#or at LEAST mentor- mentie

[pennysucks]

MY BABIES

I love them

[grantmentis]

You ever think about Mikyla grant mentis like. She never made any kind of National team program, constantly overlooked in the OWHL by colleges time and time again. Gets an offer and goes to Merrimack only became a division I team in 2015-2016 and never made a tournament. She finishes the all time point and assist leader of the program (a record she still holds) and after her ncaa career is over, before she’s even actually done with college itself, she joins the Buffalo Beauts for the final few games of the season. And the beauts were like, not good in 2019-2020 and she immediately scored 5 points in three games including a goal and an assist in a playoff game. She scores in her first game in Buffalo despite having to fly out their and her mom having to get surgery related to the breast cancer she was battling that same morning

Signs with the Toronto six, wins MVP and newcomer of the year and the PHF foundation award. Leads on points again the next year and gets mentored by Angela James. She does all of this while getting up at 5am to work at FedEx, and then the next year she gets an offer for $80,000 dollars to play for the Buffalo Beauts again. Doesn’t have to work at fedex in the morning anymore. Becomes the highest paid womens hockey player in North America and one of the first to get a contract like that. Very notably, she’s a Black woman becoming the face of the league and being the first to get a major contract in a sport that unfortunately has very few Black woman in it.

Then the PWHL buys out the phf, she’s in a situation where she’s probably going to lose quite a bit of money and is probably going to have to work at least part time. She somehow doesn’t even get drafted (and if you look back at the draft there are…quite a few players she should have been chosen over.) starts with Ottawa, gets cut after 6 games despite performing well and to this day neither Grant-mentis nor the fans nor anyone else knows why, god knows they could use her!

But then she gets picked up by Montreal, gets to play an important role on a first place team providing secondary scoring and has one of the leagues best games score per 60 minutes played. Assists in a wonderful behind the net pass on a important Marie Philip Poulin goal in the playoffs while the team who dropped her watches from home. Scores a beautiful breakaway in front of one of the largest crowds for womens hockey ever in Vancouver. Despite having about like, 36737484 situations where she’d be more than justified to say fuck it I quit she never did and continues to be a great player no matter where she goes or how few people recognize her talent or refuse to respect her

[alsbesluit]

president grindelwald

  A knife, and a sword, and everything went dark.

 Theo knew pain a little, but that had been unlike anything he’d felt in his life. He remembered lying in the grass, waiting, waiting. He heard the cannon, but he knew that couldn’t be meant for him. He could hear it. Cannons were meant for tributes that couldn’t hear them any more. What if these blows hadn’t done it? What if it took hours? Well, he wasn’t exactly going to get up any more. He wasn’t even sure he could. He could feel blood, could smell the grass, could hear the screams, the sounds of fighting, the sounds of dying. He just laid there, with his eyes closed, waiting still, waiting until the world faded and he’d have an answer to an age-old question that he was never going to get to tell anyone about.   Or so he thought.

