#trying to put together exactly what was so meh about the pilot

[veetowervaporwave]

Man I am so vanilla when it comes to ships in Hazbin...

Staticmoth: The epitome of toxic old men yaoi. They're just the worst. They push each other's buttons. They both have obsessions on the side but both want to be each other's center of attention. Other people's suffering gets them horny. They got married three times and divorced five times. They know exactly how horrible the other one is but it only makes them more attracted to each other. They're so toxic it's a health hazard for everyone around them. I wish nothing more than for them to die horribly while holding hands.

Chaggie: I've been shipping them since the pilot and I'll be real they were everything I wanted and even more. I always knew that their relationship would be mostly background stuff since they're an established couple, and I was excited to have something where the main character is in a stable and affectionate relationship. I didn't expect them to get a whole little storyarc with the whole angel drama... I'm just. So happy. Seeing them, knowing how much they supported each other over the years when they had no one else on their side, openly working out their issues... They're just everything that's good in the world.

Huskerdust: I feel about it a bit more differently compared to the previous two. I'm happy to see them just do whatever, but Huskerdust stands out because its development is kind of... part of the plot of the show, rather than just being an extra layer to their characters. I'm not even interested in fanfiction for them because I'm too excited to see how it progresses in the actual show.

Radiorose: QPR goals. Alastor having someone he's so comfortable with honestly elevated his character for me. I don't have a lot to say but I enjoy seeing them together immensely.

Appledust: guilty pleasure comfort ship, refer to this post for more context.

Ships I like less under the cut, I try not to be too mean but still, be careful.

Radiostatic (Or, I guess, Onewaybroadcast, rather): I like it a lot but only when it caters to my superspecific tastes. First of all it needs to be one-sided. The second Alastor reciprocates I'm like *Lucifer voice* "Who is this? Who is this man?" Second of all the "hate" part of the "hateboner" is essential (unless we're talking before their falling out). Vox both wants Alastor and wants him dead. It's been swirling inside him for years and had poisoned whatever relationship they had beforehand. There's no turning back from this.

RoyalHalo: I don't know how to explain it, but when I personally ship something "platonically", it's different from just regular shipping and different from having a brotp. Nothing much to say on the ship itself, they're cute.

Cherrisnake: I wish I could like it more but "Meh" is right. I think it has potential, unfortunately 8 episodes a season didn't allow it to develop. I wish we could have had Cherri before ep6 to establish her relationships with Angel and Pentious and I wish they had at least one genuine conversation before the end of the season.

Alastor x Charlie & Alastor x Angel: actually it's not about the ships themselves, just some bad experiences in the early fandom. Ik not all the shippers are like that, especially now when those ships are less popular and a lot of people are vocal about not liking them, but unfortunately I don't think I'll ever be able to enjoy them.

Lute x Vaggie: Nothing to say I just don't like it.

Val x Angel: I put a black line because my knee jerk reflex was to think of people like. Ignoring the abuse, but thinking about it, I do enjoy the exploration of their relationship if it's in-character. It's just not something I personally would consider "shipping". (But then what makes it different from onewaybroadcast? Guess I'm just a hypocrite or something)

"Found family" is a term that's used very differently by different people in the fandom, which is a little confusing to me, so I changed this category to "maybe".

Alastor x Husk: Much like the previous one, except I trust people with it even less after all the victimblaming Husk got after ep5.

Velvette x Vox and/or Velvette x Valentino: I don't ship those personally just for the reason that Vel genuinely seems uninterested, but I support the people who do. Especially the polyvees shipping. There's also additional element to this for me personally is that if Val and Vox were an item, there's a fear that Vel would come off as a third wheel or be pushed to the side, and if they were all together this wouldn't happen. So I have no choice but to support, even if I myself can't get into it.

Guitarspear: Lute ripping off her arm to go help Adam... The last thing Adam does before death is smile at her... God. They were also very fun hypemen for each other during songs, and just the general dynamic was really funny. I would say I like this ship when I see it, but I won't go out of my way to look for it?

Carmilla x Zestial: They're friends... The fanart is nice to look at. It's fine.

Radioapple: I'm conflicted. I guess I am kinda interested in what their relationship would be like in the show, but in fanworks I mostly enjoy the "they aren't actually attracted to each other but everyone thinks they are" dynamic. It's funny.

Pentious x Emily: Ok, one (1) crackship. My friend ships them and I kinda see the vision? Could be cute.

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01E14: Court Martial

Original Thoughts

"It was okay. It’s a pretty standard kind of episode that you could get from any courtroom drama airing at the time, but with computers and space. We already kind of got this in The Menagerie, although this one thankfully doesn’t use any pilot footage. Otherwise, it was fine. Nothing great or interesting, but fine for what it is. Not much else to say."

Rewatch Thoughts

As my original thoughts can allude to, I didn't have much of an opinion on Court Martial. It really didn't help that The Menagerie came first in the airing order, so it really felt like we'd already gone through something similar with Spock. Funny enough, The Menagerie is the next one in the production order, and I'll be reviewing both parts together. But we need to handle Kirk's court martial first.

Now, having watched it in the proper order, this was a LOT better than I had remembered. Like Galileo Seven, it's a nice change of pace. We're primarily on a Starbase and in a courtroom. We have no galactic threats or crazy going-ons aboard the ship. We are dealing with the Starfleet bureaucracy, and we have Kirk's career, everything that he's worked for, on the line as he tries to defend himself against what looks like an iron-clad case against him.

This is a good one to look at if you're trying to analyze Kirk. We've been watching him for fourteen episodes now, so we have a good idea of the kind of person by now. We know that Kirk wouldn't purposefully kill one of his own men, at least not without some kind of just cause and certainly not in his right mind. We saw just last episode how he was doing everything possible to find the Galileo crew down to the very last second and despite superiors telling him to quit. This is a man who puts his crew first and foremost. We've also seen how he handles pressure and duress, and if anything it seems to make him more effective than he normally is. So him jettisoning a crewman either on purpose or in a moment of stress? It's hard to believe.

That said, we know that Kirk is not infallible. He is capable of getting stressed and making mistakes. He is very much capable of being wrong. Thus, while we know that he wouldn't lie on a report (well... regarding one of his crew's death at least...) and we don't want to believe he would jettison someone even on accident, we know that it's plausible. He himself is so certain of his own actions and we can tell that he means it. When he believes in something, he doesn't back down until given enough proof that he's wrong. He only falters when he sees the footage of him pushing the jettison button, and even then he knows that it's wrong. He knows that his chances at that point are bad, but he stands by what he believes.

This also gives us a glimpse of Kirk's life before the Enterprise and how he is perceived by those within Starfleet. We'll learn more about what he's like in the Academy in Shore Leave, but even here we see that his old classmates don't seem to have a great opinion of him. Sure, they think that he got a crewman killed, but IDK... with what we find out later, I can imagine that he wasn't well-liked. We also find out that Kirk knew the crewman, Finney, who had instructed at the Academy, so that could also play into some of his old classmates' resentment if he'd also been a teacher to them. It goes to show that Kirk ain't exactly Mr. Popularity among some of his peers.

But outside that, Kirk seems to be held in high-regard by most. While his superiors hold him accountable and go through the proper process, no one seems to want to have Kirk court-martialed. We hear of all his accomplishments during the trial, and it just shows how hard he's worked and how much he's put into his career. This is his life, and he's given every aspect his full dedication, and it's clearly recognized. The prosecutor Areel Shaw, an old flame of his (pretty sure that would make her illegible to be on the case in the real world but meh) even tries to help him prior to the trial, wanting him to know what he's up against and get the best defense he can. No one at that trial wants to prosecute Kirk, but it's their jobs and they have to. Kirk himself wants it to happen because he knows that he's innocent, so if he has to risk court martial and losing his command of the Enterprise, so be it.

Then of course Kirk's crew support him. McCoy was in his corner right from the start and, even when grilled by Shaw, remains insistent that Kirk would not give into duress. Hell, when he thinks that Spock is playing chess while Kirk is about to be sentenced, he is flabbergasted until Spock properly explains why. He never wavered on his belief in Kirk. Speaking of Spock, despite being the guy in charge of the computers and having no proof otherwise, he too believes in Kirk. He notably is reluctant when he arrives with the computer logs that implicates Kirk. Under testimony, he can't explain why even when he himself was the one processing the data. But to him, a man of logic, he finds the notion that Kirk would act as he is accused impossible. Even the Personnel Officer clearly hates having to testify against Kirk. Even Finney's daughter Jamie, despite her outburst at the start of the episode, believes Kirk after hearing all the testimony and reading her father's letters. When Kirk testifies on his own behalf, full of conviction and certainty, you can see why so many follow and trust him. In that instant, you want to believe him as much as Spock and McCoy clearly do.

As it turns out, Kirk indeed didn't kill Finney. It was all a trap via Finney himself. We find out that Kirk had logged about a mistake that made, and apparently he's blamed him for being reprimanded and left at the bottom of the promotion list ever since. We can assume that prior to that they were somewhat close, Finney even naming Jamie after Kirk. Kirk of course only did his job as Finney almost got the ship they were on, the Republic, blown up due to his negligence. Accident or not, that is a biiiig no-no. Finney put himself in his position, but he chose to blame Kirk, and seeing him rise through the ranks angered him. So much so that he made his whole convoluted plot of framing Kirk for negligence, messing with the computers, and planning to destroy the Enterprise and killing everyone on-board just to get back at him. The man is clearly mentally unwell, seriously, how did it take until TNG for Starfleet to have proper counseling on board their Starships?! Still, it goes to show how for all the respect that Kirk has gained, he has also gained plenty of resentors.

I think getting a glimpse of how court proceedings in the TOS universe are handled is fun to see. We see how reliant it, and much of the world in fact, is so reliant on computers. For all that we see how much technology has evolved and become useful (well compared to the 60's anyways), we also see the show on multiple occasions continue to insist on the importance of one's humanity. Cogley, Kirk's defense attorney, is someone who sticks to the old-fashioned way of doing things. He has hundreds of books on law and outright refuses to use a computer. This and his somewhat quirky personality makes us pretty worried about Kirk's chances.

But as it turns out, Cogley knew what he was doing. His conviction and belief in the law, in those books he's studied, is very strong and it pays off. He wants the court to remember what Kirk has accomplished and let them hear him speak, knowing that nothing would be stronger. Then when presented with the evidence that the computer is wrong despite resting the case, he convinces the court to hear him out and not ruin the life of an innocent man. Even in the future, this is the kind of lawyer we need. One who truly believes in the law and pursuing what's right, not just going by what a piece of technology says. In a world where we're growing more and more reliant on computers and the emergence of AI technology, I think that this is insanely relevant.

It's an enjoyable episode. It's a good glimpse into some of the inner workings of Starfleet and shows just how much Kirk has worked to gain all of his recognitions and place as Captain. It shows us just how loyal that Spock, McCoy, and in turn those serving on the Enterprise are loyal to him. Sure, Kirk's made some enemies, such as Finney, but he earned his place. His speech when speaking for himself was so freakin' good and excellently delivered by Shatner. Oh, and Kirk has an ex that he seems to be on good terms with and even got a 'one more for the road' kiss from haha~! I didn't expect much of anything from this rewatch, but it turned out to have so much there and I enjoyed it~

Original Rating: 3/5 Rewatch Rating: 7/10

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

[Previous Review] / [Next Review]

[alexjcrowley]

So I watched The Virgin Suicides the other day and it was a film that I thought I would have loved but, instead, I found it underwhelming. If you wanna fight me on that, stop reading this post already because it's NOT on The Virgin Suicides, but on another movie completely.

Seen as I thought I would have loved The Virgin Suicides and I didn't, because I am tired ans recovering from a day long hangover I decided to watch a movie I never wanted to watch because I could already tell I was going to hate it: Pacific Rim. Now, other than the obvious reasons of the experiment and also my brain not being able to understand anything deeper than Pacific Rim right now, I have other reasons to watch this movie: Charlie Day, Burn Gorman (am I the only one who watched Forever?) and their ship, which I was aware of even before I was aware of the movie.

I have also a history and not being very on-board with del Toro's works lately, namely Pinocchio's movie (another movie I thought I was gonna love), Crimson Peak (I have a list of complains I have been keeping to myself since 2015) and Cabinet of Curiosites (cool project, execution meh). But, believe it or not, I like usually like del Toro's work. I usually like it a lot. I honestly couldn't believe something that I have always thought as bootleg Evangelion could be directed by him, but hey, life wouldn't be as beautiful as it is without surprises.

So now I am watching Pacific Rim. And to anyone who cares, I am noting down my thoughts as I go.

The initial monologue already makes me laugh, I'm sorry, it feels so...rushed

Cool things exploring the pilot becoming famous stuff and the toys and the marketing of war, quite brilliant tbh

The pilots are already the most annoying things put on this Earth

Was that a Star Wars quote?

"Yeah we're like not smart or strong or talented or anything we just basically hit the genetic jackpot for piloting this stuff" tell me this was intentional satire

It's still so unbelievable to me this is a legit expensive movie with great directing and good actors.

this movie looks like it was 2013.

I feel like this whole merging mind and strong bond themes will be interpret by the fandom as sexual metaphors.

For some reasons to me the whole equipment things look like a Dance Dance Revolution platform but like way more advanced.

"Let's go fishing" this is SO corny my God

The monologues take themselves way too seriously I can't help snothing every time

There's something about the way they're showing us the monster I really like. Just parts of it. Not all together. This way you build tension, this way you make the spectator feel powerless because they still don't know how exactly this monster looks, they are at loss. Very, very nicely done.

Yeah I can't take this seriously I am trying but I just can't. Also I don't give a fuck about the battle. Where's Charlie Day.

Bruh why is Idris Elba there

Oh so. So he's fucking dead. I mean I am still laughing but I am impressed.

Is he going to grunt in pain for long?

What the fuck was that transition.

Cool scene small robot big robot not gonna lie

This whole scene of him panting is cool, but it would have been cooler without the dramatic music trying to make this more "epic".

OH IT'S SO COOK WHEN THE BLOCKS STARTED TO FALL OH MY GOD THE TITLE THE TITLE IS SO FUCKING COOL

Nice shots of destroyed city

Now my old anime fan mind made the connection Jeager-AOT, wow, I am tired

All the politicians look like cunts

Was that a drug?

Idris Elba I love you but this whole "we don't need them stuff" I really don't like this, there are few things I hate more than movies trying to make militaries look really cool when they break the rules

Oh so the Trump solution. Really like. Real subtle there. (I KNOW Trump wasn't elected yet in 2013 but you get it. Like even before him wall rethorics to stop "dangers"). Like here it would even be justified to build a wall, why are they making it so- oh wait this is actually just Attack on Titan, isn't it.

Where is Charlie Day.

Cool visuals.

THE ROBOT SHOOTS MISSLES FROM HIS TITS?

Maybe I have like. Already forgotten who the pilot in TV fucking is.

I don't know why but Charlie Hunmanby way to talk in this movie makes me laugh so much

No yeah so Charlie Hunnam stands up and walks NOT to face Idris Elba? Who wrote this. Who wrote the fake epic moments.

Charlie Hunnam you are a good actor, so what happened to you?

"Where would you rather die?" Who gives a FUCK he is gonna die anyway

This movie cannot make me believe in the reasons of his characters for 10 seconds I swear. I cannot empathise with anyone. Yeah even if Charlie Hunnam's figurative brother died while they were connected.

Who's the sexy lady

Bilingual flex

THE REASONS WHY I WATCHED THIS MOVIE, HERE THEY ARE

Charlie Day whatever drugs are you on I'd like to try them

Oh God so like they're married-married

Charlie Day I fucking love you

Also the first thing popping through my mind is that Newt is like the same Newt from Good Omens and this makes no sense whatsoever

So Newt is like Hanji, I think?

Hermann and Newt are my only two braincells

Newt talking about kaijus🤝me taking about cannibalism

I missed Burn Gorman's voice so much

Charlie Hunnam why are you the main character

Feels a lot like Star Wars the Shutterdome

Okay so now here is one of my pet peeves. The clock. This is a super technological military base and you have a vintage clock for...aesthetic? A clock which tells you the most important thing ever aka when the kaijus are going to attack? And it's old timey to make it cute? Shut up.

I thought the huge explanation of the robots would have bored me but actually no.

Of the course they're Siberian so they're blond BUT he has a dark beard???? So he is not naturally blond????? But he is blond like his sisters so did they get matching hair dye just because??????

Thank God Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are back

Hermann has a cane? Super nice detail

Why isn't this movie abito Hermann and Newt

"Politics and poetry, promises, these are lies" he is like the anti Professor Keating

"Numbers are as close as we get to the handwriting of God" HOLD. THE FUCK UP. THIS IS ON OF THE RAWEST LINES I HAVE EVER HEARD. AND IT'S COMING FROM THIS MOVIE??????? DAMN. RESPECT.

SHUT UP NEWT HERMANN WAS HAVING A REAL EPIC MOMENT

I am Newt oh God I am Newt IT'S NOT SO EASY TO GET TO THE POINT F8RST I HAVE TO DO MY LONG ASS INTRODUCTION OR I WILL DIE

"The neural surge would be too much for a human brain" IDRIS ELBA SHUT UP YOU'RE NOT A DOCTOR

"Fortune favors the brave, dude" it is genuinely so nice hearing latin quotes still being used today, especially when they're being translated in other languages and are used "casually". Makes me feel proud of my studies.

BE A ROCK STAR, DUDE, BE A ROCK STAR

The visuals are really cool at times

I love Mori's hair

"You are unpredictable" he is the most basic male protagonist I have ever seen

WHY DID YOU BRING HIM HERE IF YOU DIDN'T THINK HE WAS THE RIGHT ONE

Sex? Sex tension? Maybe?

The urge to skip every scene that doesn't have Charlie Day or Burn Gorman in it

Bruh do not insult construction workers I will kill you

The most anticlimactic uncharismatic villain I have ever seen. He is evil because he is evil and is mean because we need a bad guy.

Combat scenes I thought were going to bore me but actually not.

Mori kick his ass

I don't understand what they're doing but I am intrigued

I am way more interested in Charlie Hunnam's plot now that Mori is copilot

Wait is she not

Bruh do not come up to her like that I thought you were gonna beat her up

Becket stop being a classic American hero for 1 minute

IDRIS ARE YOU SICK??? IS THAT TUBERCOLOSIS (It is not)

Newt is literally me.

It was supposed to be an emotional scene with the shoe and all but it's like. They're constantly trying to make scene emotional in this movie. But for me they just can't do it.

I feel like this going inside someone's mind thing should cause way more problems. Like someone can see my whole mind? Bet they're going to find something real fucked up or that angers them a lot so they just stop fighting the Kaiju to beat me up. Feels like that is what would actually happen.

I feel like the way Gorman is running with the cane is not very realistic. Coming from someone with a very weak ankle that had to use crutches a lot, especially recently.

"YOU! SHUT UP! You, keep talking" I feel like it has meme potential

BAD GUYS ARE ACTUALLY COLONIZERS, I AM BERY HYPED FOR THIS STORYLINE. LET'S FUCKING GOOOOO COLONIZERS SUCK.

IDRIS DO YOU WANT NEWT DEAD?????

Keep calling him Idris because I don't remember his name in the movie

Guy named Hannibal Chau was really hoping Mad Mikkelsen would have showed up

I really like the kaiju's design

Also I don't understand why she is holding a shoe? Is it broken? It doesn't look broken to me

I actually felt a bit of tension here, with Mako risking to fuck all up

Dearest Newt it would have killed you to bring an umbrella

I thought Kaiju bone powder was cocaine. It's actually Viagra. Alright.

OH THAT DOOR IS SO COOL. OH MY GOD WHY AM I REACTING LIKE NEWT.

I want Hannibal Chau's shoes. Love the whole outfit, actually. He slays. THE SUNGLASSES.

Hannibal Chau you're everything I wanna be. Also historical character? Damn you're killing it with the Ancient Rome reference, I thought it was after the cannibal.

Why all the military have the most annoying accent accents I have ever heard.

Bruh is Mako is your attack dog now

Like they're probably gonna make them fall in love but I like Raleigh and Mako as besties.

"You just hold back your little girlfriend" see he is the villain because he perpetuates amatonormativity

"One of you birches needs a leash" not gonna lie this line was fire

Raleigh stop with the fucking white knighting, Mako can kick both of your asses on her own, you know she can

No seriously can Mako say or do something and not stay in the back.

The combats scene are very cool in this movie

MAKO WHY DID YOU JUST STAND THERE.

Idris Elba vome on don't be so harsh on her

I love the kid actor for Malo and honestly I am not so fond of child actors usually. She is good.

The epic moments in this movie try to hard to be epic, also the transitions kinda suck.

Idris Elba in this movie is a such a mood "One, don't you ever touch me again. Two, don't you ever touch me again." me @/anybody

I honestly think I couldn't be able to go through this whole movie if the fake epic moments weren't done by Idris Elba, he is so good he makes decent scenes that I would have found excruciating otherwise. I hope they paid him a lot of money for this role.

Why is Charlie Hunnam acting like shit I HAVE SEEN HIM ACT GOOD. He says every sentence with such gravity you do not distinguish when you are really supposed to take him seriously.

Did Tendo stole 11th Doctor's wardrobe?

I am so bored by the robot scenes I am filling up the hashtags for the post rn

NEWT IS BACK????

Newt going from "I can't tell you" to "I'm gonna tell you" is peak literally me who cares about Ryan Gosling

Hannibal Chau looks like he came straight out Jujutsu Kaisen

Watching a robot movie not caring about the robots or any characters that are actually in it (the bad guy, the two Siberians, the Chinese triplets) is something. Like yeah go die in a pitch or smth see if I care. Give us nothing or give us everything it's the same to me.

I am really trying not to skip this part

I SAW GOTTLOEB IN THE BACKGROUND MY WILL TO LIVE IS RESTORED♡♡♡♡

Yeah no the monsters are pretty cool. I hope they win.

I smell something burning in my room it either a heart attack of I don't know. Maybe I should worry.

Fuck I can't understand where the burning smell comes from

Are they done yet with the battle?

TITS MISSILES MY FAVOURITE PART

No tits missiles????????

Yeah pretty fucking convenient yours's the only analogue

Okay Newt maybe you're drifting idea was kinda dumb if you didn't consider the two way brain

Bruh Hannibal Chau is so cool I want him to teach me how to be cool

Hermann go get your husband

Also this movie is set in 2020, I love old movies setting in the 2020 not having Coronavirus of course so I can legitimately say they canonically explore other timelines.

So not interested in the bad guy and his father

Of course they're Americans so they're trying to shoot guns at a beast that's 10 billions times bigger than them peak USA representation

Okay so obviously they are suddenly good at piloting this shit together because it's a movie and that's what happens in movie and now they need a win to demonstrate Idris Elba they were right

Are they gonna fight monsters for long yet? Are they?

I am thinking of all the damages done to the city and this makes me anxious. Of course like the monsters were going to destroy the city anyway so any collateral damage done by the robots are justified to me but I am so anxious.

Definitely dead. Also, very nice, BE SURE YOU KILLED THAT GUY. YEAH, DON'T LIKE END UP GETTING FUCKED BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T THOROUGH. LOVE THAT SHIT, WHEN CHARACTERS DO THING THAT MAKE SENSE.

Why is Newt the only one not flinching.

Okay but I love the concept of everyone pushing Newr to the Kaijus. Peak human behaviour. Datk just enough.

Did he...lick him? He went to lick Newt like a dog and then went away? What even. Loved it.

I have to see robots fight????? Again???? In my robot fighting movie?????? Despicable and a tragedy.

I need Hermann back, I miss him.

Dumb as fuck that scene with Newton's cradle but I liked it so much.

I would judge their battle dynamics but I don't want to invest so much attention into them

A FUCKING SWORD?????

"For my family" corny af

Liked the calm electronic voice while they were falling and it was nearly silent

So very anxious about the city damages

HERMANN YOU'RR BACK♡♡♡♡♡

MEWT MY BELOVED

"GUESS WHO'S BACK YOU ONE EYED BITCH" sir how do you feel about marriage? Like I am usually against it, but for you, for you I'd make an exception

I want Idris Elba as my parental figure he gives steadiness

BRUH DROP THE ILLNESS NAME

I love the mini kaijus

Becoming a kaiju grrroupie

The pelvic area? Are they in the kaijussy?

THE KAIJUSSY IS HAVING A BABY

BABY!!!!!! COME TO MAMA!!!!!!!!!

