#tbh the main thing i feel bad is i saved someone’s cosplay and i know that’s NOT how they intended it and i don’t want it to be front and

[realcowboysdrinkjuice]

omfg i put jrwi wonderlust into the pinterest search and 80% of the shit that popped up is cause of me saving it please god don’t perceive me i’m having a hot flash now

[puppyenergy]

@rickenrolled​ you’re an absolute mad man i love you. here’s all my answers. long ass post beneath the cut

1. Who’s your favourite character from UT?

i love them all but if i had to pick one then chara

2. Who’s your least favourite character from UT?

asgore

3. Your opinion about UT fandon:

very sweet, lots of smart and lovely and creative and gay people. could do without all the transphobes and incest/pedo shippers tho but like, theyre kinda everywhere aren’t they. like flies! smack

4. What’s your favourite quote?

“you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not.“

5. What’s your favourite soundtrack?

death by glamour

6. Pacifist, neutral or genocide?

pacifist

7. Why did you decide to play UT?

when it came out, my first exposure to it was thru supporting a friend who had recently started a youtube channel and they did a playthru of undertale! i ended up being unable to wait for them to finish it and just went and bought the game myself so i could play it. i was just so invested, i couldn’t wait for them to upload asklghskl

8. Favourite battle?

undyne’s

9. Favourite scene?

GOD I CAN’T CHOOSE JUST ONE SCENE. fuck. you can’t do this to me.

10. Your first letter to Mettaton was:

“legs” probably sldkghsd i don’t remember

11. Your reaction when you saw Omega Flowey for the first time:

VERY SCARED. I LEGIT THOUGHT MY GAME WAS POSSESSED.

12. Your headcanon about Frisk’s gender:

they’re nonbinary but i specifically headcanon them as agender! i also rlly dig genderfluid frisk as well bc same.

13. Which UT character reminds you of yourself?

mostly frisk but also chara and also mettaton

oh and all the dogs

14. Which UT character reminds you of your best friend?

TEMMIE. we are dog and cat solidarity.

15. Would you smooch a ghost?

i already have!

16. Which UT character would be your best friend? Why?

all of them. i will befriend them all.

17. Do you remember your first killed character? Who was that?

toriel ;_; i reset & redid the entire game for her, i felt so bad

18. Did you do sth in game you regret?

killing toriel lmao

19. Which ending was your first?

pacifist!

20. Your favourite land in UT and why: (Snowdin, Waterfall or Hotland)

snowdin is my favorite... it’s just so home-y. i rlly love snow, it brings a lot of happy memories. the christmas aesthetic does as well. and it’s also where you meet sans & papyrus & all the dogs. it’s just such a happy place.

21. Your favourite place in UT and why: (Undyne’s house for example)

i just rlly love snowdin ok. every area in snowdin. i still remember my little gasp!! when i found out that the snow on frisk’s head is always a different shape every time you go thru that slide-y puzzle.

22. Your headcanon about River person’s gender:

“it doesn’t really matter.”

23. Your headcanon about one of the UT characters:

papyrus is nonbinary!

24. Butterscouch or cinnamon pie?

cinnamon!

25. Your opinion/headcanon about six human souls:

i always connect the deltarune characters to the six human souls for some reason. kris is the cyan soul, susie is the purple soul, ralsei is the green soul, lancer is the blue soul, noelle is the yellow soul, and then im not sure who would be the orange soul... ofc only one of them is actually human but that’s always an association i made asdlghsd

26. With who would you go on a date?

none of them tbh sdkglhskdlgha i would go on hangouts with them tho!

27. Marry, fuck, kiss and kill:

marry: napstablook fuck: mettaton kiss: all of them getting kisses from me!!! mwah kill: none :(

28. Do you wanna have a bad time?

no!! i wanna have a fun time. a sillay ol’ time.

29. Your favourite UT au:

there’s this one unfinished comic someone made a while ago i don’t even remember what it was called but it was about two charas or smth??? idek if that counts as an au but tbh that comic is the origin of my love for feral chara

30. Your least favourite UT au:

all of the ones where anyone is misgendered or there’s incest/pedo/abuse in it it just automatically makes it a bad au.

31. Would you want to fall into underground?

i mean, yeah. where’s the hole. i’m on my way.

32. Describe or draw your undersona:

the puppy is specific to dfta

my other undersona is dragon kid. he’s a human & monster fusion with a rough past. he’s also adopted. the cat is his sibling.

33. One reason why you love UT:

toby said Hello LGBT Community

34. One reasom why you hate UT:

frisk’s design is,, u kno

35. If you could choose one type of food from UT, what would it be?

dog salads for days!

36. Your favourite amalgamate:

snowdrake’s mother & endogeny

37. Your headcanon about Gaster: who do you think Gaster is to Sans and Papyrus? (Father, brother, uncle etc)

i like to headcanon him as their dad

38. Your opinion about bad puns:

they’re good, ok.

39. Do you draw fanarts from UT? If yes, then what do you like the most to draw?

yes i do asklghsdkgl i could probably draw chara/frisk/asriel forever and be ok with it

40. Which of human souls fits you the most?

red, baby

41. What would be the first thing you would to show to Sans, Papyrus or the rest of characters in human world? Why?

the stars!!! they’ve been wishing on rocks for too long. time to see the real thing.

42. Which song reminds you of UT or one of the UT characters? Why?

skglhslkhg i make playlists just for this tbh. i have a playlist for mettaton, chara, frisk, asriel, undertale in general, and then one for both chara & frisk. too many songs to talk about rn so here’s the most recent one i added to chara’s playlist:

https://soundcloud.com/serious-url/last-night-on-earth-2

my favorite lyric is “we are horrible but not bad”

43. Your opinion on underloid:

i. i’m not sure what that is askdlghsdk

OH I JUST LOOKED IT UP ITS UNDERTALE VOCALOID??? i’ve never listened to it before but tbh that’s real cool

44. Do you forgive Asgore for what he’s done?

no lol

45. Did you pay for Tem’s college?

I DIDNT, IM SORRY TEM... i just dont have the patience to sell all that residue

46. Have you seen any youtube letsplay of UT?

i swear i’ve seen them all now. i watch them when i need some free serotonin. u_u

47. Do you listen to any fanmade songs? If so, then which are your favourite?

i don’t rlly listen to any but i have a few saved! i rlly love the fucking checker dance & death by glamour mashup

48. What are your favourite theories?

narra!chara if you can even CALL that a theory man it’s literally canon

i also rlly like the theory that ut sans is actually from deltarune, and also maybe a darkner.

49. Who is your favourite enemy? (Not including boss monsters)

LESSER DOG

50. Do you have any headcanons about Chara’s past? (Why they hate humanity, why did they fell to the underground etc)

i think they had some pretty shitty ppl in their life until they met the dreemurrs, probably.

51. Who is your favourite dog?

DONT DO THIS TO ME,

52. What was your reaction to true lab?

fear and a lot of emotion

53. Your fabourite voice acting:

myself sakldhgklsh

54. At the end of pacifist run did you stay with your friends or did you come back to your family?

i always send frisk to stay with toriel bc as their player guardian i would not feel comfortable with myself if i just left a child stranded on their own. it was the same in oneshot. if i’m ur temporary game dad then i’m leaving u in a safe place before the game ends ok.

