#ok well she went to the mall two episodes later

[fruitbythefoot7]

girl help i’m thinking about the movie theater scene again

[mediadiscord]

The Last of Us – Season 1 Episode 7 – Recap and Review

Hey everyone welcome back to my recap and review of another episode of The Last of Us. The show which I'm liking, based on a video game I've never played on a system that that I didn't continue playing after the second generation. As per usual this review will not feature any Easter eggs, because frankly I wouldn't know what one would be if I came across one. This episode really hit me in a nostalgic spot and not just because of where most of the episode takes place. This actually has some amazing music that tells the story that hasn’t been told yet. I might actually get this out on a Sunday night so let’s quit the crap, throw on The Cure and get to the recap and my review/thoughts. Ok, full transparency, I’m currently listening to The Cure’s Staring at the Sea: The Singles 1975 – 1985. The episode picks up right where the last one left off give or take probably an hour or two. Ellie has taken Joel and their horse to someone’s house where the horse is just hanging out while Ellie is tending to Joel who is bleeding out. Joel tells Ellie to go North back to his brother and he’ll take care of her to which Ellie says no. Eventually Ellie gets up and walks towards the door and is about to leave and then has a flashback. Before I get to the flashback, let’s play memory and think back to when Ellie told Joel that everyone she was close to in her life has either left or died. Ok, let that sit in your head as we go through this episode. Ellie is in what looks to be a gymnasium with other people dressed in sweatpants and sweatshirts with trainee on the back. You learn that this is the ROTC for FEDRA and they are training future soldiers. Ellie is listening to what I think is Pearl Jam in a Walkman and a girl knocks it off and tells her to hurry up. Ellie steps up and the girl, who is named Bethany, reminds her that she doesn’t fight but her friend does and she’s not there anymore. Well, if you were looking for a button to push that was the mother of all buttons. We cut to Ellie sitting in an office waiting for what seems to be the principal or guidance counselor of where she is. There’s a brief chat that pretty much paints out Ellie to be really smart but also too smart for her own good. She is promised this life of an officer in her future where she will live it up and not have to do any grunt work. Ellie believes what she’s been told and when it comes down to the what pathway she wants to choose for how her life turns out, she chooses the life of an officer. We then cut to Ellie’s room where we get some throwbacks to past episodes. She is reading the comic she had mentioned to Sam that was she was a collector of. We also see a Mortal Kombat 2 poster on the wall and this harkens back to when Joel and Ellie went to get Joels stash at the market and she gets excited to see a Mortal Kombat 2 arcade cabinet. Ellie looks over at an empty bed in her room and gets frustrated and goes to sleep. A little after 1:00 AM Ellie window opens and a mysterious figure comes in and we soon find out it’s Riley. Riley is her roommate, and she has been gone for 3 weeks, but it’s because she joined the fireflies. This doesn’t sit well with Ellie as her being an office will make Riley her enemy. We learn later that FEDRA recruits are taught to hunt the fireflies. Riley promises that she wants to give Ellie an amazing night and Ellie reluctantly agrees. There is some small backstory about Riley being recruited by the fireflies for her stealth skills and they soon end up at the location where Riley has an amazing night in store for Ellie. Apparently the The Mall was closed down due to infected, but it’s open and when FEDRA rerouted the power they turned on all the power to The Mall. The two make their way in and Riley activated the lights so Ellie can experience The Mall. This is the first big part of nostalgia for me as The Mall was a place that I would frequent all the time when I was younger and for mostly all the same reasons that Riley wanted to have Ellie experience. Riley tells Ellie that she has four wonders of The Mall that she would like to have her enjoy. There’s an extra one added as Ellie is mesmerized by the escalator. The first is an indoor carousel that breaks down during their ride, because those always break down. The second is a fully working arcade with a Mortal Kombat 2 arcade cabinet. Riley has already taken the pleasure of opening the quarter machine and so they spend some time playing. While Riley and Ellie are having fun in what they think is an abandoned mall, an infected hears them and begins to wake up. The third thing she wanted to show Ellie was where she was living/stationed by the fireflies and also gives Ellie a book. It’s the pun books that she has tormented Joel with during their journey. Ellie explores where Riley has been living and find pipe bombs that she has made. Riley explains that they are going to be used on areas where there are no civilians and she would never let anything happen to Ellie. Ellie questions why Riley really brought her there and it comes out that Riley is being transferred to a different quarantine zone in another state and this was her last night. She tells Ellie she wanted to see her and say good-bye, so Ellie tells her she told her and she leaves. As Elie is almost out she has a change of heart and then hears a scream and runs back to where she thinks Riley has been screaming. It turns out the fourth thing she wanted to show Ellie was a Halloween themed store. They hash things out and put on masks and dance on the counter. Ellie stops dancing and takes off her mask and tells Riley not to leave. Riley agrees and then Ellie kisses her. The feelings Ellie has been hiding, but the audience has noticed, finally come out and they are reciprocated. Riley seems to be onboard with this feeling and then an infected decides to join the fun. There’s a skirmish and Ellie kills it with her knife, but the mood goes from happy that they are alive to sad as they both realize they are bitten. At this point Ellie doesn’t know she can’t be infected, but we now see where she got that scar on her arm. Riley is bit on the hand and we know that she’ll be dead in a day or two so they contemplate what they’re going to do. They speak of suicide but Riley says she doesn’t like that and that they should just continue on until the end. Ellie agrees and then it cuts back to her in the house with Joel. Ellie runs to the bathroom and gets some material. She runs to Joel and starts to stitch him up and that’s where the episode ends. As I mentioned before this episode has a ton of nostalgia for me. The soundtrack was all 80’s, which we know in the series is a queue for a bad situation. The song that means most and that’s hidden in a midi format is The Cure’s Friday I’m in Love. This plays, I think, while they are on the carousel. This is a direct reflection of Ellie and her feelings towards Riley. She doesn’t know how to express that she likes Riley as she doesn’t know if Riley feels the same way. Ellie does have second thoughts about what she is wearing when Riley mentions that she’s trying to imagine Ellie in a thong from Victoria’s Secret. The final thing that Ellie seems to take to heart, and the camera kept cutting to it, was when Riley held Ellie’s hand and walked her towards the arcade. Let’s go ahead and get nostalgic for a moment and remember when arcades were a thing. That scene when they were standing in front of that arcade brought back so many memories for me. Let’s also talk about Ellie’s thoughts on material items. When Riley is telling her about The Mall and how people looted it for things they needed, she made a remark about people needing shoes. To me this was her not knowing the need for fancy things, just look at the 80’s Walkman she was using to listen to her music. This evolves her character as she doesn’t know what fashion really is, she was raised in a time where people just wore whatever they could get their hands on. In the last episode we see that bartering isn’t for what looks good, but for what fits. This episode was really great, and I enjoyed it immensely. This probably has to be one of my favorite episodes so far in this series. Read the full article

[bre-meister]

absolutely adore the way you write the greens! so buttercup and butch and just domestic bliss? just any fluff is fine!

first, I’d like to apologize for long this took, and then I’d like to apologize for how long this is...she got a little out of hand but I hope you like it!

                                                   Family Trips

Butch was happy. Quite frankly, he couldn’t recall a time in the last few years that he hadn’t been happy, but today he was especially happy. 

Buttercup had offhandedly mentioned needing some basic things for around the house when they had been cleaning up after dinner one night and he knew their four year old could use a new pair of shoes - God knows that kid went through sneakers like a maniac but Butch supposed between his superpowers and being his son that it wasn’t that surprising. So, he had suggested that they take advantage of the upcoming weekend and spend a day downtown. Both adults agreed that now would probably be the best time to get some much-needed shopping done considering the recent drop in monster attacks that usually came with the changing of seasons. 

So, when Saturday rolled around Butch woke in a good mood knowing that this would be a day specifically for spending time with his family. His mood got even better when Bruce was well mannered at breakfast. Despite being very obviously excited for a day out, the boy was showing none of his usual signs of misbehavior even going as far as to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ when Buttercup asked him what he wanted for breakfast. 

The car ride to the mall was also uneventful in the best of ways. Bruce sat in his car seat with no objections and talked candidly about all the fun things he would do when he stayed the night at his cousin’s later that day. Butch made a mental note as he drove that a stop at the candy store would probably be in order before they dropped Bruce off at Brick and Blossom’s.

“Mamma?” Bruce ended his excited rant to ask his mother a question,

“What’s up, green bean?” Butch smiled at the nickname his wife had for their son.

“Can I get a dinosaur so I can take it with me and I can play with Bryce?”

“I know for a fact that Bryce had tons of dinosaurs you guys could play with tonight. I’m sure Bryce wouldn’t mind sharing.”

Butch could see Bryce’s face form a small scowl from a quick look in the rearview mirror. 

“Ya but, I don’t have any to play with at home either.”

“Well buddy,” Butch interjected, “you would if hadn’t broken yours.”

Bruce deflated at the memory of why he no longer had any dinosaur toys.

“Here’s the deal.” Buttercup turned in her seat slightly until she could look Bruce in the face, “If you behave, maybe Daddy and I will let you pick out a new dinosaur.”

Bruce immediately perked up at the possibility of a new toy,

“Really?”

“Only if you behave the whole time.”  At that, Buttercup reached to tug playfully on one of Bruce’s legs.

The little boy pulled back and roared, throwing his arms up. Butch could only assume that he was pretending to be a dinosaur. He let out a chuckle as Buttercup continued their little game until Butch found a parking spot.

“Ok mister dinosaur,” Butch opened the passenger side door and helped Bruce out of his seat, “remember the deal.”

Bruce smiled up at his father, “Behave!”

Butch chuckled before holding his hand out for Bruce to hold onto as they crossed the parking lot and entered the typically crowded mall.

For his credit, Bruce sat patiently as a store clerk fitted him for new sneakers - green of course. He politely gave his input on what dress his Mamma looked prettiest in for her interview with his aunties the next week. He even ate his lunch in the food court without making any more of a mess one would expect from a four-year-old.

After lunch, the small family had just two more things from their list to pick up. Thankfully, the sheets and towels that Buttercup preferred were found in the same store.

“Mamma,” Bruce tugged on Buttercup’s hand as they made their way inside the homeware shop, “can I ride in the cart?”

Buttercup looked at the lines of grey shopping carts that Bruce was currently pointing at.

“Are you going to stay in the cart the whole time?”

The little boy nodded his affirmation so Butch made his way over to snag one, ruffling Bruce’s hair as he went.

Butch knew when he suggested this family day at the mall that Bruce would most probably be tired by the end and he could tell his original instinct when, instead of floating up into the seat himself, Bruce lifted his arms up to Butch. He made a show of lifting the boy into the little plastic seat upfront - even without his powers, it would take minimal effort considering that Bruce was a little small for his age - causing the four-year-old to giggle.

“You’re silly Daddy.”

“Am I? Or are you just really heavy?”

“Am not! Mamma, am I heavy?”

Buttercup chuckled at her two boy’s antics,

“No baby, but Daddy is.”

Butch scoffed, placing a hand over his heart in mock indignation and hurt. Buttercup turned her head slightly but didn’t stop pushing the cart towards where she knew the sheets would be. Bruce laughed at his parents' familiar back and forth.

“That’s pure muscle you're talking about, woman! Heavy my ass.” Butch said once he caught back up.

Buttercup gave him a look. Bruce tended to repeat words he learned from his Dad and, more often than not, it would lead to a scolding for her from her older sister. He mouthed a sorry towards her but they both knew he wasn’t. Personally Butch thought those lectures were kind of funny considering that, before they got together, Brick cursed like a sailor. His older brother would still let something slip every now and again - it never quite ended well for the redhead when that happened.

Bruce seemed to have not noticed Butch’s own slip up though, 

“I’m gonna have mus-cels just like you Daddy!” Butch could tell that, sometimes, Bruce was bothered by his small size. He always tried his best to encourage him when that happened,

“Of course buddy! You’ll get there in time, just like me.”

Buttercup made a beeline straight to the collection of black sheets, stopping in front of the vast choices to decide which ones to purchase. Butch never put in his two sense on these kinds of things. If it were up to him they'd probably be sleeping on the scratchiest sheets in existence - just something to cover the mattress. He’d learned in the years they’d been together though that his wife had skin more sensitive to these kinds of things than him so he usually just let her get whatever she wanted and when he had to pick, he’d just go with whatever was softest.

They'd been standing in silence for a few moments until Bruce spoke up,

“How much longer Mamma?”

“Not much longer green bean. I just need to figure out which one of these is least likely to tear.” Buttercup pushed and pulled the cart in front of her slightly in an attempt to calm Bruce.

“I feel like we just bought sheets.” She said exasperatedly.

“Probably because we did. Ya know, we wouldn’t have to keep buying them if someone would just stop ripping them.” Butch lowered his voice to a level he knew only BC would be able to hear, Bruce not having learned how to train his superhearing to that extent yet.

Buttercup blushed at the implications of the sentence. She looked away from all the sheets for a moment to sneak a glance at Bruce who looked to be on the verge of a twitching episode brought on by his annoyance at all the sheets - a quirk he inherited from his dad. One look at the kid told both his parents that he would need a nap before heading over to the red’s place.

“Hey, the towels are just around the corner. Would you mind - ?”

“Don’t worry, I got you.” Butch didn’t need her to explain to know what her goal here was, they knew each other better than anyone. If they split up they could get out of here faster which meant Bruce could get his nap faster. 

He also knew that no matter how tired he was Bruce would insist on getting his Dinosaur. Butch supposed he earned it - his behavior today had been wonderful aside from currently but who could really blame him?

By the time he found what he considered to be the fluffiest towels available - green, gotta stick with the theme - Buttercup had apparently decided which sheets would put up the most fight against her superstrength. He met back up with her and Bruce in the line for the register upfront, the latter of which was almost jumping out of his seat at this point.

Deciding to avoid disaster before it struck, Butch placed the new set of towels in the cart and gathered the squirming child into his arms. Bruce seemed to settle down once he was no longer confined to the shopping cart.

Looking ahead of him at the long line for checkout Butch made an executive decision.

“Hey,” he turned towards his wife, “I’m gonna take the little man to the toy store and get him his reward.”

“Dinosaur?” Bruce perked up immediately.

Buttercup shot Butch a thankful look before turning to address their little boy,

“Well you held up your end of the deal, it’s only fair we hold up ours. But you still have to behave for the rest of the trip, got it?”

Bruce shook his head eagerly, giggling as his Momma tickled his stomach. 

Butch made to set the boy down so he could walk but was stopped by Bruce’s protest,

“No Daddy.” He tugged on Butch’s sleeve slightly to let him know that he wanted to be carried. 

Usually, he would insist that Bruce walk, he was a big boy after all but Butch knew he would probably be pushing his luck. Butch was a brave man but even brave men did not want to handle superpowered tantrums in a crowded place. 

Placing the boy back on his hip, Butch was reminded of when Bruce was smaller and he’d carry him around more often. His kid was already four now - time really flew by. 

Bruce layed his head down on Butch’s shoulder and, for a minute, Butch thought the boy had fallen asleep due to how quiet he was. He was proven wrong though as soon as the toy store came into view. Bruce immediately began to squirm in his father’s hold - a sign he wanted to be put down. Butch complied but kept a firm grip on the child to avoid a superpowered accident. 

Butch noticed that Bruce seemed to take careful consideration as to which toy he wanted. Eventually, he had narrowed his choices down to either a green and blue-winged dinosaur and a purple t-rex. Bruce looked up to his dad with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster and, although Butch had a weakness in anything involving his kid, he had prepared himself for this. He schooled his features into what he hoped conveyed sternness.

“One.” He held up a finger to emphasize.

Bruce sighed deeply and Butch tried to hide his chuckle at the blatant show of disappointment. The child stared at the two plastic toys in his hand before ultimately deciding.

“I want the pterodactyl!” Bruce held up his prize to his dad’s face.

“Are you sure?”

“Mhmm, I’m sure Daddy.”

Butch’s superhearing picked up on a few older women swooning over the apparent cuteness of their current scene. 

“Look at how cute they are.”

“Men with babies are just adorable.”

Bruce must have picked up on them because he turned to the end of the aisle and assured the two women that he was most definitely not a baby.

Butch made to apologize on behalf of this kid but the women waved him off,

“Of course, how silly of us. You’ve got quite a brilliant young man on your hands there.”

“Oh,” Butch answered back, “you have no idea.”

The two women laughed. They made a few more comments before leaving, mostly about how handsome Bruce was and how he looked the spitting image of his father - Butch had to agree with both. 

Father and son made their way to the front of the store to pay for the toy.”

“What’s this again, a triceratops?” Butch knew that he was wrong. He lifted the toy towards his face and made a show of examining it just to get a laugh out of his kid. The question was also used to distract the once again noticeably tired child as they waited in line.

“No Daddy,” Bruce sounded exasperated and Butch couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face, “It’s a pterodactyl.” 

“Hmm. You should make sure to show Uncle brick when you see him today ok? I don’t think he knows his dinosaurs very well.” 

Bruce perked up at the idea of teaching his super-smart uncle something new. Butch knew he was being a little shit but he couldn’t help it. Brick wouldn’t correct the little boy but he knew he would be practically dying to give the boy a lecture as to why ‘pterodactyls’ aren’t a real dinosaur and how the proper name was pteranodon (look, Butch was a smart cookie too he just didn’t flaunt it the same way as his brother).

After paying and handing the toy back off to Bruce, Butch checked his phone to see a message from his wife to meet her back at the car.

Bruce once again motioned that he didn’t want to walk. This time Butch placed the kid on his shoulders and Bruce sat contentedly, one hand gripping onto his hair to keep himself steady. One the walk to the car Bruce used his free hand to make his new dinosaur fly, squawking noises Butcha assumed were supposed to be dinosaur sounds occasionally escaped from his mouth.

When they finally made it to where they had parked, Butch saw Buttercup leaning against the car with the various bags they had accumulated over the day sitting on the ground around her feet. He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You have the keys, genius.”  

Despite her rude comment, Buttercup placed a kiss on Butch’s cheek as she haled Bruce off of his shoulders. Bruce happily settled into his mother’s arms, eyes drooping, and head resting on her shoulder. Butch unlocked the doors as Buttercup made her was around the car.

“Are you tired, green bean?”

Butch heard Bruce mumble his dissent and he imagined that the boy was shaking his head although he couldn’t actually see from where he was placing the bags in the back of the car.

Walking back around to the driver's side door Butch could see his wife place a kiss on their son’s head. Bruce responded with another squawk and Butch couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his wife laughing so candidly with their son, happiness exuding from both of them.

The car ride home was just long enough to lull Bruce off to sleep. Buttercup made sure to be gentle as she brought the sleeping child inside the house and up to his room. When he woke he’d be upset that he had indeed succumbed to the nap that he so obviously needed - preferring to have rather gotten to his cousin's house early so he could show off his new dinosaur.

Pulling the covers back Buttercup layed Bruce down in the small bed and carefully tucked the covers around his little body. Bruce shifted, turning from his back to his side and hugging his new toy closer. Buttercup moved his bangs out of his face.

“He’s gonna need a haircut soon,” Buttercup said in a form of acknowledgment of her husband having entered the room. Her voice was low so as to not wake the sleeping child.

Butch hummed, moving away from the door frame where he had been standing and closer to the bed. 

“You need one too.” Butch ran a hand through his hair. She was right. He tended to keep the sides short but the hair on the top of his head was beginning to curl in front of his eyes. 

“I brought all the bags in.” He mimicked her volume level.

“And I suppose that's all you did?” Buttercup said, referring to his habit of bringing in groceries but leaving them on the counter instead of putting them in their right place.

Butch just shrugged,

“ I wanted to come check in on you two. I’ll put everything away later.”

Buttercup turned her head away from him but not fast enough to hide the small smile that tugged at her lips. Looking back down at their son she placed a kiss on his chubby cheeks before standing up from the bed. Butch opens his arms and Buttercup gladly accepts the affection.

“He’s getting so big.” she sighed.

“I know. Thank you for giving him to me. I never thought I’d ever have...anything like this, I -”

“Stop it.” Buttercup sternly interrupted him. “It doesn't matter what you may or may not have done in the past, it’s exactly that - the past. I love you, ok? So much. So does Bruce. That little boy adores you, Butch; you say he’s a Mamma’s boy, but all I see is that he wants to be just like his Daddy. Don’t ever say anything like that again.” By the end of her scolding Buttercup was holding Butch’s face in her hands. Butch leaned in and kissed her.

