#this episode gives me more surprises every time I watch it :D

[helifreds]

I just had a mind blowing realization

Ok no, it didn't happen right now but yesterday evening but this isn't the point

I was watching 'Timber' (thank you whoever randomly decided to trasmit the A-team during week) and when the famous "gay couple at morning" scene camed I realized that what I thought for one whole year was completely wrong

I was convinced that in their bedroom there were two beds, the one where Face is sleeping (or trying so) and another one on the opposite side

Turned out there's just one - pretty little - bed that they shared (the pillows' position prove it) and Murdock's imaginary bed space is occupied by a closet lol :')

[cxtori]

Hello 👋 can you please write dating headcanons for Uramichi and Mitsuo from Life lessons with Uramichi Oniisan? Thank you ☺️

Dating Headcanons ft. Uramichi Omota & Mitsuo Kumatani

tori’s note: sorry this took me so long, anon. i suck at writing headcanons for some reason lmao

Uramichi

you met Uramichi when he came into the digital planning department after being sent to invite you to a work party.

You were talking (arguing) with Kikaku about some new toy design when he walks in, though the conversation continues

Uramichi is surprised when you get Kikaku to retreat and stop his yelling. Uramichi is intimidated by you, and yet he finds himself drawn to you at the same time

After talking to you he realizes you’re actually a very kind person. You just don’t take Kikaku’s shit and he respects you for it

He seeks you out at the work party and spends the entire evening talking to you. You’re so drawn to each other and find it super easy to have a conversation last hours and you were both sad when the party comes to an end

He surprises himself when the words “would you like to get dinner sometime” leave his mouth. But he’s even more surprised when you say yes. The rest is history

Despite what some may think, he’s not great at communication.

He’s been so used to handling his own problems that it doesn’t really occur to him that he should talk them through with you.

But, all you have to do is bring it up once for him to realize his mistake and correct it. It’s a bad habit, and it’ll take some time to break it, but he does his best because he wants to be the best for you.

Just because you’re dating doesn’t mean his depressive episodes will go away. He’ll have his days when all he wants to do is curl into bed and hide away from the world.

On these days, be patient with him. Give him his space but remind him that you will always be there for him

He’s for sure very playful with you. With other’s, he often comes off as quiet and closed off. But around you, he’s smiling, laughing, actually enjoying himself.

He’s a bit touch starved. Between his childhood and his unsuccessful love life up to this point, he’s never received much physical affection.

Because of this, he’s attached to your hip almost constantly. He’s always touching you in some way, whether it be his arms wrapped around your waist or your pinkies interlocked.

He’s not very big on pda though. He much prefers to leave his physical affection at the house. unless no one’s looking lol

You take a lot of evening walks. The quiet street, the cool night air, and his warm hand wrapped around yours. Yep, those are your favorite.

He’s the type that enjoys cuddling on the couch. Whether you’re watching a movie or sitting in silence, he doesn’t care. he’s with you, that’s all that he needs.

Mitsuo

You met him at the store when buying cat food

You were mumbling to yourself, trying to decide if you should get chicken or shrimp when Mitsuo walks up beside you to pick something up

He overheard you talking to yourself and ended up suggesting a food brand, which ultimately led you to talk about your new cat and show him pictures, which he thoroughly enjoyed

After that, you would bump into each other in the pet section every now and then until one day he just blatantly asks you out

He loves to take you fishing. Even though he’s the one who puts the bait on the hook and takes the fish off cause it grosses you out

No one does emotional support like Mitsuo. Anytime you’re upset about something, he’s right there beside you with his arsenal of things that he knows will make you feel better

There is absolutely no hiding your feelings from him. He’s perceptive, and when your mood shifts even a little, he notices. And there’s no point in lying or brushing it off. He knows, and you know he knows

He’s actually amazing at communication. He knows when to speak and when to let things be. And while he typically doesn’t speak on things, it’s different with your relationship. He knows how crucial it is and he doesn’t disregard it.

He’s mild when it comes to physical affection. He likes to cuddle, but it if starts to get too hot, he’s the first to untangle himself from you lol

When he makes out with you though? whew

He doesn’t mind pda, but he’s not super obvious about it. he’ll hold your hand around others just fine. but expect him to steal kisses the moment people look away

Despite being a usually quiet and reserved person, he’s very open around you, especially in private

You are required to watch every man-eating salmon movie at least once lol

Speaking of man-eating salmon, it makes him laugh. It’s one of the few things that makes him genuinely chuckle like a goofball. His laugh sounds like heaven

You two definitely start fostering cats. It accidentally started with 1, and then it turned into 3, and then into 5

You’ll go back and forth on the pros and cons of possible adopters, which will sometimes turn into silly, unserious arguments lol

©Cxtori 2023 please do not copy, plagiarize, repost or translate. reblogs appreciated

[tea-earl-grey]

I watched every Star Trek episode & here are my opinions.

as the title says – i finished all the Star Trek shows as of today yesterday and since i watched most of them while i wasn't using tumblr, i want do do some mini-reviews – both what i think are objectively the best shows and which are my personal favorites. i might make a couple more "ranking" posts for theme song/pilot/finale/favorite epsiodes/etc eventually but this post is already long as hell. i'll also probably do a movie post sometime but i want to rewatch the AOS movies first since i haven't seen Into Darkness since it came out (before i was actively a Trekkie).

also just as a note, these are fully my own opinions & tastes. i'm not trying to argue that any of these shows are bad (nor are any flawless), i'm just Some Guy giving my opinions.

continued under the cut. apologies for how long this is but there sure is a lot of Star Trek.

Watch Order

my opinions are probably a bit influenced by the order that i first watched these shows in so just as some background – i watched sporadic episodes of TOS & TNG when i was a kid which was enough to be familiar with the characters, general vibes, & world but not enough to really get into it. in late 2020/early 2021 i watched DS9 per a friend's recommendation and really loved it and decided to give all the different shows a shot. i watched all of TNG summer 2021, watched some of Disco & (what was then all of) Lower Decks in fall 2021. i started Voyager spring 2022, was interrupted because of Life Stuff and finished it spring 2023. i watched the first season of snw & prodigy sometime in between then. watched Picard spring 2023 just before s3 aired. watched Enterprise summer/fall 2023. finished Disco spring 2024 (just before s5). did a slow march through TOS between summer 2023 and summer 2024. and finally i watched TAS this past month. and i've been keeping up with all recent releases since 2023.

i've also rewatched a large amount of Trek either with my mom or friends at various times so i've ended up seeing most episodes twice (or more in the case of DS9 & Voyager).

Somewhat Objective Ranking:

there's a large difference for me between shows that i think are objectively good & ones that i'm personally attached to so here's just my attempt at ranking Star Trek shows by how good i think they are from a critical lens, not necessarily my favorite.

for me – a good show, and specifically a good Star Trek show, should have in my opinion a) a diverse & strong cast of characters, b) have unique & compelling plots whether they're based in science fiction, politics, or philosophy, c) has a strong moral center & explores the nature of humanity in some way, d) allows the audience to believe in a better future, e) is consistent (both with continuity and episode quality), f) does something to differentiate it from other shows, and g) is actually entertaining.

i don't think any shows come close to fulfilling all of those qualities but some do better than others.

11. The Animated Series: probably not a surprise that it comes in last. it's a fun show by the standard of kid's cartoon in the 70s and i genuinely do like it but it has a lot of the flaws of TOS (lack of continuity, lack of character depth, flimsy plots) with few of the upsides. though i do like how the secondary characters get more of a focus than in TOS.

10. Enterprise: big jump up in quality here from TAS but Enterprise does fall flat compared to the other shows. the Vulcan & Andorian stories are almost always good but so much of s1 & s2 lacks creativity and a lot of the a plots end up feeling generic & reused (though the b plots are often great). s3 falls into an obvious & uncomfortable 9/11/war on terror metaphor that has not aged well. and s4 is a huge improvement but doesn't make up for the faults of earlier seasons. additionally, i think returning to "the Trio + secondary characters" was largely a mistake as characters like Hoshi & Travis remain horribly underdeveloped (and what a coincidence that they're characters of color...) all in all. some great ideas and a handful of great episodes but it doesn't make up for how meh large swathes of the show can be.

9. The Original Series: i'm going to be honest that it this is the hardest show to objectively rank just because it's the first and it's so hugely impactful not just on the Star Trek franchise (obviously) but also on science fiction, pop culture, TV production, and American culture. its impact is quite literally immeasurable and i think unfortunately it means the show will always feel small in comparison to the shadow it casts. don't get me wrong. some episodes are great even by today's standard, not to mention by the standard of the 60s. but so many episodes, especially as the show went on, end up being pretty mediocre, poorly paced, misogynistic/racist, and have thin plots. TOS is enjoyable for me because of the camp & exploring the foundations of this fictional universe i love so dearly but i'm not going to pretend that it's objectively better than other shows on this list just because of its legacy.

8. Picard: now i could pretty easily judge each season of Picard as its own show and each season would get spaced out in entirely different places on this list. i genuinely believe s1 of Picard is one of the best seasons of Star Trek. the writing fumbles a bit at the end but the characters, direction, & acting is some of the best of the franchise. unfortunately the choice to present each season as a separate anthology reallllly let's it down because of the lack of continuity between seasons. the pandemic definitely threw a wrench into the show but s2 (while i enjoy it), has a very messy meandering plot that feels insecure in its skin. s3 (which i also enjoy) has tighter writing but suffers majorly from having been outlined before the end of s2 therefore having a weird discontinuous transition between seasons and unfortunately excluding so many great characters from s1 & 2. i love it dearly (not to foreshadow my personal favorite ranking) but it is a mess.

7. Discovery: most of the critiques i have of Picard also stand for Discovery which also opted for the "anthology" style series which i think fundamentally doesn't work. Discovery took awhile to find its voice and after s3, still sung somewhat off key. Michael is easily one of the best & most well developed Star Trek characters and the rest of the cast is good but are painfully underdeveloped as its hyperserialized format doesn't really leave time to get to know the characters unless it's essential for the plot. like Picard, it also got screwed over by pandemic-era production leaving some episodes clumsily written. some seasons, in my opinion, end up with an overcomplicated plot that becomes difficult to follow. nevertheless, there are some episodes and scenes that are stunning and somewhat make up for the mis-steps. and ultimately, the later seasons of the show really do understand the heart of Star Trek.

6. Strange New Worlds: going back to an episodic style for the next live action show after the mixed reviews of Picard & Discovery was definitely a good choice. the writing is much tighter, the characters generally feel more whole, and there's more to grab onto compared to entirely serialized shows. and after a lot of the darkness in Discovery and Picard, it feels like a breath of fresh air to have a show that feels joyful & fun. however. so much of SNW is built off of pre-existing Star Trek (mainly TOS) that it struggles to form its own identity and when it tries to be a new show, it gets caught in the trap of betraying existing continuity. the episodes focusing on La'an, Uhura, M'Benga, & Una are great – some of the best of new trek – but episodes focusing on Spock, Chapel, and Pike end up feeling... off with messy writing and being Kinda Weird about disability/genetics. since it's only had two seasons, i definitely think SNW could ascend or descend in the rankings in the upcoming season(s).

5. The Next Generation: TNG wasn't quite as hard for me to rank as TOS but it sometimes struggles with a similar problem that its legacy in pop culture sometimes overshadows the show itself. it's also tricky because when TNG is good, it's phenomenal; when it's bad, it's really bad; but most episodes land somewhere in the middle. s1 is borderline unwatchable, s2 is just a step above, and from there it gets a lot stronger after behind the scene problems were worked out & it found a stable writing staff. it ends up striking a good balance of stories between straightforward science mysteries, deep explorations of philosophy, space politics, and fun romps. it ends up getting dragged down more than a little by Roddenberry's lingering insistence to have the characters avoid long term conflict and the very episodic style resulting in less ongoing story arcs. characters like Geordi, Wes, Beverly, & Troi also end up feeling somewhat underdeveloped in comparison to characters like Picard & Data.

4. Voyager: this is probably one of my more controversial picks (judging by how others tend to rank the series) and maybe i'm biased but i do genuinely believe that Voyager deserves its place this high on the list. Voyager is an inconsistent show which certainly pulls it down a little but manages to strike a better balance in episode quality and is able to have more dynamic characters & more ongoing narratives than TNG. Voyager still has its share of bad episodes and gets off to a somewhat shaky start (particularly struggling in early s2) but finds its groove more easily because of the experienced writing team that already had years of Star Trek under their belt & an excellent cast. Voyager's biggest stumbles are definitely in regards to under-serving some of the characters (especially Chakotay, Tuvok, and Harry) in later seasons.

3. Deep Space Nine: a somewhat obvious pick for top three Trek shows. DS9 has deservedly been getting its praises in recent years for its darker narratives, its bold approach to some of TV's first serialized stories, its exploration of politics & religion, and the masterful way it can bounce between nuanced episodes on serious topics & fun comedy. it flails a little bit in the first two seasons while finding its voice but compared to some of the other shows, it starts off strong and the quality is generally consistent with seasons 4 & 6 being the obvious highlight. however despite the strength of the characters, actors, and writing, there are certainly times when the show fumbles: episodes that get a bit too dark to bounce back from (and aren't followed up on), stories that present some troubling ethics without much pushback, and its fair share of the mediocre scifi mystery episodes seeded throughout 90s Trek.

2. Lower Decks: based on its first season, Lower Decks is a fun but non-serious entry into the Trek pantheon. so it was surprising when what seemed at first glance like a typical irreverent adult animation show, developed so much genuine heart for both the the Lower Decks characters & the wider Trek franchise. Lower Decks could have been an excuse to string together a bunch of fan-servicey references but it becomes genuinely heartfelt with great new characters, fun worldbuilding, actual insightful commentary on existing Trek, and the ability to laugh at itself while still being made with love. while the first two seasons drag it down a little bit (i think they went in too hard with the raunchy comedy vibes), season 3 and especially season 4 are really great especially with the exploration of Mariner's PTSD that strengthens her into one of the best character in Trek.

1. Prodigy: plenty of people have been singing Prodigy's praises since its untimely cancellation and no joke – it is, in my opinion, the best Star Trek show. it is more of a kids oriented show than the other entries on this list (except TAS) but that doesn't mean it lets up on having complex plots & characters. it might be the only Star Trek show that i genuinely believe doesn't have a bad episode (albeit a couple in s1 that are just okay) and s2 as whole is a masterpiece. the only things that let it down in my opinion are: somewhat clunky animation on close-ups (though the background animation is gorgeous) and the plot getting so over complicated by s2 that i had to draw a diagram to keep track of the time travel (and this is coming from someone who loves over complicated time travel stories.)

