#then i can watch s3 before s1/2

[lilliths-not-just-httyd-blog]

also yes i am completely aware i am watching rescue riders seasons out of order but I genuinely do not give a fuck i am enjoying myself so much.

[chirpsythismorning]

The way fans on the st sub are almost all in agreement Nancy ending up with neither Jon nor Steve wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, and how they can even come up with a sleuth of reasons as to why, honestly pretty valid and fair reasons, but then are absolutely gobsmacked when fans merely speculate something along those lines for El is, quite something.

[altruistic-meme]

ok time for some preliminary hand hunting for s3 🫡 aka giving myself a task this rewatch

[nutmeggery]

I need Neil Gaiman to know that Good Omens 2 made me feel emotions I haven't felt in nearly a decade.

When I heard there was going to be a Good Omens 2 I was looking forward to it, of course. I just wasn't expecting it do anything super special to my emotions. I was sure I'd enjoy it, though. I really enjoyed s1.

But, for the last few years, I watched shows and afterwards basically thought well, that was fun, and I quickly moved on and didn't think much about them. There was only about 3 shows in the last 5 years that had made me feel truly emotional and stayed on my mind to the point where I felt like I needed to engage in fandom for a while. (Good Omens 1 was one of them.)

I wasn't spoiled by the leak. I never even knew there was a leak. So I had no idea what was coming in s2. And oh boy...

See, I'd watched Our Flag Means Death, a show where you don't expect the lead characters to kiss, because, well, that never happens in these types of shows, right? And this is important because when they did kiss, it felt like a door that had been locked with just about all the high security locks in the world had suddenly, inexplicably, been opened. Something switched inside me. It took me months to understand what it was, but when I thought about Good Omens before s2 came out, I realized what it was.

I would never truly enjoy a bromance they're-only-queer/in love-by-your-own-interpreation story ever again. Stories where nothing is confirmed, just subtext that anyone who doesn't want to see it can easily deny and mock those who wish it was more.

While it was clear that Crowley and Aziraphale cared a lot about each other in s1, and were probably in love, it was still just a fun ship for fans to play with in fanfiction and fanart. Do they love each other? Oh sure. In what way? Well, that's up to interpretation. Ok, cool. But it's not quite Our Flag Means Death, is it?

Then I watched Good Omens 2. And from episode 1 I saw my favourite Angel and Demon duo love each other. And I was having the best time. I hadn't had such a good time watching a show in a long while. It was not only right up my alley, it was an alley I wasn't even aware was my alley until I saw it. I enjoyed seeing the old characters, the new characters. Oh, I was wonderful.

It was clear to me that, of course Crowley and Aziraphale love each other, are IN love with each other, showing it in their own way. And I wasn't expecting it to be THIS obvious.

And then when the kiss happened, I couldn't believe it. I covered my mouth with both hands and gasped and sat up straight in my seat. I had never expected it--the heartbreak it added to the already heartbreaking scene--it rewired something inside me.

It was like my emotions had been locked up in a stall like a horse for so, so long, and now the gate had been opened, the stable door kicked down, and the horse was running out onto the large pasture into the daylight, bucking and kicking up grass. Oh my god, I have to take a few minutes to process that entire 6 hour marathon of emotions.

And by a few minutes I meant a few days.

More than a few, actually.

I didn't need a kiss to understand how much they loved each other, but I did need the kiss to understand how intense and heartbreaking their separation is for them after everything.

But more than that, the kiss broke a barrier. They really did it, I thought. They really dared.

Aziraphale and Crowley aren't human males, no, but they're played by male actors. And that is significant. That makes the kiss significant. In the world we currently live in.

Weeks later, I'm still obsessed with the show, re-watching s1 and 2, reading the book again, listening to the audio drama. And I'm on tumblr, seeing people's posts and art to somehow sate my hunger for a s3 that doesn't exist (yet).

And I'm having a wonderful time.

[zluty-spendlik]

WAKFU REDESIGN AND REWRITE SERIES PART 2

Yugo

Okay I really should've started with Yugo but I just had so many ideas for Eva I had to let it out. (link to part 1 here)

And with Yugo, I have the exact opposite feelings, because... he's fine. He's the main character, he's a kid, he acts like a kid, he's very thoughtful and kind... I don't have any issues with his character.

But! Theres still ideas i have!

For example, I never quite liked the idea of Yugo being the Eliatrope king and yeah, I know hes a child but he never really... gave me leader vibes, yk? Tbh compared to Adamaï he severely lacks the assertive personality. After finding out that hes the last airbender Eliatrope, he doesnt even care for the culture much. Or like- at all? Hes mostly excited about his superpowers- AND THATS FINE, hes a literal child, but still... a supposed king.

So either make him more invested in his people (you could make a whole arc outta that! He gets hyperfixated on figuring his heritage out he forgets about the here and now - tho that really does sound more like Adamaï) OR make him state outloud that he already has a life and doesnt want to start another one! He likes his friends and adventures and doesnt need anything else... until he does. Make him grow and find parts of himself he didnt even know were missing. New values, a culture he can be a part of!

(Also AU where Yugo actually cant use his powers properly so they only inconvenience him (like accidentally teleporting his stuff) and he tries to stay away from his heritage as long as possible until Grougal is just forced to drag him out the house is so entertaining 2 me istg)

So im fine with the story Qilby has spun, where he and Shinonome are the leaders cause HOW COOL WOULD THAT BE?? And anyway, the Adventure duo finding out about Qilbys betrayal through random goofy shenanigans seems pretty in character lmao

Design

I like Yugos design (except for the shoes, they absolutely haunt me) so I mostly just put my own spin on it rather than changing it radically. I briefly debated on giving him a tail or more dragon-like features but then I realized he lived a normal life before all this lol the village would PROLLY NOTICE

Tho it finally hit me that Eliatropes cleatly have deer features- like the little fur thingy at the end of the Eliatrope cap resembling a deer tail??? How did I not notice that??? But I think his s4 outfit resembles a bat way more so idk?

I gave him white freckles like the bambi spots and light blue "wakfu" spots on the back instead of the runes on his chest he has in the Qilby final boss fight. Also I couldnt decide which outfit I like more for s1-2 so which one do u guys like more?

I havent watched season 3-4 but I did a potential s3 Yugo look as well, I had fun :))

Yugo art dump

[teamcavota]

50 milo murphy's law facts

5 not so fun and 45 fun!

Not so fun to start!

The only Milo Murphy's Law official merchandise is a notebook released in Japan for the MML X PNF crossover.

Disney actually apologized to Dan (and I assume Swampy) for the treatment of Milo Murphy's Law. Dan has expressed frustration at the MMLs treatment before, citing the Hiatus between s1 and s2 and the fact it did not air on the main Disney Channel.

Doof appears in more episodes than Cavendish and Dakota in s2 (this is the real reason we needed a s3). Also, while PNF/Doof stuff was planned from the start, Disney did push for more PNF.

When season 2 was airing, new episodes would randomly be released in other countries.

Milo was cut from CATU due to a feeling from Disney that audiences would not recognize his cameo.

ok LAME ones out of the way

On the first drawing of Milo there are three names beside it: Milo, Mikey, and...Monty. As you probably know the Mikey one got pretty far and is the name used in the pitch bible (and was referenced with "I am Mikey!".) The reason Mikey was changed to Milo was not a creative choice, but because there was a popular YouTuber named "Mikey Murphy."

Speaking of, Milo was also just going to be another character apart of a different pitch, but Dan kept thinking he should go into his own show. He went to Swampy and asked him what he thought of Milo (at the time Mikey) and the idea of a show about Murphys Law. it took them about an hour to come up with the concept pitch.

You can find several of MML song dubbings on YouTube and other platforms. Most notably the Japanese version (マイロ・マーフィーの法則) highly worth checking out. Fun fact in a fun fact, Doof and Dakota also share the same voice actor in this dubbing.

In re-airings of some of the first MML episodes, second versions were made that included Cavendish and Dakota in the background.

Yes, Melissa was originally going to feel the lasting effects of the pistachion uprising by remaining looking like one instead of Bradley having his arm turned into a vine. This would have been a source of conflict for her in season 2, but in the end they felt it was too much of a change. As far as Bradley's plant arm it was originally only going to come out sometimes before it was changed to being a constant thing. He does have feeling in this arm.

The Island of Lost Dakota's was going to include a scene with merman Dakota's ("merkotas"). There was also going to be "mutation" Dakotas, such as ones with multiple heads.

There exists a live action version of the Milo Murphy's Law theme song. well, sorta, watch it

Before Milo came out Dwampy made the song "we're gonna do it again."

MML was originally set to debut in early 2017.

Weird Al did not originally come to mind for Milo. One of the idea voices they had was Noah Z Jones (Fish Hooks). They auditioned hundreds of people for Milo, but many had issues such as sounding too nervous in their lines. It wasn't until Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls) posted a photo with Weird Al that Dwampy realized he'd be perfect for the role.

Sara is based on a friend of Dwampy.

In tune with the popular headcanon/fan theory, it's possible they did actually consider making Cavendish a descendant of Milo. When Cavendish was going to agree he also liked Milo, he was going to say he was his descendant. *this may have also just been a joke line

Milo and Cavendish are meant to mirror eachother in the fact Milo deals with Murphy's Law and Cavendish is the "author of his own misery" in regards to things going wrong.

Another thing they considered was the possibility of Dakota and Cavendish being in a romantic relationship, but they ultimately decided they wanted them to have them represent a strong male friendship.

The Milo Murphys Law crew did keep up a fanart and concept art wall. Here, here, and here are some photos.

There was a baby Cavenpus cut from final productions.

There are no official ages for Dakota and Cavendish. Dan has said he believes Cavendish to be older, while Joshua Pruett has said he believes Dakota to be the older one and by a bit of a margin.

