#this is silly but also I wanna make me’s dangit

[baenyth]

First Half of Miraculous Season 2 Done. Here's my thoughts:

The Collector: A pretty good start! They made the teens smart while still being dumb teens!

Despair Bear: Chloe needs a therapist, arguably moreso than a redemption arc and especially a downward villainous spiral. Also Dangit Grandpa

Prime Queen: Wow, this was a lot more chill than expected. Even Cat Noir was left aghast at what Nadja was doing, Nadja seemed to be pressuring Ladybug and Cat Noir more for views than anything else, and I'm not entirely sure Akuma personalities can be trusted.

Befana: Fun fact: This was the episode that got me into Miraculous in the first place because of how shocking it was. And then I discovered even more. In hindsight from watching the other episodes, it was relatively darker, but mostly because it's Marinette's friends and family that are getting G-rated killed instead of random civilians like every other episode.

Riposte: Kagami is here! I don't see too much chemistry with her and Adrien yet, but she's cool and I like her and feel like I could be friends in real life. Also this feels like a relatively uncommon trope, but I wish "X is blatantly a woman but no one notices" was spedran through by someone with brains.

Robustus: Pretty good, all things considered. From what I've heard about Miraculous lore, creating sapient or at the very least semi-sapient AI isn't that uncommon for weirdness hotspots, and I'm putting Max in the list of characters I think should have figured out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identity. (There's four now!)

Gigantitan: It turns out my favorite parts of Miraculous are the slice-of-life bits instead of the superhero bits the show is about! We got to see more of Marinette's friends! Alix! Mylene! Julie! The Eeby Deeby herself! Also it was really sweet to see Adrien's bodyguard calm down just by looking at the kid. Adrien's true daddy.

Dark Owl: No wonder these two aren't allowed to know eachothers' identities, considering how much of a loose tongue Marinette has!

Glaciator: Alright, it's finally time to talk about the sins of Marinette and Cat Noir, considering the fan content I osmosed before watching the series was heavy salt stuff, and I wanna see how much it holds up. So far Cat Noir has acted as if he's already dating Ladybug previously, and in this episode he got mad at Ladybug for not showing up at a date when she herself said she might not come due to having other plans. Isn't he supposed to be used to not-showing-up disappointment as Adrien due to his dad? Is it different because he's Cat Noir? Is this a breaking point? No matter, he eventually calms down and is ultimately the less bad member of the relationship. Marinette, meanwhile, doesn't have as many misdemeanors to her name but they're a lot worse. She stole Adrien's phone to get rid of an embarrassing message and got away with it too, what the hell, and also owns the schedule. Although I don't believe she stalked Adrien and made it herself due to how busy she is as both Marinette and Ladybug, that's just weird and wrong. I'm reluctant to call her a stalker, but her actions are still wrong. Ultimately, this relationship is going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to not crash and burn. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. The ice cream episode. I think the ice cream guy can be wrong and he doesn't understand that.

Sapotis: Silly little fun episode, also it introduces the first new Miraculous holder! I'm honestly fine with it so far if it means more screentime for side characters. I honestly really like seeing Marinette's classmates. They're neat. Also I was this close to putting Alya on the list but she proves time and time again that she doesn't actually know Ladybug's identity.

Gorizilla: In this episode we are introduced to Adrien's deranged parasocial fanbase. I'm starting to understand some of his father's decisions at this point. This is what I was talking about with the schedule, by the way. These obsessive stalker creeps make Marinette look reasonable, and I wouldn't be surprised if the one guy who I'm pretty sure becomes Party Crasher discreetly stalked Adrien to get his schedule. Restraining orders need to be filed.

Captain Hardrock: One of the funniest episodes, up there with Dark Cupid. Also Luka is here! And he already has great chemistry with Marinette! And more Rosie and Julie content even if it's crumbs!

[indecisive-dizzy]

Hiiiiiiiiii pookiiweeeee :)

I’m thinking more about my whole high school DearDollops angst au, I have so many ideas for them ;v;

I’m thinking a lot about their friendship after the entire situation. It’s awkward and complicated but they’re trying their best

Eddie lets his hair grow out a bit, and Daisey pulls it back into a little high ponytail. It’s cute and Eddie appreciates it

They’re just a lot more affectionate now, mostly on Eddie’s side cause he’s nervous. Daisey tries to reassure him but they’re also nervous

They hang out a lot more, but conversations are not super easy to hold up anymore

It’s just Eddie yapping and Daisey listening, but it helps them get comfortable again

Eddie invited Daisey to hang out with him and the rest of the neighbors/his friends and they immediately called for a group huddle to talk about it

Daisey could hear everything they said but ignored it

Daisey calls him Edd. It flip flops between that and Eddie, but they mostly use Edd

I’m thinking after some really stressful and tiring after school sports practice (I still don’t know what sport I want Eddie to do), Daisey just walks to the field to wait for him and he immediately runs and tackle-hugs them

Daisey’s just walking over to the field and saying hi, and Eddie just goes “Daaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiseeeeeeyyyyyyyyy :(“ and tackles them into a hug

They probably eat Smile-Dip behind the school and look at clouds

They’re the kind of duo to spray people with silly spray during parties together

The teasing from both their friend groups are non stop. They mention hanging out once and immediately someone starts making kissy noises

Is that the queue that I’m making them romantic? Possibly-

I need to make incorrect quotes for them they’re too precious to me once they’re at this stage :,3

Hiiii Bestieee :]

Oh yay Aftermath Friendship! let the awkward begin lol (post typing me is adding a cut bc I think this is a tad long lol 😅)

ponytail Eddie my beloved that sounds so cute

Sorry did you mean Touch Starved Best Friends Have Recently Made Up And It's Awkward But They Really Want To Cuddle?

Eddie's yapping is fun to listen to at least, bc of the topic, his accent, or his enthusiasm. Plus I think sometimes he'll mention something and Dasiey manages to respond to it before he moves on, thus triggering a more back n forth convo. still def takes a while for it feel as natural as it did before

Daisey standing next to the group huddle looking into the camera (the wall) like they're in the office lol

He may be sore as heck but that will not stop Eddie from tackling Daisey. Pain be damned it's Hug Time.

