#or b. a dropped plot point that accidentally made it in

[glitternightingale]

@jaijeijayjei thought I'd make a new post to continue our conversation about Meljay bc I'm about to be more personal here.

So true!!

The time skip in season 1 was borderline criminal too! Especially for someone like me who watched Arcane from the perspective of the Jinx-Vi conflict being the b-plot. There's so much lore missing that we can only guess at. I want to see more of Mel sugar mama-ing Hextech and Jayce dealing with its success (and the Meljay flirtations, obvs.) Mel has absolutely made Jayce go to the tailor and watched him get dressed up all handsome. ;))

He looks at her like she's his lifeline! And Mel looks back at Jayce with the purest, most tender expression I've ever seen. I'm not a romance-y or shippy person by any means, have been in and out of fandoms for almost 15 years and always appreciated platonic relationships the most, until I saw Meljay. These two completely changed my brain chemistry. And then I realized why.

Mel and Viktor are characters I can relate to on a spiritual level in terms of social masking, being introverted and accidentally manipulative (in the sense of feeling responsible for/guilty when others' actions go awry and I've only been indirectly involved), overly ambitious but feeling inadequate at the same time. And then there's Jayce. A pure bean. Someone who so wholeheartedly believes in people that it makes them feel okay with how and what they are. Someone who trusts so easily and makes enigmas like Mel and Viktor drop their walls around him. Someone who makes you feel empowered and appreciated.

Jayce is also somewhat of a goober. But that's okay! He has people around him who point him in the right direction and give him honest advice. "If you do that, this will happen", "If you want that, you need to do this". This is peak Meljay (and also a similar dynamic I can imagine Jayce and Viktor had but with a different flavor, ofc).

It's just like you said! They are transparent and open with each other all the way through. (When Jayce got angry at Mel in season 2 I was like "Really, Jayce? Okay, you might have been stuck in the pining hell-cave for months but pls." I was glad he reminded the audience that he had self-awareness when he apologized after, or I would have added it to the many gripes I have with season 2 in general.)

Mel had her own motivations with Hextech and the Man of Progress, but never with Jayce as a person.

Bonus:

Jayce: *omigosh omigosh omigosh---*

[noddytheornithopod]

Phineas and Ferb Season 5A Initial Reactions

Yep, we're here. And Disney+ (regrettably) is dropping the entire first half of the season on the platform. So I'm gonna post my episode reactions here. I'm gonna try and keep things short and snappy, not only because I know I could EASILY get carried away breaking things down (I'm gonna try and do those later however), but because I wanna see these new episodes! Curse you binge model!

Cloudy With a Chance of Mom

I've already talked about Summer Block Buster since it released earlier, so I'm gonna jump right to this, and at most acknowledge it in relation to this being the second half of that story.

"Miss it and my future mother in law is gone forever" I ACTUALLY SQUEALED

Also Monogram accidentally helping Doof lol

Oh yeah Kyle Menke storyboarding this big opener, not surprised. Think the other boarders are new, Chris Ybarra the director did storyboards on MML tho!

Well that was fucking awesome. Big explosive opener, lots of funny moments but also a surprising amount of proper pathos even as we're looking at such an absurd situation with Linda being vaporised meaning the literal vapour that was Linda's remains condensed into a cloud. Doof I guess never tested it on anything living, lol. Funniest parts were Baljeet trying to show off constantly and Doof getting his new plan from Monogram. Loved that everyone got their moment here, even Irving got a sweet moment at the end where Candace hugged him and asked him to take this year's family picture! Even Perry helped saved Linda too! And this year's picture isn't just the family but all of their friends too!!!!! God I love this show. Animation for the most part was good, any issues are just nitpicks/adjusting to Snipple... that being said, I think someone forgot to animate Baljeet in the group hug with Linda, because he's just standing there, and Isabella is hugging just him even though I feel like it's meant to be her participating in a group hug? Uh, win for Isajeet shippers, I guess? :P But gosh what a start, if this is a showcase of what we're getting then bring it on!

Submarine Sandwich Submarine

Okay the modified title sequence is a little tacky, the old animation with the edits to Phin's shirt and the updated voice lines are kind of jarring. Do think it's kind of neat the images at the end are upcoming eps this season instead of Season 4's though, kind of a nice tease of what's come.

Is bread bowl hot tub gonna be a running gag for a few eps

Also they animated Isa's entrance so well, so cute and flirty, feels almost like a callback to her OG entrance in Rollercoaster

wow has isabella been saving buford's ass a lot lately, to the point buford seems to call her "little miss safety patch", wonder if this is an allusion to time between summers or just general backstory

someone had fun storyboarding those filters

So first regular ep, wasn't super extraordinary but I still enjoyed it! Many nice gags that got genuine laughs out of me, and definitely a wild time for Candace, that's for sure. IDK how they got in and out of the Mariana Trench so fast, but it's a cartoon. :P The safety thing was kinda random but it does make sense, Isabella knows how to be safe BECAUSE she regularly does dangerous shit, Buford just wants to rush in without thinking (and again, if the patch thing was literal, love the implication of stuff between Summers). Don't have much to say on the B plot besides there being some pretty funny moments and a few neat interactions.

Also, first ep from new writer Oscar Lemus, co-written with PnF regular Joshua Pruett! I'm sure the giant fish was Josh's idea, lol. Director is James Kim, who storyboarded on MML. One new boarder, but also Wendy Grieb who was on OG PnF.

License to Bust

SHE'S 16! I meant that in a celebratory tone, I'm not yelling at people hitting on Candace. :v

"of course geckos don't have springs so we added that part" i don't think their feet stick in the way you made them either lmao

buff monogram... and it's real????

the hair swap is gonna last the whole episode lol

wait were they gonna just leave the gecko gear there

That was also pretty neat! Again, nothing too extraordinary or outstanding, but it's classic PnF, which is great to see! Lots of really funny moments here, love the gecko gear, love that the driving instructor (Brian?) not only was super impressed with Candace but actually related to her (also wow, his sisters seem way nastier than PnF if they're mocking him)? Song is probably gonna grow on me too. Nice to have Kim Roberson back too, she's been on the show since Season 1 and well there's a reason they had her around for so long! Doof plot had fun moments, also kinda funny that Doof actually did something good by driving that pregnant woman to the hospital. Good guy Doof is still around in there! Also lol, guess another ice-cream fell out of the air once Buford was satisifed with his pork.

Dry Another Day

lol the show is now rated PG in Australia, scaryyyyyy

"futility for teens" candace is sisyphus

candace's scream at the tortoise sounded like a bird squawk omg

oh shit perry swamp UP the oil

huh another inator that dries things like moon farm, tho this is for drying and that was dehydrating

So that was neat! Don't have too much to say but Doof's plot was pretty out there, the ice luge was pretty unique, and there were many pretty funny moments. Also, first Danny Jacob song? Also not sure if all the swimsuits for the kids are returning, I think at least Phineas had orange shorts vs blue ones.

Also, first ep from Sunny Karnan! He definitely has a hang of the PnF style, I'll say that!

Oh yeah, first Stacy speaking appearance! Now we just need Jeremy.

Deconstructing Doof

was that a platypus controlling me reference

WAIT THAT WAS THE ORIGINAL PHINEAS DRAWING ON SHAMAI'S BOARD

HMM... well that was interesting! Definitely one I'm going to be eager to revisit. Less laugh out loud, but Dr Shamai's performance alone carried so much humour to it. Shamai himself was a really memorable one off character, the idea of an outside perspective realising what's going on and they basically become obsessed with it only to be driven mad when the truth can't be exposed is... wild. The songs were neat too, especially the therapy one. The hype for this ep was worth it. A little confused about some of the timeline implied by the first song, like is therapy only talking about last Summer, or this one too? But yeah, lots of really neat moments (I love that Baljeet was surprisingly close to getting Candace's whole deal, he's not exact but he's on the right track... also Ferb saying nothing in the interview, lol), and a very unique protagonist in Shamai (I keep writing Shumai cuz of a Danganronpa ship thing where that's a character's nickname given by the other person lol). The disco looks were cute too when that showed up. Also this ep is unique for showing stuff from an extended period of time. But yeah, very unique premise that shows there's still more things that can be done with this wild show.

First ep from Olivia Olson! Also written with her dad Martin, which doesn't surprise me.

Before I forget - neat how we still have the old style credits instead of the slide show thing MML and HaG does. Still yet to get a unique scene but hey replaying the songs is always nice.

Tropey McTropeface

wait is this the same heatwave featured in dry another day, is this an ongoing thing like bread bowl hot tub

"animation is so easy"

linda implying she'd be angry and pnf for tropey oof

were the van stomms flossing

also wondered if the parents were separated, nah i think they just argue a lot, and both sides look like buf lol

the news guy is the umbrella thief????

zoetrope god??????

isabella was clearly looking to having that ferris wheel ride with phin, the weird zoetrope ferris whell romance definitely set the mood

WAIT THE ZOETROPE AND FERRIS WHEEL REPRODUCED??????

Well... that was something. Is Scott now just writing shitposts? First giant mum cloud, now a zoetrope that isn't sentient but maybe actually is, Schrodinger's sentience? Anyway... yeah, that was certainly something alright. A zoetrope going on an adventure and having a romance with a ferris wheel while somehow becoming everyone's hero and everyone loves him. The self insert Phineas and Ferb fanfiction... from a zoetrope. Very cool unique.

Biblio-Blast!

ISABELLA JUST STEALS THE MINI PHIN IN A TUX FOR HERSELF LOL

AND BALJEET SAYS IT SHOULD BE ON A WEDDING CAKE, NO WONDER ISA YOINKED IT

"why would we need perry to build a bookcase?"

posh isabella

ferbenstein is a book

baljeet ain't falling for buford not liking reading when he disses kafka lol

wait is vanessa vegan now

"i'll put you in the NICE senior care facility"

Well that was a fun one. Josh clearly wanted to show off a love of books and reading. Lots of funny moments and weird goofy Doof plants. Surprised there was no direct callback to eg Pharmacists or something. The Doof plants singing is weirdly catchy. Not much else to say, I enjoyed it a lot! ...okay, fine, they seemed to like putting Phineas and Isabella together quite a bit, lol.