When they broke apart, Butch looked back over to Bruce who was still sleeping peacefully, hair having fallen back into his face.

“We should have another one.” the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them,

It was something they'd been considering lately - having another kid. Butch wanted to. Secretly, he was hoping they’d have a little girl. He could see it now; she’d look just like her Mamma and he’d spoil her senseless. Bruce would be a great big brother.

“I want that.”

“What?” he was confused.

“Whatever world you’re thinking up in your head where we’re all happy and loved and Bruce gets a sibling, I want it.” Buttercup was smiling so wide Butch couldn’t help but mirror her. 

“How did you…?”

“You say it all the time, we know each other better than anyone; sometimes better than we know ourselves.”

Butch didn’t think his smile could get any larger but as he stood there with his loving, beautiful wife in his arms and his son sleeping peacefully and contently just a few steps away, he couldn’t help it. His smile was so wide and so bright and yet, Butch knew that it still couldn’t convey just how happy he was, how lucky he was, how...loved he was in this life that he never thought he’d be able to live.

[maximum118]

Sitcom

Heisu: Aren’t you in school?

Me: Shhh No one will know. 

Yin: I think they know. 

Me: ...Shush.

?: giggles* I didn’t expect you to be like this Maxi~

Me: Screams* OH DEAR GOD I THOUGHT THE HOLY WATER DOSED CAGE WOULD HOLD YOU!

? 2: Moonwalks in* NOT ON MY WATCH BITCH.

Me: Of Course. Your the reason she’s out. *Silent Crying*

Heisu: Should we..

Yin: Nope. Not at all.

Episode 4- Meeting Karens pt. 2

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

         ~Hato, Zen, And Satori~ 

           Zen looks at one of the many figures of heroes. "Ugh…They don't even have any Red Riot.." she says, crossing her arms. 

           "Aww, mad they don't have your favorite hero." Says Satori jokingly. 

           "Satori, I will punch you in the face," says Zen. Satori smirks. "Come at me, pretty girl." She Says. 

           Zen smirks. "Oh, Hunny, if I did, I think you'd be on the other side of the mall." 

           Hato sighs. "Girls, can we please not yeet each other? Like a normal family?"

           Zen and Satori look at him. "Boi, have we ever been a normal family?" they ask him. Hato shuts up and rethinks.

           "Exactly." 

           A black-haired person walks next to Zen. Zen turns and gasps. "EEEE HANAO!" she shouts. 

           Hanao jumps and looks at her with shock in his green eyes. "Z-Zen?" asks Hanao.

           "Boi, who else? Hug. Now." Says Zen hugging him. Hanao smiles and hugs back, "it's been a while, hasn't it…"

           Satori and Hato look at the duo. Satori blinks. "Are you two dating? If so, I'm so telling Yin." She says. 

           Zen pulls away from Hanao and smacks the back of Satori's head. "No. He's the kind I'd always play within the daycare. Remember Hato?" she asks her twin. 

           "Oh, the flower guy, right?" asks Hato as he walks up to Hanao.

           Hanao blushes and looks away. "N-Nice to see you again…" he stutters out. He looks to Satori, "N-Nice meeting you, I'm Mochizuki Hanao…" introduces Hanao as he has something in his arm.

           "I'm Takami Satori. Nice to meet you. Also, how in the fucken-Zen's brash and aggressive, and Your soft-spoken and meek! How did you two become friends?"

            "I…really don't know…" answers Hanao. Zen looks and notices a Red Riot figure in Hanao's arms. 

           "bOI, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!" asks Zen as she looks at the figure. Hanao jumps. "I-in the back of the store…this was the last one," he answers. Zen sulks in the corner "curse you, fans…" she mumbles as three lines dropped from her head. 

           Hanao, Hato, and Satori sweat drop staring at Zen. "Aren't you a fan of his, too?" they ask. 

           Hanao places the figure box next to Zen. "Here. You're more a fan than me." Says Hanao. Zen's eyes became watery, and she begins to literally cry waterfalls as she hugs the figure box. "HANAO, YOUR TOO SWEET TO MEE!!!" she shouts. 

           Literal waterfall hits Hanao as he smiles. "Alright, Alright, you're welcome…" says Hanao.

           Then a man took the box from Zen. "Girls shouldn't have figures! They're for men," says the man. The trio's mouths drop and turn white as Zen slowly turns to the man. A murderous glint in her teal eyes. "I'm sorry what?" she asks. 

           Satori and Hanao hide behind Hato. Hato looks at them. "HOLD UP- WHY ME?!" he asks.

           "You're the only person she won't unintentionally hurt. Twin powers." Answers Satori. 

           "THAT'S NOT HOW TWINS WORK!!" 

           The man looks at Zen. "In fact, women shouldn't be in this store. This store has an aisle for men with sexual wants for their women and figures for themselves," He says, then he smirks. "For a woman with your curvy body must look good. I think I'm taking you home," he says

           Satori and Hanao hear glass break. Hanao sweat drops. "And that's the sound of broken mental health and big brother instincts." 

           The man looks at Zen with hungry eyes. "I bet you good in bed…a slut like you must be." 

           Hanao hears more glass breaking ". . . Welp this guy is dead." He says, turning from the scene. 

           "Like that red-eyed blonde, I tried to fuck. He was pretty," adds the man. Hanao slowly turns, "Oh, this bitch dead." He says, growing roses and thorns. 

           ~Later~

           The group leaves the currently bloodied store. 

           "man, the cashier, and manager sure were nice in giving us free shit," says Zen as he unboxes the Red Riot Figure. 

           "True, Should we tell our siblings about what we did??" asks Satori.

           "Leave me out of it…I rather not want more teasing from everyone just to snap into my big brother's senses." Says Hato as he flipped the bag.

           "I think we killed him." Says Hanao as he unboxes a Dynamite figure. "Oh damn, this is his winter outfit." Adds Hanao.

           "Where to next?" asks Satori looking at the group. 

           "Starbucks??" asks Zen.

           Hato and Hanao shrug. "Sure, why not?" says Hato. 

           ~Heisu, Riku, and surprise~

           By Riku's request, they went to one of the many bookstores. The two were in the mystery aisle. 

           Heisu pulls out a random book "Hey Riku, how is this author 'Sho'?" 

           Riku leans over. "Sho? Oh, his books are amazing. Mostly focused on drama, crime, and mystery." 

           "Cool. Sho. Wait a minute, isn't Sai's full name Saisho?" 

           Riku processes, "We need to ask him this." 

           "I'll wave this book in his face and see what he says." 

           Riku looks to the side. "How about we don't do that…"

           Heisu smiles. "Would it kill you to smile a bit?"

           "I'm not obliged too…some of us don't have dad's cheery outlook Hei…" says Riku, Heisu sweat drops, "but both our dads keep a good mask on" 

           A child walks up to the brothers looking at the book in Heisu's hand. "I wanna read that one!!" says the child.

           Riku and Heisu jump back, scared. "A CHILD" shouts Heisu hiding behind his little brother. Riku looks at him "… What's with you and not liking kids??" asks Riku. Heisu looks at him. "Children are demons.".

           The child walks up to Riku. "I wanna read that one!" he says. The boys both look at Sho's book in Heisu's hand. 

           "I-I don't think that's appropriate for your age…" stutters Riku looking at the child. The child growls, "Give it to me!". 

           Heisu and Riku whimper and shake their heads. The mother walks to her child and looks at the boys. "Why didn't you give my kid the book?!" says the woman. 

           Riku, at this point, hides behind Heisu, who's holding the book to his chest. "I-It's not appropriate for your kid…" answers Heisu. 

           "SO?! THE AUTHOR IS HER FATHER!! WHY WON'T YOU LET HER HAVE SOMETHING OF HER DEAD FATHER'S?!" shouts the Karen, Heisu, and Riku whimper more. 

           "Th-the author would've stopped making books if they were dead! Th-this is their most recent one!!" says Riku as he uses his wings to hide himself and Heisu. 

           "W-WELL, THEY DITCHED US. NOW GIVE IT HERE!! AND GET RID OF THAT RIDICULOUS  COSPLAY!" shouts Karen. Grabbing and pulling on Riku's wing. Riku winces, and Heisu tries to get the woman off his little brother and tries not to give the kid the book. 

           Steps were heard from behind as she kept pulling. A yellowed-eyed light auburn-haired male walking through the mystery aisle. Pulling books out from the selves and a repeating "boring." As he pulls and throws books into selves or the ground. Pulling two books out, "oh hey. I think they'll like these". Rereading the titles, he throws them on the ground. "Nope, never mind. They both have these Ones already." 

           The Karen looks behind her, finally losing her grip on Riku's wing. Noticing the male and gasps, "Hey! Don't do that kid that's bad!" she says. 

           The yellow-eyed male raise his eyebrow ". . .And I should fucken care because. . .?" he asks. 

           "Did your parents teach you manners?" She demands.

           "pfft. No. I'm a problem child. My dad barely interacts with me. My 2nd dad, though, interacts. I'm basically a disappointment," Says the male freely. 

           Riku looks at the male recognizes him as his boyfriend, Chisaki Meiro. The woman gasps. "HOW WERE YOU BORN WITH TWO FATHERS?!" she shouts.

           "Fucken magic. Now leave ya bitch and demon spawn." Says Meiro. The woman gasps. Grabbing her child's hand, they quickly left the aisle. 

           Meiro sighs. "Stupid-" he cuts himself off as he sees Riku and Heisu. He immediately runs up to Riku. "Riku!~ I didn't even know you'd be here!" he says, hugging Riku.

           Riku blushes. "Hey Meiro…" he says. Heisu blinks and stares at them. 

           "Uh…huh, Who?" Says Heisu, Meiro looks to him, "Who are you? Why are you with Riku?".

           Heisu looks down. "I-I'm…Heisu… Riku's brother…" He says softly. 

           Meiro looks to Riku. "How many siblings do you have??" 

           "Seven…Zen and Heisu were in America for their middle school and high school life plus the beginning of college for Zen because they were learning English." Explains Riku.

           Meiro blinks. "Zen? Like the fashion Designer? Her clothes are inspired by underground punkish (My cousin and one of my closest friends love to create clothes like these. He's fine with me using his designs in my stories) types," says Meiro.

           "Oh, yup, that's her…" says Heisu as he laughs nervously. 

           Meiro snaps his head to Riku. "Ok. A model brother and a fashion designer sister? Boi. What else?" he says. 

           Riku shrugs and looks on the ground. "We should pick those up…" Pointing to the books. 

           Meiro blinks. "No the fuck we ain't," he says. Heisu sweat drops and looks at Riku, giving him a look. 'What in the world do you see in him?' 

           Riku looks back. 'He's funny sometimes! Plus, he actually likes me…'. Heisu sighs. Why am I even asking? Zen is with a Triad boss! He thinks. 

           Riku uses his feathers to put the fallen books away "why are you even here, Meiro?" 

           "Looking for gifts for my half brothers. It's the new year soon, which comes their birthday." 

           "When is their birthday day?" asks Heisu

           "The 13th of January." Says Meiro looking towards him, "They're turning 24 this year, I believe." Says Meiro. 

           Riku looks at him "they're? So you have more than one?" asks Riku.

           "Twins. Both are smart. I don't really know what to get them." 

             Heisu blinks. "Why not a fancy chessboard?" he asks. 

             "but they can get expensive…" explains Meiro. 

             "We can help pay, you know…" says Riku. Meiro smiles. "Oh hell, Yea!!" he says. 

             Heisu sweatdrops. "Your too Nice, Ri." 

             ~Haruki~

             Oh, the child made them run. Remember the kid from the first part of Sai's encounter? I don't think Zen should hang around him anymore….

             In GameStop, Haruki was excitedly looking through the games. Grabbing one he found interesting, he squeals adorably. Then a child grabs it from him. "Cool!~ I was looking for this!" Says the kid. 

             Haruki pouts, "Hey! Give it back! I found it first." 

             The kid sticks his tongue out. "Uh uh! I did!" he says. 

             What would Hato do? Oh! I know he'd ask for it back! Thinks Haruki, then a mini Zen with horns and a flame trident appeared on his right shoulder. 

             "Hmm, Nah. Threaten him." Says the devil Zen.

             Then a mini hato with a halo appeared on his left shoulder. "No! Ask for it back!" Says the angel Hato. 

             Devil Zen glares at him. "No! Cause that's boring! Fight for it!" 

             Angel Hato growls at her and attacks her, "ASK FOR IT." "THREATEN." "ASK." "THREATEN" "ASK."

             Haruki holds his head as swirls appear in his eyes. The kid begins going to the cashier. Haruki panics and runs over to the kid. 

             "Hey! Wait! Asshole!" says Haruki. The angel Hato and devil Zen stop fighting and gasp. 

             The kid turns to him. "What? Too bad! It's mine!" says the kid. 

             "Bitch! I found it fucking before you! Hell, I've played all the games before that one! What the fuck do you know about it?!" 

             "Uh. It's about a lame swordsman trying to protect a damn shield." 

             Haruki gasps, "NOT ONLY ARE YOU FUCKEN WRONG. THAT'S NOT EVEN THE RIGHT GAME!" 

             The kid looks away in embarrassment. 

             "Now if you don't fucken mind. May I have the game before I get someone to slaughter your entire family. Making you wish you were never born." Says Haruki with a smile. 

             The kid hands him the game and runs out crying. Angel Hato and Devil Zen have their mouths open "Where in the world…." Says Devil Zen. The angel and demon puff.

             Haruki innocently smiles and pays for the game. Skipping out to where Sai was. Who was talking with a green hair male and a blonde with purple and green streaks in their hair. The two-wave the blonde bye and left. 

             "HEEEEEYYY HARUKI!!" Sai shouts out of character.

             Haruki skips over. "Hello!~ who's that?" he asks. 

             "This is my lover. Kaoru. Kaoru meet Haruki…" introduces Sai.

             Kaoru smiles. "Nice to meet-HEY DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT SAI!" they shout, looking to Sai, whistling, looking anywhere but at Kaoru. Haruki tilts his head in confusion.

             Haruki, Sai, and Kaoru walk from the game stop to the next shop talking. 

             ~Later~ 

             The whole family decided to ride in the car. It was very squished in the back. 

             Sai was driving, Kouten was in the passenger seat with his new puppy. In the Second row were Hato, Zen, and Satori.  In the third row was Riku, Heisu, and Haruki.

             Sai looks at Kouten. "What in the…did you get a puppy?" asks Sai blinking at his brother. Kouten sweatdrops. "Kind of? A friend adopted her for me…" answers Kouten. 

             Zen perks up from her seat. "HOLD UP. YOU HAVE FRIENDS?!" asks/shouts Zen.

             A tick appears on his head. "I have more than you. You just have Hato, Satori, me, any of our siblings, and what's his name…Yin. Who I still disapprove of." Says Kouten.

             A tick appears on Zen's head. "You aren't the boss of me bitch." Says Zen. Hato sweat drops "Language Zen." He says. 

             Zen grumbles and glares at him. Satori perks up and looks at the puppy. "Aww, what's her name??" asks Satori. 

             "Her name is Zodiac," answers Kouten looking at the puppy. Zodiac barks and pants, Satori rolls her eyes. "That's boring. Should've named her Princess Mononoke or Princess kicky bity your ass," says Satori. 

             Riku from the back "Why not name her Crow?" he says quietly. 

             Heisu looks at Riku "that's nice, Though I just like Princess…" 

             Haruki looks up from his switch "OOO! WHAT ABOUT BUTTERFLY!" he shouts, Heisu sweatdrops. "Should we tell him that papillon means butterfly?" asks Heisu to Riku, who shakes his head.

             "How about Mrs. Bitch." Says Zen with a snicker, Sai holds a snicker in. Hato hits Zen with his wing. "No. She's Kouten's pupper, so he can name her what he wants. Why are you obsessed with the word bitch anyways?" 

             Kouten smiles. "Thank you, pigeon.". Hato waves him off with a smile.

             Sai remembers something "Oh, before I forget, I booked resort rooms for us."

             His younger siblings look at him. "You did what now??" asks Kouten. 

             "Resort rooms. The resort has a waterpark, spa, restaurants, cafes, ballroom where a party is being held. Which we have to attend, being Hawks' kids have down parts. Around the area are tourist attractions. The resort has a fitness area, rides, bars, and more." Explains Sai, his younger siblings' mouths drop shocked. 

             "THE HECK DO YOU DO FOR A GOD DANG LIVING SAI?!" shouts his siblings as they check their phones for their accounts to see no money missing from their accounts. 

             Sai sighs, "I didn't steal your money." sighs of relief echoed throughout the car. Sai "But I did check your browsing histories." He says. His siblings stare at him, Sai blinks. "What? I only looked through Satori's, Haruki's, Riku's, and Heisu's," says Sai. 

             Sai then rolls his eyes. "I already know what the elders have. Plus, it was too well locked.". Hato, Zen, and Kouten laugh nervously. 

             "So, when are we heading to the resort??" asks Heisu from the back

             "About…

            Two months from

            Now"

Saisho/Sai belongs to  @ulti-mal

Kouten belongs to @hairuko

Hato belongs to @juniperarts

Satori belongs to @fioresacros

Haruki belongs to @/_falyy on twitter

Riku, Meiro & Hotaru to @diizaren

[popculturebuffet]

OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes!: You’re Everybody’s Sidekick Review

OK KO was easily one of the best animated series of the 2010′s and i’ll stand by those words. The brainchild of Ian Jones Quartlery, voice of Wallow in Bravest Warriors and more importantly former head writer for Steven Universe, and current longtime romantic partner of that series creator Rebecca Sugar. That part isn’t AS important, but I still find it sweet.  Anyways OK KO was the story of K.O., a 6-11, not my own laziness for once but the show’s own way of doing age, year old boy who wants to be the best like no one ever was. In this case i’ts being a hero in a world that’s basically like if someone took the marvel universe and smashed a retro game collection and a pile of manga on top of it and then blended up the result and shot it full of gamma rays. Full of heroes of all kinds ranging from those fighitng crime to those who just want to loiter outside strip malls or cut hair.  To achieve this goal KO gets a job at Gar’s Bodega, the combination of your average bodega (for those unfamiliar with the term, i’ts a convience store) and a video game item shop, so the slurpee machine is right next to the power ups and ninja stars, and everything from skateboard polish to Spread Guns is avaliable. The bodega is owned by Mr.Gar, a mustachiosed muscle man whose basically a shoutier mexican version of MIke Haggar but with shades and a mustache. So a somehow better version of him, though with him being busy watching over the plaza itself, doing secret hero missions and what not the day to day operations are left to two teens: Rad, a muscle bound dude bro alien with telekenisis and a secret heart of gold and Enid, a cynical, slacker ninja whose also bilogically a witch because her parents are a vampire and a werewolf. So the series follows these three as they run the boedega, grow as people and fight the robots that frequently attack the plaza sent by the evil Lord Boxman who hates the place literally because it’s there and it’s existance annoys him. This is the canon explination and it is utterly hilarious.  The series was funny, had great character work, decent ongoing stories, great jokes and a fun tone that could go from meaningful and well thorught ot utterly batshit from episode to episode and was sadly canceled after 3 seasons because Cartoon Network is kinda stupid right now and dosen’t know how to handle a superhero show that still makes action a priority, but it did get a solid ending, a slew of great crossovers and a decent amount of representation under i’ts belt.  WHich brings us to today and the start of RED ACTION WEEK: A week dedicated to the series most prominent gay character and the bisexual ninja witch who loves her. I’m covering all 5 of Red’s more prominent apperances... I was just going to do the red/enid episodes but decided this was a better introduction to the series itself, as well as the fact it allows her character arc to better tie together by her final episode, which directly uses this one as a major plot point. I also threw Plaza Prom in there since, even if she’s only a supporting character, it’s still one of her few major apperances, is part of her final major episode, is one of my faviorites, and the climactic dance fights is one of the most intentionally homoerotic fight scenes i’ve seen in some time. With all that out of the way, let’s do this after the cut. 

