#this may be because i watched all three shows at roughly the same time but idk i think there might be something there

[friendlyneighbourhoodelf]

do you see my vision

[loren91]

Young Royals and the three act structure, Part one

Seems like there was some potential interest in a full three-act story structure analysis, so I’m taking this opportunity to indulge myself by going full nerd. I’m going to attempt to make the argument that limiting the show to three seasons is actually perfect for Young Royals, by highlighting the pattern the story follows.

A few things to keep in mind before we start.

This analysis is not about the characters deep inner emotional lives. We are not here to pass judgment on their actions. We are simply identifying the beats of the story in a neutral and objective manner, for the purpose of analysing the structure of the story.

As you will notice, the points I have identified are all from Wilhelm’s perspective. That’s because he’s the point-of-view character, the main conflict is shaped by him and his emotional state. He’s the protagonist. Each subplot however, will follow the same pattern and has its own purpose, but I’ll get more into that another time.

I’ll be referring a fair bit to Lindsey Ellis’s video essay on the subject, because I like how she describes the structure pattern in sequences. So I’m gonna borrow some of her language. Also, note that the examples she uses to describe the tree-act structure are all feature films. Since Young Royals is a series, it’s gonna divert slightly from her description. But that’s what is so great about this structure, it’s flexible. It’s not meant to be set rules, but rather guidelines to help keep your story relevant and engaging all the way through. If you find this stuff interesting, I’d highly recommend watching her videos!

The three act structure is absolutely not the only way to tell a story. There’s many different formats that works just as well! It’s really about finding what structure works best to tell your story. The three acts however is the most common format you’ll find in more commercially viable works, such as Disney films for example.

And finally, I’m not a writer, but an animator, and I have studied film theory/structure. I’ll do my best to motivate the plot points I’ve identified, but if you’re a proper story expert and disagree with me, I’m happy to discuss!

Okay, let’s get to it.

A three-act structure is constructed of just that, three acts, and roughly looks like this. Essentially, a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or the set up, the confrontation, and the resolution. These acts may vary in length, act two usually being the longest and act three usually being the shortest. But what truly defines them is the tension of each act, meaning what drives the conflict forward at that point. A story will have a main conflict yes, but that conflict will take on many forms depending on where we are in the story. Lindsey Ellis describes each act as consisting of multiple sequences, and defines each sequence by its individual tension as well. Though all points of tension should always stay related to the main conflict! So the main points we’re looking to identify in the story are the main act tensions and the main sequence tensions. 

Let’s go through season one of Young Royals and talk about each story beat.

Act 1

Act tension - Wille has to attend Hillerska.

Sequence 1

We start with the Set up/Hook. The purpose here is to establish the world and the protagonist along with their internal conflict, such as their flaws and/or desire that makes them feel incomplete - The way Wilhelm’s character is introduced informs us that he is royal, but struggling with his role, because royals have set rules to follow.

“Why can’t I decide how the hell I want to live? I want to live a normal life!”

The thing that sets the story in motion is the point of attack. Something happens that is outside of the protagonist's control/knowledge - That would be the royal court deciding to send Wille to Hillerska without his permission. This gives the protagonist something to react to.

Sequence tension is established - Wille does not want to go to Hillerska. The rest of episode one reinforces Wille’s discomfort at the school.

Next, we get to the inciting incident. An event that disrupts the status quo, and our protagonist has to get involved - The initiation party, particularly when Wille and Simon almost kiss at the end. This leads him to acknowledge his attraction toward Simon and become more proactive in his pursuit of the boy. 

The sequence tension is resolved. Notice how in episode two, Hillerska is no longer the main focus for Wille, but Simon is. The seeds for what will become the central conflict have now been planted. The conflict is usually driven by character motivation. This is where we can consider the protagonist's Want vs Need. The want drives the main tension - Wille wants to be with Simon. But we’ll find want he needs later on in the story.

Sequence 2

The purpose here is to build up the creation of the main tension of the story. The main antagonist can also be established here -  August keeps getting on Wille’s nerves. Especially when he’s trying to hang out with Simon.

That’s our sequence tension - Wille is working to befriend Simon, but August keeps getting in the way.

The end of the sequence sees the first major plot point, the Lock-in. Where our protagonist makes a decision that changes everything. Usually, something they can’t come back from - In Young Royals that would be the first kiss. Wille and Simon’s relationship has fundamentally changed. The main tension is now established.

Act 2

Act tension -  Can Wille be with Simon, despite him being a prince?

Sequence 3

At the start of this sequence, the protagonist has most likely achieved some kind of milestone or learned something - He’s definitely like that.

To keep the story interesting, writers will add so-called pinch points in between the bigger plot points. These usually act as reminders of the antagonist or the pressure our protagonist may feel - Wille feels he needs to break it off with Simon because a prince is not supposed to be gay. As we established in the set up, royals have rules. 

Sequence tension - Can Wille deny his feelings for Simon? Queer pining ensues.

Sequence 4

The purpose of this sequence is to build up towards the midpoint. We see the protagonist making attempts to achieve their goal - The want never changed, Wille still wants to be with Simon, despite the pressure. Wille invites him to spend the weekend with him.

Sequence tension - Wille is trying to prioritise his new relationship with Simon, but August is still being annoying.

Then the midpoint hits. A major disruption, either from a character action or a force of nature. Can be positive or negative, just something that changes the aim of the quest without resolving the main tension - This time it’s literally halfway through the season. End of episode three, Erik dies and Wille becomes the crown prince. Everything has changed.

Sequence 5

Everybody has to adjust to the new world order after the midpoint disruption. We’ve reached another pinch point - Again we are reminded that royals have rules, and Wille makes another attempt to follow those rules. By embracing his new role, he breaks up with Simon once again, then sort of pursues Felice and joins the society.

Sequence tension - Wille adjusting to his new title while mourning his brother.

It’s common for subplots to advance around this time - Like Simon giving August the drugs to sell.

Sequence 6

Another plot point, where our protagonist may stop and reflect. Maybe have a heart-to-heart with another character, and perhaps make a decision - This is where we see the football field scene and the end of episode four. Wille reaches out to Simon for help, reconnecting with him. This leads them to pursue a relationship once again. They are put in a false sense of security. They are finally together, thinking all is good. BUT, we in the audience know that August has the video of them and the writers keep reminding us of him and the threat he poses. Even if Wille and Simon don't know it yet.

Sequence tension - Can this happiness last?

Sequence 7

(Here’s where the story leaves the classic structure for a bit, and adds an extra sequence for some more drama, as filler. In theory, they could have skipped this sequence and gone straight to the video being released. This part is mainly here to give motivation for August’s character, making his actions clearer)

So we are essentially given another pinch point, a reminder of antagonist or pressure -  August tries to break them apart by telling Wille about the drugs, which leads to the music room fight. 

Sequence tension - August is becoming more hostile.

Wille saving Simon from being framed for the drugs is more related to August’s money subplot. And the Lucia hug scene is mainly there for character building purposes. I’ll talk more about that stuff in part two.

The plot has advanced to the culmination of the main tension. The crisis that serves as build-up to act three - August releases the video. At the end of act two, the protagonist faces their biggest challenge yet. They’ve hit their lowest point - The aftermath of the video's release and Wille is totally lost. 

Act 3

Act tension - Can they save their relationship after the video?

Sequence 8

Begins with the protagonist making a big decision that creates the new act tension. The tension in act three will be different, but still related to the main conflict - Wille and Simon talk in the locker room, where Wille says he won’t do the statement. 

Sequence tension -  Can Wille avoid making the statement?

We’ve reached our last major plot point, located at the end of the sequence. Sometimes known as the twist in the third act - And what a twist, Wille does the statement anyway. This narrows down the tension further, to focus on a more character-driven intimate place for the next sequence.

Sequence 9

Sequence tension - Can they be together despite the statement?

Climax, the last big fight - Simon tells Wille off for being selfish and breaks up. Wille also finds out that both August and his mother betrayed him. The protagonist’s need has emerged from this journey and is now clear to us - Wille needs to decide who he wants to be. The want and the need should be different from each other, but still connected. Wille wants Simon, but in order for that to happen, Wille needs to break out of this cycle of self-preservation and stand up for himself against the royal court.

The climax will most likely lead to some kind of character growth - Wille is now pissed because he’s lost everything and realizes how corrupt the royal court is. As Lisa so beautifully put it, “A flame is ignited in him”. Hugging Simon in public is a display of his character growth.

And finally, Resolution. The point where the story is usually wrapped up neatly, but if left ignored, you get a cliffhanger - Which is exactly what happens in this season. Nothing is properly resolved at this point. Resulting in an open ending/cliffhanger.

Oof, that was a lot. How are we all doing? So these are the main beats of the plot. Makes sense? Let me know if you need any further clarification 😅 I was gonna get into how the rest of the show fits this format as well, but that’ll have to be in a separate post. Here’s part two! 

[arece]

So………lolz you already expected this BUT whats readers background? How did she meet Aurelio? Layer on that angst

Seven

♤ Summary: How reader came to be. The masterlist

♤ Warnings: Implied domestic and child abuse, but no explicit details.

♤ a/n: I may be slow but I am working through these requests. I kinda like how this one turned out, back on my angst shit. (1.3k)

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

If I ever were to lose you

I’d lose-

No. 

Try- try and sometimes…

The words were slowly escaping you.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

You were sprinting as fast as your small legs allowed you to, giggling as you stared straight ahead you, could almost imagine you were flying. Slowly you rose your arms from your sides, shrieking in glee as you nearly felt yourself begin to float. 

“My bumbling little bee!” You were scooped up into the arms of a woman, her face forever blurred in a way you’d never be able to recall, but the safety she radiated would forever be imprinted in your mind. 

She let you go, hand caressing over your head. Kneeling down to your height she held you close by your arms, a nervous smile fluttering from her lips, “and how much did you collect today?” 

You brightened, digging into your little pockets and pulling out three wallets. You watched as she took them, carefully scanning through the contents of each. “Did I do good?” So eager for her praise.

“The best. Are you sure you’re not an actual pirate?” She playfully scanned you over. You giggled, shaking your head as if just the thought was so silly, “no, I was just playing!”

She scooped you back up, heading in the direction of a daunting house that suddenly turned your colourful little world into melancholy shades of gray. “Well, you had me fooled, busy bee.”

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

You sat in your room, fiddling around with your toy sword as the sun began to set. A rumbling could be heard in the distance, you stood from your spot on the floor and looked out the window. Outside was the car that held the monster, the one that always played hide and seek with you.

The woman came rushing into your room, she looked more frazzled than earlier, hair out of place and her eyes containing distress. “Come on now, bee. Time for hide and seek.” You grabbed her hand as she led you over to the slightly rotted closet, hidden by an oddly placed bookshelf.

She sat you inside, trying to get you comfortable with the mountain of blankets, pillows, books, and a flashlight you collected from your multiple games. “He’s not very good, I hide in the same place every time and he never finds me.”

The woman stopped her frantic movements, looking at you for a moment before brushing her thumb over your cheek, “and he never will.” Distantly you heard the door open with a heavy thud. She swiftly kisses your forehead before shutting you in the closet.

She claims that she’s giving you a head start. She’s really good at it because you stay here all night until he gives up in the morning.

You click on the flashlight, weary of the dark. Shattering echoes throughout the walls followed by a loud roar. You remember the times you’ve met the monster; he’d show up during the day before your game.

He didn’t like you, you made too many mistakes. You broke too many things, said the wrong things, were too loud. This is why you had to hide, you couldn’t bother the monster, couldn’t let him find you.

You hid your head under the pillows to drown out the screams, eventually able to fall asleep in your little haven.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

Out in the fields your head laid on the woman's lap. She was lost in thought while your twirled bright green blades of grass between your fingers. You plucked two, tying the ends together as you looked up at her distorted face.

“I think our house is haunted.” She blinked twice, switching to lean back on a single hand as she brought the other to poke at the tip of your nose before resting against your cheek. 

You pulled the ends too roughly, snapping it apart. The two strands were slowly carried into separate directions by the wind. “Why do you think that?”

“At night there’s lots of noises. The monster’s extra angry, that’s probably why.” You casually turned back to playing with the grass, missing the bitter sadness that tainted her expression.

She pulled you up from her lap, forcing you to face her. “You can’t tell anyone about our haunted house.” Her lips pressed together a new wave of determination settling into her disposition.

“Why?” you had naively tilted your head to the side. For the first time ever the comfort and safety you felt with her was cut, the same fear you were used to facing with the monster blossomed. 

Her expression grew wild as she slightly shook you by the shoulders, “you just can’t, cross your heart that you won’t.” You tried to move back but the grip she held onto you with wouldn’t release you.

