#solid gag honestly. but holy shit

[grassbreads]

So I started reading nno recently, and when I got to Yoite's introduction late in volume 1, it unexpectedly unearthed a long-forgotten memory from deep in the back of my brain.

Back in like 2013, I got really into the world of D.Gray-man fanart/fan comics on deviantart, which led me to something called ✨The Miserable Anime Boys Club✨. This was a goofy crossover comic about the extra-tormented male main characters of various series coming together to form a support group of sorts.

I don't think I'd ever heard of nno before finding that comic, but Miharu and Yoite were both recurring characters in it, so this was functionally my introduction to the series. They kinda stuck out to me despite being minor background characters, especially Yoite. In particular, Yoite's fucking hat burned itself into my brain, to the point that just seeing the original version was enough to dredge the memory of this comic up from the abyss.

This is because Yoite's hat was drawn like this:

I don't think he ever once spoke in the comic, and they never showed his eyes. He was just there lurking silently in his giant hat.

Please come experience this relic of my tweenage years with me

[antibioware]

would you do that thing where you review/rate the op movies, if that's ok? :3c

ok NOW that I'm mostly done with the One Piece movies, it's finally time to start writing this monster of a review post. I'm gonna say sorry in advance for how long this post is gonna get.

1) One Piece: The Movie -> 6/10

This movie is fine, not much to say about it. It's old enough that Sanji is not even in the crew, and it feels more like a longer than usual filler episode of the East Blue saga than anything else, but I found it very charming, it had some good gags and it smacked me upside the head with 90s anime nostalgia.

2) Clockwork Island Adventure -> 6,5/10

Just like the first movie, it's fine, nothing extraordinary and it had some kinda weird plot choices, but most of the gags and crew interactions are solid enough to make the whole experience enjoyable. Would love to see Luffy throw bombs at his friends more often in the future.

3) Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals -> 6/10

I know a lot of people hated this movie so I came into it expecting the worst, and instead it was a cute enough movie. Again, nothing special but all early movies suffer the curse of the One Piece world being still largely unknowable and having to make something up that makes sense within the context of this early stages. Chopper's characterization is Eh, but I think the movie was trying to see his very first interactions with the crew while still knowing little about him, and I can excuse it. I like most crew interactions and gags. This movie also features Sanji fighting a swordsman VS Zoro fighting a guy who uses kicks and I really loved it - what can I say, I'm biased, so sue me.

4) Dead End Adventure -> 9/10

THIS ONE. This is one of best One Piece movies. You want a classic yet enticing seafaring adventure? You want all the good and fun aspects of the pre-timeskip crew? Do you want an interesting side character who kinda reminds you of All emo One Piece guys? Did you, just like me, miss when Nami and Robin used to be shit to children? THIS IS THE ONE. I don't wanna say much more to not ruin it for people who have yet to watch it, but I really missed when the crew had to find a way to work around fighting Logia type Devil Fruit users, and seeing it again sealed my absolute love for this movie.

5) The Cursed Holy Sword -> 3/10

So this is another movie that I know a lot of the fanbase hates, but since the Chopper movie turned out to be okay, I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt again. Instead, this movie just plainly sucks, and it's not because of the general plot, because of bad crew interactions, but because Zoro specifically is written like shit in here, and since the movie revolves around him, the movie is shit as well. My best way to resume this movie was "Zoro wouldn't fucking say that". Not only he drops the crew out of nowhere to follow a friend's shady request without questioning it, not only he fights Sanji and immediately wins despite their entire deal being that they're on the exact same level (also the fact that he breaks Sanji's arm got on my nerves massively), the thing that got on my nerves the most was honestly that the childhood friend was a new character and not like, some echo of Kuina, which emotionally would have made the movie have so much more sense for me.

This movie is written by a Zoro fan who doesn't get why Zoro is the great character that he is. Also the elements of mysticism in this movie are just damn weird for One Piece, but as I said for the Chopper movie, I can excuse it as it's still relatively early into the story and I can see why they thought magic would work as a plot element. It didn't.

(Still better than Stampede tho)

6) Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island -> 10/10

This one is an insane and unsettling experience from start to finish. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, go watch it now. I promise it's gonna be a wild fucking ride and that you're never gonna forget it for the rest of your life.

7) One Piece The Movie: The Giant Mechanical Soldier of Karakuri Castle -> 7,5/10

Was this movie objectively bad? Yeah. Was this movie also objectively good? Yeah.

I'm gonna try to elaborate: this one is purely a comedy, with sparse elements from the previous movies taken and used for parody. The tits on the girls have the worst animation you've ever seen, but it works in favour of the comedy because, voluntarily or not, it seems to parody the One Piece anime itself. I swear the animation budget on this one was like 100 yen and the concept of hope. Despite all this, it works and it's funny as fuck. Zoro gets set on fire on this one. Also, apparently Chopper's VA was on maternity leave for this one and you can barely notice it.

8) Episode of Arabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates /

9) Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in Winter, Miracle Sakura -> ??/10

They are arc recap movies, an Alabasta arc recap and an AU version of the entire Drum arc set post-Water 7 respectively, and as such, I don't intend to watch them, so I'm skipping them ✌️ if I eventually decide to give them a try, I'll come back and add them to the post.

10) One Piece Film: Strong World -> 8,5/10

A huge favourite of mine since I was a kid. This movie came out around the same time as when I read One Piece the first time and I remember loving it then and I'm happy to say I still love it as an adult. The outfits are amazing, the villains are amazing and the plot was damn good. Yes, this movie has Nami as the damsel in distress (and some really bad and gratuituous ass-tits shots of her, but nothing worse than say, the anime itself), but I really liked how it's handled and the spotlight on her character is well handled for the most. It's a "crew as family" movie first and foremost, and you can really tell Oda himself took part writing this one.

12) One Piece Film: Z -> ??/10

So I'm gonna be honest here, I haven't watched this one either and I don't intend to because Nami gets aged down to a child as a major plot point and I don't trust whoever wrote it to handle it normally. If anyone gives me a good motivation to watch it I will, but until then, I refuse to.

13) One Piece Film: Gold -> 8/10

When my girlfriend and I started watching the movies again, we were really skeptical about all post-timeskip movies, and I'm glad to say Gold proved us wrong. I love this damn movie: it's a really good experience for long time fans, but it can also be shared with friends who barely know/never got into the show. The villain is so damn compelling, and the original character (Nami's blatant ex-girlfriend) is fun and interesting.

What else can I say? It's a Las Vegas heist movie. It's flashy, it's fun, all the outfits are fucking amazing, and most importantly, Zoro is the damsel in distress in this one. I can't suggest it enough to people.

(Also Sabo makes a cameo in here by using a Firefist, and both of us for a solid second thought Ace was gonna descend from the heavens to fight instead of the most logical answer, because we're both idiots.)

14) One Piece: Stampede -> 1,5/10

Fuck this movie and fuck whoever liked it. This is nothing but fanservice garbage and I hope whoever wrote it is in jail. It exists as proof that good animation and good voice acting and a solid cast cannot make a good movie by themselves. The main villain is the most boring, uninteresting piece of trash in the universe. This movie was made just to animate cool fights for fanservice, and it didn't do even that well. I cannot believe they wasted Luffy's Gear 4: Snakeman like that, I cannot forgive wasting my favourite Luffy fight form for a moment and THEN decide to solve the movie final fight with a fucking genkidama. Fuck this movie. Didn't even have the guts to have a proper Hancock fight scene.

The only reason is gets a little more than a 1 as a rating is because having so many damn characters in the movie appear at random accidentally turned it into a fucking comedy. Towards the end I was half-ready for either Gol D. Roger's corpse or Goku to show up. Maybe even Naruto or the Jump Force. Kurapika was in this one to me.

15) One Piece Film: Red -> 7,5/10

We conclude with a good one, and a musical on top of it all. I really liked this movie, I think Uta was a well written new character and I can't deny I cried a bit towards the end of it. This movie has still a lot of fanservice, but in my opinion it's much more tasteful and tolerable, and I would be lying if the hype of every character cameo didn't get to me, especially with Brulèe and Katakuri, I have such a soft spot for the Charlotte offsprings.

Ado is a really good singer and a lot of the songs are really nice to listen to, I can't deny I currently have more than half the songs in this movie among my spotify favourites. The occasional usage of CGI is Eh, but aside from it this movie has damn good animations as well.

What this movie lacks, and it's really less of a Red specific problem and more of a general post-timeskip One Piece issue, is crew interactions. While a lot of early One Piece movies are kinda trash, it's the crew interactions that have always captured me about the story, and I'm willing to forgive even the worst plotline if it means I get to see those fucked up kids have fun and be all together. It got to a point that the amount of characters in the story takes time away from the main crew, and considering this was the first movie with Jinbei as a crewmate, it was a damn shame that this fact almost wasn't used. Still, I liked Red! I just hope the next movie that will inevitably come out is a crew-focused one, on the same wavelength as Gold. I'm kinda sick of constantly seeing Law.

[tedturneriscrazy]

Another Saturday, another episode! Let's take a look at Keeping Up A-fear-ances!

(Good lord I'm starting to make myself sound like some sort of content creator)

Oh, okay, we're just starting at that level of intensity, huh?

Chest gem origins

Gwendolyn not being satisfied with managing the curse and determined to cure it? I'm sure this won't be a real world allegory in the slightest.

Oh, so Eda literally just stumbles upon the portal? I could call that contrived, but honestly it's not dissimilar to how Dipper found Journal 3. For that matter, the entirety of Lord of the Rings is predicated on an accidental discovery like this and nobody gave Tolkien shit about it.

Was the eye on the portal cracked in previous episodes? I don't remember.

Seems like Gwen is the "well-meaning but ultimately misguided" flavor of mom.

As an aside, I am now quite curious about how Eda's first trip to the human realm went. Maybe a future episode will cover it? At any rate, I smell a new favorite fic prompt.

The screaming alarms in the Demon Realm will never not be funny to me.

Also, that is a worrying number of hearts. Eda is straight up murdering these poor creatures.

For some reason the gold fang being removable never occurred to me as a possibility, and now I feel like a kid who's discovered that Santa isn't real.

Oh hey, the new outfit! I'm also impressed how close to symmetrical that tearing was.

I need to get a screencap of Luz sleeping on that stack of books because she is adorable.

Also, staying up all night researching? This season seems determined to completely eradicate the notion of Luz being dumb, and I am here for it.

I have a feeling the Hexside mug will be making its way to The Mystery Shack in the near future.

Lilith's first experience with transformation and she seems understandably horrified.

The curse acting stronger when stressed? That seems...important.

Ah, so the dismemberment is from the curse! A surprisingly useful side effect from what we've seen so far.

Can I just say that I appreciate how Eda's reaction to Lilith's first taste of transformation is immediate remedy, explanation, and reassurance? And doesn't make any snarky comments along the lines of "now you know what it's like?" Whatever happened in that week and a half must have been cathartic as hell.

"Always. Always curious." Luz is the TOH fandom.

(Also, Eda, you know she is, considering how much she went on about your "mysterious past" at the Covention)

"Magic bird tornado?!" Luz has a way with words that's just *chef's kiss*.

"Gwendolyn." Eda is already just fucking done.

"MOM?!?!" Jeez, Lilith, you're just now hearing all this?

I was charmed by how motherly Gwen was acting toward Eda, but then she kinda just...dismissed Lilith, and now I'm somehwat less charmed.

(Sweet flea as a term of endearment is kinda cute, though might have some unfortunate implications depending on how you want to interpret it)

"Who knows what they put in those nasty concoctions?" OH WE GOING FOR THE ANTI-VAXXERS NOW YESSSS

Luz and Lilith's reaction to that whole exchange is priceless.

Everyone's perspective here makes perfect sense for who they are and what they've been through.

Poor Lilith. Her cursing Eda is beginning to make more sense.

Ah, thus begins the collaboration.

"We'll be consulting someone very special." Why does that seem so...ominous?

Is there anyone who watched this episode for the first time whose bullshit detector didn't go off immediately when Gwen mentioned finding someone who promised a cure?

Heh, Palm Stings.

Nonbelievers will be blinded by the power of the tome? I'm sure they will be, Wartlop.

I must say, as something of a scientist myself (okay that's not true, I'm a QA tech for a food manufacturer, but I do have a chemistry degree), I am 100% here for the swings being taken at faith healing/"miracle" cures/anti-vaxxers in this episode

Oh, we Wile E. Coyote now, huh?

Also, interesting how much apple blood is being played up in this episode.

Lilith please you're projecting your mommy issues on a literal child

OH WE REALLY JUST WILE E. COYOTE HUH?

You're right, Luz, Gwen's bicep game is goals.

(Somewhat disappointed the scars are from questing and not beastkeeping, but eh)

Why do I get the feeling there's gonna be a future episode where everybody stages an intervention for Eda's apple blood problem?

"Those feathers mean we're driving the beast out" Gwen no

Hooty is holding the brain cell? Oh no...

If that ice cream came from the Night Market it would explain why Lilith sounds drunk.

(Side note: I can't be the only one getting flashbacks to Mermista's ice cream binge, right? Different context, but still)

"Abomi-berry" "Franken fruit" "Key slime pie" These are A+ flavor names.

Oh, there's the transformation...

I must say that whole segment kinda rubbed me the wrong way. The way King's opinion on his dad was changed seemed...I don't know how to describe it. I get that they needed a trigger for Lilith's transformation, but honestly if any part of the episode is contrived it's this.

"¡It really is that good!" So that's what an accent slip in written form looks like. (The upside down exclamation point is used in Spanish, in case anyone didn't know)

I keep half expecting Eda to say "Beep! Beep!" at this point.

Luz is finally asking questions. Took long enough.

Ah, the classic "moving the goal posts to extract more money from a desparate family member" technique.

Luz channeling Scorpion, we love to see it.

There is an exquisite irony in Eda's mom being scammed, I must say.

Ah, so that's where the elixirs went. Dammit, Gwen.

Luz is definitely thinking "Are you fucking kidding me right now?!"

Beast!Lilith is massive.

"Sweet flea?" Gwen just realized she done goofed.

"I can see you still need a little time." God Luz is so fucking smart.

The con revealed.

OH DAMN SCARY MAMA

(Also I am terrified of bees/wasps, so extra scary mama in my book)

The scam is revealed, goblins, getting back into the Wartlop disguise is kinda pointless.

