#people to care about Porky

[ducktracy]

ltc is such a conflicting show because it is probably one of the ones where porky is brutally beaten the most but also is the cutest he has ever been in years. pearl of my dreams has SUCH cute porkies in it

TELLLLLLL ME ABOUT IT HAHA!! i feel the same way! LTC’s my favorite LT adaptation thats come out, i have such a deeply personal connection with it and it means more to me than words can articulate. i miss waking up at 5:30 in the morning to watch new batches drop and have my friends and coworkers who worked on it wair for my reactions. i love the show so so so dearly, i’m so glad it exists and it means the world to me. at the same time, i definitely have gotten a bit more critical of it as my knowledge of both the original shorts have strengthened AND the knowledge of the modern cartoon pipeline has strengthened! much of the LTC crew has migrated onto TPSS, which is WONDERFUL, if any of you guys are reading this you rock i love you. but that also means i’m able to have a more intimate look at how LTC was made since a lot of the same patterns and demands are on our show, because it’s the same cartoon pipeline! so, with that knowledge, i’m able to pick out “this is a side effect of the modern pipeline, the classics wouldn’t do this” etc and generally taken out of it a bit more. i’ve grown more critical not because i like the show less, but i just Know More now and my vision has broadened

WITH ALL THAT SAID! that has definitely allowed me to see that the Porky and Daffy shorts can get pretty repetitive and follow the same formula often of “Daffy makes Porky’s life miserable and Porky gets beat up a lot”. THANKFULLY(?), they’re still easily my favorite shorts of the entire bunch, they have their flaws but i still absolutely love them, and the repetition doesn’t bother me as much with them because the novelty of the pig and duck being together on-screen is good enough for me LOL. very easy to please i know. BUT YEAH, one of my biggest issues for sure is how poor Porky can never catch a break :( i’m glad that they seemed to try to rectify this though in recent batches! Crumb and Get It is one of my favorite shorts of the entire show, and you could describe that as “Porky makes Daffy’s life miserable by basically doing nothing”. Stained by Me is another very big favorite of mine since Porky gets to act a bit retaliatory towards Daffy which i love! i thought it was definitely one of the more faithful to the classics. (and i have to say, i bring up the classics the classics the classics a lot—i know these shorts aren’t trying to be 1 to 1 recreations of the classics. i just remember when these shorts were being marketed as the sort of second coming of the classics, and so that’s always stuck in my mind a bit/i have terminable Comparison disease which has thankfully been letting up, but it is stubborn here since these are the closest TO the classics in format and structure. so i realize me going “okay but it wasn’t like the classics” when they’re not exactly trying to be 100% like the classics is… ignorant? IUNNO! I KNOW MY HYPOCRISY LOL)

as always, i have past thoughts that reflect what i’m trying to say a bit more effectively, the second one especially relevant to this ask:

i think it comes down to just a sort of caricature and magnification of the original dynamics. i have many more thoughts that are refusing to come to me at this moment… BUT YES. even in spite of all that, i still love LTC and still love the Porkys and Daffys. i’ve noticed that the shorts with less dialogue (Wet Cement, Battle Stations, Duck Chocolate, Crumb and Get It) tend to be my favorites, since i think the overabundance of dialogue—and very OBVIOUS dialogue, like a character pointing to an object and saying “look, it’s [object]!” in these shorts is one of its biggest trappings. and all of the above—maybe with the exception of Duck Chocolate in some parts, though a lot of it is pantomime driven and wonderfully so—have the characters with comparatively subdued natures. not as much screaming or hysteria or madness

ALL OF THIS IS TO SAY, i am VERY excited for TDTEBU (gee what gave it away) because i’m excited to see how the demands of a longer format give way to more subtlety with the characters. when the film first released in Germany and i was spending every waking hour of the day trying to find any sort of reaction or information and frying my brain (and been doing the same this past week :’)), i found a podcast reviewing the film, and one person described it as a “Porky movie” centered on his growth which makes me extremely excited and hopeful that there’ll be more subtlety and sympathy for his character

AND YES, in spite of it all Porky is SO ADORABLE. i haven’t seen Pearl of My Dreams since it dropped, i really ought to again… i was just thinking the other day that i couldn’t remember if they made a “pearls before swine” joke in there or not, and if they didn’t then it would be highway robbery. more incentive to rewatch!!

[fatguarddog]

Disclaimer: This audio is intended for audiences of 18+ only 🔞 If you like my content, please consider giving me a tip

You've been gaining a lot of weight recently and don't know why, so you're back at the doctor's office to figure something out with him. The doctor is happy to inspect you and comment on your growing body, soon he reveals his true intentions for you as his work-in-progress piggy and gives you more instructions to follow 🐽

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Transcript under cut

Ahh, good to see you again. What seems to be the problem today? You’ve been putting on weight recently despite the diet I put you on? Hmm, yes I can see that… are you sure you haven’t been missing any days with the vitamins and shake supplements? Ok, how strange then. I think it’s best we examine you, maybe try a couple tests.

Stand here for me. Hmm, your belly really is looking quite porky, isn’t it? Your shirt doesn’t seem to cover it anymore. Just roll it up for me and I’ll take some measurements like I did last time so we can make a new plan. Yes, I see you have a few more inches round your middle now… you’re feeling awfully doughy too. Now let’s see your thiiighs… upper arms… your chest… that’s right… Well it seems the most of the weight has stuck to your belly, but you’ve definitely gained all over.

Let’s have you on the inspection table so I can try a few things. Strip down to your underwear and hop on up. Ah, no. Not lying down, on all fours please. There we go, that’s great, just let me get my gloves on. Mmm you really are looking like quite the plump piglet with your potbelly hanging down like that. Ah ah ah, don’t squirm at my touch, I’m merely inspecting you. Your jiggling belly, your rounded out ass, the growth in your chest… it’s all quite delightful. Better than I could have expected, really.

Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t enjoy this piggy. You’re practically frozen to the spot! And I can see the wet patch spreading in your pants. Just relax and let the doctor take care of you. Mmmm, yes that’s right, grind against my fingers as I admire your progress.

You’re much better as a pathetic little porker, aren’t you my piglet? Though we’ll have you growing into a proper piggy in no time, I’m sure. I could just tell when you came in here seeking weight loss advice that you’d be much happier giving in to your urges and gaining instead. I have a knack for seeing through people like that. And I know you’ve been enjoying my ‘diet plan,’ it seems you’ve been having more shakes per day than what the doctor ordered with just how pudgy you’re looking.

Mmm, keep grinding tubby. Let me rub some muscle relaxant cream into your plush rear. No, don’t worry about the needle, you won’t feel a thing. It’s just a fun little concoction to boost your appetite for me. See! Didn’t hurt a bit, did it? Good pig.

Alright, put your clothes back on. Hmm? Look, if you’re that desperate my eager little piglet, then you can get yourself off thinking about how fat I’m going to make you from here. But you need to listen to the doctor’s orders now.

It seems you’ve already been having two shakes on some days, so from now on I want you to do that every day, plus regular meals. Whatever your piggy heart desires. You must also be sure to keep taking your pills, they keep you nice and lazy after all. You’ll come in for a monthly check up so I can track your progress until I deem you ready for me to make a house call to you where I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fun together. Do you understand me? Good piggy.

[cursedonyx]

Sebastian and Ominis Headcanons

Sebastian

✧ Adores chocolate to the point it’s almost comical. His absolute favourite is Honeydukes Best Chocolate (which in my mind tastes like a Hotel Chocolat’s milk chocolate with just a hint of caramel and vanilla), but he’s happy with any chocolate except really dark chocolate. Anything above 80% and he’ll turn his nose up at it. Left to his own devices with free reign at night in Honeydukes, you’d find him in the morning in a sugar coma with his tummy almost bursting his shirt buttons, his face covered in chocolate stains and looking about as happy as it’s possible to look.

✧ He’s got rotten hay fever and may occasionally make use of the bubblehead charm when the pollen count’s high. He doesn’t care if people laugh and is happy to explain why – this led to a lot of students capable of using the charm imitating him if they have hay fever.

✧ Loves cats but adores dogs, particularly if they’re big and dopey, like Labradors or Great Danes. He’s not particularly fond of small, yappy dogs like Jack Russells, which is the complete opposite of his twin.

✧ He’s got an immune system like a tank and will shake off most colds and tummy bugs with relative ease, but when he gets poorly, he gets really poorly. Even so, he’ll try and pretend that nothing’s wrong, even when he’s white as a sheet and sweating, barely able to stand. Ominis has had to knock him out and levitate him to the Hospital Wing on more than one occasion to get him to accept help.

✧ On that note, he absolutely refuses any kind of help unless it’s on behalf of someone else. He’s happy to accept help when he’s searching for a cure for Anne, but if he’s struggling with an essay, confused about his feelings for someone, or just needs to process something, he won’t ask for help, and tries to play it off as him just having an off day.

✧ Sebastian thinks fart jokes are hilarious. The whoopee cushion was invented in the 1930s, and Sebastian was a menace with the damn thing. Think Leslie Neilsen bringing a fart machine to interviews.

✧ Sebastian is a proper summer baby and loves being outside in the sunshine. He loves the excuse to splash about in streams or go swimming, and has tried to teach Ominis how to swim. Sadly, Ominis isn’t keen on the idea as he can’t tell where anything is in the water.

✧ Sebastian’s temper is like a firecracker; quick to spark, quick to explode, and just as quick to go out. He doesn’t forgive easily, especially if the person who’s annoyed him has deliberately tried to hurt him or someone he loves, but he doesn’t tend to hold grudges. Unless it's serious, if he can’t get revenge in a week or two, he tends to move on from the idea though that doesn’t mean he won’t hate the person for a time.

