#top ten anime betrayal right there

[homoerotic-shonen-rival-showdown]

did in fact start my shaman king 2021 liveblog in case anyone wants to go look for that. maybe I'll be able to shut up because of it (lies)

[haikyu-mp4]

Top ten anime betrayals

word count; 541 – f!reader

Atsumu opened the door, a frown permanently etched on his face ever since he found out you invited your new boyfriend over for dinner. Osamu followed right behind him, eyeing the bat you had stationed behind the door.

Apparently, your mother already met their little sister’s boyfriend while he was sneaking out of the house, and she hadn’t told the twins. And being a Miya, she invited said boyfriend over to dinner to meet the family.

On the other side of the door stood Suna, dressed up in a white shirt and jeans, the top shirt buttons left open in typical lazy fashion. Your brothers sighed, disappointed. “We can’t hang out today, Sunarin.”

Osamu’s eyebrows furrowed as he noticed the two bouquets Suna held in one hand. “You brought us flowers, man?”

“They’re not for you, dipshits.” Suna pushed past the twins with a smug smirk that turned sweet the second you came running around the corner and into his arms.

The twins gasped in perfect synchronization, Osamu covering his mouth in horror and Atsumu clutching his chest in shock. “Suna’s your boyfriend?!”

As you pulled away from the middle blocker, completely ignoring your brothers, your eyes turned to hearts as Suna handed you one of the bouquets. Adding salt to the wound, your mother also arrived on the scene and thanked Suna very much for the other bouquet.

“You’ve always been a charmer,” your mother cooed, squeezing Suna’s cheek before taking the flowers from you to ensemble everything in vases.

The twins took each of Suna’s arms when your mother was out of sight, pulling him backwards into the hallway and then their room, slamming the bedroom door shut in your face as you tried to follow.

“Is this a prank?” Osamu asked, crossing his arms and frowning.

“There is no way you’re dating our baby sister,” Atsumu added.

“She’s not a baby, she’s one year younger than us.” Suna typically slouched but did his best to straighten up and use those few extra centimetres of height to his advantage. “And I think she’s really cool. And smoking hot.”

“Obviously, she’s a Miya,” Atsumu mumbled, only to get a slap in the back of the head from his brother.

“Our mom said you were sneaking out of her room the other day, you dirty pig.” Osamu stepped closer, poking a harsh finger into Suna’s chest.

“Ouch, enough with the name-calling.” Suna sighed, whipping his phone out of his pocket and swiftly unlocking it to find his camera roll. “What we do in private is none of your business, but here-” he said and held up the phone to show the twins a picture of you and him on a date, where you smiled joyfully at the camera and Suna watched you with ridiculously sweet eyes.

The twins looked between the picture and Suna’s face suspiciously a couple of times, before turning around and whispering to each other in an attempt to reach a conclusion.

Suna rolled his eyes, taking the time to text you about what was going on and let you know he’d be out in a second, but put his phone away as the twins turned back.

“We will allow it but you’re on thin ice, Suna Rintaro.”

masterlist

[skullamity]

Hey who wants to see pics of my garbage idiot cat children?

Unexpectedly photogenic Parsnip (black long hair) and Ham (grey tabby shorthair with white bib and boots) cuddling at the top of the cat tree where they DEFINITELY both fit, don't question it:

Immediate top ten anime betrayal moment:

Dusty (grey and peach torbie short hair) and Parsnip chilling in a window together even though she find his deaf ass The Most Annoying:

All three of them are goblins, but for completely different reasons and in completely different ways. They're all super cute, though, so everybody should look at them right now!

If anyone has questions about what it's like to live with a young deaf cat (as opposed to an old cat that has gone deaf), feel free to ask and I will be glad to answer, but otherwise I'm not typing up an essay.

Bonus:

an extremely cryptid photo of Parsnip mid-stretch that reminds me of

[grayintogreen]

LOU’S BARON IMPRESSION TOOK ME RIGHT OUT.

TOP TEN ANIME BETRAYALS.

[bloodygirlhood]

gen v fic(s) ?? (mostly jordan tbh)

the lack of gen v fanfics is actually a crime so i am here to change that. i have a lot of ideas, and thought i could share them here to see if anyone would be interested in any of them.

— SECOND CHANCES (jordan li fic)

Nova Woods' body is made of mistakes and regrets more than flesh and bone.

Ambition is her second name and betrayal is her God.

Not that Jordan Li knew this when they started dating her. No, what Jordan knew was the girl who always wore pink even though people made fun of her, and who brought them a cup of coffee and a sandwich because she knew they tend to skip breakfasts.

Nova Woods was Jordan Li's safe place. Tender touches and soft kisses, the emphatic look in her eyes that made them melt as if she was the sun and they were Icarus' wings, and praises spilling from her lips like sweet honey that they so needed.

Until they learned what kind of a monster was under the masks she was wearing.

The only reason Nova was with them was to get into the top ten on the list.

Nothing about her was real. She was just a perfectly sculpted illusion, showing them what they wanted to see. And Jordan was a fool, who opened their hearts and showed her their most vulnerable parts.

Nova knows she fucked up. She knows that. And she is ready to do whatever is necessary to win them back. She no longer cares about the list - she never actually did; it was her parents' ambitions pressed upon her and she was just a puppet whose strings were in their hands.

Jordan Li does not believe in second chances. But Nova Woods is ready to change their mind.

(I have not yet come up with Nova's powers, super healing for plot armor ofc but maybe animal control or plant control - something that will not overpower her.)

— LAMB TO A SLAUGHTER

Samantha Riordan is nothing if not her twin brother Luke's shadow. He is the Golden Boy, the sun seems to favor him as he bathes in its light while she is just Luke's little sister (despite being two fucking minutes older than him) resting on the shadow he has created for her. She watches her brother wear the crown of glory all the while she seems to have very similar powers to his but never makes it to even the top ten on the list.

Even her name does not just belong to her. Their younger brother was named Sam, which was the nickname she went by. Emphasis on the past tense because her younger brother has killed himself so her fucking name became a taboo in her own house.

It is like the universe and everyone around her acts like her actual ability is being invisible.

That is until her twin brother blows himself up and all the spotlight falls upon her.

Love Interest(s): Jordan Li (main) & Marie Moreau (not poly)

— THE FALL FROM EDEN

tw: homophobia, religious parents/guilt

Eden Rivers cannot stress this enough: just because she kissed a girl one time (okay, maybe three times) does not mean she is bisexual. She likes boys. She is straight. She is normal. She is the way her God wants her to be.

Her knees have bruises due to kneeling on the ground and her throat burns and aches for uttering prayers for hours and asking for forgiveness from God.

Again, her mother says, ignoring the tears that stain Eden's cheeks. She feels no pity toward Eden, she sees no daughter or a teenage girl. She only sees an abomination and is blinded by disgust and hatred.

There is something terribly wrong with Eden: she kissed another girl.

Eden does not argue or fight back. She continues praying and, crying, regretting and hating herself.

Then, she wipes off her tears and cleans the blood on her knees to go back to her job as if nothing happened.

Luke Riordan sees right through his assistant but does not force her to speak. He knows how her parents are and just reminds her that she will always have a place in his house if she ever needs it.

Then, he kills himself.

And Eden is starting to question her God.

Then, she meets Jordan Li — he, no wait, she, but then it is a he again and Eden cannot understand anything. Bi-gender, others explain to her and suggest her to use they/them for Jordan.

Eden needs to know why Luke, a human form of sunshine, decided to blow himself up. Because if she cannot find a reason, it means her God has failed her.

And she has to work with Jordan, whose both forms make Eden forget that her God is watching her, reading her not-so-pure thoughts.

But when Jordan is around, Eden's God does not exist.

And she no longer puts meaning into her prayers - not after kissing them.

She does not regret kissing them. She only regrets not doing it before.

(i am actually v proud of this idea because a lot of people have to hide or fight back their sexuality due to the pressure of their parents and norms placed into their heads. gen v is not just a show about superpowers or heroes/villains, it is also about discovering your real identity and finding who you really are and i feel like this fic would be focusing on both identity search and fun superpower parts.)

— BLOOD & GUTS

In a world full of Supes, being a seer is lame, Isabel Quinn knows. She also knows how fucking pathetic it is to have a girlfriend who can manipulate blood when she faints at the sight of blood.

Isabel does not think she belongs at Godolkin University but she follows her girlfriend Marie Moreau there. She assures herself that everything will be alright if they keep a low profile - but then Marie wants to go out with the "cool" Supes and drags Isabel with her.

And then there is a woman with a split neck in the middle of the club they go to. And the crimson river is all Isabel can see. So much fucking blood and Isabel's vision goes black.

She wakes up in Andre Anderson's bed - the guy who is responsible for almost killing the woman in the club- and learns they left her fucking girlfriend responsible for it and tries to get away from him.

Andre - a hypocrite, hero-wannabe in Isabel's opinion- pulls a cliche when he grabs her wrist in the middle of the yard to justify his actions but then the Golden Boy chases her girlfriend and flies to the sky.

And there is blood again. Everywhere.

Fainting once again and this time waking up with a worried Marie hovering over her, Isabel says a dumb thing. A very dumb and unforgivable thing.

