#self defense dvds

[arctic-hands]

Wish I could afford Tai Chi lessons

[strong-with-the-sarcasm]

Part 21: all the ashes in my way

"But my peace has always depended on all the ashes in my way." -Arsonist's Lullabye by Hozier

Regent Masterlist Part 20 A03 Mundane Macabre (Main) TW: mention of infertility

September finally came to a close without much fanfare. The month had seen the very world rocked and many people were still left reeling from the implication that they had very nearly had a war with the Infinite Realms to contend with. Gothamites were eager to get October over with, thanks to the Rogues deciding Halloween was the perfect time to launch an assault against the city. 

However, with the new found peace established between the aforementioned Realms and the mortal world, with the encouragement of the Phantom vigilante (a self-proclaimed ghost who haunts the Ridge), Gothamites cautiously prepared for Samhain celebrations instead. 

It was a big deal to Phantom. 

Outside of his vigilantism, Danny Nightingale was doing well in school, test scores and grades soaring through the roof. An almost visible weight had been lifted from his shoulders with the abolishment of the Anti-Ecto Acts. He even began to hang out with the youngest Wayne, Damian, outside of school to the surprise of many. 

The Waynes and Nightingales were becoming closer by the day with Jasmine and Jason’s relationship status revealed and all the cards laid out on the table between all involved. 

Jasmine and Dick Grayson bonded over their shared Eldest Daughter Syndrome, while Jazz and Steph bonded over villainous parents. Add Cass to the mix, the three women got along like a house on fire.

(The three enjoyed their girl time, bonding over clothes, movies and the occasional beat down.) 

(The two loved to tease Jazz about Jason.) 

With the two lovebirds (a Nightingale and a Robin), their relationship had changed dramatically…though only a few knew why.

There was something wrong with her body and for the life of her, Jazz could not figure out what it was. 

She’d been nauseous lately, especially when she was a good distance from the ground. Typically, one might chalk it up to a fear of heights, but Jazz had never ever suffered from acrophobia. Perhaps the altitude adjustment? That didn’t make sense either because she’d been a vigilante for months and had no physical reactions to sudden elevation change. She’d even thrown up a couple times on patrol. 

It also didn’t explain why her breasts were tender and aching. Her armor was lightweight enough that it wasn’t causing undue pressure, but the preternatural metal remained uncomfortable no matter what she tried. 

And her head was killing her. 

She’d refused to take patrol of regardless of her ailment, whatever it was. Her little brother could tell she wasn’t feeling well and had tried his best to get her to go home early even though Jazz refused. 

Her gut instincts were trying to warn her, to be hyper vigilant in her defense of the Ridge. There was something coming and Jazz did not want to be caught unprepared. 

However, it was during a semi-weekly girls night with Cass and Steph that Jazz’s life was sent careening off course into the wide blue yonder. 

The three women were hanging out in Jazz’s new apartment, a cozy place with three bedrooms that she shared with Jason and Danny, and we’re settling in to watch a movie that’d just been released on dvd (Eat Pray Love). Steph had spared Jazz a confused look at her odd mixture of popcorn and ice cream, but didn’t say anything. 

They’d barely started the movie, the warnings of anti-piracy ignored (gothamites) when Steph exclaimed, “oh!” 

Cass was quick to pause the movie while Jazz choked on a mouthful of sweet and salty goodness. 

(Sweet Cass merely patted her on the back.) 

“You’re pregnant aren’t you?” 

(Jazz had just gotten her airway cleared too.) 

Naturally, they had to wait for Jazz to recover from her choking fit and inhale almost an entire bottle of water before she was deemed fit enough to answer Stephanie’s question. 

“No, I’m not pregnant!” Jazz retorted, though the thought of-

baby?

 -Kept ping-ponging around in her head like a cracked jar of marbles. 

She couldn’t be pregnant.

“You and Jason have slept together right?” Steph questioned, a particular gleam in her eye that Cass copied almost immediately. 

“Baby?” The ballerina added in her blunt way of speaking. There was almost a palpable sense of excitement in the air now. 

And yes, Jazz and Jason did have sex, almost nightly if she was honest… but she couldn’t have children thanks to her ecto-contamination. 

(That day had been one of the most heartbreaking times of her life, being told she had no chance of being a mother.) 

(She had dreamed of a little boy and girl to raise, to love indefinitely.) 

(She had told Jason and could see he was a bit heartbroken too.) 

(Nonetheless, they had talked about adoption and fostering.) 

(Already planning the life they wanted together.) 

Jazz didn’t realize she was crying until Cass launched into her arms for a hug, spilling popcorn everywhere.

A/N: Here's the beginning of what I'm calling the "Angst arc". Its actually a pretty long chapter I had to split up. This will be combined with either parts 19 & 20 or 22 when its later posted. content warning because I know infertility can be triggering to people. Its part of the story for a reason, I promise.

The regent masterlist is updated with new parts and the unoffical playlist for the regent series.

Thanks for reading!

PS: Yes, black mask has no idea what he's in for.

PS 2: did you know Eat Pray Love came out August 13th, 2010? 2010 is when the social media AU is set for regent. Thought it would be cool to include a movie that would have just released around that time.

[lou-struck]

Are You Watching?

Katsuki Bakugou x reader

~ Bakugou has never seen your favorite movie before, and so you end up watching him more than the movie.

Genre: Fluff

a/n: I do this alot, I just get so excited when I’m watching one of my favorite movies with someone I want to know that they are liking it.

As you walk through your front door and kick off your shoes that just don't quite fit right, you are hit with an overwhelming sense of victory.

Today was a bitch, but you made it through unscathed.

That in itself calls for a celebration of self-care. With Katsuki still out on patrol for a bit, you decide to slip into something cozy, get yourself a big bowl of microwavable popcorn, and take out your stack of DVDs.

But these aren't just any DVDs; these are your favorite comfort movies, the kind you can watch anytime and never get bored. You know every line by heart, quoting the lines under your breath and laughing in anticipation of your favorite scenes.

You've only been watching for twenty minutes or so, but your mood has already been raised up out of the gutters of exhaustion and disappeared when you first came home.

"Oi, what are you watching?" a familiar guff voice calls from behind you, sending elated prickles over your skin as your turn around.

Katsuki Bakugou, your boyfriend leans up against the doorway, he looks so natural, but you have a feeling he posed himself that way to look cool in front of you. You pause the movie and turn your full attention to your handsome partner, who looks just as exhausted as you did earlier.

"Suki, I didn't hear you come in." you smile, scooting over on the couch. "Get changed and come watch these with me."

"Haven't you seen this one before?" he yells from down the hall, already changing into his comfy clothes. He loves watching movies with you; it makes him feel normal after a long day dealing with the worst society has to offer.

"Yeah, so? It's one of my favorites," you call back defensively. "What's the big deal?"

"I just don't get how you can watch the same damn movie so many times," he grumbles, coming back into the living room wearing a black shirt and some flannel pajama bottoms you got him for Christmas last year. He is already looking more relaxed than he did before. Off in the distance, you can barely make out the sound of the washing machine buzzing to life, cleaning the rest of the day out of his hero costume.

"But you haven't seen it yet." you giggle, flipping up the mountain of blankets dramatically so he can get under them with you, patting the now open spot with your other hand.

He chuckles amusedly and joins you on the couch. His warmth comforts you in a different way than the blankets have as you breathe in his familiar scent. "This is much better," you sigh as his arm wraps around you. You place your head on his chest, your favorite kind of pillow.

"Bad day?" he asks, gently rubbing circles onto your skin.

"Not the best," you admit, shuddering at the memories from earlier today. You'd tell him all the annoying details later, but now, unwinding is the priority. "You?"

"It was pretty shitty, but I've had worse," he responds flatly. You believe him; the news coverage today told you all you needed to know about his bad day. 

"Then I guess we can just stay here until it all goes away," you chuckle, reaching for the remote and pressing play. Bakugou wouldn't admit it out loud, but the idea of just staying here on the couch, cozy with you in his arms, is the perfect ending to any day, no matter how shitty it was. 

Your conversation dies down as you both watch the movie. It really is the kind that you can watch over and over again. 

You think to yourself that it's strange that even after watching this movie in your living room so many times, Katsuki has never seen it for himself.

Wait, if he hasn't seen it before, that means he doesn't know about The Twist. 

You find your eyes drifting from the screen over to his handsome face. His crimson gaze remains transfixed on the screen in front of him. There is something so satisfying about watching someone watch your favorite movie so intently. Even if it's one he would not choose to watch himself.

You know what's going to happen, so you don't need to be watching as close. Katsuki is much more interesting right now. How will he react? Some of your friends said that the Twist was predictable, but others said they had no idea it was coming. The anticipation of it all makes you look at him even more intensely. 

Sensing your gaze on him, he turns his head towards you. "What are you looking at?" he huffs, "Do I have somethin on my face?"

"No," you say, looking away quickly, "It's nothing; keep watching."

He shrugs it off and returns his attention to the screen. You try and focus on the movie, but you can't help it; you have to see what he thinks about the Twist. You have to see his face. You shamelessly bring your gaze back over to him, only to find that he is not looking at the screen at all. His eyes are on you.

"Suki, you're not watching; this is important," you whine dramatically as if you are not the whole reason he is distracted in the first place.

He tsks, "How am I supposed to watch the damn movie if you're staring at me like that?" his voice rising in volume. 

"Just pay attention," you pout, crossing your arms over your chest., "I just wanted to see what you thought about the next part. It's my favorite."

His gaze softens as he tries to untangle your crossed arms. "Such a weirdo," he chuckles, leaning over and giving your cheek a quick kiss. "I'm watchin, I Promise."

