#there are a bunch of other characters who will probably show up over the month but they haven't yet so

[barblaz-arts]

I know you've been making a lot of art of it lately, but out of curiosity, what's your opinion on Hazbin Hotel in general? I'm referring to both the show and the fandom here. Just curious.

God. What a loaded question. Are you ready? Bcuz I'm fresh from Vaggie discourse on twitter and I have a lot to say.

I think that Hazbin Hotel seems worse than it is for people who know the fandom but haven't actually watched the show. Honestly, I think it's a fine show. It isnt super incredible and I'm not gonna sing praises about how deep and thought provoking it is or whether it's an artistic masterpiece. It never tried to be that and was never advertised as such(to my knowledge) anyway. I just had a lot of fun. Like, yeh sure the cussing in the dialogue can be a bit much, especially in ep 1, but there are different writers in other episodes, so it gets better. It can be super crude yeh, but I grew up watching things like the Scary Movie franchise and other dumb american movies (yes, i was too young for them. yes, i still watched them), so it's pretty tolerable for me. It also helps that Charlie is the main character. That's one of the main reasons why I watch HH but dont watch HB. It's probably a fun show, but without a sweetheart like Charlie to balance things out, I'd just get tired of the sex jokes and mean jokes.

Compared to my last hyperfixation, I think I have more things to love about Hazbin Hotel, believe it or not. With Netflix's Wednesday, I had already been an Addams Family fan for a while and hung on because I loved the family and eventually Enid and wenclair. The show itself was honestly meh... so far! I'll give season 2 another shot.

But with Hazbin Hotel, it catered to a lot of things I've always loved. Found family with a bunch of misfits? We didnt get to see it much bcuz of the fuckass 8-ep per season format we have nowadays, but its fine its there! The juxtaposition of a kind hearted woman in a harsh world? Love love Charlie for that, I watched the show in the first place because of her. A canon lesbian lover with a "fuck the world cuz my world is you" type of love for the protag? Fuck yes. How very Pearl-from-Steven-Universe of Vaggie. And the music? The music is soooo good. I didn't know the songwriter prior to watching, so I was nervous about the songs, but I knew most of the theater actors they cast(still cant believe Jeremy fucking Jordan is Lucifer) so I figured even if the songs are mid, at least the performances would be topnotch. And they were! But the songs were a pleasant surprise. Sam Haft did real damn well. I still listen to the soundtrack to this day.

The fandom, however, is probably the worst one I've been in. And I've been in a lot in my big age... Just... lacking media literacy, and based on the replies I get when I say something on twitter, it seems a lot of them lack reading comprehension and just plain emotional intelligence too.

There's a lot of criticisms about this show that I honestly think is fair. Pacing, character design, overuse of the F word, whatever. But in my opinion, claiming that Hazbin is a male-centered show is an unfair misconception that is mostly the fault of the fandom.

Bcuz, sure, the male characters are uber popular. Alastor, Vox, Lucifer, Angel Dust and the many web of ships they're involved in went trending every few business days. But come on now. How often does a fandom even have their main protag as the most talked about character? This has been going on for ages. Just because the boys have the most merch and fics and fanarts and thirsty fans doesn't mean that they had the spotlight for most of the show itself. It only meant that they were the ones the viewers paid attention to, in a fandom filled with people drooling over the next tumblr sexyman and toxic yaoi ship of the month.

But if you actually look back at what the show gave us so far, the boys didnt outshine the women. I actually think the women got to do more and be more as characters than the men did. Let's take a look at the male characters.

Alastor was not in all the episodes. In fact, he was MIA in two out of the eight episodes. In all the episodes he was in, he was a mere side character. His purpose in season one was to stir the pot and be the intriguing mystery that occasionally quips. But he was not the one whose deeper thoughts were explored and whose character and goals was challenged THROUGHOUT the show, merely alluded to at the VERY END of the season, which is hardly him taking the spotlight away from Charlie. If you merely looked at the fan content of him, you'd think he were a father figure to Charlie(or a love interest. whatever) and that he has developed a soft spot for the Hazbins deep down in that cannibal heart of his. But if you pay attention to the show, he never had even a meaningful one on one conversation with the Hazbins. The only time that happened is when (a)he threatened Husk's life (b)when he constantly mocked Charlie while she was down in the dumps and used this as an opportunity to manipulate her and (b)when he told Niffty watching the crew sure can "make one sentimental", even tho he had taken no prior opportunity to bond with them! There's no foundation for all the fandom's claims that he could be redeemed bcuz of a budding fondness for the group, but that's all you see of his fan content(aside from the horniness). I dont have any problem with his lack of an actual relationship with the Hazbins bcuz I believe redemption for him is not what the show is going for, but it's frustrating to see people interpreting it that way BUT not seeing how horridly developed it would be if that is the case, meanwhile they turn around and say that Vaggie and Chaggie as a ship "had terrible development".

Then we have the male Vees. Vox was only ever in episode two, and was essentially a youtube reactor in episode 8. He was in ep 4 but had no speaking lines. We only know of his obsession with Alastor and the toxic relationship he has with Val. Val, meanwhile, is merely shown as the sex obsessed fiend behind Hell's sex industry and Angel's abuse. They did what they needed to do with minimal screentime. It was fine, but that's IT. Despite what little CANON gave so far, you have hundreds of people writing essays and fics and fanarts about them being complicated characters. But to reiterate, this does not mean that they are bad characters or that they don't deserve the fame. But to say that these men are better written within canon than the women is such a bold statement when most of the depth they knew of these characters were lore drops given before the show and their own speculations as they dug into the shallow soil of what the show has so far.

I'm not gonna speak about Angel and Lucifer. Because I think they were characters who were legitimately well-explored so far.

Now onto the women. So many of them were given the opportunity to have their characters challenged or given the agency to push characters and the plot forward or give you intrigue about implications of what's to come for the characters and the plot. I've talked a lot about Charlie and Vaggie. So let me talk about the other, terribly underrated women of Hazbin.

Velvette and Carmilla were the ones who advanced the subplot in the war against Heaven. Because of Carmilla's love for her family despite being a demon, an angel was killed. It gave Heaven the excuse to escalate things, but it also gave Charlie hope later on in the season that they're not powerless. Carmilla was also the first demon shown to make selfless actions that is contrary to what is expected of demons, making it proof that Charlie's belief that demons deserve a second chance isn't unwarranted. She's an interesting character, as an overlord who hangs on to power but clearly has morals. But how often do you see people writing essays about her? Eating up the fact that she's a powerful overlord but would sacrifice anything for her daughters? If Carmilla were a man, hundreds of girlies would be drooling over the crime boss who has a soft spot for his daughters.

Meanwhile, Velvette got to demonstrate why exactly she's an Overlord despite being the youngest demon in there. She's calculating and observant. She gives off a haughty vibe and constantly boasts about how she's young and fresh, but she isn't naive. During that meeting, she paid attention to Carmilla and Zestial's relationship. In order to find out who killed the angel, she riled everyone up, and when she got the feeling it was Carmilla, she mocked Zestial so that Carmilla could slip up. By playing these Overlords who are older and more experienced than her, Velvette showed what exactly her asset was to the Vees and why she's a threat, something that Vox and Val have yet to be given the opportunity to do when they were busy eye-fucking Alastor and literally fucking Angel. But in fan content about the Vees, Velvette is almost treated as an after thought to the boys...

Then we have the Seraphs. Not only were their designs gorgeous, their dynamic and presence as characters had impact to the plot and main characters.

Emily is a much needed character to show that this story isn't meant to tell you that Heaven = bad; Hell = good. There is good and bad in both, and it is so important for the protags to know that they have an ally in Emily who represents the true virtues that heaven is supposed to uphold. And I love the confrontation she had with Sera when her own view of what's right and good was challenged. We got to see the strength of her character and started the seeds of what could be heaven's acceptance of Charlie's goals.

Sera is such an interesting character to me. She was also important to show that not all angels were sadistic like Adam and Lute, but not in the same way Emily was. I have no idea so far which direction this show would go with her. But I'm intrigued by the fact that she seems to be driven by fear, unlike Adam and Lute's cruelty. She knew Lucifer and was there when he was cast out for his disobedience. Whether everything she's doing is to prevent that from happening again remains to be seen, and I'm looking forward to this kind of subplot for her.

And then Rosie! I really really look forward to seeing more from her. Spoilers aside, something I barely see people talk about is how interesting it is that Rosie is every bit the leader that Charlie hopes to be. Rosie is able to be a respected overlord in her own faction without needing to sacrifice her love for showmanship and music and her positive disposition. When we were officially introduced to her, they show how she seems to care about actually taking care of her people, not JUST ordering them around, by talking to them personally and giving advice. That's exactly what Charlie wanted to do for her people, isn't it? The hotel to Charlie was what the emporium was to Rosie. They have a lot of similarities that could set up for Rosie to be the one to teach Charlie in becoming a leader. Now whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but it is rather compelling.

So yeah! With all that said, I really dont think this show ignores its women at all. Just because a bigger part of the fandom gravitated towards the men doesn't necessarily mean its a misogynistic show so far. But if certain people are claiming that the women are badly written, then I hope they also own up to the fact that their blorbos are just as shallowly presented within the show, maybe even more so. Which wouldn't even be a bad thing! Since when did a show or character have to be amazingly written for a person to like them? That's just no fun at all. All I'm saying is... Fuck this fandom's double standards, hiding behind claims that it's the writing's fault when the problem is they couldn't be bothered to think about the women.

[alexandraisyes]

500 FOLLOWERS

Wow. 500 of you. That number feels surreal, especially after everything these past few months. (Don't scroll away there's a surprise at the bottom of the post.)

In July, I faced harassment over a rumor about being hired as a TSAMS writer. In August and September, it escalated—stalking, harassment, and widespread slander over SolarNexus, a ship I don’t even ship. October brought betrayal as someone I trusted turned out to be a predator, slandering our friend group, faking their death, and running away upon confrontation. Last month, I had to take a stand against someone sharing NSFW with minors, leading to more slander and harassment.

Now it’s December, and honestly, fandom discourse feels inevitable. But you know what? I don’t care.

This community has been so supportive to me throughout this. I have grown close with friends, made new ones, and gained so many supporters and I don't know how to say thank you enough. I've reached so many of my goals for this year, and there's always going to be more work to do.

I'm starting a new fic. I'm updating my old ones. I'm making art for a voice actor. I'm a mod in the community server. And I'm finally working on a project again that I started in August.

I’ve been really hesitant to show this project off on main, beyond reblogging things here and there. I won’t reveal which character I specifically play—though it probably wouldn’t be hard to guess.

This project started as a way to support the mod who plays Lunar, who was receiving harassment simply for enforcing their boundaries. Yes, you read that right—they were harassed because they didn’t want to post negative confessions. When we saw that happening, my friends and I got together, and I said, “Haha, wouldn’t it be so cool if we just made a bunch of confession blogs to dunk on the haters and roleplay and shit?”

Within 24 hours, two new blogs popped up. One hasn’t done anything to hurt me, so I won’t name them, but we all know who they are. The second? Biased-tsams-confessions—a blog that was one of the leading forces behind the harassment I faced in August. They would flip their lid if they knew I was the leading force behind TSBS CVAU and remain its head administrator and manager. Honestly? That makes me even prouder of this project.

Of course, I couldn’t do this alone. A huge thank you to my partner in crime, @lyrical-hue, who has been my rock throughout this journey. They’ve helped smooth out the bumps along the way, making sure I don’t handle everything solo.

I’m so excited to finally share this project with my fanbase publicly. We’re expanding our world and currently looking for new members to join the group! If you’re interested, you can apply here:

Okay so now the real question. How am I celebrating this milestone? The past two times I made a post like this I did a raffle (one of which I'm still finishing the artwork for). This time I'd like to do something different.

I want to make some free emotes for the community. My community. To give back some of the support I've been given.

To be applicable for this, reblog this post with references of your character designs, AU designs, OCs, or sonas. As many as you want. They can be your own characters, or personal designs for preexisting characters. Or even just. Characters. I will literally just take canon designs of characters too. I'll even take requests for my own designs. As you can see there are a LOT of emotes there, so I need a LOT of characters from the community.

RULES:

Characters must be submitted through REBLOGS

You do not get to choose which emote is made, I do, I'm doing this for free after all

You HAVE to be following me, this is an event to celebrate my followers after all.