Isabel loses the only reason she came to that university: her girlfriend.

But while Isabel is running after Marie to regain her love, Andre Anderson seems like a tail on her back, desperate to prove to her that he is a good guy.

love interest(s): Marie Moreau & Andre Anderson (love triangle, andre as main love interest)

— KISS & KILL

Camila Dunlap sometimes pretends like the white ceiling above her is actually a bright blue sky that stretches to freedom and the chains on her hands are actually her sister Cate's warm hands.

She is tired of looking at the trees and being trapped inside of a room.

She is tired of waiting for her sister to save her.

Sometimes they let her see Cate. But Camila knows Cate has to do things for them. Bad things, her older sister mumbles when asked, terrible things.

At least, she talks with the guy in the next room through Morse code. Sam is his name, a funny guy who often jokes about how she is not actually real. Communicating with him keeps her remaining sanity.

Until one day, when Sam does more than keep her sane, and actually helps her out of the Woods with the help of a very tiny girl.

But it is never over.

Cate tells her that if she truly wants to be free, she has to do whatever they say. She has to turn Sam in and betray the people who have saved her.

Betrayal has always been a part of love for Dunlap sisters, who can play with the strings of someone's mind as if they were those of a violin.

(as you can see, i don't like sticking to canon so this is based on the theory that cate is a double agent. i am not sure about sam's age but he'll be aged up.)

i think this is it for now. don't question why the summaries are way too long, i tend to do that. i'd appreciate if you stated which one(s) you are interested!

thanks so much for reading this!

[homoeroticbetrayal]

Iconic Homerotice Betrayals: Semifinals

Poll Directory

Context:

Anthy/Utena

Summarized by Anonymous Contributor

THE blueprint for homoerotic betrayals of the canonically gay (as opposed to interpretive, certainly there are older iconic examples for that) variety. listed as #2 in the infamous top ten anime betrayals video, iirc.

it is about akio pushing anthy to utena. it is about utena’s protective stance, misunderstanding. most of all, it is about anthy kissing utena’s shoulder before stabbing her.

the story has been leading us to this the whole time — utena assuming once again the protective princely position; akio, always playing divide and conquer, unable to manipulate utena to betray anthy, now reliant on anthy betraying utena; the game being rigged from the start, true victory impossible (for the duelists, who will always lose the game proper to akio, the rule maker, in one way or another; for akio himself, just as obviously); utena’s love for anthy within the princely stance; anthy’s love for utena and anthy’s fear (of the world beyond; of utena loving her truly; of utena not loving her truly but just projecting onto her still as any prince does, and turning out to be the same (as akio) in the end) and akio (framing himself) as the only one who will love her no matter what because friends turn away from you and only connections by blood are forever, the two of them are the only ones who’s real in this projected world, so on and so forth, and anthy’s bitterness towards utena (“do you know, utena-sama, how i always despised you” from that one “in the next episode” bit) and her princeliness and her being not that impossibly unlike akio (all princes are the same). everything has lead us to this moment. and yet we are shocked.

personally, i’ve never moved on from how she kisses her shoulder.

See a whole dissertation on Utenanthy here

Homura/Madoka

Summary by Anonymous Contributor

This is the story of 3 betrayals :

1. Madoka and Homura meet and become best friends. Madoka believes in love and justice and helping people as a magical girl. But she gets killed. So Homura, loving her and believing in her cause, becomes a magical girl in order to time travel and save Madoka. Eventually, however, they find out they were being tricked all along, and none of what they thought they were fighting for is real. And this is BETRAYAL NUMBER 1: They've agreed to give up and just die/become monsters Together, when suddenly Madoka sacrifices herself to save Homura. As she is dying in Homura's arms she tells her she has a selfish goal: "you can travel in time, right ? Go back in time and warn me, stop me from getting tricked and becoming a magical girl."

2. So Homura goes back in time and tries to warn Madoka and their friends, but no one believes her. She can't save Madoka from her fate. So she time travels, again and again and again, trying desperately to save Madoka and failing every time, and becoming more and more estranged from her with every timeline. By the time we get to the timeline we know, she's done it so many times that she's become a stranger to Madoka, but Homura has become cold and hardened. It doesn't matter if Madoka doesn't love her anymore, all that matters is saving her. In the end, Homura's time travel has tied the strings of fate around Madoka so much, that Madoka bcomes the most powerful magical girl of all time and is able to essentially become a god, and rewrite the rules of the universe. She's created a better world, but at the cost of erasing her own human existence. Now no one will remember her except for Homura. As they are hugging naked in the cosmos, saying goodbye as the universe rewrites itself, Homura expresses how devastated she is by this turn of events. Madoka has saved her from the time loop she was in, but has sacrificed herself, and thereby Homura has failed to keep her promise of saving her. This is BETRAYAL NUMBER 2: Homura now has to live without Madoka, and all hope of keeping her promise to save her is lost.

3. And so we arrive at BETRAYAL NUMBER 3, the one they're most famous for : Homura tricks Madoka, and steals her godhood. Homura becomes the devil and undoes everything Madoka has fought for just to save Madoka and let her have a human existence, because she loves her that much. It's the ultimate betrayal because she destroys everything Madoka sacrificed herself for, she refuses to let her make the world better because selfishly, she loves Madoka so much she wants her to be able to exist.

[projectbluearcadia]

Top Ten Anime Betrayals I Guess

[ Trigger Warning -  Intentional Poisoning via food/drink. Reader Discretion Advised. ]

Lucifer: Mmm... Where are you going?

Annelie flinches as Lucifer rolls over in bed to catch her with half her body out of bed.

Annelie: ...water?

Lucifer: You're not a good liar, Annelie. Why are you being so sneaky?

Annelie: Well... it's just, I think you'll follow me if you know where I'm going, so...

Lucifer: Is there a reason I can't follow you?

Lucifer is wide-awake now, sitting up and rubbing his face.

Annelie: Because Barbatos said---

Lucifer: Barbatos?

Lucifer swings his legs out of bed to sit next to Annelie.

Lucifer: Why would he tell you to go anywhere without me? Annelie, that's not a good sign. He knows you get anxious when I'm not somewhere I can readily get to you.

Annelie: ...you're right, but... I don't know, I just thought he had a good reason. Like maybe he'd say something private about you or he'd confide in me about Diavolo...

Lucifer: Look. I know you're not on his hitlist anymore, but that doesn't mean you can let your guard down. He's a man, Annelie, and he's a very closed-off man at that. I don't care whether he wants to hit on you or tell you his darkest secret. You're not going by yourself. End of discussion.

If you were anyone else...

Annelie lets out a defeated sigh, smiling a little to herself.

Annelie: Okay, fine. But you stay concealed and quiet. Only pop your head out if I call for you.

Lucifer: Fine. I don't like it, but fine.

[ timeskip ]

Annelie walks into the darkened halls of the castle with ease, searching for Barbatos. She passes Diavolo's room, and she chuckles a little as she sees the prince sleeping soundly. Eventually, she catches the sight of Barbatos carrying a lit candelabra, making his face look gaunt.

Barbatos: There you are.

Barbatos smiles softly.

Barbatos: Follow me; I'd prefer to speak over tea.

Annelie: Yeah, sure...

Annelie starts walking behind the butler.

Annelie: Can you give me a hint about what you want to talk about with me exactly? You have to know that you're making me pretty anxious right now. You don't have a very good track record.

Barbatos: Haha. No, I don't.

Annelie: ...

Barbatos: ...

Annelie: ........

Barbatos: ...........

Annelie: Barb? Isn't this your room? You're really scaring me now.

Barbatos: I apologize for my reticence. I did not desire to make you anxious, although what I have to tell you may be anxiety-inducing.

Barbatos pours a cup of tea for Annelie and himself, and the sweet aroma of chamomile reaches Annelie's nose. He gestures for her to sit, taking a sip of tea.

Annelie: ...okay...?

Barbatos: It has become clear to me that you are widely loved by everyone in your circle. Unfortunately, that love is of the romantic variety which cannot be satiated when you have become so tightly bonded to Lucifer.

Annelie: Is... Is this a lecture?

Barbatos: No, not at all. It's... more of a personal musing, I'm afraid. Rather, it is a lament on my part. I have come to realize that I am just as fond of you as the young master or the other members of the student council.

Annelie: I guess... yeah, that's pretty surprising.

Annelie takes a sip of her tea.

Annelie: But... why did you need to call me all the way to the castle for that?

Hm? Do I... hear Lucifer shouting?

Barbatos: That has to do with the other thing I needed to inform you of.

Although there was no change in Barbatos' expression, a tear slipped free of one eye.

Huh? Why does he... look... blurry...?

Barbatos: Annelie, your curse has spread and permanently taken root. Solomon's vaccine is effective only at treating surface-level symptoms. Of the sparing records I was able to find on Queen Succubi... we are in a critical state.

Annelie collapses to the floor, and Barbatos catches her, laying her down gently.

Barbatos: ...so... for the sake of the prince's life, I can't let you live.

I am sorry, Annelie.... truly.

[themightymoose]

The Big, Feathered Parade

Vinnie jumping on top of Penny's head and her not caring

"What... are we talking about?"

"WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT???"

