#watching from another world. || DASH COMMENTARY

[dotthings]

Congrats to the fans of the wee woo show. I don’t go here but it makes me happy to witness how this arc for Evan Buckley got to bloom and I’m happy because I hope this reflects another shift in the TV industry.

For some media commentary context for you: ABC network is owned by Disney. Fox network was owned by Rupert Murdoch. So I can see how the network change for 911 can easily be a factor on how this got greenlit, after years of creator Tim Minear’s intention to work in hints, on the off chance he could take it there. (I don’t go here, but I did my reading). Oliver Stark who plays Buck also revealed he's been for it and couldn't say anything, until he was sure they could do it, until it aired and was out there. (*steeples fingers*)

For further context, Bob Iger—with George Lucas’ vocal support—just fended off a right wing coup on the Disney board from the kinds of people (like Peltz) who complain “why do we need so many female leads” “why do we need movies with all Black leads.” While it doesn’t mean Disney is no longer an evil megacorp, I’m pointing out that its CEO defended inclusive Disney brand content to the shareholders and the board, as well as dismantling the idea that it can’t be entertainment while being diverse.

The ripple of this goes outside of the wee woo show fandom. I’m seeing the joy on my dash from people who don’t watch the show or don’t watch it regularly, as well as from people who have been watching a long time and noticed things and realized there was a progression and it was there all along, and I know how much this must mean to a lot of people. With the world being how it is, with what people are facing inside the US from the far right, in their real lives.

It’s very hopeful in general for inclusion levels on a major network TV show, owned by a big evil megacorp. Representation matters.

Also I'm aware the wee woo show already had a queer couple, plus it's already an intersectional inclusive series, that’s great.

There shouldn't be limits placed on inclusion though. “But you already have X” shouldn't be weaponized to tell people to shut up. There is no “enough” or “too much” when it comes to inclusion. While I'm not for undermining the inclusion that's there, I've seen that weaponization used with a series that hasn't been great on inclusion, and I've seen that weaponization used for 911, which is. It's a sus argument.

Indirect and unintentional as it is, also bi Buck shut down every concern troll, every gaslight, every denial, every rationale I've ever seen people deploy against bi Dean. Everything from people who don’t understand what bi actual means—“but he likes girls so he can’t be bi”—to “but he wasn’t declared bi from the start of the show so he can’t”—yes he can and the wee woo show just did. On one of the original big three networks. Or people who say it would "ruin the character." Really? “But he’s an action hero”—so what? Evan Buckley is a hero, Dean is a hero, both badass action heroes. “People who see this as canon are delusional”—Evan Buckley went O RLY? Not so delusional now, is it.

Evan Buckley avenged bi Dean.

It’s self-evident. It’s right there. Different show, different network, but the concepts are familiar, the situation has a certain familiarity. This turn of events on an ABC show didn't just make bi Dean fans valid. bi Dean fans were always valid, the bi Dean reading was always valid. But I appreciate how much what happened on the wee woo show bonked people with a truth stick, about self discovery, character arcing, queer readings, queer coding, and the validity of merely noticing things.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Best and Worst of Both Worlds (Part 16)

tw: literally Yves watching ur every move, super suffocating stuff, Yandere shenanigans

Yeah ok u guys decided to lust for the creep, then the creep u shall receive

after this chapter i mean

Part 17

You told him your opinion on Montgomery.

"I see." He replied. Yves deadpanned at you before pulling you in for another kiss on the lips. Your face and the tips of your ears heat up, you're still not used to this yet.

He pulled away and chuckled at your bashfulness. Trying to cover your burning face with your hands is futile, as it only makes him tease you more.

__

"Call me if you need to go somewhere. I'm available for you any time." He slung the straps of his handbag around his shoulder, and Yves prepared his car keys in his hand.

You told him 'okay' as you're rubbing the last of his lipstick marks off using a piece of wet wipe.

He stroked your head, traced his fingertips down your jaw and finally held your chin. He tilted your head upwards and gave you a forehead kiss.

You whinged as you now have to wipe off one last print. He bid you goodbye before closing and locking the front door behind him.

Soon after, you dashed back into your room trying to escape your housemates hollering.

Days would go on like this: Yves breaks into your house using the spare key, scare the shit out of you when you open the door to see him standing there, receive adequate kisses, eat (br)lunch, talk for hours, landlord comes over to fix more stuff, eat dinner and finally, at around midnight- sometimes later, Yves would leave.

You would go to sleep almost immediately, but definitely looking forward to the next day.

He started coming in earlier and earlier, working on his things during times where you had nothing to say. You asked him about his work, he tried explaining it to you but you zoned out. It's so boring and complicated. Full of numbers, charts and graphs, you couldn't care less.

Needless to say, he cooked all your meals and did all your chores for you. You always protested, because it isn't his job and you should be responsible for taking out the trash or keeping yourself alive.

Yves would simply ignore you and do them anyway. If you're particularly worried, he assures you that it's some sort of a hobby of his to take good care of you. If you insist that he stops, he will guilt you; making you think that you're unnecessarily taking away part of his joy in this relationship when it isn't even harming you. So you just let him do what he wants, and you benefit from it greatly.

You really like him. He lets you take a nap on his lap while he types away at your desk, Yves listens to you ramble about your interests and occasionally adds his own fascinating commentary to it. You were astonished to know he has a whole database of random fandom trivia in his head. He washed your sheets and made your bed for you every morning.

He lets you hog his portable fan to yourself. But eventually, his bargaining powers lead to your landlord installing a ceiling air conditioner in your room. The best part? No rise in rent.

Yves gradually introduced you to a solid skincare routine. It started off with a simple face cleanser and moisturizer. Then he added toner to the regime. Then a weekly exfoliation and bi-weekly usage of sheet masks. It was hard for you to remember to do it or have the motivation, but Yves didn't mind maintaining your skin.

You just love the tingles you felt when he reclined you on your chair and he massages your face with the moisturizer. His fingers skillfully work to unravel you.

He made your house actually enjoyable to live in. You haven't gone out in three weeks and that didn't alarm you. You are glowing, physically fitter than ever, clean and most importantly, happy.

You have the drive to do so many things. Like learning a new language, learning to code, learning to knit or crochet, learning to draw... anything you wanted to do, Yves is always the expert to consult. He would buy the materials you need and teach you step by step. It made sense for him to be an extraordinary mentor, because you found out that he was also an exemplary lecturer at your university at one point.

You confirmed that he's currently a researcher, specifically, a research mathematician who works together with other branches of academia including but not limited to human Psychology, biology and sociology. The gist of his project has to do with predictive algorithms and probabilities. It's impressive and complicated, too bad you're not interested beyond what was described in a nutshell.

It's no secret that you look up to him, seeing that you're also a student looking to advance their education.

But it begs the question of his age. He has done so much in a short span of time. You wonder what his true age is.

But it's almost impossible to know because he would be offended whenever his age is brought up. It seems like he despised being perceived as ancient, which you understand. He probably comes from a time where youth is overly worshipped. You let it go, it isn't like his age affects you in any way.

It doesn't mean you didn't try searching him up. At first you suspected that he was lying because you couldn't find anything about him working at your university on the internet. But you sent an email to the administration asking about him. They came back with the confirmation that Yves is currently a hired researcher there. Strange that they knew who he is without knowing his last name. You guess there's only one Yves in the entirety of his faculty.

Speaking of names, you were shocked to find out that Yves didn't have a last name. After tons of relentless teasing from Yves for wanting to know his surname and a platitude of shame-induced face coverings later, you finally discovered he doesn't have one. This was bizarre to you, but Yves only told you off for being insensitive towards him, as not everyone has the privilege of a last name. It seems like a touchy subject, better not bring it up again.

Although it has been around a month since you think you first met Yves, you can safely say that you're madly in love with him. He is way more attentive and caring of you than anyone you ever met. Not even your parents or guardians can compare. Absolutely no one in your life has treated you this well.

There is that nagging feeling that something is very wrong. It wasn't a "He is going to leave you for someone better" feeling, it was more of a "what if Yves is secretly an organ harvester and he's healing you up to make a good price on the black market?"