  When he woke, it was in a room that he was positive he’d never been before. He heard the beeping of machines and felt the small weight of a mask that helped him breathe over his mouth. When he tried lifting his hand, he realized there was a needle strapped against his skin which could be administering any sorts of fluids. It felt like a hospital, an incredibly advanced one, but it didn’t smell like it. For some reason the room smelt like the mountains in district Five, the outdoors that he ran to when his father wasn’t around and there was no work left to do. When he listened closely, he could hear the twin sounds of birds chirping and the wind blowing.  What was this place? Theo doubted it was heaven, hell or purgatory, or whatever else there was after death. None of these places would try and keep him alive, which was exactly what was being done. He needed to know where he was. He opened his eyes slowly. They felt heavy, as though protesting the very idea that they needed opening. It was a feeling he ignored when he tried to push himself up very slowly. The ceiling was white and would get him nowhere to figuring out where he was. His surroundings, as it turned out, helped nothing either. It was a room with light blue walls, one of the windows left open a little, a desk and a closet standing to one side. The door was behind him and there was a blanket put over him, but there was no one to be found who did it that could tell him where he was.    Slowly, Theo laid back down, head hitting the pillow again, and closed his eyes. He lifted his other hand to push the mask away to see if he could breathe on his own. That seemed possible, but he kept the mask close by just in case. He felt on his forehead afterwards, well aware of the cut there, and winced when he realized he was touching dressing and bandages. He could only wonder how the cut on his back was doing, because he couldn’t feel it. He checked if he could move his toes, which he could, but the moment he tried pulling up his feet his entire body protested the movement and the machine he was hooked up to started beeping loudly.    Moments later, when Theo had given up on moving for the foreseeable future, the door behind him opened and he heard heavy footsteps walk in. Only one pair of them. The person spoke. “Good, you’re awake.” It was a low voice, certainly one belonging to a man. An older man, Theo wanted to guess, since he sounded somewhat like Theo’s old History teacher. He was also pretty sure he knew the voice, but knew realistically it couldn’t be his teacher. Theo’s teacher knew nothing about medicine, after all. He taught History.   Smaller hands than he’d expected helped him up a little after the footsteps paused by his bed. The breathing mask was taken off entirely and his pillow was pushed up so that he could lean up against it. Theo breathed out heavily after pushing himself up further and opened his eyes then. He looked at  brown eyes, blond hair and a small smile, but more than anything he was looking at Gellert Grindelwald, the President of Panem, a man he’d only ever seen on television. To say that he was confused would be a slight understatement.    “How are you feeling?” President Gellert Grindelwald asked. He laid a hand on Theo’s forehead briefly and his eyebrows frowned, as though deep in thought. “I’ll get someone in here to check if you still have a fever. They said your temperature went down, but I don’t feel it yet. You should be taken good care of. I can’t let them let you do anything until your vitals are good.” He smiled again and reached out for the bottle of water by Theo’s bedside. He put a straw in the bottle and put it in Theo’s mouth so he could drink from it. The first sip felt like his throat had been set on fire, but as he kept drinking the sensation eased.   “Well done, well done,” the president told him in a reassuring tone when Theo stopped drinking and let go of the straw. “You can have some more later, if you would like. But first, we really have to talk, Theodore. How are you feeling?”   The President knew his name? Theo found himself staring at the man before he eventually gathered his wits and spoke. When he tried, however, nothing came out, so he cleared his throat and swallowed a couple of times before he tried again. His voice was barely audible, but it was there. “My body is very sore, Sir,” he replied. ���And my legs hurt.” He found that he sounded ungrateful, so he was quick to add: “But it feels like I’m healing. Thank you, Sir.”   The President smiled again. He reached out for Theo with a light frown in his eyebrows and seemed to be fixing the mess that must be Theo’s hair. “You’re about due for a haircut,” he observed softly. “But we’ll get to that.” With that, he lifted his hand and Theo could hear him walk away. For a couple of seconds Theo thought that was that; the President would leave and it would be like he had never been there. But the footsteps paused and then started again. When the President appeared in his view next, he’d taken the chair in front of the desk that Theo spotted earlier and sat down by the bed. “You must have questions. Let me explain.”   “When you were reaped for the Games, Theodore, you were also selected for a very special and secret program, right here at the Capitol. Only a few tributes every year are selected, so you are very special.” The President smiled at those words and moved forward. “Of course, because this is so secret, we couldn’t tell you. So we waited until you seemed to have died in the Games. We picked you up by hovercraft and tended to your wounds. You’re healing now and you’re going to be fine. And once you’ve healed, you can do what you’ve always done: serve Panem, serve the President, and have a great time doing so.”   