✧ Sebastian’s opinions of people always start out neutral, and they can be swayed positively or negatively through a variety of factors. Lots of little positive things can be overshadowed by one huge negative, but it takes a lot more effort to change his negative opinion to a positive one.

✧ He eats anything and everything. He’s got a big appetite and tends to consume food at a rate that would shame a graphorn. If he didn’t have so much nervous energy, he’d probably end up a little porky.

✧ His boggart would be Anne’s corpse. If Anne is cured, or he has to spend any time in Azkaban, this changes to a dementor.

✧ His animagus form and patronus would be a fox without a doubt – his colouring would be browner than most foxes and mottled with darker ‘freckles’ all down his back and tail. His favourite part about being an animagus is having a tail.

Ominis

✧ Doesn’t like sweets, and particularly loathes chocolate, much to Sebastian’s horror. This is due to his upbringing and a particular trauma around his parents trying to cure his blindness then forcing him to eat chocolate as a ‘reward,’ no matter how much he didn’t want to, and he was shouted at until he ate it. Consuming something chocolatey will bring back those memories, so he avoids it where possible.

✧ He absolutely adores tiny summer strawberries though, and he will actively seek them out. They’re very hard for him to find by himself and he usually gets a bit down if he can’t find any, so if you go foraging and present him with a punnet, there’s a pretty strong chance he’ll fall in love with you.

✧ Has no allergies, but gets poorly relatively easily. If there’s a cold going about Hogwarts, you can bet that Ominis will catch it if he’s not patient zero. He’s like an illness magnet in that way. Similarly to Sebastian, he won’t complain about it unless he’s in a romantic relationship, then all he’ll do is whine because he knows his partner will make a big fuss of him and look after him the way his family never did. He’s a sucker for being pampered.

✧ Ominis has a bit of a sensitive tummy, and he tends to stick to foods he knows are safe. He’s happy to try new foods, but he prefers to try them in very small amounts to minimise the risk of upsetting his stomach.

✧ Ominis gets hilariously embarrassed around toilet humour, and for the most part pretends that people don’t go to the bathroom. If it comes up in conversation, he either won’t engage and pretend it’s not happening, or he’ll change the subject at the first opportunity.

✧ He’s a cat magnet, and even the most aloof or grumpy cats will be happy to curl up in his lap. They love finding Ominis during one of his naps, and unless he’s in his dorm or the Undercroft, he’ll wake up in a puddle of cats. He finds them very comforting.

✧ He adores snakes and longs to have one as a pet, but after an incident when he was seven involving a snake he made friends with that he called Daisy, and his brother Marvolo, he’s absolutely terrified of making friends with another one, just in case Marvolo does what he did again (Considering doing a very angsty and painful short fic of this idea, but it’s pretty unpleasant so I’m in two minds).

✧ Hates being cold, but suffers terribly in the heat. UK summers are horribly humid, and he can’t stand it. A dryer summer heat like the South of France is the only kind he can tolerate, and he’s grateful the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons, so at least he can still sleep in the summer. Otherwise, he will complain constantly about how hot it is.

✧ Ominis is a filthy gossip. Any kind of rumour and he’ll hear about it and spread it with relish, especially if it’s about someone that’s wronged him in the past. Even without this, he loves to gossip about absolutely anything, and those that know will often seek him out to ask if rumours are true. He wields this small power with satisfaction, especially as it means he’s able to field any rumours about his friends and turn attention to other things going about the castle.

✧ Ominis has a long memory and a fertile imagination. Though his patience for shenanigans is short, it’s unending when it comes to plotting revenge. If you wrong the Prince of Snakes, you better be on your guard for the rest of your life. He will not forget, and the punishment will always fit the crime. Unless of course he hates the person in question or is protecting his loved ones, then you can expect Ominis to go scorched earth in order to get revenge.

✧ Ominis’ boggart doesn’t have a physical form, but it takes on the sound of hissing snakes. To the casual observer, they’d think he was frightened of snakes, and Ominis is perfectly happy to let people think that. In actuality, it’s his family speaking to him in Parseltongue, reminding him of his worst experiences of home and threatening to take him away from his friends, forcing him to live with them and bow to their ways.

✧ Ominis has a healthy dose of fear of his parents, but he’s absolutely terrified of Marvolo. Marvolo bullied him relentlessly when they were young, and once Noctua went missing, it only got worse, and their parents never discouraged it, claiming it would help Ominis build character. Marvolo is the person Ominis nightmares about the most.

✧ Ominis’ patronus and animagus form is a serpent, but contrary to typical animagi/patronuses, which tend to mimic each other, Ominis’ patronus is an enormous snake, similar to an anaconda, while his animagus form is more similar to a ball python, pale gold in colour with darker scales that mimic his beauty marks.

Masterlist

[drgarrisonandpaul]

Rolando~

(( Minors DNI, slight NSFW ))

I haven't seen any x reader headcanons about this beautiful man yet, so I have decided to throw my hat in with some suggestions

(The picture is this video's thumbnail: https://youtu.be/2MuIZ9r64fE?si=0xGxufq_Zn7Z-Pla )

As a partner, it doesn't really matter if you met in human form, demon form, in Hell, on Earth, or whatever else: he liked you because you stood out a little bit. Something about you was interesting enough for him to bother you. His mechanism of romance comes off as harassment at first and, hell, it might just straight-up BE harassment. How you react to his attention is the key, but he wants to make you squirm and shiver a bit. Maybe lean away from him so he can lean it. He is, in all senses, a creep and a bastard

He seems like the eccentric type that hates to be ignored. If you act like his attention is normal or okay at first, it'll piss him off... but it'll also intrigue him to keep going

On a date, Rolando is surprisingly awkward, but only because he has no idea what to do with his hands. How does he sit? Why is he even here??

That tongue thing we saw is PERSISTENT in his relationships, you might as well make What's Your Fantasy by Ludacris his theme song because he WILL lick you from head-to-toe like a needy cat, just... much slimier

Not much is known about eels and their lives, their mating habits, etc. Every time we think we know something about them, we get blindsided by crazy shit like 'these 4 are actually the same species' or 'they only bang in the deep dark' and Rollo is no different. Every time is VASTLY different. Rough? Why not rougher. Why not so soft and slow that it leaves you breathless and unsatisfied. Why not Zoidberg?

He doesn't care for meeting your parents or getting married and he WILL leave you on read just to fuck with you. Mixed messages are his specialty in a relationship, you'll be love-bombed and then promptly not hear about him for the next 2 weeks

Most of his nicknames are a little mean, he has a degradation kink FOR SURE. The type to call you 'porky', 'mouse', 'scatterbrain', or something, mean it with his whole chest, and love you anyways

Avoidant attachment style. Probably in denial that 'love' is a thing he can feel. Will kill more people in the meantime while he figures out his emotions

I see him as a switch in the most confusing sense possible. I see everything he does as a little mysterious and without reason. Just for the fuck of it, just for the thrill. He'll happily start out as a dom, but as soon as you tilt that beautifully underbitten chin towards you and tell him you hate him, he has no idea what to do

It's been a while since I've written headcanons, please excuse my writing, I know it's not the best quality. But I do LOVE this character

[nanaten]

I'm sorry for not requesting a drawing with this space, but I just have to ask... what is the appeal of Clausten? I am not trying to be mean or anything, I legit am very curious.

I can kinda understand Nesscas, it's the result of fledgling mother fans from Smash going "these two would be cute together" (at least that's how I always took it, apologies if that seems rude), but Clausten feels kinda like... those same mother fans finding out about claus and ninten and going "gasp! leftover stripe boys" and mashing them together like... idk what a good term is for this.

Again; sorry for misusing this space, i kinda just want to understand this ship. Not dogging on you or others for enjoying it, just wanna understand it.

I suppose while I am here, I guess I could request a doodle of Lloyd. Maybe of him blabbing about Superman comic stuff to Ninten or what have you. Lloyd needs more appreciation.

Also sorry this may be a mess to read, it was just kinda stream of consciousness

Hi! No need to apologise, I think this is a very good question!

I understand that the ship, on a basic level, doesn’t really make much sense at all! It began as a crackship enjoyed by a small percentage of the mother community and slowly developed into what it is now— a ship with many enjoyers, but not many that know exactly why they enjoy it.

I want to preface this by saying, I do not speak for every person who enjoys Clausten. I am just one of many, and this is all my personal perspective. Thank you for enquiring about it, honestly, because I love speaking about them. So, here we go!

First and Foremost: It’s a crackship— so more than any other reason I can give, it’s just plain fun! These are two characters I love and adore with my whole heart, so it’s just fun to have them interact, and of course, it’s fun to view them as a potentially romantic pairing! Ninten is my favorite character of all time, and Claus is my favorite in Mother 3 specifically, so it’s like a personal wish fulfilment to draw them together.

It’s fun to not take strict canon all too seriously. I pull my silly guys from the source material and I mess around with them whichever way I desire B).

I definitely don’t think it’s entirely fair to view Clausten as, like, Nesscas leftovers either, lol. Ultimately these characters are all very different in terms of stories, how they’re written etc, and both ships have very different qualities that make them loveable in their own right! Liking ships like Clausten has alot to do with how you view these characters— What do you gather their personalities are, how compatible would they be, etc? And the way I characterize Ninten and Claus, atleast in my head, make them very compatible. (Ninten being adventurous, outgoing, snarky, and boyish, and Claus being similar— but more reserved, and more careful as a product of his experiences.)

And finally— I really think them as people— not my own view of their personalities, but judging based on canon events— that the two are very similar, and could find solice in their similar experiences. I think the characters are weirdly connected, in a way, for starters— Claus, if you think about it, is Porky’s second Giegue/Giygas. A new puppet, a new ace, a new strength that he takes away the humanity of.

Ninten, being directly related to Giegue, who I can imagine feels somewhat responsible for the corruption of Giegue alongside what comes after the events of Mother 1 , is also connected in some way to Porky, and then Claus. This is basically an extended way of me saying “Their stories are linked in the overarching tale that is the Mother series”.