Despite the dry air outside, his lips are still soft and smooth against your skin. You uncross your arms and return to your previous position on top of him. "You gotta watch," you mumble, trying to discreetly look at him and the screen at the same time.

And then it happens—the Twist. 

The main character being betrayed by their own best friend. You've seen this part so many times you could quote it word for word. But Katsuki…

"Where the Hell did that come from," he yells, sitting up quickly, ruining your comfortable resting spot against him. His mouth is agape, and his eyes are wide as he stares back at you, hoping for some sort of explanation. His features then go from shock to loving irritation as he ruffles your hair on top of your head. "You were waiting for me to watch this, weren't you?" 

"I knew you'd be surprised," you grin cheekily. Trying to bat away his hand from your head. "There were a few hints earlier on that make more sense."

"What hints?" he asks, narrowing his eyes and biting the inside of his cheeks as he tries to recall any sort of detail that would lead to the reveal of this betrayal. Obviously, he is still very troubled by the turn of events. "I didn't see any damn hints. Gimme the remote; we are watching this thing again."

[a-crochet-spider]

More Matthew headcanons cuz I've been rotating him in my brain for the past week

Sorry this is formatted weird :(

·         He either dresses in suits or like a homeless teenager. Again, no in between.

·        Uses very dramatic, theatrical pet names with his s/os like “my love/dearest/darling”. Life is a musical for and hot damn if he isn’t going to act like it.

·        Ramona fucking hated this when they were dating for a week.

·        His first musical was Rocky Horror Picture Show, which explains a lot about him.

·        He saw it at like ten years old when he found a copy on DVD in his garage or something and watched it when his parents were asleep.

·        He wakes up early on most days but only because he forces himself. He’s not really that much of a morning person.

·        He used to paint his nails in middle school, but doesn’t do it often as an adult because he was probably bullied for it.

·        He started fights online about musicals and refuses to change his opinion even if he’s wrong.

·        I’ve heard a theory that he’s in the military because of the symbol on his jacket sleeve, and he tells everyone that he was, but in reality he just thrifted the jacket and wants people to think he’s cool.

·        He learned self defense after high school because he got bullied a ton, and he’s really good at it clearly.

·        He pretends to like black coffee around other people, but when he’s alone he puts a bunch of cream and sugar and spices in it.

·        He eats up those stupid wolf edits that you see on YouTube reels or whatever (you know the ones I’m talking about).

·        When he’s stressed out he just needs to sit in a dark room by himself and not interact with anyone for a few hours.

·        He has a scar on his upper arm that he’s really vague and mysterious about, but he got it because he tripped and gashed his arm on the corner of a counter.

·        On that note, he’s a walking human disaster yall. He’s agile when fighting and stuff, but every other time he’s constantly getting hurt.

·        No idea how to hold a baby and probably never will learn. He always ends up holding it wrong and the parent always has to grab the baby from him before he hurts it.

·        If anyone calls him Mattie they’re getting decked.

·        He isn’t an outdoorsy person at all. He doesn’t like hiking or dirt or anything of the sort.

·        He only takes naps when he wants to treat himself.

·        He’s pretty claustrophobic and definitely doesn’t like tight spaces. If he has to go in one, he'll end up volunteering someone else to go for him.

·        Doesn’t know what the word passive aggressive means, he just yells at people.

·        He does have a few piercings that he got in high school, including in his ears and septum. He doesn’t really wear any obvious jewelry on them anymore though.

·        He dresses as the Phantom of the opera for Halloween every single year without fail and has since he was thirteen years old.

[according2thelore]

it always bothered me that in the show, when dean learns that sam kept the amulet at the end of s11, he didn’t immediately put it back on—esp since from what i heard, that was an actor preference, not a storytelling one!!! (the samulet chipped his teeth ☹️)

anyway i wanna imagine that in your time travel au it doesn’t happen like that 🥹 it takes es dean five days to notice that his older self isn’t wearing it (in his defense, he’s not used to looking at himself from the outside!), and when he does it makes him so mad. and that’s what drives ls dean to - out loud - say that yeah, he wishes like hell he had it, but he doesn’t, okay? what do you want me to do here, kid??….. cue older sam like uh well i mean hmm. do you mean that.

although now i’m thinking of es SAM being the one to notice, and he notices right away, but he doesn’t use at as a barb until all the little upsets boil over. oh man. that kills me too. poor kiddo. you don’t get to go to law school AND your loml brother threw away his wedding ring amulet.

anyway you don’t have to do anything with any of this!! just thank you for letting me play in your sandbox!!!!

hello!!!

YESYESYES!!!!

this ask made me start BARKING. let's discuss!

for those who didn't know--yes, the samulet leaving the show was a choice made by jensen because it split his lips a lot and eventually cracked his tooth. i can understand his choice to have it taken off of the character (as much as i simultaneously hate it) especially since it seems that it was chosen as a prop during preproduction of the show at random. they lost a lot of jewelry from S2-4 (i'm looking at you skull bracelet, ring, and jelly bracelet), but the amulet got an emotional backstory so it had a longer life on the show.

but as for ES/LS verse YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!

ES!Dean is so distracted by how fucking huge these guys are (LS!Sam cough cough bouncy tits cough), and how discombobulating everything suddenly is (1 lb laptops? cellphones that are a flat screen? TVs thinner than a DVD player? IPADS???) to notice immediately. and you're so right! he's used to the amulet being a mostly physical thing--a weight around his neck so familiar that he hardly notices it until it moves--so not seeing it visually doesn't register.

but when he does, he's mostly confused at first. where is it? do we not wear it every day now? why not? we didn't fucking lose it, did we? did it get destroyed? i would know immediately if it fell off, so it didn't do that. hell, i don't even take it off in the shower, where the fuck is it? seriously, dude, look at me, what the fuck did you do to it?

LS!Sam gets more and more uncomfortable, because he's probably the only one at the table that knows it's not buried deep in a landfill in some random state. but he's not sure how dean will react to the fact that sam's kept it all these years, that he got on his hands and knees in a motel room and dug it out of the trash, wiped cold, damp coffee grounds off the pendant, and put it in his pocket with fingers that shook.

then, as you wrote so in character it made my teeth hurt (!!!!), LS!Dean snaps. i don't fucking have it. i threw it away, and i wish like hell i didn't, but it's gone. what do you want me to do here, kid?

and AHHHH!!! you are so right!!! LS!Sam goes fucking rigid like uhhhhhhhhhh...on a scale of 1 to 10 how much did you mean that be so serious rn 🥺 like hmm. well. hmm. let's say for argument's sake...🥺 👉 👈 ...

ES!Sam notices IMMEDIATELY that LS!Dean isn't wearing it, and it's one of the main reasons he's positive the LS!Boys are some kind of demon/shifter/ghoul/trick. because if this was actually dean, he'd have the amulet.

LS!Dean notices ES!Sam glaring daggers at his sternum, the spot where it used to be, as LS!Sam does all the usual tests and tries to calmly explain what's going on. he feels even more guilty as hell, whether or not he knows LS!Sam still has it yet. he crosses his arms over his chest and stares back, not quite able to muster the heat of a proper glare.

it breaks his fucking heart a little, because yeah, it is a betrayal, isn't it? even if his body is copy-able, or mutable, or not able to be trusted, sam should be able to trust a landmark that dean disposed.

but when ES!Sam finds out what exactly happened to the amulet?? oh lord. complete and total meltdown to be frank. "you don’t get to go to law school AND your loml brother threw away his wedding ring amulet." KNOCKED ME OUTTTTTT

because literally!! not only does sam not get a normal life or a nice job or an apartment that's not a windowless bomb shelter but he and his brotherwife got DIVORCED????? he's all but shaking LS!Sam back and forth like WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU???? HOW DID YOU FUCK IT UP THIS BAD??

no one tell ES!Sam that he and dean found out they were soulmates and dean threw his wedding ring necklace out on the same day. he will knock a hole into the bunker wall just so he can jump out of it.

on a more serious note, it is very much "not only are we still on dad's insane revenge mission," *points furiously at LS!Dean* "we're apparently not even a goddamn team anymore!" his voice cracks "can we even stand each other? are we still brothers?"

your characterizations for them were so spot on!!!!! canon to me!!!! this ask is a beautiful painting--babygirl (gender neutral) this is OUR sandbox!

thank you for this lovely & insightful & incredibly written ask anon!

-lizzy

[drdemonprince]

how did you know that seeking institutional help was the right step to take?

For four years I was always in high levels of care. When I transitioned out of that, I was a "revolving door patient" to ip units living with a carer the rest of the time. I sometimes self-harmed or did other actions intentionally to get hospitalized during that time. I'm going to focus on mostly that because I don't want to get into the weeds of how different psych treatment programs are categorized and run.

I would say that my goal of being hospitalized usually was to change something in my outpatient life - let my therapist know I wasn't willing to do something, get my companions to let me go for walks alone, whatever. I'd get hospitalized or call the cops on myself or send scary texts to my therapist and then try to end my life, eventually being stopped. I didn't want to die, but if I could prove to them I was willing to, they'd listen.

Another person mentioned a desire for closeness+physical touch, and that was a huge part of it for me. i even got restrained sometimes just because I wanted any touch, which is something commonly heard from incarcerated people. I had certain nurses and other staff who I saw as my family, calling my therapist "dad" and interacting in a needy, childlike way with floor staff.

I also liked how much it pared down my life. I was in college at the time, and found the social habits of the other students confusing and overwhelming, so I'd get hospitalized to miss class.

what helped you trust the professionals or the institution enough for it to be beneficial to you?

i wouldn't say I trust any of the institutions, but some staff earned my trust. I was a scary mean noncompliant patient so the few who actually bothered to get to know me were usually moments away from some kind of burnout where they realized all this shit sucks.