But due to blind love, you forced yourself to brush it off as some implausible, impossible, silly thought.

...is it though? Yves does give off uncanny vibes sometimes no matter how suave and sexy he is. He has a lot of things to hide and the knowledge that you have of him is not enough to save you if he ever decides to steal a kidney or two.

Maybe this relationship isn't good for you. It keeps giving you inner turmoil to lose sleep over. This is definitely too good to be true, no one likes being a full time babysitter for their partner; this has to be a trap! You think you should quickly break it off with Yves before it gets too--

You were interrupted from your thoughts when you felt the chilly air from the air conditioner nip at your skin. The bliss of not being boiled alive by your own fluid trickles down your forehead.

You close your eyes and grin, letting the wind blow on your sweaty hair. This is lovely, you're so grateful to have Yves in your life. If you didn't have him here, you wouldn't be able to enjoy this temperate luxury.

Yves lets his focused gaze linger on your form for a few more seconds before replacing the remote back onto the holder. Yves pressed the button on his stopwatch, the beep was soft enough to go unnoticed.

He checked the temperature, the time and the humidity of your bedroom before logging them all into his computer. Yves turned his head to look at your position on the floor, you're splayed out like a rag as gusts of cold air strike your body.

He opened another file, which is the floorplan of this house. His eyes scanned the screen, noting down the exact coordinates of your precise location.

It would always be like this. You would start formulating thoughts and suspicions on Yves, spiral so much that you contemplated ending everything to protect yourself, then something interrupts your mind and eradicating the unwanted ideas entirely. Be it a change in temperature, texture, hunger or thirst. Sometimes, it's because you feel you hit your Yves-interaction/social quota for the day. So he would excuse himself and leave your house until you recovered.

He always comes back at the perfect time. Just right when you're starting to yearn for him. Yves ensures he never leaves for too long to make you think he's neglecting you. But he wouldn't come back too soon to make you go "yuck, this bitch's face again?"

Your signs could be as minuscule as a lower lip twitch, a brief, split-second movement of the eye, flaring of nostrils, positioning of your arms or even a change in the depth or rhythm of your breathing.

Or it could be an increase in heart rate, body temperature or sweat beading from your pores. Hell, it could even be the sound of you swallowing your spit or the smell of irritation.

They are all telltale signs that you're about to do or think about something undesirable due to overwhelm or underwhelm.

It's scary. He could just detect it with his superhuman senses. But ignorance is bliss, you still didn't know that he's puppeteering your environment accordingly. He would very much like to keep it that way.

Yves must admit, he has been careless. For the past three weeks, he failed to consider that his daily presence is wearing you down. It was his own fault for disregarding his calculations, Yves was originally only supposed to see you four times a week; that was the most optimal arrangement.

But he was enamoured, as desperate and feverish as you to be together. He just hides it impeccably well. Could you blame him, though? This was the first time you acknowledged him, the first time Yves got to kiss, touch, and hug you as freely as he wanted. The first time he gets to observe past the use of cameras- he does not need to hide. He gets to put his elaborate meal plans to use, you're eating his cooking, he's washing your clothes and you're accepting his backrubs. This is the closest so far to the ideal he wanted in his life with you. Anyone would be greedy in his situation.

But he flew too close to the sun like Icarus did. The wax melted off his wings and now he has to face the consequences that would have been avoided if only he had controlled himself better.

He's starting to notice you're not as positively receptive to his kisses as before. Sometimes even outright grimacing and shuddering in disgust when you think he's not looking. You spent a couple minutes longer in the bathroom, sometimes up to an hour, claiming you had stomach issues. But you didn't have problems with your digestion, your boyfriend made sure of that. He meticulously checks everything that goes into your mouth and he knows you didn't even pull your pants down. All you did was sit in the corner and scroll on your phone.

You did it just to escape from Yves and he's fully aware of that.

It devastated him when he went through your internet history:

Yves removed his reading glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He checked the timestamps, and you accessed the web since three in the morning.

"Why are my boyfriend's kisses and hugs gross to me now"

"Clingy boyfriend"

"How to tell my boyfriend to stop being clingy without hurting his feelings"

"How to say no to hugs"

"How to say no to hugs and kisses"

"How to say no"

"How to stop people pleasing"

"How to tell people that i dont want to see them but not forever just for a few days"

"Social battery"

"Therapists near me"

"Therapy price"

"is University counseling free"

"university counseling wait times"

"How to break up with my boyfriend"

"Is it rude to break up over text"

"Script for breaking up"

"Nice script for breaking up"

"Kind script for breaking up"

"Breaking up without hurting his feelings script"

"ChatGPT"

"Do retired lecturers have a habit of checking for plagiarism in their day to day life"

"Is AI generated content plagiarism"

"Jobs near me"

He knows he has no one but himself to blame. He had a plan all laid out, if he followed it to a Tee, it would have conditioned you to ultimately accept his intense love without complaints. He was supposed to give you a maximum of one kiss on the lips and four others somewhere else on your face. But gave you a whopping average of 76 kisses a day, 20 of which are on the lips; 1520% of the actual daily cap on kisses.

Likewise, he hugged you too much. Yves was only supposed to give you 12 hugs, lasting 8 seconds each at most, spaced throughout the day. However, you're in his arms for a total of 6 hours a day; 2250% of the maximum.

He is the first thing you see in the morning and the last face you perceive before sleeping, From before sunrise to past beyond sundown, you would be exposed to him; from 6am to 12am the next day; he would already be in your room before you're even awake. Subconsciously, you know he's there because the brain never stops working.

Of course, you would be sick of him! It doesn't matter if you came from an affectionate family or you turned out severely touch-starved, with extreme figures like these, anyone would be nauseated with his presence by the third week!

Yves fought back the urge to run the numbers back the fifth time. The cold hard facts are there, he made a grave mistake. Painstakingly recalculating everything is just a pathetic attempt to appease his denial that he lost control over himself.

He sighed and propped his head up by an elbow, absentmindedly fiddling on his calculator. Yves's eyes flitted up to the monitor. You're curled up into a ball on your bed, scrolling on your phone. Most likely to try and catch up with your own me-time. Yves could see pixels of bags forming under your eyes.

He shook his head and decided he must rectify this. Yves got up from his seat and sauntered out of his office, switching the lights off but leaving his surveillance equipment on.

Meanwhile, you yawned, closing your eyes and letting your phone slip next to you. Finally but reluctantly drifting off to sleep.

[magmaaqua]

HARDENSHIPPING: A PRIMER

you’ve probably heard of hardenshipping before. even if you’re new to pokémon, the posts about maxie and archie’s hardly ambiguous relationship have probably crossed your dash before. but just who are these two old men? and how does one find out more about them? can one even get into a ship from a game that’s almost twenty years old now? (yes! please do! there will always be at least a couple people still enjoying the ship, and what with the streams of new content constantly coming out and being pulled away almost immediately, it’s a real breather to take a look back at the things that’ve come out in the past.)

the key players

hardenshipping is the ship between maxie, the leader of team magma, and archie, the leader of team aqua. they debuted in pokémon ruby and sapphire in 2003, with maxie starring as the villain of the first game, and archie starring as the villain of the latter. maxie’s goals as the leader of team magma are to expand the landmass of the world – making more room for growth and development by the humans that live there. archie, meanwhile, desires the opposite – as the leader of team aqua, archie’s sights are set on the ocean. he wants to engulf the world with water, making more room for the pokémon that dwell beneath the hoenn region’s vast seas. while in ruby and sapphire, the team not cast as the villain works as your ally, the enhanced emerald casts them both as villains and you as the intermediary.