Wait is like Newt the father of the baby, though the drift or smth

Hermann good news you two can adopt now

HANNIBAL NO

Well Charlie Hunnam you're not entitled to know Idris Elba's medical conditions

HERMANN AND NEWT TOGETHER???? WHAT A TREAT

Hermann bestie you're craaaaazy

I am Newton Geiszler around my friends Hermann Gottlieb with everyone else (I have the funniest story about messing up a handshake)

They're in lobe your honour

Idris shit man you ain't gonna be alright

IDRIS DO NOT GO DO NOT ABANDON YOUR DAUGHTER

Actually I am a bit emotional for this one

Cool speech moment I couldn't care less about

"Today we are cancelling the apocalypse" plot of Good Omens in a nutshell

"You're an egotistical jerk with daddy issues" or, as I like to call it, lazy writing

Am I supposed to care about him now? Too late I guess

BEAUTIFUL DOG I WANNA HUG

So Idris Elba's name is Stacker, got it after more than an hour

Nice scene when the father says "that's my son you got there" though. It felt emotional.

NEWT AND HERMANN♡♡♡♡♡♡

Also like it seems a lot easier to be drift compatible, at the beginning of the movie it felt like a very complicated thing

Convenient toilet

Newton has ripped jeans? He's really 2 cool 4 school

"Move you, fascist" hits different for an Italian in 2023

I actually like this plot with the signature and the barcode for the breach

There are 13 minutes left I am so scared they'll all be about robot fighting I cannot watch them for so long without any interruption

What that sword is made of seriously

The ONLY reason I am still watching is because I hope there's another scene with Newt and Hermann

Okay actually emotional over Idris Elba and Mako

Are they gonna die? No wait guys I do not like you but you can't die

YOU ALLED HIM SENSEI? LIKE OKAY BUT I WPUOD HAVE LIKED IT BETTER IF YOU HAD CALLED HIM DAD

Again, this doesn't feel as epic as it should for me. Rationally I know it is epic but I am not feeling it.

How many minutes left I am getting restless

The fall dialogue was fine. I liked it. "Anyone can fall"

I love the Kaijus design

Wait and it's so powerful that they killed the breach? Entirely? I don't know how I feel about that.

Interstellar reference????

YEAH HE IS ALIVE I don't even care about him anything I am relieved???

So it's done? Breach killed and all that?

HERMANN AND NEWT ARE GOING TO KILL ME♡♡♡♡♡

Nice seeing the father sad for his son

So they're in love now? I hope not. I liked them as besties

In the end, did I like this movie? No, that's pretty much a no, although I went in expecting to hate it 100%, while actually it was more like 85%. It's not a joke, honestly there were some nice things for me and the fact that I didn't completely hate it took me by surprise and I do consider this a victory. I heard the second one sucks, but since Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are still gonna slay in it, I'll watch it. The experiment could have gone worse, I am proud of myself.

[hellsideangel]

YES ANOTHER SPOILER ALERT WISH FILM AND OTHER REFERENCES CUZ I GO ON A LONG WINDED TANGENT. ITS LONG. IF UR READING ITS UR FAULT. U COULD JUST STOP READING. UR WELCOME.

So I recently watched wish and at first I was like meh cuz all the new Disney animation films have the same vibe. Felt like a mix between Moana encanto and Raya? Is it Raya? Forgotten the name of the other one. The songs were good but it didn't really stand out to me much. But I did really like the concept mainly because it tied together Disney really nicely. Like if I worked for Disney this would be the last ever film to make to tie everything together "the magic of Disney" or so to speak.

Cuz the premise is around wishes and that when you wish upon a star your dreams will come true hence the ending song which was quite a cute end scene and was totally what I was thinking throughout the film so glad they put it in. Now I also know alot of conspirast people trying to link every film and story together and I'm all for a good conspiracy however, the stories themselves are meant to be separate roles but within the Disney message. So for me it feels like a reach to say all the references to other films from wish is because wish is the pilot film for every Disney film. Cuz it's definitely purposefully referencing the films to celebrate the 100th film. And we know conolocally that alot of Disney films are actually from darker tales like grim brothers or 101 night etc and are remade into something more light hearted with a positive message of magic and dreams. So ya defo a stretch.

But I do like imagining these correlations and it spurred this overwhelming desire for Disney to do more villain or at least context backstory related films to fill in the gaps in which they reference. For instance, the trapped in a mirror thing. If this was for viewers to assume that the evil queens mirror had a sorcerer whose consumed by a book (even if it wasn't wishs villain to be exact more like foreshadowing U know) then why isn't there a film about this sorcerer and their backstory in being trapped in the mirror or from being a slave to their power?

If a star chooses people to be fairy god mothers and their powers are hard to control, why isn't there a backstory on a fairy godmother and how they came to be. Just turning up and never being explained later is a little unfulfilling. Plus I'd like to know why e.g. Cinderella: shed choose to help just Cinderella go to the ball instead of any other lady? Is it because Cinderella was the only one who wished hard enough? Or were there other fairy godmothers who were summoned and the other people who were at the ball were actually people just like Cinderella. There's been speculation about the glass slipper that if it fits exactly how did she loose it in the first place? Maybe someone else from another fairy godmother also had to run and lost their shoe. And Cinderella's just ceased to be cuz magic. Speaking off why didn't the slippers disappear? Was it intentional? Was it all manipulated?

Have you ever watched once upon a crime? They did a pretty good job at filling in weird blanks in an interesting way. Or have you watched once upon a time? Again they would show all sides of the same fairy tale story to the point where all the stories link by the people who play a part in it. What Disney is inherently missing is the fact they made something interesting but failed to continue on for those interested.

Like take wish for example. I absolutely loved some of the characterisations. Absouloutley love how star just kinda did what they wanted especially the mustache yarn thing. Another one of them being the vain villain. And it got me interested because to me alot of the character felt very Disney you know all happy do lally and unrealistic. But the villain felt very real. The hint of trauma that something had happened to his family, it's his duty to prevent it from happening again, he made a safe city, he saved everyone. So it's only natural he gets pissed of and feels like everyone sees him as a tool to exploit or that he isn't being appreciated. His methods definitely need adjusting and his inability to listen to another side of the story without feeling like it U with me or against me you know. His full on insecurity that if Ur opposed me it must mean Ur attacking me. It makes him a very real and human toxic character which I just love. Not that I love or condone his toxicity in itself, but I love the way it was depicted this time around. Like every real toxic person he's real easy to trigger and very cut and dry thinking. The vanity part still felt very Disney that oh he's a villain so he has to be self obsessed and vain about his looks. But we will make him sooo insecure about everything else lol. I saw alot of anxiety and PTSD in it. Anyways without the book I wouldn't see how he could take away people's dreams, but with the book it can be explained as being blinded or whatever so the book kinda works.

I am interested in what happened. What triggered this desire to 'protect' lol and what is this book? Where did he get it? How did he know it was bad? Why does he keep it?

I don't want an explanation, or just a villains perspective. I just want to see more of the depths of this character and more of the context. This can be done through villains perspective or even though a different characters perspective entirely.

But Disney doesn't do this. Instead they hear people like the villains so we should make a villain based film and try and explain everything or change things for more equality even though it's an obvious change that now draws attention to the past films prejudice that U didn't notice before. Anyways an example would be maleficent. I actual like maleficent despite all these negativities because it was an attempt at something more. I got to see a different story or side that changed everything. But relating to the base movie sleeping beauty, it just didn't hold up. And in a way I prefer it wasn't just a copy from the villains side cuz that would be boring, u'd know everything.

But it wasn't exactly fulfilling for my curiosities. In sleeping beauty I was curious about why she wanted to curse the child and not the parents when it seemed obvious there was some type of drama with the parents. And why so convulooted? Prick finger on a spinning wheel and die. And then why alter it? Why allow her to survive for true loves kiss? Is this a hint? Showing some type of love betrayal? Why was she not invited? Then uve got the 2 or 3 fairies. They have magic. Why couldn't they do anything? Why just raise the kid and change the colour of her clothes? I get they might've given up magic to go into hiding so they aren't caught but if think they'd try and do something like attack or protect or find her true love through magic? There's 3 of them they could've split and tried different things. Such a minute role they played when I'm sure they have the capacity to do more? And since they have fairies magic must be concolical to this world. Isn't there anyone else the king or queen could've called upon?

Then there's prince Phillip. I think he was bethroved to aurora when she was a baby. Ik Ew. But like why was Phillip where aurora was? They made it seem coincidental but was it a set up in hope he'd break the spell? Or was this the plan all along to force her into her betrayed marriage? They also fall in love way too easily. I'm guessing it's probably because it's the first man she'd seen or the first person who tried to be romantic with her who knows. Maybe just Disney being 🤢Disney.

Anyways back to my point. Now look at maleficent. I really enjoyed seeing the raven actually be a person maleficent uses. I would've never thought of that since pets in Disney are the norm. But hey side note-wpuldnt it be cool if Phillip was actually maleficients ravern? So like she put in a I'm not so evil clause I'll let U off if she finds a lover. But she knows she's bethroved so she knows they will pick phillip. So she makes Phillip her pet ravern. Would be kinda cool. Anyways back on track. Also they introduced this idea of fairy racism if U know what I mean. So maybe if U go to sleeping beauty, maybe they denied her marriage into royalty due to her being a fairy. And it does seem like they keep fairies like maids. But in maleficent they explain that the king and her fall in love as kids but distance since he wants to be king. It showed that royalty wants to inade the moors which is like magic land. Showing this war between magic and humans. Which isn't explained either as to why but racism is always a why U know fear of difference. To be king he had to 'kill' maleficent. So he cut her wings instead. Pretty fucked up and kind of explains it. It's why I quite like this film. But it still doesn't flow. Because if Stefan loved her why did he hurt her instead of try and unite magic and humans kind? If he hates magical beings so much, why does he have 3 fairy almost like maids to help secure his child and willingly help?

Now about the major change being that instead of the curse being lifted by Phillips kiss it's done by maleficent. I hated this bit since it felt like they were proving the same point as frozens kiss. We already get the point. I do like the fact true love can come in the form of family instead of lover though but it felt unneeded to the story as a whole. For me it would've been more exciting if Phillip kissed her it didn't work and maleficent laughed. Stefan be crying why. And shed be like U should know as well as I, true love doesn't exist. Instead they had a heartwarming I love U kiss. I do actually like this twist of malefiencint and the daughter forming a familial bond. That it's not the kids fault for who her father is and having her hesitate. But anyways my point is that maleficent still didn't satisfy the CURIOUSITY of sleeping beauty. It did bring the raven and revelation she's a fairy and the prejudice as something new to the table. That's what sold it tbh. But that's about it. It's better to be thought of as a spin off than a continuation of the base film.

Like take wish again. If they just make a film showing a dark magic wizard taking people's wishes from them and killing his family. And the villain from wish sneaks into this wizards domain and learns from his books magic he gets caught fam gets drained of wishes, villain of wish drains the wizard of his wish in a major showdown then he vacates everyone saying promise Ur wishes to me I'll protect them away from people like him. If I don't have them it can be taken. Even this is a pretty generous idea to think Disney would have but this would be unfulfilling. Because it's too explanatory. The reason he's evil is because people stole wishes from his family due to their selfish wish of never having any of their own or because they could or whatever. So he needed power to take wishes store and keep them safe. Or like is someone wish was to murder and so he stores wishes to make sure a bad wish can never be obtained or whatever. It's too simple. Life and films are messy complicated with back stories and characterisations and different connections and flows between each thing that impacts another.

To have such a simple he's evil because of this isn't enough. It needs to be this is what he chose. These are the reasons that drove him here. Also the love story between him and his queen would be interesting to note. For example something fulfilling could be that when of age and U have a wish magic happens. People studied the fenominom and sorcerers were born. There were different groups and different classes within each group. Some groups resorted to control thinking that wishes and magic needed to be controlled to avoid catastrophe. Others focused on freedom that everyone deserves to have a wish fulfilled. The wish villain was part of the light-hearted Disney wish fulfilment sect. His family was proud of his affinity for magic. Another sect came and went rogue taking wishes from others to obtain power. The wish fulfilment and control sects worked together to inprison the rogues. Their books were stored (intro into bad book). Curious our wish villain wanted to read the books friends with one of the control sects. Told don't warned horror. Tried to burn it but fought back flew into the prison and ate one of the rogues. Sealed and told not to open or attack. Wish villain met a woman fell in love. Showed her how his sect grants wishes. Whilst there accidentally witness one of the higher ups granting wishes secretly. Darker wishes being granted like the ability to turn whatever you touch to gold. Saw a human turned gold. They scream or whatever and get caught. They run villain wish hold them off whilst lover runs. So obvs lover don't see this bit. Argues U stole my books, my experiment they were never to be used this way. Meanwhile his control friend is watching and listening. U believe it too don't you. All wishes should be fulfilled! There should be no limit! Why didn't U come to me with the material. Would've saved the journey from having to steal it myself. It was to fulfil a wish for riches and fame. When I realised what it actually did I knew it was wrong. This wasn't what they meant. And we fulfilled that wish. This wasn't meant for you. And now Ur using it to hurt people. Well this is my wish, shouldn't my wish be fulfilled. Control friend joins. This is why I say control is the way. It's ok I can take it from here. Before control could do anything or wish villain could say anything his friend turns to gold. Why do this? Because I want to. Because I desire to. This is my dream in life. We are all selfish you know, we all are willing to do anything and everything to make our wishes come true. I guess the question is, how far are you willing to go? He throws the book sealed int he box that was meant to be back at the prison. Wish villain shouts no and vanishes using his power. He asks his lover to runaway with him. Tells of friends death. And his dream to protect people by protecting their dreams. But inside his fortress he still kept the book. He never wants to use it. But he still hears the words how far are you willing to go? He makes a kingdom. But the people are selfish. They want his magical displays. He travels outside to bring food to the city without flagging any enemies. The people don't know. But they ask for more. He catches thieves in his kingdom. You know humanity being humanity not everyones good. People want their wishes granted and more and more. He establishes a rule of control. It's not the people's fault if I can just control them to bend to my will then everything is safe. Anyways went really off on a tangent now debating whether I should post.

I mean, I doubt you all gonna read this all. And I ain't popular on here so should be fine to post? If U do read this the unlucky few, do let me know how to tailor future posts so I no longer feel permission to make posts as long and messy as I want and see the reality and issue of my ways. If not I will continue on. So please someone stop me 🙏

Also even this version is too explanatory Nd I kinda of went of one. I mean his backstory has to incorporate the thieves that stole his home and family. But I'd like to see the roots of his twisted ways. Above I kinda thought nativity and disillusion could be the roots. But idk. Maybe I want a villain whose just a villain. Like coraline. The other mother. Sure they explain through the cat that the other mother preys upon souls that offer up their eyes to her and takes the form of people's family they wish they had. But they don't explain why she preys upon people or why she chose to target families or whatever. They didn't have to. She was depicted as a hungry spider like monster. The reason she is the way she is is cuz Ur prey and she's playing with her food. The only curious thing was the hand thing at the end was hoping for a sequel if she could interest the real world or only take from her parallel one.

Anyways in this way the villain is still explained contextually, not fully and it's excepted as just evil. So for wish villain we'd want to see his vanity from youth and his love of power. To see what he'd sacrifice for this power. Also some type of explanation to how he reached the extremely of the book, and the book itself. And of course the thievery trauma incident which would be even better if it was the villains fault but he blames others in denial as if he were the victim adding to his toxic character of him being everything almost like a god and how he sees everyone as disrespectful.

Story writing is hard though so I do appreciate that it is tonight to meet the demand even I didn't like my version when trying to think of one less explainy more depth emotion backstory context you know. So points for effort. And who knows what ze future holds. But ye wish ... defo worked to Disney's brand. Felt like a brand film. Love the villain. Like the music. A little too familiar with other recent films but hey Disney can't be the old version. Want to see more potential especially since Ur mixing things up. Maybe some more queer stuff too but not just cut and paste in really odd and obviously done just to tick a box kinda mentality U know. Um ye plz stop me from making future posts. Plz do.

[agroveinthesavagegarden]

This is what I’m talking about PLEASE let amc have included this in their Michael/Aaron mishmash character. He must be a Dark Academia aesthete I Need That.

[nourelle-tracy]

Ok so here we are! This is for fabfivefeb prompt by @gumnut-logic. I chose tge prompt "a memory" and the amaaaazing iris chose to help me and write a fic for my drawings ::squeals and hugs her::

Art is by me, but full credit of this fantastic fic goes to @bonsaiiiiiii 🤗🤗💛✨

Spoiler: Sequel to SOS 2

Warning: panic attacks!

"Welcome back with the 7 o'clock news! Here’s one last hour: at this moment the International Rescue has just heroically rescued a family from a dangerous situation. The disastrous incident, which occurred in a solitary lost house in the mountains of Wuhan, China, involved the rescue of 5 children and a mother, and the heroic intervention of our rescuers, as depicted in this video." The presenter departed to the side to allow all the families present behind the big camera to be able to see the long-awaited video, which represented the pilot of the green Thunderbird along with his co-pilot, recently returned. Both were pulling out the mother and children, fortunately all alive, from the rubble of the house collapsed on itself. You could see the pilot with the yellow sash looking around seriously, before his face turned into a smile, greeting the few journalists gathered, while the pilot with the green sash hid his face from the cameras walking quickly, neither of them giving a word to the press.

"Wow, what a nice comeback after so much..." Gordon grunted, settling better on the back of his seat.

"They practically hit us. Are you okay puffer?" Virgil answered, watching him out of the corner of his eye while he kept his 'girl' in the air.

"Yes. Not as bad as for the...first day." Gordon replied, sighing.

"After the accident it was fair for you to feel that way. You’re just a little out of shape after so much time with those casts."

Gordon subconsciously touched his arm, although it wasn't hurting, remembering how he had gotten that cast on his arm for a few months. He owed Penny a big favor. Then he stretched. "Let’s get this family to the hospital and then we’ll go home."

"How do you measure this day from 1 to 10?" Virgil asked, looking at him directly this time.

The blond considered it for a moment. "Meh, a valid 7. I’m a little rusty. I just want to go home and eat all the celery bars in the pantry." Virgil chuckled. "You?"

"Even if the day is not yet over I'll give it a 9. No tragedies today." Virgil replied.

They had arrived home, and the dinner had been delicious as always. Not really. After trying not to throw up at the table with the other brothers so that Grandma wouldn’t tie them all to some palm trees on the island, Gordon apologized to then go up to his room under the guise of resting for a moment before going for a bath, with immense relief from Virgil who, to be honest, could not see the moment, while all the other brothers disappeared in a heartbeat in various parts of the island not to be found by Grandma when she mentioned a possible dessert. Unfortunately, Scott did not escape in time, repeatedly making praying gestures while sitting at the table, while Grandma put some strange sugary concoction in front of him.

Gordon hurried up to his room, the place where he was most of the time during his convalescence. And in fact, he now wanted to be in the pool for a night swim, and here he is, sitting at the foot of the bed. But after that he would have gladly gone to the pool, maybe soaking all night, even naked if he wanted it. He didn’t care much about sleeping, despite what Virgil kept babbling about, even threatening to keep him nailed to the bed if it was necessary; after all, he had been living the good life between bed and sofa for a long time.

In his hand he had a stone with a paper attached on it, maybe nothing important, but his instinct strongly suggested to him to take it from the rubble. And there it was, in his hands.

During the rescue he had the bad feeling of being observed, and shortly after that rock had made his appearance. He cut off the card, laying the stone on the ground, and opened it with trembling hands. What he saw was enough to make him suddenly nervous.

There, in a wrinkled sheet and probably reused many times, there was a threatening message, consisting of many newspaper clippings glued together. Nothing unusual, you will think, the message will be addressed to the family and should be taken to the police for a good report. But no.

I just wanted to send you to your mom. I thought u missed her...I doubt she is proud of such a reckless child! Do you even remember her? Did she even love you? I doubt!

The message was exactly for him, and unfortunately it wasn't the only one. He did not have time to think further because suddenly a panic attack, also this familiar, began to cloud his sight. He lost no more time, making sure the door was locked properly and moving towards the stereo. His brothers would have tied him up somewhere, but he didn’t care. He put on a song, the first that came to his mind, cranking up the volume and starting to cry desperately at the melody of Caramelldansen, something a little ironic given the situation.

Once his breath was more or less regular, he stood up again, destroying everything that happened to him within range. It didn’t matter if it was the wall, the shelves, the bedside tables...he threw it all away in panic and rage.

He then began to look for something else, opening his closet door and throwing away clothes, shoes, hangers, everything within his sight, until he could see a box still piled between the clothes. He took it gently, his hands shaking violently and his face drenched with tears. He picked up with his nose, sitting at the foot of the bed, the one thing he had not destroyed, or at least not yet. He watched without any force left in his body the feathers fly in the air from the torn pillow, and then he returned to look at the box that he had just pulled out, labeled 'Mom’s memories'. Although, there was nothing belonging to his mom in that box.

In an almost feverish impulse he began to reread the other cards, compiled with the same technique, sent by the one who had helped to make his life a hell and to keep him relegated to this damn island. He felt the rage take hold of him again, so he crumpled all the cards again, throwing them against the wall with all the force in his body. When the second panic attack also calmed down, Gordon rose slowly, collecting all the wrinkled paper balls and placing them in the box, a new ball to add to the collection. He then collapsed on the floor tired, completely forgetting the idea of a swim in the pool.

John appeared to verify Gordon’s condition, and was greeted by the remix of What Are You Doing In My Swamp blasted at full volume, not that it surprised him.

Since the accident, Virgil had sensors applied to Gordon’s clothes to keep him under control and to note any changes in temperature or mood in the squid boy; and here, at this moment, all the values, from the heartbeat to blood pressure, From body temperature to constant mood swings, everything was through the roof. Too much.

Once he had taken control of his stereo and turned off the music, massaging his throbbing temples, John was greeted by a view that made him widen his eyes from the shock. What the...?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Again all credit for this fic goes to @bonsaiiiiiii

[heyimtavia]

THE POST FINALE HENRY DANGER OPINIONS TAG:

Hey party people! Sorry I’ve been a bit out of the loop. Due to what’s going on in the world, adulting sorta got in the way and I have to DVR the final episode. No one tagged me, but I just wanted to add my two cents since this is officially the end and this is a really cute tag.

1. Who was your overall favorite member of Team Danger and why?

Charlotte hands down. She was brilliant, sassy and just a great friend to Henry no matter what. She’s one of the main reasons why I decided to tune into the show. I saw a lot of myself in her. I was once that little smart black girl that no one listened too. But it’s okay though, but that GLOW UP is real! I know from experience lol.

2. Who was your favorite non-team danger character and why?

Y'all know I love Fran the security guard. She should’ve gotten more air time. I just think she’s hilarious! I’d loved to see her try to wrestle a dolphin any day!

3. Who was your favorite villain and why?

Dr. Minyak & Nurse Cohort. I just gotta respect his hustle. Other than Rex and Rick Twitler, I feel like he’s the only everyday villain who always came close to defeating Captain Man & Kid Danger. He always had unique plans; from capturing and brain-altering Charlotte to taking Piper and the man fan hostage, he was always creative. Plus I love his little temper tantrums he sometimes throws. 

4. What were your top five favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) All time Fav would go to The Great Cactus Con. From the dopeyness of how everyone can do a backflip instead of Ray. How Charlotte gets to show off her fashion design skills. How Piper unofficially works with Team Danger. Plus I love the cute romantic bit between Jasper and Patina. 2) Rumblr- That whole episode was just comedy gold for me. They should’ve brought Kyle back for the finale and had him show up at kid danger’s funeral  3) I dream of Danger - Its Char’s episode. I like how it alluded to Charlotte’s dream might come true but it doesn’t. However, I don’t like how they just moved on like the episode never happened even when Jasper thinks that char likes him. 4) Flabber Gassed- I love that char got to show off her fighting skills and how happy Jasper was to be a superhero. 5) Holey Moley- I straight up die for laughter every time I see that episode. I love how Henry kept saying, “oh look, a downside.” I feel like that episode would have been a sketch on All That or the Amanda Show. It just felt like good ole Nickelodeon comedy.

5. What were your top five least favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) Henry’s Birthday- Call me a diva, but if anyone treated me like that on my birthday, the party is OVER! 2) Captain Makini (I think that's what it’s called). Sorry, I'm not really a fan of Frankie Grande and though he was great for the musical, I really don’t think he needed a second episode. 3) Meet Cute Crush- I’m sorry, anything involving Piper is just physical and emotionally draining. All that girl does is yell. Thank u, next. 4) Sick & Wired- Because I got sick and tired of Ray’s shenanigans. 5) JAM Session- Now Piper isn’t my favorite character, but how that girl was manipulated all over a bet was just stupid and disrespectful.

6. What was your favorite running gag and why?

1) Fran’s line, “There’s only one in the whole world, and we got it!” Swellview must be a fun, mysterious place that always gets amazing things lol. 2) When everyone says “Click” before hanging up their phone. I find it funny because I’m pretty sure the kids had never owned a flip phone in their lives.