Pistachios came to be a thing in the show because a son of some of Dan's neighbors had been allergic to specifically pistachios. They needed an idea for the larger plot and somehow those two came together. (Swampy also notes it's a funny word).

Several of the scripts for MML storyboarders included just the words, "and Murphy's Law happened."

Dan has made at least one Vinnie Dakota dedicated Tiktok similar to his Doof ones.

The Doof and Dakota lines were recorded together, back and forth.

Melissa was going to have a hamster nemesis named Ham. In the Pitch Bible the name wasn't included, but it's explained it was a pet class hamster that would always escape and end up on her things.

The secret handshake Milo and Zack do in scream-a-tourium was intended to be longer.

The studio executive for MML originally thought The Island of Lost Dakota's was a joke idea until he read the script.

There was a MML kids menu at Disneyland circa 2016.

Dakota and Cavendish were originally not in the shows ideas, nor was any B-plot, but being used to it in PNF the writers room felt they "needed something to cut away to"

Joshua Pruett pitched for the MML x PNF crossover for where when Milo opened his backpack to pull out the thing he needed to save the world it'd be...Phineas and Ferb.

Dakota is the reason parking tickets exist, as he can be a bit careless about leaving time vehicles all over the place. Dakota is proud of this.

Melissa's likeness and name is based on Dan's daughter Meli, as to sorta "balance out" Isabella also being based on his other daughter.

They considered a twist where Bob Block would be an alien wearing a face mask.

"Cavendish Farms" is an episode that never came to be pitched by Pruett where in order to track Cavendish Dakota would try to duplicate Cavendish, though none of them would quite be Cavendish. One of the Cavendishs would have a heart to heart with Dakota, while Doof would ultimately call out Dakota for what he's doing and tell Dakota "you already know what he would do." dwampy rejected this idea because this was a bad idea, to which pruett felt that is exactly why Dakota would have tried it. if renewed, pruett would have tried to convince them more on it.

Chop Away at My Heart was originally called "Jump Jump Jump" and was made for another project by one of Dan's friends. After Dan have asked to transform it into something else for Milo, Joshua Pruett suggested a "Lumberjack themed boyband" in the script.

unfortunate split for character block limit

Dakotas voice was inspired by Elvis Costello. It's also the harder voice for Dan in comparison to Doof.

Mark Hamill originally auditioned to play a teacher on the show, but Dwampy liked his audition so much they decided he'd better fit Mr. Block.

In the MML pitch bible it is stated, "Mikey has a destiny to fulfill, something vital to the future of the planet." The goal of Cavendish and Dakota would be to make sure he stays on the right path.

There IS a full version of We're Going to the Zoo, which was played by Dan in this interview at 3:00:30. Several MML songs have had full versions leaked, implying this is probably the case for some other songs too.

Like several other characters, Sara in the MML pitch bible was different from her show counterpart, being "a hipster like Thora Butch in Ghost World."

The song "A World Without Milo" is based on the song "Happy Together" by "The Turtles"

Almost every character, including creatures or minor one-offs had a name in the script. An example is "Pia," the name of the poodle Diogee falls in love with.

In regards to when Dakota talks about cutting through the Mesozoic in First Impressions and the fact it is illogical, Dan says this is likely just Dakota being Dakota (aka, it was a mistake), and not every such line should be taken serious.

In a deleted "Snow Way Out" line it was confirmed that the raccoon in Going the Extra Milo and Fungus Among Us is recurring raccoon.

Brick and Savannah were going to have a role in the crossover.

Story ideas from the MML pitch bible that never came to include a beach episode, a Friday the 13 episode, and an episode where Cavendish and Dakota try convincing Milo to take a self defense class leading to conflict with a hidden ninja gang.

For unspecified characters (probably multiple different sets) Pruett wrote in hugs that were cut by (mostly) Dan. In response, he says he "put 4 in so at least 1 stays."

S3 would have likely included: A third Block (yes, still voiced by Mark Hamill and a Block "family meeting"), Milo creating the universe, Dakota and Cavendish getting the promotion they wanted but being unsatisfied, Elliot cleverly being connected to the overarching plot, AU exploration (akin to pnf) including an episode where Dr Zone is real, and a conclusion to the Prof Time arc. The overarching plot would have been the "biggest yet."

credits to: danvillecheese for suggestions + encouragement, cheetochild989 for facts the fact about going to the zoo and a world without milo, the 2nd dimension on YouTube, my hamsterward friends, and of course all the talented people who worked on MML :3

[bisclavret]

like many who have suffered at the hands of bbc merlin before me, i recently indulged in a thought experiment in which i outlined my own version of seasons 3-5 that stay thematically and tonally in line with the show (except they're less fucking stupid). but then i quickly realized that focusing on details is pointless: all you need is to solve the one Big Problem the show has, and the rest will follow. the problem in question? ✨morgana✨

i like the first two seasons. s1 achieves what it sets out to do and has fun while doing it, and s2, while flawed, sets up a ton of potential that the following seasons unfortunately squander, beginning with the insidious season 3. you can only distract me with cute knights and goblins and fart jokes for so long before i start seeing through you, evil, evil season of television.

my hypothesis is that if the writers had crafted s3 morgana into anything more sympathetic than a violent half-alive poltergeist that can never be reasoned with because she's suddenly terminally off her rocker, everything would've fallen into place. a sympathetic morgana would've made real, valid arguments against uther (and arthur) that wouldn't just be the ramblings of a woman possessed. her betrayal of arthur would have stemmed from her feeling increasingly morally superior to him because of his complacency in the face of their father's tyranny. under morgause's guidance she would stop believing that arthur is capable of change, and the whole point would be that she might actually be right. arthur would have to actively try and prove her wrong, instead of getting praised for doing the bare minimum because the bar is on the floor.

furthermore, morgana's prophetic dream about arthur and gwen becoming king and queen and her decision to prevent this however she can is a direct parallel to merlin learning about that same prophecy and making it happen by any means necessary. merlin's desires about his and arthur's futures are subtextually fueled by gay love and devotion, so why couldn't morgana's be? why couldn't she properly express her bitterness that arthur gets to be with gwen in a way she can't "took gwen away" from her, instead of suddenly declaring that gwen is nothing more than a servant, after two seasons of demonstrating again and again that she loves, values, and respects gwen more than anyone else in that godforsaken castle?

following this, an angry and emotionally volatile but still sensible morgana asking gwen to stay by her side during the coup of the castle in the s3 finale and gwen going behind her back to help arthur and the knights would've hurt like a bitch. double-sided betrayal! gwen having a real plot! the proper beginnings of a toxic yuri that would shape a generation!

then there's the utter hubris of having morgana shoot arrows at the same civilians she worried herself sick over for 2 seasons — even morgan, her medieval counterpart that was rooted in every sexist trope in existence, doesn't just go around killing senselessly but instead has (often petty!) personal vendettas against gwen, arthur, and the knights. morgana had every right to be sick of the pretensions around chivalry in camelot (she was always quick to mock it, even in s1), and to lash out at the knights and soldiers after years of feeling powerless in a castle full of armed men that blindly followed her oppressor. the show conveniently forgets that morgana was victimized as a woman as well as a sorcerer those first 2 seasons.

but like i said, this is not just about morgana. allowing her to remain a real and multifaceted character even as she betrays everyone in pursuit of her ambitions would've given the rest of the core four more interesting conflict to work with: merlin because he would have to experience real consequences to his actions, arthur because he would watch his sister go against his father (and his knights, and his birthright) and experience some actual internal dilemmas about it, and gwen because she would be forced to choose between morgana and arthur without the pretense that it's an obvious or easy choice for her to make.

even morgause and gaius would come off more interesting as mentors: neither one inherently evil or inherently good, both jaded by events that happened before our protagonists were even born, both heavily influencing morgana and merlin into fulfilling roles that they think are appropriate, but that morgana and merlin may not have chosen for themselves had they not been under their care.

you get the gist. if the show followed its own setup, morgana's mistakes wouldn't lie in cheap and senseless acts of violence but in alienating the people she loves because she is too hurt and jaded to trust them. meanwhile, everybody else would feel guilt over "failing" her and yet they would be too caught up in their own (sometimes flawed!) beliefs of right and wrong to truly see her point of view.

arthur would convince himself it was sorcery that corrupted her. merlin would know that isn't true but he wouldn't be able to argue without confessing everything, which is the defining conflict between him and morgana and it's cheapened when she's just an evil witch caricature and merlin is framed as inherently virtuous in contrast. gwen, too, would become a more active participant in her own life by choosing arthur over morgana and choosing to rule camelot with him instead of just waiting politely to see where things go.

and, of course, uther's downfall and death would be quick, final, and completely earned — when and why did the show even decide he of all people was the sympathetic villain, anyway?

lastly, and perhaps controversially, i think morgana should've learned merlin's true identity by season 4. her being the first of the main characters to find out makes perfect sense considering their shared history and their interconnected and mirrored arcs. even the show seems to agree, considering she does find out a little before arthur. but the narrative itself tried pointing flashing neon arrows towards this way earlier — there is a whole entire episode in s4 where merlin being emrys is repeatedly spelled out for morgana and she still isn't allowed to see it. that episode makes her look like the stupidest person to ever live, which is pretty funny im not gonna lie, but also another frustrating thing in the endless string of frustrating things that make up this show.