Claus’s feelings towards Ninten would be complicated initially, or atleast I think so— for his inability to defeat Giegue weirdly, inadvertently caused a chain reaction that lead to the events of Mother 3. (Giegue lives —> Invades Eagleland —> Porky Gets corrupted —> Giegue is then defeated by Ness and Co by going to the past but Porky Escapes —> Porky goes to the future, Mother 3 time —> The Plot Of Mother 3 Happens You Get It). The two’s distant but important connection in the story of the games leads to some extremely interesting food for thought, or at least I think so. How would Claus view the situation? How would Ninten feel after finding out what happened to Claus? How would the two bond over this weird experienced they’re both tied in?

And that is made all the more interesting to me when possibly viewing it in a romantic lense, or atleast something that could become romantic. It’s complicated and messy and there’s so much history behind the two, it’s interesting to think not only about how they’d meet and how they’d feel about eachother, but how they would handle romantic feelings— how a relationship between two very troubled people could work and be okay, and help them mutually heal.

All this is to say, they’re tied in the story and I think putting the two in a romantic relationship is very interesting. Also, it’s just fun :’)

(This post is a TOTAL mess, it’s midnight and I should be sleeping, but I got too excited to write about them hahaha. Thank you so much for the question! Also, I’ll make my next post a big lloyd appreciation, I like to draw him. Thanks again! X))

[abybweisse]

Hello there, I find your theory about John Brown is a supernatural being in disguise is interesting me, because I don't believe that Undertaker will be the final antagonist but will face to face with Sebastian and Our!Ciel since his main goal is to restore the Phantomhive family and we still don't know who killed Rachel and Vincent, kidnapped the twins and burned their mansion. Also, in Season 1, John Brown was replaced with Ash/Angela who was a fallen angel and the one who cause the Phantomhve family's demise. If John Brown was indeed a supernatural being and was involved with the Phantonhive's death, I imagined him being a dangerous third party like how Ash/Angela became a very dangerous villain that made both demons which is Sebastian and reapers to join forces to stop the fallen angel. I don't know if the whole "snuff out the unclean, snuff out the unnecessary and snuff out the unwanted" will became canon, but let's just wait for another plot twist in thr climax.

Speaking of season 1, in the episode "His butler: Engaging the Servants", Finnian said that birds were his only friends, and since we probably get closer to Finny's past in the manga, could it be birds symbolizes his desire for freedom? Because I always heard this simile, " As free as a bird." What do you think of this?

Also, in the last episode of season 1, Sebastian said that his true form is unsighty, disgusting and repulsive. I personally think that he wasn't wrong that his true form is quite horrible for human eyes to see, i mean, having an eldritch like body with hundred of eyes is far from the word beautiful. Not to mention that Ash/Angela's reaction and how they were terrified implies that Sebastian can easily shred them in pieces which he actually did to that mad fallen angel (and also the cultist that killed R!Ciel in the manga)

(I'm completely aware that I often compared season 1 of the anime with the manga because some of them were nearly the same. Idk about season 2)

⚠️ long post ⚠️ and re-edited ❗️ ⚠️

Hello! Thanks for the asks!

John Brown as the biggest bad

I often compare John Brown (and Ash/Angela) to a Mother game character called Giygas, who is an extraterrestrial from a very distant world. In Mother, Giygas crash-lands on Earth and is cared for by George and Mary/Maria. I'm a little confused about the details, but they apparently go with Giygas to its home planet, where Mary/Maria stays. George steals technology from the alien race and returns to Earth, where he conducts more studies. George also somehow manages to pass alien abilities to his descendants. Fearing this technology will be used by Earthlings to destroy that alien race, Giygas is sent back to Earth to stop him. But by the time Giygas gets to Earth again, George has already died, and Giygas has gone kind of insane. Giygas decides to take revenge against humanity, particularly George's descendants, like Ninten. By the time you get to Mother 2 (EarthBound), Giygas is using all sorts of methods to control people, including this kid called Pokey Minch. Ness and his pals defeat Pokey and Giygas, but Pokey escapes, while Giygas is sort of... obliterated? In Mother 3, Pokey returns as King Porky. Though Giygas isn't seen anymore, some essence of evil left behind by Giygas still seems to influence King Porky. With help, Lucas manages to defeat King Porky (without killing him). Then Lucas still has to have a final showdown with his dead and reanimated older mirror twin brother, Claus.

George is one of the parallels to Undertaker, here, assuming he's Cedric, the paternal grandfather of the mirror twin brothers (real Ciel and our earl). Taking and researching technology from another race of creatures, passing abilities/traits onto his descendants. Does the technology come directly from reapers? I don't quite think so, at least not entirely. They keep mentioning their "superiors", and I suspect those are something truly superior to reapers, not simply reapers with higher authority. Angels, perhaps. That's what Ash/Angela is in s1, though apparently a fallen one. And both characters (John and Ash/Angela) have whips....

Perhaps the John Brown we have seen in the manga is one of these superiors? Possibly an angel of sorts.

An angel who has been sent to clean up this mess with Undertaker. I can imagine the superiors trying (at first) to take care of it themselves, not wanting the reapers to know whatever Undertaker has learned. But that's failed, and now active reapers are being pulled in to help.

And, in the process, John has made a contract with Queen Victoria, much like a demon might? The way he uses that puppet of Prince Albert suggests he's controlling the queen, and it might be a lot like the offer Sebastian originally offered to our earl (to make him believe his twin had returned). This makes Victoria the main parallel to King Porky. (I believe there's another one who specifically parallels Pokey Minch, before he returns as the self-proclaimed king.)

Perhaps John, like Ash/Angela, has a completely different side to him that we haven't seen just yet? Something polar opposite of what we've seen, so far. Something intense and crazed, much like Ash/Angela is. Much like Giygas becomes.

I seriously think that our earl (with help) must defeat John Brown as the "big bad", even more so than the queen, though she's probably the one who actually orders the attack, etc.

If the Mother game series parallels are close enough, John's (or the reaper superiors') main concern might be that Undertaker could make their roles obsolete. And that's kind of what Othello and Grelle discuss in ch149. And they haven't even discussed the possibility that this deserting reaper has been passing on reaper traits to human descendants. But they are already worried he might change the nature of life itself, making souls unnecessary. Making reapers unnecessary. It could destroy the entire system of the Afterlife. Much like Giygas' species fears humans stealing and using their own technology against them.

Finny and birds

Isn't there a scene in the manga that has Finny accidentally kill the first bird he tries to care for... or was that also just anime Finny? 🤔 Anyway, he definitely says he likes the outdoors and wide open spaces because of his previous confinement. It would make sense if he's also fond of anything else that symbolizes freedom, like the flight of birds. Makes it more poignant that there's so much caged bird imagery in his current situation at the orphanage... as well as the wren and myths/folklore associated with it.

Sebastian's demonic form

I quickly started to associate Sebastian with two characters in Mother 3: Boney, the loyal family dog who helps Lucas... and the Dark Dragon, the beast that follows your will... if you wake it up and give it your "heart". Lucas is the one to wake the Dark Dragon after his older mirror twin is "sacrificed".

We've actually seen glimpses of a form this demon can take, besides all the mouths and eyes, and besides the various animals (and furniture) it can conjure from itself. We see it reflected in a mirror on the cover art for ch88.

We also see it in a couple panels in ch137. The image on the left is not as well defined, and it might be as the demon is changing forms. The head of the one on the right looks particularly similar to the reflection on ch88's cover.

The Dark Dragon is a powerful creature that can be used for good or bad, depending on who wakes it back up. Lucas has a good heart, so the Dark Dragon does everything in its power to set things right again, after much upheaval. It cannot return the dead to life, just like Sebastian.

So... the Dark Dragon never goes up against Giygas... or even against King Porky. The biggest bads are defeated before Lucas even wakes the Dark Dragon. Giygas is defeated by prayer (of all things) in Mother 2. King Porky is captured inside an Absolute Safe Capsule, invented by Dr. Andonuts.

In Black Butler, we could see a break in that parallel, simply because our earl relies so heavily on Sebastian (and because Sebastian is already awake/under contract). However, we could also end up with our earl and Sebastian witnesses to John Brown and Queen Victoria being defeated by others who have been helping them.

One of Undertaker's other parallels in the Mother game series is Dr. Andonuts... but he's not the only Kuroshitsuji character to parallel the inventor: so is Sieglinde Sullivan. Dr. Andonuts is forced to work for King Porky, and his Fascinating Chimera technology is used/abused by King Porky's Pigmask Army, but he eventually manages to get revenge by keeping Porky alive but unable to cause anymore harm. We know Undertaker doesn't like the queen, so if he finds out she wants his Bizarre Dolls as "allies", he might confront her and John. Then we have Sieglinde, who is brought to England and introduced to the queen. Soon after, we find out the queen is sponsoring Sieglinde's new (mostly secret) projects... in a house and laboratory also provided by the queen. When Sieglinde figures out the queen is using her, much like her mother used her, she might also rise up against Victoria.

If we keep really close to the game, our earl and Sebastian (as Boney instead of the Dark Dragon role) might finally confront Queen Victoria and John Brown (and Double Charles?) just to watch as they are somehow defeated by Undertaker and/or Sieglinde. Extra points if it's Sieglinde using some contraption she invented while working for the queen.

Wouldn't it be wild if Sebastian isn't (directly) the one to defeat his master's main enemies... and then he has to apologize for failing the terms of the contract? Or maybe he covers his demon ass by helping in some roundabout way, so he can still claim the victory for his master? Either way, it could really decrease the sweetness of that revenge.

Sebastian might not even need the ability to shred John Brown. We shall see....

