I guess the 3-3 could work if Connor planned to idol Ally out by protecting himself/Jake, but still, it's a bad idea to let Grett in on schemes to eliminate Ally, even if Jake might not know it.

From a narrative perspective, I also don't think it would make sense to eliminate Ally here. She has more decisively turned towards the villainous, but all of the heavy plan-lifting has been left to Riya or Grett. I'm not necessarily saying that Ally needs to herald a scheme of her own before she's eliminated, just that sending Ally home as collateral damage to one of them feels like an underwhelming end to her character. All of this arguing must be building up to something big, right?

#3: Grett

She's here along with Ally as a likely swing vote who has a scheme up her sleeve that seems like it's going to play out. One question you may be asking, though, is why I have Grett below Ally. Grett is a strong winner choice, and the one driving the plan. She probably has more options than Ally does, due to a longer history with the villains and a better relationship with the heroes. Shouldn't that make her more invincible?

Well, as I explained for Ally, I think that Grett going home as a result of her own plans is a better narrative ending than Ally going home as a result of someone else's. Make no mistake, I still think that Grett has been building up to at least one win all season (even if it isn't actually winning the season directly), so I suspect that whatever her plan is will work for the time being. However, she did have a really nice bookend to the pull-up thing last episode. Was that a feather in Grett's winner edit cap, or was it a signal that Grett's character arc is done, and so is her time in the show?

While I'm not relying on it as much as last time, I do think that Grett's going to be pulling the strings this time around. There's a chance that she could yank too hard, and wind up cutting hers instead. That's unlikely enough for now, though, that she's here at #3.

#4: Jake

I definitely struggled with whether to put Grett or Jake higher, as I'm expecting that neither of them will go home, but could see scenarios in which they could. I wound up putting Grett higher, because I think that the high likelihood of her plan working is more important than the longevity vibes I get from Jake. However, I think that Grett also has the more compelling reason to go home, whereas Jake's is more... bleh.

Basically, I see Jake going out if Riya wins immunity, and Grett and Ally decide that it's better to work with the villains for another round (and still be able to 3-2 them later with Connor) and take out Jake. In this scenario, they don't tell Connor to play his idol on Jake, and he doesn't figure out that he should because he just assumes that Riya will want to eliminate him first and foremost. Basically, this is another "the narrative stalls for an episode to set up bigger conflicts later" option.

It's logical enough-- keeping Riya, Connor, and Alec in the game means that they can keep working on their little trio relationship together, while Grett and Ally stay in the game together to continue strategizing. Jake does have relationships with Connor and Ally, but his elimination could cause Connor to become even more firm in his need to play his idol correctly, and Ally to see how she feels once she finally got what she wanted.

The issue is, the whole plan sucks for Jake's characterization, including the fact that he'd go to the Loser's Motel and see Tom several episodes before the dedicated time in which we could see them talk. This option only works if the writers decide they don't care about Jake anymore, and given how much focus he's gotten, I find that unlikely. Still, with this few people left, that still puts Jake in the bottom half for now.

#5: Alec

Sort of similar lines as Jake, but this time if Riya wins immunity and Grett and Ally choose to simply switch villain targets (at least, as I see the setup in my mind). Alec is still a challenge threat, on both a physical and intellectual level. Riya by far has more power now-- including over Alec-- so she's the bigger threat. But, still, it took Miriam, Fiore, and Ellie working together last season to keep Alec out of a Final 3 he probably would've won. If you have the chance now, it could be a good idea to take him out.

It'd be a sad ending to Alec's story, but so has, like, everything in recent memory. I could see them striking a balance where Alec is still mostly "punished" for his villainous actions overall, but is able to reconnect with Connor (much like he already reconnected with Fiore) before his elimination. Alec and Connor seem like they'll be on good terms this episode, running and climbing together, so I could see that going down.

I've mostly just been stalling before the main event, though. There's no way it's not #6... right?

#6: Riya

I also talked about this with Venus last Saturday, so I already know that we're both going to have Riya at the bottom. There are, like, a bazillion reasons why it makes the most sense for Riya to go down next. Okay, maybe not a bazillion, more like four. But still, here they are.

Riya is, overall, very threatening. It's true that she's not that strong, and she doesn't really have allies (in or out of the game) other than Alec. Still, she's a villain who will absolutely cheat. I wouldn't want that in the finals with me.

Riya was a finalist in Season 2, landing in second place. Under the assumption that the writers don't want any repeat finalists, she is going to go home in the next three episodes.

Connor, once again, literally told us directly that he was going to take her down. Connor is a hero, and Riya is a villain, and we're meant to root for this happening. It feels too late in the season for this to be a subversion where the heroes(?) bounce back after Connor fails. Who would fill his shoes to finish the deed, Jake? How is Connor meant to have any more time to turn his story around?

We've also seen a lot of evidence of Alec's mounting frustrations with Riya. Literally no one wants her in this game anymore, other than maybe Ally.

The bigger question in my mind is whether Connor will need to use his idol to take her out or not. There are some nice parallels to be had if he does, both with him taking extra steps to take her out this time instead of sacrificing himself to keep her in, and possibly with an idol successfully being played on Jake at the final 6 instead of it being wasted like it was in Season 1. But, I really feel like it has to be Riya's time to go. If it isn't, well... I hope the rest of my list holds up well enough.

That's all for now! Being confident always scares me, because sometimes you turn on the episode and you just instantly know you're wrong, y'know? And that feeling is terrifying. Needless to say, Venus and I will be on a wild ride if Riya does win immunity or whatever. I'm hoping that we'll all see Riya take a massive L this Saturday... for the sake of my rankings, of course.

[miss0atae]

Random Thoughts about Dream episode 9:

This series is so frustrating! I can't even tell you how much disappointment I had with this episode. I get it they wanted to adapt a book… So make a real adaptation! Take the name of the characters, few plot devices and make something better and new because this is not a good story at all. We are at episode 9 out of 12 and the main characters haven't had a proper conversation about their feelings! The teaser made me think it was a fantasy romance, but it's more like a drama soap opera.

All the misunderstandings and all the problems would have been solved in one episode if these damn characters were really talking… all of them! They need a group therapy with multiple sessions to learn how to do it. This is so frustrating because you can see how this story could be great! The ideas are really interesting and the actors know how to play… unfortunately everything is mixed with stupidity. The characters are stupid! Even the best actors can't save this.