We start at Gar’s Bodega, just after the opening two parter, with KO starting his first day of work, part of the reason this episode is a fairly smooth introduction into the show. Not even in the door he accidently shoryukyn’s joe cuppa, a stand up comedian with a cup of coffee in the big time for a head... I told you anything goes and I meants it.  After that accident, we find Enid at the counter, ignoring the customers before shooing them away and when KO asks for work, plays along with his enthusasim and tells him to clean the store.. which he does in minutes, before being told to sort the penny dish, and while he does the two discuss KO’s love of helping people: KO just genuinely thinks that’s part of his job, the right thing to do and feels good while Enid.. dosen’t feel it’s worth the effort and people are just generally ungreatful and not worth it.  I really like this scene for showing off their character dynamic beautifully: It starts showing that while at this stage Enid is largely an asshole, she does care about K.O. and while he’s cleaning, despite usually turning customers away, still let’s Ginger, an elderly patron and one of KO’s mom’s dojo customers, not only check out but pay in freaking pennies. It shows that try as she might, Enid really isn’t a cyncial or heartlesss as she claims. It’s also nice setup for later in the season as, and as i’m sure Ian Jones Quartlery and crew were preparing for, we later DO see why Enid hates people so much: her best friend, possibly more, Elodie, who i’ll certainly be covering eventually, betrayed her for a spot at Point Prep, basically UHA or Xavier’s for this world and claimed their friendship was just a ploy (It wasn’t, but again, story for another time), while her one date with Rad went terribly due to him acting like a huge jackass at the advice of his even bigger jackasses of friends. It’s easy to see why she stopped carring: When she opened up in the past it only lead to her being hurt and alone. K.O.... is the opposite. He genuinely belivies in everyone and tries to help them because, as said above, it’s just what he does and what he belivies a hero should be... he hasn’t been hurt or influenced by assholes like his friends, and thus is able to get them to open up. It’s a wonderful dynamic and I love it.  And naturally, KO is determined to help Enid see the light, with Enid responding with the wonderful line “You’ll never melt my icy heart”... give him a few more episodes Enid, give him a few more episodes.  So K.O. Decides to set out helping people, shouting about it to enid back at the store as he does because he’s 6-11 and kids in that age range are many things, but subtle is not one of them. He starts with Geoff and Nick Army, a monk and gay duke nukem reflectivity who despite having polar oppositie personalities, are both a couple, as confirmed by the creative team and then the finale, and a crime fighting duo who are having a dispute over opening a pickle jar with the good old ultra violence or non violence, which KO solves by letting both do it once, which results in a pickle jar explosion, both men in their underwear and everyone happy, especially the shippers.  KO continues his quest, going to Logical Cuts where we meet Mr.Logic, a robot who has a rather moving and well done backstory we’ll certainly get to, and is voice by James Urabanik, aka the voice of Rusty Venture on the venture bros, to my utter delight. And yes i’ll be covering the venture bros eventually, and might be this month. His customer, another one of KO’s mom’s regulars, is upset because her haircut isn’t right while Mr.Logic is upset, well as upset as a monotone robot can convey, that his usually 100% mathmatically perfect haircuts are off. KO pitches in and the new result is perfect, with both being greatful. 

KO’s next stop on his good will help people crying for help tour, after the above bit of wonderful art shift as that version of ko moveds like a south park character for some reason. Anyways, it turns out best friends, co workers and the dante and randal of this show, i.e.two best friends working a dead end job who despite arguing a lot need each other, A Real Magical Skeleton, self explaintory and Greg, a bear, are having an argument because RMS is trying to do their job and frame a baseball for a guy while Greg is being a dickhead and playing the drums constantly. As you can probably wager, I do not like Greg, probably more than rusty, partly because a future episode has him making KO doubt his macaroni art gift for his mom so he can eat it, yes really,and partly because he’s less intresting than his buddy and yet the two are shipped frequently despite my honest assumption they’d kill each other.. much like if dante and randall finally banged. However if you do ship them, I have no hostility with you. Unlike say loudcest or shipping sam with lincoln over at the loud hosue, there's nothing wrong with RMS X Brandon, it’s just not for me.  Anywho KO solves it in the hilarious and awesome manner of just putting Brandon inside one of those baseball cube things... it’s a shame he apparently gave him air holes but whatever. Proud of himself, K.O. plans to head back when he runs into the Ally Teens: Red Action, rude teen warrior from the future who just had a bad haircut, Drupe, a sentient strawberry because of course, and Greg, Drupe’s nonbinary best friend and combination of one of the bone cousins and Woodstock. K.O. offers to help and , with the trio being huge steaming bowls of elephant piss at this point, they instead trick him into waiting in a lava flow and then have drupe whip him every time the lava causes him to cartoonishily jump in the air.  Yeah despite both Red Action and Drupe going on to having supporting roles, like our good pal tom, who I will get back to this month, there isn’t nearly as much wiggle room in their first apperance. With Tom Lucitor, he was a dick.. but you could make the case, even just off that ep that he genuinely dosen’t know HOW to be a good person or that what he’s doing is sketchy at best. Here, it’s fairly obvious the ally teens know setting a child on fire and using vine whip on him super effectively is wrong, that’s why their doing it. Red, being that special brand of asshole, posts it on social media. I mean posting a video of yourself hurting a child, that’s Tucker Carlson level’s of dickery right there. Stone cold. Enid sees it and is understandably concerned, and goes over to see if KO’s allright when he returns and is forced to explain to him that no they weren’t laughing with him, they were laughing at him and were just being dicks. Also he wasn’t in lava, it was magma. It was above ground. 

K.O. glumly wonders why and Enid reitrates this kind of shit is why she dosen’t help people. K.O. also wonders how she saw it and we find out Enid is basically facebook stalking red action on her social media, as you do, and that Red’s been on a bit of a tear lately, smashing up shit and farting in Geoff’s face all because she got a bad haircut, with K.O. , likely going thorugh more of her posts, realizing theirs a pattern: When bad things happen to her she lashes out at others.. just like Enid. I do like the parallel there: Enid likely has a crush on her because the two are fairly similar.. but Enid runs cold and tens to be standoffish as a result of her past, while Red tens to take out her anger and frustration on everyone else and runs red hot. But they come together because opposities attract... it’s what noble laurite MC Scat Kat taaught us after all.  K.O. however, having Steven Universe level’s of empahty and an equal sense of wanting to help, and just as few boundries as he had as a tween, decides that it’s clear the ally teens have underlying issues to adress and gets Enid help to look at their social media. Returning to the ally,and seemingly unphased by earlier, K.O. sets out helping them, starting by helping red get her haircut fixed by Mr. Logic. Red is adorably delighted. Moving on K.O. notes that Drupe basically just follows Red’s lead but has a fashion blog and clearly an identiy of her own and we soon learn she believes no one reads it. K.O. showed it to the not at all ambigiously gay duo and Geoff and Nick thank her> That’s two blushes and two wins in K.O.’s court.  Finishing up, K.O. realizes Gregg stays quiet because they have low self esteem and feel they have nothing to be proud of. K.O. however found lots to be proud of and framed Gregg’s valdectorian certificate for him, again with some help from earlier.  Instead of graditude red just calls him weird and leaves and KO slumps back depressed. I’ts a good lesson though: people DON’T change just because you did one weirdly kind thing for them. That takes time.. as we’ll see with Red and as we see with Drupe, who has less of an ons creen journey but is far nicer after her next apperance. While Enid is grossed out over having helped someone, Gregg comes in.. and after some great deranged animation thanks K.O. and Enid admits after some prodding that it does feel good to help, and K.O. is happy to have helped her int he process. The two playfully mess around as the episode ends. Final Thoughts: This was a really good one. Reaching back this far into the series, I didn’t think it’d would be nearly as good as it ended up: It serves both as a good proper introduction for a lot of the plaza regulars, a good setup for Enid’s character arc, and was also really funny with great animation. LIke Tom, I don’t think the creators knew exactly what they were going to do with the Alley Teens and thus take the two they end up focusing on in opposite directon: Red keeps her assholishness for her next apperance and grows from it, while Drupe’s drops off by the end of this season, likely due to her fashion blog taking off, but we’ll get into Red more in a review or so and Drupe more later this month.For now this episode was good and next up we have their next apperance in Plaza Prom. Until then, follow this blog for more reviews and nonsense, like and reblog it if you enjoyed this, hit me up with asks for review suggestions or comssions and until next time, later days!

[yesanotherimaneblog]

Being Dustins sister headcanons: Part 4

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

You and Steve have been going strong for the whole year

Sadly even with your help he couldn’t get into any college

But you helped him get the job at Scoops

o   You’re there everyday and Steve gives you free ice-cream

o   And spends his lunch break making out with you at the back

 At first you’re worried about Robin

o   Steve seems to like her but you were in Mrs. Click’s class with them and remember Robin looking at him constantly

o   Until one day you start noticing she likes talking to girls more than boys, and you see her checking out a girl one day

o   That’s the end of your concerns

Robin keeps score of how many times Steve messes up because of you (its more than 6)

o   Not that you do anything, Steve just tends to mess up when you smile at him

The kids no longer need babysitting but you see them often enough when they come to Scoops

You see El as well, though Mike is always there so it doesn’t allow you to teach her the things you want

o   Like periods, and boys

You miss your brother too and can’t wait for him to come back

o   He called a few times while he was at camp more often the first week and then less and less as time went on

Episode 1

You’re at Scoops waiting for Steve to finish up when the kids come

o   Your mom decided (with a little persuasion from you) to sleep at the town near Dustins’ camp so they can leave first thing in the morning so you have the house all to yourself

o   When the kids come you get up to greet them as Robin shouts for Steve

o   Will and Max give you proper hugs, unlike Mike and Lucas who are “too old for that”

o   You show them off with Steve, giving him a small kiss once they leave

You don’t give much thought to the power coming down, shaking your head at Steve and Robins exchange

You kick Steve out pretty early so the kids can come in and surprise Dustin, promising that you and Dustin will come see him at Scoops first thing the next day

o   You find their whole idea sweet and help them plan it out

o   Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned

o   You tell Max how to help Lucas and hug your brother

o   He shows you and the rest of the kids all his inventions and you cant help but feel proud

o   When he mentions Suzie and the kid’s eyes go wide you smile

o   Of course you knew about her as Dustin had told you all about her on the phone

You stay behind a little, letting Dustin catch up with his friends

o   You roll your eyes at Mike and El but let them go

o   Your brothers look and comment don’t go unnoticed by you

o   Neither does Wills look so you put an arm around him and keep going

o   He hesitates for a second and you see him reaching up to touch his neck

o   You try to look thinking maybe something bit him but there’s nothing there so you ask if he’s ok

o   He just nods and the two of you try to catch up to the others

o   Neither of you notice the rats

You give Max and extra bottle of water you took just in case after seeing Lucas drink all their water

You help build Cerebro and are excited to talk to your brothers first girlfriend

o   When she doesn’t answer you try to remain positive

o   Maybe she was busy

o   Maybe she wasn’t home

o   Of course she’s real…

You feel even worse when the rest of the kids leave and try to hug your brother but he pushes you away

o   You’re about to try and talk to him when a voice comes through

o   You realize its Russian and exchange a look with Dustin

Episode 2

First thing the next day you drive Dustin to Starcourt and go straight to Scoops

o   “Hey Robin, this is my brother Dusti”

o   As you’re about to ask if Steve is here he comes out the back

o   You step back and laugh as the two most important men in your life greet each other in the dorkiest way

o   You let the two catch up for a while, helping Robin with costumers

o   You’re there almost every day, so you’re like an unofficial employ by now

What you didn’t expect it to hear your brother almost scream about how he intercepted a Russian message

o   You smile at the costumers and go to their table

o   “Maybe we should have left that for when there are not hundreds of people around”

o   They apologies and go hide in the back of the store

 “Steve! Y/N!!”

o   The three of you jump a little when Robin comes in

o   You haven’t made any progress other than Steve recognizing the music in the background so Robins help is welcome to say the least

o   Steve still hesitates but you kiss him and let him know it’s ok

o   “You’re better with costumers anyway!”

o   Robin looks offended at first but then she shrugs agreeing

You go out to tell Steve you translated the first sentence when you see El and Max

o   You’re both happy and confused to see them together

o   Most of all you’re worried about El being here

o   You think about calling Hopper but decide against it, the girl needs to experience new things and hanging out with Max will surely help

o   You hug them and see them off with a “Come find me if you need anything!”

o   “I like the new look by the way!”

Steve takes your hand after locking up and the two of you walk behind Dustin and Robin

o   “Y/N you’re buying into this?”

o   “I mean… if it’s a Russian transmission it would make sense for it to be coded.”

o   Suddenly he pulls you to a toy horse, letting go of your hand to look for quarters

o   At first you don’t understand what he’s doing but then

o   “It’s the same music!”

Steve offers to drive you and Dustin home but you came with your car and your mom will be pissed if you leave it at the mall

o   You shoot Robin a pleading look

o   She rolls her eyes but starts talking to Dustin about the code

o   While they are talking you and Steve have a moment to say goodnight

Episode 3

While Steve and Dustin are off spying on people you once again help Robin at the store

o   You wonder if they can make you an official employ

You hear yelling in the front while looking for some fruit at the back and go check it out

o   Once Erica sees you she starts complaining

o   “Erica, sweety, you can’t just come here every day and eat samples.”

o   She again starts complaining and you try to bargain by offering her and her friends free ice cream if they promise no more samples for a month

o   They refuse and ask for more sample

Later when the store gets a delivery Robin cracks the code and you go with her to the center of the Mall

o   “Imperial Panda, right there!” You point out

o   “Kaufman shoes,” she says and you turn to look at her

o   Both of you turn to the clock in sink

o   “When blue and yellow meet in the west”

The four of you stay behind after the mall closes to see what is going on

o   You try to warn Dustin and Steve not to make noise but he Russians hear the bang

o   You grab Steves’ hand and pull Dustin close to you

o   Luckily they must have thought it was just thunder

Episode 4

You go with Dustin to scout the entrance the Russians are guarding while Steve and Robin open up the shop

o   You try to talk to him about the party but he’s having none of it

o   So you change the subject to Suzie who he happily talks about

“Babe, I’m sorry but have you ever actually won a fight?”

o   “Okay that was one time!” He tries

o   “Twice, Jonathan, year prior,” Dustin says and you nod

o   “Listen, that doesn’t count.”

o   “Why wouldn’t it count, cause it looks like he beat the shit out of you”

o   You smile at that

o   Listen you love Steve but he was an asshole back then

o   And Jonathan is your childhood friend so of course you’re proud of him

Suddenly Robin stands up and goes to leave but you catch up to her

o   “Where are you going?” Steve asks from behind you

o   “To find us a way into that room. A safe way.”

o   “I can drive you!” You offer

o   Before she can turn you down you turn around at the boys

o   “Behave!”

o   You rush to your car and she explains her plan on the way to the county recorder’s office

You’re back in no time and explain to the boys

o   “No collarbones remember?”

o   “Uh, excuse me?”

o   “He has ‘cleidocranial dysplasia’”

o   “Yeah, he’s missing bones and stuff. He can bend like Gumbo”

o   “You mean Gumby.”

o   “I’m pretty sure it’s Gumbo.”

o   Robin turns to you and you shrug whispering, “it’s Gumby”

o   You hear the bell in the front and turn around only to see Erica

o   Robin suddenly smiles and you realize what she’s thinking

o   “Robin, no!”

o   “Yes! Oh Erica, we have a proposition for you…”

You tap your foot the whole time Robin and Erica are talking

o   “You know what this half-baked plan of yours sounds like to me? Child endangerment!”

o   “You’re right! We don’t need you; we don’t need to put her in danger!”

o   “Y/N” Dustin whisper yells

o   “She’s right!”

o   “Go help Steve!”

You pace back and forth while Erica is in the air vents

o   Steve tries to calm you down but you can see he’s just as nervous as you are

o   It isn’t until she’s opened the door that you relax a bit

“Um, maybe you guys should stand back.”

o   You pull Dustin a little but he won’t move

o   “No!”

o   “Dustin, we don’t know what’s in there” you try to reason

o   “No!”

o   “Just step back, okay?” Steve also warns but Dustin still won’t move

o   “No!”

o   “Step back seriously!”

o   “No! If you die, I die.”

o   You gasp

o   “Dustin…”

o   Luckily neither of them dies

o   But the room starts moving

....

[spongeguyandlelouchvibridankia]

SpongeGuy Reviews Every Disney Sitcom Ever!: Austin and Ally (1.1): “Rockers and Writers”

cI came, I saw, I.. Was ok with it.

Austin and Ally is a show about two people whose names you’ll never guess. It follows the adventures of Austin Moon, current internet music sensation and Ally Dawson, a shy but talented songwriter. Together, these two very different people try to make it in the music industry.

I remember when this show was SUPER POPULAR it aired all the time, and thanks to seeing a minute here a minute there I thought I would hate it.

And... I’m ok with it. Like, it’s not bad, it’s not great, it’s not quite good but it’s slightly good?

It’s hard to pin this one down so far, obviously once I’ve seen a few more episodes I will (I also must add thanks to an Even Stevens fan who contacted me about this that Yes, I am reviewing all the episodes when possible, not just the first one or two).

So... Yeah, let’s get to it!

SUMMERY:  Ally Dawson, a shy songwriter, works at Sonic Boom, a music store owned by her father, Lester, located at the Mall of Miami. Austin Moon, an aspiring singer, interrupts Ally while she is in her practice room, singing a rough cut of "Double Take". Unbeknownst to Ally, Austin and his best friend, Dez, accidentally use the song thinking Austin wrote it himself, create a video, and post it on the Internet, after which Austin becomes an Internet sensation. After performing the song on "The Helen Show", Helen suggests that Austin returns and performs another original song. Austin isn't good at song-writing, and the only solution he can think of is to plead with Ally to write another song for him. Ally initially denies in anger, but later agrees to help him. The two bond while working on their next song, "Break Down the Walls", and Austin asks Ally to be there when he performs it. However, when the pianist gets sick, Ally has to fill in. This was all part of Austin's plan to help Ally overcome her stage fright, but it only ends in disaster. However, Austin and Ally become partners, along with Dez as video director, and Ally's best friend, Trish, as Austin's manager.

COMEDY: 3 Out of 5

Originally I was gonna give a 2, as this show wasn’t really funny, but the more I dwelt on it, the more I realized how unfair I was being, so I gave a 3. And I think this might be a good time to go over how disney channel sitcoms don’t all have the same humor despite attempting many of the same jokes.

Example: Liv and Maddie and Good Luck Charlie are your average sitcoms (in fact, their template are about half of every sitcom that’s isn’t a “high concept”), but despite this they have more unique senses of humor (snark, mockumentary interviews, characters are multi-faceted, humor doesn’t undercut the moment).

On the other side of that, we have Lab Rats and Pair of Kings. Both have different, interesting concepts for a sitcom (Bionic teens and two brothers who are kings of an island). However, they attempt the same jokes we’ve seen over and over again, alongside some asshole humor (Lab Rats does it better but still).

In other words, contrary to popular belief, a sitcom can be a sitcom like you’ve seen over and over and OVER again. But that doesn’t mean it can’t work. The proof is in the pudding: The 3 best ones I’ve seen so far are all about families and learning to live with each other and stuff like that, your typical sitcom fodder.

So then we get to Austin and Ally. It’s your typical disney sitcom with a sort of high concept: Someone wants to be a music star because Disney are good at finding those and Hannah Montana was such a success, another person is helping them/falling for them/their opposite. BOOM. Recipe for success.

And the humor for the most part (there is a little snark and some surprisingly ok visual humor and slapstick) is your typical sitcom humor, with the obvious gags, the idiot jokes, the teen humor, yada yada.

But I didn’t groan. Maybe it’s because of the leads, maybe it’s the atmosphere, but for once, a few sitcom jokes and a little snark went a long way. In a weird way, it’s Good Luck Charlie’s humor but less fun. But... Well, it worked for me! It’s hard to explain these things sometimes.

But maybe it boils down to characters, and how the two leads are surprisingly likable.

CHARACTERS: 3 Out of 5

First of all, let’s be honest: I was always gonna like Ally. She’s level headed, relatable, understandable, adorkable, shy, smart. Hard not to like her! No wonder she got a high position right now in the character ranking lists. And it was fun to be in her world for a bit.