“Okay,” you cried out, “I won’t tell anyone, cross my heart!” Suddenly she let you go and you scooted back, slightly curling in on yourself. Your eyes grew glassy and your bottom lip began to quiver.

She saw the error in her panic and immediately pulled you into a hug, brushing a hand over your head to hold you closer. She whispered profuse apologies, shushing your sniffles as you wiped at your runny nose.

“I’m sorry. I love you, my bumbling bee.” She poked at your sides, receiving a high pitched screech that melted into delighted giggles.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

For weeks you haven’t had to play your game of hide and seek. She says that the monster left and he wouldn’t be back. The house felt lighter. You enjoyed getting to sleep in your bed, her tucking you in with the melodic whispers of her lullaby. You slept that night comfortably, a doll wrapped tight in your grasp, safe in your brighter home. 

The familiar roar woke you up, immediately you buried yourself back under your blankets before remembering you weren’t in your hiding spot - he’d find you. You swiftly crawled out of bed, prepared to make a run for it before the woman bursted in, closing the door behind her and moving furniture to cover it.

“I have to go to the closet!” You yanked at her leg to get her attention. She carefully pulled you off of her before moving to a bag, placing some of your things into it. “No more hide and seek, now we only play pirates.”

She brought over a sweater, wrapping you into it tightly before securing the bag over your shoulders and handing you your doll. “What do you mean?” You asked, finally noticing her puffy eyes and angry red cuts scattered along her face.

“Today you leave the house and you never come back. You run and you be a pirate to survive - a real pirate.” Her breaths were unsteady and you could see her hands begin to shake. You grab onto the hand as she moves over to the room's window.

“What about you?” She opens the window and a gush of cold air wafts around you. “The monster’s very strong, he’ll always find us so I have to stay. You have to go, I’ve never been really good at hide and seek.”

She lifts you over the window, your feet plopping onto the ground as she helps you jump over. She kisses your forehead as she bites off a whimper, “you do what you have to and survive. Give them all hell.”

The door starts to bend underneath the weight of the monster’s banging, she looks over her shoulder before focusing back on you with a new sense of urgency. “I love you, little bee. Now go and don’t look back.”

You begin to run off, once again gliding. Behind you she mutters, “someone save my baby.” A silent prayer before accepting her fate and facing the monster behind the door.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

It’s been a few years since you’ve been playing pirate, successfully surviving off of your skill for stealing. The one time you messed up would soon turn into a blessing in disguise.

“You're pretty crafty, street rat.”

You can’t remember her face, but you remember her comfort and how she saved you. You’d carry that love she held for you forever.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

If I ever were to lose you,

I’d surely lose myself.

⋯♤⋯♧⋯♢⋯

Taglist: @khaleesihavilliard @ihatemyselfmorethanmydepression @tamnight  @hesvoid34 @scarletmeii @romanreignsluver1 @wi1steria @not-a-big-slay @howlerwolfmax @mizzy-pop @sarapaprikas-blog @angrykitsune01 @commanderfreethatdust @wisepizzatart

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round "5")

Hey everybody! So, I've recently gotten into Disventure Camp, just in time to catch the third season near its beginning. As it's been occupying a good chunk of my brain activity for the past couple of weeks, I've really wanted to write something about it just to let some of the brain worms out. Coincidentally, I also started watching Gordon Holmes' Survivor Power Ranking series as season 46 has been airing (although I've watched Survivor since I was a kid), and really enjoyed the format and the questions it incited. So, I figured, why not mash them up?

The Power Ranking format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. If that sounds interesting, I invite you to read on!

Alright, now that we've made it past the Read More, I'll explain the game in a bit more detail, given that this is the first time I'm posting a "theory" like this. (It's "Round 5" because this is off the heels of the 5th episode, but there are no power rankings prior to this one.) The way Gordon's Power Rankings work, you rank each player not based on how likely they are to win overall, but how likely they are to survive the next episode. For the sake of example, let's say I've ranked Kristal as #1 (least likely to go home), Derek as #2, Trevor as #3, Emily as #4, and Oliver as #5 (most likely to go home). When the next episode comes out, you go back and lock in the score of the person who was eliminated. So, back to our example, if it's Derek who winds up going home, then I get 2 points. Bigger scores are better, so, as you can see, it would have been better if I'd ranked Derek lower. Derek's score is the only one that matters for the week, so the rest of my placements don't factor into my score at all.

This format makes more sense when you can compare your score against someone else's (as what happens in Gordon's videos). But, I still think it's a fun format to use, and it'll be interesting to me to see if I perform better or worse than average at the end of the season. Also, if anyone wants to make their own version of the power ranking and fight me, I'd love to see that! (You don't have to write as much as I will, if you don't want to.) I'm actively trying to mansplain manipulate malewife my way into convincing people to watch this show, so the more the merrier in analysis land.

Although I will be making some of the same analytical remarks that Gordon and co. do for the Survivor season, I want to point out that I will be actively acknowledging that Disventure Camp is a work of fiction. Both Survivor and DC create an "edit" by budgeting their screen time towards specific characters and plot lines, so both can be analyzed in that way. However, Survivor is a story constructed in retrospect, based on the reality of who happened to win the game. DC has been a fictional story since the very beginning, and therefore an episode of the cartoon may be more... "controlled" than an episode of Reality TV. For instance, Survivor players irl might not manage to keep all of their tribes at roughly the same number of people, but Odd Nation Cartoons may have built the season in a way that doesn't eradicate one team of All Stars at the very start.

I bring this up because, for this week in particular, I think that a character originating from Season 1 will likely be packing their bags. We've had four eliminations so far, one from the Season 1 cast (Miriam) and three from the Season 2 cast (James, Lake, and Hunter). Given that both casts started out with 9 competitors, this means that 33% of the Season 2 cast is already gone. I don't think it's impossible that a Season 2 character could be eliminated this week, but I'm definitely inclined to believe that it'll be a season 1 character that bites the dust.

Also, as the contestants on Gordon's show are able to use the "Next Time on Survivor" segment in their analyses, I think that using the trailer for next episode is entirely fair game! Spoilers for the Episode 6 trailer, if you're trying to ignore that. I don't know how much I'm going to reference it, but it'll probably be at least a little bit.

With that out of the way, let's start with the character who I think is the least likely to go home!

#1: Tess

Tess is in a really good position right now as the Cyan Team's swing vote. Aiden will want to take out Ellie as a member of the villains alliance and the one behind Lake's elimination. While it's unknown how much stock Ellie will continue to place in the girls' alliance, she still sees Tess as her friend, and therefore the best option to reach out to for a third vote to take out Aiden or Tom. Therefore, neither Aiden and Tom nor Ellie and Gabby should be looking to eliminate her.

I also feel like they're going to want to have Tess reunite with Ally at the merge, which is another reason why she might stick around. Then again, I might've thought the same of Hunter, and we saw how that went for him last episode. Still, as both Tess and Ally's characterizations revolved around Hunter in Season 2, I at least have interest in seeing how the two girls would progress without their collective crush around.

And, on top of all that, Tess is a Season 2 character. I find it very hard to believe that Tess will be eliminated next episode.

#2: Aiden

Alright, this choice is definitely leaning more on the meta side than the gameplay side. Gameplay wise, if Tess decided to side with Ellie and Gabby, it could be very easy for Aiden to be the target of their votes. But, I just don't think that Odd Nation Cartoons would want to eliminate Aiden at this point in the competition. The man is a fan favorite!

Of course, that was true of James as well... but, that only furthers my point. Given that James and Lake have already been eliminated from the competition, getting rid of Aiden would wipe that entire friend group of characters out. In my opinion, it would be odd for Aiden to have that confessional about playing for James, Lake, and himself, only to be eliminated three episodes after Lake. Aiden is also still a major plot point in the Jake/Tom romance that I think they'll want to keep around for a little longer.

Also, if the theory that James will return to the competition at some point (because he hasn't had a "reading the patrons names" segment yet) turns out to be true, I suspect that they'd want Aiden to still be in the competition for his return. Aiden should be safe.

#3: Jake

You know who else is a part of the Jake/Tom plotline? Jake. I don't think our favorite(?) whiny idiot has his head on the chopping block right now, despite being a S1 character.

Although, Jake's safety is actually mostly not a meta read. I just straight up think that his elimination would be the most baffling on the Magenta Team. Ally could go home if the Jake/Ashley/Fiore alliance decides to finish what they started when they eliminated Hunter. Fiore could go home if, now that the couple has been split up, Jake and Ashley unite with Ally to take out one of the villains. Even if Ally and Fiore somehow had the power to band together and use a totem or something to send one of Jake or Ashley home... I still think it would be Ashley. That's partially based on meta logic of considering Jake a more important character than Ashley, but there are in-universe reasons why they might choose to eliminate Ashley over Jake, too. For Fiore's sake, Ashley has more of a vendetta against her specifically. Ashley is also an athletic and friendly person who could situate herself very well if she made the merge, whereas Jake (who's already demoralized at Miriam's exit) would likely only incite more conflict and use his vote in petty ways. (Sorry to Jake fans lol, I'm kinda slandering your boy.)

Anyways, any other Magenta elimination makes more sense to me than Jake, so I think he's pretty safe.

#4: Tom

Rounding out the Jake/Tom/Aiden love triangle, we have Tom at #4. It's a lot of what I've already covered with Jake and Aiden. There's so much drama yet to be had with this trio that knocking down one of its legs (specifically, the central leg) at this point feels like a loss. Also, I really don't understand why the Cyan girls would choose to eliminate Tom instead of Aiden, which means I'm basically predicting that both of the Cyan boys are safe. That includes Tom, so, good for him!

#5: Ally

And once again, we're looping back to a prior entry. For Tess to reunite with Ally at the merge, Ally has to make it there, too. So, despite her boyfriend's fate, I think Ally will be sticking around for a little while longer.

It's a bit counterintuitive, but I sort of think that Ally will stay because it would be too obvious if she went home. Jake, Ashley, and Fiore eliminating Ally in a 3-1 vote is exactly what you would predict would happen looking at the tribe on the surface. So, for the sake of intrigue, I feel like something would happen to prevent it. In the preview, we see her having one-on-one conversations with Ashley and Jake, so maybe they would feel bad for her and decide to flip on Fiore. Maybe Ally could pull an epic gamer move and find an idol to play on herself. That could be in conjunction with Fiore and her connections to the villains alliance, or it could not.

Tess, Aiden, Jake, and Tom I was pretty confident about, so Ally is the first entry where I'm a little worried putting her this high. But, I have faith in her (especially as a S2 character) to not get the boot in this upcoming episode.

#6: Fiore

This might just be the Fiore stan in me, but I don't think she'll be going home next episode. I mean, she's literally been blessed by the gods! What am I supposed to do against that?

Fiore is in a pretty decent position, being allied with Jake and Ashley while also being on pretty decent terms with Ally. She's also just, like, way smarter than the majority of the competition, so if she found herself in a tight spot, I could see her manipulating someone to weasel her way out of it. Fiore is also a potential winner pick of mine (again, I'm a Fiore stan), and her elimination at this stage could prevent her from making the deep run that would result in her return to the Final 2.

Despite all of this-- and this is a slight aside-- I actually think that Jake and Ashley may have made a mistake in eliminating Hunter over Fiore last episode? They said it was better for their strategy, but I don't think that's necessarily true. It would be a good move for their strategy if they could count on Fiore being a solid alliance member at the merge, but it's pretty obvious she has no allegiance to the S1 duo. She literally already has an alliance-- the villains alliance-- that she would most likely bail to if she makes it to the merge. If Jake, Ashley, Hunter, and Ally all voted to eliminate Fiore, they could diminish the threat of the villains alliance and put their own feud on pause. If Hunter is correct, and getting rid of Fiore prevents them from losing any more challenges, than the feud never has to be unpaused, and all four of them make the merge. The only way that Jake and Ashley could run into trouble is if Magenta does have to go back to Tribal as a foursome. Then, it could be problematic for them if they were forced to turn on each other at Hunter and Ally's whim, because the couple (who were already fighting with each other!!!) could be unwilling to turn on one another, preferring to leave things to chance.

It feels like the narrative has already saved Fiore twice-- once via Alec and once via Jake and Ashley's "strategy"-- so I believe that the narrative has greater plans for Fiore yet. It could be reuniting with Alec. Who knows? (Please be reuniting with Alec. Please be reuniting with Alec--)

#7: Ashley

Um... so I just straight up don't think that Magenta is headed back to Tribal next episode. Surprise!

Like I said, these predictions are just about the next episode. And, given that Magenta just went to Tribal and is low on numbers, I don't think that they'll be headed back there. Therefore, none of them would be next episode's boot.