It's crazy to think it's the same studio that produced GAP and The Sign which weren't perfect, but the story and the relationship between the leads were compelling. Here we have the same problems that happens again and again with no solutions. Everyone is begging Kim to tell Wan about her feelings. Same for Wan… but no… they can kiss, they can share intimate moments (we'll talk about that again) but having a proper conversation?! No, it's not possible.

So the first part was about Kim being really angry at her dad and she can't really forgive him because she still hasn't work on the hurt she got when he ran away with Kim's dad. The moms told the fathers they are forgiving them, but they can't forget what happened. It could have been a step for Kim and Wan's characters growth, but I felt like something was missing.

Then Kim and Wan went to the club with their friends. Everyone is telling them to finally be together but no… It never really happens. They are stuck on the same pattern again and again. It's not like they don't have a healthy lesbian relationship around them they can use as an example of what they could have together… but no. They are still holding their feelings for themselves and they always need to be drunk to act upon them.

I'm tired of them needing the help of something to free themselves. I thought since Wan's got therapy she would be more eager to accept her love for Kim and she would try to charm her. However, it's not just Wan who has a problem with her sexual identity, but it's also Kim. She may have admitted she loves Wan, but she struggles to really do anything with this. I don't get her reasoning.

Of course, the thumbnail of the part 3 promised us a torrid moment between Kim and Wan… and we got fooled. Nothing happened! That's one of my problem too. We are always teased, but it's either a dream or the characters don't do anything and it's pretty tame. We had the dream last week and today we got the pretty tame moment. I'm not asking for NC scenes, but don't tease me with them and give me nothing at the end.

Finally, Mawin… I can't with him. He must know that Kim doesn't like him. She can't even hide it properly. So why is he stuck on marrying her?! I really wanted him to be a nice person, but either he is an idiot or he is a manipulative person. Frankly, after this episode I believe it's the latter. Also, why is Wan's mom forcing her daughter to marry someone just because she is afraid of dying?! I get it, she has cancer and she wants her daughter to be happy… but who said being married would bring happiness? I mean look at her own marriage. She wasn't happy in the end.

It feels like both Wan and Kim can't do anything to be together because Wan don't want Kim to go against her mom's wishes and Kim will do anything her mom ask her to do to see her happy. In the end, both women are still prisoners of their parents' wishes who never seems to consider what would be the real happiness of their daughters.

Anyway, I'm sad I didn't like this episode at all. I was really a fan of the series at the beginning, but it's getting harder and harder to enjoy it. I will still watch it until the end because I want happiness for Wan and Kim!

[cru5h-cascades]

So some time ago I was scrolling through Netflix, desperate to find something interesting to watch. While surfing through the service, I stumbled upon a strangely familiar show that I never watched. Maya and the Three. Looking at the thumbnail pic and such, the artstyle in the show reminded me of the Book of Life, a movie I loved as a kid (and still love!). I looked it up and turned out the show was made by the same folks who made the Book of Life! I knew my lil' bro would probably like this so I got him into the room and we started watching the series. During the week it took for us to get through the entire series (which was a season long btw; not because Netflix canceled it, but because the creater of the show was scared it would be canceled prior to the story's conclusion), we saw the story unfold. Incredible fight scenes, great characters, and an ending that made me cry lmao the show was that good. However, towards the end of the show some things felt a bit rushed like the romance plotpoint between Maya and possible tumblr sexyman 2024 canidate, Zatz, and Maya opening up more to her biological mother, the goddess of death. Also I felt like the realm of the gods and the gods themselves weren't explored that much, either. Which is why I decided "Hey, what if I re-imagined the series? This show only had a season anyways. It had so much potential!". And here we are now. My basic idea for a re-imagining of Maya and the Three! I might keep building upon the idea of the re-imagining in the future but I've got a shit ton of projects I wanna get out there (I gotta finish Your Side of Order, start Calamity Circus now that I got an idea of how the story will go, and brainstorm the story I had in mind for Ribbon & W.D) and because this is just a rough idea as I only thought about all of. Anyways here we go :D

Heart of a God (a re-imagining of Maya and the Three)

What I had in mind was this: Lord Michlan (now the king of all gods and the god of war in this re-imagining) has a rule about god/human hybrids: they're either taken to the realm of the gods at birth by the god that spawned them or they're seperated from their mortal family at the age of 15 and sent to the realm of the gods against their will. Either way, if they aren't sent to do something for the gods, they're stuck in the realm of the gods for all eternity.

The re-imagining starts the same way the first episode of the series does: Maya's being officially recognized as a princess and has to give up the rough and tough lifestyle she loves. But two things are different: A) Maya's brothers aren't there because to me personally they don't add much to the plot and B) the reveal of Maya's demigod-hood. Zatz crashes the party, reveals Maya's demigod-hood to the people of Teca, and goes on to tell everyone that he has to take Maya to the realm of the gods ('cause you know, the rule about demigods). However, he seems very unwilling to do this. He has a somber tone to his voice. Anyways, at first, Maya's parents are outraged and want to fight back, however, Maya turns herself in, still mad about having to give up her lifestyle. Her parents are mildly confused and shocked, only for Maya to justify that "isn't this what princesses are supposed to do? protect her people? if I can't fight I might as well do this instead, even if I don't want to. heck, maybe my birth mom is better than you two.". Maya's very clearly pissed off about all of this. She doesn't want to deal with any of this, so she heads to Zatz and the two start going to the realm of the gods. Maya's parents are heartbroken, but don't react with violence as they first indended... at least not right now.

After the first episode, we get to know more about the realm of the gods, the gods themselves, and see Maya grow as a character. At first, Maya isn't optimistic about this new life she has to live, being trapped in a world full of strange beings that have the ability to kill her in a heartbeat, but at the same time she doesn't want to go back to the life she knew ('cause she's still pissed off about the lifestyle thing and being lied to). And it doesn't help that, by order of Lord Michlan, Zatz has to accompany her throughout the realm of the gods until she's fully adjusted to this new way of life and as the story progresses, the two get closer (fixing the unaturally quick pacing of the romance plotpoint in the OG show) and we get to know why Zatz is the way he is (might elaborate further in a seperate post idk). Also, the goddess of death tries to find a way to let Maya be with her mortal parents again.

