#plus they also have a 'i want to be the comic relief and not take any responsibility' coping mechanism

[nyankoizumi]

victim fans stay away I’ve done ATROCITIES to their character /j

[kbspangler]

This is the public statement from @alepresser and myself which went up at Webtoons tonight.

Now for some ranting. Just from me, not from Ale—she's innocent of the art crimes I've committed in the past, and boy howdy have I committed art crimes.

This is the first page of my first webcomic, A Girl and Her Fed. I started this thing back in 2006. (I don't actually need a head count of those reading this who weren't yet born in 2006. I'm sure you're delightful and I wish you well in college.)

And this is the last page I drew in early 2020 before I turned art duties over to Dr. Beer. It's better, right?

Well, these days, A Girl and Her Fed has pages like this:

I drew this comic for fourteen fucking years because it's a story I wanted to tell, and I thought webcomics were the perfect format for it. I didn't know how to draw. I got better through sheer obstinate perseverance and sticking to deadlines as best I could for, again, fourteen fucking years. I sought out a replacement artist when I ran into time constraints and couldn't do art plus writing anymore; I'm a much better writer than an artist, so I had no problems whatsoever kicking art to the curb.

The first time Ale sent me art that would go up on the website—art I hadn't needed to draw myself—I literally cried in relief because I had been grinding myself down for, yet again, fourteen fucking years.

So when I read comments from people who say they want to make a webcomic but can't draw themselves and therefore need to resort to AI, that little line between my eyes gets dangerously deep.

This isn't like I'm some old dude who's bitching over student loans getting cancelled after making regular payments. This is me, someone who threw raw art onto the internet like a monkey hurling fresh poo, because I wanted to make a webcomic and the art is part of the process of storytelling via webcomics! I could've (arguably should've) hired an artist right out of the gate, and that would've been part of the process of making comics, too: a partnership between an artist and a writer is also something which grows and develops over time.

For example, after Dr. Beer and I spent two years working on AGAHF, we decided we enjoyed our partnership so much that we set out to make another webcomic! It's great! It's got wonderful art and consistent storytelling! You should read it!

But turning art duties over to unaltered images generated by AI because you want to make a webcomic but "just can't draw" is, frankly, a bullshit excuse. I'm not talking about persons who are physically unable to draw due to disability—I'm talking about people who say they want to make webcomics but simply don't wanna do the art part.

Friends, if you don't want to show your entire ass in front of God and country, you don't actually want to make a webcomic.

Do the thing yourself.

If you're scared, don't be. Take the plunge. Set a goal of twenty strips and do the thing yourself. If you can already draw but can't write? Great! Write twenty strips, write forty panels, etc. You might surprise yourself. If you can write but can't draw? Great! Draw twenty panels and see what happens.

Whatever comes out of it, it's a thing you've done yourself. It's something new you've given to the world, no matter how big or small. Be proud of that. And if you need to partner with someone else to make your comic dreams work? You can do that, too! It's still a thing you've done yourself, and many projects are stronger when done together.

...but maaaaaaaaaybe hire that partner before you've busted your own ass for fourteen fucking years. That one's on me.

[slut4thebroken]

Opposites Attract

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Pairing | Jason Todd x reader

Summary | Jason in your hyperfeminine pink bedroom (and house lol)

Warnings | Reader isn’t infantalized she just likes feminine things lol, fluff, kissing, Jay being a big fat softie.

Words | 1.2 k

Notes | Honestly idk. I’m going through an aesthetic change rn and was struck with a vision one day lol. (Also this pic set is a direct result of there being literally no pictures or gifs of Jason 😭 I had to take matters into my own hands smh.)

Ao3 link | <3

Masterlist

You always loved when Jason came over. You loved his company of course, but mostly you just loved seeing him in your house, especially your room. 

There’s something almost comical about a six foot tall, burly, vigilante, who’s covered in scars and only wears dark clothes, standing amongst all of the baby pink and white, and the delicate silk and lace in your bedroom. He sticks out terribly, even in the rest of your house, and you can’t help but be amused by it everytime. 

You were sitting in bed with a book tonight, wearing a white babydoll nightie and hugging your teddy bear to your chest. When you heard a noise from outside your bedroom, you stiffened, your heart beating faster and harder in your chest. You strained your ears to listen and for a few seconds it was completely silent until you heard quiet footsteps. Before you could react your door was opening and you almost breathed a sigh of relief when you saw who it was. All of the anxiety quickly melted into happiness. 

“Jay!” You said excitedly, setting your book on the nightstand. 

“Hi, princess.” His hair was still a little damp and he was in casual clothes so he must’ve done some vigilante stuff tonight— a while ago you scolded him for tracking mud on your rug and getting blood on your sheets, and ever since then, you’ve demanded that he comes here completely clean. 

You set down the teddy bear and got up to greet him properly, with a hug and a kiss. His hands settled on your waist over the soft material of your dress and you placed your arms on his shoulders, standing up on your toes so he didn’t have to bend down so much. When he pulled back from the kiss, you whined quietly, making him chuckle. 

“You scared me.” You frowned. Even thought you gave him a key, you wished he’d knock because of how naturally quiet he always is. 

“I’m sorry, baby.” He murmured, giving you another quick kiss, making you forget all about that. “Should I be jealous?” He asked and you furrowed your brows, not understanding because you were still dazed from both kisses. But he explained once he saw your expression. “That you’re cuddling with another man in your bed.” You couldn’t keep the little giggle in, especially when he started smiling. 

“No.. It’s just Teddy.” You said through a quiet laugh. “Plus now that you’re here, I can cuddle with you instead.” You gave him a bright smile and he chuckled under his breath, bringing a hand up to brush your hair back, then cup your cheek. 

“I’m not intruding?” 

“Nope. I was just reading.”  

“Good cause I thought we could bake some cookies and have a movie night.” You were nodding eagerly before he could even finish. 

It was mostly him putting everything together and you following his every move with heart eyes. You wanted to help, but each time you tried, he sat you back down. He gave you the spoon for you to lick the extra batter from while he finished everything up. When the utensil was clean, he grabbed it and put it in the sink, then walked over to you and picked you up, taking you to the couch. You giggled as you clung to him— you didn’t think he’d drop you, it was just a habit that eased your nerves. When you were both on the couch with your legs over his, his hand on your thigh, and his arm around your shoulders, he leaned down and gave you a quick kiss. 

“I missed you, baby.” He rasped, making your cheeks heat up. 

“I saw you three days ago.” You chuckled breathlessly, even though you probably missed him more than he did. 

“And that was three days too long. What have you been up to, pretty girl?” He leaned down even farther and pressed soft kisses to your neck. You let out a shaky breath and gripped his shirt. 

“N-nothing… Just working on some hobbies.” You shrugged, getting a little sad. You wished you lived with him. You wished you could make dinner every night for both of you, clean up around the house, help him out of his clothes when he got home on days that he was particularly battered, give him a massage— and… anything else he might need— whenever he’s feeling stressed… You wanted it all. But you couldn’t have it, not yet at least. 

“Yeah?” He lightly nipped at your neck, making you let out a startled whimper. 

“Mhm.” You hummed, letting your eyes flutter shut. He kissed down your neck to your shoulder and slowly moved the fabric down to expose more skin. “Jay…” You said through a breath, trying not to get overwhelmed with the feeling of his lips on you. 

“Hm?” He moved to your collarbone now, slowly kissing across it to the center of your chest. 

“Need you.” You whined, starting to squirm. His hand started rubbing up and down your thigh, probably to soothe you, but it only got you more worked up. “Please?” You used the voice that always gets you what you want and he pulled back to look at you, letting out a heavy sigh as his lips curled into a small smile. 

“I can’t say no to you, princess.” You all but beamed in response, excited to get what you wanted. His hand started sliding up your leg until he gripped your hip, under the nightie, making your breath hitch. Leaning forward, he pressed a gentle kiss to your lips and smiled when you started squirming again. He never broke the kiss as he lifted your body and set you in his lap, straddling his legs. Both of his hands squeezed your hips, teasing the waistband of your panties, and yours moved to his hair, tugging lightly. 

Faintly, you heard a noise from the kitchen, but you couldn’t focus on it. When he pulled back, you whined and tried to kiss him again, but he placed a gentle hand on your neck as a warning. 

“I have to get the cookies, baby.”

“Let them burn, I don't care.” You were still squirming, trying to get friction and pleasure that he wouldn’t allow. 

“You say that now, but in half an hour you’ll be pouting about how you don’t have any cookies.” He chuckled, making you frown. He didn’t give you another chance to protest before he was lifting you off his lap and placing you back on the couch. You grabbed his hand when he started walking past you, looking up at him with pleading eyes and a pout. 

“You’re my good girl… you can wait just a little longer, can’t you?” You frowned and averted your gaze for a moment, then nodded. He gave you a soft smile as he cupped your cheek, running his thumb over your bottom lip. “Thank you, baby.” He said proudly, making you blush, then continued on toward the kitchen. You turned around and leaned your chin on the back of the couch to watch him. 

He looked so silly in your kitchen full of pink colors, towels with lace trim, and flower themed decor. But he looked even sillier wearing your pink oven mitts as he took the tray out of the oven. You bit back a smile as you watched him reach for a heart shaped spatula to put the cookies on a plate. 

Despite the incongruity in the delicate setting, he managed to blend in seamlessly, almost making the contrast appear natural. It was giving you even more proof that he belonged here— belonged with you. 

Taglist (join here)

@pedrisgatorade @lunyyx @faebirdie @idkdudsworld @nashja @rentaldarling @whydoyoucare866 @zurakoisanhornysimp @brooklynscherry-z @wartofart @deimks @n1ghtw1ngslvr @harleycao @baebeepeach @jayroytodd @zurakoisanhornysimp

[mercedesvince]

Can you do Scott pilgrim x male reader that mainly uses ASL to communicate <33

Scott Pilgrim x M. Deaf Reader

“Please”

The italicized text is ASL

You felt your pen glide across the texture of the paper. Looking back up at your computer screen you continued copying down your notes. Laying your pen back down, you returned your hands to your key board and continued typing on the google doc.

Even though growing up you had a tough time in school with your condition, you still wanted to peruse a degree in [subject of your choice]. Your relationship with the public school system was never the best. Having to learn to translate ASL to written english never proved easy, on top of that your school required you to take a foreign language class. It was a lot, but you managed, and now you’re set on earning your degree.

Lost in your thoughts as you worked on your notes, you missed the door to your shared apartment opening. You also happened to miss your boyfriend slowly creeping up behind you. Sitting at your desk, your back completely turned to entrance, you were scared out of your mind when you felt a sudden grab on your shoulders. Your body jolted up, turning around in an instant only to come face to face with Scott. You let out a sigh of relief, before slightly slapping his shoulder. “You scared me”, you signed to him. Scott looked at you for a moment, before slowly raising his hand, “Please”. You looked at him confused for a second, then you realized he meant to say ‘i’m sorry’. You reached out and grabbed his hand, a gesture that had becomes common, and showed him the correct movement. “Ohhh” he said. “That one was please wasn’t it?” you nodded at Scott smiling. You weren’t the best at reading lips, but you were probably better than the average person.

Still, it’s like people expect you to be some type of god skilled level lip reader, but fortunately for you, you never had that problem with Scott. That was one of the main reasons you fell for the guy in the first place, as much of a himbo as he can be, he took time to learn some ASL for you, he didn’t expect you to immediately be able to understand everything he said by reading his lips, and he treated you like just as much of a person as everyone else.

Scott looked over at the laptop, “What are you working on?”. You glanced back at your screen letting out a tired sigh, “Just a paper that’s due at the end of the week”. Scott nodded, a few seconds passed before Scott grabbed your hands, pulling you up from your chair. He pulled you towards the door, grabbing your coat off the small hangers you guys had and passing it to you. You raised an eyebrow at him, he turned to face you. “You said your papers due at the end of the week,” he smiled at you before continuing. “I have show tonight, but maybe we could hang out and spend time together before it,” he signed. “Plus, you need a break”.