morgana learning that merlin has magic would've transformed the source of merlin's anxiety from a crippling fear of being outed someday to the crippling fear of knowing she could out him at any moment. this would make him want to beat her to the punch (perhaps he'd consider killing her for a minute and decide against it because she isn't a cartoonishly insane evil person in my version of events) and maybe he would even feel some tentative excitement at the idea of coming clean, now that it seems inevitable. after all, he always intended to tell arthur eventually! and i think gaius would have to admit outright that he does not want merlin to tell arthur he has magic because he, gaius, simply cannot risk such a gamble. it would be so interesting to see gaius and merlin clash and disagree once it becomes obvious that it's not merlin that isn't ready for the reveal, it's gaius. delicious!

with morgana's knowledge looming, things would inevitably spiral into a magic reveal by the end of season 4. i picture this season as an absolute mess of miscommunication between everyone at camelot, which is, y'know, canon. growing increasingly cunning and vengeful, morgana would use this tension to her advantage, destabilizing the court from the outside while she creates alliances with other sorcerers outside of camelot (instead of living alone in a hovel for no reason — morgana le fay i'm sorry i'm so sorry they gave you agravaine instead of your all-female entourage oh my god).

and here's where the events would change beyond recognition (aka here's where the meta becomes the fanfic i refuse to write). picture it with me: a militia of sorcerers infiltrates camelot and arthur and gwen have to set aside their differences (assuming gwen kissing lancelot and arthur overreacting happens, which it should) for the good of the kingdom as well as for love. picture high priestess morgana in her element, side by side with a bunch of misfit sorcerers that aren't so easily vilified, chopping down camelot's soldiers and knights and assuredly making their way to the newly-minted king.

then, just as it starts to seem that all hope is lost, in swoops merlin (the actual merlin, not his old fart disguise) on dragonback (kilgharrah hates morgana so much i know his sexist ass would stoop to anything to stop her)!!! imagine merlin showing off the extent of his powers in front of everyone and preventing the sorcerers from getting any further, declaring loud and clear that camelot is protected by him, by emrys. imagine that display of power alone being enough to send everyone home.

imagine the loyalties clearly drawn: merlin on arthur's side, morgana on the sorcerers'. imagine arthur, feeling confused and betrayed by everyone at this point, banishing merlin despite everything he's done for him in the angstiest, most emotionally dysregulated scene the show had ever put to screen. imagine merlin starting season 5 free at last but very lonesome, an embittered dragonlord like his father. imagine the absolute mess camelot would become without him, even with gwen — now queen guinevere — there to pick up the slack. imagine arthur actually earning merlin back, finally growing into his role as king as he does so. imagine the reunion.

all this and more could've been not just possible but inevitable if morgana was allowed to remain a complex character that is neither inherently good nor inherently evil: it was undeniably the biased and one-note treatment of morgana's downfall by the writers that set the precedent for literally everything else that happened after merlin chose to poison her. the show wouldn't have even had to jeopardize its tone or the monster-of-the-week vibe, all it would've had to do is admit that even the "good guys" are capable of mistakes and what makes them good is the ability to feel remorse and change for the better. (as opposed to uther, who was miles beyond redemption since way before the pilot and deserved to lose everything and die alone. OBVIOUSLY???)

in a world where morgana remains multifaceted and sympathetic, mordred would get a better arc as well, so if we really wanted to, we could still end on the same tragic note that the show ended on. with so much harm inflicted onto so many innocent people by the pendragons for so long (including mordred and the many druids and sorcerers that raised him), it could realistically end up being a little too late for anything more than one shining glimpse of king arthur and the sorcerer merlin's short-lived golden age before fate catches up to them. glimpsing that reality just to immediately lose it would've been far more satisfying and far more tragic than whatever the writers thought they were doing with all that pointless carrot-dangling.

and finally, an ending in line with morgana's new and improved arc. in this version, rather than bleeding out on the forest floor alone, she would channel the morgan le fay we know from the legends: sobered up by the reality of her brother dying, she would use her high priestess status (and perhaps also her pendragon status) to be granted passage over to avalon alongside arthur on the boat — a one-way ride — just to make sure he gets there safely. this is her penance for the harm she has caused, the same way arthur's penance is to die and leave the true ruler of camelot (gwen) behind to achieve everything he was too slow and indecisive to build while he still had time.

merlin's penance, then, would be to stay behind and watch them cross over without him, waiting and waiting and waiting until they come back or until he can finally join them. which is a bit fucking harsh if i'm honest, so i'd at least make it slightly more faithful to the legends by having him return as an old man and letting him take a long nap under a tree by the shore, his body slowly enveloped by vines like the cobwebbed fisher king in 3x08, never fully sure if he's dreaming or if there really are strange shapes fading in and out of the fog over the lake. still tragic, but nevertheless a little more open-ended and whimsical than [TRUCK NOISES] THE END!

[thrandilf]

whenever people try to shove tdp in a "omg it's a typical kid's fantasy show and then it got DARK" box I'm like. I wouldn't even consider the first 3 episodes of tdp s1 to be normal whatsoever by western animation standards. regarding yes quality but also emotional weight

it doesnt laugh off or lighten death or war or dehumanization or emotional punches. it may be pg rated in most places but if it wasn't animated it would be regarded as something akin to lord of the rings or other fantasy that gets heavy and eventually has stuff like a lot of blood and losing limbs and death including child death and whathaveyou but because it's animated and the rating didn't get bumped up to pg-13 (astounding considering S6 tbh) I just

I'm sorry this is not the box it goes in it's not a kid's fantasy show that then has a few darker episodes it already starts where most other shows Might dabble in once or twice and just keeps going without pulling punches

Callum and Ezran's initial dynamic when Callum learned about their father being dead and he couldn't tell Ezran for awhile was directly inspired by Grave of the Fireflies, Grave of the fucking Fireflies, which the whole creative team watched before writing the show and it shows. in what World is even arc 1, which is only lighter because we have arc 2 to compare it to, actually like anything else we have sans atla which is also exceptional (though the constant comparing to that drives me a bit mad)

tdp is animated and some of the show's humor is goofy (like I Guess the end of S3 battle could have been more intense/we pulled the tone up a little but then it immediately goes darker again with one on one trauma) and it's something that kids like 9ish and up can enjoy for sure but there's a difference between made for children exclusively and being for everyone but something older kids can understand and like

and I feel like people who haven't watched the show and just see what it gets lumped in with do not/cannot understand what tdp is actually like and sometimes I get frustrated

[13leaguestories]

2025 Forecast

Do you hear that along the wind? It's saying "you copied and pasted this from Patreon"

looks back at 2024 Yea, naw. I don't really have much to say about it besides it gave birth to some really good ideas that got me psyched about some stories. But mostly it just felt like a really long mile with covered holes that I kept falling into. If any of you watch Neebs Gaming on YouTube, I was Simon this year. If you know, you know.

Like one of the good things is I realized Superstition needed a rewrite that has me so excited, it also gave birth to All That Comes Before (which more on that below) and that my gosh. Like I don't think I can actually explain to you how well that has helped me understand Roe's character.

Sea of Stars came up and I love that story to death, sue me.

It was not the year for shorter stories and prompts though. Like my brain just pretty much died with anything on a smaller level and I hate that. I don't know why! That's the worse part. I don't know why. It also failed on the NSFW parts. That part needs to change pronto but writing them just became ... meh.

But I'll try to stay positive. So this forecast will be a mix of what to expect in January as well as what I hope to accomplish for the year.

Superstition

January: I'm nearly done with AtCB. There's one story left for me to write and that is sitting at 60% and I'll be working on today and tomorrow in hopes of finishing it.

So, I'll repeat this again on the itch.io page as well as maybe somewhere on Tumblr. This add-on will cost $3 and each edition will just add more backstory to what already exists. For example, one of the stories is about Roe's mother's funeral. These stories will also include variables that can be be moved over and will further shape Roe & Company personality. Another example of one of the variables introduced is $fear_romance. This variable gives Roe a clingy, jealous, fear of being cheat on, never having a relationship, or nothing. This will obviously work with the characters with Zillah liking clingy but not so much Sydero.

So, with all that said. IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO GET. If you 1. just don't want to buy it or 2. know that the device you use hates exporting/importing then don't get it. It's not needed and is more so something you got cos you just want to read it and "hey, look, you get to bring over some cool variables too!"

Alright, moving on.

Yearly: I really don't know what to expect for yearly besides maybe saying I'll get all of S1 rewritten, out and ready. And will be deep into working on S2 and S2's AtCB. I feel like that can easily be reached. But saying "oh yea, S3 will be finished" when I have the other stories to do as well, yea. Can't just spout that lie.

Throne of Ashes

January: So I said that I had some news on Nour. I won't get too deep into it as I think I've said a lot about why Nour is weird for me. Long story short: I wrote Nour with the same build as I did Ruben whereas every other story ended up changing to be something totally different. Nour didn't go through that and so their story always felt like it was over much faster and wasn't hitting right in the end. Well, guess what! I found out what to do. No, I don't have an ETA.

Yearly: Obviously wanting Nour to come out. I'm aiming for Q1 and if I dedicate the early months to them then that should be easy. After that, the next character will be Ozara. No. She will not be done in 2025. (I say that so maybe my brain proves me wrong, it won't).

Sea of Stars

Obviously won't be out this year but man do I really want to put a big dent in it. Like this story gets me so excited. Look, forgive me but this story gets me so pumped to do.

Riders of Abauruth

I want to do at least something with it here. Probably after I finish Nour's route, I'll slot RoA in for a bit of fun. I miss the dragons. I tried to do a bit of it in November but it was obviously going to take all of my attention and not the "spare a day" attention I was giving it because I have to iron out some plots, brainstorm, reread the old one, etc. But I'm hyped for this.

So, uh. Here's to 2025. A year that I'm not looking forward to at all if I must be honest.

[animesmolbean]

Words Hold Power

An "The Umbrella Academy" fanfiction

Five x Reader

(Female)

Author's Note: Still no spoilers for S4, please. I'm halfway through my third watch of S1 - S3, which I started before S4 was released.