A Chip to the Vet

finally jeremy... credits don't specify who plays him tho

"protagonising"

okay the queer buford fans are gonna love the jeremy bit

screaming goat???

Feral Ferb????

Well that was neat! Glad this episode built exactly on the premise it sets up. Only thing I think wasn't necessary was the Phineas scene where he declines Perry being chipped, I feel like that didn't make too much sense (unless you wanna read into it and it's him subconsciously remembering Agent P but that's another story). The stuff was Candace was funny, the pet wash was cute with a neat song, and Perry outsmarting Doof was very cool and amusing.

More Than an Intern

lol the budget being blown on lair entrances

was that fuckin anton ego from ratatouille

oh he's just a screenwriter who happens to have notes

FERB'S DOUBLE LIFE IS AS A FOOD CRITIC????

wait random but is evil for extra credit based on the regular carl theme? hearing the remixes here made me wonder

love the weird girl who seems to like the fish lol (Brittany?)

"i have an engineering degree" rough, between this and carl working multiple jobs and an unpaid internship uhh yeah

dan and swampy, lindana AND love handel pizza

yay for using cute phinabella as a screen wipe

I liked this one a lot! I don't talk about it as much but I enjoy Carl a lot, so getting an episode focused on him was really neat. Guy really is working his ass off, poor dude. Monogram at least pays him for the pizza and says he'll validate his parking? So Monogram's still being shit, but he's giving Carl breadcrumbs... it's something. I really loved Tyler Mann's speech at the end, like you could really feel for Carl there. He really is just only sticking with the unpaid internship because he's that passionate about the job. But yeah, especially with stuff like worsening cost of living, I think Carl's story is gonna be very relatable to many. The bit with the kids play cross continental lacrosse was neat too, IDK if the people in Kilimanjaro were the same ones as Save Summer but I do love how this kinda lowkey expands the world they have regardless.

Wait, is Sunny a fan of the farmer and his wife bit? They've shown up in both of his eps lol. Also, bread bowl hot tub is definitely building to something, it's gonna save the day in a pivotal episode or some shit, isn't it?

The Aurora Perry-Alis

oh hey, derek thompson is back

AAAAAAA PERRY AND STACY HANGING OUT... i literally had to stop myself from screaming

HA STACY IS BEING PAID TOO, GIRL GOT LUCKY

MONTY'S BACK

did vanessa basically ghost monty

oh vore time

"it's not my pet, we have a complicated relationship"

are the clowns dating

Okay this one was actually really good! Phineas and Ferb doing stuff was a thing, but the standout was the B plot stuff for sure, with Doof and Perry going on their weird shrunken down adventure, and Vanessa and Monty being addressed. So they seem like an on again, off again thing, I guess? Vanessa evidently got tired of the whole gimmick hence the ghosting, but yeah. Do kinda wish Vanessa had more to say on her dad trying to be good but being evil but oh well. XP Also... Stacy and Perry bonding. Love it.

Lord of the Firesides

oh god i'm actually here time to see what's going on finally

wow those girls are serious about their cupcakes

not doof's bday yet if he's still 47

"he's more of a frenemy but our boundaries are fluid"

uh oh phineas is what makes isabella finally snap

OH NO PHINEAS IS SHOWING UP

"i guess girls do mature faster than boys" what does that even mean omg

omg the drum is isabella, rip

SON OF A PATCH

they keep cutting away from the fighting omg

IT WAS AN INATOR THE WHOLE TIME, AND IT WAS THE FUCKING PIGEON'S FAULT

oh many returning voice actors, neat

the hug with gretchen at the end aww

Lol little Melissa still being crazy

WOW THAT WAS SOMETHING ALRIGHT. Honestly, it might just be my personal investment in Isabella, but wow, this was something. Surprisingly tense. Like you knew SOMETHING was wrong, but you couldn't pinpoint what, but then everything just descends into further chaos as Isabella is the only one staying level headed... until even her limits are tested. Okay, the Doof stuff was fun and cute with Perry tagging along. But yeah... Fireside Girl chaos. They had no goal, they just wanted to be chaotic and follow their own interest. Kinda reminds me of "The Giggle" in Doctor Who (also rip using anarchy as a perjorative, actual anarchists believe in genuine cooperation). What I have to mention though is... Isabella didn't give in to the effects until very late. I definitely would love to hear if there's a specific reason why she managed to hold onto her sanity the longest, but my personal take is that she just has the strongest will, especially having to run the troop and all. But of course, even she has limits and can't fight this force forever... making fun of Phineas definitely seemed like one of the breaking points (she even recognised she wasn't feeling herself), but also damaging the Fireside Girl book was probably the final straw, given this is what she devotes herself to so much being treated so flippantly. Any will to hold on to being a rational leader was then gone, so time to duke it out. Gosh, I hope Phineas and Ferb have a chill time when they come back over. But yeah, the cute sweet but tough girls who always work together being made to embrace discord... this was begging to happen at some point, lol.

Also Oscar Lemus' first solo episode... what an impression to make.

The Candace Suit

oh back to the normal intro... but the voice lines are still updated, lol

oh a mysterious force namedrop

"we have breaks?"

buford all dressed up omg

BALJEET IS IN ON IT

oh yeah the dark lighting in some of these eps looks a lil weird, like this and the carl one

so he has a lot of candace... but even more of baljeet, WOW shippers are gonna go crazy

"it's nice to be appreciated" heh phineas looking for validation for once... and specifically from isabella... shipper brain shut up for now lol

wow isabella being mean over ducky momo, cancelled :v

ok what is even happening

they agree to put them on, and phin and isa in sync when agreeing to ferb hehe

pnf sharing a suit heh

wait is that one candace suit gonna come back later omg

Well uh... that was something. Very weird episode, I'll say that much, lol. I think my brain is getting scrambled from all this so apologies if I'm less coherent now. Phineas looking for compliments from Isabella is cute, though definitely something new, lol. Nice to see Candace and Stacy team up with Buford and Baljeet for a bit. Doof plot wasn't much overall. Candace suits are weird and creepy. Isabella thinks Ducky Momo is cringe, boo. Cliffhanger?

Agent T (For Teen)

stacy cow noise wtf

Uruguay??? In the Stacy ep???

monogram 4th wall break

pnf winning everything omg

stacy be kinda badass tho

doof accepting a beating cuz he didn't realise it would be this dangerous lol

stacy's 16, so it's been her birthday hehe

BOOO DISNEY+ SHRINKS THE EP DURING THE CREDITS (it's candace suit creepy baljeet room anyway but lol)

Okay that was awesome. Honestly so happy for Stacy, she's finally finding her own purpose in life. Honestly love that she's pretty badass but in such a mundane normal way. Love the friendship she has growing with Perry, like honestly it's like she could almost even be like a sidekick to him or something. Love that Stacy was even accepted as basically an agent too! Yay for Stacy!

The Haberdasher

"oh, it's just you" SAVAGE ISABELLA

rip hot tub

Baljeet: "and Ferb" WOW THEY ARE NOT HOLDING BACK TODAY

shouldn't it be more than 104 after the new summer started linda, also another rip to dan's claim that they do more than one thing a day

baljeet is so done with isabella forgetting ferb lol, tho he does kinda smirk at her when she corrects herself lmao, even buford raises an eyebrow

hey alan cumming is mad hatter willy wonka guy

eww proboscis

isabella has a candace moment hehe

Okay this was another really good one. I know Josh had this idea for a while, so nice to see him realise that. Moth Doof is gross. Haberdasher is a neat guest character. Enjoyed PnF's friends try to do something without them, not sure if we've actually seen them like this before without having some other thing motivating them. So yeah, they're forced to just work together, even if they refuse to at first because their own egos clash, lol. Now Phineas and Ferb get to see what Linda experiences I guess.

Out of Character

LUMBERZACKS

more nickel gags

was that a gravity falls gnome

buford's look of shame when the others eye him for taking the bed down lol

filming here for tax credits huh

"There you are, Ferb! That other guy talked too much" literal LOL

buford has schedules for everyone, not just jeet????

That was a smaller ep, but still neat! I can see how Baljeet would have this dilemma of being too literal minded to accept the pretend (more Autism fodder hehe), and then they actually get him to pull off acting by deceiving him. He's clearly not into the idea, but he does accept that it helped him. Wonder if we'll see him show up in this Space Adventure movie sometime down the line? B plot didn't have much for me to comment on, Doof's inator is wild tho, especially with how it helped Roger (who seems to have wanted to boost his own ego lol).

Meap Me in St. Louis

okay jon colton barry finally writes something

the counter for the trailer scenes is a funny touch lmao

oh my god jerry

BREAD BOWL HOT TUB

okay candace helping suzy despite their feud is cute

also does jeremy realise suzy still has it out for candace even after she was exposed in let's bounce lol

NOOOOO NOT THE BREAD BOWL HOT TUB DELAYED AGAIN

the mitch is back

wait so... stabbybarfpain was in fact... a made up hybrid season of every kind of weather at once... oh my god

sunny gloriousweather... is this by any chance named after sunny karnan esp since he is an actual scientist or at least studied science

somehow, balloony returned... guess he just randomly dies every now and then but doof blows him back up

wait is that baljinger content in the song

also yes phinabella together again lol i'm predictable

alyson stoner song is really nice as expected, even as the humour of the name stabbybarfpain is not lost of me

rip colin jr

was that the other dimension baby that eats guys

hey news guy weren't you arrested earlier

meap totally wanted to say "my ass"

phineas and isabella led song yay

candace looks so proud of herself hehe

wait... stabby barf pain... fifth season

also heh meap's wife chasing after him as a fugitive, what roleplay lol

ok no meap 4 trailer lmao

Holy shit that was crazy, lots of laugh out loud moments, nice Candace and Meap team up (the justice obsession feels foreshadowy too esp with her studying law in AYA hehe), Stabby Barf Pain is wild... yeah, so much crazy shit. Trailer stuff was hilarious. Doof and Balloony adventure too! IDK about how cop-y it felt but I'll think about that later lol

No Slumber Party

double sleepover omg

isa's little wave when phin said lady aww

are they doing the candace disconnected gag of never saying what they made

buford wants the girl talk

lol candace goes bust mode anyway

That was cute! Just everyone hanging out, and it's all a chill time. Some funny moments, song was cool too.