She joined the Beast Keeping coven entirely to cure the curse? That's dedication. A shame you couldn't have spared some of that for Lilith.

Still, I do like badass scary mama Gwen. I'd be down to see more of that.

Owl Beast fight!

I am slayed by the fact that the portraits are now officially a recurring gag 😂

Aw, here's The Moment™️

"My turn to drive" Does this imply cars are a thing on the Boiling Isles after all?

Lilith crying almost immediately💔 She was holding onto a lot of pain.

Yes, King, she was trying to do her best. I mean, road to hell or whatever, but at least Gwen got there in the end.

WHAT?! YOU'RE BREAKING UP LULU AND HOOTCIFER?!?!?!?

Terrace, that's just cruel. (Worthless brownie points for whoever understands that reference)

No, seriously, you can't just give me my favorite inter-character relationship in the series after Lumity and just...take it away like that, come on! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I know I should remark on how Lilith told Gwen about the circumstances of the curse, how Gwen rightfully accepted responsibility for the whole situation, and how Luz finds the big hair aspirational, but...NOOOO DON'T END THE ADVENTURES OF LULU AND HOOTCIFER WHYYYYYYYYY💔😭💔😭💔😭

"BUT I CAN'T HOLD A PEN!"

I will never emotionally recover from this.

Okay, I think I got that out of my system. Anyway...

Not the only human, huh? Cue the "Belos is a human" theorists going into maximum overdrive.

That said, a tantalizing lore dump.

We certainly do have a lot of garbage. Some of it even holds office. HEY-O!

Setting up the next episode, too. Continuity!

Camp's over, huh? That means it's been three months.

Way to misdirect with Camila, guys. That said, we have now seen Camila cry and I HATE it. (In the right way, I think)

WHAT THE FUCK

HOLY SHIT

CREEPY LUZ IS REAL WHAT

OWJEIWHQGIWWOPQ

(It's hard to keysmash on a phone, even with autocorrect off)

That wraps it up! The flaws in this episode seem more pronounced than any others in the season so far, but the good stuff was really good! Overall a solid episode! I know everybody's looking forward to library Lumity in the next one (so am I), but I'm personally eager to see what they do with Gus. His part is the A plot, after all.

Anyway, I'll be back at this next week! Still hard to believe this is a thing, but that's life, I guess.

[adinosaurnamedmittens]

Alright so I can’t stop thinking of RVB Zero and how much potential it has so I wanna rework it a bit to work better.

So first I’m gonna talk about the new characters and what I’d change before breaking down the individual episodes for critique and suggested rewrites. At this point, I’ve only seen up to episode 4, Encounter. So spoilers till that ep. 

West - Honestly great! He doesn’t have a ton of character, but what he has is solid. He works very well as the gruff, no-nonsense leader who’s a tiny bit of a dad.

Raymond - Also great! He’s the most classic RVB character, as he’s an underdog who’s not the best at fighting, but has a lot of heart. My fav new character, right next to Tiny.

One - I want to change her to 2nd in command and drop the whole “can’t work within a team” thing. Keep the confidence and slight rudeness, but drop all the lines referencing anti-teamwork. It hasn’t factored into the story so far, One has been successfully working as part of the team for all the episodes. This would make her dynamic with Axel more interesting, being in a higher position of power. Especially considering how her healthy relationship with her dad contrasts with East and West’s relationship. This would reinforce the tension with East, since One now has an actual position of power over her. Also, she should have the exact same powers as Zero, but maybe less powerful. This would help foreshadow that reveal, and help us understand how the enhancements work. While One is a bit of a shit, and thinks she knows best, she’s willing to take the fall when her ideas fail or get them in trouble.

Axel - Imma be honest: totally forgot he was One’s adopted dad until I rewatched the episodes prepping for this. You could drop it totally, as it gets a bit redundant with West and East’s relationship, but I think there’s more fun in working with it. Also, if One’s 2nd in command and Axel isn’t insecure about it at all? Instantly makes him a more likable guy. I also think he parallels to Wash very well (bit of a kid at heart, weapons guy, team dad, emotional heart) so we’re gonna expand on that too.

East - Her and One’s relationship is the driving force of conflict within the strike team. With the changes made to One, East can stay pretty much unchanged. Before they were too similar. Now, with One being abrasive but willing to work together, and East being more reserved and distant, they’re great foils for each other. Also she parallels early Carolina, which I love (speed is her ability, prefers working alone, competitive as hell, dad runs team)

Villains: On characterization, they’re all good! Villains are allowed to be a bit more shallow, and they all seem to have understandable motives for what they’re doing: Zero wants revenge and power, Phase wants revenge especially against West, and Diesel just seems like he’s having fun. I do want to change Zero’s power tho, with Phase already having a teleport with a cool gimmick, and Diesel having a strength/tank ability, Zero should have a unique ability. Maybe gravity because of the sword? It would allow him some cool movement tricks while still being visually distinct from Diesel and Phase’s abilities. Or something inspired by his “ghost” line from Duo.

EP 1: Viper

The Good: The introduction to the villains and their abilities was amazing. I love Phase’s knife and it’s honestly one of the coolest things I’ve seen in the show. And the intro to the Strike team? Hilarious. Great character work. You can tell that One and Axel are close, that Raymond is hesitant and new, East and One have a very competitive relationship, and West is the tough love dad.

The Bad: Don’t violate the 180 camera rule. The intro fight scene was cool, but the camera moved way too much and made it hard to keep track of everything happening. And with the new, shiny art style we need a bit more time to absorb what’s happening since the detail level went up. Also y’all healed Wash’s brain damage with a throwaway line, and then immediately fridged him? Not cool. I mean, if you wanted to show how tough the villains are, you already had them beat up Carolina.

Story Changes: - Zero gets name dropped this ep so we get a scene next ep where Axel recognizes his name. - Either replace Wash with a high ranking soldier and completely scrub him from the episode, or give a different reason why he can’t help, maybe exactly Carolina’s reason of “you’re recovering”. I’m not committing to totally removing Wash bc in Recovery Carolina’s line of “That I-that we thought was a medium risk asset” hints that Wash knew exactly what they were carrying and I’m excited to see where they take that. - Mainly I want scenes of Wash talking to Axel and expanding on his characterization as they are both Nice Boys Who Have Been Through It. - I also think a scene after we meet Strike where Axel asks Raymond “You like riding with East?” and Ray goes “You two stuck me with her on purpose!” and One goes “Yup!” all cheerfully. Just reinforce those team dynamics and friendships before it goes to shit!

EP 2: Recovery

The Good: The garage scene was perfect. Tiny is amazing, love her so much! And Axel got such great characterization during this ep. What a dork. West and Raymond also work super well together, their interactions are great.

The Bad:You know it’s a problem when the villains have a better dynamic than the heroes. The scene where Carolina explains all the strike member’s abilities and personalities? Bad. Also a little OOC for her. And redundant, since we also get Raymond asking West about East, and Axel’s explanation of the girls to Carolina.

Story Changes: - Have Axel, the emotional heart, waiting outside the recovery room for Carolina. Honestly, this isn’t that big, but I think it’d suit his character. - Carolina’s exposition is changed to solely history and abilities, no commenting on their personalities. Maybe East gets a little “has shown difficulty in working with others” but that’s it. The physical acting for these scenes really shines through, so let it stand alone. Even watching without sound, you can pick up that West is a no-nonsense leader, that Axel isn’t a flashy fighter but gets the job done, that East is fairly young and doesn’t take fighting seriously, and that One is willing to leave others behind if she thinks she can do it better. - For Carolina’s convo with One this ep about her “not willing to work on a team” either swap One with East or change it to “you need to listen to your team more. Don’t assume that you immediately now what’s best” - At the end of training, when Axel says “the guards were priority #1″ One should say “I knew you could handle it.” and Axel could respond with “Well, it’d be nice if you let me know that.” to show that One can work well as 2nd in command, but needs to communicate and stop assuming things. -Also should change Axel’s warning line about her enhancements to “Don’t push yourself. Remember what happened last time?” to enforce that this is a habit, and that while he cares about her, he’s not trying to boss her around as much. -Don’t reveal that East is West’s daughter until Raymond and West talk. That way, there’s a bit more emotional weight, and Ray’s line of “I was digging through the team files” makes more sense if Carolina doesn’t drop that info in the previous scene. - When Axel talks about the experiments East went through, he should mention that he was there for some of them. Dropping more foreshadowing for the Axel/Zero reveal! - Carolina drops Zero’s name in their convo, and we get a shot of Axel’s hand tightening on his weapon, showing the audience that the name means something to him, but we don’t know why.

EP 3: Duo

The Good: First 3rd of the ep? Really good. I love One being rude to Carolina, and then gaining a grudging respect. West and Raymond are, again, the best dynamic. How? I honestly have no idea. The car looks so stupid in the funniest way, I hate it but I love it. Also god yes Axel and Zero’s relationship is so wholesome and could be the best thing in this season. One’s warning call to the facility? The funniest shit. And Zero’s dialogue is hella cliched, but it works bc he’s obv such a dramatic bitch.

The Bad: HOLY HELL THE DIALOGUE. First, One and East’s fight? garbage. Very forced. Super hard to believe these two are real people. Carolina and West literally repeat the exact same line, less than 5 seconds apart. The dishwasher joke West makes does NOT at all work, it’s too tonally dissonant.

Story Changes: - Obv. need to change One and East’s convo. End it with “Without your power, you wouldn’t even be on this team!” East should storm off or almost attack One, requiring Axel to diffuse. - It’d also be really nice to get a line where One acknowledges that she went too far with that, but puts off apologizing to East. It’d be a nod that she’s good at reflecting and assessing, but too proud to actually take her words back. - I’d like to make Raymond more panicked when they find Wash. It’d help sell that he’s in bad shape and add more weight to “He’s got a heartbeat!” - Maybe re-work Phase and Zero’s conversation a bit. The dialogue is definitely not this season’s strong suit. - Pull Carolina’s “I’m just trying to help, East.” since it’s more impactful for East to storm off immediately and West says the line a couple seconds later. And change East’s dialogue to “You may be my CO, but don’t try to be my dad. Not after what you’ve done.” Or something similar. - For the dishwasher gag in the meeting, either pull it or double down. It’d work so much better if someone asks “Are you serious about this? Aren’t there more important things to discuss?” and West just deadpans. “This is of the upmost importance. If we can’t keep this base clean, how can we be expected to do anything else?!” and then Carolina clears her throat super loud and West goes “...Right. Rookie? Take it from here.” - Rework the “Carolina stay behind” dialogue. Even just a “Carolina. You’re still recovering. If you get hurt again, it’ll just be longer till you can take these bastards down. Keep an eye on Wash, will you?” I just couldn’t get behind the wording of “we need you here. With wash” It sounds like every cliched “woman must stay behind while the manly men save everyone!” Might be personal preference but just ew. - Add a scene where One notices Axel being a bit off (bc he’s worried about Zero being a part of the bad guy team) and she asks if he’s okay. He brushes her off, says its nothing. She goes “alright, i trust you.” - Maybe make the flashback a bit more apparent? There was a moment in the middle where I questioned whether or not it was a flashback. Again, could be a me problem.

EP 4: Encounter

The Good: The fight scenes continue to be absolute standouts. The varied environments, the movement, the dynamics on point. Wish we could’ve saw a bit more from Axel, but as is the scene worked well. The framing of the ep was good too, cutting between the mission and the fallout. And Ray, resident coward, immediately squaring up without a thought after West got injured? *chef’s kiss*. THAT is good character development. THAT is an amazing way to establish their relationship without telling us outright. Go feral, my boy! And Tiny and Raymond’s convo was so cute. I love how, despite what he says, Ray is there for his team and always willing to help. Carolina and One’s convo was also pretty decent. It got a bit long and over-explainy on Carolina’s end, but there were some pretty good moments.

The Bad: The fight after the mission failure was SO over-acted. Too much motion, to many camera angles. It changed what should have been tense arguments to hilarious melodrama. This has been a consistent problem, but it REALLY affects this scene in particular. And the second Axel enters the scene it just immediately goes downhill.

Story Changes: - Add a line from West in the beginning scene like “I’ll cut them off!” to explain why he isn’t in the car too. This also means it’s not as out-of-nowhere when West shows up to trash the car. - One should call out Axel instead of East. If she’s his daughter, she should be able to tell when he’s acting off. And she would have an easier time connecting the dots between Axel and Zero. - Instead of “I trusted you.” One should say “You lied to me.” 1) He’s her dad. One lie isn’t gonna break her total trust. 2) This would imply it’s the first time he’s lied to her, adding more weight to the whole situation 3) It’s way more accusatory and less cliched (if only a bit) - Add in a “One, wait!” bc I am a sucker for it and we could hear the guilt in his voice, rather than the weird scene where the girls make him spin around by bumping into him. - It’d also be nice if Ray stayed back for a bit before leaving, so we got a bit of his feelings on the matter. I mean, obviously he cares a lot about West, but does he blame Axel for not being there to help? It’d be nice to know!

TL;DR The best parts of the episodes are the fight scenes, and when they focus on the fun team dynamics. The worst parts are dialogue (mostly the serious bits) and over-animating, as this takes away from the drama.

I don’t mind the cheesy villains, but that may not be the case for everyone.

The best part of RVB has always been the rag-tag found family dynamics. While the fight scenes are cool, they have always been supplemental to the real meat of the show. The writers are trying something new with the whole “actual family” but you have got to focus on and develop these relationships if you want fans to care.

Mostly, I see a lot of potential in these characters, but there are GLARING issues in this season that are holding them back.

[brawltogethernow]

Can you rank the Straw Hat Pirates for me

NO BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL GOOD AND FRIENDS,,,,,,,,,, I do enjoy listing things though so yeah okay.

A Slapdash, Biased Ranking

1. Monkey D. Luffy

Who and what is he and how has he held up thousands of chapters of good manga. Shouldn’t be able to exist, doesn’t make logical sense, impossible to comprehend. A human brain made this?

2. Usopp

The aesthetics that seamlessly combine in this dude... Lying storytelling brave coward handyman sniper, and it’s so satisfying. Entertaining in pretty much any scenario, effortlessly straddles both comedy and drama, often in combination. ALL of his motifs and running gags work.... He Has The Range. Also best theme song.