Hope you enjoy the chapter! ♥️

Chapter 2: We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals (A Funeral and Some Trouble)

The siblings couldn't believe their eyes. Their other sibling had woken up from her coma. She was alive.

Klaus was the first to react, hopping off the table and embracing the girl. “Oh (Your Name)! My precious sister! You're back from the dead!”

(Your Name) chuckled softly behind her face mask and hugged her brother back. She pulled away and signed, “I'm happy to see you too.”

Allison was next, hugging her sister. “Hello, honey. I'm so relieved.” She whispered. (Your Name) hummed happily. “Did you just wake up?” She asked the girl, noticing her pajamas. The girl nodded her head.

Vanya came over shyly. “Hi, (Your Name).” She whispered.

(Your Name) hummed softly but happily and the two sisters hugged gently. “I'm happy you're alive.” She told (Your Name). The masked girl hummed happily again before they pulled away.

“Hello, sis.”

(Your Name) turned to see Diego, giving her a gentle smile. She nodded her head to the man. While she and Diego didn't always agree and weren't the closest, they didn't outright hate each other.

Luther came over after, looking down at the girl. “I'm glad you're awake.” He simply said. He was still shocked over this. Having been here the longest and having reached on her several times, never seeing her move an inch. But, (Your Name) knew he was relieved and she nodded at him again, patting his arm.

But, when she turned her head towards the kitchen table, she felt her heart beat faster. There, she saw Five, face showing slight shock but his eyes showed relief. She slowly walked up to him, like she was on autopilot.

Five couldn't believe what he was seeing. (Your Name). The one he was the closest to, standing before him, after just being told she was in a coma. Just when he thought she wasn't alive.

“(Your Name).”

Hearing her name come out of his mouth, (Your Name) sniffled behind her mask and jogged a bit towards the boy; immediately wrapping her arms around him. Five hugged back, clinging onto her. The two embraced for some time, afraid of letting each other go.

They eventually pull away but they can't take their eyes off each other. (Your Name) was still in disbelief that she reached her hands out again and started poking Five's face and playing with his slightly messy hair.

Five gently batted her hands away. “I'm real. I'm right here.” He told her.

(Your Name) raised her hands up a little, backing up a little. That's when she noticed the newspaper. She walked over and picked it up. Her eyes widened at the headline stating that her father was dead.

“This must be very shocking for you.” Allison said to the masked girl. The girl nodded her head before placing the newspaper back on the table. She had no idea how to feel about this. Five, on the other hand,

“Like I said, nice to see nothing's changed.” Five turned and started to leave the kitchen.

“Uh, that's it? That's all you have to say?” Allison asked.

“What else is there to say? The circle of life.” Five said dismissively.

“Well… that was interesting.” Luther said.

Everyone agreed.

Allison spoke again, “(Your Name). Do you want to change your clothes?”

The girl looked at her pajamas and nodded her head.

“Okay. I'll take you upstairs.” Allison offered.

“Come on, Allison. She's not a baby. She can take care of herself.” Diego stated.

“Oh, but Diego, she's been out cold for seventeen years. She probably can't function correctly after not moving for that long.” Klaus whined, defending Allison and (Your Name).

“She's seventeen, not seven.” Diego snapped.

Allison sighed, rolling her eyes. “Come on.” She took (Your Name) upstairs. “You remember where the bathroom is?” She asked. (Your Name) nodded. “Great. You can get cleaned up if you can do it by yourself. We'll wait for you.”

“Thank you.” (Your Name) signed. “You're welcome.” Allison said. “I'm so happy to have my sister back, alive and well.” She added with a smile before she left to go back downstairs.

(Your Name) watched her leave, feeling a comfortable warmth all over her body at Allison's kind words. She went over to the bathroom and grabbed a towel. She heard Five curse in one of the other rooms but thought nothing of it.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't change a bit. She looked like what she did when she was seventeen. But her hair had grown significantly longer; it was almost to her knees. She rummaged around and found a brush and a pair of hair scissors. She brushed it out slowly, getting stuck on a few knots. Once it was smooth, she immediately started cutting the strands of hair. She started by bluntly cutting about ¾ of it off. Now the length was just underneath her breasts. She started to cut it more strategically. She did it in sections and after around ten minutes, her hair was now just above her breasts and in layers. (You can do whatever style you want, whether shorter or longer.)

She turned on the shower and closed the door. She removed her clothes and mask and stepped into the shower, sighing as the warm water hit her skin. She showered until she felt clean, which took her some time, then stepped out, dripping wet. She grabbed the towel and started to dry herself off. She then wrapped the towel around herself and headed to her room to find some clothes.

However, when she got to the door, she saw a glimpse of Five in there and backed away with a soft gasp. Five must've heard her because he spoke up,

“(Your Name). Sorry about this, but I heard you in the shower and decided to pick out your clothes. It's the uniform only, unfortunately.”

The girl peeked inside her room, only showing Five her eyes and up. She reached her hands out and signed, “Thank you.”

Five hummed, giving her a nod. “I'll let you change.” He left her room. (Your Name) watched him leave, noticing his cheeks were a faint shade of pink.

‘Is it because I caught him in my room? Or because he saw me in only a towel? Or both, maybe?’

The girl shrugged, not thinking too much about it, and closed the door once she was inside her room. She slipped on the oh-too-familiar uniform. She looked at herself in her full-body mirror and sighed, not liking how the skirt looked. She then noticed a pair of pants on the bed and decided to switch the skirt out for them. Luckily, the pants fit and checked herself again. She hummed in approval and left the room.

(Your Name) headed downstairs and decided to go to the foyer. She saw Vanya heading over there too, so she walked with her. “You look good.” She spoke quietly. (Your Name) hummed in thanks.

They get to the foyer and see Five standing in there, in front of the fireplace and the portrait of him over the wall. She shyly walked to him, looking at the portrait too.

“Nice to know Dad didn't forget about me.” He said. He turned to see Vanya and (Your Name) standing next to each other. “Read your book, by the way.” He added, addressing Vanya. “Found it in a library that was still standing.”

‘Still standing. What does that mean? And Vanya wrote a book?’ (Your Name) thought to herself.

Five continued as he walked, looking around. “I thought it was pretty good, all things considered. Yeah, definitely ballsy, giving up the family secrets. Sure that went over well.”

‘Did Vanya write about us? Was it positive? Negative? In between? I need to read it myself.’ (Your Name) thought to herself.

“They hate me.” Vanya simply said.

‘I don't hate you.’ (Your Name) thought to herself.

“Oh, there are worse things that can happen.” Five told Vanya.

“You mean like what happened to Ben?” Vanya asked.

This made (Your Name)’s eyes widen. ‘Wait. Where is Ben?!’ Then it hit her. ‘Don't tell me he's …’

Five asked quietly, “Was it bad?”

Vanya only nodded.

(Your Name) felt her heart drop. ‘Oh my God.’

☂

It was pouring out, thunder rumbling as the siblings all walked out to the courtyard for the funeral. Luther led the way, holding the urn that held their late father's ashes. Almost everyone opened up their black umbrellas, minus Klaus who had a clear umbrella with hot pink trim; basically a little kid umbrella. (Your Name) shared an umbrella with Five.

Luther separated from the other siblings, standing a little ways away while the others made a half circle.

“Did something happen?” Their mother, Grace, asked. Everyone looked at their mother. Allison was the one to respond, “Dad died. Remember?”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” She replied, sounding solemn. “Is Mom okay?” Allison asked in concern. “Yeah, yeah, she's fine.” Diego replied.

Klaus pulled out a cigarette and (Your Name) let out a sigh behind her mask.

“She just needs to rest. You know, recharge.” Diego continued.

Pogo arrived with his own black umbrella. “Whenever you're ready, dear boy.” He addressed Luther.

Luther opened the urn and turned it sideways to dump the ashes. However, the ashes just fell onto the ground, making things very awkward.

“Probably would have been better with some wind.” Luther pointed out.

(Your Name) secretly agreed with that statement.

“Does anyone wish to speak?” Pogo asked.

No one volunteered. They just looked around, blank faces. (Your Name) would've stepped up if she wasn't afraid to speak in general.

“Very well.” Pogo started his speech, “In all regards, Sir Reginald Hargreeves made me what I am today. For that alone, I shall forever be in his debt. He was my master… and my friends and I shall miss him very much.”

(Your Name) could tell Pogo was trying to keep it together. She felt a frown form on her face. She knew Pogo and her late father were close, and she wished she could go over and hug the monkey.

“He leaves behind a complicated legacy-”

“He was a monster.” Diego interrupted.

Klaus laughed quietly and (Your Name) looked to Klaus with a blank stare that immediately shut him up. She moved her stare to Diego. Even though Diego had a point, it was still rude to interrupt Pogo like that.

“He was a bad person and a worse father.” Diego continued. “The world's better off without him.”

“Diego.” Allison scolded.

“My name is Number Two. You know why? Because our father couldn't be bothered to give us actual names. He had Mom do it.” Diego said.

(Your Name) looked at Five and she could tell that comment kind of affected him. He masked it well but she could read him like a book.

“Would anyone like something to eat?” Their mom spoke up. “No, it's okay, Mom.” Vanya replied. “Oh, okay.”

“Look, you wanna pay your respects? Go ahead. But at least be honest about the kind of man he was.” Diego said.

“You should stop talking now.” Luther spoke up.

Diego turned to look at Luther. “You know, you of all people should be on my side, Number One.” He taunted.

“I am warning you.” Luther spoke threateningly.

“After everything he did to you?”

Things were slowly reaching a boiling point.

“He had to ship you a million miles away.”

“Diego, stop talking.” Luther growled out his sentence.