in the remakes, omega ruby and alpha sapphire, maxie and archie’s roles are upped to eleven. while in the original games, maxie and archie were somewhat similar in terms of personality (even using the same dialogue at times), the remakes gave them more distinct personalities and loads more lore. maxie became more of a calculating, cold character – a professional with a short temper and no mercy when it comes to fighting you. on the other hand, archie’s love for the sea and pirate persona gained prominence, and although his goals are still those of a supervillain, he treats you more as a rival, even calling you a little scamp with a big grin on his face. we learn more about their backstories as well – maxie and archie used to be on the same team once upon a time, and both end up harboring a desire to make things right with one another by the end of the game. even seemingly aloof maxie keeps a telltale boat model in his hideout, with not a speck of dust to be found on it. between archie talking about maxie’s bony backside and the soft song that plays as they reconcile, there’s ample room to think that yeah, there’s definitely something going on between these two.

why are they called that?

pokémon ship names have been written differently than your typical name-fusion ship name for a while, and often the first part of the ship name will have something to do with the characters involved. (for example, jessie and james from the anime are called rocketshipping.) when lava meets water, it hardens. hence, hardenshipping. magma and aqua.

are they canon?

depends on what you mean by canon. the heart-shaped valentines’ card posted circa 2016 by the pokémon official twitter (complete with cards called “maxie’s hidden ball trick” and “archie’s ace in the hole”) certainly leaves little to the imagination. you don’t have to consider them canon, of course, but it’s safe to say there’s at least a bit of evidence pointing directly at the idea.

how do i play the games?

i would personally recommend oras first, but the original games can very easily be emulated by looking up roms and a gba emulator online (i remember there being a post with pokémon emulation resources going around a while back, so i’ll add that on if i find it). if you have a 3ds and a friend who’ll lend you a copy, you could play oras like that, but although you can find the games for their original sales price online, you can also easily watch a playthrough without commentary on youtube (there are TONS) if you can’t or are just looking to catch the story bits. (i’m not an expert on 3ds emulation, but that’s always a supported option, too. it’s a bit trickier than gba emulation but it works.) the game’s about four and a half hours through and well worth it, especially for free.

what about other stuff?

there are lots of different iterations of canon when it comes to pokémon. maxie and archie come back in ultra sun and ultra moon as their ruby and sapphire selves, pulled forward from a timeline where their plans succeeded. the manga takes a darker turn with their characters, and although i’m not personally a fan, it might be up your alley if you prefer your villains less …supervillain (and your enemies to lovers heavy on the enemies part.) i haven’t watched much of the rse anime but while it hasn’t followed the game characterization for characters like cyrus too closely, it’s always an entertaining watch. and sometimes people post screenshots from the mobile game, but i suggest looking up those on youtube as well, as they’re not too long nor hard to find. the mobile game and usum are tied to/inspired by game canon more directly, but the manga and anime are their own separate interpretations, and not generally considered part of the main “game” canon.

tldr: these two are really great! consider them if you've got the time!

[poisonedspider]

Holy crap guys. In two days it will have been three months since I've had this blog (I don't count my blog that I had for a year back in 2019 because I only wrote with like...two Alastors.) And I woke up this morning to hitting my 300th follower.

I'm really terrible at those follow forever things, plus I know they can sometimes make people feel shitty, so I'm not going to do that. But that's like, 100 followers a month. And I am shook.

I know I've done a big sappy 'thank you' to this rpc before, but I'm about to do it again. Thank you all for being arguably the best community I've been in. Ever. I've been writing since I was 11, and while it wasn't as bad and clique-y back then, there wasn't much of a community either. This is the first time I have genuinely felt a community.

Thank you for loving my spider child. Angel means more to me than anything (other than Eddie Kaspbrak and Steve Harrington too but shhhh I've ignored them for months whoops). I am so connected to this character, and I am my happiest when getting to portray him, whether that be through cosplay or writing. The fact that you guys like my portrayal enough for me to have THREE HUNDRED FOLLOWERS means so much. I get done on myself, but then I remind myself I still have 76 drafts to do so clearly people want to write with me. It's so nice.

Everyone here is so supportive. All the little dash commentary, and writing on people's stuff. It's a nice change. Interactions have been so limited in past fandoms I've been in, so knowing that we can just comment like we are a big family without people being "ew" about it is nice. Knowing people will actually send in memes is nice. Knowing people will create small stories on the dash is nice. I used to honestly hate one liners, and I still much prefer multi-para/novella, but it's fun to do little silly things. You all changed my mind there.

I still have dupe anxiety and I probably always will, but that has nothing to do with the people on here. It has to do with me beating myself up and worrying that my portrayal isn't good compared to others or that I'm the 'lesser Angel.' But there's such a balance here of being being genuine support of every portrayal, it's so nice. No one really ignores anyone else, which is helping that a lot. I don't know if I'm strong enough mentally to interact with other Angels like you guys do (I see you Alastor orgy or whatever), but at least I'm not having a visceral response when seeing one on the dash. You guys have helped that.

Also...thank you for helping me fall in love with Helluva Boss? I had never really watched it prior (I'd seen the pilot and another episode), but you all write the characters so beautifully that it made me want to get into it. I still haven't finished the series, but I have two cosplans on my list from it (maybe three, who knows). I don't know if that would have happened if I hadn't been blown away by your guys' talent.

Thanks for letting me explore dark topics without cancelling me. I got cancelled unfairly in another fandom (which was a fucking HORROR FANDOM come on now), so being able to write out things and know I'm safe to do so is just such a breath of fresh air. This fandom is a breath of fresh air. Glad we are all equally fucked up with our dead dove over here, hahahaha.

So just....thank you. For following me. For writing with me. For creating beautiful worlds with me. 300 followers. I still can't believe that. Wow.

[moononmyfloor]

Dashing Youth Ep 1-10 Commentary

Ep 11-16, Ep 17-21, Ep 22-25, Ep 26-32, Ep 33-35, Ep 36-40

Alrighty let's organise all my thoughts in neat lil piles.

1. Personally the type of Wuxia I enjoy is the more subdued, mature and philosophical vibe like that of Sword Snow Stride and Mysterious Lotus Casebook. I rarely watch youthful, lighthearted, rom-comey wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan. I didn't enjoy BoY a lot and I still wonder how I managed to finish it, the few characters I loved were Wuxin, Tang Lian, Zhao Yuzhen, Prince Chong and Prince Lingchen, because they had the acting style and character arcs that were closer to my preferences.

I clicked on Dashing Youth just for the curiosity and out of "since I watched BoY anw, I'm kinda obligated for this" feeling, but unexpectedly, within 10 mins I was in love lol. Many of the actors I already know and love, the bromance is instantaneous and strong, the promise of a good tragedy is alluring, and I could enter the worldbuilding faster because I already know what to expect from this universe.

AND I ADORE how the casting directors seem to have chosen actors with BLs/BL-vibe shows under their belt for all the important roles, they all know exactly what to do and like:

I for one am not mad about all the CP pushing promo the showmakers are doing. I mean, even if this was a super straight story we'll end up with gay fanfics anyway, right? So just as well we get to see our fantasies haha 😏

Like, that's an adorable thumbnail!

OK without further ado, getting myself invited into the Daddies' party time!!

By ep 4, Dongjun has so far charmed the asses off of Spear daddy, Lei daddy, and now Liu Xueyi's daddy. At this rate, I'll have to assume that the future kids are gonna be procreated not via their future wives, but through the consummation of the daddies' elaborate spiritual bodies when they flirt-duel lol

(Exactly like that)

Now I really wanna see a 重回我爸的高中时代 (Back to My Dad's High School Days) edit for Dongjun and his harem from the kids' povs Like here .

Ep 6- You did indeed, Wu Xie 2.5!

Hou Minghao collects new boyfriends, old boyfriends and his own other-selves like pokemon😆 Also gotta say that everytime I see Bai Shu now I feel like a proud parent. He's grown so much from the grumpy scrawny bb Wu Xie era huhu

Ep 9- It's amazing how I personally didn't really enjoy BoY, but Wuxin instantly got my love and while I'm 10x more drawn to Dashing Youth, the one who won me over above everyone else is again, Wuxin's dad. Also, Wuxin's dad is a chef! How can I not love this baby!

Everyone showing off martial arts while they are in their own world, serving a buffet lmao

Lei Mengsha looking at this poster: Yep, I can see this polycule is not a good idea. Usually I'm all in but I'll sit this one out and go make my two kids in peace. I'll have my chance with HMH in another universe anw

Despite being the silliest of them all, LMS is the only one who gives the vibe he'll always stand straight on his two feet even if the entire world goes topsy-turvy. I don't even need to look at BoY to be proven correct.