The Ballad of Bubba Doof

imo the biggest issue with westerns is the colonialist origins of the genre but ANYWAY

isa sick of the boys fighting lol

swole perry

jon isn't co story editor anymore, it's just scott after meap it seems, oscar is now staff writer tho

IDK if I'm just finally getting tired but this one was just fine. The forced perspective thing was fun, and more Doof relatives, cool. Maybe just not vibing with the Western thing (like Baljeet lol). Neat western outfits. IDK about Baljeet changing his mind deciding to watch Westerns at the end and IDK if the Carl stuff was meant to be an arc or just a gag. Wow I AM tired.

OKAY FINALLY I'M DONE NOW I CAN SLEEP AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[transnightleaf]

why do people dislike tigerheartstar..? /genq

Ough... I feel like there's a lot of things to dislike him for, IF YOU'RE WRONG AND CLOSE-MINDED!!!

Most of all, people reallyy don't like Omen of the Stars Tigerheartstar, even some of my fellow Tigerheart fans don't like him in there, and you know what? I'm not gonna argue but. I genuinely don't think he's that bad, he's just shown to be young and kind of silly. I don't blame him for things he did, because pobody's nerfect. He made some mistakes, but he wasn't being Malicious. I feel like people either misremember stuff, or just headcanon things that did not happen.

A lot of people say he "groomed Dovepaw" or whatever and thats WRONG. and a horrible thing to say. People are literally just throwing words around without knowing how serious what they say is and that makes my blood boil ngl.

Second: People get all pissy over the Flametail/Jayfeather situation with him. and Dawnpelt, of course, gets more hate because She's a Woman, but Tigerheart has his share of haters for that situation too, saying he "betrayed Dovewing" and he's a "bad boyfriend" (They were not dating at the time) and yes, maybe his reasoning is somewhat flawed, but I think it just makes him more inchresting, personally... Anyway, you can not agree with, or actively dislike friends of your friends, it's great.

And then there is the "literally making stuff up" allegations where, for example, some people say Tigerheart "stalked Dovepaw" and that makes me feel like they didn't read or skim through a single romance book, or anything romance related Ever. What you'll discover, is that in Romance Books/Movies there are 10 people in New York, and the two love interests will always find each other, no matter how unlikely it is for them to suddenly meet again, and again. Tigerheart "stalking" Dovepaw is NOT CANON, it is never said, it is never implied, it is a fabrication. They randomly stumble onto each other because The Plot.

There is also the Ivypaw + catmint situation, where people claim he specifically started talking to Dove to manipulate her, and that is Untrue, Dovepaw accidentally talks about the catmint when he's Genuinely venting, he did not ask. She literally SAYS to him she's gonna steal it for him, and he says NO because he doesn't want to get her in trouble. Ultimately, he does tell ShadowClan about trading Ivy for Catmint, but the point is; He never wanted to get Dovepaw in trouble, or hurt her in Any of this. Ultimately, he still did, but my point is; He's way more nuanced than people give him credit for.

And all of that was just OotS. In AVoS, people mainly hate the Tigerheart Super Edition, could not tell you why. Probably the big reason being, that people don't like Tigerheart from OotS. Tigerheart's Shadow is a very pleasant read to me, and very cute. He's not perfect, but he is trying his best, and I love him for that.

in The Broken Code, it's mostly just nitpicking. He's the best he's ever been in this arc, and people will Still find a way to hate on him for the smallest things like "coddling Shadowsight" or whatever... bro get out of here... Oh man, I sure do wish fathers in warrior cats went back to not ever thinking about their kids, that was PEAK writing!! /sarcasm

and then... There's ASC... My heart dropped when the arc started, not because I was proven wrong in any way, but because I KNEW the haters would use the RiverClan conflict to their advantage. Those were the super dark days, with people speaking before thinking, and possibly the time when I blocked the most amount of people. Again, I'm gonna say Tigerheartstar makes mistakes, he's not perfect, but he's not EVIL either. And while I understand RiverClan... sort of. I'm glad the arc ended with Tigerheartstar being praised, not demonised

Now, Changing Skies barely started but I already see hate on my boy... Whether it's because of Tawnypelt having to be the biggest victim this arc, so everyone is Super Mean to her suddenly, OR the Birchfeather situation. And while the writing decisions perplex me, he's not being evil or anything, people acting like he is, is odd.

Most of the dislike/hate on him comes from OotS. That's what I can say. People don't remember the arc well, and don't go into detail on it, because Who Cares, and then that hatred goes on forever. But, like some of my mutuals pointed out before, Some, if not Most Tigerheart hate stems from early fandom Dovewing hate. Some people want to pretend they care soooo much about Dovewing, and Tigerheart is sooo evil and manipulative, but they do not actually care about her as a character and think she's just being Unreasonable for 'leaving her family' (Ivypool) and joining the enemy (ShadowClan).

Overall, I am aware he's not a perfect good boy character, but some people really overdo it on mischaracterising him, or hating him. And thus I do not accept anyone hating on him, the only person able to hate on him is Me, and even I don't wanna do that, because StarClan forbid someone might actually think I'm being serious.

Generally, I do not care if you like or dislike Tigerheart, just don't make it your personality trait how much you hate him. Or else, as much as it pains me, we cannot be friends. Peace and Love on Planet Earth. Tigerheart isn't a real person but if you can't accept him, you clearly cannot accept me.

Whoops, you activated my Tigerheart Talk button, oh no... I'm sorry for rambling about Tigerheart, it might happen againnn :( Have a Tigerheart doodle if you survived.

[synthient]

I listened to the audio drama they're adapting into Space Eurovision, so you don't have to!

Bang-Bang-a-Boom: it's a 2002 Big Finish audio drama. It's a riff on Boom Bang a Bang, the song that won Eurovision for England in 1969 (if I'm being so fr. it's a little mid). And it's the originator of the "Intergalactic Song Contest" concept.

Yep. I bit the bullet, dropped 5 bucks, and dedicated 2 and half hours of my sunday evening to the cause 👍

If you're just tuning in, my personal cause (windmill tilt?) is the Eurovision Hypothesis: the idea that 1) Rogue is the Master, and 2) he's about to reveal it live onstage at Space Eurovison.

But if you're not a true believer in Rogue Eurovision Champion 2025, feel free to still benefit from my notes. Again, this thing is 2.5 hours long, and the current tardiswiki page just drops a couple Lore Points without doing a real recap.

But before I get into the plot, let's address a relevant out-of-universe detail:

The Transphobia Wrinkle

So, maybe it's for the best that I didn't realize this until after I finsished listening, because it let me approach this audio drama with more of an open mind. But it turns out that the original audio is by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman. Roberts is the writer of Shakespeare Code etc, and the guy who, in the last few years, has gone full transphobia pipeline. It's a very textbook version of the pipeline: made a transmisogynistic tweet in 2019, got kicked out of a doctor who short story collection when the other writers protested, and proceeded to make it his entire personality and do a career pivot to right wing grifting (apparently he's now published an anti-trans book. Of course he's written a book).

Now, before I learned this, I'd already been theorizing that Juno Dawson is the writer on the upcoming Eurovision episode. I have reasons that tie in with my grand theory of Dungeon Master Eurovision Spectacular: RTD's no-spoilers insta comment on her debut was "shocks with Juno!" She made a BBC podcast (which you should listen to!) about the Doctor accidentally causing reality to get rewritten by an eldritch force from the beyond the universe, which also features a pair of alien exes with a lot in common with the Doctor and Master. She's mentioned writing Doctor Who fanfiction as a kid, which ties in with the meta-fandom aspects of the original Rogue episode.

But tbh? We don't really need all this circumstantial evidence to assume that Dawson wrote the episode. We know there are 4 guest writer episodes in the upcoming season, we can already link a couple of the guest writers to specific episodes (McTighe wrote the Ruby one, Angel-Walfall wrote the deep sea diving one), and we can pretty much process-of-elimination at this point that the Eurovision one is Dawson's.

If I'm correct - if the transmisogyny guy's audio drama is getting adapted for the screen, but by a trans woman - then I'm frankly not sure yet how I feel about that. I assume the production team is approaching that choice as a sort of reclamation slash middle finger. I also don't necessarily love that this guy's concepts are still being platformed, and that they'll presumably still have to credit him for it. But a lot will ultimately depend on how Dawson herself is approaching this adaptation process. (Was adapting this specific audio her idea?)

At this point, we don't know how much of the original is going to make it to the screen beyond the general premise. All this baggage might point to the likelyhood of a fairly loose adaptation.

But let's take a look at the original storyline anyway - if nothing else, it'll provide interesting context for any divergences.

And I do still have my little theories 📝

The Plot Summary

[Spoilers throughout for the audio drama from 2002. I don't think all or most of these specific beats will make it verbatim into the episode, but I can't promise that]

Our basic premise isn't just Space Eurovision. it's Murder Mystery! At The Space Eurovison.

Space Eurovision is being hosted on a space station that's a loose parody of Deep Space Nine. They're recently down a captain, but just as the newly hired captain arrives for duty, someone explodes his shuttle. The 7th Doctor and Mel stumble across the crime scene just in time to accidentally steal the murdered captain's identity.

Now people at Space Eurovision are getting picked off one by one, so the Doctor has to solve the mystery, while also playing the role of Star Trek Captain.

Our main suplots:

There's political intrigue going on between the contestants from Soviet Russia Planet and Psychic Hivemind Planet (whose language is so weird that they can only speak through a human interpreter). Their planets have been at war. There's a peace conference happening simultaneously with Eurovision. Is one of them trying to frame the other? (Spoiler: The Translator Did It. His name is Loozely because he translates......loosely.)