We don't spend all the series in the realm of the gods though because after a while, Maya's parents get desperate and decide to wage war against the gods and assemble an army and force our three other main characters from the OG series (Pichu, Chimi, and Rico) into this ordeal (since they're the chosen ones), sending them into the realm of the gods (again 'cause they're the chosen ones) to try to retrive Maya, with each one of them having their own emotional baggage (I liked their backstories from the OG show 'cause they were pretty solid so I'm keeping them) alongside the fact that they didn't want this. Each epsiode focusing on the chosen ones' missions will involve each of them wanting to kill the gods (especially Zatz 'cause he has to stay w/ Maya) and Maya & Zatz fighting them to get them to stop (and also help them with their emotional baggage or whateva). All of this will lead up to the finale where the mortals shatter the barrier between their realm and the realm of the gods and start the mortal v gods war, with the mortals' ultimate goal being to kill the gods (and demigods, specifically Zatz because this guy was the one who took Maya away from the rulers of Teca). Outraged by this, Michlan makes the strongest of the gods go to the mortal realm to punish the mortals, still not realizing that his rule is pretty fucked up. As the fight rages on, Zatz, Maya, and the chosen ones become determined to stop the war, with seemingly the only way of stopping it is killing Michlan since he is just so determined to keep his demigod rule in place.

Instead of killing off almost all of the best characters like in the OG series (bro why couldn't Maya just have her happy ending? I mean sure becoming the sun is pretty cool but seems kinda weak at least to me. what can you even do as a big fucking ball of gas??), here's what I had in mind:

Maya loses her arm fighting Lord Michlan (bringing the dislocation thing full circle; it kinda did in the main series but it would've been more badass than limping towards Michlan's heart thing or whateva)

Zatz and the goddess of death die, but because technically this show and the Book of Life happen in the same universe, La Muerte shows up after the battle with Candle Maker and Xibalba to intervene because all the gods are dead, and to reward Maya for her efforts she revives Zatz, however the goddess of death can't be revived because she is a god.

The turning into the sun and moon thing is ditched entirely.

And finally Maya reconciles with her parents about the events of the first episode.

And that's the basics of the re-imagining. I'll probably do more posts about this in the future since this is a pretty rough concept for a Maya re-imagining and this might need some polishing up so be on the look out for more of those ;D

[yuurivoice]

How do you feel now that the bittersweet watch along is over, and the next episode is near completion? Do you feel like your getting back to consistency?

I thought I was but then I slammed on the breaks to do the thumbnail project lmfao.

My real gauge of if I had found the sauce again was when I cranked out a fire Auron script and another script I won't be telling y'all about in like two hours and I just had a clear vision of where I wanted to take things.

I'll get into the swing of regularly scheduled stuff easy enough, but perhaps more exciting is that a lot of that is going to be my own original work. The big hits and one shots will still be there but...I'm cooking some good stuff up.

Aurons next two or three audios are in my head already, I'm excited to dig into Charlie. Lots of other stuff too.

And this was the first episode of BitterSweet I watched three times in a row upon receiving it. I'm in awe. Thoo truly stepped up, she is different from me in that when she sees skills to acquire and build on, she leaps at the challenge and will eat it up and get so much better every time she steps up to bat. I envy that and it inspires me to push myself so I can keep pace. I am a corner cutter, so surrounding myself with people who strive to reach higher is the key to making me push myself as well.

Jackie has gone absolutely bonkers as well. She has done so much heavy lifting, and I'm excited to help streamline her process with the addition of background artists and better planning on my part. We put together a 17 minute beast and she drew all of it. We've started to find our groove as a team and I confidently say that this is our new high water mark.

An old friend is handling the sound design and it's so much better than what I would have done. Again, surrounding myself with people who drive me to be better and allow me to focus on my strengths really is an envigorating thing.

After a long time wandering and struggling, I think this is the hope I've been longing for.

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Ayyyyyyy just got done w/ Zexal pt. 1

Hey! It's Prediction Time babey, cuz I just finished rewatching Zexal Part One and Im about to watch Zexal Two: Electric Boogaloo for the first time

I did a fine job avoiding spoilers I think, but theres still some stuff that slipped through to me so my predictions are mostly based on that, so heres all I know:

1. Something's wrong w/ my boi Reginald. Im working on a thing rn and I was looking up reference images of Astral and I stumbled upon this weird german video that was titled smth like "Is Astral the TRUE enemy?!?" (Probably from back when the show was still airing) and it had this Weird Creature that looked an awful lot like Reginald in the thumbnail and Im a lil worried about that ngl. But Im also glad bc whatever it means he'll probably get more screentime and I'll hopefully forget about him less

2. This one was pretty much confirmed to me by some of the Discord Fellas, but Fucked Up And Evil Astral is making his return!! I'm very excited about that because I feel like 96 is essentially like, if Astral looked into a funhouse mirror but instead of distorting your face in a funny way it showed you everything you don't want to be, and I really really love that concept. So yeah, I think he's gonna be a pretty significant villain, if not the main one and I also think that we're probably gonna have some kinda Fucked Up And Evil Zexal or Zexal Equivalent

3. Theres gonna be this orange-haired fella?? Idk he looks to be about Yuma n Gangs age and I think I vaguely remember reading some stuff about him seeming sweet but being actually evil?? Idk, Im getting big Sora from Arc-V-vibes from the few images Ive seen of him and I loved Sora but he also lured me in with his sweetheart-facade and made me feel really betrayed when he turned out to be a traitor and then really conflicted when he wanted to redeem himself, so Im wary of this dude. Also, if he is evil, I think he might be some kinda evil counterpart to Yuma (and maybe form that aforementioned Evil Zexal Form w/ Number 96). Not literally/in the way that 96 is an evil version of Astral, but yknow

4. When I was looking up refs for D-Gazers I stumbled upon this reference sheet of some Zexal girl that hadnt appeared at that point in my rewatch, but then it turmed out to be Sharks sister, Rio?? I think thats pretty weird bc I thought that she like, died right. I wasnt the only one who thought that right. Well, she was at the very least hospitalized and seemed pretty badly injured after that fire, like, in a way that winning a duel wouldnt fix so Im curious how they're gonna explain that. Also, I saw an image of her hanging around with that orange-haired fella and I think she looked a lil similar to Kotori, so that makes me wonder if we're getting some kind of Fucked Up And Evil Numbers Club 👀👀