Shaking your head at Scott, you put on your coat “Alright Scott, let’s go”. He seemed to gleam with joy at your agreement. Basically hauling you out of the apartment.

——————————————————————

You both looked at the comic variety in front of you. Scott had a few CDs in his hand, as he had taken you to your local record and comic store. You had been looking at the comic section for a while now, trying to make a decision on what would be your next read. Scott had appeared by your side, joining you in your search for a good comic. He raised his hand and pointed at one, “This one’s really good, when I lived with Wallace, I stole from his collection”. Letting out a light laugh, you looked back up in the shelf, he was pointing to a ‘Doom Patrol’ one. You reached out and picked it off the shelf, tuning it around to read the summary. You turned your gaze at Scoot once again, you nodded and saw his face light up in a smile.

You could never get enough of this man, his contagious smile, his cute eyes, his hair, everything. You grabbed his hand and the both of you made your way up to the cash register to check out. “That will be $55.76,” the guy at the register said, he looked like some edgy teen who didn’t wanna be there. He was probably your least favourite employee, he wasn’t mean or anything, but the girl who always smiled at you guys that also worked there was just better. You had pulled out your wallet, about to pay, but you missed the number the guy had said. He looked at you expectantly. Hoping he would get the hint to repeat himself, you stared at at him. In a few seconds, he gave you weird look.

Before you could even do anything else, Scott smacked the money on the counter. The kid looked taken aback a bit, before picking it up. Handing him his change and the bag with your things in it, you guys made your way to the exit. Outside the shop you stopped walking. “You didn’t have to do that”. Scott looked at you, his eyes slightly widening before his expression fell back into a smile. “I know, but I was planning on paying anyway”. Again with that contagious smile, you couldn’t help as one slowly grew on your face. “Thanks” you told him. “No problem [nick name]”. You both turned and began walking back toward your home, in hopes of burning some time while you waited for Scott’s showtime to pull around. Hand in hand, you leaned your head against Scott. He took a glance at you, before letting out a quiet “I love you [name],” under his breath.

[bitter-me]

Ok so, I saw the Welt oneshot you did and like

Pls

I need a continuation, it's a necessity at this point aismsodmdjd, I love it so much, the pain, the anguish everything was so good buaaaaaaaaaa

The Other "You"

Part One | Part two (You're here)

----------

Welt Yang | M. Reader

----------

"I feel like... I'm seeing a ghost.."

----------

[Name] only sigh as he sees the stacks of paperwork on his desk, he needs to finish them and fast if he wants to take his naps. Poor guy has been doing all-nighters for how many weeks now? He can't remember. The arrival of the Nameless didn't made it easier either as his necessary work just doubles the amount from what it originally was! He needs his sleep for Aeon's sake!

And that one guy, Welt Yang was it? He seems to have make it his personal mission to bug him acting like a child who wants his attention. What's his deal? Aren't they here for Her Excellency?

Either way he'll just ignore him if it get's too much.

But given the man's gentle, kind, and intellectual aura and mannerisms... [Name] can't exactly ignore him for too long.. there's just something about him that pulls him towards the seemingly old man. He even somehow knew what tea he usually drinks as he gave him some when he once said that he ran out of them in his office, [Name] didn't even think for a second that Welt would remember something as trivial as 'running out of tea.'

[Name] brush it off as a coincidence after all it's just tea, there's no harm in it. Plus it's quite endearing to have someone remember your preferences. But as time passes [Name] began to see a pattern. How the hell does this man knew so much about him!? Heck! He even brought [Name] his favorite dessert to enjoy for during his afternoon tea! How does he do that?! It's almost like he knew him for years, despite the fact they just met a few days ago.

.

.

Even though this is the other "him." Welt felt relief at the sight of [Name] being healthy and well. Still as blunt and stubborn as always, and he's Her Excellency's right hand? It's good to know he's been doing well in this universe.

Welt's heart skips a beat every time he notices that [Name] has the same habits of the one he knew and loved.

Like how he visibly shows disgust when he has to repeat himself yet again, how he would rather read novels than reading his own paperwork, how he won't hesitate to call someone out and calling them "dumb" or "stupid."

Aeons! It's like he's back with him again!

Then there's one that he noticed that made his heart nearly burst from his chest, this [Name] also collects things from trinkets to ball-jointed dolls.

This gave him an idea.

.

.

"Huh?" [Name] blinked twice, looking at Welt's gift in disbelief. Wha... What..? And most importantly how?

Welt had given him an awfully specific gift.

A ball-jointed doll of a little boy with indigo hair and blue eyes.

Who is he? He doesn't seem like a character from a comic or anything that he knew of. So who is he? Welt had told him that his name is Joyce. But who in Aeons name is Joyce?

But even so... Joyce ended up being his favorite as he took care of it as best as he could given his tight schedule. He's treating the doll as if he's his own flesh and blood. [Name] can't help it. It's almost like an instinct for him, a gravitational pull.

Why? Why is he acting like this? Sure yes he took care of his dolls, but he does so because he doesn't want them to be broken or messed up.

But why does he care for Joyce so much?

The question itself drove him mad which led to [Name] just stopped thinking about it any longer to avoid headaches and a potential identity crisis. The Stellaron crisis is already enough of a headache [Name] doesn't need anything else to worry about.

He goes to place the doll on his shelf before a raging headache consumes him like a strong wave in the ocean.

"Ack!" [Name] puts a hand on his forehead and the other on the shelf for support.

"Don't you want to?"

"No."

"Come on~ we can give you everything~"

"Trust us."

"Let us in."

"We can give you the power to protect her."

"We can tell you the truth."

"Just let us in."

"SHUT UP!!"

[Name] yelled at the top of his lungs as his grip on the shelf tightens ever so slightly. He took a few steps back and placed both of his hands on his face, stumbling with his steps. Shaken by the voices in his head. The voices of them. The voices of the—

He was cut off by the sound of knocking from his door. Taking deep breaths he straightened himself and made sure he was presentable before clearing his throat and saying. "Come in."

A guard entered his office, closing the door behind him he stood there and gave a bow as a sign of respect to his superior before delivering a message. "Sir, Her Excellency had requested your presence in her chamber."

[Name]'s eyes widened by a split-second before going back to a neutral one. "I see. Thank you, you may leave." The moment the guard left [Name] let out a sigh he tries to calm himself down from his previous outburst, having Her Excellency witness him in such a state is unforgivable after all. She deserve nothing less than the best.

.

.

Her chamber is quite spacious, one that could be mistaken as a drawing room. But even so, Her Excellency have kept it practical only having the necessities and refusing to fill it with anything else other than that.

Entering the room, he was greeted by a young lady sitting on her chair as she looked outside of her window with a somber look, leaving her now cold tea on the table to her right. Seeing the look on her face, the tall man approach the other before kneeling in front of her, he said. "Your Excellency, you have requested my presence. Is there something of your concerns?"

The woman turns her head towards the voice, she lets out a sigh and shook her head, this did not manage to convince him. After all, he is her right hand, he knows his Lady like an open book. "Your Excellency... if something is bothering you, please I beg you to tell me."

She stayed silent for a moment before speaking in a soft and gentle voice that's only above a whisper. "It's nothing, [Name], and haven't I told you countless of times? Please.. call me Christine, you don't have to address me in such a formal way.." [Name] doesn't like that. He doesn't like having Her Exce—Christine—leaving him in the dark like that. Can't she see he cares for her deeply? Can't she see how softer he is when he's with her and only her? Can't she see how willingly he sacrifice everything for her?

"Christine.." He began in a somber tone, his expression softens ever so slightly.

'I know it hurts.. watching your people suffer like that.. but you don't have to suffer anymore... for I won't allow it.' He thought to himself as he gently hold her hand. 'I'll do anything to ensure that tears won't fall from those eyes.' He takes her hand and bring it close to his lips and kiss the back of her hand. 'I promise you that... My Christine..'

'Even if it means accepting their proposal. I'll do it.' His eyes darken at the thought. 'The Stellaron's proposal.'

.

.

.

.

.

----------

Shame.. It seems this "[Name]" has other plans in mind. Interesting is it not? The previously cold man is now someone that's obsessed with another in this world.

If only it's with him. Then he might get his happy ending.

What do you say?

Should he have his happy ending? Or should he "lose" his love once more? Be it by death.. Or by his heart that belongs to someone else..

----------

[nickeverdeen]

If it's ok, I'd like to make a request for Ellie Williams from TLOU 1 with an adventurous, dreamy and creative fem!reader who's kind of air-headed and socially awkward? Maybe have Reader accompany Joel and Ellie on their journey because she's also immune or smth?

Plus Reader is a theatre kid and loves musicals + voice acting

Thank you in advance!

-🦝

Hey 🦝, thanks for the request and I’m sorry that it’s not longer and it took me so long. I hope it’s okay, love you 💚

————————————————————

Ellie Williams x platonic!immune!fem!reader

You and Ellie hit it off instantly, bonding over your shared sense of adventure and love for creative pursuits

Despite your differences, Ellie finds your dreamy and creative nature refreshing, and you like Ellie’s bravery and resilience

Your occasional air-headed moments lead to lighthearted and funny situations, which Ellie finds like an opportunity to tease you

You two are definetly socially awkward buddies yet you have a dynamic that balances it like: “you’re talking and I’m paying”

Ellie loses it when you mimic someone else’s voice and make fun of them even though it’s behind their back

She loves it

You guys often go out exploring abandoned buildings, sneaking into restricted areas, running around an empty mall at night

Ellie mostly drags you into this, though and you always get something out of it

The most used excuse you’ll ever hear from her when asking/saying that there can be some Clickers or Stalkers is:

“Why’re you scared? We’re immune”

She uses this 24/7

But when you ain’t messing around you’re also sometimes - mostly at night - having a deep conversations in general knowing you can trust each other

When things get bad you’re there for each other, through it all

Always

Your optimistic outlook on life kidna makes Ellie to see the brighter side of things, even in the midst of chaos

You stay up late into the night, swapping stories and dreams under the starlit sky, glad to have each other

Through thick and thin, you and Ellie stand by each other’s side, no matter what

When your immunity is discovered, Joel reluctantly agree to let you join their journey, knowing that your immunity could be crucial to finding a cure

At first, Joel is skeptical about having you tagging along, but Ellie convinces him that he can trust you

And she kidna scolds him for talking bad about you

Your presence adds a new dynamic to the group like more fun and creativity

You and Ellie often sneak snacks from Joel’s backpack, giggling like stupid kids during it

Your playful banter help lighten the mood during tense moments, providing much-needed comic relief for the group

Mimicing Joel’s voice and making fun of him is pretty much one of the things you do almost every day

While Joel might not be the biggest fan of it from the start Ellie loves it

Your talents go beyond voice acting, showcasing your skills in singing, storytelling, and even puppetry, are often appreciated

You become Joel’s new teasing target, with Joel often poking fun at your air-headed moments, albeit in a lighthearted manner

You have this thing going on between Ellie and Joel where Joel is your main target anf Ellie’s and you both are his

While you guys travel together there are sometimes during the day conversations about personal things

You wanted to make fun of Joel for wanting to live on a farm and be a singer - but you just couldn’t

Despite your air-headed tendencies, Joel and Ellie develop a protective instinct towards you, ensuring your safety and well-being all the time

Although unlike Ellie Joel has it balanced where he’s protective of both you and Ellie

Later when it came to the hospital wanting to make a cure Marlene decided to make a deal with Joel to choose which one of you he’ll be taking home alive

Let’s just say that he didn’t like that and just when they were about to open you this man turned into John Wick

Dad protective instincts kicked in

There’s no way in hell he’s gonna lose both of his “kids”, he can’t let that happen

Taking you and Ellie into Jackson obviously worried Joel, but when it came to lying he was glad that you believed him very easily unlike Ellie who was a bit sceptical

He feels guilty, but he’s glad that he has his “kids” safe abd Ellie is happy to know that her best friend is okay

[r0bita]

There is something refreshing about the times when Pinoko takes an interest in other characters and other activities besides Dr. Black Jack, because while her infatuation with Black Jack is a huge part of her character it feels like that's the only thing she has going for her which should be false.

