#tristan arc long

[darksaiyangoku]

RWBY Winter Tales

Ghostly Winds

For @chaoslordjoe

Jaune and Yang smiled as they watched Tristan and Lionel shape their snowmen. While most children would make simple snowpeople with sticks for arms, stones for eyes and a carrot nose, Tristan and Lionel decided to go all out and make snow sculptures. Tristan's was a knight wielding a sword in both hands, while Lionel's was a puppy with a bone in its mouth. Jaune chuckled as he picked up the younger of the two.

Jaune: Seems like we have ourselves two artisans in the making.

Lionel: *chuckles* You know it! I already have a name for this dog right here.

Jaune: Oh? What is it?

Lionel: Gelert! Just like in the story of the Loyal Dog.

Jaune: Awwww, that's really sweet! I'm sure Gelert would appreciate the tribute.

Yang: What about you, little man? Who's this handsome fellow supposed to be?

Tristan: That's me. Some day, I wanna be a great knight! Just like the ones in Vale!

Yang: *nods head* Very nice! Saving kingdoms, swinging swords and riding off in stylish armour.

Tristan: You know it! But if that doesn't work, I can always be like you and Jaune. A Witcher for hire.

Yang: ...you want to be a Witcher?

Tristan: Eh, maybe. But only if I can't be a knight.

Yang: I see... oh... *frowns*

Tristan: Hm? Are you okay?

Yang: ...you know, I think it's about time you went off to bed! *smiles nervously*

Lionel: Aw what?

Tristan: But it's not even dark yet.

Jaune: Boys, listen to your mother. Night falls faster in winter. Come on now, scoot.

Jaune and Yang hurried back inside and tucked in their children to bed. In the living room, Yang cast Igni on the candles and warmed her hands. She had a saddened look on her face.

Jaune: *places blanket over her* Is everything alright? You seem tense.

Yang: *sighs* Of course I'm tense. Tristan wants to be a Witcher.

Jaune: *raises eyebrow* That's what got you worried? Come on, he's a kid. They're always saying silly things like that.

Yang: But what if he's serious about this? Ever since we took him in after his father died, he's always looked up to us. He sees as heroes, even after some of the terrible things we've done.

Jaune: Isn't that a good thing? He doesn't see us as monsters.

Yang: I know, but our life as Witchers isn't what I want for him. It's filled with pain, blood, hatred. *carresses his cheek* We're a family now and I don't want him to face the kind of dangers we did.

Jaune: *holds Yang* He won't, don't worry. Look, I know you love him, Lionel too, but I think you're letting this get to your head a little. Kids change their mind all the time. Remember when Lionel was adamant about hating turnips. One bite of your roast changed that and now he begs for more every day.

Yang: *chuckles* Yeah, you're probably right. I guess I just didn't realise how hard being a mom would be. *turns to Jaune and kisses him* Thank you, sweetheart.

Jaune: Always. Now can I get some of that blanket? It's freezing.

Yang: *laughs and opens the blanket* Get in here.

Jaune sat on Yang's lap as she draped the blanket over both of them. Outside, the snow started fall heavier and the wind picked up. The sound of hooves thundered the ground as a group of knights in jet black armour raced across the landscape. They screeched and howled, their eyes glowing red as hot flames. Any who came into contact with them would never see their old life, their souls now belonging to the riders. Many nations and kingdoms across Remnant feared them, for they were wraiths that brought the omen of war. They were the Wild Hunt... and they were sending a message.

[stairset]

I know certain parts of Star Wars fandom are determined to see literally everything about the Jedi in the most bad faith way possible but one of the most baffling examples to me is when people act like they look down on all other force religions and don't take the time to understand them because they see their own way as superior when there is quite literally nothing to suggest that. Like the only other force users they have any actual beef with on principle are the Sith, which I'd say is justified considering the Sith are a bunch of fascist pricks who constantly try to take over the galaxy. Literally all the others are either allies of the Jedi or the Jedi just leave them alone to do their thing.

[owlsie-hoot]

ACGAS series 5 in general.... (thoughts about 5.6. later)

Where to begin? (that I said I would write no more essays?)(beware this is not really positive)

Maybe with this: The writers seem to have completely forgotten the entire character development from four previous series. I don't get how you can come up with such a series after series 4 (and I mean series as in "season") ?

Harsh words, sorry, but I am annoyed and frustrated and after episode three I had sadly lost faith in series 5. Slowly, but for reasons I try to explain in this very lengthy text post (not everyone will agree with me of course and that's ok).

So far ACGAS has really managed to keep up very high quality writing for four consecutive series. There was the odd episode that I didn't like that much but there was never such disappointment involved.

First: usually the episodes feel well balanced, the storylines are all interwoven in a way, all characters have an equally strong story arc for each individual series and continuous character development. There is also a good balance between heavy and light topics. ACGAS is very good at giving us meaningful quiet scenes that show a character's depth without overdoing it. To me almost all of this was missing in series 5. Mainly because they changed the structure and therefore also the balance of the episodes. Instead of connecting the characters, each episode featured and focused heavily on one couple, giving them a lot of space with one long storyline and the other characters were pushed into the background.

Episode 1 focused on James with an almost 20 minute long sequence of scenes that only featured him and his crew. Usually (and this applies to all subsequent episodes) the show switches back and forth between the different storylines and never lingers too long on one character. That creates a good balance. Because you feel that all characters are treated equally even if the main focus in an episode is only on one character.

Episode 2 focused on Audrey and her new role as warden. The main focus were her and Siegfried in this episode.

Episode 3 put the focus on Tristan's return but also had the christening and Helen's struggle with Hannah and until after the christening the episode felt well balanced to me. But then we didn't see Audrey anymore for almost 15 minutes and focused only on Helen and Hannah as well as on Tristan and Siegfried.

Episode 4 made the same mistake episode 1 made: a very long sequence of scenes that only features Tristan and Carmody. Siegfried was not seen for about 25 minutes.

Episode 5 introduced a potential "love interest" for Siegfried, something I absolutely hated and was extremely annoyed at. After the first two episodes, Audrey and Siegfried's interaction in episode 3 and the couch scene in 4 it felt like a huge step backwards and an ignoring of Siegfried's reaction to Audrey's entire series 4 storyline. Convinced that nothing would come out of this I tried to brush this away as a misstep. A plot device to show Siegfried how important family is for him. This episode also pushed all other characters, except him and Carmody, into the background and although it felt better balanced than ep 1 and 4, the other characters didn't move forward.

Episode 6 was actually the one that stood out from the others and felt like the episodes I love. There was a focus on two couples this time (Tristan and Siegfried / Helen and James ) and they balanced it really well with a fun and a very emotional storyline. Suddenly they remembered how to do it! But only in episode 6. But the entire "love interest" plot was a bit too much through the Tristan and Siegfried scenes, which feels like a disservice to the entire fandom after series 4 when we saw how important Audrey is for Siegfried and when even the press finally realised that these two should be more than friends. The ending sadly felt unfinished to me. No conclusion, no real denouement at all. It felt like it needed two or three more scenes to finish the episode.

I have never complained about an entire series of ACGAS before and I hope this will be the first and last time I am doing this. As much as I love my ship and have of course also watched series 5 from a shippers point of view, it also failed to deliver for James and Helen (until episode 6) and also for Tristan. We knew James was struggling, we saw glimpses of that every now and then but everything felt rather shallow and was not given that much depth. Mainly because this heavy topic was buried underneath a lot of fun and happiness and laughter and silliness that seemed to be the main theme of series 5 (as opposed to the more angsty series 4). Yes, that topic was resolved in episode 6 and also in a good way but the way towards it felt a bit half-heartedly.

Same goes for Tristan. I was so looking forward to his return and they did a great job with that in episode 3 and also in 4 (although episode 4 dragged a lot, and felt a bit repetitive in the end) but after that I would have loved to see the cracks in his mask, see how he really struggles, see him in quieter moments, unobserved by others. This is what made ACGAS so good in the last 4 series! And it was totally missing. Siegfried and Tristan's talk did not really get to the bottom of his troubles at all. I felt that Tristan was not really telling the truth here.

Take Helen. She's a new mom, we saw her struggle a bit with her new role at the beginning but then they did not give her a storyline for herself at all. Throughout series 5 she was mainly used as a plot device to crack single cases. Like the poisoning of Bingo, the poodle incident in episode 3, Frisk's death and resurrection. We only really saw her shine in episode 6.

Audrey had an amazing start with episodes 1 and 2 but from episode 4 onwards she was more or less degraded as housekeeper, busy in the background. Of course there was the "bomb" incident in episode 5 which was fun but in previous series they would have connected that story with the other storylines of the episodes, used it to show what a strong woman she is, how no one can tell her what to do. In interviews it was hinted at that she would get a storyline that tests her mental health. We have not seen any of it at all. Nor have they managed to use her role as Warden to bring the reality of war closer to Darrowby. It was funny, even ridiculous in episode 5. The seriousness of her war effort was wasted almost entirely. And the other major failure was the complete omission of Edward. Which further underlines my main complaint about series 5: lack of depth, lack of character development, lack of meaningful progress. What bothered me most about her storyline was that they separated her completely from Siegfried in the last two episodes. The scenes they shared were mainly her working in the background, except for that moment about going to the Drovers. Suddenly they felt like employer and employee again. And she was a housekeeper. Not a family member. This is something that I really cannot take. Sorry.