It's not a given, as the Purple Tribe got pretty demolished in S1, but for an All Stars season, I don't think Odd Nation would want the eliminations to be so unfairly stacked in one direction. I could be making an incorrect call here, because, logically, I really don't know why the Magenta Team would be any good at the musical challenge that's shown in the preview...? I just believe in them, I guess. You can retroactively apply this same reasoning for bonus points on Jake, Ally, and Fiore's entries as well.

Anyways, Ashley! Out of the Magenta Team, I do feel like she's the most expendable, perhaps because she was the earliest elimination from S1, and came back without most of her allies from S1 (Will, Lill, Nick). We also already got the resolution to the fire plotline that was left dangling in S1, which means there aren't many more questions I have about her character.

On the other hand, why bring Ashley back if you didn't have bigger plans for her this time around? They've eliminated a lot of people who made it close to the end at the beginning this time, so it would stand to reason that some of the people who were eliminated closer to the beginning might make it closer to the end. The potential of Ashley bonding with some of the S2 competitors at the merge is great for bringing some new iconic relationships to life.

Even if I think Ashley may be the most expendable, I don't really think that any of the Magenta players are narratively expendable, which is why I placed them all so high. I'll be eating my words if they're headed to Tribal next time, so these guys had better rock on at the immunity challenge!

#8: Riya

And now, for Magenta's counterpart, a team composed of people that I feel like all have an argument for leaving sooner rather than later... the Yellow Team.

I don't remember if it was on YouTube or Tumblr, but I recall seeing someone theorize that Riya might be the next boot because of how much she's annoying her team. She's pushed Connor away, stirred up drama with Yul, and is shown hogging the team's shower in the episode preview. It would make sense if Riya's selfish and villainous actions led to her downfall, so, at first, I liked this logic, and planned to put Riya near the bottom.

However, when I actually started counting votes... I just didn't see it. Even if Connor and Riya's relationship is strained, I don't know if he would be willing to eliminate someone he cares about. Yul believes that Connor voted for him last time, so he'll probably be out to take revenge on Connor. Grett, at this point, would most likely vote with him. Alec too, as long as he lets his strategy of keeping the villains team in power beat out the friendship he's begun to form with Connor. Where are the Riya votes? I'm not really sure.

I think that the theorizer is on the right track with predicting that Riya's bad attitude will eventually lead to her elimination. However, I don't think she'll be off the Yellow Team just yet, so she lands at #8 for me.

#9: Connor

Counting votes made it seem like Connor would be the next boot from the Yellow Team... so why do I have him as the second least likely to go?

Well, much like Ally, I feel that Connor's elimination is so obvious that it wouldn't pan out that way if a Yellow Tribal actually happened. There are definite cracks in the seams that could lead to votes not going in an obvious direction-- with Miriam's blow to the alliance, Alec might see Connor as a better confidant than any of the villains, and/or Grett might see what a terrible boyfriend Yul is and decide to flip on the villains. We also don't know exactly how Riya feels. She certainly acts as if she doesn't care if Connor stays or goes, but the truth is that she hasn't actually been "forced" to vote for him yet by her alliance. If push came to shove, who knows what she'd choose?

Combined with the fact that he (and Riya) are S2 characters, I think Connor would manage to survive a vote if Yellow is headed to Tribal. I'm not that confident about it, though, so he lands at #9.

#10: Yul

And here's Yul, our lowest placed S2 competitor in this ranking. If a S2 character is headed home this week, I think it would probably be him. He was a terrible person in S2, and has continued to be a terrible person in All Stars, so it's easy to see why the players (and the audience) might want him out of the game. Grett, my beloved, please lead the charge in kicking this asshole off the tribe.

However... there's also evidence to suggest that Yul won't be going home so easily. Beyond just being a S2 character, the end of this episode (and part of the preview) established that Yul has some sort of connection with Emily, our mysterious new staff member. I don't know exactly what this relationship is-- my original guess was that Emily could be Yul's manager, but their interactions in Episode 1 (as well as Grett's interactions with Emily in Episode 1) make me feel like that wouldn't be the case. Regardless, there's something going on between him and Emily, which adds some intrigue to Yul's character.

I have also considered that this relationship with Emily might be a one-episode thing, an interaction that actually spells doom for Yul instead of longevity. However, as this is one of the first major things we've seen Emily do, I feel like her connection to Yul may be a major aspect of her character and even why she exists. If that's the case, Yul may be quite important to the season, and be set up to make a very deep run.

However, my uncertainty on why Emily has summoned Yul and belief that the Yellow Team has good reason to eliminate him prevents him from taking one of the top spots. ...There's still a good amount of space below him, though.

#11: Gabby

A good part of why Gabby is ranked this low is because she's a S1 character, I'm not gonna lie. But I do genuinely believe she could be in trouble next episode, and here's why.

As opposed to S1, in which she was a staunch defender of the environment, insecure and petty, and a little bit insane, Gabby's character in All Stars seems to have been simplified to "Ellie's peppy girlfriend." She did refuse to eat the chicken last episode, but I feel like S1 Gabby would have, like, threatened to take their heads off if they beheaded the chicken. The portion of the preview for next episode where Gabby has the crazy eyes makes me hopeful that that aspect of her character will be making a comeback, but we'll have to see what happens.

For now, her role has been pretty limited, which makes me think that she could be an early boot from the season. She doesn't seem to have any new plot threads introduced, new developments in her character as a result of what happened in S1, or important relationships, other than with Ellie. If she were eliminated next episode, that could be because Gabby is in little enough of the show that there wasn't enough time to give her a proper character arc.

The reasons behind why the Tribe (presumably minus Ellie) would unite to eliminate Gabby are a little fuzzy, but not completely implausible. If Gabby were to be eliminated, I think it would be as a blow to Ellie, getting rid of her closest ally. That could tie in to why so much of her characterization this season has been linked to Ellie-- if being in a relationship with Ellie is the reason why Gabby is eliminated, then that's all we need to know about her in All Stars.

#12: Alec

Oh Alec... I hope you make it out of this episode alive.

This may come as a surprise to some people, as I've seen speculations that Alec may be set up to be the season's main villain. However, I'm worried that his strong entrance may be a front intended to get him some screen time before he exits the competition shockingly early.

You see, while Alec is currently the mastermind of the Yellow Team, it's a rather precarious position to be in. The villains alliance seems to have remained stable enough to near-unanimously take out Miriam last time they went to Tribal (even though Riya didn't wind up voting for Miriam, she was conceptually fine with it). However, I doubt that Miriam's silver "Alec is untrustworthy" bullet will go unused. If Alec attempts to push his luck by trying to force people into votes they don't want to make, or if his friendship with Connor causes others on the team to suspect that he's playing both sides, the alliance could revolt against its leader.

I still think that Alec will probably survive until the merge, just so that we can see his relationship with Fiore evolve further. Who knows, maybe he really is the season's main villain, and will finally make it to the final 3 he feels he was robbed of in S1. However, I think that Alec's vote could be a reasonable blindside on the audience, which makes me worry that it's the right narrative move to take.

#13: Grett

Oh Grett... I'm even more worried about you than Alec. Clearly. Because you're directly beneath him.

Look, I really want to believe that Grett will be able to stand up for herself this season and absolutely demolish Yul, getting to play the rest of her game after his departure in whichever way she sees fit. However, sometimes the villains have to win in order to create stakes, and I could see a temporary Yul-over-Grett victory doing just that.

An unfortunate step in her journey to becoming a better person, Grett has totally tethered herself to Yul, a relationship in which she seems far more invested than he. As opposed to her bossy demeanor in S1, she's taken too many steps back, and seems to automatically yield to whatever Yul has to say. Her characterization this season is very linked to his presence, which makes me wonder what she would do if he left the show. She could go align with the villains alliance herself, but... is she really that much of a villain anymore without Yul?

And, that's part of the problem. I can very easily see a plot line where, next episode, Yul continues to put Grett down, and does so increasingly after Yellow loses the challenge. Grett finally musters some of her old courage and lashes back at Yul a little, saying that it's not her fault that they lost. Then, Yul reports to Alec and Riya that Grett tried to backstab him, and doesn't want to work with the villains anymore. Alec and Riya, who both didn't really want to vote for Connor anyways, agree to take out Grett to 1) split up a potentially problematic duo and 2) make their alliance look like it's weakened. Grett goes home with a broken heart, but has at least learned that she shouldn't stand by Yul any longer. Maybe she could get some revenge from beyond the grave later on in the season somehow, like cancelling him during the finale or something like that.

Really, the biggest flaw I can see is that... I don't know if Yellow is going to be losing the immunity challenge. Part of their performance was in the preview for next episode, and it looked pretty good! I feel like Odd Nation Cartoons wanted to show us something super cool to get us hyped for the next episode, so getting us really excited over the team that turns out to be the losers would be a little confusing. Who knows, maybe there could be some level of sabotage for the Yellow Team that causes their otherwise excellent performance to fail.

I don't know if I would have come to the conclusion of Grett being a possible boot if I didn't think a S1 character was going home... but now that I have, I'm afraid that I've seen the writing on the wall.

#14: Ellie

And yet, Grett is not in last place, because Ellie is.

Call it a gut feeling, but I kinda get the vibes that Ellie might be the season's next boot. It doesn't make sense, right? Ellie has strong relationships with so many characters, from Tess to Alec to Jake. She, too, could be in contention for the title of season villain. Why would they get rid of her so early?

Well, much like Alec, I fear she may have been too villainous too fast. Her negative connections to so many different characters leads to it making a lot of sense to vote Ellie for a lot of reasons. Does Tom want to get revenge for his and Jake's breakup last season? Vote Ellie. Does Aiden want to avenge Lake and keep himself and Tom in the game? Vote Ellie. Does Tess want to decrease the numbers of the villains alliance? Vote Ellie. That's three votes for Ellie, and Ellie is eliminated. I don't even think she would be saved by a totem, given that Ellie has already been saved by a totem once before, and it would be kind of repetitive for Gabby and Ellie to do that again.

Now, you could argue that eliminating Ellie here would cause the same problems for Gabby as it would eliminating Yul for Grett. I struggled to see what Grett would do in the game if Yul was eliminated. Wouldn't Gabby be the same, after I detailed why I thought her character had been simplified to be tied to Ellie?

Not exactly. A post-Yul Grett confuses me a little because I think that getting rid of Yul would uplift Grett. It would remove the struggles that her character is facing, and leave her characterization less complex for it. On the other hand, a post-Ellie Gabby makes sense because getting rid of Ellie would create more problems for Gabby. Once again, she would have been stabbed in the back by her tribemates (including Tom and Tess, who she considers friends), but not even have Ellie or a totem to lean back on this time. She might want to burn her tribemates to the ground, but if she acts up too much, she could be next in line. And despite her desire for revenge, she would have to wonder... who was really the bad guy in the elimination, her tribemates or her girlfriend?

I think it's possible that Gabby's character may have been simplified for now because the inciting incident of Gabby's All Stars characterization is Ellie's elimination. Prior to that episode, we establish how much Gabby cares about Ellie, so that when Ellie exits, we feel how much it hurts Gabby. We've seen how Ellie acts after Gabby was eliminated before, so I think it would be far more interesting to see the opposite in All Stars. Also, Ellie has made it to the final before-- twice, if you count the original "Adventure Camp" season-- so it would make sense if, this time, she was kicked out closer to the beginning.

Much like with Grett, the main issue I have here is that I don't know if the Cyan Team would lose this competition, either. They have a lot of artistic people on their team, which makes it seem like they would thrive. However, if Cyan isn't losing, and Yellow isn't losing, that would mean that Magenta is losing, and I've already said why I don't think Magenta is going to lose. So, maybe Cyan is overconfident in their performance, or maybe another team (Magenta?) tries to sabotage them so that the team can take out Ellie (or Aiden, if it's Jake's idea). Maybe the performance has to be a rock song, and the Cyan team is all really bad singers. (Okay I just learned that apparently Aiden's VA is a very talented singer. Maybe Aiden won't sing or something.) I don't have enough details yet.

And, that's the end! I've never done a power ranking before-- not even for Survivor, which I've been watching for years, as opposed to Disventure Camp's "less than one month"-- so I have no idea how well I'll do. Are my instincts good, or are my expectations and the writers' decisions worlds apart? I guess I'll have to see when the next episode airs, and create my round 6 predictions accordingly. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this new project of mine!

[banemmanan]

GFU Stats #2

Some fun statistics from the TV show The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

This is a revised, updated, more accurate version of this post.

This post is based on a series of posts by @commander-kiranerys where they compiled similar data for the series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (e.g. Season 3). All but one of the data categories that I collected can be found in those original posts along with some more that I didn't count.

Explanation #1: why the recount?