This why I love Pinoko's portrayal in the Dezaki OVAs (KARTE 5, ESPECIALLY), over the 2004 anime. It's a good balance of all her traits as a clingy companion, a reliable ally, a comic relief, and an overall cutie that balance outs the severity of the episodic cases Black Jack takes on.

She is a capable right hand to Black Jack and it's super unfair to her character to be only seen as a hopeless romantic side kick and temper-tantrum comic relief for Black Jack. Even the OG manga and 2004 anime kinda pushes this image and sometimes it's not always fun to watch.

Calling her Black Jack's child is also kinda a shakey topic sometimes, because Black Jack IS her guardian, she was (and still kinda is) his patient, and he views her as his kid, despite Pinoko's adamantly in calling herself his wife (which I personally think is cringe and stinks of Freud), IS his assistant, and has gotten through tough situations on her own despite her condition disabling her at times. So it's still very one-sided on both ends, and overall complicated. This isn't an overall negative thing, but an observation on how unique and imperfect their found family relationship is depicted.

Pinoko is (technically) an adult, but not in the same level of maturity or life experience as Black Jack. (A cyborg who was living inside their twin for 18 years isn't exactly gonna have the easiest time to adapt and develop in society compared to most young adults. But this is Manga/Anime, so whatever!) Even at her best, she is still limited in what she can do and isn't always invited to come with him during certain trips because the of level of danger. Plus she has been sheltered and spoiled by Black Jack to the point of enabling her to be childish and entitled at times, as well as infantilizing her which damages her self-esteem and wanting to be seen as a person. But the same time, she also keeps Black Jack's and the reader's spirits up with her presence. Pinoko's personality balances Black Jack's serious and sometimes depressing attitude.

Basically, if there are more Black Jack series in the future, I would appreciate them taking doing right by Pinoko by giving her more agency and maybe some sense of growth, especially if they go for the more "darker side of medicine and serious topics" route.

[trashnotfound]

Time for my usual run down of the season , didn’t do it how I usually do because honestly I had not very nice things to say about the first 5 episodes 💀

Dr s2 pt2 spoielrs ahead

- jay? Jay!?! JAY!? Hello what was THAT- IT Was a COP out honestly, all the hype and build up for a shit ass reveal and a boring fight between him and nya, only for him to LEAVE 5 minutes later. I wanted more of him being evil, it was so rushed and just usless. Like they could have just made nya find him or something, he didn’t have to be evil, Because they did literally NOTHING with it. I know they probably realise they need a whole season to build up to jay but maybe if they didn’t focus on Lloyd all the time they could??

-It was nice to see some old characters again, like tox and Mr pale! Finally some old rep 😭 I just wish they we’re actually utilised properly. I didn’t want just cameos I wanted actual character arcs or something. I know I’m asking for a lot and “should be greatful to even get to see them” but s4 showed all the old elemental master so well, and they all at least got a little moment to shine even if just for one fight, then they added to that with season 9. It just felt like a *here’s your old characters now shut up*

-People may think I’m being too picky with this, but the random panning to Geo and other characters with jayas fight TOOK ME OUT!? Like we just had this super emotional revels and now jay and nya gotta fight, oh okay we’re just gonna show a purple goblin mid scene ?? Like it just took me out the moment and was also so random. Like he doesn’t even know nya that well, why are we seeing his reaction more then the ninjas. Same for the audience. Like they don’t know these people WHY ARE THEY HERE

- wyldfyre and Roby! What can’t I say about them. Saved the season for me honestly. I like how wyldfyre actually got a break this season and got to be goofy and silly. We really saw more of her personality shine! Her being the comic relief was really refreshing to see. Plus her and Roby instantly hitting it off, just like Kailor did was such a cute nod to them. The fact that their just so sweet and full of puppy love, they couldn’t be more different then eachother but that isn’t mentioned ONCE (I like that) wyldfyre takes on all of Roby words, and him roaring for her to show he loves her too. I just adore how they take on eachother characteristics and embrace how their different. Plus the blatant flirting 😭🤚🏻 made giggle

- ERIN LOW KEY TURNING EVIL HELLO!? I was kinda expecting someone to turn on the ninja, honestly shocked it was Erin. Him and sora fighting broke my heart :( I can 100% understand his point of view, it’s been over a year since he met Lloyd and he’s still no closer to his parents. It does suck and I wish it was prioritised too, but Lloyd can’t help that all the danger they have been facing is world ending. Someone just needs to give him and hug. But I also think he needs to learn he can’t have everything in life. He wanted to be a ninja and he got that! I know he lots his parents but so did sora. I just think he needs a good hug and some support

- cole and zane we so pushed aside this season. I know they aren’t the main focus anymore, but for cole especially just doesn’t feel like a character anymore? He hasn’t since 13 honestly. I don’t think it helps that I’m still getting used to Andrew voicing him ( no fault of his own the writers won’t give him enough material to work with) so it genuinely feels like a new character to me. Plus his lack of interest in the ninja. Zane could have been used so much this season to analyse their opponents and help train sora, but they just cast him aside. Like hello he had an entire episode DEDICATED TO HIM BEING A DETECTIVE? Why didn’t they let him help Erin figure out the murders ( yes it was to do those flashbacks of his parents but that didn’t really add much)

- Kai coming back was so underwhelming, I honestly would have liked if they waited till next season to do that. We didn’t get a proper reunion of him and wyldfyre or nya :(

- ep 11-20 did not feel like a part 2, they felt like an entire different season. The separate parts really don’t merge well on my opinion. We’re following 2 completely different story lines and fighting 2 different villains. Their isn’t really an over arching storyline aside from Ras and his gang. Who don’t even turn out to be the main villains 💀 this part just felt like a re do of seaosn 4 but a lot more boring. I really couldn’t get into the story until at least episode 5. It was just way to repetitive with no real danger being shown.

I think that’s everything I wanna talk about for now, there’s others but they more small critiques or details I liked. Not my favourite season ( you can probably tell lol) definitely the worst of all 4 parts so far in my opinion. But I’m hoping season 3 is better since we hopefully have an actual evil ninja ( Erin) and jaya to look forward too

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Hey Kym, have you talked about how you think this season is going to pan out? Nothing too involved,just bare bones what you think these 18 episodes will deliver

Hey Nonnie

I both have and havent - in that I’ve just talked about it quite a lot in my last post about Tim’s interview, (so go check that out if you want more!) but I haven’t written a dedicated post about what I’m thinking for how season 8 is going to pan out.

I’m very much of the opinion we’re getting a s3 redux if you will. Season 7 was basically a speed run of s2 and all the s3 elements are being nicely set up - we’ve been given hints of how several storylines are going to parallel arcs from s3 - the bee-nado is sounding more and more like the tsunami - in that the bees are the same as the wave - they set off the destruction, but themselves aren’t the actual emergency - the wave created all the various issues we saw the firefam battle through in their various locations in the aftermath and the bees seem to be doing the same thing - causing the issues in e1 and will then more or less be gone and it’s the trail of destruction they’ve left behind that is the actual disaster.

Bobbys arc seems to be the comic relief arc (which he deserves tbh after s7!) with some serious notes in that parallels his s3 arc - s3 bobby was not in the firehouse at the start of s3 (suspended) and he planning his wedding to Athena and supporting the firefam from a distance - we seem to be getting a similar vibe going on here - with him not at the 118, and instead of a wedding he’s looking for a new home!

Athena’s arc is seemingly going to play on her Emmet storyline from Athena begins - which was in s3. I think the plane may well be carrying Dennis Jackson - the guy who killed emmet - so I’m expecting something copaganda heavy but hoping for the opposite (especially as we’ve got Ortiz in play this season and the idea of corruption in politics and how that trickles down into public service roles like policing etc would be so interesting to see!) where we explore how Athena’s choice to pursue and have DJ prosecuted has impacted everyone involved.

Buck and Eddie’s arcs seem to be paralleling s3 as well - we ended s7 with them closer than ever and Chris’s leaving has a similar vibe to Eddie leaving Chris with buck to it - in that buck and Eddie were the closest we’d ever seen them in that moment, and in the initial aftermath of the tsunami, only to then have them pulled apart - and separated before coming back into each others orbits andbring closer than ever - leading into Eddie begins and him changing his will.

S3 for buck was about figuring himself out a lot more - establishing the importance of family to him and about learning who he wants to be and who he doesn’t want to become. The Gerrard storyline seems to be setting up something similar as i think it’s going to parallel the lawsuit arc - and will be about Buck and Bobbys relationship. Tommy also plus into that arc as he is seemingly set up to be the thing that creates distance between buck and Eddie like the lawsuit and the fight club did (the idea that Tim and the writers honed in on the fighting aspect of his similarities with Eddie in s7 so they could use it as an allegory for the fight club is chefs kiss good) so I expect him to be around for a bit (I’m going to take a stab at e7 marking his departure but it could be e8) but he’ll be fine before mid season hiatus!

The entirety of Eddie’s arc seems to be set up for a Christopher return around Christmas (the title puns they could play on with that would be so fun!) on the back of an Eddie religion leading to gay Eddie arc for 8a and then 8b is primed for buddie canon (imo I think we’re looking at 8x11 or 12 for them confirmed and 8x11 would make me super happy as it would be 118 backwards and I love a ply on things like that!)

The Ortiz v Hen storyline has already mentioned the ambulance crash from malfunction which was s3 so I’m seeing plenty of parallels for hens arc with her s3 one but im expecting it to be more front and centre for more episodes than hens s3 arc was - which is as it should be - hens arcs have been more low-key since s5 so she’s due to be brought back to the fore!

Chim and Maddie are the main unknown for me - the Mara arc is clearly important but is very much tied into hens arc. We’ve had hints that Mara will be a springboard for them expanding their family and that in and of itself ties into the s3 arc which was all about madney tentatively exploring the idea of parenthood and it ended with Maddie pregnant - so I’m thinking we might see something similar for them this season. I would also like a dispatch centric episode this season - we had taking of dispatch in s3 and while I don’t know how it would look, we’re due a dispatch heavy episode (which are always great ones).

That’s my super bare bones theory on roughly how s8 is going to pan out - I don’t expect it to completely follow the s3 arc, but I do expect it to hit many of the key markers s3 has!

I hope this is what you were hoping for in your ask Nonnie - I love speculating on 911 it’s so much fun

[starswhisperwritershear]

Of All The Stories In The Stars, Ours Has Yet To Be Told (62761 words) by StarsWhisper Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Paulina Sanchez, Kwan (Danny Phantom), Valerie Gray, Pookie (Danny Phantom) Additional Tags: Aged-Up Character(s), on the way to college, mentions of child abuse, Mentions of homophobia, Redemption Arcs, Bisexual Danny Fenton, everyone becoming good friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Second Chances, lots of classical literature references, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Lots of Crying, Some hurt/comfort, almost everyone has shitty parents, More tags to come as I think of them, Suicidal Thoughts, This is heavily inspired by marichat, stealing lots of headcanons from tumblr, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, not entirely canon compliant, I stole the pieces I like and combined them with fanon to get what I wanted, this was supposed to be a slow burn, Dialogue Heavy, some spooky shit will be snuck in here, Mutual Pining, Dissection, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton, lots of astrology references, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), horror aspects will be in here, but also cute fluff, Asexual Character, Mentions or pevious eating disorders Summary: It's the end of senior year and Dash and Danny are having the worst time of their lives. Dash's father finds out he's queer and tries to kill him. That lands him in prison with divorce papers. Dash goes to therapy to cope and learn how to change his behaviors while taking some time off from school. He now needs to learn how to navigate the world and figure himself out. Danny fears he'll never figure out what he wants for his future beyond being the hero of Amity Park forever and he's running out of time to figure it out as he watches everyone he knows move on without him. Plus there are always the people hunting him down that he has to worry about on top of that.