3. Nami

I LOVE... Strongest personality on the crew. I’m still riding the high of her backstory and how it informs who she is in the present enough to mostly overlook the increasingly I Wish You Wouldn’t way Oda started drawing her.

4. Nico Robin

Flawless except Oda doesn’t seem aware he made her a fighting heavyweight.

5. Vinsmoke Sanji

Could be number two (or...three? ha) if Oda’s sexism weren’t showing, considering what a strong example he is of the story’s key themes around both food/starvation AND found family/rejecting your blood, but alas. Increasingly flanderized handling made him a pain to read and almost ruined him for me before Whole Cake dug back in on why he’s great. MANY points had to be deducted for that. Still up there though because Whole Cake DID double the fuck down holy shit.

6. Zoro

Solid and low on flaws, doesn’t have a ton going on though. A neutral pirate.

7. Franky

I love him but it’s been downhill for this dude since his incredible introductory arc. Doesn’t have a consistent good role in either light or action scenes, design update is a serious downgrade that made him too big to fit in panels. You’d think being the maintenance guy would involve him more actively, but there’s overlap with Usopp’s predating trait as the crew inventor robbing the wind from his mad science sails. (Robbing the...cola?) Props still for how his entire character concept is completely insane and Oda still made that work somehow. I didn’t WANT to feel things about the speedo man but I wasn’t given a choice. I want to put him higher than Brook because I like him better but he’s just not as automatically worthwhile when placed in a miscellaneous scenario. Honestly only above Brook because I like him better, as he’s just not as automatically worthwhile when placed in a miscellaneous scenario.

8. Brook

He’s a fucking skeleton with an afro who plays the violin!?? Also LABOOOOOOOON. *cries* On the other hand, despite being a great callback to the early leg of the series, his personal dream is the least convincing, since during the timeskip he just completely put it off. Also more “key character note requires me to misinterpret constant mild sexism as comedy”. ALSO given more shallow handling than is average for the story, depreciating the strong introduction of his tragic backstory. Key gags are good but get repetitive, and none of their updates improve that. But like...skeleton. Second best theme song.

9. Jinbe

A dude you feel safer just standing near. Hasn’t done much yet though! Needs more panel time to ascend. We waited on this dude for SO LONG. EARN IT. Pretty much all his scenes with crew members are satisfying, but seriously we got edged for like ten years.

10. Tony Tony Chopper

Oh my god I’m so sorry Chopper jesus christ.... What do you do though. Good when he’s on the page but has pretty much just been around filling space since his (very good) intro arc. I’m not trying to reinforce the insecurities you got from your bounty kid I’m so sorry. Oh my god.

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Sixteen

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

(Shorter part tonight. Fluff and smut.)

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen

Masterpost

Harry’s eyes are completely blown out. Now, he’s in awe of you. He wasn’t expecting you to take such a lead. He figured you’d want to be held or even talk about what he did to you. But no, you wanted his hard cock in your mouth, down your throat. He wasn’t going to stop you.

He lifts his hips as you tug his boxers down his legs, throwing them to the floor. You kiss him hard against his already swollen mouth, and take his bottom lip between your teeth. You plant wet kisses to his jaw and work your way down his neck. His hands move to your ass, fingers pressing into your cheeks. You suck on his neck, and bite down hard, maybe a little too hard, but he lets out a moan so you continue to sink your teeth in. You lick over the spot to soothe it, and continue to his chest. You littler him with bites, and he just lets you. You slide your tongue down his torso until you reach where his cock is twitching against his stomach, precome leaking out.

His tip was red, the whole member throbbing in anticipation for you. You take your right hand and grip his balls, massaging them lightly. Your left hand wraps around his dick, pumping up and down slowly.

“Fuck, (y/n).” He says through gritted teeth. You look up at him and see beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

You lean down and kiss his tip, licking over his slit. You hear him hiss and suck in a large breath as you wrap your lips around him. He looks down at you as you look up at him. You keep eye contact as you take more of him into your mouth. You flatten your tongue to the under part of his hard cock, and lick up slowly, bringing your mouth back up only to his tip. He nearly whimpers at the loss of warmth. You smirk, and look back down at him. His hands go into your hair, and he pushes his hips up so you’ll take more of him again.

You start to bob your head slowly on him, taking more inch by inch. You swirl your tongue all around him while you continue to cup his balls. You taste his salty precome, lapping all of it up. Harry can barely breathe, letting curse words slip in between panting sounds. His back arches when his dick hits the back of your throat, surprised that you can take him so easily.

“Fuck, (y/n), it feels so good.”

You bob faster on him, and suck harder, careful not to graze your teeth over his sensitive area. You know he must be getting close as his legs start to tense up, and his stomach clenches. He’s practically balls deep down your throat, tears welling up in your eyes from how full you are. You choke on him, gagging only for second, but you push through.

“Jesus! I’m gonna come, fuck!”

His hot come fills the back of your throat, coming out in thick spurts. You try to keep your mouth on him so it doesn’t get everywhere, but you can barely breathe. You swallow as you continue to suck on him. You told him you would suck him dry, and you fully intended to do.

He props himself up on his elbows to watch you suck on his dick that’s still hard. No girl had ever done this for him before. Most girls would stop right when he finished. What were you trying to do to him? Make him so hard that he’d come again? He watches you lap up the last bit of come that’s dripping from him, and you slowly lift your head up. You wipe the corners of your mouth, and your eyes. Harry grabs the water on the side table and hands it to you. You smile and take it, swishing it around in your mouth before you swallow. You hand it back to him, and practically collapse on top of his sweaty chest. He wraps his arms around you, and strokes the back of your head. He moves you to make eye contact.

“That was, um, unexpected.” He says with a small laugh. “You did so well for me, and I thought, well I thought you’d need a minute, and then you, I mean, holy shit.” He was flustered and you thought it was cute.

“I just wanted to make you feel as good as you made me.” Your voice was hoarse. Between yourself screaming and then letting him hit the back of your throat repeatedly, it was a wonder you could talk at all. You look at his chest and torso, you really fucked him up. There were bite marks all over him, you rubbed your finger over one. “Sorry, I think I got a little carried away. I don’t know what came over me, honestly.” He looks down at himself and sighs happily.

“S’okay, it’s not like anyone else is going to see. Besides, I like the way it feels.” Not only did he like to bite, but he also liked to be bitten. “Got me pretty good on my neck too, I’ll have to start wearing a scarf to work.” You hide your face in the crook of his neck and groan. “Feeling a little shy now?” You couldn’t tell if you were shy or embarrassed. You had shown such force with your lustful actions. You had full command of his body. In that moment you felt powerful, like your old self. You felt like crumbling now.

“Mhm.”

“That’s alright, you can be shy if you want. I know this was a lot for you, and it meant the world to me that you trusted me so much.”

“I just…” You lift your head enough for him to hear you. “I mean, you were only able to get one finger in, I can’t believe how good it felt. I mean you just knew what to do to make me relax, and the way you swirled it around, I mean, shit.” You cheeks grew red at the thought of him doing it again.

“I would have done more, but you were just so tight, I didn’t want to hurt you.” He takes a pause. “It did feel amazing to be able to feel you like that. Thought you were gonna break my finger off for a second the way you tightened around me.” He chuckles.

“Oh god.” You hide your face again.

“S’okay, love, really. You did so good.” He plays with your hair to help you settle. You were definitely a solid mix of shy and embarrassed now. You didn’t want to leave his grasp on you, but you knew you needed to get up to pee. You needed to clean yourself up. A bunch of his jizz had dripped down your chin and onto your chest. “How ‘bout I draw you a bath, hm?” You look up at him. “Would like that?”

“Mhm.” You say nodding your head.

He gets up, and you watch his naked, gorgeous body walk into the bathroom. You get up and follow him in. Your legs feel tight and you’re already feeling a little sore from having been stretched out, even if it was only a little. You watch as he turns the hot water on, and drops some bubble bath in.

“I’ll let you, uh, do your thing, and then I’ll come back.”

Harry Styles was the most considerate man you had ever met. He always took such good care of you after an ordeal. After you went to the bathroom, which honestly, stung a little bit, you opened the door for him to signal he could come in. You put your hair up in a messy bun, and climbed into the giant tub. You sat in the middle to leave room for him to climb in behind you. Once he was in, you leaned back against him, and just let him hold you for a little while. He used a wash cloth to rinse you off, and you did the same for him. Your eyes were starting to feel droopy, sleep was coming soon. He tapped you on the shoulder to signal it was time to get out, but you felt like you couldn’t move. Suddenly you feel him lift you up out of the tub, and onto your feet. He wraps a towel around you and helps you dry off. He dries himself off and picks you back up to bring you over to the bed. Normally you would throw a shirt on for sleep, but you still wanted to feel skin on skin. He didn’t bother putting any boxers back on either. He helped you get under the covers, and he slid in behind you so he could wrap himself around you as the big spoon. You were feeling something deep within yourself. As you drifted off into sleep you had a realization that you, for the first time in your life, were truly in love.

//

You woke up in a haze the next morning. Your face was plastered to Harry’s chest, along with an arm and leg slung over him. You must have held each other all night. His lips were parted, light snores coming from mouth. Your thoughts from last night come trailing in, suddenly making you feel nervous. You were in love. How could that be? You had only been together two short months. Was it the lust of wanting him that made you feel this way? How was he feeling? Surely he wasn’t in love with you yet. You had to keep these feelings to yourself. He had just reactivated his Facebook so you could essentially claim him to the world, but you didn’t want to push. You didn’t want there to be so much so soon. Because once you say something like that, it’s out there, and there’s no taking it back.

With his eyes still closed, he turns onto his side, pulling you into his chest. His leg goes right between yours and you wince. One finger, one fucking finger made you feel sore. How the hell were you supposed to let him do more to you? You could kick yourself for not using a dildo or something for the last year. You knew being tight would feel good for him, but this was just excessive. You were also sore from how hard he had rubbed and sucked on your clit. You nestle into him as he begins to rub your back.

“Mornin’.” He says, eyes slowly fluttering open. You nestle into him closer, not feeling ready to speak just yet. “My shy girl.” He kisses the top of your head, and you practically purr with delight. Harry looks at his watch and sees it’s a little after nine. You needed to be checked out by eleven. “Gotta try to get up soon.” He coos.

You roll over to grab your phone to try to wake your eyes up a bit, then go back to his chest. He slings his arm around you and makes little circles on your shoulder. He grabs his phone as well. You scroll through all of your Facebook notifications. Dozens upon dozens of likes and comments. You hadn’t posted much in a while, so people were surprised to see you out and about with a new boyfriend. You had a few texts from your siblings, and a missed call from your dad. Shit. You decided you’d call him later, when you had more privacy. You rub your eyes, and look over at Harry. He’s making the picture he had taken just of you looking around at the trees the wallpaper on his phone. Your heart flutters. He wanted to be able to see you any second of the day. Maybe he did love you too. Your stomach makes an ungodly sound.

“Jesus Christ.” You say to yourself.

“Hungry?” He says chuckling.

“Guess so.” You say, also chuckling. You both sigh and get out of bed. You stretch your arms out. “Should we pack and head down, or eat first?”

“Let’s just pack now so we don’t have to rush through breakfast. I can put everything in the car while you grab a table.”

“Alright.”

You put on a pair of dark grey, cropped leggings, and a thin, short sweatshirt. It came just to your midriff, only slightly revealing your piercing. You slid your sneakers on, and went into the bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your face, then packed everything of yours up. Harry went into the bathroom next, and did the same as you. He grabbed all the bags, and brought everything to the car while you went into the breakfast restaurant and grabbed a table.

He met you about five minutes later after checking out with the front desk. You went up to the buffet grabbing just about everything you could: eggs, a waffle, fruit, and potatoes. Harry went for the oatmeal and fruit again, but also got himself a small bowl full of potatoes. You both guzzled down some coffee, and sipped on some orange juice.

You looked back at the inn as you got into the car. This would be your place now, full of fond memories. It was a great weekend. Your first weekend away with Harry was a success, and you were happy.

He asked if you minded if he listened to a podcast during the drive, not really ready to listen to music. You said “of course” as you were intrigued to see what type of podcast he would listen to. He liked to listen to the H3H3 podcasts, usually they were more fun to watch, but still easy to just listen to.

“Have you ever seen their videos on YouTube?” He asks you.

“I don’t think so.”

“I’ll have to show you, they’re hilarious.” He sees you lean your head against the window. The coffee you drank earlier did not help you wake up. “Don’t feel like you need to stay awake, love.”

“No, that would be rude to sleep while you drive.” He puts a hand on your thigh and gives it a squeeze.

“It’s alright, really.”

You slowly drift off, but wake up to the sounds of horns honking, jolting you awake. You look at the clock in the car and see you’ve slept for over an hour and half. You stretch your arms out and yawn.

“Where are we babe?”

“Only about forty minutes from home, we’ve hit a spot of traffic though.”

“Sorry I slept for so long, you must be just as tired.”

“No worries, you were pretty cute.” He smiles, keeping his eyes on the road. Your phone starts to buzz, it’s your dad again. Your heart rate immediately spikes. “You can get that if you want, I don’t mind. I think he called a couple times while you were sleeping.”

“Shit, alright.” Your hand shakes while you swipe the call. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hi Dad? I’ve called you about five times!”

“I was sleeping.” Not a total lie. “Sorry.”

“It’s nearly one in the afternoon, how were you still asleep?”

“Well, I was asleep and then I was in the bathroom. I don’t have my phone glued to me you know?” You sigh. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to go over plans for Thanksgiving.” You loved the holiday as a kid, but since your parents were separated, you dreaded it. Your dad refused to go to your sister’s house because your mom would be there, even though every year your mom offered to split the time.

“Oh, um, well I haven’t spoken to Erica about it yet. She usually sends a group text, shit, you know what I think she texted this morning. I mean, I’m gonna go to her house like usual.”

“Are you staying over with mum?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. I can drive into town early so you and I can have breakfast or something.”

“That would work. I can make some latkes. I know it’ll be a bit early for Hanukkah food…”

“No! I love when you make latkes, that sounds perfect. I’ll text you once I figure out the rest of the plans for the day.”

“Alright, honey. Um…your brother mentioned some news.”

“Oh?” Fuck, fuck fuck.

“Are you going to bring him home? Your mother got to meet him, I’d like to as well.”

“That was an accidental meeting, dad. And I don’t know yet, I haven’t asked him.”