And at last Siegfried. We saw him struggle here and there, we saw him embracing his found family in the first 3 episodes. He was the most emotional in episode 3 but after that his character development also kind of stopped and even went backwards with the "love interest" storyline they forced him into. Throughout the last four series, Siegfried has slowly moved from overcoming his grief to testing the waters again with Dorothy and Diana, then his focus slowly shifted back to Audrey. And especially in s4 we saw how much she means to him in more ways than housekeeper/friend. All this was now disregarded in the Miss Grantley storyline which would have fitted into s3 when Audrey and Gerald were not yet a thing but serious enough for Siegfried to react to it every now and then (the "not date" and his reaction to the kiss). At the beginning of the series, the interviews made us think that Siegfried felt left out, as if his work was not important enough. We saw very tiny glimpses of that but only if you look closely. This was another storyline and development left floating on the surface instead of really delving into it and developing it properly. (and I might write an entire essay about Siegfried + Audrey soon) In the end he felt very far removed from Audrey and the married banter was completely gone in the last 2 (maybe 3 episodes) as if the writers decided to extinguish the slow burn all of a sudden.

So overall s5 started well with the first 3 episodes but then started going downhill (for me) halfway through episode 3. A lot of potential was wasted. The focus was mainly on making sure everybody had something to do but they forgot to go deep, to show us what makes this new adaptation of ACGAS special:

It's the much more real, rounded characters, their feelings, their experiences, the way the storytelling goes much deeper and makes the characters more relatable than in the old series.

And when you take that away, you lose bits of the soul, you lose what makes this version of ACGAS so special. It was still there, partly, but not in the way we have seen it in series 1-4.

Now: We still have a Christmas special and it was written by a writer I really trust. However, I have always trusted the writers and they have let me down this year so I am now sadly really anxious about the final episode of series 5. I never thought I would feel that low about a favourite show and my ship again after Downton s6. But I guess there is no escaping that in fandom. Ever. I just want my "giddy anticipation" back :(

[mitternacht]

UU Appreciation Week Day 1: A negator you appreciate

Of course I was gonna sit here and yell about Rip! I’m still fairly new here but I have so much to say about him and his character, I ran out of time to do any sort of proper fic or anything so I’ll stick to what I do when all else fails and that’s write Too Much Meta™️ about my faves. So here is a bit of that.

The rest under the cut for spoilers!

Rip Tristan, where do I even start.

The tragedy of someone whose entire life was decided for him as a child, who never had any choice but to continue trying to carry out the singular goal he’s had since he was young and will be forever haunted by that. The constant visual symbolism of him not being able to escape his child self in Loop 100, the constant reminder that he’s changed and he’s betrayed everything he used to stand for. The cover for 175 in Loop 101, the entirety of chapter 176 finally allowing him to make peace with his inner child as he’s been given the chance to finally keep the promises he’s been holding in himself for so long.

The tragedy of a doctor turned weapon, no longer able to use his hands to save or heal, only to kill and maim. Blades used for saving lives only now good for taking them. The ever constant betrayal of himself and his ideals, of his deeply internalized need to help and save people, all in the name of love. Someone who was once willing to do anything to save the lives in front of him now willing to sacrifice quite literally everything around him for the sake of seeing the one he loves again.

The tragedy of someone who doesn’t realize the love in front of him until it’s too late. So blinded by the love he would sacrifice everything for that he didn’t recognize the love that would sacrifice everything for him.

The tragedy of someone so kind becoming someone willing to let the entire world burn without remorse, for love.

And that kindness that occasionally shines through in Loop 100 is genuinely what saves him in the end, going into Loop 101. And the few times he’s thrown aside his own goals and objectives to rush into trying to save a life don’t go unnoticed by those around him (aka trying to save Anno after using Life is Strange on him, and when Fuuko was stabbed by Unruin he immediately ran to her and started trying to figure out how to save her)

Has anyone ever talked about how the handgun Rip gives to Fuuko and ends up letting her keep after the Autumn arc becomes one of her main tools of offense and self defense going into Loop 101, and how she’s built an entire fighting style around it?

Have we talked about the way that Rip (in Loop 100 specifically) actively avoids direct physical contact with those he doesn’t want to hurt, unless absolutely necessary? And the way this parallels Fuuko, the way she might see a bit of herself in him? Rip in Loop 100 is so careful to avoid touching Lucy after saving her from Unruin, and it’s such a sad contrast to how affectionate he is in Loop 101 before Unrepair manifests.

The ways in which Rip and Andy also foil each other, the way they both begin Loop 100 trying to handle everything theirselves, not letting others share their burden. The ways in which they will both in the most literal sense sacrifice life and limb for the ones they love. The way we see both of them slowly take that next step forward, learning to let others shoulder the weight they carry (Rip took a whole loop to learn how to do this, but better late than never).

Rip was never supposed to be a villain, and he’s never written to be one which I adore. He tries so hard to portray himself as one in the beginning, but his true nature always ends up shining through, for the better.

I also adore so much the ways in which he will fight to keep holding on to the people he loves, regardless of whether anyone else in his life approves. He’s fought so hard to achieve his dreams, and I’m obsessed with his absolute refusal to give any of it up. He’s a bit of an idealist, of a romanticist, but he’s always proven to back that up with his actions and words.

He’s a beautifully written character with such a lovely storyline and it’s made me so happy to see him finally getting to exist as his truest self in Loop 101. He’s so full of love and light and I hope with every fiber of my being his story ends on a positive note.

I also need to give an honorary mention to Latla, because she is my queen and she is such a force of nature, I love her to bits.

[desire-mona]

why i think richard cameron is Like That

the long awaited cam analysis post of sorts!!!

so to start off, let me acknowledge the obvious: CAMERON SUCKED FOR WHAT HE DID TO HIS FRIENDS. THAT WAS MEAN AND SHITTY OF HIM, HE DESERVED TO GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE AND HE DESERVED TO HAVE HIS FRIENDS STOP LIKING HIM. this post is just to paint a more nuanced picture of the motivations and reasoning behind his cam-ness. also i feel the need to address that my love for dylan kussman HEAVILY influences my opinion on cameron, so please keep that in find when u read this. if my bias shows at any point then feel free to offer your perspective, odds are i'll find a way to agree :3

-

lets start at the very beginning of the movie, his first appearance with the tradition banner. this obviously wasn't anything i rly thought of in depth on my first watch, but on my second watch i was like oh Hm.

tradition, of course, is a BIG aspect of welton that the movie repeatedly emphasises, drawing lots of attention to how nothing changes. i find cam holding the tradition banner especially interesting in relativity to neil holding the excellence banner specifically. cam very clearly tries his best to embody the rules of welton (more on this later) and very rarely deviates from those rules, although he does on occasion (again - more on this later.) but despite his attempts to be the manifestation of those values are never met with any praise, unlike neil. that's not to say that neil isn't deserving of that praise though, absolutely he is deserving, but in terms of academics specifically, cam's pretty up there too! this part doesnt exactly tie in directly with the rest of the post, but just thought id point it out first to add a layer to the rest of my thoughts.

how i view cam's character arc is something that's framed in a way thats not supposed to be viewed as an arc, i suppose (interesting considering the tradition thing hm). of course thats inaccurate as he does in fact have in arc, it just small in relation to the more forefront-ed poets. and it makes him ultimately less likeable, so.

during a majority of the movie (pre neil death) cam is known as the guy who doesnt like to break rules, that much is obvious, but in the end he still does with the dead poets society. now the reasoning behind that isnt actually touched on in a direct way, so there are a few different ways you can view that. i'll touch on a few different reasonings that me, @pencileraser1, and @good--merits-accumulated came up with.

my reasoning - i see cam's willingness to break the rules as cam holding his friends' idea of him on a high pedestal, constantly taking into consideration what they think. not wanting his friends to consider him a loser or boring in any way, he joins despite the anxiety surrounding being caught. not without fuss though, he does still outwardly talk about how this isnt something they should be doing. all this and yet he does in fact join, AND he doesnt rat anyone out for a majority of the movie (even after the call from god dealio!!!) fomo, basically.

nick's reasoning (found in this post) - he just wanted his friends to be safe!!! joining to (in my view) keep them in line in terms of safety as well as. i guess. provide the reminder of the consequences i suppose?? nick im opening up the floor to u if u wanna delve into this point more cuz ur definitely able to provide better reasoning n such. if asking nick to talk abt things was a full time job.

tristan's reasoning (discussed in dms) - cam's need for authority. tristan brought up a very good headcanon/ theory/ something or other that cam is the type to need constant direction or authority, and i totally agree! (reason for that will - again - come up later.) now this culminates in a couple different ways. 1) most obviously, adhereing (ehh) to the rules of welton, and 2) his relationship with the rest of the poets. due to the size of the welton student body, a lack of individual direction from teachers and staff is almost inevitable. so to fill that gap, he adheres to his friends' """"""rules"""""", and joins the poets. floor is open to you as well if you'd like to elaborate further, tristan :3

my thoughts of cam being super focused on his friends' idea of him actually started as a bit. i believe i made a hc post about smoking weed?? maybe?? and said something along the lines of "cam would smoke even if he doesnt want to, not cuz of peer pressure from his friends but more of a self imposed peer pressure. thinking its rude/ cringe/ uncool to turn down smthn like this bc all the rest of the guys r doing it." but after a rewatch of the scene in dps where theyre all walking outside, it started having some merit in my mind! in that scene, keating does a sort of imitation of cameron when he first starts to walk, something like "am i doing this right?", "am i walking weird?", etc. (paraphrasing ofc.) so i sort of took that aspect and applied it to other parts of his character and found out that oh, this actually kinda makes sense!

speaking of keating and his lessons, lets talk carpe diem.

now my interpretation of cam is that he doesn't exactly *want* to apply carpe diem in his life, seeing it as an antithesis of the welton values. only joining the poets for the reasons mentioned above. however, he does indeed apply it in my eyes, but more as a fucked up reversal and dickish version which eventually ends up in him deservedly getting punched. now is this how keating intended him to interpret carpe diem? ehhhhhhhhhhhhh,, it's complicated, let's talk about the context a bit.

this part is more theorising than anything, so take it with a few grains of salt if u wish.