5. On a hopefully unrelated note, I also heard about a pretty neat female character getting fridged in a way that was pretty bad, even for yugioh so yea

So yeah, those are all my predictions/speculations that are actually based on something, the following ones are more stuff that I really want to happen, rather than me having any 'evidence' that these things are going to happen

6. It's pretty clear that we're definitely going to the Astral World, but I'd also really like to see the Barian World yknow. I kinda doubt that they would show it though, because I feel like if you have this entire world where an alien race lives and you make the audience aware of it, its a bit harder to dehumanize them and make all of them seem like theyre pure evil but ya know. A girl can dream

7. These past few episodes have been incredibly dense with plot, so I hope we're going to start of Zexal II with more lighthearted character-driven episodes, kinda like how the series started when Yuma and Astral were first collecting Numbers

8. Idk about you, but Id love to see Astral in a fit of despair (possibly bc of Number 96 👀👀👀)

Aight, I think thats it. If youre reading this, please dont try to spoil me, plaese just reblog this post either directly quoting a specific part being like 'Well, this aged poorly' or just say that about the entire post because I dont really like being spoiled, but I do like feeling anxious ig

And with that, its Zexal II time babes lets gooooooooooooo

[owentheworm]

I HAVE SOME THEORIES AND THINGS TO SAY BASED OFF OF THE TEASER THAT MARTIN WALLS RELEASED SO LETS G O :

(Credit to some of my friends for these theories lol)

♡ I have a feeling we are going to get to see more of the inside of Bons Burgers in the up and coming episode. During the teaser, there were multipul images of what looked like the inside of a restaurant with The Showstoppers on the walls.

♡ Adding onto the last point, I think we are going to learn more about the birthday party mentioned in Bunny Farms. During Bunny Farms, someone said that they had the first birthday party at Bons Burgers for a girl named Lilly. In the thumbnail of the teaser (and flashed at the end of the teaser) There is a picture of Billy standing behind 3 little blue blob things (that look like the toys he was holding in the spot the difference part of Bunny Farms) and a little girl at a table with a cake on it. My friend initially thought the girl was Sophie, but upon further looking we noticed from the small bit we can see, the girl only has minor similarities to the one picture of Sophie that we've seen. This girl could be Lily, the girl from the birthday party. We could learn more about what happened at this party and what happens normally inside of Bons Burgers.

♡ My friend pointed out that during the part where the image of Bon with the thought bubble pops up, it looks like something behind that image. Like it's hiding a different image behind it. And upon looking closer, we landed on it looking a little bit like a bed frame. Could we begin to see more into the person life of one of the characters?

♡ Lots of Boozoo in this one, him being in the flashing images and being the one at the end when it says "thank you so much for the support". I think we will finally get the real story behind who is in Boozoo and how.

♡ The dialog "Their gone. Ed and Molly." This has to be Jack saying this. I imagine we will finally know how Felix broke the news to Jack. This also could connects to the ending dialog, "This is three days after the accident" from Felix. He could be logging what happened after he told Jack about the death of Ed and Molly. Why else would he be logging what happened.

♡ During the technical difficulties screen, at the bottom it says "Technical difficulties are TEMPORARY. Keep an eye!". What an odd message for this screen. The word temporary being in all caps has to have some significants. Temporary, like the lives of those at Bons Burgers? What is so temporary in this series? Also, "keep an eye" is wierd. It's not keep an eye out or keep an eye open, it's just keep an eye. Like, what does that mean??

Anyway, I'm excited for TWF4 and can't wait to see the new things to come in the series.

[cheseyre]

good news, sluts! my brain's no longer being completely stupid (only mostly), i've seen the new asides and...have some thought-y thot thoughts:

*deep inhale*

Okay, first things first: this art style is soooo fucking cUTE and I'm a jealous, squealing bitch. Anyone who knows who the artist is, could you link me to them, stat? I think Thomas mentioned them at the beginning of the ep, but nYeh, brain hurt, doesn't wanna do wooork-

Okay, I'll admit, I was a little...apprehensive when I first saw the thumbnail and title. Part of it's just me being a bitter Remus Stan, but also...okay, deep breaths, controversial opinion time, get ready:

I don't ship Prinxiety.

Like, at all. 

I can see the appeal, and these dorks were so very, VERY cute in this particular ep, but I was honestly turned off by the ship long ago due to how overwhelmingly popular it is and how some fans characterize these two and treat this relationship as if it's the only valid one, y'know, the works—slight tangent, but that's also why I don't ship Logicality or Remile. I honestly vibe much better with ships like Roceit or Analogical, y'know?

Cutting in for another brief tangent: I'm surprisingly okay with Demus/Dukeceit/Receit/Trashnoodle/Whatever-Their-Ship-Name-Is-Oh-God-Why-Do-They-Have-So-Many-Fucking-Names; maybe it's cause they haven't actually interacted in canon and the fan content gives me such good Gay Disney Villain content, idk man im weird—).

Still, their interactions were both hilarious and sweet and like I said, I see the appeal, it's just not my cup of tea. y'all Prinxiety fans got fucking FED and I'm happy for you nerds. Enjoy ze happy boys!

I guess another factor in my...low-key hesitance when I first saw what the ep was about is that...okay, get ready, another controversial opinion, le gasp: well, I'm not a big Virgil fan. In fact, at times, he swaps places with Patton as my least favorite sides—especially with some of his recent behavior in eps like DWIT (the "prohibit your breathing comment" really triggered me, for example). Sometimes, his attitude, especially around other sides like Roman or Janus, reminds me a little too much of my sister, who I don't have...a very good relationship with. Add to that how the more...intense side of the fandom has a disturbing tendency to turn him into the 'uwu precious woobie emo baby who can do no wrong' while unnecessarily villainizing other CERTAIN sides in the process, and...I think you all see where I'm going with this little rant 😅

However, upon actually watching the ep, he wasn't...that bad? I don't think? I enjoyed watching him be a flustered, disaster-y mess and genuinely excited at the end, his interactions with Roman were nice enough, and him literally pushing Thomas to make a move with Nico despite his obvious panic attack was a nice moment of genuine character development. I like seeing that, that's the good shit right there. And him being all flustered and shit, and smiling so much at the end of the vid was just...well, adorable. This man has no fucking right to be this cute, my god

alsoooo 

pURPLE EYESHADOW

PURPLE EYESHADOW HE LOOKS?? SO GOOD?? WTF?? SLAY EMO, SLAAAAAAAY FUCK, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE TO CHANGE MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME NOW?