“Well, I’d like to meet him regardless.”

“We’ll see. He might already have plans.” Harry raises an eyebrow at you, clearly you’re talking about him.

“He’s British, he doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving.”

“How do you know?”

“(y/n).”

“Okay, I’ll ask and let you know. I’m in the car right now so I have to go. Love you.” You hang up the phone and want to scream.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah…I need to call Niall quick. Sorry.” Maybe you weren’t talking about him, Harry thought. “Hey.”

“Hey, how was your weekend away?”

“Great, actually. Um, I saw your text.”

“Yeah, Sarah invited me to go home with her. I’m pretty excited to meet her family. I’ll miss yours though.”

“So what’s your request?”

“I would love if you could please save me some of that dump cake your mum makes, it’s my favorite thing in the world.” He whines. You start laughing.

“You know I know how to make it.”

“Yeah but I like the way your mum makes it.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll save some for you.”

“Is Harry gonna go home with ya?”

“I haven’t asked him yet, but apparently everyone wants an answer to that.” Okay, you were definitely talking about him. “I just wanted to confirm that you weren’t coming so my sister knew how many people to expect.”

“Yup, count me out this year.”

“Congrats on the officialness of your relationship by the way. I’m really happy for you guys.”

“Back atcha.”

“Alright, we’re still driving so I’m gonna hop off. See ya Tuesday.”

“See ya Tuesday.” You hang up and smile at Harry.

“So, what is it exactly that you need to ask me?” He says to you, sort of nervous.

“Well, um, do you celebrate Thanksgiving?”

“I have.”

“Would you like to come home with me for it? My dad really wants to meet you. Apparently my brother told him the news. Plus, I’d love to have you come anyways.”

“Because Niall can’t go?” Your face falls.

“What? No, that’s not it at all. I mean, I like when he comes to Thanksgiving, but I’d rather my boyfriend be there with me. I get a lot of anxiety when I’m around my entire family.”

“Does everyone know about what happened?”

“Just my siblings, and my Nannie sort of knows. We didn’t give her the full details. They look at me like I’m this lost puppy or something, it’s frustrating. We wouldn’t be spending the night or anything, just a day trip.”

“Sure, I’d love to come home with you.” He smiles.

“Great.” You smile back and feel a huge amount of relief.

[thanksjro]

More Than Meets the Eye #1- Meeting All Our New Friends

Okay, let’s see what happens when you give one man way too much power over a franchise, and he doesn’t use it for evil.

Before we get into the story, let’s take a look at the cover art! MTMTE, as well as its sister series, Robots in Disguise, started off IDW Phase Two, a brand new run of main comics to replace the by-then completed The Transformers (2009). To celebrate this momentous occasion, each comic’s first issue got FOUR separate covers, which could be combined to create a large, overarching image. MTMTE’s looked like this when all the covers were put together.

The cover art here is by Alex Milne, who is on as the main artist for the series, but he’s not on issue #1- no, for our foray into this comic run, we see the return of Nick Roche.

The last time Roche and Roberts worked together was on Last Stand of the Wreckers, and other than MTMTE #6 and the Revolution one-shot, they won’t be teaming up again within the IDW run.

On a potentially-related-but-more-of-just-a-humorous note, it seems that Roberts is a huge stickler with his scripts, going into what sounds like an honestly horrific amount of detail for each individual panel. The average comic script is either between 20-23 or 28-30 pages long, not counting title and credit pages. Roberts has been cited as sending in comic scripts that approached 50 pages.

Which, if you know anything about the scriptwriting process, is a little… yeah. It’s a very good thing Roberts seems to be able to take criticism.

ANYWAY.

IT’S TIME.

The Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye- Liars, A to D Part 1: How to Say Goodbye and Mean It- holy fucking shit that’s a long title- starts off with the Story So Far, a comic book classic to catch readers up on what’s happened prior to the issue. The very nature of a Story So Far will become plot-relevant much later down the line, but as is, it’s just reminding us what happened during Phase One, in as basic a point as it can.

And then the credits are right underneath.

I can’t even imagine how friggin’ good seeing this printed must have felt.

So, what’s going on in the premiere of the sad, gay, space comic?

Not my phrasing, by the way, but the Wiki’s.

So, the war’s over. What does that mean? Well, a lot of things, honestly, but the first thing we’re given in terms of what changes to expect with everyone’s favorite space robots is in relation to their wardrobes. Yeah, without a war to fight, what’s the point in having relatively identical blocky armor that protects all your insides? It’s time to get skimpy.

Rodimus has switched out his toned calves and discernible ankles for the Uggs that are now positively iconic to his character. Drift’s mass has almost completely gravitated to his thighs, making him the curviest thing this side of the Milky Way. Ultra Magnus didn’t get the memo about not needing to be in uniform anymore, I guess, but somehow I doubt he owns anything casual.

Rodimus, Drift, and Magnus are holding a rally to invite Autobots to come on their party-barge to find the Knights of Cybertron, in an effort to heal the planet, because Rodimus took one look at post-war Cybertron and said “no thanks.” Honestly, I think most would, if these properly colored characters are any indication.  

Just the Autobots, by the way. We aren’t ready to be friends with the ‘Cons just yet. Swindle did some major damage on that front.

Prowl and Wheeljack are off to the side discussing this turn of events, and while Wheeljack seems to think that a lot of folks will be boarding the ship and getting the hell out of dodge, Prowl’s expecting nothing to come of it.

So, that was yesterday. What’s going on today?

Inside Kimia, there’s a dead guy. He wasn’t dead when he was brought in, but he is now. Who is he, anyway?

Oh, he’s one of the NAIL protesters, and he died because he was protesting by way of transforming on the steps of Autobot HQ, until his transformation cog burn out. Yep, that can kill you. Ratchet’s the one who performed the autopsy, as per Metalhawk’s request- he only wanted the best of the best on this.

Too bad the best of the best is starting to slump. After a brief scare with Rigor Morphis- the stiffening of the corpse into the body’s preferred mode- Ratchet explains to Bumblebee that his hands have started seizing up, and that’s why he’ll be leaving on the Lost Light with Rodimus. He just can’t do the work anymore.

This news is not well received by Bumblebee, who’s just about had it with everyone up and leaving him all by himself with the mess that is Cybertron.

Phase Two will not be kind to Bumblebee.

Bumblebee accuses Ratchet of having been insnared in Rodimus’ siren song of reclaiming the Golden Age, but c’mon, this is Ratchet! He’s too cynical to fall for that. He’s more interested in finding the Autobots who’ve been lost over the millennia to the war. Ratchet’s already well aware of the true purposes of this little galactic road trip, almost like he’s read the plot outline.

It’s about helping people, and adventure, and being unapologetically gay and sad in equal measures.

Up in the sky, Cyclonus is displeased. He spent six million years in the Dead Universe, under the control of a madman, waiting for the moment he could return to his beloved homeworld, and what does he get? A ball of half-baked primordial cookie-dough, and it’s not even chocolate-chip like he was expecting; it’s fucking oatmeal raisin.

Mmm, that is some tasty panel-breaking right there.

Of course, the I/D chip might not have worked anyway, seeing as Cyclonus got a little bit of a boost when Vector Sigma ejected everyone during the Matrix incident. It’s doing some weird stuff to his body, on top of whatever nonsense existing inside the Dead Universe does to a person.

Cyclonus is about to head over to the Lost Light- apparently he and Rodimus made a little deal off-panel- when he detects a familiar life sign and decides to see what that’s all about.

Over in Prowl’s office, things are tense. He and Chromedome can’t even look at each other, as Chromedome reveals that both he and Rewind are jumping on the Lost Light. Prowl doesn’t like this, not one bit. He needs Chromedome, needs his skills, his expertise. He tries to appeal to Rewind, knowing who wears the pants in this relationship.

Or, well, he tries.

Prowl, they’ve been married for over 250,000 years.

In all seriousness, this is slightly before the first tentative steps Roberts took towards making the franchise as gay as he possibly could, at least when going by the story’s chronology. The thing about professional comic script writing is that plotting/planning goes for a ways beyond the current script one’s working on, so that everyone knows where everyone else is. Considering the somewhat congruent nature between MTMTE and RiD, planning ahead was especially important.

Chromedome and Rewind were originally (like, first draft originally) meant to be best friends. This was to fill a void in the department of close relationships Roberts felt within the Transformers franchise. Then Roberts saw how handsy he’d been writing them during plotting and realized he’d made something a little different happen. Which still sort of went with what he was going for, just in a slightly different fashion. Chromedome and Rewind are a rare case of a writer NOT leaning into the “they’re just bros, bro” mentality and just letting the characters be together as romantic partners.

Also keep in mind that it would be another three fucking years before the United States would legalize same-sex marriage, which is where the IDW offices are located. You gotta ease that sort of change in, that way nobody realizes what you’re doing until it’s already been done, then you can go hog-wild. We won’t be hitting critical mass on the homonormative civilization that is IDW1 Cybertron for a solid year or so.

So this bit of dialogue is just the start of the setup, and the “best friend” line is either a leftover from earlier versions of the script, or Prowl really just is that big of an asshole.

Rewind is, of course, recording everything taking place on his handy-dandy little head-mounted camera, because history is his business, and he’s not going to stop recording for the likes of Prowl.

Rewind doesn’t like Prowl very much.

It would seem that the feeling is mutual.

Chromedome suddenly remembers that trying to reason with Prowl is like talking to a brick wall, and the two of them leave. Prowl responds to this slight by yelling in the hallway and then flipping a table.

I sure hope y’all like running gags.

Of course, Prowl wouldn’t be Prowl without having a few contingency plans in place for when things don’t go his way, and he makes a call to his inside guys to “load the cargo.”

That’s not ominous in the slightest.

Six million years prior to all this nonsense, a tiny little dude fell in a hole and broke his legs trying to get to work.

This is Tailgate, and he’s seen better days. Not many, mind you, but at least a couple. He was making his way to the launch of the original Ark, when he decided to take a shortcut that would change the course of his life forever. Hence the whole “stuck in a hole” thing. Still, he’s got to get out of here, because without him, the entire expedition is doomed!

For being an idiot, Tailgate’s pretty smart- he figures that if he sets off his energon rations, it’ll blast up through the roof of the cavern he’s in and someone will be able to find him. Good thing energon’s so incredibly volatile.

Speaking of volatile, let’s jump back to the present and check on our buddy Whirl.

It looks like Whirl also got a makeover between series, because he’s now sporting a much sleeker, angular frame, complete with long, tapered head.

Whirl’s currently busy thanking his new friends for spending so much time with him. It really meant a lot to him, their patience. Not many folks have been patient with him before.

Of course, it probably helps that all these guys are dead as hell.

It’s time for another Roberts’ staple- the suicide attempt. We won’t be using the robot-equivalent to Multiple Sclerosis though. This go around, we’ll be using a classic: self immolation!

Title drop! Bet you weren’t expecting it to have such a dark connotation, huh?

Cyclonus interrupts Whirl’s monologue and suicide attempt. He thought he’d seen his best buddy, Scourge, on his tracker, and his immediate response is to lurk in the shadows looking like a night demon wearing a party hat.

Fun fact: a group of Sweeps is called a Spring Cleaning.

Scourge isn’t here, and he won’t ever be. Scourge most likely died off-panel, never to be seen again, assumedly because nobody wanted to write for him. I think it’s the nails, puts people off.

Whirl doesn’t take kindly to the intrusion, and responds the only way he knows how.

It’s always embarrassing when your self-immolation gets interrupted, but maybe try taking a first deep breaths before committing to more war crimes, Whirlybird.

While these two morons fill the post-Bay movie explosion quota, Red Alert’s hard at work screening the passengers on the Lost Light. Currently, he’s checking Brainstorm, who’s making it as difficult as possible, both legally and emotionally. Red Alert waves him on with a grumble, without even getting a peek at what’s inside his mysterious briefcase.

Up next is Swerve.

His legs are so jacked, it makes me a little uncomfortable. Glad to see Swerve’s body reformat went swimmingly- seems he went for the classic “tires in the shoulders and ankles” model.

Oh hey, it’s Rung! Hi Rung!

This series will not be kind to Rung.

While Cyclonus and Whirl terrorize the folks just trying to get on board the dang ship, Rodimus is feeling rather pleased with himself with the turnout. Drift strokes his ego a bit, because they support each other, but things are still weird because Drift doesn’t know who he is as a person anymore, and Rodimus has a guilty conscience mixed with being the Matrix’s golden child, which really fucks with a guy’s head.

Ultra Magnus goes through the list of the folks joining their quest, and starts running through all their demerits and crimes like it’s his job, because it is. We get a little peek into Magnus’ world view and then it’s back to the Whirl and Cyclonus show.

Also, Drift doens’t have a nose right now. He’ll get it back in time for the next issue, don’t worry.

Over with the flyboys, Cyclonus has decided to land and attempt to reason with Whirl. Not that he couldn’t totally kill Whirl if he wanted to.

He just doesn’t want to.

No, Cyclonus is far more concerned with his meeting with Rodimus, the one that he’s already friggin’ late for thanks to the detour he took checking that life signature. Whirl doesn’t care, far more worried about the fact that Cyclonus saw him talking to desecrated corpses and, far more importantly, vulnerable.

Look at this jackass’ ensemble- demon helmet, a crop top, a skirt and bellbottom pants. What an icon. He and Eugenesis Wheeljack should trade fashion tips.

Whirl still isn’t done with him, even after scraping him across the side of a mountain. Feeling especially artsy, he scoops Cyclonus up and jumps into the air, since he apparently has a hundred-foot vertical leap.

Back in the past, things aren’t going so well for Tailgate.

More cool panel stuff going on here- every time the panels have had rounded corners, it’s been when the scene takes place in the past. Now that the last panel has proper right angles to it, Tailgate’s in the present with everyone else. That middle panel probably covers a couple million years, at least. Poor guy.

Up on the surface, Ratchet’s met up with Chromedome and Rewind, and they’re all walking over to the launch site, Chromedome bitching all the while about how they’ve got to use their legs since Rewind’s alt-mode isn’t a vehicle, but a USB.

Chromedome seems to have forgotten that his tiny husband is small enough to probably just ride on top of his alt-mode, if not directly inside, most likely due to his larger-than-life personality.