The real surprise for me was Austin. While I have nothing against Ross Lynch (in fact I like his singing in Teen Beach Movie) the channel overexposed him a lot and I tend to dislike those kind of actors. That and his character is an idiot, so that was worrying.

But to my surprise, Austin was more of a PJ in Good Luck Charlie than a Brady Bunch and Ok Boomer from Pair of Kings. He’s an idiot, for sure, but more of the sweet, gullible, well meaning kind. I mean, any episode where a character accidentally steals a song (which is actually totally possible according to a friend of mine) and doesn’t come off as a jerk is impressive, but even when he tries to help Ally lose her stage fright by showing her on stage when she asked him not to comes off as him trying his best and not him being a dick. And Ally does sort of get revenge on him, so there’s that.

So yeah, the two leads are fun, sometimes even funny characters with well defined personalities and no asshole tendencies. That’s super!

Sadly, the rest of the cast falls flat for now (and I understand they get worse so YEESH). Tish (PAUL BLART��S DAUGHTER) is that kind of annoying best friend you see in so many of these, and Dez is the idiot best friend you see in most of these, and they’re just... They’re just like that the entire episode. Their running gags of getting fired and coming up with stupid merch ideas aren’t bad but they’re not great, and I prefered it when it was just Austin and Ally. Lester, Ally’s dad, is also possibly gonna hurt the show according to my research.

Also this is a small thing but the Ellen Degeneres parody is so true to real life I’m shocked it’s not.

Anyway, yeah, a weak cast outside of two surprisingly likable leads.

STORY AND HEART: 3 Out of 5

I was gonna give a 2 here as well but decided to bump it up to 3. Why? Because is was surprisingly invested (I used that word a lot today). It was a typical story, no doubt about it, but I still enjoyed it. I usually use this segment to sum up my thoughts, so I think it’s best put like this. This was a basic, average story. There was NOTHING new here. You’ve seen this a million times.

I still liked it. I didn’t LOVE it, but I liked it. It was fun in it’s own way, it was ok. I found myself struggling to sum up my feelings for this yesterday, and I think I know why. We as consumers have massive expectations. We want originality and subversion, yet also nostalgia. We want to be surprised, but we also want things to go exactly the way we think they should. We want something new, yet also old.

Austin and Alley isn’t as funny and breezy as Liv and Maddie. It’s not as wacky as Phil of the Future. Not as relatable as Stuck In The Middle, not as high quality as Good Luck Charlie, not as life like as Even Stevens. At the same time, it’s not as disappointing as Lab Rats, average as Dog With A Blog, Mediocre as So Random, annoying as Pair of Kings and kind of meh as Bunk’d.

It’s just ok. And... I think that’s ok. Not every show needs to be the second coming. Old tropes are used a lot for a reason, not just out of laziness but because they work. And sometimes, what we need after a long day is something that’s just ok and makes you smile.

I smiled watching this. I didn’t wish for something else. I just let myself enjoy something that wasn’t that great but wasn’t that bad.

Sometimes, we just need a smile.

And that’s ok. :)

FINAL SCORE: 9 Out of 15

Wow I didn’t expect that score or for me to get so philosophical, but here we are. I liked this, so I look forwards to the next one.

Anyway, next time we have Lizzie McGuire! Cool! I was waiting for that one! High expectations for this one!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/100qHOP9aQ1AmKbrYuc--CQAP3LQnHfsS/edit#heading=h.nh4udkykrnki (I should add that the theme song wasn’t ranked because I need to hear it again to re-evaluate it)

[gleefail]

Glee Memories: 1x6 Vitamin D

A long, long time ago, as Glee was approaching graduation in Season 3, I found myself nostalgic with some rare free time on my hands. So I decided to rewatch the series from the beginning and jot down some memories, discrepancies that have arisen since, fave quotes, tally solos - all that good stuff, strictly for shits and giggles.

8 years later (eek!) and once more I find myself with an unexpected abundance of free time. With so many revisiting or being newly introduced to the show between binge watching during Quarantine and all the tragedy that has surrounded the show since it went off the air, I figured I’d finish what I started. And by finish, I mean go through the end of S3. Cause I truly cannot acknowledge what happened after that. Except for 5B.

Kicking this off by reposting the first 15 episodes I already went through. Enjoy!

1x6 Vitamin D Mr. Schue is worried cause the Glee club is being lazy and complacent. First time and still true until Sue came along to help the club.

Mmmmkay. And now Mercedes starts dressing kinda funky. Oh goody. :/

Ugh. Listen, I have adored Matthew Morrison since I saw him in Hairspray 10 years ago, but it’s still not at all appealing when he tries to lick that mustard off his own chin.

“I will hold my tongue no further.”

”You have to remember something: we’re dealing with children. They need to be terrified. It’s like mother’s milk to them. Without it, their bones won’t grow properly.”

“Ellen, that blouse is just insane.”

”I don’t understand how lightening is in competition with an above ground swimming pool”

BOYS V. GIRLS FOR THE FIRST TIME! <3

“Okay, split up: guys on the right side, girls on the left side…Kurt” *gestures for him to join the boys, not the girls* Kurt looks soooo pissed. And is such a baby-faced nugget!

A Mash-Up was just defined and used for the first time.

”We’re planning on smacking them down like the hand of God” yaaaaay, Sue’s Journal entries! I miss those. Hey, did she ever get that hovercraft she was working towards?

”Let me be frank: your husband is hiding his kielbasa in a Hickory Farms gift basket that doesn’t belong to you.”

”I’ve always thought the desire to procreate showed deep personal weakness. Me? Never wanted kids. Don’t have the time, don’t have the uterus.” #oops

“I think you should both pack up and move out of the district. Unless you wanna lose your man to a mentally ill ginger pygmy with eyes like a bush baby”

the Matthew Morrison mustard licking is even less appealing in slow motion. Ew.

Terri just wiped Emma’s mug off with her own spit. Even if you didn’t have OCD, that is not right.

“But you’re not a nurse. You don’t have any training…” “Oh please, Will – it’s a public school.”

Wait…Mr. Schue seems to be teaching music theory? WTF? Has this happened before? Since?

“She freaks me out in a Swim Fan kinda way”

“But her body’s smokin’…if you’re not into boobs” Finn re: Rachel

I don’t think I ever caught this before – Finn is rubbing BioFreeze on his legs and accidentally scratches near his eye…and you can see the effect set in and then he spazzes out. Ha! #BlessFinnsHeart

“My mom says I’m stretched too thin so I gave up homework but that didn’t help” #BlessFinnsHeart

“Puck, with respect, you’re more helpful when you don’t contribute”

“Where’s Quinn?” “Probably down at the mall looking for elastic waistbands”

“Let’s do the number and then build a house for Habitat for Humanity” oh, Finn on ‘vitamin d’. He has the mind of a child. Especially during this performance. Holy crap!

“No one at Glee is gonna judge you.” Oh, that will change Rachel.

Hahahaha, Quinn drew pornographic pictures of Rachel on the bathroom walls. I miss when Quinn hated Rachel. Just a little bit. Cause she did it so well and right now it would please my soul to see some of that.

Poor Howard Bamboo is so terrified of Terri and just pitiful. I just want to hug him and tell him to stand up to her! :(

“I see em’ together all the time – laughing, talking…all the stuff she never does with me”

Terri’s office looks like it’s the same as Emma’s…

“I am not built to work 5 days a week”

“I’ve been thinkin’ maybe that if you and I started seein’ each other on the side it might kinda cancel their thing out”

“She doesn’t like to be touched…by me.”

“Look at the two of us. You pregnant and me with psoriasus and one testicle that won’t descend.”

“Though I’ve been grouped with the boys, my allegiance still remains with you ladies. They declined my offer to do their hair in cornrows and all my artistic decisions have been derioted as ‘too costly’ because they involve several varieties of exotic bird feathers.”

Rachel’s goal is a Grammy, not a Tony. #oops

smack-talking Finn is a giant douche. Ugh.

“You being here is not good for our marriage.” “Spending time together is not good for our marriage?” She has a point…

“A lot of ants on the sidewalk today.” *long uncomfortable silence* “Pretty late in the season for that.”

oh, Ken proposing. I hated you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.

“Look, Emma, I know our relationship hasn’t been perfect. You won’t ride in my car. I can’t touch you above the wrist. Remember you cried for an hour that one time my elbow accidentally brushed by your breast? But I think about you all day long. I kiss that picture of us at the State Fair every night before I go to sleep. Emma Pillsbury, this is not an engagement ring – no, I mean it is, but it’s more than that. It’s a promise. Look, Emma, I know you have this thing about being clean. Now I can’t promise to pick up my underwear or squeegee the shower door, but I can promise to keep your life clean of sadness and loneliness and any other dark clouds that might float into it. It’s cubic zirconia. I know how effected you were by Blood Diamond.”

“Thankyousomuch,itreallyisapleasure.Whiletheboyschoseaselectionofsongsthatcastaneyeinwardontheirresponsiblelifechoicesandsexualhungeroftoday’smodernteens,wehavechosenaselectionofsongsthatspeakstothenationasawholeduringthesetroublingtimesfilledwitheconomicuncertaintyandunbridledsocialwoebecauseifthere’stwothingsAmericaneedsrightnow,thatissunshineandoptimism.” *awkward pause and Rachel finally breathes* “Also angels.” OMG. Maybe my favorite Rachel Berry moment ever.

Also, this was one of my fave musical moments (songs, singers, choreography) of all of Season One. Heather Morris is gangsta on this, dancing like she’s on crack. OMG. I love it. Every one of these girls is such a great dancer.

“Can you um…can you think of any other options I might have?” “Is that a reason to marry someone?” “That’s not what I’m asking.” See, Glee still does this – these weird conversations that are clearly about something else, but never really get finished and things are left in limbo but as if the akward moment didn’t happen, so I think I’m losing my mind when I look for the continuity….ugh. Headache. What just happened?

“You have no chance with my husband. Do I make myself clear? You might think there’s some kind of competition going on with you and I, but that’s like saying that a nail is competing with a hammer.”

“Do yourself a favor, honey. Marry Ken Tanaka. Oh sure, he’s dumb like sand, and his fondue pot of nationalities is gonna open your kids up to a host of genetic diseases…but he’s kind, and he’s generous. And he’s available.” I don’t like Terri but….truth.com right there.

“I need to talk to you, about the baby” “Is everything ok? You’re not having it right now, are you?” What?! No! Aren’t you supposed to be a nurse?”

“You want money from me?” “It’s gonna be your baby.” “Which means I’m gonna be paying the bills for 18 years – I think you can handle 9 months” Oh Terri.

Aw. My heart still breaks for Emma during this scene where she basically accepts Ken’s proposal and asks for a secret marriage. And says she doesn’t wanna spend the rest of her life alone. Gah – so sad! :(

“I don’t even remember performing.”

“I’m sorry for what I said the other day. For calling you contemptable and deplorable” “Ah, that’s ok. I didn’t even know what those words meant.” #BlessFinnsHeart

“My goals are too selfish.” Rachel. Why did you forget that lesson?

Howard Bamboo got arrested on suspicion of running a meth lab. Ha!

“You are oblivious to consequences” A running theme of this show.

oh Glee. Again with the weird situations…neither Will nor Emma even preTENded to be happy about her marrying Ken when she told him. How does neither of them address it? What just happened?

I remember the first time I saw this episode and I loved that Rachel Berry had changed to being a team player and making her goal about winning sectionals with the team. That didn’t last long. SOLOS: Finn (1), Artie (1), Rachel (1) MERCEDES TAKES THE GLORY NOTE: 2nd time

[wheremytwinwatches]

[Where My Twin Watches]: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Episode 5

Flowers and a curtain at sunset, I think we’re back at Kamijo’s room. Or rather the hospital in general. Hey, we’re getting a flashback to Sayaka making the contract! I was hoping we’d get to see this, is there some sort of ritual or…? Hmph. Music’s a bit menacing, but this is a big step. I still think that Sayaka’s making the right choice and that it’s better to have the power, but I don’t think you can just change your mind later on. “Don’t worry, your wish is absolutely grantable.” And there we go, she ‘just’ wished for Kamijo to be healed. As you guys have said, we are being a bit unfair on Sayaka for not optimizing the Wish. She’s a middle-school girl, caught up in a life-or-death scenario, and her friend is in a bad way. And now that I think about it, if she had done like I’m saying and worked out a more expansive Wish, then she may not have gotten to Madoka in time. Urgh, just a bad situation all around. Alright, on with the ritual! Which is just Kyubey holding out his ears? Wait, now he’s reaching towards Sayaka and apparently into Sayaka, out comes a blue light and Sayaka falls backwards (understandable, the show mascot’s unlocking your Hidden Potential), the light returns to her and forms into what looks to be a Soul Gem like Mami’s, only matching Sayaka’s hair. And now she’s floating. Magical powers for the win! Once again the intro of lies. Mami… Ooh, I caught a shot of Food Girl Kyoko this time! Are there any other upcoming characters I’ve missed? Ep 5: There’s No Way I’ll Ever Regret It