As mentioned in my original post, I counted that first set of statistics in just three days. How do you fit roughly ten epispdes into a day? Well, truth be told, I watched them at double speed. I had a whole bunch of assignments due at the time, but this idea had lodged itself into my brain and I had no self-control, so I did it as quickly as I could in order that I could focus on my uni work again. This time, everything was watched at regular speed and I will admit that there was a lot that I missed the first time around. After I watched it through the first time and recorded data, I then watched it through a second time, this time with my sister as an impartial second opinion, and we both recorded separate data. The results are an average of these three data sets and thus I feel that they are much more reliable this time around.

Explanation #2: what's 'S' and 'F'?

For the categories 'Escape' and 'Rescue' the S in brackets stands for Successful and the F for Failed. Escaping entails getting free under their own power and if someone not in the 'captured' scenario got them out then it was a rescue.

Disclaimer #1: objectivity of results

If comparing these results to the muncle stats, bear in mind that they have been compiled by two different people. We might have different ideas as to what qualifies as 'being captured' or 'an escape attempt', etc.

Disclaimer #2: additional data

Due to Mark Slate not appearing in the third episode (instead appearing in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode of that week), data was gathered for him from that episode (the Galatea Affair) instead. Thus, all results could still be divided by 29 in order to establish the average per episode. I do not know if commander-kiranerys did the same for Napoleon with regards to season 3. I did not record any data from the MFU episode, the Moonglow Affair.

Observations:

Captured: April seems to be a bit of a damsel in distress here when you look at the numbers, but in fairness to her, she manages to escape on her own slightly more often than she needs rescuing. Considering also that Mark gets himself captured 20 times over the season; he's not exactly got a stellar track record either. Though more than once per episode for April is pretty disappointing and I think probably reflects the attitudes of the time. You may notice that the escape/rescue number for together is higher than the capture together number. This is due to instances where they have been captured individually, but then brought together in captivity and thus are together when they escape.

Arrested: I included this one only because I find it very funny when they get arrested by the regular law enforcement rather than by THRUSH and then have to sheepishly call Mr. Waverly and ask to be bailed out... I did not count these instances as them being 'captured' though, as I feel that requires malicious intent rather than a will to uphold the law.

Knocked out: bashed on the head, tranquilized, and one instance of fainting (surprisingly that wasn't April). Mark alone surpasses even the highest of Napoleon and Illya's combined totals! Suffice it to say, these two probably have near constant concussions (and that honestly explains a lot).

Restrained/chained/tied up: again, April features here significantly more than Mark does. The ratio is pretty consistent with being captured, though. 'Restrained' is just a combination of the chained/tied up categories as that is how I had initially understood commander-kiranerys to have comiled it (I'm less sure about that now though). Retrospectively I think I should have used it as an 'other' category to mean anything not done using rope or chains e.g. leather straps or being physically held (or in one instance a plant). Either way, what I find interesting in these results is that April and Mark were never tied together at any point (though there is a promotional photo that features this).

Tortured: interestingly very even here, despite the writers' clear reluctance to let April get roughed up (unless by another woman). But then again, I think deciding what is and isn't torture might be quite subjective (which is why I left it out the first time around). There were actually a number of instances that were a grey area for me and I wonder now if I should have included them; I erred on the side of caution and actually these figures might be higher if I'm fully honest. It's too late for doubting now though I guess. Feel free to debate!

Drugged: the vast majority of these are knock-out gas/chloroform/sleep darts/etc. so these results overlap a lot with the 'knocked out' category, though there are a couple of instances of drugs with other effects on the body.

Shot: April was never shot in the entire series (very lucky! but also maybe very indicative of the show writing of the time - she can be in peril, but heaven forbid that she's roughed up!) Mark on the other hand was either shot 3 or 4 times. The uncertainty comes when after seemingly being shot during a scene, he is perfectly fine mere seconds later and doesn't comment on the fact at all. So I'm not sure if he was definitely shot. I included a gif in the original post to illustrate the initial incident, so if you want to make your mind up for yourself, you can go and take a look at that. Personally I think 4.

Wet: surpassed only by season 4 in terms of average, but in raw numbers they reign supreme. It's a good thing they can both swim... I guess they are the blorbos that come in 'soggy wet' variety...

The disclaimers and stuff became way longer than I'd expected, but I wanted to be transparent about everything (can you tell I'm on another university degree) anyway, I hope you find these useful or at least interesting! I would love to have any sort of discussion regarding these!

[in-a-slanted-outhouse]

For the THIRD time (without read more because I feel like that’s what’s messing me up) because tumblr is being annoying

May I present to youuuu

Diego secretly asking Five to teach him how to braid hair so he can braid his kid’s hair after they’re born

It’s not much nor is it perfect and I literally wrote it in fifteen minutes but if people are interested I may write more

Enjoy!

—

“Pick a side, grab a bit near the front and divide it into three sections.”

Five tensed as Diego took his hair into his hands, pulling apart the strands and swallowing. Five could see his clueless face in the bathroom mirror, fumbling uselessly with the ends and sighed, pulling his head away.

“That’s the back, Diego,” he muttered, shifting on the stool as Diego’s hands dropped into his lap, “pick a side and stick to it.”

It was a Tuesday- the day which Lila would leave to go to her new mother support group and so Diego, being Diego, had decided that since he was off work early and they didn’t spend much time together, that he wanted to get in some brotherly bonding before she came back. Five would admit that he was more prepared to be having some kind of therapy with the man, whether it be him calming Diego’s fears about being a father or Diego attempting to get him to open up, he didn’t know, but he hadn’t been expecting this.

“Yeah, but Five…” Diego replied, picking up a couple strands from his head and dropping them as Five squirmed. He hated people touching is head. It was a miracle that Diego even managed to persuade him to agree to let Diego go this. “your hair’s… kinda short at the back.”

It was shoulder length.

Five rolled his eyes, reaching up to his left side and separating his hair, “well, asshole, you didn’t think that ten minutes when you asked me to do this,” he took a handful from the front, pulling his bangs out and holding up to Diego, “take this from the front- it’ll be easier to braid.”

Diego glanced between the hair clutched between Five’s fingers and his face in the mirror before reaching out and taking it from him, rubbing the strands between his fingers.

“Aight,” he muttered, looking slightly constipated, “now what?”

Five sighed, eye lashes fluttering, “separate it into three equal sections.”

Diego nodded sliding his fingers between Five’s hair and pulling it apart into three roughly separated sections and holding them loosely.

“Do you know how braid, at all?” Five asked, tilting his head back to glance at the man, immediately met by a blank expression.

“Uh, no?” Diego muttered back, “that’s… why I’m asking you.”

Five sighed, dragging a hand down his face. This was gonna take fucking forever.

“You know this would be a lot easier if Lila was here, right?” he explained, pressing his hands together, “because she actually knows how to braid.”

Diego shifted behind him, “yeah, dipshit but I want it to be a surprise,” and then a little quieter, “and I wanna be able to braid my own kid’s hair.”

Five grumbled. This kid was going to be the death of him and they weren’t even born yet.

“Y’know what? Fuck it,” he muttered, reaching up to grab the right side of his hair and pulling out a section roughly the same size as he had done so for Diego, “copy me. I’ll do this side, you do that side,” he explained, pulling the section into three, “watch closely, or you’ll fuck it up.”

Diego rolled his eyes in the mirror.

“Alright, boomer show us how it’s done.”

[sanjilover4815]

My Personal Thoughts About a Mostly Forgotten 13-Year-Old Show

Ok so LOST, right?

I've spent the past 3 or so months watching the entire series for the first time, and now, a week or so after I watched the finale, I'm here to give my comprehensive thoughts on the entire show. (Spoilers- It's one of my all-time favorite pieces of media).

Ultimately, I ask why I'm so passionate about LOST. In many respects, I don't particularly feel like it's a great piece of media. The story itself, while interesting, can be extremely sloppy, tons of stuff gets rushed explanations or no explanations at all, and there are roughly three episodes per season (usually more) that I just flat-out cannot stand. So why, you may ask, is it one of my favorite things to ever grace the earth? Why do I cherish it like it's a perfect work of art? What exactly makes me cry when I think about the ending for too long?

Well, ultimately, LOST's themes and characters resonated extremely strongly with me personally. The story itself is a complete trash-fire mess for the most part, but it's held together by its absolutely fantastic cast of characters and the overall core theme of the show. Ultimately, LOST is a show about life, death, and everything in between. It's a journey more than it is an outright destination. I love the ending of the show, it's my favorite episode, probably, but it isn't the point of LOST. It never was the point. The point was enjoying spending time with these characters, seeing them slowly grow as people and overcome their personal insecurities. The Island, in turn, was a vessel for this. Jack's journey from being a pessimistic man of science to an optimistic man of faith is satisfying to watch because I cared about his character and wanted to watch him overcome his flaws.

To this extent, each character in LOST learns to overcome their problems and live their lives as they see fit. That, right there, is the core theme of LOST that resonated so strongly with me. The idea that your past does not define you as a person, and that you can overcome your sins and rise to be a truly wonderful person in the present and in the future. Kate and Sawyer, two of my favorite characters, are both murderers, yet they are treated roughly the same as anyone else in terms of their past. Even when the other characters learn of their wrongdoings, they're still accepted as the people they are NOW, not the people they were when they boarded 815.

Every time I think about the central ideas of LOST, my mind always comes to Greatest Hits. Personally, I think it's one of the strongest episodes of the entire show and it's the only episode aside from the last one that made me sob like a baby. Watching Charlie finally accept his incoming death as he sails out towards the Looking Glass would've been powerful enough, but it's treated as a celebration of life, not a mourning of death. Charlie is sailing to the Looking Glass with the knowledge that he is going to die. Despite Charlie being a flawed person, someone who was struggling with drug addiction, withdrawal, and aggressive tendencies in Season 2, the episode never once talks about any of that. The audience is finally seeing a Charlie that is free of his past, able to spread his wings and fly. Aside from that, aspects of his addiction are only scarecly shown in the episode, instead choosing to focus on how he actually lived his life, and his life's "Greatest Hits", as it were.

Also the scene with the ring personally obliterates me every time I think about it. Along with that, the words "The Night I Met You" are seared into the depths of my brain forever.

So, this brings me to The End. To the general public who was primarily watching for the answers to the big mysteries, sure, it was underwhelming. To someone like me, who was intentionally examining the themes of this show, it was the single most satisfying conclusion the show could've pulled. The final scene in the Church is, in essence, what LOST was really about the entire time. Everybody dies sometime, but the most important thing in life is the time you spend with each other. That's really all there is to it. It's a simple message, sure, but an exceptionally powerful one.

This has been my thoughts on a 13 year old show that has quickly become one of my favorite pieces of media ever. I'm already looking forward to wrapping up in a blanket next winter and watching it all over again.

[fizzigigsimmer]

Werewolf Au part 4/5

They are so cute!! I can’t stop won’t stop world building even for short fics I’m “not writing”, so in my mind werewolves don’t have secondary genders. Their ranks are decided a lot like wild wolves, based on who the strongest and most skilled members are and their rankings can change over time. Some of the ranks have levels but the higher up the ranking is, the fewer people occupy those levels.

At the top are alphas/lunas (the alpha pair) and there is only ever one alpha pair at a time. Beta is the second highest rank (3 levels) with only one or two people occupying each level. Delta is the third rank (with 5 levels) and theta is the middle rank where the majority of people fall (with 10 levels) and depending on pack size, dozens of people can occupy the same level. Elders & pups occupy a special rankless space with elders receiving special respect. At the bottom of the hierarchy are omegas, who don’t have levels. They’re the sick, injured, infirm, disabled etc.This is a catch all space for people who aren’t elders or pups who for whatever reason either can’t care for themselves or are particularly vulnerable to predators. Modern packs are supposed to care for their omegas and treat them with respect, but there’s a real dicey history there and there’s still a lot of taboo attached to it.

So how does Steve newly minted theta-one, not realize that Billy Hargrove is in love with him and about to change his entire life? Well, Steve’s emotionally pretty fragile. That’s a word no were likes attached to themselves fragile, but that’s what happens when pups don’t form strong attachments in their developmental years. These early bonds provide a bedrock of mental emotional stability as they learn the social skills they need to interact with other weres, and how to read the crucial micro-differences between love, respect, and hate when their bodies are all they have for communication. A whine can mean many things and so can teeth.

Steve doesn’t catch on to the fact that Nancy is mad at him until the fourth night, at the bonfire. It’s a festival tradition to end the last night with the chase. The chase begins on May Day, at midnight, when the moon is highest in the sky and ends at sunrise. That’s roughly six hours of time to track down one wolf in one of the nation’s largest parks, with their pack running interference. It makes for an exciting night and it almost guarantees that forced claims don’t happen anymore. You almost have to want to get caught.