~

Danny lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling, feet idly kicking the air as they dangled off the side. He listened to his phone ring, anxiety settling in his stomach. He'd already tried twice that day to get a hold of Jazz with no luck. He knew she was busy, but he couldn't help the little voice telling him his parents had gotten to her first. The phone was two rings away from going to voicemail again when she picked up.

"Hey, bro! What's popping?"

Danny snorted, laughing at her choice of slang words. Ever since getting to college, she'd been trying her best to sound cool and he was beginning to suspect Mr. Lancer had given her one of his 'how to be hip' dictionaries. "The only thing that should be popping, is you popping open a real dictionary."

Jazz sighed comically. "There's that younger brother sarcasm I've missed."

Danny rolled his eyes, a faint smile on his face. "How are you, Jazz?"

"Oh, I'm fine. The summer semester is kicking my ass. I've got seven essays, two research projects, and a group presentation all due by the end of the week, but, yeah, I'm fine."

"Jesus, Jazz, do you even have time to breathe?"

"I do right now. I'm sorry for missing your other calls. Is there something going on?"

"I understand you're busy. Nothing crazy, I just, uh, have Mom and Dad talked to you at all?" Danny chewed his bottom lip so hard he tasted blood.

"No," Jazz snorted. "The last I heard from either of them was a few days ago and all Dad sent me was a cat meme on Facebook. I figured they've just been too busy with ghost hunting to check up on me." The frustration in her voice was tense like she couldn't decide if she wanted to be sad or mad. She cared about her parents, but she harbored a lot of resentment about how the two of them were raised. "Why?"

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, cause I wanted to be the one to tell you that I've decided to go to college."

Jazz screamed. Danny ripped the phone away from his ear, only daring to bring it back when he couldn't hear her anymore. "Danny! That's amazing! Where are you going? What program are you doing? What convinced you?"

"Well, I had a talk with Mr. Lancer-"

"I knew he'd come through for me," Jazz whispered under her breath.

"And," Danny chuckled, "he was talking about this program here at Amity Community that I kind of liked. After some thinking, and admittedly a little pushing from Dash, I-"

"Dash? Dash Baxter? Since when are you two hanging out?"

"Uh, I haven't told you about that? Never mind, not important right now. I, well, I decided to be an astronomy teacher. A professor if I can swing it."

Jazz screamed again. "That's such a good choice! It's so you! Oh my gosh, my brother, a professor!" She gasped. "We can share our theories about classroom behavior now! This is going to be so great!"

Danny felt a huge wave of relief hit him, shaking a lot of his parents' disapproval off. He sighed, "Thanks, Jazz. I'm glad you think so."

"Mom and Dad didn't take it so well, huh?" Jazz's voice lost a lot of its excitement, a hint of bitterness glazing over it.

Danny glared up at the glowing stars on his ceiling. "No, not really. They're mad at Mr. Lancer for even putting the idea in my head. But, Mom said it was a start and I'll for sure want to change my major to biochemistry by the end of the semester when I've realized what it is I've gotten myself into."

Jazz hesitated, her voice careful. "And Dad?"

Danny's heart constricted. "He's just glad they have at least one genius kid."

"I'm going to lose my shit." Jazz hissed, knocking something over. "This is why I don't come home for Christmas. Don't listen to him, Danny. He should be proud of you. If he knew of half the shit you did in his lab, he would be proud. I'm proud of you."

"I miss you, Jazz." He sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. "They were a lot kinder when you were around."

"Only cause I had to kick their asses anytime they said some bullshit about you." Her voice softened. "I miss you too. But, hey, look at how great you're doing without me."

Danny laughed. "Yeah, but how much better could I be doing with you?"

"Oh! Speaking of old inside jokes, how are your, um, extracurricular activities going? Wink."

"You don't have to say wink." Danny jokingly rolled his eyes.

"Then how will you know I'm winking?"

"You're such a dork."

"I know you are but what am I?" Jazz laughed. "But, seriously, how are things going on the spooky side?"

Danny took a deep breath, flashes of the night before entering his mind. He stood up to pace his room, hoping to shake them off. "Uh, good, good. Just the usual. The ghosts might be on vacation, there have been fewer attacks lately. So, that's nice."

"You hesitated. Danny, you know you can tell me, right? I wouldn't ask if I thought I couldn't handle it."

Danny exhaled, long and low. "Okay, they were," he swallowed, his breath shaking, "They were dissecting a ghost in the lab last night. She was in real bad shape when I found her."

Jazz gasped. "Was it someone you knew?"

Danny shook his head, briefly forgetting she couldn't see him. "No, but, God, Jazz, she, she couldn't have been older than sixteen. She wasn't even a threat and they had her- she was completely, her arms were covered in-" Danny paused to take a deep steadying breath. "It was bad. She was in a lot of pain and the house reeked like they'd been at it for hours."

Jazz's voice carefully held no emotion. "What happened? Did they say anything about it?"

"Not to me. I got her out without them noticing. When they got back to the lab and found out they argued for a minute before I interrupted them." He stubbed his toe, hissing at the contact.

"That's- I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Do you, maybe, wanna talk about how you're feeling?"

Danny sat back down, twisting the sheets in his fingers. "Not really. I kind of want to forget it ever happened."

"Okay, that's fine." Jazz took a breath, then forced a teasing tone to creep back into her voice. "Then maybe you can explain this photo of you and Dash Baxter that both Tucker and Sam sent me."

"What?" Danny sat up straight, panic settling into his veins. "What photo?"

"It seems like a movie night at Sam's. You're asleep on his shoulder and you two look pretty cozy."

"That was an accident! I didn't mean to fall asleep. Okay, but, listen, I have to tell you about Dash." He proceeded to tell her everything from the beginning, how he had stopped messing with them a few years back, how he patched Phantom up, how Danny invited him to hang out, the whole story up til yesterday.

"So, what I'm getting out of this is that a pretty jock boy said thank you and you fell in love with him."

"I'm not in love with him! Why does everyone keep saying that?" Danny huffed, face warm.

"Uh, 'cause you're acting like it."

"I just, think he's cool. You know, I've mixed these feelings up before with Sam. This is probably just the same thing. I don't like him, I just think he's cool."

Jazz giggled. "Danny, please, I never heard you talk about Sam the way you just talked about Dash. You totally like him."

"I don't think I do. I mean, I do like being around him, a lot. As both Fenton and Phantom. He doesn't really act different between the two of them which is… nice. But if I liked him, I'd have to tell him I'm the same person, and then what if freaks out and starts acting differently again? I like this Dash. I like the way things are. I don't want them to change." Danny knew he was whining, but Jazz started it.

"Of course change is scary. And I'm not gonna say that you should tell him 'because of what could be' or anything. It's your relationship with the guy, you get to decide what you tell him. What I am saying is that you should be honest with yourself and you should have told me! You have a crush on a boy and you didn't tell your sister! I'm hurt."

"Uh, maybe!" Danny protested. "Maybe I have a crush on a boy."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire." Jazz sang.

"Don't you have like twenty essays to do or something?" Danny quipped.

Jazz bellowed a hearty laugh. "Yeah, I do. Talk to you later?"

"Yeah. Thanks for talking to me, Jazz."

"Anytime, bro. Love ya."

"Love you too." Danny hung up. He sighed and collapsed back on his bed, feeling better than he had before. He should make it a point to call his sister more often.

~

Danny: Hey, if I wanted 2 wear eyeliner, where would I start?

Paulina: Aaaaaaa!!! U liked it that much?! this is perfect. I haven't taught any1 make-up in a minute! R U busy? I could B there in ten minutes.

Danny: Would it B ok if i came 2 yours instead? parents have a bunch of dangerous experiments lying around this morning

Paulina: Oh, yeah that should B fine. I'll have everything set up by the time U get here. I'm so excited!

Danny: :D

Paulina has created a group chat.

Paulina has added Kwan, Dash, Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Valerie.

Paulina has sent a photo.

[The photo shows Paulina standing next to Danny in her huge vanity bathroom. They're holding their hands up in the peace sign gesture, winking, and sticking their tongues out. They wear matching eyeliner.]

Paulina: I am a goddess at make-up

Danny: Can confirm. I've learned from a master

Sam: Since the goddess can get you to do something I've been trying to convince you to do for years, I'll gladly bow

Tucker: Smthng U want 2 tell us, Sam?

Sam: Only that I can recognize talent when I see it

Valerie: But can Danny do it on his own?

Danny: I did Paulina's!!! She's been teaching me all day. This shit is hard

Dash: I didn't think you'd get to Paulina's level in one day

Danny: Oh, I'm nowhere near her level. She's a master. However, I can tell U the difference between liquid and felt tip eyeliner.

Sam: Prove it

Tucker: How's he supposed to prove it?

Valerie: He could do your eyeliner

Tucker: No thank U. That shit takes forever to get off. Never again. Why aren't we volunteering Dash for this?

Dash: Because I'm not back for another two weeks. And by then he'll be better at it so you won't be able to make fun of him

Danny: :(

Paulina: I can't believe ur all doubting my teaching skills

Sam: We're doubting Danny's art skills

Danny: >: (

Kwan: Yo!! Looking good, bro!

Danny: :) Thanks, bro. I knew I could count on U. The only 1 that has my back 4 real

Dash: I thought it looked cool

Danny: :D

Valerie: Anyone want to meet at Nasty Burger? I've got a craving for fries

Tucker: Say less, I'm omw

Sam: I'm down

Dash: :(

Danny: You'll be there in spirit :)

Kwan: Woooo! Party!!!! Dash, we can Skype you

Dash: That's okay, we're going on a hike here in a second

Paulina: That's what you get for abandoning us for a month

Dash: :(

~

Sam: I can't believe our resident nurse friend is gone right now

Dash: ?

Tucker: Danny needs stitches and Sam doesn't want to do it

Valerie: What'd he do this time?

Dash: This time?! How often does he need stitches? Is he okay?

Sam: More often than you'd think. He's a magnet for trouble

Tucker: He's fine. Just jumped in front of a car crash to save a kid. A piece of shrapnel gouged his leg.

Dash: Why isn't he in the hospital?! Is the kid okay?

Valerie deleted a chat

Valerie: Danny doesn't like hospitals. Why didn't he let Phantom handle it?

Sam: There weren't any ghosts involved. He wouldn't have shown.

Dash: Is everyone okay though? What's happening with Danny?

Tucker: The kid is worshiping Danny as we speak

Danny: Aw, worried about me Dash? ;)

Danny: Every1 is ok though. I got stitches. The kid is a little shaken, but otherwise unharmed and he's not worshiping me. He was just scared. It doesn't look like a serious crash either.

Dash: My friend jumped in front of a car, of fucking course I'm worried.

Tucker: Eh, he does this often. You'll get used to it.

Dash: Often!? Why?

Valerie: Acknowledging it only encourages him

Danny: Who else was going to save that kid? I think I prefer him over U guys

Dash: What did I do?

Danny: Ur exempt

Tucker: Simp

Danny: I will haunt ur ass Tuck

Tucker: No U won't. Ur too nice

Sam: It's true, that's a hollow threat and you know it

Danny: I can be threatening >=(

Paulina: Glad ur ok Danny! Hate to disagree with U guys, but Danny can be scary when he wants to be

Dash: Yeah, have U ever seen him mad? He's a wall of terror and rage

Valerie: How do you two know that?

Paulina: We used to be bad people.

Dash: U pick on the wrong kid once and suddenly Danny Fenton turns into ur worst nightmare

Danny: :D See?

Sam: Ur still not haunting Tucker

Tucker: I have bestie privileges

Danny: True. But I do too and I will not hesitate to send the blackmail photos I have saved.