Ep 10- Ever since his intro from ep 1 where he went all, "wow, what a fate!", I love the parts they do these crossover jokes

(In fact, instinctively performing Qimen Dunjia is possibly how LMS figured out the trajectory the other boys were going to be in LMAO)

Now they need to add some tomb robbing jokes when Bai Shu and Neo interact and it'd be perfect!

Also it feels kinda fateful that Lei Wujie would go bond with Xiao Se, Lei Mengsha was best bros with his uncle Langya.

[maddys-nerd-blog]

Maddy’s Top Five Favorite Male Characters in Media!

Hi again!!

I was asked an interesting question by @tending-the-hearth in a QNA thingy recently that I thought deserved it’s own post cuz admittedly, this is a hard one!

My favorite characters in media?

You’d be surprised to hear that some of people on this list were easy ringers for this list, but I still had a hard time choosing characters I loved more than the other!

Over the decades we’ve gotten a plethora of incredible shows, video games, movies, books and indie series that have gifted the world a new cast of characters that have won the hearts of millions across the globe. They can be dashing heroes, villainous rouges trying to take over the world, unappreciated side characters, supportive background characters or even blink and you miss them cameos! I’ve come to adore the grand scale of the animation medium and it’s offerings, so making a list like this is definitely not easy.

So for this list I’m doing the following;

One; Only one character per slot with ONE exception but I’ll get there.

Two; They can be a variety of characters ranging in importance. Hero, sidekick, background nobody, villain, supporting characters, etc. Anything goes!

Three; Video games are included!!

Four; Comic book exclusive characters are not allowed only for the sake of keeping the playing field fair. I’ll use added context from specific comic storylines to add onto my reasoning, but otherwise, that’s it.

Five; SPOILERS BECAUSE HALF OF THESE PICKS ARE IN SERIES THAT HAVE EITHER BEEN ONGOING FOR TWENTY YEARS OR ARE FINISHED. Read at your own risk!!!

So… on with the show!!

Top Five Male Characters in Media!

5: Throttle— Biker Mice From Mars. ( 1993-1996 )

A shocking new arrival for a list such as this, but a welcome addition nevertheless! For a little over two-ish months I’ve been watching Biker Mice and have taken a liking to it! What I assumed was just gonna be a knock-off of TMNT with uninspired writing turned out to be a surprising drama with subtle undertones of a darker story behind the gimmick of Martian mice coming to Earth.

Not only is it a very clever commentary on environmentalism and taking care of our planet— especially given the time period this was released with all the Ferngully movies and Captain Planet where they were encouraging eco-friendly movements— it’s also a shocking cartoon given the subject matter and it’s cast of characters. Throttle, Vinnie and Modo? They’re all veterans! And they’re all disabled! But the show never makes jokes or pokes fun at them for their hard comings, it’s treated with respect and the guys are there for one another.

Throttle is the leader of this group, and the leader of the rebellion at one point. He’s shown throughout the show to be this suave, cool headed guy who looks out for his bros, he’s got this kind of swagger to him that radiates ‘cool’ just from a design standpoint alone. Plus it also helps that Rob Paulsen provides the voice and HE SOUNDS SO COOL. As the resident badass in charge he’s always taking point and mostly has a more serious demeanor, but he’s also just a fun guy who wants to ride his bike and chill out with his friends.

Can I just add a side note here and say CAN WE PLEASE GIVE THIS POOR MAN A BREAK??? THE ORIGIN EPISODE OF HOW HE LOST HIS EYES HAD ME SHOOK AND THE NEW INFO WE GOT FROM THE CURRENT COMIC COMEBACK IS FREAKING HEARTBREAKING DUDE. LET THE MAN BREATHE AND EAT HOTDOGS.

4: Harvey Bullock— Batman the Animated Series. ( 1992-1995 )

Imma say this for the people all the way in the back:

NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HARVEY BULLOCK.

I feel like I’m all alone on the Bullock Defense Squad at this rate cuz the amount of slander this character gets by those who don’t bother to A) read his backstory or B) actually go the extra mile to research his trivia and learn what makes him tick, is frustrating. The writers make him out to be this slob that can’t do anything right, but I think that’s unfair cuz there’s more to him besides what we’re shown. Because when you take the time to look beneath all the stupid things people claim about him… he’s so interesting.

Firstly he’s Gordon’s BEST FRIEND. He’s ride or die for that man. Nobody is more loyal to Commissioner Gordon than Bullock. On the outside he might appear untrustworthy but he’s actually devoted to Gordon and his beliefs, even if his methods are more in line with Batman’s. ( Which is ironically hilarious that everyone tries to accuse Bullock of going too far, but when Batman does the same exact thing he’s praised as a hero. Makes ya think. )

Secondly he believes in justice and keeping Gotham safe, but the criminals that reek havoc on the city are so nuts and out of control he feels he has no idea what he’s doing. But the fact of the matter is, he’s wildly clever and intelligent! Look at the episode The Laughing Fish! Who figures out that Joker’s at the aquarium first? BULLOCK. Who beats BATMAN— the world’s greatest detective— to the punch??? BULLOCK!

He’s cunning and sly but in a good way! He uses his wits to solve cases and more often than not, he’s pretty damn scrappy! The audience is just made to believe he’s this bumbling oaf half the time. His determination is strong as hell! My favorite episode in all of BTAS is ‘A Bullet for Bullock’ because we get to see a side of him outside of the main cast that puts HIM in the spotlight. That entire episode is a love letter to the classic noir genre and the SOUNDTRACK??? ITS SO GOOD. ( This episode in particular even won a special award for its music )

He fights for good and tries to do the right thing, but not everyone sees it that way. But I, as the President of the Bullock Fanclub, love him the way he is!

3: Donatello ( Every version )— Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ( 1984- Current Day )

DONATELLO IS BEST TURTLE 💜

This genius in every version is a lovable dork with a giant heart of gold. I don’t think there’s any iteration of this character that’s unlikeable! Ever since I got into the TMNT I quickly grew attached to the purple goober cuz he’s just so relatable! Purple is my second favorite color too cuz bias Donnie shows that no matter the odds he’s going to do whatever it takes to make his family or friends safe. In every single series he proves he’s a hellishly smart guy who values knowledge over combat, hence why he’s a pacifist by nature.

In 2012 he’s a geeky inventor with a big imagination and utilizes what limited resources he has to craft some of the most amazing things!

In 2003 he’s this gentle teddy bear of a guy who rarely wishes to battle, but if you hurt his family he’ll bring hell down upon you. Plus he’s just a sweetie who wants to keep making things he thinks will help his family.

In the Bayverse films he’s this tall, lanky fellow who yearns to be accepted and has so much wit and charm he’s basically this lovable beanstalk.

In Mutant Mayhem he’s a well meaning kid who wishes he could be a normal teenager, who fights so hard for humans to accept him and his mutant family, who’d an anime nerd and generally nice person.

In Rise he’s a full on menace to society and has so much snark that it could rival that of Hades from Hercules. He’s a scientist that searches high and low for the love and affirmation of a dad who doesn’t care about him, but with his brothers he’s got all the reassurance he needs.

Donnie goes through so much but gets back on his feet to keep fighting, he keeps pushing forward to strive for a better solution, he ALWAYS keeps trying to fix any problem because he feels it’s his purpose. This type of character can be used as a stereotype but in the right hands they can truly shine, and Donnie doesn’t simply shine; he dazzles. It also gives him the edge that in most of the shows he’s written with coded autism traits which… yes, please, more positive autistic representation, more of this INSTEAD OF THE BULLSHIT WE’VE BEEN FED.

Donnie is a kind, sweet, brave turtle. It’s no wonder why everyone loves him so much!!