My Personal Favorite Star Trek Shows:

11. The Animated Series: as i said before – it's fun, i'm glad it exists, it doesn't really offend me, but with the exception of the episode Yesteryear, it doesn't really do anything for me.

10. The Original Series: yeah... i'm sorry. i just don't click with TOS that much (or TOS era in general as you can tell from the rest of this list). i can recognize its importance and there are definitely some episodes i really enjoyed (either for the camp factor or because they're genuinely good) but the majority of the episodes i either don't have much of an opinion on or i think are genuinely bad (in a not fun way). i'm also fine with looking past some of the bigotries of the time but even so the misogyny & racism in the show was just too much for me. sorry.

9. Strange New Worlds: i enjoy SNW for the most part but it's definitely dragged down because 1) i strongly dislike how Spock is written, 2) while i definitely like episodic Trek more, the short episode order does make the episodes i dislike stand out a lot more, 3) a lot of the show is built on nostalgia-bait for TOS era which... i just don't really have. there are great episodes but as a whole, i'm just not attached to it.

8. Discovery: i really disliked the first two seasons of Discovery when i first watched them and though they've grown on me, it's just too dark for me to really get into. seasons 3-5 i like a lot more and i appreciate how earnest & hopeful it is (especially compared to seasons 1 & 2) but the writing can be a bit heavy handed. and as much as i do really love Michael, i definitely prefer shows with a stronger focus on the ensemble as a whole. that said, i am definitely attached to the characters and really love the 32nd century worldbuilding that's done.

7. Enterprise: i'm honestly a bit surprised that i ended up liking Enterprise this much but the fourth season (with the exception of the finale that definitely doesn't exist) is banger after banger. and while the episodes of earlier seasons might be a bit uninspired, the general worldbuilding is genuinely interesting to me with the exploration of Vulcan politics, the Vulcan-Andorian War, the Temporal Cold War, the pre-Federation politics of Earth, and more. i'm also greatly endeared to all the secondary characters (Hoshi & Phlox particularly) which means it's also a shame that the non-Archer, Trip, & T'Pol characters get so little screentime. and while so much of the first two seasons is kinda bleh, the B plots & runners to those episodes end up being really fun and ends up creating a world & characters that feels worth exploring.

6. Prodigy: i think with time (and a possible third season...) Prodigy could become one of my favorite Treks and as i already said – it's very very good. the core cast of characters is really strong with all of them (except for maybe Murf & Jankom Pog) being well developed and compelling. the plot is interesting and feels relatively unique while still feeling like Star Trek at its core. it's also the rare example of a series that has a lot of fan-service while still retaining its identity and the strength of its own characters. ultimately, it ends up ranking lower on here than my more objective tier list because some of the angst & darkness i enjoy in stories doesn't quite deliver (which is very much not a fault of the show since it is a family show), the way Janeway is written doesn't always quite line up with my own view of the character (again, not a fault of the show), and the fact that i just haven't spent as much time with the show & characters yet.

5. The Next Generation: TNG is very much a comfort show to me. i don't have all that much to add from my objective review (there are very bad episodes, very good episodes, but most are somewhere in the middle). i really like all the characters and the behind the scenes friendships really translate well to the screen but none of them really compel me the way characters do further up on this list. i do give the show a lot of credit though for continuing the worldbuilding established in TOS and taking it in a new direction and a new vibes (rather than continuing the space western format) that is hugely influential to all of the shows that came after it.

4. Lower Decks: pretty much the same as my objective review – it's a fun show that ends up finding a good balance of humor, strong characters, and pointed commentary at past Trek shows. it's a show obviously filled with a lot of love for the franchise and i'm very glad it exists. aside from Mariner, i'm not quite as attached to the other characters but i do love them all.

3. Deep Space Nine: as i said before, DS9 is undoubtedly one of the strongest shows in Star Trek. it has the most recurring characters, pretty much all of which i find compelling, and a fantastic cast of regulars as well. the overall plot of the show is incredibly strong and allows it to have a lot of good commentary on imperialism, war, religion, race, and more. it has my two favorite episodes in all of Star Trek (The Visitor and Far Beyond the Stars) and so many other bangers as well. it's the show that first hooked me into Star Trek & the Star Trek fandom and it really is fantastic. the reason it doesn't rank higher here is entirely subjective in that i just don't feel as compelled to explore the characters & fandom as the last two shows on this list. other people have talked about how shows that are too objectively good aren't necessarily the best for fandom and that's how i kind of feel about DS9. it's great. i love it. i'm not necessarily compelled to feel like i have to add to it.

2. Picard: i can recognize that in many ways Picard kinda fails as a show (for reasons i've already stated) but that absolutely does not stop me from loving it. it's extremely messy and i've wanted to fix it ever since i saw it. it might be an unpopular opinion but the worldbuilding developments in s1 (the destruction of Romulus, the synth ban, the general darkness of the Federation) are incredibly compelling to me and i really do like deconstructing Picard as a character (even if i wish he was in the show a little less). and despite some major inconsistencies between seasons, i find the characters wonderfully rich and well written and every time i watch an episode, i feel like i want to explore them more and more. (not coincidentally, it's also the Star Trek show i've written the most fanfic for.)

1. Voyager: Voyager has enthralled me mind, body, & soul. i've never had such a fast turn around from a show that i was meh about to one that constantly consumed my thoughts. it's undoubtedly imperfect but it's imperfect in a way that i feel compelled to want to study and fix. with the exception of maybe DS9, Voyager has the strongest cast of characters and one of the strongest premises of any show. i firmly believe that Kathryn Janeway is the best (and certainly my favorite) Captain in all of Star Trek and most of the characters rank among my favorite Trek characters of all time. even if there aren't a ton of obvious ongoing narratives, the subtle ways the characters change over the 7 years is great and leaves the door open for fandom to explore so much (which as you can tell is definitely something that draws me to a lot of shows). and while DS9 might have my favorite episode of Star Trek, Voyager ends up having more stories that rank amongst my favorites (Year of Hell, Latent Image, Endgame, Barge of the Dead, Bride of Chaotica, Riddles, Survival Instinct, Timeless, etc).

anyways.... that sums that up. i'll probably type up my list of favorite episodes sometime in the next few days because i need to milk the "i watched all of Star Trek" thing for a little bit.

[oceanwithinsblog]

every day that passes we're getting closer and closer to the final episodes of doctor who s14 (or s1, whatever) (i'm also in denial WTH does it mean that this season is almost over ????)

so before i forget (and before the last two episodes drop) i NEED to vent a bit about this season. the following are just my personal opinions (which might change after watching the season finale), please bear with me ^^

first of all - i am so glad doctor who is back !!! i must admit that my doctor who drought lasted for around 5 months as i got introduced to the show back in late summer 2023 and did a speed run of all nuwho seasons between september and november 2023. i got super excited for the december specials !! and i was even more surprised and thrilled when i found out a new season of dw was premiering in may 2024 !! i know i've been lucky to wait for so little to get immersed in a new dw season but i truly, truly missed it and i enjoyed every episode of s14 <3 now i'm sad to think that this is about to end, but it felt so good to finally see the doctor back in action and to get through each week thinking that one of my favorite characters/storylines/universes was gonna be there for me on the weekend <3 i love dw so much <3

#2 idk about you but i fell so easily for ncuti as the doctor and millie as ruby/the companion TT they're both so good, i really appreciated their acting this season and i would also say that it's probably one the (few) things that positively shocked me this time around. i guess it was a bit unfair for me to think that ruby wasn't my cup of tea after watching just 'the church on ruby road' ep because she totally surprised me this season. she's so great! millie's acting is on point, so captivating and funny to watch throughout the show. i can't wait to find out more about her character fr! well, what's to say about ncuti as the doctor .. ohmy oh my .. i don't think i've ever seen a doctor so confident, so flirtatious, so proud in themselves .. ncuti's doctor exudes charisma and i'm so here for it. that's absolutely not to say that the doctor's worries, traums etc. magically disappear (they're still very present and influence their every move), but what i loved the most about his acting is that he goes all the way into it. fifteen may become one of my favorite doctors ngl (say hi to eleven and ten) and i am so looking forward to where they're gonna take us next <3

#3 as for writing, i feel that something's missing ... don't get me wrong, i love rtd's cool nice funny episodes and seeing the doctor face a range of diverse situations (even the most unthinkable ones, e.g. space babies) is just priceless.. but there's some kind of void in it, too. now that i think about it, maybe it's not the writing itself but the length of the season - having less than 10 episodes doesn't really give us much time and space to properly explore the dynamics between characters, strengthen their relationships and make them grow both individually and as a whole. besides, i admit that i'm a bit biased, but i loved (most of) moffat's writing for the seasons he was a showrunner of and i personally would love to see ncuti bringing to life more stories written by moffat (yes..i know he wrote 'boom' for s14). basically, i miss 'old' nuwho seasons of 18+ episodes where we could get even more affectionate to the characters and the adventures that defined their journey through the multiverse T___T

before i move on to my last point, may i also add (storyline-wise) that i wished the episodes were more interconnected with each other? not necessarily with the narration, even just with easter eggs ^^" idk maybe moffat got me used to have high expectations lol (i'm still eager to find out who the lady appearing in all episodes is !!!! may this dw finale give us all the answers we need)

#4 i would have never thought i would write this (mainly because i would have never thought there could come a time when these gadget weren't going to be used as much) BUT I DEARLY MISS THE TARDIS AND THE SCREWDRIVER WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM ?!?!?! i loved previous doctors goofing around with their sonic screwdrivers and running in the tardis allowing us (the audience) to find out more and more about the endless number of rooms in it ... why does it seem like fourteen doesn't love their tools ?? why don't they show them more throughout the season ?? this is like classic items that can't miss in the episodes so WERE IS THAT SILLY GOOFY STUFF ?? also, as much as i enjoy fourteen and ruby going on adventures in different time periods etc. why aren't they EVER showed inside the TARDIS travelling and waiting to get to their destination ?? i'm just very nostalgic (i took this very personally, i'm sorry i'm just angry at rtd)

well - i guess that's it! if you've read this far, thank you for reading me <3 let me know what you think about it and what you're expecting for the next couple episodes of s14 <3

ps. i'm very hopeful that rogue will be a recurring character <3

pps. ncuti gave the queers the most fruity doctor ever (no shade to all previous doctors, you've served and delivered and we love u immensiely) <33

[kobbers]

Hey there! Since you are a Leo fan I wanted to ask. What’s your opinion on Raph? I mean in general but I will say for 12 07 and 03 since those ass my favs.

In general? I love Raph. His archetypal role tends to be one of my least favorites in ensemble casts: impulsive, moody bad boys tend to get on my nerves. I simply don't find their angst and lack of self control Cool or Relatable, no matter how tragic their past is to justify their antisocial behavior.

Raph's frustration, however, comes from a place I can easily sympathize with - his family is on their own and in constant danger. You often get the feeling that he'd like to be part of society in some way, but he can't and that's stifling! The result is a core drive to protect the small circle of family and friends he does have, no matter the cost.

Though the human world is too dangerous to interact with openly, Raph still sees humans as fellow People, and will readily intervene on their behalf. He leaps boldly into action in part because he worries that indecision and delay will give the enemy more time to cause harm (of course, he also finds combat fun and fulfilling, which may occasionally get him into trouble). He may grumble and complain, but at his core Raph is a helper.

My favorite versions of Raph are the ones where he and Leo are almost too similar underneath their wildly different demeanors. Their conflicts usually come down to how they want to approach their goal, not on which goal to approach.

In fact, there's an argument to be made that in D&D terms, my ideal Raph and Leo could both be cast as paladins, with Leo as Oath of Devotion (focused on honor and protecting the innocent) and Raph as Oath of Vengeance (focused on justice and punishing the wicked). Mirage Raph, on the other hand, is 100% a barbarian. So I mean, there's a range of viable interpretations, and the character can be well-written anywhere within it. It's just that the more selfish Raph is, the less I will connect with him.

2003

I thought Blue Swords Guy was the coolest turtle as a toddler, and when I started watching 2k3 as a teenager, my general preference for straightforward paragon types led me quickly back to Leo. I liked Raph the least almost instinctively, purely based on role. But the show won me over on every single brother, and I couldn't even begin to rank a least favorite anymore. Even at his worst early in the show, Raph is just struggling with impulse control rather than relishing violence or being contrary for its own sake. Sometimes he might enter a fight too early or resist retreat, but he rarely enters a fight unnecessarily. He might hide his squishier emotions, but he clearly still feels them. It lays down that core of Raph-as-protector that softens him from his more troubled, bloodthirsty Mirage counterpart. A good bean, 10/10 favorite Raph, heavily influences what I want to see from the character in general.

2007

The general vibes of this movie are similar to 2k3, which is why it sometimes surprises people that it's supposed to be in the live action film continuity as a sort of TMNT 4.

It's weird as a whole though, because Raph was the director's favorite turtle and it shows - Leo makes a poor foil because he is simply written to be wrong (I HATE his "I'm better than you" line for many reasons, heheh). But in terms of how Raph reacts to everything the story throws at him, it all rings true to character. He's my favorite character in this movie kind of by default, because Leo and Splinter are ~off~ and Mike and Don are mostly just on quip duty. But that doesn't change that Raph's still legitimately solid.

2012

Honestly can't say much about this version - I only made it a season into this show due to general annoyances I had with the writing. I remember liking Sean Astin's vocal performance, at least. And I remember digging the premise of that one episode where Raph tries to be the leader and finds that he's way more comfortable acting on plans than making them.

[tarakaybee]

I Was Right (Oxventure Wyrdwood Thoughts)

In the past on this extremely low follower blog of mine, I've talked about how I liked Oxventure for the first few sessions before it deteriorated into unstructured nonsense with no emotional stakes, no story, and no interesting gameplay and I stopped watching after they started to become repetitive, derivative, uninspired and a lot of other mean words. The reason that I fixated on its problems is because I genuinely thought everybody involved was extremely talented, I could vividly imagine a slightly better version that I would've loved, if only they had greater ambitions than just doing gags for six years like they were writing The Beano. I've been thinking on this a lot, but I remember that I quickly emotionally connected with the five player characters in the early campaign and some of the early NPCs, and my villain origin story for my many frustrations with Oxventure was that I felt embarrassed for emotionally investing myself when the campaign progressed and it became clear that there were never going to be any emotional consequences for anything.