One of the things they did that earned my trust was to share about their own mental health or addiction history. This is encouraged in sud places, but usually VERY discouraged in psych units, moreso the higher level of care it is.

Another big thing was to allow me to break rules or break them themselves. My ex-therapist used to meet with me for extra time, give me my DVD player when I wasn't allowed, etc. and it felt like he saw me as equal. Turns out he sucks. but. during the time he was treating me he definitely helped me a lot with my thinking patterns, so the trust still ended up benefiting me, even if the relationship didn't always. He also talked A LOT about his family and life outside of work, and showed me pictures, and I even met his dog once.

for me this is an example of why therapists are kind of. not great? because he earned my trust enough to help me, I was at his defense. I felt like not getting better was something I was "doing to him", and his displays of sadness (once something I'd considered a positive aspect of his self disclosure) became a way to manipulate me into the hospital when I didn't want to go, without having to resort to force or law. i agreed with the assertion of psychology that he knew me better than I know myself, and gave every part of my personality, personhood, to the medical model.

so yes it helped as in now when I'm suicidal or about to bpd-style destroy my every relationship I think "play the tape forward what happens next" and don't. which is lame bc it means most of the people who treated me get to leave patting themselves on the back about how well im doing now.

which kinds of institutions have been *less* traumatic than the others?

A few times I got to live in supportive group home style places, and those are kind of nice! It was cool to be in a place surrounded by other mentally ill people. Much less lonely. In general, places that let you outside independently, let you access food independently (e.g. no staff in the kitchen), and let you keep some secrets from staff are the best. My quality of life was 100% better when all the program heads knew we were vaping in our rooms but just let it happen unless someone started setting off alarms. Ditto with like, being able to stay up late on Devices.

Having that independence, a place for my sense of self other than being a patient, was sooo sooo helpful.

is it sometimes worth simply not being able to act on the ideation, even if it means putting up with lots of institutional bullshit?

I didn't find the hospital particularly good at getting me to not act, instead they just prevented the worst consequences. All three hundred stitches I got for self-harm were while I was institutionalized. But like, my nerve damage is less than it could've been. I am not sure how to evaluate if that's better than having just died, because I have no idea how much the institution itself caused self-harm and suicidality.

all things being equal, would it always be better to be able to stay at a friend's house instead?

yes

if you could get 24-7 company from a loved one, would that be better?

yes. however. i think it would be good if people had some information about how to talk to suicidal people. like... i forget the training. but its similar to what they teach helpline volunteers. thats its ok to say suicide. to ask if they have a plan. to ask if theyd be willing to get rid of the means. etc.

SORRY IF THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO READ

this is a wealth of information, thank you!

[astrowaffles]

Pride Month

Gojo peered out of the window. “Your neighbour’s got a pride flag out,” he observed. “You’ll fit right in here.”

“Well, it’s pride month,” said Megumi.

“I like to call it Megumi Month!”

“Show me your lockscreen.”

“What?”

“Show me your lockscreen.”

Confused, Gojo held out his phone. Had he changed his password? He couldn’t remember. If he hadn’t, that meant Megumi could still unlock it.

Uh-oh.

Megumi didn’t unlock it, he just turned it on and spun the screen to face Gojo. “Look at it.”

“At…my lockscreen?”

“Your lockscreen, showing what?”

“Me….and Suguru?”

“Yes, you and the evil mastermind. And why is it you and the evil mastermind?”

“Because we were best f-“

“Boyfriends. You were boyfriends. Happy pride month.”

“He wasn’t an evil mastermind. He was pretty stupid, actually.”

“He’d have to be, to date you.”

“We weren’t dating!”

“Uh-huh. I believe you.”

-------

OR: megumi moves into his apartment ft. gojo being nostalgic, itadori being a ray of sunshine & nobara being lesbian

“MEGUMI!”

“WHAT!”

“WHERE DID YOU PUT ‘LEGALLY BLONDE’?!”

“Dear god,” Megumi muttered, beginning to rummage through the nearest cardboard box.

“I HEARD THAT!”

Megumi rolled his eyes and rummaged further. “He could just look for it himself,” he complained under his breath.

Gojo finally gave up on screeching through the wall and came in through the kitchen door. “I heard that too, you know.”

“And?”

“And it was very rude?”

“Didn’t ask, don’t care,” Megumi sniffed, finally fishing the movie from where he’d packed it. “Why do you want this?”

“Don’t ask silly questions and you won’t get silly answers,” Gojo sniffed back.

Megumi glared at him.

“Okay, okay, it’s to watch,” Gojo relented. Then he pouted. “You don’t even have a DVD player, do you?”

“No, because I’m not ninety years old,” Megumi told him. “Put it in the laptop if you want.”

“Oh, so you’re old enough to have a laptop with a DVD slot but not a DVD player?”

“The laptop’s old!”

Gojo pulled a face. “And you’ve still got it? I would’ve bought you one if you asked…”

“I like this one,” Megumi said defensively.

Gojo eyed it. “It’s because of the stickers, isn’t it.”

“They don’t come off! I don’t want to throw them away!”

“I knew it,” Gojo sighed, and turned it on. It made a slightly disturbing whirring noise as the fans immediately began frantically cooling the struggling machine, and the DVD slot didn’t come out until the second attempt. “I’ll buy you some new stickers, so let me get you a better laptop.”

“You’re the only person in the world who asks to be allowed to buy new stuff,” Megumi pointed out.

“You’re the only person in the world with his own apartment at eighteen,” Gojo countered.

“Apart from you.”

“No, I had a penthouse,” Gojo corrected. “Now keep unpacking and let me watch the magic of Reese Witherspoon.”

Megumi didn’t fight him; he’d expected way more stress, and way more tears, from Gojo today. While Gojo wasn’t often an openly emotional person, moving his ward/son/annoyance into a separate flat would usually be enough to tip him over the edge. Megumi had been prepared, ensuring the tissues were the first thing set up on the kitchen counter and the laptop was unboxed in case Gojo had needed to watch Titanic.

As it was, Gojo was probably self-medicating with Legally Blonde - either that or he was pretending to self-medicate with Legally Blonde in order to avoid helping with the unpacking. Megumi didn’t mind, since Gojo usually just got in the way and messed things up and left food all over the carpet anyway.

Gojo peered out of the window. “Your neighbour’s got a pride flag out,” he observed. “You’ll fit right in here.”

“Well, it’s pride month,” said Megumi.

“I like to call it Megumi Month!”

“Show me your lockscreen.”

“What?”

“Show me your lockscreen.”

Confused, Gojo held out his phone. Had he changed his password? He couldn’t remember. If he hadn’t, that meant Megumi could still unlock it.

Uh-oh.

Megumi didn’t unlock it, he just turned it on and spun the screen to face Gojo. “Look at it.”

“At…my lockscreen?”

“Your lockscreen, showing what?”

“Me….and Suguru?”

“Yes, you and the evil mastermind. And why is it you and the evil mastermind?”

“Because we were best f-“

“Boyfriends. You were boyfriends. Happy pride month.” Megumi threw the phone back to Gojo, who caught it, disgruntled.

“He wasn’t an evil mastermind. He was pretty stupid, actually.”

“He’d have to be, to date you.”

“We weren’t dating!”

“Uh-huh. I believe you.”

“We weren’t!”

“Like I said, I believe you.” Megumi went back to rooting through boxes. “Did you pack this one? It’s full of shit I don’t want.”

“Language,” Gojo chided absently, eyes fixed back on the laptop.

“I’m 18.”

“I’m nearly 30, so what.”

“So shut up.”

Gojo gasped, very loudly and very dramatically. “Megumi! After all I’ve done for you, working hard as a single parent with ten jobs-“

“You have two jobs and they’re practically the same job. Teach jujutsu, use jujutsu.”

“-And I did it by myself! No childcare-“

“What was Shoko? Or Nanami? Chopped liver?”

“-And two kids, one of whom couldn’t even read-“

“I could read!”

“-Who said I was talking about you?” Gojo said wickedly.

“Well it wasn’t Tsumiki, she can read better than you,” Megumi shrugged.

“After all I’ve done for you,” Gojo repeated, “The least you could do it have some manners.”

“I have manners!” Megumi protested.

Gojo stared at him. “Are you absolutely certain, dearest?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“A-ha! Avoiding the question!”

“Prioritising my answers,” Megumi corrected. “I still have manners.”

“Suuure you do, buddy,” Gojo nodded, and went back to his movie.

Overall, June was a sucky month to move house in. The temperatures were high and so was the humidity, making everyone hot and sticky by the time the boxes were all inside. Megumi’s furniture hadn’t been delivered yet, having only been bought a few weeks ago – Gojo had insisted on paying for it all, even though Megumi had finally gotten access to a lot of the money stored up in his accounts from various relatives, jobs, and – of course – Gojo himself. He’d have even more when he finally turned 20.

Flies buzzed around Megumi’s empty rooms, making both Megumi and Gojo swat irritably at the ones that tried to nestle into the spikes of their hair.

Gojo watched Megumi carefully extract a particularly fat one from the back of his neck. He’d grown over the last few years, tall and broad, looking more and more like Toji every day. Maybe in a few years, when Megumi finally settled into his body and stopped tripping over things and looking confused with his new long limbs and wide shoulders, he’d gain enough muscle to make him almost indistinguishable from his biological father. There’d been a few times recently where Megumi, with the quiet footsteps taught by Gojo himself, had caught Gojo off-guard and had almost had his head blown off. All he really needed was a lip scar.

Gojo shuddered at the thought.

“You okay?” Megumi asked, noticing Gojo’s slightly horrified expression.