55. Who is older - Sans or Papyrus?

sans

56. Your OTP(s):

OK LISTEN. GOATBUN,,

also ALPHYNE

57. Your NOTP(s):

any of the incest/pedo ones. especially with fr4ns & ch4sriel i’m gonna get real stabby.

58. Your BROTP(s):

chara/frisk haa

59. Your favourite puzzle:

i like the shooty spaceship ones!

60. Which battle was the hardest for you?

fingers in his ass.... fingers in his ass.... asgore he likes b

61. Did you still hate Flowey after you discovered his true indentity?

i never hated flowey, ok. and also no.

62. The saddest moment:

“the next day.”

“the next day.”

“...”

“the human died.”

63. Which ending is your favourite?

true pacifist, pls

64. How old do you think Frisk is?

9, maybe? i always change my mind on this asdlghsdk. they’re just a baby. age is baby.

65. Any post pacifist run headcanons?

both chara & asriel get revived. always.

66. Your favourite NPC:

the trans woman lionness npc who mettaton gives his dress to

67. Humans or monsters?

both!

68. The funniest situation:

my brain is failing me but i fucking love the idea that frisk is just walking away from undyne during her battle sequence and she’s just CLANK CLANK CLANK in her armor stomping after but ugh has to stop and wait while frisk gets a phonecall and UGH has to check on sans who fell asleep at his post.

AND UNDYNE’S HANGOUT

UGH JUST UNDYNE IN GENERAL I LOVE HER

69. Skeletonfucker, robotfucker, goatfucker or kinkshaming?

listen i KNOW i said i’d fuck mettaton but i’m NOT a robotfucker.

70. When playing for the first time how many candies did you take?

one! i wanted to be a good boy.

but then i just went ham,

71. Did you kill or spare Flowey at the end of the game?

spare and i got emotional with how he reacted

72. If you had to be one of the main characters, which would you choose?

73. If you had to kill one of the main characters which would you choose?

i wouldn’t kill any of them!! i love them all. i refuse.

74. Which character(s) would you like to cosplay?

HMM. i could probably pull off frisk the best.

75. Your favourite Burgerpants’ quote?

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 3X15 - Quiet Minds

What did the doctor diagnose Zelena with when she came complaining about knee pain?

Oz-teoperosis! XD

I wish I could get you to a doctor! I’m actually pretty sad to watch this episode and I’m sure you know why. So let’s get to it. Under the cut is where you want to be.

Press Release

Neal finds himself back in Storybrooke and yearns for a way to reconnect with his son Henry, whose memories of his father are gone, while also trying to find his own father, Rumplestiltskin, whom he has just learned is alive but missing, and Regina discovers a possible connection with Robin Hood. Meanwhile, in the Fairy Tale Land that was over the past year, agonizing over the death of his father, Neal - with the help of Belle and enchanted candelabra Lumiere - attempts to find a magical solution to bring back Rumplestiltskin from the dead.

Main Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness

Past

I like how Belle and Neal’s past conversation is almost meta like in their discussion of the nature of Rumple’s sacrifice (Ex. Belle debates that Rumple saved everyone whereas Neal debates that he saved just his family). I like this discussion so much and wish that we had more Neal and Belle moments because these kind of discussions about Rumple’s morality are so interesting! Neal is much more critical of Rumple’s every act, be in kind in nature or not while Belle is more lenient, choosing to believe in him. I can’t help but wonder how these two would’ve worked together going forward had Neal not died. Would they have been able to get along because of those differences? Probably, but I could see the occasional fight break out between them. And it’s interesting to see how in the end, Neal is right. While undoubtedly the thing anyone would do -- save their child over the dagger -- it was selfish for everyone who now had to deal with the consequences of that decision. Rumple saved his family -- not the grander scheme of things. BUT that’s not framed as a terribly bad thing either, and rightfully so, as evidenced by neal calling it a “true sacrifice” during his death scene. It’s still legit.

I like how Neal’s lack of magical understanding -- one of his biggest character flaws -- is what gets him into this mess, as well as his impatience to get back to his family. I some ways, it reminds me of a reverse version of “The Crocodile.” There, Rumple’s need for vengeance, over-reliance on magic, and impatience costs his best chance at getting back to his family and the same happens here.

The dialogue between Zelena and Rumple has much more meat to it in hindsight than during the first go-around. There’s this whole other layer to the conversation that’s completely missed without the context that Rumple was Zelena’s tutor and taught her basically how to be evil and powerful!

Present

The story in the present section is definitely one of those “all come together moments” where the plot is more of the driving force than a story and it works fine enough here.

Because of that...well, let’s talk about Neal’s death, why don’t we?

I feel like when talking about Neal’s death, we have to do it in two parts: The first is how the death worked on its own (I.E. the staging, how it fits into the story of the episode, etc.). The second is how it worked as the death of a character (I.E. what this character’s death left people desiring, was it an appropriate death, why this death happened, last impressions of the character). I’m going to focus on the first part here and the second part over where I talk about the cultural elements of the show.

So within a vacuum, how was Neal’s death handled in the confines of this episode? Eh. Neal is so adamant about getting back to his family and making things right and just leaps at his death without looking for another option. I just can’t help but feel like Neal would be a bit more stubborn with that. He’s giving up his chance to be alive with him family. If this was the only way and alternatives were explored a bit more, that would’ve been one thing, but they’re not. Belle reads exactly one book and they don’t even try to consult Blue or Regina before going to this final resort. It’s not impossible to believe, but it is hard.

But that’s not all there is to a death. Some of it can come down to his goodbyes to other characters and Neal had the benefit of dying beside the two people he was closest to: Rumple and Emma. And while Henry is absent during the scene, and understandably so given the story, his absence of presence and memories creates an extra layer of underlying tragedy to this death that thankfully is brought up in the next episode. But let’s keep our focus on Emma and Rumple. Now, I like talking about shippy stuff at the bottom of my review and I will further elaborate on my points there, but to sum it up, it was honestly so beautiful and touched upon every point it needed to. I genuinely loved it. As for Rumple, it’s perfect. I love the sharp denial Rumple has for Neal’s passing, jumping between every stage of grief and being left so emotional as he finally passes. Every touch is so important and emphasized and I think the staging of Emma holding Neal so those touches would stick out more was a masterful choice.

Insights - Stream of Consciousness

-Zelena, I don’t recommend wearing that Wicked Witch cosplay while trying to blend in!

-”Beautiful one.” Not really selling me on adoring your monkeys when you sound like you’re about to butcher a puppy, Zelena!

-FUCK! Rumple can run! Does Storybrooke have a track team because if so, put him on that track team!

-Oh jeez. While funny (And I do believe that’s what they were going for, and it works), I am so glad Killian gave Belle a better apology later on in the series.

-”What the hell?” What the hell’s right! Lumiere is more than a touch creepy!

-Yay! We’re finally starting to really touch upon the Captain Beauty friendship!

-”I got you breakfast because I am supermom.” I love the way Emma says that line and sinks into that big armchair as she says it like, “Yeah, I’m a boss.”