I think everybody should play D&D the way that they find fun, even if, no especially if it's a campaign that is being filmed and broadcast, but it irked me that they never engaged with a lot of the fun parts of the game, which are fun and designed specifically to be fun. I'm trying to not sound like I'm gatekeeping, I sincerely believe that they simply never read the books in any amount of detail and never became aware of the interesting parts and would've enjoyed it if they did, because I just don't see how you can be a fan of a game system if you have to remove more than half of the rules to enjoy yourself. I've long held the suspicion that when they started playing they were instructed by Johnny to not worry about understanding all of the rules right away, and the players held the belief for years that the rules were extremely complicated, when they continued to not learn them. Mike in particular makes jokes about how he doesn't understand the rules, like in the lead-up to Orbpocalypse Saga where Johnny explained what spell slots were, Mike made a joke about how the explanation would take several hours because it was so complicated despite the fact that it's literally just a few rows of boxes that you tick off when you spend them, the Paper Mario games have a more complex magic resource system than that and Mike is supposed to be a games journalist.

After not watching the main campaign for several years, I decided to give Oxventure Deadlands a try, and I was surprised that Andy ran a campaign where he was willing to say no sometimes, and sticks to a consistent emotional tone without sacrificing the all-important comedy, and I said on this very blog that if Johnny were to run a campaign in this style where the players were willing to take things seriously that would be absolutely perfect, because Johnny has established their strong storytelling chops in basically every way possible other than during Oxventure Prime.

And I was right!

They were all capable of the kind of D&D campaign I wanted to see, and thought would be more deep and enriching than just going for the cheapest gags every time, they decided to take that leap and Johnny just casually, offhandedly created one of the all-time best campaign settings in episode one of a new campaign. Oxventure Wyrdwood, based on only one episode is absolutely brilliant and everything I've wanted out of Oxventure for the past six years, the first time Johnny actually wrote a story in earnest it was so creative, so inspired, so rich with lore, and unlike some seasons of Dimension 20, they did it in a way that was concise.

All the players are great too:

Luke Dob was a seminal moment for me in my experience of the D&D hobby, the simple combination of half-orc and bard was such a brilliant combination that it inspired a five year long campaign in which I played a character inspired by that same combination. Happen is a very fun concept, I always love it when a player mixes and matches classes and backgrounds, Acolyte is an interesting background for a Ranger that gives Happen a lot of fun depth, and I enjoy the Cadence Dice system so far.

Jane I knew that Jane was going to go for the logical opposite of Prudence, I definitely called that Jane would be a Life Domain Cleric months and months ago. What I liked about Willowfine from the offset is that Jane doesn't play her superficially, she isn't just a healer, she is actually, genuinely kind, her first healing action being to save one of the episode's antagonists was a brilliant tone setting moment for the character and the campaign as a whole.

Ellen Like Jane, Ellen made a brilliant choice of playing against type for herself, but I really like that Ellen's way of playing an extremely selfish character is distinct from the way Jane did and has some obvious nuance to it. Prudence was obsessed with violence and evil magic and generally likes amusing herself, whereas Cressida seems to be more interested in her image and personal pride. Related, I don't think I would've called Prudence actually evil, she didn't do that many obviously selfish things when compared to say, Corazon, she was basically just a dramatic goth who likes the aesthetic of evil. In contrast, Cressida has a selfish motivation that is easier to accurately roleplay without becoming a liability to the party.

Andy It was very obvious that there was some secret gimmick to the way Andy was going to go about things and the way things turned out intrigues me greatly. He was the player that surprised me the most, I love the idea that Robin genuinely has a commoner's stat block until the evil side takes over. Aberrant Mind is a fun subclass, and it looks as though he gained Cure Wounds from his Magic Initiate subclass to fit into the witch aesthetic a little more.

Mike With Mike, this is where my one nitpick lies, I don't think Mike is the best roleplayer of the bunch. The fact that Mike doesn't understand extremely basic parts of the rules at this point has long stopped being funny and genuinely just reflects poorly on him. Why does he still not know how proficiency and attack modifiers work? It's literally a sum consisting of adding two single-digit numbers together, and it's a sum that you're supposed to write on your character sheet before playing to eliminate the brainwork of doing it mid-session. And if doing two minutes of homework to prepare your character sheet before playing a two-hour game of D&D is too much, why doesn't he just use D&D Beyond which adds the two numbers together for you? That's exactly how I learned it, and also the fact that I just read the rules recreationally because I thought that they were fun.

I was surprised that he read what Rage actually does, but then Mike gets confused when Johnny doesn't do the maths to half incoming damage for him, despite the fact that it's not Johnny's job to use Mike's character abilities for him. To put this as nicely as possible, I knew Mike was going to choose Barbarian because if you don't like the game system as Mike seems not to, you at least don't have to interact with it much if you choose the class with the fewest abilities possible. Mike seemed to shine the best in Blades in the Dark, which seems to be designed to have as few rolls as reasonably possible.

Roleplay-wise, I think Mike portrayed Lug as different enough from Egbert that I was happy with the character in concept, but like with his other characters, there is no second layer below the obvious quirks that are on the surface like everybody else demonstrated.

Johnny Johnny was always my biggest problem with Oxventure Prime, I found their DM philosophy and storytelling choices completely mystifying. Why when Luke established that Dob was looking for his sister did this plot get resolved offscreen by an NPC? Why when Andy said he was searching for a pirate treasure did Johnny forget about this plot for two real years and have Corazon find the bulk of it offscreen between episodes? Why did Johnny not write a plot or do any worldbuilding the entire first campaign when not having anything set in stone created massive problems in the final story arc when their farewell tour gets cut short because the players can't remember more than one notable location and only two NPCs? Why did Johnny constantly ask the players to roll for things that were not optional, and then when the player rolls low, just ignoring the result and saying they passed?

In this campaign, with a mere few months of doing actual legwork, in Oxventure Wyrdwood, Johnny crafted a beautiful, immersive and unique story setting. In the first boss fight at the end of the first session, the monster was consistently doing enough damage that it could have killed everybody other than Lug in one hit if they didn't fight smart, and fight smart they did, it made perfect sense for the monster to quickly go down when the other members of the Folkmoot arrived. There were a couple of rules-aberrations, but my problem isn't getting rules wrong, it's not using game mechanics and everybody was definitely engaging more with the gameplay and not treating it like an unwanted obligation this time I feel.

In addition, I love the "Magic Will Have Its Due" mechanic, it's not just cool sounding words that Johnny plastered over the marketing, it's an intrinsic part of the story, and therefore an intrinsic part of the gameplay. This is probably one of the only ways you could outright play anything resembling a horror campaign in D&D, where there isn't so much a consistent looming threat and the stakes take a different form. The main horror module in 5E, Curse of Strahd, is a very well designed story and game experiences, but the horror aspect pretty much doesn't exist in the gameplay after the players level up a few times.

I was cautiously optimistic before this first session, but now I'm actively excited in a way that I haven't been since Critical Role campaign two. I desperately hope this quality remains consistent throughout the remainder of this story. Also, I'm glad the episodes have proper titles and not things like "Water Wonderful World" or whatever.

[chiefduckgarden]

The lady in red

Summary: After the events of MoM Wanda escapes from the destroyed temple and isolates herself from the world with the only person she knows will never judge her or be afraid of her: you. But the past always comes back to make people pay for their sins, and soon you'll need to accept that it's Wanda's time.

Words: 8791

A/N : Soo this is a big mashup of my imagination, the story from the Marvel Comic "Darkhold: Omega", and the final episode of Netflix Series: The haunting of Bly Manor. I took a lot of inspiration from these two works. I hope you like it! Happy reading :D

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The night she knocked on your door you were surprised to get a visit at almost 1 pm. You hesitated for a moment to open the door but the moment you heard her voice, your blood ran cold through your veins.

- Y/N, it's me, Wanda - she simply said.

You immediately opened the door, but the person you found on the other side was not the Wanda you remembered.

- Oh Wanda, what happened? - you asked - Come in.

She walked in front you and got inside the house.

You stared at her for a moment. She seemed weak, like some who's sick and is slowly deteriorating; with remarkable bags under her eyes and a strange darkness adorning her gaze. The last time you saw her was in Stark's funeral, and her red straight hair was now replaced with messy curls.

- Thanks for opening the door - she said - It's just that, I have no other place to go.

Then she broke down crying and you ran to hold her in your arms. You allowed her to cry and vent for as long as she needed without question anything.

- It's okay, I'm here now, you're not alone - you reassured her, stroking her hair and her back, rocking her body back and forth.

- I made horrible things Y/N, so many irreparable mistakes - she said sobbing.

Your white pajama shirt was covered with her tears but you didn't care, you only wanted to help her.

- Are you harmed? Did anyone hurt you? - you asked her.

She denied shaking her head.

- It wasn't me the one who got hurt - she said.

You simply nodded and stood up from the floor with the girl in your arms.

- It's late now, we'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?

She nodded and you cleaned the tears from her cheeks with your thumb.

That night you gave her a pajama and let her stay in the guest room. But before you could leave and turn off the lights she stopped you.

- Can you stay here with me tonight - she requested in a low voice - I just don't want to be alone.

So you got in the bed with her by your side, holding her close and giving her a quick kiss on her hairline.

That was the first night in a really long time that Wanda slept peacefully.

The first that night she didn't dreamt of her children.

But you, you stayed up all night, stealing glances from time to time to the girl laying beside you. You were so confused about her sudden appearance at your door, it had been a long time since you last talked to her and yet, she was still having the same effect on you. Your heart was still beating for the girl.

You met Wanda many years ago, when she joined the Avengers after the battle with Ultron and the death of her brother. You became close friends after some weeks and many sleepovers on your room, but then Vision came back to the compound.

It only took a few days of watching them together for you to realize that you were in love with Wanda, but she was falling for the android. And the night you have decided to tell her about your real feelings for her, she told you that Vision kissed her and they were dating.

Your heart broke with the news but you congratulated her and asked her more about it. You didn't mind on feeling fire inside your chest every time she smiled thinking about the android, for the first time you saw her genuinely happy and that was the only thing that mattered.

So time went on, and when the government split your team, you and Wanda were on the same side. You fought against Tony Stark, and for some days you felt hope on having a chance with her again, Vision chose the opposite team and you were there, by her side.

But you saw them after the battle in the airport, you ran to check on Wanda but she was in Vision's arms, so you took a step back and ran to help Natasha instead. You didn't want Wanda to see the tears pooling on your eyes.

Living on the run with Wanda only made your feelings grow. You were so obvious about it that you were almost sure that she knew it, but she never made a move. After some months she told you she would go to Scotland, and when you were about to tell her you'd go with her, she told you Vision was waiting for her.

And Wanda Maximoff broke your heart again.

It only went worse from that moment on, Thanos and the lost battle didn't only take your friends away, but also the love of your life.

Five years passed slowly, and when Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers knocked on your door telling you there was a way to bring everyone back you didn't hesitate on going with them.

The next events passed to the history as the time that the Avengers saved the universe. Tony Stark sacrificed himself and the day of his funeral you talked to her for the first time in almost five years.

- How are you feeling? - you asked, she was standing by the river and her face was expressionless.

- I'm alive - she said - I just wish that he knew that everything worth at the end, that we won.

You hugged her and she cried on your shoulder.

- I'm sure he knows it Wands - you told her.

- He didn't even got a funeral.

You gulped.

- I'm sorry about that, but when you disappeared after the blip I tried to take his body with me, but the government took him - you confessed her - I wanted to keep him safe, or give him a proper bury, but they didn't let me.

She only hugged you closer. Her heart warmed at your words. That's what she loved about you, your tenderness and how you always said the right things at the right time.

- I'm sure you did your best, thank you Y/N - she said and then she kissed your cheek.

You sighed.

- Do you want to come with me? I have a house, in Italy, it's a beautiful town and you're more than welcome - you told her, maybe this was your second chance.

But she only stared at you, and words weren't needed to know her answer.

- Vision bought a house for us before passing away, i'm going to visit the town and maybe live there Y/N.

You smiled sadly and took a step back.

- I'm sorry - she said - I love you Y/N, but not in the way you've always wanted.

- Just know that if you ever feel like visiting Europe, you can always come to my house.

And that was the last time you saw her. Until that night. You knew nothing about her life and seeing her again, in that state, was shocking for you.

The next morning you made her breakfast and she thanked you with a brief smile.

- Are you feeling better now? - you asked her but she shook her head.

- No.

- That's okay, we can have breakfast and then you can take a shower if you want.

She accepted and you two ate in complete silence.

That first day she didn't say much, and you didn't pressure her. Whatever happened to her you were sure it affected her like never before, not even after Vision's death she looked that devastated.

-I'm ready to talk to you - she said on the afternoon of her second day with you.

You nodded and followed her to the living room to hear what she needed to say.

- I made bad things Y/N, really bad things - she started - I am a bad person, I was cruel.

You shook your head.

- No you're not...

- Yes I am! I know it - she interrupted you.

You heard her story, she told you about Westview, her children, Vision, Agatha... the Darkhold. She told you about America Chávez, her battle with Strange and the multiverse. You listened to her without more interruptions.

You understood the reasons behind her actions, you always knew that Wanda Maximoff wanted to have a family like the one she once lost.

It stung a bit that her dream family was with Vision by her side, but you left the selfishness behind and you focused on what she felt.

- Wanda, you're just a woman who wanted to feel loved, maybe your actions were wrong but you did the right thing at end - you told her.

- That doesn't change what I am Y/N, i opened the Darkhold, I chose to be the Scarlet Witch and now she will live forever in me. I can still feel her - she said.

- Well, I can only feel you - you said and she started to cry at your words. You never knew why but she felt like going back in time hearing that phrase.

- I'm not the Wanda you remember Y/N, i changed...

- I can still see the sweet Wanda that I met years ago, the one who taught me how to cook Paprikash and loves to watch old sitcoms on Saturday nights.

She looked at you and decided to show you the real her, the Scarlet Witch inside her. So she broke the spell that hid her black fingers and the worn red suit.

You took a step back when you first saw it, but when she fell on her knees crying you immediately ran to hug her.

- I don't care about your past, you did the right thing and now I'm here for you, I will always be here.

- I'm sorry for breaking your heart in the past, if only I had gone with you that day...

- It's fine Wanda, you don't have to say anything, you're here and that's all that matters.

She smiled genuinely for the first time after so much, and she let you hold her. Maybe you were always the answer after all.