Tucker: What photos?

Danny: ^u^

Tucker: Danny, what photos?!?!

~

"Go long!" Danny launched the frisbee through the air, watching Youngblood and Cujo race after it. Youngblood caught it and threw it back. Cujo spun around and came charging back toward him.

He caught it, narrowly dodging Cujo as he jumped after it. This time when he threw it, he used a little bit of ecto energy to throw it further. Cujo took the lead on this chase, Youngblood protesting.

"Hey! Cujo! Let me get it! You can't even throw it!"

"You'll never tire them out, you know." Ember huffed, scribbling music notes in her notebook.

"I know." Danny collapsed on the ground next to her, sinking into the soft grass of one of the ghost zone's islands. "I'm not trying to. Just making sure they don't get bored and try to cause chaos in the living world."

Ember huffed and picked up her guitar. "I've been doing just fine keeping them in check." She played a few chords, shook her head, and adjusted the strings.

"Yeah, you have. Thanks for that. I'm sorry I haven't been visiting as much lately."

She picked her notebook up and changed something she had written. "Yeah, what gives? That new boyfriend of yours better company than us or something?"

Danny tensed. "You know about Dash?"

Ember rolled her eyes. "The whole zone knows about Dash. Well, anyone who cares about Phantom, knows about Dash. Johnny has been itching to tease you about it."

"Great, well he's not even my boyfriend. So Johnny can lay off." Danny watched Youngblood and Cujo fight over the frisbee.

Ember hummed. "You know he won't. I think Skulker already has a plan to use him as bait too. You'd better keep an eye on him."

Danny groaned flopping over to stare up at the swirling green void. His vision filled with a giant green dog, dropping slobber over him like rain as it deposited the Frisbee next to him.

"Gross, Cujo!" Danny sat up, turning intangible so the dog spit would slide off of him.

"You're supposed to throw it back!" Youngblood huffed, sitting next to Ember. "This isn't fun anymore. I want to play pirates."

Danny raised an eyebrow at him, turning tangible again. "Do you remember what happened last time you played pirates? You sent three people to the hospital and leveled a whole city block."

Youngblood rolled his eyes. "It's not that big of a deal. They're all fine."

"People got hurt. That's not fine." Ember said gently.

"Ugh, big kids are no fun. It's fine because they'll just show up here if they get hurt. It's not like they disappear."

"It isn't fine," Danny soothed. "People aren't supposed to be here until they're ready. If you bring them here too early, it makes them really sad." Danny could tell Youngblood wasn't listening to the conversation anymore. Cujo butted his arm to get Danny to pet him.

"And you aren't supposed to be able to see me anymore. Rules are just dumb words that don't mean anything."

Danny tried to contain his frustration as he petted Cujo. He sighed. "Okay, why don't we play astronauts? We can use your slingshot for a spaceship again."

Youngblood brightened. "Okay! I'll go get it. C'mon Cujo! Help me carry it." Cujo barked and the two of them sped off toward Youngblood's door.

"Aren't you glad you're missing time with your boyfriend for this?" Ember sneered.

Danny frowned. "He's not my boyfriend. And I haven't just been spending all my time with him. I've been trying to apply for college and turn the antibiotics for the Fenton Venom into a vaccine. That way Pandora doesn't have to worry about distributing antibiotics to ghosts who are scared of her. You know, important things."

Ember huffed, ripping a page out of her notebook and throwing it at him. "Whatever. Just bring him to my next concert so I can make fun of you."

"No promises. Giving up on your song?" Danny threw the paper back at her, laughing.

"Not giving up, starting over. You giving up on getting over your crush?" She scribbles more in her notebook.

"You're not gonna drop this are you?" Danny wound his fingers around the ghost grass, ripping some chunks out and watching them blow away on the breeze.

"Nope." She popped the 'p', readjusting her guitar on her lap. "It's kind of the most interesting thing going on right now. Since I've given up on taking over the world, I have to entertain myself with your whole 'will I, won't I' thing."

Danny pouted. "Kitty and Johnny's 'will they won't they' isn't more interesting? What about your boyfriend? Is he not entertaining enough?"

"Uh, no. For one, Kitty and Johnny are annoying and they always get back together so it's boring at this point. And no, he's too busy trying to come up with a way to hunt you and the boy you want to kiss so bad it makes you look stupid." She struck a few chords on her guitar, nodding and writing it down.

Danny gasped, shoving her playfully. "I do not look stupid."

"Yes, you do. You fell in a goddamn lake." She grinned and motioned to her guitar. "You know, I could always help out with a well-timed love spell."

Danny frowned at her, eyes flashing in annoyance. "Not a chance. I'm not letting you put a spell on Dash."

"Aw, you care about him." She mocked. "Why don't you just fucking tell him?"

Danny huffed. "I don't know. Maybe I don't want him to freak out when he finds out I'm dead. Or not completely dead if he prefers Phantom. Oh god, what if he does prefer Phantom? What would I do then?"

Ember rolled her eyes. "Jesus, you're a mess. Look, I can't give you the best advice as someone who literally died because she got stood up. But, just ask yourself if you're willing to be lonely for the rest of your life because you're too scared to let someone take your feelings seriously. Don't be an idiot."

"I've got it!" Youngblood called, returning with Cujo who was balancing the slingshot on his back. "I call going first!"

"Coming!" Danny called. He smiled at Ember. "For someone who doesn't have a lot of advice, that was pretty good stuff. I like you better when you're not trying to take over the world."

"I know, you tell me all the time." Ember played more chords on her guitar. "Go play with the kid before he loses his mind."

Danny chuckled as he got up and flew over to Youngblood. "Alright, Commander, are you ready for launch?"

~

Danny: Hey, how's Cali?

Dash: It's fun. My aunt Cassie is teaching me the secret family recipes

Danny: :o any chance I can blackmail U into making those for me?

Dash: Yeah, you can ask nicely

Danny: Can U make them for me?

Dash: What's the magic word?

Danny: Ambivalent

Dash: I can withhold my cooking

Danny: This is cruel and unusual punishment

Dash: Weird, I don't think your texts are coming through

Danny: I refuse to beg

Dash: Then I refuse to share my secret family recipes

Danny: :(

Danny: :(

Danny: :(

Danny : Please?

Dash: Ok, you win. Hope you like chicken kebabs

Danny: <3 U have issues with Reggie yet?

Dash: Ugh, of course. My mom has put him in his place a couple of times though. It's been cool.

Danny: Let's go, Mrs. Baxter!

Dash: She says you can call her Jessica btw

Danny: Is ur mom reading ur texts?

Dash: No, she just asked who I was texting

Danny: Aw, she loves me <3

Dash: Don't encourage her. How are your stitches?

Danny: Still worried about that? I'm fine. It's no big deal.

Dash: It's kind of a big deal. I'm just glad you're okay. I seem to remember you promising a game night when I got back. Wouldn't be able to do that if you fucking died on me

Danny: Did I? I just remember saying we needed to hang out

Dash: No, I distinctly remember you saying that you'd help me get revenge on Tucker

Danny: Ur going after Tucker and not Sam?

Dash: Sam kicks ass. I don't think anyone can beat her. Tucker threw a blue shell at me. That's unforgivable.

Danny: Ok, u have convinced me. I'll help u with ur revenge scheme.

Dash: How upset is he going to be when he finds out I've turned you against him?

Danny: Immensely. He'll never let me live it down. U had better make it worth it

Dash: I'll get some practice in. Wouldn't want to let you down

Danny: Hope ur cousins are good practice then

Dash: Nathan might be, he hasn't left the game room since we got here.

Dash: I need to help with dinner, text you later?

Danny: Yeah, tell ur mom I said hi!

~

Danny, on his stomach, lay on his bed, one elbow supporting his head, red pen spinning in his other hand. An astronomy textbook lay open in front of him, a page already underlined with significant notes in the margins. He'd ordered the basic books for the classes he'd be taking ahead of time so he could use the second half of summer to get a jump start on his studies. He'd need the extra time if ghost attacks ramped up again in the fall.

Granted he was working off the textbooks the teachers had used the previous year so it might all be for naught. But he figured any information was good information, plus he liked seeing the pictures from the telescope.

He was underlining another sentence when his phone rang. He reached over, stretching to grab it from his nightstand, not even bothering to hide the smile on his face when he saw the contact picture. He dropped his pen and answered the call.

"Hey, Dash, what's-"

"Do you have to have your boyfriend fight all your battles, dweeb?" A voice he'd never heard before shouted a small distance from the mic.

"Shut the fuck up, Reggie!" Dash's voice was loud and pissed. "You're the one insisting you know everything when you're just sitting here talking out of your ass."

"Like some kid from Amity Park would know than me. I'm in-"

"Your seventh year of college, yeah, I think that's too many for an associate's degree, making you more of an idiot than a genius!" Dash snorted. "Danny, have you seen Mission to Mars?"

Danny resisted the urge to laugh. "Yeah. Are you calling me to settle a debate about a space movie?"

Dash sounded like he was ready to commit murder. "Yes. Reggie over here thinks that the movie is completely scientifically accurate."

"It's not." Danny closed his textbook and pushed it out of the way. He rolled onto his back to give his elbows a break.

"I fucking told you," Dash shouted, presumably at Reggie.

"What does some fresh high school graduate even know?" Reggie bit back.

"More than you asshole! He's going to get an astronomy degree and I don't think you even know what campus you stumbled onto."

Danny bit his lip to keep from laughing, a warm feeling bubbling up in his stomach.

"Boys, please," an elderly voice called, "the kids are in the next room."

"What part specifically are you arguing about?" Danny asked.

"The part where he takes his helmet off and instantly freezes. You were just talking about it the other day."

"You were actually listening to me rant about the effects of space on the human body?" Danny couldn't help the fluttery tone creeping into his voice. He wrapped his free arm around his stomach trying to contain the small butterflies forming there.

"I'm gonna be sick," Reggie hissed.

"Am I on speaker?" Danny picked at the loose threads on his jeans.

"Yeah, sorry, uh, can you explain to him what happens when an astronaut takes off their helmet in space?"

"Space is freezing, obviously they'd freeze," Reggie shouted disgruntled.

"Okay, first off," Danny started, understanding exactly why Dash hated this guy, "It doesn't matter what would happen because an astronaut would not be able to remove their own helmet. It has to be sealed and pressurized from the back, meaning they would need a partner to put it on and take it off properly. So, there's your first inaccuracy."

"What are your fucking sources for that?" Reggie spat.

"Fucking NASA." Danny snorted. "Fucking google it if you don't believe me. Although, I assume Dash already tried that."

Dash coughed, trying to cover his laugh.

"Whatever," Reggie huffed. "They'd still freeze if they could."

"Not immediately. The first thing that would happen is their skin would develop extreme sunburns from exposure to unfiltered ultraviolet light. If they didn't immediately exhale, their lungs would expand like a balloon from the unbalanced pressure. Parallel air expansion within their ears and sinuses will cause the tissues to rupture. Any moisture in the eyes, mouth, and throat will boil and vaporize. The rest of the liquids in the body will also start to boil and trigger extreme swelling in the muscles. Then the vaporization will cause localized temperatures to drop and then they'll begin to freeze. But that's not the end. Any body fluids that are left can and will escape the body however they can; crying, vomiting, urinating, defecating, all of it boiling on emission. And then they'll run out of oxygen causing hypoxia to take place. Within twelve seconds, they will have lost consciousness so at least they won't have to feel most of this. And if they're not re-pressurized within two minutes, they're certainly dead. And you can imagine the consequences of surviving."

The line on the other end was silent for a few moments. Danny thought he'd gone a bit too far and maybe ruined his reputation with Dash's family. The butterflies in his stomach were turning to stone. He stared at the stars on his ceiling, nerves eating away at him.

Dash, finally, broke the silence, his voice bold and full of pride. "Anything to say to that Reggie? Or did you not understand half the words he said? I thought you knew everything?"