“Just thinking,” Gojo assured him.

“I didn’t know you could think.”

“You learn something new every day with me!”

“I wish that was true,” Megumi sighed. “Then maybe you would’ve been a passable teacher.”

“Okay, rude-“

Gojo’s tirade was cut off by Megumi’s new doorbell, ringing clear through the heavy, warm air.

“Must be Itadori,” said Megumi – who, in true Megumi fashion, absolutely refused to call anyone by their first name.

“HEEEEEEY MEGUMII!” Yuji yelled as soon as the door opened. In true Yuji fashion, he’d jumped at the chance to sound a bit closer to his friends.

“Hi,” Megumi replied, reaching out a hand to take some of Yuji’s bags. “Need some help?”

“Sure, thanks!” Yuji handed some off, and then turned sideways in order to fit through the door with the rest of them. “I didn’t know what to bring so I just brought it all!”

“All of what?” asked Megumi, cautiously peering into one. “Is this pride bunting?”

“Sure is! I thought we could combine the housewarming with a pride party, since we can’t go out without being recognised…”

It was true. After reaching peak celebrity status in the jujutsu world, their fame had even spread to the ordinary people, who hailed them as super-cool special reinforcements or whatever the media had chosen to frame them as. In an area so thickly populated with sorcerers as this was, it was frankly incredibly irritating trying to leave the house for a big event like Pride.

“I love that idea,” Gojo announced, having paused Legally Blonde to welcome his student. “Does Nobara know?"

"It was actually her idea," Yuji admitted sheepishly.

"Of course it was,” Megumi sighed. “When’s she coming?”

The doorbell rang again.

“She’s already here, isn’t she?” Megumi put down Yuji’s bags and went back to the door. “Hi, Kugisaki.”

“Hi, Fushiguro,” said Nobara, who had agreed to call Yuji by his name but insisted she wouldn’t be familiar with Megumi unless she got the same energy back. She was very, very salty about it.

“HI NOBARA!” Yuji yelled.

“Inside voice~” Gojo sang, shutting off his laptop now everyone was here.

“Sorry!”

“Jeez, let me in then,” Nobara demanded, bustling past Megumi. She didn’t have any bags with her, but from the way she immediately set about rustling through Yuji’s, she’d probably just made Yuji bring hers.

Megumi closed the door before more insects found their way in. “I like how you asked me about this party before you brought the decorations.”

“Oh, shut up,” Nobara told him. “Actually, no. New order: shut up and put this flag on your wall.”

It was a custom-printed lesbian flag, complete with a cutout of Gojo’s face.

“Oh my god, this is the best thing ever,” Gojo enthused, taking it before Megumi could reach out. “I want it on the wall forever.”

“Let’s start with it on the wall, y’know, at all,” Nobara snarked.

“I’m not a lesbian,” Megumi pointed out. “Neither is Gojo.”

“Neither am I!” Yuji volunteered. “I like the colours though.”

“You are all honorary lesbians for today,” Nobara announced generously. “Here, take a pin.”

She passed a small box around. Megumi stared at the ‘WOMEN SCARE ME’ pin he’d pulled out. “I want to swap.”

“No can do. ‘Sides, that one’s perfect,” Nobara shrugged.

“I’m attracted to women!”

“Yes, but can you be normal around them? No. Put the pin on.”

Megumi sighed and stuck it to his jacket; Yuji enthusiastically did the same with his ‘PRO CHOICE / PRO FEMINISM / PRO CATS’.

“’Three raccoons in a trenchcoat’,” Gojo read off the badge he’d been passed. “I like it.”

Nobara climbed onto some of the stacked boxes in order to string her fairy lights across the room. “You can keep these,” she told Megumi. “You need some decoration in here.”

“I’ve only just moved in!” Megumi argued. “It’s not gonna be perfect!”

Yuji was seeing how many boxes he could stack before they started to lean. The answer was six; he stood on tiptoe to slide his Bluetooth speaker on top. In the end, Gojo – ever annoyingly tall – had to help him put it securely on the middle of the top box.

“Good to know I’m still of use,” Gojo sighed.

“You’re not,” said Megumi. “Retire already.”

“Just because you said that, I’m gonna work another forty years.”

“Fuck you.”

Gojo’s dramatic gasp signalled another monologue coming on, but he was cut off by Nobara falling off her boxes.

“Fuck!” she yelled. Gojo didn’t correct her.

-

-

-

“When I got my first apartment,” Gojo reminisced, ignoring Nobara’s clattering in the kitchen, “I didn’t know housewarming parties were a thing.”

Him, Megumi, and Yuji were sat in a triangle on the floor, waiting for whatever Nobara was creating. By the sounds of it, she was attempting to remake the oven.

“I thought you said you had a penthouse?” Megumi pointed out.

“What? Oh, yeah, when I was 18. I got an apartment when I was ten.”

Yuji gasped. “Cool!”

“No, not cool, Yuji,” Gojo told him. “It was very boring.”

“Is that even legal?” Megumi questioned. Gojo shrugged, which wasn’t very reassuring.

“Dunno. I liked it, though.”

“Did you have fairy lights?” asked Yuji.

“No.”

“What about a fruit bowl?” Nobara called from the kitchen.

“Does anyone even have a fruit bowl nowadays?” Gojo asked.

“Fushiguro does, apparently.”

Megumi turned to Gojo, horrified. “You bought me a fruit bowl?”

“Apparently…?”

“I can’t believe this.” Megumi looked ready to murder someone – and that someone was almost definitely Gojo.

“You never know what you’ll need,” Gojo tried to argue, shuffling away from Megumi as best he could.

Megumi made a rather threatening gesture and then rolled his eyes. Nobara reappeared holding a tray of cupcakes.

“Look, Megs! Blue, pink and yellow!” Gojo pointed out, probably hoping to get back into Megumi’s good books. “Just like the ones I made you!”

“You didn’t make these ones, did you?” Megumi asked suspiciously.

“No-one made them,” Nobara confirmed. “Well, someone did, but it was someone in a factory.”

“Can I have one?” Yuji asked, tentatively reaching for one.

“No, Yuji, I brought them out for us to look at them,” said Nobara sarcastically, lowering the tray so the three sat on the floor could reach them.

After Gojo had gotten sick of telling extremely uninteresting tales of his childhood and had told enough of Megumi’s that he ran the risk of having his mouth taped shut by his own ward, Yuji started a horrendous game of ‘Guess Who?’.  The category was ‘Jujutsu Sorcerers’, and soon devolved into hysterical impressions of various sorcerers they had met, including Nobara’s stellar impersonation of Nanami.

“I wear fake leopard print and I’m better than you,” she mimicked, voice forced deep and hands around her eyes to imitate goggles or glasses.

Yuji, arguably the closest person to Nanami, guessed Inumaki. Nobara nearly screamed with frustration.

“I think we should play something else,” Megumi suggested, watching Nobara attempt to attack Yuji without any weapons on hand. Yuji, whose main weapon was his hands, was frantically blocking and looking unduly terrified.

“Like what? Hangman?” Gojo pondered.

“Only if one of us actually gets hung,” Nobara offered, looking meaningfully at Yuji. “Inumaki,” she muttered scornfully under her breath.

“Maybe not,” Megumi backtracked.

“We need to do something gay,” Nobara sighed. “Otherwise what’s the point?”

“What percentage gay?” Megumi asked.

“Well if you’re doing it it’s 100% gay,” Nobara told him. “You can’t help it, you’re just built like that.”

“Says you, Miss Oh-No-Makki-Don’t-Do-That-Yourself, Let-Me-Lift-It-Even-Though-You-Have-Visible-Biceps-And-I’m-Built-Like-A-Mop-“

“Shut up!”

“Um?” Yuji interjected. “Maybe we could just watch a gay film or something?”

“I vote Luca!” said Megumi immediately.

“Awh, I wanted to vote one of the Haikyuu movies,” Yuji pouted.

“I wanted to vote this one,” Nobara said, waving the website for something niche - and probably unnecessarily emotional - around.

“I vote Legally Blonde,” said Gojo, like an idiot.

By the time they were all settled around Luca – which Megumi had literally fought tooth and nail with Nobara for – Yuji was dropping asleep and Gojo was tapping on his phone.

“Turn your typing sounds off,” Megumi told him.

“No,” said Gojo, but the sounds didn’t come again.

Yuji hummed and snuggled closer to Megumi. Nobara, on Yuji’s other side, looked extremely offended but didn’t say anything.

Gojo dropped his head onto Megumi’s shoulder. It wasn’t as much of a neck stretch as it used to be; Megumi had become an excellent pillow even if he wasn’t a good height for resting your elbow on anymore. Yuji started snoring in evident agreement.

“You guys suck,” said Nobara. “I can’t even reach Fushiguro to lie on him.” To compromise, she simply threw herself across both Yuji and Megumi’s laps until her head was in Gojo’s. “Much better,” she informed them, and closed her eyes.

“Is this gay enough for you?” Megumi asked.

“Fushiguro. You’re a man. I’m not being gay at all.”

“Damn. Try again next year?”

Gojo laughed. “You can try again when you get your own apartment, Nobara. Just make sure to invite me so I can take pictures of the cuddle pile.”

“Are you kidding? If you’re there, it’ll be impossible to get you out of the pile long enough to take a picture,” Megumi objected.

“Good point,” said Gojo. “Try again next year instead?”

“Yeah,” said Megumi. “Try again next year.”

“Next year it is,” Nobara agreed. Yuji just hummed and snuggled even closer.