The first months were hard for her, readjusting to the society was kind of difficult, but the town where you lived was peaceful and small, and she found a home with you.

You never mentioned your feelings for her again, she never told you she was looking for you romantically, so you just were a good friend for her.

Also, you knew she was still missing and loving her family. From time to time you  caught her drawing two boys that you assumed were Billy and Tommy. She never drew Vision, or at least you never saw her doing it.

- I miss them - she told you one afternoon when you were staring at the sunset on the backyard.

You were laying on the grass with your head resting on a tree and she was sat next to you.

- Billy and Tommy? - you asked

She nodded and then she showed you her drawing.

- They were the most amazing kids- she said smiling - Billy was like me, he had my powers, a really shy and tender boy. Tommy was more chaotic, he had Pietro's super speed and sometimes he drove me crazy.

She laughed sweetly at the memory.

- If they were like their mother, I bet they were fantastic - you said.

Wanda couldn't help to let out some tears.

- You would've loved them - she told you - Especially Billy, he was like you too.

You looked at ceiling and just a gave her a shy reassuring smile. Without saying more, she laid beside you, resting her head on your chest and wrapping an arm around your torso.

You held your breath for a second, but then you rested your arm on her back.

- But I really love living here with you.

You smiled.

- I love that you live here with me too, it's nice having company - you said.

She smiled and you stayed like that for some minutes.

- Sometimes I think about how my life would've been if I accepted your invitation to coming here - she confessed.

- It's not good for you think about the what if's, maybe you needed to meet your family - you told her.

- It would've been less painful, for me, for Billy and Tommy... They were happy with their lives in that other universe, now they probably have nightmares about their own mother being a witch, and it's all my fault.

You remained silence unsure on what to say.

- Sometimes I dream about them - she kept talking - It's nice to see them at least in my dreams.

- I'm glad, keep them in your memory is a nice way to honor them - you say.

- No, I really see them - she says looking up at you.

You looked confused at her.

- When I was studying the Darkhold I learned about the multiverse, it said that our dreams are our versions from another universe, so everytime we dream we can see another version of ourselves - she explains - That's how I found them, because every night I used to dream about them.

You listened to her and try to understand what she's saying.

- Now, everytime I dream about my children I know that it's real somewhere.

You smiled.

- They're happy, and I'm happy now - she said.

Another moment of silence remained between the two of you. Wanda was fidgeting with the buttons of your sweater.

- Do you ever dream about us? - she asked.

- What do you mean?

- Have you ever dreamed about me? About us? - she asked again.

For sure you had, not always but some nights.

- Yes, sometimes... Mostly about our time together before the Sokovia Accords and the fight and everything - you said.

- So is it like reliving the past?

You nodded.

- I dream about us, but not in the past - she told you - Sometimes I dream about us being together, like how could have been our lives if I stayed with you and not with Vision.

Your chest tightened for a moment.

- That means that in some universe we are together - she finally said.

Your eyes met and before you knew it her lips were on yours. The kiss was slow and clumsy, but you felt your heart exploding of happiness inside your chest.

When you two separate from each other she smiled and you smiled too.

- Y/N... I want you, I love you, you've always been so good to me and stayed by my side, even when I broke your heart you were a good friend. You didn't even hesitate to receive me when I knocked on your door that night... - she said.

- Wanda I have always loved you, I never stopped - you admitted.

- I know, I'm sorry I'm telling you this now - she said.

- Don't be sorry, it's never too late. I love you, every part of you and that will never change - you took her hand and kissed her palm.

She smiled and kissed you again.

Life was sweet from that moment on, Wanda was by your side now and your life couldn't be happier. During the day you would wake up next to her and after some kisses go to have breakfast. You would paint, listen to music, dance or go to walk next to her; and she was starting to take care of a little garden on the backyard. At nights you two would take a shower together and after some goofy games you go to bed and cuddle with her until she fell asleep.

She never stopped loving her family though, but you loved listening to her whenever she talked about Billy and Tommy. She would tell you about things she lived in her short time with them, or about what she saw in her dreams. However, she couldn't help but cry sometimes at the memory of her children, but this time she had you by her side to cry her heart out and feel accompanied. And she loved you for that.

Six months of happiness preceded smoothly, just you and Wanda. Until one day she decided to show up, to never leave again.

Three weeks ago Wanda was doing the dishes after a tasty pasta dinner you two had whilst you were out buying some groceries that you would use the next morning for breakfast.

A sudden hard pain on her forehead made her drop the plate she was holding and touch her head. It was something she had never felt before. Her hands were feeling shaky and when she looked at them her slender fingers were black again, something she had been avoiding to happen. When she looked through the window to see if you were home already she saw her. The ghost of her past was in front of her, it was her reflection. The Scarlet Witch was in her window.

She screamed and threw a blast of power to the window breaking it. You opened the door in a hurry after hearing her scream and ran to the kitchen, you found her lying on the floor, her hands holding herself as she looked out the window and crawled backwards, as if she was running from something.

- Wanda are okay? - you said sitting on your knees to hug her. She jumped scared when  her back hit your body, but when she saw it was you the one behind her, she clung to you and buried her face in your neck - Baby what happened? Why is the window broken?

She was only sobbing and crying so you didn't pushed any further and just waited there, rubbing her back and hugging her until she was ready to talk.

- She was here Y/N, i saw her in the window - she said after some minutes.

- Who? - you asked confused.

She looked up to meet your eyes, sniffing her noise.

- The Scarlet Witch, she was in my reflection - she finally said.

You looked at her speechless. Wanda had told you about her version corrupted by the Darkhold, but you couldn't get it yet, she was the Scarlet Witch, she lived inside your girlfriend, but Wanda had her under control somehow.

- I'm scared, It has been so long since the last time I saw her... But this time it felt different, as if I had no control over her - she said with shaky voice.

You were lost for words, so you did what you always do, give her reassurance and stand by her side.

- It's okay now, I'm here and I will never let something happen to you.

She kissed you and you stayed like that for some minutes before standing from the floor.

- Why don't you go to get ready for a bath? I'll finish the dishes and cover the broken windows with a plastic for tonight, tomorrow I'll have it fix - you said and she nodded.

- I'm sorry Y/N, i didn't want to scare you - she apologized but you shook your head.

- You don't have to apologize my love, it's fine okay?

Kissing her hands one last time she left to go to the bathroom and you picked up the plate that was broken on the floor. You sighed and looked at the window, hoping for it to be the last time that Witch haunted Wanda.

But unfortunately that was not the last encounter of your beloved with the Scarlet Witch, in fact, it was only the beginning of her hunt.

Two days later you came home after doing some errands only to find water falling down the stairs, you quickly ran upstairs to the bathroom only to find Wanda curled up in fetal position, her gaze was lost and you could notice her whole body shaking.

- Wanda what happened? - you said running to turn off the water tap and to kneel on her side - Baby, are okay?

She denied with her head without looking at you..

- Hey whatever happened it's fine, I'm here, we're gonna be fine, just talk to me...

- I saw her again Y/N, she was on the water and I tried to make her dissappear but she only stared at me, I felt like she was analyzing me - she said looking at you.

She laid her head on your chest and some tears rolled down her face.

- It felt so real, she was here with me, I know it - she sobbed - I'm scared Y/N

You sighed and closed your eyes.

- I know my love, but I really don't know what to do - you said - Just know that, whatever happens I will always be by your side, no matter what.

She nodded and kissed you.

- I'm sorry about the water, I was so lost when I saw her and I didn't realized the water was...

- Shhh it's fine, it's just water - you told her and gave her a brief smile - Let's get you dry and then I'll clean this up.

Hours later when the both of you were cuddling on your bed Wanda made a decision.

- I want to go to see someone tomorrow, someone who can tell me what is happening - she said.

- Where? Who? - you asked.

- In Westview, I want to visit Agatha Harkness.

You remained silence.

- I want you to go with me, you deserve to hear whatever she has to tell me - Wanda told you, looking up to meet your gaze - Is that okay with you?

You smiled and kissed her forehead.

- I would follow you to the end of the world - you said.

She smiled and cuddle further on your chest.

- I love you Y/N.

- I love you too Wanda Maximoff.

After some seconds she spoke again.

- Agatha is now under a spell, tomorrow she will probably recognize me but I'll have to make sure she would be powerless to talk to her peacefully - she explained - I don't want you to be scared of me.

- I would never - you said firmly - I know I'm safe with you, I trust you.

- My powers are not same since the last time you saw them, they are different and stronger now, and so am I.

- I know but I'm not scared.

You kissed her hands and she fell asleep in your arms.

The next morning you were boarding a plane to America. You were unsure on what to expect, you knew what happened thanks to Wanda's explanation but now that you were a few hours from your destination your doubts increased.

What would you do If that Agatha witch tried something against Wanda? How could you possibly protected her?

- Baby are you okay? - Wanda asked you, taking you hand in hers and cupping your face with her other hand.

- Yeah, I'm just worried - you told her - I don't know how I would protect you if that woman tries to hurt you.

- Oh honey you don't have to worry, I promise I have it under control - she stroked your cheek - Believe me, you're doing a lot by coming with me, I don't think i would be able to come alone.

You sighed.

- Are you sure?

- Yes, I'm sure - she smiled and kissed you.

Your hotel was a few minutes away from Westview, so after arriving and rest for a bit you drove to the small town.

As you were approaching to the place you noticed how Wanda tensed and as soon as you drove into the town you understood why.

The local people looked curious inside of your car as you were a clear stranger, and you saw how their expression changed the moment their eyes landed on your girlfriend.

- They're still mad at me, afraid - she said.

After driving some more minutes you parked in front of an empty lot and Wanda indicated you that the house next door was Agatha's.

- Wait here Y/N, I'll handle her first and then I'll let you know when to come in okay? - she said and you hesitate a little but nodded your head.

Some minutes passed for you until you heard her voice in your head.

- Come inside, we're at the basement - she said.

You did as you were told and walked inside the house. When you made it to the basement the air became heavier and the lighting of the room turned red.

- So this is your new puppet - you heard a woman's voice talking as you got close to Wanda - A new toy to play dollhouse.

- Silence Agatha - your girlfriend told her.

Wanda looked at you and and held her hand out for you to take it, she pulled you close to her and give you a small kiss on one side of your forehead. But you were more focused on the kneeld chained woman that was in front of you.

- I have to say it, she's more attractive than the machine that you called husband - Agatha said mocking at Wanda.

- I told you to shut up - Wanda said aggressively throwing a blast of power over the woman to put on a magical spell on her mouth - We came here for answers, not to have a chat with you.

You were still complete silence, feeling suddenly so out of place between those two powerful women.

- Did you understand? - Wanda asked her and the woman nodded slowly, rolling her eyes.

Your girlfriend took your hand to feel your presence and the touch made you remember why you were there. For her.

So you held her hand and gave her a shy brief smile.

- It's okay - you whispered.

The magic spell disappeared from the woman's mouth and she took a deep breath in.

- What do you want from me Wanda? - she asked roughly.

- I want you to tell me why am I seeing the Scarlet Witch again... - Wanda said - It's been a long time and I always had her under control, but now I feel like she's haunting me.

Agatha stared at Wanda and laughed dryly.

- You think you have her under control? Oh sweetie, you don't have the Scarlet Witch, the Scarlet Witch has you - Agatha spilled bitterly.

- What do you mean? - she asked - I am the Scarlet Witch, I can control her.

Agatha smirked.

- You're the Scarlet Witch now, but you are not the only one Wanda, there have been others before you... But you seem to be the strongest and, ironically, the weakest out of them all...

Wanda seemed confused and you were too.

- So you're saying that there have been other Wandas? - you asked.

Agatha smirked at you.

- No darling, not other "Wandas" other Scarlet Witches - she said mocking.

- Don't you dare to talk to her - Wanda told her.

- She asked...

You took a step back and kept listening.

- It's something you inherited Wanda, probably your progenitor was a Scarlet Witch too...

- That's impossible, my mom was a normal housewife, she never had powers

- Not your boring human mom that gave you your last name, I mean your biological mother, the one that gave you birth - Agatha explained.

Wanda held your hand tighter and you put your arm around her waist.

- But there's more. .. You're not only a Scarlet Witch but you also contain the chaos magic... a gift from a demon, a monster....

- What... What monster? - Wanda's voice shook.

- I told you sweetheart, your destiny was to destroy the world - Agatha said, and after some seconds of staring at Wanda she smirked - But I have the feeling that you already did that, am I right?

- I asked you one thing Agatha, what monster? What are you talking about? - Wanda screamed.

- I told you that you would need me Wanda, and you decided to keep me trapped in here, in this fake suburban hell...

- Agatha...

- Now you think you have a second chance with her - the woman points at you - You're just another heart to break honey... Another puppet to ease her pain...

- Stop talking Agatha, just answer me - Wanda demanded and she threw another blast of power.

Agatha closed her eyes in pain for some seconds.

- Chton - Agatha said catching her breath again - His name is Chton, the original owner of the magic of chaos... He gave you his powers when you were a baby, before he was banished from earth, as a way to keep a portion of his power on here.... The Darkhold, it was written by him too, it's a testament of all of his knowledge in the arcane arts, but surprise surprise sunshine... You read that too.

Wanda and you froze for a moment, what the hell was that woman saying?

- I thought your powers came from the mind stone - you said to Wanda

- No, the stone only awakened my abilities but they're different, they're magical... - Wanda explained without looking at you.

- Not only magical, destructive, the demon of chaos himself gave you his powers, you and the Darkhold are his connection to this world and now... you have seen all of it.

- That can't be true...

Agatha stared smirking at her.

- Believe what you want to believe honey... But the power is stronger, even stronger than you... Do you think you'll be able to hold all of it... Now she's just haunting, testing you, but sooner rather than later she will reach you, and there'll be no escape.... For the both of you - she said looking at you too now - It will consume you Wanda, until there's nothing of you left.

You stared at the woman scared.

- Y/N wait in the car... I'll go in a few minutes - Wanda told you firmly.

- But Wanda... - you tried to argue not wanting to let her alone with Agatha, but she didn't give you room for it.

- Y/N please...

You sighed and walked to the car.

- You will not save her Y/N, don't even try... - that was the last thing you heard from Agatha before stepping out of the basement.

You waited for a couple minutes before seeing Wanda get in the car. You were expecting her to be cold or distant after everything you heard but the moment you looked at her she broke into your arms crying.

- I always knew I was a monster - she said.

You shook your head denying.

- No my love, you're not monster... What she said, it can't be true...

- But what if she is? What If the power takes control over me... What if I hurt you?