Whirl and Cyclonus fall out of the sky before Chromedome can say something that’ll get his ass divorced. Cyclonus gets knocked out cold, having taken the brunt of the impact. Unfortunate, seeing as Whirl’s taking the time to make up lies about him.

You thought I was kidding when I said the armor was skimpy, but here we are, with a shot of Whirl’s battle thong.

Ratchet, who knows Whirl, because he knows everybody, tries to talk him out of straight up murdering Cyclonus. Whirl doesn’t like it when people try to talk him down, and is about to turn on the good doctor, when Tailgate enters the scene, by way of explosion.

Whirl doesn’t handle explosions terribly well. Probably why he was going to use one to kill himself.

With Whirl knocked out, Ratchet and the power couple pull Tailgate out of his hole, where he manages to ask about the launch before freaking the fuck out and fainting at the sight of a rather dead-looking Whirl. To be fair, I can’t think of a whole lot of folks who’d survive getting their tits blown off with enough force to clear a tunnel in solid rock.

You said it, Rewind.

Ratchet grabs Tailgate and Whirl and brings them onboard the ship, seeing as Tailgate seems to want to be there, and Whirl’s too dangerous to be out of sight. They just kinda leave Cyclonus on the ground. I doubt the two guys who were on Kimia last month really want to deal with him.

Rewind breaks off from the group to see his dealer. This dealer isn’t selling the good kush though. He’s got something far more incriminating to offer.

But we don’t get to find out what the fuck Rewind just bought from Swindle for a few more issues. Rest assured, it’s nothing good.

On the bridge, Rodimus is in his captain’s chair, ready to captain it up. The Lost Light raises into the air, as Bumblebee and Prowl watch on, about to exit the atmosphere and begin a adventure filled with hijinks and mild peril.

And that’s a series wrap on everyone! I hope you enjoyed this wonderful one-shot written by James Roberts.

What do you mean there’s 56 more issues?

Alright, let’s see where this goes.

Back on the bridge, there’s alarms and sirens out the wazoo, as things have pretty much immediately gone to shit. The quantum engine the Lost Light’s outfitted with apparently went off prematurely, rocketing them into a completely random quadrant of space.

Also, there’s a hole in the ship, and vacuum physics are doing their thing.

This series will not be kind to Rodimus.

The Lost Light touches down on the planet they popped back into existence over to start looking for all the guys who got sucked out of the ship. They don’t have to look long, seeing as they’re all burning up in the atmosphere.

Welcome to the Lost Light. It’s a friggin’ mess.

Back on Cybertron, the aftermath of the explosion is seen, as Bumblebee and Prowl listen to a message that seems to imply a lot more heartache in the future.

Prowl, you could at least pretend to give a shit.

That’s the end of the story, but not the end of the issue. In the back of the book, we get a welcome letter from James Roberts himself, thanking the reader for taking the time to read the beginning of MTMTE, and holy shit does he really try to sell it to you. This is a guy who wants you to be excited about the story that’s coming your way, because he’s excited about it. He’s a big dork who loves Transformers, and he gets to write about them for the next six years! That’s awesome. 

[kyogre-blue]

fem MC Korean manhwa

Instead of being productive or at least focused, I went on a long binge across Mandadex reading KR manhwas. I actually really like them? The art is very pretty and some have very fun stories. 

All of these have female leads and while the exact nature varies, they can be said to share a theme of “second life.” 

This Girl Is A Little Wild, ch50 - This is the first manhwa I started and the one that set me down this path. A female knight gets her soul shoved into the body of a young noblewoman. Fortunately, she gets to keep her cool magic powers, so she proceeds to kick all kinds of ass. Another part I like is that she and the ML are very similar, so they have a camaraderie that feels natural and cute, which is not a very common type of relationship. Unfortunately, the raws went on hiatus a year ago :’|

Who Made Me a Princess, ch71 - This one is probably the best plot structure and overall story. It’s very good. The MC is reborn as the infant daughter of a murderous tyrant type and has to play cute to cozy up to her father. This works, but then The Plot kicks in. The side characters are great, the layering of various plot threads is great, and the pacing is nice and brisk. I could go on about all the stuff I like, but basically solid as a whole. 

Beware of the Villainess! ch23 - The setup is fairly standard, with the MC reincarnating as the villainous fiancee of a prince from a novel, but it’s interesting that the prince is outright awful. Overall, this feels more like a gag manga, but I enjoy all the funny faces and the MC’s take no shit character. Plus, I’m curious what they’ll do with the original protag. 

The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass, ch16 - This one has a straight up evil MC. She was actually evil in her previous life, it’s just that her half sister is even more evil. Notably, the MC doesn’t change her evil ways even slightly after being reborn in her childhood, she just gets smarter about it. I’m reading for the art and for the rare evil take. 

The Duchess With An Empty Soul, ch42 - The MC goes back a couple years in time after being betrayed by her lover and her cousin. Notably, there is some action involved, since she is a summoner who fights monsters as necessary. This one is... the most run of the mill as a whole, but it’s surprisingly simplistic (or earnest, put in a nicer way) about being able to change the minds of minor “villain” characters, and I like how the MC wins the ML’s heart by promising to protect him. In the physical sense. 

This Is an Obvious Fraudulent Marriage, ch41 - A reborn modern girl gets herself a contract marriage, only for her partner to turn out to be a psycho killer. But it’s okay because she has some magic property in regards to calming him lol There is some deeper lore involved about gods and what seems to be her previous life in between the current one and the modern day one.... But I’m honestly reading because her levels of thirst are amusing. Even when she thinks he’s going to kill her at any moment, she can’t stop going on about how hot the ML is. They are both very much down to fuck, so the story even had to make up a reason why they can’t. 

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion, ch121 - The MC ends up in the body of a minor side character in a novel, whose offscreen death kicks off the plot. She quickly scrambles to stay alive. However, it turns out there may be some greater reasons for why her soul was pulled in. This thing has been going on for a lot of chapters, huh? It advances as a fairly good pace overall, and I like both the fairly consistent use of the MC’s few special abilities and her general ability to take action even in situations where a normal lead would just sit and wait for rescue. 

Seduce the Villain's Father, ch19 - This one is... I’m mostly reading for the art so far. The MC ends up in the body of a novel heroine’s younger sister (lol) and tries to prevent the eventual plot by getting kidnapped instead of the heroine’s mom. 

The Duchess' 50 Tea Recipes, ch36 - It’s just gushing over tea. There’s not really any action or overall plot. Just the heroine trying to teach a nation that only drinks coffee about how cool and awesome tea is. And romance. Just to be clear, these are all romance as long as the lead is/becomes at least a team within the story. 

The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess, ch21 - There’s actually translations until ch50 something, and I’m still in the process of reading. Plot is... the MC is actually a little girl. No tricks, she’s just 12, and the story plays that for full sympathy points because her birth family mistreated her terribly before trying to use her as a human sacrifice. She managed to survive and begged the “Monster Duchess” to adopt her, which the Duchess does. Let me tell you, the Duchess is great. Holy shit. There is some special wish fulfillment going in her ability to tower over and physically intimidate grown men. 

Remarried Empress, ch17 - Ngl I’m mostly reading this because I was reading the novel TLs (until they were dropped). The empress is very cool and the ML is playful without being a domineering, so I like them as a pair. The plot is just “MC’s husband gets a concubine, leading their relationship to spiral, so they eventually gets a divorce. Fortunately, the MC has a hot young thing from the neighboring country lined up” but with politics. 

[themanicgalaxy]

SPN 1X15 The Benders

FINALLY THE WEEKEND I HAVE TIME TO WATCH MORE DEMON SHOW

WHEEEEE

I’ve heard this one is Disturbing, so maybe a second episode isn’t gonna be needed who knows

ok spooky vibes at the beginning 

JUST FUCKING DRAGGED OUT UNDER THE CAR I SEE HOW IT IS

where in the goddamn fuck did they get these uniforms

Dean nerds out with the child and Sam shoots him a Look

No Dean we have Important Business Sam cmon let the kid be less traumatized please

Sam is Important Business Mode, which is an interesting shift? I can’t remember that happening before or at least him being as annoyed and wanting to hunt more than Dean

I was so scared till the Evil Kittie came in and scared Sam

This really does stress the Nowhere is Safe vibes, rly scratches my paranoia

oboi and Sam is TAKEN OH GOD

ah and they’re named after the rifle/haunted house thing

Fun Fact so many things in the Midwest are named Winchester it’s wild

Oh right Dean is technically “Dead” that’s one wheee

“I’m bringing him back” Well that’s not foreshadowing now is it(it probably is)

He used the pseudonym GREG?? BUDDY

The engine thing? ooooo that’s pretty neat

Sam’s trying to parkour his way out good for you kiddo

This man is a solid four years older than me but eh

“I’ll be damned” They both said it 

They’re so surprised it’s not an evil spirit damn

This woman’s eyes are so incredibly blue

Oh my fucking god and he gets caught AGAIN IT HAPPENS EVERY TIME

Nice job Greg

LoOk inTo mY eYeS DEAN DOES THAT EVER WORK 

HOW IS THE PERSUASION THING WORKING EVEN A LITTLE BIT 

ah yes a legendary “Don’t call me Sammy” line

“It might be a trap” he’s right though it was Way too easy for how well prepared this cage was

this dude really finds a knife and expects it not to be a trap?

yeah I wouldn't be thinking more rationally at this point but listen 

Jesus christ for people this is a lot worse than like ANY of the others

And she got him coffee HOW DO THEY ALWAYS GET COFFEE OUT OF THIS DEAL

*promises he won’t get involved* sir

LMAO AND SHE HANDCUFFS HIM TO THE CAR GOOD SHE’S SMART

Please dear god tell me she doesn't die

This kid is terrifying WHY IS SHE SMIRKING LIKE THAT SHE’S LIKE 10

and he got kathleen GOD FUKICNG 

EYYY YA BOI GOT THE ANTENA OFF AND FOUND EM

Aw they had a Moment about Brothers and whatnot

ok but seriously how did they hook up an industrial grade prison with no one noticing? doesn’t that take some kind of specialized parts?

the “they’re just people,” like guys people do bad shit too come on now

I have NO idea what vibe they were going for for this house, it’s just a mess

IS THAT A FUCKING CRADLE OF BONE

the ragtime music to the cutting up a person is making me physically nauseous I’m gonna throw up

stop sawing bone stop sawing bone PLEASE DEAR GOD PLEASE STOP 

NO 

WHY DOES HE KEEP THE TEETH

THIS IS LIKE THE WORST OF ALL THE MIDDLE SCHOOL NIGHTMARES INTO ONE THING 

SHE FUCKING STABBED HIM OH MY GOD

THIS FIGHT SCENE IS JUST FUCKED

also red baseball cap was that a Thing? a Reason?

hey look Dean’s gagging too, same bro

“eat me wait you actually might no don’t”

Takes Sam because Sam has a fighting chance?

SHOOT THEM BOTH??

oh thank GOD for Sam 

Did they get Kathleen out??

FROM ABOVE? HOLY HELL NICE JOB KATHLEEN

is this a bad time to mention early seasons sam looked good in a t shirt

“Why” “because it’s fun” well that’s horrific

and she fucking shoots him I feel like that’s not good to do, but also like...yeah I see it 

heyyy she let them go

“sorry about your brother” af;ihsia

“I thought it would be easier if i knew but it isn’t” parallel? important?

“don’t go missing again” “you were worried” Awwww

and Sam gives Dean shit for getting taken down by a 13 year old ok i like that

Wrap-up!!

1. That was disturbing. Genuinely disturbing I think I threw up in my mouth a little

2. Both of them are very capable hunters in their own way and damn was it cool seeing both of them figure some shit out alone

3. I actually REALLY like Kathleen as a character, and she got an arc about her brother+got to live! too bad she will never be seen again but

4. cop thing had troubling implications but honestly i think in this case it was deserved 

this was good. Not fun, but very very good episode. OOO next one is plot ok yknow what who needs sleep

[letterstothemidnightsociety]

Yesterday I watched the beginnings of The Purge happening in real time and wondered where, exactly, I was, both physically and ecumenically. And since this season of The News is starting off even more ridiculous than the last year’s season, I’m not just gonna bury my feelings, I’m gonna salt and burn them. It’s Supernatural

Alright, previously on SPN, I thought we were finally ramping up on the Main Arc for season 2 and boy was I WRONG. The next few episodes clearly put the Main Quest on the back burner. Which, actually is pretty standard for Supernatural - you get a good run of quest episodes and then a switch to self-contained episodes that just sort of brush up against the season arc.

Next up is “Nightshifter” - a pretty solid stand alone episode about a guy who is definitely not robbing a bank. 

I love Chris Gauthier, our Extra of the Week. Sam really does him dirty by refusing to give him the Truth is Out There deal. I think my biggest question coming out of that whole scene is why??? I mean, cool, Sam’s worried about Ronald Reznik getting killed, I get it, but how is Ronald’s story any different from any number of hunters that they’ve met in their lives? Ronnie even has his own John Winchester Patented Murder Board™. He did do a lot of the leg work for the Winchesters, even if he wasn’t 100% right. In Sam’s defense, Ronald does die almost immediately, but he had a great run. 

You did good, kid. You did good.

More questions that I had about this episode? Special Agent Henriksen. Now don’t get me wrong, I do actually like Henriksen as an antagonist. I appreciate that the show is acknowledging just how shady hunters are. I mean, sure, they’re saving lives and killing evil sonsofbitches, blah blah blah, but also, they are regularly breaking and entering, finding dead bodies, leaving prints at crime scenes, impersonating officials, desecrating graves, not to mention that they are the last person seen with people who end up dead or missing. Like, it was only a matter of time before that came back to bite them. 

Some A+ work from Charles Malik Whitfield

But here's the thing - season 2 already has SO much going on. Like, they gotta avenge their dad and kill the yellow-eyed-demon. On top of that, they gotta keep Sammy from turning evil. Oh and also, they’ve gotta keep Sam safe from other Hunters who might think he’s turning evil, specifically Gordon. Now on top of all that we have to worry about the cops? Now it feels like you’re just throwing obstacles in their path to be a dick. Listing it out like this, it feels like season 2 is turning into a bit of a hot mess? Ok, Because I know that Henricksen comes back as a recurring antagonist, I’m maybe reading too much into it, but the next episode he recurrs in is episode 19 of this same season, so...maybe not? 