cam quite obviously is a pretty big stickler for the rules, which i believe is a result of outside influence. id like to thank @lovech1ld for reminding me of this! cam's parents/ grandparents/ guardians are noticably older than the other poets, which, in my eyes, makes a heavy emphasis on following the rules make a lot more sense (respect your elders type shit.) so this, combined with the inherent fear of authority that most of the boys seem to have, makes him a chronic rule follower. but it goes further than that, after these ideas have been pushed for so long, i feel that cameron's started to mix up his own personal morals and values with the morals and values of welton, viewing those two things as one in the same. here's where that starts to muddy things up in terms of carpe diem.

i interpret cam's finking AS his application of carpe diem in his life, but as more of a subconscious choice. now you may be thinking "hey. mona. what?" and i UNDERSTAND! but here's my reasoning behind that. as i mentioned/ theorised before, cam has a very high opinion of his friends' idea of him, but this does eventually change after neil's passing. his subconscious carpe diem application, to put it into proper words, was a way to stick up for himself and his beliefs despite what all his friends think. again, being brought about by neils death, since he didn't choose to rat anyone out when the opportunity first presented itself during the call from god assembly. and i dont think cam sticking up for himself is inherently a bad thing!! but! since cam's idea of his morals are so clouded by welton's, this isn't actually sticking up for himself, this is just being a tattletale.

he did provide other reasoning for doing so to the poets of course, so lets talk a bit about that too. he says something along the lines of "i did it for neil" and "this is what he wouldve wanted" which is obviously bullshit, objectively. but i don't think he saw it that way, i think he genuinely believed thats what he thought neil would've wanted, as stupid of him as that was. obviously thats not what he wouldve wanted AT ALL, and why he actually thought that is FAR beyond me. but i really dont think he wouldve turned anyone in if he didnt genuinely believe it, especially considering the fact that he was PART of the dead poets. even if he was the one to confess, im sure he likely got punished as well. (which also couldve been what he wanted? tristan this is an opening to also discuss catholic cam on here bc ur reasonings for that were INCREDIBLE.)

on top of this, i really dont think that cam actually understood the weight of what turning in everyone would do. now i will say right away, hes not dumb, he knew that keating would be fired and charlie would be expelled, and that alone should've turned him away if he really wanted to honor neil. as i said before we started, he absolutely deserved to be punched and lose his friends, that was a dick move that ended up ruining two lives for a long long time, if not forever.

but.

due to him grieving, his rules = morals shtick, and fear of authority, i think he turned in the poets without giving actual, proper thought into what the consequences of that would be. which manifests itself both in the film with the final scene.

in the last scene where all of the boys stand on the desk, we see multiple shots of cam looking around and looking at everyone standing. and we (or at least i) can definitely see some sort of consideration to join them!!! he of course doesnt, and ends up choosing to sit, looking QUITE ashamed. this too can he interpreted a couple ways, either as him being embarrassed that his peers are doing this, or as him wanting to join them but knowing that he was the reason keating was fired. knowing that it would be incredibly disingenuous, even if he stood as a way to sort of apologise to keating + the poets for what he did and show that he regrets his actions, he stayed seated. and was so. so. mad at himself for it.

now i don't remember where i heard this so im not sure how to go about fact checking, but i believe the choice to keep cam seated was ultimately dylan kussman's?????? but dont take my word as gospel in terms of that, i very well could be wrong.

BUT! this gives me an opportunity to talk abt how much i love dylan kussman!!!!! nick vocalised the thought before i was able to in one of his posts, but considering the fact that i agree wholeheartedly, i'll reiterate it. i see rsl and ethan hawke constantly be praised (deservedly!) for their understanding of the inner workings of their characters, especially reflected in the desk set scene. and while YES ABSOLUTELY, i think dylan needs this praise as well. dylan was the PERFECT casting choice for cameron and i will shout that from the rooftops until my voice goes hoarse. so so so many of his little mannerisms, facial expressions, ways of speaking, soooo many etceteras are just so. so. CAMERON! even the most comprehensive directorial choices cant top an actor's inherent understanding of a character and reflection of that in their performance. good god! i think my new dream in life is to ask dylan about how he came about properly embodying cameron and his process in doing so.

anyway

with my dylan fanfare over, that about wraps up my thoughts on cam in terms of the film itself. HOWEVER. i have lots and lots of thoughts after a long convo with tristan about certain headcanons and post-canon theories and whatever. will probably touch on those but i dont really have my thoughts properly collected enough, so that wont be until later.

as per usual with these types of posts, everyone else is welcome to add any input they may have. cam is one of my fav things to talk abt in terms of dps so i will eat up every single little thing. thank u for reading!!!!

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Honey Cut by Sierra Simone

5/5. Releases 6/18/24.

vibes: WEAPONIZED LONGING, the perfect angst recipe, the man Lana Del Rey was singing about but much better, We Can't Discuss Our Feelings Because My Feelings Are Hard

Heat Index: 10/10

Isolde Laurence is in a bind (literally, at points). She's about to marry Mark Trevena (the cold, dangerous man who deflowered her and promptly crushed her heart) in an arrangement that will enable her to seduce him and offer his secrets to her uncle, a high-ranking cardinal. However, on her way to do so, she's fallen in love with Mark's romantic, pining bodyguard Tristan. And Tristan--who very much loves her back--is also in love with Mark, thanks to a preexisting whirlwind affair he put a stop to upon finding out about the engagement. Isolde is determined to, if nothing else, guard her heart against her new husband. And, for personal and practical reasons, honor the agreement they made years ago: once they exchange vows, they'll be faithful to each other.

Easier said than done.

But Isolde herself is deadlier than she seems, and in the midst of a thorny triangle, she may end up crushing not only Tristan's heart, but her own... and maybe even Mark's. If he has one.

Well, this was my most-anticipated release of the year, and BY GOD did it live up to expectations. This is an ongoing series (you must read Salt Kiss before starting this one, and in my opinion? You should ABSOLUTELY also read the prequel novella, Salt in the Wound, as it lays the groundwork for Mark and Isolde's relationship) and of course, I don't want to count chickens before they hatch, but... If Sierra pulls the ending off--which I totally believe she will; she's yet to let me down--this could end up being her best series yet. And that is a LOT coming from me, someone who worships at the altar of New Camelot (and Thornchapel, for that matter).

The thing about the way Sierra writes triads--and nobody does it better--is that they all feel unique. You might think that Mark, Isolde, and Tristan would have a lot in common with New Camelot's Ash, Greer, and Embry. They're MMF, they're based on Arthurian myth, these people literally know each other (Sierra: I owe you my life for that cameo). But the dynamic is completely different--and in this installment especially, quite darker. I didn't see Mark's darkness as much in Salt Kiss (Salt in the Wound... perhaps more so, which gives you some insight into the differences between his individual dynamics with Isolde versus Tristan) but here? Um. She portrayed the conflict within him and his ruthlessness perfectly... While also letting us even further into the vulnerability she hinted at in Salt Kiss.

Mark can be a difficult character for readers to humanize, I think, because we haven't had his POV yet. It's easy to sort of dismiss him as this frosty, stern alpha who doles out pain while also dealing with plenty of his own (on the inside, because Mark is clearly very uncomfortable with feeling a feeling). Where she makes it brilliant is through these moments of BOYISHNESS. We got sneak peeks of boyish Mark in Salt Kiss, but here? Oh my god. The grins, the poking at Tristan, the GOOFY HOT FACETIME SEX WITH ISOLDE??? It's so human, and dropping those sneak peeks in makes his pain even more palatable.

And the thing is that you do get that pain. Because Sierra also doesn't shy away from the agony of a love triangle and, yes, cheating in this book. I often find that MMF is used in a sort of like... "Why choose? Heehee it's all okay because everyone wants each other" get out of jail free card. Sierra really doesn't do that ever, but this is the hardest she's gone in on "these people are cheating, and it HURTS the person they're cheating on, and it HURTS them". No punches are pulled here. This is one of the angstiest books I've read, and as an angst hound, I loved every second of it.

The ending? I am going to be in actual PAIN until Bitter Burn (out early next year, SHIT). There was a moment in the last few pages of this book that made me gasp. In part because I really didn't think she'd go there on multiple levels. This is a book of huge swings, and for me, every single one worked.

Quick Takes:

--I have been very vocal about how much the one time Mark called Tristan "puppy" in a cut scene (Beg Me, which you should absolutely read if you can--I think it's on Sierra's website) has not left my head since. Guess what? It's just a regular nickname now. He says it SEVERAL times in this book, in prime moments. And I was extremely happy.

--You can for sure read this series on its own, but I will say that this book in particular "spoils" a good bit of New Camelot. In the same way that any romance in the same universe or series of standalones sort of spoils others, but if you want to read chronologically without any giveaways, you should read that series first. And in general, read it even if you do read Lyonesse first. Because it's gorgeous.

--I can't emphasize enough how happy Isolde and Mark's dirty Facetime calls made me. Like. At the end of the day, Mark is just like any other man with a hot young wife, desperately trying to get a peek over his phone. While someone else peeks, perhaps.

--Isolde's such a fantastic heroine. Broken and devoted to God and maybe lowkey a zealot, while also craving physical and emotional pain and release and Tristan's soft heart and Mark's cold one all at once. She's the kind of heroine we very rarely get to read about in romance. If I'm being honest, I was a little worried about how the dynamics would balance here, as so much of the last book was Mark and Tristan on their own, and then the remainder was Tristan and Isolde on their own. (Which is another reason why you should read Salt in the Wound first, in my opinion.) But God. The dynamic of the three, the dynamic between Mark and Isolde, just blew me away. Two black cats circling each other, Mark perhaps a little more reticent to open up to Isolde than Tristan because he recognizes something of himself in her.

While at the same time, I found that Tristan and Isolde's relationship deepened. I always fully believed in their agonized love for Mark, and their desire to stay loyal to him. Yet I also completely believed that they couldn't possibly stay away from each other, not permanently.

--Mark's backstory? I foresaw some surface level stuff, but not the parts that mattered. Those kind of blew my mind.