Wanda was shaking from head to toe, her voice was thin in fear and her tears didn't stopped from falling down her cheeks.

- You would never, I know it.

She remained affected for the rest of the day. In the night when you two were in bed and in the safety of each other's arms you had and idea.

- What if we go to see Strange? Maybe he can tell us if that whole Chton thing is real and if there's any chance for what Agatha said to be true?

She lifted her face to meet your eyes.

- You know, Strange and I are not in the best terms... I don't think he would help...

- It's been a long time Wanda, I'll go with you and we both will talk with him - you said - He's the only one I would trust to tell us the truth, and he's a smart man, I bet he knows by now that you did the right thing at the end.

She hesitated for a moment but then just nodded her head.

- Okay, maybe he could help...

Next morning you took a flight to New York City and walked to the Sanctum Sanctorum to look for the Strange. When you made it to his place you were happy because you were right about him already forgiven Wanda about the whole Multiverse thing, but your smile slowly faded away as soon you ask him about Agatha and Chton.

- I'm sorry Y/N... - he said - That witch, she's telling the truth.

Wanda paled after hearing him.

- Wanda is now a human vessel for all the power of chaos magic, and Chton is no demon to play with, he's one of the strongest, part of the big leagues of the universe...

- But Wanda is not a demon... - you said

Strange sighed.

- I know, but the power and her one day will become one, and in that instant there will be nothing left from Wanda...

Wanda walked out of the room with some tars falling from her eyes and you followed her.

- Darling, come here please - you asked once you were on the receiving room.

She didn't say anything for a while, just stayed there, you only seeing her back.

- We'll solve this Wanda - you told her approaching slowly - We're gonna be fine...

She turned to look at you and only then you saw her big puffy green eyes because of her cry.

- We're in this together, I'm not gonna let you deal with this on your own.

You wrapped her in your arms and she let herself fall in them.

- I don't want to lose myself Y/N, i don't wanna be that monster... - she said in a whisper with shaky voice.

- You will not baby, we'll figure this out, I promise...

She shook her head denying.

- No, it's not fair for you to go through this hell with me, you don't have to burn...

- I will not let you burn - you said looking into her eyes - And don't even try to push me away darling, I'll always come back.

- But Y/N you heard them, there's no solution on this, I will leave someday and... I don't want you to pay for the mistakes I made... I want you to be happy, that's what you deserve.

You hold her hand to kiss it.

- You are my happiness, and I don't care of how much time we have left, I want to spend it with you.

She gave you a brief smile but you saw the doubt in her eyes.

- Are you sure? - she asked you - You don't have to, I understand if you want to take a step aside... You don't have to worry.

You also smiled giving her reassurance.

- I'm sure my love, I would never imagine a life without you...

She smiled and kissed you deeply, letting you know how much she loved you.

You came back with Strange to talk about Wanda's future.

- I'm not sure about how many time there's left for you, it's all so uncertain, it can be weeks, months or years even... - he said to her - But it's going to happen, that's for sure.

- And when she possesses me, when the Scarlet Witch takes control of my body and the power blinds me... - Wanda said with trembling lips - What is going to happen?

Strange looked through the window thinking how to explain everything.

- Once she has you Chton will be able to return to this world, his exile will end and maybe he will try to conquer the earth... He will take the power in you to be complete again - he turned to look at you, worried - We'll have to be prepared if he decides to attack...

You felt your stomach flinch in scare for what might happen to Wanda, you can't let something so terrible happen to her. On the other hand she was thinking on how to avoid such a horrible event to happen.

- Is there any way we can stop this from happening? - she asked.

Strange sighed.

- There's one way - he closed her eyes for a second before talking - If we destroy his connection to this world and close the gates he left open before leaving... Maybe he'll not be able to return

You frowned.

- But Wanda is the connection...

He looked at you with sorrow.

You denied with your head and stood from the chair you were sat in.

- No, no, no... Don't even think about it.

- There's no other way Y/N, Wanda destroyed the Darkhold but she read it, all Chton needs it's her...

- Well, I will not let you touch her...

- Y/N...

She interrupted you and you turned to look at her, when your gaze met you knew what she was thinking.

- No Wanda, I'll not let you do it.

- Baby - she walked to you - I'm the one who started all this mess, I'm the one who has to finish it.

- But you can't, you can't leave me...

You started to sob just at the thought of living without her by your side.

- We don't have to say goodbye now my love, let's enjoy this time we have left... But it's something I have to do.

She also started to cry and Strange left the room to let you two talk.

- It's not fair, we should be happy, live a long peaceful life and grow old together... This is not how it's supposed to be...

She cupped your face, caressing your cheek.

- I known, life isn't fair, but I'm the happiest because you are the one I get to live with for the rest of my days, and then if I get to stop this I will go peacefully... I'll finally rest.

You understood Wanda had to do it to feel inner peace, to forgive herself for all the things she did.

You stared at her with tears rolling down your cheeks and her face full of tears too; and breaking your heart in the process you just nodded, accepting your fate.

- I'll be honored to accompany you.

She kissed you like it was the last time and your heart hurt knowing there would actually be a last time for you.

When you left Strange that day to return home Wanda told you to wait in the car one more time to have a quick chat with Stephen.

- I wish I could help you more Wanda, I'm glad you found happiness - he said.

- Thank you Stephen, but I have the feeling this will not be the last time we see each other.

He sighed nodding.

- I know, as I said I don't know when it's going to happen but the moment you feel like it's becoming too much, if you feel like no having control over your body, come here, we'll help you go to Wundagore to close the gate...

She accepted and shook hands with the man.

- Yes, I will.

He gave her a brief smile.

- I hope you don't have to come in a really long time... I wish you more years of happiness with Y/N, you deserve it.

Wanda smiled and said goodbye before returning to you in the car.

- Are you ready my love? - you asked her and hold her hand.

- Yes, let's go home.

The whole way back you felt a hole on your stomach everytime you looked at Wanda. When she fell asleep on your shoulder on the flight you stared at her peaceful features and you couldn't help to cry. The reminder that someday the woman you loved would be lost in pain was killing you inside, and you felt it so unfair, Wanda came back to your life only one year ago, your time together have been so short and they were taking her away from you, again.

- You know, I can feel whenever you're sad - she murmured with her head still laid on your shoulder.

- I'm sorry, I'm just... I keep processing everything...

She sighed and lifted her gaze up to you.

- I know it's scary, and it's fair for you to feel sad or angry, I'm not asking you to stop feeling and pretend nothing is going to happen...

You stroked her cheek.

- Thanks for understand, I don't want to feel like this for the rest of our time together, but I can't help it...

- Detka it's fine.. I feel scared too, more than you can think... But I also want to live happy, like I was before coming here....

- Me too, I wish we could go back to a week before...

- Let's do something, I know we both feel horrible now but what If we let all of this Chton thing here, in America. We can be miserable all we want during this flight, but then, when we land in Italy and arrive home let's live our life like there's no tomorrow, like there's no time clocking for us... Let's leave it all in America.

You looked at her big green orbes and smiled.

- Okay, we'll leave it all in America.

And so you did, for the next months Wanda and you lived in the fairytale you always dreamed about, loving each other like never before. And although you wished from the bottom of your heart for it to stop, the Scarlet Witch kept haunting Wanda. It wasn't  very often but when she did, she always left Wanda shaken and affected for the rest of the day.

Three months later you prepared a nice dinner at the backyard of your house that Wanda had turned into a beautiful garden. You put lights all around the flowers and bought a nice ring to propose to Wanda.

- I know out future is uncertain, we have no clue what it's going to happen tomorrow but I am sure of one thing, I love you Wanda Maximoff, I love you like I never knew I could love someone, you make me feel like I'm the luckiest girl on the planet, I would give you the world if you ask me to... Wanda Maximoff, would you marry me?

With tears of happiness on her face she said yes.

- Of course I will marry Y/N, i love you!

She kissed you with tender and two months later she became your wife on a special ceremony between only the two of you.

Now, after two years of full happiness and love you are laying on a sun chair at your garden with Wanda on your side, you right hand holding her left hand with the bright ring on her finger. It's been hard days for her, the encounters with the Scarlet Witch had been increasing and Wanda now see her on her reflection on windows, mirrors, water or in her dreams. You only want to help her, so giving her peaceful moments like this has become your priority.

- I really gonna miss this - she says - I love watching the sunset with you.

You turn to look at her confused.

- You don't have miss it already, I know we still have plenty of sunsets left to see - you tell her but her reaction it's not the one you expected. Instead of smile sweetly and look at you, she stays with her gaze on the sunset and instead of her smile, sadness is reflected on her eyes - Darling, is everything okay? - you ask stroking your thumb on her hand.

She takes a long breath, allowing the warm air of the afternoon fill her lungs, closing her eyes.

- This loving atmosphere we created, the home we built, it's something I never thought I would deserve - she murmurs softly.

You listen to her, not wanting to interrupt.

- After Westview, when my children disappeared I promised Vision we would say hello again, maybe in another dimension. But when I studied the multiverse and found Billy and Tommy, Vision was never there, they were my kids but he wasn't by my side. And in those universes where he was with me, we never ended up together... Like in this one - she remained silence before turning to look at your eyes - But you were there, always, sometimes as a friend, sometimes as my partner. You are the love of my life Y/N, it took me so long to realize it but I'm glad that we found each other again, you bring me love, peace and happiness; you gave me the life I always dreamed of; you are real Y/N, you loved me even before I loved myself, you held me all those nights when I cried for Pietro, you held me through my grief and grieve with me. You showed me true friendship, true love, made me feel trustworthy and special. And yet, I broke your heart so many times, I chose another person above you and even then, you only smiled and accepted without any complain. You were always what I was missing, the key to finally feel complete. I'm happy and honored to be the one you hold and the one that gets to hold you, thanks for all these years of bliss and love. I'm sorry I'll have to break your heart again by leaving, but I want you to always remember that I love you, if it were up to me I would stay with you until the end of our days, but I can't.... I'm so sorry Y/N, i have to leave you behind again...

At this point you're crying and sobing with her on your arms, what she said wasn't something you were expecting to hear. You're lost for words, so you just hug her close to you, not wanting to let her go, ever.

- I'm the lucky one here darling, I would always choose you, above anything or anyone... I never resent Vision, he made you happy and I will always be grateful with him for that, but the night you knocked at my door crying my heart skipped for seeing you again. Letting you get in my house was the best decision I've ever made, you're the love of my life too Wanda Maximoff, I love so much that sometimes it hurts.... But I know we still have more time together...

Her crying intensifies with your last words, and she hides her face in the crock of your neck.

- I don't think we have that much time darling - she whispers between sobs - These last few days I have felt her, she's stronger now, sometimes I don't even recognize myself in the mirror. I'm not even afraid of her anymore, I just stare at her for minutes, waiting for her to attack... I don't feel like myself anymore...

Your heart breaks the moment she says that, your bigger fear is finally materializing and you're not prepared for it yet.

- Strange told me to go to him the moment she takes control over my body, I don't know what she's capable of doing and don't want to put you in risk - she sighs - Maybe it's time for me to go, to close the gate...

You denied.

- No Wanda, you don't have to leave on you own, I'll go with you - you tell her - I'll never let you alone again.

- Y/N, i don't want you to go through this....

You don't let her finish.

- There's no discussion on this Wanda, tomorrow we'll go with Strange and I'll go with you, okay?.

She closes her eyes and nod, smiling briefly.

- Okay - That's all she says.

As every night you fell asleep with your wife wrapped inside your arms, expecting to travel the next day. But later that night Wanda had a nightmare.

She was in your garden, wearing the Scarlet Witch dress and the sky was red, just like when Strange looked for her help on the farm. The house and the garden was all burned out, and she was dragging your body through the ground, holding you with her hand on your neck. You were dead.

She wakes up abruptly, with sweat all over her face and her heart pounding very fast. She turns to look at you, and sees how you're sleep, running a finger over your features she knows she has to leave before something terrible happened to you.

She stands from the bed and, sobbing in silence she left the house, not without giving you a peck on the lips before and leaving a letter for you to find it later.

Next morning you wake up at 8 am, searching instinctively for your wife with your hand. But when you feel nothing by your side you open your eyes and sit on the bed confused.

- Wanda? - you ask outloud for her to hear you.

You stand from the bed and look through your window to see if she's down in the garden, but she's not there. You change your pajama and go downstairs to look for her in the kitchen, but she's no where to be seen.

You have a bad feeling growing on your chest, and after some minutes of thinking you take a sit on one of the chairs of the dinner room. Just then you notice the envelope on the table, a letter that has your name written on the front. And you understand everything, Wanda wasn't gonna return.

Immediately you take the letter with you and leave running to the airport to get to New York the soonest possible.

But Wanda had arrived to New York an hour ago, in the shadow of the night.

- It's time Stephen - she said to the man.

He stared at her and nodded.

- We have to get you ready before - he told her.

So the Sorcerer and the Witch prepared themselves to go to Wundagore.

Meanwhile you were traveling all the way to America. Having a close friendship with the wealthy widow Pepper Pots, allowed you to get there faster by flying in her private jet.

In the privacy of the airplane, you unfold the letter Wanda left for you. With shaky hands and tears already falling from your eyes you start to read it.

Y/N, my love.

I'm sorry for leaving without you, but tonight I had a nightmare about the Scarlet Witch hurting you, and I couldn't handle it anymore, I would never put you in risk and I feel like now it's the right time.

I know you wanted to go with me but I can't let you go through that pain again, but please know that I'm not doing this to hurt you, I only want to protect you.

I'm writing this to say goodbye, and thank you for everything, for giving me love and happiness; although last night I told you everything I wanted you to hear.

Darling please don't let this consume you, don't let yourself drown in pain and sadness; and as I said, I'm not asking you to not feel, just don't lose yourself in sorrow.

Live baby, don't let your life end up here, it's not the end of the line for you so please don't stop just because I'm gone, you're young and beautiful, so please enjoy life, do it for me.

And I know you my love, you probably will go to see Strange (if you're not in your way already) but please don't be mad at him, he's just helping me. I'm conscious that visiting New York will make you feel angry, so cry, scream, be sad, I can't stop you from feeling, I know I would feel my world ending if you were the one leaving, so grieve. But baby, leave it all in America, when you arrive to our home I want you to fell free, to have a happy memory of me, of us.

I love you Y/N, more than anything.

                                                           -  Wanda.

You hold the letter close to your chest murmur.

- I love too Wanda.