And uh, yeah that's kinda it. If you want to join the discord you can join here:

[embryoed]

I’m so sorry but my ass will NEVER shut up about how the writers came up with an honestly GOOD conflict with the Binary Bros in Part One, only to immediately drop everything that made it interesting in Part Two :-:

Putting my rant under the cut bc idk who’s gonna wanna hear this yapfest

Like, my biggest gripe is how they had Demetri bring up The Arm during his and Hawk’s fight for the flag, only to never mention it again. When he brought it up, a lot of people, including myself, thought that Part Two would probably explore that repressed hurt a little more. Because surely the writers wouldn’t write that into the script if they had no use for it!! Right? RIGHT???? (they did, in fact, end up not using it)

They could’ve used their conflict to make them have a very needed conversation about everything that happened between them in Seasons 2 and 3, because it’s very clear that they never properly addressed that, but they didn’t. Instead, their conflict was handled in what was probably the worst way it could’ve been.

They kept adding on all these new arguments for them to have, all of which were petty as shit and I could not care less for. The cheating plot especially gets me pissed because though I’m a firm believer that Demetri and Yasmine are both raging faggots, the writers aren’t and have been writing Demetri as genuinely being all over her, and that Demetri would NEVER cheat on her (he literally calls her his goddess like nuh uh he’s not a cheater on my soul).

And not only that, but everything they did had NO VALUE!!! All their “arguments” had no substance, especially since they weren’t even really fighting!! Wdym Demetri was supposedly extremely pissed at Hawk, but then they’re sitting together like normal at the bar? Wdym they’re suddenly ganging up on Kenny together?? IT MAKES NO SENSE!!!

Speaking of the Kenny thing, it directly contradicts Demetri’s character for him to be suspicious of Kenny. He was suspicious of him because he immediately forgave Devon for the laxatives, but he did that EXACT SAME THING in Season 3!! And his was worse!! He immediately forgave Hawk for months of torment and for BREAKING HIS ARM!!!! I mean, the writers COULD HAVE used that as an opportunity to have him actually reflect on that and ask himself why he decided to be so forgiving if he’s suspicious of Kenny for doing so, but guess what? THEY DIDN’T!!!!!

Hawk’s line to Demetri telling him to not do shitty things if he didn’t wanna face consequences is also extremely contradictory, considering the fact that he’s done some of the most shitty things out of all the teens on the show!! ESPECIALLY TO THE GUY HE WAS SAYING THAT LINE TO!!!!! Hawk did a bunch of shitty things to Demetri, but he never faced any consequences for them! He faced consequences for betraying Cobra Kai mid-house-fight through them shaving his mohawk, and he faced consequences for being a general asshole through him being an outcast in the beginning of Season 4, but he never faced any consequences SPECIFICALLY for what he put Demetri through. Again, the writers COULD HAVE used it for some reflection, BUT THEY DIDN’T!!!! GOSH!!!!!

Their conflict this season was SOLELY a plot device to make them uncoordinated and therefore bad at fighting because the writers knew that if they were coordinated then they would’ve been slamming all those other wack ass dojos from the beginning. That was it. Both characters came out largely unchanged, if not worse, than before.

The locker room make-up scene was good, but it irks me when I remember that none of their REAL problems were solved by it. I start tweaking out when I remember that they’re still never gonna be able to actually talk about their issues. Like wdym it’s canon that Demetri still has some kind of repressed hurt over having his arm broken but is never gonna actually address it :(( the dick CANNOT be that good for him to keep forgiving and forgetting im begging 😭🙏

TLDR: I’m tweaking out way too much over fictional gay people

[bengiyo]

The Trainee: Being An Adult Doesn’t Make You Inherently Functional

I watched episode 10 of The Trainee yesterday morning and had a great time with it. I’ve skimmed some of the…mixed…reactions to the Ba-Mhee storyline, and will get to those later (spoiler: I don’t think it’s inherently bad for her to go back to Tae). However, I want to get into this point that Jane made about how everyone in the company is dealing with some sort of screw up in their lives, and reflect on the internship as a whole.

Despite my investment in queer stories, I am primarily focused on this show as a workplace drama about a bunch of young people learning about their potential careers. Like @doublel27 I am glad that we’ve seen Ryan and Ba-Mhee find conviction in themselves over the course of this show. 

I know I was going to love this episode from the beginning when Jane went to see Ryan at home, and didn’t out him to his dad at all. Forever in love with Jane for presuming nothing and waiting for Ryan to take the lead. Later, I loved Jane noticing that the print shop has a similar workflow to the production house. This ties together Ryan’s recognition that he actually loves being a support player in his life. It’s what we all noticed about his role in the family business over two months ago, and it’s actually lovely to see Ryan recognize for himself that he does have some skills, and he does want to be proud of the work he does on a regular basis. I’m still hoping we return to Jane’s comments about letting go of his dreams, but I’m happy with where they are. 

I’ve loved seeing Pie blossom into a reliable team member that others go to when they need things, and I love seeing her not panic over small mistakes anymore. We got great comedy out of her tripping and spilling those papers all over the place, and the part I love the most is that Pie didn’t have a panic over it. It’s a simple thing that happens, and it was great that we didn’t have to worry about Pie. 

What we did have to worry about was Jane embarrassing himself. I’m glad @biochemjess pointed out how perfectly comedic Jane detailing everyone else’s shortcomings right as he and Ryan almost get caught flirting at work. 

As for Tae, I actually like that we see him struggling, especially since it’s been one week since he and Ba-Mhee broke up. I liked how he has been clearly working on rebuilding his independence and self-reliance since the breakup. He is feeding himself, he’s clean, and he’s completing his tasks as work. However, he’s heartbroken. It’s good that he tried to stay useful, and accepted the help of others when he was struggling. I also just really love the way Sea has played this character.

Following up the reveal that Jo is the head of the company, and that he and Pah have a lot in common, with Pah taking the lead to help Tae makes complete and total sense. It’s also clear he’s the one who’s probably doing the best at this internship thing. He’s made connections with almost everyone at the company, and quickly rallied everyone to put on a performance to help Tae attempt to reconcile with Ba-Mhee. At no point during that sequence did I doubt that everyone at that company was extra enough to participate. 

So, let’s talk about the big drama around Ba-Mhee choosing Tae. I have commented for weeks that I thought Judy was lacking in interiority for her to be a proper romantic lead. Though I liked seeing Ba-Mhee recognize that neither Judy nor Tae fit her, I agree with @peachblossomdrama that she doesn’t seem like she’s totally ready for long-term conflict management in her relationships. Still, like @burnsuncomet pointed out, they’re in their early 20s, and dealing with the first big stressor in their relationship. It’s not that surprising that Ba-Mhee would go back to the person she loves, and who she knows loves her. 

Like @lurkingshan, I was so relieved when Tae revealed that he hadn’t forgotten their anniversary and had made plans. Ba-Mhee has consistently assumed that Tae didn’t like her anymore because he was focused on his internship. I don’t think she did a great job of communicating her needs to him, and I don’t think he deserved to be cheated on for it (particularly because he hasn’t been the one pursuing a separate relationship). @neuroticbookworm did a great job covering the arc of what has gone on with Ba-Mhee, and I am with @twig-tea on recognizing that he needed to figure out how to exist independent of Ba-Mhee, that she has a right to choose who she wants to be with (including Judy), and assuring her that he will be present in the relationship in ways that are more accessible to her.

I will also say, for all the angst that’s being leveled against Tae, that boy has not once complained about Ba-Mhee to anyone, even when she was literally breaking hard drives at work to try to smother him. Meanwhile, Ba-Mhee is chatting with Pie and Judy almost daily about what Tae is and isn’t doing right. On top of that, the show was clear that Ba-Mhee is still going to be figuring out the newfound queerness she found in herself, and I think it’s important that on the “god forbid women do anything” age of the internet that we acknowledge that it’s okay for a bisexual woman to choose to stay with the boyfriend she loves and continue to work through that relationship (@waitmyturtles). I don’t think it’s baiting from the show to explore this, and I continue to lament that GMMTV has let us down so consistently on doing a solid GL plot that for so many folks this resolution is going to feel like a letdown and a betrayal (even though I don’t think the show set up any false expectations about this). I like Ba-Mhee’s arc of learning that she is good at things, and she can and should choose things for herself independent of her relationship. I also love that she learned from Judy’s behavior that being smothered by your lover isn’t a great experience! Whether she chooses to be with anyone in the future, this is a truly important thing for her to learn.

We are watching an office drama that contains romances in them. I love the way this show has the interns growing from their three-month experience in this company, and I’m excited to see how Jane (and hopefully Judy) are changed by this experience. With two episodes left, I’m curious to see if Jane will face his issues with Nine and giving up on being a director. I’m curious if we’ll see Judy talk to Jane about what happened with her and Ba-Mhee, because the fact that we’ve gotten zero interiority from Judy about dating her intern has bugged me. I’m hoping that the high school connection between Judy and Jane will pull through. 

I’m so glad that OffGun continue to work together, and I’m so happy they decided to take on a drama that doesn’t center a romance between them as the driving force of the narrative. Putting them in a show where you learn that being an adult is a perpetual project is probably my favorite thing from them ever.

[calcium-chan]

DRAWMEGLE DUMP FROM LIKEFORVER AGO

drawmegle was this weird little website that was like omegle, except for drawing and nominally fewer nazis?? tho at launch that was a bit of an issue lol (idk the creator went on vacation right after advertising or something? oops). i got sucked into it for like a day or two and ended up drawing a bunch of stuff. ive lost some of it because there was this weird glitch that just deleted my drawings before i could save them or anything. OH WELL. thats also the reason some of these are slightly unfinished. im also going to be cropping most of these to just my side, exceptions where its funny, or the other persons art was nice or whatever. just know that these almost all had people on the other side who were also drawing their own thing. also of note, i wont be posting these in order of creation, its mostly arbitrary tbh

this first one is of haru from dorohedodo. i had just finished reading the manga about a month or so prior, and i really loved this character a lot. disregard the amogus or whatever. dorohedoro is really cool and its really special to me now. not a fan of the anime adaption but what the fuck else is new (im sorry if you like the anime, i just didnt like the style very much). Q hayashida is brilliant, and she clearly just really loves women like a lot, thank you miss Q!

next is this silly drawing of knives chau. scott pilgrim takes off had just aired, and i was slightly enamored with knives for a bit, i kin the scott pilgrim girl fucking sue me. i also drew kim, but the drawing deleted and this was the last save i had WAHOOOOOO its so fucking over. scott pilgrim takes off was obviously really really good in my opinion, and its like the perfect way to adapt an original work in my mind. uh shout outs knives or whatever.

oops shitty cowboy bebop drawing. i like this one well enough for how goofy it is. jets fucking face still kinda gets me. i love bebop a ton, but i dont think ive ever drawn the characters despite that. theyre actually a ton of fun to draw, like their shapes are all super varied and they have distinct style about them. very good cast of characters. i didnt even realize or mean to, but i kinda gave spike a fucking granny face, oops

uuuuhthese pissing dogs are really funny, they were fun to draw, and seeing peoples reactions to this one in particular was cool. having even a little bit of ability to draw on sites like this where randos are looking at your work as youre drawing it is always kind of an ego boost. like none of these drawings are really that great, but for the medium im happy with them, and having people show up and go "woah" was always really flattering and it was fun watching the other people draw and interacting with them in some limited capacity.

ggggundam bullshit. i left the other persons side this time because i thought it was kinda funny. i had been rewatching the early part of turn A gundam, and it really reminded me how fucking cool that series is? loran is like top 10 gender non conforming mech pilots (there are a surprising amount honestly). and it always kinda takes me off guard when i watch any gundam because they were just so forward thinking in a nominally "boy" coded genre. shoutouts the fucking gundam staff frfr.