A03 | Exclusives | Tip Me | Commissions

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, September 22nd

Xander: “Hey, Red. What you got in the basket, little girl?” Buffy: “Weapons.” Xander: “Oh.” Buffy: “Just in case. Like the tux, Xander.” Xander: “Bond. James Bond. Insurance, you know, in case we get turned into our costumes again. I’m going for cool, secret agent guy.” Buffy: “I hate to break it to you, but you’ll probably end up cool head waiter guy.” Xander: “As long as I’m cool and wield some kind of power.”

~~Fear, Itself~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

The Rod Beneath by Ellen_Brand (Batman crossover, Buffy/Jason Todd, Buffy & Giles, G)

Reflections Of Tomorrow by LoneFrog (Xander, FR15)

Just the Way You Are by Zab Jade (Buffy/Spike, 13+)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Something Red - Chapter 1 by Little_Bites (Faith & Willow, not rated)

Truth and Consequences, Ch. 25 by JamesMFan (Buffy/Spike, R)

Hope is the thing with feathers, Ch. 12-13 by will_ (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

The Degradation of Duality [Series Part 2] Ch. 52 by Ragini (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Little Light, Ch. 9 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Linchpin, Ch. 5 by hulettwyo (Buffy/Spike, Adult Only)

Troubling Deaf Heaven, Ch. 5 by JuneCurry (Buffy/Spike, R)

Unholy Matrimony, Ch. 1 by CheekyKitten (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Dawn Rising, Ch. 75 by Luna (Buffy, Dawn, FR15, self harm)

Oh My Goddess, Ch. 4 by Maxine Eden (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Drawings by darthmimaulette (Buffy, Buffy/Spike, probably worksafe)

Manips: The Hungry Wolf by spyder-baby (Drusilla, Spike/Drusilla, worksafe)

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer button in progress by lunar-goodness (no people depicted, Buffy quote, worksafe)

Sims by mistyintherivers (Scoobies, Drusilla, worksafe)

drew some buffys! one from the tv show, and one from the medieval flashback in the 1992 movie by nodudeshutup (worksafe)

A Gachnar doll in progress by Nocturnal-Nycticebus (worksafe)

Welcome 2 the Hellmouth collage :) by DefDoomedPod (Buffy, Darla, Luke, the Master, worksafe)

[Reviews & Recaps]

Episode 5.4 - Hell Bound - crossposted by rock-and-compass

The dialogue in IWMTLY [I Was Made to Love You] by Stoney, HardlyThere

Buffy Season 1 is low key maybe my favorite season by AmbitiousOutside7498

SEDUCED BY A TEACHER? Up The Buff! Ep 4 - Teacher's Pet by bigbadllama

Buffy Season 3: Where will it go from here? by RedRxbin

Vampire F/X- film or tv? by CaseTarot

the way season 3 final episodes are epic is beyond by Kindly_Ad2280

[Fandom Discussions]

I had a dream that Angel was helping Buffy... by oveliagirlhaditright

If you couldn’t have the original cast - which cast would you choose [BtVS S1] by primal-slayer

Skeptical of how realistic it was for the characters to consider working for Wolfram&Hart by thequeenofsastiel

Was Spike a special or unique vampire? by garfan and others

Are any of you involved in Scholarship on Buffy? by friendofathena

Looking for DVD set that has "Once More With Feeling" NTSC 16:9 native NOT letterboxed by Maximum-Telephone268

Fancast: Once More With Feeling - dream cast in music theatre by Icy-Morning6813

Did you know that TV tropes exists because of Buffy The Vampire Slayer? by Cailly_Brard7

Spike VS Faith (who wins in a fight?) by FoxIndependent4310

Has anyone gone to the Buffy Popup in Chicago? by BalrogSlayer00

What campfire songs do you think they sang? by AndrewHeard

Quotes from the show to remember when you're in a dark period of your life? by incantopatronus

A defense of Xander by foreseethefuture

Has your opinion any character shifted as you’ve aged? by Tamika_Olivia

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

James Marsters UltraCon 2024 Reports, Pics & Videos via dontkillspike

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Coming to Free Streaming (Tubi) Just in Time for Halloween

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[angelmelon]

Meet the employees of GAP!! Part 1

GAP is an unapologetically in your face, colorful trans-friendly club founded by Ginger “Glitz” Saab, Kaiya “Akuna” Maymuru, and Cherish “Portia” Chadha after a heavily traumatic experience involving a women’s only club that the proudly trans girls faced. With a fully trans staff with all wonderfully different styles, GAP aims to bridge the GAP!!!

☠️ Ennui Samson, 23 years old, Anglo-Australian, Alternating He/They/It, Panromantic Transmasculine Demiboy

You see, one thing Rusty did get right was that transmasculine people can absolutely look how Samson does… I however did change their design quite drastically. Why did I do this?? It’s actually really simple. I noticed how many members of the QT collective have fully blue or green hair and I got mad because it limited my ability to make each one stand out 💔 sooo I took some creative liberties, and it just happened that their style gradually developed from that. Ennui can’t go wrong with a cute dress though!!

Speaking of, Ennui!! Ennui is a bouncer at GAP!! He also does nude painting work on the side, with many of their paintings celebrating trans bodies being hung up around the club. Born into the Mormon church of Adelaide, it was disfellowshipped and escaped at 16, and lived with his similarly disfellowshipped aunt for the next several years, and have only just recently moved into its own apartment!! Now, he thrives at 5 and a half months of HRT, living with their 2 pet parakeets, Shelley and Poe!! They are well trained in Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, with a brown belt status that often easily wards off potential enemies from the club without so much as lifting a finger.

🪐 Jupiter J. Galilee, 23 years old, Filipino-Australian, Any/All pronouns, Autigender transmasc, intersex, and unlabeled sexuality. Also arospec!!

Now for Jupe!! Despite the fuckass haircut, I did not have to redesign them as much as I thought I had to. Really, it was a matter of just not doing my guy dirty like Rusty did. I promise you a mullet with bangs can look really cute if you depict it in a way that flatters the face. And look at that fashion sense!! My guy is styling and profiling fr

Jupe is also a bouncer at GAP!! Raised in the rural outback of Australia, he went to every single year of highschool up to senior year with only 30 other students. As a result of this and her ASD, Jupe lacks social skills to a quite high degree, and does not consider themselves to be human. Their one retreat as a kid was watching Star Shifter DVDs on the family television; a TV show about alien heroes with the ability to shapeshift. He would take their understanding and expression of gender from her experience connecting with this show. They’d soon move to the city after turning 18 years old to pursue its passion for self defense, before quickly learning she had no idea what he was doing in the city. It is currently living with her roommates in a cheap apartment, and learning new and strange things about the rest of humanity every day. He helps pay their share of rent by taking her self defense passion to GAP!! He is now an ever charming, ever adorable, ever concerning favorite of GAP regulars.

[oneatlatime]

The Waterbending Master

Finally! Only took the whole season to find one.

This one apparently also has commentary. I'll leave it off for now.

After countless episodes without, we finally have another hybrid animal. Behold:

A koala Sea-otter? That makes noises like a Raven. Alright.

Sokka saying "I'm not one to complain" is a) pretty damning evidence of his amount of self-awareness b) self-deprecating sarcasm c) a funny line that I'm reading too deeply into

Why is Appa flying so low anyway?

Subtle signs that these guys are way too used to relying on bending: -no railings -no alternate propulsion source (seriously, not even an oar?) -no emergency supplies in case a trip runs long (I don't even see an emergency sandwich, and come on guys, it's not like waterbending controls the weather)

Random pinball bumper style ice stabbies does seem like a good defense though.

Not so subtle exposition dump from Zhao the asshole. Avatar writers are usually better at integrating catch-up dialogue. Looks like Aang will be arriving just in time to defend the Water tribe from the invasion that, ironically, he summoned. Talk about self-inflicted problems. Do you think if Aang had found a waterbending teacher somewhere else, the Fire Nation would have left the water tribe alone for another hundred years? Aang's been learning on the run; they could have picked up a single waterbender and hightailed it back to some cave in the earth kingdom to learn there. Or the water tribe could have sent a waterbender out to find the gaang as soon as rumours of the avatar reached them. See? This was avoidable.

Always love me some sea-bison.

They have bending doors like Omashu. Actually is this a door or a lock? I think the water level is changing.

Is this a hybrid animal? The yak thing, not the two legger.

Last time you got a hero's welcome, Suki's village burnt down. Foreshadowing?

How often does this lady see sea-bisons? She just passed by one and didn't even bat an eye. Is there a secret sea-bison colony that's spent the last 100 years hiding from the fire nation in the north pole?

Music Night! Need a better lyricist.

What's going on here? Did they roast a giant turtle thing and now they're cooling it to serve by dunking it in water? Did they feel the need for a steam effect for the guy's speech so they heated up a giant thingy and dunked it in water? Is it a weird boat thing? It looks like it has a face. I bet it's a ritual object.

Are these pot stacks the water tribe version of Totem Poles?

Oh nuh uh. Nope. 16 is way too young to marry.

This girl is so into him I can feel it through the screen, the dvd player, and the 15+ years since this aired.

Even the head guy's like "yeah, he's an asshole, What can you do?" Let's put this asshole and Zhao the asshole in a room together. They can out-asshole each other. Should be fun.

Remember back in episode three when I said that Zuko needed to learn how to lie? This is why.

Nevermind, we don't need to put Zhao and Paku in a room together to out-asshole each other. Paku wins. As far as I've seen, bending is not gender specific, either in who gets it or how it's taught/used. What kind of idiot would tell someone born with the ability to wield an incredible weapon that, actually, they aren't allowed to? How did this attitude get instilled in the first place? Why didn't the first guy who ever said this get slashed to death by ice stabbies thrown by the ten nearest female benders? Are these northern water tribe people so unbothered by the war that they can afford to sideline 50% of their forces? More than sideline, render incapable of defending themselves or others? Obviously this tribe is far too privileged if they can afford this attitude. And also far too bored. I guess hiding behind that giant ice wall for 100 years left them so understimulated that they turned on themselves.