When you land in New York you take a cab to the Sanctum Sanctorum to look for Strange. But you only find Wong in your way in, and when he looks into your eyes, the guilt on his gaze let's you know that it was too late.

- Wanda is gone - he says.

Those three words resound inside your head and you fall on your knees, crying like never before. Wanda Maximoff broke your heart for the last time.

~▪️~

Wanda and Strange made it to feet of the mountain Wundagore.

- I can't go further than this, Wanda - Strange told her.

- I know, thanks Stephen, for being here.

He nodded and looked at the woman.

- I'm sorry you have to do this, it's gonna be painful, you'll feel like they're burying you alive, but it's gonna finish before you can notice. In that moment the magic of chaos will die with you.

She nodded nervous.

- Tell her how much I love her - she said and the man smiled sadly - Goodbye Stephen.

- Goodbye Wanda.

So she flied to the destroyed throne she once claimed as her own, and there she gave her body to the damned souls of the Darkhold, the only ones who could claim her.  She left this world with the image of her wife never leaving her mind.

The prophecy said that the Scarlet Witch was destined to destroy the universe. But the Scarlet Witch was now also Wanda. And Wanda wouldn't. Wanda would never.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Thoughts on Taskmaster s18e01, written as I watch it:

- It occurs to me, as I start the episode, that while it’s very very exciting that this season contains the guy who’s been my number 1 person on my Taskmaster wishlist for ages – Andrew Zaltzman – it also might be the first Taskmaster season ever where I go into it strongly disliking one of the contestants. I disliked Joanne McNally before s17 started, but I admitted that that was based on one story she told on one episode of Alan Davies’ TV show once, and it wasn’t fair to entirely judge her on that. By the end of the season she’d won me around, she was a lot of fun. I will be very, very surprised if Jack Dee wins me around by the end of the season, as my dislike for him is based on quite a bit more than my dislike of Joanne McNally was. But we’ll see how it goes. It’s fine. I don’t need to look at Jack Dee. Too many good people in the other chairs. Obviously Andy, I like Rosie Jones a lot too, Emma Sidi I’ve vaguely liked for ages from Radio 4 but I saw her live in Edinburgh this summer and thought it was one of the best shows of the year. And I know very little about Babatunde, but if he lets women talk while they’re on TV with him and doesn’t give interviews about the evils of cancel culture, then he’s got to be better than Jack Dee.

- Oh my God it’s Andy on TV!!! Okay, besides that, my first reaction to seeing him is to say – I think I once saw a relatively recent picture of Andy Zaltzman in which, for whatever reason, his hair looked extra white. Because when I picture the recent versions of him, I picture him with entirely white hair. So every time I see an actual recent picture of him, I’m surprised to see that it’s still visibly red, even if it’s greying. There’s also more of it than I thought. In fact, I think his hairline is in the same place as it’s been since about 2006. 2006 was the year (maybe one of a few years) when he had a stand-up bit about how some people ask him if his curly red hair is a wig, and he replies that if he were going to wear a wig, he’d choose a wig without a receding hairline. But it appears that it receded until 2006 and then stopped there for nearly twenty years. Okay, I promise that is the longest paragraph about a comedian’s physical appearance that I will write on this blog.

- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I think the funniest ways for Greg to do his little insulting introduction of Alex are to imply he’s right-wing. It should have gotten old by now, but it hasn’t. Good start, saying he finds women’s sports boring.

- Alex Horne opens with that Jack and the Beans Talk pun, that’s got to be the most contrived pun ever used on Taskmaster. Just trying to show off for the pun master Andy Zaltzman. You won’t win, Alex.

- Look, if someone else had brought in someone else’s lungs for a prize task with a remit of “best thing that’s been inside you”, I would say exactly what Greg said, which is “Those lungs have not been inside you.” I’m usually a stickler for prizes that stick to the instructions, it annoys me when a prize wins despite not fitting the exact wording for the remit. However, because it was Andy Zaltzman who brought those lungs in, my reaction is: “Come on, Greg. Of course he’s putting his own personal lungs up as that prize. Do you know how seriously Andy Zaltzman takes sports? Clearly what’s happened is the first thing Andy Zaltzman’s done on Taskmaster is threaten to die for it.”

- I will be annoyed if Andy’s marked down for his prize because those specific lungs haven’t been inside him, and Babatunde isn’t marked down for the same reason. I do not believe he has personally eaten and vomited up that specific food that’s on the prize task table.

- I will accept Emma’s prize as fitting the remit. She didn’t physically bring in her ex, but I believe she fairly represented him, and the thing she represented was her actual ex, not just some other guy who’s never been inside her but is also a guy.

- To be fair to Jack Dee, he is the first person to bring in a prize that has actually physically been inside him. However, this is the sort of thing that annoys me, because the task remit was not just “thing that’s been inside you”, it was “best thing that’s been inside you”. Obviously that toothbrush does not qualify as the best of anything.

- Well done, Rosie. The only person to bring in a prize that has actually been physically inside her, and is a good thing. That should be five points. Though I’m still pretty impressed by the power move from Emma Sidi in bringing in a sex-based prize for her first episode. I guess she didn’t know that would be the first episode when she picked the task. Still, pretty funny.

- I largely agree with that scoring. Though as they’ve both not been inside someone so are equal on that and should be judged on the best thing, I think lungs are better than food.

- Okay, I got so caught up in the intrigue of that first task that I watched the entire thing without stopping to write anything. Having seen it all now, I have a few comments. First, I’m a little confused about why it said they can’t read the instructions out loud, as none of the instructions had a word beginning with Q. But I guess it was maybe to discourage speaking in general, to decrease the chances that they’d all accidentally say a Q word? Some of the contestants seemed to think it meant they couldn’t talk at all, even though the task never said that, just that they couldn’t read the instructions out loud.

Alex offered quite a lot of help in this one. Correcting some of them when they got the letters in SEAL wrong, or at least telling them that the letter was incorrect and to try again. I can see why because it would have taken ages otherwise, but that is a little way in which I find myself liking the NZ and AU versions over this. The Taskmaster UK allotted task times have got shorter and shorter over the years; NZ and AU regularly give them 45 minutes or an hour to make something, while the UK hardly ever does that anymore. I assume that’s to save on production costs and things, make thing shorter, but it is fun when they can take their time and make something bigger. And it’s also funny when they can let a contestant struggle for like two hours. Similarly, I’m not sure Paul Williams or Tom Cashman would have gone to get a second seal for Jack. Might have just made him stumble around until he accidentally said a Q word. Which it turns out he did almost immediately anyway, so shouldn’t the clock have been stopped at that point, if that was the end of the task? Also, to be far to Jack Dee, I have to admit it's pretty funny that Jack Dee got to light shit on fire in the very first pre-filmed task.

Anyway, Rosie Jones is killing it in the task as well as the studio, declaring that she has to smile because she’s so happy/doesn’t want to look dead. Though Emma Sidi’s probably the main one standing out so far, I was not expecting her to have such a… I don’t know how to describe it besides “forceful presence”, in the studio. I cannot stop looking at her and I think I’ve laughed at everything she’s said so far. Possibly a bit of that is because she’s got quite a distinctive voice and every time she uses it I remember how hard she made me laugh the last time I heard that voice, in Edinburgh last month. Also I might be in love with her.

My other comment is that I love Andy Zaltzman being upset with himself for missing a perfect opportunity to say the word “quesadilla”. Also being audibly annoyed when he had to remove a cricket glove to count words.

- Where the fuck is that location? I’m sure I can work this out by Googling, that is clearly an actual theme park and I can just look up which one they went to, and I will do that after I finish the episode, but right now, I will say again: where the fuck are they? I’ve not seen anything except the initial few shots of this location task, and I already think this is my favourite location in years. Favourite since the airport, at least. Top few ever. What the fuck, guys? There is so much going on. I’ve recently re-watched all six seasons of BoJack Horseman, and this looks like the nightmare theme park that Todd built that one time.

Also, that opening shot of Andy Zaltzman coming up the grounds in full cricket gear and waving his bat around. I told myself I won’t do screenshots in these posts, because I used to do Taskmaster liveblogging posts that were full of Gifs and screenshots but those make the whole episode take like four hours to watch, while doing text-only liveblogs are shorter. But I need to draw everyone’s attention to that shot of Andy Zaltzman waving his cricket bat around.

No one has ever dragged their own props around on Taskmaster before. Andy Zaltzman has invented a whole new dimension to the game because his cricket obsession is so powerful. It feels like this shouldn't be allowed - contestants are generally not supposed to bring their own things that could help them in the tasks (they've occasionally used phones before, but that's generally considered to go against the spirit of the game). Is a cricket bat an advantage in Taskmaster? I guess we'll find out.

- While I’m here, one more quick exception to my “no screenshots” rule:

I noticed this when I was in England last month - there's a surprising amount of tropical fauna out there. Mainly in the form of bushes with those spiky leaves, but sometimes there's just a straight-up palm tree. Like this thing behind Andy Zaltzman. Did everyone else know that England has palm trees? They weren't everywhere or anything, but in the four days I spent exploring London, I saw enough for it to be a pattern. And there's another one, in this screenshot. Why does England have palm trees?

- In the first task, Jack Dee had to stare at a camera without smiling. In the second task, Andy Zaltzman gets to throw a cricket ball. Are they all going to get something tailored to be what their comedy persona is supposed to do well? Will the next task involve them all playing characters, for Emma Sidi?

- I think Andy used to cricket bat to bring the tin closer to him, so I guess they are just letting him use that thing in tasks. Also, I greatly enjoyed watching him throw things at fences while narrating his ideas. And stroppily throwing a yoga ball at the end, and then over-dramatically hitting his pads. It is so unnatural to see Andy Zaltzman play for the camera like that, it’s really funny

- The reveal of how he actually did very well, followed by him complaining that he’s supposed to get the stats right – also very funny.

- First “Alex breaks and has to hide his laugh behind a clipboard” of the season: Babatunde throwing the yoga ball way too far and it going over all the cans. Good stuff.

- I’d wondered how they’d do this season with Rosie’s disability – if they’d adapt the tasks to be ones where you can do them just as easily with cerebral palsy, or if they’d give her accommodations to level the playing field. According to this task, they seem to have gone with… neither. Which is pretty funny. I mean, that’s not how anything should work in real life. But if I take a moment to remember my belief that it matters who wins Taskmaster is only pretend, that’s pretty funny. And I assume it’s how Rosie Jones wanted it, as she’s built a career on making jokes about how she does things differently from others, and there are more opportunities for that this way.

- Love Rosie throwing her hat and coat at the problem.

- I love that Emma Sidi is the only one smart/patient enough to actually properly count all the cans. Absolutely not fucking around, just going right out and doing it properly. We’re all in love with her now, right?

- …I wrote the above point before seeing that Jack Dee did the exact same thing. It was less cool when he did it, okay?

- Emma’s “how do you summon skills that you don’t have?” reminds me of Mark Watson’s “I don’t know how to open this, and I don’t quite know what to do if I can’t” line from season 5. I think of that Mark Watson line probably, quite literally, at least once every two weeks. Because about that often, a scenario arises where I struggle to work out how to do something and am very aware that I have no backup plan. I think “how do summon skills that you don’t have?” will become relevant in my life about that often. Also, I liked Emma jumping on the yoga ball to get more cans. You do what you have to do, if you didn’t have the foresight to bring a fucking cricket bat.

- …Seeing Emma Sidi’s actual throwing ability, I might have to take back that thing I just said about her being the hyper-competent one. But those are always fun contestants, the ones with very high skills in some areas and very low skills in others.

- Oh fuck you. How dare you? How very dare you? What the fuck?

- Fuck you.

- Fuck you, Alex.

- Oh, I’m sorry that Andy is a serious sportsman, and if you hand him a cricket ball (I think he was actually throwing the golf ball when he stepped off the spot, but ignore that) while he’s dressed in full cricket gear, he’s going to do a proper throw, with a wind-up and torque and follow-through, because he has too much respect for the game to half-ass it, and I’m sorry if that doesn’t conform to your little Taskmaster rules, Alex!

- Fuck you. God damn it.

- …All right I’ve got to the next task where Andy Zaltzman has just hit a plastic bubble with a cricket bat, and that’s cheered me up a bit. At least they let him have a weapon. Andy Zaltzman is the first contestant in Taskmaster history who’s been allowed to just carry a weapon around the whole time.

- I’m liking the running joke of suggesting that Babatunde being a comedian means he can never do anything else. It’s a shame the new audience for each episode prevents Taskmaster from having too many season-long running jokes, because that would be a good one.

- Okay, Babatunde’s massive bubbles are genuinely beautiful. I sometimes blow bubbles for the kids where I work, and I get genuinely into trying to make one as big as possible, because the big ones are pretty. Babatunde using those big things to make things that are just straight-up huge bubbles is more beautiful than the clever gimmicks. But I suppose the daughter thing is a nice touch.

- Watching Andy’s bubble video, I was thinking: “What is this? What’s the French thing? Andy Zaltzman has exactly one voice that he does whenever he’s doing any character at all, and this French accent isn’t it. Andy Zaltzman does not do theatre kid sketches. He occasionally does sketches, but they’re always about colonialism or the state of public discourse or the uselessness of God or some shit. Not parodies of French film. What the fuck? Who is this person and what has he does with Andy Zaltzman?” Then he tried to hit a bubble like a snooker shot, and I thought, “Oh good. There he is.”

- Having now finished the French film, I can only agree with Greg Davies about it. Genuinely good. Andy’s right, snooker is beautiful.

- They’re grouping Rosie and Emma, meaning that I’m pretty sure in every task so far, Andy Zaltzman’s clips have been isolated, with the other four being paired as two and two.

- I was joking about the third task being a character thing to play to Emma Sidi’s strengths, but that’s pretty much what this is. I am immediately a fan of both the bubble gum fairy and the crazy lady in the bath. I think they should have a sitcom together.

- Emma Sidi’s “Sorry bitch” to Rosie in the studio just got the first proper laugh out loud of the episode from me. They seem to have immediately gelled nicely in the studio – the banter isn’t usually this good from episode one, especially given that I don’t think these people know each other from outside the show (maybe a bit, I assume Andy and Jack know each other, you’d think Babatunde and Rosie would cross paths, but they don’t seem to know each other well).

- Yep, you’re God damn right to give Andy’s video five points, Greg. He should enter that in film festivals.

- I am also down for Emma Sidi’s winking to become a season-long joke. For personal reasons.