---

And I'm completely aware I often compare Black Butler to the Mother game series. 😆 S1 of the anime has some interesting AU parallels. For all of its off-the-rails qualities -- surprisingly -- so does s2. Heck, that joke OVA about making the anime even has a scene that parodies part of Dr. Andonuts' lab under King Porky's control.

Sorry for the long delay in responding. I hope you like the reply!

[milolunde]

can u list all the main guys and their roles in the tunes bc i only know daffy and bugs and lola kinda rly but no one else😞😞also is roger rabbit relevant at all to them

YES I CAN.

Bugs Bunny- THE Main Character. Young upstart that’s been the “clever funny snarky guy who always gets the upper hand and makes sure the other person feels like an idiot while he does” since the start. Has a gay charm about him that pisses people off when immediately when they enter proximity.

Daffy Duck- THE The Main Character… before Bugs. Was the one to get the upper hand with some hijinks and shenanigans and always win in the end, just without the “cool” edge. Until, of course, Bugs had to be the one to Always Win. This shifted him from a Silly Duck to a generally greedy jealous and spiteful person, especially when paired with Bugs. He’s recently returned to his role as The Silly Guy.

Lola Bunny- originally appearing in the first Space Jam as sex appeal I mean Bugs’ love interest. She could play basketball and didn’t like being called “doll” and that was it. I counted and she had about 10 lines and 3 scenes

In The Looney Tunes Show and Rabbit Run, she’s portrayed as a complete ditz. She’s stupid, airheaded, and lowkey a stalker to Bugs because she’s so unaware of things outside of herself. In Rabbit Run they toned down the stupid and stalker and just made her a ditz who wants to sell her perfume and I LOVE her.

In the second Space Jam she is a Strong Independent Woman… I truly can’t remember if she plays a role other than being a member of the team, but that’s because Space Jam 2 didn’t utilize their characters correctly. Though she’s not much more than a Strong Independent Woman, I super love her. She’s capable and strong… like, become an Amazonian Warrior capable and strong. Anointed by Wonder Woman herself. She also cares for her friends and cares for family and the love others share as she virtually throws away her life’s work to become a Warrior because she hears a dad pleading for her to help his kid… she’s also sporty. Like the first Space Jam, its core that she’s Sporty and Likes Basketball

Then she appears in one episode of Looniversity, the Tiny Toons spinoff Spinoff as a chef. And a surfer. And skate boarder. She’s the Everything-Woman and she makes it look incredibly easy because, for her, it is. She has a Dude Bro Chick voice which I lowkey don’t like, but she’s fun.

Over all, Lola was made to be Bugs Bunny’s Girlfriend, then got her own Thing in The Looney Tunes Show which developed further (and into a better character) in Rabbit Run… then they lost it because god forbid a woman be a ditz. Hey this became more about my opinion on Lola than about Lola but that’s because, in their attempts to make her not a shallow woman character they made her a shallow woman character

OKAY. Okay <3

Yosemite Sam- Rootin’ Tootin’ souther cowboy with anger issues and guns

Elmer Fudd- THE hunter and THE adversary of Bugs Bunny… though I always thought adversary wasn’t the right word, as it seems more like Bugs messes with Elmer for fun, not because he HAS to outsmart him to survive being hunted

Tasmanian “Taz” Devil- I’ve seen him majorly in Bugs Bunny cartoons and he doesn’t interest me that much so I’m not sure if he’s bigger in a different set of cartoons. He’s a tornado-spinning rampaging beast that can destroy anything in his path but isn’t very smart. Always outsmarted by Bugs but that’s usually solved with Taz eating whatever tomfoolery is set in front of him

Porky Pig- before Bugs Bunny and Elmer there was Daffy Duck and Porky. Typically the victim of Silly Duck Daffy’s silliness. Sometimes his partner in crime. In The Looney Tunes Show Porky is A Loser by trade and usually victim to Daffy being a bag of dicks, I was pleasantly surprised that is different from their other portrayals as a duo

Sylvester the Cat- sometimes a domestic cat, sometimes and alley cat, always chases tweety bird

Tweety Bird- yellow canary of suspicious gender. Has to outsmart Sylvester as a means of survival… but they have a Tom and Jerry relationship half the time where they’re super trying to kill each other but would be devastated if the other was actually gone

Granny- the sweet old lady who either owns Sylvester or Tweety or Both depending on the cartoon. Also the “sweet but tough” grandmother trope. In The Looney Tunes Show she and tweety fought the Germans at war in France

Wile E. Coyote- silent coyote who uses ACME products to try and catch the Road Runner on Route 66

Was also in some Bugs Bunny cartoons where he did speak. Was a self proclaimed genius (“Wile E. Coyote. Geeeenius.”) and inventor. I haven’t seen media outside of Bugs Bunny cartoons where he speaks other than using signs

Road Runner- says meep meep, is fast and blue, and doesn’t even have to outsmart Wile E. It’s in their unwritten-written rules that Wile E. is thwarted by his own incompetence

Marvin the Martian- funny little guy who wants to take over earth for mars

Foghorn Leghorn- so like he’s The Rooster on this farm and he wants to fuck all the chickens and has some crazy Hero Syndrome about it, putting the farm in danger to prop himself up what a virgin

Pepe Le Pew- he’s a skunk that harasses Penelope because he thinks she’s also a skunk. He smells bad and is also French. His whole thing is he’s a diehard swoon French romance man but Penelope Does Not Like Him also he fucking stinks; I haven’t seen media where this is different

Penelope Pussycat- gets harassed by Pepé Le Pew because she’s a black and white cat and he thinks she’s a skunk. Sometimes she gets to beat the shit out of him <3

There was a short they used to show in theaters before movies called Carrotblanca, a parody of Casa Blanca, where Penelope is Bugs’ ex-lover who finds him again by pure chance. Their relationship left Bugs an actual alcoholic and disturbed to the point of he heard a single note of the piano of a certain song he’ll flip out- the song is Penelope’s favorite… worth mentioning as we’ll that Daffy is there with him as he RELAPSES INTO ALCOHOLISM BECAUSE PENELOPE IS THERE and threatens to kick he out when she comes pleading to Bugs for help. She kicks his ass, so… Anyway, she and Bugs end up together again at the end of the short, kissing beneath a parachute and dancing in an empty airport … lot…

As for Rodger Rabbit.

No

That guy means nothing to the Looney Tunes, BUT the Looney Tunes DO mean something to Rodger. Who Framed Rodger Rabbit is (almost) entirely stand alone, referencing and parodying both WB and Disney cartoons and characters.

In the crazy ass Meta Verse Actor World of Looney Tunes, the closet relationship Rodger has to any of the Looney Tunes is that he might work on the same set sometimes, Jessica Rabbit might be a performer, and whatever the movie e Who Framed Rodger Rabbit means to the characters depending on if you view it as a movie where the characters played roles or as events that happened to the characters that is only a movie in real life…

[sirfrogsworth]

The new Chris Rock comedy special was *rough*.

His acts have been deteriorating for a while now. But this was just a train wreck. He refuses to evolve and adapt. But the biggest issue... it was just a bad performance.

When I was trying to learn how to do stand up, his comedy specials were like a masterclass. Even if you didn't care for the content, his writing and delivery were always polished and razor sharp. You could tell he worked his ass off to get his material as close to perfection as possible. Probably telling the same jokes over and over at small clubs for months before filming.

A stand up joke is typically a premise a punchline and a button. The premise is usually a compelling story or anecdote, the punchline is the subversion of expectations (aka the joke), and the button is how you transition to your next premise. It allows for laughter to die down without an awkward pause. And he was such a natural. He flowed from one to the other so effortlessly. He must have practiced constantly to get his performance that smooth while making it still sound spontaneous and authentic.

But this latest act was all over the place. His delivery was forced and awkward. His transition from premise to punchline to button felt like he kept stepping on rakes. In spots it almost seemed like he was debuting brand new material that he never tested on an audience before. And he completely ruined one of his jokes near the end. Just monumentally biffed it. By the time you are filming a special, your material should be muscle memory. Sure, it was live and mistakes can happen. But usually it is a fumbled word or a stutter or something. I've never seen someone demolish their entire joke during a performance of that import.

And then there was the content. Only a few of his jokes hit. I mean, the audience was laughing in all the right spots. And there are reasons why captive audiences will do that. Especially if they are loyal lifelong fans who want to justify the price of the ticket. But I don't think I even cracked a smile.

Some of the jokes didn't even seem like jokes. He just seemed angry. Angry at women. Angry at his ex wife. Angry at Jada Pinkett Smith. He blamed her more for the slap than Will.

It all just seemed lazy--similar to Chappelle. He didn't spend much time writing. He didn't spend much time polishing. He didn't spend much time rehearsing. He didn't challenge himself to do any reinvention of his style. It was like a bad imitation of himself. As if he thought, "If I yell enough they will probably laugh and I'll get paid."

There is also this thing many comedians will do as a sort of challenge. They will take a controversial topic that other comics have gotten in trouble for and they will try to find a way to make similar jokes without consequences. The idea is to come as close to the line as possible without crossing it. George Carlin's Porky Pig rape joke is a famous example.

So Mr. Rock decided to give his views on transgender folks.

Because of course he did.

I knew exactly what he was doing the second he started talking about trans people. He wanted to succeed where Chappelle failed and his approach was... transparent.

Chris claimed *he* wasn't transphobic because he was "an artist." And if his dad was trans he would be completely okay with it. He repeated this like 50 times to make sure people knew he was not transphobic. And then he devised a super duper non-obvious clever scheme for how he could still tell transphobic jokes without appearing transphobic.

He told the jokes as his less enlightened "truck driving" older brother.

BRILLIANT!

It wasn't HIM saying transphobic stuff, it was just what he imagined his older brother would say if their father were a woman. And then he did nothing to show that his imaginary "brother" was in the wrong.