Bad attitude? Fucking bad attitude!?! There's only one guy in this episode with a bad attitude and it isn't Katara. Zhao looks downright pleasant compared to this Paku guy.

Question for Paku: why would the Northern Water Tribe's rules apply to a Southern Water Tribe member?

My god these two are so cute. Sokka could propose they disembowel whale carcasses for their activity and the princess would say yes.

So the parrot lizard did survive the fall over the waterfall.

They're little tiny children. Katara, who has spent her whole life wanting to learn to bend to fight, has literally been shoved back into the igloo with a bunch of babies to learn lady-bending (no offence to the babies). How how HOW is she so calm right now? If I were in her situation, I think I'd be so angry I'd be ugly crying. And also plotting how to murder that Paku guy.

WHAT.

Paku the asshole is apparently a proponent of the tell don't show philosophy of teaching. The Tell-while-doing-unspeakable-things-to-my-lunch don't show philosophy.

Unexpected backstory. This lady must have been pretty close to Gran Gran if she recognises a carving she presumably wore for maybe a few months about 50 years ago or more. Also this lady is shockingly dumb if she can't see why Gran Gran left this misogynistic hellhole, but I guess it can be hard to see it while you're in it.

Nitpick time: How does the teacher recognise this? Isn't this just the water tribe symbol? Probably the most common symbol in the whole north pole?

Nosferatu Zuko. Nosferzuko. Zukoratu? Iroh's pause here was so long that I checked in case I had muted by accident. And how does your crew being taken by Zhao the asshole make your crew traitors Zuko? Orders are orders.

So we're adding asassinating royals to our list of reasons Zhao is an asshole. I think he's won the title back from Paku.

Fuck this port I guess.

Zuko's dead. Huh. Bye then. Gotta say I don't get why he's so big in the fandom.

This princess sure does send some mixed messages. At least she didn't ghost him.

"Master Poophead." My God. It's perfect. Why didn't I think of that?

Aang passing on what he learns to Katara. Why didn't I think of that either? My plan was to get Katara to launch unprovoked attacks on Paku's students and study how they defend themselves until she can copy / surpass them. Mostly so I could watch Katara beat the crap out of sexists.

Die mad about it you troglodyte. Disrespect? How nice it must be to have enough of your culture left that it can be disrespected. And you're going to deny the avatar training, thus dooming the whole world to death via fire nation, because you're butthurt? Freakin manbaby.

YES! YES! BEAT HIS ASS! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!!!!!!

"I know. I don't care." + "I'm not doing it for you." = I'm officially in love with Katara. I took a while to warm up to her, I admit the first few episodes were a little rough, but this seals the deal.

This screenshot sparks joy. Last episode Aang bitchslapped a fire nation guy with air. This episode it's Katara's turn with water. The Firelord Uber-Bitchslapped Zuko with fire a few years ago. All I need is an earth bitchslap and my collection will be complete. Avatar: master of all four bitchslaps. Also this wouldn't have worked to goad Paku into fighting if he was half as mature as he thinks he is. Although he gets points for being harder to goad than Zhao in the Deserter.

In an episode where the A plot is Katara, the B plot is Aang, the C plot is Zuko, and the D plot is Sokka's love life, the writers still manage to fulfill the Beat up Sokka quota. Good job guys.

If only she'd aimed a couple of inches to the left. This show already includes a kid getting his face burned off. Surely a Poophead being separated from his nose is ok?

That's twice now she's lost her necklace. If the carving has lasted 50+ years, surely it's earned a metal chain rather than a hair ribbon?

Gran Gran! Bullet dodged! Excellent call!

That's a lot less beat up than I was expecting. And Iroh has never once given the impression that he isn't quietly ride or die for Zuko, so why would Zuko not expect Iroh to help him? Because Zuko isn't terribly perceptive? Because the writers needed a way to deliver yet more exposition?

I did notice that the healing lady specified that Gran gran was in an arranged marriage but Poophead was talking about love. Again, why was Gran Gran leaving a mystery?

Underrated moment of wisdom from Aang here. He gets why the princess is upset and he's twelve! But I'd bet good money that the idiot on the right has no clue what's going on.

Princess ran so far away that it's night time now. This episode is not subtle anywhere, so I figured that the princess being engaged was the cause of this whole blowing hot and cold thing. Despite being 16 and fictional, Sokka handles mixed signals and rejection with 10000% more maturity and kindness than many unfortunately non-fictional grown men I've met. Kudos to Sokka for being honest and respectful.

Even redeemed, Poophead is still an asshole.

Well that's a problem.

Fire Nation ships would be a lot more intimidating if they didn't look like shoes.

Final Thoughts

This episode was a lot of exposition, a lot of set up, and even some catch up. And it was not done as gracefully as this show usually does it. More than once the dialogue between characters felt like two actors lecturing the audience rather than the characters we know.

This episode also had twice the concentration of assholes. A Zhao episode I can deal with. An episode with a one shot asshole where Zhao doesn't appear? I could also deal with. But TWO grade A assholes in ONE episode? No. Too much.

My whole-hearted congratulations to Gran Gran for seeing Poophead for what he was, and refusing to put up with it. Leaving his ass didn't make him get the message. 50+ years alone didn't make him get the message. The granddaughter that ought to have been his being so disgusted by his conduct that she attempts to cut his face off didn't make him get the message. There was no way that this idiot was going to change. So congrats to Gran Gran for making an excellent call, leaving his ass to freeze, and getting two most excellent grandchildren instead.

I also have to applaud Sokka and Katara for not being bitter about the Northern Water Tribe. I can't help but notice the spectacular architecture, complete with embellishments and unnecessary non-structural doodads. Let's do a quick comparison (ignore the ship):

Left has one waterbender. Right has all the waterbenders. We know that Northerners can travel south thanks to Gran Gran. The North couldn't have sent one sneaky waterbender to at least make the south a ship-proof wall? That chief guy has some audacity calling Katara and Sokka their brother and sister or whatever when they've evidently left the south to rot for a century. And I know the Fire Nation, the War, bla bla, but you guys are so bored behind your walls that you're cannibalising your own capabilities based on gender just for fun.

RANT INCOMING

Since I'm on the topic, can we talk about how STOOOPID it is to separate your combatants from your medics? Here's a secret about combat medics: they're both. They learn the basics of combat, and they learn the basics of emergency medicine (And a LOT of other stuff besides). Basic training includes basic first aid for EVERYONE.

Because here's the thing. People who get hurt beating the shit out of other people are usually hurt in an environment where beating the shit out of people occurs. If they are injured enough that they can't get themselves out of the 'beating the shit out of other people' zone, then unless they can treat themselves on the spot or their fellow soldiers can administer first aid or get them out, they die.

Alternatively, if they can't get themselves out of the 'beating the shit out of other people' zone, then medics have to be sent in. A medic who doesn't know how to fight who gets sent into the zone will - guess what? - get the shit beaten out of them. Now you're two men down at present, and who knows how many more you're going to lose over the next few days because you're down a medic. So unless every single waterbending fighter in the Northern water tribe is going to go into combat with a waterbending healer literally attached to them, there will be mountains of unnecessary losses and avoidable injuries.

Now let's look at this from the other angle. What happens if the enemy breaches your defences (because all your defenders are merrily bleeding out from wounds their bending could heal if only they'd learned how) and then makes their way to your combat hospitals? Which are full of soldiers who are too injured to fight and healers who don't know how to defend themselves? Apart from the whole living surrounded by their element thing, waterbenders' greatest advantage in a fight appears (to me) be to be their miraculous healing powers. Katara completely healed her burnt hands to the point where there wasn't even scar tissue and she had no training at all. A skill that can erase burns (the thing firebenders give you) negates the fire nation's greatest weapon - their fire. Any fire nation general who's not an idiot would therefore target waterbending healers, maybe even over waterbending fighters. So any fire nation commander would absolutely put 'capture field hospitals' as one of their top priorities. This is a kids' cartoon, so let's ignore historical precedent as to what happens to nurses caught in field hospitals behind enemy lines and say that the fire nation would defeat the waterbending healers.

Let's paint a quick picture here: in the background, a field full of waterbending fighters sidelined by treatable injury. In the middle ground, an inexorably advancing wall of firebenders. In the foreground, a field hospital full of defenseless waterbending healers. Just peachy isn't it?

How fucking UNSTOPPABLE would a bender able to shrug off a fireball to the face then turn around and take out a firebending platoon be? Get one hundred - no fifty - benders who can both heal and fight, have them advance in two rows: Front row fights, switches with back row when they're injured, gets healed up, rotates back up to front row as a replacement. Functionally unstoppable barring the need to eat and sleep (so long as they bring their own water). The Northern Water Tribe had decades to develop that. Unlike the south, they had the time, the resources, and apparently so little going on that they took up sexism to pass the time. The wasted opportunity here burns. See kids? Sexism hurts the sexists too.

This northern attitude is just dumb. It's illogical. It's stupid. I'd call it a ham-fisted unsubtle after school special of a plotline if it weren't a fictionalised version of something that's literally baked into to many cultures worldwide, past and present.

RANT CONCLUDED

What else can I say about this episode? Aang and Sokka had like three lines each, but they were very in character. Sokka and the princess are cute together. Zuko and Iroh had a good dynamic when they weren't acting in service to exposition. This whole episode really feels like part one of a two parter.

I think something might have been off with the narrative weighting of this episode. There was an honest to god assassination attempt and I forgot.