Did Soviet Russia Contestant spray the Doctor with a love potion? (yeah) (also, as pointed out by tardiswiki, her name is an anagram for vagina. Of course it's an anagram for vagina.)

Is something off with the stereotypical Star Trek Doctor and Star Trek Scientist? (yeah - she never went to med school and he's an alcoholic)

Is the nice mousegirl mediator from Mousegirl Pacifist Planet suspicious? (kinda, but only because she's secretly hosting the peace talks inside the Eurovision contestants' brains or something.) Did Mel just accidentally murder her with blunt force head trauma? (almost, but no)

Mel has befriended a himboish male pop star. Is he suspicious? (No, but the evil translator tricked him into swallowing a bomb)

Conclusion: the Doctor does his locked room deduction scene and reveals that Evil Translator is to blame. The theme song starts to play, but Mel stops it with a record scratch and points out that was too easy. The Doctor realizes there's still a bomb onboard, and it's in Himbo Pop Star's stomach.

The fake-doctor successfully removes it even though she never went to med school, while the Doctor goes onstage in Himbo's place. He wins it all with some sort of offscreen (off...audio?) spoon performance. The other characters realize that as a final twist, the Doctor isn't the real captain?! The Doctor goes "haha yeah :p" and fucks off in the tardis

My Notes

- First off, I doubt the Star Trek parody element is making it into the adaptation. It's already a little tacked on in the audio, and Deep Space Nine just isn't that culturally relevant at the moment.

(If the setting is still a space station, though...what do we think the odds are that it's Satellite 5?)

One one thing that does seem relevant to this run, however, is the fake Star Trek doctor. She lied because she wanted to live out her fantasy of being a Star Trek character. She killed a bunch of people with medical malpractice.

In other words, she cosplayed them to death. Deeply Rogue-coded! She's also a Doctor mirror. He's stolen an identity too; he just happens to be a little more competent at his Star Trek Captain cosplay.

- Aside from Star Trek, there are a couple references to Holmes and Watson (Mel: "You know what finally happened to Sherlock Holmes? Watson bashed him in the head with his own violin!") I feel like this one's actually more likely to get a shoutout. Maybe it's a stretch, but I have been comparing my little Rogue theories to TJLC this whole time

- The male pop star character reminded me a lot of Ricky September. His name also happens to be Nicky Newman. Coincidence?

I feel like either, RTD already stealth-adapted this character for Dot and Bubble (in which case we're probably not seeing another version of him in the Eurovision ep). Or...is there some small chance we're getting another Mundy/Belinda situation?

- There's a gag in the audio that Earth's national anthem is I Will Survive. The Rogue novelization actually makes almost the same joke, but about Can't Get You Out Of My Head. Coincidence??

- Will the episode still be doing the feuding planets storyline? tbh, I'm not sure Doctor Who should actually be touching any of the real Eurovision geopolitics. However...there is that clip of Skaro in the trailer. Hard to picture the Daleks sending a representative to Eurovision, but maybe that's exactly what would make it a good joke

- A significant plot point in the audio is that no one can understand what the Hivemind Planet contestant is saying until the end, when someone invents a special translation device.

RTD2 has been putting a lot of emphasis on the tardis's perception filter and auto translation. So I suspect that either this element will get cut, or it could be used as an opportunity for the tardis to meddle with the investigation.

- The record scratch: this also seems relevant to our current, 4th wall break heavy storyline.

Even if we don't get a literal record scratch, I think there's a high chance of a "record scratch moment" where we suddenly realize that the Doctor's solution is too easy, and the story can't just end there.

What if it turns out it was "too easy" because the whole murder mystery was staged for the Doctor's benefit?

That's what I think Rogue, or the Dungeon Master, already did in his intro episode: give the Doctor a murder mystery + Bridgton romance. So why not use Eurovision as an excuse to engage in two of the Doctor and Master's shared hobbies: murder mysteries (as either the detective or the murderer), and being a diva?

There's actually one other possibility for the staged murder mystery twist: the Tardis could have done it. That's one of my other big theories - that she staged Sutehk, the Ruby's mom mystery, and more.

But not only does this kind of, small-scale interpersonal murder not really seem like her style (compared to the Sutehk thing). But I think the Eurovision episode- which seems to be set right before the season 2 finale, btw - would be a good moment for a fakeout reveal. If the Master staged this mystery, does that mean he's staged the entire story??

But nope - all the big stuff was the Tardis. She's probably where Rogue got the idea for the murder mystery dates in the first place.

After all: giving the Doctor a story and letting him roleplay its hero seems to be the only way to get through to him, right?

Fin

Anyway! You can take or leave the Rogue stuff and the Doctor being trapped in a story (though I for one am dying on both those hills). But now that we know the basic framework that this adaptation is starting from, we can see what Dawson and RTD will choose to keep, add, or discard.

And surely they've gotta give the Doctor (or the Master...?) a full-fledged Eurovision-winning performance, right?

[porcupine-girl]

Please watch Super Star Academy.

I'm going through my Twitter and saving threadfics and individual tweets I don't want to lose before I delete it all, and I discovered a thread I did when my sister and I were about 1/3 of the way through our watch of Super Star Academy - which is, unironically, my favorite show ever.

So I am reposting this thread here for posterity, and in the hopes that maybe it will get one or two more people to watch this magical, incredible show:

----------

My sister @ bitter_tea and I are watching Super Star Academy, a 2016 vehicle for the guys in X-NINE, Xiao Zhan’s boy band. This will be a thread of why you should drop everything and watch this show, which is on YouTube.

First, the basics: SSA is a… College? But could be high school? For teens with superpowers. The superpowers are determined by your zodiac sign (Virgo Leo etc, not Chinese zodiac). Our protagonist is a girl who’s a Virgo but doesn’t think she has powers.

Ok first off, in the second episode we suddenly leave the school and go into some telenovela shit where some guy is dying and his son has to be born a Leo to take over the company. Rumor is the kid was stillborn two months early.

Then his wife goes and… causes a car accident that doesn’t kill some other super baby and somehow she steals a baby but we’re not sure where she got the stolen baby? But it’s not the car accident baby bc we saw that one saved by its dad???

Then her dying husband names the stolen baby and THAT is the point where you realize this whole thing has been a flashback bc he gives the stolen baby XZ’s character’s name so he is Stolen Baby but somehow his mom was using an iPad back in like 1996.

So XZ is Stolen Baby and the leader of one of two rival gangs in the school. They are both gangs of rich kids, but his gang is the preps and the other one is the punks, which you can tell bc a) they have a rock band and play at the extracurriculars fair

b) The leader has blue hair and c) they go around proclaiming themselves to be punks

At one point the two gangs go head-to-head in a croquet match. Which is… the school’s main sport? Now we’re getting into what kind of show you’re actually watching here.

Also the croquet trophy is MADE OF CHOCOLATE and Protagonist Girl accidentally eats it during the match. No one notices of course, even though she’s sitting there in front of the entire full bleachers.

So Protag Girl doesn’t think she has powers, right? But the school principal happens to eat at the noodle shop she & her uncle run & the noodles she serves him move in funny shapes so he decides she does have powers and gives her an admission letter.

Which he sets right down on a lit stove.

When she points out that it’s burning, he whips another admission letter out of his jacket because he goes everywhere prepared to admit ten new students to his school.

Speaking of her uncle, at one point he’s like “remember what I told you happened to your parents?” And she recounts a story about them meeting on a boat and then her father dying when it sank and he’s like “yeah I lied that’s the plot of Titanic.”

When Protag Girl gets to the school, she’s taken to the Clothing Department, an upscale clothing store where all the students can pick out five outfits and two dresses. Ah, don’t we all remember our first trip to the college clothing department.

Then you never see anyone wear anything but the school uniform or a croquet uniform ever again. No idea where the evening gowns on display at the clothing department went.

But you see, it was a vital scene because this is where PG meets XZ! Because she accidentally goes into his personal dressing room and of course neither of them notices they’re right next to each other separated by only a thin screen until they put on each other’s pants.

So from then on she yells about him being a pervert every time she sees him but he’s the rich popular croquet gang leader so no one believes her, which is fair because she’s wrong.

Side note: I just realized that calling Protagonist Girl PG has the potential to be confusing because that is, in fact, my name. That’s ok, though, because I think it will just make this thread feel more authentic to the incomprehensibility of the show.

PG, you eventually learn, was saved by a little boy her age when she was about 10. She was hanging from a cliff for Reasons and he moved a big rock and pulled her up. He gave her his school badge (of the SSA elementary school) and she gave him her embroidered hankie.

At one point she becomes convinced that it was Blue-Haired Punk. He makes it very clear that it wasn’t him because He Is Punk and Punks Don’t Save People Apparently. But she continues to accost him several more times as if she thinks he’s just forgotten.

Each time she confronts him makes less sense than the last, which is great.

At one point she is walking home in the rain and some Asshole In A Sports Car splashes her with water. Then backs up and does it again. Then is revealed to be XZ and (in all apparent sincerity) is like “oh sorry I didn’t see you” even though he backed up to splash her again.

This matters bc he loans her some clothes. Later, she tries to return them and he’s like “ew no now that someone else touched them I don’t want them.” So she pokes him in the shoulder to make him take off his current shirt. Whatever you think he’s wearing under it you’re wrong.

(Unless you’ve seen this scene)

He is revealed to be wearing a Powerpuff Girls t-shirt. So she pokes that and he has to take THAT off. Luckily though this show is family-friendly so instead of XZ’s chest this reveals…

Another Powerpuff Girls t-shirt!

He and the principal were in the same Boy Scout troop and are prepared for all eventualities.

Meanwhile PG is making friends with a nice boy who is from her same poor neighborhood.We’ll call him Boy Next Door. I worry about BND because clearly she’s gonna end up with XZ but they’re leaning on PG/BND pretty hard so either he’s gonna get his ❤️ broken or he’s secretly evil.