Also. Mind if I share some sport ideas for Eddie? Ahem! Weightlifting, Volleyball, Cross Country, or Soccer! Cross country and soccer are kinda funny w/ his clumsiness but I like the idea of Eddie in running type sports. Tho he could be a soccer goalie! Weightlifting needs little explanation lol he a strong boy. and volleyball is fun w/ more clumsy potential but less running lol

Points at you! That's sounds adorable but now I wanna know what they'd both be like on smile dip high or whatever it is that happens lmao

They're both hiding behind the same wall thinking they'll jump spray some rando only to spray each other in the face with silly string XD

NO DANGIT You just gave me the mental image of Howdy turning around to do the fake making out motions Thing! you know what I mean Idk what it's called! Barnaby Loses his mind and needs to lay down he's laughing too hard. Eddie's face is redder than his hair and he's yelling ajdhajdjah gah these idiots I love them sm

[sparklecat2002]

picrews that don’t have a curly hair or (dyed) red hair option go to heck when they die

[nattikay]

Why Troll!Jim is my favorite character

My mind kept rollin’ around after making that post about how different people can like/dislike characters for different reasons and decided to share why my favorite Trollhunters character is just that. Especially because there’s a number of people out there who really don’t like him, and you know what, hey, valid. You don’t have to like the same characters I do. This post is not meant to convert anyone to my “side” or anything. Just to explain why I, personally, find the character appealing.

1.) He’s simply CUTE!

This is, of course, 100% subjective, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE troll!Jim’s design y’all. Blue skin, which is my favorite color--actually appears blue-gray in some shots, which reminds me of my fav cat breed tbh, the “British Blue” which are actually a kinda rich gray. The floofy hair. The cute little teefers. The way he moves like a big ol’ kitty.

Sure there are some things I could nitpick, for example I think the mismatched hands are kind of an odd choice, but nonetheless I just really enjoy watching him. Seeing him on screen makes me smile. 

Just look at this precious bean. I wanna scoop him up and give him a big ol’ snuggle!!

He’s very fun to draw too!! I very much enjoy doodling his design. 

I already loved Jim’s character as a human; now he has all those moments and development and character PLUS an extra-adorable design (imo at least--I mean, his human design is cute too, I just happen to prefer his troll design :) ). For me that’s a win-win lol.

2.) Biology

I love speculative/fantasy biology; I’ve always found it fascinating to analyze and theorize about and headcanon for. Those who have known me long enough to recall my days in the Inuyasha fandom probably know this; I used to make huge analyses on the speculative genetics of the half-youkai protagonist and make in-depth headcanons on how his biology worked (hmmm, another half-human you say? Strange, it’s almost like I find that a particularly interesting concept to theorize about! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Same thing for troll Jim. We know very little about what being a half-troll entails, whether or not Jim is the only one to have ever existed, etc., which leaves a lot of stuff up to interpretation and I love that! It’s so much fun to think about and speculate on how his new form operates, how it’s different from both full trolls and full humans but also in what ways it’s akin to each, what strengths and weaknesses come with the hybrid status, etc.!

It’s the exact kind of thing that really piques my interest and gets me thinking and theorizing! :)

3.) Change

Alright, so this isn’t something I really make a habit of talking about online because it’s quite personal, but I’ve always struggled a great deal with change. I am a creature of habit and like to stay in my comfort zone with most things. Any big change in my life causes a lot of stress and irrational anxiety, and I know it is irrational, and I try to overcome but for me it is. so. hard.

Starting middle school was terrifying. Starting high school was terrifying. Starting college was terrifying. Graduating college and moving into the “real world” was terrifying. And right now, as much as I love the idea of having a loving partner, the idea of dating and starting a real, serious relationship and getting married is terrifying. It’s such a major change in life and you can never quite go back to the way you were before. You don’t retreat back into your comfort zone, that next stage is your New Life. And that’s terrifying.

Yes, I know, to a lot of you much of that probably sounds silly, and like I said, I don’t really like to discuss it much online (or anywhere really, unless you’re my mom or my therapist). But it is something I struggle with quite often as a young 20-something with anxiety.

All that said, Jim’s transformation has forced him into a situation that I absolutely, 100% understand would be absolutely terrifying. And there’s no going back. The change is permanent. He can’t retreat back to the comfort zone of being fully human. His life is forever altered, for better or for worse.

And if I feel so deeply for how scary that is, why the heck do I love this character so much?

Because he’s heckin’ inspirational for me, gosh dangit.

If this character that I enjoy so much can go through such a major life-shattering event, something after which nothing will ever be quite the same, and yet still be able to adapt--still be able to find happiness--still have all the unconditional love and support from friends and family--maybe I can too.

Troll!Jim is a comfort character for me. He represents someone who went through one of my worst psychological fears and, eventually, come out the other side with a smile. He’s someone that I can project my own struggles onto and then watch him overcome them.

That’s part of the reason I so much detest the idea that he’ll never be happy again unless his transformation is reversed. How soul-crushing that idea is to someone like me.

So......yeah. There you go. That’s why troll!Jim is my favorite character. You still don’t have to like him; that’s fine. We’re all entitled to our own opinions and interpretations after all.

But this character is very special to me, and that, at least, is not going to change.

[transformers-extrication]

Seaspray’s anniversary

Words: 3,129 It’s a special day for Seaspray! Many cheerful memories to be had!... Many... memories...