That is the vaguest age restriction-

Gorgeous mustache my good sir

He laughs like the Joker

(Coming from someone who never heard the Joker talk. At all)

OH NO THAT POOR BIRD YOU'RE CHOKING HIMMM

That's convenient that he had a case that looks exactly like Blythe's

What if one was like white or something

Hold on that was a smooth transition

"And we should care about that because...?" Zoe don't ruin this for him

"Sounds like somebody has a reptile crush on Bruce~" okay I take it back I love that

Blythe you can't say no to that face

The guy in the car 💀

Song time

This is pretty catchy

He's such an excited gecko

This dude is insane

Is Bruce on the phone???? With who????

Oh wait I might be stupid

I thought Zoe was gonna pull off his tail

"Blythe Baxter does NOT sit on the sidelines!" YES GIRL KNOW YOUR WORTH

I love this bird

WHAT DID RAMON DO TO YOUUUUUU

👊👊👊👊👊👊 Ramon... when I catch you Ramon

Zoe does not want to be here

Hit a nerve huh

The return of angry Vinnie

Poor Zoe getting dragged around

This poor bird

Blythe they can't understand animals like you what are you talking about

Fuck Ramon all my homies hate Ramon

I hope I'm spelling his name right

We have five more minutes left I don't know if he will

Top ten anime betrayal

It's okay bird guy who I keep forgetting the name of.... I understand

DESI THAT'S HIS NAME OR HOWEVER YOU SPELL IT

yeah it's spelled Desi

And then everyone ✨clapped✨

Good for her

How the fuck did they get that

Yeah I kinda figured Bruce was fake. And didn't exist

Vinnie's Bruce 💀

I'm happy for Desi :)

Yeah I think it's pretty clear Ramon was abusing him

[mangoshorthand]

Before A Fall [Five Hargreeves x F Reader]. Ch 11 (Hard Feelings Part 2)

SUMMARY: As your life begins to grow around Five's, his attitude becomes a little sinister. When does protection become suffocation and when does taking matters into your own hands become betrayal? (weekly updates)

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Chapter Twelve

Five's got a lot of grovelling to do.

Nothing objectionable below but proceed at your own risk anyway.

Chapter 11: A Biological Matter

Hastily, you hold Five to you and kiss his forehead once, twice, three times. Clearly bewildered, he brings a hand up to your back to reciprocate but you pull away too quickly.

"You need shut the fuck up, listen and not ask questions."

"What?"

You take Santi's hand and shout for Viktor. Already poised for an emergency, you hear him approach on the run.

Sloane is staring at Five's shoulder, still holding the scissors open, pointed at the ceiling. "It's gone...it's just gone!"

Five follows her gaze and brings his hand up to touch the new skin, disbelievingly. As Viktor skids into the room, Klaus waves his focus towards Five's shoulder.

"It was Santi."

You ignore this and kneel in front of the terrified little boy. His round face is anxious.

"Don't be scared. You just did something amazing." 

You feel your brain whirr and you look sharply over your shoulder at the adults.

"I have a theory. Hear me out," you turn back to Santi, “tell me how you felt when that happened.”

He stutters and hesitates a little but when you take his hand, he manages.

“Like my tummy was scared. It was tingly.”

Five interrupts,

"What are you?-"

"Shut up Five!" you say, harshly. "Just listen for once!" 

You don't turn back to Santi immediately, holding Five's eyes in a glare. Your tone has clearly taken him by surprise; he actually looks cowed. The look suits him. You turn back to Santi.

“Sorry, sweetie: your tummy felt tingly like you were scared? Anything else?”

“I felt sad…and my shoulder hurt a little.”

“Ok...did you feel like that when you hugged Alyssa in the hospital?”

His brow furrows slightly at this, surprised, “Yeah. A bit. I got the tingle."

"Any times before that?"

“The first time was…" his calf's eyes shift upwards as he recalls, "I think when I was crying. Alyssa hugged me because Cole called me stupid.”

Cole?

“Was this the week before Mommy and Daddy got married?”

“Uh...I think."

You think for a few moments. He can replicate…

You turn back to the others, most still stare at where Five’s wound was, Viktor shaking his head.

“We know Santi can replicate organisms, right? Simple ones now, but maybe more complex ones later? And once his body’s ‘remembered’ a bug, he can make one anywhere right?” your head whips back to Santi, like you're watching a tennis match, “could you make a spider for me right now, if I wanted?”

He nods his head and holds out a hand as if to create a dupe, but you put yours on top.

“No, there's no need. Illnesses are much less complex than animals: they’re just biological matter- cells, organisms. If Santi’s had a wound heal before, then maybe it's like an immune response. Maybe his body can replicate the cure."

And maybe the complaint too. If he wants.

“When you hugged Alyssa before the wedding, you were ill for a while, weren’t you?”

“Yeah.” He looks a little scared,

“It’s ok, don’t worry. It’s just, after you hugged her again- Alyssa got better. Did… your head hurt like when you were ill?”

“A little.”

“Has it hurt like that any other time?” you take his hand, “It’s ok. Don’t be scared.”

He sniffles and tears brim under his eyes. He's understood the truth before any of the others. Maybe part of him already knew. His eyes seem to be confirmation of your suspicions.

“I got angry one day. When Cole and Joe and Robert were-m-mean to me. Cole pushed me and the others laughed so I got up and pushed them all back and…”

“And what?” you put your hand against his hot, soft cheek as tears begin to roll down them.

“And my head hurt!”

You pull him into a hug.

"It's okay. Good boy. You're such a good boy for telling me this- and so brave. It's going to be ok."

As you whisper the comforting words, you look over his shoulders at the others. You think it’s dawning on Five, but the others aren’t there yet.

“It’s not JUICED. We know they’re doing shady shit with Ditrico-”

“What?” Five interrupts, face serious and hanging onto your every word.

You don't snap this time. He's asking to understand, not to take over.

“The compound: they’re trying to engineer the kids so that they feel thirsty unless they’ve drunk JUICED. So when four kids get cancer, they panic- in case it was Ditrico causing it- just like you thought.” 

You incline your head towards him before continuing. 

“So that’s why they set up the funds for their medical bills, that's why they set up the investigation and probably why there was all that security at their head office: they were doing damage limitation just in case it was a side-effect. But it wasn’t.”

You can feel your hands shaking slightly. You address all of them, pulling away from Santi only so much as to be able to look him in the eye.

“Alyssa…she was just unlucky. She was just the one in thousands that gets these tumors. But Santi- you absorbed it and your body learned how to fix it and replicate it. So when the boys were mean to you -when you got angry with Cole and Joe and Robert- you accidentally passed it on."

Your face turns back to Five.

"It's linked to his feelings," you glance at Viktor here and then back at Five, "he felt empathy for you and Alyssa and that's how he was able to heal. But he passed it onto the boys because they made him angry and upset." 

There's a moment of silence before Five speaks, dismayed:

“Shit!”

“So…” comes Viktor’s voice, “does this mean we can save them?”

You smile kindly at Santi, taking both of his tense little hands and caressing the palms with your thumbs.

“Well…one of us can.”

That night, Five threatened to tear out his I.V if Sloane didn't remove it. He insisted on climbing all the attic stairs rather than let any of you set him up a bed elsewhere, only accepting help when he reached the third floor and couldn't walk any further, let alone blink. 

He was too exhausted to ask questions and fell asleep as soon as you helped him into bed.

This morning, it was only with threats of physical violence that his siblings managed to contain him at the Academy instead of accompanying you and Santi to the hospital. It was lucky for them that his body was still too drained to blink or to put up too much of a fight. 

Now, they stand sentinel in his doorway, not allowing him to go beyond the bed or reading chair at most. It’s reasonable to suspect that his weakness will soon fade but, for now, he needs to stay still. 

Partly to distract him, partly to keep him up to date, Luther explains how you managed to obtain the information and hands Five the recovered files to read through. After absorbing everything, Five puts all the documents back into the folder and sits disbelievingly for a few minutes.

Klaus breaks the silence that follows with a roguish laugh: “Oh, have you got some shit to eat now, Mister”

“Klaus…” reproaches Luther.

“No. You gotta hear it Five: I did the only thing you didn’t think to do. I asked your girlfriend. And she dealt with it. In like, two days! And if you’d have asked her before you broke into the university, you’d have had an easier time then too. But nooo you’re so obsessed with ‘protecting’ her that you treat her like a kid.”

“So…you and her?” says Five, angry and disbelieving, “You’ve been investigating this behind my back? Behind all of our backs?”

Klaus makes a little noise of frustration “You’re missing the point! I wanted to show you what an asshole you can be. To me too sometimes.”

Five’s neck and jaw tense in that way his siblings have grown to recognise as a warning sign.

“So you did this to piss me off?”

Klaus’s voice takes on the soft cadence that would have held Destiny's Children in thrall.

“No Five. I did it to teach you a lesson…about love…”

 He brings his hands together, as if in prayer.

“…and also to piss you off.”

One of Five’s hands thumps the side of his chair in frustration.

“Will someone get this dumb cunt out of here before I’m tempted to over-exert myself?” he spits, teeth gritted.