He is in Regular classes instead of Elite classes and I have no idea what that means because I don’t think it ever actually tells us. He has super powers though? And I think PG is in Elite even though her powers still haven’t manifested?? And she’s not richer than him either.

So he’s not in class with her so she has to sit between her only two other friends, who are bf/gf and spend all class literally making kissy faces at each other. They literally say something like “oh yeah we do nothing but this deal with it.”

There a Big Competition coming up! PG has no idea what really is so neither do we. But one of the Mean Girls (who I haven’t even talked about) tricks her into signing up.

Which is terrible! Because once you’re signed up you CANNOT UN-SIGN-UP!! It’s not clear what the consequences are if you drop out, you just can’t.

At this point my husband said something like “oh, it’s the Triwizard Tournament” and we were like oh yeah haha but THEN the principal goes to announce who will actually be competing…

And this is determined by a glowing orb that spits out the names of some of the people who signed up. She is not chosen… but THEN… after it has spit out the number of people it’s supposed to spit out… it spits out another one! And it’s PG!!!!! Dun dun DUNNNNNNN

So now we’re sitting there yelling at the TV “Cheng Zhi’er didja putya name intha goblet o’fiyah!!!”

(That is her actual name, not Protagonist Girl.)

Side note about those Mean Girls: One of them believes herself to be XZ’s girlfriend but as time goes on it is looking increasingly unlikely that he is aware of this.

Also the product placement puts Wolong Nuts to shame. Everyone drinks these blue and pink drinks and at one point the Punk Gang is drinking them and Blue Hair is like “let’s pretend we’re doing an ad” or something &they all start smiling at the camera & extolling its virtues.

Then later there’s a whole comedy of errors I won’t get into with a pizza but the end result is that BND winds up sitting in PG’s noodle shop with some middle-aged lady he doesn’t know. They start talking about how awkward it is and then suddenly she’s like

“Well if it’s going to be awkward, let’s sell these backpacks instead” and turns to the camera to sell us whatever brand of backpack he’s wearing.

One night she goes into this room with a sign on it that clearly says it’s like a study lounge or something that belongs to XZ’s gang. Who have their own study lounge I guess. There are chess boards all over the place?

He comes in and she’s like “what are you doing here?” and I said to the tv “well it does belong to his gang” and he’s like “uh it belongs to my gang.” Through some contrived contrivances they wind up leaning over a desk almost-kissing.

Then somehow (this might not happen til they leave the lounge? I forget) she realizes he has her old handkerchief so HE was the kid who saved her. But she doesn’t like him now so she demands he give it back and then she chases him like… all night long or something

Like she’s still chasing him when it’s light out AND he’s changed clothes.

Then somehow she gets the handkerchief but somehow he’s replaced it with a FAKE HANDKERCHIEF that has some other phrase on it. Kids these days and their handkerchiefs!

In an earlier scene, her uncle is shown knitting in the noodle shop and the pattern in his knitting changes from ? to !! so we’re theorizing that XZ has the same needlecraft-changing superpower as her uncle.

Anyhow we’ve only watched like 8 episodes out of I think 30 (they’re very short though) and I’ve only covered like half the completely unhinged things that have happened so far. Much of what I haven’t explained is because I don’t actually understand wtf is happening.

It’s basically the best show ever produced, you should all watch it.

Now PG’s uncle is drunk-knitting over his shoulder

Also at one point in the middle of an episode, when we haven’t seen the uncle in several episodes, it randomly cuts to him knocking his glass of orange juice down and yelling “oh! My orange juice!” with absolutely no context or explanation and then they never speak of it again.

Also-also the bad guys put PG in a burlap sack, then XZ saves her and proceeds to use her (in the burlap sack) to hit the bad guys.

Basically this show just keeps getting better.

Oh! I forgot! The bad guys attacked XZ with Sissy Boxing and gave him orchid fingers! Don’t ask me to explain, you now know as much as I do.

[rubysparx]

Ok it’s been a very long time since I’ve made an original httyd post (don’t look at the old ones they’re embarrassing. Look at me. Hi) but I want to share wif you my modern au thoughts, ok? Im sharing pls b nice..

Ummmm anyway the whole story kinda centers on Gustav idrk why just worked out that way. Ummm all my gender + sexuality hcs r still mostky the same I think. Hiccup got into a sick and cool and based collage with mostly everybody else probably too but like Tuff kinda flunks out eventually and maybe Snot too (they were roommates) (bisexually, yes). Ruff drops out, she maybe could’ve kept going but she’s doing soooo bad mentally chat . It’s not good <3 I love when. One twin’s life gets better and the other’s plummets but they’re so “package deal” brained that the idea of them becoming distant in any way is really fucking with both of them. But basickahlee Tuff n Snotlout start unofficially dating but it’s like weird and secret bc Snotlout is like still working things out in his brain and stuff and also Tuffnut is scared of his sister finding out in case she tries to push a “well share him!” thing that she’s done before. Her polyamorous swag vs his scared-of-her virgin aura! Astrid and Hiccup r dating fucking obviously but also they’re learning that actually you do need to like work on a relationship to maintain it, both of them are very busy ppl so like . “You never have time for me when I miss you” thing happening both ways but aLSOO Astrid is sooo bad at talking abt it. This is an unrelated fact but Snotlout has a knife collection and sews a lot of patches. Uhhh um uhh fishlegs is like . Idk I think he’s aroace but I’m flexible with it I think maybe he’s also kinda cupio wif if. I think at some point Ruffnut decides to make a bad decision and get with him but it’s ok she accidentally falls in love with him (BAD. DOOM DIMENSION. WATCH THIS BPD SPIRAL SOOOO HARD) but guysss it’s ok he’s super niceys and patient and direct and I think that eventually they would have a really based and epic qpr.. but also sometimes it drives Ruff bonkers bc it looks normal to outsiders and she’s scared of looking like a tied down wifey so she gets Extra Weird (and perhaps freakkkyy) (sexual) with him in public . Or just goes off and does something unhealthy or impulsive and comes back like “ok I’m normal now” I LOVE HER. Grips the armrests of my chair. I love her..

Anyway dagur exists and his story is p much the same. Heather also real, she and Astrid dated for a short while just before collage then Heather straight up went missing n messy breakup and all that blah blah blah. She’s fine tho guys don’t worry (<- plotting evily) um and alsooo Gustav real! He would be in highschool but he doesn’t ever go in and his family doesn’t rllyyy care, he lingers around Snotlout (and subsequently tuffnut) or dagur most of the time. Astrid tries to be a mother figure to him, it doesn’t work, he’s scared of her. He kind of subconsciously sees Ruff as a mother figure? Bc she ignores and neglects him, sometimes she’s mean to him, reminds him of his real family. I think ruff hates him bc he reminds her a lot of her when she was younger (tramgender) and also bc he clearly wants her attention in a “you’re like my mom” way (although again it’s subconscious for him) and she hatesssss thatttt.

Also Gus (pronounced Goose) is probably trans in some way but he doesn’t have that figured out yet so neither do I rlly, so dont worry abt it just yet ok bye

[witch-ren]

Finally, I'm determined enough to post this AU here.

Co-author: @i-havent-the-balls

Warning: gambling, drug and alcohol addictions mentioned, as well as self harm, but NOT graphically described.

Mouthwashing: commune AU

The setting stays the same: something similar to retrofuturism, people are actively travelling in space. Curly used to work in Pony Express, but then they went bankrupt, crash happened and Curly was severely burned.

But he had completely another crew. He also had friends and fiance. After getting back to Earth (which happened much earlier), Grant was abandoned by his friends and — a bit later — by his fiance. Grant doesn't blame them, but he's deeply saddened and devastated.

And he starts a resocialization group.

The group is unofficial, and all the meetings are happening in a local anti cafe. Grant is taken there by his caretaker, because he couldn't afford leg prosthetics and uses a wheelchair. He usually dresses up in dark colors, sometimes going for a total black outfit, and covers his legs with a dark blanket. It also warms him up, since everything starts in March.

Daisuke is a gambling addict. He's usually wearing cool tones and lets his horny/erotic side be shown a bit. He also has longer hair at the start, with severely bleached ends. He lost a lot of money at a casino and, realizing that, decided to drop gambling. However, he lacks social interactions now — and this is the reason why he's the part of this group.

Anya was raped by one of professors at her university. She's studying online and then brings her works to the university (A/N: system based on my own experience), and this is when and where everything happened. Anya spent a lot of money on emergency contraception and then — on her advocate. This almost made her into depression, but Anya decided to overcome herself — or, at least, try to do so. During group meetings and library visits she's wearing sweaters, blouses, midi or maxi skirts.

Swansea is an alcoholic. He signed up to the group shortly after an argument with his wife. He had to move to his friend's house, but he hopes to reunite with his wife, because he still loves her and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. Swansea's wardrobe in this AU is pretty basic: cool desaturated tones, polo shirts, a few button downs, simple jeans or sweatpants and of course his sneakers.

Jimmy is a) homeless and b) drug addict. In chronological order. At some point parents kicked young Jimmy out of their house, Jimmy started making music to have some money, but tried weed once and eventually became addicted to heavier things. At the start of the story he lives in a shelter and tries to quit drugs. At group meetings he wears long sleeved shirts under T-shirts, or hoodies with fingerless gloves, all of that to hide self harm scars. In this AU he also experiments with his hair and has his left eyebrow pierced.

Back to the plot!

After several meetings, in April, Grant encounters lack of money, which means he can't pay for his caretaker. He accidentally mentions that, and Anya, who has a car and a driving license, volunteers to drive him home and help him with house chores. Grant's house turned out to be a bit bigger than she thought. Anya fried some chicken nuggets for Grant, as he asked, helped him with shower and going to bed, loaded his dishwasher and fell asleep on the coach in the living room.

The next morning, thanks to Anya, Daisuke joined them. He helped Anya with vacuuming and washing the floors, then shopped for groceries, did the laundry and cooked some food. Grant invited Anya and Daisuke to live at his house, and they agreed.