- Emma’s got the second laugh out loud in a few minutes from me, in her little glare at Andy while reading the live task, and getting to the point where you have to stay on the spot. She’s brilliant.

- Third laugh out loud of the episode: Andy moving the spot over to avoid breaking the rules. I love how much they’re all getting into this in the studio. This is going to be a fucking good season.

- Rosie Jones’ reaction when she realized she’d drunk the vinegar – also very fun. This is so much fun. I do find it funny how much this task says about the contestants. Rosie and Babatunde go straight for drinking, figuring they can just try stuff and it’ll work out. Andy, Emma, and Jack try to work smarter by gathering information and figuring it out from there. That all seems to track with their overall personas. But in the end, Rosie gets it on the second try, proving the efficacy of the first method. Just go for it.

- Wait, so they’re not going to tell us what the clue was? Does that mean we should assume she was right and it was prime number? Because I want to know. “Prime number” would be a very Horne-esque clue.

- Well that was fucking excellent overall. I'm pretty sure I'm not just biased by my love of Zaltzman here, when I say that was a very strong first episode, better than most seasons. They usually take longer than that to fall into a rhythm in the studio. I cannot wait for more of this.

[ilikekidsshows]

wait where did astruc say that stuff about sailor moon now 😭 is that like a recent thing or??

---

There's a new interview out, or there's a proper translation for an older one, because I’d heard some of the stuff in it before, but Astruc could also just be repeating himself. The interview is for Astruc’s ego stroking, since he mostly spends it playing the pass the blame game for his contested writing decisions and trying to sound wise and experienced by pretending he’s seen critically acclaimed shows he actually hasn't. He also tries to hype people up for Miraculous being this never-ending show that just goes on and on by claiming he has only told 5% of the story he has planned. I’m just wondering, if he has so many story ideas, why didn't season 4 have a proper story and spent all its runtime setting up season 5 instead? He also claims season 7 will make you rethink season 6, which makes me think it's gonna be another season 4 where nothing actually happens despite this show being supposedly fully serialized now. Or they're going to make some more blatant retcons and pretend they're surprising and totally set up plot twists instead.

A lot of people are freaking out about Astruc saying there's enough of this sloppily-told story to last us twelve seasons, but I’m cringing at his claims that they have Gabriel and André’s backstories all figured out and they’d like to dig into that some more while giving André a redemption arc. He was really into the idea of an André redemption arc, because, as he puts it, André actually wants to change unlike Chloé, who Astruc really totally wanted to redeem, you guys, but she told him no :( 

I’m serious, by the way; he literally claims he wanted to redeem Chloé and gave her every chance to change her ways but she just wouldn't, because real people in her position wouldn't and they value realism oh-so-much, which is why Marinette can install a one-way mirror in the girls' bathroom at her school and not get a felony charge. He loves to act like he isn't the puppeteer holding the strings. I can hardly wait for some retroactive justification for how these rich, middle-aged white men’s abuse and neglect of their children is okay. The show didn't have enough abuse apologia in it yet! :D

Like, I expect writers to lie about how great their writing is, they're trying to sell you a product of said writing after all. I just think, if he's gonna claim he’s doing something new and unique, he should actually check the media he claims his show is related to. Every time he makes statements about shows, movies or comics, he makes it obvious that he doesn't actually know anything a person who’d seen them would know about them. Like, yes, Sailor Moon is the core Scout, but any decisions the Sailor Scouts make are made together or Luna gives them orders. Usagi is not the standard type leader Astruc makes it sound like she is when he says his Sailor Moon -like Miraculous AU would have Marinette “lead her own hero team”. Although I’d be interested in an AU where Marinette actually cares about what others think, Astruc has made it clear that's not what he's interested in, so his description of Sailor Moon is already incorrect before he says this version of Miraculous also wouldn't have a love story, because I guess he thinks the “Tuxedo Mask is useless” memes are the actual canon or something, which just proves that he hasn't seen the show, since from the first episode onward, Tuxedo Mask is an important, helpful ally to Sailor Moon. Just because he doesn't have flashy magic attacks in the first anime doesn't mean he doesn't contribute important insight or distractions or isn't actually physically capable.

Basically, Astruc can't say two sentences about a piece of media without all of it being incorrect. He's gotten way too comfortable thinking nobody in this fandom reads or watches anything not Miraculous-related, probably because, in all these years, the fandom at large hasn’t discovered that Marinette is clearly just Nikki Maxwell with superpowers all the way down to her character design. When you get away with plagiarism, it tends to make you cocky.

[fromtheboundlesssea]

Never thought a show could get worse with their writing decisions till now, because literally what are they doing, so many characters are different from who they were in the first season, their motives are all over the place, I honestly don’t care what aemond did to aegon if it wasn’t for the fact it was in the midst of the war, they now literally only have one dragon on their side to fight, they should have made this a mistake like in the book instead of trying to change and go on a whole diff arc that doesn’t make any sense.

I feel like this might be my last season. It’s just getting so bad. I feel like all the things certain people wanted in game of thrones (Starkbowl, as in Dark!Sansa and Arya actually following through on her threats to Sansa, savior Targ vs villainous redhead) plays out in this show. And every episode just gets worse and worse.

The thing about GoT is that while the last couple/few seasons of the show were not great, D&D had at least built a sort of rapport with the audience so we trusted them to a degree. When they had books to adapt they did a decent job and it’s only when they had to make things up that they started messing up, but even then we initially didn’t think it was *that* bad because we got episodes like Battle of the Bastards and, until they cut their seasons shorter, they did at least attempt to give opposing sides even amounts of intrigue that let you cheer for them even if you did not really want that side to win. LOVED the Lannisters despite I knew they would be doomed.

We had YEARS with the cast. We watched the younger cast grow up and saw the older cast age.

We don’t have any of that with the GoT cast despite the cast being excellent here. We glossed over so much time in season 1 and we’re told off handedly about what happened without any indication of how this affected the characters. I honestly don’t think the writers contemplated what the characters were actively doing between timeskips. They either change drastically (Rhaenyra going from not wanting any marriage or children to suddenly popping out three bastards, or Aemond being proficient at swords) or remain so stagnant that nothing has apparently changed in the near decade we last saw the characters.

The writing, while bad last season, was at least somewhat entertaining with the cast really being able to shine through in quite a few of the scenes. This season is more sparse with its quality scenes that are then thrown away in the very next episode so they don’t really matter anymore. Season 1 characterization goes out the window. Where we left off characters is not where we pick them up. We miss very important scenes that would help us establish things.

Again, this might be my last season and it’s making me even less hopeful for the Dunk & Egg show. They really should have stayed away from characters that we have more set understandings of.

We should have gotten the Starks and the Long Night show as we know they would win, but we would know nothing about these characters or their motivations. Or that show that had Naomi Watts (I think) as a Lannister. Those could have been interesting shows where Condal could have made up crap to his heart’s delight.

It gets so annoying when shows that are based on books become inspired by instead. I understand Fire & Blood is a history book, but they could have fleshed the characters out more. We could have done dual historic perspectives like The Last Battle (not a great movie but an intriguing premise) or a dual timeline where we could see the past and the present intermingled.

It’s just… bad. This truly might be my last season for HotD to watch intently. I might watch next season, but not with any excitement. I would be surprised if we get a fourth season at the rate they’re going.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

k, m, n, t for pd and/or suck!!! >:33333

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

-> you know i gotta say wiwi. i have to. that character was Made For Me i swear to GOD . genuinely i cannot think about prime defenders season 2 episode 39 without feeling physically sick bc i love it so much. its the only one i havent relistened to since i heard it the first time. i KNOW its gonna make me cry again so i genuienly have not touched it even though theres things in there i need to hear again for character research. his arc is so like. narratively satisfying in a way that hits me so fucking deep to my core in an extremely personal way. and like. there were definitely some Decisions that i was REALLY ANNOYING about hating when they were brought up because im used to media with bad storytelling/creators that do not care about their characters but. looking back on it i would not change a single thing about it. i love you wiwi so much.

-> FOR SUCK.... its not over yet. so i cannot definitively say. campaign finale comes out tomorrow so my answer may change depending on that but for right now i think i gotta say arthur. i joke a lot about hating arthur for no real reason in particular but. man his story is just REALLY good. not going 2 give you suck spoilers (hehe) but i also really like how shilo has grown through the campaign. hes my little guy :]

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

-> TIDE. TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIDE TIDE TIDE I LOVE TIDE SO MUCH. thats my dad thats my best friend i love tide so much dude. every time he is mentioned or on screen i am just like :D HI TIDE I LOVE YOU TIDE

-> grefgore :] light of my life this is how i feel anytime i think about grefgore

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

-> CHARACTER STUDIES. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. I LIKE A GOOD SHIPPING FIC AS MUCH AS THE NEXT GUY BUT PLEASE GOD WRITE THEM IN CHARACTER. EXPLORE THEIR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS AND WHY THEY MAKE CERTAIN DECISIONS THE WAY THEY DO. this doesnt even go for just pd and suck this is like. true for every single fandom ive ever fucking been in. do you know how hard it is to find character studies in the danny phantom tag on ao3. nobody has even fucking watched the show how are they going to write character studies they just want (<< i cannot legally finish this sentence without getting in so much trouble) I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MY FUCKING SELF AROUND HERE. ALL I EVER WRITE ARE CHARACTER STUDIES BC THATS THE WAY I THINK ABOUT CHARACTERS. I LOVE THEIR MOTIVATIONS I LOVE TO GET INSIDE THEIR BRAINS LIKE A LITTLE PARASITE AND IT IS ALWAYS SURPRISING TO ME WHEN OTHER PEOPLE DO NOT THINK LIKE THIS. (edit im just now reading through this and realized the question says three things. i did not process that. my three things are all more character studies please)

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending? 

-> oh dude i have so many hmmmmmmm how to choose just one. i have a LOT of feelings about wiwis original death and i might write something about that when i can get over my shrimp emotions about him. dakota cole audhd truther but that ones pretty much canon anyway so i dont think it counts. vyncent and his relationship with growing up in fantasy world and then being thrown into prime and how he adjusted to that. I think he really lies shitty syfy channel type horror movies that are so stupidly bad. and also plays a lot of video games but again i think thats mostly canon already. i think tide listens to dad rock but also like. ocean man by ween. you already know about my william and ashe being each others emotional support at concerts. i think william and ashe should hang out and do emo kid things more. i also have a lot of feelings about ashe and coping with the crippling loneliness of basically growing up alone and how the pd becoming like INSTANT best friends was so much for him in sooo many ways. you already know how i feel about mark i am in the middle of dissecting him like im in a high school biology class as we speak. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i know im gonna think of something really good after i hit the post button so stay tuned

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

The FOP reboot looks better than the original...

Okay, here's a confession I have to make, I never liked the Fairly Odd Parents! Even as a kid, it didn't impress me that much. It was one of those shows I just watched because it was on constantly and I was bored (I should have been watching more kids shows on Xfinity On Demand, instead). I whole heartedly REGRET watching the Fairy Odd Parents! If I could go back and watch other shows instead, I would. Fairy Odd parents was really not a good show for kids, either. Even if you find it funny as an adult, it's still a terrible show. It's offensive in so many ways. I mean, I'm not really a slapstick humor type of person, but you can't deny that the show had it's fair share of offensive jokes, plus the fact that all the female characters weren't reliable except for Wanda, who could even be kind of a b*tch at times.

Okay, I'll address the sexism in Fairy odd parents and why I hate the show. Look at it! The girl that Timmy liked was always a stuck up snob (plus she's Asian and Butch Hartman is racist), Timmy's mom was an airhead dumb idiot and neglectful, and then the babysitter was a crazy psychopath (plus she was a teen and I hate when children are portrayed as crazy and psycho). I'm not done yet, look at how the bodies were drawn on most of the female characters too! Skinny waists with super curvy bodies, I hate that character design in any show or movie. I complain about it with Disney princesses like Ariel and Jasmine, and I complain about it with Total Drama characters. I hope that kind of character design for female characters will become extinct someday.

Also, there were a lot of racist jokes in the OG Fairy odd parents as well, and I hope that the reboot doesn't have that. My bestie is Scottish-Canadian, and she was really offended when they had that scene with the kilts and made fun of her culture. I mean, the show went on for so long that you probably don't remember every little offensive joke or innuendo in the movie, but there were a lot of racist and sexist jokes, and I think there was even some ableist ones as well. I'm NOT making thing up, I swear! I mean, people call everything racist nowadays, and I'm not one of those people who point out every little stereotype, I just want people to realize how awful Fairly Odd Parents was and how often they had those types of jokes. They made fun of country/rural people as well, and I think a lot of different ethnicities. I'll talk about the ableism in a minute...

Apparently Butch Hartman was ableist, which I wouldn't be surprised knowing all the other things about him, and I remember when Fairly odd parents made fun of a guy with a huge pimple on his face, and also a character who was in a wheelchair. I don't know why that show went on for 20 years but I'm glad it ended... until 2024 when they wasted money on a reboot that doesn't look as bad as the original. Everybody's crying because Timmy's black now, but I don't give a crap what skin color they made "him" (they have a black female protagonist to hide the fact that Butch is a sexist and racist d*ckhead). They could have spent money on a CatDog reboot or gave Harvey Beaks a second chance instead but they chose Nickelodeon's most overrated cartoon.

Here's another thing about Butch Fartman that makes him a sh**ty person, he made an episode called "Channel Chasers" where he literally made fun of other kids shows, trying to act like his crappy show was better than the more family like ones. Some of the other shows he made fun of were Rugrats, Blue's Clues, and Sesame street, and neither of those deserve to be made fun of. He's got such an ego and we should throw him off his high horse and acknowledge how bad his shows were. I just think making fun of innocent kids shows in a show that's not really meant for kids, is a really lame thing to do.

If you made it this far, thank you! If you like Fairy odd parents, I hope I made you change your mind. If I didn't, okay then. I'm just confessing about one of my most hated cartoons, and I'm going to address how I feel about Vivziepoop and her shows next (sorry to Hazbin Hotel fans, but I seen some things in it that triggered me). Well, thanks for reading anyways and TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS! If you disagree, I'd like to know your opinions on why.

[piracytheorist]

Yay, an anime only!