While the shot of Paku looking put out that the ice disk landed so close to his face was funny, I would have preferred it if Katara had gotten in one hit beyond her bitchslap. Just one. His ego needed the beating which it got via the necklace thing, but I would have liked to see actual beating too.

If I had seen this episode as a child I absolutely would have lost my mind over Katara getting to beat up a sexist. I'd bet good money that this episode did lots of good for the self-esteem of little girls who saw it.

Katara's plot line is like the plot of the Waterbending Scroll episode, but in a positive light. In that episode her selfishness regarding bending got them in trouble; in this one it helped. Seen in that light, the fact that it's the necklace rather than Katara's skill that gets through to Paku is a bit undermining, but if "magical girl has such impressive skills that the sexist dinosaur throws away decades of sexism for the chance to be her teacher" had been the plot instead, I'd probably be complaining about cliches instead.

All in all, a bit clunky, a lot of set up, and too many assholes and frustrating idiocy for it to go on my rewatch list. Feminist beat downs are good for the soul, but I'm not sure they outweigh Poopheads.

[troublesjunkyard]

6.) Do you own any TMNT merchandise?

11.) Which version of Raphael is your favorite?

20.) Which theme song is your favorite?

26.) What is one of your favorite pieces of TMNT fan art?

31.) What is one piece of TMNT canon that you dislike/ignore?

Hello Gornack! (*^▽^)/★*☆♪

6. I've got a few items but not much. I live somewhere where merchandise is rather.....sparse. Either you have to order and pay (mostly) a lot of export fee or you need to search at conventions for some.

I had a few shirts as a child from TMNT, now I have one and (my most priced possession so far) a metal poster with the IDW cover "City at war". If it's count, I got almost every issue of the IDW comics, the TLR2:Re-Evolution comics plus the TMNT Ghostbuster crossover comic and all seasons of TMNT '12 as DVDs. Got also some self made pins and four Kandi bracelets that are color coded to the turtles.

11. Uh, tough question because I'm a total Raph fan, no matter which iteration. (Maybe because I see myself in them...) I would say '03 Raph would be my top fav, because I just adore his kind side when he helps others in need and his sassy comments. And yes, most don't like his accent, but in my defense, I heard the english version years later for the first time. I heard him mostly in my native language as kid.

'12 Raph is close behind. He redeems himself and grows over the seasons without losing his character. Also communicating with pigeons and training them commands. Nice! Addition: I just love Raphs german voice and everytime his voice actor is in other movies or series I always see Raph. :>

I like IDW Raph because of his story arc. Especially in the beginning with finding his way into his family. He cares for them, but it's hard to fit in for him in the beginning after being on his own for quite a while.

I will hear people scream now, but I also like TLR Raph even though we only see him really short. Yes, he acts reckless and yes his plan was stupid but he cares! The fear that someone else gets severely hurt of his family blinded him so much that he takes measurements in his own hands. He gave everything he had left to protect. Hothead through and through.

20. A close fight between the '87 and '12 version. I would go with the '12 opening because this was my teenager era, this song was on my mp3 player.

26. Another hard one to choose ah-

In the moment it's the TLR2:Re-Evolution fanarts from redkehlchen and shellsweet. I love the four so much! (especially Yi hehehe)

31. The ending of Splinter in TMNT '12. DAMN. That ripped out my soul. I don't dislike it, but it's really hard to accept it...

And everytime I see this damn scene I'm like "Okay get it together... don't cry..." and then Mikey says this one word, THIS. ONE. WORD. And it's over....

[mylittleredgirl]

m*a*s*h update: rest of season three!!

i watched "aid station" and transcended to another realm

i watched it three times and will watch it many more i am SURE

the adventure! the war up close! hardship-earned respect and affection!!!!!

"never let it be said that i didn't do the least i could do" i need that in live laugh love font on my wall

this episode reminded me a few times that oh right, hot lips is the only one of the main cast who signed up and trained for the army on purpose

(and father mulcahey i suppose?)

anyway. long story short. if they had actually shown hot lips changing that tire i would never recover

"love and marriage" - hooray for kwang getting a personality and backstory, and hawkeye and trapper trying to make amends for frank

absolutely bananas that the officers hear a fight happening outside with a shot fired and collectively ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ and keep playing. henry you are in charge. someone could be dead

"big mac" - i loved the opening in the o.r.! sometimes it gets a little mean-spirited in there, but this is a light-hearted day at the office where everyone in the room gets to laugh out loud as frank walks right in the teeth of it for literally no reason

i am enjoying the ongoing bit of hawkeye or trapper saying hello to frank and him responding to an insult they haven't said

hot lips's little "frank, they'll kill you." she's not even trying to defend him. she has given up against the overwhelming tide

the casual revelation in "payday" that henry has an open question in his mind about whether or not he's radar's father is a late-breaking reveal i'm gonna think about for a while

colonel flagg. hmm. his first episode was pretty funny because of the spy vs spy thing, but spy vs self was a dud

and then! "abyssinia, henry"!!!! 😢

my gratitude to the anonymous benefactor who hooked me up with a digital copy of this episode, since the dvd cut out before the last scene. which as it turns out!!! was important.

for television in general i assume

not to reveal myself too much as an uncultured hack... but i will confess my first reaction was "well, that was unnecessary"

in my defense!! i'm watching it in 2024, when a character death happening in an off-screen coda would really seem like a showrunner slamming the door behind a departing actor to make sure they couldn't come back no matter what change.org petition the fans cooked up on twitter, you know?

BUT. placing myself back in time. where this is happening partly as a commentary on another war, i get it!! unnecessary death is the point!! it's a tragedy people will have to sit with for months while the show is on hiatus!

HE NEVER MET HIS BABYYYYY (who they clearly forgot about, or they probably would have reminded us in the episode itself just to drive that punch home)

anyway, i have really never seen such a lovingly crafted goodbye episode for a character 💕

somebody PLEASE give radar a hug!!!!!! once per episode for the rest of the show!!!!

i mean sure henry DIED which obviously sucks for him and his variable number of children, but here radar loses his surrogate dad and gets frank in exchange. i mean tell me who suffered more

anyway!!!! in conclusion, season three was so good and funny and will be a tough act to follow!

my final awards for season three 🏆 best drama: aid station; best comedy: alcoholics unanimous; one i could most do without: the general flipped at dawn.

[most-screwed-by-writers-tourney]

Ironwood: Big bad of the series is an immortal witch who can control creatures of darkness that eat people. After the big bad takes out an entire kingdom, and severely lowers the potential of another to protect itself, he starts putting an embargo on resources, a curfew, and and increased security while also trying to get global communications back up and running. He entrusts the main heroes with his plans, offers them training, new equipment, and high ranking positions in his army. He's not aware the big bad is immortal. Two of the main heroes reveal his secret plans to a vigilante who has been stealing supplies and not using them to help the poor like she claims she is doing. They hide the fact that the immortal witch is in fact immortal. They hide the truth about why the big bad's magical ex-husband who used to be in charge of the destroyed kingdom's defenses isn't around anymore.

When the big bad shows up with a giant army of monsters when they're not prepared to fight her, he wants to do the sensible thing: leave with the magic mcguffins the big bad wants to a safe place, and regroup to fight another day. Sadly, this would result in a lot of people being left behind, but a majority of the kingdom were already evacuated to the giant floating city. The heroes end up ruining everything by has because he refuses to try and save EVERYONE despite THE BIG BAD BEING RIGHT THERE ON THEIR DOORSTEP MORE PREPARED THAN THEY ARE. Then the next season happens and they turn this thoughtful, hard working, caring man wanting to protect people, into a power hungry monster willing to shoot everyone standing in his way and willing to bomb civilians if he doesn't get his way. And the only reason he's written this way is because the writers notices a lot of fans were ACTUALLY SIDING WITH HIM DURING THE PREVIOUS SEASON. THEY ADMIT THIS IN THE DVD COMMENTARY THAT THE ONLY REASON HE'S WRITTEN THE WAY HE IS NOW IS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THEY WROTE A SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER AND THAT WASN'T WHAT THEY INTENDED AT ALL. And by the end of it all, it's all for nothing. The big bad gets two of the four missing mcguffins she needs to destroy the world. Ironwood's kingdom is sun into the ocean, a good portion of the civilians and soldiers died and those that remain are dropped into a desert kingdom they have bad relations with. This kingdom was also the tech hub of the entire world so anyone who uses certain machines or needs prosthetics or medical equipment can't get them anymore. And we're supposed to be rooting for Team RWBY and their friends, and not Ironwood? He wasn't perfect, but he was far more competent and sympathetic than any other character in this show and the writers decided "let's make this multi-prosthetic, ptsd ridden warrior be the worst person alive since too many fans thought he was right to retreat in a terrible situation

Vignette: Original writers left at the end of season 1 and an all-new writing team took over in season 2. The new writers violently yanked her away from the arc that was set up for her, but then it's like they couldn't agree among themselves what her new arc should be. So she runs around accomplishing nothing, making other characters miserable and/or getting them killed, and becoming super-unlikeable in the process. She started out tough but vulnerable, generous, with a strong sense of loyalty. She ended up seeming self-absorbed, flighty, and cruel.

[talokanda-forever]

C2E2 - PART TWO

Saturday Afternoon - Autograph Signing

Next on the itinerary was getting Tenoch's Autograph. We returned to the line we first stood in (incorrectly), except this time it was MUCH longer. We got in line about 40 minutes before the session was scheduled to start and it was nearly two hours before we got to the table. It was a great opportunity to talk to other Tenoch fans and hear about their photo encounters, if they had one. Everyone we spoke to (over the two days) raved about how sweet and kind Tenoch was. No surprise there.