Theo personally found it weird that the President referred to himself as such. Did he think Theo didn’t know who he was? It was obvious. He appeared during mandatory viewing on television multiple times per year. He’d seen him on the television screens of the Capitol during the preparation of the Games at least ten times alone. But that probably wasn’t what he should be fixating on, he realized. There was loads more to unpack in what he’d been told. “What do I -” he tried and then started again “How do I serve the country and the President?”  It was a question that seemed to have pleased the President, if the way he looked at Theo was anything to go by. “Good question,” he said softly. “You get to stay here in the presidential palace. I’ll help you find your talent, and you can spend a lot of time working on that. You can also work with others who were also selected for the program to work on theirs. When you’re old enough, you will get to join the Peacekeepers and you can go back to your district to help out.” The President smiled again. “I’m sure there’s people you would want to see back.”   Theo shook his head slowly. It was a painful movement, and not only because he felt so sore; it was also painful because of the truth behind the gesture. The President didn’t understand if his way of looking at Theo was anything to go by, so Theo opted to explain. “I have no one I want to see again in my old district, Sir,” he said. “I would be honoured to serve you and become a Peacekeeper, but I don’t have anyone waiting on me there.” The girl, after all, most likely didn’t even know who he was.    The President’s gaze sharpened and his face expression hardened. “I don’t like liars, Theodore, and if that’s how you want to start our relationship you’re already on very thin ice,” he said with the kind of calm in his voice that reminded Theo of his father. “Let me prove that you’re lying. We can discuss the consequences right afterwards.” With that, the President walked back to the desk and reached out for a remote control laying there. He turned on the television above the desk that Theo could only see from the corner of his eye.   “Look familiar?” From what Theo could see it definitely did, but he didn’t think the President wanted an answer. It was footage of the waiting room that the Peacekeepers guided him to after he’d been reaped. They wanted to give his family and friends some time to say goodbye. Theo knew that no one was coming, so he’d been staring out of the window, trying not to cry, waiting until they came to get him again.   The President made the recording go faster with another press on a button of the remote control. Minutes of footage passed by with Theodore sitting in the same chair, staring out of the same window, and nothing happening. When at last the door opened The President said “And here it comes” but it was only a Peacekeeper that ordered him to come to the train with them. Past him last the room without so much as another look around and the room was empty again.   The President paused the tapes and turned back around to face Theo. Was it surprise that he registered in the other’s features? Theo had no use for pity. “You didn’t lie,” the President said. Theo merely shrugged his shoulders. Apparently the President himself didn’t do the selecting, because he would have known this if only he’d asked Theo’s district Five mentors about it. “What about the girl you mentioned in your interview?” But he’d seen that, apparently.   Theo coughed a little and swallowed hard and painfully. “She doesn’t know I exist, Sir. I only thought I would have a shot at being with her when I won. Because then I’d be a Victor.” That he’d since decided he didn’t want to be a victor was beside the point. If it took money and other’s attention for a girl to notice him, he’d rather be alone.    It was with a strange look at him that the President approached again. He sat down on the desk chair and reached out for Theo’s hand, the one with the needle in it, with his and held his hand. “Everything is going to change now,” he told Theo. “We’re going to find your talent, and you’ll never be alone again. There’ll be others with you. There’s food there, and clothes, and if you ever need anything you can ask me. We’ll keep you on bed rest until you feel good enough to join the others. You don’t have to worry about anything ever again.”   He felt like his throat was set on fire again, so all he could do was nod at the words as a sign he’d heard and understood them. The smile on The President’s face was back and all traces from his earlier anger were gone. “Your father is still alive in district Five, isn’t he?” he asked. Theo nodded. “But you don’t like him. And he doesn’t treat you right. That’s over too. You’ll never have to see him again. I’ll be your father, now.”    With that, The President ran a hand through his hair carefully. He pulled the blankets up closer and seemed to study the vitals on one of the machines hooked up to Theo. He helped him lay back down. “I’ll go and get the doctors to check your fever and your vitals,” he was told softly before the breathing mask was put back on. “Try to get some sleep. I’ll check in on you again really soon.”   He saw from the corner of his eye how The President pressed a few buttons on the machine. His eyelids started to feel very heavy again. Theo closed his eyes slowly, sighed lightly, and felt himself drift. He was safe here, he told himself. No harm would be done. He was going to be fine. 