So if you have a problem, please send all complaints to his brother who never actually said any of those things and not the person who actually manifested those thoughts and repeated them to millions.

The cherry on top of his transgender material?

The One Joke™.

Yep. He did the whole "I identify as..." and "my pronouns are..." and it was just sad.

Instead of "Selective Outrage" I think his act should have been called, "Let me explain why I am bitter about women taking my money and I don't care if you laugh or not."

[loyaltykask]

Chapter 32

@journeythroughjourneytothewest

So by chapter 32 imma say that they are like three years together at this point, or at least 2 and a half since it is spring again and Sanzang met Wukong in like Fall/Winter.

So love that it is a thing that Wukong know the heart suntra more than Sanzang and he can take it to heart even more

It is impressive that here Wukong is actaully talking about custody and arrests rather than straight-up murder. Either he changed his tune and is willing to go the extra mile to arrest demons but I think that kinda neat that he knows the legislation of which jurisdiction is overseeing what kind of demons

Guy: They want to eat you Wukong: okay but like.... how?

WUKONG WANTS TO KNOW

Wukong DEADASS YOU ARE A BLESSING

HE knows how he wanna dies

Wukong: I love my sanity sometime last year when we got the pig so like..... just point me in the right direction bub

Wukong: These idiot, don't they know I'm me

Wukong just can't relate

Wukong: Let's see I'll have Bajie go up and fight. He if wins, he wins! If he loses I can save him and rub it in his face! Win-win!

HE REALLY SAID FUCK BAJIE RIGHTS

NOOOOO

HE FAKE CRYING THIS BITCH

SELL THE HORSE AND BUY SANZANG A COFFIN BAJIE DAMN

WUKONG COMES CRYING AND HE PANICS

Tells everyone GO HOME WE LOST BEFORE WE EVEN BEGUN

HE SO WORRIED HE SO CONCERNED

I just just SEE Wukong fucking smirking that he now get to boss around Bajie and Wujing. Wujing deadass standing there like "oh no the power has gone to his head" AND IT HAS SANZANG fell for the crying hook, line, and sinker

Sanzang: Listen to you big brother Wukong: Yeah porky listen to me

He gives Bajietwo choices 1. stay with the master and WHEN you fail you will be beaten or 2. go 'patrol' the mountain ie. go lure the monsters out

Sanzang: stop laughing at your brother Wukong: hehehehohoho Funny Piggy going to get

Wukong: I'm going to go spy on him Sanzang: just please.... don't mess with him Wukong: No promises

These are bully Bajie hours now

OOOO HE CALLED HIS A DODDERING, THE BIMAWEN, AND A SISSY

THIS LITTLE SHIT BE TALKING SHIT

Wukong tuns into a woodpecker to bite him

I think this like the ONLY time I've seen Wukong attack in a transformed form

Damn Bajie have some self respect

HE IS HAVING SO MUCH FUCKING FUN

GOOD FOR HIM

I can't tell.... if Sanzang is saying that Bajie is too stupid to lie and that he just can't see it.... or if he really thinks Wukong likes messing with Bajie enough to get him in trouble on purpose

He just happy he gets to scold the other for once, revenge never tasted more

GBSUKGNSIOEGNSOIENGS "You can beat him later, we in the middle of something right now"

WUKONG DOES NOT CARE PLEASE

NOW BAJIE SCARED THAT EVERYTHING IS WRONG ON HIS PATH HE SO WORRIED

It's funny how these demons find out about Sanzang. Like the heavenly beasts or people just KNOW Sanzang is the Golden Cicada because that was just that some hot gossip. And normal demons just hear either from the grape vines or other demons but deadass these fallen celestials are like 90% of the reason I think everyone knows about Sanzang

LIKE THESE GUYS EVEN HAVE WANTED POSTERS OF THESE GUYS

WHO MADES THESE?!

A common trait of Bajie is that he tries to hide his snout a lot during the journey, he tries to hide it in his chest/shirt like 4 times already. Kinda sad actaully how he wants to hide

Instead of yo mama jokes, they have 'im you daddy now' jokes in 200 AD China

Love that it is acknowledged that Bajie COULD have taken on Silver Horn one-on-one but he got overwhelmed with numbers. Poor guy...

[twothpaste]

If ur still doing character headcanons Picky?

i like picky a whole lot. i feel like his role in earthbound, though small, is crucial. like. we see not only that porky has a little brother he cares about (at least a little bit!!!), but also - despite enduring the same abuse that porky does, picky's just a regular kid!! a good kid, even!! he's not acting out, he's not brimming over with spite, he's sure as hell not consorting with alien embodiments of all things evil. this hilariously average little dude is living proof that porky didn't have to turn out the way he did. but he ends up a tragically unfortunate casualty in his brother's time-traveling crusade. porky left picky to grow up alone in a troubled household. whatever familial bond they had, porky apparently saw it as expendable, caught up in the thrill of his rise to power. adding insult to injury, aloysius is implied to have moved out n' gotten divorced, too. postgame picky probably feels all kinds of abandoned. the people who left him did treat him terribly, so maybe he really is better off without 'em. there's still gotta be an awful sense of loss there, though. maybe a huge blow to his self-worth, too.

the way he's gotta deliver porky's letter to ness at the end of the game, and wonders when his brother's coming back…. i feel so bad for the poor kid :( the only decent human being in his family, powerless to redeem or even hold together this wretched pack of goons. i like to imagine at least he's on good terms with ness' family. close friends with tracy, spends a lot of time next door. might latch onto ness a little while coping with porky's absence. ness' mom's got half a mind to adopt him, like a needy cat your neighbor leaves outside all the time.

anyways. here's a drawing of teenage picky (as seen in intermission) and canon picky:

[elder-sister]

Lucas time!

In Smash Bros Chronicles, Lucas joins literally like, 5 minutes after the end of Mother 3. And he is depressed. Mostly due to Claus' suicide, things in his mind rushing "If I only took the badge off." "If I noticed sooner." "If I went with him to fight the Drago" etc.

When he gets to the tourney, he meets Pikachu, who is the Pichu from Melee. The two bond. Lucas is still very depressed, and all he has is an emotional support Pokémon. Ness knows what happened to him because Master Hand has files on every character and the original 12 are allowed to see them. He feels guilty about letting Porky escape so he just doesn't interact.

Things get better during the 4th tournament. He meets with a dragon girl named Corrin. A 20 year old who was sheltered her whole life, kidnapped, found out her siblings weren't blood related, met her blood siblings, those two sides were at war, and she chose her adoptive siblings and was forced to lead the army to conquer the nation her bio siblings are royalty of.

This resulted in her fighting her oldest bio brother, and him committing sepuku so she wouldn't kill him, and her younger bio brother being possessed and needing to put him down. And the adoptive siblings...everyone there is extremely close, as close as possible for siblings. So now she's alone, without them, suffering from separation anxiety with a male version of her who made the opposite choice being the only somewhat familiar face.

Lucas had seen her file, and can somewhat relate to the sibling death thing. Corrin and Lucas become friends. Mind you, Lucas has not yet received therapy, so he's still depressed, he just puts on a smile.

This is revealed when he has to fight MegaMan and gets a PTSD attack. Afterwards, the two become friends though. And he opens up to him and Corrin and another person Corrin befriended, Dark Pit. And later, they befriend Mii Gunner, who is extremely important to the plot. Lucas is very shy, and has a fear of getting close to people lest he lose them too.

In Adventures, this is a Claus survives AU where Lucas brought him back with the needles' power. He was depressed in Brawl still, but thats because his brother was suicidal, not because he actually did it. And Lucas was shy, scared, and didn't know what to do. And then the events of Subspace happened and he befriended Pokémon Trainer.

In the series he's friends with Female Corrin for the same reasons as before, Villager, and an Inkling Girl (who has a crush on him that he does eventually reciprocate). Claus often visits and has many friends in this world, but female Robin, who sacrificed herself to defeat Grima knowing it would kill her and that the chance of her revival is little to none, well he can kinda relate. Lucas is still very shy and sweet and kind but touch anyone he cares about ESPECIALLY Claus and oh boy you are screwed!

Ooh boy

Also I just realized would mayhem au count as a Claus survives au because he didn't survive, Lucas revived him (and may or may not regret doing that hence not reviving Hinawa)

[commandernachos]

Ramblings about their relationship under the cut:

Locria wouldn't really be his stepdad, I imagine Locria has more of a cool uncle relationship with him. Overall, I think they'd have a good relationship, they have a lot in common (m...mostly their flaws - even if they're good guys in this au, they still have the same flaws and such!) And Locria would find Porky's antics hilarious.

Also, while Locria adopting Porky would by ideal (and I'm fine if people headcanon that!) I actually prefer imagining Porky still has to live with his crappy parents, but he learns how to endure it for the most part now that he finally has people (Locria and Claus) who care about him, he's no longer alone and I like imagining him and Picky would grow closer.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters

This year is truly an auspicious one indeed. It marks the centenary of not one, but TWO of the greatest film and animation studios that have ever been. One of them, as many are doubtless aware by now, is Disney, and I do have some things planned for later this year to celebrate that. However, another studio that’s been getting less attention than I think it deserves for its own 100th Anniversary is Warner Bros.! WB started the same year as the Disney studio, and they’re still going strong. When one thinks of WB Animation, chances are good the first characters and cartoons that come to mind are the Looney Tunes. These cartoon classics were a staple of theatrical animation from the 1930s all the way into the early 1960s…and since those days, the characters have continued to pop up in all sorts of places. Movies, TV shows, video games, comics…you name it, the Looney Tunes have been there. These toons are some of the most recognizable characters in the history of animation, more than on par with Mickey Mouse and his allies, and I’ve always loved them. So, I decided it was time to pay them proper tribute! With that said, what better way than to talk about some of my personal favorites? That’s what we’re here to do today. So let’s waste no more time! Mind you don’t slip on any banana peels or similar slapstick cliches: here are My Top 10 Looney Tunes Characters!