“Ease up on him, Klaus.” mumbles Viktor, “Fine. You might just want to think about being a partner and less of a patronizing bastard to everyone. Otherwise, she’s gonna wise up, leave you and realize that I’m the hottest one. And then,” he said, rotating his hips suggestively,  “she'll want to get a hot slice o’ Klaus and either it's going to be insanely awkward with you or I'll have to say no and that will be SUPER hard on her.” As Five's expression becomes dangerous, Luther wisely distracts him: “You wanna…organize that press conference? I had some adult uniforms dry-cleaned. Not the shirt and tie ones, the mission ones…the sexy ones.” Klaus sighs contentedly, smiling benignly at Five: “Excellent. Nothing like a trip down memory lane to bring the family together.”

His hand clasped tightly in yours, you and Santi stand in the doorway. Cole looks so small, sleeping with shallow breaths beneath the clean white sheets of his hospital bed. His father also sleeps, in a chair leaning against the wall. 

It’s easy, when you care about one child, to demonize one that bullies them, but now you look at Cole, all you can see is another little boy, full of promise and on the brink of dying.

Sensing his hesitation, you squat beside Santi and whisper.

“Are you okay?”

He’s still looking at Cole.  

“He’s asleep.”

“Yeah, but you can still go in to try and help him.”

He shuffles from foot to foot, makes as if to enter but seems to think better of it. He abruptly shies away and hides his head in your shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t worry,” you soothe.

“He doesn’t look like Cole,” he whispers.

You glance over at the small figure. He probably doesn’t look like the Cole that Santi knows. He looks skeletal, even worse than Alyssa did. His eyes and cheeks are sunken, like he could die any day. Perhaps something in Santi’s anger accelerated the illness. 

“It’s because he’s ill.”

Santi nods but still hangs back. Gently, you give his hand a supportive squeeze.

“Come on, sweetie. He needs you to be kind.”

Santi hesitates for a moment longer, looking from Cole to his father and back again. Then, he squares his shoulders as much as a seven-year-old can and leads you into the room.

By the time you and Santi came home, Five was up and about again. His tip-off on Di-triberyllium colloid for the FDA and various other authorities were dispatched and his speech to the press ready for tomorrow. Nothing to do now but wait until the morning. Santi had told him excitedly about how he went into the hospital and fixed Cole, Joe and Robert even though they’re mean, because he’s kind.

All the kids saved and evil corporate machinations kept at bay…now he could no longer avoid facing you. No excuses any more. Time to take off the schoolboy shorts and put on his big boy pants.

Up in his room, (both of your room), he pauses. Now he’s here, he isn’t sure what to do. You're sitting on the slipper chair and he on the desk. There’s more to discuss here than just today’s events. He’d thought he understood what he had to do... but now it's time to do it...He straightens his tie, takes in a deep breath and tries:

“You did well.”

“Thanks.” 

He thinks back to the first time he’d borne his heart to you. His mouth had still tasted of whiskey-vomit while he laid on your lumpy couch. It was so much easier when he was drunk. He opens his mouth, thinking that he’ll say sorry, or ‘I was wrong’ or ‘I didn’t mean it,’ but instead, it’s something entirely different that comes out:

“I wish you hadn’t gone behind my back with Klaus.”

You shake your head incredulously.

“Would you have listened if I’d come to you?”

He dodges this, looking down briefly at his clasped hands. 

“It was still kind of a betrayal.”

“A betrayal of what? You never trusted me in the first place.”

He puts his hands in his pockets, watching his own foot as he swings it back and forth. He can't deny that's...fair. He should probably try this again. 

“Luther tells me you really went for that guy when he tried it on. He said he was impressed. Is it wrong that I’m a little proud of-?”

You interrupt him, “I know a chemistry PhD at the college.”

“-huh?”

“My friend Lydia is a chemist. If you’d have just asked me, right from the start, I could have got you in. I could have got you an actual chemist to perform the experiment. That's the sort of thing she does.”

“-but…”

“No. No buts,” the little wisps of hair loose from your hair tie are awry in a wild crown around your face, “it never occurred to you that I might have information. You never thought that something I say could help you while you’re trying to put the world to rights. It never occurred to you that maybe I give a shit whether a corporation’s killing kids?”

“I never said-"

“-But what could I know? I can’t blink to the fucking bathroom or talk to the dead or float or whatever. But you know what, Five? I’m good at my job, I’ve lived in the world, I can comfort you when you wake up screaming and sometimes, maybe fucking sometimes, I know better than you and-”

You dissolve into sobs. They surprise him in their intensity. Shit. He stands and crosses the room. 

“Hey- it’s okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

“You can’t just fuck up and keep saying sorry like that makes it go away. You promised. When we first met, you promised to respect me.”

“I know, I know,” He puts a hand in your hair and tries to soothe, “I’m sorry. You’re right."

“You told me you’d listen.”

The way you emphasize this word makes his gut twist. He removes his hand from your hair. He did promise you to listen and he did promise you respect back when he'd first got together with you. But somehow, he'd never imagined this. 

Hell, he'd trusted Dolores with his plans more than he'd trusted you...but then again, Dolores wasn't the kind of girl to run off on her own and get hurt. He'd imagined respect and listening in the context of sex and romance not...

His arrogance, presumption and condescension suddenly break on him like waves; his hand goes up to cover his eyes...fuck. He's a fucking shitty asshole!

“I’m listening. I’m listening now, I promise.” 

He reaches for your face again but you pull away from him, putting your head in your hands instead. He steps back and then kneels in front of you, feeling his legs moving seemingly without his volition- it’s like you draw him like a magnet. 

This is one of those moments where everything could change. He feels it in the way he feels his power; electricity all over him. He’s never seen you like this before, never understood on a real, guttural level that you might just up and leave him one day- that he might become just another shitty man in your romantic history. His chest hurts a little, and not from any bullet-related causes.

“Please. Let me fix it.”

“You can’t just ‘fix’ it,” your face is still covered, “that’s the problem. You can’t do and say shitty things, feel bad and apologize and think that solves it.”

He shuffles towards you, “I know. I know.”

“You have to change.”

“Yes. I do.”

 He bends and lays his cheek on your knees, exposing his neck to you. You don't push him off. He feels vulnerable like this but he guesses he deserves that. This physical position feels important somehow. It's worshipful. It gets his mind into the right frame.

“When we first got together, I promised you to listen and learn and recently I’ve not listened. But I am now, I swear I am. And I’ll show you that I'm learning.”

“So for the next few days you’ll ask my opinion, smile and nod and then do what you were going to do anyway?”

“No.” He kisses your knee briefly before returning to the submissive pose. “Everything you’ve said...especially that night I spoke to Santi, I didn’t want to hear it but it was true. Or true enough. Every fucking time you know me better than I know myself."

He laughs at this sadly.

"I’ve disrespected you and I’ve side-lined you because deep down I thought I was better than you.”

He closes his eyes, as if waiting for a stroke of the guillotine to his bared neck. When you don't respond, he continues,

“You did go behind my back with Klaus but I guess I brought it on myself. I pushed you away. I told myself it’s because I wanted to protect you. That I didn’t want to see you hurt again. And that’s true but it wasn’t the whole truth. But now I know.” 

His hands ball into fists as he comes to grip the hem of your shirt. He tries not to pull at you desperately. 

“You’re intelligent, intuitive and everything to me.”

His voice cracks and he breathes in hard. He tries to regain control of himself and manages it with difficulty. He knows there’s more to say.

“I want to be a partner to you.”

You still don't touch him, your hands now grip the underside of the chair.

“We can’t be partners if we’re not equals.”

“I know,” he kisses your leg again, “but maybe in time I can learn to live up to you.

Tag list: (please comment to be added or removed.) @dilfjohhny , @sunsunhe, @w4stedtr4sh, @nevbrooke-555, @theredvelvetbitch, @td-miley01, @five-hxrgreeves

Masterpost Alternatively, join me on AO3.  Here is a link to the whole series

[luna-loner]

Day 6: Movie Night with the B5

It's a disaster and for once, it's not Seo's or Koyama's fault. Oh, no; it's Gakushuu's.

You see, Mr. Smartypants isn't a fan of a particular genre; he'll watch anything so long as it's well-made. However, that means he can have quite a lot of complaints. He's not the biggest fan of horror and is constantly criticizing the monster costumes and the character's stupidity. Also, don't get him started on the cliche endings where everyone just dies.

He has a love-hate relationship with Historical movies, because there's bound to be some inaccuracies for the plot's sake. On the other hand, these inaccuracies motivate him to flex his knowledge do some research. Same with Sci-Fi; who cares if it takes place on a fictional planet? He expects the writers to get the physics right! Fantasy is perhaps the only genre he doesn't nitpick alot.

He's that nitpicky know-it-all critic that producers and fans despise. You can tell how much fun the B5 are gonna have.

After his third complaint, Seo blows up and tells him to shut it. Thus begins another World War between those two.

Ren and Araki, being the only two normal guys in the room, continue watching the movie. They've long since mastered the art of blocking out their best friends' banter.

Local Gremlin and Agent of Chaos Koyama gleefully watches the Seo-Asano verbal battle while eating his popcorn.