I personally find the manga a bit confusing. Like I'll ready some every once in a while, but only stuff I've already watched or the extras. I really prefer the anime

Oh don't get me wrong, I actually really enjoy reading the manga. It's just that the few times I read a manga chapter before it was animated, I ended up making a lot of comparisons when I watched the respective anime episode, and it messed with my enjoyment of the anime. But I've never had issues enjoying a manga chapter after I'd watched the respective anime episode. I guess, in a weird way, that's actually a compliment to the manga? Lol

But yeah, the manga is really really good by itself. I much prefer reading it in physical form, it's more satisfying to hold the physical volume in your hands and experience the story that way. Endo really knows how to do panel placing in a way that adds to the story, like how it highlights the difference between Anya & Yor having fun in the resort island and Loid's yearning look.

Also, even though the anime has the advantage of animation, colour, and voice acting to make the characters more expressive, it sadly has made a few mistakes here and there and taken away from certain expressions. I think the anime team has done an excellent job so far, so I'm not really complaining, but reading the manga gives me a better view into what Endo originally intended, which I appreciate.

However, I prefer the anime's translation, as there have been times I noticed the manga translation changing or even removing things. I'd read the chapter with the bullet-in-butt date before it was animated, and I was so surprised to find out that when Loid suggested Yor wear the suit pants and she said no, Loid apologized. That apology wasn't in the manga, and I guess that was because there was little space in the speech bubble, but still it was an initiative by the manga translation that tweaked the dynamic there.

In any case, people will enjoy the story in different ways. Some will only read the manga, some will only watch the anime, and then there's everything in between. For me, there's a lot the anime can highlight from the story, and I feel I get it on a deeper level when I read the respective manga chapters. As long as you find the way that works the best for you, that's all that matters :D

[accirax]

initial thoughts on DCAS episode 6

THIS EPISODE WAS SO GOOD!!! the fact that it was a musical episode is totally the cherry on top; i love it when series come with their own music (cough cough me @ project sekai). but overall it was also really funny, and had some great character moments, too.

i'll save my thoughts on strategy and where the season might be headed for my next power ranking post (whenever that is :,( ), but were some of my other thoughts/highlights.

specifically the phrase "fuck my life" and Yul saying it made me cackle. seems like Emily ISN'T Yul's manager, but she might still kinda take on that role this season? we'll see. the lack of phones is really having an effect on the plot.

they hate her so fucking bad

okay, i guess i forgot to consider this angle when i was saying it would've made more sense for them to vote out Fiore. however, having started with 18 participants, the merge will probably happen at, what, 10 people? (modern Survivor describes the merge as "at least 11," but obviously this isn't survivor.) sure, Hunter is a bit of a challenge beast, but he can't protect all three of them every episode. if this trio is only 3/10 of the votes, you could literally split the votes on Ally and Tess in a 3-3-4 if you can get everyone else to unite against them. you know what you should be worried about? THE VILLAINS ALLIANCE HAVING 6/"10" VOTES AT THE MERGE!!! sigh. why am i relying on Jake to be smart (/j)

i'm more impressed that there was hot water in the first place. this thing is in the middle of a field, no?

i'm finally starting to see how Yul can be a hilarious "love to hate him" kind of villain. he had some of the best lines this episode hands down.

TREVEK BECOME CANON???

there was absolutely no reason to put the apple on the stick other than to fit in. love this for her.

idk if this is a winner's cut moment or not. glad that the money would go towards schools and NOT the police force, though.

man, now i want to go back and check the other episodes to see if Tess has had the "Cyan Team narrator" role the whole time. in Survivor, that's indicative of a deep run. ...i really need to stop applying Survivor logic to everything.

and why are you thinking about what would make Oliver laugh, Kristal? ',:)

i appreciate the s1 callback, but Trevor doing this dance move gives me so much second hand embarrassment that i keep inadvertently closing my eyes every time i have to "see" it again. anyways, given how most of the episode songs had lyrics related to the Team's emotional state, it's interesting to see that Trevor is singing a romance song. trevek become canon pt 2?

this was an interesting parallel. with Kristal laughing at Derek's joke, it seems like they were trying to show how she's growing closer to Derek, in a way which Trevor might fear is romantic. were there supposed to be romantic undertones to Alec being the only one to laugh at Connor's joke? and, if there were, was that just a fun nod to the aleconnor shippers, or will it actually be canon/relevant to later in the season?

NOT a surprise. i need to see the "i want you died" poetry he wrote about Fiore after last season.

of course you were, you fucking fruit (affectionate)

the anguish: i love my gf :D let's frolick through a field together

"trust me dude i'm the divorce man"

GABBY?????

mood but also damn is Ellie really leaning into the villain thing this season. this doesn't even help her win the season, she JUST wants to see him suffer.

i forgot that the s1 contestants didn't know that Nina was her own separate being yet

they were NOT lying, Aiden's VA is a great singer! Tom's backing vocals and Ellie and Gabby's harmonies(?) were also really nice too, though. this was probably my favorite song of the episode just bc i think Cyan had the strongest singers. all of the rocking, shoulder-moving dances are also impossible not to imitate.

well, there's the thumbnail. their choice of thumbnail made me laugh bc i remember, back when i was watching s1, seeing all the thumbnails of Aiden kissing both James and Hunter and thinking that Aiden was going to be some sort of troublemaking flirty antagonistic character only to be blindsided by his actual characterization. i'm sure the s1 watching me would have only added this to her arsenal of evidence, although hilariously idk if i would have been able to tell the other character was Tom at the time. anyways, i was pretty certain from the start that this must be part of the performance. although, while i'm happy that Aiden seems to think that James will be okay with the performance, i wish we could have cut to James somehow just to confirm that that was true. i don't want the next time we see James, whether in the finale or some other time, to show that he was actually really jealous and upset at Aiden for kissing another man while in a committed relationship. also gabbielle(?) super cute in the bg :D

he's so fucking stupid... (/pos)

bold of you to say this to Ashley, who has been in a two year relationship with the guy who went home in episode 2.

i also really liked this song :D i understand why they made Jake and Ally the main singers, because they best encompassed what the theme of the song was about, but i think i actually liked Ashley's vocals the best. i wish she'd gotten to sing more. also for a moment i thought Marcus had a trans flag on his hat. it's still close enough. trans Marcus canon.

this was probably my least favorite performance of the episode, although idk how much of that was just how much i hate Alec's outfit. glassesless Alec scares me so bad... no hate to the VAs, obviously, i think they have nice voices! it's actually the way that they didn't sound like they had confidence in their singing abilities that made the performance feel a little shakier to me. i do think that this song had the best lyrics in terms of encapsulating each member of their team, though. i really like how Yul and Riya are the ones to sing "i'm going to chase it" as a duo, because they're the ones chasing fame and the limelight, and then Grett sings that she can't ignore it, because eventually she's going to have to realize that her entire relationship with Yul was a result of him clout chasing. Connor only singing "live in the moment until i die" is also very fitting given his placement... in both seasons. L.

really surprised that Riya (or anyone else) didn't even mention Yul's foot injury as part of this equation. Riya just said that she didn't want to lose any more challenges, and Yul's bad foot could totally lead to a loss. maybe i'm just overestimating the extent to which that foot injury will stick around, though.

season 2 characters are REALLY suffering out here.

HELP??????

love to see Alec and Fiore's kinda sorta dual redemptions. i have high hopes for them.

and those were my initial thoughts, which got way longer than i expected. thanks if you wound up reading towards all the way down here. i have no idea who the leakers are, obviously, but i really hope that they stop acting up soon so that the series can continue. i would hate to have the artists have to take a pay hit and/or stop making the series just because of some people's impatience and delusions of power, or have the honest patrons lose out on being able to watch the episodes early to protect from others' immaturity. see ya!

[tame-a-messenger]

too long for comment so I am going into ask box again

I am kinda sad how the handled sword AF so far in general and are STILL handling it. Even if the answer is "hey, we are not sure when sword AF will return/we are uncertain about the future of it in general,". It would be so much better to get than just silence. Also, I get that it kind of underperformed, and it must be one of the most expansive things to produce. So yeah, it kind of underperformed slightly in a Smosh context, but it had SO FUCKING MUCH FANWORK. Like, fewer people cared about it, but the people that did care A LOT. Which, like, you can tap into that to finance it. For example, I feel like sword AF merch would perform really well.

We can't know, but if we are not getting Sword AF for financial reasons, that would be so stupid. Because I don't think it has to be that way.

This is all just wild speculating when it comes down to it, and the reasons are definitely more complicated that (time is very likely a BIG factor as well)

Typically, I am really not a fan of guessing and speculating based on so little, but because it is about a show, I give myself a pass haha

*Rattling at the gates of Smosh HQ, "WILL SWORD AF RETURN FROM THE WAR???"

(Additional thing: In a way it was kinda funny they announced that sword AF wasn't going to happen hours after it was supposed to drop. Like were they actually surprised people cared about it??? Haha. )

That's what I find so disrespectful about all this. They haven't said a peep about Sword AF since they delayed it.

I understand that the views didn't do SUPER amazingly well, but they didn't do worse than a lot of other content they've put out? The first ep of S1 got 1.4mil and over the whole 9 eps it got a total of 4.7mil views? (I'm including the "Movie"-comp of all the eps - it had 403k)

The least viewed video (weirdly) is the final ep. I think it's because a lot of people fell off watching it. Keep in mind, they uploaded episodes every two weeks, which I'm willing to bet is a big reason why a lot of people stopped watching.

I feel like most first seasons of D&D campaigns don't start out with crazy views, it's expected to gain traction the more it goes on? That's how I feel.

I agree that running a D&D campaign does take a lot of effort and (from what I've heard) takes a lot of world building and really is a huge time sucker, I can see how they would want need more time to work on it (giving only 3-4 months to write a whole season in-between doing voice over/other freelance work sounds like a lot) so wanting more time I understand. It's just that they haven't given any updates or talked about it AT ALL, that's what's really weird.

SO many people love Sword AF! There was so much fan art! and everyone was talking about it in fan spaces!

Like it was so loved! and I know a lot of table top/D&D people are LOADED, and they would 100% buy even the worst looking merch because of how much they liked the series! (I would by something with Rumpum on it! That sounds so fucking cute!) so I don't see there being any real reason not to do a S2 except either they don't have the time to write it/or are just generally really busy, or some totally unknown reason behind the scenes??

At the end of the day it is just really bizarre to me that they haven't mentioned it at all? like not a peep?

"(Additional thing: In a way it was kinda funny they announced that sword AF wasn't going to happen hours after it was supposed to drop. Like were they actually surprised people cared about it??? Haha. )"

(Was it not the exact time it was supposed to be uploaded? I remember waiting for it and seeing the community post notif at the exact time it was supposed to drop? or maybe 15mins after? either way-)

That was such a slap in the face. It hurts worse now that it's been enough time that I can be certain there was NO WAY it was even close to being finished (or maybe even started?) They really waited till the absolute last- no, PAST the last second to let us know it wasn't dropping. What a way to shit in the face of the people that cared.. (I literally cleared my schedule to be able to watch it and was waiting for the clock to hit 1pm (I live est) thinking I was gonna spend at least an hour watching the new ep.. I can only imagine how many other people had gotten stuff set up to watch, that got fucked with.)

I do want a S2, I want them to say something about it at least. And they BETTER apologize about how they handled it.

[cowboymantis]

(Spoiler free for the Yakuza amazon series, just vague thoughts! HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT WETHER YOU'VE PLAYED YAKUZA BEFORE OR NOT!!)

I didn't want to finish it yet (because that means it's over), but I have now finished the Yakuza show, and BOY did I already love the first episodes, but it was even more peak in the last ones 😭😭😭😭

I was so excited for it, although the fandom showed its annoying side again, but I didn't let that influence my happiness for it, and I just enjoyed it to the fullest 🙏 Of course I had some worries before watching, but it was just really good. Perfect? No, but let's not act like Yakuza 1 is perfect either (I'm saying this as someone who had Yakuzer brainrot for many years now and is never escaping it), and the fandom now all of a sudden wants to act like Yakuza 1 is the greatest masterpiece ever and how everything that changes it is BAD

Anyywayy...

Definitely really loved the focus being more on the Sunflower kids and how they grew up and eventually got tangled into the Yakuza business! It made one scene in particular WAAY more emotional and sad than in the games 🥺

And wow. They really bamboozled us with hiding a certain character from us, huh...

Loved how many actors I recognised :'D Some were definitely a surprise, because we didn't know much of the cast beforehand!

I remember when they first showed a photo of Indy, and I thought, huh. He kinda looks like Namioka Kazuki (Sid's actor from Kamen Rider Gaim). But I might imagine things because I've been watching some dramas with him in it (I absolutely love his roles they're so embarrassing but funny but also kinda adorable (like Sid for example 😭)). BUT THEN HE APPEARED AND IT TOTALLY WAS HIM . AND HE WAS WEARING A COWBOY HAT HELLO???

Another thing I enjoyed was the mystery around the demons! Something completely new that leaves you speculating from the start. I was guessing who they might be other than that they're working with a certain character, for the longest time I thought maybe they could be the Jingweon, because of the masks. Of course not saying anything to that, but yeah. I cannot really tell how much I liked the resolution to that, since uh. I have questions left ldjdkf

The finale was just great too, and this one scene that looked a lot like the Yakuza 7 finale...

And so so many beautiful and aesthetic scenes with Nishiki 🥲 He's truly the goat in every version... And a poor little meow meow 😭

At first, I was unsure if I could take him seriously because I knew his actor from the drama Super Salaryman and . Well. Let's just say he's unbearable (in a funny way).. But his actor really did SUCH a perfect job in portraying him, and sometimes his voice reminded me so much of game Nishiki 🥺

Speaking of Nishiki, a Yakuza stageplay Nishiki and Amazon series Kiryu collab would be funny. It would be like a Kamen Rider Gaim X Kamen Rider Drive collab, but Yakuza 💀 Kamen Rider and Yakuzer are always weirdly connected...

Oh!! And another thing, the soundtrack fr sounded like straight out of the games sometimes, it was really cool! And the music during the finale was so hype it probably could be a cool final boss theme in the games :) Or at least a final long battle theme!

Majima was fun too, although I feel like if you know absolutely nothing about Yakuza and Majima, you'd be a bit confused about him. He really feels like you have to know him to be excited about him, if that makes sense?

But then, on the other hand, there's a big "plot twist" at the end of the show, and it almost even feels like a dramatic cliffhanger. But it's something everyone who played the game knew, and I kinda assumed it a bit to be canon to the show too. So yeah, I feel like this is a bit of a problem with this show: It can't decide whether it is purely for fans of the games, or newcomers. Or maybe they just added a mix of game canon and new canon to make it more exiting for both sides? I always try to see criticism I give in another light, aka "why did they do it this way?", so I'm a bit conflicted in certain choices!