alsoooo 

hAPPY ROMAN

YESSSSS~ MAH BOI MAH SON MAH DUMB BITCH HIMBO PRINCE MAH EXTRA MESSY CINNAMON ROLL

ITS  BEEN SO  LONG

AND HIS LITTLE HEART EYES THROUGHOUT THE VID, OH MY GOD-

IMMA JUST IGNORE THAT "ADDING [MISTAKE] TO THE LIST" COMMENT I AM LOOKING AWAY I DO NOT SEE IT LALALALALA

THOMATHY, SIR, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT MAKING THESE TWO GAY IDIOTS SO BAEBY

Okay, but Virgil not realizing that "cyberstalking in real life" is literally just stalking is both a big ass mood and further proof that, yes, Logan is indeed the only one holding the braincell out of this disaster of a lot. God help them all if he ducks out in the next ep.

👀

And Thomas x Trash Can is my new OTP.  I dub thee ✨ "Trashmas" ✨

we sTAN TRASHMAS

Wait, does that mean Remus actually WAS in the ep? Cause, y'know, trash man?

hmmm

👀 👀 

Okay, okay. 

With how much Virgil and Roman were going off about Thomas constantly lying, I was (understandably) a tad bit disappointed my snek son didn't even make a fucking cameo, but y'know what? In hindsight, I'm okay with this it's fineee~

He was just off playing with shadow puppets and stealing money from us desperate, content-starved peasants with his sheer extra-ness and, honestly? Gotta respect the hustle. 

Get that precious, precious coin, dapper snake! Wring us poor losers dryyyy!

*evil snek laugh*

Also, this is a breather ep and adding Janus in probably would've caused unnecessary drama with the Roceit breakup and the constant antagonism between Virgil and him. It probably would've distracted from the point of the ep (flirting with social anxiety, exactly what it says in the tin)—much like it wasn't really Virgil or Remus's place to show up during POF. Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. Sorry, brain going brr-

Still, I can't believe the "Fuck Janus Sanders" Club is actually canon now 😂

God, first Patton in a skirt and now this. 

Thomas Sanders, you delight in fucking feEDING this gremlin nest of a fanbase, don’t you? You RELISH our screams of joy and pain and suffering, dON’T YOU?

What's next, actual canonical Janus and Remus interaction? Patton saying the fuck word? The Dragon Witch comes back? Janus's bowler hat gains sentience and takes over the world, Doris-style? What do you have planned, Thomas? Joan? WHAT ART THOU PLANNING, I MUST KNOW YOU HEATHENS YOU FIENDS-

And Virgil's little "would it be fair to him" comment, tho.

👀

Like, I get in the context of the ep, he was likely talking about Nico and how it wouldn’t be good for a potential relationship with Tomas to be founded on lies, but still...my anxceit heart aches, man. 

Gimme that sweet, sweet angst with a side of mutual regret and possible future reconciliation and maybe something more wink wink nudge nudge on top, pls

...and fries.

Honestly, tho, that entire bathroom monologue was fucking beautiful, man. And relatable, too—i can't tell you how many times I've talked to myself in public restrooms because I just didn't know how to get the words I wanted to say out. It's...kind of embarrassing, tbh

Speaking of embarrassing, uh, crying stall guy.

Just...

Crying Stall Guy

Like, I was expecting someone to come out the bathroom stall after Thomas stopped talking, but...I honestly wasn't expecting that. God, that whole scene was so cringe worthy and fucking hilarious

Honestly, Thomas in the ep in general was a huge ass mOOD and we collective gay/bi disasters ALL related with him, and if you say you don't, you're either lying to yourself or a demon. 

There is no in between 

sorry I don't make the rules

Like, I get this series is literally a gay disaster talking to himself for thirty minutes or longer, but like- EMPHASIS on the 'disaster' part 😂

Like...Thomas, you're lucky you're such a goddamn bean, because GOD, I cringing so hard when he first started talking to Nico

Although, I too have apologized profusely for genuine mistakes and am a flustered bi mess around my crush sooo

😅

And god, Roman's "thirty = old man" jokes made me feel old...and I literally just turned twenty, like, come on, man!

Maybe that's because I was literally watching this ep after finishing my ACT and had been sitting with a bunch of high schoolers, with their tiny fucking desks and tiny fucking water fountains smeh

*clears throat*

Anyways, uh, we STAN Nico Pintrovert Florés in this house

Like

He gives me such big Carlos from WTNV vibes for some reason and this makes me sooo happy

and YESS, he's a WRITER

And he's??? So sweet?? A pure bean?? Just sits on his laptop at the mall food court all day, like a god-fucking iCON?? A Nightmare Before Christmas fan?? weARS GLASSES??

my hEART

*cries*

The fandom seems torn between "Nicomas" and "Karrot Kings" as a ship name atm—personally speaking, I'm casting my vote for the latter

*crosses fingers* please dont be another janus x remus multiple ship name issue guys, please please please I can't keep track of them all-

*clears throat*

On that note, I'm guess I'm gonna go try and whoo over my crush with carrots now. If THIS disaster can do it and make it actually fucking work, god damnit, so cAN I

Meanwhile, in hell, my brain's just screaming "CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST-"

God, I hope Nico isn't just a one-shot character, he's too pure and Thomas and him are adorable gay Disney fans and I stan

Oh, I wonder how the other sides'll react to him.

Wait.

Oh god.

Oh god.

This ep just unleashed a new fresh hell of potential Nico x Sides ships, hasn't it?

Welp, time to prepare for ze incoming flood of fanfics, I guess. I'll get my umbrella and rain boots.

That last shot of Virgil during the endcard was so fucking ominous oh my god mom im scared can you come pick me up-

Goddammit, Thomas and Joan, I'm NOT fucking ready to be traumatized again, fUCK

I wish I wasn't a broke ass university student so I could contribute to Thomas's gloriously extra Patreon—both so I can support my favorite content creators who make this amazing blessed content and also, to join my boi Janus in fucking  destroying society by giving money to the people who actually deserve it, fuck YOU GOVERNMENT-

Okay. 