-”That’s a bagel?” Emma, I am so proud of you for instilling such a good taste in bagels into your son. *Tear falls*

-In case there was ever a doubt to Henry being noble as all hell, he’d rather go back to SCHOOL than be lied to!

-Not gonna lie: Neal looks REALLY hot in that t-shirt!

-Watching Neal hear about how Henry not only doesn’t remember the bond they’ve formed, but how he does remember him as a jerk is so harsh and heartbreaking!

-I love how Zelena just concots this whole fucking story for Lumiere that is so typically Rumple! XD

-So I’m looking at the cover to the book that Belle’s reading about The Dark One and it says “IN A AKY ACAZ CA KAWO.” Does anyone know what this means?

-”Born out of -- well -- darkness.” More like vengeance, but sure, whatevs.

-Neal! Why did you blow Lumiere out?! And without a warning?! That was just rude!

-”Says more about them than it does about you.” I don’t know about that, Zelena. Your story was pretty convincing, tbh.

-For all of Zelena’s strengths as a villain, the woman is as subtle as a brick to the face! XD

-REGINA CAUGHT A FUCKING ARROW! WHAT A BADASS!

-Not to get into shippy stuff, but that’s 2 couples so far that have explored this farmhouse!

-JELLO! I still mourn for the jello scene that never canonically was, but fuck, I love this one!

-I love the shot of the clearing by The Dark One’s Vault! The snow and wintery atmosphere makes it so gorgeous!

-Once again, Robert Carlyle is creepy and awesome as hell for it!

-Seriously! Someone get Rumple on a track team!

-I can’t help but feel like it may have been a better idea for the candle to not be revealed as a villain until Belle discovers it. Like I get that he’s supposed to be redeemed, making this a double twist of sorts, but I wasn’t feeling it.

-”The Wicked Witch?” Belle’s tone to me implies that Belle has either seen or read “The Wizard of Oz.” Thoughts and HC’s?

-Like father, like son with that impatience!

-Neal, when things start to glow, we take our hands off of them!

-He loves pizza! I like how just like with the underlying softness between Robin and Regina, there’s that underlying memory of Henry and having pizza with his dad.

-The special effects team must’ve had a fucking FIELD DAY with that transformation in the woods! The actual hell?!

-I love how Lumiere calls his bit of goodness a flash of conscience because damnit -- that’s what it is!

-”I’ll be watching over you guys from somewhere.” Good HEAVENS! I have one HELL of a theory about the nature of the Underworld for Neal and Rumple. Remind me to tell you about it some time!

-”Let go.” NO! Rumple, save him!

-I feel bad laughing given that we just lost Neal, but WHY do the Charmings have two doors to their bathroom! Even the architects in Storybrooke are so fucking extra! XD

-”That was rather ill-timed.” Zelena, you fucking bitch!

-Okay, when Zelena stepped over Neal’s head, I was terrified she was gonna crush him.

-We get a nice bit of Golden Swan in this episode! Not only are they mutually grieving Neal’s loss as he dies and for a few moments afterwards, BUT we see how Rumple has faith that Emma will rally everyone to defeat Zelena!

-I’m not gonna lie: I’m kind of loving this Rumple whump. Having the dagger shoved quite literally in his face -- I don’t know how to describe it, but it does stuff to me, okay!

-I don’t know if Zelena makes him walk back to his cafe instead of poofing to torture him or if he voluntarily does that so he gets some time to himself to mourn, but either way is so sad!

-GOING FROM A FATHER MOURNING HIS SON TO A FATHER PLAYING WITH HIS SON IS NOT OKAY FOR MY PSYCHE, WRITERS! *Cries*

-That having been said, seeing Robin and Roland play together is fucking precious!

-Take that, people who say no one cares about Belle! Snow goes over there and checks on her! :D

-Oh sweet! The lake is back, which will henceforth be known as The Mirror Lake! Like seriously, the entire crew was having a fucking field day with this half season. These shots! These effects!

-THE TEARS ARE BACK AGAIN FOR THIS EMMA/HENRY TALK!

Arcs - How Are These Storylines Progressing?

The Wicked Witch - Once again, Zelena gets to show off how intimidating she truly is! In the present, she continues to manipulate everyone into thinking she’s a good person and even when she’s exposed, she still manages to kill Neal in the process. And in the past, her plan is straight up devious and so cleverly put together. Even as she’s now exposed, getting there only took four episode and didn’t lag too much at all. Also, there’s still so much to get into that there’s enough fresh ideas to keep the arc chugging along. Also also, I REALLY get how so many people wouldn’t want a redeemed Zelena after this moment. Hell, I don’t think I want it anymore either! Like, Zelena is fucking wicked and just as much as wicked always wins, seeing her laud Neal’s death -- a death that she cause -- over Rumple fucking hurts to watch!

Emma Accepting Home - I think that Neal’s death was an important thing to depict to show Emma the dangers of being in Storybrooke and to reinforce her desires to leave with Henry for a life in New York.

Favorite Dynamic

Neal and Killian. Look, we had a bunch of good dynamics here, but this was a sad episode and I need something lighthearted to fangirl over. This is about as good of closure as we were ever going to get between Neal and Killian and I utterly LOVED it. The jello Killian offers Neal is funny as all hell, I love their conversation concerning the nature of the good and evil deeds they’re doing and...THAT HUG! It’s sweet and and awkward and a little uncomfortable, but is also so earnest. And fuck me gently with a spoon, Neal calls Killian...well, Killian! There aren’t a lot of characters who do that and the implication of them doing so is that on some level, they get who he is, so to see Neal join those ranks is just beautiful.

Writer

Kalinda Vazquez is our writer today, and boy was she stuck with a difficult episode. Killing a major character is NEVER easy, especially such a big one. Until the the end of Season 5, this was a burden left solely on her shoulders alone (Unless you thought Rumple did die during “Coming Home,” I didn’t). And with that difficult situation, I think she made something very solid. Neal’s death, while not ideally set up in some ways, IS a tragic scene that allows for Neal to get a degree of closure with the three most important people in his life. I can talk about the rest of the episode, but that was where the writing needed to work, and thankfully, it did.

Culture

I feel like I should preface the discussion about Neal’s death as an overall factor on the series as a whole by talking about my original experiences with the character. I binged Seasons 2 and 3 a few months apart, so a lot of Neal’s time on the show passed for me in a blur. I didn’t hate him by any means, but he didn’t leave a big impression on me.

This rewatch changed things. I started to pay more attention to him as a character. That happened mostly I think because there’s always been such a controversy surrounding him and because I didn’t pay much attention to him last time in favor of some of the flashier characters, I wanted more than anything to form my own opinion on him. Much to my pleasure, that opinion was positive, and as I closed in on his death, I began to get sad at the thought of it -- so much so that I put off the start of this review basically all day.

Anyways, let’s talk about the larger factors of the death (I.E. what this character’s death left people desiring, was it an appropriate death, why this death happened, last impressions of the character). I talked about my last impressions of him, so we’ll get into everything else.