7. What was your favorite one-off throw away gag and why?

When shwoz referenced his song from the musical when he said, “Science, science, science, I’ve said this already.” I think he said this in Theranos boot. And also the grammar fights and how grammar rules don’t apply to Charlotte lol.

8. What episode, which character and which duo made you laugh the most?

I think Holey Moley & Rumblr both made me laugh the most. Those were great episodes. Jasper would have to be the funniest. That boy says the darndest things lol. Hensper. Because of how Henry loved Jasper’s mustache and wanted to get one too. And when Jasper and Henry were both “Dude. Bro. Dude. Bro. DUDE!” Over the Patina situation and Charlotte had to break them up.

9. What episode, which character and which duo made you the most emotional?

I think it was Second episode of the finale episodes, when Henry was freaking out at the end because he was alone and Rex had sent Ray A Million and one years into the past. The fact that he literally had to think like all of his friends because obviously that’s what he was used to, everyone being there to help figure out a plan and keep swellview safe. And the fact that for that moment he was kid danger and all alone was really scary for him.

10. How would you rank each season from 1 to 5, one being the best and five being the worst?

I would rank season 5 as 1. It overall had great episodes and delved into different genres and fun tv and movie tropes. It made it a joy to watch, though some episodes leading towards the end didn’t quite catch me. Season 4 would be like a high 4 but not exactly a 5. Season 3 was sorta Meh to me. So maybe a #.  Season 2 would be a 4 and season 1 would be like a 4 because it was a the beginning to a great show and was still working out the kinks a bit.

11. Who was your favorite duo in the show (romantic or non-romantic)?

Chenry 100%. The friendship that those two have is great! Now I must say, I hate that Nick was still posting about them on their youtube page for clout knowing that it wasn’t gonna happen. I felt like they did that just so people would watch the final episodes. I was gonna watch regardless, but really Nick? Really?

12. What was your favorite Henry and Ray moment/episode?

The bro song! Plus I love that it kept getting referenced after the musical as well.

13. What was your favorite Chenry moment/episode?

 When Char was controlling  Henry in flabber gassed, she made him jump up and down while clapping! I love that even shwoz joined in too lol. And when Henry was concerned about her after she ate bad meat from the auto snacker.

14. What was your favorite Hensper moment/episode?

The mustache scene from Grand Theft Otto, “dude if I had one, I’d be Man Danger!”

15. What was your favorite Chensper moment/episode?

This also kinda includes Ray but when they were all stealing Joss Ross’s gift from her birthday party and they were just casually leaving. And how Jasper kept saying, “It’s not stealing if it’s from a criminal.” Plus I like the episode when Hen and Char have to pretend to date just to see if Jasper would keep their secret. The boy poured a whole bowl of pees down his shirt lmaoooo!!

16. If you could go back and change one element of the show, what would it be?

 Have Ray grow up and stop fawning over Henry’s mom. It was just plain creepy! Oh and put some respect on my girl Charlotte’s name.

17. If you could say one thing to each main character in the pilot, what would it be?

Life isn’t always about one day getting a statue, (I’m looking at YOU Captain Man). Crime-fighting is fun and being a sidekick could literally every kid’s dream. But don’t forget to be a kid. Hangout with your friends, go to school, go on dates. Do the whole growing up thing. But at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you.

18. If you could say one thing to each main character in the finale, what would it be?

Thank you for sharing your lives with me and I am so so sooo proud of you all! 

19. Were you satisfied with the finale? What part was your favorite and what part was your least favorite?

 Honestly, I think it was okay for what it was. My fav part was when Jasper literally had to carry Char out of the mancave because she refused to leave Henry behind. I love that they decided to stick together. They did leave a lot of storylines open. I thought Joss Moss would be revealed as the real Mob boss. I thought Rick Twitler would regain his memory. Where the heck is Gooch? Caitlin? Chenry (for obvious reasons). I'm just spitballing here. Was it good? Yes. could it have been better? Hell yes.

20. What would your ideal Henry danger spin off look like?

 Charlotte and Henry have powers and Jasper can fight! Dystopia. That was the spin-off that I wanted! I don’t really care about the new kids as much. They’re college-aged too? Just imagine the shenanigans they would get into! But we need to kick the Charlotte hating writer off the staff though. Can The CW pick this show up?

21. Where do you personally see the characters 10 years from now? What are they doing, who are they with, where are they in their lives - what do you think happened to them? Most importantly, are they happy?

 I honestly haven’t thought about it. But I believe no matter what they do or where they may end up, they will be happy. They’ll probably always be a team.

22. What was your favorite part of the show and why did it initially draw you in?

It became an escape from my normal adult life. (I’m saying like I’m old. I’m only 23.) I randomly flipped it on one day, I can't remember what episode it was, but from then on, I was hooked. I used to watch it a while back, but I fell off, but at that moment on time, it was easy for me to fall right back into it.

23. What was your favourite part of the fandom and why did it initially draw you in?

The friends I’ve made, the people have met! They are the best out of all the fandoms I’m a part of. I’ve been on tumblr for years and never had I have a group of people be so nice, supportive and just incorporate me into things. I love you guys so much!

24. Describe your overall emotions/feelings regarding the show being over and the show in general, looking back on it as a whole, with one quote from the show.

It’s a bittersweet feeling. I hate to see it go. But all good things must come to an end. But I guess there’s nothing better to say than, “Feels Good.”

25. If you were able to add one scene in the finale, what would you add?

 I don’t know honestly. Maybe we could have seen him reunite with his friends and family. Especially Charlotte and Jasper, Afterall, they probably thought that their best friend was dead for all they knew.

26. Favorite outfit/hair style?

 Charlotte’s Date outfit with Jack Swagger. Sis was rockin that romper. Also when Jasper and Charlotte were helper bunnies! Those outfits were hilarious and cute.

27.Least favorite character?

I'm sorry but Piper. She was worse than the whole annoying little sister trope. I swear all ash did was yell through most of the seasons and then they gave this chick a driver’s license, I mean what?? Plus i think her reaction to finding out Henry was kid danger was better in Broken Armed and Dangerous, than in twisted sister. 

28. What is question you would like to ask the writers/ producers?

Im tagging @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel

[kylo-but-not-to-me-ren]

Thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker

Just a disclaimer that this post contains TROS spoilers 

Hi there, it’s me again sharing my views on the latest Star Wars as a Reylo, fan and former film student (the latter may show at some point but it’s mostly a fan view). 

I had pretty high expectations for this movie and I was not not happy leaving the screening, but I had some things that I thought would go down differently so here’s what I think. 

Rey

I really like how organic Rey and Kylo’s connection and intimacy is portrayed in The Last Jedi, and J.J. expanded a bit on that which I think it’s very nice (and apparently they can teleport things via ForceSkype now which is an interesting take but I understand the reasoning). 

One thing that I didn’t really like is that Rey is a Palpatine. I’ve seen one theory on this and it makes sense now, yet I was a great supporter of the theory that Rey was really a nobody, that she came from nothing like Kylo said. She could’ve been just like Anakin who didn’t have either Jedi nor Sith ancestors. 

On a more positive note, Rey’s conflict with herself is an ongoing theme in this trilogy and I believe it was really well developed and has come to a satisfying conclusion. I felt like she was a bit lost in the beginning and I thought it was going to be an issue later on but thankfully it got better before it was too late. 

Also Rey is so goddamn powerful and strong with the Force I love her so much.

When Rey and Kylo are battling in the old Death Star and she stabs him with his own lightsaber but then she feels Leia’s gone and immediately realises what she has done and without second thought she kneels to heal Ben crying. My heart exploded I felt so many things at once I can’t explain. 

“I wanted to take your hand. Ben’s hand.” hsdcsgfyufgyufgeryfcgeif i died. 

The ForceSkype teleporting feature I ALMOST FAINTED BECAUSE I GENUINELY THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO KILL BEN INSTEAD OF PAPLS WHEN THEY EXCHANGED LOOKS I WAS SO RELIEVED AND HAPPY WHEN SHE GAVE HIM ANI’S BLUE LIGHTSABER. 

DARK REY WITH HER DOUBLE RED LIGHTSABER. 

THAT YELLOW LIGHTSABER. I WANT IT. NOW. 

Also maybe that “I am all the Jedi” line is a nudge to Avengers: Endgame? (*cof* hi Disney *cof*) 

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo 

Next up is ma boi Kylo Ben, who has been my favourite character this whole trilogy and hell Adam Driver portrayed him so wonderfully. In TLJ he grew so much as a character, not only as a villain but a person who went through a lot, has an abusive master and is constantly being haunted by the guilt of killing his father. 

To start this off, I want to talk about those first scenes. OH MY GOD KYLO TAKING ALL THOSE PEOPLE IN THE FOREST IN SLOW MOTION AND HIS SOLO JOURNEY TO EXEGOL. After that I got mad at Palps when one of his first lines was “I have been every voice you have ever heard inside your head” because it means Ben has been manipulated his whole life and didn’t really have a choice other than turn to the dark side. 

Kylo’s arc is by far my favourite and in my (completely biased) opinion the best written one. When he’s introduced in TFA, he’s a promise of a new Vader but he’s not quite there yet. Kylo has conflict inside him, a spark of light still, and to put out that spark once and for all he’s instructed by his master to kill Han Solo, but as we’ve seen it has “split his spirit to the bone”, to quote Snoke. 

Later on in TLJ when the ForceSkype starts we begin to see more of Kylo’s vulnerable side, specially when Rey is talking to him in the hut. Kylo takes his fcking glove off to take Rey’s hand and that’s when Reylo became canon and you can’t change my mind. 

Fast forward to TROS, Kylo is already the Supreme Leader and he’s as strong as Rey (but most likely more skilled because he had extensive training while Rey had only a few lessons and read some books?) and they are Force Dyads which makes them absurdly powerful together. 

One thing I noticed is that every time Rey and Kylo claim to have seen the future both of them are always on the same side, either Dark or Light, but always together. They’ve never mentioned a future where they are apart and/or on different sides. *all the Reylo feels*

Then when both are battling in the old Death Star and Rey stabs him but heals him shortly after and Ben is ready to let Kylo Ren die to become Ben Solo again is brilliant. And that dialog with Han made me shed a tear or two. (a random side note is that I got a tiny bit upset when he threw his lightsaber away because his lightsaber is so cool and I just got one myself but I absolutely understand the need to get rid of it). 

I WAS SO HAPPY WHEN MY BABY BEN SOLO BURST INTO PALPATINE’S CHAMBERS (?) WITH ONLY A BLASTER AND LOOKED SO GOOD. Also I almost cried when he took the blue saber and beat the shit out of the Knights of Ren. 

LITERALLY THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. 

BEN HUGGING REY’S BODY RIGHT BEFORE RESURRECTING HER. 

“Ben”

THE KISS. THAT SMILE.

BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER. 

And yes, I believe Ben Solo isn’t truly dead and Rey can help him come back and they can live happily like they deserve to be. 

Thank you Adam Driver for being the highlight of this movie (and dare I say, trilogy) and bless us with amazing acting. 

Poe Dameron 

I love Poe, he’s great and I loved that they gave him more screen time and I get they were trying to build another trio like in the OT but maybe making Poe, who was already a great pilot like Han also be a former (spice) smuggler is a bit much? We could use new characters and it’s okay if you wanna recycle the idea but please don’t make them identical. 

Another very important point is why do you need to make up a female love interest for Poe when there’s clearly one already? During the whole movie I felt a sexual tension between Finn and Poe just not to have them together in the end, I was very disappointed. MAKE STORMPILOT CANON YOU COWARDS. 

Finn 

To be honest, Finn is not one of my favourite characters and I believe it’s mostly due to poor writing. Finn is a great character and had so much potential being a deserter of the First Order but his arc wasn’t so well developed in the trilogy as a whole and one of the arcs I least enjoyed in TLJ was Finn and Rose’s adventure in Canto Bight. It all felt like a distraction even though they were doing something seemingly important but failed at the end. 

In TROS, Finn finds a group of other Stormtrooper deserters and I thought maybe it’d push his storyline forward but not so much. I was a bit disappointed but there were also lots of other things happening that I didn’t pay much attention to Finn, one of the reasons being that I already didn’t care much about him before so now it was kind of meh. 

I said it before and I’ll say it again, MAKE STORMPILOT CANON. 

A positive thing on Finn is that now they explored how Finn is Force-sensitive and now he finally realised he doesn’t need to run away and is willing to fight. 

Rose Tico

As I’ve mentioned before, her arc with Finn wasn’t my favourite in TLJ but that’s okay because you can’t make everyone happy all the time, yet I saw many people complaining about her character and even Kelly was attacked that she left social media. And now there were so many complaints that they decided to basically ignore Rose and she’s in like three scenes. 

I don’t think they even gave a plausible explanation why Rose couldn’t come along with Finn, Poe and Rey other than the fans didn’t like her character and they were trying to recreate the original trio. 

General Hux

Well, to be honest I was almost certain he would die at some point but killing him off like that? He deserved a bit of dignity. But his scenes were funny, which I’m not sure if it’s good or bad because he’s a First Order general so... he’s supposed to be more serious, I guess? 

As weird as it is, I kinda get his motives for being the spy, to see Kylo Ren fall so he could ascend to the Supreme Leader position, but things didn’t work out but at least we got a bit of that Kylux tension, right? *sigh* 

Knights of Ren 

One of my great disappointments of this movie.

They didn’t say a word, were only referred as murderers (not sure about the word exactly but it was something like that), had a couple of fight scenes and died. I wish they made an appearance in TLJ but they were only mentioned in Rey’s vision and Snoke mentioned them once but that was it.

They had some really impressive costumes and weapons, though. 

Overall a great movie, lots of nostalgia, would recommend.

So there it is, my thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker after watching it for the first time. Please feel free to share your thoughts as well and let’s talk :)

[ladyhistorypod]

Episode 1: The Pilot Pilot

Sources:

Amelia Earhart

Children’s Museum Indianapolis

NASA

The New Yorker

Time Magazine

History Channel

National Geographic

NBC News

The Night Witches

History Channel

Museum of Flight

History Collection

“The Very Few” – Guardian article

Jackie Cochran

National Aviation Hall of Fame

PBS

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Digital Trends

Further Reading: Jackie Cochran: An Autobiography & Jackie Cochran: Pilot in the Fastest Lane

Click below for the transcript!