[grass-skirt]

I’ve got some news here that I know at least a few of my followers will be happy to hear: I listened to The Adventure Zone! It wasn’t something I ever planned to jump into, but as I said once or twice in the past I’d give it a shot if any of my friends got into it. And yep, @mabelshesbornwithit​ got into it and wanted me to too so I obliged and it wound up growing on me a whole lot and I had a blast. 

So here’s this whole big post, which I’ve now hidden behind a break. It’s a review/semi-liveblog, as I wrote about how I was feeling about a bunch of things right after listening to them. So for anyone who hasn’t finished it, avert your eyes and don’t read this. Here we go!

—–

Petals to the Metal was probably my favorite first half arc. I loved the Fury Road thing it had going on, and Klarg showed up in it and it was fantastic. The ending was also really touching. The murder-train arc was also good mostly because fucking everything with Jenkins was so funny. And it also introduced Angus and Angus really grew on me a lot over the story. But god, the tree of them were such dicks to Jenkins. And to Angus too, but especially to Jenkins. It was pretty hilarious. 

—–

I’m writing this right now after having listened to the end of the 11th Hour arc and that, so far, has definitely been the best wrap up to an arc. I really love what Griffin did with it. A town moving through seven whole years, days passing in seconds, as the people inside live their lives in front of the eyes of the people who saved them. I love that. I love how it generates this feeling of absolute gratitude and love. Of these people living every day of their lives knowing how lucky they are to be alive, finally being free from their loop, looking forward to the day they can finally be free from the bubble, and all the while having the ones who saved them looking in on them and watching their growth. That was a really magical moment and really just the kind of inspiring, heart string pulling kind of storytelling that I live for.

—–

And now I just listened to the part where Takko fucking bought the con-a-person-out-of-their-most-valuable-item item and then fucking turned around and immediately used it to con fucking Garfield the Deals Warlock out of the fucking 60,000 gold sword and honestly it was the most fucking stunning character move in the entire story up to this point fucking hats off to that just wow

—–

Okay so I’m… not all that crazy about Merle. I was always planning to talk about this because sometimes he just kind of rubs me the wrong way. Like, I didn’t like how exaggerated Clint made Merle hating Angus (like we later found out it was an insecurity kind of thing but still I never liked it) and like hearing Merle talk about his faith always felt kind of fake–like Merle was saying things that honestly didn’t feel like they fit the character to me. I feel like Clint had the hardest time characterizing and performing his character. There’s still stuff I like about him and I wouldn’t want him to be taken out of the show, but he is my least favorite.

Now, that said, and the reason why I’m writing this right now… I just listened to the part in episode 62 where Merle makes these absolute shit gifts for everyone because he rolled too low on his fucking gift making check so all his presents are garbage and I was fucking losing it the whole time. I listened to this while I was brushing my teeth and it was a fucking mess because I couldn’t stop laughing. When I used my mouthwash I fucking couldn’t even because I couldn’t stop myself from laughing my mouth fucking forced itself open and the mouthwash just spilled out after literally about 5 seconds and I even swallowed some of it because it was just too fucking funny.

TAZ isn’t like non-stop funny to me. A lot of the things that they find funny don’t really land with me (especially because they make so many references that I have no idea about). But nonetheless, TAZ has made me laugh harder on more than a few occasions than any other piece of media has in a long time. Frequency of laughs? Not that impressive. Intensity of laughs? Pretty fucking intense–vomiting mouthwash intense.

—–

I’m on episode 69 now, the last part of the finale, and I had to take a moment to stop and write this down. The episode was pretty good--a satisfying end to a story I’d become very fond of--but nothing particularly outstanding beyond that. I had heard it was a super emotional ending, but I wasn’t feeling that yet. I was listening to it while I cleaned, made dinner, ate, and washed dishes. And as I was washing the dishes, I got to that line. 