As a side note, I’m just gonna reiterate that I like Henriksen. I like him specifically because he is an Antagonist, not a Villain. Same goes for Gordon, in this season at least. They are not Villains in the traditional way this show presents Villains = Monsters. Both Gordon and Henriksen think what they are doing is for the greater good and they’re both going about it within the boundaries of their own moral codes. It’s just that those moral codes are in the way of our Protagonists, the Winchesters, and that’s actually some neat writing, so good job Season 2 Writing Team. 

Next up is “Houses of the Holy”, the first ever SPN episode about angels, and if you know anything about SPN but haven’t seen this episode (or seen this episode in a while), you will laugh out loud at this line: 

AHAH! AHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHahahah.

I will briefly point out that after this line I gave myself a sad by responding to my TV: “Do you need proof Dean? Or do you not believe in angels because that’s easier than thinking they don’t believe in you?” So you know, that’s where I’m at these days. 

And that’s basically it for this episode? I mean, there is a brief mention of the Main (???) Quest (???) when Sam talks about wanting/needing the angel to be real, as it gives him hope that he’s not all evil yet. It’s a nice piece character that comes out in a season that feels very Dean heavy in the emotions department so far. And so it does feel like a real hard let down when Sam finds out it’s not an angel, just spirit and he loses all that validation. 

Oof. That’s rough buddy.

Next up is “Born Under a Bad Sign”. On the surface, it looks like a return to the Main (???) Quest (???) but it brings me back to the question, what IS the Main Quest on this season?? IS it Sam Goes Evil? Like...shouldn’t the Main Quest still be Hunting the Yellow-Eyed-Demon? But I guess technically, Sam Goes Evil is part of the yellow-eyed-demon’s plan so stopping that from happening is stopping the yellow-eyed-demon and so technically that’s still...the Main….Quest?????????

It’s a little murky. In the same way that I think it’s smart that the Winchesters don’t defeat the yellow-eyed-demon at the end of season one, I also think it’s smart that they differentiate the through-line on season 2 from season 1, but when you pair the two seasons together it does feel like they’ve abandoned the part about defeating the Villain - the actual Villain, evil plans and twirling mustache and everything.

But then we find out that, no, no this has nothing to do with the yellow-eyed-demon, this is just Meg Being Meg. She’s not here for some grand purpose, she’s just here to dick around with the Winchesters. That bitch is powered by Murder and Spite and I love it. And I’m not gonna lie, Jared Padalecki is hecking CRUSHING Being Meg Being Sam Being Meg again. Just like, CRUSHING it.

Of course, the bigger issue at stake is, unsurprisingly, the relationship between Sam and Dean. Sam wants Dean to make good on his promise to kill Evil!Sam, and Dean just loopholes his way out of it, even when he’s shot and drowned and beat to shit. 

WHY is Dean driving in this scene? Between the head trauma and blood loss and the alcohol and whatever pills Jo gave him at the bar, he should NOT be operating heaving machinery. 

He says he’ll save Sam if it’s the last thing he does and like...he’s probably just gonna die trying? Which like...ok, sure, but also you’d end up with Evil!Sam probably taking over the world or some nonsense, so it’s not a great strategy.

On the other hand, based on Jo’s general vibe this episode, I believe that she would not hesitate to take a shot at killing an Evil!Sam and I kind of love her for it. 

That bitch is gonna do what it takes. Or you know probably just think up a better solution, she’s not so close to the situation and also she’s defs way smarter than all the Winchesters put together. 

So this episode is not about the Main Quest, not really, although it ties into the major emotional arc of the Main Quest so maybe??? It is??? Anyone???

And then to round out this disc, we have “Tall Tales”. What would Supernatural be without the one two punch of Highly Emotional Episode followed by That Funny Episode??

And “Tall Tales” is great. Jared Padalecki is, again, CRUSHING it and Jensen Ackles is so committed to that eating gag, just *chefs kissy fingers* c’est magnifique! 

I legitimately love this episode - the format is screwy, the narrators are both unreliable, DadBobby comes back. I want to complain that putting this episode in the same season as “The Usual Suspects” - another episode that breaks format - feels too soon, but you know what? You do you, guys. I love this episode and I love that the Trickster is a recurring...uhh, let’s call him another antagonist who thinks what he’s doing is for the greater good and he goes about it within the boundaries of his own moral code. Bless him he’s a delight and also he has a doggo so he can’t be all bad, right??

Also, yes, I know he turns out to be the angel Gabriel and you know what? I’m fine with that. 

I gotta say, for a quartet of standalone episodes (ok yeah, I’m officially calling “Born Under a Bad Sign” a Side Quest), these were hella solid. These are not just filler episodes, these are interesting and emotionally complex and very enjoyable. I’d argue these standalones are more interesting and enjoyable than quite a few of the standalones in season 1, so it really feels like the show is in its stride. 

This is why 20+ episode seasons are still relevant. Yeah, the throughline for the season does feel a little muddled and messy, but on an 8 or even a 12-13 episode season, you don’t get this kind of room to play and experiment and make fun of yourselves the way that SPN does. There’s all this breathing room to try new things. There’s space to introduce new characters and play with dynamics and surprise your viewers. 

A 20+ ep season is a daunting (and expensive) task, but there’s gotta be a certain amount of freedom that comes with it too. Freedom to just have fun with these characters and this world that you’ve created. I don’t mind shorter seasons - honestly, it saves me, personally, a lot of time and the writing gets sharper and tighter and better at telling the one story the show is here to tell. But I hope that, if television continues to shorten seasons, that they also allow at least a little time for standalone episodes like these. 

[lcnguor]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — Since she is an OC with her own lore I would say pretty much . Of course there are some heres and theres and she changed a lot from the first time I dragged her out of the void of my head . I originally wanted to make more of a gag character but ended up taking too much of the screen if I’m honest . but of course , since there is many other lores and crossovers are a must , some things change once or twice .

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  Nora is a mentor character , supportive and most likely to be the ace under the sleeve like a Kisuke Urahara from Bleach or Sinbad from Magi --- you know there’s something fishy but there is a charm that even thought they are slidding in the background for the main character , their relevance is vast . As a mentor characters , she would often help with insight , understanding of complex things , giving moral lessons and giving others a sense of security whilst also making sure to throw hints about a doubious nature . Keeping a character around her to keep their feet on ground while never shooting down their hopes and dreams .

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  She is not approachable unless you have enough guts to -- perhaps even looks intimidating or hard to come up with something plausible to make the meeting more natural . And honestly , she looks like a mainstream angst character at first glance --- even I myself believe this and start having second thoughts ... :laughs:  

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  An old project I had archived in my closet of memories (?). She was the main , nameless character of a journal about , well , her and the emotions she had to deal with in the everyday . I will be seriously honest ... it was a self insert :blushes: after all it was like a personal journal I was doing on my darkest days . But after that , she became Sable -- the first character on her own -- who also served as a mentor ( but the story was much more dark , seriously ) and then just came to this . I even used the pre-prototype name lol . The idea was to put the whole story into a RPG pixel game or a short comic series where she ( Sable ) and the protagonist would wander around a city called “Nobody’s Home” , a place were people with “thats” ( what now are called Stalkers ) got dragged into and either confront their emotions and solve / comes in terms with them or get eaten by them ( a metaphor for suicide or dead by mental illness ) . The story was more or less about Sable teaching Nona ( the genderless protagonist ) about different mental states , issues and others and helping people solve them so they can return to the real world . Needless to say , the story ends with Nona returning after coming in terms with their condition ( funnily enough , the protagonist had a bunny shaped emotion ) while on the other hand Sable stayed behind along with her closest friend , who she question why he keeps being around if he could return himself , to what he replies he doesn’t want to leave her alone esp since she can no longer return --- hinting Sable committed suicide but by sheer will power remained there to help others to deal with what she couldn’t . Voez , the friend I mention , is even Victor from her current lore . Haha , I like recycling I guess . When I came with Nora , it was mostly to kill time and altered her base story a bit since the original plot was way to close up to make an interaction .

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  How well received she became , I know it sounds a bit ... uh , bad . But I honestly never expected people to like her . heck I even have my doubts about myself liking her haha . plus I know it’s not easy to deal with a character with a somewhat meta power ... I still struggle from time to time but I’m managing and having the support I have atm is something that keeps me going . I love plot a shit lot . I love to come up with ideas with others . To expand what I already have . besides , there is so much I haven’t write down yet that is about her lore but I’m a bit insecure yet . I guess I’m too used to forums where everyon follows a general plot haha ... old habits die hard .

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / 50-50

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO, I HATE DRABBLES.

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES/ NO.

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO / .... UHHHH

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / HAHA NO.

Are you a sensitive person?  YES VERY MUCH A LOT / NO.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  I haven’t got any so far --- which honestly surprises me because well ... there is so much that can bother people . as I said , I received a lot of support and praise , which also surprises me haha ... I won’t deny I would love to hear what people think , even if I later end up riding the anxiety train to the moon but it’s also a way to grow up , I believe . god ... I sound like nora Uu

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  I absolute love this and need this . It comes easier for me to make a 20 word pages of information about stuff if I’m asking specifically about it . even add explanatory drawings with it lolol since I’m kinda bad with words . besides , showing me interest on a character would just fire the heck out of me to keep going . I mean , everyone likes to get some curiosity and a chance to develop more their characters , canon or not .

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  I would for sure . I’m not smart and I actually do a shit ton of research --- but even so I can miss a lot of shit people would say <nah that’s not how it works> and that would be helpful as heckie . but of course , needing the why also would tell me if the person disagreeing is doing it with a solid ground or just because they are being a piece of crap . I’m really tired of tumblr mentality and shitty people who aren’t mature enough to act decently .

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  you cannot like everyone or have everyone like you either . I don’t really care much ... esp since nora is an original character . if it constructive critisism , okay -- I will take it , but gimme a solid reason other than “ your character is / is not ... “ and then give a crappy critique because she doesn’t fit your agenda or standards .

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  you are fucking free to unfollow me and ignore me for the rest of your life . I really don’t get the point of hating on the internet just because and keep promoting your hate just to be a pain in the ass .

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  I fucking wrote in my rules that people are even fricking free to fix my grammar and english because holy heck , even to this day I still do some ugly shit . I’m dumb , help ...

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  ehhhhhhhhhhhhh, kinda . I take everything with water . whenever it’s of ideology , people as it is , characters ... I am quite tolerant and try to keep the “okay this person thinks this way , fine .” but as long as nobody crosses the line where they try to spoil it for me or others , I get super bitter . I love OOC , getting to know the one behind the character makes me feel more secure about coming to them and just rambling about plots and hcs and whatever idea got in my mind . but if I see someone and , forgive me god for misjudging , see them as a person that will put me on my nerves -- I won’t even try . as for the friends I have and those who don’t know me as much ... I am obnoxiously sporadic and have a lot of ups and downs very often . one day I could be talking 100 words per second others I will just take a fucking week to respond . honestly , I had mined my social skills for two years plus several other irl stuff previous to that , so I’m always a bit too anxious around people , esp people I REALLY like . I’m insecure as heck , if someone is vague ( just because , idk , it was a lazy day for them ) I think at least 10 different reason why probably that person hates me now . I’m a bit dumb 26 year old baby .......... but I’m very aware that is completely on me . I’m a mess.......  so , what was the question again ??? ... I , yeah ... it’s a kinda . but I try , at least haha.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

Tagged by:  @skyvar​ herself Tagging: y’all , cowgirls and cowbois . i hate tagging bc i forget urls :finger guns:

[friendlyfacestabbing]

Gravity is a Cruel Mistress (the people chasing us are worse): 1/3

Summary: Patton falls from the roof of a six storey building. Logan is determined to catch him. (If Logan does a little falling of his own, then that’s neither here nor there.)

Chapter 1: In which Logan has Opinions on ties (and Patton is inconvenienced at a Police checkpoint).

A/N: Part 2 of Renegades! Or: And they were roommates! kids on the run from a totalitarian government! Chapter 1 is up, and I’ll post the remaining two chapters over the next few days. The boys are 15/16 in this one. It’s technically platonic, but you wouldn't have to squint particularly hard to make it pre-romantic Logicality.

Words: 2075

Warnings: Heights, Police, Retail, Parkour (let me know if I’ve missed anything).

AO3 here.

Part 1 here.

It is 4:28 on a Wednesday afternoon, and Logan has been running for approximately eighteen minutes and thirty five seconds. He is currently sprinting across the rooftops of the local retail district, and doing his best to dodge chimneys, ventilation ducts, glass ceilings, aerials, enraged pigeons, and long long drops to the ground. Running along with him are his closest friends Virgil, Roman, and Patton. Oh, of course. And the squad of government enforcers they picked up roughly eleven minutes ago. Just in front of Logan Roman is darting around a skylight, while further ahead Virgil hurdles an air conditioning unit. Logan flicks a glance over his shoulder and notes that Patton has dropped back slightly, but is still comfortably outpacing the dozen people in black body armour bringing up the rear.

It is pure accident that has landed the regime's goons on their tail. They hadn't even been doing anything illegal. Apart from existing, of course. And travelling without a relevant district permit. And carrying fraudulent identification documents. And using assumed names. (And Virgil never travels anywhere without at least one knuckle duster.) Alright so there was some technically illegal conduct occurring, but they weren't actively making trouble. Anyway.

They'd been sitting on a bus…

Roman and Patton are quietly talking, Logan is reading a newspaper he's found and Virgil is staring out the window at the passing shops. Which is when the bus makes a stop, two Transit Police get onboard and begin inspecting all of the passengers' ID Cards. One of the grey uniformed officers approaches them, and the four calmly and without any hesitation hand over their cards. (They really are excellent forgeries.) Cards marked, photos verified, personal data scanned, and “Victor Zalakos”, “Rory Anderson”, and “Lucas Preston” are cleared for travel and have put their cards back in their pockets. But “Patrick Northington's” card is not returned, and the officer wanders back to his colleague and they hold a whispered conversation, while shooting appraising glances at Patton.

“Patrick Northington!”

“Yes Sir?”

“Come here please,” and one of them gestures “Patrick” over.

“Okay!” Patton bounces out of his seat, the very picture of helpful citizenry.

Logan isn't worried. Patton can project an absolutely flawless air of dutiful obedience at will, and has wide-eyed innocence down to an art-form. Logan has watched him walk away from no less than six obviously incriminating situations simply by appearing politely baffled and anxiously patriotic whenever the authorities challenged him. Talking his way out of an ID card mixup is going to be plain sailing, and a pleasure to watch. Then the officer pulls out a retinal scanner.