Hitomi yawning! Rough night, huh? Still polite enough to apologize for the social faux pas, and I am so happy to see the NPC back to normal. Madoka and Sayaka act all innocent, asking about what happened, and Hitomi talks about some sort of mass sleepwalk. Huh, so non-potentials or MGs really don’t see or remember witches, then. The doctors said they all had a mass hallucination, then went right back to trying to figure out Kamijo inexplicable healing. You’ve got to feel sorry for the cops, scientists and doctors in these sort of shows, you know they’re in the background tearing out their hair in frustration over the mysterious cases. Well, Hitomi’s back to being her refined, overachieving self. And Homura’s back to sulking in the corner over her wrecked plans. Good. I want you to redeem yourself, Homura, but I didn’t want Zuko to catch Aang, either. You don’t get the territory and power, deal with it. Madoka looks sad? Later by a wind farm (go renewable energy!), Sayaka’s stretching and making content sounds, showing off the new ring on her finger while she does so. Seems becoming a Magical Girl comes with some nice energy boosts, probably better than coffee or the like. Madoka asks if Sayaka’s scared about making the contract, she brushes it off and points out how she took out the witch last episode. And when the alternative was losing both Hitomi and Madoka… well, she thinks that that’s a lot scarier. *slow clap* Ok, that’s a hero statement if I’ve ever heard one. Granted, I don’t think she knew about the two being in danger before she made the contract, meaning the real reason was still to heal Kamijo, but now that she’s got the power? Shot of Sayaka’s Soul Gem! And yeah, it’s like Mami’s but blue. She’s really getting into it, spouting off the one-liners and declaring that she, Magical Girl Sayaka, will protect Mitakihara City. … I want to believe in this confidence, I really do want to think that things will turn out alright. But we’ve got Homura and this Kyoko chick annoyed at the newcomer, and we’re not even halfway through the series. OH GOD DAMN IT. Sayaka mentions that she has one regret, in that she hesitated for so long, and we got a flash of Mami’s head (I see what you did there, show. *shakes fist*). And the broken teacup. Great, beyond this current bluster she’s clearly feeling guilt about not doing it sooner, since she “ended up doing it anyway.” That’s… argh. I want to completely argue with that, say that they could have died against the Clown Worm as well if they got involved, but seeing Sayaka fight the last witch… Looks like we’ve got a Spiderman situation here. Dude’s a fun character, but you’ve got to remember that his origin as a hero was after he failed to save Uncle Ben, his entire foundation is based on his perceived failure. Not going to get into Peter’s story, but I can draw the parallels to Sayaka here. “If I had become a hero sooner, this death would not have happened.” There’s no way to know that for sure, but conversely there’s no way to not know that for sure. Argh. And now the guilt's getting to Madoka, she’s thinking about the bridge scene (my poor ship…). And then Sayaka pokes her? Oh wow, this is rather understanding of her, Sayaka’s saying “it’s easy for me to say” because she’s gone and done it now. And yeah, given her combative personality I think she’s a good fit to fighting witches as a magical girl. But we’re back into iffy territory regarding her Wish being for something she wouldn’t mind risking her life for. She definitely has feeling for Kamijo, but I don’t know if it’s reciprocated. This could get ugly. Ok, aside from the ticking timebomb of her feelings to Kamijo, which I just know is going to be a plot point later on, she’s doing a good job reassuring Madoka, before heading off. Gee, I wonder where she’s going. Back at Kamijo’s room, he hasn’t been discharged yet because the doctors are busy freaking out over his mutant healing factor. Or rather, he still has to finish his leg… rehabilitation… Argh. Argh. ARGH. I’m sorry, Sayaka, but my optimization side is screaming right now. You’ve got a Wish that we have been shown was strong enough to heal all of Mami’s fatal injuries. But you were so focused on Kamijo’s hand that you apparently just wished for that to be healed? That is… you managed to both underutilize and overspecify a Wish! You could have said “I wish that the doctors would find a way to heal Kamijo’s hand”, or “I wish that Kamijo would be fully healed”. But no, you said “I wish that Kamijo’s hand was healed.” You knew his legs were still messed up, but… argh. Sayaka, I love you and all, but I’m going to hold this against you. Sorry. Ok, back to the hospital room, Kamijo’s being kept to finish up his legs and because they don’t know what fixed the hand. Which means all of the tests! For now, the working answer is “We dunno, it was a miracle.” Aw, Kamijo’s apologizing for his words last episode, Sayaka brushes it off, insists that he should be happy. Huh. I’m using the words “Sayaka brushes it off” a lot, aren’t I? That may not be the best of signs. Suddenly she notices the time and suggests that she and Kyosuke “go out for some air”. What are you planning? And why the roof? Hey, it’s the garden from the episode start! Wait. Wait no. Sayaka, do not do what I think you’re going to do. I know you like this boy, but telling him about Magical Girls? Transforming to prove it? That’s just asking for trouble! Wait, people? People clapping, mostly in medical scrubs? Oh, it’s some sort of “Congrats on mysteriously getting better” party. Then a man comes forward with something Oh! It’s his violin! And that’s his dad? Kamijo’s silhouette is just looking at the instrument now. Well. Ok, I get what the episode is going for, but from the perspective of a trumpet player? If I was laid up in the hospital and went an unspecified time without practicing my instrument, the last thing I would want to is for my first post-hospital notes to be in front of an audience. At least let the boy practice first! But then again, I’m a mediocre player at best, and Kamijo’s supposed to be a skilled player. Violin under chin, bow on strings, and he starts playing. ... I’m not going to sully the music by commenting on it. I’ll just note the title drop and move on. Wait, another building? Oh hey, it’s the Kyoko girl! And… Pffft! Ok, that is hands-down the best use of magic that I’ve seen yet in this show. Why spend money on one of those mundane tower telescope setups when you can just summon your own? Apparently she was spying on the rooftop performance to see the new magical girl. While eating, like last time. Hey, Kyubey’s there! So wait, we just saw him help Sayaka to become a Magical Girl, but before that he apparently summoned an outside girl to take the territory. And then he made the contract, we saw him tell the girl the territory was claimed again, and now he’s… just hanging around? Yeah, he’s hanging around this outsider who’s calmly talking about how Sayaka will be an easy hit (grrr). What’s going on, Kyubey? I thought you liked our characters. Sure, you seemed to walk off when they said they wouldn’t become MGs earlier, but now Sayaka is one. Why are you hanging around someone who want’s to stop that? Kyoko’s all confident about her chances, Kyubey warns her that there is another girl. Wait, what? “I’m not really sure myself.” How can you not know, Kyubey? Kyoko is as confused as I am. So what I’m getting from Kyubey dancing around the issue and calling her an “irregularity” is that he doesn’t know how Homura made a contract. Which raises some very interesting questions. I had assumed that Kyubey was the only contract-granter in the show, that Homura had contracted with him and then tried to kill him before he got any more recruits. If not Kyubey, then who? I remember I speculated about an anti-Kyubey who was making Witches, maybe she contracted with them and promised to take out the Rabbit-Thing. In any case, Kyoko welcomes the challenge. Kyubey doesn’t say anything, but for never stopping that smile of his I can just get a sense of “Oh, this won’t end well.” Back at the dining area of Fancy Mall, Homura is- oh, Madoka is meeting with Homura! Trying to Friendship her into not attacking Sayaka the new Magical Girl? Yup, Madoka stammering through trying to list her good aspects like being brave and helpful… which Homura immediately slams as being fatal flaws in her line of work. Light chanting music comes up again as Homura delves into a gloomy version of the Jedi’s “Fear leads to Anger” speech. “Kindness grows to naivete, and courage leads to being caught off guard. She also argues that being a magical girl is a thankless job. (So you’re basically saying that Madoka would be the shortest-lived magical girl ever, then.) “That is why Mami Tomoe lost her life.” Oh, low blow! I mean, true, but low blow. And off comes the top of her cup when she mentions Mami. I see what you did there, animators. Ooh, Madoka actually has some buttons apparently, she yells at Homura for casually dismissing Mami. But then she calms down and talks about how she’s worried about Sayaka being on her own. She can’t do anything herself, so...she’s asking Homura to become friends with Sayaka. Or at least not fight with her like she did with Mami. Homura’s thoughts: “Damn it, first the girl goes and becomes a MG despite my warnings, and now this civilian is trying to get me to work with the competition? Yeah, I’m not sharing.” Madoka raises a good point about if everyone goes together to fight witches it’ll be safer for everyone. Problem is, that doesn’t jive with Homura’s goals. Unless the girls working together could defeat enough witches to make up for the ‘one Grief Seed per witch’ limitation, then there’s no way she’ll go for it. Yep, dismissive Homura Hair Flip means that argument doesn’t work with her. But at least she’s honest, not making promises she can’t keep. For all my faults with her, I have to admit that Homura has some positive aspects. Unfortunately one of those is not tactfulness. “I’m telling you to give up on Sayaka Miki now.” Aw, look what you did, you made Madoka cry. (Feel bad. Feel bad.) This is an interesting trait of Homura’s. Initially I thought it was just about preventing competition for power, but she really does seem to regret not ‘protecting’ Sayaka from the life of a magical girl. I still firmly believe based on last episode that it’s better to have the defensive capabilities than not, but if Homura’s been doing this Lone Witch Hunter thing for a while then I can understand the bleak outlook. She really doesn’t think of herself as a villian, does she? And I’m not really sure I can call her one. Maybe antagonist, especially when she eventually summons Big Flying Thing. Yeah, she has no hopes for Sayaka to last long. “Just as the dead don’t return to life, consider her fate sealed.” That wait. wait wait wait wait. WAIT. Holy crap, I just figured it out. “Dead don’t return to life.” Normally, yes. But lo and behold, we have a Wish (once our Protagonist finally makes a contract)! It’s bigger than any Wish we’ve seen so far (heal fatal injuries, heal crippled hand), but we are so-far lacking in any rules against it! Calling it now: Come the finale, when the Big Flying Thing is messing stuff up, Madoka will use her Wish to bring Mami back. YES. But… we’re only on episode 5 of twelve? Argh, it’s going to be forever until we get Little Miss Rifle Company back. Ok, back to the episode! Homura continues to harp about how MGs give up everything for a single Wish. Madoka asks if she’s really given up on herself and other girls from all this. Homura just replies “Yes.” She’ll continue the fight (for power). She apologizes for wasting Madoka’s time, and leaves. Sayaka is standing in front of some mirrors, psyching herself up for her first night of Witch Hunting. Leaving the building with Kyubey perched on her shoulder, Madoka is waiting outside the door, Sayaka brags about how she’s going on her first patrol. Ally of Justice, away! Madoka’s worried if she’ll be alright on her own, Sayaka brushes it off (should I start counting all the times she does this?) by saying that Mami went on her own all the time!... maybe not the best example there, Sayaka. Madoka says she can’t really help, but if her tagging along wouldn’t be too much of a bother… Sayaka’s frowning? Then smiling? (The sudden cuts between faces can get a little disorienting at times, show.) She teases Madoka for trying too hard, then thanks her for asking. Oh wow, Sayaka’s doing her “putting up a brave face and suppressing emotions” thing again, isn’t she? She did it when walking to school after Mami’s death, and now she’s been putting up a brave front before embarking on the dangerous task of hunting Witches. Never discount the morale boost of someone supporting you! Have to admit, I wasn’t expecting the show to make the Best Friend the main fighter and the Protagonist the sidekick. Kyubey warns about taking a non-MG on a patrol, but Sayaka counters that if she actually did go off on her own, she’d probably be reckless and get killed. Ah, so Madoka gets to be the common sense of the duo! That works. But Kyubey telepaths to Madoka that she’s thought up her own plan? Oh. OH. Of course, if things get dicey then Madoka’s there to make her contract (and get Mami back)! Right, I keep forgetting that, and given how fast the ritual at the start of this episode went they could probably pull it off fast enough. Sure, Sayaka would probably be against it, and I can guarantee that Homura would not be happy. Ooh, and Kyoko would probably be ticked, too. Kyoko: “Ok, what gives Kyubey? You called me about some prime territory being up for grabs. I arrive, and there are three girls in the area!” But until the time comes that Madoka decides on a Wish (bring Mami back), then he’ll be waiting. Following the glowing Soul Gem, the girls reach a dark alleyway. Which suddenly is filled up with crayon and stars. Kyubey says that this is likely a familiar, not a Witch. At least this should be an easier fight for her first patrol. The familiar appears to be a crayon-drawn girl in a little plane on the wall, Sayaka springs into action and transforms into her MG outfit. Lots of music symbols and bubbles in her sequence, looks very nice. She proceeds to prove that, for magical girls at least, Throwing Your Sword Always Works, and the familiar is running away. Wait, what just blocked her swords? It didn’t look like it was part of the labyrinth. What the heck are you doing, Kyoko? You do realize you just let a familiar get away? Whoa, extendo-spear. Well, yeah, Kyoko. We do realize that was a familiar and it wouldn’t drop a Grief Seed. But if it’s left alone then it Whoa what. WHOA WHAT. “You should wait for it to eat 4 or 5 people and become a real witch.” Did-did you just say to wait for a familiar to kill people, just to be guaranteed a Grief Seed when you kill it? You actually are saying a familiar is a goose before it lays its golden eggs? ...holy crap. Kyoko is Homura without the cares about the innocents. We officially have a character who thinks of all this as a “food chain”. “Witches eat weak humans. And in turn, we eat those witches.” ...well done, show. First you make me hate Homura, then you show me that she has hidden depths and doesn’t want to hurt innocents (although she still wants power and will go to bad lengths to get it), and then you introduce a new character who is Homura without any redeeming aspects. Homura? I apologize, and while I am not quite ready to take you off the List, I will at least give you a chair to sit down in while you wait. Fire Lord Ozai, you can stop standing in the corner and take a seat as well, I think I just found someone to take your spot. Oh crap, she’s been walking towards Sayaka this whole time while I’ve been freaking out, suddenly a red diamond barrier popped up between the two MGs and Madoka. Wow, you are like the complete opposite of Sayaka, utterly dissing the ideas of justice. (Yes, I do realize that Sayaka isn’t completely pure of motive and all, but compared to this new girl she is a shining beacon of Good). Fight! Or just casual block of her sword. Yeah, Sayaka’s leaning into it and pushing with both arms (even her art style is flickering), but Kyoko’s just standing there, eating. Yup, gentle push back and Sayaka goes sprawling. I’m thinking that you might be a little outclassed here, Sayaka. Kyoko attacks (with the shaft of her spear breaking up into segments of chains, that is an awesome weapon), and Sayaka goes flying back and smacks some pipes. Well that was a quick fight, Kyoko’s leaving now. Then acts surprised when Sayaka gets up after a blow that “should’ve put you out of commission for at least 3 months.” Oh, that’s cool! So based on the wish of a contract, the MG gets powers from that? And since Sayaka wished for healing, she heals at an accelerated rate? Kyoko is pissed off, now. REALLY pissed off. Fast-paced Magical Girl Battle, go! But Sayaka is on the defensive, barely hold off Kyoko’s swipes. Aaand she’s in the wall again. “You don’t get it when I try to explain. You don’t get it when I beat it into you. Guess there’s not choice but to kill an idiot like you!” Ooh, Sayaka’s really getting into it now, meeting Kyoko’s spear with her sword and having an energy collision between them. But Kyoko’s picking it up too, smashing up the ground. Madoka’s left behind the barrier asking why they have to fight when they should be allies. Kyubey can’t stop them now. But… if only another magical girl could get between them now… Better make up your mind quick Madoka, Sayaka’s on the ground and Kyoko’s in shadow with a red glare where her eyes should be. “It’s over!” Madoka is going to- “There’s no need for that.” Homura has entered the fray. Hoo boy. Now we- *End episode* Oh come on! End credits, creepy silhouettes… End illustration of Madoka in her outfit, surrounded by chibi-versions of Homura, Sayaka, and Mami. Madoka’s talking about how this girl in red is a MG, like her. So why do they have to fight? Next time: Episode 6: This Just Can’t Be Right ...really, Madoka? You’re asking why she has to fight the MG who wants to wait and let innocents die so she can increase her own power?! No, it’s not right that there is someone with this power who acts such a way. It is right that those who can stop her. Can’t wait to see what happens next. How will Homura deal with a worse version of herself?

[queerlyglittering]

LETTER BOY UPDATE

ok! This is long overdue lmao. but until the other day I was feeling a bit mopey and sad and also just generally tired and didn’t wanna talk about it BUT THEN  E X T R E M E L Y  LONG POST AHEAD

so lemme see where I last left off re: Letter Boy.... ok so like, to recap: there for a while we’d barely been talking. He didn’t have time to write to me most of the time, and then half the time when we did write to each other our letters kept getting lost in the mail, etc etc. I know I’d been like pretty obsessive over the whole letter-writing thing for a while so I thought I’d been pushing him away and like at one point I wrote him a goodbye letter? Like I was really out here like “I’m so sorry for bothering you so much, I’ll leave you alone now” like what sort of passive-aggressive bitchy monster lmao. And then eventually I was like nah fuck that, that’s not ok and I’m not leaving things like that, so I wrote him an apology and we kinda got back to talking a bit. And then he finally wrote me back! And his letter was deeply personal and emotional and I cried! He came out as ace! He told me he loved me! The absolute drama of it all! (Which it turns out, at that point he didn’t mean it in terms of like, romantic love, just like... he really cared about me as a person and was glad that he felt comfortable to write about his experiences re: being ace to me and it was sort of cathartic. BUT THEN!) So I wrote back almost immediately, telling him that I loved him too and that he was valid and shit lmao. That was all back in late May/early June I think... tbh I don’t remember what happened over the summer, lemme go back and reread our messages? b/c I know neither of us has physically written to the other since then.  Ok so we messaged a bit about potentially meeting up at a Pride festival, either there in Houston or up in Dallas, but the timing just generally didn’t work out in our favor for either event, so we wound up not going. And then we kinda sporadically messaged each other here and there, usually when he was stressed with school or I was stressed with work, etc, but we barely talked off and on for a couple months. Then I started my current job, and my sleep cycle got outta whack for a few weeks, and that’s when things started to get interesting again lmao

ok so sometime near the end of August, he had like a minor depressive episode or something in the middle of the night and messaged me at like 4 am saying he felt “gross and sad” and I slept through that because it was Saturday but I wound up waking up at like 6:30 out of habit from getting up for work, and I ended up calling him and we talked for a while and I vented about some stuff in my life too and then we both went back to sleep lmao. And after that things got a little more active in terms of communication; like y’all know me, I’m a Needy Bitch, so of course I wound up messaging him like once every couple days or so whenever I started to miss him and needed Attention. Like it kinda started with a tarot reading I got, just a standard past/present/future 3-card reading, but she pulled the Lovers for my present, so I mean.... and basically she said something about there being a person in my life whom I had feelings for, and who reciprocated those feelings, but there was a communications disconnect, and the relationship was getting to a point where it could begin to go stale, and that we shouldn’t block ourselves off from progress. After that reading I reached out and messaged him again, and we ended up literally speaking every day for a week. Like I think I’d made a post about that on here about not messaging him for the 8th day in a row and thought I was exaggerating but then I went back and counted and IT ACTUALLY WAS THE 8TH DAY, WOW AUDREY, YOU’RE OFFICIALLY ANNOYING. So I tried to get better about leaving him alone lmao but I started messaging him a bunch of stuff about my singing, because my old community had a brief resurgence in September. and he said he wanted to sing something with me someday and I’m 🥰🥰

So then at one point I had mentioned coming down to Houston for the weekend of the SFA/Sam Houston State game (which was last weekend, 10/5-6) with my friend, and ditching the game to hang out with him instead. I kinda let the subject drop for a couple weeks because at that point it was almost a month out and I wasn’t 100% sure I was gonna be able to go so I didn’t want to get both our hopes up. But then work started being really shitty and dicking me around about my schedule change that was supposed to have happened once I got out of training, and my home life wasn’t gr8 either, so I kinda latched onto that weekend trip as like a bright spot, or something to hope for. Something to keep me going. And he’d basically forgotten about it, which is fine, except I wound up springing it back on him at the last minute lmao. But then my friend who I was supposed to go with (because I can’t drive so she was gonna drive us down there) was like ‘nah I’m not going to the game, I have no money for tickets.’ So I was like well shit, there goes my happy thing. And I talked to her about it and basically begged her to just go down to Houston for the weekend anyway, I’d get us a hotel and everything, because I needed this. So she was like ‘alright, look at hotels.’ But then HER friend got very sick, like in-the-hospital having-mysterious-seizures sick, and she went to go stay with her in the hospital for a few days because the girl’s husband was being a dick about it (it turned out to just be an infection from a contact lens that got stuck in her eye and like melted??? idk. but it was BAD AND SCARY). But that was like Wednesday-Friday of the week we were supposed to go to Houston on that weekend and I wasn’t sure she’d be up to going. So I asked last minute if she still wanted to go or if I should cancel the hotel (not realizing that it was too late to cancel it anyway lmao RIP) and she said ‘ok sure but I wanna bring my kid, since I’ve been away from her for 3 whole days.’ I was like that’s fine, I already thought you were gonna bring her lol. So we wound up going down there on Saturday but we left a bit later than we’d meant to, and by the time we got to town, Letter Boy was already at work. So I missed him that day. The three of us (me, friend & kiddo) wound up swimming in the hotel pool and then ordering Chinese takeout for dinner so that was pretty fun. 

Then the next day, Sunday! Letter Boy called as we were checking out of the hotel to try and figure out what the plan was, where we could meet up, etc. We decided to meet at the mall nearby, since it was an easy landmark for all parties, and we could find each other pretty easily there. He took me (and my friend and her kid, though apparently that wasn’t the plan, and he would’ve preferred to spend time with just me; she even gave me the option to not have the two of them meet us at the restaurant and I decided not to take it because i was a nervous anxious coward lmao) out to lunch at this Korean place in town, where he loves to eat. We played a few rounds of a card game and talked and ate and it was great fun. Then he had to bail and go to work, and we had an interesting goodbye because I’d been out here trying to respect his personal space and all because from what he’d said in his coming-out letter, it sounded very much like he was touch-averse - but then he hugged me goodbye? and kept coming back for more hugs?! like “one more? ok just one more? and one more?” like nonstop for a good five minutes lmao. I was a bit confused but I loved it (my primary love language is physical touch; hugs are my kryptonite. And he gives AMAZING hugs. like I may have even actually dreamed about his hugs before I ever got to experience one, but that’s whole other post lol). Anyway so after that my friend and I went to hang out at her brother’s in-laws’ place because they lived in the area lol. Letter Boy had asked me to message him once I got there, so I did. I told him I wished I could’ve spent more time with him one-on-one, and he said “well if you’re still in town maybe you can sneak away when I get my break later” So I basically said hell yes, just tell me where to meet you, lol. We wound up meeting up at Starbucks and getting coffee and continuing to talk and hang out for the half hour of his break, and he really didn’t want to leave when it was time for him to go. Like he actually contemplated kidnapping me and bringing me to work with him lmao. If my ride hadn’t already been on her way, I would’ve gone with him in a heartbeat. I didn’t want to leave either. And he told me he loved me again!  🥰🥰🥰 It was sappy and sweet and just aghhhh <3

So that was a week ago today! And there’s been some interesting developments since then too. Starting off with that Sunday night when I got home, I’d had too much coffee (starbucks messed up my order and had to remake it so I ended up drinking both lmao, big mistake). So I was over-caffeinated and v emotional and couldn’t sleep so I started writing out all my anxious confused feelings in letter form, and wound up just linking Letter Boy to the Google Doc I’d been writing in. This was at almost 2 AM. Apparently I woke him up and he read it and replied to me over messenger and basically we talked about how like. when he first said he loved me in the letter, he didn’t necessarily mean it in a romantic context but it was definitely more than just platonic and he wasn’t sure how to quantify that. But now that we’d met in person, and got to spend some actual time together, he felt a little differently and that he was “not 100% sure but WAAAY more than 50% sure” that he loved me romantically, because partially because he’s ace, he’s just kinda unsure about romantic relationships in general and he’s reluctant to commit to them because the sex thing always becomes an issue. I reassured him that I completely understand and respect his orientation and would never ask him to change that aspect of himself or do anything that would make him uncomfortable, and he seemed immensely relieved. At this point I’m honestly not even sure how much of his feelings are genuinely for/about me, and how much of them are just some sort of general euphoria at having someone basically validate his orientation and his existence, because he’d spent so long being mocked and tormented by friends and lovers alike, and basically just feeling broken and worthless. And I completely understand that reaction. I’m not even sure I care if that’s all this is, if it comes down to it; I’m happy to be here to love and support him and make sure he never feels less than whole and valid again, no matter my context in his life. I just want him to be happy. I’d love to be the one who makes him happy, but if ultimately that is not my part in his life, then so be it. I’m at peace with it.

Anyway so that was Sunday night, we talked a little bit on Monday and Tuesday and then like,, nothing at all for a few days? And so of course my immediate instinct is that I came on too strong and pushed him away, just because he doesn’t want to talk to me every day?? so I got all mopey and sad and weird, because I thought I’d scared him off and lost him and idk. Also I was in a funk b/c my hormones are being wacky this week; I don’t really get periods per se with my IUD, but sometimes I’ll get phantom cramps and/or mood swings, etc. but this past week i’ve been spotting and cramping AND moody af, so that’s been fun. So I’d been all weird and sad and shit, and thinking he didn’t want to talk to me = he didn’t want me, and I was so paranoid and afraid because I still think this whole thing is too good to be true and I can’t trust it. I know it’s silly and far too early to be serious and it’ll never last and probably won’t end well. I know that it’s fun and easy and idealistic and won’t stand up to reality or practicality, when it eventually has to face them. So I’ve been bracing myself for that ending ever since it began. And I know three days isn’t very long, but after having a whole conversation about how we love each other, and how we love each other, it felt like an eternity. BUT THEN!!!!!!!!!