The Sex:

I mean, it's Sierra Simone, so it's creative and very much a part of the character development. One of the sex scenes in this book was so... it was really one of the best she's ever written. But also? DEVIOUS. Sierra, you did not have to do us like that. However, I'm glad you did.

There are so many different "flavors" of sex in this book--super kinky, kinda vanilla (or as vanilla as these people can get), happy, angsty, sad, passionate, light, funny.

You can expect, among other things: restraints, impact play, cum play, breeding, biting, public sex (a lot of that), car sex, edging, voyeurism, pain play, cum licking.......... all that shit. And more!

Look, dude. Read this book if you've read the other books. If you haven't read the other books, read those and then read this book. I can't recommend it enough. This is angsty, passionate, heady romance at its best. Hot and emotionally complex and well-written. Sierra's prose! It's what romance should be; she sets the pace, and we all must chase it.

Thanks to Candi Kane PR for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[autumnsorbet]

I know that sometimes nakuba can make amazing outfits but a lot of other times the outfits are either trash kind of like personals current outfit

Only have one part of the outfit that makes the outfit look good like with meliodas and his King look where only the coat makes him look cool and the rest of his outfit is just his old boy had outfit which is kind of okay but you get sick of looking at it after a while

Elizabeth's been looking fine in her Queen outfits I still look back at seven deadly sins though the only good outfit she had was the one she wore like the second half of the manga where the top was purple and the skirt was black I believe I don't know I'm just trying to remember it but I can't really

The dress she had in the final arcs where they were fighting the demon King look like a nightgown with a pink jacket over it

Like I said his queen and the four nights manga she's looked fine

Merlin's always looked great in any outfits she's worn in the show her best was always that sleeveless coat she had with the high popped collar and the long tail in the back the silver shoes and the purple thigh highs with the circles cut out throughout it that was her best look but for some reason and certain adaptations they change the color back to a fur collar which seems really stupid cuz the high collar it looks really good

Even some of escanor's outfits especially his armor looks amazing

Bon looks really cool now in the four nights manga but I do miss the red outfit he used to wear in seven deadly sins

Characters that go through have always had a gother have had good outfits in the past

Tristan looked amazing when he got introduced in four nights and he had the armor under the yellow jacket even his squad looked amazing in their outfits with chino ,jade easel all look amazing in our outfits and then they got downgraded in the next part of the mongo when they all went on their journey

Lancelot looks okay his outfit I believe is a outfit that was originally a concept or outfit for bon in the seven deadly sins manga but I can't remember I will have to go back and

Arthur looks okay in the seven deadly sins manga when it comes to his outfits he had his armor the then he had that ugly purple vest outfit that he was wearing during the druid training art it was ugly I hated it was one of the worst outfits I've ever seen, then we have that cross outfit I don't mind the cross outfit because it represents certain things that play into the theme of what Arthur's going through but I get sick of seeing that outfit because I see it all the time especially in Grand Cross and other stuff when Arthur is mentioned and even in flashbacks during the four nights manga in the beginning all you saw was that cross outfit I can't stand that thing but nothing is his dad is the outfit he had in the saved by like movie that outfit was ugly and it made a return and I wanted to rip my eyes out I hate that outfit I don't care what you color it is just ugly

His current look as of right now as the king of chaos is a good outfit really amazing nice design simple yet stands out I just wish he could get a new outfit or maybe wear some armor or something cuz now I'm sick of looking at the outfit like I said it's kind of like with the cross outfit you get sick of looking at it after a while

And I know I'm sound like I'm just rambling on about characters in a different outfits but sometimes when we get outfits in these mangas they're a real hit or miss and lately all the outfits have been a Miss since the end of the invasion on lions by Arthur in the earlier chapters before he declare war on everybody after Arthur declared war everybody's fashion sense went out the window cuz all I see is ugly outfits

Gwaine looked okay in the outfit she was introduced to us in when we first met her, but then she got to hand me down outfit that just screams escanora Merlin and we could already guessed from her power and abilities and stuff that she was linked to them she didn't need a hand-me-down outfit to scream it, and when we got reintroduced her again after the time Skip and the recent chapters she looked okay she was just at home playing the normal loving daughter, but now she has a heart character design when she Powers up and she's wearing the hand-me-down outfit again and that's what this is all leading to I'm like I said I know I'm rambling on but God I hate that hand me down outfit I hate these awful outfits do they not have access to Pinterest over in Japan or I know they have fashion books over there because I have a few fashion books I've gotten from Japan that people I know have gotten me as gifts I really need nakuba to go get some fashion books or to just draw people in armor when he draws a character in armor they look amazing they're at their best even when the armor gets messed up later on they still look kind of good even beat up he just needs to stick to armor he needs to stop drawing clothes

And I'm not saying I could do any better I've done redesigns of characters outfits and made outfits for characters that I think would look better on them as of lately but even I have hits and misses a lot myself I'm not saying I'm perfect for anything I've been messing up outfits a lot lately especially since I've had art blocked and have been real stressed but I just can't do these outfits anymore please let Tristan and all the others have better outfits I hope Lance a lot at least has a better outfit when we see him again 😭

[xjulixred45x]

Hello how are you doing? Hope your doing just fine ❤💗💓 i really love your work so I was wondering i could please request lancelot x percival(platonic) headcanons?

Thanks so much have a amazing day!

Feel free to decline and detalte this ask:)

Hello! I never have make Headcanons of this style (character x character, Even Platonic) but i think i will try. Sorry it's a little short

Lancelot and Percival Platonic Headcanons

Genre: Headcanons

Warnings: SPOILERS!!!!Fluff and Angst.

OK! This can be considered more of a personal take based on what we saw in canon, but I think it's pretty obvious that Lancelot has 0 social skills.

I mean, he has spent a lot of his free time training or looking for Jericho, his only friend is Tristan and he only sees him when he travels to Liones (not very often) and in general he has this intimidating aura that makes it difficult to read him.

so it's pretty easy to say that not only does Lancelot have zero interest in friends, but he has too few to have any idea how to make them (I mean, Tristan met him through his parents, so I don't know how valid that is). be).

Percival, on the other hand, is a social butterfly without really knowing it.

The boy lived even more isolated than Lancelot, with only his grandfather, he was not even taught basic etiquette or certain unspoken manners of the "time", but at the same time Percival has no problem talking to people.

quite the opposite.

He is VERY interested in other people, sometimes to an overwhelming degree, and he is an extremely empathetic child, so it is VERY easy for him to forgive people and make friends (like with Donnie and Nasiens).

Let's be honest, if Lancelot had encountered similar situations, he would have killed them both before listening to reason or giving them a chance to improve.

but anyway, if we go to the more general things:

I think the main reason these two were able to become friends in the first place was precisely because of Percival's pure nature.

Even sincerely, I imagine that Lancelot thought for a LONG time that Percival was acting that way either to cope with the loss of his grandfather or simply so that people would underestimate him and thus make it easier to stand out.

in a way what he did with his form of "Sin" but more to the extreme.

I just don't think that someone like Lancelot, being the serious and almost pessimistic boy that he is, wouldn't distrust that a child who went through so many horrible things wasn't even a little bit resentful of life.

Although this idea weakened the more time he spent with Percival on his adventures to Liones, that idea would always really be in the back of his mind.

Percy was simply TOO good to be true.

and takes us to the scene where he is revealed to be Lancelot.

We know that Lancelot can see the hearts of others like a fairy, he has done it several times in the series, and it is precisely when he sees Percival's thoughts about him that it is revealed that he realizes that what he is doing is not an act.

Percival is EFFECTIVELY that good and naturally well-intentioned.

Lancelot finds Percy quite strange.

while Percival, well, finds it Awesome!

We already know that this ray of sunshine child already considered Lancelot a friend even when he thought he was a fox and that he was quite rude, it's just like that.

(i wonder if his nature as a life spirit allows him to unconsciously see the true nature of a person, or see if the person is trustworthy or not).

Anyway, going into things a little more generally, I think Lancelot tends to be a bit cautious with the people Percival interacts with.

not only because of the incidents that happened on the trip to Liones, but because in general Percival is, well, Percival.

Even if Lancelog wants to believe what Percival says, he is naturally distrustful and rightly so.

If you saw the demonic world arc, you will know that Lancelot is little by little letting himself "loose" with the rest of the group and allowing himself to be more relaxed with them, I like to think that it is because of Percy's influence.

The thing is, the baby is so bubbly and happy that it's hard not to play along.

Besides, Lancelot IS a boy after all, I think it's good for him to have a friend like Percival to remind him of that (they are both the same age but act in such different ways that it doesn't seem that way).

Lancelot is definitely harder on Percival in training because 1- he is one of the few members of the crew who does not underestimate him for being young and 2- he considers that he needs him to toughen up and thus perhaps better handle the things that will come later.

I think that in part Lancelot fears that Percy will turn out badly in the whole situation, that he will lose the innocence that characterizes him, but he considers that he is strong enough to protect him.

It reminds me a bit of a sibling dynamic in a way, Lance wants to prepare Percival to better handle the real world at the same time that he doesn't want him to change the way he is.

that's how they are¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

In general I think that Lance is more protective of Percy than he lets on, not only because he is a knight of the profession as well and he needs him to be alive, but because they both understand each other in a certain way.

They both lost someone (either literally or metaphorically) because of the knights of chaos, they both want answers and/or revenge. Lance EMPATHIZES with him.

It's like he's trying to be Percy's "Jericho" in a way.

I mean, being the teacher/older brother figure that Percival needs at a time like this.

For the same reason, when Percival "dies" Lancelot not only takes it as a horrible loss, but as an absolute defeat.

He had set himself the mission of helping and guiding this CHILD on a path they were destined to have TOGETHER, but he didn't know how to do it well.

makes much of the responsibility fall on him and he doesn't really accept any other alternative.

He considers that being the strongest, it was HIS responsibility to protect Percival.

He asked me how things would be after what happened in the manga, but hey...only time will tell...