Now, I can’t speak for anyone else here, but I can speak for me when I say that I was left desiring a lot more development with Neal’s relationships with both Rumple and Henry. While I like the resolution Neal and Rumple got, i can’t help but feel like it had to zip dash to the finish line when Neal’s introduction back into the series implied that this was going to be a harder road. We only got a few episodes of them being at odds and while those moments were mostly great, they’re so little compared to all of the baggage they had. There’s no point where Neal sees the scale of what Rumple did cursing this land and reacting to it and he barely gets to spend time with Belle.

As for his time with Henry, yeah. I would’ve liked to see more of them. After Neal’s death, Henry carries so much grief over him throughout the other seasons, mentioning him at least once a season until we hit 7, but in terms of the time they spend together and how that time is spent, we come up really short. They play games and have pizza and that’s all well and good, but I feel like it would’ve been great had Neal occasionally given Henry some advice or left him with a phrase or something that would’ve equaled out to all the love that Henry has for him. Like, where Neal’s “with great power comes great responsibility” Uncle Ben moment? What we got was fine enough, but I would’ve liked to honestly have seen a bit more meat to it.

Was the death appropriate, or rather, was it warranted? Certainly more so than Robin’s (I’ll get to that one), but to tell you the truth, I’m not sure. I think that it opened up story possibilities that were taken good advantage of and Neal’s death was given the dignity he deserved, making the death more than just something done for shock, but as a story point that would follow Henry, Rumple, and Emma for a while. I think the broad strokes with Neal’s character were taken care of prior to the death and while I have my issues with it in regards to the finer details of some of his dynamics, Neal was pretty complete. That having been said, the issue of if a death needed to happen is a valid one and it opens a lot of points that, to be honest, I just don’t know if can delve as deeply into it as the topic deserves. There are so many factors that go into this conversation, up to and including the magical world of OUAT and the resurrections that take place afterwards. So my answer is a light yes, but there is so much room for nuance in this conversation that it’s nothing I’d give a ride-or-die answer to.

Now here comes the “fun” question: Why did Neal die? A lot of people attribute it to Captain Swan and bringing an end to the love triangle, and that is not a line of thinking I agree with. And I know, it makes sense that I’d say that as a CS shipper, but I beg you to follow my line of thinking here.

Neal was killed because of the choice to make Rumple a baddie again. When you look at Season 4, Rumple plays a gambit on everyone. If Neal were alive and in character, he would not have been able to do that without getting caught by someone other than Killian. I’ve mentioned before, but what makes Neal a great character and a great contrast to Belle is that while Belle is willing to often give him the benefit of the doubt, Neal isn’t. Neal would’ve been on Rumple’s ass the second he heard something shady and Rumple’s so shady, he makes the space underneath a pine tree look like the Sahara on a cloudless day. And look, that’s not Rumple’s fault, or even the writers necessarily, but I’m gonna say that they had some idea of what they wanted from Season 4 by this point and they understood that there had to be a trade off for Rumple’s development of an evil plan and his returned love for his power. And Neal, just as he was in this episode, was the price. I’m not happy about it -- I hope that’s something I’ve made clear -- but that’s my thought process.

Rating

9/10. Everything about this episode was going to come down to how well Neal’s death was handled. Fortunately, it was done well -- not flawlessly, but well. The story was solid and it delivers on giving the audience a level of closure for the character, closure that will continue for the rest of the season. Even the past segment offered something unique in that regard, making for a weird kind of love letter to Neal. It’s an episode that really does encompass his character and a send off that is divisive, but for me, more satisfying than not.

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Swan Fire - You really see just how determined Neal and Emma are to get back together here and it works so much! Even Belle ships it, explicitly reasoning the safety of Emma’s necklace was a result of it originating from their “True Love.” No matter what you get from that line, I think the role that that necklace took on for both of them as well as its presence throughout the series shows how special Neal and Emma were to each other. Also, I love seeing Emma and Neal bonding over their evil significant others. Watching them laugh together in the forest just shows how in-tune they are with each other. Seeing Neal remorseful for how things with Walsh turned out is so sweet. Finally, let’s talk about Neal’s death. Neal’s attention to making sure Emma knows that she can find love and happiness is so important here. Neal cares so much about Emma and you see it as he shakily holds that necklace up to her, begging her to continue on her story. And seeing Emma barely able to hold herself together while watching Neal die guts me. The acting from both of these guys is amazing! And that hug as she cradles him to her chest choked me up and got some tears welling!

Rumbelle - “I love him -- all of him -- even the parts that belong to the darkness.” I really like this line and it leaves a lot to be discussed when it comes to the nature of Rumple and Belle’s love. It’s important not only to see as a point about the depths of Belle’s love for Rumple, but also as a point about that love’s limitations. As I said in my “Skin Deep” review last summer, Belle is one of the only characters who gets to show amusement at some of Rumple’s antics. But I like this line because it gels well with the breakup we see in Season 4, Belle likes the darkness, but has clear limits on what how much Rumple can let that darkness effect him. It makes Belle a good character with human-like limits, but showing that there is something attractive to even a good person about the darkness. ANYWAY, let’s just look at Rumple and Belle’s reactions to Rumple coming out of the vault. Belle’s got freakin’ tears welled up and Rumple’s first word is her name! It’s -- to quote a sexy narrator -- straight out of a telenovela!

Outlaw Queen - Once again, I like their banter a lot! I also like the gentleness that’s formed between them because of their adventures in the Enchanted Forest. While they don’t remember it, there’s an underlying feeling of trust that you can just tell is there and watching it is really fun. Like, they’re really cute and despite later seasons really taking me out of OQ, I do sincerely love their origins here. Also, I want to talk about this line: ”From where I’m standing the ‘Evil’ moniker seems to be something of an overstatement.” I know this line gets a bit of criticism, but I actually think it works. For me, part of what works about Outlaw Queen is that Robin, from his perspective, is a redeemed villain and he’s hanging with and will come to court a redeemed villain. From his current perspective, he sees her in her current more redeemed form and thinks that she’s on his level, but currently has no idea what he’s getting into. That’s what makes the Marian twist at the end of Season 3 so big and why I’m so annoyed that that nuance isn’t brought up later! ...Sorry I got a bit off topic back there. Finally, I love their chemistry! Sean and Lana have some sexy chemistry in 3B! I love the way Robin and Regina are basically flirting over drinks! It’s cute as all hell!

-----

Wow. That was… a lot. This episode left me with a lot to think about in terms of fictional deaths. Please don’t take anything I say here as ultra definitive because I promise you, I could see my mind being swayed by a good enough argument.

Anyways, thank you all for reading that and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales! Love you all and see you all soon!

Season 3 Total (145/220)

Writer’s Scores: Adam and Eddy (39/60) Kalinda Vazquez (26/40) Andrew Chambliss (27/50) Jane Espenson (20/30) David Goodman (20/40) Robert Hull (30/40) Christine Boylan (20/20)* Daniel Thomsen (20/30)

* Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. Tumblr now take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

[aceofstars16]

Tagged!