The area, much like the photo-op, was covered with black draping. You thought you were getting close when you approached the main entrance, but there was still another line that snaked through a smaller draped-off area before you got to the table. You literally couldn't see the table until you got to the very front of the line.

His friend Aleria was at the end of the table initialing the authentication cards they give you before he signs. Her eyes lit up when she saw I had his book to be signed. "Did you like it?" she asked. I told her yes and that I learned so much from reading the book. She said that was great and thanked me for coming. My sister was after me and had the BestBuy special edition DVD for him to sign. Aleria commented on how pretty the cover art was. She was very sweet and gracious to folks as they approached the table.

Next was a guy asking what ink color we'd like Tenoch to use. I told him and moved to the left to stand in front of...HIM. 🥰 Tenoch smiled and said hello. I said, "I have a question for you," and he looked up from the book and looked in my eyes (swoon!). I asked what was his position when he played football. He explained that he was on the defensive side, behind the line. I asked if he was a corner back (one if my guesses) and he explained that the names are a bit different in Spanish so he wasn't sure if that what it's called in English. For me, it's close enough. 😋 He apologized and said, "English is not my first language." I responded, "Oh, that's ok ." He finished signing and and just as I was about to take the book, he pulled it back and said, "I forgot your name." He then wrote my name and said, "Gracias," and we waved goodbye to each other.

My sister was next and he signed her DVD. " "Aww, you signed over your face," she said in jest. "I guess I need to work on my self-esteem," he joked and we laughed.

I recently read a quote from Tenoch where he said he is a people person, and that is no lie!

NEXT: Sunday Mornning - 2nd Photo-op

[kamenstrikerace]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Side Of Dimensions Review:

Nostalgia Bait Gone Wrong!

This movie was made to cash in on my childhood, and it failed miserably since I outgrew Duel Monsters years ago.Today I decided to review a movie that I've had a visual loathing problem with since its inception back in 2016. I need to go into more depth because I can't simply ignore it.I have finally decided to review Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions and its mixed reception at the box office. There's a lot to talk about with this movie, and I hope I can cover it all since MyAnimeList has a limit on the amount of text and characters I can use.I am also going to explain two major topics. One is about production problems and nepotism, and the other is about reception and box office gross.

Oh god, this movie is going to suck, isn't it? Oh, wait. It is!

In The End It has to be this way: To me, Dark Side of Dimensions will always be the movie that killed my interest in Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, despite it being the third movie primarily focused on Duel Monsters. Let's delve into a bit of history regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! movies. Firstly, there was the Toei Yu-Gi-Oh! movie from the late 90s, which was never released on DVD or Blu-ray, either because it was non-canon to the story or simply never considered canon. It's never been explained why it wasn't released on DVD. Then, in the early 2000s, we got the first movie for the Gallop Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Pyramid of Light, which received mixed reception. In its defense, it was created to rival Pokémon movies, but unfortunately, it didn't succeed. This led to the fandom's first uproar, with some blaming Takahashi for it. However, Takahashi wasn't responsible for it; it was actually 4KIDS who commissioned it from Japan. It's surprising that people are still misinformed about this in 2024. Next, we had Bonds Beyond Time, which was the only good movie in my opinion. And then, we have this disaster I'm reviewing.

Two Birds and One Stone Troupe: Now, let's delve into two topics I want to cover simultaneously: Animation and Directing. I'm going to be quite salty about this one. You see, one of my pet peeves is the apparent nepotism and the overemphasis on pretty colors and stereotyping in this movie, which I strongly oppose. This isn't me being biased or offering subjective criticism; I detest the prioritization of 'pretty colors' over substance. In today's media landscape, there's a tendency to mock older shows for not being 'flashy action,' 'self-inserted,' or 'well-made.' People often jump on the bandwagon and promote fake agendas like 'nepotism,' which is another problem I need to address. You cannot judge a movie solely based on animation. This isn't just the recurring issue with My Hero Academia and its animation; it's a problem I like to call the Yugioh Zexal fiasco.Animation production is expensive and often costs way too much. Despite how much money a show or movie makes, its value is ultimately determined by its reception at the box office. Personally, I disliked My Hero Academia because its cinematic animation received more positive reviews than its main series did. It felt like MHA was using the movies as a platform to showcase better fights because the main series itself seemed lazy and uninteresting. So, what does this have to do with the review? Well, people tend to be aggressive towards the media and often blame anime studios for being outdated or lazy. Studio Gallop was never a mainstream studio nor was it financially stable. The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and movies had above-average production quality before the Zexal era, but then it shifted towards flashy visuals and over-the-top animation, which I found to be a mishap of nonsense. In fact, this movie is why I've disliked its production since 2014 because Konami seemed to be on a death wish to produce another movie that would likely result in financial losses. The movie was primarily focused on impressing the audience, trying to position itself as a 'savior,' but it ultimately failed miserably since people could see the excessive cost of production. The biggest problem with the movie lies in its direction, which was mediocre and poorly choreographed. To make matters worse, it was helmed by the same director I loathe, Satoshi Kuwabara. His tendency for poorly paced animation hiccups makes him a prime example of how not to hire a good director. Kuwabara comes off as lazy and immature in his approach to production. However, Yu-Gi-Oh! fans seem to get upset when his work is criticized, even though it's riddled with flaws. People often only point out issues with localization, blaming the wrong sources. But in reality, the direction of the movie was mediocre at best. He was responsible for the previous screw-up known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal and its mixed reception in the West due to the disaster of the anime. He was in charge of that series from day one. What I found particularly strange is that he never gave interviews or tried to explain what was even happening in the show. He appeared mostly lazy and inconsistent, in my opinion.

Nepotism Is as it's peak: This section is about Takahashi, who didn't understand his own logic in the first place. While people defended the movie for its flashy animation and nostalgia bait, Takahashi received universal criticism because he is solely at fault for this movie's failure. In the 2010s, people didn't blame him enough for Zexal, but he was blamed for this movie being a total disaster. It focused on stereotypes, dehumanizing the first Yu-Gi-Oh! show by portraying the characters as nothing more than jerks, and in the process, proving the critics right. In fact, this movie catered to those wanting another political card game war, leading to many people being divided due to his ego once again being involved.

Nepotism characterized the movie, with character assassination and story points being dropped in favor of it being a love letter to Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 6 that never happened. This whole movie is just Pyramid of Light recreated with dumb animation borrowed from Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V's production, solely to improve the movie and divide the fans once again. He tried to cover the movie's tracks under the rug because he couldn't take the fact that he knew personally if he stole animation or writing budgets from another ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! project, it would lead to fandom wars.

Many Yu-Gi-Oh! fans know that he screwed up big time and never apologized for the movie's faults. People are split because of Takahashi's opinions and his ego regarding how Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal turned out to be a disaster, as he was involved in that series but left at some point to start early production on Dark Side of Dimensions. Many fans say that Takahashi wasn't very involved with the series, but for reasons he doesn't want to take part in a show. The reason for this is that Takahashi has an ego that lets him anger the fandom because the story wasn't in favor of anything but solely overpowering the show's credibility and creating a dumpster fire, just like how Zexal became that way.In short, he is the reason why Yu-Gi-Oh! is doomed. He can't seem to improve the story and let it progress, as his original anime, Duel Monsters, was never fully adapted. The manga was left with plot holes and a lack of depth due to arcs being cut too soon. In short, Yu-Gi-Oh! was doomed because any show past 5D's became unlikable and disrespected. This man wanted to push an agenda, much like how Zexal was supposed to be Duel Monsters 2.0.

We hated ARC-V for this? That brings me to the production itself, which was undermined by his lackeys and others who tried to make this movie happen. The movie was made sometime between 2014 and 2016, and it's largely at fault for stealing the budget from shows like Arc-V. I'm not one to just jump on the bandwagon and start supporting a movie because someone told me to. There is no movie in the whole universe I have ever been hyped about just because many people tell me to support its production rather than focusing on the actual story and characters.Studio Gallop was never a mainstream studio like Studio Mappa or Studio Bones. Gallop was a studio meant to handle shows made for children, not mainstream abominations that performed terribly at the box office. These movies were universally panned because their stories were either handled poorly in the manga or never completed. The studio often misled their fandom, promising that the movies would be gold standards, but this was a lie. The movies were more meant to be tie-ins rather than delivering what the fandom demanded.

The Box Office Disaster The movie was a box office disaster, failing to recoup its production costs and falling short of expectations. Despite the hype and nostalgia surrounding the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, The Dark Side of Dimensions couldn't draw in enough viewers to be profitable. This was partly due to the overly ambitious budget that prioritized flashy animation over a coherent and engaging story. Fans were left disappointed, and critics panned the movie for its lack of depth and substance, leading to its poor performance at the box office.

The Duels The duels, which should have been the highlight of the movie, were also a letdown. They were poorly choreographed and lacked the strategic depth that fans loved in the original series. Instead of thrilling, intellectually stimulating matches, the duels in The Dark Side of Dimensions felt rushed and overly reliant on flashy visuals. This focus on style over substance left many fans feeling cheated. The duels failed to capture the essence of what made Yu-Gi-Oh! great in the first place, ultimately contributing to the overall disappointment with the movie.

Overall The movie is just nostalgia bait 101. You can't tell me that many people have a bias for it just because of the animation and pretty colors. In fact, people hated this movie because it was made with money taken from another project, which left their fandom unhappy. If you tell me that I'm being negative because I prefer 5D's, which was universally better than this movie, it's only because you refused to watch 5D's. I'm starting to believe that Konami never planned for this movie; it was a last-second attempt to make money.

[sirbogarde]

Girl help I literally have no self control at the used record store $2 used DVD bin

In my defense these are some incredible finds 😁