Sadly for Araki, he eventually gets dragged into the argument to back up Seo's points with his pop culture knowledge. Sigh, friendships…

In turn, Gakushuu tries to get Ren on his side, but Ren isn't having it. Just because they're close friends doesn't mean Ren will pretend Gakushuu's ridiculous criticisms are valid.

"Top ten anime betrayals," Araki mutters when the room goes quiet.

A flabbergasted Gakushuu tries to argue that his criticisms are in fact, valid, but Ren calmly and nonchalantly counter-argues with him.

Koyama laughs and continues eating the popcorn.

Araki eventually joins in to support Ren's arguments. Seo joins in too just to mess with Mr. Perfect, but then Ren criticizes one of his points and Araki freaking sides with Ren!

But Gakushuu disagrees with some of their points so he sides with Seo. Araki disagrees with Ren's point so he has to side with Gakushuu, but Seo disagrees and sides with Ren and no one knows who's arguing with who anymore…

Koyama suddenly heads to the kitchen and it's then the four movie scholars notice he's finished the popcorn.

And this is why the Bt do not have movie nights.

[castletown-cafe]

Life Updates, AuDHD, and A Mental Trainwreck

Content Warnings: Mental illness, current events, betrayal trauma, abuse, & family death.

It's time I talked about how things have been for me lately. I'm tired of hyping up all these things/projects I can't commit to, it feels like I'm making promises I can't fulfill. I get too ambitious, I get too many ideas, and even the ones I manage to see through, I just do not enjoy the writing portion.

About a year ago, my focus drifted away from Castletown Cafe. Many of you here may know what that's like to lose interest/hyperfixation on one thing and get fixated on something else, that's natural for us with autism and ADHD. We get an intense hyperfocus on a topic or project for a while only to shift to the next topic, losing interest or forgetting about the previous. I got really fixated on Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, Splatoon 3, and ACNH this past year, as well as making my own unrelated cooking projects revolving around seasonal ingredients. This fall, I got crazy ambitious for an entire fall-themed cookbook and even a Halloween one, things that obviously will take years of practice and experimentation (and need year-round work).

On top of that, however, I have not been feeling as well mentally this year. I've had less motivation to draw, and felt a stronger dislike of writing. If you have ADHD you know how hard it is to get yourself to do something you don't want to do. It's like pulling teeth. I've always had issues with executive dysfunction, and I wonder how much of it I've succumbed to this year. And while I've never been diagnosed with clinical depression, I'm wondering/concerned if I am showing signs of it like I might have been this year with my lack of motivation, my focus and drive getting worse, loss of enjoyment of things I ordinarily enjoy doing, such as drawing, feeling sad more often, and either sleeping too much or too little.

Granted the events of this fall haven't helped. We all know what's going on in the world right now. It's horrifying, it's depressing, and it's easy to feel helpless, but we all have the power to protest, to boycott, and to use social media to amplify voices of the marginalized. I have been very active on Twitter with this, but it has also been hard to enjoy my favorite times of year, the fall and Halloween, when tens of thousands are being massacred. It's no wonder I have been so depressed this fall, knowing the country we live in is siding with the colonizers and is actively funding genocide. Our tax dollars are being used to fund this and many, if not most, American brands and companies are also in favor of it.

Then, in November, I discover that an 80s band I liked is guilty of VERY inappropriate behavior toward women. One I had been listening to for the past few years. Fronted by a guy whose music I had enjoyed since childhood. I shouldn't have been so surprised, but it still broke me anyway. Another betrayal was a YouTuber who turned out to be an imposter with no thoughts or opinions of his own, only stolen from others. Yet another was a confirmation of suspicions I had toward a certain animator having NPD and being abusive, (who, to be honest, I never actually liked, just her art style and cartoons).

Oh, but that's not all! Here's where it gets really personal, but I think I really need to disclose this. On top of everything going on, I had two deaths in the family recently. One was a parent whom I didn't get along with very well, the other was my old pup Oscar. My old doggo has been easier to grieve, because he was a sweet, good boy....and honestly....he deserved a better end to his life than what he got. He was living with my father, keeping him company. My father was the parent I had a bad relationship with, and is the reason I advocate strongly for responsible and careful drinking. Because he failed to do that. He always used alcohol for self-medication, something you should NEVER do. His substance abuse got worse and worse over the years, driving him meaner and more abusive. He was never really kind to me, even if he tried to be. I never had a good relationship with my father, and honestly I know a lot of people can relate to that with one or both of their parents. A lot of us have betrayal trauma from growing up, maybe you have parents who don't love you unconditionally, or parents who never wanted to be parents, emotionally or physically abusive parents, you get the idea. Mine just so happened to be a man born and raised in a time where there was no diagnosis for his neurodivergence. He had tons of internalized ableism that he pushed onto me, and modelled horrible, angry behavior. He also had depression, but never sought help, and I believe that's due to toxic masculinity.

He can't hurt me anymore, though. I moved out of his house almost 5 years ago, and I wish it had been sooner. I'm not sure how to feel about his passing, because of how he treated me when he was alive. One thing I have been feeling though, is stress. He has left behind a house that is a disaster because he neglected to take care of it, tons of debt because he had failed to pay his bills, and no will whatsoever so inheritance is also going to be a mess to untangle. My family and I have been going back to that house to clean it, get it repaired, and figure out what to do with everything left behind. Right in the middle of a holiday season. What fun /sarcasm.

On the topic of Oscar, it's safe to say how he passed/what happened. My father went first, and so Oscar just curled up next to him.....and stayed there until he also died. And honestly....that's just heartbreaking.....I wish Oscar could've howled for help, that someone could have heard him and come to his rescue and taken care of him....but he didn't....I just wish i could have been by Oscar's side in his final moments. I know he was an old dog, he lived to be 15 and a half...but he's with my grandma now and I hope she's taking good care of him, wherever they are.

Meanwhile, Penny has been a new family member since July. She has been by my side to give hugs and cuddles, and I've needed them a lot these past few weeks. Since Oscar stayed behind to keep my father company when I moved out a few years ago, I missed my puppy, and having a little doggo around. And so, enter Penny. She's even registered as an emotional support animal, or ESA, and she goes all kinds of places with me. I love the attention she gets from other people when we go shopping together. Her cuteness lightens up a room and makes the day of many people.

My little fluffy girl has been a big help getting me through everything this season.

Back to Castletown Cafe, it may take a while, but I hope one day to return to it. I have all kinds of ideas and things I want to make and practice, and I also hope to create more content in 2024, even doing more live gaming on Twitch. I got a new computer for streaming, but I still need a monitor for it. I wanna have a streaming schedule and everything.

I really appreciate all of you who are still here even though I haven't been able to make many new things or deliver upon hyped ideas. I feel bad about my lack of content this year, though with recent life events I think it's really understandable as to why I haven't been able to churn out much in that regard.

One more thing: I do want to disclose that my ADHD is unmedicated. I can't get medication for it (not with this hell-thcare system) and I don't know what I should take for executive dysfunction. For those of you who made it this far with ADHD, what do you recommend?

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read this, especially if you made it all the way to the end here. I know it was a lot, and some of this is REALLY heavy stuff. These are things that we all do go through, however.

Thank you.

~ Mari 🧡

[fandoms-uniteds-blog]

My Top 10 Favorite Cartoons!

Number 10 Octonauts

What attracted me to this show when I was ten was the lessons on animals since most shows for little kids are about shapes, numbers, letter, and other boring stuff. But not the Octonauts! They talk about two of my favorite things: science and animals. And sea creatures no less. When was the last time you’ve seen a show meant for young children that educated them on the ocean and everything in it? Maybe that one show on PBS with the Cat in the Hat? But I like Octonauts better. Just look at those designs. Absolutely adorable!

It’s simple, it’s cute, and it’s surprisingly interesting sometimes.

I used to be super embarrassed for watching a show meant for toddlers since I’m in my twenties, but then I found out that their are grown adults that enjoy wholesome shows too, like Paw Patrol and PJ Masks! It was a nice relief to know that I wasn’t the only one.

Number 9 Wander over Yonder

This has got to be the sweetest show to every be put on Television. Most main characters have to be strong and cool and have an internal struggle to be impressing, but Wander doesn’t. He’s the cinnamon roll of all cinnamon rolls!

All he does is travel the universe with his bestie Sylvia (in a bubble!) and goes sightseeing. And if he happens to help people along the way, even better!

What gets me about this show is that Wonder’s optimistic and naivety doesn’t always lead to everything being hunky dory. Sometimes being nice gets him in trouble or makes even the simplest tasks harder than necessary. Heck, if Sylvia wasn’t there to have his back, his kindness would be a lot easier to take advantage of.

And I love that because it’s true that sometime being nice doesn’t feel as accomplishing as is should and can even backfire on us. But even though Wander’s experienced betrayal and hardships in his life, he still has enough hope in his heart to keep helping people.

Number 8 LEGO Ninjago

I remember when this show came out all those years ago. Back when TV’s were these big, chunky machines and you had to prop them up on tables instead of mounting them on walls.

This show is full of so much creativity and lore. From the elemental powers, to Ninjago City’s history, to the characters, and even the ideas that were dropped, it’s no wonder why the show’s still going. It’s great watching Kai, Jay, Cole, and Zane make friends, battle enemies, learn life lessons, discover secrets about themselves, and go on the craziest adventures.