I was tagged by @gods-little-punk and someone else (I forgot to save the post to see who) to do a get to know you tag, but I already answered here, so I thought I’d just let them know that! (thanks for the tag! I always love tags ^^ The only answer that has changed from that tag is that now my hair is short xD)

I was also tagged by @friendlywildflowers, @sgcfcjohnpreston782 , and@shenzi-hemlock (they asked me different questions so I’ll be answering t three sets of questions, flowers tagged me forever ago but I kept forgetting to work on it xD)

Rules: Always post the rules Answer the questions given to you Write 11 questions of your own Tag 11 people 

@friendlywildflowers questions:

1. Would you rather sing well and not be able to play any instruments or play all instruments beautifully but have a horrible singing voice?

Ohh that’s hard...I might go with singing because I love singing, but it can also make my throat feel tight *shakes fist at VCD* so maybe instruments would be more fun, especially if I could play any instrument...

2. Oh no! You’ve been injured and one of your limbs must go lol sorry. Which limb would you give up? Why?

Oh gosh...maybe my left arm? Cause I could still write and draw? Or a leg...I really don’t know I don’t want to lose a limb haha xD

3. You have the chance to make 1 thing come alive. What/Who would it be? (And by that, I mean fictional/inanimate things/people. Dead people don’t count.)

Ohhh...oh that’s hard...I’m tempted to say Peter Parker cause honestly that would just be fun...or just any character I want to hug? There are soo many though! *flops* (I want give Lance a hug though...like he needs it poor bby!)

4. If you had to live in a museum for 2 months, which museum would you pick?

Oh goodness...I’ve never been a HUGE fan of museums so I really don’t know...maybe the Natural History Museum, I could just pretend I’m in Night at the Museum haha xD

5. You’re forced to steal a painting. Which one would you steal, and why? (Bonus: Also, how would you steal it?)

Ummm, gosh I don’t know...Starry Night maybe? I’ve always loved that one...I would use my “make one fictional character real” card and make Neal Caffery real and ask him to steal it for me...xD

6. What food would you eat if you had to eat only that for a year?

Can I go with the salad option and like have fruit salad and regular salad and like anything I can call a ‘salad’ cause I’d do that...or chicken maybe but I would get tired of only chicken so....salad...xD

7. Oh look, the world is being attacked by a super villain and you must save everyone! Who is in your squad and what superpowers do y’all have?

Oh I’m thinking this is like, people I know and not fictional characters? I’m legit blanking on fun creative things so much right now tbh...I don’t even know if I can narrow down all of my friends into just one squad??? *flops*

8. Your pet (any one) turned as huge as Clifford (and if you don’t have a pet, imagine you do). Now what?

I snuggle with them and pet them and enjoy having a huge fluffy cat xD

9. You come home one night and your parents tell you you’re adopted. What’s the first thing you do?

Probably ask about my real parents....though I might be kind of shocked...no I’d be really shocked and confused.

10. What would you describe as “the perfect day”?

Hmm, no stomach or headaches, just feelings good, going out, maybe hanging out with friends, seeing a movie or trying out a fun restaurant or activity, and then when we get home, watch a movie and make cookies and stay up late talking and laughing.

11. Favorite quote you’ve written yourself?

*looks at the list of word documents of fics and thinks of my long drafts of stories* I....I have no clue and it would take me hours to scour through them to look for something...like I’ve looked at a few things but none of the scream favorite or “I love this!” Like I like some quotes but it’s mainly just fluff things so...I don’t know xD

@sgcfcjohnpreston782‘s questions:

1. How is God working in your life right now?

Patience and trusting in Him, it’s been a continual thing for a while now, but yeah, I have a lot of worries about my life and future so just trusting God in that.

2. Which book(s) of the Bible are you reading?

2 Chronicles in the morning and Isaiah at night. Also trying to read John and Psalms with a friend but I’ve kind of fallen behind on that *flops* 

3. Last thing that made you laugh?

Probably White Collar or Homecoming xD

4. Twenty-six is 20% of what number?

...my math brain is asleep right now...and percentages are my weakness...come back to me later on this...xD

5. How long have you known your oldest friend?

21 years, my sister is my best and oldest friend and I’ve known her my whole life haha xD

6. What talent do you lack, but wish you had?

Not sure if it’s a talent, but giving myself motivation for fun things and school...also being able to learn other languages cause I’m bad at it *flops*

7. Best version of Spider-Man?

*looks at my icon and the answer to #3* This boi! 

To be fair, I don’t dislike any other version of Spider-Man, I’ve liked pretty much every version I’ve seen (I haven’t seen all of them - aka all TV shows/comics- but the ones I have seen I really like!) but I LOVE Tom’s Peter soooo much!

8. Favorite type of cookie?

Give me a good chocolate chip cookie any day

9. Current obsession?

Marvel mainly...also kind of getting into White Collar again, and Rebels cause Season 4 is coming and I’m NOT READY

10. Do you have any nervous ticks?

I kind of like try to make myself small when I’m out, like I’ll hold my purse close and hold my water bottle like I’m ready to swing it as a weapon....pfft xD Also sometimes I’ll fiddle with things or clench up when I’m really nervous

11. How would you describe yourself if you were the main character of an adventure novel?

Oh...hmm...

Ace didn’t seem like much of a hero, and if you asked her if she was one she’d just kind of shrug and say, “Depends on your definition of hero I guess.” Most days she stays home, scrolling online, chatting with friends, trying not to stress too much about the future. But despite her semi-normal life, she has a love for stories. Running outside she pretends she is her favorite character, jumping around saving lives, interacting with made up worlds. Some people might think its silly, but to her its a blast. 

@shenzi-hemlock‘s questions

1. Have you ever been pulled over by a cop?

Nope, my dad did when I was in the car once though. But that was just because he was stressed trying to find a place for me to go to the bathroom (we were on a road trip) and I think he turned too fast or something?

2. Best compliment you have received?

Off the top of my head, I remember a comment I had on a fic saying someone was rewatching the episode my fics had been based off of and they thought scenes where missing because they rememberd my fics and thought they were actually part of the show!

3. What is your perfect pizza?

Hmm, I don’t know, I like trying new things, but I mean, I like veggie pizza, and chicken barbecue pizza and...lots of other pizzas so???

4. Do you feel that children should be sheltered from unhappiness?

My first thought is no, and in a sense, yeah I agree. But I also know you can’t be happy all the time and you shouldn’t spoil kids either, so...a good balance of making sure they are okay and safe, but not always giving them everything they want just to keep them happy. 

5. Have you ever eaten a crayon or glue?

I don’t think so xD

6. What cheers you up?

Chatting with friends, hugs, watching a show/movie I love, sometimes writing or drawing, happy music, going outside and soaking up the sun, snuggling with my cats.

7. Do you enjoy reading and if so what is your favorite book?

Usually...not always, it’s been hard for me to get excited to read recently. I can’t pick just one favorite book...I love a lot? The Lunar Chronicles is great though, and Percy Jackson, Rangers Apprentice, Harry Potter...I like series xD

8. Do you have anyone you go to for advice? If so, are they in person or online?

Usually my sister, sometimes maybe Lynna ( @fair-and-finn online)

9. Which do you use more often, a dictionary or a thesaurus?

Honestly...I use both...when I don’t know what something means or I’m writing and need a better word...I always just look it up online though, so not an actual physical book xD

10. Are you still learning who you are?

Hmm, yeah

11. What dead person would you least want to be haunted by?

So someone I don’t want to be haunted by? I...I don’t know...I tend to think of fictional characters so...??? xD

My Questions:

1. If you could enter one movie, what movie would you enter and why? 

2. If someone paid for a quality cosplay for you (with all the bells and whistles, so you actually feel like that character), who would you want to cosplay?