Shares, reglogs and comments are very welcome!

thanks for the request!❤️ but I don't think I'll be doing this type of Headcanons again anytime soon, they're just not my style, I prefer the x reader canon a thousand times😅

[enemyoflactose]

I finished Noah's Arc

My descent into villainy begins.

@lostsomewhereinthegarden wanted to be tagged in this one 💕

Voice acting:

I have no clue what any new characters sound like in the sub, so this 4kids performance only.

Noah: round of applause he sounds fantastic.

Gozuburo: he needs to sound more like he smokes

The Deep Sea Warrior guy: I forgot what he sounded like

Crump: he sounds weird

Johnson: Why is his voice so deep? Why is it so deep? He sounds like a big scary monster.

The robot: I wasn't paying attention to him

Lector: nice. I like his voice.

Dark Magician Girl: it's really annoying for some reason.

Flame Swordsman: hot voice

Serenity's deck master: I don't like it.

Characters:

Yugi: that sure is Yugi. He gets more screentime than usual and that's a nice change. I love his interactions with Téa after her duel, he's so sweet it makes my dumb shipper brain go crazy.

Yami: he sure does duel. He insults Noah a few times, and is mean to Kuriboh in his first duel.

Téa: QUEEN. If Kaiba didn't exist this would have been her season.

Joey: That sure is Joey. It killed me every time he thought of Mai. Bro wants her back so badly.

Tristan: he was robbed. He deserved to duel again.

Duke: this man is so fucking rude like what the hell? I love him tho he's funny and silly.

Serenity: this poor girl blames herself so much. It was not her fault that Tristan died. It was 100% Duke's.

Seto Kaiba: why is he like this? He's so cool.

Mokuba: precious baby wanted to forgive Noah so badly. He said they were family. He said Kaibacorp would help build him a robot body and they could be twins. I'm crying.

Noah: Why was his backstory handled better than the Ishtar's? Why? This is a filler character and I felt worse for him than Marik. Maybe it's because he's a better duelist idk.

The big five: they exist

Gozuburo: his love for Noah was so conditional, I hate this man. I'm glad he's dead.

Important note

Deck Masters are a thing. I like the idea of them.

Duels

Duel 1 - Yugi vs Gansly

Yugi chooses Kuriboh as his deck master and is upset about it because it was an accident.

Gansly is his own deck master.

Most of the duel is Gansly explaining the rules to Yugi and using cards that either don't exist, or are really bad.

Yuugi wins using Kuriboh, Rainbow Bridge, and Gaia the Fierce Knight to attack Gansly directly.

Duel 2 - Téa vs Crump

There was so much Téa fan service in this duel and before this and after this duel. It would have been distracting if this duel wasn't hype.

Téa picks Dark Magician Girl as her deck master, and Crump uses himself/Nightmare Penguin as a deck master.

Crump uses Penguin cards and cards like Cold Wave (Rest in Peace King) to gradually turn Téa into an ice sculpture.

Téa uses cards like Maha Vailo, some equip spells, and Mirror force to help herself, but due to still being a beginner mirror force gets destroyed.

Téa is getting guidance from Dark Magician Girl on how to duel, and ends up using Sage's Stone to special summon Dark Magician.

Téa wins the duel.

Also, Crump wanted to build a penguin themed amusement park, but that's not important.

Duel 3 - Joey vs Johnson

Joey stumbled into a court room after thinking he found his way back to the blimp. He was tricked by Johnson who was pretending to be Mai.

Joey's deck master is Flame Swordsman and Johnson's is Judge Man.

During this duel, Joey is using his deck master's special ability to raise his monsters attack points, but then they all get destroyed.

Now Joey is putting his faith in his gambling cards, but Johnson is cheating and making it so Joey can't use them

Noah catches this and calls out Johnson, but Joey says it's fine as long as he doesn't cheat anymore.

Joey ends up winning.

Duel 4 - Tristan, Duke, and Serenity vs Nezbit

I wasn't paying attention to this duel until Tristan died.

I still wasn't paying attention after he died.

Duke and Serenity win, but Nezbit got to take control of Tristan's body and now Tristan is Robot Monkey Tristan.

Duel 5: Kaiba vs Lector

This duel was too short.

Lector's deck master is Jinzo and Kaiba's is Lord of D.

During this duel, Lector is using cards like Jinzo and Imperial Order to make sure Kaiba can't use spells or traps. He also uses Injection Fairy Lily. I miss her. I miss my Lily.

Kaiba catches on to Lector's plan and makes him lose too many life points to keep Lily and Imperial Order on the field, then he summons Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroys a Satellite. I'm pretty sure 4kids censored this scene, because there was a weird jump cut from Blue Eyes attacking, to the debris falling.

Duel 6 - Joey and Yugi vs The Big Five

The big five are using Tristan's body to duel, and they're doing alright with early Umi Control. Then Johnson ruins it.

Yugi and Joey fuse their deck masters The Big Five fuse their deck masters.

Uhhhhhh

Yugi and Joey win and we never see the Big Five again.

Important stuff that happened

Mokuba got kidnapped and brainwashed.

Kaiba and the gang found out that Noah was Kaiba's step brother.

Noah is being really creepy to Mokuba.

Duel 7 - Yugi and Kaiba vs Noah

This duel is so long

Kaiba is really trying his best and is kind of winning, but Noah is reciting the Bible and using Mokuba as a shield so Kaiba loses because he is a hardcore reddit atheist and loves Mokuba.

Yugi calls Noah a hypocrite and combines his and Kaiba's deck.

Kaiba and Mokuba are turned to stone at this point.

Yuugi keeps talking shit and then Duke gets turned to stone. Nothing of value was lost.

Noah has to activate his deck master's second ability because Yugi destroyed the first one, and now Yugi has to fave Shinatu or whatever his name was.

Noah keeps raising his life points and he's using Spirit Monsters

My honest reaction to spirit monsters.

At least we saw Yatagurasu.

Noah is turning Yugi's friends to stone every turn, but Téa gets to stay alive for one more turn because she's just cool like that.

Yami summons all three Dark Magicians that he has ,but Noah destroyed all of them.

Then Yami summons Blue eyes and wipes out Noah's life points.

Yugi won and Kaiba wasn't happy that Yugi used his deck.

Duel 8 - Kaiba vs Gozuburo

This duel was also too short.

Gozuburo has Exodia and it gave Kaiba PTSD.

Kaiba has to send all 5 pieces of Exodia to the graveyard so that Gozuburo can summon Exodia Necros.

Necros is invincible and Kaiba's all like "You still take damage dumbass"

Gozuburo raises the attack of Necros, and Kaiba banishes (or puts them back in the deck I forgot) the Exodia pieces that were in the graveyard.

Kaiba wins and Gozuburo tries to take over his body anyway, but Yugi saves him.

Important stuff that happened

The squad was looking for an exit with Noah

Noah was told he was disappoinment so many times.

Mokuba accepted Noah as part of his family

Noah went to the real world to help the gang get their bodies back.

The island is about to explode.

Téa, Tristan and Serenity get their bodies back first

Then Duke and Joey

Then the rest of them.

Noah traps Gozuburo in Cyber space.

The island exploded

The End

[blogger360ncislarules]

The warm comedy “Ghosts” has been a hit for CBS, despite facing an at-times claustrophobic feeling over the years, perhaps spawned in part by being a show launched during the pandemic. Star Rose McIver, who plays Sam, broke down Season 4’s premiere for TheWrap and teased how this season opens up multiple new pathways for the show to explore and for new characters to enter its orbit.

The premiere of Patience

That first new pathway comes with the debut of new ghost, Patience, played by comedic actress Mary Holland (“Nightbitch”), in Thursday night’s premiere titled after her character. McIver praised Holland’s season-opening arc playing the traumatized Puritan ghost — but shared that the character had initially left her apprehensive due to an existing “Ghosts” prude.

“I had been a little concerned with potential overlap with her and Hetty as characters, Patience and Hetty being the sort of rule setters of the house,” McIver explained. “But it was incredible to see, when they’re next to each other in the episode, how vastly different their characters are, and how progressive Hetty has become in her own funny way.”

As we saw with the end of the premiere, Patience is set to stick around for a beat — and seems likely to continue to pop up even beyond her initial arc.

“I think we all know Mary is awesome to have around. So I’m sure she’ll be back plenty,” McIver said.

Holland brings experience as a prolific Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre performer. McIver said that she started taking UCB classes herself while working on “Ghosts.”

“She’s able to make a character that could be so finite and at risk of really being dull or being the buzzkill of the party,” McIver shared. “It’s sinister energy, but she’s so energetic and so thoughtful and plays things so many different ways. I mean, in the true improv sense, she really is in the moment.”

Expanding the show

But Patience isn’t the only new character set to help open up the show’s world. Next week’s episode brings the debut of another new character to “Ghosts”: Sam’s dad, played by Dean Norris (“Breaking Bad”).

“It’s notable that we haven’t met him for three full seasons,” McIver noted. “We’ve had multiple Christmases, and there’s never really been mention of him. And so the stakes are very high when he appears,” McIver explained.

“They’re able to kind of reconnect in a way, and that they hadn’t for so long,” McIver shared. “The tough guy exterior with a sensitive heart inside is just always very fascinating to me, and I think he plays that better than we could have ever hoped for.”

That lets McIver play something new as well.

“It gives us a little bit of insight into Sam’s longing to fit in and to have a family, and a fear of abandonment, which is quite nicely paralleled with some of Patience’s fear [and] experience of abandonment,” McIver added of the ghost’s background, left stranded in the dirt underneath the mansion for centuries. “We start to understand how our characters’ history has informed exactly where they are now in a special way this year. And that episode, for me, was obviously very helpful for understanding Sam.”

The show is set to continue expanding this year as Sam’s partner Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) opens the bed and breakfast’s new restaurant, offering another way for new characters to come into the series.

“Anything that opens up the universe is very helpful for us,” McIver shared. “Obviously, we’re in a house a lot of the time. There’s the same characters inside a house. And to have this restaurant is just kind of an injection of fresh blood coming in.”