Logan feels Roman inhale beside him, and he can see the sudden tension in the line of Virgil's shoulders.

Patton obligingly pulls down his glasses and holds perfectly still for the scan, and then while the machine is processing he chirps, “Is there a problem, officers?”

“Nothing you need concern yourself with citizen,” the first states in a bored monotone.

“Oh good!” says Patton, and hooks his fingers into the back of his trousers. I'm blown.

Logan catches Roman's eye and lifts an eyebrow. Noted?

Roman shoots back a disarming smile. Message received.

Virgil turns casually and leans one arm against the seat back. “What are we thinking for dinner L? Pasta? Curry? Pizza? Tacos? I could go a pizza.” Escape plan 1, 2, 3, or 4? I like 3.

“Mmhmm. Pizza is good,” Roman muses. 3 might work.

“I don't think we are in the pizza shop's area anymore, but the curry place does delivery,” counters Logan. Our location is bad for 3. 2 will work better.

“True,” agrees Roman.

Virgil is nodding as well, and then he turns and calls down the bus, “Hey Pat! We're gonna go for curry later! Okay?” We're going for escape plan 2. Objections?

Patton shoots a grin over his shoulder. “Sounds good Vi!”

They have whatever time it takes the retinal scanner to finish processing and completely expose who “Patrick Northington” really is. Logan knows that isn't long, and is already cataloguing what the next steps of survival have to be. First, Patton distracts the officers while the other three smash the rear window emergency exit to leave the bus. Second, they navigate the surrounding traffic and run northeast towards the shopping centre. Third, use the late-afternoon crowd to lose their pursuers. If successful, alter appearances and lay low amongst the arcade games until pursuers have given up and departed. If unsuccessful, go to Phase Two: Use the shopping centre's escalators and emergency stairwell to get to the roof. Pull the fire alarm on the way up to delay pursuers and shut down centre electrical systems. If possible, vandalise the fuse box and cause a blackout. Run their previously scouted path across the rooftops to the south (plaza, construction zone, old rail shed, train station, aquatic centre, warehouse currently being refurbished, mattress factory, occupied warehouse). Hide in their bolthole in the industrial district. It's a solid plan, meticulous and bulletproof, the trademarks of anything Logan and Virgil get their figurative hands on. He nods to himself. Between the four of us, provided no one is injured, this should work.

The scanner beeps. Virgil, Logan and Roman all subtly tense.

One of the officers whispers in awe, “Holy shit. It's him. I don't believe it.”

The other frowns and grabs Patton's shoulder firmly. “I'm calling it in.”

“Sir? What's happening? Him who?” an utterly baffled Patton exclaims loudly.

Time to go. The three rise very quietly from their seats and head to the back of the bus. Virgil slips his brass knuckles out of his pocket and prepares to break the window as soon as Patton makes his move.

“Nice try. Elridge,” the first officer sneers, and Logan has to look back now because Patton is about to be brilliant and he doesn't want to miss a second of it.

“What? But I'm Patrick Northington!” Logan knows from experience how that plaintive voice of innocent befuddlement, combined with enormous sky blue eyes and an open freckled face will make anyone doubt anything, including their own name. “The scanner even says so!”

And when both officers look down at the display, just to make sure of the evidence of their own eyes, Patton grabs the hand on his shoulder, yanks hard and flips the officer over his hip and into his partner. Patton then snatches “Patrick Northington's” ID Card, bolts down the aisle of the bus and tumbles straight out the smashed back window alongside Logan. They land on the road together and zigzag across three lanes of traffic after Virgil and Roman, who are already just shy of reaching the shopping centre courtyard.

They'd done their best to blend in with respectable society before they left base, but the four are still slightly shabbier than the crowd around them. Back on base they'd be wearing whatever they felt like, usually shirts with angry slogans, fingerless gloves, oversized jumpers, shredded denim and pyjamas. Out in public they have to look far more respectable. Roman has removed his piercings, Virgil's hair is back to brown, Patton looks like a golfing advertisement and Logan is even wearing a tie. Which is exactly how he looks on base as well, now that he gives it some thought. What else am I supposed to do? Take it off? A tie is an incredibly useful object. It can be a bandage, a gag, a pair of handcuffs, a blindfold, a sling, a belt... How else is one supposed to inconspicuously smuggle three feet of solidly woven fabric with a multitude of purposes except by wearing it?

They all spread out slightly while keeping each other in view, reach the front entrance, and attempt to disappear by matching the movement and demographics of the crowd around them. Patton attaches himself to the back of a group of highschoolers and trails along giggling. Virgil wears his best dead inside retail-worker-on-a-break stare and is immediately invisible. Logan does a convincing impression of a young scholar and/or professional with places to be. Roman engages a young man selling hand cream in an intense conversation about cuticle maintenance for ten metres, where he switches to chatting to the next salesperson about salt lamps.

They are making solid progress past the foodcourt when a solid wall of people up ahead interrupts their ambling escape attempt. Apparently, a posse with “get me your manager” haircuts has lost their tenuous grip on reality, gone completely postal, and thrown furniture through three shop fronts while setting fire to the bins. (Logan spent a season in retail and does not miss it. He honestly prefers being at war. There's less screaming, and if you get shot at least you're allowed to sit down.) There are firefighters onsite, as well as a full squad of Government Enforcers to contain the carnage and take statements from witnesses.

Between the roped off broken glass, the various rescue personnel, store security, the still agitated instigators and every other curious passerby, the commotion has created a blockage in passageway, and people are only getting past the mess in ones and twos. After a bit of a scramble over debris (not a problem). And some close proximity to several enforcers (…...has the potential to be a problem).

Roman (currently out in front) chucks a glance back over his shoulder to Logan and lifts his eyebrows. Yeah?

Logan grimaces and slides his glasses up his nose. No other options.

Roman shrugs, and joins the slow stream of people diverting around the mess. Patton allows two other people in front of him, then follows. Just as Virgil is stepping forward, he looks back at Logan, and then at something over Logan's shoulder that makes his eyes widen. Logan sends him a questioning look, and Virgil turns back and keeps moving slowly after the others, but he's tapping his fingers on his right thigh. The pursuit is back.

Logan doesn't look back, but keeps pace with everyone else. We need to clear the blockage and get moving again, before-

“STOP THAT KID!!!”

Well, before that.

It's not a problem yet. The transit officers are still a good distance away. The corridor is packed with people, especially children, so any enforcers close enough to actually apprehend them have no idea which kid to go after.

Which is when one of the officers yells, “PATTON!!! STOP!!!”

And Patton looks up. Right into the face of the nearest enforcer, who is watching him very closely. Still not necessarily a proble-

“Oops,” says Patton.

Fifteen feet away Logan sighs in frustration. Now it's a problem. Roman grabs Patton and yanks him away from the enforcer reaching for him. They both dash away, as Virgil emerges from the press of people he's spent the last two minutes elbowing a path through and sprints after them. Logan gives up on navigating the crowd and instead starts dodging his way through the police tape and debris. He can hear more shouting from behind him, so he pulls a stand of magazines down in his wake for good measure. On to phase two.

At the top of the escalators Virgil rockets ahead to deal with the fusebox and Roman sets off the fire alarm. The shopping centre is immediately filled with wailing sirens, flashing lights, and panicking people that are far more concerned with leaving the building as fast as possible than being of assistance to law enforcement. Three steps up the maintenance stairway to the roof the lights go out, and Virgil rejoins them shortly afterwards.

Roman is the first through the door onto the roof, and he is immediately looking around on the ground for something to use to jam the door closed behind them. Patton, Logan, and Virgil emerge as well, Roman shoves a rusted star-picket through the door-handle, and they stand for a brief second grinning hysterically at each other. And then Logan turns south, and they all begin to run towards where they know they'll be safe. There is the shriek of metal behind them as someone tries to force the door, but Logan isn't concerned. They're running now, and something would have to go catastrophically wrong for them to be caught. Dashing across rooftops is something they've been doing for years; the world of open sky and twisted metal is theirs and the mid-afternoon breeze snatches at their clothes as they figuratively fly across the skyline.

[nat-20s]

Top 5 Breakdowns over David Tennant- any fandom/show/ play you've seen? I really liked the dw one you did, just hoping you could expand over/ include other things he's been in.

Oh anon you are QUITE the enabler thank you.

So this is like half actual breakdown list and half just like David Tennant recommendations in general because I love that funky little scot.

+1. This isn’t going on the official list because I already did the previous list you mentioned (i’m glad you liked it, btw!!!) but yeah. Doctor Who. He plays the doctor in a very fuckin uhh mercutial way (he plays a lot of characters that way and I am 100% enamored by it every fuckin time he just does it SO WELL AUGH) and like highs were so high and the lows were so low and he was so FURIOUS AND CRUEL but also so GENTLE AND KIND and like oof!! The multifacetedness bitch!!!! That’s what it’s all about babey!!!

5. Good omens. I mean, duh. There was no fucking way I was gonna survive good omens. Like, honestly, even without miss tennant I wouldn’t have survived it because HA HA HA HA H O L Y SHIT MY FAVORITE BOOK FOR THE LAST DECADE WAS GETTING AN ACTUAL SCREEN ADAPTATION I GENUINELY DID NOT THINK WE WOULD EVER BE HERE THIS SHIT IS LIT. but then but THEN it was like. The way that he portrayed crowley definitely fit into a particular niche that david tennant KILLS. Like god okay I could spend an whole fucking essay on this point so I’m gonna distill this down to just. THE moment that I was like “okay okay okay okay fuck I’m GOING THROUGH IT” was when his voice cracks as he tells aziraphale that he lost his best friend because like in context OOF and out of context I have been Pavlovian trained for the past decade to Utterly Lose My Shit when David Tennant is like this close to crying and he expresses that with his whole body THE ASSHOLE! LET ME REST. I THOUGHT I WAS OVER THIS MISTER!!

4. The Escape Artist. Lesser known (I think?), but a VERY GOOD miniseries! The tone is much darker, and he’s a much more serious character. Similar vibes, role wise, to broadchurch. I’m not sure how much rewatch value it has but watching it for the first time had me like MISSION STATUS: SICK!!!! It’s like a cat and mouse mystery and like. I’m not gonna go to in depth into the story because I think it’s more enjoyable to go into it not knowing much and too me it was one of those things that took like 3 hours to watch all of and a full week or two to like. Process. Also I’m not usually one for drama and I was ABOUT it so I would recommend!!!

3. JESSICA JONES (season 1). Holy FUCK dude. Definitely his darkest and most evil role, and the subject matter is VERY heavy and I definitely would NOT recommend it for everyone because it could be, how you say, triggering as fuck or even just because it is incredibly dark and that might not be your thing. Funnily enough, it’s DEFINITELY not my thing, personally, I tend to avoid narratives about sexual assault because so many of them are, uh, ya know, bad, but Jessica Jones season 1 really is done FANTASTICALLY! The David Tennant breakdown was just a level of cognitive dissonance because I had never seen him play like a VILLAIN villain. I mean, yeah, he was Barty Crouch Jr., but that was for like 30 seconds and while the dude was creepy there was a layer of campy over the topness that is present in most fun fantasy franchises. I remember when he was cast as the purple man me and my parents were like. Yeah he’ll obviously crush the role because he’s talented but in the back of our minds we’ll probably still be thinking of like the doctor and I wonder if we can fully accept him playing the role. Yeah there was fucking NONE OF THAT. When he played Purple Man I never ONCE thought of his other roles and I didn’t even, like, think of David Tennant, ya know. I was just like oh shit this man is evil and terrifying and I want him dead! Please die!!! And yes, I know that that’s how acting works or whatever but also ACTING ya know!!! Of any of the roles on this list this one definitely made me be the most like SHE HAS THE RANGE because I really think it highlights how INCREDIBLY GOOD at his job he is!!! I have not ever rewatched Jessica Jones season 1 though because while it is honestly like a triumph of television it is also A Lot to deal with and I am very rarely in the kind of mindset where I’m able to watch it. But yeah. David Tennant knows what the fuck he’s doing and it is very good.

2. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING BABEY. Literally I knew nothing about the play or why I should care but the promo material was like. Catherine Tate and David Tennant are costars again and I was like OKAY SIGN ME THE FUCK UP HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL YEAH. For real I think on screen chemistry Catherine Tate and David Tennant are one of if not just straight up my favorite duo of all time. They are just so DELIGHTFUL and ENCHANTING and BEWITCHING and basically I want them to costar in everything ever. @azirafeathers was like “sherlock holmes adaptation where she’s sherlock and he’s watson” and I haven’t stopped thinking about that since!!! I would give my left thumb or at least like a solid $60 to see that. Like PLEASE it would be PERFECT. I LOVE THEM. And god this production of much ado is definitely like. “Here’s Benedick and Beatrice. They’re two chaotic dumbass bisexuals that are like fives on the kinsey scale and they fall in love much to their surprise” and it’s TERRIFIC. That’s exactly what I like to see. Like it’s set in the 80s and the set design? The visual gags? The costumes? The soundtrack? THE PHYSICAL COMEDY? It all SLAPS. David Tennant really balances “fun and funky slut” and “utterly PINING idiot” so fucking well. I have said it before and I will say it again David Tennant peaks when Catherine Tate is being mean to him. Also really iconic to give him the role that is like the only man in the play that is (after a bit) CHUGGING his respect women juice. I mean LOOK at this utter buffoon.

I’m in love. This play made me a proud morosexual. Plus it’s all FREE ON YOUTUBE THE NEXT TIME YOU HAVE THREE HOURS AND WANT TO HAVE A GOOD FUCKIN TIME GO WATCH MUCH ADO!!