So ok, we did talk briefly on Friday, in passing. but it was a very short little conversation; the only major thing to come out of it was a further confirmation that yes, he’s serious about coming up here to see me. BUT THEN Saturday night (10/12), he got home from seeing Eric Andre perform live, and he was hanging out with his sister and drinking and generally being a goof, and he messaged me! UPDATE: It’s now sunday 10/20 and I’m still writing this. idk it’s been a lot, everything else in my life has been rough lately, idk. im not feeling as positively about this as i was before, but i’ll keep writing the update. I’ve written too much

SO! Anyway. he came home from the comedy show thing, and he was hanging out with his sister watching some Japanese reality show and drinking, and he messaged me out of the blue. Funny thing I’ve noticed is that he doesn’t generally reach out to me first and he’s not too expressive generally but whenever he’s intoxicated in some way, be it alcohol or pot or even benadryl, he gets really effusively, gushily mushy and sweet. So on this occasion he was drunk, or at least tipsy, and that means he was being extra affectionate and dumb lmao. He started out telling me about his night and then hit me with the “I wish you were heeeerrrrreeeeeeee” lol. And he said something about how one day when he graduates, we should get a place together, where we can “be non-binary and own our dreams” (the second time he’s mentioned possibly being nonbinary to me - or possibly third time, he said something in passing about being confused about gender roles, in a context that implied ‘in relation to himself.’ meanwhile I haven’t actually said anything at all to him about me being nonbinary, he just kinda assumed b/c i have a rly butch-y looking haircut rn lmao. but like.. he ain’t wrong tho 😂 so that’s a conversation that we need to actually have sometime.) He was like “it’s sorta romantic that you live up there and I live down here and we’re so far apart and we have to just kinda pine after each other basically” and i was like oh good, I’m not the only one pining lmao. But then he asked me to come with him when he moves to Japan to teach English there, sometime after he finishes his degree. Which like, I wish I could go with him, and I know that if we’re still talking at that point/especially if we actually get together, it’s gonna be hard to be that far away from him and I’m gonna miss him. But it’s just eminently not practical. I don’t have any college degree and I don’t speak a lick of Japanese, there’s no way I can teach English with him; and there aren’t many other jobs there for Americans. And he won’t be making enough to support both of us on a teacher’s salary, i know that much. So that’s where I start to get a bit disillusioned. Like I know it was just a drunk suggestion out of a desperation to not be apart anymore, and despite the fact that a drunk mouth often speaks sober thoughts, I know better than to assume that either of those offers to live together were any kind of a promise, and I have no intention to hold him to either of them. But in the moment I very much got my hopes up and I let myself get really excited and I regret that now lmao because like I knew even then that it wasn’t real. and now i’m just sorta disappointed because I’ve had to confront the fact that he’s very much a daydreamer and I, for all my delusional fantasizing, am at heart more practical than that. I don’t like to hope for things that I know can’t happen, because it’s just setting myself up for future devastation. And he just wants to hope and wish for everything, and maybe some of it will come true and maybe some of it won’t, and he just sort of seems unbothered by either outcome. For all my hopeless romanticism and my overemotional nature, I can’t bring myself to do that, to hope without expectation. I don’t know how. it’s so antithetical to my understanding of the world. And it just serves to highlight another of the many ways in which we are almost complete opposites - which isn’t a bad thing! but it can make some things harder. like handling distance, or hoping for the future, or just communication in general.

but anyway! back to drunken happiness lmao. he started saying really sappy shit like how he wants to be there for me when I’m feeling down, and he wants to have big dumb fights with me just so he can make it up to me with a big grand gesture like flowers or edible arrangements or something. and then he wrote me a drunken limerick and it was actually surprisingly good and really cute lmao. and he said he wanted to cuddle me. and then we got into a mini-fight over which one of us was cuter lmao. and he called me queen and said that he just wants to like. make me food and take care of me and stuff lol. and that he doesn’t even HAVE a type but somehow I am exactly his type? which is still fucking me up, that’s the sweetest shit i’ve ever heard. (because i know what he means, he’s dated around quite a bit with different types and genders of people and stuff because he didn’t really know how to handle his asexuality and of course the myth is that you just haven’t found the right person yet, so he just kept trying and feeling broken and then here I am, the first person he’s found to be accepting and understanding of that part of him, and still want him and care for him and be all lovey-dovey and shit with him, and he just wants me to be happy in return.) meanwhile I of course have several types, including different types for girls and guys etc, but he’s hitting all my boxes - tall, handsome in a kind of adorkable way, smart, funny, sarcastic, sweet, patient, sensitive, similar tastes in media and similar political alignments, queer. plus he’s just cute as fuck. like out of my league cute lmao but again, that’s exactly my type OTL so like I told him that, and that I just wanna like. hold him and be with him and help him be successful in whatever he wants in life. and he freaked out and was like ugh you should just come here rn i’ll hide you under my bed if i have to and i was like i wish i could :( and he was like THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH AUDREY COME HERE and i was like OK IM LEAVING ON FOOT SEE U IN 3 DAYS and it was funny. and we flung a bunch of heart emojis at each other. and then he made a passing reference to his mood swings and i kinda ended up ignoring it because i sent a message at the same time but in my head i was like boy have you even MET me, 1. the swings have always been my favorite piece of playground equipment, 2. i’ve got mood swings down to a fine art, and 3. i’m more worried about whether you can handle mine. i’m pretty sure i can take yours in stride lmao. and then there was more talk of cuddling, and HE STARTED HEART REACTING ALL MY MESSAGES and i’m just like WTF STOP IT THAT IS THE CUTEST SHIT <3333 and then he sent me a dollar by accident? and I sent him the “i love you bitch, i ain’t never gonna stop loving you bitch” vine lmao

and apparently this whole time he was still sitting around with his sister? lmao because he said she told him she approved of me after i sent that vine 😂 and she apparently likes my hair! which is good lol (reminder I need to post some pics of it on here, I posted selfies to fb but i don’t think i’ve posted on here yet). his sister is also bi lmao and seems cool in general (and also from what i’ve seen creeping her fb, she’s REALLY GORGEOUS, like it runs in the family, these fuckers should be models, it’s ridiculous really) so having her approval is v nice. like at least one member of his family approves of me! now to work on the rest 😂😂 and then he was talking about he was gonna get high also (despite being already drunk) and i was joking with him about bogarting the weed and he was like “when we live together I’ll share my weed with you” lmao but he said it with such certainty, like it was just a given. not an if, but a when. which threw me for enough of a loop. But then he started in on this fantasy scenario where like it’s late at night and we can’t sleep so he makes me sushi by hand, and we feed each other with our chopsticks (he was impressed that I already knew how to use them lmao) and we sit on the couch arm in arm watching reruns of cheers and laughing way too loudly and fall asleep in each other’s arms as the sun comes up outside but we don’t have anything to do the next day so it’s ok. and it was the sweetest most romantic shit I’ve literally ever heard in my LIFE, like it sounds like actual heaven and i was crying happy tears at this point lmao. just 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 like in that moment i felt so fucking loved i couldn’t even speak and y’all know i’m never speechless, i literally can’t fucking shut up most of the time lmao. and like at that point his phone was dying so he went to plug it in and go to bed and I did the same because it was like 2:30 in the morning but i was just giddy with affection and couldn’t sleep. 

anyway so the next day (sunday) i had a party thing to go to that was really fun but i’m socially awkward so i texted him a lot as a crutch. and then the next day (monday) he had given me “permission to bug the crap out of him” so i messaged him a lot throughout my work day because it was an unusually crappy day anyway. and the day after that (tuesday) we messaged about the democratic debates and stuff. and then i kinda tried to give him some space, because i felt like i was smothering him, and i made it all the way to friday evening before i caved in and messaged him again. like i don’t wanna bother him by messaging him every day, i know he’s busy. whenever he doesn’t actively have class, he’s got homework or he’s working (which usually means he’s driving and can’t talk). but i’m like so addicted to the affection i get from him, it’s bad. my anxiety just keeps building and getting worse if i try to avoid messaging him and I don’t make it very far before i end up giving in and messaging him for a hit of that good ol’ dopamine. so we ended up catching each other up on the events of the latter part of our week, and talking about sushi preferences. and he apparently has never had eel?? like that was probably the 2nd or 3rd thing i tried lmao 😂 but then to be fair I had a boyfriend at the time who was very interested in making sure i tried new things, and who had been stationed briefly in japan so he knew a lot about sushi and wanted to show off. anyway Letter Boy is like me, he prefers salmon by a wide margin. and we talked about how he’d tried squid and did not enjoy it, and that turned into a mini battle to see who could post the weirdest squid-themed gif lmao. and then i sent him the playlist but he still hasn’t listened to it yet I don’t think. but he also wants me to write him a poem lmao so that’s something i should start working on i guess. but idk i’m not feeling it rn but that’s not his fault. 

and then today happened and i had another incident with my mother and her narcissistic bullshit and i was feeling like shit so i reached out to my best friend to kinda get some validation that i’m not actually the narcissistic one (which felt shitty and manipulative, like if i have to ask i’m probably at least a LITTLE narcissistic. but then again if i actually was narcissistic i guess i wouldn’t even have that doubt? like i would just be certain that i wasn’t and not second-guess it because i wouldn’t care? and like making their victims believe that THEY are the narcissistic ones and the abuser isn’t, is a classic hallmark of gaslighting and narcissistic abuse? but i still felt like shit about it idk). And I also reached out to Letter Boy because while I love my best friend more than words can say, like she’s my sister-from-another-mother, Letter Boy has kind of become my comfort person. like i always used to write letters to him whenever I was going through a rough spot, as a distraction. and usually I’ll message him whenever I’m starting to feel anxious or sad, but lately it’s gotten to where I’ll start to feel anxious and sad whenever I don’t message him regularly. like i’ve said, it’s getting bad and i’m worried about it. like that’s not a good sign of a healthy relationship. and it’s nice to have some positivity in my life, especially given all the negative shit i’m constantly surrounded by. but that doesn’t mean this relationship is healthy or good for either of us. so that’s yet another thing on my list of shit that’s making me anxious lol. but anyway he tried to be supportive when i told him about what i’m dealing with in re: my mother, and encouraged me to get out, but he just seemed kinda generally lost. like he didn’t know how to deal with it. and if that’s because he’s been fortunate enough that in his life, that kind of behaviour is not something he’s experienced, then I’m happy for him. but he said some stuff about not really believing in labels, but specifically in regards to mental health issues? which like. that’s all fine and good in terms of gender and sexuality, but with mental health, that’s a medical issue. you kind of have to have names for things in that context so that you can treat them. and i get that he was kinda trying to be encouraging to me, to not let my mother make me think of myself as a narcissist, and to not feel so shitty about myself in terms of like my depression and anxiety and stuff. but it just felt like it was sort of coming from a place of very neurotypical privilege and misunderstanding, and it was sort of unintentionally invalidating. and then he brought up the idea of us living together again, once he graduates, but he said it in a slightly more realistic way which i should have been happier with but that only wound up disappointing me. he said “maybe when i graduate we can get a place...” instead of like his certainty from earlier. and i said i wish, and he said that he wishes too and we should both hope for it and maybe it’ll happen. and i’m just like... hope is a dangerous thing for my emotional health, i don’t want to hope for something that isn’t going to happen. and he basically said that i need to learn to hope without expectation, and set small goals as baby steps toward that bigger dream, and i’m just like. i don’t understand but thank you lmao. and that’s where we left off this evening. and i’ve been crying, about shit with my mom and my life in general and worrying about all this bullshit with letter boy and how like a week ago we were blissfully happy with each other and now things are feeling increasingly less certain and i have this burning feeling in the back of my mind that he’s not gonna actually show up for the Syrup Festival in 3 weeks - which again, i’ve pinned all my hopes to, it’s the light at the end of my newest tunnel. and i’m so nervous because i want to show him everything and let him get a feel for where i live (and why i feel trapped here lmao) and yet at the same time i don’t know how to handle it because i don’t think he’ll feel the same way about it as i do. and i’m still not sure he’ll even come. because despite him telling me repeatedly that he wants to come, i can’t help but feel that either something will come between us within that time, or he’ll just end up having to work, or something, and he won’t actually come. i’m so terrified he won’t want to come. I’m terrified i’m pushing him away. because this whole thing, ever since we started writing letters, has felt mostly one-sided, like i’m out here sharing everything with him and flinging my love and attention at him, and getting scraps in return, just enough to keep me coming back for more. and i don’t know if he’s stringing me along or if he’s serious. he is a bit flighty. I don’t want him to fly away. but i don’t want to hold him down, either.

i don’t know.

[sunset-spring]

Hey, I'm kind of scared to ask you this, but I wanted to know what you thought of the epilogue in Season 8. I'm terrified of what you'll say, but you seem to be a very logical and clear-headed thinker, so I am kind of curious. If the answer isn't good, then please respond privately. Thank you.

It’s ok, I’m not gonna lie I’m nervous about a lot of questions related to season 8 just because so many people have such hard line stances and opinions on it. I have a lot of the same fear talking about it for the same reasons I’m sure you were scared of even asking. Whether you like or dislike s8 or like it, it’s not a big deal to me - no judgement either way. Opinions are varied and everyone has their own reasons for either.

On to the actual epilogue, some context I wanna give is that I had seen spoilers for the season even though I couldn’t watch it til a few days later. I had a prior family thing and I was stressed and I went to tumblr on my phone to look at some art to keep me calm. So I saw a lot of reactions to the season as a whole, but I couldn’t tell what reactions were genuine problems or what were over dramatized hate when I didn’t have full context. 

So when I watched the season, the expectations I went in with were “there might be some things that I’m not going to enjoy, and some that are overblown.” And when I watched it… that was pretty much what I got. There were definitely some problems, but there was also a lot that I think was made out to be way worse than I personally found them to be.

The epilogue itself gets a lot of weight and importance put on it. And personally I wonder if it’s in part because it was leaked before the season aired. When I watched it, I felt very neutral to it. No super strong feelings either way, mostly just “oh, that makes sense for this character, but this doesn’t work very well and is not a great fit.”

Which I guess is a segue to talk about the individual bits in detail. This is going to be long and I’ll do my best to organize it for ease of reading, but I want to go into all my thoughts and logic as best I can and that might result in a bit of a lengthy read, so if it gets a bit ramble-y and confusing, I apologize:

Pidge and Hunk ended up in a place that I felt was very natural for both of them. 

Pidge using her passion for technology to help defend the universe alongside her family was something that felt like it was true to her personality and something that’s a very good world-building aspect for what would happen after the story took place. The concept was something I interested in all the way back in season 3, and is part of what inspired my cadet squad AU initially. So seeing that happen didn’t feel out of place to me. 

Hunk as well had always had his passion for cooking as a big part of his character. Seeing him become a chef and using that passion in a way to bring cultures together is a really good and is very in line with his character. We’ve seen him using that skill in other meetings, such as in season 3, and the way he uses cooking to bring people together is a big thing in the final season, as well as for his character overall. Space Mall is another good example, because while it’s mostly for fun and antics it also showed Hunk connecting and changing Sal for the better. 

Keith, Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid slowly turning the Blade into a humanitarian organization is something I’m a bit neutral on. On the one hand, seeing them come together to change a rebellion group that was no longer necessarily needed into an organization to help others has logic to it, and is a very good thing for them to do. But I’m not sure how I feel about it based on their characters and arcs:

We didn’t get a lot of time to get in depth with Acxa, Ezor and Zethrid, so the grounding for them is a bit iffy. I can sort of see it  since they were in a sort of similar position as Lotor’s generals as that Blade of Marmora is in terms of role: a rebel group that is based on taking down the old empire. And due to what we know of their backgrounds, they were people who were in an “us vs them” mentality based on how they were treated. The conflict of Ezor and Zethrid as warlords vs Acxa who chose to go on a separate path was supposed to show how the damage of that mindset could escalate into something harmful, even with people who had genuine reason to have it - I think that could even be applied to Lotor at least to some degree with how he broke down in season 6. 

I personally think Ezor is probably the best example of this based on her personality, specifically in season 7. We see the fear she has over being hurt and tracked down by others, and then we see her taking joy in the concept of hurting others who she has power over. Because of that fear, whenever she has security and power, she uses it in a very sadistic and spiteful way. That trait is a very natural thing that can occur in situations like her own, and is very understandable. But it’s also very damaging to herself and others.

So having them shift from a mindset of hurting others in order to protect themselves to helping others on a personal level isn’t a bad road to take; in fact it’s one that I think works really well. But because we didn’t get a lot of time to explore their characters more in depth and get to see that transition, I don’t think it works for just a single shot epilogue sequence. It would’ve worked better as it’s own plotline, but with how much already going on and a limited number of episodes to work with I have no idea where they’d fit it. 

Meanwhile for Keith, while he has a basis for being in the Blade already, I don’t really see a strong foundation outside of that. And I think for me, the reason it didn’t have that grounding was because we didn’t get as much with Keith outside of his familial arc with discovering his heritage and mother. That was his sole character focus outside of becoming a leader and Black Paladin, and his arc with becoming a leader was sadly sidelined in season 4 for the other. Which I can understand from a character perspective too - his heritage was an important thing he needed to connect to and understand. But as a result the other sadly didn’t have as much to go on. 

And I think that’s why this was his spot, because had he gotten more development in terms of leadership, I think he would’ve been in that Galactic Coalition leader spot with Krolia and Kolivan. Because with the scene of him with the two of them prior to the feast in the final episode, I feel like that’s where the story wanted him to be, but they also knew that they couldn’t get him there and make it seem earned. So him being the leader of the Blades as a new humanitarian organization feels like a compromise of that. He’s in a leadership position, but not on as big of a scale as the coalition. Which isn’t necessarily that bad, it’s working with what they had to try to get a good medium of what they wanted and what could be done. But it leaves it feeling a bit lacking in terms of personal motivation for Keith. It doesn’t scream “this is Keith making a choice and committing to a cause,” it feels much more like a structured narrative decision rather than an in universe motive for the character.

The final two are the ones I’m most nervous about talking about, because they get the most strong reactions from others. But I’m going to do my best to explain my thoughts.

I can see some of the logic in Lance’s end, but I ultimately think it didn’t convey the message they wanted with his arc very well and as a result ended up with some bad implications.

One of the things with Lance’s arc is that he starts off being a character who talks himself up a lot. He plays himself off as someone really awesome and cool, is very flirtatious, etc. As he continued to progress, we started seeing some of his insecurities. Season 2 introduced the fact that he was worried about not contributing to the team in a way that was substantial, and in season 6 while Pidge and Hunk did their tech and Lotor and Allura were working on the Sincline ship, he was left with little to nothing to do. 

Even with those insecurities, though, the way he responded to them was to actively take steps to improve himself. He doesn’t feel like he has a thing? He trains himself in a specific skill: Sharpshooting. Upset that Allura has chosen to be with another guy? He talks himself through it using the mice as a way to communicate what he’s feeling.

And I want to draw attention to what I feel are some of his biggest defining character development moments. In season 3, when he accepts Keith as the leader, when he talks to him on Thayserix, and when he talks up Allura in season 4 as the heart of Voltron. Moments where he builds others up. And Allura multiple times has talked about those moments with Lance. And her talking about him drove what I believe is his actual character arc, based on those insecurities and the way he plays himself up.

He is enough as who he is. He isn’t contributing any less by not having a niche like Pidge or Hunk, he isn’t supposed to be a grand hero who gets all the glory. He’s Lance, and he’s enough as he is. It’s that simple. 

But the way they choose to show that simplicity in the epilogue is… not the best. They set it up a little with the farm scene in season 4, but overall the choice to make his simple life be living as a farmer has a lot of bad implications based on stereotypes. Which is why so many people have such negative feelings towards it, which is totally understandable and completely valid. 

The idea of him settling in a more simple lifestyle isn’t something I’m apposed to, but I believe that choosing that instead of another type of occupation or lifestyle is a very poor choice, and as a result doesn’t convey his arc well or in a positive light. Which is unfortunate, because I really think that arc is good otherwise.

As for Shiro’s, there’s a lot going on with it and a lot of factors that play into it, which makes it difficult to talk about. 

The marriage is, I believe, a small step in terms of representation, as it’s the first time in western cartoons that a mlm wedding has appeared. But I also admit that because of it being such a small scene with no build up and no relationship to build it up, that it is very flawed. Others have talked about their distaste for it and I understand why, and I also understand those who enjoy it for being there at all. There are also aspects like his retirement that people aren’t fond of, and that’s understandable too, but that’s where I have my own feelings to talk about personally. 

The events of season 7 with Shiro and Adam upset a lot of people, and I myself wasn’t that fond of it. I didn’t feel as strongly as others, but the trope of “Bury Your Gays” is something that has been in media for a long time with a long history. So being upset by it is absolutely valid. The reason I personally didn’t feel as strongly as others was because Shiro, a main character who has fought and survived through the show, was still there, and still a gay man on screen whether he was in a relationship or not. 

The on screen break up I personally didn’t have a problem with either due to the fact that I have personally seen a lot of framing of relationships with abuse and unhealthy dynamics as “straight culture” and gay relationships as inherently free of those types of scenarios. I personally identify as asexual or questioning, but know I’m at least not straight from my own self reflection. And seeing this kind of mentality is very harmful and something I wish would stop because it pushes people within the community to stay in relationships that might potentially be dangerous based on pressure that such dynamics are impossible to occur within a wlw/mlm relationship. There’s also a factor of validity of orientations being erased due to relationship status, such as many people who identify as bisexual having their identity erased by others while  being in a m/f relationship, which is also harmful. While having a healthy and thriving mlm relationship on screen would have been great and a very good thing, I don’t believe the break up itself is a terrible choice because it shows that relationship status take away from someone’s identity.

Not only that, but Adam was not the only character within the show to die on screen, so it was not as if the fact that he was gay was a deliberate target on his back in context. Ulaz, Thace, and many other characters have had on screen deaths from seasons 2-7 before Adam. But as I said, the history behind the trope of “Bury Your Gays” does make Adam’s death sting in a much more personal way for a lot of people, which again is a very valid feeling that I don’t want to brush off. 