Jay will be teaming with the show’s recurring contractor Mark (Tristan D. Lalla) to run the restaurant, also giving Jay a new playground.

“That’s really awesome for Utkash to get to play such a distinctly his storyline. And, I mean, they haven’t shown themselves to be flawless business people yet with the B and B, and I think you can kind of anticipate, certainly, things don’t go smoothly on the restaurant front either,” McIver said.

She compared the coming dynamic to that of classic farce “Fawlty Towers.”

“‘Fawlty Towers’ moments, struggling to manage the hotel with 12 people who are expecting customer service — that works well for me,” McIver said.

Rolling with a tumultuous four years

The season premiere of “Ghosts” comes following a strike-shortened third season, as well as McIver having her first child in between seasons. The star, along with the rest of the cast, has had to get used to a tumultuous run ever since launching as the Covid pandemic began.

“I mean, this show, we did our pilot table read on March 13, [2020,] like the day the world shut down, and it’s been sort of ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ to get here,” McIver quipped. The show finally premiered in the fall of 2021. “We moved [shooting] locations, from L.A. to Montreal. We survived a strike, we survived a pandemic. We survived multiple characters, actors on the show having babies. It’s been this very wild ride.”

The New Zealand-born actress reflected on how being a new mom has informed the way she plays Sam.

“Being a mum, a new mum, definitely gives you a different perspective on things,” McIver said. “It’s quite interesting that it’s sort of paralleled in Sam having to learn that she can’t be pleasing everybody all the time, and she can’t accommodate everyone all the time.”

McIver said that she’s been feeling spread thin in her real life, while also acknowledging that she’s in a fortunate position.

“It tempers your eagerness to give yourself up in order to be what other people want you to be,” McIver said. “And I feel like it’s given Sam a bit more depth for me and a bit more to sort of chew on, that that feels very personally resonant with trying to navigate all sorts of different worlds at once.”

A witchy Halloween episode

McIver shared her excitement for the forthcoming Halloween episode, the third episode of this season, which she previewed includes Patience leading the house in accusing Sam of being a witch.

Holiday episodes “bring out such a strong viewpoint from all the different characters,” McIver said. “They always obviously deal with family a lot, specifically in the Christmas episode, but just what it evokes of the child within the character is really interesting. And obviously, in a Halloween episode, irrational or rational fears come into play.”

“The sense that Sam is believed to be a witch, and everybody has a very different take on whether that’s possible or not, whether that matters or not,” McIver teased. “It’s just a perfect little fly in the ointment for the ghosts to navigate this this year.”

Being the lead in an ensemble

The actress’s role has evolved over the years as McIver has worked to give the ghosts a spotlight.

“Early on for Sam, when you’re navigating 10 characters on a show, she’s a facilitator. In most ways, she’s conveying other people’s stories. She’s an engine pushing things,” McIver said. “Until recently, a lot of it has been trying to get out of the way.”

She shared her desire to make the whole ensemble shine, even though she’s the lead.

“It’s interesting being the lead of a show where, really, I feel like I’m trying not to take up too much air time,” McIver said. “You know, the show is called ‘Ghosts,’ and it was about me trying to illuminate aspects of their lives.”

Beginning in Season 3 and into Season 4, though, McIver said that she feels she’s getting the chance to find how to create humor with Sam herself.

“There’s a lot in Sam’s desire to be liked and to seek approval that, to me, is the heart of what’s funny about her, and endearing, and infuriating,” McIver said. “It’s been really kind of a treat this year as we’ve had more time and we do these breakaway storylines to indulge Sam as Sam, not Sam as who she is to the rest of the family.”

McIver said that she has a better understanding of the character now and that we’ll see multiple sides of her this season, including continuing her work as a writer. She also pointed to “strange alliances” beginning to happen between certain characters as something to watch out for.

A musical episode?

McIver and her castmates have expressed their interest in doing a musical episode before. While we have yet to see one come to fruition, the desire for one remains, McIver said.

“The sense of performance within performance is really fun,” McIver said. “I think there’s so much to mine from it. And so that element, for me, of a musical would be wonderful, to see who people project and who people believe themselves to be and want themselves to be.”

That’s a theme that McIver said happens throughout Season 4. “There’s a lot of facade. And a lot of people impersonating people.”

That includes new ghosts visiting the show, McIver teased. They’ll also have an ally in dealing with some of the dilemmas that their secret ghosts provide for them with Jay’s sister returning to the show, already knowing what’s going on, McIver noted.

Getting deep

The show has tackled surprisingly deep topics at times, but McIver emphasized that they know it’s all about the jokes.

“People aren’t tuning in for a TED Talk. They’re not coming to hear a lecture on the state of the world and the human condition,” McIver said, “they’re coming for a comedy. So whatever we do has to be palatable and have a certain amount of levity and escapism, for the end of people’s long days at work.”

The subject matter of “Ghosts” could feel darker, but McIver pointed to the natural pairing of comedy and tragedy as helping the show avoid that, as well as inspiring fans to wrestle with bigger issues.

“It’s been quite interesting actually meeting people at conventions and things, and hearing the way some of the personal stories have really touched them, and people being able to have conversations about the afterlife in a way that they hadn’t, or of mortality,” McIver shared.

What makes exploring dark topics work for the show, McIver said, is to offer the conversation “but without finite answers.” She added, “We’re not trying to be moral police or to tell everybody, ‘this is how it works.’”

Facing a changing industry and what comes next

Through all of the show’s growth, McIver expressed her thanks for both working on “Ghosts” and being able to maintain a career across different TV shows, including her run as the lead of “iZombie.”

“At a certain point, I feel like it’s just dumb luck,” McIver said. “I’ve been incredibly lucky to be signed on shows with great creators who have ideas that have longevity.”

She also recognized that this is even more the case as the entertainment industry goes through some historic shifts.

“We’re all so insanely appreciative for the jobs we have,” McIver said. “Especially in this crazy climate, to be on something that not only keeps going and that is fun, but is evolving.”

She expressed her excitement about the way a show continuing lets you keep getting deeper — though she concedes that it’s a bell curve, and you might run into some issues if you went “40 seasons or something.”

“The texture that you’re able to get when fans and cast and crew alike all know who these people are, a little bit, and start to anticipate decisions and be surprised when they’re not exactly what they expect — it just gives a whole new life to something,” McIver said. “Season to season, it’s growing more and more, and it doesn’t feel tired at all. If anything, it feels like it’s really waking up for me. This season, we get to explore less just characters’ backstories, and more of the dynamics between them and how their histories have informed their current decisions.”

[meowunmeow]

Undead Unluck Characters and Their Puns

This is gonna be a very long post so please bear with me, guys. I love languages and this is my domain so.

I will only add the appropriate information for the puns depending on how simple or complex it is.

List will be based on their negation ability reveals (or introductions, I'm inconsistent) up until the latest chapter so anime-onlys be warned!

Fūko Izumo (出雲風子, Izu-mo Fuu-ko)

Unluck (不運, fu-un)

Her pun is rather simple. The kanji 雲, meaning cloud, can be read as "un", while 風, meaning wind, is straightforward in the fact that it sounds similar to "fu" as in 不.

Simply put, her name can be read as "Fu-Un" just like her ability!

There's also the bonus cloud + wind combo.

Andy (アンディ, Andi)

Undead (アンデッド, andeddo)

This one is already explained by Fūko lol.

Void Volks (ボイド・ボルクス, Boido Borukusu)

Unavoidable

Avoid.

Gina Chamber (ジーナ • チェンバー, Jiina Chenbaa)

Unchange (アンチェンジ, anchenji)

Hers is actually a really fun one. It got my head scratching until I read the manga in Japanese lol.

Simply reverse it into "Chamber Gina" then cut out the first syllable of each name. "Chen" and "Ji", which becomes "Chenji" as in "Change"!

Rip Tristan (リップ • トリスタン, Rippu Torisutan)

Unrepair

Rip as in the "rip-air" in "repair".

Top Bull Sparx (トップ • ブル • スパークス, Toppu Buru Supaakusu)

Unstoppable

Stop.

Tatiana (タチアナ, Tachiana)

Untouchable (アンタッチャブル, antacchaburu)

"Tachi" in "Tachiana" is a pun for "Tacchi" as in "Touch"!

Chikara Shigeno (重野力, Shige-no Chikara)

Unmove (不動, fudou )

His is also very fun, I only noticed it during the undercover high school arc where his name was written in Ryo's notebook and Nico held it up.

The kanji for move is 動 which consists of the kanji 重 from his surname and 力 from his first name.

This one is really smart, actually.

Akira Kuno (久能 明, ku-nou akira) / Un Anno (安野雲, an-no un)

Unknown (不明, fumei )

His first name of "Akira"'s kanji (明) can be read as "mei" as in "fumei".

Un Anno has already been explained within the story, it just sounds like "unknown".

Sean Datz (ション • ダッツ, shon dattsu)

Unseen

Sean looks like "seen", that's the whole pun. But the "depre-sean" and "damna-sean" jokes really get me lol.

Lucy (ルーシー, ruushii)

Unhealthy (アンヘルシー, anherushii)

Still debatable if it was a joke or she's an actual negator. But considering how she can astral project and see other's astral projection, and Nico (when his ability hasn't manifested) couldn't, it's more likely she is one.

"Ruushii" from "anherushii".

Nico Vorgeil (ニコ • フォーゲイル, niko fougeiru)

Unforgettable

Vorgeil sounds like Forget.

I honestly thought he was named Nico as in "Nicotine" because he smoked a lot. Turns out he was named after Nikola Tesla. Oops.

Ichico Nemuri (イチコ • ネムリ)

Unsleep

I love hers so much. Her name is written entirely in katakana instead of kanji, which means it can be read in multiple ways.