Okay. 

New headcanon time as to why Patton, Remus, and Logan weren't in the ep: they were helping Jan film that Patreon promotional video. 

Like

Remus directed it, Logan helped with the lighting and script, and Patton was just there as the cheerleader. 

The reason Janus made a dog with shadow puppets wasn't just to flaunt his deity status and prove how he is truly above us mere wretched mortals 

despite that being the absolute truth and we all know it, don't lie to yourselves

No, it was really him trying to do something cute and silly for Patton, because Moceit rights, daMMIT

*inhales*

noww 

guys, gals, and nonbinary pals

it’s time forr

the most wonderful time of the yearrr

WAITING FOR THE NEXT EPISODE

Step right up, folks! Hear ye, hear ye, my prediction for the next episode: Prinxiety v. Moceit! With special guest stars: Karrot Kings vibing in adorable gay and Intrulogical, bitter at being excluded aGAIN

Who will win? Who will lose? 

here’s a hint: we all will because in this sick twisted game they are no winners only losers-

Place your bets, folks! ✨

Haha im not readyyy~

tl;dr

this episode has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and ended my suffering—an adorable calm before the... angsty fucking shitstorm that’s coming far too soon. Prinxiety stans, enjoy your food. Place an 'F' in the chat for me and my fellow grieving Remus stans. Trashmas is the true OTP, but Karrot Kings is cute too I guess. I've only had Nico Florés for 24 minutes, but if anything happens to him, I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself. Purple eyeshadow Virgil makes me question my sexuality aGAIN, and happy gay disney prince rights y'all. Say a big ole 'fuck you' to capitalism by giving your local dapper snake moneys. Concussion makes brain go brr and imma go buy some carrots and be gay now.

psst hey @quarantinevibes2020​ you wanna join me in being disaster-y? i’ll bring my best gay stare and you bring the wine

Until next time, my lovelies! ~ Ches 🖤

[zephyrthejester]

Three Years Blog Anniversary!

Well, would you look at that. In the blink of an eye, an entire year has gone by! It has now been a grand total of three years since I started up this liveblog, and ever since, it's been a whirlwind of an adventure that has introduced me to amazing shows, amazing games, and above all, amazing people! As has become tradition, it's time for us to gather 'round by the fire, bundle up in blankets, sip some hot cocoa, and reminisce about the shenanigans we got up to in the year 2019.

You know the drill! Click "Keep Reading" to see the rest! Let's go!

January kicked off with the closing episodes to Steven Universe's fifth season, and what a finale it was! In true SU nature, it managed to be wholesome, funny, terrifying, and sad all at once! Not to mention the finale episode specifically, which was rife with both fan service and a breath-taking final confrontation. It even prompted me to type up three whole Addendum posts just so I could get all my thoughts out there. Intermingling with these episodes were some rather poignant and touching episodes of RWBY's 6th Volume, which saw some great plot advancements for some of my favorite characters. And of course, there was one liveblog session early on dedicated to Fate/Stay Night, a series I began back in 2018. And that would end up being the last I'd liveblog about it. Following the technical difficulties of the Visual Novel crashing at an important moment, I lost much of my motivation to keep going at it, putting Fate/Stay Night on the bench... For now. But more on Fate/Stay Night later.

Then came February! Where I proceeded to do absolutely nothing at all. For 42 days, I fell into a pretty bad funk that I called depression, at the time. Well! I must be in a better mental space right now, because until it came time to make this post, I forgot all about it! Moving past the shame I felt for wordlessly abandoning my blog and discord community for over a month, come March I pressed right into a brand new liveblog: Kill la Kill! A frenetic, frantic, freaky series that serves as the spiritual sequel to what was, once upon a time, my favorite anime ever: Gurren Lagann. I was immediately charmed by it's absurdist humor and over-the-top everything. However, it wasn't long before I succumbed to my greatest flaw. I'm exceptionally picky about what I liveblog, and sadly, Kill la Kill didn't tick the boxes that needed to be ticked for me to stick with it. I eventually dropped the series after only three episodes.

Needless to say, I was getting desperate to reinvigorate my lost momentum. It was then and there, at the tail end of March, that I introduced the most significant change to my brand ever: Liveblogging itself was being benched in favor of a fanciful second attempt at running my video game focused Youtube Channel! While I would certainly continue to liveblog new episodes of shows I had previously caught up with, my efforts would be redoubled and focused upon something I hoped would shake things up for me. I put in the effort of buying a new, fancy, high-tech microphone, and set about to new projects!

First up was a tense and troublesome self-imposed-challenge: A playthrough of Resident Evil 2 Remake on its hardest difficulty, with the added stipulation that I can never access the item storage box! My knowledge and skills of that game were put to the test as I skirted by the dangerous zombies and mutants while carrying only the bare essentials on my person. That series lasted 7 videos, plus a Highlight Reel, over about a week. My new microphone really brought out my screams of terror. Yes.

Immediately following the conclusion of the REmake 2 challenge run in early April, a new series debuted: A blind let's play of Subnautica! A simply incredible sci-fi survival game set on a planet that's nearly entirely an ocean... But much to my surprise, it was secretly a horror game all along. Spanning 18 episodes + a highlight reel between April 5th and May 23rd, we descended ever deeper into the abyss, deciphered alien riddles, fled from toothy leviathan-class predators, established a lovely home base, and had a great ol' time overall. A truly remarkable game with a surprisingly good story, for its genre, and it left me eagerly looking forward to making a Let's Play of its sequel: Below Zero.

Simultaneously, beginning on April 10th, I embarked upon yet another adventure that was of such a large scope, I made my channel's primary time slot dedicated to it. The Phoenix Wright Trilogy! A collection of the first three Visual Novels in a wonderful, wonderful series about the titular attorney at law. It wasn't long before I fell in love with this series, big time. It had everything! Immensely satisfying mysteries for me to solve, memorable and lovable characters, great pacing, and it knew how to keep things fresh and interesting. Although I started out the Let's Play by saying I wouldn't read everything aloud, that proved to be a lie. As of now, the series is a whopping 78 videos long (I do expect it to reach 100 before all is said and done), and I have given voice to roughly 50 unique characters so far. The series really helped awaken my Let's Play chops by improving my speech, vocal clarity, and focus. Swapping between my first video ever (for Legend of Grimrock II) and the most recent Phoenix Wright video is a real night-and-day difference! Overall, it's very safe to say that the series has stolen my heart. Unmatched hype, dizzying plot twists, and delightful shenanigans burst from the seams, truly. The Let's Play is currently ongoing, though the end is within sight...