During the next meeting Jimmy says that his shelter is about to be liquidated due to bankruptcy. Grant tells him that he will search for other shelters, but Jimmy leaves the meeting and overdoses on drugs. Swansea finds him and calls ambulance. When Jimmy was discharged from the hospital, Grant invited him to move to his house. Jimmy hesitated, but agreed.

Turns out that they don't need to meet at a certain place to be together. Grant invited Swansea... and noticed how his house became a bit more home.

Home where he can feel loved and accepted. Just like everyone around him. Of course, these people are different, but they slowly get along with each other. And Grant will do his best as a leader to support them too.

Next post: coming soon.

[icedteaandoldlace]

🥑🥤❄️🧩🧃 for the writers game >:3

🥑 ⇢ You accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

All I know is it WON'T be @kittehexpress. She's already made it abundantly clear she will hide bodies for no one! 😂

🥤 ⇢ Recommend an author or fanfic you love

I know I recommend @orangesunsets12's Avalanche a lot...but I'm gonna do it again. It really is one of the best fics ever. It's just...it's got everything. It's fantastic. I love it.

❄️ ⇢ What's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

Team Citizen Charlie's Angels AU. I have something in the works that kiiiiiiiiiind of fits that vibe, but not quite. Also, anything Team Citizen related with Linda as a member. I think they'd all work great together, and I'd love to see it happen. I'd also really love an AU that's mostly canon compliant and set in a middle/later season, but Ronnie's been alive and part of the Team Flash Family the whole time. I hadn't really given any thought to who I would want to read these kinds of fics by, but the first person to come to my mind is @kitkatt0430, who has a good handle on everyone's personalities and a really enjoyable writing style (I'm not dropping hints here, just making a statement—don't feel pressured to do anything about it 😅).

🧩 ⇢ What will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Not counting the things I won't click into in the first place here, no paragraph breaks is a big one. Death-panic-midnight writing is another. Y'know, when everything is SO DRAMATIC!!!! so early into a fic. Overuse of epithets and dramatic speech signifiers, or someone bursting into tears with no build up to it, so instead of feeling the emotions™️ with the characters, you're just overwhelmed because So Much Is Happening Right Now, and you don't even know what room everyone's in, or why character A is suddenly "roaring" at character B for what sounded like a reasonable question. Like, ease me into it or have the central character feel as bewildered as I do about what in heck is going on here.

🧃 ⇢ Share some personal lore you never posted about before

So when I was little (maybe 4 or 5), my family went out to a fancy restaurant, or at least what I considered to be fancy at the time. I don't remember the event that preceded it, but considering we were in a different town and with a big group of people from church, it was probably either a revival or choir tour (or, come to think of it, that might've been the night we saw the Gaithers in concert). It was a fun night out for the adults, but for us kids, it was tedious (the food was good, though, when it finally came out).

At some point, my older brother started entertaining himself with what little resources he had at the table. He got some paper, which might have been napkins or might have been a kids' menu, and folded it into a shape resembling a paper airplane, and poured some pepper into the groove down the middle. After getting me to look his way, he blew through his paper creation and sent pepper flying—right into my eyes.

He realized a split second too late that he'd fucked up when I started screaming and crying, getting everyone's attention at the table, and probably the whole restaurant. In the back of my mind—the part that wasn't overwhelmed by how badly my eyes stung—I was a little worried that my mom would be mad because I was being loud in a restaurant, and I would have to explain what happened. But of course, when you're screaming because you have pepper in your eyes and you can't even open them for how bad it hurts, it's obvious to everyone around you that something is wrong.

My mom very quickly led me into the bathroom, where she took me to the sink and started flushing the pepper out of my eyes, and it was the biggest relief when the pain started to fade and I could stand to open my eyes again. Everything was a little blurry at first, but that issue resolved itself soon enough.

My brother had to apologize, which he did profusely, because he didn't know that blowing pepper in my face was gonna do that, and my dad chewed him out, told him that he could have blinded me, and made him walk around with his eyes closed for a little while after we got home so he would "know what it's like to be blind" (not really the most accurate thing, but he made his point).

[dylanlynch23]

I Drove $1.8 Million in a Prius on a Random Thursday

Before "Do It for the Plot" Was Even a Thing

I was a courier for almost 10 years, which basically means I would take extremely random things from point A to point B, in my Prius. Sometimes I’d stay in Houston, sometimes I’d pick up in Houston and drive hours away to drop something off. I was “on call” whenever I wanted to be—if a job came up, dispatch would call and see who wanted it. The longer the run, the better the money, but if you turned down too many local jobs, you’d get bumped down the call list for the better ones. Fair enough. They had to deal with the customers, I mainly just dealt with the dispatchers.

I preferred working nights—fewer people on the road, fewer people to deal with—but most of our jobs came in during the day, so it was never not random. One day, I’d get a 2 a.m. call asking if I wanted to drive to Memphis. Another day, a 9 a.m. call asking if I wanted to go to Wichita. I never knew what I’d be doing the next week, day, or hour. I loved that.

My dispatcher, Joe, was basically my best friend. He made the job fun. One morning, I was almost done with my local runs when he called me.

“Dude, do you wanna go to Beaumont?”

“Joe, nobody wants to go to Beaumont. How much is it worth to them?”

Obviously, I took the job. It was a 1.5-hour, 75-ish mile drive. I can’t remember how much I got paid—probably around $120—but then Joe said something that made me pay attention.

“Dude, I think someone fucked up.”

“What do you mean?” My first thought: Did Joe fuck up? Did someone call the wrong courier company? Am I about to transport something crazier than I’ve ever transported? My heart picked up speed.

For reference, here are just a few things I had transported before this:

· Some kind of helicopter part to Wichita.

· 25 pounds of human nerve tissue (more often than you’d think—we picked up all kinds of things no one wants to think about).

· An inflatable airplane slide for an airline. (They were almost never planned, so the best I could do was post “I just picked up an airplane slide, tucked all nice n’ neat in a way smaller box than. you’d expect… Who wants to party?!)

· Cadavers. (Many side stories there.)

· Eyeballs. (Eye banks are a thing. Now you know.)

· A live kidney for a transplant. Twice. (You don’t want the side story on that one.)

· A Suburban wrapped in NFL Network graphics, towing an oversized football, all the way to Denver. (That was literally my first job. Joe hooked the homie up.)

So when he said, “I think someone fucked up,” my curiosity was at full tilt boogie.

“The job is taking 100 pounds of platinum to a chemical plant in Beaumont. I think they were supposed to call for an armored car service or something… but they called us… So fuck it, ya want it?”

“Ha! Sure. Have you looked up how much 100 pounds of platinum is worth yet?” I was driving, so I couldn’t Google it.

Joe started typing. “How many ounces in a pound?”

“Sixteen.”

His immediate response was, “HOLY FUCK!”

“What?!”

“It’s over $1,000 per ounce.” His voice had gone up an octave.

“So how much is 100 pounds?”

A longer pause. Then, “Dude… that’s $1.7 million… $1,786,322, is what it came out to.”

Without missing a beat, I said, “That sounds like $1.8 million to me.” I started laughing. Because WHAT DO YOU MEAN…?

I drove straight to the airport to pick up. In cargo, a forklift guy loaded two nondescript, 50-pound barrels into the back of my Prius. I texted Joe to confirm the pickup, then called him as I pulled onto the freeway.

“The eagle has landed.”

Joe exhaled. “Man, what if this isn’t an accident? What if it’s some elaborate Ocean’s 11 shit?”

“…What the fuck?”

“I’m just saying—what if they ‘accidentally’ called us instead of an armored car, because instead of an armored truck transporting $1.8 million worth of platinum, it’s just some clueless chick with purple hair in a Prius?” He lowered his voice like someone might hear him. “What if you’re in a heist and don’t know your role yet?”

“BITCH, DON’T TELL ME THAT!!!” I was laughing, but also not laughing.

Joe had gotten in my head. What if this is a setup? What if I’m about to be ambushed? Well, I know I don’t wanna be in the car if/when that happens. At this point, I was starving anyway, so I exited 59 to find food (yes, by George Bush Intercontinental Airport, thank you for asking). I stopped at a taqueria in a nearly empty strip mall, sat by a window, and ate migas soaked in queso while watching my 2012 Prius-C, now worth almost $2 million, sit in the parking lot.

I ran through a mental list of people I knew who could make me disappear to Costa Rica. Unfortunately, they were all dead or in jail. Not saying I’d actually do it, but it was a fun thought.

Once I finished eating (and my secret moment of plotting international theft), I grabbed a Mexican Coke for the road and kept driving.

The chemical plant was deep in Beaumont, past miles of industrial wasteland. Gravel roads. Surveillance signs. A possible drone. It was all very top secret government conspiracy energy. I called the customer: “Hey, I’m here, but this place is huge, and I don’t want to end up somewhere I shouldn’t be.”

He told me where to meet him—at an intersection of two dirt roads, maybe 50 feet from a railroad track. When we got out of our cars, he signed the paperwork, then chuckled as I opened my hatchback.

“Did they tell you what this was?”

I laughed. “Yeah. If I had better friends, I’d be in Costa Rica right now.”

He laughed. I laughed. And then I watched my $1.8 million drive off into the sunset.

Just kidding. It was 2 p.m., and I was on the Texas/Louisiana state line. No way was I sticking around in that oppressive heat. Even when a breeze comes, it just feels like a Mastiff is breathing on you, which almost makes it worse. I had no interest in finding out firsthand whether weed mattered to a chemical company’s security search. That’s not the plot twist I wanted.

Instead, I drove to Port Arthur to see the replica of Janis Joplin’s painted Porsche. Because my cousin wasn’t at his alligator sanctuary.

My pics weren't great, but they're mine.