BUT CAN WE STOP TRAUMATIZING HIM PLEASE, STOP ELECTROCUTING THIS GUY?? THE BABY HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH—

2: Cole— Dragon Age: Inquisition. ( 2014 )

Autism in media has been hit or miss for DECADES. As I previously stated it’s very difficult to find positive autistic characters in our media. Autism is either used as a crutch by writers to make the ‘normal’ characters bring the ‘unaware and helplessly naive’ autistic person into the ‘real world.’ We’ve seen it time and time again and it’s terribly obnoxious. But to the writers who give a damn about writing authentic portrayals of autism, those people deserve special kudos because when it works, they work beautifully.

Case in point here; Cole.

Cole is the most amazing depiction of a young man with coded autism that’s never treated like a punchline or a side effect of his behavior. He’s the spirit of compassion— the living embodiment of kindness in the game. Cole is the way he is because of his past, where the Spirit finds Cole’s original form dying in a cell, and was so moved by his death he took his place to dedicate his life to helping people. And throughout Inquisition, on my first time playing it years ago, I just had to keep pausing the game during the idle companion conversations and go ‘THATS ME!’

The way he fidgets with his hands. The way his speech is so articulate and soft. The way he interacts with the other companions. The way he starts to break down when he’s in the Fade.

That was POWERFUL for me.

You gotta understand. In all my life as a young woman, I NEVER did such a thing. Because in my childhood there were ZERO characters with autism I could relate to! Not until Cole, and this wasn’t until 2019! Sure I’m a woman, but I related so much to him because of his struggles to understand what it meant to be in the mindset of someone who didn’t really understand how the world worked, or how to properly help people. As his title states, his compassion for aiding those who are hurting is infallible… and I’m not ashamed to admit his story arc made me tear up, and I CHOOSE FOR HIM TO ACCEPT HIS HUMAN SIDE IN GAME BECAUSE HE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY.

1: Brook and Pedro— One Piece. ( 1998- Current Day )

The only tie in this list but for good reason. It would feel wrong of me to only put one of these men on here, cuz both of them left a huge impact on me.

Brook saved my life as an impressionable twelve year old. Pedro made my heart break.

I’ve prattled on about my love for Brook previously, but he’s pretty important to me. This skeleton came at a time of my life where I’d been so severely depressed and bullied in middle school that I thought I had nothing to live for. Then I happened upon One Piece and my life was forever changed, but my perspective on the world also did when I got to Thriller Bark and was introduced to Brook.

At first glance you look at Brook and might see a silly, happy go lucky skeleton that sings and dances. But he’s so much more under the surface. He’s the first fictional character in media that made me weep for TWO HOURS.

Brook is a man who has SEEN SHIT. Brook is a man who had to endure so much loss when he was alive and when he came back from the dead. He lost his best friend. He watched his entire crew die. He was adrift at sea for fifty years, isolated from the world, almost going insane several times until the Straw Hats find him. He thinks he’s broken his oath to Laboon until he finds out his still waiting for him to come back.

Brook spends so much time being plagued by his trauma when we first see him that you forget he’s using his jokes as a way to cope, he’s trying so damn hard to keep living for the sake of the whale he befriended. He’s not just a musician with hellishly cool powers or a badass with a sword.

He’s an embodiment of a constant will of push forward.

Keep living, keep fighting, keep surviving and you’ll find your happiness waiting for you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but soon, if you keep holding to hope, you’ll find your purpose in life and the people who will love you for who you are.

Brook— as crazy as it may sound— became my beacon of hope as a kid.

It’s because of this skeleton I’m still trying to be an artist.

As for Pedro, I met this character much later in life when I was catching up with the series ( I dropped Dressrosa ages ago at that point and I didn’t get back into the story until the end of Whole Cake ) and I was immediately interested in his character and his swaggering design!

Pedro is stoic, brave and cool headed, and he’s quite cautious of his surroundings because of terrible circumstances that have fallen on his shoulders. It’s not everyday you barely escape a Warlord with your life at the cost of a good friend of yours, and then YOU GET HALF YOUR LIFESPAN STOLEN FROM YOU ANYWAY.

Poor Pedro gets put through a wringer!

But as I continued to read the manga and saw how he took Carrot under his wing and made her his apprentice, how he fought so hard to defend Zou from Jack and his crew, his grit to see the Dawn of the Nee World, I was rooting for him to succeed! I wanted him to achieve his goals, I was so excited to see him kick Tomago’s ass! I was so excited when he teamed up with Brook!!

And then he sacrificed himself.

AND MY HEART SHATTERED.

It didn’t help that the anime made this moment all the more gut wrenching with the voice actors of Carrot and Pedro giving it their all and making me tear up like a baby.

His sacrifice impacted the others to keep moving forward and see their mission through to the end, and it gave Carrot her epic SULONG TRANSFORMATION LIKE HOLY SHIT DUDE!!

For the brief amount of time I got to spend rooting for Pedro, I really loved him! He shot right up there in my all-time favorite One Piece characters! Both Brook and Pedro are quite literally the ‘kings’ of this list… and my nerdy heart 🤣

Honorary Mentions:

Tech— Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Garrus Vakarian— Mass Effect trilogy.

Nightcrawler/ Kurt Wagner— X-Men

Ryoma Hoshi— Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Vander— Arcane

Cedric— Sofia the First

[door]

my friend asked me for murder show recs and i put together a list of a bunch of them and thought i'd also share it here in case anyone else who was not raised by the glow of mystery! on pbs might want an intro. extremely subjective commentary, obvs. enjoy.

hello. welcome to the world of finding television shows about people getting killed comforting. it's fucked up, but who isn't. here's a list of the ones i like and why and where to watch them.

midsomer murders (1997-current): this is one of those sterotypical "it ran for 25 years and did nearly 18 episodes" british shows. it was adapted from a book series, which are the early eps. they're really fucked up and great imo. the later ones lose that sharpness, but until seasons 20+ i think it's a really solid show. the theme song is performed on a theremin. pluses: every great british actor shows up at least once, incredibly great deaths, lots of hyper niche hobby groups, tom barnaby is the best. minuses: showrunner brian true-may quoted as saying that his version of "english countryside" is entirely white. he was booted from the show at that point, however. i've watched the entire series 2-3 times, except for s5e3 "Ring Out Your Dead" because there's a death in it that i found particularly tragic the first time i watched it and have no desire to revisit it (but ymmv). robyn's fave ep is s3e3 "Judgement Day," because a brass band plays the show's theme song at a village fete and also Orlando Bloom is run through with a pitchfork. (ACORN)

Poirot (1989-2013): truly the goat. David Suchet bodies this role. i don't know how familiar you are with christie, but hercule poirot was her recurring detective character, a fastidious little belgian living in 1930s England. in this show, it's the late 1930s for 20 years, and the sets and costumes are so good. not a single streamline moderne property in england is overlooked. the early episodes are short--40ish minutes each--but they transition to 90 minutes at some point. they adapt all of the poirot books, with the big ones--murder on the orient express and death on the nile--done as higher budget tv movies. (BRITBOX)

marple (2004-2013): another christie adaptation, with 2 actresses playing miss marple in sequence. they also adapted a bunch of non-marple stories to have miss marple in them. set post-WWII, mainly countryside english mysteries. (BRITBOX)

miss fisher's murder mysteries (2012-2015, film in 2020): set in 1920s melbourne, mfmm follows independently wealthy private eye phryne fisher. it's an adaptation of modern novels, so it's less conservative than the christies. phryne's best friend is a suit-wearing lesbian doctor. it's a sharp, smart show, and phryne herself (as well as her relationship with buttoned-up detective jack robinson) is very sexy. it ran three seasons and was followed by a crowd-funded film in 2020, which isn't GOOD, but it is FUN. there's another a spin-off set in the 1960s called miss fisher's modern mysteries, which follows phryne's niece. again--not good, but fun. nothing beats the og series tho. (ACORN)

lewis (2006-2015): this is technically a spin-off of the inspector morse series, which started in the 80s, but i've never watched it so you should be fine. this follows very un-academic inspector lewis and his very academic assistant DS hathaway in EXTREMELY academic oxford england. i really dig the pacing of this, as well as how profoundly weird smart people can be. the big downside is the actor who played hathaway is laurence fox, who's a real stinker of a dude. right-wing, racist, etc. so. ymmv. (BRITBOX)