@oretal joined me for these next two!

a lot of the shit in the second drawing is probably totally incomprehensible to like anyone outside of a select group. were both have that like, 3ds era nintendo brain parasite, so a lot of these are just weird obscure game characters or memes, or just straight up OCs. most of these are actually oretals little characters which have kind of entered that inside joke canon of being so ubiquitous between the two of us (and honestly i assume oretals friend group at large) that i kinda forget "glasses girl" isnt a well known character. many such cases. thank you oretal for drawing silly shit with me! i really like your drawing of james and your madotsuki yapping about blunt rotations to uboa. very cool

uuuh quick fire round of stuff i dont like how i drew but want to post anyways. the first one is my irl husband, aki from chainsaw man. i love him a lot, kinda hate this drawing tho, i think it was the first one i did? the second one is basil from omori, im a big fan of little blorbos who peep the horror, and basil is no exception. my friend got me the little vinyl figure of him for my birthday so i end up thinking about him a lot and i doodle him every now and then. very good design. the last one is kiruko from heavenly delusion. i did not have much hype going into the show after my middling feelings on summertime rendering (they were both in the news for being on disney+ for absolutely no reason). i dont remember what got me to watch it, but by the time episode 2 ended i was stuck in big time. i ended up binging the whole series in like one night and it was such a good time. the prototypical calcium show is probably somewhere between heavenly delusion and made in abyss. its a rough watch at times, but if you have this specific brainrot, its probably one of the best in its league tbh.

second to last is this drawing of vriska homestuck. i kept the other side because it was really pretty. im genuinely quite pleased witht his drawing, its not perfect but for what it is i find it visually appealing enough to like it. vriskas design is probably the best in homestuck, at least to me. its been a long time since ive read through homestuck proper, but something about these little shits sticks with you pretty much forever. actual fucking deadly brain parasites you get from dunking your head underwater in an infested pool, dead within days.

OOPS ALL KUMI CHAN! it had to be alien nine, it could only be alien nine. i love alien nine more than i love any of my blood relatives. kumi is literally me, i love this stupid fucking series so much you have no idea.

[azurlily]

Hey there hope you’re doing well I don’t know if you’re still taking your requests at the moment. But if you are here’s one I would like Some head canon for Azula shocking, I know and Mai Tylee and Suki With an OC who likes to sleep topless If you’re comfortable with that or interested

I'm so sorry! I thought I posted this 3 days ago and I check my account and notice it isn't there. I checked my drafts and saw it🤦🏽‍♀️. The gif of Suki I'm using is the only one with just her(no other characters in the picture), if anyone could find more with just her I'd be so thankful!!

Also does anyone know why when I press my stuff(my posts) tumblr says it doesn't exist. Yet I'll scroll down in my acc and find it. It's confusing and I'm going to have to fix a bunch of stuff because of it.

Ozai's Angel's + Suki

When fem!reader sleeps topless.

Azula

Y'all ever sent hat shocked pikachu meme? Yeah that's Azula the first time she sees you sleep topless.

I imagine it was your first night sleeping in the same bed, and you just threw your shirt off. No hesitation. Azula turned and just stared are your bare back. You still had pants/shorts on so she assumed you were going to change. Although in front of her? Really? So bold...

Instead when you turn towards the bed to lay down, you hear the loudest little squeak! It's probably one of the only times Azula will ever act like that. It's just so surprising that you'd frivolously in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

You would look over ins surprise and Azula would immediately turn around.

"Something wrong, zula?"

Azula will stomp her foot and turn back towards you, her eyes cast downwards. You didn't see anything wrong with your clothing choice seeing as you distinctly remember mentioning this to Azula multiple times before.

"You have no shirt and nothing to conceal your chest! Just what are you trying to do on our first night...disgusting!"

Of course Azula didn't mean that last part, but she said it anyway.

You just stared at her for a few moments and then laughed, if you're this far in the relationship(and it wasn't forced) you've learned Azula a lot better than most.

"I'm going to lay down, when you're comfortable: come join me?"

Just wait it out and within a few minutes you'll feel shuffling in the bed. Azula wont touch you in anyway, even to wake you up. The next few days will be her getting comfortable with sleeping next to you like this. Within a month(maybe longer if this is something that truly surprised her about you) she'll be spooning you and refusing to explain why. Don't ask either or she will stop.

Mai

The most calm about the entire situation. That doesn't mean Mai isn't surprised, she's the complete opposite in fact. Mai just doesn't show her emotions like others.

As you two were getting in bed after a long day of doing everything Azula wanted...and complaining about it when she wasn't listening. You and Mai just wanted to relax together.

It doesn't matter if it was the first time you slept together or if you simply always wore a shirt to make her comfortable. Either way Mai has to ensure she's in the right reality when you- in front of her and with no shame -begin to undress.

Mai is(despite popular belief) very awkward. Especially around the girl she's oh so in love with. Mai has, on multiple occasions, not said a single word to you for an entire day. Simply because you made her too 'flustered' to function and she was afraid that she might say something less than appropriate for the situation.

So Mai doesn't say anything. She stares, though. Her eyes don't leave you body the moment she notices what you're doing. It's already hard for her to look away when you have clothes on, but this?! You must be trying to kill her.

"Mai? Are you okay? I'm sorry should I put my shirt back on?"

That's about the only thing that will get her attention. Mai looks up at your face instead of your chest. It takes her a second to recognize your words. They turn her a slight pink, which she looks away as to not show you.

"No. It's fine. Warn me next time. . .please."

Mai has a tendency to make herself seem cold and distant for fear of hurting you. Unknowingly though, that's what ends up hurting you in the end.

You lay in the bed, turned away from Mai. You hear a slight rustle in the bed before a small voice speaks up. Not something you'd expect from her normally.

"I think you look pretty; I-I love you."

Your heart melts.

Ty Lee

A lil' NSFW

Ty Lee is the one who reacts the sweetest. I fully believe that Ty lee has seen some things from being in the circus and all. She doesn't react coldly like Mai nor is she embarrassed like Azula. Ty lee is simply happy her partner trusts her so much as to be naked around her.

You two had been sore from a long day and after bathing(separately) you headed to your room together. Ty lee sleeps in a loose shirt and shorts, she's very open with her body as long as it's her partner.

Truly, she flirts with others but you're her sun. The only person she would truly share her body with.

You take off your shirt with your back turned to Ty lee. Sometimes she wishes you would look at her when she undresses. It makes her feel better about her body, knowing her partner likes it.

Ty lee turns and sees you with no shirt. She just stares for a moment before turning back around, she assumed you were still changing and just waited a little longer.

"Uhm, are you done changing yet?"

You told her yes and she turned around. Nearly tripping over herself.

"Are you going to sleep without a shirt?!"

Ty lee barks out a bit of laughter with her words. She realized you were as soon as she said it. You smiled and simply nodded while Ty lee got a little closer to you. She enjoys your body, it's the most beautiful thing in the world to her. So it is incredibly hard for her to look away.

"You know I think you should sleep like this every night. You look. . .cute."

Ty lee pulls herself closer to you, your bodies press together. Your chests more specifically. Ty lee presses her lips to yours and you slowly lead eachother to the bed. Before you two find yourselves under the covers you hear her whisper.

"Your body's so beautiful; I'd like to see all of it."

Suki

I'm sorry if this isn't as accurate to Suki's character as you'd like!(I'm also sorry Suki's is shorter than the others)

Suki is definitely the most bashful, but in a way the least surprised. I'm more than sure she's seen her fair share of female bodies from the Kyoshi Warriors. The only difference is you're her partner, her one and only.

Suki is a very devoted lover, but(and were going off assumption) you're the first woman she's been with. So she feels safer than she would even wirh her closest friends.

As you two were heading in and getting the first bit of proper rest in a while. You didn't think about your sleeping conditions, you were just tired and uncomfortable in your own skin. As you take your shirt off you hear a loud, strangled cough behind you.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were going to change in front of me."

You laid down in the bed and turn towards Suki who looked away. She wasn't wearing her makeup, but she was still in her uniform.

"You should probably take that off. It'll be uncomfortable to sleep in."

Suki just stares at you dumbfounded, some days she wonders where her love for this idiot came from. Suki undresses, not fully knowing if you're watching or not. Her face reddening.

"Do you feel safe like that with me?"

Suki has been emotionally stunted due to her past. Many days, after meeting you, she felt like you'd find someone more devoted and leave.

That because she was a Kyoshi Warrior she wouldn't be able to fully love you.

You hum quietly, you're too tired to answer. Instead you slowly open your arms up from the bed. Suki gets in bed and snuggles into you. Her head pressing against your neck as she peppers kisses.

"I love you, you surprise me everyday."

No one in their right mind can tell me all of those girls don't have trauma. So I tried to sprinkle a little bit of that in there.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #56 – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

At the start of the year, I set out to try and read more proper literature. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was not a book I had ever heard of, or by an author I knew anything at all about. But it was on my local bookstore's and local library’s staff pick lists, and has a bunch of awards, and I think showed up on some list of Goodreads recommendations. So 9 months later I finally worked down the list to it and went in totally unprepared and with zero expectations or preconceptions.

The book’s well-written and well-executed, but I can’t say it really worked for me. Or properly, it absolutely was working for the first two thirds or so, but by the end just felt like it lost a lot of the touches that had made it interesting and was just drowning in its own sentimentality.

The book follows Sam and Sadie, two Californian wunderkunds growing up in Los Angelos in the 1980s. They meet in a children’s hospital, where Sam is being treated for a foot the was nearly shattered in a car crash and Sadie is visiting her elder sister as she’s treated for cancer. The two of them instantly begin bonding over playing Super Mario Brothers and begin a friendship and a creative partnership that will - as they grow up and found an artistically and commercially successful video game studio in the late 90s – define the shape of both of their lives, no matter how turbulent and conflicted it at points becomes.

For reasons that probably boil down to the audiobooks my mother played on road trips as a child, I’ve always had a fondness for books that track the broad sweep of a life or lives, zooming out and stretching across the years and decades. So I actually digested this a decent bit more easily than I do a lot of modern litfic that I’ve tried. For the first few hundred pages, it all even holds together very well, bouncing around the timeline and providing childhood episodes and context as it's relevant and making the central relationships compelling and emotionally plausible. Unfortunately a couple of experiments in form (one worked for me, one really didn’t) eat up a lot of page count in the final act, and entirely kill the sense of flow and structure. Not at all helped by the narrative voice losing a lot of its charm and the story growing wholly predictable (and a bit saccharine) in the closing pages.

I say ‘central relationships’ and not ‘relationship’ because describing the book as being about the relationship between Sam and Sadie is just, basically false advertising? Marx – Sam’s college roommate, later Sadie’s boyfriend, the business manager of their video game studio - is for most of the book at least as important a character as the two leads. He’s a much less interesting character – entirely too much of a natural saint, compared to how very flawed and petty Sam and Sadie are both allowed to be – but he’s a key part of the dynamic and most of the book is properly about different permutations of the trio bouncing off of each other. No other character gets a tenth of the focus and exploration of those three, and are really more props for narrative and to incite development than anything else.

The book has (until the end, anyway) a strong narrative voice that I really enjoyed, but which also may have caused me to set my expectations entirely wrong for what the book was actually planning. The only way I can really describe it is that the book reads like one of those New Yorker longreads that are trying very hard to convince you they’re not just rubbernecking some fascinatingly dysfunctional relationships and personal drama among some semi-notable creative figures. Your Bad Art Friends and similar. Deeply opinionated and gossipy, but making a show of seeming detached and objective, always making asides written from the perspective of the modern day and quoting interviews from years later about events as they occur in the narrative. As someone who is a slightly guilty fan of exactly those kind of longreads, it did make for a very fun reading experience.

But it also made me get my hopes up. Which is to say, the early chapters make quite a few references to how latter in life Sam and Sadie wouldn’t be on speaking terms, and how ‘something’ happened at Unfair Games in 2005. I was looking forward to something some messy and newsworthy interpersonal drama of the kind that doesn’t leave either of them (or anyone) looking good. The falling out does occur, but in a way that’s mostly just piles of misunderstandings and a stubborn refusal to communicate from both of them. The company always stays ostensibly together, and things never get much worse than quietly cherished bitterness and a refusal to speak. Which feels very emotionally believable, as incredibly frustrating as it is. The dramatic rupture that happens in 2005, well-

The book’s use of violence always feels slightly unreal. It intrudes on the narrative in ways that, like, they are things that happen, but feel so exaggerated and on-the-nose they took me out of the reading experience, at least a bit. A woman jumps off her balcony to her death and happens to land right in front of a young Sam. His mother stops her car on an LA highway to avoid hitting a dog, and he asks her something that keeps her talking and not moving for the crucial moment before an SUV slams into them, killing her and permanently damaging his foot. And the great end-of-second-act rupture that occurs in 2005 is a pair of homophobic gunmen storming into their office and shooting Marx because their cozy MMO lets gay people get married. Any one would have been fine, but combined they make the illusion of violence as random and capricious wear a bit thin and the writerly artifice underneath a bit too clear, at least for me.