So with all that in mind, when the epilogue came and showed Shiro marrying Curtis, that leads to some flaws. Namely the fact that the relationship with Curtis is non-existent, and Curtis himself doesn’t really have much of a character to speak of. The marriage itself is good in the sense that it showed a gay marriage on screen, thus opening the door for other shows to do the same.

But in the context of showing a relationship, there was no relationship to be shown. And if Shiro and Curtis had developed a relationship over the course of the season, it would have been much better for both the story and characters, as well as for showing representation for the LGBT community. Without that, it feels like a last minute addition, which it admittedly was, instead of a genuine show of love and wanting to include a mlm couple. Which in the end, while good intended, it leaves it heavily flawed. Which no hate to anyone who enjoyed it for what it was either. I can genuinely see reasons on both sides why someone would dislike or enjoy it. Personally, the flaws outweighed some of the good for me and keeps me from enjoying it.

As for his retirement, this is where I get far more subjective and into how I personally relate to Shiro, which I know others may disagree with because this is very personal to me specifically I admit. 

When I first started watching Voltron, Shiro was my favorite character. He’s still up there among my faves even with Lotor swooping in after season 3. I loved Shiro’s personality; strong willed leader, open and still fun with the other paladins while still stern when he needed to be. The reason the fan name of Space Dad stuck was very obvious. He was put through hell, continued fighting and came out of it still kicking. And he still had that fun and supportive nature for others as he continued to keep going. 

A lot of people focus on him as mlm representation now, but he’s also representation for those with PTSD. And that’s where I started with him. 

The reason I like Shiro so much is because he reminds me - to an uncanny degree - of my older brother. 

He’s helped raise me my whole life, he taught me how to draw, and he still does so much to support me to this day. And in order to get help paying his student loans, he went into the military and was stationed in Iraq for a short time. He’s back now, and he’s totally fine! And I know many people have opinions on such wars and military, and I agree, trust me. 

And that’s why I don’t have a problem with Shiro’s retirement. After everything he’s been through, while him being a hero is great, I also feel like him stepping back, even if it’s in like a Miyazaki back-in-a-few-years way, is a good thing to show as healthy. Him retiring doesn’t mean he’s not allowed to be a hero, because in the context of the story in hindsight, he has always been gay and has always been a hero. And retiring doesn’t mean he never was, or has stopped being a hero. 

At least to me, but again, this is a very personal opinion and I absolutely understand why people would disagree. But these are just my feelings on the matter. 

That was a very, very, VERY long explanation of my feelings on the epilogue as a whole. I’m pretty sure this is the longest post I’ve ever written. 

But hopefully this has done a good job of explaining my feelings on the epilogue. I’m not really sure how I’d compress it all into a tl;dr, just because there was so much to talk about, so apologies for those who can’t sit and read it all at once. But overall, I was very neutral to it all things considered. 

But thank you @thenorthernphoenix for asking this! I’ve been sitting with these thoughts for a while in my head being nervous about putting them out there, but this helped me really collect them all and hopefully articulate it in a good way.

And again, if you liked the epilogue, more power to you, and if you didn’t more power to you. Everybody’s different with their own feelings on the matter.

[kdramafacination]

So. dramafever shutting down still has me worried about other drama sites closing, but I can’t let that rob me of my love for my dramas. 

I started watching 2007′s “Que Sera Sera“ a few nights ago. I’ve had it on my queue for a long time, but the reviews on dramafever worried me enough to keep me from actually starting it. After dramafever‘s disappearing act  I went somewhere else and saw the drama available there. I started reading reviews and saw that there were a couple that said Que Sera Sera wasn’t that heavy. I love Eric Mun, and since I had waited and waited to watch this drama, that review was all I needed to launch me into watching it. I finished it last night and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. I’m a sucker for melodramas. I always intend to watch something lighter but my true self steers me towards melodramas like magnet to metal. 

This drama sort of nearly killed me. I DID love it.

I meant to take screenshots of every episode but  didn’t because I was WATCHING it too much to be able to do that. 

Eric Mun  and Jung yu-mi shine in their acting. Lee kyu-han and Yoon ji-hye are just as good in their second male lead and female lead parts, and the rest of the cast is good. I hesitate to use the terms “second leads“ though, because this is a multilayered (and yet very up front one dimensional) drama. But really there is never any doubt who the main players are regarding love, with a capital L. Eric Mun, as Kang Tae-joo is slick, yet rough, and when we first meet him and over the next few episodes, he (shouldn’t be) isn’t likeable. But of course this is a drama, and one of the main reasons I love and watch them is so I can like male leads I shouldn't like. 🙂

I liked Han Eun-soo, the female lead. She was sweet and thoughtful and innocent without being irritating, and she was a little odd which is always endearing. I think Jung yu-mi played the part perfectly.

Cha hye-rin (second female lead, if you will) is played brilliantly by Yoon ji-hye. I felt sorry for her because of her would be relationship with her step brother, and I also wanted her to stop all the damage she was causing to herself because of that love. I felt her hurt and anger and the fact that she couldn’t control things. She really excelled at showing her panic and hurt and anger. When the time finally came for Kang Tae-joo to tell her “lets just stop while we can" it felt like she WAS the character she was portraying.

Han Eun-soo’s feelings for Kang tae-joo at the beginning are tangible and convincing, going from serious crush to love, and that never changes. At one point early on, she says to him brokenly that she “is filled with him to her fingertips” and you can see how badly she’s fallen for him even though he’s the way he is. 

Joon-hyuk started out by gaining my sympathy as the adopted son, and stepbrother to Hye-rin, a stepsister and stepbrother who are in love, but can’t be together because the parents don't approve. But he also made me angry for not being willing to be as strong as Hye-rin, and throw his fears and greed away and go for it. In the end I disliked him yet still felt badly (a little) for him. But I liked the kind Joon-hyuk from earlier in the drama far more than the sarcastic scheming one later on.

Even though Hye-rin is strong and strong willed enough to defy her parents (and friends and the public’s) with their disapproval, Joon-hyuk is not. When he repeatedly tells her that there is no hope, she turns to Tae Joo  and asks him to be her fiancée. She knows his past, knows he’s pretty much a gigolo, or at least willing to date for some perks. Usually fast cars, watches, vacations, you get the picture. But he doesn’t agree, he’s pretty choosy and doesn’t like messy entanglements, plus he has no desire to sleep with her. Already here I think, the seeds of Eun-soo love are growing, but because of added glitz to Hye-Rin's offer, and his own nature, in the end he does agree, and they embark on a scheme to fool everyone around Hye-rin, especially her family, and especailly the man (Joon-hyuk) who she really loves. Hye-rin hopes her fake fiancée will make her family stop trying to marry her off and that her fake engagement will get her some peace from forced arranged dates, but her parents do not like Tae-joo although her father admires his ability to reign Hye-rin in. What Hye-rin really wants is to make Joon-hyuk  so jealous that he is willing to make a go of it with her in spite of the opposition from her mother and father. She wants him to see that if she can make her parents accept Tae-joo, then she can convince them that Joon-hyuk would be even better, and her parents wil be relieved she's with Joon instead of this loser Tae-joon. She's trying to make Joon-hyuk be willing to fight for them. Then she will throw Tae-joo aside, and he was only a pretend fiancee anyway.

Tae-joo is a pawn in her game, not only a consort. He doesn’t know that she and her stepbrother Joon-hyuk were in love, and doesn’t know that hye-rin is using him to make Joon-hyuk jealous. He only thinks it's to fool her parents. He does find out the truth before too long though.

Meanwhile Eun-soo is heartbroken. She had grown on Tae-joo. He had agreed in a way (like someone indulging a kid) that they were "dating (two meals, a kiss, shared elevator rides, you get the picture) but also because tae-joo, even though he barely realized it yet, had begun to like her. But that only lasted about two weeks, and then along cane Hye-rin with her offer of money and position, and off our fickle Tae-joo went. I think inside he didn't want to acknowledge that the steel cool Tae-joo could actually fall for someone, much less an innocent like Eun-soo. Eun-soo is perfect in her confusion and betrayal, and ultimate acceptance that she simply wasn’t the type of girl for a man like Tae-joo.

Hye-rin’s father’s Shopping Mall is the background for a lot of the drama because it’s where all four main leads end up working. Needless to say, Joon-hyuk meets and falls for Eun-soo, which only enrages Hye-rin who knows that Tae-joo really does care about Eun-soo as well. So now both of "her men" are in love with Eun-soo, only Tae-joo refuses to admit it to himself, or Eun-soo.

However....

Tae-joo cannot deal with seeing Joon-hyuk and Eun-soo become a couple, but Eun-soo, even though she still loves Tae-joo, finds comfort with the kind Joon-hyuk. But by now Hye-rin has stopped loving Joon-hyuk, and really does fall for Tae-joo, who is losing his mind over his feelings for Eun-soo.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

When (episode 9 and 10 wow!!) they finally get together it's so perfect. When they return home to face Hye-rin and Joon-hyuk, and Eun-soo's mom as well....I knew it was too good to be true.

Hye-rin taunts Eun-soo that it won't last because Tae-joo won't be happy and then Hye-rin gets her father to tempt Tae-joo with money and power. Eun-soo's sister is sick and they need money for the Drs, and suddenly everything goes south and Tae-joo leaves Eun-soo again. So stupid.

Lots of sorrow, anger, episodes of angst. Tae-joo never stops loving Eun-soo but those episodes! 😪

In the end it felt to me that Hye-rin and Joon-hyuk hadn't come out better for the fire they had been through, but Tae-joo had. He wasn't living for money anymore, he had truly fallen in love with Eun-soo and her only. He accepted that he lost her and was a better person in his life. Eun-soo doesn't really change, she is still sweet and she hasn't become bitter. She is sorry she hurt Joon-hyuk and she is still trying to be a good sister and daughter. And she never stopped loving Tae-joo.

I'm glad we had a happy ending. 😌

I think the actors were perfect for their characters. It’s definitely filled with a rollercoaster of emotions.  I would finish one episode and click on the next one immediately. I think I dreamed about it.

There are plot twists, romantic and not that I didn't see coming. There were several times when I covered my mouth with my hand and was like "no way!" And those moments are what make this drama (to me) one that stands out. I really enjoyed it. Ok I was obsessed with it.

I wasn’t sorry to see it come to an end. I was ready to see how it was going to resolve itself and what was going to happen to the people I’d become so obsessed with. I was so afraid of what the ending would be.

Now that I can breathe easily and I know what happens, I will watch it more slowly just to enjoy everything. The first time I was on the edge of my seat so much. I honestly plan to watch it back to back and this second time around I'll savour it and just immerse myself in the story without the worry.

This older drama wasn't and isn't for everyone. I'm sure a lot of people don't like it. But I really did/ do.

[demolitonlcvers]

I found this note on my phone called “My Emo Dreams” and I can’t stop laughing

My Emo Dreams

What is my brain

Ok so I just had a really weird dream that it was Halloween and I was at this "museum" with my parents and my friend Magnolia. We went into the museum and there was a little kids room and we were in there when one kid started chasing the rest of us and we were terrified bc as soon as she touched someone, they turned into an exact replica of her, and so the remaining kids ran and I ended up right in front of a hall of these kids, like ten of them. They saw me and I ran, ending up at this weird playground thingy. Only one of them was still chasing me, and I avoided her like a badass. I found my dad and my uncle at this concert and the people on stage were obviously these clone things. I told my dad and he believed me for some reason. Then again, it's a dream. I went back to the museum to find my mom but couldn't and needed a car, and I saw a group of people in costume. And Brendon Urie was one of them. Which is weird cause I live in Pennsylvania and he lives in Vegas or something? Anyway, I was chasing him like a deranged fangirl or something (which I am tbh), and he tripped over a trash can, and I told him about the clone people. For some reason, he, too, believed me, and I ended up getting a ride from Brendon to get my mom?

What is my brain I mean

But I got to meet Brendon Urie in the dream sooooo...

I had this other dream where I was with Tyler Joseph but I don’t remember it well

Ok so I had another dream this time it was "the Hat Fic" (which I'm never going to read btw) but instead it was this fanfic about Fall Out Boy in which Pete has to kill the other members for some reason

I had another dream where I lived with Dan and Phil and there were unicorns and a girl wearing a Fall Out Boy shirt And I opened the door to the house I lived in with Dan and Phil and they were like "what do you see" and I said "Phan" (even though I don't ship it that much) which freaked them out And then I woke up

I had a dream that I was with a group of killjoys and I had to save the original killjoys and we did and there were people shooting at us but when party poison appeared they were like “oh no it’s party poison” and backed up and then another party poison appeared and we were like “WhO iS tHe ReAl PaRtY pOiSoN??!?” And there were little children and they figured out that the first one was the real one even though his uniform was all messed up but you know the other ones jacket was white and literally said “DeAd pegAsUS” so yeah So we were walking out with party poison and I was like hi party poison and I looked at him and what did I see? THIS KID IN MY GRADE IN A RED WIG WTF

So I’ve had three dreams about warped tour in the past three days and here they are

Don’t remember it that well but my best friend was there and we walked around but it was before anything actually started and I think it was in a library

We saw Falling In Reverse (my best friend was also there) and we were in like the front row and it was great

For some reason the entire family decided to show up and we were eating at a restaurant and we had my dog and my mom was like “go take him to the dog park thing and then hang out with your friends” so I took the dog to the dog park thing but all the dogs were wayyyy bigger than him and so I was like “lol no” and carried him back and he turned into a loaf of bread so I ate the loaf of bread and gave one little piece to my mom and she was like “where’s the dog” and I said “lol what do you think that bread was” and then my dad and my brother got into an argument about whether or not the dog was still alive

I had another dream about warped tour even though its been a few weeks basically I went to warped tour with Sarah and we met Palaye Royale and for some reason they decided to hang out with us so we were like lol sure so we just walked around and talked to Palaye Royale for a few hours fun

I had another dream that I saw Panic! again and Dallon was still there and Brendon flew right over me during Dying in LA. Also my friend Tori was there and I was texting my other friend about it the entire time and then later I went to visit him and then I woke up

I had another dream where we were at a school thing and Gerard Way was there but it was 2017 Gerard Way and he was doing a signing/meet and greet and I got too scared to talk to him but then later he came up to me and we talked a little bit and then the head of the school talked to me, my best friend, and some other girl about making a bi club and I would have to make the promotional video so yay

I had another dream that it was warped tour (I’ve had like five of these smh I’m still not over it) anyway I saw As It Is with my best friend and then met Patty Walters which was pretty cool. And then later I ended up in a school bus and part of a horror movie (????) and then when I got out of that I got wrapped up in this car washing thing for school cause Fall Out Boy was there and Pete started spraying me with a giant hose so I got mad and slapped his car. And then finally I got out of the car washing thing but I got lost and had to help this old guy and watched a few episodes of some show about animated fish. And then I finally got back to warped but Palaye’s set was over and their meet and greet was also almost over. So I got at the end of the line and talked to Emerson for a really long time and hugged Sebastian for like a minute straight and it was fun.

So I’ve had two dreams about Hot Topic:

The first one I just walked in and I’m pretty sure they had a bunch of like comforters and bedsheets for sale??? And then I walked down this really creepy staircase to this underground room which was huge and full of records and posters and stuff and I had a lot of fun.

So I had another one just the other day that the mall near my house was closing so me and two of my friends decided to walk around for the last time and we found the Hot Topic and the inside was kinda empty but the outside had all the band merch. We went inside and Awsten Knight was there and he was like “hi I’m going to draw on you” to one of my friends and started drawing on her so we were all sitting together and I talked about warped and Awsten was like “oh cool you saw me at warped have a free poster or two OR THREE give them to your friends” and I was like “thanks” and then he said “no thank you, little teenager Awsten is quaking” and I was like “ohhhh”

I had another dream that I was at this camp thing and Beyoncé was there and me and my best friend went to this other thing with Hayley Kiyoko and she hugged Hayley really awkwardly and then Tom Holland appeared and it turned out there was this like claw machine that lets you pick out celebrities at any age and two kids were playing with it and they brought out 8 year old Frank Iero and he was really mean and hated me for no reason and also highkey looked like a vampire

I had ANOTHER dream about warped Jesus Christ I need to stop Anyway I was on a tower with a bunch of people from school and watching the main stage from there and mcr was the last band playing and Remington was there and he climbed on the stage and they played Surrender the Night and closed with Burn Bright which is cool

I had a dream that I saw Paramore and I was like right in the front and Hayley kept making eye contact with me and then there was an intermission and panic! played and it was a fun time

Why am I like this what has the internet done to me

[fandomthesickness]

VLD SPOILERS. DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS

Ok wassup yall. Its 8:32 pm at night and I have finally finished Voltron Season 7. Here are my thoughts….

DISCLAIMER: IM NOT SENDING HATE AT ALL TO THE CAST OR WRITERS. THEY ARE PHENOMENAL AND IM JUST EXPRESSING MY THOUGHTS IN A CALM MANNER. OK THANK YOU.

A D A M - What. Happened. I. Didn’t. Think. He. Would. Be. Dead. I thought we were gonna bond with him and see some cute Shiro and Adam. I thought they would get together and hash all out all their problems. So… I guess that’s not what we saw. I was shell shocked to see him dead. At first, I thought he would be like Matt. Everyone would think he’s dead with his tombstone but turns out he secretly would have survived. But seeing how they deeply emphasized his death in the last episode, I don’t think it was the case.

T H E A L T E A N - So me and my friend were watching Voltron together and when that new robot approached, I automatically thought….”That robot is giving me some Altean vibes but it is also giving me some Galran vibes too… hmmm… could it be Lotor with his generals? Wait no… LOTOR AND HIS ALTEAN COLONY?” Aaaaaaannnnnnnd BOOM. It turned out to be an Altean! I don’t really know what to think. I wouldn’t think an Altean would attack Voltron since their leader created it. I’m guessing it is an Altean under the impression that Voltron killed Lotor since Lotor hasn’t been seen (except for that pretty weird game show episode). And moooovvvvvviiiing on to my next point….

L O T O R - First off, I wasn’t really expecting Lotor to come back immediately in this season. I always thought he would come back in the last season and deep down… I was hoping for his redemption. Joaquim Dos Santos once said that Lotor had good intensions but his morals were bad (he said something like that feel free to correct me). So, I’m guessing we will see some redemption. But seeing how he came back in the game show episode… I really don’t know what to think tbh. But I really do hope we see him again as he did provide some interesting plot with his really cool character and personality.

T H E G A M E S H O W - Ok let me get something off of my chest, that game show episode was pretty freaking crazy. I personally don’t think it lived up to the other comedic relief episodes (Monsters and Mana, Space Mall). Buuuuttt… It was pretty cool. I was just a little confused seeing Zarkon again since I thought he was dead. But then again, I think I’ll just assume it was for plot convenience. I did appreciate the little Lance humor and Keith banter between the two. I low-key missed that. I did kind of like how Pidge was chosen to save Lance which was cute.

H U N K - HUNK WAS MVP IN THIS SEASON. He came through and deeply improved. We saw a completely new side of him which I absolutely loved. Hats off to you, Lauren and your team. You did an amazing job with his character as it totally came with a bang to all of us. Our cinnamon roll is frickin awesome. The Keith and Hunk hug was so sweet and just beautiful.

E A R T H -  Tbh… It was kind of weird seeing the paladins on earth defending and joining the Garrison. Don’t get me wrong though! It was pretty good. My friend called it when the general was working with Sendak and I kind of screamed because I didn’t expect her to be right. The Katie and Colleen hug was so sweet and ‘Uncle Lance’ killed me.  AND VERONICA… SO FRICKIN COOL. The Voltron crew did an exceptional job with her character! But it did kind of killed me a little to see Earth already fallen and having the paladins jumping into something so big. I kind of wished they got a break seeing how earlier in this season, they went through hell. Getting lost in space and dealing with so many battles was just so tiring for them (and me lmao). But I really hope things will calm down the next season (I mean it probably won’t because it is the last season with the altean and everything)

K E I T H - I never liked Keith Kogane that much and a lot of my irl and online friends know this (but I totally don’t hate his stans nor his VA. I also don’t hate the Voltron crew for how they have written him. Love them all, I just don’t like Keith Kogane, the Voltron character.) I remember in 80s Voltron, it mostly specialized on Keith and I was hoping that it wouldn’t be the same formula for this one. This season and some other seasons have specialized on Keith. I mean, It was fine I guess, but I just thought to point out how it really just looked on him. I mean of course there was Hunk, but that was like a mini thing with Keith being the main dish. What do you guys think about this? Do you think it is good that Keith is the main character in these plots?