I ended up being too busy because of middle school after season 3 ended and missed out of the rest of it up until Sea Bound was announced. Thanks to the birthday specials LEGO did for Ninjago’s anniversary, I learned that the show was still running and on Netflix. So me and my sister binge watched the series from the start and we fell right back in love with it.

Number 7 Transformers Animated

Out of all the Transformers series, this one is my personal favorite. Yes the other shows are pretty good too, but this one is different from all the other shows, comics, games, and movies. And I like different!

Optimus Prime has been depicted as a lot of things. A war hero that keeps his men’s spirits up with good humor and cheesy quips (G1). A powerful warrior who has become jaded after a millennia of war (Bay). A stoic leader and friend who won’t give up hope for a better future (Prime). But TFA Optimus isn’t any of that. If anything, he’s a little bit of everything but still his own thing.

And Optimus’s not the only one who’s different. Prowl is a nature loving ninja, Ratchet is a grouchy war veteran who cares about his team, Bulkhead is full of knowledge and creativity, and Bumblebee is the kid of the group with a lot to learn. The Decepticons are just as entertaining too with their own unique abilities and personalities.

All in all, there isn’t any other version of Transformers like this one and I wish more long time franchises would try something new from time to time.

Number 6 LEGO Monkie Kid

Based on one of the four classic Chinese literatures, Monkie Kid is a wonderful adaptation of a four hundred year old book that’s had a crap ton of movies, shows, and even an upcoming video game inspired by it.

I’m very picky about shows and movies based on history, mythology, or folklore. I like it when it’s accurate, but understand when things have to be changed around. It’s why I’m not the biggest Disney’s Hercules fan since they got the mythology completely and utterly wrong.

But Monkie Kid is freaking amazing. The amination is so colorful and lively and exhilarating! MK, the Monkey King, and all of their friends are so much fun to watch and I love all of them. The story is wild and mystical, which is fitting since Chinese folklore makes little to no sense but is still entertaining as heck. Don’t believe me? Read the original Journey to the West novels and just try to make logical sense out of it. Like why the dragon stays a horse for 95% of the book when he can be a huge fire breathing dragon!

I used to bug my little sister to watch this show with me all the time. And her being the little sh*t that she is always said “no” just because she has this weird habit of turning me down. But I was finally able to tie her down and force her to watch the first season! And guess what? She liked it! All this talk about NoT bEiNg InTeReStEd and now she’s getting ready to go cosplay as MK for a convention!

Number 5 Gargoyles

This has got to be Disney’s coolest show of all time. Disney usually sticks with cutey family friendly stuff like Duck Tales and Goof Troop, but they decided to take a risk and try to gain an older audience with Gargoyles. And they succeeded!

The show’s based on some of Shakespeare's books and has a good mix of fantasy and sci-fi. Especially when it takes places in 90′s New York. It also teaches a lot of mature life lessons like the importance of taking responsibility for your actions, the dangers of being stubborn and in denial, prejudice, gun safety, death, and so much more.

The characters are all lovable tropes of the 90′s, including the smart one (Lexington), the big eater (Broadway), the guy who wants to look cool but is actually a dork (Brooklyn), the dog (Bronx), the wise mentor (Hutson), the badass leader (goliath), and the girl of the group (Elisa). But their personalities and arcs are expanded on after the first few episodes. And the people they met also get a chance to shine in their own way and I appreciate that.

I’d recommend this to anyone who’s into Shakespeare or anyone who needs something to push their interest towards those kinds of stories.

Number 4 Arcane

I’m not a gamer, so I have little to no information on League of Legends. I don’t know the characters, the landscapes, the items, the history, or the lore of this world. But you don’t need to be a LoL fan to watch Arcane.

The animation? Gorgeous. The music? Amazing. The action? Thrilling! The characters? Complex. The voice acting? Impressive. And the story in general? Captivating.

I like how this show demonstrates how everyone’s actions have consequences and that there’s more to people than meets the eyes. Humans (and whatever other creatures exist in this world) are complex being and the choices we make don’t just affect our own life, but the lives of others too. Seeing the domino effect of everyone’s actions is as entertaining as it is nerve wracking since no one knows what the end results will be until it’s too late.

Another thing I love about this show is that it’s a Netflix original so it’s translated in Spanish. I was able to watch Arcane with my parents and they loved it. It was so much fun watching their reactions to the action, the conflict, and the sisters’ relationship because the two of them are very vocal and expressive. When the season one finale ended with that jaw dropper of a cliffhanger, they were both waiting for me to put on the next episode. They were devastated when I told them that that was it and had to wait for season two.

Number 3 Final Space

Like most animated series nowadays, Final Space is a mix of goofy, angsty, and lore heavy. But then, as the series progresses, the angst is doubled, if not tripled, and the side characters are given a chance to be fleshed out.

Everyone in the show has a story to tell. Gary, Mooncake, Avocato, Little Cato, Quinn, HUE, and everyone else have a past that ends with them being brought together to help each other reach their goals. Each with their own strength, weaknesses, and arcs to go through that make us love or hate them.

The first season is easily a fun space adventure with a few mysterious for us to look forward to and heart felt moments that have us sobbing. Then season two ups the stakes with the universe needing saving and more trauma for the characters to endure. And then there’s season three, which hits us in the feels in every episode and leaves us with an ending like no other.

If you're going to watch this show, then I’d advise you to prepare yourself emotionally.

Number 2 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

If you haven’t guessed one of my guilty pleasures from my favorite Transformers shows, I like it when the usual formula is shaken up a bit.

The TMNT franchise has had dozens of shows, movies, comics, and video games dedicated to these guys. All of them about four mutant turtles in their teens being raised as ninjas by their rat father and using their skills to fight all kinds of evil lurking in New York City.

But Rise turns the sci-fi into fantasy and use that to give us something brand new. Not just rebooted, but reimagined! Each turtle is a different species, they have their own unique powers, they have different personalities from their previous incarnations, and the adventures they go on feel a lot more fun and sometimes grander than before.

And it’s not just the TMNT part that I love. The animation is jaw dropping. The voice acting is very fitting. The humor leaves me laughing every time. The action scenes are so fast and creative. The characters are likable and memorable. And the brotherly relationship of Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are put front and center for us to gush over.

I know some people have a thing about changes, but if you give this show a chance, I swear you’ll love it.

Number 1 Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

I have never related to a fictional character before, much less three, yet here they are in the form of a grumpy cat with big dreams, a cybernetic badger with a big imagination, and a chaotic bat with a big heart.

And if you’ve watched even one episode of the show and know what I mean when I say that I relate to them, then yes, you should be very concern for my mental health.

This show is truly a treasure. It has everything I love in a cartoon and more. It has fluff, angst, mystery, comedy, friendship, bromance, humor, hurt/comfort, sci-fi, fantasy, anthro animals, and the classic found family trope all rolled into one! What else is there to say other than this show is nothing less than amazing. The characters are charming, the world is interesting, the adventures are entertaining, the visual humor is hilarious, and the main trio have their own tragic backstories that make them easy to sympathize with.

Funny story: me and my little sister were watching it together and she started laughing her butt off when Badgerclops was complaining to Mao Mao and Adorabat about having too many chores. I was glad she was enjoying herself until it got to the part where Badgerclops was says something along the lines of “It’s always Badgerclops, fix the arocycle. Badgerclops, go get groceries. It’s overwhelming dude!” Then my b*tch of a sister turns to me with a sh*t eating grin and goes “Rose, do the dishes. Rose, clean the bathroom,” and laughed in my face!

It’s not my fault I live with a bunch of gluttons who can’t put their dirty dishes in the kitchen or wipe the bathroom sink after they splash water everywhere!

...

Wait a minute, why do a lot of of my favorite shows end in tragedy?! And I don’t mean the final episode or whatever, I mean the program as a whole! Final Space was canceled after giving us a depressing season three finale, Gargoyles had a terrible season three because Disney switched their writers with people who knew nothing about the show and had to wing it, Transformers Animated was cancelled when a season four was planned, ROTTMNT was “put on hold” for years until the movie came out with hopes of bringing it back, Wander over Yonder was going to have a season three with an ever bigger baddy but was shot down, and Mao Mao was promised a season two until a certain company that will burn in hell took that away from us!

Hopefully Ninjago, Arcane, Octonauts, and Monkie Kid aren’t hit with the same bad luck.

Just how many more amazing shows were screwed over and why are they always the ones I love?!

[onceuponalegendbg]

I can’t believe y’all let me down like this.

Why did no one tell me the dlc was hiding the coolest character with the best design and voice acting that would literally bring me to tears despite the awful audio balancing?

I went months without this knowledge, put off even buying the dlc.

I thought we were friends.

Top Ten Anime Betrayals, right here.

[applecherry108]

Asking about your VLD rewrite

Blessed be the anon that reads my tags. 🙏

SO,,

First and foremost, black Paladin Lance endgame. Klance endgame. Shiro and Curtis endgame, but Adam is alive and we give Curtis an actual personality and character arc. Allura's not dead, Lotor is good, probably something about whatsherface (the witch).