The Ark’s internal chronometer, adapted to the Earth's cycle, alerted it’s crew to the dawn steadily encroaching their world. A sound beyond human hearing thrummed away in the rooms of those who had not been on any sort of night-guard, rousing their sleeping systems up from a well-earned rest. If you listened carefully you could probably hear the creaks and groans of stiff metal and fibre stretching as various bots got up from their rest and eased their systems into motion. A loud thud echoed from one room as a body hit the floor with unnecessary force. Seaspray was too excited to care that he’d flopped out of bed so unceremoniously, forgetting to put his arms out to cushion the fall. It was a brilliant day for him, as it was every other time this date rolled around. In a quick dive-like motion forward Seaspray flattened his body and pushed with his arms, sending him into a controlled slide across the smooth metal, the automatic door opening for him and letting him out to the Ark’s hallways. Using his arms and short legs Seaspray avoided a head-on collision with any walls and slipped between his fellow Autobots as carefully as possible, disgruntled growls from Ironhide were easily shrugged off. Jazz had organised a schedule for various mechs and Seaspray had already had a lengthy chat with the relaxed senior officer who had been more than fine with allowing the aquatic mech some time off, at least enough to cover the day, something Seaspray always tried to do for this day with varied success (usually depending on who he spoke to, of course). Regardless, he still put aside some time for it no matter his schedule. Getting to the Arks entrance was easy, getting outside wasn’t so. Earth’s surface was so varied and changed on a dime or was a mishmash of textures and bumps. It wasn’t as if Seaspray couldn’t get about on Earth it was just that it felt odd and was often a bit jarring if he was just zooming out the Ark without a care in the universe. Regardless, pushing up with his flat, spread legs along with his arms he moved quicker across Earth's surface in an ungainly looking waddle.