As the Let's Plays of Subnautica and Phoenix Wright Trilogy progressed, so too did the production quality of my videos. I got a better grip on editing, improving the design of my video thumbnails and taking more care to edit out needless and dull moments of gameplay. I even introduced a brief and stylish video intro, which was my avatar appearing over a dark background before it faded off into gameplay. That would be the image up above! However, as we move into 2020, I’ve begun to feel that it could do with a slight improvement... Wink wink!

Following the end of Subnautica came a new Let's Play involving yet another sci-fi horror game: Prey! Spanning 25 videos + a highlight reel between June 3rd and November 19th, it immediately gripped me with its stunning attention to detail, marvelously crafted environments, and boundlessly creative gameplay. It was a pleasure to explore the varied regions of the Talos One space station, blasting aliens, uncovering secrets, untangling the connections between the employees there, and making some seriously difficult moral choices. A truly impressive video game that's just begging for a second playthrough on my own time at some point.

July 20th saw the beginning of new activity on my blog. In a spur-of-the-moment decision that I didn't think out too well, I brazenly announced out of nowhere that I would be doing a re-watch of Steven Universe! I proceeded to liveblog the first 11 episodes of Steven Universe over a week, lovingly looking back at the series' origins, calling out moments of foreshadowing, and analyzing everything with the lens of all my knowledge about the show. And then... Nothing! Just as soon as it began, the project was dropped. I had hoped it would rekindle my interest in Liveblogging (outside of new episodes of SU and RWBY), but I had no such luck. You know I'm burnt out when even Steven Universe, my favorite thing ever, can't help...

By September 3rd, the Steven Universe Movie had finally released! Over a hype-as-hell two days, I liveblogged the entire film. It truly was Steven Universe at its absolute best! Touching, sincere, unexpected, and rife with some stellar songs that are STILL stuck in my head. It proved that the Crewniverse hadn't lost its spark since the conclusion of the original series.

November 5th was my 25th birthday! My family celebrated by all going out for an amazing sushi dinner. Good times! Sometimes, it's really hard for me to grasp that I'm actually 25... I'm a kid at heart, really! Or maybe it's that I'm a social recluse who enjoys watching anime a little too much. Regardless, I feel no shame!

November 10th saw the debut of RWBY Volume 7, and so far it has been an exceptionally strong season. I've long maintained the opinion that the show gets better and better every season, and Volume 7 has given me no reason to doubt that. One episode in particular became my second favorite in the series, right behind a certain one from Volume 6! I'm really enjoying how the characters, new and old, are playing off each other this go around, and the fights and art direction have been no slouch either. This season's a looker! I'm really looking forward to seeing how it ends.

Hot on the heels of the ending Let's Play of Prey, I immediately started up a new series on November 20th... Chrono Trigger! A legendary and widely loved JRPG from the SNES era of gaming that I had somehow gone all my life without playing. Better late than never to fix a mistake like that! I eagerly dived in and nearly immediately understood why it's heralded as an all-time great. The series is currently 13 episodes long, and each one is an endless stream of me being hyped and giddy. I’m already excited to record more!

December 8th saw the debut of Steven Universe Future, a very special epilogue series that's sure to tie a nice bow on the franchise as a whole. As of this post, I have liveblogged the first 8 episodes, and it's fair to say that while it's not holding back in giving the audience exactly what it wants, it's also doing something very unexpected and very, very interesting with Steven himself. Only time will tell how it all ends and whether every remaining mystery will be answered, but so far I have been more than satisfied with it.

And that brings us to the present! Wow, it felt like a lot less happened this year than you would think, huh? No, it's been jam packed with new adventures! I think I am very content with how the year has gone, and I hope you are as well. We'll be striding into the year 2020 with more Steven Universe, more RWBY, more Phoenix Wright, and more Chrono Trigger! Plus, it may very well be that we'll see the return of Made in Abyss and Madoka Magica, both of which (I believe) are getting continuation movies in 2020. I may or may not be entirely wrong about this. Forgive me if I am...

In the near future, the Phoenix Wright Trilogy will be followed up by a Let's Play of Fate/Stay Night! Indeed, the canceled Liveblog will be reborn in youtube video form! And following Chrono Trigger, well... It's mostly up in the air, though I do have a few good ideas. In particular, I recently got a Virtual Reality system set up... Wink wink!

So that's really all there is to it! Cheers, lads! Cheers to a good year, and cheers to the next year being even better! To our good health, our unbreakable friendships, and all the stupid bullshit we’ll get into together! 2020 has arrived!

[sunkissedpages]

Just Another Thursday Night || Tom Holland x Reader

For my valentine @technicolor-lightning​!! this is probably the cheesiest thing I’ve ever written so buckle up lol. it’s been so great getting to know you over the past few weeks, love!! and now I can finally follow you ah!! happy valentine’s day, I hope you like it!!

also!! thank you so much @dtftomholland and @thazypangolin for hosting and putting so much hard work into this I had an absolute blast with it!!

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 1.6k

As far as commercial holidays went, Valentine’s Day was your least favorite. Corporate America always goes batshit crazy when it comes to profiting off of people’s affection, but they took Valentine’s day to a whole different level and it made your skin crawl. Of course, maybe your bitterness was tied to the fact that you’d only ever had one nice Valentine’s Day in your entire life, but that was only a theory.

You and your roommate Tom planned to spend Valentine’s Day exactly as you always did. You’d order from three different takeout restaurants: Cuban, Italian, and Chinese and spend the entire night watching bad game shows. It’s what you had done for the past three years, save the year Tom had a girlfriend (whom you despised) and had taken her out to dinner instead. You still gave him shit for dating a pathological liar, even a year and half later.

Work had dragged on, but at least you were able to lock up early since patrons had stopped coming in over an hour ago. No one needed to be in a bookstore on the evening of Valentine’s Day, they all had better things to do- or better people to do.