3. Goldfish or Cheeze-Its?

4. Favorite type of taco?

5. What fictional character would you want to be your best friend?

6.  Favorite tumblr meme?

7. Favorite type of relationship in fiction (romantic, brotp, familial, etc.)?

8. Do you like Nutella? If so, what’s your favorite way to eat it?

9. Your go-to movie for when you feel down? Or a movie you can watch over and over again and love it every time?

10. Do you binge watch Youtube? If so, what do you usually end up watching?

11. If you could meet any actor/actress, who would you pick?

I’ll tag... @hiccup-is-left-handed, @littleaussiecupcake, @throwaninkpot, @forever-painting-roses, @jupiterlandings, @wise-lizard, @ikos-evil-twin, @mintylovesbarryallen, @meldy-arts, @starry-writes, and @book-and-comic-fangirl (bonus: @gaybrielreyyes if you want to do it! ^^)

[telrtot]

All bet

well fuck, you got me

1: name? taylor irl and lacey here cause its cuter2: gender? on the Girly side3: birthday? feburary 5th 20014: age? 165: zodiac sign? aquarius6: sexuality? bisexual with a Strong leaning towards girls7: hobbies? playing d&d and thinking too much about characters i make. i also play a lot of video games and cosplay sometimes8: aesthetic? the night sky, a swirl of purples and blues and shades of grey, bare shoulders, sunsets9: dream home? somewhere in the city, close enough to walk were i need to. rainy weather is prevalent and in a short while i can find myself in the woods.10: OTP? umm not any Main Ones right now but AraSol will always have a special place in my heart11: favorite band/music genre? indie folk and folk rock. ringlefinch is my favorite band but nobody has heard of em. gotye and hozier are also up there in my favorites.12: favorite songs? hell by ringlefinch ; beneath the brine by the family crest ; beekeeper by keaton henson ; heart's a mess by gotye ; third eye by florence and the machine (perfer the demo version tbh)13: do you have a favorite book? if so, what book? mmm, haven't read enough in the last year or so to really make a choice. i used to Love the hunger games books when i was 10 and read Catching Fire 4 times through...if that counts. gosh i need to read more.14: favorite food? chEese. especially in Queso and Fried forms15: favorite TV show? fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood16: favorite character? aradia megido will always be a love of mine. mercy from ow is also a fave of mine.17: favorite animal(s)? foxes, 'cause they remind me of me, and all avians ever, 'cause they are friends.18: favorite color? plum purple and mauve19: favorite beverage? diet dr pepper with cherry20: favorite holiday? new years because every year i watch (bad) anime over at one of my best friends house 21: relationship status? who knows tbh22: last text you've sent? "gotta say, im intrigued to see what you could come up with"23: last text you've received? "as am i"24: last person you told you loved? my mother when she came in to say good night25: last time you felt jealous, and why? probably like an hour ago cause i was looking at selfies of people with nice skin26: are you insecure about anything? my skin, my nose, and my weirdly shapen hips27: where do you want to be right now? 27: where do you want to be right now? playing d&d but alas....28: what are some habits of yours? i bite my nails hardcore, talk really fast when i get excited or nervous, forget to shut cabinets, chew straws, and bite hard candies because i have no self-control29: three turn ons? umm, hm. either sitting in someones lap or having someone sit in mine, nEcK BiTiNG, and when someone wearing plaid or a button up shirt rolls up their sleeves.....30: three turn offs? generally immaturity. if someone - even in a jokin manner - calls me a bitch (especially if its a guy sayin it) not cool not funny please stop talking to me. whEn people can't hold a conversation to save their life (like i might be bad at it but at least i am Tryin, ya feel?)31: do you have kik, skype, or any other social media? i do32: pet peeves? wHen people with a runny nose sniff really loudly and make gross sounds. also when people use their hands or just don't cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough33: what're you wearing? my pjs. why? what r u wearing bbby?34: career goals? medical examiner in the forensic field or someone that travels a lot35: are you a student? yep, in high school36: what country do you live in? america37: do you have any pets? a labradoodle named patrick and a schnauzer named max38: tattoos you have/want? oh boy, that would be its own post. i honestly want quite a few, all in black and white and generally for the Aesthetic39: piercings you have/want? i have regularly lobe piercings and a double helix in my left ear40: morning or night? night41: guilty pleasure band? ninja sex party42: guilty pleasure song? samurai abstinence part by ninja sex party...43: top 5 favorite memes? tag yourself memes ; Gun ; the firefly 'you would not believe you (blank)' one ; maybe the real friends.... ; and those strange animal pictures with Russian captions44: one band you don't get the hype for? i don't know how much hype she has now but i don't really enjoy halsey all that much45: one band you wish more people knew about? rinGLEFINCH46: do you practice any religion? not currently47: do you believe in any form of a God? i believe that there is a God, possibly many, but i cannot say that i believe any doctrine of god is correct48: what do you think happens after we die? i like the idea of reincarnation49: have you ever done alcohol or drugs? i haven't done anything but drugs i have been given by a Doctor and i drank alcohol before....with my parents permission50: what's the worst thing that's ever happened to you? not actually dying when i was born 51: what's the best thing that's ever happened to you? not dying when i was born?52: have you ever had a near death experience? my heart stopped beating when i was a baby, so yeah53: is there someone you can tell anything to? myself....?54: what's the most amount of notes you've ever gotten on a post, and what was the post? it was a fallout meme i made and it got like 200 notes i think (maybe the real shaun was the friends we made along the way)55: are you right or left handed? right handed56: Would you be in a relationship (platonic or otherwise) with the last person you texted? If it's a family member, the last person you aren't related to. we are friends, so yeah57: who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? the gaggle of gurl and ungendered pals of have are p good listeners58: would you want to change anything about yourself? make me less of an asshole and actually use my good brain to do work59: what's the first thing you notice when meeting someone? how they react to different brands of humor60: have you ever been hurt by someone you trusted? Who? ex-best friend of mine, who outted me to my family when i was like 1061: have you ever hurt yourself? yeppers. middle school was a rough time for me62: do you believe in an afterlife? maybe63: do you believe in ghosts? sure do64: what should you be doing right now? finishing my garbage dotters spell list like I said i would65: are you pissed at anyone right now? not really66: do you believe everyone has a soulmate, platonic or otherwise? i do, or i at least think the idea is nice67: when is the last time you were scared to tell the truth? i ate my brothers skittles on accident and oh boy was that rough, also pawned it off on my dad68: when is the last time you screwed up something important? everyday my guy69: is there anyone you were close with and are not anymore? there are two that come to mind. one is the ex friend i mentioned before and the other is my actual ex.70: what's the last promise you made? i think i was not play a suicide game that is popular in texas right now? my mom made me promise not to do it cause she's paranoid and honestly i hadn't even heard about it until she brought it up. 71: what's your outlook on life? we are all on a rock floating through space at thousands of miles per hour72: have you ever loved someone who didn't return your feelings? oh boy howdy yes. 73: if you could change your eye color, what would it be? a shade of hazel-green so i look even more ginger74: Are you dating the last person you talked to? nope, i don't believe me and @neoxnocturne are dating. unless we are and he never sent the email confirmation for it, if that's the case then i need the tax report on my desk by monday (short version: just a pal)75: does anyone regularly (other than family) tell you they love you? yeah, me and my gay squad do it every time we are together tbh76: do you think someone has feelings for you? yep77: has anyone ever told you they never wanted to lose you? a few come to mind78: do you replay things that have happened in your head? all the time79: have you ever felt replaced? every day if i am being honest80: last person you cried in front of? my mother, about my Ex81: if your ex asked to date you again, would you? um. maybe. i honesty don't know. 82: if you died right now, what song would you want to play at your funeral? no mercy by the living tombstoNe83: would you ever be in a long distance relationship? have been in one before, so maybe.84: what can make you upset easily? when people refuse to listen 85: do you have a good relationship with your father? depends on the day86: do you have a good relationship with your mother? i like to think so, she's probably who i am closest to87: do you have a good relationship with your siblings? nope88: have you ever been hurt physically or mentally by a family member? yeah89: are your parents divorced? no, but i think if they had less kids they would be90: what do/did people say about you in school? im the jokester that goes hard in arguments91: what do/did you say about people in school? depends on the person?92: is any mental or physical illness hindering your life? adhd since i was little, general anxiety, depression, and the potential to further develope bipolarism 93: have you ever had to end a friendship or relationship? why? yeah cause shit happened94: are there things you wanted in your childhood but didn't get? a horse and to learn to ride horses95: have you ever kept a journal? i tried when i was little but also bought a new journal and started a new one so they never got far96: do you believe that birthmarks are scars from past lives? sure, i can get behind that97: if so, do you believe there is a story behind your birthmarks? dont have any98: do you look after yourself? not in the slightest99: do you put yourself or others first? i am a selfish kid who happens to care about select people. i tend to put others first more than i think i should, which is already not a lot.100: Ask your own question! No thanks.