---------------- “Hey! You lookin’ a bit nervous there!” Seaspray jumped with the sudden sound and jerked his head around to the beach. The time was far, far in the distant past, Cybertron was still… alive and bustling. The sun was high in it’s peak of the current solar cycle, and on the beach a very young charcoal-coloured mech lay, optics staring at Seaspray. Equally as young as the tiny figure gazing at him with the type of curiosity only younglings had Seaspray sunk into the water a little bit before mumbling. “N… nothing...” “M’ names Coldseep! I live near here!” The other child seemed somewhat oblivious to Seaspray’s shyness, “Haven’t seen you around before is all!” they chirped. ‘Oh’ Seaspray thought, this was one of those moments his parental units told him about, one where he should really speak up. “I’m Seaspray… I, uh, we just moved here… recently…” He barely emerged from the water anymore, just a pair of optics above its surface. Coldseep immediately burst into excited squeals and thrashed his way into the water, coming to a halt s short distance away from Seaspray, arms in the air. “YAY! New friend! We can see each other every day!” Coldseep practically bobbed up and down in his excitement. Seaspray, however, wasn’t quite at his level of excitement. “I… I dunno” He muttered back, rising out the water a little more, “I live on the water-side… I’m more of a sea-mech” “Oh! Tha’s okay! I’m a submaran! Marin! Dangit!” Coldseep fumbled over his words with a frown deepening on his face plates. “A… A submarine? You’re a Submarine?” Seaspray rose up a bit more, daring to get closer to examine him with a curious optic. “YEAH! Tha’s it! I always mess up the end bit!” Coldseep’s grin could’ve split his face apart. -------------- In the present Seaspray had slowed down to a very slow amble only pausing slightly to watch his own hand press into some sand and sink down. Feeling the loose grains softly envelop his digits before slowly pulling it away and looking fondly at the imprint he left behind. --------------- A much smaller imprint was left in the sands of a newly local shore. Since meeting him Coldseep had come to see Seaspray every day, he was indeed a submarine and joyfully accompanied Seaspray on several swimming excursions. Coldseep would always claim he could make a bubble-ring simply by swimming in a circle fast enough. He never did and would just throw off his balance, even underwater, it was fun though Seaspray often giggled at this antic and promised he’d swim rings inside the bubble when he made it!. Seaspray would point out various local sea life and promised to one day help Coldseep find and see a Warwhale! The two spent so much of their time swimming that it was like a cold slap to the face when Coldseep bounded onto the beach after a dive and ran around, somehow still having the energy to after all their underwater antics. Seaspray came out of the water, but only halfway. “Hey!” Coldseep snapped him out of his moment of silence, “You should come to my place! I can show you some cool shells I found!” “Uh” Seaspray retreated back an inch becoming worried. “Eh? Wha’s wrong? D… don’t you wanna come over?” Coldseep caught his nervous tone and promptly deflated. “No! No! I do!” Seaspray panicked, he didn’t want to upset his first friend of his ‘new life’, or at least that’s what his parental units called it, “I just… I just can’t get out the water…” “Whaaaaaaaaat! Of course you can silly!” Coldseep’s manner flipped like a switch and he returned to grinning. “It’s true! Well, I can barely move when out the water… I hate it… and… and I have to go to the education centre here when it’s b-back open” Seaspray started to sniffle, “An I, I gotta go an… and it’s on land… I don’t” Seaspray flopped to the ground and covered his face, “I’m gonna be a freak! Everyone will laugh!” A long silence ensued between the two children. Seaspray couldn’t bring himself to uncover his face, it only became harder when a weight suddenly pressed upon him. “You’re forgettin’ I go there too! I’ll fight anyone who says meanie-aft things about you! They know I will! It’s how I got sent to the nurse with a bent rotor once!” Coldseep announced with a loud pride that made Seaspray uncurl a little, mostly out of shock at his volume. “Th… thank you” Was all Seaspray could whisper through the tail end of his sniffles. There was a brief silence again. Only this time it got broken by a scream as Coldseep gripped Seaspray’s sides and yanked him out of the water and onto land. Coldseep bellowed with laughter as Seaspray flopped about in a panic trying to get a footing but only wiggling his rear fruitlessly. It took a few more astroseconds of laughter before Coldseep got up and grabbed onto Seaspray. “Hold on buddy, hold on!” Seaspray responded to his words by wrapping his arms around Coldseep’s, “There, not so bad now!”. Seaspray whimpered only just opening his optics to peer around him. “I bet I can help you walk on land just fine! I also totally bet an awesome tub of Energon ice cream that I could even get you running on land too!” Coldseep announced. ---------------- Just like him, brash and loud. Never stood down when he knew he could push on. Seaspray sighed as he clambered over some rocks, nearing the Ocean. He could distinctly remember Coldseep holding his middle and helping him work on his locomotion above water. It still wasn’t graceful but he was able to move on-land with little issue, Seaspray chuckled to himself remembering when the weather turned colder. The ground had gone icy and more compact in various areas, Coldseep had hidden away behind a rock, only to rush him and push him, causing him to slide along the ground. Seaspray allowed himself to let out an actual chuckle, remembering how they had spent entire days sliding around on ice, reaching high speeds, Coldseep often riding on Seasprays back as they whizzed up and down. Tactics he still used to this day, they never failed him. ---------------- The learning room hushed as the one designated to oversee their communal learning held an arm out, presenting another youngster that was to be added to their sector. “This” they announced, “Is Depth Charge. I want you all to welcome them here and make them comfortable”. Depth Charge had blues and purples across his frame and gold accents, yet his red optics scoured the class with cold anger, many of the others in the class avoided their gaze. Coldseep looked over at Seaspray with a cocked optical ridge. “What a nerd” He whispered. “Wha! What do you mean?” Seaspray kept his head ducked down glancing at Coldseep and back to the rest of the room, “He’s scary!” “Nope!” Coldseep grinned, “Watch” The teaching section of the day went quietly, no one really wanted to interact with the angry-looking new kid, but it came to the ‘free’ section of the day. Building bonds with your fellow mech was always a promoted activity, so a good amount of free time to talk and strengthen your social connections even at such a young age was encouraged. Cybertronians are quite social afterall. Coldseep nearly had to drag Seaspray with him to the corner of the yard where Depth Charge sat glaring at everything, but mostly his own pedes. With one last drag Coldseep dropped Seaspray, letting him scuttle behind him to put some distance between himself and the new guy. “Whas’sup nerd?” Coldseep had his hands on his hips and another one of his big grins on his face. “What do you want?” Depth Charge snapped back his optics darting away from the pair so quick they probably should’ve fallen out. “Seaspray here says he’s gonna show me a Warwhale one day!” Coldseep made a slight move to show off the nervously shuffling mech behind him. Depth Charge slowly turned his head around to look at the pair giving a look up and down between the two. “That’s dumb” he grunted, “They don’t live remotely near our waters” “HAH! KNEW IT!” Coldseep suddenly jumped, pointing a triumphant finger at Depth Charge. In response Depth Charge shuffled back and tensed up. “You don’t know anything!” He snapped back. “You’re a neeeeerd” Coldseep lilted, “One of us!” He changed to a chant, “One of us! One of us!” Depth Charge continued to shrink back optics snapping in different directions as if searching for a way out. Seaspray finally managed to pull himself from behind his friend, realising the motion of distress. Closer to him Seaspray had a better view of the panels that spread from Depth Charge’s back. “You’re an aquatic mech too” He uttered. “SO!?” Depth Charge finally snapped his optics down, “Just what my family unit are!” He hissed. “Uh, duh!” Coldseep stopped cheering to roll his optics “So are we! Dum-dum!” A silence fell over their corner and Depth Charge finally seemed to look up and truly take in the pair that stood before him. “Our lot know a lot about sea-stuff! You just have a grumpy face! Plus this is a coastal place!” Coldseep beamed, “Seaspray moved here too! Better suited for us!” Depth Charge seemed to soften up a little bit, which was good because if he got any tenser he looked like he might’ve snapped a few muscle fibres. “Y-yeah” He stammered, “Better than Vos...” “WHOA! You came here all the way from Vos!?” Coldseep immediately glued himself to Depth Charge’s side sitting obnoxiously close to him, “Fliers live there! What was it like? Why’d you move? Isn’t that place super cool!?” Seaspray also moved in, but slower, hoping to appear more normal and less in-your-face than Coldseep who had clearly startled Depth Charge. ------------------------ Seaspray remained perched on a rock looking out at the section of the beach, taking in the salty wind that washed over him. So different from Cybertron, yet, it made him feel more at home. The memories that washed over him with an equally constant flow, his circuits tingled with surges of nostalgia. Depth Charge had moved from Vos due to an altercation at his other learning facility. Apparently he got into frequent trouble with a trio of Seekerlings that also attended that place, he didn’t know their names merely referred to them by colour. The blue one was the oldest, and thought it was funny that he couldn’t fly, only ‘fly’ in water, the red one was the worst, often making snide comments yet able to twist situations to cover his own back, probably, Depth Charge had claimed, to ‘cover’ for how short he was. The purple one was an idiot but tagged along anyway. He’d spotted them teasing another student and tried to defend them, but it didn’t work out and Depth Charge was kicked out for his behaviour. He always lamented not being able to help or protect the other student. “Hmph” Seaspray mused, that was just like Depth Charge. Depth Charge who stood up for them when someone mocked Coldseep’s lively attitude, or Seasprays own awkward gait. The trio almost never left each others side, they were as the humans say ‘thick as thieves’ despite no thievery taking place. It was even Coldseeps idea… he was the one who named them the ‘Sea Seekers’ a trine of the best sea-fairing mechs Cybertron will ever see, or so he’d claim. They were all into it, Depth Charge in his awkward manner had decided to take this as a cue to announce how he’d protect them with his life. Guess that was his way of showing how thankful he was to have them. Protecting others… Seaspray allowed himself a sad flop onto the sand below. Depth Charge always took it personally when he couldn’t defend others… Probably why he was given charge of a peaceful sector that’d refused to take part in the war. Then Rampage came along… The Decepticons unleashed that… thing upon all of Cybertron. It had slaughtered anything in his path… Seaspray curled in slightly, remembering the look on Depth Charge’s face… how hollow he’d become, a hollowness that became filled with hate. He was like a different mech, he scared Seaspray now. Yet, Seaspray refused to leave him they were a trine! Despite Coldseep… they weren’t going to lose each other. They already lost Coldseep, he followed the Decepticons lead. It was odd, Coldseep almost seemed to change into a different mech more and more each time he snuck out to meet them. He’d begged Seaspray and Depth Charge to join him. That Megatron promised to make Cybertron equal for everyone!. It was like Coldseep couldn’t see how Megatron was just taking everything for himself, and merely lived in a fantasy world where all of Megatron's lies were true. It almost broke him when he finally agreed that Megatron wasn’t acting right, he said he was going to leave… he said… It didn’t matter now… Seaspray dragged himself upright and slowly to the Ocean’s edge, the light glittering off it’s surface turning bitter in his mind, churning up bad memories. He tried, oh how he tried, he tried keeping up with Depth Charge after the ‘incident’ but he couldn’t. Depth Charge went to ridiculous lengths to fulfil his desire to fight Rampage. He punched Seaspray when the latter suggested he stop hunting him. Seaspray sucked it up, Depth Charge wouldn’t abandon him if he was in his place! He’d wait until the time was right, until they were ready to accept the help then stand by them all the way! He was all Seaspray had left… his last friend. Then they found Rampage, his trail of destruction easier to follow than initially believed. The fight lasted for barely a few astroseconds, Rampage was too strong for a battalion let alone these two mechs. Depth Charge said he had a plan. Depth Charge told Seaspray to get a head start and he’d join him. Depth Charge lied. Seaspray looked into his reflection in the Ocean, his optics were getting as watery as it’s surface. It was too late. Seaspray didn’t know. Depth Charge had stolen the Energon Destroyer, made by the late scientist Rhinox. He’d taken it and charged Rampage with it. Seaspray didn’t have a chance to react as a Autobot team grabbed him and rushed him away, having discovered the weapon was missing they took Seaspray and fled from the blast. It was like an explosion, but in reverse. The ground broke off in chunks, rising into the air as it crumbled. It was as beautiful as it was vile, the aim of that weapon… horrid. It did its job. Rampage was gone. So was Depth Charge. All that remained was a crater. Tainted by the blast, no life would EVER return to it after such an action. And like that… Seaspray was alone… The water made a quiet sound and Seaspray broke from his minor trance, tears streaking down his face and dropping into the sea. “I miss you guys” he sniffled, lying down and letting the water lap over him and around him. If he pretended hard enough it was as if the two were there, beside him. On the anniversary of them becoming a Trine. --------- Several miles down the beach, a dark and stealthy shape prowled along, looking to the water with a deep longing, yet painful apprehension. Ravage was a Decepticon and never allowed himself to be taken by emotion. Megatron wouldn’t allow that, be it by words, fist or the end of his cannon he would not allow it. Ravage had to be far away from his leader for this… curious emotion to thrum through his damaged Spark with no repercussion. Looking across the landscape he spotted a yellow figure, also at the water's edge. The enemy. THE ENEMY!. Ravage cringed hard, his face plates bunching up as he forced down the raging senseless anger that arose everytime an Autobot neared him. That one. That one was okay. Ravage didn’t know why, but that yellow one was okay. Ravage also had no idea why he felt the compulsion to be here today. Just that for him it held some sort of significance. Settling down to rest Ravage nosed the water, and ignoring the tear that rolled down his face.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Iruma-kun 13 - 14 | Somali 1 | Magia Record 1 | BnHA 75 | Eizouken 1 | Idolish7 s2 1