The "Ichi" in "Ichico" can be read as "one" as a counterpart to the "Ni" in "Nico" which can mean "two". Add them together, and you can get "three", which can be "Mi-tsu" and the "Mi" as in "Mico"!

Nemuri on its own can be read as "眠り", which means "to sleep" but it can also be read as a combination of "nemu" (sleeping) and "muri" (impossible/unreasonable) which means "unable to sleep".

Backs/Bunny (バックス, bakkusu)

Unback

We don't really have much info but it's obvious the "backs" is from "back".

Phil Hawkins (フィル • ホーキンス, firu houkinsu)

Unfeel (アンフィール, anfiiru )

Phil. Feel. Mind blown.

Tella (テラー, teraa )

Untell

Tella.

Characters I haven't figured out the pun yet or unsure about:

• Shen Xiang (シェン • シアン, shen shian) - Untruth

I'd say it's because it sounds similar but not really to "shin" as in 真 meaning truth?

• Mui (ムイ) - Untruth

It could be "mu" as in "none"? Because she's not a negator or... Something else.

• Juiz d'Arc (ジュイズ • ダルク, juizu daruku) - Unjustice (アンジャスティス, anjasutizu)

I guess it's because of anjasutizu?? Not sure.

• Creed Deckard (クリード • デッカード, kuriido dekkaado) - Undecrease (デクリーズ, dekuriizu)

My best bet is "de" from his surname and "kurii" from his first name, but then that makes it "dekurii" instead. So idk.

• Sadako Kurusu (来栖 貞子, Kuru-su Sada-ko) / Kururu (クルル) - Unchaste

I really don't know. Except maybe the "kuru" in her name means "arrive" as in her targets rushing onto her?

• Yusai (友才) - Undraw

Exposing myself as a fake fan because I have no idea.

• Isshin (一心) / Haruka Yamaoka (山岡 春歌, yama-oka haru-ka)

I might be stupid.

• Billy Alfred (ビリー • アルフレッド, birii arufureddo) - Unfair/Unbelievable

The only possibility I could think of is because readers were told that his ability was "unbelievable". I can't really find a connection between his name and "unfair". Unless it's the fact that his name doesn't have a pun, hence breaking the status quo of having name puns, that makes it unfair. But maybe I'm just reaching.

• Feng Kowloon (ファン • クローン, fan kuroon) - Unfade

I keep on accidentally reading his name as "fan clone" and I can't figure out a pun (if that was even one) other than that...

• Latla Mirah (ラトラ • ミラー, ratora miraa) - Untrust (アントラスト, antorasuto)

It could be the "tora" in "ratora" as in "torasuto". But I'm not really sure.

• Enjin (円陣, en-jin) Unburn

Enjin sounds like "engine", yeah, but I can't really see the pun.

• Victor (ヴィクター, vikutaa) - Undead

I'm not even sure if there is a pun here other than "victor" as in "victory" as in "winner".

Bonus:

The logo for "Under" is literally just the 不 kanji flipped upside down.

Idc about Ruin.

•••

If any of y'all know any new info, feel free to add on in the tags!

[darksaiyangoku]

HellGoku Stories: RWBY x Witcher

One Awkward Moment

Jaune grunted as his arms were strung up together by rope, wearing nothing but his torn, maroon trousers. Standing in front of him was his wife, Yang, wearing a tight yellow corset, white lace underwear and long, brown leather boots. In her hand, she held a small whip and she started slowly rubbing it on his abs, making him shudder.

Yang: *giggles* I love it when you make those noises for me, sweetheart. *kisses him softly* Mmmm~ Mmm~

Jaune shuddered more into the kiss as he felt his chest being caressed by his lover, Blake, who wore long, silk gloves, a black breast bandage wrap and laced black underwear. She pushed herself against Jaune's back and peppered his neck with kisses.

Blake: You have been such a good boy for us that you deserve a reward.

Jaune: Oh? And what would that be?

Yang: A lovely night with two, ravishing beauties. *winks*

Blake: And we'll make sure you scream so loud, the entire Kingdom of Vale will hear it. *firmly grabs his ass*

Yang: Now relax *leans in and whispers* and enjoy~

Yang cupped Jaune's face again and kissed him. She pressed her tongue deeper into his mouth. Blake, meanwhile, wrapped her fingers around Jaune's neck and began to gently choke him. He felt his entire body tingle as the girls continued to play with him. It was pure bliss.

Tristan: *opens door* Mother, I can't find the biscuits- AAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!

Yang and Blake jumped away from Jaune as they heard Tristan's screams. The young boy closed his eyes and quickly raced out of the room.

Tristan: SOLIEL!!!! MOTHER AND AUNTY BLAKE WERE HURTING FATHER!!!!!!

Yang: *blushing* Crap! Crap! Crap! *grabs clothes and runs after Tristan* Tristan, it's okay! We're only playing together is all!

Jaune: ...please tell me you know a spell to erase memories.

Blake: *shakes head* Nope.

Jaune: Fuck.

[victoriadallonfan]

Apologies for the long analysis!

I think Victoria and Taylor share an interesting character in hating people who serve as projections of themselves

For example, here’s Taylor describing the Merchants:

- Worm 10.2

Remove the Merchant label, and you basically described not only Taylor, but her entire team of Undersiders.

Taylor latched onto the only group that would take her (in her mind), Regent is an addict (for emotions), Rachel is a vagrant, and the entire team are thugs, looters, scavengers, and thieves. Like, it was only an arc ago that Taylor had attacked a PRT supply truck to steal from it, and then the PRT HQ itself. Coil has been supplying drugs to the city to pay for the Undersiders, and both of them mooch off of the US government to “rule” Brockton Bay (which is why they panicked at the idea of the Government closing down the city and paying off the residents).

This goes on even after: Taylor hates the Merchants for kidnapping people for their pleasure and thinks being trapped in one’s body is a fate worse than death… which are things Regent does and she *supports* him (by this point he not only had Sophia but a half dozen other victims as well), and later what she does as Khepri.

Taylor (though some may argue otherwise), never reaches the mass depravity and sadism of the Merchants personally, but she has more in common with them than she wants to admit and would make allowances that line up with them (and hates them because of those similarities).

And then we have Victoria:

- Ward 13.3

Victoria last arc had killed a lot of people. She unloaded an assault rifle into mercenaries, she crushed an entire squad with a cave in, and at this point believed that she had killed Etna in self-defense. We later learn that as GG she had night terrors about people dying, showing that this is a deep seated root of fear, possibly stemming from her Aunt’s murder.

Victoria didn’t do drugs*, but she was an addict: she craved Amy’s love/attention to the point that, to paraphrase her own words, she felt like an animal. How it consumed her life and made her thoughts spiral, even when she tried to learn coping mechanisms to handle the cravings. *There might be some connected shame to her needing to take medication to handle her night terrors as we learn in arc 16.

Victoria didn’t really care about money per se, but it was an important argument she had with Tristan, talking about how she used to watch Carol stay up late at night, trying to handle bills and stressing out about them (probably because Carol was supporting two families by herself good lord). She focuses a LOT on paying back the local residents when street fights get nasty and damages property (:insertmemehere:), or making villains pay for it. And while not necessarily monetary, there is the fact that she craves recognition and - in her own words - hates being ignored. She does want fame and the good that comes with it.

I think a point of diversion is how they handle this being pointed out to them. Well, not necessarily these moments above (though Vic does admit she fails her own benchmark and Taylor almost has an epiphany when Piggot is telling her all the details), but similarity moments.

Taylor:

- Worm 21.2

Victoria:

- Ward 18.9

(Sorry for the large images)

We see that Taylor and Victoria both try to deflect and counter argue when their behaviors are called out (TT noting that she’s not thinking straight and not acknowledging the reality of the situation; Sveta and Natalie both pointing out that Victoria is acting more and more desperate and reckless in each fight and maybe pushing that on others).

And then a key difference happens:

Taylor - in a mirror to her conflicts with Danny - leaves. She doesn’t have a counterpoint to make, so she doesn’t, and just leaves to stew on her anger. It’s not like she could gag TT like she did Piggot after all; the only winning move was to not play. Or change the rules so that she would have the advantage (or gun to the head, as TT so aptly puts it later on as Khepri goes into full swing).

Victoria admits defeat. She treated the argument as, well, an argument and conceded her loss when she found that she had no proper rebuttal. Even though she disagreed (and heavily at that; even trying to forget that she had judged Switch Hitter for breaking down for a bit) she couldn’t find the words to do so, thus she lost. Which later plays out into her deciding to trust others to handle defeating Fortuna (and awakening them) instead of herself.

What do y’all think? Am I just spewing nonsense? If not, any other points that you think where they have similar character flaws but different ways of handling them?

[orphanheirs]

WIP Questionnaire

Thanks for the tag, @transthadymacdermot!!

What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

The characters. They existed as deviantart ocs that I used to roleplay with in chatrooms before any semblance of a story existed. This was back in high school.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I'll give a few examples here because there's a lot of songs I think fit the vibe of the story (I have a 4-hour long playlist of "soundtrack" songs)! All of these are based on pure vibes, not necessarily lyrics. For a TV show, I think a folk revival type song like "Over Again" by Stick in the Wheel or "Cannily Cannily" by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart would be sick. If it was a short instrumental intro song, an eerie tune like "More Bones to Sort" from the OTGW soundtrack or this song would work well. To get more general Rasputina is an artist whose overall sound is something that would work great for the story. If you don't know them they're a band that makes rock music with cellos and is very weird and goth about it.

What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

I love them all, but right now I have to admit my favorite is Tristan. It's definitely partially because he's the most developed right now, but also because he's the reason I revived the story after dropping it almost 10 years ago. I remembered him and thought he had potential and fell in love with him all over again. Coming up with ideas for his arc and his backstory got me excited for the overarching story again, and I changed him from a side character to a main character. I have a lot of fun with his personality and I relate to him a lot on a personal level.