Alright alright alright, SO,,, Lance is the youngest of his family. His family that suspiciously looks like the other paladins. So in this rewrite, Lance is used to being the mastermind and the scape goat. Siblings want cookies? Lance makes a plan. Mama catches them? Lance takes the dive. You know. Real leadership qualities from a young age.

Cut to the first episode. Lance takes the dive for him, Pidge, and Hunk flunking the flight simulator. Iverson still compares him to Keith. We then cut to Lance at the shooting range, absolutely killing it (so his sharpshooting doesn't come so out of left field). Boom, Veronica's there to give him a pep talk. NOW we can go back to later that night, Lance trying to cheer up Hunk by sneaking out, coming across Pidge yada yada yada.

We're rescuing Shiro now. Keith doesn't remember Lance which INFURIATES him, and we'll learn several seasons later in a flashback that Lance started the whole rivalry to keep Keith out of trouble. He was getting into too many fights with James and was going to get expelled, but Lance, who looked up to Shiro, knew how important Keith's success was to him, so he steps in to play a role. To divert Keith's attention and keep him from fighting James.

And Keith doesn't remember him. AFTER ALL HE DID FOR—

Anyway.

Blah blah blah, Pidge wants to leave, Pidge decides to stay, "PIDGE IS A GIRL?!" Spoiler: Pidge is a transgirl. Later that night, Lance goes to Pidge's room to apologize, that he shouldn't have reacted that way. And is it really okay to keep calling her Pidge? What?, she says. Well, says Lance, communal showers at the Garrison... He just doesn't want to use the wrong name. Pidge tears up. No no, that's just a nickname Matt gave her, but... It wouldn't hurt to call her Katie every now and then. Tearful hug. Big Brother Figure Established.

Alright, I'll be honest, I do not fucking remember a lot of vld. So, uhhh...... skip skip skip, fuck it, we'll keep Shiro clone because it aids one of my plot points. Oh right, Lance has a recurring dream of walking down a hallway with doors on either side and an open door at the end. When he was younger, he'd meet a man in that room, standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window looking out into space. Now he reaches to open that now-closed door and is awoken by another paladin. He's sleepwalked into the Lions' docking bay. This keeps happening.

They decide to try out for Black's paladin, Lance sits in there too long, a feeling right at his finger tips but just out of reach. Black still appears to choose Keith.

Blah blah blah Lotor And The Ladies™️, Shenanigans™️, Shiro's suddenly back, Keith absolutely fucks off, Pidge goes looking for Matt and doesn't find him. Wholeass thinks he's dead (finds the grave) and we're going to sit with that trauma for a while, fuck you. (he's not dead, but I want this plot point to actually MATTER and not be resolved in 3 seconds).

Keith finds Krolia, AND WE'RE DOING TIME/GRAVITY CORRECTLY GODDAMN IT. So Keith is MIA for months. Voltron hasn't heard from him, the Blades haven't heard from him, but he eventually gets back and he thinks only a few days have past. BECAUSE IN INTENSE GRAVITY TIME MOVES SLOWLY FOR THE PERSON BUT LONGER FOR THE OBSERVER, FUCK YOU!!!!!

So he's NOT "mature" or "grizzled" but he's fucking mad. Gets back and still shoves Lance aside (Top Ten Anime Betrayals) and just wants to get down to business. He's brought a rando Altean with him, I straight up forget her name so we're calling her Blondie. They found Blondie in the whats-it-called, same as before. But she's the only Altean there and she tells them what Lotor's been up to (that's weird. that's SUSPICIOUS). Lotor suddenly goes coocoo-bananas and they fight, have a clone fight, why not.

Mostly the same, yada yada... While it pains me to still destroy the castle and have them get time warped 3 years, that part was Good, Actually. Terrible, worst writers you know made a good plot point. :/

Anyways, Keith's been jumpy and jittery, like he's waiting for something, and then it comes out that he was missing for MONTHS. What? No. He was only gone a few days! He had visions of the future even! .......The mental link. Connected. A handful of times. He was not seeing Future Visions, he was witnessing Current Events. Shiro had a complete breakdown, Pidge lost (and eventually found) her brother, Lance fucking DIED and he wasn't there for any of it. Here you go, Keith, have a crisis. Reevaluate some shit and FUCK YOU you aren't magically two years older.

We also learn that what limited Mother-Son time he and Krolia had in the void place, he learned how and why she went to Earth, how she met his father, and the real reason she left (surprise! he has a twin and it's Acxa). And he still gets Kosmo. Because puppy.

That Thing with Big Butch Lady and Red Lady, except Red Lady For Real dies and that thing that happens in the final season actually makes sense now. Lance is feeling fucking useless and can feel his connection with the Red Lion dwindling. Stuff stuff stuff, things things things... Interpersonal Drama comes to a head in the gameshow episode. Lance doesn't bomb the Name-That-Alien game—he gets too mad to say Rolo fast enough, No he can't name every masked generic Blade, and he refuses to deadname Pidge/Katie. The question at the end becomes not who should leave, but who should STAY? If they can all pick someone to stay, the rest can go. The others all refuse to vote because the power of friendship no one left behind or whatever. Lance votes for himself. Because this is a war. You put your best soldiers forward. The others are shocked! Blindsided! Bob grills him--is this really what you want? Lance responds by saying not voting is like a vote for everyone to stay. Bob gives him a knowing and confirming Look. So yes, Lance chooses to stay.

Lance gets zapped away and the others get a Stern Talking To. They come back to their Lions to find Lance in a panic on the comms. Confused and Scared and Alone. Everyone chimes in all at once, Kosmo zaps Keith over to Red (and then every one else). Hugs, apologies, healing. Boom, the Lions turn back on and we're back on our way to Earth.

We're back to Earth, Lions tucked away on a moon. Adam's alive! Joyous day—oh shit he is PISSED at Shiro. Not the warm welcome he expected. At ALL. In this version, Adam is not a fellow pilot, he's a medical officer, and Dammit Jim! he's not just anyone's doctor, he's your doctor, Shiro! And his boyfriend! And Takashi "Give Me Glory or Give Me Death" Shirogane ignored Dr. Boyfriend's strong medical advice to NOT FUCKING GO ON THAT MISSION. So sure, he's happy to seem him back and alive and well, but since he's okay, Adam's going to be mad at him. Because he thought he'd died! For years! And how could he do that to him?! They will continue to fight for the remainder of the team's time on Earth.

We're also introduced to Curtis who, no shit, in canon, was the comms officer that reached out to Matt for Mr. Pidge's Dad (I don't remember anybody's name, sorry). And if the jury will recall, those open communications are how the Galra located Earth. This man is bearing the guilt of the entire invasion on his shoulders because he made those transmissions. And he and Shiro get a bunch of scenes together to develop their relationship.

Stuff happens, blah blah blah, hey remember that scene in canon? Where they call their Lions and they all appear lickity-split? Except, in canon, Red doesn't respond to Lance right away? And he nearly dies? And it's never fucking explained? Well it's getting fucking explained now. After all that jazz, while they're recovering, Lance confesses what happened with Red to Keith. Keith already knows. Because Keith called Red. And it just confirms to Lance that he's lost his place on the team. That with Shiro back to take over Black again, he's not needed. He decides to leave the team, but he hasn't told anyone yet.

Anyways, I know I haven't been talking about Allura. That's because I've forgotten all the things I wanted to do with her, but her and Hunk have been having their own solo adventure stories and developing their character arcs this whole time too, just don't ask me what that is. They're important. They're not just the love interest and comic relief. But I'm clearly here for Lance content, so...

Post-battle, ready to go back to space. Pidge makes that comment about the cartoon, how Keith and Allura get together. Lance has an irritated only sort-of reaction. Hey, it's their last day on Earth. The others think they're all leaving tomorrow (Lance still hasn't told them he's staying). He invites Allura to have lunch with his family, since she doesn't have anyone else to spend this time with. She declines, she and Blondie are doing research on that Altean-slash-battery person. That's fine, he understands. He runs into Keith. Keith? What're you doing here? Why aren't you spending time with—shit, not family but like....Shiro and Adam? Keith laughs awkwardly and talks about how those two are still fighting and no thanks, he does not want any part of that. Lance invites him to lunch with his family.

Remember all those soft looks Keith always gave Lance in canon? That amounted to nothing? Well here's some more, and they actually mean something now. And My God, does Keith eat up being in a large chaotic family setting. It's like all he's ever wanted was to be surrounded by people that love him.

Anyways, nothing explicitly romantic happens, but on their way back (there's a big going away party at the garrison), Lance finally confides in Keith that he's not leaving. Keith.exe stops working. And while he's having this mental meltdown Lance asks him not to tell the others, that he wants to tell them himself at the party. Keith respects his decision.

At the party, he decides to tell Shiro first. And boy howdy is Shiro blasted. Absolutely smashed off his ass. Lance gets to have a conversation with a way-too-honest drunk Shiro. Firstly, he and Adam officially broke up. Because duh, Shiro's going back to space and that was Adam's ultimatum. Hence, alcohol. Second, when Lance tells him he's not leaving, drunk Shiro gets really emotional for some reason and starts apologizing. Apparently, when Keith made fighter pilot and Lance didn't, that was Shiro. Lance was supposed to be promoted (Keith's issues with authority were holding him back), but Shiro, as a high ranking officer, overruled that decision. He goes on to talk about how he projected onto Keith. That he saw himself in him, and he wanted to give this kid every opportunity that Shiro wouldn't get because that disease or whatever was supposed to put him in an early grave. He projected all his dreams onto this gifted orphan kid, that he never really considered what Keith wanted. Keith didn't care about going to space or being a pilot, he just wanted to be somewhere where he belonged, where he could help others. He never wanted to be leader.