New season...incoming!

Iruma-kun 13

How did Iruma even notice that collar? Geesh, that kid is perceptive…

This “spitting blood” joke is getting old already…

*Kiriwo starts his machine* - Why do I get the feeling something bad’s about to happen…?

Could you possibly call this “rank is the most important thing” a study of class consciousness, to throw some of Anime Feminist’s words? Or maybe this is a fantasy version of technology and it’s extolling the virtues of technology advancement?! *eyes sparkle*

Can Iruma join Kiriwo already? Please?!

Aw, dear darling! (<- I’m not sure if I’ve said that a lot in these notes, but I say that when I get the warm fuzzies and wanna protect a character…basically, platonic love, I guess…? Oh, “moe instinct” - that’s the words I’m looking for.) Iruma, go and live your best life, okay?

Thank you, story! Even though I knew it was being foreshadowed so heavily by being the focus of basically 24 minutes of this show’s runtime (= about 1 ep), I thank you from the bottom of my heart that Iruma went to the right Battler.

Wait, so Ameri is actually Iruma’s senpai by one year?! Hmm? I never realised that and I read some spoilers!

I like this new chibi animation style! Yay!

I never noticed this until now, but Kiriwo has one big horn and one little one.

I think the title, aside from the pronunciation of “Thirteen Dinner”, is meant to mean “The Thirteen Counts’ Gathering” (or some other high rank) or something of the sort. Update: So I checked and the character used, kanmuri/kan, is used to mean “crown” or someone who wears a crown, i.e. a peerless person, so it would be appropriate to translate that using the term for a high rank which is presumably going to be stated in the segment itself.

Turns out Babel…is just makaitou (the demon world tower). I don’t think it’s really Babylonian in any strict sense.

Depending on where you live, the 665th floor could count as the 666th or…well, the 665th. I know in Japanese, the word for the floor on the ground is ikkai (first floor)…I’m not going to tell you what I know it as though…that would reveal my location outside cyberspace, no?

According to the katakana, the guy’s name is Beruzebyuto (hence the translation as “Beelzebuth”). Beelzebub is the Lord of the Flies and a quick google tells me Beelzebul (close enough) was apparently an alternate spelling for him (or something like that…?). Patron demon of gluttony.

Astaroth, also a demon (king of rot, I think it was from Blue Exorcist)…interestingly, Beelzebub, Lucifer and Astaroth make up an unholy trio and all of them were referred to by a dude called...Solomon (which does kinda sound like “Sullivan”, if you think about it). There’s the connection between these guys…I like his top, too.

Asmodeus, patron demon of lust. We already knew that demon was represented through Azz-Azz, but now you see a spoiler I’ve been hiding for a while – Azz’s mother.

Amaimon…uh, I don’t remember what kind of demon he is in the demonic canon but I know him from Blue Exorcist.

Behemoth…?

Ooh, Ameri’s father is smokin’ hot! (Dangit, I do not want DILFs…) Azazel, a fallen angel and apparently personification of uncleanliness(…?)

Belial and (Lady) Leviathan, which we already knew existed from initial namedrops.

Who’s Baal? Even I have no idea…Update: Apparently he’s a Middle Eastern equivalent to Zeus, which explains his thunder allegiance.