“Magnus. How did you die?” 

My jaw dropped. And as what happened next unfolded, I slowly started crying more and more. As people should know by now, I love stories that can capture the depths of love and meaning and bring out those feelings in me. There’s nothing that makes me cry like goodbyes. Sometimes I’m crying over the sorrow of the separation, of bonds and lives lost too soon. But this was one of those times I was crying because the goodbye was filled with so much warmth and meaning and love. And even though we really never knew Julia as a character directly, we still knew Magnus enough to know how much that relationship meant to him. Even though this was a death scene, it was one centered around a good life coming to a peaceful, loving end. Of saying goodbye to loved ones on one side of the curtain and stepping into the arms of loved ones on the other that have been out of reach for far too long. 

That’s my fucking cry-jam right there. Had to blow my nose like 5 times. 

—–

Alright let me think of what other stuff I want to say, now that I’ve finished (though I still have like 1 or 2 live shows they posted after the finale to get to). 

First off, one part I want to mention specifically is that another part that made me real emotional was the part at the end of the Stolen Century arc were Lucretia wiped everyone’s memories. The part with Davenport was heartbreaking, but my favorite part was with Takko, the whole “What home could be good enough for you, Takko?” monologue just hit me right in the tear ducts. 

As far as favorites go, unsurprisingly Takko was my favorite. I knew that he would be before I even started. What I was surprised by was how much Magnus grew on me. He started out pretty clunky and generic. I didn’t really even feel like he had an actual personality for a while at the start, but he really pulled it together and produced a complex and lovable character. I also feel like mentioning, even though what I said earlier still applies, that Merle got better in the final stretch of the campaign. In the beginning he was undeveloped but still enjoyable, and then in the middle Clint kind of took him in a direction that I felt like Clint had a difficult time actually acting out and making work for the character, so I wasn’t really big on him. But during the Stolen Century arc and after that, like with all the conversations with John and Merle kind of re-discovering who he was before his memories were lost helped shape him up and back into a character that I enjoyed and appreciated again. 

Some other favorite characters--Lup. Definitely Lup, of course. I was spoiled about Lup’s existence long ago just from fanart and stuff (I was also spoiled about the Red Robes thing), and like Takko I knew I’d like her before I even met her. And she turned out to be super great. She had the same, fun, egotistical dickish attitude that Takko did but was also her own unique character that had a lot to say and a lot to do that Takko would never. God, one of my favorite parts with her was the scene when we were going through her journey after her disappearance and she was inside the umbrella. And when Edward showed up... “I’m going to fucking kill you now.” Ho boy that give me chills. What a great and loving sibling relationship. 

Also Angus. Angus turned out to be great, and I really love the kind of mentor/mentie, parent/child relationship that developed both between him and Takko and him and Magnus. Kravitz was also solid, and I loved Klarg. God, him in the battlecar race and during the wrestling live show were so good. I’m actually disappointed that we didn’t get any more interactions between him and Takko during the finale. Either during the battle or any epilogue hang-time between them. God, Takko, Kravitz, Angus and Klarg and Lup all hanging out together. I would have loved that so much. Fucking Garfield the Deals Warlock. That’s another one. Everything with him was just so fucking funny, although I lament the fact that the everyone draws him as Garfield the cat. It’s terrifying. Roswell and the Voidfish were also good people. 

OKAY I think I’ve said more than enough, though of course there’s plenty more to say. I had a great time with the podcast and I’ll probably start listening to more going forward because this was a good experience. Now I’ve got to scrounge up a bunch of fanart to add to my stockpile for when I actually load up my queue again after being derailed so hard by grad school. Later I’ll hid most of this thing behind a read-more break but for now I want to dump this thing in it’s entirety on everyone’s dashes. Hope you enjoyed reading all this!