But Diego kept going. “That's how much he couldn't stand the sight of you!” He exclaimed, poking his finger on Luther's chest.

With that comment, Luther roughly pushed Diego's hand away and started to throw punches at the other male. Now the two of them were in a full on fist fight. Allison rolled her eyes while Vanya gently ushered their mom back.

“Boy, stop this at once!” Pogo ordered.

Vanya yelled at them to stop. Klaus encouraged the fighting. The two boys kept fighting. Pogo sighed before scoffing and leaving. (Your Name) didn't know what to do; she just watched with wide eyes.

“We don't have time for this.” Five muttered in disinterest as he left. (Your Name) wanted to follow him but stayed back, standing with Klaus.

The fight hit a low point when Luther went to punch Diego, but the latter dodged, causing Luther's fist to collide with Ben's memorial statue. It fell over and when it hit the ground, the head came clean off.

Klaus audibly cringed and (Your Name) flinched.

“And there goes Ben's statue.” Allison said, quietly fuming before she turned around, leaving.

Suddenly, Diego pulled out a knife.

“Diego, no!” Vanya yelled.

(Your Name) knew then, this has gone too far. She pulled down her mask as Diego went to throw the knife.

“Stop!”

Just as she used her power, the knife was thrown. But when he went to grab another, he froze when her power hit him, making him freeze. The blade scratched Luther's arm, revealing a lot of hair. Luther quickly covered it with his hand and walked away quickly, panting and gasping hard.

Everyone else was in shock. They all looked at (Your Name), who was breathing a bit heavily. She saw their eyes on her, and she quickly pulled her mask up and ran inside.

She ran past Allison and Five as she headed to her room. “(Your Name)! What's wrong?!” Allison called out to her in worry. (Your Name) couldn't hear her. She got to her room and shut the door. She sat on her bed, moving her head as she looked down at the floor, panting softly. She subconsciously felt her hand on to her wrist as she remembered a moment from her past.

〰️

17 YEARS AGO

“Nietzsche once said, “Man is as a rope stretched between the animal and the superhuman. A rope over an abyss. It is a dangerous crossing, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling, and halting.”

The seven super-powered children waited at the foot of long spiral stairs, dressed in matching green and white tracksuits. She had her signature mask on, but this one had a special invention hooked in it, allowing her to use her ability without removing her mask. Reginald said that sometimes it's needed in desperate situations or in the training they were doing today.

With the blow of a whistle from Vanya, the seven kids started running up the spiral staircase.

“As much as you strive for individual greatness, and strive you must, for it won't come to you of its own accord…”

The kids all ran as fast as they could. Luther was in the lead for some time until Diego managed to squeeze through and take the lead.

“You must also remember that there is no individual stronger than the collective.”

Out of nowhere, (Your Name) watched Five disappear and reappear ahead of Diego.

“That's not fair, Five's cheating!” Diego yelled.

“He adapted.” Reginald simply stated.

Thinking fast (Your Name) used her ability on Luther and Diego. “Pause!”

The two froze as (Your Name) ran past them. After two seconds, they came to. “What?! Now (Your Name)’s cheating!” Diego yelled.

“She adapted, too.” Reginald said simply.

Five felt a small smirk stretch onto his lips as (Your Name) caught up with him.

They both finished at the same time.

☂

“The ties that bind you together make you stronger than you are alone.”

The kids were getting tattoos today. Allison was crying as Klaus held her, comforting her. They got theirs already.

Diego was in the chair, getting his. He was squirming a bit in pain. Their mother tried to comfort him, but he flicked away, not wanting to seem like a baby.

“They will make you impervious to the pain and hardship the world will thrust upon you.”

Reginald watched them quietly. He turned to the other four, still in chairs waiting. Luther shifted uncomfortably, trying to stay strong. Ben was panting softly.

“And believe me when I tell you, life will be hard.”

Five was the most put together, only blinking nervously and fidgeting his hands a bit. He turned to (Your Name), who sat on his right. She was also panting softly, looking down at her feet nervously. Five knew she was on the verge of a panic attack. He reached his hand out to her and took her hand in his. The masked girl turned to him, eyes shiny with unshed tears. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze to ground herself. Five let her, watching her quietly.

Vanya watched from the stairway. Feeling left out, she took a marker and drew the tattoo on her wrist.

☂

“We can accomplish anything when we accept responsibility together. This is what creates trust.”

Reginald watched his children sleep, monitoring them through wires taped on their heads. The surveillance cameras showed each of them in their room as he worked at his desk.

“Together, you will stand against the reign of evil.”

〰️

(Your Name) sighed through her nose. The action made her cough a little. She looked around her room to see if there was any more throat medication. She managed to find a lot of vials in her bathroom in a secret compartment. She took a bottle, put it in her pocket and headed back downstairs.

☂

In the kitchen, Five was searching the cabinets. Klaus was seated at the table, feet up on the table as usual, guitar in his hands. Allison came in, removing her jacket.

“Where's Vanya and (Your Name)?” She asked.

“Oh. She's gone. As for (Your Name), I don't know. Haven't seen her since she used her ability on Diego.” Klaus replied.

“Wait. She used her ability?” Allison asked in surprise. Five took a moment to look at Klaus, curiosity etched on his face, but he was also secretly surprised.

“Yeah. To try to stop Diego from harming Luther. She looked scared after using it, though.” Klaus observed.

“You know she's afraid of using her ability. She always has been.” Allison said.

Just then, (Your Name) came into the kitchen. Klaus saw her first. “Oh, there you are, dear sister! I missed you!” He whined. (Your Name)’s shoulders went up in a quiet chuckle at his words.

Allison went over. “Are you okay? Klaus told us about what happened.”

The masked girl signed, “I'm okay.”

Allison nodded at her. Then, (Your Name) signed, “Where's Vanya?”

Klaus saw her hand movements and replied, “She's gone.”

“That's unfortunate.” Five spoke up.

Allison agreed verbally.

But Five was talking about something else. “An entire square block. Forty-two bedrooms, nineteen bathrooms, but no, not a single drop of coffee.”

“Dad hated caffeine.” Allison reminded him.

“Well, he hated children, too, and he had plenty of us.” Klaus pointed out, laughing afterward.

(Your Name) nodded her head at both statements.

“I'm taking the car.” Five said.

This caught the other three siblings’ attention. ‘He can drive?!’ (Your Name) thought to herself.

“Where are you going?” Klaus asked, curiosity etched on his face but also intrigue as he sat up properly.

Five glared at Klaus. “To get a decent cup of coffee.” His gaze softened when he turned to look at (Your Name). “Want to come with me?” He offered.

(Your Name) was surprised by the offer, but she nodded her head, kind of excited to hang out with Five again.

“Do you even know how to drive?” Allison asked, arms crossed over her chest.

“I know how to do everything.” Five replied. He looked at (Your Name). “You know where the car is. Head over there.” He told her before he blinked away.

(Your Name) looked at Klaus and Allison before shrugging and leaving the kitchen, heading to where the car was.

She got out by the alleyway by the mansion and saw headlights coming her way. She raised a hand up to shield her eyes from the bright lights. The car stopped in front of her. The driver side window rolled down, revealing Five.

“Need a ride?” He asked, a teasing smirk on his face.

The masked girl nodded and walked over to the other side of the car. She opened the passenger side door and got in. Five started to drive again. “We're heading to Griddy's. You remember that place, right?” Five asked. (Your Name) nodded yes excitedly.

A comfortable silence fell in the car. A few minutes passed without the two talking. Until Five asked a question,

“Why was everyone talking about you being dead?”

(Your Name) shifted uncomfortably. Five noticed her discomfort. “You don't have to tell me.”

The girl shook her head. “I was in a coma. For seventeen years.” She signed.

Five looked at (Your Name) in surprise. “Seventeen years?!” The girl nodded. “I don't know how, but I'm still seventeen physically. I should technically be 34 years old.” She signed.

‘She's like me in a way.’ Five thought to himself.

“Strange.” He muttered.

They arrived at Griddy's. Five turned the car off and got out. (Your Name) followed out and walked with him. Someone held the door open for them, and (Your Name) nodded to them in thanks. The two sit down on the high table, next to each other, and Five rings the bell on the table.

As the two waited, someone else came in and started on Five's left side.

Then, a waitress walked in after leaving the back. “Sorry, sink was clogged. So, what'll it be?” She pulled out a notepad.

“Uh, give me a chocolate éclair.” The man told her. She wrote it down and looked at the kids. “Can I get the kids a glass of milk or something?”

Five scoffed. “The kid wants coffee. Black. And she'll have (Favorite Donut).”

On cue, (Your Name)’s stomach growled.

“Cute kids.” The waitress chuckled awkwardly at the man, who was confused.

Five gave her a very fake smile, making (Your Name) lightly nudge him, silently reprimanding him.

Sensing more awkwardness, the waitress started to get the orders.

Five let out a sigh. “Don't remember this place being such a shithole. I used to come here as a kid. Used to sneak out with my brothers and sisters and eat doughnuts till we puked. You remember, right?” The last question was directed to (Your Name) who nodded her head.

“Simpler times, huh?” Five said to the man.

The man was very confused but played along. “Eh. I suppose.”

The waitress came back with the orders. The older man took out money and gave it to the waitress. “Here. I got theirs.”

“Thanks.” Five said. (Your Name) hummed and nodded her head to the man before she turned around, facing away from the two as she started to eat her donut.

Five noticed the man's jacket, seeing the logo on the front. “You must know your way around the city.” He told the man. “I hope so. I've been driving it for twenty years.” Five nodded a bit. “Good. I need an address.”

(Your Name) wasn't listening to the two, too focused on eating the sweet treat. She didn't realize how hungry she was until then.