Paimon kinda looks like Chaika, LOL.

LOL, “lifehack” is certainly the right word for it, Sullivan.

LOL, Belial is so short!

Although it’s kind of awkward to not see Lady Levi take a position of power for herself, it’s nice to see she has spirit!

Aw, this is cute. In much the same way I wanted Iruma to join the magical apparatus Battler, I want Sullivan to be Demon King.

Is Opera perhaps related to Ameri somehow…?

Somali 1

I was hoping to get to Plunderer, but got carried away writing another post and then lost the ability to watch both episode 1 and 2 ahead of schedule. So Somali is the new start of the season, but the last relic of the fact Plunderer was meant to start my season (outside ID: Invaded’s advance premiere) is the visual I have for this season. (Oh yeah, one of the reasons I’m supporting this – aside from it being a mid-ranker on my hype list – is that I heard a French animator, a friend of Thomas Romain, is getting his big start here.)  

“Dad.” – Oh, f***. I have myself an Usagi Drop. I knew I was going to get something of the sort going into this show, but…Usagi Drop’s experiences (or rather, watching the anime knowing the manga has that ending) have left their mark. Not to mention Somali (as this girl will come to be known) has Latina eyes, which annoys me even more since I dropped that on the basis of being scarred by Usagi Drop.

I’m wondering what Crunchyroll was thinking when they decided to coproduce this – sure, it’s probably quite cute and wholesome, but I’m far from the target audience. Did they think, “Is this what Western audiences will like?” Sure, it would hit a niche that likes this surrogate father/daughter stuff, but I don’t think it’s for me (and I’ve been thinking that all through the OP). I’ll give it a bit more to wow me, but it’s doing pretty terrible so far (because note all other anime of this particular reputation I’m more on the “neutral” side than the “like” one). Somali’s voice is probably the biggest factor – it sounds like an adult woman’s voice got pitch-shifted to attempt to be a child, rather than an actual child.

How can this golem talk about sight when he doesn’t even have eyes??? (Kinda like Juzo from NGL.)

Alright, that’s it. I can see when you’re trying to bait me with supposedly “cute” children, show. You’re gone.

Okay, since I have time and the reviews say otherwise, I’m trying again. I don’t expect to be sold to this though…

Was it just me or was there a reduced frame rate when Somali’s cape was the only thing in the frame…?

For some reason the subbers put “Why?” when the word was actually “What?”, which is a bit silly to be honest with you. (Nande?/Doushite? vs. Nani?...it’s kind of similar-sounding, but the sound is distinctly different.)

Still dropping this show. I just have another episode to add to my list now.

Magia Record 1

I heard there’s no Urobutcher this time around, but the first time I encountered the Urobutcher (in ConRevo) he made a particularly weird-feeling (in the context of the show) episode, so…uh…let’s say the Urobutcher is only as good as the material he writes, and leave it at that. Anyways, this topped my list – even before ID: Invaded came to hunt down that top position – so this better be good.

Um, am I just imagining it, or is that Sayaka and Hitomi discussing magical girls (or Madoka?) over the top of Iroha (I know that’s her name already from the synopses floating around the ‘net) and her fellow magical girls fighting?

Letterboxing? Now there’s something I thought I’d never see in Madoka Magica, ever.

One of the books was on organic recipes.

The teacher talks a tad too fast – I can understand what she’s saying, but it’s like she operates on x1.5 speed compared to the x1 speed of everything else…

“Nakama – because we can do it” – I wonder if that will mean something later…? In Madoka Magica, strange details always mean something.

“The only good witch is a dead one!” “Speech is silver, silence is golden.”– The tiny English isn’t particularly subtle, is it?

Uwasa = rumour.

Takarazaki, huh? I’ll make a note of that.

Who’s Ui?

According to the credits, I assume the blue spear girl is Nanami Yachiyo.

This is a respectable re-entry into a universe which I left not too long ago (in 2017). I’m definitely going to be able to stick with it for a season or however long it lasts.

BnHA 75

All this talk about a database…reminds me of the Quirk I designed for the wiki (also called “Database”). I conceived it in 2015, but I don’t remember who was meant to use it before I retrofitted it to fit the BnHA universe. Update: Welp, I found the document. The superpower Database (which was retrofitted to be a Quirk) is for one Itsuki Hatano.

“One blow to the top of the head!”

Iruma-kun 14

(Note: Some notes may be missing because I was busy multitasking while watching this episode.)

Go, Iruma! Live your best life!

Note “speak of the devil” isn’t how it’s said in Japanese. It sounds something like “whisper a rumour and it will come back to you” based on what I heard Kiriwo say (since I heard the word uwasa in there). Update: Apparently the phrase is uwasa wo sureba… (if you spead a rumour…) and then you cut the saying off to finish the rest of the sentence, just like you would in English.

You can’t even see a substantial part of Iruma’s hair when that demon on the phone (<-I know who it is, because I read spoilers, but I’ll keep quiet on that front!) yells for the first time.  

Makura (demon pillow) has that demon pun going on.

Ooh, Kiriwo-senpai is actully kinda sexy with his hair up like that…not that I know the first thing about sex appeal…

So is the ED about the Battler Party, in a sense?

Eizouken 1

I picked this show up because of the rave reviews it was getting.

Very Future Boy Conan, that.

…what? That OP was trippy. Then again, I didn’t mind ConRevo and that was trippy…this negative feeling is probably because I don’t know much about Masaki Yuasa’s quirks, I guess.

Why do people not translate “Eizouken”???? It means “video research club”.

The back is a good spot to sit in a theatre for anime. Why do I know this? I sit in the back of my anime club all the time, that’s why!

“Are those MiBs?” – I laughed pretty hard at that one sentence.