As far as period pieces go – the story isn’t nostalgia bait, but it isn’t not nostalgia bait, either? It’s a few years before my time, so I suppose I just don’t appreciate it properly – the experience of growing up in and living through the late ‘80s through 2000s is one the book cares deeply about replicating. It generally does an excellent job making things feel of-the-moment, if occasionally by having the narrative draw pretty heavy-handed comparisons to what would be different in the present. The aesthetics (fashion, public art and marketing, fads and consumer trends) are all there, and the characters experience them like people to whom they’re novel and trendy. (Personally I could have done with a bit less effort spent describing every single outfit, but if I had memories of what people actually looked like wearing them I might appreciate it more.) It does similar things with LA and (to a far lesser extent) Boston – every other place the book touches on feels vague and a bit unreal, but LA is rendered with a real sense of place and love for the city and it’s little eccentricities.

The area where the book is absolutely nostalgia-bait is video games, and the whole heroic era of rapid changes and improvements to the medium where new boundaries were being crossed every year and a handful of sufficiently talented and dedicated first-time devs could create something genuinely revolutionary. The book even manages the neat trick of making almost every fake game the protagonists create a) plausible for the era and technology and b) actually seem like something I would want to play (less so the Pioneerville MMO created in the final act, as with many things). But I do genuinely want to play Master of Revels quite badly.

The book does share a common failing with what feels like almost every period piece, where by complete coincidence the major characters all conveniently happen to be on the Right Side of History for every really major (that is, from the perspective of the present, character-defining) political issues. This is made a bit more irritating by the fact that despite all being quite radical on the issue of e.g. gay marriage (or just not being even slightly homophobic) from the vantage of the early Bush administration, none of Sadie, Sam or Marx ever even conceive of it as being political.

The book doesn’t conceive of itself as really having politics at all – but again, in the way of a New York Magazine feature where having certain sets of liberal convictions is just a matter of personal decency and morality. A certain unexpressed but present sexual conservativism, a view of class where Sam’s grandparents owning and running a successful restaurant counts as being from the wrong side of the tracks, hyper-conscious of race but without much to really say about it. You’re all familiar with the style, I’m sure.

Anyway yeah, not a bad book by any means, but one that lasted long enough and ended weakly enough to expend any real passion or affection I’d built up for it.

[probably-writing-x]

Stunned Stunt

Summary:

Warnings: Cursing, violence and mentions of blood

Author’s Note: Hope you like this !! Let me know if you have any other requests.

———

“Alright (Y/N), we need you on set,” One of the crew knocks at the door to tell you and you push yourself up from the couch to follow after them.

This was your second season working on Outer Banks and you had still not managed to get over the fact that the entire thing felt like one big vacation rather than actual work. It was a few months of working out in the sun, with a bunch of your best friends, and your boyfriend - what more could you want?

The majority of your scenes were filmed with Drew and you’d be lying if you said that wasn’t inevitably how the two of you had become so close filming together last season. By the time filming had wrapped, the two of you still spent every day together until eventually you realised you were essentially already dating. Now, you could come back to work and act out being a couple with the guy who was your boyfriend already. Though, dating Drew was a far cry from dating Rafe - the two were polar opposites in most ways.

“There she is!” Drew grins when he sees you, makeup around his eye to make it look like he’s got a bruise, “Don’t worry you should see the other guy.”

You laugh and let him wrap his arms around you, kissing the top of your head.

“Are you excited to do some stunts?” You ask against his chest as he runs a hand up and down your back.

“You mean am I excited to watch both of us get flung across the room? Yes, I can’t wait,” He jokes, pulling away to look at you, “Time to pretend we’re toxic and probably shouldn’t be together.”

You frown at him, “Isn’t that us normally?”

Drew rolls his eyes and takes your hand in his, the two of you walking towards the waiting set.

For context, your character and Rafe had started dating at the end of last season - his first proper love interest for the show. Your character opted to forgive everything that Rafe did, becoming an apologist for him on the island, and so they’d started seeing each other. They argued and screamed and broke everything in their sight when they were in the middle of a fight. You and Drew couldn’t remember the last time you argued, and the biggest fight you’d ever had was over which film you should watch on date night.

“Alright guys we’ve got everything set up for you,” The director comes over to explain, “If you guys want to get into the places like we rehearsed, we’re going to run the argument scene first and then get you guys wired up and go straight into the explosion - we’re going to do it as one big sequence if we can.”

The two of you agree and get into your places, the two of you in a hut on the water, one that would soon go up in flames.

“Alright, quiet on set!” Someone yells but, by now, all of your attention is on Rafe in front of you, “And three, two, one, action.”

“What are you doing here Ally?” Drew drags a hand through his buzzcut hair, his face seeming to shift as soon as his Rafe side comes out, darker and more menacing than Drew could ever be.

“What do you think I’m doing here? Did you think you could just walk out and leave me there?” You wave your hands in his direction, “What do you think this is?”

“I don’t care what this is, Ally, I don’t give a shit,” He returns, his eyes burning into you, “Why can’t you get that into your head? This isn’t fucking happy families.”

He turns his back on you and drags a hand over his face, tension growing in his shoulders.

“You can’t keep doing this Rafe,” You return, injecting the character of Ally into every one of your words, “You can’t keep pushing me away and then dragging me back in when it suits you. That’s not how this works!”

“THEN THIS DOESN’T WORK, DOES IT?” The words bellow deep in the space between you, seemingly shaking the wood of the hut as you flinch back in shock.

You cower away from him slightly, tucking your arms around yourself and for just a second you see a glimpse of Drew in the regret between his eyes. But this is Rafe, and so he turns his back on you once again, a wild hand swinging towards a lantern on the table, knocking it down and shattering it over the floor.

“And cut!” The director yells and you seem to switch back to reality almost instantly, “Great job guys, we’ll get set up for the stunt now.”

“Wow, almost believed that you hated me then,” You wiggle your brows at Drew and he comes over and grabs both of your hands in his, lacing your fingers together.

“I hate doing these scenes now,” He shakes his head, “It feels so weird.”

“But you didn’t mind yelling at me before?” You joke, squeezing his hands.

“Oh, it was much easier,” Drew laughs, “I found it a lot easier to be a psychopath before you came along.”

You shrug your shoulders, “Don’t blame me babe.”

You turn around and he wraps his arms around you from behind, perching his head on your shoulder as you wait for the crew to set up the rest of the layers of the stunt. The storyline of the scene was that Rafe was about to burn down the hut, covering it in gasoline before you’d arrived, as the lantern knocks, the whole place is supposed to go up in flames - leaving you and Rafe hating each other and trapped together.

“Alright so we’re going to have you two coming out of the flames, the plan is that you’ll fly back, hit into the wall and that’s when Drew you’ll be trying to get (Y/N) out of the fire because she’ll have hit her head. Make sense?” The stunt coordinator explains, “We can have a few runs but like they said, we ideally want this as one sequence so it might take us a few tries.”

“Sure, sounds good,” You nod, “I can play dead for a while.”

“And I can pretend to care,” Drew nudges your side and you hit his arm jokingly.

“Alright, lets get into places guys,” The director calls over the speaker and you walk onto your spots as the scene is set to begin, “Three, two, one, action!”

“What the fuck have you done Rafe?” You yell, hand coming up to your face to shield you from the fake flames.

“Get out! We need to go!” Drew bellows, his voice thick with fear.

You turn and the fake explosion sets off in front of you, blocking your exit. Drew stumbles back from it, his arm up to shield his face. But, as he does, he trips and falls further back, his arm colliding with your face. Your head knocks back and you stumble slightly, hearing the director yell cut within a split second.

“Oh shit!” Drew exclaims, turning around to face you, his hand gripping your arm, “(Y/N), I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

Your hand grips at your face as you start to feel blood pool beneath your nose, “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay, you just caught my nose, it’s okay.”

“Shit, fuck, I’m so sorry, I don’t-“

Before he can say anything more, the on-set medics rush over and try to get between the two of you.

“(Y/N) come with us,” One of them says and you try to blink the blurry vision out of your eyes, “We need to get that looked at.”

They’re holding you from either side to guide you away from set before Drew can say anything more. But he watches you leave, dragging a hand over his head as his eyes start to blur with worry.

“Alright, let’s all take a break guys,” The director comments, “Are you okay Drew?”