Before the names are called and the chase begins they feast around the fire on the banks of Lunar Lake, the wood piled twice as tall as the tallest man present. The girls gather flowers and lay them in bunches around the fire pit, singing songs in the old tongue and dancing around the blaze to music played on strings and drums.

Each pack brings an offering to the feast, three of four lucky thetas picked from among their best hunters to carry in the game the pack has caught and roast it on spits over the fire. Obviously the bigger the kill the more bragging rights, and the Hawkins pack makes a good showing that year with a decent sized elk cow and a handful of rabbits and gophers.  

Steve loves the May Day feast, loves smelling and tasting the hundreds of different ways the food is prepared and watching the elders argue over which dishes are older and better. After the last competition of the festival (the hurling games) Billy follows Steve back to the Hawkins camp, which is a little surprising because Steve knows how good a hunter Billy is and even if he’s just a level one theta like Steve, his pack is much smaller and Steve expected him to be one of the hunters selected to take part in the ceremony.

But when they pass Billy’s mom on their way, all she does is snag Billy by the collar of his jacket to pull him in for a loud smacking kiss on the cheek. She loudly boasts how proud she is to have such a big strong boy who can win gold medals for lifting big heavy things.  

Billy’s ears turn a hot red, shrugging her off almost violently and she winks at Steve over his shoulder. “Mom!” Billy’s voice is sharp but there’s a little bit of panic in his eyes as they flick guiltily toward Steve, like he expects Steve to start howling with laughter, revoke all his cool points, and take back their tentative friendship. Steve tries his best to bite back his smirk but he’s pretty sure he fails.

“What?” Billy’s mother says, raising her eyebrows innocently at them. “Can’t a mother talk up her only child?”

“I can speak for myself. Don’t try and help.” Billy grumbles, making it clear that he thinks the help part of that statement is dubious.

“If you say so honey. Just make sure you do.” Mrs. Hargrove says meaningfully, and then continues on her way with the rest of her pack.

“It’s cool.” Steve says, and when Billy looks at him in obvious confusion he clarifies. “You and your mom seem close.”

“Oh. Yeah.” Billy looks a little uncomfortable still, or maybe it’s the subject matter. He doesn’t say anything for a few yards, and then out of the blue like the conversation never paused he says real quietly, “I was all she had for a long time. And all those fucking social workers and suits the government sent to talk to her said she should send me back to the pack – back to my dad.”

It makes sense to Steve. The packs are their own sovereign governments and the normies prefer that werewolf issues stay with them. They’ve got social programs for exiles but they’re really just meant to naturalize adults who want to leave the were life behind them and join ordinary society. It’s not just laziness though, there’s a good reason too. Pups are still learning how to control themselves and there’s always the risk that they’ll wolf out, which could be lethal outside were territory. Plus there’s all the touch and time they need from their parents and their packmates to form healthy bonds.  

So it makes sense, but Steve doesn’t say that, because he doesn’t know anything about Billy’s dad other than what Billy’s scent and his expression reveals and it’s enough to know that Mrs. Hargrove made the right call.  

But he thinks it must have been hard for both of them. Knows, just a little, what it’s like to be a pup yearning for contact with a parent. Steve is smiling at Billy – trying to say some shit with his eyes so that he doesn’t get punched or bit, because Steve’s been told his whole life he’s clingy even for a pup and he’s never been good at telling when someone wants his comfort and when they don’t – not really paying attention to his feet apparently because they knock shoulders. They both look down, startled by the contact at first, like they expect to find sparks leaping off their skin. Steve feels stupid until Billy grins back, right before he gives Steve a return bump with his shoulder.  

“You drive this bus all the way here by yourself?” Billy asks Steve later, after they make it to the Hawkins camp so Steve can change out of his gym clothes. Steve lets the door of his parents oversized camper bang shut behind him and jerks a little in surprise, wondering how Billy even knows that until he looks up to see Billy tapping his nose. “Can smell your funk all over the driver’s seat.”

“You know you could use a shower too hotshot.” Steve grumbles, removing his sweat stained athletic top and tossing it towards the hamper near the door. He has shucked off his shorts before he realizes that the clothes Nancy normally lays out for him (because he always sweats through his gym clothes and hates keeping track of an extra set of clothes between the matches all day) aren’t there.He can smell the kids have been in here recently but not her.

“Didn’t say it was a bad funk,” Billy says behind him, close, closer than Steve expected and he jumps a little. Feels awkward when his body brushes Billy’s as he’s turning around, headed to grab the backpack he packed his clothes in from under the bed. “Your parents around?”

“What? Oh, no they were here the first day-” for photos, “but they’re in Washington now.”

Billy whistles low. Asks Steve if that’s what he wants to do, follow his dad’s career and be the second werewolf ever elected to the Indiana House of Representatives.

“Fuck no, man. I’m proud of him – I am, and I know shit doesn’t change around here unless someone’s fighting for it – but it’s like, he’s out there, with mom, living this whole other life debating land rights and healthcare access and it’s like they live an echo. They breeze in, take a few photos here or there for the donor blog; and mom’s a great writer but sometimes I’ll be reading and I’ll just think ‘you weren’t here’ not really. They never are.” Steve stops trying to explain because he’s afraid he’s not making any sense and doesn’t want to sound like a rambling idiot. He’s afraid to even look at Billy because what must he think of all that?

Steve feels Billy’s body heat just before the other teen presses himself along Steve’s back, and nudges Steve’s shoulder, nuzzling, with the kind of soft comforting whine you’d give a pup, or an omega in distress. Or a mate, a tiny panicked voice in the back of his head whispers but he stomps down on it, because friends comfort each other too, and Billy has made it clear that he wants to be friends. He’s not gonna ruin it by acting like a nervous case and jumping to insane conclusions just because he’s attention starved.

He’s very familiar with Billy’s scent after consecutive years of sweaty competition, but he’s never worn it before. Something about the thought of walking out of here with Billy on his skin, having everyone know that they’re friendly because Billy chose him of all people, it makes a little rush of heat bloom his chest, like a sparkler.

When Steve is changed they go down to the lake where the bonfire has already started. It’s early yet so most the packs are still cooking. They carry flame from the roaring fire in the center of the great circle of packs to carry back to their grills and small pits, because any food cooked on that fire is supposed to strengthen bonds and bring good fortune and fertility to those who eat it in the new year.

Billy’s pretty partial to the Albuquerque pack’s cuisine and Steve loves a good Kak’ik soup so they go hang out with Diego from the South West team and his friends for a bit, so that Diego’s elders can fatten them up and tell them stories about the Mayan wolf men. And that’s where Dustin finds Steve later. The pup has a massive pout on his face as he sits down. He doesn’t need to worry about an invite during the bonfire. The symbolism of the packs gathering around a single fire in a circle is that they all form a single people and for this one night they are.

“What’s wrong Dustin?” Steve immediately asks, thinking that Troy or one of the bigger pups Dustin’s age are bullying him again. It’s been awhile since that happened because two years back Steve saw Troy and his beta wannabes ganging up on Dustin and the kids, taking shit way too far, and he scared the piss out of them. Told them if he ever saw them pull that shit again they’d regret it. The kids have been his little shadows ever since.  

The bullies listened not just because Steve was older and bigger but because before he became an official adult and joined the thetas, Steve was the highest ranking pup in the pack. They called him ‘King Steve’, because nobody wanted to risk offending Alpha Desmond by giving somebody else that title, even as part of dumb kid stuff. Officially all pups are treated and cared for the same until their eighteenth birthday, but they imitate the adults and have their own hierarchy. Rivalries are common, and not all of them turn into friendships.

Instead of answering Steve though, Dustin looks at Billy wolfing down another taco and snaps, “We need to talk custody. I haven’t seen Steve in like days, and if this is gonna work long term I need to know what kinda Steve time I’m getting.”

This little shit! Steve frowns and chokes on his mouthful of soup. Billy somehow manages to laugh and swallow almost in the same breath.

“This is a really dramatic reaction to me making new friends don’t you think? It’s been like, six hours since you saw me you weirdo.” Steve points out when his esophagus is clear. “And you and I live together. I only see Hargrove once a year.”

“What if I don’t want to share, Henderson. What then?” Billy asks, the arm slung over Steve’s shoulder sliding just a little down to the center of his back. Steve elbows him in the side, saying “Don’t encourage this. He literally acts like he’s gonna stop breathing if I’m not there to ignore him while he and the runts play Wizards & Lizards or whatever.”

“It’s Dungeons & Dragons. He likes to act like he doesn’t care but he does, and eventually he’s gonna wake up from all this new grossness,” Dustin gestures between the two of them and wrinkles his nose like it is full of skunk scent, “and realize that he misses his friends, and that Nancy is like eternally pissed at him.”

“Wait she is? Is that why she forgot the clothes?” Steve immediately latches onto the fact that Dustin knows something about Nancy’s inexplicable absence. “I haven’t seen her since the baseball games.”

“That’s because she’s been with Jonathan, sulking about how you ditched all of us. You said you’d help with Jonathan’s portfolio remember?” Dustin replies and Steve shrugs, feeling a little guilty. In fairness, he barely remembers the original conversation and he hadn’t even been sure if it was something that was really going to happen. Nancy is trying to convince Jonathan that he should apply for colleges, because there are a lot of grants available for naturalized citizens with werewolf heritage, but Jonathan isn’t sure yet if he wants to leave the were life behind along with Will and his mom. Nancy had convinced him to at least put together a portfolio that he could use to apply to one of the private were schools.

“So have you decided not to go with Nancy to college after all? Is that why you’re out here making friends?” Dustin asks, putting air quotes around friends like there’s something dubious about him and Billy getting along. But before Steve can jump to Billy’s defense, he feels Billy’s body stiffen and his scent go sharp and brittle.

“Billy, are you –” he starts to ask but Billy’s voice low and hoarse interrupts him.

“You’re actually leaving? I thought Tommy was just talking shit. You’re actually going to let Wheeler skin you?”

“She’s not skinning me Billy. I decided to go. I want to go.” He hurriedly adds, and then, “Nancy’s dream has been to work for the New York Times since she was like seven.”

“Yeah? That your dream too?” Billy growls. “You gonna get into college and go write for the paper too Pretty Boy, or are you just gonna wave pom poms from the sidelines?”

“It’s called being a supportive partner, and there’s nothing wrong with that Hargrove, it’s the 20th century.” Steve’s bristling. He’s trying not to, but it’s hard not to meet the rising aggression he can feel coming off of Billy.

“Sure, if both of you are getting what you need out of it. But the way these kids crawl over you you’d think you were their luna. You’re telling me cutting yourself off from your wolf side and breaking your pack bonds, that’s gonna make you happy?” Billy scoffs. At the mention of broken bonds Dustin whines, and Steve doesn’t even think, just pulls the pup into his side and lets him soothe himself with cuddles and nuzzles. 

“Everybody just calm down. It won’t be like that. Our bonds might fade a little, but there are phones. We don’t have to let them break.” He tries to reassure the distraught pup.  

“Jesus, Harrington.” Billy rolls his eyes and withdraws his arm when the pup wraps around Steve tighter like a koala bear, and Dustin shoots him a smug grin from between Steve’s arms. Billy gets up suddenly and Steve lets him because his aura is practically crackling with energy and his scent is sharp with aggression. Steve just watches him, wary and confused. He wants to ask why Billy is making such a big deal out of this. Dustin he gets, but he and Billy are barely friends. Maybe that’s it? Maybe it’s the lost time, and the would have beens?

“I gotta go help mom get ready for the ceremony.” Billy grunts as he starts to walk away but Steve knows it’s just an excuse.

“You can call me too!” Steve calls after him and Billy stops. Steve ignores the feeling of Diego and his packmates stopping their own conversations to stare. “If you like. If you give me your number I’ll call you. We don’t have to wait another year to talk to each other, Billy we can talk whenever you want to.”

“Oh yeah? How’s every day sound? You gonna pick up my call every day for the rest of your life Pretty Boy?” Billy sneers it, like he expects Steve to call his bluff or point out how unreasonable that is, strange even to request, but Steve’s got him beat this time. Because Billy’s not wrong. The thought of his pack bonds weakening and that empty spot inside possibly getting even bigger, when he can’t even run under the moon in his wolf skin for comfort, scares him a little. Dustin’s distress, the warm press of bodies all around him and the hum of  conversations, somehow makes the loss feel real and close when it never has before.

And in that moment the thought of being able to pick up a phone any time any where and hear the sound of Billy’s voice is golden. He’s not sure of anything else but he’s sure he wants that. Needs it.

“Yes. Yes I will.”

Billy stares at him for the longest time the softness of his mouth at odds with the burning of his eyes and the tense way his hands curl into fists and then, ever so slowly, uncurl as if he is letting go of the wheel after a spin out. He reaches one of those hands out and lays it on top of Dustin’s head, roughly mussing up his hair.