Haley: You’re trying to force my wisdom out of me that’s not gonna work well. Lexi: She’s trying to force us to become Chicago improv-ers (Alana laughing) Haley: Yeah Lexi (laughing): This is her dream. Alana’s dream is not to do improv but to be a podcaster like a Chicago improv-er Alana (laughing, quietly): Actually, yeah Haley: It’s so funny cuz she was just like I wrote the script and I was like… script? Lexi: There’s a script? We have a script? Haley: I act now? (Alana laughing) I barely read. (Lexi laughing) Like after that doing the trailer this is gonna be bananas for when I’m – when I’m reading my notes Lexi: Archaeologists don’t read. Archaeologists can’t read. Alana: Archaeologists don’t read. Lexi: We can’t read. Haley: I also realized Lexi just picks like the best sounding… whatever Lexi: The best sounding banter and then I put in the intro music INTRO MUSIC Alana: Hello and welcome to Lady History: the good, the bad, and the ugly ladies you missed in history class. I’m here with Lexi. Lexi, what are you reading? Lexi: The instructions on how to turn off this Zoom call because I need to get outta here. (Alana and Haley laughing) Alana: I’m also in the same virtual space as Haley. Haley, what are you eating? Haley: I had some chips and yogurt earlier. Lexi: Together? Alana: Chips and yogurt? Haley: Yeah. That’s like a REAL Persian thing. We can get into that… Oh, the stunned faces, I shouldn’t have– I should’ve lied. (Lexi and Alana laughing) Haley: I should’ve lied okay, I’m eating burgers and fries. I’m eating mac n cheese. Insert whatever. Alana: and I’m Alana and I use 150% of the garlic a recipe calls for. Haley: (making airplane sounds) Lexi:  What sound does an airplane make? Alana (quietly): I don’t even remember Haley: (repeats airplane sound) (Lexi laughing) Alana: You guys it’s been so long since I’ve been on an airplane I don’t even remember what noise airplanes make. Lexi: What’s your favorite airplane food? Alana: My favorite airplane food? Um… sometimes when you fly Southwest they give you Oreos Lexi: What? That’s incredible. Haley: I like bringing my own snacks. Like I’ve gone pro. Like I’ve even brought a thermos with mac and cheese in it that’s like still warm so then I can just like snack on the plane. Alana: How do you get that through security? Haley: It’s food it’s not liquid Alana: What kind of cheese do you have that’s not liquid? Haley: Like mac n cheese is like– Lexi: The cheese isn’t liquid Haley: Yeah Lexi: Unless you’re getting like Kraft fake cheese Haley: No, I do like– Lexi: Can you hear my brother screaming in the background of this banter? Alana: No Haley: Whatever. No like I do like Annie’s white shell mac n cheese in my dino thermos… Haley: No I get stopped almost every time to the point where my parents have made fun of me that I just get stopped so now I'm just… Alana: You’re on some list Haley: They’re gonna look through my bag anyway might as well… Lexi: You probably are on a list. Haley: … be like this is my mac and cheese. Lexi: Your name is the same name as some criminal. Like… (laughing) oopsy poopsies Haley: That’s like my cousin’s name he’s like same terrorist or some terrorist like has the same name as his and he's gotten stopped before one time was like with thirty of us and I was like well. Alana: That happened to my uncle when he was eight. They were going into… they were going into Israel and they stopped him and they were like we're gonna ask him a question like he’s on the same– this terrorist list like it's the same name. Lexi: I was detained at the airport in Israel. Kind of. Alana: Jesus, Lexi what did you do?!. Lexi: So I was with a group, I was coming back from a dig… In case you don't know we're all archaeologists I feel like I've made that joke already. Haley: Oh yeah wait shouldn’t we intro like who we are though. Lexi: Sure. Well. Let me tell my story first. Alana: Haley I'm going to kick you off the podcast. Haley (quietly): No you’re not Lexi: I was getting I was leaving the excavation… And with people from a different school but the most of the people on the dig were from my school but only I was leaving with the people from the other school and so when I got to the airport the nice Israeli woman asked if I was with those people and I said no I'm not with them because I went to a different school but then when they got through they said they were with me and they caught us in our lie and so they detained for three hours. Haley: That's why you got detained?! Lexi: Yes. Haley: I got detained for looking like me and having my name. Lexi: We all have our different qualities. Alana: I have never been detained at an airport. They make me so nervous Haley: Well whoopty freakin’ doo Alana: Hashtag white privilege. My white privilege is I've never been detained at an airport. Oh that's not true I mean it's kind of true but my dad... we were coming back from Costa Rica and they have those like passport they scan your face and they scan your passports on our way back into LA. And my DAD, who, Lexi leave this in so that I can call him out in front of the whole world he made a face at the passport scanning machine and it gave him a big X over his face and I flipped my shit I freaked the fuck out. Haley: I've gotten like five of those Xes. Alana: Cuz like it doesn't match I was so scared everyone else got matched and I was like what is gonna happen? Airports already make me so nervous in general and yes we didn’t like have a flight to catch or anything cuz we were home but like… Lexi: Airports are nerve-wracking. They’re very anxiety-inducing. Alana: So much anxiety… anyway. Lexi:  And the food's always bad. Alana: In airports? Lexi: In the airport, yes. Haley: That's why I bring my own food I bring so many snacks I should honestly have a different pouch for snacks at this point with how many snacks I bring. Lexi: The only thing I consume in airports is Starbucks. Alana: Yeah Starbucks quality tends to like stay normal in airports because it's already like meh… don't leave that in I don't want my Starbucks overlords to come for me. Lexi: These lady pilots didn't get Starbucks. Alana: No they didn't get Starbucks. Who wants to go first? Lexi: Who wants to tell us about a lady? (Dead Air) Alana: I love this dead air. I love that we're not on radio so there's not gonna be any dead air thanks Lexi. Lexi: I might put in dead air. Just to– Just to… Alana: Just to put that in? Lexi: You know what's dead air? (Dead air) Lexi: Do you know what’s dead air? Haley: The route that Amelia Earhart was supposed to fly over. Lexi: I was going to say all of these lady pilots. Alana: Are yours dead? Because I don't think all of mine are dead yet. Lexi: Mine is dead and Haley’s might be dead or might be an alien from space we don't really know. Haley: We get into that. Alana: No but if she’s an alien from space we don't know their like lifespans Haley: Guys, don't steal my thunder I’m gonna get into all that. Lexi: Alright. So are you going first with your– would you like to take the dead air– take the dead air away. Haley: I'll jump right in. So obviously, someone had to cover Amelia Earhart and I'm like a dumbass like I'm just gonna put it out there. I am– I still need some working on in the brain area and when I was little like my brain works in strange ways and you’ll learn about this as we go on with this podcast and even I think you two don't even understand how my brain works exactly but I'll remember things just in the pockets of my brain folds from like when I was a small child. When I was like learning about Amelia Earhart in like the elementary school days for like women's history month I spelled her name as air A-I-R. and heart H-E-A-R-T. And that's– Alana (quietly): Love that for you Haley: Absolutely not how you spell her name. It’s E-A-R-H-R-T. Alana: A-R-T. Haley: A-R-T. Lexi: Still can’t spell it. Haley: Still can’t spell it... (Alana laughing) Haley: While looking at the words on my screen. And I typed it in like my child version way into my Word doc and it wasn't coming out and I was just looking at it like why isn't this working for me. Googled it, got like air heart sign like all this astrology stuff like not Amelia so I just typed in airheart because I was on a roll with myself. Regardless, her nickname is Lady Lindy so I’m gonna call her Lady Lindy for this, because it’s Lady History I can’t not. So I wanna preface this that I– because with work and finishing up a summer course I had like about a day and a half to write these notes. And all my sources are decent like they're not– I didn't have time to like read a whole book of hers like she has many biographies and such and like different documentaries. But I used like children's museums, NASA, the New Yorker, History Channel, National Geographic so nothing out of the ordinary of good research. But there are so many conflicting dates and information that I almost thought I was being punked somehow. So there might be loopholes where you’re like “Haley, you have to be a decent researcher and fill this in” and I'm just leaving it out because I don't want to say anything completely wrong so I'm using like the facts that came up on like at least three of the sites. Nothing from Wikipedia is going to be on here I'll leave that one be. I’ll mention Wikipedia at one point but like it wasn't a hardcore source. Well, for Lady Lindy born in Kansas on July 24th 1894 planes were not yet invented for her flying needs yet and I'm gonna make a preface because I was looking at– I love looking at like the blogs people write because for Amelia Earhart there are just so many enthusiasts, so many people still blogging about her. Lexi: Conspiracy theorists. Haley: Don't worry I got you covered we're gonna go into three different like theories about her death and everything. Alana: I think I saw that on Buzzfeed Unsolved. (Lexi laughing) Alana: They do Amelia Earhart on Buzzfeed Unsolved. Haley: It's truly everywhere I don't know– I can't remember what it's from, but I kind of have to do like a step back and just think if this person knew what type of plane she was flying and not like a mega Delta or like Alaska plane like this was like an old plane that could only go like a few hundred feet off the ground. So I just wanna like bring that up here from the beginning like these aren't gonna be the planes that we were just talking about that we hop on to go visit each other. Because like there are some bloggers where I’m like you know some of the conspiracy stuff but the actual facts? This is– this is not good. No bueno. She first saw a plane at a state fair when she was about ten years old, but didn't start flying for like another ten-ish years around like 1920-1921. Alana: I don't think they let ten year olds fly. (Lexi laughing) Haley: Yeah absolutely not, but she was very fascinated from like that point that was like she was the plane girl. You know how we have horse girls? She was plane girl. (Lexi laughing) Haley: When she was able to start flying in like 1920/1921 she was the sixteenth woman to receive a pilot's license… so like wow well done. So she's not known for being like the first pilot which I saw often. People are like this is the first female pilot. No. Like because once you have your pilot’s license you're a pilot in like my book. And I guess like you could be just a female and just be like this is my plane now I'm gonna press the button and go zoom. Lexi: Do you need a license to be a pilot? Like if I’m in a plane and I’m flying it, aren’t I a pilot? Alana (quietly): Oh my god. Haley: So, she's training a lot and she's really into it and her popularity keeps growing because she just keeps trying to get into different organizations especially for female flyers. And on June 17th 1928, she departed from Newfoundland. (And let me just do a preface to the universe if I do not pronounce something right, kindly call me out on it) Which is a large island off of, like, off the North Americas near Canada so up north from us with pilots Bill and Slim. Those are their nicknames, but it's Wilmer Schultz and Louis Gordon. So she was with Bill and Slim. There she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and she later, like right after, soon after became the first woman and second person to fly across the Atlantic alone. Lexi: Alone. Haley: Alone. So I couldn't find any definitive research but for her– the flight that she's known for like going around the globe which, I will absolutely talk about, I don't know what alone means for these planes because when she went around the world she was with another guy. Like she was a pilot but then there'd be a navigator so theoretically there are two people. Lexi: I think it’s without a co pilot so you don't get a break. Haley: Yeah. Lexi: I think when– based on my lady who we’ll get into I think anything that says solo it doesn't mean no one else was in the plane– it might mean that but it means no one else piloted while you were piloting. Like you didn’t go take a nap. Haley: Yeah so like when we say alone, at least for Lexi and my human, there is usually a navigator so it's not her just chilling out in the plane. Lexi: Cuz they didn't have the fancy machines. Haley: Exactly. And her navigators are predominantly male. Or at least the two that they talked to. Lexi: Juicy. Haley: Yeah so it's not like a full on lady ship flying through the air. Lexi: Lady ship flying through the air! Haley: After this flight especially where she flies across on her own, she's just mega popular. This is where her name really becomes a household name, she probably gets the nicknames Lady Lindy, she calls herself A. E. as her own nickname. And I'm gonna just go on my own little tangent of some of the cool things and like… just tidbits about her that I found out from honestly the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis which I was like… alright here we go. The first thing is when I found out that there is the navigator I didn't realize what the navigator was. I thought like what Lexi said like it's the copilot but no. So she had to stay awake for all these trips. And I was like wait how did you do that because like I can't do that I really thought the navigator was a co pilot and you just get kind of like the… for academic papers you have the co authors but there's like the first author and the second author and you usually remember the first guy's name. But no she's flying the whole time. She didn't like coffee or tea like any like those caffeinated drinks. So she would use smelling salts to stay awake. They still have like one of the like little tiny glass bottles of smelling salts in their collection and I'm like… okay. That like creeps me out I feel like that's a little sketchy but like and probably not healthy but I'm not a medical professional so I'm not gonna give you advice. Alana: Cocaine! (Lexi laughing) Haley: That's the thing I tried seeing like they were– in the collection and just like with what I was saying smelling salts, it didn't say what the smelling salts were… and I wanna know what it is. Lexi: Yeah, you know like when a lady faints when a lady... a lady faints you give her the smelling salts. Haley: Like 1930s smelling salts has to be mixed with something weird because we were still in the place like Coke still had cocaine. Alana: Laced with cocaine!! Haley: Okay yeah and then– Alana: I mean, we're not a hundred percent sure that it's cocaine. Lexi: That was just– yeah. Alana: That's just us being funny I don't wanna get sued. We don't know that it's cocaine! Haley: I love that now we have to preface that we're just crazy people. So the other thing that I found that this was kind of like “Oh, I should have known this” or like “this makes sense” is that you know how she has like the iconic goggles and leather cap? She hated those things. At least the goggles, she hated wearing them that's why most of the pictures she's not wearing them and it's like our drawings, depictions us reproducing something of Amelia Earhart has the goggles. But she would put them on right before the runway and then take them off immediately at landing because like you had to wear them with the dinky planes that they had. But she still was like I'm not about it. But however what she did like was just fashion in general. She did even have like she went on to create like her own clothing line that was actually advertised in Vogue, and I'm trying to find like a copy of it. I’ll keep you all updated but yes she was part of the international organization of women's pilots. I think she even like helped create it, but it's called the Ninety Nine and it's a non profit that provided networking, mentoring, and flight scholarships or opportunities for other women and out of this they kind of have like their own like clothing line for pilots because obviously it was a male profession, for the most part. She was like the sixteenth person to get a flying license. So they kind of like created their own uniform and had their own uniform to sell. Vogue picked it up and I thought that was also really cool because she's predominantly known for flying solo across the Atlantic and attempting going around the globe which she dies in. Like she– all the things like if you just see like or at least what I did for my Google search just typing in her name all the first things will say like her death something about her death which I'm actually gonna go into right now. So her flight was in a Lockheed Electra 10 E., and her navigator was Fred Noonan. No idea, I had no idea this was a thing. She had a navigator so she wasn't alone in this. And this was their second time attempting, or at least Amelia’s second time attempting. The first time she tried taking off from California but crashed into Honolulu. This was gonna be like even longer. I think there's like one guy who did this before… I have his name even. Wiley Post had flown around the world in seven days and he was like the first aviator to accomplish this. So she was going to be like the second person but the first woman to do this and hers was gonna be even longer because she was predominantly gonna take the equator and just like go around the equator… belly of the Earth. But she didn't make it. They lost contact around like July 2nd. I think she had like seven thousand miles left. Like she was like almost there like they had like she was on this journey for a while and then there was a day of just them not having contact and this is where we also get this whole story on like what the line of events whatever that saying is… the happenings of her life get a little hairy. Like this is where like Nat Geo had one thing to say, Time magazine had another, a quick YouTube from like a documentary had like the third thing to say. But basically on July 2nd she lost contact. We really don't know what happened after that. It's not like the last contact is “we're headed for the Pacific Ocean.” So that has opened up to years and ongoing research like still happening research on what happened to her. I made an arbitrary list for these three conspiracy theories on most likely to least likely. Most likely is that she just crashed into the Pacific Ocean and the plane’s somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. Like we're not gonna find it. If the people going back to the Pacific Ocean to try to find her they have– like you have to recognize, one, the ocean is so deep like we have not really gotten to the bottom of the ocean yet and two with just the waves and how this plane could have crashed, it could have moved thousands of miles in any sort of direction. So when I was kind of like reading some of these searches and like are you giving enough like leeway? Like us knowing like archaeology and stuff like with the radar and like all the things trying to find something it might not be there. I think we all know this. You look at these maps, we see a fuzzy dot, it might not be what we're looking for. So like a lot of these people are like oh I saw this dot on this one map, or like this shadow… I'm gonna go look there and it's like no don't do that. That's like all the enthusiasts. I already said she had trouble communicating, but we do have like radio logs and it seems that they were near an island but they couldn't see it and that they were running low on gas. So that's why I think like okay if you can't see an island and you're running low on gas and you're having like radio problems there's probably another thing happening with the plane. Like that always has like a chain reaction like nothing is just gonna be like one little blip it's just gonna all explode in your face like a big cherry pie. That's also… so that's like the first thing is just clear cut fell into the Pacific Ocean. The second one, I'm gonna butcher this– this Nikumaroro castaway. So both the places I'm gonna talk about in this next, like, little conspiracy theory are in the Pacific Ocean. So this investigation comes from the– or mainly comes from the international group for historic aircraft recovery. So they think that Earhart and Noonan landed their plane on one of these islands when they couldn't find Howland Island. So, like, just imagine in the Pacific Ocean a cluster of islands close enough that– I guess you can– if you can't fly to one you can fly to the other. I'm not a hundred percent sure how it all works out. I am not a pilot, but on, like, Google Maps when I tried to find these things. They're not, like, super close together, but I guess they're close enough in pilot speak? I don't know. We could do a whole series on just Amelia Earhart honestly with all her conspiracy theories. Because like one person was like maybe it's not this island it's another island this exact same story but on a different island in the Pacific Ocean it's like sure. But these guys think they had actually like they were cooking with gas, because they think they found bits of the plane. So they said that this island had to have been on like a low tide so making it slightly bigger and allowing this like reef along like the surface to be exposed and the reef must've been like in a good enough space, area, whatever you must have to land the plane. So they think she was able to send some radio transmission, but the plane was largely intact as they were landing on this; it wasn't like a complete crash landing. They think she survived at least until like the radio cut off because they think like when the radio cut off like she was still– like there's something that made them think “oh, the radio didn't cut off because she was dead,” and like the radio was continuing to transmit but no one was answering. They think she just like her and Noonan would probably just like deplane the plane, as this was an aluminium plane, it was really hot. Like outside, even going through the air so like landing they probably just like walked away… got more on the island to see the sights, see where they were that they were just crash landed in this area. They also noted that this island was colonized by the British Empire very soon after her plane must have gone down so we're gonna say around I think it was like 1938 to 1940 where the British colonized, and we know how colonizers are. Not swell. And colonists were reported finding airplane parts, which could have possibly come from her plane. Like they’re airplane parts from that time period and in 1940, Gerald Gallagher, the colonial administrator, discovered thirteen bones buried near the remains of a… I wrote “vampire”...  Okay no sorry. He found thirteen bones like in this secluded area near the shore and the remnants of two shoes– a man's and a woman's– as well as a box that once held a sextant and that is the tool that kind of looks like a kaleidoscope thing that you can measure like angular distances… I’m using my hand but obviously with a podcast you can't see it, Google it, they’re cool. All the bones were shipped off to Fiji where they were measured and apparently those bones were lost. We can't go back– like I worked for a forensic anthropologist once upon a time, so like that wouldn’t make it to me like I couldn’t just be like “Hey let's get these bones now” and with that so the bones must've been like you can use a foot bone and like measure and get stature. I couldn't figure out like I couldn't find anywhere like I wanted to see like what type of bones because theoretically you could use your little tiny bones like the metatarsals and stuff but really you want to use like your femur or humerus like one of your long bones because when you measure it you can say like how long your arm was, how long your whole body was. And that's how you get like stature and you can also see from those bones better how old a person was from like when you're born your bones are a bunch of bones, like they're not fully intact and as you get older your bones kind of callous over and also as you get older and older and older your bones show the wear and tear of it. Lexi: Also if her or Noonan had any specific childhood injuries… Haley: Exactly so yeah even though it's like thirteen bones, thirteen bones can still tell you, but the type of bone– like you can learn way more from a femur, broken, again let's use like the tarsals… like a broken tarsal. A broken femur versus a broken tarsal I'm gonna go for the femur. Alana: That's a leg bone versus a toe bone. Haley: Yeah, sorry. Alana: We're gonna probably end up being a little bit elitist about our… about our knowledge because we’re archaeologists but we're gonna do our best! We're gonna try not to! Haley: Okay, so imagine having your big leg bone and like a tiny foot bone. You're gonna want the big leg bone because that'll give you more surface to just analyze everything and that's basically when teaching, and Lexi took that class too, when learning how to do the precise measurements they're using the longer– long bones. I also love how they just like in a lot of them where it’s like they're lost they didn't say how they were lost, where they were lost, because they could have been lost in Fiji, coming back to the site, going to another like place to be measured and analyzed. Also I want to know like I guess this is like the 1940s if they were gonna do any like soil testing or like what they did. Lexi: They gave those bones a good Christian burial and called it quits. Haley: I– I wanna know so much. I wanna know so much because like hopefully it would be like different now, but I don't– actually I don't think so. Things still happen in the archaeology world. The researchers that did take the measurements said that it could have come from a woman of Amelia Earhart's size and build, but I wanna know if they thought like all thirteen were female or male bones because male and female bones are different. That's not like– it's like I hate when everyone says like “we're all the same on the inside” and it's like your bones are so unique… like yes on the inside we all have bones and organs but like– Alana: Haley, this is our first episode, you’re gonna get us canceled. Haley: Okay fine. We're all the same on the inside. We all have bones. (Alana laughing) Lexi: Haley’s a… scientist. Alana: She’s a scientist. Haley: No we’re all– Lexi: She’s not a TERF, just so everyone knows. She’s just talking about bones. Haley: I’m just talking about bones, I'm not a turd. I’m just talking about the bones. Lexi: I said TERF not turd, but okay! Alana: Same thing! Same thing! Haley: Okay. So. Scientifically I– I don’t know where this came from– the researcher just saying that– Alana, laughing: Wait, wait. I think Lexi and I need a sec to recover. (Lexi and Alana laughing) Lexi: Okay go ahead. Haley: Now people what the enthusiasts really took that to mean was “That’s Amelia!” but no. Like they didn’t have– and now they’re lost so there’s no way of doing DNA, and like I’m sure we don’t have anything to like, compare. Because for DNA, you can take DNA from something, but you need another sample to compare it to. Same with bones like X-rays? If like Amelia Earhart had an X-ray or like what Lexi said earlier, a noted childhood injury, then yeah. Sure. That is like more definitive but right now they were basing it off measurements. Also saying like yes this is a Caucasian woman's bone which… unless you really had, like, the face is… It's still very iffy very like… just a whole can of worms. They're basically saying this could be the size of Amelia Earhart which was an average sized woman. Another expedition later in the eighties, so now we're jumping like a bunch of years. They said like they found a bunch of artifacts from the 1930s… again, colonizers were going in. So them saying like “oh we found white people things on this like island in the Pacific from the 1930s” is kind of like, I'm rolling my eyes a little bit. There are currently doing excavations with dogs, and this one guy, his name's Fred, he’s an archaeologist with National Geographic Society said “No other technology is more sophisticated than the dogs.” They have a higher rate of success identifying things in the ground like than ground penetrating radar. He also said that these like dogs can sniff remains as deep as nine feet down and as old as a thousand five hundred years. Lexi: For real?! Haley: Yeah. Alana: Oh my god. We should get some of them on Dún Ailinne. Lexi: Let’s get some dig dogs! Alana: Dig dogs! Yeah. Lexi: Let’s go… get some dig dogs. Haley: I really hope it's like the hounds with the long ears like from Fox and the Hound. They have the sniffer noses. But I don't know. So that's where it got– that second conspiracy kind of ends. No more real updates. The last one is the one that's like it's not that it's not bananas, but it's bananas at the same time. (Alana laughing) Haley: I didn't know this one. I knew about the bones on like the random island, and I knew about her just like taking a dive into the Pacific. This is her landing on Marshall Island and it's somewhat– some people call it the Marshall Island Conspiracy. So instead of continuing on their path and looking for that island in the Pacific, they went north to a Japanese controlled island. And then they were taken hostage by the Japanese. And presumably if they were taken hostage by the Japanese they were thought to be U. S. spies and Lexi’s face is already like “what is happening” no Lexi this gets even wilder. Lexi: I thought “wacky” meant aliens but this is even wackier. (Alana laughing) Haley: We get to a point where it's kind of like spooky aliens. The conspiracy is on the basis that she landed in Japan and she was either taken hostage in Japan or just like they live their lives in Japan. I don't know why not being like “Hey I'm Amelia Earhart” but PTSD and like… that stuff is a thing. So, sure. Now we split off into one group saying if they are with the hostages or they had to like crash land they were killed or eventually killed. Another theory is that she made it back to the U. S. under an assumed name. So Amelia turned into Irene Craigmile and then married a guy named Guy Bolan and died in New Jersey in 1982. Guys. I. This gal Irene has her own Wikipedia page. I told you Wikipedia was gonna come into this. Lexi: What does she think about this? Haley: So she– there was even like a lawsuit for her; saying that she wasn't Amelia– you can all look at this Wikipedia page. It has a picture of her and people are like “she looks like an older Amelia.” And yeah, sure they have some resemblance but like… people can look like each other. And like she would also like– my quick read of this was that she was saying she's not Amelia Earhart. On her Wikipedia they have like her parents’ names, where she was born… And like there is a lawsuit for one point five million million dollars because she was like– I believe she was screaming at the top of her lungs “I'm not Amelia” and like this is like damaging to her reputation and she came up when I like tried looking at like if I could obtain some of her biographies or documentaries easily enough her name came up in those. Like she's truly– people truly think she was Amelia Earhart and got back to the US. So another guy– so this is going like off this– he was a retired Air Force colonel from Hawaii and he is quoted saying if she couldn't find Howland plan B was to cut off communication and head for the Marshall Islands and ditch her plane there. And this is around like 2003, so we already had like the past conspiracy theory where they found their bones and like they found plane parts. So this is a totally different island so who's right there? I don’t know. We still don't know. And one enthusiast named Dick Spink– yes that is his name– ran with this quote and started collecting stories from people on the Marshall Islands just to be like “did this girl show up” like what happened to this girl. And we've gotten quotes like she landed at Nellie... our uncles, aunts, our parents, and our grandparents knew that she landed there. People are saying she was here and he even spent like his own money. He spent like fifty thousand dollars to get proof of this and I watched like a clip of the documentary and this was from the History Channel and I believe you can find… I saw that you could pay for it and maybe it's on YouTube, but it's a documentary, Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence came out in 2017. There's like a pre-World War Two archival photo and they've circled like a girl that looks like Amelia Earhart and they’re like “this is Amelia” what I like to think like this could potentially be Amelia Earhart and like Noonan. I think yeah they kind of look like them but it's like it's not a photo that we take with our phone. It is a old photo that's like very blurry and sepia tone. TBH, doesn't fly with me but it's just hysterical to me honestly that people are like “that’s Amelia.” People saying “oh yeah she was at our island” and a lot of evidence is very unclear where I don't even wanna like bring it up because I just it's not the cost of well this is not not sometimes nonsense like one person was like “Amelia Earhart’s still alive” and it's like…  no she's definitely dead she’d be like I think 117 by now? It's been eighty years since the supposed crash. This theory specifically I think that is truly divided but not many responses are coming from academics. I just like I notice out of all the theories it's this theory that has the least academics and the most enthusiasts so… Alana: That doesn't usually bode well. Haley: She was declared dead after two years of her disappearance. So people like have said she's died and it's in like so it would be 1939 I believe it was like January first or January second just how the law works. And her husband, George Putnam, who’s an author, publisher, and explorer– or was he died. And she wrote to him “Please know I am quite aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure must be a challenge to others.” Which… is true. So many people wanted to be Amelia and like she’s still an icon in lady history like we're doing it right now. So I actually saw a really cool like a Covid mask with her face on it and like a airplane which I thought was nifty. Lexi: I love the conspiracies man that was really… Alana: Love the conspiracies. I definitely heard about that on Buzzfeed Unsolved that the bones are missing which I didn’t know. Haley: That like once the bones are missing I was like well… and I did see like people being like “let's test the–” like “if only the bones weren’t lost you could test the DNA!” Look at all like that shady parts of like bone history where it's like we can look at the face and it's like no they just had thirteen bones like face isn’t just one bone that they'd be counting as separate bones and the other stuff where like yes she landed in the Pacific Ocean. Not much is coming from Noonan though, her navigator. It's all about her which is pretty cool honestly for a lady podcast. Who’s up next? Alana: I'll go next because talking about the Night Witches, Night Witches. Just kidding, we don't, that's I. P. don't sue us. The Night Witches were an all female air regiment in World War Two in the… in Russia in the Soviet Union which I learned in my research that Russians call it The Great Patriotic War so that’s something fun Lexi: Okay. Alright. Okay. That’s juicy. Alana: That’s juicy. So this all female air regiment was started by a woman named Marina Raskova or the Soviet Amelia Earhart. That's like her fun little nickname. I did learn about this story from Drunk History. So obviously since we're gonna be talking about the Soviet Union during World War Two I just want to say: Stalin is a bad dude. The only good thing that Stalin ever did was fight Nazis. And that's like that one Onion it's like the Onion or some other like comedy news article and the headline just said “oh no the worst person you know just made a good point.” Lexi: Mm. Yes. Alana: That's how I feel about Stalin. There’s a Guardian article that I'll get to a little bit later and it interviews some of these Night Witches and they call Nazis fascists and I'm like oh honey I got some bad news for you. I got some bad news for you. Haley: Wait hold up so you're saying like... Alana: I’m saying that Stalin is a fascist. Haley: No no I know but like he didn't like he said a no no to the Nazis, so like the people who are like “Nazis are chill” you're worse than Stalin is that really where you want to like, the hill you want to die on? Is being worse than Stalin? Lexi: That's what she said? I don’t think that’s what she said. Alana: I don’t think that’s what I said. Lexi: I think she just said the Night Witches don't like fascists, but the guy they loved was a fascist. Alana: Was also a fascist. Haley: I thought you were going– my brain just went straight to… from Stalin not liking Nazis to these girls potentially not liking Nazis and I had to be like hold up. Are you saying they’re like worse than– Lexi: I don't think, I don't think Stalin liked Nazis and I don't think these women liked Nazis. Haley: People shouldn’t like Nazis. Alana: We’re gonna go on the record, we're gonna say people shouldn't like Nazis. So, I did learn about the story from Drunk History season six episode fourteen, I'm gonna reference that a couple times, the storyteller is Jess McKenna and it's very funny but that's it because they're not sponsoring us. So the Night Witches were started by Marina Raskova. She was a navigator in the Red Army so like we were saying there's someone in the plane who like tells you where to go and what to do but who isn't flying for realsies and that was what Marina did and we are on a first name basis because we're tight, we're best friends and she definitely one hundred percent has not been dead since 1943. That's just we're just tight we’re close me and her ghost. Not– just kidding. So women were barred from combat in the Red Army and for a lot of modern history. Haley: Go over what the Red Army is. Alana: The Red Army is what the army was called in the USSR that's like what they call their army was the Red Army because communism. And so the women were really only allowed slowly into the army because Russia was taking devastating, crushing, horrible losses. And Marina was getting letters from civilian women who wanted to help and they were like “Marina you're so cool you're amazing because you're fighting and we wish that we could fight” because they are losing their husbands their fathers their brothers their sons. So she goes to Stalin and says “Hey, Joseph can I… I’m like, here can I please start some all female air regiments… maybe.” And Stalin says yes. One of the articles I read implied that he maybe only said yes because he was attracted to her and, yeah, that article was written by a man. But she gets this dispensation and she gets all of these women to come in and be pilots. But now that they're in the army they're facing some sexism as is kind of to be expected tragically, tragically to be expected. They're facing sexual harassment which I mean it's still a problem in the year 2020, like nothing changes. It should but it doesn't. But more systemically they have the worst they just have bad equipment. They're getting hand me down uniforms from male soldiers that are way too big so they're like stuffing boots with socks and like everything is super baggy. But let's talk about their planes because that's what we're here for the planes, we’re here for pilots. They're flying training planes. Polikarpov PO-2 biplanes. They’re twenty years old. They’re crop dusters. They have no cockpit protection and they can't go high enough, which you wouldn't want them to because they don't have any cockpit protection. They have to fly at night because they can't go high enough to be out of view. And also, news flash, this is something fun that people might not know, this is just a fun fact. Fun fact: Russia is cold. Lexi: I had no idea. Alana: Yeah so these women are getting frostbite. And if you touch the plane it's like so cold that it'll burn your hand. You know what I mean? Haley: So like, opposite of Amelia's problem. Alana: Yeah, opposite of Amelia’s problem, exactly. So they’re just like the worst planes ever and they don’t go that high. Like normal equipment radar, radio, fucking parachutes are too heavy for these horrible planes, so they don't have parachutes until 1943. And they can only carry two bombs, each plane can only carry two bombs at a time and they have one under each wing. And so they're going back and forth from their little safety where they store the bombs they're going back to safety and then across enemy lines. And they're dropping bombs and they’re coming back and get more bombs they're going back and just like back and forth back and forth eighteen times a night. But these women are so dope and so good at everything that this is how they get the name Night Witches. It comes from the German Nacht Hexen which means night witches and the planes are too small and too quiet to show up on radar or sonar. But the sound of them coming sounds like a sweeping. (Lexi and Haley make general noises of understanding) Alana: So it’s like… their planes are brooms, women are riding them... they’re witches. Haley: Right. Alana: But these slow planes end up being kind of a blessing or like a silver lining, sort of, because the fast planes can't go slow enough to shoot them down. Because aerodynamics. Period. Like, that's why big planes need big long runways because they gotta build up enough speed so they don't fall out of the sky. But these slow planes can’t go fast, obviously, duh. News flash, fun fact: slow planes can't go fast. Fast planes can't go slow. and so it's super difficult for them to like– for the Nazi planes to attack the Night Witches’ planes because they can't like keep pace with them, even though they're slower. This 588th air regiment, which is the Night Witches, they're so badass and they're so prolific and they're killing so many Nazis that anyone who shoots down a Night Witch gets the Iron Cross which is the highest honor in the Nazi army. All you gotta do is shoot one down and you get the Iron Cross so– Haley: That’s like zero to sixty right there. Alana: It's zero to sixty. So we're gonna talk about real fast just like the women themselves besides how dope and cool they are. They have twelve commandments, and the first one is “be proud that you are a woman.” I cannot find the other eleven. I have no idea what the other eleven are. Lexi: Do the other ones matter if the first one’s that good. Alana: I guess not. This is the gender divide in my sources as well, as the ones that men wrote were like “look they're doing all this all these like womanly things” like they would embroider and wear eyeliner and that kind of fun stuff. But women like Marina, who would look at them and who wrote that and would say be proud that you're a woman because you're doing this crazy stuff you're killing all these Nazis and you're also doing it as a woman so you’re double the badass. It's like they said that Grace Kelly could do anything Fred Astaire could do but backwards and in high heels. Have you heard that before? Haley: No, I haven't heard that one. Alana: That's- it's how awesome Grace Kelly was. Haley: Ok. Alana: Like she was Fred Astaire, but better. Haley: I love it. Alana: One of the… I'm gonna talk about Raisa Surnachevskaya who flew while she was four months pregnant. She was up in a plane, shooting down Nazis, four months pregnant. So that’s pretty dope. Haley: Alrighty then. Alana: And there was this camaraderie between these women especially Raisa Surnachevskaya (as I said) and Tamara Pamyatnykh and in this Guardian article from 2001 which is very, it’s so from 2001. Tamara is reminiscing about it and how she took out two bombers before being shot down and she's worried that she hadn't done enough that night and is so wo– like she is remembering looking down from the ground thinking that she left Raisa, her “wingman”– her words– her wingman all alone in the sky to fight Nazis and that was very moving to me. I would be worried if I left either of you up in the sky to fight Nazis I’d feel bad too. (Lexi and Haley laughing) Alana: I would. The author of that made a point to say, like he's praising these women and then he's like “today's tw–” because they were young, like young women going to fight and he’s like “today's twenty one year olds wear nightclub clothes to work” and I was like did you really have to do that. Lexi: K. bro. Alana: Okay, brah. I was like did- did a woman write this. No, a woman did not write it and I was like hmm. Lexi: [sarcasm audible] And there definitely aren't women in the military in any country in. Alana: In any country in the world. Lexi: There definitely aren't. Anywhere. Alana: All men. Lexi: Yeah, they’re all men now since there is no big war. Alana: [laughs] Since there’s no big war. Lexi: Since big war over women go home back house. Alana: [laughing] Um... Lexi: Wear night club clothes work. Alana: Oh - Yeah wear nightclub clothes work. So just some statistics there are four hundred women in the 588th night bomber regiment. They flew thirty thousand missions and dropped twenty three thousand tons of bombs and they were the most decorated unit in the Red Army and here's where- do you guys wanna like real fast guess how this story ends. Lexi: They were decommissioned when the war ended. Alana: They were disbanded six months after World War Two ended. Haley: There we go. Alana: And they were not allowed in the victory parades because- Haley: Yup. Alana: - their planes were too slow. Haley: That tracks. Lexi: Yup, that makes sense. Alana: So that's fun. Lexi: Big war over, go back house. Alana: [laughs] War over, go back house. And they didn't and then the USSR like collapsed and one of the women who is living in like Latvia I think is not allowed to wear her, her like military medals because of how– Lexi: Oh because she’s a veteran of the USSR but then they left the USSR. Alana: Because she's not a citizen of Latvia and she’s not a citizen of the USSR. Like she's a citizen of the USSR. Lexi: Right. Alana It is really tragic to read about. And this guy was like twenty one year olds today wear nightclub clothes to work. I'm like well some of them work at nightclubs so shut up. Um and that made me real, real mad. To read that article. But it’s important. Lexi: But you learned about the cool women. Even if it was- Alana: I did learn about the cool women and I learned about how much they liked each other. Uh it made me feel really good. That they were like, yeah. Lexi: Sisterhood. Alana: Women supporting women. Lexi: The sisterhood of the flying - Haley: pants. Lexi: brooms. The flying pants. Alana: The flying pants. The sisterhood of the shitty airplane. Lexi: [laughs] Yes! The sisterhood of the shitty airplane. Haley: The little airplane that could. Alana: Little airplane that could, exactly. Lexi: That would make a great anime. Alana: That would make a great anime. Haley: Right Lex you wanna roll us of or Alana do you have more of your story? Alana: No I'm good. Lexi: So the reason that I knew that the story of your, your group of women ended with them being decommissioned is because I have the American equivalent story to your story. Alana: Gasp Haley: We just went full circle. Lexi: Let me tell ya. Alana: Full circle we did it. We did segues you guys. Lexi: We did it. So did you guys know that before there was ever a man on the moon there was a woman who wanted to go to space. Alana: That makes sense. Haley: That tracks. Alana: I did not know that but that makes sense. Lexi: I'm gonna tell you her story. Jacquelyn Cochran was born with the name Bessie Lee Pittman in nineteen 1906 in Pensacola, Florida which is one of my favorite city names to say so I'm very happy that's where she was born I find Pensacola to be a very funny word and she was the youngest of five children. Her father worked as a millwright so they traveled around Florida he built mills to mill things and later in life Jackie would claim that she was adopted and raised in poverty but in reality this was her biological family and while they weren't rich they lived a pretty average life and there was always food on the table and they always had like what they needed to survive a very average life for people in the early nineteen hundreds and in 1920 when she was just fourteen she married Robert Cochran who was how she got the Cochran name and the couple had one child who was named Jack and he died really young so when Jackie decided to leave Robert she adopted the name Jacqueline Cochran so she kept her married name and she used the name Jacqueline to honor her son who passed away really on. And she left Robert because she was like not about being a young wife and she moved to New York City where she was able to land a job working at Saks Fifth Avenue which at the time was like the thing to do department stores were brand new. Haley: Oh yeah. Lexi:. . . like it was awesome to be there and she became a hairdresser and stylist and she was doing cosmetic work at Saks Fifth Avenue which at the time was like the glamorous job and. . . Haley: This is giving me some Marvelous Mrs Maisel vibes. Lexi: Yeah exactly. Alana: I was just gonna say that. Lexi: Like if you were a young hot woman this was the job for you so um, while she was working in New York, Jackie met the man who would become her second husband Floyd Bostwick Odlum and Floyd was a CEO. He was at the time one of the richest man in the world -like- some sources say he was in the top ten richest man and he offered to help her start a beauty business under her own name and she was like that's a great idea I love beauty stuff but at the time he was still married to another woman so they had to put a hold on that project until he can get a divorce. Also while working in New York Jackie became enamored with aviation and she saw a plane and her friend was like do you want to go in the plane I'll put you on the plane and so she started taking flying lessons in the 1930s at Roosevelt airfield which is located on Long Island so super close to where she was working in New York. She started to fly and she earned her commercial pilot's license with just two years of flight experience and you do have to log a lot of hours to get your commercial pilot's license so she must've flown a lot in those two years. And in 1936 Floyd finally left his poo poo first wife and married Jackie and they founded a cosmetics line and because of her new found obsession with flight they called the cosmetics line Wings to Beauty. Haley: I love that. Lexi: Hoping to capitalize on Jackie's unique position as a female aviator Jackie went on a promotional tour and she flew across the country to promote her new beauty products and since it was a -like- airplane themed thing they thought you know that'll be that'll be cool. Alana: Winged eyeliner. Lexi: Yeah and because her husband- Alana: We’ve come full circle. Lexi: I know, I know. And as her husband was so influential and stuff he was even able to get celebrities like Marilyn Monroe to like wear her lipstick to like promote it. So you would think this is just some cute girl who has a plane, a cute rich girl with planes and cosmetics but the truth is Jackie was a badass. Haley: Of course. Alana: I already thought she was a badass. She truly contains multitudes. Lexi: She does. So while she was like an icon of the beauty industry what truly makes her story so interesting is this dichotomy that not only was she like a beauty icon and an aviator but she was like one of the best pilots of all time. In 1937 Jackie set the world's women speed record in flight so she flew the fastest a woman had ever flown in a plane in 1937 that same year Jackie was the only woman to compete in the Bendix race, Bendix race I might be saying that wrong but it was a famous race for planes, plane racing the competitors flew from Burbank to Cleveland nonstop and the fastest time was the winner. She was not the first woman ever to fly the Bendix Ameila Earhart actually flew it two years earlier but the difference is Amelia got fifth place when she flew in 1935, the second year Jackie flew which is 1938 she won. She was the fastest person, she beat the man in the race and that that race was really not accepting to women it was very hard for women to get in it, so was a big deal that a woman had beaten up on the man in the race and then she set a transcontinental speed record and broke barriers by setting new altitude records, so she flew higher than men had flown in a lot of places. So prior to the United States joining the war effort in World War two, Jackie didn't want to just sit on her butt. She was really upset about what was happening in Europe and she knew she wanted to do something. So American companies were building aircrafts to supply the British military with planes and so Jackie joined an organization with a bunch of other aviators that was called Wings for Britain not to be confused with Wings to Beauty and it was an organization for a elite American pilots who flew newly constructed military aircrafts to Britain to support the war effort and by participating in this organization Jackie actually became the first woman to fly a bomber plane across the Atlantic Ocean, because she had to get it to Britain. Speaker 1: And um that was just the beginning of Jackie's participation the war effort she got really devoted to it and she became really passionate about it, so while she was in Britain she helped the Royal Air Force recruit qualified female pilots from the United States to participate in their Air Transport Auxiliary which it was a group, an organization, that ferried items. So they didn't drop bombs, they were non combat, but they carried supplies so they would carry supplies to the army or the airforce or like carry things from one place- point A to point B. And she basically helped them recruit American women because America was not yet involved in the war and she was actually given the rank of Flight Captain in the British Air Transport Auxiliary, a rank that's actually called into the position of Major in the U. S. Air Force because she was so active in recruiting and training women while she was there. And in 1939 Jackie wrote a letter to the White House back in the US and she addressed it to the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt because she knew that a fellow woman would listen to her she didn't think if she sent it to Mr Roosevelt it would get read. She knew Eleanor would read it, because she probably heard of her beauty products and she probably knew that she was this famous aviatrix and so she sent it to Eleanor and... Alana: Aviatrix is one of my favorite words. Lexi: I know it’s a good word. Alana: You like Pensacola, I’m like aviatrix. Lexi: An aviatrix born in Pensacola. Um so she proposed starting an American version of this auxiliary, an American Army Air Force auxiliary of women who were non combat pilots and Jackie argued that women can complete all of the non combat aviation jobs, thus freeing up more male pilots for direct combat as America became more involved in the war. So you know what we're about to get a war where a lot of guys are going to die, a lot of bomber planes are going to go down, and you might need women who are already trained pilots to come in and help you because it takes a long time to learn how to fly a plane. And there are all these women who are flying planes already. So this organization would be the American equivalent of that auxiliary in Britain and at the time the army like not the Air Force army which at the time the army and Air Force America were one thing but the Air Force was like under the army branch so the army itself had started the WAC, which is the women's army auxiliary corps program and it gave non combat jobs to women so they could work in the army army not the air force part of the army and Jackie felt it was possible to expand that to the people in the air so from the land to the air they could include the auxiliary for women so despite the shortage of qualified men who are pilots there was hesitation to Jackie's proposal from leaders in the U. S. military they were like we can’t have women flying planes. And so Lt. General Henry H. Arnold whose nickname was haps which is the lamest nickname I've ever heard. Alana: It’s like, it’s like um, in your yearbook have a great summer hags. Lexi: HAGS. Um so he asked Jackie to find out how many female pilots there were and to recruit and take American women to Britain and observe the auxiliary that was there and then use that information that her in those women could gain to possibly found their own American group. It was like I don't want to test this here but if you keep bringing women over to America er it's over to Britain which she was already doing if that goes well, maybe I'll let you approve doing that in America. So then in 1943 which was 4 years after she came up with this idea the WASPS were born and I would just like to say that the WASPS is the coolest name and the fact that we don't have that name in our military anymore especially for pilots because wasps fly. It's really sad so WASPS stands for women's airforce service pilots and this was a group where Jackie was the director and another female pilot named Lovelace was like the co director she's also really famous really popular so if you're interested in female pilots, check her out, but basically in this role Jackie supervised the training of hundreds of female pilots and they became part of World War 2 effort. They transported items, they never saw combat, they were not as dope as the Night Witches. And first service during World War 2 Jackie earned a Distinguished Service Medal, which at the time many women did not earn these types of honors it was a really big deal that she earned that award and the WASPS were disbanded after the war ended. And Jackie was hired as a magazine reporter. She just moved on with her life what somewhere else and the WASPs were never to be seen again, and to be fair now women can become pilots in the modern Air Force but it is a little sad that we don't have anything called the WASPS anymore. Haley: Are there any other like acro-names? Names for- Lexi: Yes. It’s in WACS, the WASPS, and the WAVEs. The WACS in the army, the WAVES in the Navy and the WASPS are the airforce, during uh World War II. Haley: Uh, WAVEs like the ocean. Lexi: YES. If you don't know a lot about women's participation in World War 2, I have recently become a nerd about it - mainly because the names are good and the recruitment posters are even better. I would have probably signed up, just from the propaganda. Alana: Just from the propaganda no Lexi! Lexi: So yes, so she became a magazine reporter. She traveled the world and the purpose of her going around was to document like post war life like how were different parts of the world adjusting to post war life. She was even at like the Nuremburg trials and stuff. Like she was really involved in post war were to break down. And she actually became the first non-Japanese woman to set foot on Japanese soil after the end of World War 2. Which is like pretty crazy. She just flew in there, landed, got off the plane. Um in 1948 Jackie joined the Air Force Reserve. She was one of the first women to actually technically become a member of the Air Force by serving in the reserves because technically the WASPs were an auxiliary. And she remained a member until 1970, so majority of her life she was in the reserves in case there would ever be another war effort she would need to participate in, she wanted to be ready to go, ready for battle. And during this part of her flying career she actually attained the rank of Colonel which is like a really high rank in military systems, so she was very well renowned and regarded. And Jackie was the first woman to break the sound barrier on 5/18/1953 she flew 652 miles per hour to break the sound barrier. They called her the supersonic lady in the news articles which is pretty cool. Alana: That’s the nickname. Lexi: In the 1960s Jackie wanted to go further than the sky. She wanted to go to space. And she became a financial sponsor of the women's Mercury program. There'd been a man's mercury program which had basically been a program to test people to see if they would make good astronauts and so the doctor that did that was like women would be really good in space why don't I test them. So the Mercury program was intended to train women to become astronauts and the belief was that women would make great astronauts because they were on average smaller so they were less weight and less height and they usually consumes less water, food and oxygen then men apparently. I didn't know that I thought I, I think I eat a lot but you know what now I think about it maybe my brother eats more than me so I guess it’s good. Alana: That's the same logic that they're using like they're talking about the first manned like manned mission to Mars is possibly going to be all women because they take up less space and don't come as much. Haley: Because we’re tiny. Lexi: They’re a littler people, but not really. Alana: It’s true. Lexi: I mean on average we are shorter so that's why. So Jackie was really frustrated because the the male doctor who is doing the testing for Mercury. Of course, it was a male doctor. He had really strict age requirements. He wanted the women to be like in their twenties - very young, very fit and he would not allow married women or single mothers to participate so if you were married or had children you could not participate in this program. And Jackie was married and 50 and so she was a little teed off because the whole reason that her and her husband were drowning money into this is because she was going to become the first woman in space. Yes- she was in her fifties, she was married, she technically did not qualify, but she convinced the doctor to let her participate in the test along with the 19 other women. So they selected 20 people total including Jackie and the tests were really intense. They had icy water shot at their face to induce vertigo. Haley: Ugh. Lexi: They Were put in deprivation tanks to disturb their sensory functions and see what would happen when they were like deprived of all their senses. Alana: Now that's like at like a health fad craze. Haley: Yeah. Lexi: That's true, that's true I've seen people do it. Rhett and Link did it on their show. Haley: Are those like the salts pods, cause I've done the salts pods where its like they- Lexi: I don’t know..They put you on a thing and close the lid and you can't- Haley: Yeah yeah so I’ve kinda done that where it's like I’ve done one where it's a salty as the dead sea, so you float, and you're in like the pod and it's completely dark and you just like float there. The only light is like the one green light so you know like where the button is if you're like anin sos mode but it's supposed to release like toxins like because your body is kind of just letting itself go in a sense. Alana: Everything releases toxins. Haley: Yeah. Alana: Cleanse your soul, clean it. Haley: I honestly- Alana: Your soul is dirty. Haley: I felt like high or like lighter. It felt really weird afterwards. It was not like it's not an experience I want to do again. Lexi: Yeah I mean these women did not like it and Jackie did not pass the test. 13 pilots did pass. So they had 20 female pilots to start, 13 passed, 7 were not selected, Jackie being one. Haley: How pissed was she? Lexi: There are there are like- There is evidence to suggest that she like screamed and flipped out. There like first hand accounts from other female pilots who were there that like she was like cursing out the doctor but he told her she had underlying heart conditions that she didn't know she had and that she should probably stop flying all together which is like you don't tell someone that when that's their life you know. So they called these pilots that Mercury 13 and they were going to be- stop being pilots and become astronauts. So most of these women, they quit their jobs they told their families I'm heading out they were going to move to Florida where the training base for astronauts was at the time and this at this point NASA not yet- it was like not yet completely in charge. The Air Force is actually doing most of the astronaut training and then later it would go under NASA does not make sense so the Air Force was highly involved in this so these women were going to go to where the Air Force's training astronauts. A week before they were supposed to leave, the program was canceled and the women were told not to report for training. And the 13 women never made it to space. There are cute little pictures of them as old ladies from like 20 years ago where they're like we almost when into space.Uwu. And it's so sad because these women were supposed to be the first woman in space. So Jackie spent the rest of her life advocating her belief that women were fit for space and that women made sense as astronauts. Unfortunately, Jackie passed away in August 1980, which is a little less than 3 years before Sally Ride was sent into space, so she never saw a woman go to space. Even though that was like her life, life dream. Alana: Cartoon frowny face. Frowny face emoji. I love- I love that story because I feel like we could talk about her for a zillion other episodes like we could talk about her for women in business, we can talk about her for like women in combat obviously like women in space… What was the other thing? Women in journalism for that thing… Haley: And fashion! Lexi: Women who have been to Japan… Alana: She just seems really cool. I like her. That was a good story. Lexi: Women from Pensacola Florida… Alana: Women from Pensacola Florida… Lexi: Haley’s yawning you wanna hit ‘em with an outro Haley: Yeah. Alana: Are you ready? Haley: Yeah. Lexi: You can find this podcast on Twitter and Instagram @ladyhistorypod. Our show notes and a transcript of this episode will be on ladyhistorypod.tumblr.com. If you like the show leave us a review or tell your friends and if you don't like the show keep it to yourself. Alana: Our logo is by Alexia Ibarra you can find her on Instagram and Twitter at LexiBDraws. Our theme music is by me, GarageBand and Amelia Earhart. Lexi is doing the editing. You will not see us and we will not see you but you will hear us next time on Lady History. OUTRO MUSIC Haley: Next week on lady history we're talking about pirates, Lexi and Alana: Yaaaaaargh Haley: So get your eye patches ready. Alana: Oh my god.