Ok… I don’t really want to dive in on this topic…. Ships. I mean…. it kind of is way too touchy right now. And my Plance heart kind of died at the end. And a ship I don’t necessarilly agree with happened ( well sort of happened ). And by don’t agree, I don’t mean I hate it. I don’t ship hate, I’m just expressing my opinion in a calm manner. I really hope people don’t get offended. But moving on from Lance ships…..

Keith ships kind of surprised me. So many people thought Keith was gay but I guess that is not the case. Well actually…. he didn’t show any sure fire signs of Acxa so….. nvm on that. And Zethrid and Ezor were the only ones that talked about it. Acxa didn’t even give any input or show any reaction towards it. Tbh I thought the only reason Acxa would support Keith would be because Keith saved her life at Lotor’s crowning. I would have never suspected she would actually like him as a human being. So many people also thought Kallura was happening, but at this point, I’m so lost.

Hunk and Romelle. I thought it was cute as hell. Never really saw it being cannon, but if it did, I would support. I always thought Hunk and Shay would be together seeing how they bonded so much in earlier seasons. I’m glad she came back to him and is now on Earth. I guess Season 8 will finally give us answers on who’s gonna be who.

Alright this post was so damn long. Took me about 30 min to write it ahaha. If you have made it this far, thank you for listening to what I have to say. And in case anyone is still thinking this, I am not hating on the season or the ships hinted. This is all just my opinon and if you disagree, that is totally fun. I would love to all talk about this peacefully. I want to know what you guys think about this season! See ya later Paladudes.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep4: How to Go on a Date Without Actually Going on a Date

Ah, summertime! Love is in the air, can’t you feel it?

Well uh...thunderclouds. I guess. It’s ominously pouring rain. It’s as if the show has turned in it’s squeaky swivel chair said to us “look, we’re giving you a date episode...but don’t you be gettin’ any ideas!” and then swiveled right back around to face a blank wall.

I’m sure that they will put in some sort of cute backdrop...eventually.

While mopping the gross purple floor and talking about Joey’s nuts soap opera family.

Y’all did they get reference for this shot? I sure hope so. I sure hope that in some animation studio in Japan, two dudes fumbled together to assemble this particular formation, and then a third dude was like “Perrrrfect, now can you hold that for five minutes for me so I can draw it out?”

(read more under the cut)

So here and now, suddenly inspired by the very romantic tableau of threatening rain and thunder, Yugi sees an opportunity to fill out that bucket list, as it is the end of the world and all. So, he cracks his knuckles, remembers the advice from his Grandfather, wisely decides to forget that advice, and stumbles through the absolute weirdest way to officially ask out the girl you’ve been unofficially dating since you were like 10:

...

Start over.

So...he goes up to Tea...starts asking her out--but then makes it into a blind date with the ghost in his body? Because he’s...concerned about Pharaoh?

OK kid.

It’s just very Muto in that not only does he ask this girl out in the pouring rain, probably hoping for a lightning cue that thankfully never came, but this date can only be done through the medium of a very sad dead guy.

And even Tea wonders “I talk to Pharaoh kind of a lot, what the hell are you going on about?”

But what do you do, girl? Looks like you got stuck on a date trap with a dead dude! At least he has the better butt!

Now, you might say “Rach, he didn’t use the word “date” so this isn’t a date.” but y’all must’ve had a very different high school experience than I, because, unless forced to go to a socially obligatory dance, High Schoolers generally never say “lets go on a date,” they make sneaky date traps.

This is universal, the classic “I REALLY need your help with something I can easily accomplish myself. Meet me at the mall, although we could do this probably right now at school. Don’t bring Joey.”

So, Yugi either has a lot of trust in Pharaoh, or he’s seeing this as a clever way to avoid the actual dating part of dating Tea.

Dude...he’s on to something here. This is an ascended level of friend-zoning. Here I was thinking Yugi was pretty worthless with that puzzle, and then he just BAM unlocks it’s actual, true potential with the ultimate dating dodge. Like, Tea can’t even be mad. He’s on the date even. But also--*not on the date*--gets to enjoy the fun stupid stuff-- *doesn’t have to do any boring stuff*--Goes on a date--*but can’t call it a relationship if it wasn’t hypothetically with yourself* like this actually a pretty great set up and at first I was like wow, what an idiot, and now I’m like 5 paragraphs later and low key jealous I can’t do this Schrödinger's Date nonsense myself.

Anyway, despite how awkward he made it, Yugi is SUPER excited about this date. It’s ALMOST as if he’s going on it himself--which again, he is not. He’s just fretting in a mirror going all “Pharaoh’s gonna freakin love this. I love setting up my friends! Especially when they share the same body as me! Hahaha don’t think about it!”

But apparently Pharaoh was totally sleeping when Yugi was talking to Tea (and probably is whenever Tea shows up, lets be real) because he has no idea that Yugi has done this.

First off--Yugi’s art on the wall.

Ok, glad we all saw it together.

Second off, I love the motif of “kid is going on a date, so he throws everything he owns onto his bed and throws on the other half his closet to make the most ridiculous joke combo” because here it means Pharaoh has to wear the same weird ass outfit.

Y’all I cannot believe this anime is doing this three-way I just cannot. It’s been like a full season building up to it but it still feels VERY sudden.

And, as you know, I have a superpower that makes me immune to shipping, I dunno...maybe it’s because I grew up with the nuts Harry Potter era of ships (freakin Snape/Lily)? Or maybe that I come from the era of Kingdom Hearts-style romance twists (whooo will he eat ice cream with)? I feel like I can’t throw too many rocks at this ship because I know when my house is glass. Especially since I enjoy shows that are bonkers, I’ve seen some weird ass dating stuff that didn’t make me bat an eyelash. I watched Season 2 of Seaquest where at least 2 people accidentally ask out their own Mother. I would double check, but it was so awful Netflix pulled it (or trust me I’d be recapping that show, too)

Personally, I have never wanted to date a ghost but I guarantee other people have thought about it. And, youknow, if it’ll make the 2002-era tweens that were super excited about this ship happy, lets get these kids on a date and get this over with. With the Pharaoh that died at hell knows what age, was reborn so hypothetically you could also argue he’s only like a couple years old, and was mind wiping up until basically a couple weeks ago. Whatever, it’s a new season, he’s a new boy, just, don’t think about it, sit back and enjoy it for what it -- HOLY CRAP

What fake-goth funeral date are you going to here!? Wow. This is...This is a bad choice of clothes! It’s the middle of the day! Other people are in shorts. He is wearing so many chains from his neck, to his bracelets...also he still has that massive bike lock chain on - the one that went through a FIRE.

And does his shoes have freakin studs?

At least neck belt is still here.

I’d say he doubles as a stage tech but with those 7 bangles he’s got on, he would make too much noise. He’d sound like a freakin wind chime.

Anyways, Yugi switches places and Pharaoh freaks the Hell out like he’s been pranked. I wish it were a prank, y’all, I wish it were. But this is actually happening on this television show where the only other legit romance we saw was Pegasus macking a ghost.

MAN ghosts gets a lot of action in this show.

Now, this anime gets a lot of flack, but it does do one thing, and that’s make me appreciate something I forget a lot of the time when I see character designs in pictures rather than in motion. And it’s that that character design’s aesthetic includes physics. Sometimes--like very often in Yugioh--the aesthetic is mostly about those physics and what all these separate pieces do when they move.

In Yugioh, the designs are a hot mess. I can’t say they aren’t. But, there is a reason why he has all those moving bangles--it’s because he holds cards a lot and that’s where is camera is. I guarantee, when jacket comes back it’ll be flowing in the wind 100% of the time. Every single one of Yugi’s weird bangs can sway around like a weather vane.

So, while this looks not great from the get go, by the time you’ve watched Yugioh for a while, it all comes back together somehow. That’s the thing--that’s what Yugioh proves, it’s that no matter how freakin weird and abstract your design is, if it has the right physics, you’ll have a good time, and that’s an aesthetic all in itself that can’t be described in photo caps.

BUT

but

but, it’s still hella fun to roast Yugi for it because like--look what he’s wearing.

First stop on their date: a diner of lies that gave us no anime food. Just some nondescript milkshake. Every time we see a diner and I don’t get to see anime food my heart shrivels a little smaller like the Grinch.

Yo I assumed the neck belt was attached to the belt-shirt before--but I guess not. Oh man was belt shirt a turtleneck the whole time??? A belt TURTLENECK?

Tea decides to pull out her idea. The idea that Yugi asked her to give Pharaoh--that she could have just...given...straight to Yugi...but here it is. Here’s the big Tea idea.

Tea suggests “Listen, you don’t know who you’re going to be, but that’s true of everyone” which kind of ignores destiny and prophecies and the end of the world, but she’s gonna be a dancer, OK? And because Pharaoh hasn’t seen very much of the world, and is as impressionable as a newborn lamb, he just soaks it right up.

And so they decide not to go to the Museum because Pharaoh’s not feeling it. Probably also has a sixth sense that the museum is currently staffed by the most boring Millennium Item.

FYI this is exactly what my local Dave & Busters looks like floor to ceiling. It’s a real disappointment. It has only 1 DDR machine and one off brand DDR machine, unlike this place.

Yugioh has more diversity than most Anime I’ve seen, but it’s still a work in progress. Also, it’s hard to spot but keep an eye out for this guy’s fringe moccasins.

...Someone brought their briefcase to the arcade? Wh...why?

This whole episode is a whole lot of why.

WHAT?

Everyone just kinda watched this go down?

Again, I’ve never actually played DDR at an arcade because it’s always taken by two sweaty high schoolers who are sweating like ALL OVER the handlebars, and I’m just like...I could ask them to move or...I could not touch their sweat? So, long story short, if DDR involves elbowing each other in the face, this is news to me, and I have been missing out.

Long story short, she wins. We actually get to see Tea use her one and only useful skill--dance fighting. We’ll probably never see it again. Glad they gave us a very long narcissistic Tea dancing montage while they were there. Wish it was done to ska, but you can’t have everything.

And right when this settles into a romantic sunset I start to worry because we’re getting VERY close to a non-vague situation. The show senses this too and just, out of no where, pulls any distraction to get them away from said sunset.

Y’all how do you even manage to draw a spike mullet with dreads?

And here we all thought we’d get through this episode without cards!

JK, you were absolutely right for thinking that.

In her defense, he did try to elbow jab her in the head.

Anyways, after seeing Tea tear through Johnny Steps, Pharaoh feels like maybe he can handle whatever crazy thing happened to him 5000 years ago. He decides “Lets go recklessly open that Pandora’s box!”

I just noticed his second belt has a fanny pack on the butt for his cards.

Well, that was...still vague somehow. Good. Got me worried there for a second.

Next week, on Yugioh:

Bets on how long it takes for the show to never mention this date again and immediately forget these two were an item, I’m betting at the very beginning of the next episode? Are we going to get the same exposition but for the second time--will I even have anything to recap? In the dark is Yugi just a pair of swinging arms?

[stn5]

‘Voltron: Legendary Defender’ showrunners talk season seven, Shiro, and more

Though the paladins finally defeated Lotor in season six of the hit show Voltron: Legendary Defender, their fight is far from over as they take on a new challenge— returning to Earth.

Season seven of the DreamWorks series focuses on the heroes’ journey home, which is a moment they’ve all been dreaming of. But when the power hungry Galra attack, Earth becomes something out of a nightmare.

In anticipation of the 13 new episodes, I spoke with executive producers Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery about fan favorite Shiro, newcomer Romelle, going back to the paladins’ home planet, and much more.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. There are no spoilers for season seven, but events from season six are discussed.

In season six, we learned that the real Shiro’s consciousness was living in the Black Lion after he died and that the Shiro with the team was a clone. How did you plan out that storyline, and did you worry when fans quickly started to guess that Shiro was a clone?

Joaquim Dos Santos: We weren’t really worried. I will say that just from sort of a bigger perspective, there’s so many ideas and story threads that people are speculating on that they kind of get some version of what’s going to happen, regardless.

Lauren Montgomery: Between everyone out there, if you were to take a little bit of this person’s theory and a little bit of that person’s theory, they know everything that’s happening. [With clone Shiro,] it was something that ended up happening kind of as a saving effort when we originally were going to have Shiro exit the show and just have the rest of our paladins rise up to fill that space. But then we got word that Shiro was not going to be leaving the show, so we kind of had to [ask], ‘Ok, what do we do now, how do we keep this guy in the show,” but without just kicking everyone out of their lions. We put our little thinking caps on and came up with this story, [and] I think early on, it was always an idea that his consciousness was going to be in the Black Lion whether we brought him back as a clone or whether he was just kind of that force that helped Keith along.

Dos Santos: We knew that was basically our saving throw– that we could keep Shiro there, that even if we wanted to wait four seasons and then after that bring him back, we could.

Montgomery: We brought him back sooner. But to allow our team to continue to grow while still having Shiro around without him being the leader that allows them to not have to grow because he does everything for them, we make him this clone where he’s a little erratic. In that way, most of our characters continue to have to fill in the gaps that are being left by this erratic clone.

Staying on the topic of Shiro, he provides important representation for many fans. He’s an amputee, he seems to have some PTSD, he’s Asian, and it was recently revealed that he’s gay. What was it like constructing his character, and why do you think it was important to give him the qualities you did rather than give them to another character?

Dos Santos: Well, he’s older and he just has more life experience than the other characters. He’s seen more, he’s had interpersonal relationships that were established and ongoing before he ever linked up with our characters.

Montgomery: Some of it just came about because of the story. Like the amputee thing, him being in the Galra gladiator pits and fighting, it was just something that was part of that story and also a cool design element.

Dos Santos: [It’s] superficial as heck, but that was honestly just me saying, “Can we give him a robot arm?”

Montgomery: Sometimes that stuff just happens, but then you also have that wonderful side effect of him being a source of representation for people. I don’t think we initially intended to just give him everything. I think it just kind of ended up working out that way, that these were all cool elements that really worked into his story best. Looking back on it, we certainly made him an amazing beacon of representation.

Dos Santos: I think the cool thing is that if you look back and take into consideration everything he’s gone through up to the point where we first meet him and see how strong he is, that makes him even stronger and even cooler.

It seems that Keith will fully assume the leadership role in season seven even though Shiro is back. Keith really struggled with being leader in previous seasons, and though he’s grown a lot, does he still have any hesitations?

Dos Santos: I don’t think so. I think at this point, we’re pretty safe in assuming that [in] the time he’s spent with his mother, he’s grown a lot. He’s had the time to really accept who he is and what his place is in the world and in the universe, and he’s come to terms with a lot of his demons.

Montgomery: He’s become a little more settled in himself now that he’s kind of overcome a lot of those demons, and that allows him to trust in himself and in his own judgement. He no longer has that fear of trusting his own judgment and being that leader. He’s had that time away with his mother to kind of learn to trust himself, and so he’s able to kind of bring that to the team now.

You mentioned the time Keith spent with his mother, and during that time he found a space wolf, who was kind of a breakout star in season six. What does that space wolf add to Keith’s life?

Montgomery: What Keith did with his mother over those two years was like catching up on an entirety of childhood, and he kind of went through that like, ‘Now here’s your dog. Feed it, wash it, walk it.’ And so he learned that responsibility, being responsible for a life, and now that thing is loyal to him.

Dos Santos: I think unconditional love from another creature is a big one, and I think no matter how far Keith has come, he’s still sort of like this lone wolf character. So now he’s got a companion in his cool lone wolf pup.

Coming up in season seven, the paladins are headed back to Earth, where the Galra threat is looming. How did you go about bringing aliens and the consequences of their presence into the real world?

Dos Santos: We sort of knew with the storyline that we always wanted to touch on [going back to Earth]. There’s nothing more personal that bringing the fight back to our cast’s home planet. In terms of getting them there, we wanted to make sure that we made it feel natural and like a natural progression of where the battle would go and why the Galra would think in the first place to even go there.

Romelle made her debut in season six, and we’ll see more of her in season seven. Did you always know that you wanted to bring Romelle into the show since she was in the original 1980s series? What will she bring to the team dynamic?

Montgomery: There was always a hope that we could. The whole Alteans kind of still being alive [storyline] was something that came about later in the development of the series, so we weren’t always sure if Romelle would be part of it, or if Romelle would be in the show but maybe not Altean.

Dos Santos: We talked about her also at one point [being] in flashbacks for Allura or something like that. We wanted to work her in in some fashion.

Montgomery: It wasn’t always crystal clear how she would come in, and so when ultimately the story came about, it was perfect that she would be kind of the mouthpiece for it.

Dos Santos: She sort of replaced Hunk in the sense that Hunk is now kind of used to the crazy adventures, so she’s now the beacon of like, “What are we doing here, guys?”

Montgomery: She’s like what Hunk’s start point was. She’s kind of that whole voice of ridiculousness. She’s fun. I’ve always wanted more female characters that held more of that kind of comedic weight, so Romelle’s a lot of fun to play with in that way.

Staying on the topic of female characters, Lotor’s generals have been fan favorites, and they switch sides a lot. Axca seems to be the most unpredictable, and there have been a few moments where she seems to have a connection with Keith. Specifically in season five, she saves him at the Kral Zera. What’s their relationship all about?

Dos Santos: It’s like a warrior’s respect.

Montgomery: Yeah, it’s like an honor sort of thing. Axca, when we met her, she was on this mission to gather scaultrite from the Weblum, and she was probably going to die in that Weblum’s third stomach, trapped in her ship being digested. Keith saved her, knew she was Galra, but treated her with respect, and she appreciated that. She appreciated that this warrior saved her life regardless [of her Galra race] and treated her with respect the whole time. Even though she had to betray him at the end and take the scaultrite, I think she felt like that person has an honor that’s worthy of saving, so any chance she has to not kill him herself or not let him die, she feels like that’s a quality that needs to continue on in the world. I think that’s a quality that she thought Lotor had and maybe only realized at the end that for Lotor, it was all talk, whereas for Keith, it was apparent through his actions that he really had that honor.

There have been several lighthearted episodes in past seasons that fans have really loved, like “Space Mall,” “The Voltron Show!” and “Monsters & Mana.” We now know there will be a game show episode in season seven. How do you come up with the ideas for these fun episodes?

Dos Santos: We just look to nostalgia that we have from our past or present, and we just say, “How can we work in a game show episode? How can we work in mermaids? How can we work in D&D?”

Montgomery: Some of it’s really just kind of like, “Oh, wouldn’t it be so awesome if we could do this?” Because ultimately, when we’re making the show, there’s a lot of things that we need to do for the story, like Galra attack, Galra attack, and then lions form Voltron. But anytime we get a chance to do something as outrageous as going to a mall or going to a mermaid planet or going on a game show, we really appreciate [it] because we know they’re going to be pretty few and far between. We take those chances when we can.

Dos Santos: They let you see the characters in another light, and I will say specifically for the D&D one, there was a lesson to be had there beyond just playing the game. It was genuinely a team building exercise. They’re not just total throwaways. And then the mall episode, we juxtaposed that against probably one of the more serious storylines with Shiro bonding with the Black Lion.

After season seven, there’s just one more season of Voltron. What has this journey been like for you two, and can you give fans any hints as to what’s coming?

Dos Santos: [There’s] good stuff coming. We’re really, really excited for it, and we think it culminates in a really, really meaningful and important way for us personally.

Montgomery: I think for us, it’s been about a four year long journey of just hard work. It’s been hard. But ultimately we really cared about the show, we believed in the show, and we wanted to do right by it because we were really proud of the show we made and the crew that we were working on it with. So as difficult as it’s been, I don’t think we would really change a thing.

Dos Santos: It’s sounds maybe a little hokey to say, but with that much time passing, you basically form relationships that– moving on you might not see each other everyday– but these are friendships and relationships that will last forever. So beyond the show itself, that’s really meaningful.

https://www.rotoscopers.com/2018/08/08/voltron-legendary-defender-showrunners-talk-season-seven-shiro-and-more/