Why does this strawberry milk seem to be a parallel to the milk Asakusa promised Kanamori? (P.S. Asakusa is in Tokyo, IIRC.) Update: Mizusaki means “on top of water” if I understood the kanji right and Kanamori, with the right combo of characters, can mean “forest of gold”...which makes a lot of sense, considering how gold is equated with wealth and currency. Also, here’s proof Asakusa is in Tokyo...not to mention it’s the place from Sarazanmai! Meanwhile, I was thinking there was some sort of anime-related significance to the name, but I was thinking of Asagaya.  Update 2: Mizusaki actually means “water peninsula”. Sorry, wrong saki.

I know there’s a chase scene at the end of this ep, thanks to reading reviews. I want to be wowed by it, which is why I’m (metaphorically) holding my breath.

I like how Asakusa and Mizusaki are bouncing around ideas. That really brings the process to life.

Long skirts and wind but no sexualisation. That’s a good sign!

Whoa, that scene with the comets was AWESOME! I want more!

Idolish7 s2 1

Back with some good boys one season too early…let’s have some fun while these simulcasters can get this stuff fast!

Oh no! (<- self-censored) Nagi’s stupid accent is back! *yells incoherently for a second*

I like the little sound effects that happened whe Nagi’s finger moved around (to suggest “magic”).

I think the joke was something to do with the word gera (?). I don’t quite get it myself.

Misuta- Shimooka, LOL. I love how this s2 isn’t doing any hand-holding, though! I half-expect a flashback to appear and it never does.

Yamato, how are you so-*crying and Yatta! can be heard in the background*Okay, nevvvvvvvvvver mind…

I remember mistakenly saying that Nishiyama was part of Idolish7 (since I looked through some of my old notes lately). Nishiyama is part of ZOOL, so now…I’m not wrong anymore…(That’s not quite relevant to the random announcement of Re:Vale showing up, but it’s on my mind now.)

Hmm…Yamato’s thoughts on Re:Vale…I’ll keep an eye on him.

I think people like Tamaki because he treats them like he would his little sister…a true gentleman. Or maybe that’s all in my head? I haven’t been in the fandom properly, y’know.

This switch to occasional chibi antics…I’m not sure I like it…

Ohmyglob! Another boy to add to my growing list of husbandos! *points at Yuki* I knew he existed, but I haven’t had a proper chance to have a reaction to him ever since I started really “having a thing” for long-haired guys.

Re:Vale are like a comic act (manzai).

Momo has pink nail polish…I just noticed. Update: It’s probably more red than pink.

“Chan-momo” appears to be a variety of modern slang similar to Pig Latin. Apparently Gen from Dr Stone uses it as well.

Yuki has these cute little diamond earrings and Momo has studs. I’ve also never noticed this until now. (I, myself, can’t wear anything past clip-ons because I have a genetic quirk that makes it annoying to get my ears pierced, called beta thalassemia, so I can only fangirl about other people’s earrings.)

What’s the FSC again…?

Kyu-to aidoru!

I think Momo and Yuki are going to reach out to Mitsuki and Tamaki (respectively) most this season…just a feeling, based on their dispositions. Tamaki and Yuki have similar faces, on top of that, so thank goodness we can tell them apart by hairstyle.

Yuki wears this steel blue shade of nail polish…ooh, also cute.

*Riku goes stiff-faced* - *audibly facepalms at Riku’s reaction*

Momo has a black and green earring set on one ear…huh.

Ooh, very nice. It’s a keeper.

Update: Apparently, you pronounce their name “Re:ba-re”, which is a bit different to what I was expecting (essentially “Re: veil”).

[chibipika]

Oh my god, I’m digging through old files on my backup harddrive and I found this dream from 2011 in which me, @antialiasis, and a baby dragon are on the run from The King of Everything.  It is absolutely batshit and I love it:

Okay, so for some reason I was hanging out with Dragonfree.  What the hell, subconscious?  Why do you always stick my online acquaintances into my dreams?  (I think it’s a side effect of that time in my life where all I had were online friends and the fanfic forum was pretty much my entire life, even though that was like 6 years ago.)  But at least this time it sort of makes sense—I’ve been working on an off on the Ouen dragons piece a lot lately, adding little touches here and there when I’m bored, so people often ask me what it is, so I frequently launch into explanations of, “Oh hey there’s this writer with a cool fanfic, and I’m doing fanart of it.”  “Hey what’s it about?”  “Well, it’s kind of hard to explain the plot because it’s basically an awesome reworking of silly ideas from when she was 12.” “ROFL THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU.” “Erm….yeah.  -_-“

Okay then, random tangent aside I was hanging out with Dragonfree I guess.  No explanation given.  At least my dream self wanted an explanation, though never actually got one.  I was at my home house instead of my school house which makes slightly more sense (If I were European I’d sooner visit the US East coast/NY area than the friggin Midwest.)

Kay, I swear the plot was awesomely detailed and amazing but now it is starting to sound really silly and I’m not sure why I’m writing it down. Dangit.  It started out like...pretty mediocre at my house (or what was supposed to be my house but looked nothing like it, what.)  I think there was some subplot involving something going wrong with her website (some of the layouts weren’t working which was apparently a sign of someone currently stealing things from it?  What??? Also one of the styles was really cool and best described as a matrix Articuno.  YES.)  I dunno. And then there was a hilarious part where my sister walked though the kitchen into the computer room and said something like “When did Beth get here?”  And I’m like “Wtf, that’s not Beth.”  But then I walked into the room and it was. (So now Beth was somehow at my house too?  How did all these people get here?)  Dragonfree was in fact back in the kitchen on the computer that was for some reason there (no, not my laptop…a random desktop in the kitchen), and Beth did not appear for the entire rest of the dream. *shrug*  Though amusingly at this point I wondered, “Hey since this isn’t the internet, should I call you Dragonfree or by your real name?”  but never actually asked it.  So I went the whole dream without addressing her by any name (not as weird as it sounds—I don’t use people’s names often.)