“Catch you later Pretty Boy.” Billy says, and then he leaves.

Steve sighs. He thinks they are getting to know one another better but he still feels like he’ll never understand what goes through Billy’s head. At least Billy didn’t lose his temper this time and throw something at his face.

**Now With Part 5**

[xoxardnekoxo]

Movie Review: TMNT Mutant Mayhem

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Ah, Ninja Turtles. My childhood superheroes... oh who am I kidding, my eternal superheroes. :D This fabsome foursome debuted in 1987, the same year I was born, so I literally grew up watching the franchise. The series has gotten several reboots over the last three decades, and it's still going strong. The hype now is around the latest installment, Mutant Mayhem, created by Seth Rogen.

So, confession - when I first heard details about this movie and saw promo images, I was NOT on board. The art style is amateur at best, and yet another one of my beloved childhood redheaded characters has been black washed. First Ariel, now April? If we could stop doing that, that would be great... I'm totally okay with her being heavyset and more realistic in terms of body. We could all use THAT type of PC upgrade for beloved classic characters. But at least keep them the same race we've always known them to be.

But enough about that. It wasn't just the art style that made me stick my nose up in disgust at yet another remake of my ultimate childhood series. I'm literally a mega fan - my TMNT collection dates back 30+ years and is still growing, and it features some sort of item from every series thus far (with the exception of Rise... because even I can't get on board with that one). I'm talking figures, plushes, clothes, jewelry, hats, backpacks, bookmarks, magnets, buttons, piggy banks, etc. You name it, I've got it in TMNT form. So I'm very passionate about the show and can be quite critical of changes to it.

Which is why when I was starting to get past the art style, I was appalled to learn that not only would Shredder not be the main antagonist this time around, he wouldn't even be referenced at all.

Uh... yeah, we all know - we've known since 1984, when the comics came out - that Shredder is THE villain of the turtles. That's the one thing that's been consistent with every franchise (except The Next Mutation, but he at least made an appearance in that, albeit for a brief time). Instead, the bad guy is a hideous creature called Superfly. Kind of a double play on words considering he's literally a giant mutant fly with fancy/classy/fast cars and an entire mutant army and crime baddies at his disposal.

And Splinter? OMG, what did they DO to him? His face looks like someone splattered vegetables on the sidewalk. I see a squashed tomato/potato where his nose should be, and his "beard" is like the top of broccoli or a garlic clove. (shudder) And let's not get into the fact that, when the turtles were kids, he had a freaking Afro and a mustache. The turtles are meant to be 15 in this time, which would make the year roughly 2008 when they were kids, so the 70s look was way dated at that time.

Then we get more great news... not only are we now race-swapping characters; we're also gender-swapping them. Leatherhead and Wingnut, while minor characters throughout every iteration, are now girls instead of guys.

Leatherhead has always been an ally to the turtles, except in the original series, and considering the direction this movie took, I have to wonder if the writers thought it would be inappropriate to make them enemies because it would show teen guys beating up a girl. I mean, "beating up" may be a stretch, but you get what I mean. And Wingnut has always been super annoying to me, so I would have been okay had she not been in the movie at all. But I digress.

Okay, so, plot. Since Shredder isn't the main villain, the plot isn't the usual "stop Shredder from conquering Earth" thing. The movie starts with Baxter Stockman raising a giant mutant baby fly - in a crib and all - in a lab surrounded by test tubes of animals. Yeah, I didn't make that up. Animals of all different species and sizes are somehow shrunken down to conveniently fit inside a test tube.

Some heavy-duty suit guys break in and grab Stockman to take all his research at the behest of a mysterious woman named Cynthia Utrom. We know from prior series and lore that the Utroms are the alien race that created the ooze that caused the mutations of, well, all mutants. Utrom looks like a woman here, but she could be wearing a human suit like in the 2003 series. We don't know, and we don't find out.

Anyway, the baby fly escapes and takes out all the suits because, well, he's super strong and inhuman. And he has wings. He manages to grab all Stockman's test tubes and book it out of there, and then we fast forward to 15 years later where we meet our protagonists. Their current mission? To acquire necessities for the lair from a list given to them by Splinter. So they do this and they're like, "Hey, we've only been gone for a little bit. Let's go check out the outdoor movie playing in the park." So then we get to see them watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Yep, a live action movie in a CGI movie with art that's literally meant to resemble sketches like kids would draw.

So then they get back to the lair but Leo guiltily confesses that they all went to watch a movie in close proximity to humans. We're then introduced to the origin story of the turtles and Splinter, and while we're all familiar with it, it's slightly different this time. Splinter was a normal rat before, but he wasn't anyone's pet. He was a typical NYC rat, hated by humans (and raccoons... and dogs...) and one day he finds himself in the sewers and comes upon four baby turtles crawling around in green ooze. This ooze had come from a canister kicked into a sewer grate from Stockman's lab earlier. Splinter was shocked that the turtles took right to him, and they were the first and only things to not instantly hate him or want to kill him. So of course he touches the ooze and mutates, as do the turtles. He raises them as his sons, and honestly, I don't recall ever hearing him being called Splinter. All the turtles called him Dad. I don't think we ever knew his name... so if you didn't know of any other TMNT series before this, you'd have no idea what his name was.

Anyway, the turtles, as kids, wanted to go above ground one day, and Splinter thought he'd give it a try. Bad idea, because, of course, everyone freaked out and chased them away. So Splinter vowed to keep his sons safe and refused to let them leave the lair except to get supplies. We're also treated to a montage of cheesy old footage of actual martial arts movies/shows depicting how Splinter trained the turtles in ninjitsu as a means of self defense. He now loathes humans and wants nothing to do with them, and wants the same for his sons.

So after the confession of watching a movie, the turtles get grounded and are all talking in their room about what they'd do if they could be normal. Meanwhile, a crime spree has broken out with mega villain Superfly (yep, that's his name) stealing all kinds of high-tech scientific items... and if anyone sees his face, he kills them.

We're soon introduced to April, who, this time, is not an adult reporter. She's an aspiring reporter in high school, and she's collecting information on the Superfly case because, due to the crime spree, the school's prom has been cancelled and she thinks she can get it back if she solves the mystery of Superfly.

Well, the guys are throwing ninja starts at watermelons (because why not) on the rooftop one night, and one lands in April's helmet. As she's chewing out the shadows on the roof that she can't see, someone steals her scooter. And Leo decides this would be a great time to play hero and get the scooter back for the "beautiful human girl." Yeah, in the 2012 version, Donnie had a crush on April. This time around, apparently it's Leo.

The guys then partake in their first actual fight with bad guys - I'd love to say that I went YES in the theater when a car radio turns on and "Ninja Rap" from the original second movie is playing - and shortly thereafter, April sees them. But she doesn't freak out even when she realizes they're not wearing costumes. She's more interested in getting a story about them for the school newspaper. But of course, considering they aren't supposed to be seen or known about, that won't do. April then tells the guys that, had they not helped her beforehand by getting her scooter back, she probably would have had a much different and more negative reaction to seeing them. This gives the turtles an idea: Become heroes by finding Superfly and bringing him to justice, allow April to get it all on film to showcase them as heroes, and then she can write and submit her story.

April accepts the terms, and the turtles go to her high school with her and are all "ooohh, ahh, we want to go here." They find April's locker, which has been graffitied with things like "puke girl." We're then treated to the ever delightful scene of our female protagonist spewing what looks like green ooze all over a desk because of nerves while giving the morning announcements. Look, I know this is CGI and not real, but that was completely unnecessary. More on that later.

So to get to Superfly, the guys have to interrupt a transfer of goods, i.e. the final piece of some machine Superfly is building for his nefarious plot (which we don't know what it is yet). The guys are waiting in the truck and he shows up... with Bebop and Rocksteady. You remember them. The mutant warthog and rhino, respectively, from 1987 and 2012? Shredder's mutant allies? The ones Shredder created? Yeah, those two. Well, this time, since there is no Shredder, they were created in Stockman's lab. Remember all the animals in test tubes? Yeah, they're all grown now as well, raised by Superfly since he was the oldest. Stockman's plan was to create a family of mutants because he was never liked or understood by people. Superfly's plan is to pick up where his "father" left off... by turning all animals into mutants and killing all humans.

So of course, eventually the turtles manage to turn the tables and attempt to escape with the last piece of the machine Superfly needs to spread the mutagen. But of course, that falls apart and a bunch of Utrom's suits find and capture them. April races back to the lair to tell Splinter that his sons are in trouble... yeah, that's an awkward first meeting. Splinter shows up and takes out all the suits (Utrom has been taken away to safety), saves his sons, and they all start to head back home to come up with a plan to stop Superfly. It results in them basically appealing to all the other mutants, telling them that they don't have to listen to Superfly and that they have a choice. Surprise, surprise, they all turn against the big bad. Even Rocksteady and Bebop, and they're supposed to be villains... I realize their origin is different here, but come on.

Well, everyone takes out the giant mutagen machine... sort of. It lands in the river below, where there are dozens of species of sea life. Yep, you guessed it. Superfly merges with all the animals in the river. He gets a whale body, crab pinchers, some sort of tail, etc. And, for some reason, random horses on his legs. Wha... Oh, and he's now taller than the Empire State Building. Awesome.

Yeah, as if he wasn't ugly enough before LOL. Well, the suits in Utrom's lab had been working on an anti-mutagen, and April managed to swipe one of these canisters... somehow. It didn't really show how, she just did it. Times Square has a huge news report going on about mutants attacking, so April manages to get inside the Channel 6 (yep, the right station!) building to take over the report and explain that she knows the truth - that the only bad mutant is the giant fly/whale hybrid thing. And then she pukes again. Seriously, STOP THAT.

Splinter is trying to get to his sons, but Superfly manages to knock him back hard enough to break his leg. Humans approach, and he's terrified... but they're reaching for him to help him. So then we have humans and mutants working together to get the anti-mutagen to the turtles, who manage to throw it into Superfly's weak spot - the whale blow hole. Yep, that takes care of it. So then the turtles are revered as heroes, and the other mutants are all now living in the sewers with them... and the turtles wind up going to high school. They're got human clothes on, ditch their masks, etc. And all the kids welcome them and think they're super cool. April's locker has been re-graffitied with things like "cool girl" instead of "puke girl," and then the movie just... ends.

Then we get a post-credits scene, showing how the turtles are getting along in high school. Each one seems to have found his niche, and they're even all at the prom together. However, Utrom is watching them, and she says that capturing them will be difficult. So she asks her assistant to bring her... The Shredder! Then we see an outline of Shredder before the scene cuts away. So yeah, totally open for a sequel, as is the norm with movies these days. In fact, a sequel (and TV series) has actually already been confirmed! I mean, honestly, how could Seth Rogen, a self-admitted TMNT addict, create a TMNT movie without at least planning for Shredder to be in it?

So, all in all, it wasn't a bad movie. I appreciate the throwbacks to the original series, and I'm glad to see my favorite heroes getting so much recognition again.

However, there are definitely some things in this movie that weren't necessary. The top of that list is April's barfing scene. She was nervous doing the morning announcements at school and wound up throwing up as a result. Then later, during her news broadcast telling everyone that the only bad mutant is Superfly, she does it again... honestly, I get that we may need a reason for her to rather be behind the camera instead of in front of it, and she needs an obstacle to jump over to tell the people who tease her to suck it, but did it have to be that??? We're showing puke in kids' movies now? Please, just, don't... I don't care that it's a cartoon and looked like the ooze that mutated our beloved heroes. That doesn't mean I want to see it spewing out of someone's mouth. What is it with Seth Rogen and vomit movies? Is it like some unwritten rule that someone has to upchuck in everything he's in? UGH.

Also, this movie is rated PG, but... were all the nipple references necessary? Splinter is legit concerned that, if his sons are found by humans, they'll be put in a lab and milked...and they're like, "But we don't even have nipples!" Then the turtles say the same thing to April when she talks about writing a story about them, and she asks how that could be done for the same reason. Then later, in Utrom's lab, they are getting milked... but, I mean, how... way too much emphasis on that.

And did Splinter seriously need a love interest? With an unintelligible giant bug? Just... why? That's wrong on so many levels.

It was said from the start that this movie would focus mostly on the "teenager" aspect, and it absolutely did that. The guys weren't all serious about ninja training and mastering new techniques; they were more interested in what it would be like to be a normal kid, go to school, go to the prom, etc. And since it's 2023, and because it's Seth Rogen, we have to have some swearing and such, even in a cartoon. Mostly it's by Superfly (aka Ice Cube), so not surprising. But even the original 1990 live action movie had cursing LOL.