But he’s following after you before he can think to respond.

~~~

They fix you up in the medics tent and assure you that it’s not broken but you’d likely be left with a healthy bruise. They tell you to leave ice on it but that they were happy you didn’t need any further attention and you take that as an ideal reason to get out of there.

As soon as you open the door to the medics’ trailer, you see a hunched over form sat on the few metal steps leading up to the entrance. He turns around as soon as the door opens.

“Oh my god are you okay?” Drew scrambles to stand up, “They told me not to go in but I-“

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” You half-laugh, “Don’t worry, they said it’s just bruised.”

“I just didn’t even realise you were stood there, I don’t know why, and then I don’t even know what I tripped on but it shouldn’t have been there and then I-“

“Drew!” You put a hand over his, your other hand still holding an ice pack over your nose, “Stop worrying! It’s fine, I’m genuinely okay.”

He furrows his brows, his lips parting and then closing again like he’s re-thought what he’s just about to say, “Let me see it.”

You pull the ice away from your face and he winces instantly, examining it like he wasn’t certain with the medic’s decision.

“(Y/N) that looks painful!” He grimaces, squeezing your hand.

“And that’s what medication is for,” You wiggle the pack of ibuprofen in his face, “I’m genuinely okay, I’d tell you if I wasn’t.”

Drew furrows his brows, contemplating it before deciding to believe you, “Okay, let’s go get some lunch, come on.”

He wraps an arm around your back and guides you across towards the makeshift cafeteria.

When you both get in, the rest of the cast are already sat down but they hurry over as soon as they see you, worry plastered across all of their faces.

“(Y/N)! We heard what happened, are you okay?” Madelyn frowns, scanning your features like she’s checking you over.

“Yeah, I’m okay I’m okay,” You nod your head, “It was just an accident.”

“God Drew how did you manage that?” Chase jokes, hitting him on the chest.

Drew rolls his eyes and squeezes your waist, “I’m going to get you some food.”

Rudy frowns as he walks away, “What’s up with him?”

You shake your head, “I think he just feels guilty, but I genuinely am okay. It could’ve been worse.”

Before they can say anything else, Drew comes back over to you with a full plate of food, stacked up as if he thinks you haven’t eaten in days.

“Here, come on, let’s sit down,” He encourages, guiding you over to one of the tables.

Drew sits down beside you and puts an arm over the back of your chair, rubbing your back up and down.

You can feel his eyes watching you, focused on your face as you start to eat, like he’s worried part of you is about to break in an instant.

“Drew,” You set down your fork and turn to look at him, putting a hand on his leg, “I promise you I’m okay.”

“Wha- no, yeah, I know, I was just-“

“You’re watching me eat,” You smile a little, “I love you, but I’m fine, honest.”

He sighs and nods his head, bring up one of his hands to cup your cheek, his eyes flicking between each of yours, “I just can’t believe I hurt you.”

“Drew, you didn’t mean to. It was an accident,” You lean into his touch, “I would tell you if something was wrong, it’s just going to be a bruise.”

He nods like he’s finally agreeing with you, turning and resting his head on your shoulder, his hand moving to your thigh and resting there. One thing was for certain now that the two of you were acting together again, Drew was as far from Rafe as you could possibly get.

[pinkievie]

Six controversial F.R.I.E.N.D.S opinions that I formed during a re-watch

Today marks 30 years since the Pilot episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S first aired. Happy Anniversary to one of the best show's of all time!

A few years ago, when I learned that my partner hadn't seen a single episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, I forced him into watching the whole series, every single night, for months.

Obviously, he was critical at first. However, I soon witnessed what the true magic of this sitcom was - the characters. Once the viewer understands and connects with each of the six main protagonists (which may take a season or two), suddenly the comedy and the warmth becomes so much more brilliant.

I could see a brand new fan in the making as we watched the show together, and it became obvious to me just how important the long-term watching was. The show is riddled with running inside jokes based on the character's distinct personalities and their history in past episodes.

This is why you constantly hear of people saying that they watched one or two episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and "didn't find it that funny", or the that the classic laugh track is annoying, or maybe that the characters were insufferable.

A casual viewer probably doesn't understand what is so funny about Joey sabotaging his own audition, Phoebe revealing something crazy about her past, Ross explaining how many divorces he's had, Monica tensing up at any sign of disorganisation, Rachel getting emotional over trivial things, or Chandler always having to have a sarcastic comment for any situation. But, for a fan who really knows these people, these running personality traits and archetypes are a result of the character's shared experiences and adorable friendship, getting funnier the more you watch the same jokes being developed.

However, it has now been three decades since the very first episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S first aired on 22nd September 1994, and society and popular culture has changed a lot since then. I, myself, had a bunch of realisations after re-watching the show with fresh eyes, which I didn't expect at all. I now feel that the typical fan-favourite aspects of the show in the nineties and noughties are no longer as beloved as they once were.

Of course, there are new viewers of the Z generation who would argue the show is problematic, and, in some ways, they're not wrong. Ross's ex-wife and partner are constantly labelled as lesbians even when there is no need for it to be mentioned, and the earlier seasons imply that their relationship is unusual. Monica is fat-shamed, and Chandler's Dad is vaguely genderfluid and made fun of for it. However, comparing it to media published much later, I would say F.R.I.E.N.D.S holds up as a mostly non-harmful show. (But I will get to the Ross and Rachel issue later!)

I will only ever see F.R.I.E.N.D.S as comforting and non-malicious. Plus, let us not forget the waves that the show did make during the nineties. In season two, F.R.I.E.N.D.S became the first show to air a lesbian wedding on U.S television. It also portrayed single motherhood, blended family dynamics and same sex parents, homelessness, unemployment, vegetarianism, divorce, fertility treatment, surrogacy, adoption, casual sex. Most of these themes are still stigmatised and controversial today so, for 30 years ago, this was progressive.

However, I had my eyes opened when I watched the show again, this time not as a seven year old but as a fully-fledged adult in their twenties, with all the experience of this modern, improving world.

Here are the 6 conclusions I made that may make you re-think the long-standing view of the stories and characters:

Phoebe becomes a horrible friend

Don't get me wrong, in the early seasons Phoebe is very much the stereotypical warm and loving "hippy" friend, and she is seen cleansing people's auras, giving to the poor and supporting her loved ones. Her troubled backstory also meant she was able to shed perspective on the other character's trivial problems, particularly when it came to family.

However, mid-way through the show (around the time she gives birth to surrogate triplets for her brother) her character becomes more unpredictable and unfair. She continues to do good things, of course, but specifically in terms of friendship goals, I think later season Phoebe lacks a lot. She lies constantly, uses her childhood trauma to get what she wants, is flaky, ghosts people and cuts them out, gets angry when she's not getting attention, and is occasionally insulting and violent. She's definitely a strong and confident bad ass who doesn't take any crap, but in terms of being a good friend, Phoebe is at the bottom of the list of six. (Read on to see who's at the top of my list!)

Rachel is the "main character"

People may disagree with this but, when I was growing up and being raised by this show, despite Rachel essentially being the character who initiates the series by moving to New York in the Pilot episode, I saw all the protagonists as equally important. There was no main character. They were all the star, and they still are. As was reflected in the backstage bond between the actors all agreeing to be paid the same money throughout the show's run, every character is loved and an integral part of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

However, there's a couple of things about Rachel's character and story that make her unique. Firstly, the way she is presented in the Pilot episode is that of an outsider coming into the friendship group, just like us as the viewer. So, for that important first season, Rachel becomes the viewer's eyes and ears, which is really special. As we are finding out about these characters, what they like, don't like, what they do for a living, their fears, so is Rachel. She is the closest to the audience in that respect. Rachel also goes through arguably the biggest transformation and character development on the show, going from a rich daddy's girl with no job and no responsibilities, to a mother with a fierce fashion career.

Another huge thing I noticed on a re-watch is that Rachel bonds strongly with each of the other five protagonists in ways I think is individual to her. She develops romantic crushes on all three of the boys (albeit, the Chandler one was only for one short flashback episode), and falls in love with two of them. She is also the only protagonist who has kissed everyone in the group, and she has also been room mates with everyone in the group. Whether you agree with Ross and Rachel or not, you could also see the 10 season show as a long love story or a "how I met your father" chronicle. During the last few episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S Rachel decides to say teary goodbyes to all the other friends individually, further showing up as the bridge between viewer and show, and coming full circle from Season 1.

Joey was the best friend, and was actually the most progressive

My listing of worst to best friend on the show would be Phoebe, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey. Although, the real discovery is just how different Joey feels re-watching the show in the 2020's, compared to the nineties.

When the show first aired, it would be right to assume that Joey was presented as a "ladies man", regularly dating different women, sleeping with them and not calling them back. However, in the current age of dating apps and more normalised casual sex, this behaviour no longer feels awful. Yeah, so Joey might be care-free and forgetful, however when it comes to his long-term friends and people he loves, he is one of the most attentive, caring and forgiving characters. Joey is confident to be romantic, spoil and compliment a woman when he dates, and, unlike some of the other characters, he never cheats when he does get into a committed relationship.

Another huge realisation is just how progressive Joey was, even when he was made fun of for it by the other friends in the group. Being an actor, Joey was confident to wear or do unusual or "ladylike" things, including wearing male lipstick, ladies' underwear, and a male purse, and he doesn't flinch at drinking breast milk either in an early episode. The real loving side of Joey is emphasised during his crush and relationship with Rachel, where he behaves with so much sensitivity, patience and respect, even though it's his first proper love and heartbreak (more on that storyline later!).

Monica and Chandler were underrated and should have been the main romance

I actually think this opinion isn't controversial, and when I say "underrated" what I mean is that the the writers and show runners were blind-sided and unprepared for the huge positive reception this romance had from the fans of the show.

The famous episode where Monica and Chandler first sleep together in London was originally meant to be the start of a small, short fling romance, however it really was by the power of the F.R.I.E.N.D.S audience, who cheered so loudly in the studio during filming of that episode, that the writers were forced to develop the couple into the real deal - marriage, kids and happily every after.

Obviously every romance on the show had ups and downs however Monica and Chandler felt like such a stable, comfort couple, who found love amongst their own insecurities and flaws, and they become better people together. In the nineties and noughties, people will remember that Ross and Rachel were the more famous couple, however their constant break ups, low blows at each other and mind games, makes the re-watches hard to sit through. Monica and Chandler, on the other hand, radiate love and acceptance and a true healthy relationship. A relationship I look for.

Ross was very controlling

Whilst his storylines make for great comedy, it's obvious to most people during re-watches that Ross is borderline emotionally abusive. The Ross and Rachel love story which was once the centre piece of the show has been abandoned by most modern viewers, because of how Ross continues to sabotage their relationship and then place blame on Rachel, being overly jealous of her career, and of other male prospects. He is particularly unnecessarily angry when Joey reveals his crush on Rachel, as if he's got some kind of ownership on her despite not dating her for 8 years out of the 10 season show. And yet, he can move on and get married too quickly to someone else whenever he wants.

There was a time when Ross was the hopeless romantic of the show, seemingly having constant bad luck with the ladies and being awful at flirting. However, in hindsight, he is problematic. He moves on too fast and ruins his own wedding by saying the wrong name at the alter, gets involved with one of his student's, and deceives Rachel into thinking they are divorced when they are still married. Similar to Phoebe, Ross lies and has regular tantrums, to the point where other characters have to tip-toe around him to save his feelings.

Maybe once upon a time, Ross's intense undying love for Rachel would have been seen as sweet and adorable, but when I re-watched Rachel getting her dream job for the first time and Ross suddenly getting jealous and feeling inferior, wanting Rachel literally all to himself and to not have her own life, leading to the breakdown of their relationship (where it should have stayed, if I'm honest), it was clear Ross is a horrible boyfriend.

Joey and Rachel should have ended up together

I'm going to say it - Joey was too good for Rachel.

Following all my other realisations, I think this relationship should have been endgame, and something that I think if the show was made today, would have come true. Friends to lovers and unpredictable relationships are so popular on TV today, however in the noughties we were hit with the typical "red herring", when Joey and Rachel kiss in the Season 9 finale setting up the final season of the show in a new direction.

In a big whiplash moment, however, the romance was halted in just one, arguably silly episode, where Joey and Rachel find that they can not bring themselves to have sex because they are too close as friends. This was potentially all the fault of the main cast who were strongly against the Joey and Rachel romance, and felt it was wrong. Obviously, the actors do have some ownership over the authenticity and integrity of their characters, (and, for the most part, the actors did protest unfaithful storylines on many occasions), however I don't think anyone expected that future viewers would have rooted so heavily for Joey and Rachel.