It was raining, of course, and you’d left your umbrella at home. Tom had texted you a picture of it sitting by the door where you’d left it and offered to bring it to you at work, but you knew he was busy so you said you’d be fine without it. You regretted not taking him up on his offer now that you were pushing your way through the rush hour crowd holding your bag over your head trying to stay somewhat dry without much success.

You must’ve made your way around ten couples who were kissing out on the sidewalk. It was hard not to roll your eyes at them. To them the rain was romantic. Apparently they weren’t worried about catching bronchitis.

You were thankful for the blast of warm air that hit you the second you stepped inside your apartment building. It was already an old building when you’d moved in with Tom, but over the years it had really started to fall apart. There were more leaks in the ceilings, which made rainy days like today all the more difficult, the wood floors creaked, and the hot water only worked sometimes, but the rent was fantastic for the location and you couldn’t dream of living anywhere else. The elevator had been out of order for months, but you still weren’t used to taking the stairs all the way up to the sixth floor. You felt like you were dying every time.

“How was work?” Tom asked as soon as he heard you come through the door, completely soaked head to toe. He looked up from his laptop and pressed his lips together in an attempt to suppress his laughter upon seeing your appearance.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “We sold thirteen copies of Romeo & Juliet today.” Tom cringed. “All these boys think they’re so original by getting their lit major girlfriends fucking Romeo & Juliet for Valentine’s Day.” You went on and Tom closed his laptop to show he was listening. “I mean at first I felt kind of bad for them because they don’t know any better so I’d suggest Pride and Prejudice if they wanted something that was still well-known, but also romantic to be a little more original or Mansfield Park if they wanted to seem like they did research or put some actual fucking thought into it, but they always took the easy way out.” You hadn’t realized you felt so passionately about this until now.

“Anyone buy Alex, Approximately?” he asked and you immediately smiled. You always did when he brought up your favorite book.

You still remembered the first time you read it. It’d been a rainy night, much like tonight and you’d brought it home from work. It’d been on your to-read list for a while and you were finally able to get to it.

You’d had plans to go out with Tom and friends, but the weather had turned the five minute walk to the bar into a nightmare so the two of you bailed and spent a night in instead. Tom was curled up on the couch with his script and you with your book. Every time you laughed or smiled at a part Tom would stop working and ask you about it. You’d read the part out loud to him and he’d listen intently, urging you to go on when you’d finished, but you just laughed and told him to get back to work, unaware of his gaze that lingered on you as you got lost in the words you were reading.

“No,” you sighed, kicking your shoes off at the door where they could dry. “No one has good taste apparently.”

He smiled softly. “You still wanna watch game shows tonight?”

“Of course! It’s valentine’s day isn’t it?”

“You shower, I’ll order the food?” he suggested.

“Perfect.”

By some miracle the water warmed almost instantly and you were able to take a scalding shower. You let the water nearly burn your skin as the chill slowly eased from your bones. After your shower you changed into some sweats. Even though it was valentine’s day it wasn’t like you were trying to impress anyone.

Tom was set up on the floor of the living room with one out of three orders of food already on the coffee table. Family Feud was playing in the background. You couldn’t wait to spend the night lounging around and stuffing your face with your favorite person.

You and Tom both waited around until the rest of the food showed up, shouting answers out at the tv and yelling at the contestants when they got the question wrong.

The rest of the food arrived in under and hour and Tom set everything up while you were tasked with grabbing drinks from the fridge.

“There are some raspberries in there too,” Tom called from the living room.

“What?” you shouted back, not completely sure if you’d heard him right.

“I picked up some raspberries from the store, they’re your favorite, right?”

“Yeah, they are,” you replied softly, warmth filling your chest as you looked at the rosy berries in front of you. “You didn’t have to do that, Tom,” you sighed as you brought everything back to the living room.

“I know, but it’s valentine’s day, I wanted to do something nice.”

“But I didn’t get anything for you,” you whined.

He chuckled. “They’re just raspberries, y/n.”

You watched countless episodes of Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader until the sound of a buzzer made you both cringe, your brains hurt from all the trivia, and the raspberries in the container dwindled to almost none.

“I think I won,” Tom said at the end of the night with a yawn, stretching dramatically.

You shook your head. “No way, I got seventy points and you only got sixty three.”

“We said we weren’t keeping count this year!” he protested.

“Technically we didn’t. It wasn’t official!” He gave you a look. “You know I can’t help myself!”

“Uh huh, whatever,” he pouted. “I get you raspberries and this is how you treat me?”

“Come on, Tom, don’t be a sore loser!” He stuck his tongue out at you in defiance. “Real mature,” you laughed, stifling a yawn. “Hey, but thanks for spending valentine’s day with me,” you said genuinely. “It doesn’t feel so lonely when I’m with you.”

“Of course, it’s tradition,” he shrugged as he started putting pillows back on the couch.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I would,” Tom said and you froze, heart sinking. Of course Tom would want to spend valentine’s day with a romantic interest, who wouldn’t? But you and Tom had a good thing going, or so you’d thought.

“Oh,” was all you said as you helped him straighten up.

“Wait, no that’s not what I meant- shit.”

“It’s okay, Tom, you don’t have to explain-”

“No hold on,” he said and disappeared into another room returning only seconds later with something behind his back. “So I might have gotten you something else.”

“Tom! Why didn’t you tell me we were doing gifts?” you asked when he handed you a small wrapped package.

“Just open it.” You tore into the paper to reveal a copy of We Were Liars. It was a book you already owned and had read several times. It was one of your favorites. You looked up at Tom in confusion. “Open it.”

You flipped it open to reveal scribbles on the inside cover. “It’s signed?” you asked in disbelief, already smiling.

“That’s not all, read it,” he urged.

Y/n, Tom is too much of a bitch to tell you himself, so he asked me to send this message along to you: He’s completely head over heels for you, girl. Has been for a while. Be his valentine? - E. Lockhart

You looked back up at him, beaming. He was biting his thumbnail nervously, waiting for your response.

“Are those good tears or bad tears?” he asked.

You hadn’t even realized you were crying. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

“So...is that a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes!” you cried, flinging your arms around him to embrace him.

He hugged you tightly, then leaned back to kiss you tenderly, taking your face in his hands and wiping the remaining tears away with his thumbs.

“Happy valentine’s day, love,” he whispered.

“Happy valentine’s day, Tom.”

“Same time next year?”

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