Danny felt warm and gooey inside with the tone of Dash's voice. He was proud of him. Danny may as well be melting. He rolled on his side, curling up in an attempt to contain himself. He fidgeted with the edge of his blankets.

"Whatever," Reggie muttered. "Your boyfriend is creepy as hell. I'm going for a smoke." He heard a door close.

"Yeah, whatever, Reggie, you sore fucking loser," Dash muttered. Danny tried to keep his heart from jumping when Dash didn't correct Reggie on their relationship for a second time.

"Good job, Danny!" Dash's mom whispered nearby. "I owe you one."

"Thanks, Jessica." Danny giggled.

There was some shuffling and muttering on the other end before he heard another door. "You're off speaker now. Thanks for that. I've never seen Reggie so uncomfortable."

Danny's laugh was bubbly and he was embarrassed at how uncontrolled it was. "Anytime. It's nice to know you actually listened to my little space rant."

"Of course, I was listening. And look, it came in handy. Anytime you want to rant, I'm ready to listen."

Danny's face burned, tears pricking the corner of his eyes. His cheeks ached from how long his smile had been there. "Cool," he wheezed. "I'm always here to listen to you too. If there was anything you wanted to talk about."

"Really? Cause my grandma has been trying to teach me how to knit. I could tell you all about different types of yarn and needles."

Danny laughed, every nerve in his body alight with sparking nervous energy. One conversation with Dash was putting him through a lot of emotions in a very short time span. He would be lying if he said he hated it. "Then please, go on, knitting master. I'm all ears."

"Dash!" Dash's mom called faintly from the other room. "We're about to start the next movie! Danny can wait a few more days to have you all to himself!"

Dash sighed. "Well, I guess you'll have to wait to hear all about three-sided yarn until I get back. Talk to you later?"

"Yeah, later." Danny breathed, closing his phone as Dash hung up. He breathed out shakily, cradling his phone to his chest. His heart was racing under his fingers.

Dash had called him to prove a point about astronomy. And he was proud of him for his answer. And that made Danny feel very weak in the knees.

Oh boy, he might be in trouble.

~

Dash adjusted the temperature of the water at the kitchen sink. He was washing the apples they had, making sure to scrub all the pesticides off. He handed each one to his niece Janice who was peeling them at the kitchen table. His grandma sat next to her, mixing pie crust and humming a song.

"Dash, can I ask you something?" Janice asked, setting a freshly peeled apple in the wooden bowl on the table.

"Yeah, what's up, nerd?" He grabbed the last apple, pulling its sticker off and running it under the water.

"That boy that you keep texting, do you like him?"

Dash froze, the old yellow wallpaper with its red birds suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "Maybe," he drawled. "Why do you want to know?"

Janice shrugged. "Reggie keeps saying mean things about it and I told him if he hurt your feelings about it I'd kick his ass. So, if you did like him, I was going to have to go to war." She struggled to pull a stem out of one of the apples. Their grandma passed her a small knife.

Dash grinned at the thought of his twelve-year-old niece fighting his twenty-five-year-old cousin. She would win. "You don't have to go to war for me, Janice. Just ignore Reggie. He's just a mean person."

"That's not an answer to my question, though." She stood up and got a glass down from the cabinet, filling it with the homemade juice from the fridge.

"I'm curious too." His grandma spoke. "With the way you called him the other day, I'd have thought you two were already dating." She winked at him.

Dash laughed to shake the nerves off. Calling Danny had been impulsive, he just wanted to put Reggie in his place. But he'd been thinking about how happy Danny had sounded since it happened. He turned off the sink and grabbed a cutting board and a fresh knife to start cutting the apples. "Well, if you two gossips need some to satisfy you, then maybe I'll admit to liking two boys."

Janice gasped, plopping back down in her seat. "Drama. Is one of them Danny?"

Dash nodded. "Yes, one of them is Danny. Don't you dare tell him."

"Who's the other one?" His grandma asked, adding more water to her mixing bowl.

Dash didn't really know how to explain Phantom to people who lived outside Amity Park. Ghosts weren't as common beyond their strange little town so they didn't really need ghost superheroes anywhere else. "Uh, just this other guy from school that I've been hanging out with."

His grandma sighed. "I wish I was still young enough to play the field like that."

"Grandma!" Janice gasped, scandalized. Their grandma just laughed. Janice grimaced. "Which one do you like better then? It's Danny, right?"

"You just want me to like Danny because he likes space." Dash slid the apple chunks off the board into a small bowl on the very end of the old wooden table.

"Uh, duh." Janice huffed. "Would it even work with this other guy?"

Dash sighed, remembering how disappointed Phantom had been in him the last time they talked. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" His grandma asked, waddling over to the oak cabinets in search of the dough roller.

"I don't know, gram. I haven't seen him in a while and we just have… different lifestyles. It might be a nice experience, but I don't think it would work long-term."

"There's nothing wrong with experiences." His grandma mused. "They're a part of life."

Dash gave her a small smile. "When did you get old enough to be so wise?"

She cackled, setting the roller down next to her bowl and moving her chair out of the way. "When did you get old enough to be worrying about boys?"

"Touche."

"So," Janice took a long sip of her juice, maintaining eye contact the whole time, "when are you gonna tell Danny?"

Dash frowned. He finished slicing the last apple and walked over to the sink to wash the cutting board. "I don't think I will. He's trying to figure out what he wants from life and I think I'd just get in his way."

"Why can't he figure it out with you?" Janice said with all the sting of honesty that children provided.

Dash didn't even know how to begin low self-esteem to her. His mind raced, trying to come up with a good excuse. "Uh, well, I just think he deserves the best and I think there's better than me."

"I think he's the one who gets to decide what he deserves." His grandma smiled. "You put yourself down too much Dash. We all have darkness in our past, but it doesn't make our present light less deserving."

Dash didn't get a chance to reply as his mom came bustling into the kitchen. "How's it going in here?"

His heart dropped when his grandma smirked at him. "Good. Jessica, dear, did you know your son has a crush on not one, but two boys?"

His mom turned a curious, twinkling eye to him. "I did not."

Janice was practically falling out of her seat. "Aunt Jes, you have to convince Dash to marry Danny so he can bring him to the next reunion so I can have a space buddy!"

His mom gasped, clapping her hands together. "You have a crush on Danny? That's wonderful! You already have my approval."

"Gram, you're a traitor," Dash grumbled. She playfully shrugged, as if she did nothing wrong.

His mom was never going to let him live this down.

[alleyskywalker]

I finally got to writing down my thoughts/feelings/notes/reactions on S2E1 of HOTD. Under cut because spoilers.

Thie episode – but really just this show – had pacing issues, which was one of its biggest problems, very reminiscent of what entirely killed of the seeds of good or at least decent plot points in GoT S8. IDK what genius decided to cut the number of eps to 8 – or why, given that this show is very popular – but then they had this issue somewhat last season too. We are also starting to see how recklessly cutting characters comes back to bite you in the ass, at it’s just the start here.

With the episode/season paced as it is, there was no time to spend on Jace’s diplomatic endeavors. Were they strictly necessary? No, I guess, but they could have been…interesting? And helped him grow/develop/showcase to the audience as a character. Like, I actually want Jace to be a character this season, yk?

So given that, as much as I am sad that they cut my girl Sara Snow, I can’t be too mad about it because they just kinda…cut all of it for the most part.

The North intro was kinda funny tho. For a second I was so confused because I was like “is the KIT narrating this?” Cregan is very Northy-North lol. Is that sword Ice? “You, at least, have the mercy not to threaten me with your dragon.” – lol, I’m glad Cregan got this little snipe in at Jace for his Targ revisionism. Like, yea, sure “treated” aha. Also, I liked the little Decimation reference, complete with the white/black stones.

The Daemon and Rhaenys scene was good. I like that she takes no shit from his ass. Also liked her little monologue about how hearing of Laena’s death made her go into denial and she couldn’t start grieving until she actually saw her body. It feels very realistic.

This is not what I ever envisioned Alyn to look like lmao. He feels kinda too old? But on the other hand, I guess it maybe makes sense if he’s meant to be Corly’s son. Another question though: why are we getting introduced to him and not Addam first, given who the dragonrider will be? Are they…for some reason…merging the two brothers but keeping Alyn of the two???

AEGON this ep/season! Wow, this show is truly bipolar. First, they character assassinate him in S1 and now he’s so…idk, likeable isn’t really the word. But, compounded by TGC’s charm, he really, really has the potential to be a kind of sympathetic or at least fascinating character here. Excited to see this develop.

Loved seeing him as a father. Really, we needed more interaction between Aegon, Heleana and the twins, but you know. Pacing issues. The council scene with  Jaehaerys was adorable – that Aegon cares to bring his son into council, even if he’s a bit young for it now, but you can really see him trying to be the father he never got to have in Viserys. And you can see how much he adores this kid.

Really, Aegon, for all his impatience and lack of true competence is so clearly trying. He’s impatient to go to war, but brashness of youth of course, plus it’s not like Aemond is not chomping at the bit as well. But Aegon can be restrained (for now) and does listen to his councilors. You can say that’s a sign of his weak will, and yea in part it probably is, but it’s not a terrible trait really? For a young, inexperienced king to listen to more seasoned counsel.

AND THE PETITIONS SCENE. He genuinely wants to be a good king to the smallfolk, acknowledges them as a necessary backbone. No, he has no idea what he’s doing, but really who’s fault was that? (Looking at you, Vizzy.) It was a great bit of comic relief, especially with TGC’s acting, but also just a great portrayal of what an idealistic but really inexperienced, naïve, and not naturally-suited young king might be like. “He came all this way.” Awww. He tried lol.

Aegon and his buddies! I love seeing him have friends. Will be interested if they play any more significant roles (like during the war) than just background chatter. The banter was cute. Very dumbass teenage boys vibes.

Dalton Greyjoy mention!

Fuck Larys. That’s all I’m gonna say on that.

Aegon and Helaena’s conversation njglgjls. He really has not way how to communicate with her and she doesn’t really know how to convey her thoughts/feelings in general. But of course she’s afraid, poor girl :( But as estranged/kinda awkward their relationship is it doesn’t seem…terrible, yk?

The Alicent and Otta scene was nice. It felt like they found some understanding and a way to work together. But I do get the sense that yea, Otto is not completely satisfied with it (maybe Alicent’s definition of “victory” seemed lacking to him, which he’s not…entirely wrong there).

Luke’s funeral montage was very touching – the music was gorgeous. (I can only hope they allow Jae the same respect next ep…) Speaking of that montage, ahhhh Alicent in the sept praying for the dead… The fact this girl prays for Vizzy ffs. And also Luke. She recognizes that he was just a teenager and even though it pains her, she affords him his respect. As Criston says, “she has a gentle heart.”

Criston and Aemond’s conversation was so great on several levels!

First, of course, Aemond and his father-that-stepped-up making battle plans was great! They really do just have such a great camaraderie and dynamic of trust. Aemond believes in Criston’s excellence; they trust each other with secretive plans and vulnerable conversation. Loved the bit of Criston putting his hand on Aemond’s shoulder briefly before leaving the room.

The “that makes her a fool” line actually comes across better in context than it did in the tailer. (Although, still, who calls their mother by her name??) For one, Aemond’s frustration is understandable, he feels misunderstood and unfairly so (given that Alicent and the small council did start this whole thing, as he points out) but also he’s probably hurt, given his history with Luke. Remember how he had wanted to make a present of Luke’s eye to Alicent? He thought she was on the same page with him on this and she’s…not. Second, Aemond actually doesn’t realize this is what might be going on with Alicent – he seems kind of surprised after Criston’s explanation, the way that line is delivered. He’s having his realization out loud but he’s also not had time to digest it yet.