But all of this random crap quickly derailed into something involving DRAGONS HOLY CRAP.  Okay, so I actually can’t remember how the dragons plotline started dang.  I think there were like, different types of dragons (one for each element?  This was completely unrelated to Pokémon, however. In fact, I don’t think anything Pokémon ever came up, other than that random bit about her site.  I don’t have Pokémon dreams often.  What the hell, subconscious.)  I think we had the earth dragon or something except I guess it was a baby.  And then like, the queen of the world ordered the dragons (she had a lot of them I think) to kill people, except each dragon’s power was only effective on certain people, and the Earth dragon was supposed to kill us.  I think I ran and hid in a bush (yeah…because that would save me from the elemental dragon…) but since the Earth dragon was just a baby its power didn’t kill us (and I was confused about why the other dragons’ attacks didn’t hurt because I didn’t know about the whole only-effective-on-certain-people thing).  So then I emerged from my hiding place and I think a lot of time had gone by because I saw the events in a slow, limited-animation cutscene type thing (hey…sorta like that game concept art my group’s been planning.)  Well the earth dragon was now an adult.  I met up with Dragonfree at some sort of dessert table where a servant was putting together sweets for the king.  Things like chocolate covered pretzels and bananas. I guess I felt like trolling the king or something, so I stole one of the chocolate bananas, and then we ended up having the guards sent after us (yeah, way to go dream self.)  We hopped on a train (like an old style steam engine) except it was rather small, and intended for little kids.  Well lo and behold my youngest sister was there.  We rode on the train for a bit until my sister climbed on top to check something and was doing it all very not-carefully like someone who has totally climbed on top of a train and started opening hatches a hundred times in their life.  Well something went wrong and then she fell off and got tangled in some vines and then the train tried to go through an insanely small tunnel and started shrinking, so we had to get off.  And then we found the earth dragon!  Except he was a baby again OKAY THEN.

(Thus far there hasn’t been much dialogue only because I can’t remember it.  Everyone was actually talking a lot more than this implies. They weren’t all just standing there.) Also I think I spent most of the dream wondering when Dragonfree was going to go back home.  Because “oh yeah we’re on adventure and running for our lives, but hey please don’t leave in the middle of all this I wanna hang out some more.” Uh huh.  This makes even less sense when you consider that there are no countries and the king of everything is after us.

Well this time the queen was there with the guards so we ran away into this sort of maze of stairs vaguely like a kids’ play area except kind of more serious business.  Some of the stairs were in fact escalators that were broken down, and others were so small that we had to slide down then and we were doing pretty good at avoiding the guards.  We all regrouped and figured out a way onto the third floor, at which point we were feeling pretty clever, but then WE RAN INTO THE QUEEN OH SNAP.  But she was actually on our side the whole time! I think this made more sense in the dream (maybe she knew the earth dragon wouldn’t kill us with its attack? But what about all the people killed by the king’s fire dragon?)  Well she did something to the stair area to prevent the guards from getting through while she made a deal with us.  So then we had the queen with us, yay?

We were now heading up a mountain!  I have no idea what we were looking for at the top.  Except first we had to go though some sort of summer-camp type area, where they made us go though inspection (okay?)  This involved pushing us under streams of water which I thought were going to be freezing but were actually kind of warm.  Kay then.  During the next part we were all in a building (at the camp I guess) and a bunch of the campers were watching tv. At this point I thought to myself “Hey it’s weird how this dream is still continuing even though I’m awake.” WHAT?  So I thought this part was real, but I was still dreaming it…even though it was real?  Now, there have been times I’ve been able to continue a dream while awake and have it actually fit in the dream, as opposed to the lame crap you usually try to add to a dream shortly after awakening until you realize ��wait my logic works now and this is stupid.”  But anyways…I think around this point was I finally going to ask Dragonfree, “Hey we’ve been running all over a crazy kingdom all day and I’m still not sure what to call you since this isn’t the internet and all.”  But at that point I woke up.  Well…damn.  I mean, it’s better than when you have a dream end at a super-suspenseful point (since we were kind of just wasting time at a camp and I don’t even think the earth dragon was with us anymore).  But still I felt the need to go run and grab my laptop and start writing all this down and highly confusing my roommates in the process.

And holy crap LOOK HOW MUCH I WROTE IN HALF AN HOUR.  Why can’t I write my fic this fast?

[heroesofcrash]

Comic 1/25/19 - Lanahosen

http://TheHeroesOfCRASH.com

Fashion's more fun with sight gags.

Lana's less inhibited than Mags (not that that's a high bar to set), so it's no surprise she's willing to go first. She's even willing to look a little silly in an outfit or two. But will that help Mags feel more comfortable?

Despite my mom having worked in the fashion industry, I've never been a fan of fashion, myself. I don't see why there needs to be a set of rules for what does and doesn't "look good". I wanna wear my Hawaiian shirts and Ninja Turtle tees more often, dangit!

Unsurprisingly, this meant I needed a little outside help to figure out some good outfits for Lana to wear. I googled fashion for her body type, which helped me figure out the three nice outfits in the montage, but I also borrowed elements from outfits I've seen before. Lana's white dress is partly inspired by one of the dresses Tiana wears in The Princess and the Frog, specifically from the "Almost There" dream sequence and Facilier's illusion. In the swimwear panel, her wrap's pattern is inspired by the outfit worn by Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, while the hat may be subconsciously taken from Jessie from Between Failures (See my webcomic links) and/or Connie from the original Steven Universe opening.

Her ugly dress was just me trying to do the opposite of her nice dress - there's lots of frills, lines, and colors to contrast with the simplicity of the dress in the previous panel. Lana's snow outfit was given a pink hue and poofball on top, because I wanted it to look like the kind of outfit you put on a five-year-old that makes them incapable of moving in the snow, and NOT like an insensitive caricature of Inuit people. I've used costumes (like sombreros and fruit hats) in much, MUCH earlier strips that would give me pause today, and I certainly don't want to mock a minority's culture in the form of a costume for the sake of a gag.

That being said, I'm pretty sure lederhosen is fair game. I believe that I have some German ancestry and I KNOW I'm half-Jewish, so if anyone gets to make fun of German culture, it's me.

Of course, fans of the strip would remember that the outfit in the next-to-last panel is that of Battle-Axe Beatrix, the rude, axe-wielding teacher at C.R.A.S.H. I had initially considered other characters' outfits for this gag, but Beatrix's outfit was DESIGNED to look ugly.