Compared to Ross's controlling and toxic attitude, Joey has a heart of gold, and always gives Rachel the space and time she needs. He never throws tantrums, despite being completely heart-broken for most of Season 8, and always does the right thing by his feelings whilst respecting Rachel. Just the idea of these two being in a relationship is all we have, as the love story didn't have time to leave the ground. However, you have to admit, if a modern viewer could pick between Ross and Joey, I think it would be an obvious choice.

What are your (controversial or otherwise) F.R.I.E.N.D.S re-watch opinions??

[sky-kenobye]

Fic idea that I've been obsessing over in the last couple of days:

TLDR: Obi-Wan gets dumped on his wedding day, Anakin suggests they get married instead to save Obi-Wan the humiliation (and money), he agrees, they get married and nobody realises the stunt they pulled (except for the few people they told), and they both realise that actually it's great to be married to each other and that they wouldn't have it any other way, and probably get their happily ever after.

(A lot more details under the cut for those who are interested!)

Obi-Wan is getting married to someone (I was thinking Satine at first but I don't want to bash on her just because she's in the way of my ship so let's say an original character 🤷), Anakin is his best man, and it's a kinda big and traditional wedding and they did the 'you can't see your bride until the ceremony' stuff, so Obi-Wan is already at the city hall(?), while the bride will be coming later, just before the start of the ceremony.

It's less than an hour before the start and some early guests are already getting there. One of the bride's guest (Padmé?) is arriving when she gets a phone call from the bride, telling her that the wedding is canceled, sorry for calling at the last minute but she had to call all the guests and she was the last one. At the same time Anakin is coming out of the building for whatever reason and Padmé is like 'wdym it's canceled? The best man is here, and I can see other guests!'. The bride kinda panicks and hangs up, and Padmé flags Anakin down to ask what's going on.

He's also baffled because Obi-Wan didn't say it was cancelled, he's ready to get married and everything and he saw him about 10 seconds ago. They try to call the bride back but she doesn't answer, then they try to call another guest of the bride that Padmé knows. She answers and they learn that apparently the bride called in the morning and said that Obi-Wan had cancelled the wedding and dumped her at the last minute and they were each calling their half of the guests to tell them not to show up (which is clearly a bunch of lies from the bride).

They go and explain all of this to Obi-Wan who's confused and angry and heartbroken. He manages to get on the phone with the bride who properly dumps him, and by that time there's very little time before the ceremony was supposed to start. Most of the (Obi-Wan's) guests are there, and it's kind of (very) humiliating to have to go in front of all these people that he knows and tell them "wedding cancelled, I've been dumped, you can go home", and on top of that it wasn't a super cheap wedding so that sucks, and the catering is already ready so he'll have to throw away a ton of food? Not a great situation.

So Anakin has an idea: what if they get married instead? It's crazy so Obi-Wan tries to argue against it:

We can't get fake married! Then let's get real married!

People will still know I've been dumped and I'm pathetically trying to save face! None of the bride's guests will be there so i doubt it.

It was still her name on the wedding announcement. Okay then, maybe she dumped you like idk a month ago and I took the opportunity to declare my secret love for you!

And we got married less than a month later? It's hard and expensive as shit to cancel a wedding on such a short notice so we took the opportunity! It's not so unrealistic for me and I could probably convince you to do it.

But then we'll be married. Yeah, so? There are worst things in the world.

Obi-Wan is skeptical but not saying no yet, and Padmé is like 'honestly coming from anybody else I'd think they lost it, but from you two? I can see it. Not even sure I'd be all that surprised tbh'.

Obi-Wan's not having a great time and getting married to Anakin sounds a thousand times better than telling people what actually happened so he says fuck it let's do it.

They form a quick battle plan: Obi-Wan will go talk to the officiant to change the bride's name to anakin's (is it legally possible in any country? Probably not but let's pretend it is and that the marriage is still valid), Anakin will find them new best men/women (probably quinlan for obi-wan and ahsoka for anakin? Or padmé since she's already in the loop) and brief them on the situation, and Padmé will find a ring that fits Anakin (she borrows one of the guest's, maybe Owen Lars'?).

Only a few minutes late, they come out in front of all the guests, do a quick speech explaining the unexpected change (with a few lies of course), and the ceremony begins. Everything goes smoothly, Obi-Wan improvises very moving (and actually 100% honest) wedding vows, Anakin is crying and forgot they needed wedding vows but manages to put a few sentences together which are equally as honest as Obi-Wan's and make people cry too (they think he forgot his vows because of the emotion). They put the rings on each other, kiss and all of that, and when they leave the building they're both beaming so wide that it doesn't occur to anybody to be suspicious, the grooms look so happy and in love!

Then it's time for the reception and everybody has a great time, the grooms have a very sweet first dance, and they're all over each other the entire evening, how adorable! And if they disappear for a little while (Obi-Wan may be happy to get married to Anakin but he still just got dumped, so he may want to have a few minutes to breath in a quiet corner and get a good hug) then everybody assumes they're making out in a closet or something. Owen laughs at them for forgetting the rings (which is what he assumes is the reason they needed his ring), and they get a lot of friendly ribbing for 'keeping their wedding a secret' from pretty much everybody.

And maybe after a few drink they do really disappear to make out and decide that marrying your best friend that you've always kind of been into without ever admitting it is pretty amazing actually.

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 17 thoughts:

Travelers backstory!!!!!!!!! WOOOO!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT THEY ARE FROM EARTH ALEPH! That really explains the mysterious nature of their backstory up to now.

Would have loved to get some PoV's from some people who aren't Trickster but I'll live.

He's just such an asshole! Like I already knew he was but god DAMN did this arc remove any doubt.

Just the worst type of asshole that can be found in MOBA games (I say this as someone who played MOBA games for years). And then given superpowers. Ugh.

THE SIMURGH FUCKING HELL OH MY GOD I LOVE HER!!!!!!!!!

SHE IS MY FAVORITE ENDBRINGER AND ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS EVEN IF SHE IS SUPER DUPER EVIL AND TERRIBLE! BUT SHE JUST SINGS IN EVERYONE'S HEADS AND THEY SEE THINGS THAT SHE WANTS THEM TO SEE AND SHE SEES THE FUTURE AND CREATES A CAUSE AND EFFECT PLAGUE BASICALLY AND I LOVE HER!!

Just the level of planning ahead she does, the number of moves ahead Simmy is playing. After the first few times she shows up they start quarantining where she attacks. Which ends up being exactly the right situation needed to push the Travelers to the choices she wanted them to make. Like, is quarantining even a counter to the Smurph or is it exactly what she wanted?

Sure precogs mess with precogs. That makes sense. But I don't know that it is as clear cut as Coil presented to Trickster. He implies two precogs just cancel each other out, but I assume it's more of a strength thing - a strong precog will cancel out a weak precog, but a weak precog will only make things a little fuzzier for a strong precog. So having Dinah would have helped against the Simurgh but I don't think it would be enough to just cancel out the Simurgh's power. Coil and Tattletale would probably also help. But I'm not convinced the last few months in Brockton Bay hasn't been more or less what Simmy wanted to happen.

Cody is the only person here that is probably more of an asshole than Krouse. Just could not get over the fact that Noelle didn't want to date him. Unbearably entitled dick. Possibly dead now, if Accord got his way. But very possibly not. Won't be surprised if he shows up again.

Cody's power is fun. I think it's the first "time travel" power I've seen. I mean Clockblocker does time freezing which is basically the same category but still, curious to see if we get any more level of time travel than this.

Marissa needs someone to make her some cookies and give her a place to hang out that isn't the house her mom lives in. I mean, I guess the current situation handles that but not how I meant.

I already liked Jess and now I like her even more. She's a cape geek! Wonderful.

Luke is interesting cause he was the only person besides Noelle who was close to Krouse at the start, but he's the first (well, aside from Cody I guess) to leave him. Really went through a character arc. Also Krouse lists Luke's "individual tragedy" as "not getting to fly" which is hysterical.

Oliver is a trans girl. Headcanon 100% established. It just fits so well. She just needs to find herself! And once she does and realizes what she actually wants to look like her power will get her there and won't need to keep adjusting! Right now Oliver's power is doing performative masculinity for them.

Noelle has had a bad time. God damn. She was having a bad time before everything happened and now she's having a very bad time. Damn. I had some guesses about her correct. Figured she was like, monstrous bottom half and normal top half. And figured touching her was bad. But I didn't foresee "touching her creates mutated evil clones". I'm sure that won't be a major problem in the next arc or two. I'm sure there won't be evil mutated clones of a bunch of capes to deal with . . .

I had long figured Travelers had Cauldron powers. It just fit with their power levels and such. I had also figured whatever Noelle's condition was, it was related to having a Cauldron power. I had a lot of guesses. None of them were "only drinks half a vial". For some reason I thought everyone would be too smart to do THAT! (I have no idea why I thought that.)

Current guess is Noelle is sort of in a never ending "trigger" event. Her power is constantly in the "building and gathering" phase and is not reaching the "lock things down" phase that normally happens (Bonesaw talked about this). Definitely a lot of other things it could be, this is just the best fit I've found so far.

This goes for Oliver too, which is why their power keeps changing how they look. Oliver just got lucky and has much less significant troubles compared to Noelle.

Got to see lots of new Case 53's. That was fun.

I expect to see more of Accord in the future. Just cause like, he gets smarter the more complex the problem. And the world is supposedly going to end due to (I think) the actions of higher dimensional entities. That is a very complex problem. And at the same time, he seems like the kind of person that might see "billions die" as a good way to reduce chaos. To simplify the world. Not saying that is what he will do, just that it seems a shame to not bring him up again.

I knew 40 people had died due to actions of the Travelers. I did not know Noelle had eaten them all! Because she tried to starve herself. I can see why it's important to keep her well fed. And why it's going to be an issue that there is no longer someone providing her with thousands of dollars of meat a week. No waste though, she has a very efficient digestive system.

The ending, with Trickster just staring at the bloodstain left behind by Coil's body while Genesis stares out at the ocean ... very good. I mean, really sucks for them, but it was a very evocative arc ending.

I wonder who won the Ransack tournament? One team disconnected because the building they were in disappeared into a space hole. I wonder what the rules are for that?

[pjsk-headcanons]

omg i have so many hcs for the characters and video games. warning this is probably the longest ask ill ever write

ichika - big classic sonic fan, also likes rhythm games (like rhythm heaven n stuff)

saki - played a lot of pokemon in the hospital bcs tsukasa would bring her his gameboy and pokemon ruby (or smtg) bcs once he showed her a surskit and she begged him to let her play bcs it was cute. she is now a die hard pokemon fan

honami - doesnt really play video games but she has lets go eevee and a bunch of eeveelution and pikaclone plushies

shiho - plays like everything, but she especially likes fighting games and ace attorney. also plays every mario game when it comes out but only bcs "of how popular he is"

minori - LOVES needy streamer overload and cute rhythm games like melatonin. she also deff plays like harvest moon & stardew valley & stuff

haruka - before she became an idol she would play like silly mobile games but she never really got into games

airi - she is obsessed with the legend of zelda and completes every game on release (unless she has a show) (thats the only exception) shes tried other games simular to tloz but none have really stuck

shizuku - she knows like the basic controls of super smash bros brawl but she sucks like hell

kohane - still cries over abandoning her nintendogs sometimes. she plays a lot of raising animal games and tycoons on roblox sometimes

an - name one rhythm game she hasnt played i dare you. any game that can slightly require musical tallent or a sense of rhythm has been played by her (not in full but like). also she likes warioware

akito - sonic nerd. tails is his fav character with shadow in close second bcs of a middle school phase he went through but shadow stuck as a fav. ena has also played a lot of sonic bcs of this man

toya - wasnt allowed to play video games but vbs and the tenmas are slowly introducing him to those like combining games like tetris and suika game. hes surprisingly good

tsukasa - hyperfixates on pokemon like every other month. he makes a persona for every character he plays and gets emotionally attached and stuff (totally not projecting)

emu - kirby lover!!! also plays splatoon at least every splatfest and cooking games. she deff plays a lot of vr and has liked that job sim vr game with the tv robots

nene - we all know she likes shooting games (but idk that many so bare w me). she deff is the one who introduced emu to splatoon & they always chiose the same splatfest team. she also plays just any arcade shooting games and used to play fortnite but shes more into cos & apex now

rui - rui makes his own video games (rom hacks the shit outa every game he plays) (also has homebrewed his wii and wii u)

kanade - likes low stress games like melatonin and animal crossing. she also plays like stupid sims like bee simulator and placid plastic duck sim (one of her favs). she doesnt like multiplayer games that much though

mafuyu - she had a gameboy advanced that her dad got her when she was younger and she played like any game on clearance bcs her mom would get pissed if a game cost too much. that gamebot is now smashed and sold for parts, so are all the games

ena - HATES sonic with a passion. i wonder whos fault that is. she would always play those dress up games but woukd mess with photoshop and stuff more