[sloumate]

Hello my friends! Here I am, once again, with a recap of the fics that warmed my heart during 2018. It was a bit of a weird year for me, not gonna lie, the first half was very good (I graduated from uni, so there was that, yay), but the second half was a bit meh :\ i lost myself in the absolute uncertainty of the future and anxiety has been eating away at my soul. Both the fandom and fics have always been a safe place for me, but towards the end of the year i started feeling slightly detached from everything so it was a bit of a slow one, even fic-wise.

Angst aside, good fics have always been and still are the best way to lure me right back in, and for that, I have to thank all the authors mentioned under the cut: you’re all legends and I genuinely hope you feel as loved as you made us feel with your words.

A big thank you also goes to a group of people that kept me updated on all fronts, shared with me some of these gems and definitely made my year much brighter: @imlt-archive​, @pinklucozade​ (who also made the banner above, so thank you very much bee ♥), @moonloueh​, @louistomlinsonsz​, @mattbelloumy​ & @nouies​ ✨

But let’s get to business: here are my favorite fics of the year. They’re listed in chronological order and the ones that are marked with a ♡ hold an extra special place in my heart. Hope you’ve read most of these during the year, but if you haven’t, well, here’s a treat for 2019:

{ 2016 / 2017 / more fics here }

As We Were, As We Are by jaerie / @jaerie / 51k / ♡

Alex is a British soldier who has been injured in battle, Louis is a RAF pilot with amnesia. Somehow they put each other back together even if they get separated along the way.

Now In A Minute by thealmightyavocado / @avocadolouie​ / 150k

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was. / Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

Try to not remember (rather than forget) by hereforlou / @hereforlou / 59k

Harry hadn’t left, not really. He had been right there the entire time. And that’s what had made it worse, knowing that his body was within touching distance but his mind, everything that made Harry Harry, was lost somewhere Louis wasn’t able to reach. He hadn’t left, but that’s what it had felt like most of the time. Just as if one day Harry had up and left him. / Or, the one where Harry wakes up.

A Study in Love by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings​ / 24k / ♡

Louis knows everything about everyone which has put him at a great and weird advantage over nearly all of them since the very beginning. He can solve any puzzle before most people know where to begin. He is rarely perplexed, mistaken, or wrong, and obviously, Louis is never ever surprised. And yet, his new flatmate after a very long string of failed ones has Louis questioning how he ever did any of it without him. [part 2 / part 3]

Chased the High by crimsontheory / @ireallysawanangel / 12k

Working as a fireman is a tough job. Being in love with your best friend and fellow fireman is also a tough job. / Or the one where Louis and Harry are both fireman and Louis doesn't know how much longer he can go on harboring his feelings for Harry.

When We Find Love by angelichl / @angelichl /38k

The famous/not-famous AU in which Louis lives in a house by the lake and doesn't know Harry is famous.

Take my hand and make the stars collide by tolvsmol / @rosesau​ / 15k / ♡

It all started with a few too many shots and ended with Louis drunkenly betting Harry to marry him – apparently “You won’t” is enough incentive for both of them, because now they’re at a rundown motel with a 24 hour chapel, and they’re giggling and kissing in the pews as they wait their turn. Except Louis sort of lost his buzz an hour or so ago, but he’s too afraid to say anything. Where does ‘marrying your best friend under false pretenses’ fall in terms of moral ambiguity? (Louis almost calls it off right then and there, until Harry admits he’s also dead sober, but… why not go home with one hell of a story anyway?) / or the one where what happens in vegas doesn't always stay in vegas.

Make Your Words A Weapon by HelloAmHere / @helloamhere​ / 36k / ♡

Louis is a music critic, Harry is a rockstar, soulmates are destiny but no one ever said destiny was easy, music is everything.

Simply Irresistible by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings / 12k

Louis only comes to town to start up a successful restaurant, but finds he can't quite leave once the job is done. Though, that might have more to do with him falling for his quirky neighbor than anything else.

Smoke & Mirrors by sincewewereeighteen / 59k

"What are we drinking then?” He asks Harry, claiming his place sitting on the stool by his side. “Tequila.” Harry replies. “Is this a good idea?” “Neither is sleeping with you, probably, but I’m going to do it anyways, so…” He hands Louis a glass. “Bottoms up!” / Or: the one in which Harry hates Louis, but doesn't know him. And then... He does.

Gonna dream of how you (tasted) by hereforlou / @hereforlou / 21k

The one where Harry needs a handyman and it turns out they have a bit of a history.

Loving You, It's Explosive by missyoubabycakes / 12k

Harry is obsessed with organization and Louis makes way too many jokes. Somehow, they're made for each other. / or Louis can't properly work because he's so in love and Harry just wants him to admit that.

Don't Let the Tide Come and Take Me by kiwikero / @icanhazzalou / 28k

The aquarium in the lobby has been there as long as Louis can remember, and so has the merman inside. That is, until the day Louis loses his job and decides to set the creature free. They set off on a road trip to the sea, learning to communicate more and more each day. Their destination is LA, but the closer they get and the more Louis gets to know the merman, the more he dreads having to say goodbye. / Or, the one where Louis decides to set a merman free and ends up finding his own freedom along the way.

Into The Midnight Sun by summerwine / @smrwine​ / 63k / ♡

It's 1983, Harry embarks on his first world tour and Louis is a budding actor in LA. Life spent apart isn't easily adjustable, but somehow they make it work.

Sun Means The Sky'll Be Blue by PearlyDewdrops / @curlsandlashes​ / 91k / ♡  

As the only singleton under thirty attending his cousin's five-day wedding, Harry is desperate to find a date, or at least a reason to get people's questions about his love life off his back. So when Louis, Harry's old uni roommate and fellow wedding attendee waltzes back into his life, Harry seizes the opportunity, pretending Louis is his ex-boyfriend and that it's a sore subject not to be mentioned. If it's a little bit closer to the truth than Harry would like, well, he's a master at living in denial. So cue a mess of trudged-up feelings, past misunderstandings, a rekindled summer romance and a whole lot of sexually-charged bickering.

Keep this love in a photograph by suspendrs / @suspendrs​ / 48k / ♡

“I could never forget a damn thing about you, Harry Styles, not even if I wanted to,” Louis says. His hair falls into his face when he glances over at Harry, the moonlight reflecting off of it and making it glow golden, like maybe Louis himself is the sun. Harry thinks of how dark and cold his life got once Louis went away, how Harry got a taste of the sweetest sunshine imaginable and then was plunged into the longest winter of his life. He feels like he’s been buried under mounds of snow for months, years, and he’s finally made it to spring, finally getting another taste of how wonderful life can be. / Or, it’s 1919, and Harry’s been falling in love with his best friend for his entire life.