She heard the door open and close, and she turned around again, facing the right way. She just finished her doughnut and pulled her mask back up. “Thank you.” She signed to Five.

Five hummed, nodding at her. He folded a napkin and put it in his pocket. He went to sip his coffee but stopped when the door opened again. In the reflection of the bell, he saw people enter. (Your Name) heard it too.

“Hmm. That was fast. I thought I had more time before they found me.” Five spoke.

(Your Name) looked using her peripheral vision and saw men pointing their guns at them. She felt panic rush through her veins, but she stayed still. ‘What is happening?’ She thought to herself.

One of the armed men spoke, “Okay. So let's all be professional about this, yeah? On your feet and come with us. They want to talk.”

‘Who's they?’ (Your Name) thought.

“I've got nothing to say.” Five simply said.

The armed man then suddenly pointed his gun at (Your Name). “It doesn't have to go this way. You think I want to shoot a kid? Let alone two? One that's not even involved in this? Go home with that on my conscience?”

(Your Name) swallowed nervously. She looked at Five from her peripheral vision. She saw his hands move underneath the table. He was signing to her.

“Be ready.”

The masked girl nodded a bit.

Five spoke again, “Well, I wouldn't worry about that.” He turned to look at the man. “You won't be going home.” He stealthily picked up the butter knife on the table, and with a blink of an eye, he disappeared and reappeared behind the man and threw the knife at the man. The knife lodged into the man, killing him instantly.

The other armed men started shooting, and (Your Name) immediately ducked down, avoiding the flying bullets.

“Hey assholes!” Five caught their attention before he blinked away. The armed men started shooting again. (Your Name) stayed ducked down, but she pulled down her mask, getting ready for anything.

Five appeared again, jabbing the end of a mop into one of the men in the side before blinking away again. He reappeared behind another and used his necktie to pin the guy down on a table and strangle him. One of them tried to shoot at Five, but (Your Name) quickly stood up.

“Stop!”

The man froze in place, and Five took the opportunity to grab a pencil off another table and stabbed the guy, and threw a plate at one that was behind (Your Name), knocking him down. He then pulled the pencil out of the man and stabbed him in the eye. The man screamed in pain and fell back, blood spraying out the wound.

The last two standing armed men stood up, charging at the two. Five ran to the table counter and blinked away while (Your Name) dodge rolled away, making two of them shoot each other instead of them.

Five blinked back, sighing as he walked around the carnage. (Your Name) saw one was still breathing. She turned to him.

“Die.”

With that word said, the man took his last breath and died on the spot.

(Your Name) pulled up her mask. “Great work, (Your Name). You still have it in you.” Five praised her as he got his necktie off the guy he strangled. The masked girl felt her cheeks warm up a little at the praise.

Five heard beeping and picked up a device that looked like a tracking device. He immediately grabbed a bigger knife and rolled up his right sleeve.

(Your Name) was confused at first, but when she saw Five cutting his arm, she internally panicked and went to stop him.

“It's all right, (Your Name).” He tried to reassure her. With a groan of pain, he dug into the self made cut, making poor (Your Name) whine in worry. After a few seconds, Five pulled out a tiny tracking chip, beeping softly and flashing a green dot.

‘Why does he have that in his arm? And who were those men that we just killed?’ (Your Name) thought to herself.

Five wrapped his cut with napkins and rolled his sleeve down. “Let's go, (Your Name).” He gestured her to follow him, with his head. (Your Name) followed willingly and walked on Five's right side. She watched him drop the tracking chop into a puddle near a drain. He fixed his tie with a smirk as he continued walking, with (Your Name) following beside him.

“Who were those people? Why did they follow us? What did they want with us?” The masked girl signed, getting over the slight shock she just experienced.

“Don't worry. I'll answer those questions soon. But we need to go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Just follow me.” Five instructed. “You trust me, right?” He gave the masked girl a barely there smile.

(Your Name) felt her cheeks warm up again. She nodded, signing, “Always.”

Five nodded back at her with a hum as he led her to their next destination.

☂

The pair arrived at an apartment complex.

“Who lives here?” (Your Name) signed.

“You'll see.” Five placed his hands on (Your Name)’s arms. “All right. I'm going to blink us up to the floor we need to. Hold onto me.”

(Your Name) instinctively grabbed Five's arms, and within seconds, the two were teleported into one of the rooms. The masked girl felt dizzy but managed to steady herself. She heard Five sit down in the armchair, and she just stood by him.

They heard the door unlocking and opening. Five turned on the light switch. It was Vanya.

“Jesus!” Vanya flinched in surprise.

“You should have locks on your windows.”

“I live on the second floor.” Vanya said.

“Rapists can climb.” Five coolly retorted.

“And murderers, and robbers.” (Your Name) signed.

“You two are so weird.” Vanya closed the apartment door. She removed her jacket and sat down on the couch. That's when she noticed something red on Five's shirt. “Is that blood?”

“It's nothing.” Five simply replied. (Your Name) shook her head frantically at his words, humming in denial, but the two others ignored her.

“Why are you here?” Vanya asked.

Five sighed. “I've decided you are the only one I can trust. Along with (Your Name).”

“Why me?” Vanya asked.

“Because you're ordinary.” Five replied.

(Your Name) gently hit Five's shoulder in response, silently scolding him. “Because you'll listen.” He corrected himself. “(Your Name) too.”

Vanya agreed and got up to get medical supplies. She came back, and Five rolled up his sleeve, revealing the blood-soaked napkin. Vanya started to fix him up as she looked at (Your Name).

“What about you? Do you need any fixing up?” She asked. (Your Name) shook her head, and she tapped on her pocket before pulling out a vial of throat medicine. “Oh. That's good.” Vanya nodded before she continued helping Five. (Your Name) turned the cap on the bottle and pulled up her mask before she started drinking out of the bottle. The liquid soothed her sore throat. She put the now empty bottle back in her pocket as she heard Five explain,

“When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?”

“No.” Vanya replied. (Your Name) shook her head.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Five said. “As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive. I never figured out what killed the human race, but… I did find something else. The date it happens.” Five paused for a moment.

“The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it.”

(Your Name) and Vanya were shocked. They couldn't believe what they just heard.

Vanya offered to make coffee while (Your Name) stayed, still in shock.

‘The world is ending soon? What will we do?’

[saurongorthaur9]

Right now, I'm decently sure that Galadriel is somehow going to succumb to Sauron's temptation at the end of Season 2.

I've been listening to the Season 2 track on repeat for pretty much the last 24 hours (and loving it) and the Last Temptation track has me thinking thoughts.

First, we know that there is going to be a confrontation between Galadriel and Sauron in the S2 finale, and Charlie has indicated in interviews that Sauron still thinks he can win Galadriel over and he hasn't given up on pitching his King and Queen idea to her. So, there's definitely going to be some sort of Temptation 2.0.

Second, I think whatever Galadriel is going to face is going to be ten times harder for her to resist than the S1 finale. I think this for two reasons. Firstly, in S1, Galadriel in a way had surprise and rage on her side. The fresh feeling of betrayal, the horror of the realization of what she's done, and her long-festering pure hatred for Sauron were all present and, in a way, I think made it easier for her to turn him down in the moment (though I still think she was tempted). This season however, she's going to have the entire season to marinate in all her feelings and the memories of how Halbrand made her feel seen and appreciated and her connection with him. She's going to have the whole season to miss it (and him) and yearn for it (and him).

The other reason is that Sauron will have more time to prepare to make his pitch Even Better. It's very obvious that he had already been planning his S1 finale pitch to her as Halbrand, but I think she figured him out sooner than he'd planned, and while he went along with it, he wasn't as prepared as he could have been. This time, however, he's going to have more time to prepare and he's seen what DIDN'T work already, so he can try a pitch that is more crafted to Galadriel's weaknesses. We also know there is going to be something going on all season with their psychic connection, so he's also had all season to play with her mind before their final confrontation assumedly.

So, from a character and plot standpoint, I think Galadriel is going to face something a lot harder for her to resist.

Now, from a narrative standpoint, I think it makes a ton of sense for the plot and for Galadriel's character arc and the structure of a TV show for Galadriel to succumb to Sauron's temptation (though I'm not sure what that will look like).

If they do go that route, I'm sure it's something all the lore purists will froth and foam over, but it just makes so much sense for the story that ROP is telling, particularly with Galadriel. From a storytelling perspective, it doesn't make sense to show a replay of the scene from the S1 finale. We've already seen her resist him, so it makes sense that if we get a similar scene in this season, it'll have a different outcome that shows us new aspects of the characters.

They've told us that Galadriel and Sauron's relationship and connection will remain central to the entire show for all five seasons. If that's the case, it wouldn't make sense for them to place the highest note of their relationship at the end of S1 and to merely show Galadriel rejecting him in various ways throughout the rest of the series. There's the challenge of finding new ways to explore different aspects of the characters, and having Galadriel resist in S1 only to succumb in S2 and then come back from it in S3-5 would be very narratively pleasing. Static characters aren't interesting to watch, especially over the course of a TV series, while characters who have rises and falls are much more riveting. Now, I do think there are other ways they could accomplish it, but having Galadriel fall would be a big, big way to do it.

They've also been pitching S2 as "the villain season." It's about the villains and about the darkness in each of the characters. We're going to be watching the fall of Celebrimbor and the fall of Eregion at the very least. We are most likely going to start seeing the fall of Numenor and Khazad-dum as well. It would be deeply thematically satisfying for the season to end on the note of our main heroine also falling and succumbing to the darkness that we've been watching creep over and consume everything else in Middle-earth.