You know, I'm almost positive that the turtles never officially introduced themselves to April upon meeting her. She introduced herself, but I don't think they ever identified themselves. The closest we came was in they were in the school and Michelangelo was signing himself up for a talent show. We all know who they are, but a human meeting them for the first time more than likely wouldn't. Hmmm... I think some details got overlooked. Just like how I swear Splinter's name wasn't mentioned once in the entire hour and 49 minutes of the movie's runtime.

Anyway, as a hard-core TMNT fan, I did enjoy the movie. Definitely some things that I would have changed, and others that should have stayed true to the original, but all in all it wasn't bad. I think I can give it 8/10 and be satisfied. :)

[nexusvcrti]

TVDU TIMELINE IN MY CANON

This tends to be one of the most controversial topics out there, but since canon has confirmed that season 4 of Legacies takes place 3 years after season 5 of The Originals, I'm going to map out what that means in the timeline of what we see on the show with my personal canon. The timeline on the show (particularly Legacies) is just… super compacted, so if anyone hasn’t watched Legacies or actually cares about spoilers… beware. (note: This is revised based off the original meta I posted here.)

If you pay attention to the words and the dialogue in the show, they actually drop a fair number of hints as to the passage of time during the episodes. In the past, I always assumed that it followed the same timeline as most shows, where each season is roughly equivalent to one year, and with episode air dates matching with what’s happening canonically on the show, but it’s actually not the case in Legacies. Between the pandemic and general wonky primetime airing schedules, the timeline is a little more difficult to follow and not spelled out so neatly. 

Examples of the above include early S1 where the first few episodes are literally happening over the course of several days, maybe two weeks. There’s a few times the characters say things like “yesterday” or “a few days ago” or “last week” in their dialogue which I use to track the timeline.

Starting from the top, S5 tells us that Hope is 15 at the time that all of that plays out, and there’s an unknown time jump between the end of TO and the beginning of Legacies. In my canon, she is 15, almost 16 when the end of TO occurs and she loses her father and uncle. She takes the summer off from the school to grieve, while also learning to control her wolf side, and she is 16 when she rejoins the school, but she also spends half a year being a loner and watching Cutthroat Kitchen in her room. S1 begins while Hope is a few months shy of her 17th birthday on May 2.

Like I mentioned above, the first few episodes of S1 happen very quickly (going to find Raf and Landon, Landon stealing the knife, the dragon, the football game, the discovery of the monsters, the twins’ birthday). These all happen in a matter of days, maybe two weeks at the most. When the Honor Council stuff is happening, Lizzie asks Raf to the twins’ birthday “on Friday”, so we know it’s coming up quick. And the twins’ birthday is the first real date that we have confirmed on the show. So 1x06 is occurring on March 15. The next real “date” we have is in 1x12, where we know the school is on spring break. Now idk about y’all but in the States and when I was in school, the latest spring break ever seemed to be was like early/mid-April? So it sounds like the gap between 1x06 and 1x12 is a handful of weeks at most, which makes sense. During this time is the whole part where Hope goes and gets Landon back, the djinni episode, and the slug debacle. As far as the passage of time goes, there isn’t a lot of it during these plot points. S1 plays out over the course of like... three months, and Hope throws herself into Malivore right before her 17th birthday.

S2 picks back up at the beginning of the next school year and Hope crawls out of Malivore probably in August? Since it's after the Fourth of July but before the school year starts. Unfortunately, events like the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant and Founders Day don’t actually have set dates in canon so it’s difficult to tell what the passage of time is supposed to be like. However, we do know that 2x08 (the Santa episode) occurs in October. So the first half of S2 takes place over the course of a month or so? After that, the next hint of time that we get is the culmination of the season, where Dark Josie intends to push up the Merge timeline and do it on the twins’ birthday of that year. So we’re back to March 15 of the next year, and two seasons have passed in the span of one in-canon year. 

Now this is where the timeline gets even MORE messed up because of the pandemic and the weird airing schedules. But 3x01-3x04 were always supposed to be part of S2, so that’s where I’m putting it. Given the reactions by Alyssa and the rest of the witches in 3x01, not that much time has passed since Dark Josie was banished, there is again urgency with Raf’s problem, the musical, and then the final confrontation with the Necromancer where she loses Landon. 

There is likely another time jump after 3x04, because Kaleb references Sheriff Mac moving to Savannah with Maya, and Josie is working on her transfer over to MFHS. I’m guessing that most public schools aren’t going to handle transfer requests at the end of the school year, so it sounds like we’re back to the end of the summer again by the time 3x05 happens. This also makes sense in context of what’s happening in the A plot, where Hope is losing herself in her search for Landon, which probably would actually take months. However, once she finds the Monkey’s Paw and Cleo enters the picture, things begin to pick up again. Hope has also turned 18 during this period.

Now I’ll be perfectly frank, I only sat through S3 once and I still haven't fully watched the back half of S4 so I’m not as in tune with those episodes as much as I am with the others, but again, it does feel like time moves quickly in S3. With the monsters constantly coming and the appearance of golem Landon to push along the narrative, I can believe that this happens over the course of a few months, taking us to maybe November or December of that year, approximately a year and a half since S1 began. And of course, once Mali-Landon leaves, everything kicks up a notch. Like with S2, 4x01-4x04 were meant to be part of S3, and that’s where it makes sense narratively. 

Hope makes the realization that she needs to become the tribrid in the Star Wars episode, and everything from that point on shoehorns her into that plot. Again, we don’t have direct dates or events to mark the passage of time, but just going off what happens in canon, from the time they wake up from the vision quest to the end of 4x04, I don’t think there are any days where the Squad is just taking a break and lounging around (with the exception of 4x03, but I wouldn’t call that lounging around). 

Now we know that there is no timeskip between 4x04 and 4x05 because Lizzie directly alludes to the night before in her opener, so everything that’s happened since the beginning of the show has now occurred within something like two years (not the four I was assuming up until now). Again, with the urgency of the plot, Hope is not just sitting around and twiddling her fingers once the threat of Triad comes up, and the Squad is not waiting for Hope to come back. Hope’s actions include learning about Triad, having her misadventures with Clarke, Salvatore Idol at the school, her confrontation with actual Triad and Aurora, and her confrontations with Lizzie. Similarly, there is no time jump between 4x09 and 4x10, as the episode tells us. All of this is happening in a span of weeks, not months. 

All that said, by the time she has gone through the events of Legacies and is struggling with her humanity, about three years have passed since Hayley, Klaus and Elijah died, and about two years have passed since S1 starts. Hope was 16 at the time S1 begins (having turned 16 a little while after the S5 finale of TO, and taking the summer off to grieve, and mostly spending the first half of the year in her room watching Cutthroat Kitchen by herself or recruiting with Alaric. She is just about to turn 17 by the time she jumps into Malivore, actually turns 17 while in Malivore, and a few months shy of her 19th, when she has her first death in 4x03. 

This functionally doesn't change much of how I was playing Hope before. I've always played that she is 18 when she fully activates her tribrid side, permanently sealing her at that age. The only real difference is that she doesn't take a gap year between her parents' death / the new school year, just probably the last month of school and summer break. She returns that fall, but remains a recluse until February or March of the following year, which is when S1 of Legacies begins. It does mean she's only had her wolf for a handful of months, so her control is not nearly as stable as what we see in the pilot (aka easily shifting back and forth at will) and will likely play a role in her early characterization.

[mudbloodpotter05]

Fic Writer Asks!

I was tagged by @read-and-write- and happiness-of-the-pursuit

ao3 username: Muddbloodpotter05

Fandoms: I have only written for and published for two fandoms- EastEnders (British Soap), but I write for my Ben and Callum “Ballum”, specifically. They are my ride or die ship for that show. I also write for Red, White and Royal Blue.

(Though I did write for HP and crossed that over with Charmed way too many years ago, 😅)

Number of works: 11! (Four are for my EastEnders, Ballum ship and Seven are for RWRB, though one of those for rwrb is my catch-all for any drabbles or drabbles that exceeded the 100 word only requirement).

Work I spent the most time on: this one is a bit harder to answer…of my published stories, I would have to say it is between 3 stories. Two of them fall in my EE fandom for Ballum and those are Someone to Watch Over Me and Your Final Words. For RWRB it would have to be my Now and Then. All three of these took about the same amount of time (roughly two ish months) for each of these because I tend to agonize over my writing and wanting to make sure I frame it and get the flow how I want).

This is likely to end up changing due to the current story I am working on, which is tentatively titled “Time and Time Again” for RWRB.

Work I spent the least time on: besides any drabbles…it would be between two stories If Only for One Night, for EE and Ballum and then Lacrosse My Heart and Hope… - both of these stories just flew out of my brain and into a doc within a single day and then posted to ao3 a couple days later after my wonderful Beta went over them!

Longest fic: this would have to be Now and Then for RWRB. Again, this is likely to change as my new story is currently sitting a little over 8k and that is just chapter 1!

Shortest fic: my drabbles, definitely, though some exceed the 100 word maximum, so I will also list Is that my sweatshirt for RWRB. (It my newest story and contains smut and was inspired by some amazing art of Henry running while wearing one of Alex’s jersey’s.)

Most hits: Bump In the Night which clocks in at 5,540 hits!

Most Kudos: that would be Is that my sweatshirt and has 206 kudos! I love this for my one shot! (Again, mind the tags for Smut).

Total word count: 105,989 (published at this exact moment)

Favorite work of my own: oof, this question sort of hurts, 😅, but if I have to pick I would say any of those listed in the question about the ‘work I spent the most time on’. Those three have to be the ones I’m most proud of!

Fic you want to rewrite or expand on: it would probably have to be Now and Then, but only because I have ideas/thoughts that didn’t make it into the story.

Share a bit of a wip: this is from chapter 1 of my current multi-chapter story-

It’s old. Worn, but still seems to be in good condition. An antique. One of the drawers seems to be stuck, maybe locked. The last time he saw one that looked like this was on a trip to the Smithsonian in his Junior year. So yeah, a fucking antique it may be, but it was the only desk that Alex had found that sparked any sort of joy. (Thank you, Marie Kondo!)

That joy being: it was dirt fucking cheap and he was past being picky.

Well, not exactly. Or not only the price, exactly.

He didn’t know why, but when he looked at it…Alex felt wistful.

Maybe it was his lack of sleep. Maybe it was the air of history hanging about it. Maybe it was haunted! (Not that he believed in ghosts and crystals, voodoo and magic…that was all his sister, June) Or it could very well be the curry from the back of his fridge that he should’ve thrown away. Still, none of those were going to stop him from making this purchase.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And I am tagging….. @orchidscript @historicallysam @everwitch-magiks and @ethel0123 , but only if you want and haven’t done it yet!

[traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors]

tw cocsa(?) | graphic description | sa

i need help. i need help defining what happened to me. it began when i was 4 or 5 and the other child was the same age. my sister and her friend were two years older than us so 6 or 7. they would make us (me and the other child) undress and touch each other's genitals while they watched from a corner. sometimes, they make us kiss. we were impressionable. we were young. we did it because big sister knew best. it went on for some years, maybe two. maybe three. it became a norm. a thing i had to do. whenever my sister had a friend who had a sibling who was roughly my age, i had to entertain them... sexually. if i wasn't made to show them my genitals, i had to put on a striptease for them, touch their genitals, kiss them. i was barely ten. i was made a sexual being before i was ready. and one time, i was climbing over a fence when this one kid (younger than me) poked me in my genitals before laughing. i was shamed for my outburst of anger. he was kid. he didn't know better... so was i. i was also a kid. i didn't know better. i became scared of the younger kid. avoided him at all costs. because if i avoided him then he wouldn't touch me again and it wouldn't hurt. all of this, the constant exposing, touching, poking, everything led me to be hypersexual with something short of a masturbation addiction. i have a horrible relationship with my body and intimacy. i have anxiety, depression, emotional dysregulation. i have extreme identity issues, a brittle sense of any belief i hold. i have deep feelings of shame and guilt. i cannot help but think i let this happen to myself. i need help. was this cocsa? or am i overdramatic?

Hi anon,

I'm sorry to hear about what happened. You're not being overdramatic at all. It's okay to be traumatized by this, and any feelings you have about this are valid.

It's understandable that you have concerns and questions about what happened to you. The experiences you described, where you were coerced into engaging in sexual activities at a young age, indicate that you may have experienced CSA, or more specifically, COCSA. Please know that you are not alone.

What happened to you was not your fault. As a child, you were unable to give informed consent or understand the implications of the situation. It's common for survivors to grapple with feelings of guilt, shame, and confusion. Please know that you deserve support and understanding.

It can be incredibly helpful to seek professional help from a therapist or counselor experienced in trauma and abuse, if you can access or afford it. They can provide a safe and nonjudgmental space for you to explore your experiences, process your emotions, and develop healthy coping strategies. Therapy can be a crucial step in your healing journey, allowing you to work through the impact of the abuse and find ways to rebuild a positive relationship with yourself and your body.