10. Speedy Gonzales.

Speedy is one of a few Looney Tunes characters who has sort of faced some controversy over his career (I refer you to Pepe Le Pew, for example). Some people have complained he’s a negative stereotype, but thankfully, the majority of people seem to really love the character. I think the reason why so many love him is because Speedy is one of the most positive and genuinely good characters in the Looney Tunes canon: he’s a character whose able to be heroic while also genuinely being really funny and interesting to watch. The self-proclaimed Fastest Mouse in All Mexico loves to race, loves to play, and isn’t afraid to shoot down the absurdity of some of his more bonkers co-stars, just as he isn’t afraid to outrun and outsmart any cat that tries to harm him or his friends. He’s a lot of fun himself, and he loves to have fun, and that’s probably the best type of cartoon hero there can be.

9. Sylvester the Cat.

Sylvester is one of several characters on this list notable for his sheer versatility. Most of his cartoons do focus on the same basic setup, mind you: Sylvester is hungry, and trying to catch something to eat…but inevitably gets foiled at every turn. Sometimes his prey is the aforementioned Speedy, who - in Coyote-and-Road-Runner-esque fashion - Sylvester is just never quick enough to slow down. He’s also occasionally gone after a kangaroo named Hippety Hopper, whom Sylvester somehow keeps mistaking for an oversized rat. (My comments on him “not being quick” stand here, too.) Most famously, of course, he’s the “Bad Ol’ Puddy Tat” constantly trying to gobble up Tweety Bird…who you will NOT be seeing on this countdown. (I’ve never actually liked Tweety, save for a few appearances. I WANT that super-cutesy little PSYCHOPATH to be cat food someday, and I don’t care how heartless that makes me sound.) While all of these did follow some similar patterns and formulas, each of these opponents offered a different kind of conflict for Sylvester to overcome, and therefore a different set of gags that could be utilized, and a lot of different scenarios to allow for comedy to happen. He also popped up in a few cartoons with Porky Pig, which brought a new dimension to the character: in these appearances, a mute Sylvester is depicted as Porky’s pet cat, who constantly has to save his oblivious master from all sorts of dangerous situations. Whether he’s a well-meaning scaredy cat or a greedy predator, he’s always fun to watch.

8. Yosemite Sam.

One of the most renowned villains in the Looney Tunes catalogue. I like to think of this loudmouthed little cowpuncher as the WB equivalent to Disney’s Pete. Both are characters who are versatile in how they have been fitted into just about every sort of time period and setting imaginable, with just about every antagonistic role you can think of. He’s most famous as being a Wild West outlaw, naturally, but Sam has also played a Black Knight, a Hessian Soldier, a Space Invader, a Crooked Politician, a Pirate, a Prison Guard, and many, MANY other things. Each time, his personality is the same: wild, hysterical, ornery, scheming yet somehow gullible, and eternally frustrated, usually due to the efforts of “that lowdown, long-eared, carrot-eatin’ varmint,” Bugs Bunny. Sam’s personality is just such an easy one to handle, and so fun to play with, you can put him into just about any type of situation, and without needing to change him much, he can work just as easily. I actually feel really bad placing him so low on the list, but hopefully those above him won’t disappoint.

7. Elmer Fudd.

Elmer is another character, sort of like Sylvester, who can play either protagonist or antagonist just as easily as the other. In fact, he’s been both more often than Sylvester has! We know him best, of course, for his many attempts to hunt down Bugs Bunny (and Daffy Duck), and these stories already have plenty of fun reinventions, twists, and overall moments. Everything from putting Elmer in different time periods (like the Stone Age), throwing him into different settings (like chasing Bugs into an opera house), or just changing up his role in some crazy way (like making him a viking with a magic helmet). No matter what you do, these always end the same for Elmer: either he never gets Bugs, or he THINKS he does, and then immediately regrets it because he’s just too softhearted and slow-witted for his own good. However, Elmer’s played other parts as well: sometimes he’s not even hunting Bugs, he’s just the victim of that “Wascawwy Wabbit’s” cruel pranks. Sometimes he’s just trying to get by, and Daffy Duck starts causing chaos for him. Poor Elmer just can’t catch a break, and that’s kind of why we like him: even when he IS the bad guy, he’s far from the WORST guy. Add to that his iconic voice and mannerisms, and it’s no wonder he remains one of the most recognizable characters in this group.

6. Porky Pig.

Believe it or not, Porky was the first real superstar character in the Looney Tunes library. That’s one of the reasons the classic ending line we all know and love was given to him (it’s also why Bugs would later take it over a couple of times, when HE became a star). Much like Yosemite Sam, Porky is one of the most versatile characters on the team, but in a different way: while Sam is a versatile antagonist, Porky is a versatile protagonist. Porky is essentially the straight man to all the other totally bonkers toons around him. He’s sort of the Kermit the Frog of this universe: a guy constantly trying to keep his cool and be civil, but forever aggravated and tormented by the world around him. With that said, the way he bounces off different characters already has a lot of different ways of working: his most famous co-star is probably Daffy Duck, and even just with that one character, they’ve had a relationship that has gone in just about every direction it can go. Sometimes Porky is Daffy’s sidekick, who always proves to be more competent and level-headed than the vain and over-the-top Daffy could ever hope to be. Other times, Daffy is actually HIS sidekick, forever frustrating Porky with his goofy antics. And still other times, there’s no “sidekicking” involved, Daffy just…kind of shows up to totally ANNOY the pig until Porky inevitably snaps and goes berserk. Even Porky cartoons that don’t involve Daffy (and there are plenty of those) usually follow one of these three patterns: Porky is eternally an Alice in the Wonderland of the Looney Tunes…you know, if Alice had a stutter. And was a pig. And was no longer female-okay, that analogy didn’t work, but you get the idea.

5. Taz.

Taz, a.k.a. The Tasmanian Devil, is a rare example of a character whose star has risen over time since his initial appearances in the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. Back then, Taz only showed up in five cartoons, between 1954 and 1964; the twilight decade, many would say, of these great cartoon stars. No one would have likely guessed that Taz would take off to become one of the most iconic and popular characters in the Looney library, with tons of merchandise, a TV show with him as the main protagonist, several major video game and film appearances, and so on. For some reason, however, this wild, ravenous, spinning-and-slobbering devil just kept being used, and the public kept eating him up just as fast as he ate…well…EVERYTHING up. He went from a pure villain who would devour anyone in sight, to suddenly becoming a slightly more heroic, albeit not always terribly bright, character. He can, could, would, and WILL just as easily play the role of an ally to characters like Bugs and Daffy, as much as their adversary. It’s hard to say exactly why Taz caught on, but I’m certainly not complaining about it, since he’s a ton of fun to watch every time. And again, that’s really all a great cartoon star needs to be. (Also, for anybody who may be curious...I do have a mild crush on this guy. I’m weird, shush.)

4. Wile E. Coyote.

It was actually really hard for me to choose between Taz and the Coyote, and I’m not honestly entirely sure if I made the right choice. It was essentially a tie between the two characters; on any given day, my mind could change. But, in the moment of making this list, I felt Wile E. deserved slightly higher placement, and thus here we are. (Also, yes, much like Taz, I do have a mild crush on the Coyote. Again, I’m weird, shush.) Having said all that, I imagine this self-proclaimed Super-Genius hardly needs an introduction. Much like Sylvester, Wile E. mostly spends his time trying to get something to eat. Usually, he’s found chasing the Road Runner and trying to trap him, but on a couple of occasions he’s bedeviled Bugs Bunny, and once in a blue moon he’ll have encounters with other characters. In most of Wile E.’s appearances, he’s a silent character, communicating solely through body language, facial expressions, and the occasional random sign he pulls out of nowhere. Whenever he DOES speak, he speaks in a smooth, slick, uppercrust English or Mid-Atlantic dialect. Whether silent or speaking, this Coyote’s basic trouble is always the same: despite his own confidence in his supposed superior intellect, a combination of clumsiness, shortsightedness, and his bizarre obsession with relying almost entirely on the ACME Corporation’s clearly faulty products always leads to him getting bamboozled. Over time, animators, writers, and directors have found new ways to spin off of Coyote’s usual formula, with stories like him taking the Road Runner to court, or turning into a fat slob due to an over-reliance on his own inventions. It’s the bizarre blend of brilliance and determination against poor planning and overconfidence that makes him such a fun character to see in action. He may never win…but I think a lot of us wish he could.

3. Daffy Duck.

While Porky was the first superstar character among the Looney Tunes (and Merrie Melodies), Daffy was really the first breakthrough character that was TRULY befitting of the title “looney.” In the early days, Daffy was a wisecracking, wild character, zipping about and causing trouble; a constant trickster who was a bundle of energy, causing mayhem for various hapless boobs. Most of the characters who followed suit on this idea - including his future rival, Bugs Bunny - essentially took their cues from Daffy’s book. Over time, the character crystalized into the mad mallard we know today. Daffy is still zany, but what he’s most known for today is his ego. Daffy is practically a narcissist, selfish in just about every way, as well as frequently quite greedy. Everything he does is for either the spotlight, cash, or both. He’s yet another character who has been the villain just as often as he’s been the hero…but even when in a more protagonistic role, he’s ALWAYS a flawed character, whose self-serving attitude leads to disaster for himself, and usually for many others. Just like Yosemite Sam, he’s also a character who has played many roles: any time the Looney Tunes want to parody a particular genre, it seems like Daffy is always the character who gets chosen. Whether he’s imitating Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes, or going on high-flying escapades as the incompetent space hero called Duck Dodgers, you can go on a lot of different adventures with him. He’s been partnered up and pitted against nearly every character on the crew, and each and every alliance, rivalry, and so on is fun to see in action.