Wild Love by purpledaisy / 130k / ♡

Two best friends try to date each other for forty days. It's supposed to be fun until emotions make it complicated.

Ain't That A Kick In The Head! by lesbianharrie, wreckingtomlinson / 22k

In which Harry’s a disaster gay who doesn’t know shit about soccer, Liam drinks too many blue raspberry Coolattas, Niall knows everyone, Zayn looks dead, and Louis is Not Happy about sharing his breakout moment with “Drunk Hawaiian Guy.”

A Taste of Desire by casuallyhl / 104k

A Victorian ABO where Harry is the owner of the most successful cotton mill in Manchester, and Louis is an opinionated social activist about to disrupt Harry’s world.

Tissue-thin lies by HelloAmHere / @helloamhere​ / 5k

Louis has a cold but he's FINE.

This Melody Was Meant For You by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings​ / 32k

The Marie Henry Conservatory of Music has been around for ages, and not once has it ever admitted anybody besides the traditional, classical music student. Or at least they hadn’t until a few select outsiders are let in to mix things up and to give someone like Louis a chance.

Loyal Knight and True by rainbowninja167 / @rainbowninja​ / 51k / ♡

In contemporary Oxford, Harry Styles and Niall Horan run a magical bookshop, unbowed by an entire academic establishment that insists magic doesn't even exist. Sometimes, Harry finds, it's much easier to have faith in magic than in himself. Louis Tomlinson is a classically trained poet who needs something to believe in, and Liam Payne longs to be a part of something magical. But when the lines between reality and fiction - poetry and magic - start to blur, can they trust each other to keep track of what's true?

You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home by styleandsin / 43k / ♡

Louis needs a break from everything, from acting and the constant pressure of life in LA. He decides to move back home for a bit, some time with his family is exactly what can lift his spirits. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love. Both with the town he hated so much so that he couldn't wait to leave it years ago and with a curly haired florist that was the complete opposite of the guys he'd often meet in LA.

When the city shines (like the sun at night) by fondleeds / 37k / ♡

Love, Simon AU.

Oh, We're In Love, Aren't We? by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings​ / 30k / ♡

After sixteen wonderful years of friendship, it's hard to imagine any grand (and usually dumb) plans they haven't had or some type of mischief they haven't gotten into together. But, when Harry suddenly finds himself without a fiance and Louis just wants to help him feel okay again, they realize falling in love is one thing they haven't done, and that's about to change.

You came into my life by disgruntledkittenface / @disgruntledkittenface​ / 57k

When the Queer Eye cast and crew sweep into Louis’ small town and fire station to make over his best friend and coworker Liam, Louis’ carefully constructed walls start to fall down and he has to face his fears – and the only guy he’s ever been able to see a future with.

The Second Hand Unwinds by FullOnLarrie / @fullonlarrie​ / 51k / ♡

Louis Tomlinson is one of the first members of NASA's top secret Chrono Exploration Program. When things go wrong and he's sent further back in time than planned, he has no other option than to show up on his ex-boyfriend's doorstep.

The Lonely Planet Guide to Second Chances by 1Diamondinthesun / 102k

When Harry and Louis broke up, the last thing on Harry's mind was the non-refundable surprise trip he had booked for them across Europe. Harry was supposed to be moving on, not sightseeing with his ex. In hindsight, touring the continent with Louis was probably a bad idea. So naturally, that's exactly what Harry did. / Or, the breakup travel fic featuring romantic sunsets, awkward bed sharing, and second chances against a backdrop of some of Europe's most iconic cities

Truth, justice, and the gay way by hattalove / @hattalove​ / 2k

Liam needs a costume. Louis needs a best best friend award, a holiday, and to get a grip. (Harry's just in the right place at the right time.)

I believe him when he tells of loving me by bitterlee / 28k / ♡

Louis doesn't remember Harry. Harry takes him home.

When the Sun Won't Let You Sleep by allwaswell16 / @allwaswell16​ / 30k

Four years ago, Louis Tomlinson left the UK to live on an Antarctic research station for reasons best left in the past. He’s carved out a life for himself on the ice and has dedicated himself to his research, his friends, and especially the Halley VI research station. He’s less than thrilled when he learns that Harry Styles, a glaciologist from another base who once broke his heart, will be coming to Halley, and he’s definitely unprepared for the upheaval Harry brings with him.

Take It To The Limit by taggiecb / 35k

Louis Tomlinson enjoys the simple life. He has his house, his family, and his friends all in the tiny town of Petty Harbour, Newfoundland. When he isn’t spending the winters plowing out the residents and keeping Liam and Niall company at Payne’s pub, he’s out on the open water doing the one thing that he loves the most, fishing. Harry Styles is a traveler. He lands in the tiny town to try to find himself. What he finds instead is a beautiful blue eyed man who seems to have everything figured out. But even a brick house can be damaged by a storm if it’s big enough. Can Louis’ perfect life and their relationship survive the tumult that’s coming?

What Our Souls Were Meant To Do by Rearviewdreamer / @all-these-larrythings​ / 34k / ♡

All Harry’s father wants is for his son to marry as soon as possible and give their family another heir. All Harry wants to do is fall in love.

Where your lips land by BriaMaria / 12k / ♡

A love story told through Louis' tattoos. / or the Tyler Knott Gregson-inspired AU where Louis is a poet who lives in Montana and Harry is a photographer passing through.

Just call me inspiration by hereforlou / @hereforlou​ / 51k

The truth is Louis knows he’s going to hell, if there is such a thing, but it isn’t because he writes erotic fiction for a living. If anything, it’s because his muse, the reason he’s inspired to write about people shagging in increasingly creative ways everyday, is the sweetest, loveliest, most genuine (and completely oblivious) future children-book illustrator in the world. / Or, the one where Louis is a writer, Harry is an art student, and they inspire each other in very different ways.

Love Me Please by angelichl / @angelichl​ / 23k / ♡

Louis hates Harry, which is fine because he would really rather prefer to avoid him at all costs. The only problem? They're soulmates.

O' Christmas Tree by Justalittlelouislove / @justalittlelouislove / 15k / ♡

Louis has a busy schedule to keep and a daughter to raise. He definitely isn't looking for a relationship. Enter Harry Styles, a local Christmas tree farmer that seems just a little too good to be true.

For As Long As I Can Remember (It's Been December) by green_feelings / 128k / ♡

After recovering from a severe accident that causes Harry to lose his memory of three years, he moves to London to start his life over as a star chef. Little does he know that when he falls in love with Louis at first sight, it’s not the first time they meet. Featuring an unintentional game of hot and cold, Harry chasing memories that won’t come back, Louis burying himself in work to try and forget what he can’t forget, Liam being torn between two of his best friends, Zayn as a moral compass and Niall saving the day with good music and brutal honesty.

[hollywayblog]

How “The Umbrella Academy” Surprised Me

In many ways, good and bad.

This is a spoiler-free review of season one of The Umbrella Academy

I remember when The Umbrella Academy comics came out. It was 2007 and I was a broke thirteen-year-old living in suburban Australia (a cultural wasteland!) so I never actually read them, but as a rabidly obsessed My Chemical Romance/Gerard Way fan, I managed to fold The Umbrella Academy into my identity anyway. I’m not sure exactly how that works, but hey. Adolescents are powerful creatures.

As a distinguished almost-twenty-five-year-old (I’d like to acknowledge that I took a small break here to have an existential crisis) my walls are free of band posters and my eyes are no longer encircled with that thick black eyeliner that always managed to look three days old and slept in, but I still got kind of a thrill when I learned that The Umbrella Academy was being adapted into a Netflix show. It was something I had always assumed I would end up reading, back in the depths of my emo phase (which is probably more accurately defined as a My Chemical Romance phase) but then just kind of forgot about. So, great, I’m simultaneously being reminded that this thing exists, and freed of the nostalgic obligation to go seek out the comic and read it. As much as I love reading, comics have just never been my thing.

Then the trailer came out. Honestly, it kind of killed my enthusiasm. It just looked kind of generic. Apocalypse. Superpowers. Bold characters. Lots of action. My takeaway was a big ol’ “Meh.” Frankly, without my pre-existing attachment to Gerard Way and the very idea of The Umbrella Academy, I highly doubt I would have given it a chance - not because it looked inherently bad, but just because I’m a hard sell on the kind of show it appeared to be.

But it’s Gerard Way, man. I had to watch at least one episode.

The Umbrella Academy centres around the famous-yet-mysterious Hargreeves family. The seven children - six of whom have special powers - were adopted by Reginald Hargreeves, a cold and severe patriarch who didn’t even deign to name them. He made them into “The Umbrella Adademy,” a crime-fighting squad of tiny children who would later dissolve after a tragic incident. Now they’re grown up, and Dad’s dead. His spare and tense memorial is what brings the adult Umbrella Academy back together, and this is where the show kicks off.

We’re treated to a rather clumsy beginning; a gripping opening scene followed by an unimaginative montage. We get a glimpse of each of the Hargreeves’ regular lives, leading up to and including them learning of their father’s death. It’s a heavy-handed introductory roll-call, complete with on-screen name cards. It’s a baffling waste of time, considering we don’t learn anything in this montage that isn’t later reiterated through dialogue or behaviour. We don’t need to see Klaus leaving rehab to know he’s an addict. We don’t need to see Allison on the red carpet to know she’s a movie star. It dragged, even on a first watch not knowing that the whole thing would be ultimately pointless, and I’m surprised no one thought to cut it and let us go in cold with everyone arriving at the mansion for the memorial - an opening that would have both set the tone and let us get to know the characters much more naturally. Maybe it feels like I’m focusing too much on this, and that’s only because it gave me a bad first impression - and I want anyone who reacts the same way I did to stick with it. It really does get better.

The further we got from the montage the less gimmicky it felt, and I started to sense some sort of something that I liked about this show. Stylistically it was interesting, and there seemed to be an underlying depth; room for these characters to be more than brooding ex-vigilantes with daddy issues. I was intrigued enough by the end of episode one to keep watching, and was gratified as the series went on and truly delved into those depths. There was a memorable turning point for me around episode five, where Klaus (the wonderful Robert Sheehan) was given space in the runtime to visibly, viscerally feel the effects of something he had just been through. It sounds so obvious, and so simple, but it’s something that is frustratingly glossed over so often in fiction. You know. Fallout. Feelings.

It wasn’t just that moment, though. Prior episodes laid the groundwork, developing not just Klaus but all the Hargreeves. Each character feels real and grounded, each of them uniquely good, uniquely bad, uniquely damaged by their upbringing. It’s this last point I particularly appreciate, this subtle realism in the show’s execution of abused characters. We see how siblings growing up with the same parents does not necessarily mean they got the same childhood, endured the same abuse, or that their trauma will manifest in the same ways. And certainly, it’s important to see the different coping mechanisms each of them have developed. Furthermore, there is a lot more to each of these characters than just their trauma. There are seven distinct personalities going on, and I have to applaud the writers for this commitment to character. It was largely this that kept me hooked (I’m such a sucker for good characters), and to my own surprise very invested in the way things unfolded.

I love the tone, which found a cool rhythm after the pilot. The pacing was decent and the character development balanced well against the plot. I like the little quirks that remind you of the show’s comic book roots, like Pogo, the talking ape and Five, the grouchy old man in a teenager’s body.

Weirdly, I like the apocalypse stuff, which they managed to put their own spin on despite it being such a played-out trope at this point. I like that the show found small ways to go in unexpected directions, even if the overarching plot and big twists weren’t all that surprising. And most of all I love that in a world saturated with forgettable media, I woke up today still thinking about this show.

Even if not all of my thoughts were so generous.

See, for everything I love about this show, there are also quite a few things that rubbed me up the wrong way. I can’t list them all without going into spoilers, but I think it needs to be said that there are like, a fair few problematic elements in this show. I couldn’t help but notice that while women and people of colour are the minority in this cast, they also seem to cop the worst abuse. Only two of the Hargreeves siblings are female. One of them has no powers and the other’s power is influence (a non-physical power). Their “Mom” is literally a robot created for the sole purpose of caregiving; she dresses and acts like the epitome of a submissive 50s housewife. The Hargreeves sisters are also the ones most likely to be left out or ignored when it comes to making decisions, with one of them even literally losing her voice at one point (yikes!). Beyond that we have some truly disturbing imagery of violence being inflicted on women of colour almost exclusively by white men, and the fact that the only asian character is um… well, he’s literally dead. Before the show even starts.

Overall the problem is not just insufficient diversity, with white men taking up most of the screen time, dialogue and leadership actions, but the way that the few female and non-white characters are depicted.

These are all depictions that, in a vacuum, would be innocuous. I mean, just looking at the root of many of the show’s problems exemplifies that - the root being that all of these characters were white in the source material (uh, a problem in itself, obviously). It wasn’t a problem, for example, when Dead Ben was not the only Asian character but just another white Hargreeves sibling. And wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a world where you could race or gender-swap any character and have everything mean - or not mean - the same thing. But life is more complicated than that. Art is more complicated than that.

Honestly, I’m not sure if we should give props to the developers of The Umbrella Academy for diversifying their cast when the fact is they did so - and I say this gently - ignorantly and lazily. Race-swapping willy-nilly and leaving it at that ignores a lot of complex issues surrounding the nuances of portraying minorities in fiction, and leaves room for these kinds of harmful and hurtful tropes to carelessly manifest. So many storytellers don’t want to hear it, but let me tell you writer to writer that it does matter if the person being choked is white or black, male or female, trans or cis. It does matter who’s doing the choking. Camera angles matter. Dialogue matters. It’s all a language that conveys a message - about power and dominance and vulnerability in the real world. Because art doesn’t exist inside a vacuum, as inconvenient as that might be. Having the empathy to recognise that will actually make us better storytellers.

In shedding light on these issues, I am not dragging this show. I am not condemning it. And although it is problematic in itself, I’m not even saying it’s problematic to enjoy it. I’m pulling apart the lasagne, looking at the layers, poking and prodding at the individual ingredients and saying, “Hey, the chef probably should have known better than to put pineapple in here. Maybe let’s not do that next time.” I’m also saying, “When I get a mouthful with pineapple in it, I don’t enjoy that. It’s jarring and unpleasant. But it doesn’t ruin the whole meal for me.”

I’m getting better at allowing myself to dislike something on the basis of its shitty themes. To not have to justify myself when something is problematic in a way that just makes it too uncomfortable for me to watch. That wasn’t the case here. I won’t lie; the bad stuff was no afterthought for me. That kind of thing really gets to me. It does ruin a lot for me. But in this case, the show redeemed itself in other ways; mostly by just being a compelling story with characters I liked. I’m trying not to justify that too hard either.

So I liked The Umbrella Academy, and I hope it gets a second season. I also hope that the creators will listen to people like me who want to be able to enjoy their show even more and create more consciously in the future.

And please let Vanya be a lesbian.

The Umbrella Academy is out now on Netflix

Watch this show if you like: witty characters, iconic characters, complex characters, mysteries,  dark themes, superpowers, vigilantes, comics, dark humour, epic stories, shows about families, stylistic TV shows, ensemble casts, character dynamics, dramedies

Possible triggers (don’t read if you care about spoilers): suicide, child abuse, claustrophobia, addiction, violence, violence against women, violence against women of colour, death, torture, incest, self-harm, pregnancy/childbirth, kidnapping/abduction, blood, mental illness, medication/themes of medication necessity, blood, manipulation/gaslighting, homicide, forced captivity, guns, hospitalisation, medical procedures, needles, PTSD, prison rape reference (1).

Please feel free to message me if I failed to include a relevant trigger warning and I’ll include it.

[redhoodsjacket]

Splash - Tony Stark

Soooo... First time I’m writting a Tony Stark thing. Tell me what you think. Also this is a part of the mutant serie.

Mutant serie masterlist

Pairing: Tony Stark x reader

Genre: Comedy/bit of action

Word count: 2377

Warnings: The usual, y’know, language, attempt of murder by drowning, whatever.

Disclaimers: So this happens BEFORE the IW Nanotech suit

"Where am I?"  You didn't even flinch when the startled gasp resonated on the stone walls of the cavern. Tony Stark looked frantically around until his eyes stopped on you. "Who are you? Where am I? And what in hell are you doing to my suit?"  You slowly looked up from the metallic boot on your laps and gave him a small smile. "I'm (Y/N), you're in a cave somewhere in the south of the Mexican Gulf and I am fixing your left thruster" You answered calmly. His eyes scanned the small space once again, still not reassured. You went back to your fixing. "How did I even get here?"  You weren't watching him, but you just knew he was trying to stand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" You warned. "You hit your head pretty badly on the coral reefs when you hit the bottom of the Gulf. You might be concussed"

He sat up anyway and you rolled your eyes. What else could you expect from Tony Stark? "How did I get here?" He repeated with a warning edge to his voice. You sighed and looked up once again, not threatened at all.  "Simple" You shrugged. "I brought you here before water entered the suit and drowned you" "Are-" He flinched, holding his forehead in pain. "Are you some kind of recreational diver or whatever?" "Do you see any diving equipment?" You raised an eyebrow with a sly smile. "I- I... There's none" He drew his eyebrows together in confusion. "Who are you again?" "I'm guessing that by that, you meant to ask me 'what' I am rather than who" You corrected, and the look in his eyes confirmed it. "Am I a bad guy? Did I kidnap you? Am I some sort of sea monster?"  "Yeah I'd like to know all of that" He nodded, then hissed in pain again.  "No to all three" You replied. "Well, more like not that I think of, definitely not and depends on your definition of sea monster really" "So, you live here?" He asked again.  You eyed him with humour, wanting to play with him a bit. "What would you do if I said yes?" His eyes went wide. "This is your lair? How long have you been away from society? How do you even have tools to repair a thruster?" You couldn't help but laugh at his questions, not able to continue on with your plan. "I actually live in a small house in Miami" You admitted. "This is just a cave I like to come to. My chill cave if you will. I've been away from society from approximately an hour, when I got back home to get these tools" He blinked slowly, then laid on his back again. "What the fuck" "You tell me" You scoffed. "You ain't the one who can turn into a freaking mermaid" "How does one even becomes a mermaid?" He mumbled in disbelief. "Apparently, by drowning" You said as you went back to the piece of mechanic. "I was a pilot in the army back then. It was a test flight over the gulf, until something went wrong with the engine. It sent me spiralling down into the water, and my ejecting seat was stuck. So I crashed into the water, and when I thought I was gonna die, surprise! I can breathe again" "Wow" He breathed. "That's... Unfortunate? Sorry" "Meh" You shrugged. "It wasn't bad, once the initial shock that I had grown a fish tail and gills passed. Beside, I'm like, super strong and fast when I'm in the water. Could sink a military ship, I tell ya" "Wait" He turned his head toward you. "Have you tried to do it before?" "No" You snorted. "But I wish I had. I only punched through the heavy steel of my jet to get out of there" "Why are you telling me all of this?" He frowned. "Usually people like to keep their special abilities a secret" "Who are you gonna tell?" You asked sarcastically. "The guy who turns into a giant green monster, or the guy that was turned into a super soldier back in World War 2 and survived 70 years in the ice?" "I could tell the press" He blurted out. "Oh sure you could" You grinned. "I can already see the headlines: "Tony Stark kidnapped by a mutant mermaid". That would be quite the news, wouldn't it?" "Stop being a smartass would you?" He snapped. "And also stop touching my suit! I doubt a mermaid is qualified to handle it" You playfully raised an eyebrow, lifting your hand in surrender. "You know that mermaid isn't my job right?" "Then what is it?" He pressed. "Mechanical engineer" Your smile widened. "For the army. I fix military jets for a living" He paused, his glare not leaving you. He understood that you might have been qualified to fix his thruster, after all. "... Is it just the thruster that was damaged?" "Not exactly" You said as you reached for his helmet and left blaster. "The blaster cracked and water got in. I drained it and cleaned the salt, and did my best to recalibrate it. I don't exactly have a lab here. Then your helmet wouldn't close, but that was because a piece of coral got stuck into the mechanism. That was easy to fix" "Wait" He sprung up again. "I was being chased by this psychopath-" "Yeah, I figured. They came for you but scattered when I showed up, mermaid style and all" You explained. "That's why I brought you here to recover, so they wouldn't find you" "Oh" He sighed in relief. "Uh. Thanks. I guess" "You're welcome" You chuckled. "It's not every day you get to save Tony Stark" "Saving?" He repeated, offended. "I didn't need saving" "Alright then..." You trailed off. "It's not every day you get to rescue Tony Stark" "That's worse!" He exclaimed as you busted with laughter. "No you don't get to say you rescued me!"  "Alright Mr. Big Shot, no rescue then" You said when you caught back your breath. "By the way, you really should have pressure released floaters in there in case you crash into the ocean again" You suggested. "You have a parachute, but that's not good in water now is it?" "Did you snoop around my suit?" He asked yet again. "No. I mean I did, but only because I wanted to check if there wasn't any more coral damage" You justified yourself. "Those fuckers are beautiful, but a major pain in the ass" "Alright whatever so is it fixed?" He asked hurriedly.  "Do I smell that much of fish?" You joked, but he didn't laugh. "Okay fine Mr. Grumpy Billionaire. Your suit is fixed"  You pressed the thruster's core back in the booth, and just like that it was functional again. He snatched the pieces out of your hands and he shakily stood up, making his way to the rest of the suit. He started to put it back on himself, careful not to slip on the humid rocks and moss. He was almost done, but then he paused before putting his helmet on. "Thank you" "You're welcome" You smirked. He put his helmet and looked down at the crystal clear water. You called after him before he jumped. "Hey Megatron! Don't forget me" "That will be very hard to, Ariel" You nodded with a laugh as he jumped feet first into the water, disappearing under the surface. ///// 1 Year Later ///// "You better speak little girl" A rugged man with foul breath crouched in front of you. You were tied on a chair in a humid room, with two armed goons at the door plus two flanking that annoying man. "Or you'll die a painful death" "Won't I die anyway?" You asked, feigning innocence. "Oh you will" He smirked. "But telling us where are your little friends will grant you a quick, painless death" "Okay" You nodded. "You can still go fuck yourself though. I ain't telling you a thing my good bitch" He chuckled dryly, looking away. Then his hand came into hard contact with your cheek. He gripped your jaw and forced it up so you could look at him directly. "What's even your power uh?" He asked. "Surely they wouldn't have sent a simple whore to do the job" You tried to smile through his grip. "Ih a ehhaid" You poorly managed to say, so he released your jaw. "Ah, thanks. As I was saying, I'm a mermaid" He stayed stoic for a second, before he and his good erupted in laughter. You joined in with your fakest laugh.  "Of course you are" He grinned wickedly. "So you won't have any problem with drowning, would you?"  You masked all feeling of smugness at managing your plan and forced your eyes to widen in fear. He nodded at his goons, who now flanked you. The man walked to the sink in the corner and started filling it while you were taken by the arms and lifted up easily.  "No wait!" You resisted, trashing around in their grip. "Please, don't do this" "Should have thought about it before playing all smartass, darlin" He mocked. "No! No please" You cried as the guards tightened their grip around your arms. They brought you to him, hovering your head above the water.  "Let's get this over with" He ordered, and your head was plunged under the surface. You trashed like you were truly choking and drowning. But you just allowed your gills to take their place on your neck and counted the seconds to move around the expected amount of time before going still. When you did, they released you and left you in the water. You vaguely heard them say they'd come back for the body, followed by the door closing. You waited another minute to be sure, but the room was dead quiet. You were alone.  You used your half shift strength to break the tie wrap with one hard tug, then retracted your gills and pulled yourself out of the water. You dried your face on your sleeve and grabbed the earplug in your pocket, turning it on and putting it in your ear.  "Ariel in position" You said with a satisfied smile. "Sebastian?" "Hell yeah baby" Tony exclaimed. "I can't believe you pulled that off"  "Of course I did" You huffed as you took off your wet shirt. Your shape shifting accommodating tactical suit was conveniently under. "Prince Eric?"  "Ready to go" Steve answered his cue, and you could hear the laughter in his voice at the nickname. "Wait, how does HE get to be Eric?" Tony spoke again. "I'M your boyfriend" "Sorry Tones, Rogers plays the part better" You teased. "Besides, you’re the one with the hard shell"  "We'll talk about this later" He grumbled. "Sure" You rolled your eyes. "Flounder? Scuttle?"  "In position" Nat confirmed. "You know, I'm really digging these codenames" Clint interjected. "Who would have thought?" "That's all Tony" You said. "And Triton? How are we looking?" "We are looking good" Bruce spoke, clearly entertained by these exchanges. "All paths are clear around your position" "Perfect" You nodded. "I'm going out in three, two..." You shut up and opened the door quietly, stepping outside in the hallway. You made your way out of the maze undetected and took the main staircase to go up. That ship was large, but it was similar to any other military ship you've been on before.  Steve, Nat and Clint were there to clear your path while you extracted the latest Peace Nobel Prize recipient from the hostage situation. Terrorists had taken him on a ship financed by shady organizations, but you were right there to intervene.  You managed to get to the room he was kept in, where two big guys were guarding the door. They noticed you and immediately pointed their guns at you. "Who are you?" One barked. You slowly held up your hands in surrender. "I'm Ariel" You said cautiously. "My father Triton has all the powers of the sea"  You hinted, and right at that moment the lights went off. You took your three seconds of darkness to cross the distance and disarm them. As the lights flickered back on, all that was left to do was to knock them out cold. "Thanks Triton" You huffed. "May I have the door now, please?" "Right away" Bruce replied, and the access pad flashed green in front of your eyes. "You're welcome"  You pushed the door open, to see the man you had to extract in poor shape and terrified. "I'm here to get you out of this hell" You nodded toward the hallway. "Come" He didn't hesitated as he followed you out. You took a second to grab the knocked out guard's glock, then guided the Nobel Prize up to the deck. Tony was already waiting for you there, securing the parameter. "Hi honey" He greeted, then turned toward the man. "Sir" "Hi babe. When is the chopper set to arrive?" You asked, shielding the man in between you and Tony, just in case.  "In twelve sec..." He trailed off as heavy footsteps approached your position. Soon enough, a small army was closing on you.  "We don't have that time! Take him!" You yelled, still facing the terrorists.  "But-" "I'll get out, now go!" You ordered, and he complied. You felt him take off with the man behind you, and you backed up until you hit the rail. Soon enough, you were surrounded. You dropped your weapon and kicked it overboard.  The man who ordered your execution pushed his way to the front of the crowd and looked at you with disbelief. "How the fuck did you survive?" "I told you" You smirked. "I'm a mermaid" "I'll make sure you don't survive this time" He grunted as he took one step forward. "Who said you'll get another chance?" You challenged.  "You're surrounded, little girl" He snorted. "How are you gonna even escape?" "You'll sea" You winked and you threw yourself overboard backward.  The last thing you heard before water ruined your earpiece was your boyfriend's discouraged sigh. "I'm in love with the biggest drama queen"

•••

Tag list

@thehabssuck-getoverit @potato-with-possible-standards “@ fortisetgloriosusinarduis

[thatfairyfangirl]

True Colors Chapter 3

Bucky’s mind was in a daze, still foggy from the ice. He wanted to apologize. He didn’t want to hurt the...girl? With hair like that he wasn’t sure if she was a girl or a parrot. Either way, instinct kicked in, and besides, for now he had to worry about getting out of here alive and then back to a state of thinking clearly before he’d be able to do any kind of apologizing.