Ok SO I am in no way one of those weirdos who thinks that Alicent and Criston’s relationship is all about Rhaenyra (lol). BUT she is a point of common trauma for them. What Criston describes – Rhaenyra being a “cunning spider” and having an emotional influence over Alicent and Alicent capitulating to her because of her “gentle heart” is, yes, a description of Alicent, but it’s also a description of his own relationship with Rhaenyra, at least how it had felt from his POV. He understands Alicent’s feelings here so well and can empathize with her and defend her to Aemond because he loves her, yes, but also because he’s been there too.

OK, now ALICOLE.

I mean…Am I glad it’s canon? Well, yea, I’ve been shipping it super hard. Do they deserve to have consensual sex that brings them joy? Yes! Do I think it’s “hypocrisy”? Nope, lol, not matter now much TB screech that it is, it just isn’t. I’m pretty sure I’ve rebloged posts explaining why not.

That all said…man did they not handle this well, or at least certainly not in the best, most compelling way they could have. Now, I understand that my love for asexual/courtly love romance is not something most people share, so this relationship was going get physical if it was to be canon at all. Also, this show isn’t really the right genre for a drawn out slow burn romance, necessarily. But. It IS quite a big leap to suddenly go from “implied” and “romantic tension” to…fucking on a regular basis, just because Vizzy has finally kicked the bucket. Especially with these two characters.

Now, Alicent, I can get. She’s a widow, her marital vows no longer bind her. She has also completed her duty as a wife, mother and queen (re: providing heirs). Social interest in her private life is as low as it could ever be for a woman in that society. (So, not low enough really lol but historically, widows had a lot of freedom, compared to unmarried girls and wives.) But Criston? How does this work for him? His vows are still in place and he had been so heartbroken about having broken them the first time. I mean, yes, this is a very different situation and relationship. He’s older, he’s already broken those vows once so it’s like…how much he got to lose there? He can’t go back ever to NOT being an oathbreaker. But I really would have wanted to see some more set up. We should have seen them fight their irresistible pull toward each other, until they finally broke.

I did love her putting the cloak back on him afterward. A nice little anti-parallel to how he takes it off during the sex scene with Rhaenyra.

There really, really was no need to have Helaena walk in on them having sex after B&C. There had to be better ways to establish that this was a regular thing for them now and that the whole “we can’t do this again” is just Alicent/them being in denial. A way that didn’t take away from a moment that is/was supposed to be so horrific and impactful.

I do love the contrast of Alicent and Viserys always doing it missionary style and now with Criston she’s on top!

Blood & Cheese. Oh god. I have spent the last few days so angry about this. I’ve rebloged do many posts about this that I’m not sure I want to spend to much time on it. It’s just depressing at this point. But I will say a couple of things:

Helaena’s reaction does make sense to me. I’ve seen a lot of people, including TG people, saying that it was bad, and she should have been more frantic. But, frankly, she did seem pretty panicked and frantic to me. It’s just this Helaena does not emote/externalize much. At some point it seems like she almost dissociates from the situation. It’s understandable that she picks up her daughter and runs – she can’t save her son but while the assassins are distracted, of course she takes the chance to try to save her daughter. Even the necklace thing kind of makes sense. In the books, she asks them to kill her in part because she can’t stand to make the awful choice between her two boys – she’s rather die than choose. But here she hears them talk about her being a son; when they reject her necklace they also repeat how “that’s not a son.” Only a son will do, so offering her life is pointless, but trying to outbid the person who hired them might not be.

 The people (TB, lbr) shrieking about how this was Alicent and Criston’s fault are just willfully dense. If Alicent wasn’t having sex, she might have been sleeping or reading in her room or preying. There is literally nothing that implies that she would have been with Helaena if she wasn’t having sex, ffs. Also, Criston is not the only fucking kingsguard or guard. Wtf were there like no other guards idk. That’s just a plot hole/devise that looks ridiculous. But nonetheless, he 1) isn’t on duty 24/7, that’s unrealistic, and 2) is Alicent’s sworn shield, so he wouldn’t have been guarding Helaena or the kids anyway.

This is where we see that cutting Maelor was a BAD IDEA. It’s going to potentially create even more problems down the line. Who would have thought that cutting characters left and right might be an issue? /s It really diminishes the horror of Helaen’s situation and sets up this kind of unrealistic replacement choice which makes no sense because like…why would they even need her to tell them which one is the boy? It’s not that hard to feel the kids up and see which one has the right genitals, yk? I’ve seen people try to do some interesting analysis for how this scene is Thematically Relevant but nah. That’s just cope the way I used to cope with things in GoT that went wrong in the last seasons by doing metal gymnastics to try to spin them in a more palatable way for me.

But even if they fucked up on the foresight and found themselves with a situation where they needed to play this without Maelor…They could have still tried harder. For example: framing it less from the assassins’ POV and more from Helena’s, having the scene be longer, maybe in these circumstances have her try to offer her life/emote more like in the book, have Alicent actually be present too, have the rape threat against Jaehaera, have Daemon actually order Jae’s murder or at fucking least have him say “a son for a son” on screen because you KNOW the rabid part of this fanbase will act willfully blind and dumb to pretend he’s not at fault. I really think it’s that last one that makes me the most angry in the end, as the murder of a toddler is awful and horrific even without the Sophie’s choice.

And to piggy-back off that last, it’s the diminishing of the horror for TG and the whitewashing of TB as much as possible that gets to me the most, I think. They made this horrific, impactful event almost a par for the course (for the GoT/ASOIAF universe) sort of thing and with as little responsibility and plausible deniability given to TB as they could. The blatant bias (that they then have the audacity to pretend isn’t there) is infuriating.

In conclusion: there were plenty of nice things, but the disappointments really overshadowed them.

[blueikeproductions]

On the topic of EarthSpark factions, let’s also consider the Autobots.

Hasbro, understandably, wants to mostly use characters who sell so Optimus, Arcee, Bumblebee & Grimlock tend to be the Autobots primarily used the most in things. Lately Wheeljack and Elita-1 have become more common fixtures, and while it’s preferable to have Elita get a chance in the spotlight again over the somewhat forced Windblade and Pyra Magna back in the IDW days, it’s still a big symptom of modern storytelling. The insistence to use the same five or so Autobots over and over again is proving to be stale. It wasn’t THAT long ago we had a more varied cast but there’s only so much you can do with the same five guys and gals over and over again without completely rewriting them (Arcee being a particular stand out due to Prime and IDW).

Like the Decepticons, it feels like the Autobot cast in EarthSpark is miscast.

For instance, if GHOST is meant to be part of human relations anyway, shouldn’t some of the Autobots be public service vehicles? This show is Rescue Bots for Teens, own up to it, man!

Like where’s Inferno & Red Alert?

While never really depicted as a gay couple before, if you want an organic relationship, these two are it. It wouldn’t take much to pivot these two into being husbands. Plus, Red Alert’s paranoia could easily (and rightfully in some cases) played off against Megatron and other GHOST aligned Decepticons.

Human/TF romance is also something that could be played up with Powerglide and Sea Spray.

Powerglide for the aerial recon and support (it’s not like they do anything with Wheeljack’s drones in show anyway) with Astoria being his semi eccentric co-pilot and one of the rich sponsors that helps fund GHOST.

Alanna and Sea Spray I had it were part of GHOST, who research aquatic areas of interest related to the Decepticons.

Tow-Line! A personal fav of the RiD01 Autobots. Still following his No Parking! mantra, he’s mostly comic relief towing away Decepticons, Terrans and fellow GHOST operatives who park irregularly.

Quickshadow! Pretty much a straight transplant of her Rescue Bots self, and the straight woman to a lot of the antics of the Terrans and her teammates. Notably she’s the only Rescue Bots Autobot to make the leap to the big kids table in this scenario.

Smokescreen! I see him as a hybrid of his Prime and G1 self. Young and impulsive, but having a bit of a smoking problem which is useful for confusing Decepticons. Hes largely kept in check by Quickshadow and his human partner Jack Darby.

Strongarm! Transplant of her RiD15 self, slightly less rigid but no less by the books. She’s in on the Terrans, and drops by the Maltos to teach them what she knows of what it means to be an upstanding Robot in Disguise. The bit with her and the Terrans is a toned down version of IDW Tailgate being taught by the fastidious IDW Ultra Magnus about the Autobot code.

(Frankly I’m terrified Prowl’s upcoming role as of typing will make him an ACAB type due to IDW and current events, so Strongarm is my choice of having a competent cop that’s doing what’s she’s supposed to be doing.)

And to round us out: Grapple. The artsy fartsy type of the GHOST Autobots who leads reconstruction efforts with a squad of other construction themed Transformers like Bulkhead, Quickmix & the Constructicons. Very detail oriented and a perfectionist, buildings MUST be up to his standards to the letter. Grapple, Jawbreaker & Thrash tend to be played off in work/play scenarios where they learn from each other.

I do understand that the Terrans are meant o be the standouts and the Decepticons, due to favoritism, are getting the oddballs, but it bothers me that the GHOST aligned Autobots especially feels like an afterthought (because in a fashion they kinda were…).

[theaawalker]

✨NEW WRITEBLR TAG GAME JUST DROPPED✨

If you're struggling with breathing life into your OC's, try this funny yet stupidly simple trick/writeblr tag game I just came up with. I call it the 'Roast Your OCS and Like Michael Scott' tag game. 🤣

So, we've all seen the 'Boom, Roasted' scene from The Office, right? We all know it's not good to put down your characters, because they're like your babies and are in general very complicated beings.

For this exercise, throw all those principals out the window!

Gather all the juicy, mean shit out for this exercise and toss it al them! 😭 In this tag game, we're gonna be reducing all our OC's to the most hurtful, blunt, and callous roast that will render of them more screwed then they already are!

To Duke: "Duke, you’re like a Disney prince nobody asked for. You’re too good for this world, but not good enough to make it interesting. Chosen ones never have a choice? More like audiences never have a choice but to yawn when you talk. Boom! Roasted."

To Claire: "Claire, Master of Spirit? More like Master of Complaints. You’re not a badass; you’re a walking mood swing with a weapon. Your powers? Clairvoyance and foresight? Congratulations, you can see the future and still choose to spend yours rotting on the couch. Boom! Roasted."

To Butch: "Butch, your name sounds as gay as you try not to be. You’re not a character; you’re a mid-life crisis with legs. Everything about you screams ‘I peaked in high school,’ except nobody noticed when you peaked. If testosterone were a person, it would still be more sensitive than you. Boom! Roasted."

To Lucas: "Lucas, you’re like a background character that accidentally got a storyline. The only thing less convincing than your powers is your charisma. You’re like oatmeal — nobody hates you, but nobody wants you, either. Boom! Roasted."

To Andy: "Andy, you’re so boring even your own powers take naps. You’re the guy people forget is in the room until you cough. Your whole vibe is like a knock-off Matthew McConaughey who thinks he's in charge. Spoiler alert: you’re not. Boom! Roasted."

To Barry: "Barry, genuine question: are you serial killer? Seriously, nobody's that happy. You’re proof that comic relief doesn’t always work. Ironically, the relief when you leave the room. On the plus side, what you lack in humor, you also lack in intelligence. Matter of fact, spell dumbfounded . . . . . . . . . Boom! Roasted."

To Scott: "Scott, you’re basically a feral child someone dressed up and threw into society. You walk around like a raccoon in a trench coat trying to blend in. I never thought someone raised by animals could be so goddamn boring. In fact, you probably won’t even react to this roast because yawn, same energy. Boom! Roasted."

To Dawn: "Dawn, you’re Claire’s boyfriend, which means you spend your whole life dodging her tantrums. Honestly, it’s impressive how much nothing you’ve done with that position. ‘Boyfriend’ doesn’t mean you have to be the side dish nobody orders. Boom! Roasted."