[twittercomfrnklin2001-blog]

A Bucket of Blood

“Ring rubber bells! Beat cotton gongs! Strike silken cymbals!” Shooting in five days with next to no budget, Roger Corman made a better comedy horror film than many big-budget production companies have made in months. For a rush job, his A BUCKET OF BLOOD (1959, Shudder, Prime, Tubi) has an amazingly consistent tone and point of view. He and screenwriter Charles B. Griffith borrowed plot elements from MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM (1933) and threw in their observations of the California Beat scene to create a film that mocks artistic pretension while also taking on the generations of wannabes who think they can win the prize without any discernible effort. If you made it today, you’d have to create a cameo for one of the Kardashians.

Walter Paisley (Dick Miller) is a busboy at The Yellow Door, a Beat hangout. He dreams of becoming an artist like his beloved Carla (Barboura Morris). When he accidentally kills his landlady’s cat, he covers the body in clay and passes it off as a sculpture. And he doesn’t impress just the pseudo-artists whose coffee cups he collects. He also has big-time art dealers and critics falling all over themselves. To maintain his pose, he has to start killing people, creating a series of murderous abstracts.

Corman has called Miller “the best actor in Hollywood.” His Paisley seems a little overstated at first. If he slouched any more in his first scene, he’d be dragging his chin on the floor. But he finds a style for the performance that fits Griffith’s screenplay. He’s seriously goofy. When he tries to create a sculpture based on Morris’ photo, he throws clay at the thing while shouting, “Make a nose!” Corman, who knew how to pace a horror film shot on a slender budget, also turns out to have great comic timing. After one murder (of future game-show host Bert Convy), Walter stashes the body on the kitchen ceiling, and as his landlady barges in, an arm drops down at just the right time. After she leaves, the dripping blood accelerates at the perfect pace to make Walter’s soliloquy screamingly funny. Corman and Miller also pull off the incredible feat of keeping things buoyant even when Walter starts killing people intentionally. The shots of him grimacing seriously as he wrings a neck or saws off a head are beyond silly. Corman also gets good work from his supporting cast — the beatific Morris, Anthony Carbone as Miller’s corrupt boss, Julian Burton, who seems to be channeling Laird Cregar as a Beat poet, and Ed Nelson, who has great line readings as an undercover cop. Cinematographer Jacques R. Marquette captures some great nightmarish shots of Venice, CA, at night. Jazz great Fred Katz did the score.

[vyrim]

Replayed through Dogma 2 and only really found out that I was missing some side quests. I'd give it a solid "ok" and that I wish I could love it but it really sucks.

The setup is good and the combat is good, but as I progressed through the game it felt like alot of decoration without substance. Its like a ball of dough thats been put in the oven for too little time, so you have this really good looking exterior, but the moment you take a bite its still an unpleasant ball of goo in the center. Which sucks because the idea of going through all these quests to get your throne back is a really good foundation, but the moment you hit the part where youre supposed to head to Batahl it just starts violently falling apart.

-You start really feeling the weight of the tedium put in to the game, the majority of side quests are just point a to point b fetch nonsense which get worse the moment the areas become far less accessible to reach in decent time. This is only made worse by the fact that most of the world is very much just empty, bloated with enemy spawns to give the illusion that youre making good use of your time with all the traveling youre doing.

-Pawns went from silly to downright insufferable, having replaced their "wolves ill like fire lines" with either commenting about your party being full of women only or being ridiculously passive aggressive to other pawns and the player for trying to do anything. Its a real curling of the monkey paw's finger scenario where I wish they'd go back to inane combat tips rather than whining at me about pressing the sprint button for a couple seconds.

-The writing is still absolutely garbage save for the intro premise. Characters appear and vanish from the plot at the drop of a hat, the merc you bump into in Batahl and later saves your from being scapegoated shows up at the end of pre post game to ask for this dramatic duel when, in reality, he has shown up only three times total in the game. Worse still is that all the buildup from gathering evidence, gaining support to best the queen is wasted on a "months have past after your major battle" incident that leads to post game. All your work is thrown away by a twist that ultimately removes your world from the dogma cycle, making it a world without you in it. -Post game also sets itself up to be this exciting race against time where you get end game materials to make yourself as strong as possible. Problem is, by the time you've explored and fought the new, harder variations of enemies, all the fighting is already done. Unless you plan on going to ng+ you have already likely done everything the game has to offer, a problem since most of that completion occurs before you even reach post game. Not to mention that the trigger for forcing you into ending the game, which forces you to ng+ btw, looks similar to the other bosses, meaning you can end up like me and accidentally beat the game. Just like its predecessor there was alot of potential for this game, and while I enjoyed pieces of it enough to not call it a waste of time, they couldnt make up for the whole being an undercooked, halfbaked disappointment. I will say its definitely better than 1, but its one of those games im probably never picking up again.

Also I pray for anyone looking to 100% this game, god help you in your struggle cause its gonna suck.

[constantfragmentation]

Agreed.

Do I believe Vander blames himself, that he wronged Silco? Yes, I do. But he really doesn't do much beyond extended a weak olive branch to a trusted friend that he just tried to kill. It wasn't a fight that got out of hand, he tried to kill him.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure as hell not going to seek my attempted murderer out afterwards to 'reconcile'. Yeah, no. Silco isn't going to the their special place in the mines, the Drop or anywhere else in FEAR he may run into his attacker and die the next time.

Let's also not forget, the Felica reason is really stupid. He lost his head? The writing is so weak here. Silco and Vander's break seemed more profound than an accidental death of a mutual friend. People get hurt and die in revolts. They had to know there would be casualties or why bother with revolting against Enforcers, who are heavily armed?

Also, if we use a vague timeline between the Day of Ash, Silco recovering from extensive injuries mentally, emotionally and physically, to the point in Arcane S1E1, WHERE... Vander and Benzo make the comment of 'there are worse things than Enforcers out there" meaning Silco and immediately painting him as the big baddie in the first episode.

So, by the age of the kids supposedly on the Day of Ash and then in Ep1, Vander had YEARS to try and contact Silco. They lived in the Underground, know the same people. There's not exactly an infinite places to stay hidden. Vander and Benzo clearly know Silco is operating in the Undercity.

You can't tell me in all those YEARS, Vander couldn't have made the effort to actually contact Silco and clear shit up. He chose not to and continued painting his 'brother' as a bad guy. For someone who 'never forgave himself', he sure didn't make an effort to find his brother. His effort was the weakest ever.

Even his "I never forgave myself" is hollow. No, buddy, you should have been begging your brother's forgiveness for what you did to him. It's this pathetic attempt of Vander's is what I find insulting. We're supposed to go, "oh look he was sorry , if only Silco KNEW!". But it doesn't address the work needed to regain a person's trust and forgiveness.

Vander didn't put in the effort to deserve Silco's forgiveness. End of story.

The mutliverse episode just felt like a slap in the face in this respect. Silco's personality completely changes which makes ZERO sense. The young Silco and Timeline Silco in S2 don't make any sense compared the characterization of Silco in all of S1.

Young Silco HAD to have traits that build into what makes S1 Older Silco. The drowning isn't going to make those traits magically appear. It was always about the cause. Even if Vander apologized, his handling of the Underground and working with Enforcers is what pits Silco against him. THAT is the betrayal.

I don't think Vander's letter would have done much if we're going off S1 Silco explanation of the drowning and aftermath. Silco tried to see if he could get back the 'old Vander' but also knew it might not happen and had Plan B in the wings.

" I let a weak man die".

Silco decided that the cause was still the most important thing to him and learned not to trust anyone so willingly and blindly.

The Felicia angle is so weak. There is no build-up to this magical trio of friends. Silco doesn't seem to know her kids or vice versa. The kids seems to see Silco as an enemy most likely due to Vander and Benzo.

If Silco was a true friend, why doesn't he know the kids or vice versa? You'd think due to their age prior to the bridge, Silco would be a part of their lives and not just Vander?

S2 was such a disappointing mess. If they really wanted to explore these relationships, then they should have laid some of the groundwork in S1 but didn't. The fact it was dealt with in such a sloppy manner and expected fans to love it? That's what bugs me.

And the blatant character assassination of SO many characters in order to make their plot work.

All of S2 was poorly executed. Period.

y'all. y'all know the letter wasn't the apology right. it was the olive branch. "you know where to find me" was an invitation. he couldn't apologize in a letter. he wanted silco to meet him. yeah it was a shit apology. because it wasn't one. my word.

[outatimes]

ABOUT.

Name: Martin Seamus McFly A.K.A.: Marty, Calvin Klein, Clint Eastwood, Michael Corleone Canonpoint: Defaults to a few years after Back to the Future: The Game unless otherwise plotted, but happy to explore other timelines and AUs

Age: Early twenties by default. Canon age has him at 17 for the original film trilogy and 18 for Back to the Future: The Game Birthday: 12th of June Hometown: Hill Valley, California Gender: Cis male Sexuality: Bisexual

Species: Human Eye colour: Blue Hair: Brown Height: 163 cm (5'4") Weight: 61 kg (~135 lbs)

Education: Current music major, high school graduate Occupation: College student, part-time music teacher (guitar for beginners), part-time time-travelling archivist

Wiki link: Here Brief Info:

Marty McFly's always had big dreams-- becoming a rock star had been the biggest of them. And though he'd originally been a product of the most pathetic family in existence, Marty's brand of confidence, charm, and all-around "I have to succeed or I'll lose it" mentality had him changing that with his own two hands. Literally. Marty was seventeen when he first went back in time, albeit accidentally. A disaster in the past nearly wiped him out of existence, but Marty not only fixed it-- he also used it to make his life in the present better. Time travel thus became a nifty little fix to help the people he cared about most, and considering the fact that circle of folks isn't big at all (Marty is by and large a "loser", and he knows it more than anyone), it's at least a cause that won't kill him. At least not intentionally. Countless shenanigans through time have made Marty crafty, quick-thinking, and light on his feet. Even in times of confusion, he picks himself up easily, ready to face the task at hand with determination. He's friendly even if he isn't necessarily popular, and his inherent kindness makes it easy for him to bond with most anyone he decides he wants to get to know. In his twenties, Marty dropped his dream of becoming a rock star, but this was only because a nobler cause had appeared in its place. While working on getting his music major, Marty's become not only a part-time music teacher, but also a time-travelling archivist and, if the time calls for it, a "hero". Marty's goal is two-fold, consisting of a) documenting the development of the world and humanity to compile in an ever-growing database; and b) making sure that major events in history either occur or are prevented, depending on their nature. Most folks might find juggling all these things tough, but time travel makes it easy. And, sure, Marty might not know his real age at this point, but what does it matter? His dreams have changed from something personal to something bigger, and while he's never been much of a scientist in the brains department, he more than makes up for it in his awesome curiosity. Once upon a time, Marty was called a "good for nothing slacker". But considering Marty changed his whole past, he's more than certain he can change the present and the future to be better for everyone, too.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Previous anon discussing the depth and lore here!