vera (2011-current): vera is a nearly retired, irascible, set in her ways detective in northumberland. she heads her own department, so part of the appeal is definitely trim youngsters dashing to do her bidding with a "yes mum." she drives a huge old land rover, wears a raincoat everywhere, has no patience for class barriers, and in short i love her. in the newer seasons there is also a detective in her squad called Jaq who is a very cute butch. (BRITBOX)

dalgliesh (2021-current): adaptation of pd james novels following detective-poet adam dalgliesh. set in the 1970s, which sets it apart and which i quite enjoy. his character is really sensitive and thoughtful is a way that's unusual for cop shows. (ACORN)

annika (2021-current): i'm gonna dive into some of the weirder ones now. annika is still pretty serious, but the title character has a habit of breaking the 4th wall to loop the audience in on the meta nature of her thoughts--usually relating to a book or story. it's set in glasgow and they investigate marine crime specifically. annika is played by nicola walker, who full disclosure i find VERY attractive. she's norwegian, she's odd, and she's trying her best. she has a teenage daughter who's gay. (PBS)

queens of mystery (2019-current): this one is VERY odd. think british murders meets pushing daisies. there's a narrator, and occasional technicolor flights of fancy. it follows a very serious detective who was raised by her three aunts after her mother was killed. she comes back to work in her home town and has to navigate both sides of her life, plus still wanting to know who killed her mother. production was interrupted by covid, so the main actress changed between seasons, but the new person is also very good. (ACORN)

brokenwood mysteries (2014-current): this one is sort of...sillier than the rest? it's a new zealand show set in a small town. it's fairly queer (although not nearly queer enough), and one of the things i love the most about it is it maintains a roster of recurring characters (which i think is only possible because of the small size of the NZ film industry). pretty good maori rep, especially jared, a local who seems to know or be related in some way to everyone in town. i adore him. he's off the show now, and i miss him. (ACORN)

mcdonald & dodds (2020-current): set in bath, this is an odd couple partnership of an ambitious young cop lately from london and a shy older cop who has lived in bath all his life and hasn't seen action in a decade. their interactions are funny and lovely, and it's refreshing to see a black woman character allowed to be ambitious. (BRITBOX)

[thegreymoon]

I am really not the target demographic for Red, White and Royal Blue and honestly, the entire premise sounds dumb af from where I'm sitting, but all the gifs that crossed my dash looked hilarious and that main actor is beyond gorgeous, so I am going to give it a shot tonight. My expectations are so low, that unless this movie gets a shovel and starts digging, there is no chance it cannot exceed them. I am so ready to eat my words, just give me some pretty people, mindless fluff and basic comedy and I will be happy, I swear!

***

TWO FUCKING HOURS?

You guys, I'm going to be honest here, I don't think I have it in me to sit through this 😭😭

***

LOL, only a younger brother 🤣🤣 They did not have the guts to go all in and make him the heir to the throne.

Also, lol @ "Prince of England's hearts" but even more so at "whom all the world adores" 🤣🤣 I cannot. I am absolutely not the target demographic for this and I don't think I have it in me to just go along with this, fictional British royal family or not. Who speaks like this? Who even believes it?

Anyway. Abolish the monarchy, Guillotine them all. Long live the glorious revolution!

***

LMFAO 🤣🤣

Well, at least he looks equally disgusted.

If we can't off the royal family, how about we just off this news announcer? Because I am getting so much second-hand embarrassment.

***

LMAO, OK, he gets ONE point 🤣🤣

OK, fine, two points, because he is stupid beautiful and the reason I sat down to watch this in the first place 😤

***

Yassss, girlfriend has great taste!

I'm two minutes in and so far, she's my favourite. I would totally watch a two-hour movie of her touring London and giving commentary on the yumminess of various guys she encounters.

***

LMAO, is he going to get hammered and smash the obscene 75-thousand-pound cake? 🤣🤣

Because why else would they mention that price point and also show the cake in all its humongous 8-tier glory 🤣🤣

Here for the diplomatic incident, ngl, I would totally read the shit out of that in the tabloids the next day 🤣🤣

***

NOOOOO, THE CAKE IS RIGHT BEHIND THEM!

THEY WILL TOTALLY TOPPLE THAT CAKE!

***

Okay, I am laughing 🤣🤣

***

SCREAMING 🤣🤣

I saw it coming from a mile away, but goddamn, it DELIVERED! 🤣🤣

***

I can't stop laughing 🤣🤣

Watching this was such a good decision 🤣🤣

***

LOL, if this was a real-life event, I would spend a week gleefully reblogging it on Tumblr, no lie 🤣🤣

Also, it is a 9-TIER CAKE, not 8 🤣🤣 The more, the messier!

***

LMFAO 🤣🤣

Also, OMG! Uma Thurman! 😍 It's been a hundred years since I watched her in anything!

***

"Sunshine of my heart" 🤣🤣

This movie is hilarious 🤣🤣

***

Wait, Sarah Shahi??

I loved her in Life! I also watched Fairly Legal for her and thought she was stunning in The L Word! I'm forever bitter we never got to see that Nancy Drew adaptation with her in the main role 😕

***

The thing that is the most difficult for me to suspend my disbelief for is the idea that these two overly privileged young men involved in their countries' respective politics are actually nice people.

I keep chanting to myself, "You are not here for realism! You are not here for realism! YOU ARE NOT HERE FOR REALISM!"

To varying levels of success 😕

***

Romantic comedies are so not my genre. And I am so not here for ex-boyfriends or whatever this guy is.

I need Alex and Henry to get back together ASAP and start smashing cakes again because I'm starting to get bored.

***

These are gutter-level jokes.

Seriously, they couldn't get more creative?

***

They have the most basic taste in literature ever. It doesn't even feel authentic, more like what a nineteen-year-old girl thinks good taste in literature should look like.

***

I feel like I am extremely uncharitable towards this movie (the cake thing was funny tho) but it is very hard to take their bland flirting, pedestrian romance and pathetic humour seriously when you're coming into this from 2ha 😕 The standards that have been set are on another planet compared to what we are being given here.

***

Please 😭

And smash another cake, otherwise I don't know how I'm going to make it through another hour-and-a-half of this 😭😭

***

The things I will watch for pretty people 😭

He truly is stupid beautiful and makes this thing infinitely more watchable every time he's on screen.

***

I'm with Henry on this one, this party is like something straight out of my worst nightmares and crushing on the tall, hot guy seems like the only tolerable thing in this whole hellscape.

***

Aww, baby, he is not having a good time.

He wants to kiss him for New Year's too!

***

LOL.

Well. That escalated 🤣🤣

***

NOOOOO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STARING AFTER HIM?

RUN AFTER HIM AND TELL HIM IT'S OK AND THAT YOU SHOULD CONTINUE SOMEWHERE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS!!

***

And some women! 👀

She's my favourite character in this thing, lol, followed closely by Sarah Shahi and Uma Thurman. And then Prince Henry 😅

***

This guy stands no chance to the level that it's embarrassing he still keeps trying.

I almost feel sorry for him, but I kinda have the feeling that he's going to be the one to out Alex and Henry, so my sympathy is very shallow. Just know when you've lost, my man, and MOVE ON.

[copiousloverofcopia]

Prime Mover Ren, I have a desire for more short, one-shots of Terzo as a daddy. 💕

Ask and you shall receive Ghestie (even if it takes me forever to do it cause #primemover) lol

Anyways this little drabble was actually inspired by the Ministry BBQ art by @beepophobia and in honor of Father's Day!

So Happy Father's Day to all the Papas out there and HERE WE GO!

Terzo's Day

Also available HERE on AO3!

SFW below the cut!

The air was thick with sweet smell smoke and delicious shimmering meat. The sounds of laughter and small children playing, surrounded the Abbey grounds. As the afternoon sun shined brightly upon them, Terzo sat on one of the many picnic benches wearing a gray tank top to keep cool as he sucked back on a can of Peroni Nastro Azzurro—quenching his thirst. He was enjoying the day, his family close at hand and a happiness in his soul he could not find the words to describe.