Your eyes drifted back to him as you lead him up to the exit. There was something almost primal in the way he watched you that made you unsure if he wanted to kill you or fuck you...but god did it ever unsettle you!

The main area of the prison was littered with men cuffed to themselves, some in cells of their own now, a few others with pants around their ankles. Though you tried to fight it you couldn’t help smiling at the scene that had been awaiting you. “Oh who did this?” Scott and Clint both proudly raised their hands as Sam and Steve gave them harsh looks. “I like you two already.”

“You both are idiots,” Bucky grumbled as everyone climbed into the quinjet waiting for them to get everyone off of that floating hell. Your eyes rolled as you passed him, heading to Wanda to remove the power dampening collar around her neck.

“Well, now they know how to negate powers without a cure...goodie.” Your voice dripped with disdain for the object as you dropped it to the floor.

“You know our absence isn’t going to go unnoticed for very long…” Sam reminded everyone as they all strapped in for the flight home.

“You’re right. What are we supposed to do now? Go into hiding?” Wanda agreed as she rubbed at her neck.

“Actually I was thinking we go public.” Tony said with a smirk as he looked over his shoulder from the pilot’s seat. Everyone looked at him, wondering if he had finally lost all the marbles, unaware of the free the heroes movement going on while they were gone. “All the protesters have gathered alot of negative attention. The UN is meeting this afternoon to re-discuss the accords.”

“And you want us there.” Steve confirmed, as if he could see right into Tony’s train of thought.

“And who better to speak than the girl leading the movement in New York?” Tony’s smirk grew as he looked to you, only to turn into a frown as he noticed the beginnings of bruises forming on your neck.

“Me?” You asked wide eyed. Sure you’ve been to a few protests, put together some mixes and written a few songs with superhero themes, maybe even started a few hashtags that ended up trending but you’d hardly call yourself the leader of a movement… But then again Tony was always good for giving you a little too much credit. “Why not Captain America or Scarlet Witch?” You asked as a knot of fear and nerves grew in the pit of your stomach.

“Because you’ve gone through this before. You’ve seen the aftermath laws like this bring. Hell! You’ve had powers this entire time and I didn’t even know it until last week. You could have been an Avenger...saved a lot of lives.”

“You must be slipping.” Wanda quipped. All the while Bucky just sat there staring at you, studying everything about you, making you feel less comfortable with each passing second.

“Point is...If a law like this keeps good people from doing good things then it's wrong.” Tony clarified. “I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.” He paused tossing a pen and paper your way. “So get to writing. They allotted me some time to talk...it’s going to you Sparkles. Here -” he paused tossing everyone bags of civilian clothes. “Everyone get dressed.”

“You can’t just tell me what to wear and do with me as you like Tony. I’m not your whore.” You teased as you pulled your t-shirt over your uniform before pulling a pencil and pad of paper out of the bottom of your bag, feeling Bucky’s eyes widen on you at the comment.

“Meh….you kinda are.” He quipped back with a chuckle, confident you were already writing down your thoughts on the subject...which you were.

~ ~ ~ ~

With a huff of frustration you slammed the pad of paper down in your lap. “I really hate you for this you know...You can’t just spring this on me Tony! I was living a nice normal life! Spectrum didn’t have to worry about giving speeches...I speak through my music.” You vented as you threw the pen at the back of his head.

“Oh please! All those songs you’ve written? You got this...Just speak from the heart.” He reassured you, not letting the pen hitting him distract him from flying.

“We’ll all be there with you.” Steve added for comfort.

“What even am I supposed to call myself? I never planned on being a hero. Never took a name.” You breathed out, letting the true source of your frustration be known.

“Lady Prism?” Clint offered.

“Sounds too much like prison, don’t want translators getting the wrong idea.” Bucky chimed in flatly, trying his best not to look at the rainbow sitting on the other side of the aircraft. Names were tossed back and forth for a little while, none seeming to fit just right until Bucky sat up in his seat. “Why not just call yourself by the name you already have? Spectrum.” How did you not think of that before? For someone who seemed so cold and violent he definitely had a brain behind that scowl.

~ ~ ~ ~

You looked up to the ornate white building, for the first time in a long time feeling butterflies in your stomach...so this is what stage fright is...The group slowly made their way inside, met by a roar of whispers at the sight of the team that was supposed to be in a far off prison, still in the issued attire they acquired there. You all sat patiently waiting for your turn to speak, your heart beating faster with each passing second, and then finally with each step you took to the podium.

With a deep breath you let Tony inform all who looked on questioningly that you were going to speak for him. "Hello. My name is (Y/F/N). But on my thirteenth birthday I became Spectrum. It was not the life I wanted, unlike many heros I didn’t choose this. There wasn't any accident, no terragenesis. I just woke up one morning to find that I was in fact a mutant.” The crowd murmured loudly at how open you were about your….condition. “I look around the streets today and I don't just see people, I see people in fear. Fear of who they are or who they may become. Some of us, Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers for example, knew the life they were choosing. Special not just because of what they can do, but because they woke up one morning and decided to do it. But not all of us were that fortunate. Every day someone wakes up to find that they too are special though they didn't chose to be. Enhanced, Mutants, and now Inhumans. The diversity of the human population is growing all around us. But with the growth of diversity so does the danger, from both those who are empowered and those who are not.” The team rose, passing around papers. “The Avengers are passing out estimates of deaths by two organizations. The Brotherhood of Mutants is responsible for just as much death and violence as The Watchdogs. Both of these groups hands were forced by fear...Fear of the Mutant Registration Act, fear of the 'Inhuman threat'. Yet only one of these groups are currently listed as a terrorist organization and it is not the one made up of only non-powered humans. Who is to say which branch of humanity is worth saving over all others? The answer should be no one. Whether an individual chose the life or not, the origin of a hero should not matter, only the amount of lives they save. Yes, the world is a scary place. Yes mistakes will be made. But “bad guys” will still do bad things. No amount of paper will stop them. All it can and will do is slow down those who can stop them from doing their job, putting more lives on the line. The truth is we as people are only the latest generation in a long standing war...The war of good vs. evil. Will there be casualties? Of course. But how many innocents hurt in the crossfire pales in comparison to the amount of lives these people...these heroes will save by following what they believe is right. I urge you to not live in fear. With good men and women like The Avengers...all of them,” you made sure to stress all of them, as your attention went to the cameras broadcasting the debate live to all the usual news stations “in the world watching over all forms of humanity, instead live in hope. Hope that one day the hate will come to an end and they no longer need to play the role of hero. Hope that when you are the one being held captive by a crazed mutant with fire powers that the one with a flameproof shield is there. Or if not hope, then have trust… trust that who has sworn to protect will get you out safe. Because in this world of heroes and villains hope and trust is all we really can have. Thank you.” As you took your seat once more Tony smiled proudly to you, using his phone to show you that #TrustTheHeroes and #HopeAndTrust were trending like crazy.

It would seem your speech had struck a chord, not only with the public, but with the politicians as well. The accords had been tossed out and those who refused to sign had been pardoned of all crimes, including The Winter Soldier...provided he stays under the custody of The Avengers to avoid any more incidents.

Weeks later as you moved your things into the new recruits wing of the tower you began contemplating your new roommates. You had hoped that Scott would also be joining the two of you, but with his newfound freedom it would seem all he wanted to do was go home to see his daughter...couldn’t exactly fault him for that. Well at least there was T’challa...nope, turns out he went back to Wakanda to rule and give the Avengers a more international appearance to the public...and with Spider-boy’s age it was no surprise he wasn’t there either...A whole wing to yourself it would seem...oh wait...There he was...your new teammate...the metal armed Bucky, just staring at you, sizing you up… Oh joy in the most sarcastic way! You hated the way he watched you without so much as a word...the least he could do was offer help with your things. Your face twisted as you gave him a sour look causing his own face to harden in return.

“Are you going to be making noise like this all day?” He asked coldly, no longer feeling the need to apologize for the deep purple marks his fingers left on your neck...with an attitude like that why should he?

“I would be done by now if you actually got off your frosty ass and helped me out.” You retaliated as you set down the guitar from one hand and the violin from the other by your keyboard. Bucky could see the bright rainbow swirls from behind the thin white plastic holding your clothes you brought in earlier that day, and though he wondered what the ‘performance’ label meant he didn’t actually care enough to ask.

“It’s not my stuff...What do you need all that junk for anyway? No one really needs that much clothing do they?” He replied flatly. “I mean come on, you’re an Avenger now...You really think being a walking rainbow is really a good idea?” He added before retreating back into his room, the both of you now stewing in your anger for each other.

“At least I can hide who I am if I want to!” You snapped back. “Good luck going anywhere unnoticed with that arm!” You screamed at his door before slamming your own. Bucky’s back stiffened at the comment, his blood boiling as he suppressed the rage you just awoke in him.

Tag List:

@sillydecoy​

Announcement from the writer:

I am also on Patreon! You can find me on Patreon HERE. I know, I know, it sounds like I am expecting you to pay for my writing but fear not! I will only be charging $1 a month, and even that is voluntary. The majority of my fics will be available for free. The $1 subscription will be for access to the really adult content stuff I have been sitting on such as what I have been calling “Blind Date’s Deleted Scene” and access to my discord AND early access to fics! As a bonus for you guys since you have been with me since the beginning of Blind Date I will grant you free access to the discord if you shoot me a message here on tumblr and ask.

I will still post fics on Tumblr up until they are no longer welcomed by the staff, but patrons will be able to view them early.

For those who have trouble with hyperlinks on their device or find it hard to click a small word vs an actual link here is the full link to my new Patreon    https://www.patreon.com/fairyfangirl

[kitsunebellproductions]

Thoughts on Voltron Season 7

SPOILERS, OBVIOUSLY! Things that annoyed/angered/saddened/frustrated me: *Kuron still being treated as though he was nothing more than some evil monster and convenient spare parts for Shiro. I am still nauseated by the whole thing. This poor precious baby boy deserved so much better. *Shiro’s hair -I mean come on, his fringe was pure white before but now it’s grey? What, did the whole process leach colour from the rest of his hair yet restore some to his fringe?! I will just assume it’s meant to be white but they felt this particular shade of white/grey worked best aesthetically with his outfits etc. *Too little Shiro for too many episodes. *Too much Keef. (Sorry, fandom has completely ruined this character for me, he’s not a bad character but I am repulsed by his mere name thanks to the toxicity in this fandom. I wish I could go back to the beginning of watching Voltron when he was just another decent character that I felt neither yay nor nay about, but it is what it is.) *That weird game show -if it was some magical space mage mumbo jumbo thingy that just transported their consciousness, why wasn’t Shiro there? And the whole ‘comedy family’ shtick with the Galra... I mean, it was a bit funny but... mostly weird tbh. The funniest parts were the commercials. *Way too little background/interaction with Shiro and Adam. *Also Adam’s design -like, why do you make an entirely new character that looks a lot like a mix of two other characters who are father and son (Matt and Sam)? You could have done literally anything to his design but you went safe and way too familiar? I mean holy moly did you see Kinkade? Fuck yeah what a gorgeous design, that is exactly what my hopeful heart pictured for Shiro’s boyfriend but nope. Give us generic floppy-hair glasses boy with a generic medium brown palette, it’s so fresh and new and interesting. Not. *Adam FUCKING DYING before Shiro even got back to Earth. You could have at least let the poor boy have a reunion with someone waiting for him on Earth before burying some more gays, but no. He must suffer. *Shiro getting like three seconds to mourn Adam. 

*Speaking of burying your gays... (not to mention a delightful dash of the ‘evil lesbians’ trope): Ezor and Zethrid. Yayy on their relationship, nay on them being presumably killed off (I mean killing 3 out of 4 queer characters while keeping the straight characters safe is not a good way to show how queer friendly your show is. And no the ‘we had to show how dark and dangerous war is’ excuse doesn’t work when the only characters you kill are the queer ones. There were plenty of characters back on Earth we’d have felt just as deeply about -or more even- considering we’ve heard about the other paladins’ families back on Earth but we’d never heard of Adam until now. Just imagine if Veronica had died -that would have been intensely emotional and really had gone to show all that you wanted about the dangers of war -especially as I don’t doubt for a second that Lance would have gotten an entire episode at least to mourn her while Shiro got like three seconds. Because Shiro is apparently not allowed to mourn). *And isn’t it funny how the most alien-looking Galra women are the evil ones, while the ‘good’ ones look more or less like lavender-skinned human women (and are also very pretty, petite and with slender, ‘sexy’ bodies.) Like, seriously... *Not to mention how creepy it is that Keef’s Galra mom and the other ‘good’ Galra woman (Acxa, who for whatever reason the show tried to force some out-of-the-blue yucky heteromance together with Keef) look disturbingly much alike (and they look to be the same age too more or less. So sick and tired of the ‘hot young-looking mom’ trope in media but especially animated shows. And especially when the kids end up banging girls looking to be more or less the same age as their mom). *Shiro not reacting when Ezor and Zethrid went for Pidge -he’s consistently been shown to be very protective and self-sacrificing, yet here he barely bats an eye. I get it was a scene framed to lift Lance, but it felt extremely ooc for Shiro to not at least try to help. *Ezor and Zethrid’s relationship being honestly way more explicitly stated than Shiro and Adam’s (which was the relationship hailed as the big lgbtq+ rep for this season). No, they definitely didn’t need to get back together for Shiro to still be considered lgbtq+ rep -you don’t need a partner to be lgbtq+! But when you wave a specific relationship around as a big banner of glorious lgbtq+ rep to come and then barely even hint at it in the show... well... not so much of a rep then, is it? *Not showing Shiro in that worldwide message of ‘these are our beloved brave heroes from Earth’. Like, this boy was kidnapped by aliens, spent a year being tortured, brainwashed, cloned, dismembered, pretty much violated in every concievable way, then immediately after escaping (with a shitload of PTSD in the baggage) he was sent back out into space and chosen to lead some war against seemingly impossible odds, a war that really wasn’t his war to fight, a war he still fought bravely and selflessly despite his physical and mental issues, a war he died in, but meh I guess he wasn’t worthy of mention. (And I don’t know why Keef wasn’t mentioned either, but maybe being half Galra makes you too much alien to be considered part of the world you were born and grew up in *heavy sarcasm*). *Shiro’s bond with the Black Lion and his role as the Black Paladin being pretty much erased/retconned -it’s like Keef gets to sit his ass comfortably down in the seat Shiro shed blood sweat and tears for and struggled so hard for, easily just gliding along on what Shiro has paved the road for but without acknowledging the huge role Shiro had in it all. Shiro was the one who brought out the wings for Keef in the end of the last season because Keef was unable to do it himself, because Keef had never bonded with her the way Shiro did -Shiro and the Black Lion found and saved each other in so many ways, and the Black Lion loved Shiro so much she saved his ‘essence’ inside herself, yet now we’re supposed to just accept that Shiro is old news and no longer worthy of being considered part of the ‘mighty Paladins of Voltron’. Myeah, did not like the feeling I got of this saturating this entire season. Keef can still be a big hero -or even your new main character- without grinding Shiro down into the dirt on the way. *That arm... it’s so big and clumsy-looking it makes him look weirdly lopsided. The comically large arm works for Sendak, considering his ‘evil sadist who loves crushing people with his alien prosthetic’ shtick, but for Shiro it just looks too big to be practical. If it was intentionally meant to imply that Allura just grabbed a prosthetic modelled after someone bigger than Shiro and remade it, and that’s why it’s so big on Shiro, that’s fine. But it feels impractical for anything other than fighting evil alien generals. *Shiro not getting to fulfil his arc as the abused victim and underdog by overcoming and defeating the evils pushing him down, but instead being forced to take the backset to a character forced into a leadership role for what seems like nothing more than a desperate clinging to nostalgia. It is mindboggling that everything Shiro has worked so incredibly hard for, everything he’s struggled and fought for is being taken from him and he’s supposed to be satisfied with a consolation prize. Yeah, Shiro going full Magical Girl Princess was amazing but he didn’t even get to deliver the final blow in any fight -not even his personal fight with Sendak- because apparently Shiro is not allowed any victories at all. *The whole sense of Shiro being punished for choosing his life’s dream over becoming the obedient house wife of his ex -he had only a short few years left to fulfil his dreams, and yet he’s painted as the bad guy for ‘abandoning’ his boyfriend (who was the one that left Shiro, actually). Yes, Adam had the right to choose to not want to separate for so long -during what was likely the last few years Shiro had enough mobility to do all the fun things couples dream of doing together- he had the right to say ‘I’m sorry but I can’t put my life on hold, and I wasn’t really prepared to go straight to caring for someone with a debilitating disease without a few more years of fun in between, I want to break up’. That still doesn’t make Shiro’s choice to follow his dreams any less valid than Adam’s choice to not wait for him. I bet Adam had an exciting bucket list waiting to start ticking off as a consolation when Shiro was denied the role of pilot for the Kerberos mission -I doubt he’d expected Shiro to actually be allowed to go and that probably seriously stumped him- but it’s incredibly cruel and selfish (and ableist) to expect a person to sacrifice their last few years of being able to fulfil their dreams just so their able-bodied partner can fulfil their small dreams and wishes of things they want to do for the last few of that person’s fully mobile years. And yet everything about Shiro’s arc paints a very very grim and ableist story of ‘you chose your own dreams over bending to your partner’s will, now let us show you what a horrible decision that was by torturing you relentlessly throughout the rest of this series without ever letting up. You will never be allowed happiness again because this is your punishment.’ I agree with other people that the way Shiro’s been treated throughout this series -constantly tormented without ever getting a single break or getting a real chance to fight and overcome his demons- seems way too much like torture porn. *The feeling that Shiro’s Magical Girl Moment was only there to blind us to the fact that him being probably the only one able to transform the Atlas means he’ll be conveniently grounded next season, forced to stay on Earth to ‘protect his home’ while the rest of them get to go off being the ‘amazing Defenders of the Universe’, leaving both Shiro and his legacy behind, unsung. I hope I’m wrong, but I get an overwhelming feeling that Shiro is being pushed into the background because they never intended for him to be the hero of the series but by the time they realised that’s exactly what they’d created with him it was too late to take it back, so now they’re trying their hardest to push him back into some mentor/backseat role in a sneaky enough way that they hope people won’t notice because they’ll be dazzled by the shine of his ‘new role’. ... Things that made me happy/excited/pleased: *The animation level. I mean holy mamacita Shiro is so beautiful he glows in like every single frame. *HUNK. Love this big gentle boy and love that he got to show more of who he is and what he has to give this season. *Seeing the families we’ve heard so much of. Seeing them reunited. Seeing flashbacks to happier times with the families. *Pidge finally getting her entire family back together. *The designs of all the alien/Earth tech. Gorgeous. *The design of some of the new characters <3 *So many new Galra characters with faces and personalities even if we only saw them for a few seconds. *All the ‘Earth preparing for alien invasion’ scenes/episodes. *Finally getting to know more about Iverson and who he is as a person. *Sam and Colleen. *Shiro being the new Princess of the new Castle ship. *Shiro fucking transcending being the Princess and transforming the entire Castle ship Atlas into a new Voltron type battle robot. *The Atlas being this beefy paladin type knight on top but t h i c c femme legs on tippy toes/high heels on the bottom. 10/10 what a beauty. *White Lion Shiro... I mean, I’m certainly not the only one thinking it, right? *Just Shiro. Wow. What a strong, beautiful, good person who cares about everybody else above himself. Someone give this poor traumatised boy hero a fucking vacation with the softest bed surrounded by therapy animals. Perfect cinnamonroll too pure for this world. *Shiro fighting Sendak hand-to-hand on top of a fucking space ship free-falling (read: CRASHING) to Earth instead of trying to escape I mean this boy *Keef fucking anime-slicing Sendak in twaine for daring to try to hurt the person he loves like a brother (bloodless and nice for the young’uns of course, but still). *Hunk carrying Shiro. *@ anyone claiming Lance ‘never gets screentime or development’ -fuck you. Look at this brave, strong boy who started out as a self-centered antagonistic jerk yet has grown into such a good and mature person. I may loathe the Lance I see portrayed in the fandom, but in the show he’s still such a good character. *Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man <3 *The mice and Kosmo the space wolf for MVP *Kaltenecker, most chill character in the entire universe. *Shiro’s prosthetic not being attached -at first I was like ‘noooo’, but then I realised... fuck yeah this is exactly what people in fandom need to stop erasing disabled characters. It is way too common for people in fandoms to claim that a person having any kind of high-tech or magical prosthetic that makes their disability less visible (For example Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist) isn’t actually disabled at all ‘because it’s like they have normal limbs’. Having a prosthetic arm that has a big void between itself and the shoulder attachment makes it impossible to ignore the fact that Shiro is missing a whole arm. (And maybe, just maybe, people will finally stop with the shitty ‘he’s got a full sleeve of tattoos instead of a missing arm in this AU fanfic because erasing disabilities is super cool’ trope.) *The entire Shiro/Atlas transformation scene -ugh so beautiful <3 ... Phew, that got long! (=A=;;) I’ve probably forgotten a lot of things -but it’s been a few days since I watched it so it isn’t as fresh in my mind as I’d have liked, however I don’t have the time to rewatch it right now to refresh my memory so it’ll have to do. These are just my personal thoughts -things I found negative might be things someone else found positive, and things I found positive might be things someone else found negative. This isn’t meant to be a debate or attack -just a way for me to put my thoughts down and remember them for the future. And one last thing -please remember to be kind to each other -and don’t go attacking cast or crew -most of them have no real say in what happens on the show anyway, and harrassing and threatening castmembers to the point where they’re scared to even show up at cons is not the way to make the higher-ups listen to your complaints -however legitimate they might be. Now I guess we’ll just have to brace ourselves for season 8...

[chibiarmygeneral]

Voltron S6 theories.

Wow, S5 happened and so much occurred yet... so little. Gonna put under cut my one big theory that has multiple smaller hopes for upcoming seasons. If any occur, I’d be glad, if I somehow get all of this right, I’ll need to buy a lotto ticket.