Read your response and I gotta say I still don’t completely agree, but I see where you’re coming from. Just wanna clarify that I do think Obey Me is one of the better otomes imo, but I just don’t feel like all decisions (ie facial expressions, lines) were exactly made with as much thought as you express (don’t get me wrong tho, I’m not saying the devs don’t deserve any credit or praise for decisions or writing). The best way I can explain it is when a teacher is analyzing a blue curtain in a film as “expressing sadness” and then the director saying he just liked the color blue— that’s kinda how I see the fandom’s analysis to the Obey Me plot. I do agree that it’s important to pay attention to details, but personally with *some* things, it feels like an over analysis. But of course that’s just me (and i enjoy reading it anyways lmao)!! TLDR; story is great, but it could be better lol. ANYWAYS sorry for rambling so much, we can agree to disagree on some things </3 still love you

Oh yeah definitely! Sometimes a blue curtain is a blue curtain. God, I'm not saying 0M! 's got some amazing depth or whatever😂😂😂 and I'll definitely be the first person to admit that I overanalyse things ( *cough*mammon's panic attack in the cupboard*cough*im so sorry michael i was just playing around and having fun i didn't mean to make people hate you before you even appeared*cough*) but it's also got more depth than people give it credit for

And while I don't think there's some deep analysis or reason behind the lines & expressions, you also don't just put lines or expressions in yknow?

(l think the only time you can get accidental expressions is in live action - where someone isn't meticulously planning out every line of a person's face. Like obviously in cartoons there'll be a lot of times where the fandom overanlyses an expression but at the same time even if the fandom is digging too deep that expression was a deliberate choice on the creators' parts)

At least in my experience you don't - if a character changes their facial expression between one sentence to another because they're talking to a character they're close with vs one they're not (eg: asmo in the s2 example I gave in the previous post when he spoke to Solomon vs Diavolo) then someone made a deliberate decision to make that expression change

Like if a line or expression is there it's because the devs added it, which means at least some small amount of thought went into its placement. Obviously not every line or expression has a deeper meaning but you can usually tell which ones do by whether or not they stand out compared to what the character will normally say/do or compared to what the character is currently saying and if there's a sudden shift in their expression triggered by a shift in the scene (eg: who they're talking to/ who arrives in or leaves the room etc)

Eg 1 : These 3 screenshots follow each other and are (obviously) about the same topic

Talking to Diavolo

Vs

Talking to Solomon

Eg 2: Usually when Mammon calls Luke a Chihuahua

If he's teasing/deliberately saying it to be an asshole, he's smiling:

If not, his expression usually fits what he's feeling/saying,

when casual:

when angry:

when exasperated:

But this is his expression after Luke interrupts their serious yet secret discussion with Simeon, where up to this point Mammon was angry, worried & upset:

Specially after going through so many "high"/"large" emotions, he instantly becomes uncharacteristically blank/stoic when Luke barges in

Eg 3 :

After MC commands 6 of the brothers in one swoop and feels no adverse effects while Solomon & Diavolo know that their magic is going out of control and destroying things. Solomon asks about how they feel after controlling the brothers for the first time and is his usual smiling self. When MC leaves though his expression drops. And this is significant because

a.) We rarely get to see the characters' expressions after MC leaves

b.) Solomon's always so smiley that any change is very noticeable

c.) There's no dialogue box that appears and usually a character is not kept on screen for that extra second like that since they're either immediately switched with another character or the scene ends and the screen turns black

Eg 4 :

There's also expressions/dialogue that's repeated when a character is feeling the same emotion

a.) Lucifer goes "..." when he's worried (eg: when Mammon runs away from home, when Mammon starts acting upset/distant after being forced to act like an angel - both in devilgrams)

b.) Mammon goes "..." when he's truly upset (eg: when MC's day to leave draws closer, when MC kisses Lucifer - both in the main story)

So yeah, not every line/expression has some deeper meaning but there are lots of moments like this ^ where it can't be anything but a deliberate placement on the devs part and that's what I was talking about in the previous ask

But yeah at the end of the day to each their own and I'm more than happy to agree to disagree I just needed a place to talk about those ^ examples with screenshots because they're some of my favourite moments in OM! writing wise

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Scar anon again I'm so sorry for sending consecutive asks but mashima really made the coolest dude + team ever (laxus n the raijinshuu in case it wasn't obvious) and then refused to elaborate like???good sir I would have paid for a full series of Them?? The raijinshuu are so criminally underutilised like I want to know their backstories!! I want to know how they came to join fairy tail!!! I start frothing at the mouth everytime I think about how mashima did the raijinshuu so dirty esp during the Tartarus arc ;- ; anyways sorry for the rant it's like 4 am and I'm having many Thoughts ok that's all from me for real this time 👍🏼 peace!

Everything after Tartarus is my villain origin story lol, not even joking. It's so messy.

Im not singing praises for everything before it ofc there was some jank from beginning to gmg but after tartarus' end the story and characterization really seemed to start coming apart at the seams and it really tanked everything even though at that stage mashima's art was 10/10. Which is a shame bcus tartarus really was a step in the right direction tonally but it just stopped right there. Copped a massive W then tossed it out for consecutive L's.

But yea man! Laxus and his squad! Laxus will forever be a sorta sore spot for me because of the dropped Dreyar family plot thread. The whole dealio with Ivan, Makarov sending Gajeel to spy on him, Laxus' lone adventures. It really could've culminated in either a small side arc or a B-plot of an already existing arc

(I personally would add it into Tenrou. Take Gajeel off tenrou to have him doin his spy gig, accidentally meet up with Laxus during that, plot details regarding the dreyar family happen all while the events of tenrou go down. The duo gets wind of Grimoire Heart heading to tenrou from Raven Tail due to all dark guilds sharing info. The duo head over to tenrou post haste and allowing gajeel to carry out the iconic gajevy moment where he saves her and justifying why Laxus ended up on Tenrou instead of just randomly showing up at the nick of time. But alas, details lol)

Thunder Legion's always been interesting to me though. I'll admit i dont think about them often but they are a pretty unique squad with varying personalities across the board that, on paper, you probs wouldn't expect em to be friends, let alone friends that close and loyal to one another.

Their magics are also a main point of interest because it really is so out there. Freed in essence has an upgraded solid script (plus those unused transformations the beast lookin one from fantasia and the more streamlined one from tenrou), Evergreen has the petrification magic (alongside her main magic with the energy attacks) and Bickslow? Soul manipulation? That can't be legal man. The magic system in FT is really underexplained and has a anything goes sorta deal (hello summoning gods) but man, i would've loved something there for these 3- power limits or drawbacks, how it works, whether its magic they naturally manifested or learned or both. Something along those lines.

And while i don't think a backstory would've been necessary for them per se, because at the end of the day they still are side characters so relevancy of the information learned throughout the story dictates how much is really needed to be known and this extends to learning about how they joined the guild as well (i personally think they all joined as adults tbh. I know a lotta peeps like to think of em as a teen friendship squad but i really prefer it they were an adult friend group. Having a friendship that strong forming in their 20s feels right to me), but i think even a one line or 2 regarding their pasts could come up in conversation for that information to come up naturally.

Like for eg. Freed gives off rich kid energy, so perhaps he's a runaway rich kid like herself but not from Fiore, that could be revealed in a convo with Lucy at some point to strike common ground between the two. Evergreen feels like an orphaned soul turned away (i personally think she gives off Jessie from pokemon vibes) by others a lot so why not a kinship with her and Juvia or even Mirajane? Bickslow the wild card could spout jokes about his acrobatic skills he learned from being a street performer, just something. They're not perfect concepts no, but they're little ways the characters could've been given even a scrap of info to help learn more about em.

Also uhhhh, it always threw me off that they weren't all S-class wizards so i think it would've been cooler if they were a whole squad of s class wizards who attempted a guild coup instead of just 1 s class and his homies. Aight byeeeeee.

[imreallyloveleee]

(bear with me, i’d rather channel my rage at a dumb tv show right now than all the things that actually matter)

thinking about how egregiously bad the b/a accidental pregnancy plotline is. and i think what is so galling about it is this: i’m actually willing to give the writers the benefit of the doubt that archie being written as a total narcissistic shithead is intentional. the *broader* audience is not intended to watch with heart eyes as betty confides her trauma to someone and gets a soliloquy about honoring his dead dad in response. they are intentionally modeling him after the shithead ‘vale archie, because it’s all going to come to a head at some point plot-wise, and they know we know this. 

BUT: they stop there, because they want to have it both ways. it can’t be made explicit that archie is behaving like an asshole, not until the very end of whatever muddled story it is that they’re telling, because it will turn off whatever miserable little section of their audience is actually invested in that relationship. so they turn betty into just enough of a blank slate that the b/a fans can fill in "nervous excitement” and “a girl in love” where everyone else sees “strange flat affect” and “behavior at odds with everything we’ve learned about this character for the past 6 years”. and they encourage them to do so by dropping little hints about “exploring the relationship” in their promos even though 99% of said exploration is (apparently) happening off-screen. 

they could have written this as a genuine relationship with real growth and emotions between betty and archie. they also could have written this as an explicitly plot-driven story that was clear about the character’s motivations and feelings, and derived suspense from making us wonder how and why the ‘vale elements are bleeding into ‘dale. instead, they tried (and failed) to split it down the middle, and they sacrificed betty’s character in the process.