What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, Over the Garden Wall, Labyrinth, possibly Interview with the Vampire? and people who grew up with things like Hocus Pocus and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Maybe fans of Neil Gaiman? It's kind of hard to say though; I have no idea how the story would be marketed because it's..pretty weird lol.

What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Not sure what the biggest of them all is, but my big three I guess would be plotting, research, and actually writing. I feel like I'm hitting my head on a wall when I try to outline story beats or whatever, so I think I'll just have to fly by the seat of my pants and plot as I go. Research also feels like a hurdle I need to get past because I want to base the story itself on actual mythology and folklore, and root the "real-world" parts of the story in the real historic regency period. Right now I know enough to share fun facts in a conversation, but in reality I don't know shit. I have a lot of work to do in that regard. Actually writing has been a challenge due to a combination of annoying factors including having very little free time in my life, executive dysfunction, and being? scared? of writing? because what if it comes out bad? Which I know is silly but it blocks me from writing a lot of the time nevertheless.

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

Right now I'm thinking Crispin has a pet bat named Sparrow. Crispin named the bat Sparrow because he literally thought it was a sparrow, that being the only flying creature he knew of at the time. Now he knows better, but Sparrow is still Sparrow. I haven't thought much about it, but I think Crispin's keeping of a pet is one of the things that indicates he's different from his family/species, i.e. he experiences empathy and longs for companionship. The demon Tristan summons can shapeshift, and takes the form of many different creatures throughout the story.

How do your characters travel/get around?

Considering the time period, the options are limited. There's a lot of walking in this story, but also getting from place to place by carriage or cart. There's likely to be some horseback riding as well. In terms of the supernatural, Crispin can "teleport" himself from point A to point B using magic--but not very far. I still need to figure out the specifics of that though. Tristan is greatly aided in getting around by the demon he summoned, who transforms into a flying black steed Tristan can ride on.

What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

Right now I'm bouncing around and writing snippets of scenes that come to mind/interest me most. I'm considering everything experimental at the moment, and not committing to anything actually being in the final novel. This is helping me get over my fear of writing, and I like it because sometimes I end up liking what I write more than I thought I would. I also *might* write the story in novella form first, try out some things with that, learn from it, and then expand and/or rewrite it as a full novel. Other than that I'm researching and brainstorming and drawing (which is part of my process)!

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) will you think draw your audience in?

Hmmm I think the fact it's a dark fantasy/horror story and the fact it's set in the regency period will attract people. The regency period and fantasy are both really popular right now (as far as I can tell). Also the fact that it has found family, which seems to be a popular trope. The fact it has queer characters might be appealing too. Other draws might be the Halloween aspect, and the deal with the devil trope. And if anyone likes enemies to friends and twist villains. There's also heavy use of gothic tropes and subverting them/combining them with folk horror tropes. Regency media (cough cough Jane Austen) tropes will also go under the knife of subversion.

What are your hopes for your WIP?

I hope to make it a published novel! Ideally traditionally published, but who knows if that'll happen lol. I also want the book to be illustrated, and to illustrate it myself. Besides that, I'd love to do some comics featuring the characters and maybe even short animations. (She said as if she had endless free time...)

Tagging: @ceph-the-ghost-writer, @finchmomentwrites, and @kaylinalexanderbooks !

[mirpuzzle]

Hi! Could I hear some of your thoughts/HCs about Bonz, Sid and Zygor's personalities? I want to add them to my Sims 4 save, but I'm having trouble choosing their traits, and you seem to be the expert on these cornflakes, :]

Hi! 🌸 Sorry for the wait. It'll be my pleasure to ramble about Kotsuzuka and his friends ❤️ This will be a long post.

-------------------

Shared traits

✦ Kotsuzuka and his friends can be naive and trusting. This can sometimes cloud their judgment and common sense.

Yes, dear. Trapping someone and his friends in a cave, leaving them to die just because you lost a duel to him is indeed too much. I'm glad you figured that out 👍

✦ They have a strong sense of camaraderie, so betraying their loyalty will cause them to hold a grudge against you.

Kotsuzuka | Bonz 👻

✦ Ghost-boy is impulsive. Even though I think their gang-like friend group has no leader, I imagine Kotsuzuka's impulsiveness often drags Takaido and Satake into stuff. And they go along with it. Because it's fun.

✦ Kotsuzuka is a playful little guy. He loves scaring people, but only when it's intentional. Scaring someone by accident might make him feel bad, like that time in Duel Links when a girl mistook him for a ghost and ran away when he tried to duel her, and he was later accused of stealing her card. Poor little thing T_T

✦ He's self-conscious about his appearance, even if he tries to play it off. Mean comments can offend him 😞

✦ He's very expressive and has no problem showing his emotions. OR, has trouble hiding them.

✦ The way he questioned Keith's instructions during his duel against Jonouchi | Joey tells me he's true to himself and usually doesn't keep quiet when something doesn't feel right.

✦ He can be dependent, especially on someone he looks up to.

✦ There's a major difference between manga and anime (Battle City arc), which translates into Kotsuzuka having opposite changes in his character development:

In the anime, he and his friends want to prove they can go to the tournament's finals by themselves (partially out of spite), even if that means resorting to dirty tricks and stealing other duelists' Puzzle | Locator Cards.

In the manga, Kotsuzuka is alone and seems to be dueling fairly. This, combined with what we know from Duel Links (which is based on the manga) and other games, we can tell he's not a bad guy. He no longer needs to follow Keith's orders or resort to cheating. He wants to prove he can be a good duelist without Keith's help. Of course, this doesn't stop him from mainly taking on opponents he deems weak.

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . Kotsuzuka is a goth and no one will convince me otherwise. . He specifically styles his hair like that to look scarier. . He doesn't have eyebrows. However, that doesn't stop me from giving him eyebrows when I draw him. He paints them with makeup. That's why I color them black.

Takaido | Sid 🔥

✦ Matching his apparent fire theme, Takaido seems to have an explosive personality. I don't know if this translates into him possibly having a short temper, but, having a serious argument with him, or making him really upset doesn't sound like it'd go well. He's prone to snap and yell.

✦ Remember when he stopped Honda | Tristan by throwing a bead at him, in the dark? He has good eyesight/aim, so watch out if he throws things at you.

✦ Takaido isn't the type to get into a group fight directly. He's more likely to back his friends up from afar if he can. He also doesn't have a problem with provoking others… as long as whoever he's provoking doesn't pose a threat.

✦ I've noticed he talks less than his friends. However, when he does, he makes it count. He knows what to say.

✦ Takaido can be a bit of a coward. The way he abandoned his friends when Kotsuzuka's duel with Yami Bakura was nearing its end, or the way he stood frozen in fear (in the manga) as Keith punished Kotsuzuka FOR FOLLOWING HIS INSTRUCTIONS could mean he doesn't handle fear/panic well.

✦ The way he dresses makes me think he cares about his appearance and spends some time choosing an outfit that makes him look good.

*fangirls_screaming.mp3*

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . Takaido likes spicy food and warm weather. . He hates cold.

Satake | Zygor ⚡

✦ Satake is a tough guy. Not only physically but emotionally as well. Out of the three of them, Satake is the only one who's never cried during the time they've been on screen, not even at the end of the duel against Yami Bakura. Perhaps life has taught him to toughen up, and he either doesn't cry anymore, or it would take A LOT to make him cry.

✦ In the manga, when Keith lost it and punished Kotsuzuka FOR DOING EXACTLY AS HE SAID (yes, I'm still mad), Satake looked at them in horror as if he was about to say "Oi, Aniki, that's enough!" but couldn't react out of shock. This is why he strikes me as a protective friend.

✦ He's very supportive. You can count on him to cheer for you, comfort, reassure you, or keep you sane. Or to beat someone up for you.

✦ He's good with heavy work and often relies on physical strength. It's like his first instinct is to fight or attack things, probably to look intimidating. However, I haven't seen him raise a hand against any of his friends even once. This aggressive behavior must be aimed at strangers and enemies.

✦ Other random headcanons I made up: . I don't know why but I think he would be good at babysitting kids. That doesn't mean he would be a good influence, though. . Contrary to his intimidating appearance and attitude, he's fond of little animals. They evoke that protective nature that's characteristic of him. . He likes storms. He thinks tornadoes are cool (not up close, of course).

Thank you for the ask! I hope any of this helps. If anyone else would like to add their thoughts/headcanons, feel free to do so ♥

[thecomicsnexus]

GHOSTBUSTERS VOL. 1 #5-16

2012

By Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening, Tristan Jones, Luis Antonio Delgado and others

The Ghostbusters notice an increase in PKE which may be related to an odd experience in Egon's past. At the same time, someone decides to start competing with the Ghostbusters... with colossal results.

SCORE: 9

So, if you are enjoying the current "Saturday Morning Adventures" by the same team (sans Jones), then you should definitely look at this run of Ghostbusters.

I already reviewed the first four episodes, and I gave those four issues a 9... well... I decided to try reading the whole run, and I glad to say the quality remained pretty much the same across.

There are a few one-shots, but most stories last around 4 issues. However, there are long arcs that last the whole volume (and some jump into the next one). I was actually pretty surprised by the way these stories unfolded. By the time the Ghostbusters went against the Ghost Smashers, it really felt like a Ghostbusters movie (well, the first two at least).

There are three things you need to be aware of before reading this comic.

1 Ghostbusters (1984)

2 Ghostbusters II

3 The Ghost Buster video game (2009)

The third one took my by surprise. I remember playing a couple of stages in it, but I never got around to finishing it... the only reason it's important is because otherwise, you will be left wondering who the 5th Ghostbuster is in one particular issue.

In any case, this was an amazing piece of work. Characterizations and plots were done amazingly, and it feels like a real collaboration, with Tristan Jones often adding character designs (and stories).

I often forget the plot of Ghostbusters II... is it just me? In any case, I recognized the characters in this but I couldn't remember what their deal was... so if you are like me, I recommend watching the movies first.

One notable absence was Dana. I am not sure why they kept her out of this story.