mizuki - she wasnt allowed to play like rhythm games or fasion games when she was younger. she was told to play mario, or the legend of zelda, or starfox. she managed to convince her parents to let her play kirby and shes been obsessed ever since

🍼 anon (SO SORRY THAT THIS IS LONGER THEN MY FUCKING BODY)

.

[greatwyrmgold]

i feel like everyone has their own vision for this in their head, so what do YOU think an Ai Lives version of OnK would be like? both in terms of what you think the manga itself would have been like and what you, as a fan, would like to see for the characters in that kind of scenario

So, the fun thing is, I've had a few Ai Lives AU fanfics kinda outlined and semi-scripted in the back of my head. I'll try to keep "what I think makes sense for the AU" separate from "what I thought I could justify in that fanfic," but no promises.

I will divide this into two sections. First, I'll discuss how I expect the Hoshino family dynamic would shift over time if nothing disrupted it. Second, I'll discuss a disruption that I expect/hope would happen sooner or later.

The Hoshino Family

Much like HikAi, the Hoshino family is a bunch of people with complimentary unresolved traumas. Like HikAi, there's theoretically a way where these mesh together cleanly and let everyone involved heal without complication, like a broken bone that sets itself.

Like HikAi, that would require implausible serendipity. Unlike HikAi, I don't see that devolving into violence. But the idyllic Hoshino would devolve into a normal, mildly dysfunctional family, composed of people who have minimal experience with anything except the idyllic Hoshino family and idiosyncratic forms of filial abuse.

Aqua has the least baggage. But depending on how his slide from Goro to Aqua turns out, as Ai and Ruby's baggage comes up, I can imagine him appointing himself as the Family Adult without even realizing it. The part of him that's still Goro still sees Ai as his patient, someone who needs his help.

Of course, Ai doesn't know Aqua remembers being his mother's doctor. To her, this just feels like the child/parent relationship being inverted. And I don't think she'd like that much! She'd probably blame herself before Aqua, thinking that this is all because she's a terrible childish mother, but still.

As for Ruby...she'd react basically how you'd expect a little sister to react to her big brother telling her what to do.

There'd be more tension between Ruby and Ai. Ruby wants the unconditional love a mother is supposed to give her child, Ai wants to feel like she can give someone that love; they should mesh like puzzle pieces designed for each other. But that's conditional on Ai being able to express that love.

One of the AU fics I've outlined is the first time Ai has to spend several weeks away from home. She stars in a move with a bunch of scenes shot in Hokkaido or somewhere, and a week or two later B-Komachi has its first world tour scheduled, and then that gap gets unexpectedly filled when Ai gets hospitalized away from Tokyo. (Maybe she broke her leg in a skiing accident or caught an infectious disease or something.)

Anyways, the end result is that for a couple of months, Ruby doesn't see her mama. All she has are occasional phone calls. Even if the rational part of Ruby realizes that her mama isn't intentionally abandoning her, she feels abandoned, and doesn't appreciate Aqua's appeals to her rationality. She needs Mama and mama isn't here! And Ruby's lonely and scared and mad and explodes when Mama finally shows up again. And Ai is dying inside because she feels like she's failed her kids on a fundamental level.

If there's a single moment where the "idyllic Hoshino family" phase ends, it's that. Maybe not that exact scenario, but whatever moment where Ai's work means she can't maintain that intense positive affection. After that, no matter how real Ai's love for Ruby is, it's not going to feel real the way it used to.

Crucially: The actual Hoshino family experience is, objectively, not that bad. But to Ai and Ruby, it feels like they stepped off the slippery slope. Ai worries that she's going to keep slipping until she's as bad as Ayumi, while Ruby worries that Mama's going to keep growing more and more distant until she's abandoned, like everyone except Sensei abandoned her.

Part of the problem is that the Hoshino family is kinda left to stew by itself. As long as Ai of B-Komachi is a public figure, she has to keep lying. She can't admit that she's the mother of her children to anyone she doesn't trust absolutely. That means they can't give her advice, or comfort, or even point out that from their perspective the family is still okay. It's fine. They're fine. It's fine.

(I guess there's Ichigo and Miyako. But they're not exactly an ideal nuclear family themselves.)

Odds are, the Hoshinos will stew in the fear and paranoia about becoming a Bad Family until something disrupts their status quo.

The Hoshino Disruption

The argument that Ai of B-Komachi needs to hide her family for her whole life, or at least her whole career, is contingent on Ai Hoshino being able to hide her family for her whole career. When she's just a semi-famous idol with a couple kid-kittens at home, that's not unreasonable.

But as Ai of B-Komachi's fame grows, more and more people will poke around, looking for a lead that could make their carer, or at least a tidbit that could let them pay rent. And as Ai Hoshino's kids grow, it will be harder and harder for her to balance their needs and desires against her career.

In one of the AU fics I outlined in my head, the dominoes fall like this: The Saitous set up a livestream so Ai can watch her kids' first sports festival, a paparazzi catches her watching it, he recognizes one of the kids as that boy from That Was the Start, then does a little digging to find out that that boy and his sister are legally the kids of Ai's boss, then does a little more digging to find some circumstantial evidence suggesting that Ichigo Saitou's wife was not actually pregnant when the twins were born and also they seem suspiciously close to Ai of B-Komachi.

Nothing definitive, but enough suggestions and raised questions to catch the world's attention. Because by this point, Ai of B-Komachi is the global face of J-Pop. However these suspicions accumulated into circumstantial evidence, finding out that this perfect, pure idol might have had a secret boyfriend and two children is a major story in Entertainment News.

And then there's Kamiki.

Maybe Strawberry Productions could have answered those suspicions and provided something more (seemingly) concrete than all that circumstantial evidence. But as indicated by the Ai Dies primary universe, Kamiki is still emotionally clinging to Ai and prone to doing impulsive things at her.

In my fic outline, Kamiki crashes a press release where Ai and the Saitous are answering questions about these allegations. He basically says "Yes, it's all true, Ai had children and I'm the father! Ai, will you marry me???" And Ai panics and agrees on live TV and there's no walking that back, even though she realizes it was a mistake.

Whatever the details, Kamiki is gonna do something that makes it impossible for Strawberry Productions to just dismiss the rumors out of hand. If they don't admit that they hid their idol's pregnancy, there are gonna be investigations. And those kids are Ai's children; if Kamiki elevates this story from top-tier celebrity gossip to an evening-news controversy, the truth will come out sooner or later.

The Fallout

Whatever ends up happening to Kamiki, whether he gets to marry the love of his life or gets murdered by Ryosuke for defiling history's most perfect idol, the Hoshino family is free of the burdens of secrecy. Ai can go to PTA meetings and take her kids to the movie theater and show baby pictures to her colleagues. She has so many baby pictures she never got to show anyone, it'll be years before she shows anyone pictures of what they look like now.

Of course, they'll have new burdens. Ai is probably too famous and skilled to go completely without work, but her reputation and income will probably never recover. And Ai of B-Komachi's ex-fans are going to exert as much pressure as they can. Ruby, who has been flaming the haters since she was a toddler, is going to give them more clickbait than they know what to do with.

But at least Ai Hoshino can stop lying. And whatever tribulations she must face, I don't think the Hoshino Family can know peace until that happens.

[gffa]

So, I was probably always going to be fond of TRIGUN STAMPEDE just for new content for a story that I’ve loved for so long, but I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by how gorgeous it was, how well paced it was, or how well written it was. From just fully breaking the dial off when it comes to turning up Vash’s babygirlness to the conflict between love/pacifism and rage/retribution, that two people can fundamentally disagree and yet they love each other because the other one is who they are, and added in some wildly fun side characters, it wasn’t just a ride of a show, it has utterly consumed me. NOW I’M GOING TO MAKE MY PERSONAL FEELINGS HELL EVERYONE ELSE’S PROBLEM by shoving a bunch of fic at you all and crying very loudly about how much I love all of these characters and that, if canon won’t give me a perfect happy soft ending, then by god I will make fandom do it! Thankfully, fandom has been providing, there are fics that have already healed something in me, so I hope they can make things better for you, while we all cry about how long a wait for the continuation is going to be. Join me in crying about the plants, you’ll only cry a little, I promise. (Please read the tags on any given fic, as there is a lot of plant genatalia, transmasc!Vash, omegaverse, pregnant male characters, and just general manipulation fuckery going on, and everyone’s lines in the sands are their own.) TRIGUN FIC RECS: ✦ but your grave was shallow so i carried you home by BeesKnees, knives & vash & cast, de-aging, 7.8k      Finally, he pulls the last bit of debris away. And there’s the body he’s been searching for – but not. He stares. It’s Vash, undoubtedly, but not Vash as he’s known him for so long. It’s Vash as he was, Vash as when they first arrived on this planet, young and even softer. ✦ are things still burning? (or can i come home?) by BeesKnees, knives/vash & cast/ocs, NSFW, 20.1k      Vash is so deeply asleep that he doesn’t so much as stir when Knives steps inside the room. His brother has been missing for months now, and it’s taken Knives longer than usual to track him down. Knives only understands why his brother’s been hiding from him when he sees the baby. Wrapped in Vash’s red coat, she coos up at Knives. ✦ i’m waiting for this house to burn down by BeesKnees, wolfwood & cast & background knives/vash, 6.2k      are things still burning (or can i come home?) told from Wolfwood’s perspective. (Otherwise known as the trials and tribulations of Uncle Wolfwood.) ✦ we’ve got to get back to that stinking garden by thecrazychatlady, knives/vash, NSFW, 9.1k      When Vash wakes up, Knives is dead. He knows he’s dead, knows because a piece of his heart has dissolved into ashes in his chest, and he feels the disintegrated pieces slosh around every time he moves. He also knows that Knives won’t stay dead, and that’s what motivates him into getting up every morning. He can’t be asleep when Knives wakes up. It would be disastrous. ✦ come down now by Anonymous, knives/vash, NSFW, 6.6k      Knives peers down at Vash, chin in hand. “He’s mine,” he says simply. “His first breaths were mine. Our hearts beat in time. And when you and all your kin are dust in the sand of this place, he will be mine still. Does that comfort you?” “No,” Roberto says. “No, it doesn’t. You think he’ll survive that?” “I will make him survive it.” ✦ Overdue spring (Four hundred and sixty nine days) by rizna, knives/vash, NSFW, 4.7k      “I shouldn’t have come.” “And yet here you are.” “Because—” “Because it’s been over a year since the last time we met like this, and you’re a ticking bomb, brother.” Vash winces at such undeniable truth. He can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t live without his body screaming for Nai. Nights are cold and he’s feverish, and even under the unforgiving sun, the freezing void in his chest leaves him shaking. He’s sick and his medicine is a face he shares and the first name he ever uttered. ✦ Fallen Communion by ibex_ascendant, knives/vash, NSFW, 6.7k wip      Fifty years after the Big Fall, Knives seeks out Vash for the first time. They try to make it work. ✦ affliction shall advance the flight in me by p1nk_x3, knives/vash, NSFW, 3.8k      Every year, Knives & Vash meet on the anniversary of the July Incident. ✦ but you can’t be free (‘cause i’m selfish, i’m obscene) by bukkunkun, knives/vash, NSFW, 14.9k      As the dust settles from saving Hopeland from certain death, Wolfwood finds himself taking care of a barely-cognisant Vash, who experiences a Plant bloom for the first time in ages. Unfortunately, independent Plants have neural links, and Knives, overprotective, madly jealous, and also in bloom, is never far behind. ✦ all that could have been by BeesKnees, knives & vash & cast, 9.6k      After discovering Nai and Vash, the first Independent Plants, Rem is only allowed to raise Nai. Vash is given to the research team for experimentation. There’ll be hell to pay when the twins reunite. ✦ how like a winter hath my absence been by MuseofWriting, knives/vash, NSFW, 4.1k      They bloom once a decade. It’s their time of truce. No matter how bitterly they fight, they find each other for their bloom. The alternatives, after all, are much worse. ✦ three day resurrection by Anonymous, knives & vash, 3.9k      (vash is kidnapped by bounty hunters and forces knives to retrieve him, but as he recovers, it becomes increasingly clear that something is wrong with him, and knives has to find out what it is, exactly). ✦ Contretemps by SerenePhenix, knives & vash & rem & tesla & cast, 2.6k      A look into the things that make Plants and humans so different, and that which unites them. All through the eyes of a reminiscing Vash. ✦ regret by Anonymous, knives & vash, 3.8k      Why didn’t you stop him why did you fail why did you let us die why did this happen why why why why. Vash has to look away, drowning in guilt. Knives only curls his lip at the sight, as if looking at a particularly unappetizing meal. They continue on. Vash doesn’t know where they’re going. It doesn’t matter anyways. ✦ hummingbirds by cloudycats, knives & vash, 3.9k wip      “Have you heard of Millions Knives?” doesn’t usually get a response, but “Have you heard of God?” sure does. Vash runs. It’s never far enough. ✦ Letters in the Bottom Drawer by jaybirddraws (simplestorange), knives & vash, 2.2k      Vash and Nai, throughout the years, between the lines. ✦ Guardian Angel by elisabomb (kurama3173), knives/vash, 5.2k      The death of Vash the Stampede shatters Millions Knives’ world into pieces. Never one to accept a cruel reality, he sets out to rewrite history, until he can have his brother back at his side. As many times as it takes. ✦ bloom by fizzyren, knives/vash, NSFW, 5.6k      Vash goes into heat, finds himself alone and in trouble with a group of humans. The humans don’t know that they have found themselves in trouble instead. They will learn soon enough when Knives appears behind them, razor sharp metal and rage. ✦ You Were Meant To Be Mine by Snakespell, knives/vash, NSFW, 5.7k      “So you really think the mass destruction will stop if Millions Knives gets laid,” Wolfwood laughed as he spoke. “Don’t be ridiculous.” ✦ knives rut twt drabble by fizzyren, knives/vash, NSFW, ~1k      Knives goes into rut, Vash just knows and goes to him to help. ✦ The Stars Would be Ours if Only You’d Let Them by MaladyMoon, knives/vash, nsfw, 3.1k      Or Knives brings Vash into a world of dreams in a desperate attempt to keep him. For a time, Vash is allowed to forget. ✦ Caressing Obsidian Keys Like Your Skin by alisayamin (sh_04e), knives/vash, NSFW, 1.1k      Once every few years or so, Knives reminds Vash who he belongs to. ✦ Carrying an Emptiness so Heavy by tirednbi, knives/vash, NSFW, 12.4k      (OR: Vash goes into heat and drops, but Nai comes along and reminds Vash that he has always been Nai’s mate–it’s just time for them to make it official. A long angsty buildup for a little bit of smut.)