Ultimately, it's important to remember that healing takes time. You deserve support and care as you navigate this journey of recovery and reclaim your well-being. If anyone else has any comments or suggestions, feel free to add on. Otherwise, I hope I could help, and please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

[adultswim2021]

Fat Guy Stuck in Internet #1: “Threshold” | May 14, 2007 - 12:00AM | S00E01

Fat Guy Stuck in Internet was the third-most-voted pilot on the Adult Swim website poll, as part of the Night of 1000 Pilots event. It was based on a webseries called Gemberling, named after the main character and star John Gemberling. Curtis Gwinn, who plays the bounty hunter Chains, was a co-creator. The show is about an arrogant hot-shot computer programmer who gets sucked into his computer and gets trapped inside the internet. What a jerk!

The premise of the show is that Gemberling is trying to find his way home. Meanwhile a shadowy figure that heads the company he’s working for (who is like the Emperor on Star Wars) is trying to get him back using the services of Chains the bounty hunter. Fat guy Gemberling gets wrapped up in some plot after meeting Bit and Byte, a pair of siblings ensconced in some sort of fight between good and evil in the digital realm. We also meet a wizard guy who tells Gemberling that he’s some sort of chosen one, and a little head guy who bounces around on a heavy console computer. Those last two are left behind in this episode, when the wizard dude dies and the computer guy is deemed too heavy to bring along. The Wizard’s death scene is reasonably amusing, with him lamenting that he can’t relay important information to Gemberling because he’s dying, while also dragging out his death to redundantly repeat his lamentations while Gemberling loses patience with him.

I feel like I’m forgetting huge swaths of story. I don’t care! I’m tired of writing insanely long write-ups! Seriously, I am spending way too much fucking time on this blog (which may or may not be why I randomly didn’t update last night. Sorry). I remember watching this episode and the second episode (which debuted during an April Fools stunt or daylight savings event or some such thing), and I remember little else about the show. I feel like I mostly did NOT watch this program. Looking back, it’s not as bad as I remember it. I didn’t laugh at a single thing in the entire episode, which is a bad sign for a comedy show. But the thing that I respect about this show is that it’s not arrogantly pretending to be low-budget schlock like Saul. It just IS low-budget schlock.

The difference between those two things is that they don’t seem to make a joke out of the chintzy nature of the show almost at all. They’re trying to make this shit look presentable to the best of their abilities, which is why shows like this are charming in the first place. I admire this choice. It’s a good way to produce interesting art. It’s like if you were filming a sketch where the joke is that you can’t sing very well, and you don’t happen to be much of a singer, it’ll probably be funnier if you just tried really hard to sing well and failed than if you jokingly put on a bad singing voice.

I guess that’s my main takeaway: the show is reasonably fun and well-made (considering), and I’m willing to give it a fair chance. I did watch the first episode of the web series Gemberling, which is a mild pain. The episodes are downloadable from the Channel 101 site in .mov format, and you can play those on VLC. The first episode of that show is about five minutes long, and is roughly 80% the same as the first few minutes of this. I have vague recollections that the wizard character was Bill Cosby in the web series, but I literally don’t feel like watching more of it to find out! Sorry!

The title! Why is it called that? Because: I thiiiink it’s meant to evoke the then-viral movie Snakes on a Plane? Remember that movie? It went viral, so the producers self-consciously tried to make it into a wacky cult movie. I don’t think it worked. I famously never saw it. But that... that, my friend, is a story for another time...

MAIL BAG

Oh yeah, Ephemera Corner. It’s the web series that I already linked to. Please I don’t wanna make or find a screengrab. Okay, Mail bag time now:

Idiot. Drew Carey had three great themes songs. Don't second guess yourself because you have the confidence of a titmouse.

(timidly) chirp.

I'm not gonna lie, I kind of like how fucked up Drinky Crow looks. Maybe the only thing I like about it because the actually show ain't funny. Looks like a PS2 game.

I think it’s unforgivably nasty but to eats his zone

Love the blog but please don't make it a habit to review SNL stuff on this blog. I simply detest Lorne Michaels.

Looks like we have a hater bitch in the blog. Lorne rocks... fuck you pal!

Step off with the David Herman slander my dude. Us Herm-heads don't f around!

David Herman is an idiot (just kidding I like him, he called into Seven Second Delay once as a fan)

[thepurplewombat]

U mentioned that jgy is one of your favorite characters of all time, can I ask about your other fav characters of all time? I'm very curious bc u seem to be a cultured individual

Oh boy you sure may! *turns into an unskippable cutscene*. Not so sure about a cultured individual but let's see what consensus is once I'm done.

Olay so I'm going to go roughly chronological here, because everyone who has ever been a blorbo to me is, on some level, still a blorbo. So they all still count!

Okay so at the top of the list is one Jean-Luc Picard (Star Trek The Next Generation) . My mom loves to tell the story of how I, at age three, decided I was going to marry Captain Picard and we would have six children. To be honest if he showed up in front of me today and asked me to run away with him on the Enterprise, I'm not sure I'd say no. He's such a wonderful character in so many ways - wise, kind, diplomatic. My first memory of watching television is the episode where he was assimilated by the Borg. The episode where Jean Grey from the X-men movies was an alien who became the perfect mate to the first person she saw when she hatched from her egg thing, and the first person she saw was Picard and so she still married the slimy guy from the enemy planet because Picard's perfect mate would never sacrifice duty on the altar of love lives rent-free in my mind decades later.

Dana Scully (X-Files). She's amazing. I love her. I love the fact that while she doesn't believe in the stuff Mulder does, she is openminded enough to acknowledge that science doesn't know everything, you know?

Neri from Ocean Girl. I watched this show when I was in primary school and I've got to tell you, Nonnie, for Literal Years all my Barbies wore wraps made out of rough hemp cloth. Her best friend was a whale named Charlie and she could swim underwater forever, she was amazing.

Xena (from Xena). Idk what to tell you, Nonnie, she was like, at least a third of my queer awakening.

Buffy (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) she tried. So hard. Like, she had a Destiny and she didn't want the destiny, but she was stuck with it and so she was going to do her damn best to live up to it. Spike, from the same show, is also on the list. He was just fun to watch, you know? (also Faith because I shipped her Buffy quite hard for a while)

Severus Snape, Harry Potter. He wasn't nice, but he was good, but tbh I adored him from the first time he appeared. Also, Hermione. Big hair and loves books? It me!

Everyone in Seaquest. Especially the captain and Lukas, who I'm pretty sure was included purely because TNG did it. But hey, I was like 15, I thought he was great.

Daniel Jackson, Stargate SG-1. He's just such a nerd? I love him tbh. I shipped him with Jack O'Neill but I appear to be alone in that (or all the archives where their fic was are dead now rip)

Teal'c, also from SG-1. It's just...how much courage does it take to turn on your literal actual god who is the source of your life? Also, the sass.

Garrus Vakarian, Mass Effect. I love him, your honor.

This one is chronologically in the wrong place since I read it when I was about 11, but Taita, from River God by Wilbur Smith. I loved that sneaky little asshole so damn much. I named my cat after him. (I was very annoyed when, years later, I read one of the sequels to River God, and on the first page Taita had a beard. Taita was a eunuch...)

Sarah Kerrigan, Starcraft. I could write a book about her. I have written a book about her. The first thing I ever wrote was a Starcraft fanfic (I had no idea fanfic even existed) about Kerrigan's clone Tedra. I'm weak for stories about evil governments, people who are treated like weapons, and assimilation narratives, so you can see why she captured my attention. (also I loved Zeratul, he was amazing)

Lestat from Interview with a Vampire. He was just cool.

There are a bunch more (I haven't even got to when I discovered danmei yet) , but unfortunately my power just went out and this post is already hella long, so take this as part 1 🤣

[microsuedemouse]

can you please explain spielberg’s master plan 👀

hello I somehow didn't see this ask until today I'm sorry!!

okay so. context. my younger brother absolutely loves terrible Syfy original movies, and others in that vein. bad creature features especially. he has watched literally like three quarters of them, iirc. you've heard of the big ones like Lavalantula and the Sharknado franchise, but there's so much more than that.

he also has some health problems that affect his metabolism and weight, and he struggles to keep his weight above a certain minimum threshold. when his weight gets too low, which also makes him feel generally pretty unwell, he’ll typically spend a few days doing basically Nothing but watching movies and eating as much as he can.

so anyway. a few years ago he was in the midst of one of those binges, and decided to catch up on some of the more recent Bad Shark Movies. for some reason, I sat down to join him, and we had one hell of a time. we also had this interaction, which I immortalized on twitter, because I tweet a lot about both my family’s nonsense and whatever I’m watching.

[transcription: a tweet from myself, @/MicrosuedeMouse, at 3:51 pm on 2020-11-16. it reads:

Corwin is having a Bad Shark Movies day, and we were browsing the suggestions after watching Five-Headed Shark Attack-

me: “do you think Spielberg knew what he was doing when he made Jaws? could he have anticipated this?”

Corwin: “this is all part of Spielberg’s Master Plan”]

we went on later to watch the fifth Sharknado movie, which is one of the most unhinged films ever made, I think. HOWEVER. I loved the phrase “Spielberg’s Master Plan” way too much, and it soon became a shorthand term amongst us and our other sibling for the broader canon of Shark Movies. every single sharksploitation film ever made is part of Spielberg’s Master Plan.

as an aside, we watched 6-Headed Shark Attack roughly five months later, and it is an absolutely galaxy-brained movie. I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried, but I HAVE had this gif saved to my phone ever since. there is rarely ever cause to use it, but I’m obsessed with it all the same. the scene it’s from permanently altered my life.

(you may notice it only has four heads. don’t worry. the fifth and sixth heads show up later.)

🦈🦈🦈

[sparrowsage]

1 and 2 for the ask game! 👀

What's your saddest scene? The saddest scene I believe I've ever written would have to be the whole AU piece I made in 2019 roughly with my ocs. They're the same ocs roughly as the ones in my series The Warehouse, but they're from the original timeline I've made with them. This piece has Alex in the hospital with terminal cancer and him and the body are fading fast, so, as a last thing to leave for Felix, him and his two alters (Sparrow and Jayden) leave one last entry in their journal for Felix to read after they're gone. The last two paragraphs are under the cut. What's your most graphic scene? I had to go digging for this one because I wanted it to be good. It's not all that much, it's an rp response for a Sherlock fandom rp I had at one point in 2018. The reply is under the cut.

October 16th, 2018, 11:14pm 

As the other two have done, this will be my final entry in our journal. It’s scary, being this close to dying, despite wanting to die since I was 7 years old. It’s scary because I actually have someone to care about, someone who cares about me, and once I’m gone, I won’t be here for you to care about. I may be different from Alex and Sparrow, being fourteen and all, but meeting you, Felix, was a very important part of my life. Without you, I’d have tried to end my life more times than I could count because there wasn’t really a point for me to live except to protect Alex and Sparrow from potential harm. Taking care of you when you first came into the ward, spending time with you whenever you were here, visiting or not, all of our time spent together was important. It kept me going. I’m happy you became a part of our lives, Felix, because you didn’t just bring me out of the dark hole we were put it, but you brought Alex and Sparrow out as well. They may not show that they’re scared, but they are. They’re scared what’ll happen to you when we’re gone, what you’ll do. I’m scared too, because I want you to live out the best life you possibly can before you die. We’ll always be with you, even if you can’t see us. But with the friendship we’ve made, the friendship you’ve made with all three of us, we’ll never be apart. Not ever. So, stay strong, for all three of us. We all love you, and without you, we wouldn’t be the people we are today. 

Jayden Cresky. 

    Jayden did his best to wipe a few tears off his cheek as he closed his journal, telling one of the nurses he was ready to go back to his room. The nurse brought him back to his room and got him back into bed, again without waking Felix. All three of them would forever be in Felix’s debt with how much love he gave to them. How he managed to heal them more than any doctor could. How even he was able to get better despite what he went through as a kid. Jayden looked over to Felix, smiling as more tears fell as he watched his friend sleep. For the first time, he was glad that his mother abused him. Because without that, they’d never have met Felix, and their lives wouldn’t be complete. 

2. Severin smiled and dug the knife into Richards chest, cutting around his heart. When he removed the skin, he could see Richards heart beating and he sighed. He hadn't seen a beating heart is so long. He leaned forward once more and kissed Richard before grasping Richards heart in his hand. "You were wonderful, Richie. I'm going to miss you." He took the knife and cut the arteries and vessels connected to the heart and brought it up in front of Richards face and squeezed the heart as hard as he could with his one hand.