"Fratello the grigliata mista di carne is gonna burn." he jabbed, watching his brother with Mr. Saltarian at the grill. Secondo was sensitive when it came to his cooking skills and Terzo’s playful commentary had definitely struck a nerve. Secondo starred up into his brows. Regaining composure before deciding to respond.  

"Cazzo, you keep your comments to yourself. I can handle the meat." he replied, balancing the cigarillo in his lip. Terzo shot back a wide-spread mischievous grin. Secondo, instantly regretting the way he phrased his words before Terzo blurted out his response. 

"Oh I bet!" Terzo laughed, dodging the ketchup bottle that caming flying across the table at him. Mr. Saltarian shaking his head at the juvenile antics of these supposed, “Heads of the Church”. A little bit of sibling rivalry and some good natured ribbing was par for the course at any Ministry barbeque. Today’s carnivore culinary exploration however was special. A celebration in honor of Father’s day and Terzo was determined to enjoy every minute of it.

The clergy, siblings, and ghouls all had gathered with their families in abundance. The Abbey grounds, almost faire like in its jubilance and brimming activity. It was on days like this when the full community of the Abbey came together in something other than prayers and rituals. Something other than their commits to Lucifer in which to allow themselves a moment of respite.  

Terzo was grateful, acknowledging that he had everything to celebrate. His beautiful Prime Mover Alessandra, was carrying their third child in her womb. Only days away from welcoming another yet Emeritus into his brood. Terzo, fully determined to populate the world with his unholy spawn. 

Two of which, Filomena and Dante, were gleefully running around with the ghoul kits as the grownups were preparing lunch. Terzo and his brothers had all huddled together at the grill. All of them bickering as to the right way to prepare the feast, a pastime that was one of the simplest pleasures.

It wasn’t that long ago that Terzo’s regard for Father’s day was barely a footnote to be mentioned. Every year the same unenthusiastic celebrations as he actively avoided fatherhood. While he and his brother’s were close, Nihil wasn’t exactly the type of father figure to be celebrated and so for all the years leading up to Alé, the day was nothing but monotonous and draining. Terzo, counting down the minutes until he no longer had to pretend to care about Nihil. 

Now this day was for him. He was now a father to be celebrated, a fact sometimes he still had trouble wrapping his head around. Terzo smiled as he watched those around him. Nihil was pouting that Secondo had shoved him off the grill, while Sister Imperator, in her new wide brimmed hat and back dress, consoled him. Secretly giving Secondo a thumbs up as they’d managed to evade Nihil’s poor cooking. 

Terzo caught sight of Copia, his best friend and their new reigning Papa. He was running around like a chicken with its head cut off as he dashed back and forth, grabbing all the things forgotten inside. Copia’s people-pleasing at an all time high during things like this. Terzo couldn't help but smile at him as he passed, buns in head and an anxious look on his face. 

Then Terzo set his sights on Primo. His eldest brother seemed at first to be content. Enjoying the outdoors even more so than normal—if that was physically possible. But underneath Terzo sensed something—a quiet sadness behind that old worn smile. 

Terzo placed his hand over Primo’s, catching his brother’s attention as he scooted up closer to the table, leaning over to speak. “You alright old man?” Terzo asked him. Primo at first said nothing, letting out a sigh as he continued to watch the activity around him. Taking a moment before his eyes met with Terzo’s across the table. 

“I will be…Fratellino…” Primo began, Terzo now concerned. The hint of melancholy in his voice and the painted smile seemed to be holding back something that Terzo had never recalled seeing with Primo before—pain.

“Si? What is wrong?” he asked him. Primo got quiet, clearing his throat and nodding as the siblings and ghouls passed by their table. Terzo knew that he was stepping into unfamiliar territory but he had to know. 

“Just promise me that you will never take what you have for granted.” Primo said quietly, his tone and demeanor betraying him. Allowing Terzo to see that there was more unsaid but that Primo couldn’t muster to speak. 

“Primo?” Terzo proceeded with caution. 

“Promise me that you will always honor Alessandra and love and cherish every child she bears you. That you won’t take for granted the blessings Satanas has given you—or you may end up an old bitter man like me.” Primo said with a smile. Terzo smiled back at him, it was evident then that while Primo had lived a long life, he had missed out on things—things for which he now had regrets. Terzo squeezed his hand tightly, struggling himself to maintain his composure as he spoke again.

“I promise fratello—I promise.” Just then little Mena came dashing up to the table. Her purple sundress, completely soaked and the curls of her dark hair dripping wet. 

“Dad!” she cried, “...Dante won’t stop squirting me with the water guns! I have asked him to stop but he won’t!” Terzo pivoted around on his bench, looking over to see his very guilty looking son staring back at him. Terzo allowed Menta to take his place as he stood. 

“Piccolo uomo, vieni qui dal tuo Papa.” he commanded Dante. His little boy was the spitting image of him, a mess of hair and a charming smile. He approached his father like a puppy with its tail tucked between its legs. His hands suspiciously hidden behind his back. 

“Yes Daddy?” Dante asked. His voice, sweet and his face adorned with the softest, round cheeks that Lucifer himself would be unable to resist pinching. Terzo dropped to his knees before him, bringing himself eye level with his son.

“Dante…sii serio piccolo. Have you been spraying your sister with the water again?” he asked him. Dante shook his head no, adamant that he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was then Terzo could see Alessandra coming up from behind them. Holding a pair of soft towels and a look of exhaustion spread across her beautiful face. 

Just as she reached them, Secondo called out that the food was done and the whole of the Abbey came running up from all around them. “Sorry I have been trying to keep up with them but it’s getting a bit hard.” she smiled standing before Terzo. He smiled back up at her, placing his hand on her belly and feeling their child kicking away inside her. 

“I can only imagine amore…but It seems we have a problem.” he said, sending her a wink.

“Oh, is that so?” Alé laughed. Mena stood up beside her father, still dripping as Terzo explained. 

“Si, apparently there is someone who looks exactly like Dante spraying Mena with a water gun.”

“Ah I see, what a weird coincidence. You see I seem to recall letting Dante and Phil’s nits get the water guns out from the green house.” Alé laughed again.

“Indeed.” Terzo replied, listening to Primo holding back his laughter from behind him. “Now Dante…are you sure that it wasn’t you?” 

“Yes.” Dante proclaimed. Alé raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to be honest with his dad as she knew the truth. And even more importantly she could see something Terzo could not. 

“You’re being too hard on the boy.” Primo commented, Terzo turning to face his brother before Dante spoke. 

“Daddy?” 

“Yes Dant—-” Terzo shouted as he was hit full force in the face with a cold stream of water. The likes of which was powered by the pair of water guns that Dante had hidden behind his back. Instantly Primo and Alessandra burst out in laughter. Watching as Terzo panicked a moment before opening his eyes and flipping back his dampened hair from his face. As his vision came into focus, he watched as his mischievous little boy ran off laughing with Mena trailing not far behind him.

Terzo turned back to face Primo, “Still have regrets?” he chuckled, the face paint running down his face. Primo nodded and smiled, Terzo was a lucky man and even though it wasn’t always easy he loved being a father to his children. He loved them more than life itself and that while it wasn’t always perfect it was his. And today was his day.

Notes: grigliata mista di carne -popular Italian barbecue dish of mixed grilled meats Piccolo uomo, vieni qui dal tuo papà- Little man, come here to your Papa. sii serio piccolo- be serious little one

[eponymoussquared]

Sponsorships throughout youtube

Ah, sponsorships. Just talking about them is a minefield. Thankfully, nobody reads anything I say, so I don't need to worry.

The problem with sponsorships becomes apparent with the one question you never ask a YouTuber: "Do you actually use this product in your daily life?"

Its not really a fair question, because they can't answer it safely. If they say no, they risk losing that sponsorship, and some of their income. If they don't use it, you're forcing them to lie. You could argue they shouldn't be shilling it if they don't use it, but YouTubers don't have that many other ways to make money, so it's more complicated than that. As long as they don't lie about the product, and think it's okay, even if they personally don't have a use for it, I think it's fine.