2. Bugs Bunny.

Just as it was hard to choose between Taz and Wile E. Coyote, it was also hard to choose between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In the end though…maybe it’s too predictable, but I ultimately did feel I preferred Bugs SLIGHTLY over Daffy. What’s interesting is that, in the early days, Bugs was pretty similar to Daffy: in a lot of his earliest appearances, they’re almost the same character. Both were madcap tricksters who seemed to exist just to drive other characters completely insane for the sheer sake of it, and both had big egos that needed to be satisfied. (In Bugs’ case, this was most evident in encounters he had with the character Cecil Tortoise, who might be the only character in all of Looney Tunes to truly outmatch Bugs on the cartoon battlefield, over and over again.) Over time, however - mostly thanks to Friz Freleng and Chuck Jones - Bugs began to evolve. While still a trickster with a wild sense of humor, the character became more laid back, casual, collected. He was someone who went into situations with the confidence that he could come out okay, if he just thought fast and didn’t let it all faze him. And while he could be downright cruel in the ways he would trick and toy with people, the attacks became unprovoked less often: it was usually a case of others doing something wrong to Bugs, and he would finally lose patience and declare, “Of course you realize THIS means war.” That’s essentially the Bugs Bunny we know today: he still faces conflict and such, but it’s his approach and the way he reacts to situations that makes him such fun to watch. Once again, it also makes him quite versatile, as he can be anywhere and play just about any role, from the star of the show to more of a narrator or similarly peripheral character. He can be the everyman, the superman, and as long as it always sticks to the traits he started out with, it will always work. In fact, the only real question about his placement on this list is…why isn’t he number one?

1. Marvin the Martian.

I don’t know WHY Marvin is my favorite Looney Tunes character, but he is, and really always has been. He’s not by any means the funniest of the Looney Tunes, but there’s something about this little world-destroying gremlin I find endlessly endearing. Much like Taz, Marvin started out as a small fish in a big cartoon pond; in fact, just like the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian (originally called “Commander X2,” and later “Antwerp”) only showed up in five cartoons during the Golden Age of the Looney Tunes. He fought Bugs Bunny in four of them, and Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in another. And while he hasn’t become the merchandising mammoth that Taz has, he’s still got a very loyal fanbase and following, and has remained a mainstay among the Looney Tunes ever since. Just like Taz, creators just kept using him, and fans kept asking for more; somehow, this little martian never faded away. What I love about Marvin is that he’s essentially another straight man, much in the way Porky is…but now, he’s a straight man on the opposite side of the fence. He’s usually the bad guy, while Porky is almost always the protagonist: whether Marvin’s trying to abduct people, conquer worlds, or blow up the Earth (because it obstructs his view of Venus), he’s always an obstacle the other characters have to overcome. Yet he’s depicted as so loveable and so mild-mannered, it’s hard to be scared of him or dislike him. It also means the moments where his inner rage gets the better of him, and his temper flares, become all the more hilarious: seeing that pomposity and stiff-upper-lip nature get blown apart at the seams is always a ton of fun. It’s difficult to describe my reasoning, but regardless, Marvin the Martian will always be My Favorite Looney Tunes Character.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Foghorn Leghorn.

Michigan J. Frog.

Rocky & Mugsy.

Road Runner.

Lola Bunny.

Gossamer. “Th-The-The E-THAT’S ALL FOLKS!”

[adozentothedawn]

Carolus' children have names!

Porcelain von Valancius, called Penny (or sometimes Porky by her brother), her oldest child. Conceived during her time as a guard for merchant ships, after she was exiled from her position as a battle psyker in the military, with a Drukhari soldier who she met and fought during multiple assignments. Coincidence (and skill at survival) had them meet again and again and develop a personal rather than general hatred for each other, which then culminated in an extremely angry and prejudiced one-night stand. About two weeks later she finally managed to kill him. Carolus was in a very bad mental state during that time, so when she noticed she was pregnant she couldn't really bring herself to care. She didn't expect the fetus to be viable anyway, so she decided that either it would kill her and solve her problems that way, or the resulting miscarriage would be of scientific interest to someone. Except that against her expectations when the baby was born she was entirely healthy, if odd looking. Put on the spot Carolus made the decision to be a mother. She built herself up again as best as she could, pretended her daughter was a low level mutant and found a somewhat peaceful colony of mutants in a corner of her sector where she could trust someone to take care of the child while she went off to earn money to send back. When Theodora called her to the expanse she took her daughter with her and found her a safe place on Janus before going on board.

Porcelain is a highly energetic child, easily excitable, and due to her heritage drawn to strong emotions. This can manifest both in temper tantrums to provoke the people around her into anger or things like long monologues of compliments or singalongs to incite excitement or happiness. She is not cruel but oftentimes callous about the feelings of others, since she gets as much out of people's anger or grief as out of their joy. That does not however mean that she doesn't like people, quite the opposite. She easily connects with people, regardless of their opinion of her, leading her to occasionally declare people her friends who deeply despise her, precisely because of their strong reaction. This includes Marazhai, who only got survive his terrible decisions because Carolus is concerned about her daughter's safety without at least rudementary knowledge about the other half of her legacy. He gets brought onboard specifically as Porcelain's babysitter and tutor. He absolutely despises it and Penny, but knows that she is the only reason he's alive and thus cannot just kill her without consequences. She loves him. Absolutely adores him and everything he does end up teaching her. Her mother's influence does remain strong she does not fall into indiscrimenate murder and torture but she does highly enjoy the tussles she has with Marazhai and the occasional hunt he takes her on. He also tendency to just grab her by the scruff of the neck and carry her around like a handbag. She thinks it's hilarious. She also calls him "Uncle Marzipan" and is absolutely gleeful about how much he hates it. He in return calls her "Pentakill" because he decided that her name is terrible and not to be tolerated. The Mon-keigh should be glad he didn't choose a drukhari name.

Leopold von Valancius van Calox is Carolus' son with Heinrix. (Yes there is a whole situation going on my brain how he deals with Penny's existance but that's for later.) He is born sometime during the game, though I have not exactly figured out when yet. When Carolus learnt she was pregnant again she gave Heinrix a decision: he could either claim the child as his or they sweep their prior relationship under the rug and she would never mention the child's parentage. Either way she would not stand his way. She certainly would have been sad if he had decided to deny it, but she would have respected his decision, and it had to be just his choice to make. Some of the officer's would have certainly known, but no one would go against a Rogue Tradr's orders to shut up about her private life. It took him the entire duration of the pregnancy to finally make a choice and only when Carolus went into labour did he break and made his decision to be a father, with the thought that he would come up with a way to deal with Calcazar's judgement some time later. Of course it turned out that said dealing would be both a lot easier and a lot harder than expected. He never did say anything about it, but he went to her chambers, was let in and stayed for the duration of the birth, which was as good as admission. Abelard judged him greatly, for many reasons.

Leopold is a calm child, curious but by far not as exciteble as his sister (who was absolutely extatic about getting a sibling and had to be forcibly kept from the birth so as to not be distracting). Later in his life he showed Psyker abilities, something that concerned but not surprised his Psyker parents. The reveal was thankfully not nearly as dramatic as both his parents' . His sister felt it coming and refused to play with him because of it, feeling unsettled by the weird energies around him. This persisted until he eventually threw a temper tantrum and set a rug on fire, thus confirming both Carolus' and Heinrix' concerns. Although they both he agreed he would have to be sanctioned, they also agreed to never under any circumstances put their son on a Black Ship. Eventually it was decided that Heinrix himself would bring him to Terra, monitor any and all procedures and eventually take him home again. They both leveraged all of their political powers to make sure they could take him back, calling in many, many favours and issuing equally as many threats and bribes. They succeeded. Leopold himself only learnt multiple years after that trip what had actually happened. (I do have notes on a short one-shot about the trip maybe) (How does this work with the whole Warp storm situation? I don't know and frankly I don't much care, both the warp and the god-emperor will bow to my will to ignore canon)

[shoujomangathoughts]

Chihayafuru Thoughts - Chihaya and Taichi in Ch.93 -139 (S3 events)

This is part one of a series where I plan to talk about Taichi and Chihaya. Here’s a spoiler warning for this section and some light spoilers about chapters after this point.

The stretch of chapters covered in season 3 feels like a fundamental shift in the series and by the end of this part it’s clear that the series will be quite different moving forward. 

In regards to Taichi and Chihaya, this section of the series is where things start changing for them and I wanted to go over some moments that stuck out to me. A consistent plotline here is that Chihaya is actively trying to understand more about Taichi because she starts to feel anxious about their relationship. She actually admits “I don’t know anything yet, not even about Taichi”. We already know how Taichi feels about Chihaya, and there are actually many instances of him trying to grow and change on his own in this part.

This statement from Retro seems to rattle her because in her mind, she knows Taichi and his skills well. When she plays Taichi at the Fujisaki camp, she refers to him as “feeling like a stranger”, something she notes again at Yoshino. Yoshino in general is an important match for both of them (that others have analyzed more in depth than I ever could so check those out!). While Chihaya truly “saw” and acknowledged Taichi in this match, Taichi’s frustration over losing is directly opposite her enjoyment of the match. I feel like the difference in these feelings is why Chihaya is so confused by Taichi’s decision to skip the class trip for the Meijin qualifiers. Taichi, losing after working so hard on a strategy tailored to go against Chihaya, still sees himself as inadequate, and understanding the time he has left (as Desktomu tries to explain to Chihaya), pours himself into karuta more than before. After Kana’s explanation about “competing to stir hearts”, Chihaya seems to gain an inkling about the fact that Taichi may have left their match feeling somewhat unsatisfied and frustrated in contrast to how she left with both the satisfaction of winning and enjoying a match with someone who she has worked so hard with and values.