Finally, it makes sense for the story they seem to be telling with Galadriel. We're seeing her growth from an ambitious, revenge-driven, impetuous warrior to become the wise, powerful, but also kinda scary elf sorceress and queen from LOTR. Given that arc and the darkness we've already gotten hints about in Galadriel, it makes sense for her arc for her to get a tiny taste of what falling would mean for both her and for everyone she loves. I could absolutely see her succumbing to her own darkness and accepting Sauron's temptation only to see the ramifications and pull away as a wiser person who carries the grief and burden of knowing what darkness does to her. I could see it fitting with that intangible grief and pain that Galadriel seems to carry in LOTR. And I think a part of her could like how she feels after succumbing to Sauron, and that feeling is something she would carry on, even after she ultimately rejects her darkness and Sauron. It would fit well with that incredible yearning and desire that we see in Galadriel when Frodo offers her the Ring years and years later, because she knows how good it feels, but ultimately she also knows the ruin it would bring because she's seen a glimpse of it.

Anyway, I'm prepared to be wrong, but right now, I'm really thinking this is the direction Season 2 is going to go (and maybe hoping just a little because it would be horrifying and gut-wrenching and amazing and awesome).

[jackie-mae]

with your outfit drawings for the mystreet character. im so curious about with vylad having outfits for s2-s6, if you want can you expand upon on that?

I WOULD LOVE TOO >:3c

Long and Short of it is I've always hated how Vylad was there in Mystreet S1, PDH S1 and then he just... dropped off the face of the earth after that. It always irked me a bit when it would show Garroth and Zane having brotherly bonding moments (and trauma) and always having the thought of (Man wasn't there a third brother in all this?) there in the back of my mind.

I'm now going to do some little bullet points of my Vylads role in S2-6 but this is a great time to mention I've never seen past S4 so I'm running on Wiki Lore and the gospel of AO3 and @catzgam3rz; who collaborates (Read: Infodump and Ramble) on a hypothetical rewrite with me so it gets vague and murky for the later seasons.

S1:

Basically the same as canon (as in S1 is kinda just slice of life) but instead of Vylad just travelling around the world he is an off the grid hunter that wanders the wilderness all the time (The freak)

This is based on my very fuzzy memories of MCD Vylad always kinda just being in trees as he watched Lady Aphmau in the early seasons so I just put Mystreet Vylad in trees for fun this time

Has a vaguely similar relationship to his brothers as in MCD. in the sense it's better with Garroth and more strained with Zane

S2:

Goes to LLP with the rest of the main cast (which consists of the 11 big designs I made) because season 2 is not when you should be writing out characters Jessica

He wears little rainboots and unlike Laurance (Who FYI wears cowboy boots a majority of the time) the rest of the cast did not get him into flip flops before he went trudging into the ocean (again a freak)

I like to imagine that if any drama is going on in the story you could always see him floating around on an inner tube off in the distance

S3:

Again back to slice of life so he does a lot of shenanigans with the cast here

This is the season where the shadow knights feature but for the life of me, I cannot remember if Vylad was officially a part of them or not (And his Wikia is not even a paragraph~) But if it turns out he was there'll probably be more shenanigans around that.

He ends up leaving mid-season (Fall ish?) to go on a hunting expedition

S4:

Oh hey look Vylad is back because we don't believe in writing characters off with little rhyme or reason Jessica

Vylads hunting expedition ends up being in the same area as the lodge. and we all know nothing bad happens there!

there's now a little ski village downhill from the lodge which is where Vylad is staying at seasons start. He's good friends with a lot of the people there.

He's a werewolf now... Don't worry about it!

Oh, what's this? Is that relationship building between him and Zane on the horizon? Well, that won't hurt at all, will it?

AY:

A not-alone buddy comforts his not-alone buddy (I do not know much about Aphmau's Year but know it's short so that's all I got)

S5:

As he is a part of the Lodge crew he gets to go to Starlight!

Possibly is involved in a certain shenanigan with his brothers I'll be posting a comic about that in a few days

Get's lost constantly. Figures Starlight being an island means he can't really get lost since he'll hit ocean eventually and refuses to acknowledge how big said island is.

Doesn't float around like in S2 but you can still find him wading on the shore in his boots

being a hyperattentive freak, he get's some bad vibes from the island sooner than most

S6

Gonna be honest, me and Catz have not watched all of When angels fall but are planning to soon so I'll just leave you with the fun fact that all of my season 6 designs are supposed echo my MCD's designs for the characters (Since S6 is when it was decided hey maybe Diaries is really important here now)

TLDR: Vylad was shafted in Mystreet so I'm fix it

[nerdflayer]

This is my opinion on why I believe the GA doesn’t see Byler.

Before I begin, I just want to say I’ve been a Byler fan since Season 1. Season 2 cemented my feelings about them. Season 3 crushed my soul. And season 4 at first watch made me feel pessimistic but eventually optimistic. As a gay boy myself I can’t help but see the whole show through Will eyes (he is me) and can’t help but fall in love with Mike. I mean he did so much for Will in the beginning, how could you not love Mike for that.

The relationship between the boys really does take a turn for the worse coming off S2 into S3 because Mikes character kind of does a 180 in terms of Bylers relationship.

Anyway. Talking about S4, we see A LOT of the CA plot line from Wills perspective. And I think this is key to people not seeing Byler. Wills feelings are made very clear. He’s depressed, traumatized, he doesn’t fit in, he is well aware of his homosexuality which brings stress and suffering and the tremendous disappointment that he has in Mikes character, yet he can’t help but love regardless. With that said, Wills POV is bleak, and coming off the back of S3 it’s easier and, I would say necessary, for his character to believe that Mike doesn’t love him. The pain of letting yourself believe they do love you only to be rejected, is very hurtful. And I don’t think that boy can handle more pain so it’s safer for him to deny the hope. Will even says “I’m not going to fall in love.”

Mikes actions also play into this. Will does not see Mikes love for him. He can’t hug him, is dismissive, he argues and blames Will at Rink O Mania, he wrote to El but didn’t seam to call Will, makes the whole trip about El, isn’t attentive to Will at all, and even when Mike apologizes for obsessing over El- every one of their conversations is still about her. Again this is Wills POV. I will say Mike does give him hints and mix messages for romantics feelings but like I said, how is Will suppose to trust? Is Will just reading into the flirting because he wants it so badly? It needs to be direct otherwise Will and the GA won’t see it or believe it.

Obviously there are a lot of hints for Byler, and I believe 100% it will happen. I’m choosing to trust the hope even though Will isn’t able to.

My point is I think Wills painful POV cannot be underestimated even if straight viewers dont like Will you can’t deny how powerful it is. Will literally helped Mike say I love you to El because he doesn’t have hope for himself. I think straight viewers use his hopeless as evidence for why Mike and El will end up together. It’s interesting that you hate Will but Will plays a role in convincing you of Milevens endgame. What they don’t understand, other than all the Byler evidence, is that Will is wrong! Mike does have romantic feelings for him and Mike will get there! Because Mike doesn’t need to find himself he needs to return to the person he’s always been. He showed us who he is and it’s the person he was in S1 & S2 and we see it when he’s with Will!

[thoughtsthatgounnoticed]

Swept up in Expectations

As an anxious and curious person, I couldn’t help but check every now and then to see what the vibe was for P2 before watching it myself. After all the excitement during the wait between P1 and 2, nothing could have prepared me for the whiplash I felt reading disappointed and equally ecstatic posts from reactions to Eps 5 to 8.

Now that I’ve seen the episodes myself I’m trying to make sense of how I felt so I’m putting the figurative pen to paper and hope anyone as confused as I am can ruminate with me.

To put simply - I think we were all swept up in the excitement of Nic and Luke’s press tour (a whole other can of worms for some) and the many spoilers, speculations, and info from cast interviews during the wait between P1 and 2 that appeared to have been Polin positive. This energy then ballooned our expectations. I personally forgot that although Bridgerton is endearing and fun, it’s ultimately not a BBC or HBO production (I love Bridgerton but it’s no Pulitzer Prize winner in writing). So I think we expected more and are crashing from our collective highs.

Then there’s Polin and Penelope. As someone who didn’t personally enjoy S1 and 2 stories, S3 was going to be one I could truly enjoy and romanticize, and experience that Bridgerton brainrot everyone keeps taking about. Admittedly, it took me listening to some discourse and a second watch to truly appreciate P1. I’ve come away with so much love for Polin and their unfolding love story as well as Pen’s journey. The friends to lovers trope is beautiful, sweet, endearing, romantic, with a lot of history between two people. It had me singing along at the top of my lungs to Taylor Swift in the car even though it’s not my usual type of music. I was swooned and romanced.

But Part 2 was…. rough…. (Ramblings below)

At least after episode 5. It felt like I wasn’t watching the same season. I knew the weight of LW was going to put Penelope through the wringer before we can ultimately move on in peace. I expected the angst, it didn’t bother me, even if it meant seeing the worst of Colin’s anger temporarily.

I think what bothers me is the wasted potential of Polin’s season brought on by unnecessary side plots that could have given more time to Colin, Penelope and Eloise’s complex relationship and individual feelings. It was a season that absolutely needed to flesh out these characters alongside LW’s plot. Instead we got lengthy scenes of side characters with no payoff or stories that could have waited to be told next season. Polin felt like side characters in their own stories, their scenes so cruelly cut between other people’s dramas - I was swooning one second to wondering why we’ve jumped to sideplot A and B, then back to swooning over Polin again (their wedding dance for example 😭).

Then there’s the question of intimacy and how we would have loved to see more - probably brought on by a rumored missing montage. Instead after all the pain, the culmination of intimacy between Polin was the 5 second scene towards the end that looked like one of Anthony or Ben’s random brothel end-of-episode montage scenes in S1. I didn’t need plenty of intimacy scenes, I just wanted there to be growth in their intimacy evolving beyond what they had in Ep 5 and after all that drama.