For this tag game I'm gonna be tagging A LOT of people but mainly people who've interacted with me recently. Free to reblog if you see this on your dash, even if you're not tagged. I find this shit HILARIOUS and I would love to see what everyone manages to come up with! No pressure at all if you don't wanna participate, this is all just for fun. ❤️😊

tags: @drcomttheo, @haliaiii, @godsgutz, @nymphmoth, @happ1edt, @meer-draws, @inkfeatherz, @papikyoo, @aruamane, @0o02rr, @chewingurteeth, @weirdsillycreature, @gingeralesoda, @arti-squid, @spiritproductionsart, @obscured-morality, @yukicasterart, @cakekittenn, @nanami-daily, @shruvski, @candlefox99, @zzzzombroccoli, @aoihhana, @nasoleil, @blighted-elf, @reywaffle, @danlikes2art, @vulturandes, @julymarte, @amalgamcorps @gnomewife @yourpenpaldee

[lady-margaret]

bridgerton season 3 part 1 opinion (as someone who has read all the books + is kathony biased so be warned)

after sitting and stewing on what i just watched for a few hours

i’d like to start this off by saying that due to my disappointment of the writing from the last season, i was way more gracious with this one. kate and anthony were great because of simone and jonathan; i’m not sure the writers had much to do with that.

anyway, what i’m saying is that i already knew not to expect the writers to be faithful to the source material (romancing mr. bridgerton), so i was able to enjoy myself more. additionally, polin’s book isn’t exactly a favorite of mine anyway, so there wasn’t a lot to be too disappointed with in my case.

what i liked:

penelope’s wardrobe; they hyped up the “transformation” so much and i’m glad it did not disappoint.

colin’s hot 😌

eloise’ wardrobe; someone pointed out that it had a lot of philip references, so yay 😀 (it has me worried that it’ll be her story next though, we need ben first)

eloise interacting with the other ladies of the ton was really cute and refreshing; she’s learning that despite them having different interests than her, they are still people of great value. the difference is eloise was raised in a loving and supportive family, unlike most of the others.

sibling’s g&h’s personalities coming through more (they are anthony’s children, truly).

featherington sisters as comic relief.

MARRIED KATHONY CRUMBS 💕💕💕 they carried episode 1 for me.

FRANCESCA 💕💕💕 gorgeous introvert representation.

FRANNY AND JOHN 💕💕💕 (i am both ready and NOT ready to get hurt 🥹)

book references (yay! the bare minimum!)

lord debling’s dope.

i actually do like that they gave cressida a legitimate reason to want to win the competition money to unmask LW in the second part.

the music choices haven’t disappointed yet!!!!!

colin’s line for the season is def the “well are you gonna marry me or not?” line HEHEHEHEHE i ALMOST screamed as loud as i did when john entered when he said that line to pen.

as an army, plus points for dynamite 🤭 i didn’t expect to like the orchestral version and didn’t see the vision of where they would even insert it, but i actually liveddd for it.

what i don’t really have strong feelings about:

mondrich plot; alice is beautiful but the addition of their family storyline didn’t make much of a lasting impact.

the queen; she was very meh so far.

the featherington storyline: the sisters are funny, but their whole situation mixed with the humor leads me not to take it very seriously.

violet x lady danbury’s brother: 🤷‍♀️ i don’t see it.

the “lady danbury’s brother” storyline in general is very forgettable.

what i disliked:

i think nicola and luke could use more chemistry; they fall short compared to daphne&simon and kathony (HEAVY ON KATHONY THIS IS WHY THEY REMOVED THEM FROM THE REST OF THE EPISODES SIGH)

they kinda mischaracterized colin (he spent the last two seasons being selfish and putting himself above everyone else violet, what the hell are you talking about “you never place yourself over others” 🤨)

the lack of ben time?? did he go back to the academy after taking over for anthony briefly??? what did he do besides dodging debutantes all season????

they glossed over benedict running the estate so quickly; this could have been an opportunity to draw out his storyline, especially since he mentioned that he liked having a purpose: WRITERS???? DO SOMETHING WITH THAT!

i also didn’t really care for the ben x tilly arnold plot; unless sophie’s actually a maid of her’s or something, i don’t see her point in the show besides just be another one of ben’s ever changing girl of the season.

im sorry but eloise would never SHOULD NEVER have befriended her (ex?) best friend’s bully, no matter what the circumstances. that is NOT eloise.

honestly, them revealing whistledown in the first season is really screwing with the writing; in this regard, i wish they stayed more faithful to the book and how colin finds out about LW. it all just seems so messy at this point.

so s3 starts when kathony end their honeymoon… how long was this honeymoon? math isn’t mathing cuz it couldn’t have been more than a week given that kate isn’t obviously pregnant yet in the first ep.

i know that colin and pen are longtime friends, but from how they’ve interacted with each other in the past seasons, it’s a bit harder to believe that they were close CLOSE friends; close friends to the extent of helping the other find a spouse through “lessons”? i don’t see it. that’s why i was a bit ??? when i first found out about the plot they were going with for the season (in the book, colin really just starts following her around cuz she was being sus)

i hate that they had to come up with an excuse to get rid of kathony for the rest of the episodes; i get that they’ve been running their separate households alone for most of their lives and want a break but… i don’t think they would abandon their responsibilities for an “extended honeymoon”. knowing them, running the estate isn’t gonna stop them from being wh0res!! they help each other out with the estate and are still sickeningly in love and have time for each other (in the books). i was also really hoping to see kate taking over the viscountess role. i swore they would have done something like that after that cute/awkward moment when they both respond to “lady bridgerton” in episode 1.

i get that it’s established that penelope’s one goal for the season is to get a husband, but as i know her character, she would NEVER get into races (?) or run just so she can talk to a suitor before anyone else does 😭 okay but it was funny.

i am kinda sad that they couldn’t have just let a mean character or a villain character be the villain character; yea sure, i did say that i liked that cressida had a legitimate and well thought out motive for wanting the LW reward money but, idk i could’ve lived without her storyline.

one of the BIGGEST THINGS for me is that i do not think they should have released so many clips/snippets of the show days or weeks before it came out. i understand like 1 clip, but i skipped SO MANY SCENES because i have watched them at least 5 times already on tiktok or twitter.

the two part season idea is dumb.

i’m scared for how messy part 2 will be (in terms of both writing and just how stressed i will be with the revealing of LW plot HUHU poor pen) but i’m still looking forward to it 😇😇😇 and despite all the things i didn’t like, i did still enjoy it. if i do rewatch it or not is still to be decided; s1 & s2 have such high rewatch value.

franny and john were TRULY a standout though. i cannot even begin to describe how loud i screamed when he finally said his name out loud 😭💕

verdict: the writing is getting messier, get jonathan bailey in that writer’s room ASAP

[the-director]

I just watched transformers one and wow it was great! So here is my reaction to it basically.

Warning for spoilers

Let me just say that before this movie I had only seen. The bayverse movies, and then maybe some stuff from some of the cartoons? Enough to know the names "bumblebee, Optimus prime, starscream, Megatron, ratchet" and then like the general terms of. Autobots and deceptions and such.

Some have said that like there was too much exposition? But honestly I feel like it was needed since yknow. Without the humans in this, we the audience need to be told about this.

Plus even for stuff that they're supposed to know, like the whole lie from sentinel about how he's trying to find the leadership thing. You can say that the reason why people talk about it all the time is just him trying to say the lie so many times that it becomes the truth. And then there's just the exposition of stuff they don't know. Overall I feel this was handled well.

I do kind of think it takes a little bit too long of the set up in the first act. But honestly I think it's just because the third act is so good that I wish there was more time to see that whole stuff. But also I kind of get why it's paced the way it is. And I can't really point to scenes to get rid of? Other than just like. Trimming down. But idk. I think it's good and I understand why things are like how it is.

The vocal performances were good! I mean. Keegan Michael key was just. Himself for most of the time but also he's the comic relief so it's fine.

Scarlett Johanson did good, i did forget she was her so that's good. She sounded just like. The character.

I was especially surprised with Chris Hemsworth, he did an amazing job of how. As the story goes on, and Orion becomes Optimus, he sounds more and more like. Him.

I am partially uh biased I think to Brian tyree hudson just because. Wow! Megatron. Was so. It was so good. His performance. And the writing. And the character animation. And the action with him. Everything about him was perfect and I feel like he really stole the show in the later parts.

I feel like it's the first time where like. Friends to enemies really hit. Like. Okay I do love professor x and magneto, and idk how it goes down in the comics. But I'm thinking of the beach divorce. Logically, intellectually I know the reasons why magneto is against Xavier. And I know why he does what he does in the movie. But it never really hits? Like there is never a definitive thing that feels like. The breaking point in their friendship. Because the reason why magneto is himself is what happened when he was a kid.

But with transformers one. The transformation (haha) of Orion to Optimus, of d16 to Megatron. Happens simultaneously. And their reaction to the truth about sentinel is evidence.

I have more to say about that. And everything but it's hard to quite explain rn. I still have to stew over.

Oh but also I like how in this film it seems very evident of how their transformations are linked to their personality.

Megatron being focussed on war = tank. Optimus wanting to help others, being a strong leader = truck

Bee and his hyperactivity = sports car

Arachnid's surveillance, obeying sentinel = drone

[roboticnebula]

trick or treat!

I give thee a treat!

A Wally and Hal snippet with background domestic Halbarry.

--

Hal sprinted up the stairs and to Wally’s room faster than he ever had in his life. The fourteen-year-old sat cross legged on his bed, flicking through a comic book, and looked up completely unperturbed when he barged in, closed the door behind him – careful not to slam it – and leaned against it, as if to make sure it stayed closed.

“I’ll give you ten dollars if you take the fall for me,” said Hal.

Barry would discover the crime scene any second now, Hal had to negotiate quickly. Wally raised an eyebrow at him, very reminiscent of the adult speedster in question.

“What did you do?” he asked. 

“Nuh huh,” said Hal, “can’t tell you.” 

“Am I going to get grounded for it? I’m supposed to hang out with Roy tonight.”

“Me, I would definitely end up on the couch, yes, but you might have a chance.”

Wally crossed his arms over his chest.

“Forty,” he sniffed. 

“Forty,” hissed Hal, “you did it for twenty last time!”

“Inflation,” shrugged Wally, and how did he even know what that was, Hal wanted to know, “plus I’m saving for some new sneakers.”

Just then, Barry’s voice travelled all the way up from downstairs. “Oh my God! What happened here!” and that didn’t sound good at all. Hal was running out of time before Barry connected the dots and identified Hal as the culprit. He needed to act now.

“Fine, forty,” he agreed.

Wally grinned, jumped off the bed and lifted a hand towards Hal. 

“Twenty upfront, please!” 

Hal didn’t bother to protest, he fumbled with his wallet and by some miracle found enough crumpled bills for the payment. Wally tucked the money in his jeans pocket and nodded.

“OK, let’s go.”

Relief flooded Hal, and before he opened the door again to head back downstairs and hand Wally over to his fate, he squeezed Wally’s shoulders gratefully.

“Thanks,” he said intently, “you’re a good son.”

Wally rolled his eyes at him but he was still grinning widely, clearly amused by the whole debacle.

“Pops, you’re being dramatic,” he said. 

“Whatever, kid, now act contrite,” he ordered.

He whipped the door open, shouting for Barry that Wally had something to confess, and they headed downstairs to face the music.

—

What did Hal do? Well, feel free to insert whatever mundane domestic mistake you want. I had in mind that he ruined an entire load of whites because he didn’t think it would hurt to throw in one of Wally’s red T-shirts in it. Barry has told him several times not to do this and yet… Wally gets away with it with a tutorial on how to do laundry, Hal would have been banished to the couch for the night.

Also, this is inspired by a video I remember seeing but cannot for the life of me find again: a dad barges into a room and asks his two sons which one is willing to take the fall for him. Is it from a show? A movie? An ad?? A tiktok?? I can’t remember so if anyone knows what I’m talking about, please link it below.

Thanks for the ask! Hope you enjoyed and have a great Halloweeeeen.