Starters! I think we’ll settle the Shiro/Operation Kuron arc or at least be ramping it up to the climax. It appears to hint in S5 that Lance will kickstart this due to “Shiro” reaching out in the astral plane. How I think this will continue?

- Shiro continues having rifts with the team by doing things behind their back or even going against a team plan mid-action with his own idea that’ll eventually backfire badly.

- Lance, recalling how Shiro admitting to not ‘feel like himself’ and the bit in the astral plane, gets him wanting to investigate more. He tries to reach the mindscape again in Red but can’t because it was only all 5 together that they reached it.

- Lance will go into the Black lion to reach for that plane again. “What did you want to tell me, Shiro?” Much similar to Black activating for Keith’s connection to Shiro in order to pilot, Black will react and allow Lance to connect into the plane where Shiro tried to reach him. There he will learn that either it’s a clone/sleeper agent.

-  From here, I can imagine a couple ways this can go:

Lance will reach out for Keith to return to the team, He obviously knows Shiro best and if they need to get rid of the clone/have Shiro temporarily out of commission to break the mind control winter soldier style, they’ll need Voltron and while theoretically, Lotor may be able to fly Black when he wields the black bayard (something only other black paladins have done), the team would have a far better time having Keith back than dealing with Lotor as a part of Voltron. Besides, Lotor has his empire to run as well, he’s got plenty on his plate besides trying to Lead Voltron.

Lance ends up confronting “Kuron” on his own, it could be that Lance is hoping to break the mind control without a full-on fight (I’d like to think, if it’s a clone, he’s not aware, and sleeper agent obviously means he wouldn’t want to harm Shiro) or he’s leaving to warn the others but gets stopped by Kuron before he can.

- This leads to a parallel of Zarkon and Alfor all over again. Just as Zarkon lashed out in defense of Honerva and her work, Kuron lashes out due to the control from Haggar/Honerva. Lance took the role of Red Paladin and paralleling Alfor as Allura stated twice when he accepted Keith as Leader and again when activating the broadsword, Alfor’s weapon. 

- Haggar would not stand someone getting in her way. I worry because it could mean Lance’s death, or gravely injured in some form. At first I wasn’t sure but then the scene in S1, Crystal Venom, Lance states “When I go, I want all the stuff in my brain to be stored in a giant ship” much like how Alfor’s AI was kept. This was a throwaway line but if it comes back around this way, then the VLD crew been forshadowing this for a LONG time coming. We got 2 confirmed and 1 potential link of Lance to Alfor.

- Everyone else, while having tension with Shiro, are all likely in the same mind of that Shiro’s been through a lot, has ptsd, and is dealing with an ongoing war, he’s stressed and he’s trying to do what he can to help. Lance being attacked by him would cause them to fight Kuron or if Lance does manage to warn them but I’m currently leaning towards him having to fight Kuron on the solo and failing.

- I imagine Keith and his mom having their own tension because, yes Keith finally meets here but that doesn’t undo all of the trauma and issues he’s gained due to her absence. I imagine it’ll be awkward and he’ll probably be emotionally distant and end up shouting and crying (please, let him release all those emotions, he needs a break and can only hold in so much) and a whole lot of questions as to why she left without a word. Why didn’t she ever let him know she was alive or anything of that sort. I think a part of Keith wants to try and hate her for leaving him behind.

- I know a lot of people want Keith to go to the Black Lion again and I admit, he grew with the team in Black but I can’t help but feel he’s still meant to be in Red. Why? Well Red is the one that crossed galaxies beyond what they thought possible to reach him (and yes, Allura was there but they shown Allura not being accepted by Red so there is no doubt in my mind that was for Keith). Red activated and attacked the BoM base because it sensed he was in danger. Red constantly jumps out to save him. It would be disappointing to have him never go back to the Red lion when the Red Lion has repeatedly had his back. The only other times this has been seen was with Black and Green once in S1 back on Arus, which once again was a close distance.

- Yes, he has a connection to Black but that’s only to Shiro. Shiro was the one who put in the effort to reach Black and fought Zarkon in the astral plane for the mutual respect he gained with Black, “It’s not control, it’s about trust”, Black pushed Zarkon out then and saved Shiro. Keith hasn’t done that for Black and has that deep connection to Red, I find it hard to believe they’d built that up and not have Keith back to being with Red and Shiro in black (once’s he’s... y’know normal again and not dead or whatever, I don’t think they’ll kill him, I hope they don’t but that’s honestly the only way I’d find him not keeping Black acceptable). That still leaves on the whole is Allura or Lance gonna keep Blue but that’s for another time.

- So I firmly think Red will again react to Keith (there is no proof that Red wouldn’t seeing as in S3, Lance mentioned once Shiro is in Black again, Keith would want to go back to Red, meaning Keith potentially could). I think this will come back with Keith and his mom. Both are going to be in a situation where they’re in trouble/ Krolia is in a bind and despite all the reasonable anger and sadness at being abandoned, deep down, Keith wants to know his mother and loves her and I think Red will react to those emotions by running off to save them from whatever scuffle they are in.

- This will be part of what brings him back to Voltron because he’ll always have the connection to his lion (if it ends up being Black, I’d accept that but only if Black reaches out to him like Red has). Just in time too because this’ll tie back into the “Operation Kuron” situation we got going on.

- Keith’s going to be so conflicted because Shiro is no doubt the closest person he has and he has no context about the situation, it could be a clone or a sleeper, the team is conflicted on what to do. (Depending on the situation with Lance, perhaps they reach into his memories to find out what he learned before he got attacked or Lance calls out to Keith from Red and lets him know causing him to head back.)

- They’ll ultimately knock out “Kuron” because the team will try and work around whatever mind-puppetry Haggar has going on. Lotor will want to kill him immedately like he did with Narti which will cause conflict between him and Voltron but they’ll ultimately do this because they all still care for Shiro and I think part of them want to believe the reason the Black Lion still chooses Shiro is because Shiro IS still him. Maybe we’ll finally replace his Galran arm with an Altean one? I mean, if they got Lotor on their side, they don’t really need his Galra arm to hack into stuff anymore. 

^

This is what I got so far, while I’m kind of meh of the semi-bp Lance vibe/ him figuring out Kuron bit and mirroring Alfor’s demise, even to me it seems like a stretch even if I kind of really want it to happen. I super super hope the thing with Red and Keith comes true.

Other hopes:

-Finding more about Altean Alchemy and what exactly Allura learns in that white void.

-What will they do with the remains of the comet. If I recall Lotor has that in his ship that he flew and unless the generals took it out when he was unconscious, it should be in his possession, meaning we could still get a 6th lion like some theorize or perhaps we will get Voltron 2.0 when Lotor gets the ship the generals have and make the rest of it. 

-I still want a flashback Garrison episode.

-Flashback of when Keith’s parents met and more backstory on Krolia.

-We gonna open more rifts? Are we gonna deal with the evil blobs again?

- Sendak/Haggar/the generals are still around so wonder how their conflict and the conflict with the Galras against Lotor is gonna work out.

feel free to add or give your opinions but be mindful please because you may not agree with somethings and are entitled to that but so am I to mine and last thing I want is to have comments about how a lot of this is stupid or I’m dumb for thinking this because, honestly, if you don’t like it then why bother commenting at all?

I’d like to discuss and talk theories with people who want to share theirs, no need for any negativity here (beyond the potential angst we shall get in the show, of course.)

[beastsoulsauthor-blog]

Beast Souls Volume 2

Beast Souls Vol. 2

By Aaron McCoy

2/26/2015

(Scene: We start with Blaze looking over the sheet. As he hears a rush of feathers he steps outside excited. Stepping outside he finds Argyl arriving with a young blonde boy about 4’11 feet tall. The boy has a bowl-type cut with rough bangs. The boy has a “scraggly scholar” look, a white dress shirt with brown vest (both wrinkly) along with a loosened tie. Think old style London prep school. With khaki shorts and slip on loafers.)

Blaze: “Is THAT him!?”

Argyl: “Yes, may I introduce to you, the young master Eugene.”

Eugene: “How do you do? It is good to meet you.”

(Scene: Holding out his hand for a handshake, Blaze kind of ignoring it)

Blaze: “You’re shorter than I thought you’d be! Argyl, you SURE this the same guy from the sheet? The sheet said this guy was a “Combat Specialist”.”

(Scene: Pulling his hand back Eugene shrugs and states)

Eugene: “You’re more brash, and vulgar than I thought a LEADER would be.”

Argyl: “Easy you two. Yes, Blaze, he is a combat specialist. No one is better at disposing of threats in an effective manor with minimal effort and damage to surrounding area. He’s also a master strategist.”

Blaze: “Strategy doesn’t mean SQUAT in the heat of the moment. Instincts will get you farther in a fight than some lame chess-like moves!”

Eugene: “Excuse me? You do realize I’ve caught twice as many rouge souls as you, and with HALF the collateral damage. Do you realize how much work you create for the society when you go burning buildings and trees to the ground!?”

Blaze: “Yeah, SO!? What’s a few trees and buildings when it comes to the safety of the world?”

(Scene: As they are replying and forth they get closer and closer until they are nose-to-nose)

Eugene: “Sure, burn down someone’s home or business just to catch an AMATEUR user. Cause THAT’s necessary!”

Blaze: “IT IS WHEN I FIGHT PIP SQUEEK!”

Eugene: “EXCUSE ME YOU FIREY FRAT BOY!?”

Argyl: “ENOUGH!”

(Scene: As Argyl yells the two immediately stop and turn toward him hands by their side.)

Argyl: “You guys will HAVE to get along. If you are going be Proud Souls, then this is who you must work with. If you guys can’t manage to get along then the whole thing will be called off and you BOTH can go back to hunting amateurs for the rest of your lives! Do you WANT that!?”

Blaze and Eugene: “No Sir!”

Argyl: “Good. Then try to understand each of you has different strengths. These strengths complement one another. You’ll find this in time. For now, get along for your own sake. I will be bringing you your first order in a couple hours. Feel free to explore your new home and get settled in.”

Blaze: “Alright, I guess its fine, just try not to slow me down in the field ok Eugene?”

Eugene: “and YOU try not to BURN the field.”

(Scene: As Argyl disappears the two head into the house to sort out their bags and explore their new home. The following scenes show the two heading through the house and finding the same exact room they want in a comical fashion. At the last moment both realize they are setting up a bed in the same exact room)

Blaze: “What do you think YOURE doing!?”

Eugene: “Obviously I’m setting up my living space.”

Blaze: “Oh, no no no! Out this is my room!”

Eugene: “What!? No! This is the most tactical room! It is the first room on the first floor facing the entrance lot. A perfect view should we ever be attacked”

Blaze: “I don’t care about that, but the sun will come through the windows at JUST the right time of day.”

Eugene: “Good if we ever are attacked you can just stare into the sun”

Blaze: “and what’s THAT supposed to mean lab rat!?”

Eugene: “That you’d function better as a blind mascot than the leader! You Hot-head Punk!”

Ember: “Remember Blaze, Argyl told us we have to get along if we want to KEEP this position.”

Scene: (Blaze Takes a sigh and starts to continue to make his bed.)

Blaze: *SIGH* “Fine! Just keep your stuff over there.”

Eugene: “Gladly. After all it can be beneficial for the leaders of a unit to share a room.”

Blaze: “Yeah, sure…. whatever.”

Scene: (After a couple hours, while sitting in the kitchen the two hear the familiar flapping of Argyl arriving. He comes in the door before they can stand)

Argyl: “No need to stand. I can debrief you here.”

Scene: (Blaze and Eugene sit back in their chairs after glancing at one another.)

Argyl: “Your first mission will be in the far north. In the American State of Alaska. It appears something troubling is occurring with the magnetic fields which cause the Aurora Borealis. Lately scientist in the area say the lights have been dimmer, unpredictable, and one night they didn’t even show up at all. As you know this most likely indicates a Rouge Soul in the area. We believe he’s somehow using his powers, whatever they may be, to affect the magnetic fields in the area. We need you two to go investigate, find the reason, and if it’s a rouge soul……capture them.”

Eugene: “Hmmm……interesting, to affect such a grand scale astronomical magnetic field they are either a very special, or very powerful user.”

Blaze: “Good. I finally have an excuse to use my big guns!”

Eugene: "That's just the mindset that will get us in trouble!"

Argyl: "Regardless you should BOTH get going. I have feathers that will take you there now."

(Scene: Argyl shoots feathers forward as they touch Blaze and Eugene, the two explode into a burst of feathers)

(Scene: Reappearing now in a land of ice and snow. Alaska a barren coordinate with an outline of a science station in the distance.)

Eugene: "Holy hell! It's freezing! Brain, Jacket." Stuttering*

(Scene: The Brain appears floating just above them. A strange stereo-typical UFO shaped object, with a large-headed green man as its pilot. Underneath the UFO shaped object, a cone of light appears. Within that light; cloths and jackets start being threaded together as if by the light itself.)

Blaze: "Meh, I guess it is a little nippy?"

Eugene: "At least put cloths on to TRY and blend in!"

Blaze: "Alright, alright, I will."

(Scene: The cloths drop to the ground as Brain disappears. Blaze and Eugene begin picking up the clothing.)

Blaze: "WAIT! How did you do that!?"

Eugene: "What summon cloths?"

Blaze: "Yeah, PLEASE tell me you do more than that?"

Eugene: "OF COURSE I DO YOU IMBECILE! That was just one of Brains functions, Brain is my beast soul."

Blaze: "Oh yeah, what else can it do?"

(Scene: Blaze starts a floating fire keeping them warm as they quickly change, and Eugene explains.)

Eugene: “Brain can answer any logical question within reason. He uses my soul as direct energy “fuel” for the questions answer. The harder the question, the more of my soul’s energy is needed to answer. So, things like asking about the future, or questions concerning death and love are too strenuous. He can also manifest “inventions” if I can contemplate their creation in an adequate logistical manner. Essentially, he can make technology from about some 50 to 80 years in the future.”

Blaze: “Most of that kind of went over my head, but you’re saying he answers questions and spawns techno-marvels?”

Eugene: “Essentially, yes.”

Blaze: “That may actually be useful!”

Eugene: “And here I was just waiting on your approval of my usefulness.”

(Scene: As they finish with their conversation and wardrobe change they notice a set of concrete squares in the distance, some with large satellite dishes perched on top.)

Eugene: “That must be an arctic research facility lets go get more info on these strange events.”

(Scene: They approach the plain looking scientific buildings, as they approach the largest Eugene has a surprised look across his face.)

Eugene: “I almost forgot! Our paperwork!”

Blaze: “Paperwork?”

Eugene: “Of course! Why would these government scientists feel the need to answer two random strangers’ questions, furthermore how would we explain getting out here in the first place? We need a cover. I have just the thing, Brain two government ID’s please.”

(Scene: The Brain appears again above them spawning ID badges just the same as he did with the cloths before. The two don their badges.)

Blaze: “Says here we are “Fund Coordinators”?”

Eugene: “Indeed, nothing scares scientists into talking more than thinking they’re going to lose their funding.”

Blaze: “I see, so are we ready to knock NOW?”

Eugene: “Yes, but please, let me do most of the talking.”

(Scene: Scowling at this Blaze allows Eugene to rap the door. As it opens a pudgy man with disheveled black hair, clean shaven, and a lab coat opens the door. His name tag read “Dr. Belliam”. As he spots the two and sees their badges he frowns.)

Dr. Belliam: “What is the meaning of this, we were not supposed to be reviewed for another six months, and you guys never come out personally. Couldn’t you have called?”

Eugene: “I regret to say that a phone call would not suffice. We’ve been hearing about the strange reports of the lights not behaving like normal. We want to make sure this isn’t affecting our investments negatively.”

Dr. Belliam: “I see…Well we have been having, disturbances. Nothing yet, has disturbed our research. Come in and I will give you the details.”

Eugene: “Thank you sir.”

(Scene: The two follow the pudgy man down corridors till they reach his office. As they enter he motions them to sit and offers them hot coffee.)

Dr. Belliam: “A little something to warm you up. No one gets used to this level of cold I promise you that.”

(Scene: The two accept and begin sipping as the doctor goes into explaining.)

Dr. Belliam: “About two weeks ago our reading of the magnetic interplays of the Earth, the Sun, and the lights began showing what we call, regular irregularities. The magnetics are usually predictable down to a T, based on solar flare activity. Yet, every night around 3am, the readings above the frozen lake to the north go haywire. They spike sometimes, other times they disappear completely. The exactly location changes nightly. Also, it’s incredibly dark out there. Catching whatever is causing this anomaly is becoming impossible. We have been thinking of setting up cameras.”

Eugene: “I see, cameras would be an un-needed expense, I believe my partner and I’s government training will suffice. We will go out on the frozen lake tonight and locate where the strange readings are coming from.”

Dr. Belliam: “Are you sure? This could be dangerous we don’t know what’s causing it. Magnetic fields of that strength can be dangerous!”

Eugene: “As I said my partner and I can handle it.”

Dr. Belliam: “Well, who am I to argue with the government. You’re welcome as guests till tonight.”

Eugene: “We thank you for the hospitality. Is there a private room which my partner and I can discuss tonight’s operation?”

Dr. Belliam: “Certainly, I’ll show you two to your guest bunk.”

(Scene: The three head down more corridors until they come to a small room with two twin size beds, two bedside tables, two desks, and two couches.)

Dr. Belliam: “A bit modest, but I hope it serves.”

Eugene: “This will be fine, thank you.”

Dr. Belliam: “If you sort all this mess out I’ll be the one thanking you two!”

Eugene: “We can hope.”

(Scene: With a smile at the doctor Eugene begins to close the door as Belliam walks away. Once Eugene is sure he is far enough down the hall he turns to Blaze.)

Eugene: "Good we could convince him to let us handle it, even better he had not already set up cameras."

Blaze: "Yeah, I doubt normal people last very long against Soul users."

Eugene: "Yes, and the Society clean-up crew are sometimes not so clean."

Blaze: "Very true. What do we do until 1am?"

Eugene: "He did say we were guests. Perhaps we are entitled to a meal?"

Blaze: "Yeah! Now we're talking. Hard to get anything done on an empty stomach."

Eugene: "For once we both agree."

(Scene: Eugene uses the intercom system to request meals. Shortly after a rap on the door signals the arrival of food. After eating in silence awhile they speak.)

Blaze: "So, I've been thinking. Since I'm the leader of this unit, and you're my co-captain, we should know more about each other, right?"

Eugene: "I suppose. More info is hardly, if ever, a bad thing. What would you like to know?"

Blaze: "Your Beast Soul, it’s one of the most unique I've seen. Even its powers are strange. So, I'm curious, how did you come by your powers?"

Eugene: "It's not a pleasant story, though I'm sure most Beast Soul births aren't. I suppose I can tell you if you really wish to know.

Blaze: "Honestly, yes, I do. I've never had the chance to openly talk to another Beast Soul user casually."

Eugene: "Hmmm. A sentiment I can relate with. Alright, I'll tell you the story of how Brain came into being. It starts in the days of my early childhood."

(Scene: As Eugene Narrates we see images of the things he talks about, the bullies, the fancy boarding school, the birth of brain.)

Eugene Narrating: I grew up in a rich family. Naturally they shipped me off to boarding school in Welsh-lands as soon as possible. At this school the dumb kids were praised for their rugby ability and the smart kids were praised for their grades. While I've always been hyper intelligent, my ability to communicate this at the time was less than sub-par. Causing many problems for me. Both with grades, and with bullies. After years of being called "stupid" by cruel kids on both sides, I was broken. I didn't understand how everyone could consider me stupid. Then one day the bullies got particularly cruel. They started beating me, making fun of the way I talked, the observations in class I had made. As I struggled against them I remember thinking "This is how I die". I deeply wished that my mental strength somehow translated to real strength. That wish crystalized; hardened into something real using my fear of death as catalyst. Thus, Brain came into being. When he appeared in a flash of lights the bullies dispersed running confused away from my battered body.

(Scene: Back in the room now food and plates being stacked and collected.)

Eugene: "After that they avoided me. I couldn't help but use Brain for some harmless pranks against them. That's when Argyl first appeared with my warning from the Society."

Blaze: "I see. Thank you for sharing. I understand why Brain is what he is."

(Scene: A rap at the door signals food clean up. Afterwards Blaze and Eugene lay in their respective beds.)

Eugene: "So, what about you, how did your powers surface?"

Blaze: "Well, since you shared, I will too."

(Scene: A couple panels showing time passes and Blaze retelling his story from volume 1. After the story is over we see them getting comfortable again.)

Eugene: "Interesting. I believe our powers were highly reflective of circumstance and innate nature of character. I wonder if this is the case for most users."

Blaze: "I don't know. This is the most talking I've done to anyone NOT Ember in years. I'm exhausted."

Eugene: "That's understandable. We should rest before tonight anyways. Shall we take a nap?"

Blaze: "Sounds good to me!"

(Scene: At this comment they both get comfortable and shut off the lights. Eugene is sure to set the alarm for 12am. At 12am they are awakened by the alarm. They get dressed and prepare for the long cold walk to the frozen lake. As they leave they are stopped at the front door by the doctor.)

Dr. Belliam: "You guys going out to the lake? Here's a map to it so you don't lose your way. Please be careful, and let us know what you find."

Eugene: "Indeed we shall. Thank you."

(Scene: They grab the map and head into the cold night.)

(Scene: Being led by clues on the map, the two find themselves and a giant frozen lake where, in the distance, a strange man stands with arms and hands outstretched. At the end of those hands, black foggy orbs float ominously, seemingly affecting the northern lights above.) Blaze: "It seems the society was right, that's got to be a Beast Soul user!" Eugene: "Yes, those orbs, they must be linked to his power." Blaze: "We have the drop on him, this will be easy" (Scene: Before Eugene can argue, Blaze forms a Fire-Gun Finger shot and lets loose charging from cover. The man turns; stern stone-like features, blonde hair, and tall broad build. From head to toe dressed in an immaculate white suit with black accents and bright red tie. He raises a black orb to the flame, and it's absorbed completely) Blaze: "Neat! But there's more where that came from." (Scene: Charging forward Blaze begins bending Ember's flames to his will. The stoic figure and Blaze dance in a interplay of flames being absorbed by black fog-like orbs.) Stoic Figure: "Imbecile!" (Scene: The figure raises his right hand as a more solid black orb forms, as he does Blaze is sucked forward toward him violently) Blaze: "Waugh!" (Scene: Blaze flies through the air at high velocity toward the man,  as the his broad figure pivots and slams Blaze's gut with a resounding bone-crushing punch.) Blaze: "Ugh" *coughing blood; passes out* (Scene: As Eugene curses, he stand from behind cover.) Eugene: "I've got it! Brain, Rad-Wave Pistol!" (Scene: Brain spawns beneath him in his regular fashion a small ray gun device. He turns toward the man standing over Blaze.") Eugene: "So you think you're strong because you pick on people smaller than you!? You think that’s what strength is? Try me." (Scene: Saying this he fires the gun, as a solid green bolt flies toward the man, he raises his hand and orb in defense but upon absorbing it there is an explosion) Mysterious figure: "Argh!" (Scene: As the smoke clears a purple glowing scar is shown across the man's right arm) Mysterious figure: (strong German accent) "Damn you both! You will regret this." (Scene: As the man says this he uses both hands creating an orb around himself. As it shrinks he disappears with it. Eugene turns to Blaze, frowning he finds the feather. Pressing it to his head the scene changes to a hospital. In a plain hospital suite Blaze lays asleep with Eugene at his side. Blaze slowly wakes.) Blaze: "Where, where am I?" Eugene: "In the hospital they have on this research base." Blaze: "What happened to the Rouge Soul?" Eugene: "I hurt him badly, but he escaped." Blaze: "Damnit, I wasn't strong enough!" Eugene: "Strength had nothing to do with it, you still don't see do you? He controlled gravity. His orbs sucked the oxygen out of your flames! That is WHY they were useless." Blaze: "...Then how did you defeat him." Eugene: "As soon as I realized what his power was, I knew what could stop him. An unstable particle under insanely high pressure becomes an atom bomb, so I fired a radioactive particle into his black orb." Blaze: "You defeated him in one shot..." (Scene: After this profound statement, Eugene nods softly as Blaze turns to look out the window. A long silence passes between them.) Blaze: "I'm sorry. I realize why you were made my co-captain. How you show your strength is different, but I respect it." Eugene: "No need for apologies. I thank you for the compliment. I admire your physical raw power as well. Between the two of us...there is nothing we cannot do." (Scene: Hearing this Blaze smiles, nods his head.) Blaze: "Thanks for saving my life, and next time we won't let our mark get away. Teamwork first from now on." (Scene: Saying this Blaze outstretches his hand) Eugene: "Teamwork first" (Scene: Eugene shakes firmly as the issue closes with a shot of them determinedly staring at one another smiling.)