Part 2 should have focused on how Colin, Penelope and Eloise came to terms with the LW revelation and the aching healing process it took to overcome that because the love they have for one another was stronger. I found myself thinking how in hell they could resolve all of this and it became progressively clear that the resolution was going to feel underwhelming and rushed. Especially, when the last episode alone had another wedding, Colin and Penelope still not communicating, and like 4-5 scenes of Ben and his mistress and their lover. We sat there in complete shock at how we kept going back to those scenes when the season had bigger fish to fry.

Although the show attempted to delve into Colin’s journey post revelation, the process of overcoming his sadness/jealousy was not fleshed out satisfactorily. I’m not saying it isn’t there (the very quick scenes of him looking through Penelope’s letters, listening to her speech at the end, his speech to Cressida, interactions with Kanthony/Eloise etc) but it lacked…something. Maybe it needed just a beat longer, a few more words, a bit more time. I don’t need it to drag, I just needed more within the depth of the scenes. Funnily, some of the side plot scenes lasted longer, which was so evil. Colin deserved a concise arc like Penelope’s. I hope Luke Newton’s back wasn’t hurting from carrying all the weight of Colin’s journey through his delivery and face acting because the writers were not giving him much to work with.

And so, the ending of the season felt odd. On one hand I was happy Polin got their happy ending and in theory their progression made sense, but on the other I felt like the show did a disservice by not taking us carefully and deliberately on that progression journey we wonderfully started in S1 and 2. I will always have ep 1-5 to look back on fondly and I was teary eyed when Colin delivered his ep 8 love speech to Pen. It felt like a glimpse of what we could’ve had and what they did have in P1. However, there’s this feeling of anti-climax that is so palpable given how impactful the press tour was. Am I still walking away from this season loving Polin and enjoying the scenes we did get of them? YES. Am I satisfied with it? NO.

This is 70% an emotional rant that may subside once the excitement dies down. I have thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s input and analysis and may have just been swept up in expectations.

[markantonys]

amidst all the gawyn casting kerfuffle, i never reacted to gaebril and the potential story implications thereof!

point #1: the official character description strongly implies that gaebril is morgase's established lover, i.e. when we first meet the andoran crew at the beginning of the season, we will be introduced to him as morgase's lover & advisor (as opposed to a storyline where he's a newcomer in court and gradually gets close to her over the course of the season; if that had been the case, his official pre-season character description would've been "a new face in the andoran court who hopes to prove his loyalty to the queen" or something)

point #2: the other 6 forsaken were released during 2x08

point #3: there doesn't appear to be too big of a timeskip between 2x08 and 3x01

this leaves us with a few possibilities for gaebril.

possibility #1: gaebril was never a real person and has only ever been the persona for a forsaken

possibility #1A: gaebril has arrived at court and become morgase's most trusted companion very very quickly (like, within the span of only a few weeks).

possibility #1B: there's a longer timeskip between 2x08 and 3x01 than we think, or there's a timeskip between 3x01 and 3x02 (if the caemlyn crew isn't introduced until then), which gives forsaken!gaebril more time to worm his way into a position of influence in andor.

this is the possibility that we all immediately assumed when we saw gaebril because it's the case in the books, but upon thinking about it more, i'm not sure i buy it. 1A would raise Very Obvious red flags not only to the audience, but surely to elaida, gawyn, and galad as well, and so then why would they all happily head out to tar valon if they have bad feelings about this new guy in town who's gained such an in with morgase so quickly? 1B doesn't feel particularly likely because unlike between s1 and s2 when a good amount of time was needed to set up various new status quos, s2 into s3 feels like we should be ready to hit the ground running and not just hang around for months before starting the next quest.

plus, both these options would make the audience's first impression of morgase be that she's a bit of a fool. even if we later learn that compulsion is being used on her, the idea of her as a super clever and cunning ruler (as per her character description) will be a pretty hard sell if our very first scene(s) of her is her placing trust in an advisor who to us is very obviously shady and probably a forsaken (show-onlys will definitely be on the lookout for potential disguised forsaken when s3 kicks off!). dramatic irony with the audience knowing someone's secretly evil but the characters around them don't know - that's much more effective when it's heartbreaking to watch than when it's frustrating to watch Because It's Just So Obvious, How Can They Not See?

this brings me to:

possibility #2: gaebril is a real bona fide andoran lord who genuinely does have a consensual relationship with morgase and has been her most trusted companion for many years, and later in the season (maybe as the finale stinger to set up s4) he gets killed by a forsaken, who then assumes his identity and begins manipulating morgase by impersonating her years-long most trusted companion.

imo, this would work better on a few levels.

it allows us to get to know the real morgase and see the smart Bad Bitch powerhouse she is before she falls under forsaken influence

it's a much subtler manipulation campaign, which would fit with the show giving competence upgrades and subtlety upgrades to the forsaken so far

while watching morgase get manipulated by A Weird Guy Who Just Showed Up could be frustrating for the audience and make her seem stupid to us, watching her get manipulated by a guy she thinks is her most trusted companion but who we know is actually a forsaken impersonating him would be so heartbreaking and we'd really empathize with her

morgase sleeping with a forsaken voluntarily but unknowingly/under false pretenses would be a tiiiiiiny bit less icky than her being literally mind-controlled-by-magic into sleeping with a forsaken (though still very icky! but similar to how the show did randfear)

it would be harder for the people around morgase to pin her increasingly erratic behavior on The Weird Guy Who Just Showed Up and would make it more believable that they fully blame HER for everything, which thus makes elayne's job of rehabilitating house trakand's reputation that much harder

if nothing is obviously different and morgase doesn't have a brand-new Weird Guy Who Just Showed Up hanging around her all the time, it's a lot more believable that the people around her don't notice anything off until it's too late

it could be a fun little way for the show to surprise readers and not just show-onlys!

it could hypothetically allow some Forsaken Consolidation by making it possible for one forsaken to do double-duty; for example, maybe sammael has a little something else going on earlier in s3 but then scoots over to impersonate gaebril for s4, thus allowing us to cut rahvin and have sammael do 2 narrative jobs. (i really do feel like rahvin would be a great one to combine with someone else because he truly does only do One Thing, albeit a very important One Thing. plus, i'm biased and want the final male forsaken slot to go to demandred because i love him and also i want the show to give us the taimandred storyline we should have gotten in the books!)

as of now, the only real objection i can think of to this theory is "why wouldn't they have just used bryne as the lover-adviser who gets killed and impersonated?" but eh, maybe they thought making gaebril a real andoran lord to start would be less of a stretch to book canon than making bryne get killed and impersonated, or maybe they don't want bryne coming anywhere near the show so as not to spark fears of siuaraine getting broken up and put with their book LIs, or maybe bryne actually will show up in the show somewhere else and thus couldn't get killed and impersonated.

[n1ghteeea]

Are there any post-season 2 episodes worth watching? My little completionist brain wants to watch the entirety of RGB before moving onto EGB, but I know the quality of it sorta falls after the changes Q5(?) made.

I saw this question and LOCKED TF IN because I wanted to give the best possible answer, sorry it took so long 😔

Season 3 is a mess. They implemented all the changes Q5 told them to do, J. Michael Straczynski left, and the quality fell into hell immediately. I’m not exaggerating when I say that 90% of the episodes are Slimer-centric, there’s just WAY TOO MUCH of him. Also Junior Ghostbusters are annoying. Also the writing is childish and bad.

HOWEVER there is a ‼️MUST WATCH‼️ ep called “The Grundel” in s3, it’s written by the goat Straczynski, it’s dark and creepy as hell, it’s interesting, it’s just like s1-2, AND it’s a must watch if you want to check out EGB bc it connects to one of its episodes directly!!

But aside from that there’s nothing to see, really. “The Bogeyman Is Back” is interesting RIGHT until the Junior Ghostbusters show up, from that point on it’s a huge waisted potential. But the first half is good bc it shows Egon at his lowest (at least in RGB terms, in EGB he hits new lows).

Now season 4 was actually surprisingly decent! After a mess that s3 was, s4 felt like average s2 episodes: nothing crazy, but still fun and enjoyable. They cut back Slimer, made Janine a proper character again, completely got rid of Junior Ghostbusters and got very good studios to animate it!

If I were to recommend specific episodes I’d say “Flipside” because the concept they introduce in it is absolutely PEAK and I wish they explored it more, and “Robo-Buster” because Janine gets a good role in this one and overall this ep feels the most like s2.

However I can safely say that you can watch through all of it bc I genuinely found it fun, and even when the plot is kinda weak the guys’ dynamic CARRIES 💪 I’m biased ofc, but they made them so soft and domestic in this season it feels like they are on a honeymoon. So yeah, would recommend!!

Season 5, ohhh season 5. Idk what they were on when writing this one. “Elementary My Dear Winston” is good if you love Sherlock Holmes, plus Winston gets a role, plus the character dynamics are good. Nothing crazy tho. “The Halloween Door” is also really good as a Halloween special, AND it was written by Straczynski and no one gets these characters as well as he does.

But apart from these two? Bad. Like, I dunno what happened, s4 was so fun but s5 feels like s3 all over again. Boring concepts, bad writing, no fun character interactions. Halfway through the season they switch to 15-minute episodes that feel incredibly rushed and even less watchable.

I did not find strength to watch s6-7 because of how fucking ugly they are visually. Not even animation-wise, but colourgrading is BAD bad. Ik there are some Straczynski eps in there but I am almost sure they are not worth the effort 😔

So yeah! That’s about it! EGB is peak start to finish tho, the worst EGB ep is like the best RGB s3-7 ep, so it’s sooo worth the watch!!

Hope this is helpful 🫶