[eternaltchotchke]

Aight and here's all the shit I got plus all the badges I could find for the years I've been to Sabo. 

I'll put a read more about like. Everything because I admittedly wanna talk about it, like Sabo as a whole because like I said in my last post, I think that's gonna be the last Saboten I'm going to...at least unless I do a booth. But that's besides the point. So yeah read more if you wanna read all my nostalgia shit. Stop here if you're good, lol. I’m warning you, it’s fucking long AF.

2009: My second ever convention. I actually got to go because a friend of mine got tickets for her birthday and she invited me to go with her. I was, like, the kind of person I think her parents wanted her to be like? ‘Cause at the time I was a nerd, but I was introverted and I think they were under the impression that I was a good christian straight girl(™) and well. Lol, neither of us were. This was way before I ever tried doing cosplay, and well, technically I did a really shitty Misty at PCC that same year, but like. OMG. It was terrible. I think this was the year I did a ‘lolita?’ outfit? But really it was just me trying to be edgy. It was kind of cute, but man, I would never wear it today.

2010: So this was senior year of high school and the con was actually at the Hilton just down the street from my school. It was my third convention and I got tickets for my friend and I invited my cousin, but he got food poisoning on one of the days he was going to go, so I ended up soloing it for the rest of the weekend. I went as Miki from Shugo Chara and...it was...bad, lol. I tried making the hat, and well, it was a craftfoam hat and everything else I just kind of found around the house. I don’t remember much else from this con to be honest, just that...I went as Miki for at least one day.

2011: This was the year that I got a lot more into Hetalia. I had just graduated from high school and was still kind of...figuring myself out. I dragged an, at the time, friend there with me to a Hetalia cafe and that was fun. I think that was the first time I’d had a con squish? Crush??? The America was mega cool and ooh, I know that was also the year I went to the Eyeshine concert! I was really into Johnny Yong Bosch’s voice ‘cause I was watching Code Geass and Bleach at the time, and well. I like voice actors a whole bunch? And the concert was really cool and I still have the video I saved from it...and yeah. Good times. Actually, p great times, heh.

2012: This was the year I finally went with con friends! God, it was such a good time because for once I had people to hang out with the whole weekend. I’d met a good majority of them at the last PCC and one of the main people I remember is Maddi who’s still one of my best of best friends. There’s also Sabby and again, one of the best friends a person can ever have. We weren’t close at the time, but I do have a pic with her in it? So. She was there. And I think one of the people in it is Hanna who is an awesome person and I love her so much. She’s great like, the coolest person and dang it all, I love my friends?

And then there are a lot of people that I hung out with at the time that...admittedly, I want to forget. One of them, I hate so very very much. Because they were a toxic person and terrible to my best friends and fuck, I wish I had actually stood up for my friends when I was younger and called out some of the shit they pulled because I should have. But. Well. Hindsight...and then the other? Well, I don’t hate but...I guess thinking back on things? It’s awkward and I was awkward and man, that was a...time. I see ‘em sometimes and it’s like, sweet bajeebus you haven’t changed at all.

There was a lot of shit that happened on the last day and like, one of it was there was a panel that didn’t go well and then the other was someone was kinda mega rude to a friend? And while yeah I understand their stance on things, they said things in a rude way that just...could’ve been said a lot better or at least in a kinder way.

But as a sidenote, that was the year I got Laboon! And I still have him, and I still love him. He’s a good whale.

2013: ...this was...the year of kind of an end to some things. But, the beginning of some really REALLY great things. This was the year I became really good friends with Jed, who is like, one of the best of best friends a person could have. He’s such a cool dude, and nerd, but also cool and I might not say it often enough but I’m really lucky to have become his friend. I gotta say that for all my friends, especially Sabby, Maddi, and Jed. I love y’all so much and really, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without y’all?

Anyway, this was the most stressful con I had ever been to. Admittedly? The first day was p good, I went as Cecil (here we go, Cecil version 1 lol) and Jed was Carlos and we had a good time all around. Theeeen Twitter ‘cause at the time, there was a lot of like...sonas for the websites and I was like, I have all that, I’ll be twitter! ...but I ended up having to wait a….long time for my friends to arrive and god, there was just...nothing but drama that day. It was not good.

Day 3 was 1000% better because me and Jed went back to Cecil and Carlos and all around that was just a dang good time. I think someone had actually told me that I was their headcanon Cecil? Which like. Literally made everything that weekend so much better because I was using my real hair (which at the time was sort of long) and I played up my brown skin. There were quite a few other Cecils, but from what I could remember, most of them were the blond white ones and that kind of helped me stand out.

Oh, and that was the first year we attempted flower crowns! Well, I tried, I literally got two garlands of roses and wrapped them around each other. We lost them on the first day, but another Carlos and Cecil found them, which was hilarious to me and I was really glad that happened actually, hah.

2014: HELL.

2015: --god no do you really wanna know about 2014? Okay one sec.