Shiro takes a big chug of booze.

Black chose Lance. When he was stuck in the astral plane, bound to the Black Lion, Black tried to choose Lance and Shiro overruled that decision. Just like he overruled his promotion in school. Because Shiro wanted Keith to have what Shiro wanted, everyone else be damned.

Lance is shocked. He doesn't know what to think. Is he mad? Is he relieved?

Sidebar, bc idk where else to put this, that hallway dream I mentioned before? It was Lance connecting with the Lions. When he goes into any other door he has a moment of, Is that Allura? Oh wait, it's his sister Rachel on the beach they grew up next to. Is that Pidge in the garden? No it's Veronica. Etc etc. And each time Lance will say he wants to stay there with his loved one. They smile sadly, tell him they'd love for him to stay, but he doesn't belong there. What I failed to mention before is that we actually see Lance pilot every Lion at some point. Blue and Red sure, but Green to save Pidge and Yellow when Hunk was in danger. Lance can pilot every Lion. Here's that twist: Lance is Voltron. There is no Voltron without Lance. Here's where we loop in why his siblings look like the other paladins--because it's Lance's connection to them that makes them paladins. It's their dynamics. Lance could technically deem anyone worthy to be a paladin, but unconsciously or not, it's all him. Allura was meant to have Blue right out of the gate. Because Lance can connect to any Lion, that's why he was able to pilot Blue at first. But there was a communication error, and Allura called Shiro the leader, and because Lance agreed and looked up to him, the Lions accepted it too. It's not until Shiro "dies" and gets tied to Black and fucks with everything that that connection is disturbed. Why that door in his dream is suddenly closed. Shiro overruled Black and the Lions sent Lance to Red since Allura was always meant to have Blue. Lance could pilot any of them but he's meant to be the Black Paladin.

Anyways,,, so drunk Shiro spills the beans, Lance takes his rightful place as leader and Keith goes back to the role that most befits his fucking character arc--support. Right hand man. Not the leader, but the one that's going to jump to help before anyone else. Fuck you, LM and JDS. And like, Lance the Strategist and Fuck You he was the de facto leader when Kuron was melting down and Keith was MIA anyway and he was GOOD AT IT I AM OWED FINANCIAL COMPENSATION—

Anyway.

Have I ever mentioned how I’ve only watched the final season once? In a single sitting? At midnight on my birthday when it was released in 2018? So my memory is foggy but my anger is real.

Surprise! Blondie is actually witch lady! (Which iirc was an actual twist in the original 80s cartoon). And psych!! It was HER altean death camp all along!! Lotor had nothing to do with it and she used her magic to make him lose his marbles and fight them! And god help me I cannot fucking remember what her canonical villain plot even was, so maybe she still went crazy and did some stupid multi-dimensional bullshit to get her family back. So then why kill Lotor before? Right, because he founded the Blades. He’s thousands of years old, and from a relatively young age was against the way his family was running things, so he started the Blades. He and Acxa were working undercover during all that s3/s4 nonsense. Witch lady finds that out and perceives it as a betrayal. Kills him, wants to start fresh with a younger, more impressionable son.

Again, she nearly fucks all of existence but the gang stops her just in time. Allura tries to sacrifice herself but free-from-quintessence-poisoning witch saves fuck that, you’ve lost enough. And cleans up her own damn mess her own damn self.

Universe saved, galra home world unfucked, lotor no longer a quintessence mummy, but no Altea. Altea is GONE but galra world was mostly still there. A bunch of alteans-in-hiding finally come out of the woodwork, and the ones from the quint farm are free. Blondie is still not a real person, though.

The lions do not fuck off to god knows where, allura is alive, lotor is at her side, and that ties up all the main threads or whatever, and we get to end with universal peace and the defender of the universe is still out there doing good, dismantling the remains of the empire which, without the quint-poisoned overlords, is not all that much of a dire threat. They’re still an empire that’s done war crimes, but at least there’s no more giant monsters, y’feel?

Oh right, I’m missing a part in the middle—remember that alt dimension episode in like s3? With evil alteans? Yeah that, but with explicit Evil Quint-Crazed Immortal Allura and Resistance Leader Lotor. Like. Explicit foreshadowing. It’s also meant to bridge the gap of Allura making peace with Keith being galra and the start of keith being vulnerable around Lance, so.

It’s been 5 years and I’m still mad, but it’s been 5 years and my memory is not so great so ta-da, that’s the gist of my fuck-you-Lance-is-the-main-character rewrite. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[sweetfirebird]

Every so often I re-read Izzy and the Right Answer. I love how Izzy isn't treated as a "fun, quirky, weird" character but is taken seriously and treated like a real person. I find that so comforting, as someone on the ace spectrum and the autism spectrum. I just wanted to say that I really appreciate this book.

I'll be honest with you, I spent several minutes sitting here trying to figure out what you meant exactly, and then finally remembered how TV treats any 'different' character, including autistic ones. Weirdly, I flashed back to whatsherface Abby? Abbi? From NCIS. I don't know if she was explicitly supposed to be ND on that show. In the beginning, I mean. They might have done it later on, I have no idea.

Then I thought of Bones, a show that still infuriates me to this day, but anyway, anyway, *deep breaths*

Bones never happened, except for the few small side characters who did not totally suck. But any time there was a character, guest or not, who was coded as ND or ace or anywhere not on the purely het straight cis side of the spectrum, they were awful or murderers or made into a joke or changed to suit the story or were Angela whose fake progressive ass was the woooorst.

ahem

Anyway. I am like that but what actually fuels me a lot of the time is spite, and I have A LOT of spite (obviously lol) for romance novels in particular that make characters like this and then.... make them a joke, or make them the "quirky" side character, or a burden to an MC (fucking hell that one), or 'fix' them, or have them written that way when they are not the main character, and then when they are the main character, suddenly the things that make them a person are just eccentricities and they are otherwise (for lack of a better term) "normal" (aka easier for the NT/cis/straight/whatever author to write).

Like this is a rage fuel that has existed since I first read an m/f romance series in.. probably the mid or early 2000s when I didn't even know these things about myself. (Or acknowledge them, or whatever) which had a character who was seen as 'cold' and odd for not being interested in sex/women and then surprise surprise when it came time for his book, he was.... exactly the same as every other male main character re: sex and women.

SIGH.

(Though hilariously, I did not know exactly why I was so mad. Not at the time. Top ten anime betrayals to my hopeful little queer ace ass, and I fully did not get it.)

But also when making characters, you have to do what is right for the characters, not what whatever some author thinks they should do. If they wanted that, then they should have created a different character.

None of which is probably interesting to you, sorry. I apparently am just in a mood to rant today.

My fav thing about that book is how Izzy's friends, and also especially Rocco and Ronnie, sometimes clearly do not understand what Izzy is doing or on about, but they listen to him anyway, and in return, even though sometimes he has no idea what they are on about, he also listens seriously to them.

[monty-glasses-roxy]

(RE: this AU)

Could we say Vanessa adopted Gregory already in this AU and that he visits the building to keep the animatronics company?

Vanessa would leave him at home, but she can't find a sitter for him and while she tried leaving him alone once, he ended up sneaking out and breaking into the building (once a gremlin always a gremlin).

Sure! Don't see why not!

I have no interest in the AU now honestly and I don't remember what I had for most of it either, so I can't really tell you what I had planned for Gregory or how him being adopted by Vanessa would really factor into it, so it's a free for all here lmao

Perhaps him being Vanessa's adopted kid would make him and his friend's (Cassie specifically) the test audience for the animatronics? She could bring them in whenever they're trying something new or whenever one of them needs market testing? Cause a core part of that AU was that the place they're in isn't an entertainment complex, and is instead like... I guess animatronic timeout? They fuck up too much and they get sent there until they pass an assessment to be placed somewhere else, but there's hardly any assessments ever until Roxy got there. Gregory and Cassie could be your test kids! The kids they can practice on until they get a chance at an assessment!

To be fair, Vanessa has probably long since learned these guys are almost completely harmless so they're free babysitting really. And the kids are probably great teachers (though obviously not always the best influences) in this kind of situation. They just read the assessment criteria and are like "wait... I have to do WHAT to test them?!" and between them there's not many problems they can't throw at them.

You could replace Security Breach events with Gregory and Cassie running rings around everyone the best they can to test their nighttime security protocols. Just a night of running around, getting caught, taken back to Vanessa and then being released to run around again as another security breach until they wear themselves out. That could be fun

You could say that Vanessa lives at the place too so any child she adopts also lives there with her? Could be funny to have a rivalry between Gregory and the animatronics for Vanessa's attention lmao. Gregory bringing Cassie in as his new teammate and she joins the war on the animatronics... On the side of the animatronics. Top ten anime betrayals right? Lmao vgxhvj