[jezabatlovesbats]

Last but not least, Day 29 of the MCSMtober challenge was Festival. I know I’m very, very late to the challenge at this point, but I’m also super early for a very festive occasion coming up in 2025.

This game wasn’t the first thing that my young autistic self would be hyperfixated on. And, even then, I snuck onto my adult relatives’ computers to read people’s fanfics on fanfiction.net, watched people’s tribute videos and weird stuff on YouTube, and looked at their fanart on DeviantArt while it was still a useable site. But if it weren’t for this game, I wouldn’t have a reason to be posting on any of these sites I’m on.

Before this game, I wasn’t yet on the path to becoming who I wanted to be, but my life began to change for the better once I learned of its existence.

The first two episodes of Minecraft: Story Mode came out in October of 2015, back when I was 10. If I remember correctly, my first exposure to it was episode 2, Assembly Required. I remember my brother showing me videos of the opening Nether scene (where Jesse is going with Olivia), and I thought Olivia’s name was Jessie. You can probably guess what would happen in the coming months- this game took over my life and dominated 2016 and 2017 for me.

I’m not really sure how because I wasn’t really that much of a Minecraft-y kid. I remember being more into stuff like Kirby, Super Mario, and Ever After High, along with some Monster High. I think I remember playing just a little bit of Minecraft PE, but that was it. I’m not sure how I ended up being so invested in the adventures of Jesse and co. to the point where I shipped Magnugaard like a supercarrier and made a winged fanchild for them named Skyla, but I did. Did MC:SM get me more interested in Minecraft itself? Probably.

I don’t really remember much from 2015-2016. What I do remember is that in December of 2015, I wanted to roleplay a Magnugaard wedding with my brother, and I built a little wedding pavilion in my cousin’s Minecraft world when we went to visit them for Christmas. I also thought up, quote-unquote, “Minecraft: Story Mode- Updated Edition,” which had Skyla in it. You had to go with Lukas to find her. Magnugaard was also canon, and there were three minisodes you could unlock after you finished the main game.

In 2016, I also got into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and while I have a guilty pleasure for the Equestria Girls movies these days, I… did this weird thing where I swapped the MLP and MC:SM characters to play out the others’ stories. For instance, I swapped Axel with Pinkie Pie, and… Magnus with Scootaloo. Don’t ask me how I came up with that. I also spent a lot of time on this online app called Builder Buddies, where I harassed a private town and annoyingly tried to show them the, quote-unquote, “magic of friendship,” because I thought they needed it. Even when they told me to leave them be. Then, I deleted my profiles and made new ones constantly, and even lied to people that it wasn’t me, but my brother. The whole time, I also lied about having an older sister, because I used my MawMaw’s phone to play with a second profile. As you can see, I was a complete and utter piece of crap back then.

Back to Minecraft: Story Mode. I also made a bunch of sisters for my OC Skyla, one of whom would go on to become one of my main OCs, Lena. When episodes 7 and 8 came out, I became attached to another ship, Harpvor, and wanted to roleplay a wedding for them with my brother. I also liked to write little stories and make drawings about Jesse and all of her friends (including Em and Ivor) living together in a big house… and I also had the idea that Ivor would sleep in a Haunted Mansion-ish coffin. One specific story I wrote was Christmas-themed and followed Jesse and Lena venturing through the mall to get presents for all of Jesse’s friends. And, I wrote a lot of MC:SM-related stuff in my copy of Dork Diaries 3 1/2: How to Dork Your Diary, which is one of those interactive books that asks you to write in it. Here’s an example of that.

At one point, I sent a letter to Telltale Games asking them to include Skyla and another OC called Lily in the next game, but thankfully, they never got it. It’s not like they would accept suggestions from an 11-year-old fan who hand-wrote a letter and colored her drawings of the OCs in crayon. Especially right when they were about to shut down.

I wasn’t expecting Season 2 of MC:SM to come out. Before then, I had an idea for an eight-episode Minecraft: Story Mode 2 that made no sense at all. But at the time, I was hyped for the remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga to come out, and I also couldn’t wait for each episode of MC:SM Season 2 to come out. Minecraft: Story Mode drove me into wanting to be a game developer, and so I took a computer class in 7th grade. I remember listening to the soundtrack before, during, and after I did my work in that class. That changed when Unikitty came along and made me realize I was more into cartoons, but still.

As I said, Minecraft: Story Mode was what made me realize that I wanted to officially start drawing fanart and write fanfiction more. I don’t think I would even be here writing all of this if it weren’t for me seeing @minecraftninjerkid’s MC:SM Rewritten fanfictions on Wattpad, and getting super invested in them. When I saw those, I realized that I wanted to have Wattpad, because I just had to tell them that I loved their work and connect with other people who liked the stuff I liked. Yep, Minecraft: Story Mode was my first official online fandom. This was what started it all.

MC:SM Season 2 was also a major inspiration for Broken and Frozen, my Unikitty fanfiction. If you look on my Unikitty OCs’ fake wiki pages on the @unikittybigbrightworldau blog, you can see that some of the characters were inspired by characters from the game.

Despite all its flaws, my heart and soul still goes out to everyone who worked on this amazing game. I loved it so, so much back then, and it still has a very special place in my heart now. It was so much fun exploring all of these interesting locations and meeting all of these characters. It was fun to see the possible outcomes of every choice. And even though people are prone to laughing at Reuben’s death, I still remember when it sent my brother into hysterics.

In early 2021, me and an old friend of mine decided to create a collaborative drawing to celebrate the game’s 5th anniversary.

The aforementioned friend never finished their part, and for personal reasons, we don’t talk to each other anymore. Below the Thank You, they were supposed to put the game’s logo. But my skills as an artist have definitely improved since then.

In my notes app, I wrote some other things about MC:SM to express my appreciation for it, based on a tag game that I saw in @minecraftninjerkid’s story, The Life and Times of Radki. No one had tagged me because I didn’t have Wattpad yet, but I did it anyway. I included them in my message when I posted this would-be collab to DeviantArt, and now, here they are again.

My favorite moment in MC:SM was when Jesse, Reuben and Olivia stepped out of the portal into Redstonia. The scenery and the music were so cool to me.

My moment of triumph was during episode 2 of Season 2, Giant Consequences. The strays were tough for me to beat for the longest time, but I could eventually do it.

I don’t really have a hardest choice because the choices in both seasons are all super easy for me. In my notes app, I wrote that my hardest choice was in Below the Bedrock, episode 4 of Season 2. It was hard for me to choose between bringing Radar with me or saving Fred’s people because I was nervous about what was going to happen in Above and Beyond, episode 5. Now, that choice is easy- I choose to save Binta and the rest of Fred’s folk.

My favorite characters? Ellegaard, Ivor, and Jack, as I’ve explained before.

My cutest ship is definitely Harpvor! I don’t ship Magnugaard as much as I used to, but they come in a pretty close second. In my notes, I also said that Radki was another cutest ship of mine. I remember really liking it.

I remember saying that Below the Bedrock was my favorite episode, and Season 2 was my favorite season.

I didn’t have any predictions for a possible Season 3 because I didn’t think there was ever going to be one. And from the looks of things, I was right. To quote my past self, “I’m thankful that those who keep the fire of the fandom alive gave me the guts to be writing this (and possibly care about me doing it).” I’ve heard about this Block by Block revival project that’s in the works, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

And, why do I love MC:SM? Past me said that it was because of the artistic approval that I gave the game, and that’s still true now. I still love the character design, the scenery, the music, and the voice acting. But I think it’s also because I’m a huge sucker for things with tons of characters and vast worlds with lots of locations in them. I found the game’s adventures through these places so much fun, and it used them and the characters to weave together an exciting story. For me, at least. Either way, it fed my happy little heart. It’s been a part of it since I was in fifth grade, and now, I’m a college sophomore. How time flies!

I’d like to take some more time to say:

Jesse, thank you for letting us guide you on your journeys through your Overworld, the Nether, the End, the Far Lands, through other Overworlds, and the Underneath. There’s a good reason why you’ve become a legendary, world-renowned hero. I agree with you a million percent when you say that teamwork makes the dream work, and that your strength comes from your friends. We’re all stronger together! It’s also great that different variants of you exist so that anyone can see themself in you.

Olivia, thank you for your intelligence and your determination. I can totally relate to you worrying about what others think of you, and I believe that many other people can as well. I’m so happy that you’ve had a boost in your confidence, and I REALLY wish we could have gotten to see you more.

Axel, thank you for being such a loyal, caring, and supportive friend, and for such a generous guy, too. I didn’t forget when you went out of your way to make Reuben a cute little dragon costume, or when you handed out cookies to your friends to lift your spirits. You’re such a selfless person, and I wish we got to see you more, too.

Petra, thank you for your loyalty to your friends and for your capability and daring nature. I know how it feels to watch old friendships fade, so I can understand your resentment in Season 2. I also understand how it feels to be a nostalgic person. My old friend loves you so much, and I definitely see why. Whatever you decide to do, I’m wishing you well.

Lukas, thank you for your kindness and your smarts. It’s great how, right from the start, you tried to keep things cordial and fun amongst everyone. You were always so polite with others, but you weren’t a total pushover, either. I’d want to read your books, and I think it would have been cool if they’d released a real version of your journal for us to read.

Radar, thank you for your bravery and hard work. You really came into your own as an adventurer, and you always stood by Jesse and the New Order’s side. I even consider you to be a member of the Order. I would always choose to have you be Jesse’s co-leader, or the leader of Beacontown when they leave. I have every confidence in you.

Ivor, thank you for your knowledge, your flair for the dramatic, your quirks, and your silliness. You must have a lot of guilt on your shoulders from what you did, but I’m glad that you were willing to redeem yourself. I’m glad that you’re on good terms with Jesse and the gang, too. You were also absolutely hilarious at times! When it all comes down to it, you really do care. We miss your VA.

Reuben, thank you for being the kindest and most courageous pig we know. You were there with Jesse every step of the way during their journey to defeat the Witherstorm. You picked them up when they were down, and at the end of the day, you saved everyone. We really miss you, little guy.

I’m also thankful for all the good guys, bad guys, and other guys in the game for being their amazing selves, and for the many people who worked on the game for being so amazing, too. You all put your hearts into something that was such a big game changer for me. No pun intended.

Will I do a tribute video for the game’s actual anniversary once it rolls around next October? You know I will!

Minecraft: Story Mode helped me to craft my own story, as those two shorts with Petra and Jack said, in more ways than one. I would like to thank @stirpicus and every single one of the other writers, designers, directors, and artists who came together to work on this wonderful game. I would also like to give my thanks to the entire voice cast for using their talents for it, and to Antimo and Welles for their beautiful soundtrack. EVERY SINGLE person who was involved with MC:SM in one way or another has my deepest gratitude. Everything you did led to something truly great. And the universe said I love you.

I would also like to give a huge shoutout to all of my fellow Minecraft: Story Mode fans and enjoyers, past and present. You guys are great, and I’m so glad there are still people out there who love the game as much as I do! If you want to, you can reblog this post and talk about what MC:SM means to you, and why you love it. This prompt IS for a festival, so come on and join in the fun!

And, thanks so much to @bumpkin-bug for setting up the MCSMtober challenge! This concludes my submissions for it! It was such an honor to participate in it, even if it took me longer than expected! I plan to go as Yellow Clip Jesse next Halloween!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. I hope you’re all able to live your lives with as much happiness as possible. We’re all in this together.

Thank you, goodnight, and happy holidays! 💝

With all my love,

Jezabat 🦇

(Hailey W.)

[mozillavulpix]

On the one hand, yes, I know spending months thinking about "when does Satoru get to be a Precure" and not letting up even when the show is almost over is maybe a sign of slight insanity. A reasonable person would probably say it's not worth to keep getting your hopes up for so long when there's a chance it won't happen.

On the other hand, they put stuff like this in

Satoru wanting to be helpful is like the strongest emotional beat this episode. They even brought out the Hirogaru Sky OST for this scene. Like the OST for Wonderful wasn't even dramatic enough for this.

Any reasonable director would say "okay, having Iroha say that 'she thinks about Satoru when she's in a pinch' isn't nearly as satisfying from a dramatic standpoint to properly resolve this big hanging plot thread that actually informs this entire character who's been here from the very beginning"

why would they cook so hard on the love interest if his only purpose in the plot is to support Iroha? Why would they even attempt to let us understand what he thinks and feels if those feelings don't matter to the plot at hand?

the only reasonable explanations are they're cooking something with Satoru for later or that the staff are a bunch of cruel sadists expecting us to be satisfied with 5 minutes of them in the movie.

the second option just seems implausible the more you think about it

(god the end of episode 35 is pure cinema. mayu and mey mey, komugi's "suki?", the falling of the leaves...no wonder it hooked me good)