2014: So. I didn’t wanna pay for a ticket. I REALLY didn’t wanna pay for a ticket because also I was flat broke and honestly cons were so far out my price range at the time I shouldn’t have done it.

I did it anyway.

So 2014 was the year of volunteering and doing panels. It was also the first year we did a photo shoot, which was really fun and Maddi’s and Sabby’s were great. I still do love the ones we did for me and Jed, but there was something really nice and bright about the X-Ray and Vav stuff. To be completely honest? I don’t remember much like, for specifics of the con, just that we did panels and that I met a p cool Garrus cosplayer (who still cosplayed the same Garrus at PCC this year, and from the looks of it, it didn’t seem he made it at all more comfortable and I was like, DUDE. MAKE IT SO YOU CAN FREAKING SIT HOLY FUCK).

I’ve admittedly been going back through all my social media accounts to see if anything could jog my memory, and the only thing I remember clearly was that someone thought I was master chef in my Geoff cosplay and that was funny to me.

...I was also apparently America for a day. Which was p alright because I was admittedly a dang great America. Funny story, the only reason I know I was America was because someone from my past recognized us and snapped a pic. I’m like, looking at it and it’s just so funny to me that it turned out as good as it was for like, a really quick throw together thing.

2015: SHIT I HAD TO GO BACK TO MY OLD SHIT TO SEE WHAT THE HELL I WAS AND I FORGOT I THREW TOGETHER A CASUAL!DORIAN FOR THAT. Good fucking god, that’s hilarious, I was always somehow left tiddy commitee...even though it was a v casual Dorian, I guess I just had the right amount of hair for it, lol.

Also, it was the year that we did a panel for the Ladies of Hetalia and then we also did a Youtuber Let’s Players panel with prizes and I only remember spending the night before making those prizes, but the one that everyone really loved was the Geoff picture, which also was a fucking pain in the ass to make because would you be surprised that that picture was really hard to find a good enough quality one to print out? The best thing was though, that I kept running into the people who won the picture and I think some sort of cult formed around it. I’m not sure. I worry for that picture frame sometimes…

I think that was also the last time I cosplayed Cecil. Sabby was my Dana, which I mega appreciate her for, and I took a lot of liberties on my outfit...and based it much more heavily on the weirdness of Cec rather than the button up and tie version that was really popular. It was more fun just to do a Cecil cosplay TBH, and I actually can’t tell if Jed was there or not? I’m also not sure if Maddi was either...uhhh, most of the stuff I can find are selfies of me and Sabby which...I’m not sure of a lot of details actually.

2016: Man, that was the year of Undertale, Dragon Age, and Hamsteak. Er. Homestook. HOMESTUCK. Also the year I got a really nice camera to take pictures with. It was really fun because I got some great pics of our God Tier outfits and I’m still p happy with my Dave cape. Special thanks to Jed for making 99% of that hood. I still owe him a fuck ton.

This was also the year that me and Sabby went to a really fun quiz panel with an awesome Mettaton who is still p dang cool. I wasn’t sure if there was another this year? I don’t think I was able to make it to it, and I know that there was just so much work put into it, I was super blown away.

I also brought back Fen one last time, and that was fun. I dabbed for a dude and that made him super happy, then I just fucked around for the rest of the con. Ooh, also there was Naruto running. Late at night because also, sometimes you just gotta be a fucking loser with your friends. We...kind of started a whole thing? And I feel a little bad looking back on it? But it was at least, at first, just me and Hanna that Naruto ran down the empty hallway to Haruka Kanata and that was just. Such a fun time.

We did another photoshoot that year too, got some legit pics for hamsteak cosplays which was awesome. Then I had a lot of fun editing them. I’d say there’s more to say for this con, but...not really. Oh, but we did spend a lot of time in the activity lounge? Which I love the activity lounge ‘cause they have crayons and hang up your drawings on the walls and I did a ‘great’ drawing of Dave and Karkat that someone took home.

2017: So here we are, eight years later. To be honest? I was actually sort of dreading this con. There was so much just...not happening and I was feeling kind of eh...and I should’ve definitely gotten more done on Gabe but I didn’t. So instead I did Boxerwatch which was still fun, and my armor actually held up really fucking well. Which I was mega happy abound.

Saturday was kind of...a time. Like, I wanted to have fun, and I know I looked cool AF? But it was so hot and humid and I was in like, three layers of clothes and craftfoam and I didn’t bring a change of clothes. Which was stupid on my part. But! Jenny lent me her hot dog costume? Which literally made my day and it turned the whole thing from an /eh day to a THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER sort of time. I’m not gonna lie, I love wearing those mascot sort of costumes because the shenanigans you can have while wearing them. It’s just so good.

Sunday was awesome because I got to hang out with Clyde, Sam, Ray, and I met Keyboard who is p dang cool. Also, I met my hello new person quota of one, so, double accomplishment. On top of that? My armor held up ridiculously well that day and so did my shitty painted on beard and I was literally. So fucking comfortable. I know I was missing a fuck ton of things for Gabe but it worked out alright since I went with a mega casual version. I’m definitely gonna make sure I can wear that jacket anywhere I go though because I love it a bunch? And it was mega comfy. Plus I’m thinking of making the shoulder pads something permanent to the jacket so I could have my own Gabriel Reyes jacket to just. Wear and feel cool in. Well, not cool. More like fucking sweltering because also I live in AZ.

Monday was just a casual day. I think I’m coming down with something and I wasn’t gonna kill myself by wearing Hanzo so, I edged it up. I was kind of really bummed because the Eyeshine concert was cancelled and it was sort of the main thing I was looking forward to all weekend? But I think Sabo might have messed it up p badly because on the website they set it for Sunday at night, which would’ve been perfect ‘cause then all three of us could’ve gone. But the schedule moved it to Monday and I was sad ‘cause it was their farewell tour...and I kind of felt like it’d be just...one of the perfect ways to end my time going to Sabo.

And so yeah, that’s kind of it? Like, I definitely did have fun over the years, there was stress AF during some parts, but then there were some really really great times. I’ve sort of...lost a lot of interest in anime since I started going, and while I will admit, I do still enjoy watching it, I’m so choosy about what I like and what I’ll watch that a lot of the main things available at Sabo don’t interest me nearly as much. There’s one more anime cosplay I wanna do, and admittedly it’d be really freaking easy to pull off...just gotta get the stuff. But other than that single cosplay, I just...I would like to focus on different things. Plus, it’s just so hard to get stuff together because of the timing of it all. Working as a teaching assistant means that I have very little time during those weeks leading up to the con to do anything. The week before was kind of hell, as I had to stay on campus until at least 5:30 most days and god, I couldn’t work on really anything. That and I didn’t have the mental capacity to work on Gabe over the summer, plus I’d planned to have Cyberninja!Hanzo at least started but that just couldn’t happen.

But anyway, that’s it really! This turned out a lot longer than I meant for it to be and I’m probably going to cross post this onto my DeviantArt. So thank you Saboten-Con, it’s been one helluva ride. There were some ups, downs, turns, and spins and while some of those times really really sucked...there were many others that were just so great and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.