1. H A M L E T. So imagine that you’re 14 and it’s 3 am and you’re casually watching David Tennant’s hamlet on youtube or at least the parts they put up and you’re painting stars on your ceiling with glow in the dark paint and it makes you realize that you have an excess of black bile and a melancholic temperment and you’ll understand why, while this might not be my all time favorite david tennant role (though it definitely is high up on the list) , this is absolutely my number one David Tennant Related Breakdown. Hoo boy. This probably doesn’t come as a shock to literally anybody that knows me irl bc I Will Not shut up about Hamlet and it is this productions fault. Different people will respond differently too it, and I’m definitely 1000% biased because a: I love him and b: it was the first production I ever watched and it’s what got me On My Bullshit, but this production honestly makes me like. Get Hamlet. Or not get hamlet, personally, as a character, we’re never meant to fully understand him honestly, but it made me understand the ALLURE of the play. I watched it and I was like oh. Yeah. Okay. I can see why people have been obsessed with this for 400 years. I know why it’s considered one of the greatest roles and one of the greatest plays of all time. And I went absolutely feral for it. It solidified Horatio permanently as one of my all time favorite characters in anything ever. David Tennant has this tendency to put manic and desperate energy into the characters that he plays, and that of course works extremely well for hamlet. Plus, like, he plays characters that are drowning, that need the assistance and kindness of love to try and float, and even with that might not be able to keep their heads above water, and the characters that are opposite him are basically always wonderful. Because I am deeply deeply predictable, the core dynamic of Hamlet and Horatio’s relationship is probably like THE most appealing and interesting and important aspect of the play to me, and Peter de Jersey (who is absolutely INCREDIBLE in this production) and David Tennant pull it of breathtakingly beautifully. Every time I watch this I have to lie down for a while. Every time I THINK about this I have to lie down for awhile. So, yeah, number one David Tennant based breakdown is over his hamlet.

Honorable mentions

this gifset-I have not seen what this is actually from but it made me have a conniption. I’m in love with her. She’s my idealized self. I don’t know what to do with myself. I spent 5 hours looking at this now. What the fuck. 

The Decoy Bride- I didn’t have a breakdown over it BUT it is a recommendation. Very silly rom com, very much a comfort movie like music and lyrics or singing in the rain for me. Great for sleep overs or rainy sunday afternoons. 

Richard II- I haven’t seen it but based on one (1) clip and some stills I would be lost in the sauce for a week after a viewing. 

Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger- watch nativity 2 danger in the manger. 

Fright Night- jesus fucking CHRIST mister tennant went full slut

Casanova- Mister Tennant Goes Full Slut part 2- has blue colored contacts and it’s weird

[subserviiient]

⚰️ + Atsushi/Anzu bc im just like that-

Send ⚰️+ a ship and I’ll tell you who I think:

is more likely to kill someone: Anzu. Especially when she finds out how people used to treat Atsushi. She might commit a murder just because the way people treat him would REALLY piss her off. She’s protective to a fault.

only threatens to kill someone but won’t actually go that far: I think Atsushi would, since this boy has some real shit to deal with and?? honestly if he didn’t I’d be more worried about him?? But at the same time I can’t remember if he killed people after he got his ability under control…i’m dumb

freaks out and who stays perfectly calm and collected: They’re both freakin the fuck out for a solid minute, gesturing to the body and screaming incoherently at each other but Atsushi, surprisingly calms down pretty quick ( he’s in a detective agency so- ) and tries to think of what to do.

provides the utensils to help get rid of the body: Anzu. Atsushi wasn’t sure what to do, because, highkey? Wants to turn this gal in for MURDER like it’s his job- He’s a detective and he just witnessed her RIP OUT SOMEONES SPINE LIKE SUBZERO commit a crime.

comes up with the hiding place for the body: Atsushi, but probably not on purpose, he’s probably rambling and thinking of his cases and then Anzu realised ‘holy shit we can do that’

watches out that nobody witnesses them getting rid of the body: Atsushi, reluctantly, but he is trying to see if he can get people’s attention instead.

hides the body and murder weapon: Anzu, she’s efficient but she takes breaks to gag. Bodies are gross.

knows the right people to deal with this: Anzu. Yumenosaki and her murder friends do tend to help.

isn’t doing this for the first time: Atsushi but technically it wasn’t his fault

will cave in and eventually call the police: you kidding me, the second he gets away from Anzu, he’s calling in to the ADA.

puts the blame on themself to save the other: Anzu. It was her fault and she feels really shitty about it, but also she doesn’t want to make it seem like Atsushi had any involvement in helping her and says he caught her but she ran away before he could arrest her.

is the better liar: Anzu. Mostly everyone believes her when she said that Atsushi only came across her burying the body, besides the obvious i.e Ranpo and Dazai, so Atsushi gets off free. No accomplice charges or anything.

[vivace-joyous]

The Umbrella Academy 1x04-7

This was a good crop of episodes... for a drama tv show. I just finished episode 7 and the one thought I had was “These people really like to talk about their powers a lot. But like... not actually use them.” 

For real, Allison hasn’t used her power ONCE. I mean, episode 8 is titled “I Heard A Rumor” so like!!!!!! but like I wish the show had did more physical gags as an excuse for them to use their powers. Yea, I like how they are shaping Klaus’ individual character arc with his struggle to control his powers with drug abuse but now wants to control his powers but must first get over drug addiction to do so. I LOVE THAT but like... man wouldn’t it be cool if that was done for everyone? Like more fight scenes to show off Luther and Diego’s powers? They don’t have a problem with showing off Five’s powers. Why can’t they do they with the others? I feel that this show is supposed to be more of a DECONSTRUCTION of the superhero narratives than something that falls into the conventions of the genre. The characters talk about their powers a lot. But those conversations tend with them implying that they hate their powers The story supports this in how their father abused them BECAUSE of their powers. And the overall story arc appears to be the team learning about how they should use their powers because they can do such great things with them. (With I hope a point made that even tho that might be true, that does not excuse their father’s abuse). But yeah, this show keeps repeating the theme of “the burden of being a hero” especially with how the rest of the team reacts to Diego’s vigilantism and Luther’s steadfast faith to their father’s mission. “Why do I have to save the world?” But like.... okay you SAID that. You KEEP saying that. But we also have a ticking clock to literal doomsday. How we gon wrap this up? And then episode 7 comes along! 

Okay, I really like the combination of episode 6 and 7 are so cool with the whole “rewind of a day”. I felt like we really got to sink our teeth into all of the characters (cept Allison...). I am starting to feel a lot more invested in them and what they go through. I still feel like the main driving force of the show however is the plot, not the characterization. But the characters are getting more interesting, overall, and I really enjoy that. 

I didn’t mention Hazel and Cha-Cha in my first review but OMG they are really great antagonists! I love their personalities, their chemistry, their aesthetic, their character arcs. I always appreciate a well-defined villain and these two deliver. I ALWAYS love when we cut to them. Honestly, I wish the show was based around them more often. They get the bulk of the action scenes anyways!!

Let’s talk about the individual characters.

1) Luther: yeah yeah he has def got more interesting to me. I like how it is canon in both timelines that he finds out his father sent him to the moon to essentially rot away out of site. Which wow fuck lol okay goddamn. I’m glad we have a solid backstory as into why he looks like that and it wasn’t just some odd aesthetic choice. Cause like... yeah it just seemed bizarre and out of place to everything in the show. And damn they erased him and Allison dancing and kissing? I mean... is it incest if they were both adopted? Like... they were raised more like colleagues than siblings? So it isn’t weird him and Allison totally wanna fuck? Cause I don’t find it too weird? But part of me feels like I should... idunno

2) Diego: YUMMY sorry your hetero girlfriend died :/ wanna be into dudes now? And CAN THEY GIVE HIM A FUCKING FIGHT SCENE?????? Also, loved his dumbass just crashing through the glass door! So funny!

3) Allison: She’s... she’s boring... I... she is the type to get her hands dirty. So she wouldn’t be running around and doing dumb shit like Diego and Five. But like... ugh. I just wish her personal character flaw was relevant to her character arc. Because I don’t feel like she has a personal character arc. Her character feels only to exist within relation to the other characters. I can’t define her by realizing something about her self. I just wanna she her do her powers... I understand why she doesn’t. But ugh. I mean, let’s see for episode 8 now. 

4) Klaus: these writers are giving Robert Sheehan ALL the good story material. All these beautiful acting scenes. These character scenarios. His arc. Like WOW they do not pull the stops when it comes to crafting his story. Him, Five, and Hazel/Cha-Cha are my faves to cut to from episode to episode. Can’t wait to see what his greater potential would be beyond his powers. I mean... it’s Robert fucking Sheehan. You always want more of him and so I want more and more of Klaus! But ugh why does Dave have to be the most basic looking white boy. I... ugh no. Really? Just straight mayo.

5) Five: BEST OF THE WHOLE FAMILY. ACTUALLY DOES COOL SHIT. HOLY SHIT IS THIS LITTLE KID PLAYING THE FUCK OUT OF THAT PART. LET’S FUCKING STOP THE END OF THE WORLD.

6)Ben:...............? Can’t give him a story? Really? He’s just to serve as a side character to Klaus? Even though his death is what caused the group to break apart in the first place??? LIKE?????? Y’all haven’t seen each other in years BECAUSE of him and y’all don’t talk about it? Mourn? Don’t give me “he died years ago” I mean I still feel like that wound would open up upon being together again. That reminder of why you decided not to associate with these people anymore. Like....... okay

7) Vanya: I feel like the whole “you have a secret power” thing is kinda obvious? Idunno. But it also got spoiled for me on tumblr so thanks for that >.> But like yeah, I’m enjoying what they are doing with her storyline. It seems that Harold may do something to her to cause the apocalypse to happen. Sooooo.... can’t wait to see that unfold!!

[bob-dude]

Beast Morphers, a breath of fresh air.

My reaction can be summed up by the old Nostalgia Critic line of: Effort, Honest to God effort. Though, to go in more detail:

1. Like the gym and the martial arts class, gives MMPR vibes while being modern enough to still be it’s own thing.

2. Blaze and Devon’s little sparing session might have it’s logical holes to it, but I think it works in the more important bigger picture of establishing their soon to be rivalry as well as Devon’s fighting skills as a whole. Plus, it’s just a damn solid fight scene, ‘instructor going to far/Blaze in the right’ logic be damned.

3. Holy shit, Comic Relief that’s actually funny. I mean, keep away the fart gags and keep up the same energy as the Security Duo had going on in this episode and we’ll be golden. In all seriousness, I do like that Ben and Betty (well, mostly Betty) have their hearts in the right place and try to go out and help when shit goes down. They’ve at least got a better moral head on their shoulders than Victor and Monty ever did, which is probably why I liked em along with the comedic timming actually working this time around. One gag I did like was how Betty stands on a step ladder at the desk, it’s a cute little visual gag that get’s her lack of height across without being overly in your face about it.

4. Ravi’s been called the most stiff of the rangers but unlike, say, Samurai’s Kevin I think it fits the character far better. Like, at least in my book i saw it more as a purposeful restrained kinda vibe. A sort of ‘Just the Facts, Miss’ deal.

5. I’m actually really liking Devon as a character. He’s got skills, sure (but he’s not from a real Samurai family) but he’s kinda used to coasting through life and his desire to see the Grid BattleForce Holodeck thingy gives me shades of how Caarrrranger Red just wanted to drive his boss’s cool car at first. Plus, finally a dad that isn’t MIA/Dead. Freaking FINALLY!

6. Blaze might have been a jerk, sure. But being a jerk isn’t the same as being evil, evil avatar dopples not withstanding.

7. Another thing I like is how we get the name of the city and the basic gist of the show. Samrurai was so bad about this we learned it’s city’s name by way of a driver’s license.

8. The bad guy name drops don’t make 100% perfect sense but after years of ‘What’s a Power Ranger?’ I’ll take call back and continuity nods where I can get em. Plus, honestly, the writers probably just picked it because at least two of those names are from the most recent seasons (Dino Charge and Ninja Steel) than anything else.

9. Multiverse theory is fairly common knowledge, which I just think is rad all around. 

10. Like how Jackie was apart of the training and just didn’t make the cut. It’s a simple line but in this new age of ‘Who needs explanations? lol’ writing in TV and movies, it’s nice to get a passing reference to something like that. Plus, Jackie’s actress just sells the optimism and energy of her char.

11. This episode was all original footage and I’m perfectly okay with this. Like, don’t get me wrong, sentai has some damn good fight scenes but I’ve grown increasingly unimpressed with the mecha battles for years by this point.

12. The episode feels small in scale but not claustrophobic or disappointingly small. Like, we get just enough taste of the ranger’s powers and fights to want more vs trying to cram in a henchmen + monster of the week + mecha battle all within 22 some minutes. Gives it a more interpersonal vibe that I dig.

13. Actually really liked the interactions with Roxy and Ravi, both in the locker room and in the flashback. It’s enough to give us that they have a history as well as why they broke up (Ravi seems like a stickler for the rules, at least for this first episode).

14. Gee, Bandi of America, maybe if the sentai didn’t have a great toyline ya should have, oh I don’t know, MADE YOUR OWN FREAKING TOYS TO GO WITH THE LINE YA FREAKING DUMBASSES!

15. Please tell me Chip gives a shit about LupinPat, Kyuranger, and Rusolder. Because the difference of when he actually gives a shit about the sentai in question and when he doesn’t is night and freaking day.

16. Commander Shaw being Ravi’s mom is just freaking beautiful. She’s like one big giant middle finger to Neo Saban’s lack of moms. And gives me Director  Aya Odagiri from Jetman vibes. This is a good thing.

17. This is a small thing but I really like the unmorph sequence. Good use of the environment, solid battle dialogue (no puns, actual insults!), plus, it ultimately shows why the ability to Morph and even up the score is needed in the first place. Sure, just because your good a karate and can fight doesn’t mean the enhanced physical abilities/special powers that most PR/Super Sentai members are implied/shown to have (depending on the season) aren’t a step up and put you on a more even playing field with the forces of evil or whatever.

18. I could point out some of the cliche lines in the episode (”You got to believe me!” and others like it) but I’m way past the point of caring if some well used chestnuts are thrown in here and there. Cliches are the nuts and bolts of communications, after all.  

19. Like how Commander Shaw was willing to take Devon’s warning seriously. Evox still messed shit up but that’s not for a lack of competence on Grid Battleforce’s part (maybe their software but hey, even Zone Alarm has it’s limits I guess).

So, yeah. Those are my thoughts on the first episode of Beast Morphers. It’s not perfect, but shit, nothing ever is and focusing on the minutia like “How does the Mayor know about Sledge he wasn’t a treat to the mainline PR universe!” is missing the point, I think. At the end of the day, it’s such a step up in quality from Ninja Steel that I’m left wondering where the effort for that season was? Show might still tank in the end but as far as first impressions went, Hasbro knocked it out of the park on this one.