After Taichi is unsuccessful at the qualifiers and returns, there’s a moment when Chihaya regains her composure (after hearing the challengers were Harada and Arata) where she looks up and sees that Taichi isn’t in the hallway anymore. It’s a small moment but the look on her face suggests to me that she realizes she didn’t ask Taichi about his matches or why he went, let alone seeing if he seemed upset. It also becomes apparent to her that she doesn’t necessarily know how to comfort him and she starts noticing distance between them.

After this, when they practice in the clubroom, it becomes clear to Chihaya (and everyone else) that Taichi is in a slump after losing both Yoshino and the Meijin qualifiers, and the only thing Chihaya can think to do is continue to play him seriously out of fear he might quit. She once again starts feeling anxious that Taichi might be burning out and give up on karuta. She even seems to take his feelings into account when Porky brings up calling and congratulating Arata. She holds her phone up and Taichi is shown directly in the background, and she decides to call him later, as if she wants to be careful about congratulating Arata on accomplishing the very thing Taichi is dejected about (Taichi is right next to her when she calls him later, but the point is Chihaya is starting to be more aware of people and their emotions, not to mention that Dr. Harada fired them up a bit before). She notices Taichi’s apprehension about seeing Dr. Harada as well.

Arata’s confession also rattles her and she spends some time after in a daze. Taichi is too sharp and can read Chihaya too well to not essentially piece together what happened (confirming his suspicion later in his match with Arata). This puts Taichi in a tough position since he still doesn’t know how or when to tell Chihaya how he feels, most likely out of fear that their relationship will change.

When Taichi stays behind again and Chihaya gets visibly upset, Kana urges her to think about why he is acting the way he is. The whole “Why is Taichi always going off on his own?” thing has always been interesting to me (and I feel like I always overthink this or maybe I just don’t get it). The answer isn’t simply because he loves Chihaya. When he skips the class trip, it seems as though he wants to win as a result of his frustration over his loss at Yoshino. His loss against Chihaya, despite so much preparation probably made him think that he’s still not good enough to stand as Chihaya’s (and Arata’s) equal, so he pours himself into another tournament. Taichi even asks himself what he wants to be so bad that he’d miss his school trip, and that’s where a problem arises with his motivation. Among other reasons, it feels like part of why Taichi is trying so hard in karuta is to grow/find himself and change parts of himself that he isn’t satisfied with. However, that’s a vague benchmark and it’s hard to tell when you feel you’ve grown “enough”. Would he have been entirely satisfied had he won against Chihaya, even if they had played each other in an earlier round than the final? It’s hard to say, but maybe he needs the tangible proof that he’s grown because otherwise he may not believe he has (his victory over Arata later and his reaction makes this seem to be the case, if only partially). Taichi staying behind the second time specifically in hopes to play against Arata is also something he wouldn’t want Chihaya to know. Beyond more or less asking Arata about his confession, Taichi doing this feels like he’s trying to face Arata (a person who Taichi compares himself to, to a fault) and try to overcome his own insecurities - “How do I fight? Against Arata? Against myself?”. Despite his private nature and him not typically relying on others, to me there seems to be many reasons he can’t confide in Chihaya, one of which being that he loves her and that is often a part of why he feels insecure because he doesn't see the value in himself enough, so he isolates himself to try and find himself on his own (?). If anyone has a better read on this and its implications please tell me lol it feels pretty open to interpretation to me.

After losing to Arata, it’s incredibly clear that Taichi is feeling dejected and unmotivated in regards to karuta. At this point, Taichi has been on the way down; losing to both Chihaya and Arata, losing at the Meijin qualifiers, not having the drive to challenge Suou like Arata, and knowing Arata confessed despite Taichi not having the courage to be honest with Chihaya about his own feelings yet. The anxiety Chihaya feels about the distance between them and the fact that Taichi appears to be suffering is enough for her to break down. I’d consider this growth for Chihaya; she at times gets tunnel vision for her own goals or doesn’t notice people’s feelings because she herself is having fun. Yet here she so viscerally reacts to the fact that he is struggling, and very purely wishes for him to smile and enjoy the time with everyone like she has been. This desire is how the Taichi cup is born, which results in Taichi thinking about whether he feels he’s grown or not since the last genpei match they played as kids. It’s also sweet of Chihaya to pick genpei matches in part due to appealing to one of Taichi’s greatest assets in karuta, his memorization.

After Taichi confesses, the dynamic between them is different. We’re shown a montage of several days that follow, where they don’t seem to speak and while Taichi seems to be faking smiles, Chihaya can’t even seem to look at him. Whether or not she flatly turned him down isn’t known but there’s also no communication to erase any misunderstanding either.

Once the realization that Taichi is leaving the club fully hits Chihaya, that anxiousness about him slipping away is now a fear being realized, hence her act of desperation to bring him back. It comes across as a bit selfish and unintentionally cruel, that she doesn’t seem to recognize that while she’s been confused and trying to get her thoughts straight (or just waiting and hoping they go back to normal), he’s been suffocating in the atmosphere created after he spilled his most vulnerable feelings. I know the kiss rubs some people the wrong way, and while it may not have been the best option, it effectively translated Taichi’s heartbrokenness to Chihaya and made her understand him more clearly. The other thing that made his feelings clear was the karuta reference - that all 100 cards look pitch black to him. Virtually all of his karuta career has had Chihaya involved in some way, which combined with his dejection after all those losses, makes sense why he has no desire at all to continue. Not long after, he’s convinced that he doesn’t like karuta at all, which isn’t really true. The truth seems to be more along the lines of he was never playing because he liked it. He was playing to meet team expectations, help Chihaya achieve her dream, gain acknowledgement and battle his own issues, possibly even to reject the ideals his mother instilled in him, etc. and he eventually was crushed by that weight. He needs the space and time away from Chihaya and the club, even if it’d be considered selfish for him to do so.

//Sidenote// I always find it interesting when people compare Chihaya’s reaction to Arata’s confession to Taichi’s because the context and her actual relationships with each of them are inherently different. Chihaya has spent a good amount of time trying to figure out Taichi (and in general just knows him better) and for her to miss something so huge obviously stuns her, not to mention she starts feeling guilt that she may have been unintentionally causing some of the suffering she so desperately wanted to dissolve. She also doesn’t seem to know how she herself feels yet, hence the “I’m sorry” which feels pointed to other things rather than a flat out rejection (despite Taichi feeling completely rejected). She also recalls his confession and it depicts Taichi in a very pure and gentle way, which I’d interpret as being remembered in a positive way (even if she also remembers how broken down he was shortly after), and later refers to his words as being like a poem.

I also see people complain about Taichi’s timing in leaving the club. Honestly, it feels like the best time he could, rather than wait until there are new members to help and tournaments to worry about, and then just dip out. Was is it somewhat unfair that they weren’t told face to face (apart from Nishida and Komano)? Sure, but realistically it wouldn’t have gone over well any way it happened and I think Taichi just didn’t have any fight left to give. Apart from Chihaya (at first), everyone seems stunned but seem like they understand that he wouldn’t leave without reason. It’s been obvious that he cares a great deal about the club and its members.

Anyway, I’ll be making more of these that talk about these two after these events up to the end of the series soon. If you read this far, thanks and feel free to add your thoughts!

[augustusaugustus]

9.57 Punch Drunk

STRINGER: ‘Ere, Sarge, is this true about Sergeant Roach? BOYDEN: Depends what you heard, Barry. STRINGER: Well, that he beat up a punter over some plonk. BOYDEN: *telling look* STRINGER: Blimey.

BURNSIDE: Look, I’ll do what I can. But you’re in it up to your neck this time, in case you hadn’t noticed. I mean, drinking on duty, telling porkies to the DCI, bringing the service into disrepute, etcetera, etcetera. And that’s just if Leonard doesn’t decide to press charges, for GBH or assault, or whatever. In which case, you’re looking at MS15. Possible suspension. The big house, maybe. And if you’re convicted. Well. Goodbye DS Roach. ROACH: Oh, and that won’t look so good for you, will it, Frank? Failure to supervise, and all that. BURNSIDE: Now, wait a minute. You lied about where you were going. ROACH: If only MS15 saw things that clearly. BURNSIDE: Don’t start playing that game with me, Ted. You’ll lose.

MONROE: Stamp and Quinnan have got the details of the other witnesses. If you want to talk to them. BURNSIDE: Do we? MONROE: I think that rather depends on what Mr Leonard says when he regains consciousness, don’t you? If he wants to press charges, Frank, there’s nothing I can do. BURNSIDE: Yeah, well, the less encouragement he gets the better, eh? MONROE: Look, I didn’t ask Ted to try to knock his brains out. If he wants to behave like that, it’s his lookout. BURNSIDE: Meaning you don’t care whether he gets his legs done or not. MONROE: Meaning, I’ll do what I can. Like there’s nothing on paper. So far.

MONROE: Look, so far I’ve bent over backwards for you. You’ve not been reported, you’ve not been arrested, and there’s nothing on paper. So do me a favour, sergeant, and act like a grown-up for once. ROACH: I always thought it was little boys who needed uniforms with shiny buttons to make them feel big, Inspector. MONROE: Really gets you, doesn’t it. Stuck at sergeant, forever. ROACH: I want to leave. MONROE: Tough. ROACH: Stop me. MONROE: You really are pathetic.

ROACH: Oh, by the way. Don’t bother with a party.

Fitting that Ted should go out with a bang—or, yanno, a pub brawl and a sucker punch. It would’ve been great if there had been a bit more in the lead-up, but it was inevitable that one day he’d hit the self-destruct button with no coming back. He can’t see that everyone’s trying to help him—won’t see, in Andrew’s case. If he’d let them, things would’ve been okay, but could he have lived with knowing that Andrew Monroe, of all people, had bent the rules for him? He’d still have imploded in the end.