However, it also a bit deceptive. people come to watch your content, and you're using that to make sure they watch an ad too. Of course, people can just skip it. Whats the solution to this? I'm not sure, but the solution I like best is when they turn the Sponsorships INTO something you want to watch.

Heres some examples:

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Nostalgia Critic: the Ad segments

Channel Awesome is a very controversial topic, and its not hard to see why. Beyond the drama and scandals, Doug Walker, while generally considered a nice, well-meaning guy, just isn't that funny a lot of the time. However, I personally quite like his ad segments.

They aren't connected, and are all completely random, with everything Dr. Frankenstein pitching you Stamps.Com to a door dashing through the street pitching you DoorDash. They don't always work, but they do always try to make a new one each time, and through a combination of just enough self-deprecation and lots of surrealism, its still pretty entertaining. Theres an ad for Chime, a money-saving app, where the skit is someone talking to a dollar bill like they would a bratty teenager, and the joke being that you shouldn't always have to worry about money. If that sounds funny, thats pretty much the level of humor of most of them.

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RYAN GEORGE: THE ADSTRONAUT

Ryan George writes comedy sketches loosely taking place in the same universe where he plays everyone, certain animals can talk, and Jurassic Park was released before the first time someone ever shoplifted.

I'm a fan, if you couldn't tell.

Above is the Adstronaut, an astronaut with a best(and only) friend is a green alien named Florp-Flap, who has a strained relationship with him. Ryan puts effort into making the sponsorship sections as funny as the sketch itself, with ongoing gags and ridiculous reactions. However, it's still separate from the sketch itself.

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TWA: The TWA expanded universe.

Terrible Writing advice is a channel dedicated to telling you what NOT to do in writing via sarcasm, and it's glorious. The Sponsorship Wars are after-video skits in which the various archetypes he's established interact off of each other, becoming something of actual characters in the process, and try to steal the sponsorships from each other. They go one after another, and all tie in, starting off slowly but quickly escalating into a massive plot thats actually pretty entertaining.

There are two sides here: the Knights of Artistic Integrity, well-meaning but not extremely competent warriors who believe Ads will doom the universe, try to convince everyone to relinquish their ads. Their opponent is Inner Greed, the embodiment of Greed itself who wants to take over the entire universe, and then beyond, through the power of-well-money. Greed is the one pitching the products in the latest sketches, despite being framed as the villain, and theres actually an undertone of anti-ad commentary throughout most of it, with the knights of artistic integrity fighting for a world where content creators don't need to sell themselves out and fill everything with ads, and are paid and valued for what they do.

He's still selling stuff, so its mostly seen as an unfortunate necessity, but its actually fairly engaging and funny. Theres a bit where the Dark Lord keeps finding himself accidentally using stock Hero lines and almost vomiting. It's weirdly adorable, and an excellent way to make someone actually want to get through ads. ================================================

Neytirix: The sponsor segments

Neytirix is a criminally underrated art, animation(And sometimes music) channel, specializing in cute, cool, and creepy. They often redraw things to their own views of them, usually either making it adorable, awesome as heck, or incredibly terrifying. The spectrum is generally that cute things become creepy, creepy things become cute, and cool things can become either, or just more cool. Onto the main topic. While it started as an off-hand joke, the ad sections are now a full-blown story and sometimes just the entire video. Above is Sponsor Pufferbunny, the spokesman of SkillShare. He appears any time anyone says 'skills', has a disdain for everything and everyone except SkillShare, and a taste for blood. However, he can't survive in our world for long. Once he's delivered the sponsor, he explodes into a puddle of gore-if your lucky. If you're the one who summoned him, either you explode when he appears, or once you've gotten through the entire segment, you die. Its highly implied to be some form of mind-control, with the people involved not fully knowing what their saying, and not being able to stop once they do.

Whenever the ad isn't for SkillShare, there tends to be a different horrific monster, but Pufferbunny still keeps showing up. Its end goal is unclear, and its methods are unknown, but if you see it, your only real chance of survival is to finish the ad. If you're the one who summoned him, its a coin flip at best as to whether its you or someone else who explodes. If not, your best chance is to just keep completely quiet, not giving a single prompt to segment to advertising. Never, under ANY circumstance, say the word 'skills'. That, or already start using SkillShare, and it'll leave you alone.

Theres alot of body horror, and the series starts in the end of random other videos(Redrawing peoples submitted characters, redrawing minecraft, model-buidling, random content about her pets) But recently the story has become alot more connected with the redesign series.

I could go on and on about this channel: how the main author avatar has an entire factory for redesigning original characters, how its horrifically painful for them and they come out mutated and monstrous, how she barely seems aware of it and actually seems to think they like it to some extent, How the main characters are basically MLP oc's that are subjected to incredible horrors, and more. But this is personally my favorite way sponsorships have ever been handled: Litterally making an entire story about them.

[alexalessandro]

I want to thank you for being a point of reason and positivity in the D20 fandom. Before the back half of FHJY I had a few blogs (including yours) that I checked in on for meta/art/speculation, but I had to stop visiting most of them due to how toxic they've gotten towards the REAL people behind D20 for "not telling the story right" or claiming that the grown up, real life Intrepid Heroes are actually hateful/toxic/etc towards teenagers. Like...it just got absolutely exhausting. This is the do-bits-smites-and-crits show. If you don't feel comfortable watching something that combines violence and high schoolers...then don't watch it??? But don't act like the creatives behind it are real world criminals because of it.

And the Kipperlily stans (which, I love her your honor! She's fascinating!) screaming that we should have gotten more of her and aren't her choices understandable and fascinating BUT ALSO screaming that she had no choice and was manipulated into everything she's ever done wrong by Porter like...she's a Complicated Woman, and shouldn't that be okay?

Or my current favorite, the cries that if only Jawbone hadn't failed her by being incompetent or failing to stop another teacher at the school from learning about her issues. Jawbone's fictional, so he doesn't need me to defend him, but...blimey. I don't even fully know where I'm going with that one. Maybe that they insist on bringing in real world logic to woobify KLCK ("she's just an angry teen!" "she's been groomed!") but Jawbone can't possibly be a mostly effective, compassionate dude who's trying to serve and protect and guide 500+ teens who can't/won't be forced to accept said guidance?

Thanks for all your insightful commentary and for being a hub for some truly great D20 fan content and sorry for ranting in your inbox. I don't know anyone IRL to rant to and I've truly been going insane observing some of the fandom's takes this season.

Aww thank you! I honestly dodged most toxic posts and bs like bullets so I'm happy that i helped clear out your dash

yeah i get being parasocial buy guys when you're seriously foaming at the mouth at real people take a step back breathe an touch some grass because it's really not that deep

[the-celluloid-correspondent]

Quickie Reviews

The Little Mermaid: Directed by Rob Marshall (2023)

Ariel, daughter of King Triton, longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea. While visiting the surface, she falls for the dashing Prince Eric. To see him again, she makes a deal with the witch, Ursula, which she gives her voice to go to the surface.

I will be forever haunted by the horrors that I witnessed while watching Disney's failed adaptation of The Little Mermaid. This is the latest of the live action Disney adaptations, and by far one of the worst. For one, it was horrifying to watch. The CGI creatures that gazed my eyes were the stuff of nightmare. Furthermore, none of the musical numbers had the soul of the original as they felt artificial and fake. Scuttlebutt was so horrid that it made me wish I was deaf. Disney please hire someone else besides Lin-Manuel Miranda for the new songs. There are other artist who are as equally as talented as he is.

The acting was boring and uninspired. Halle Bailey does has a lovely singing voice, but when she is forced to act, her performance becomes incredibly flat. She lacked the charm and quirks of Ariel. Melissa McCarthy and Jessica Alexander were really the only two who stood out in their respective performances. However, the biggest crime that this movie commits is its complete failure of understanding the original story. What the filmmakers deem to be "improvements" to the story, ultimately undermined the message of the original. They wrote out Prince Eric from the story, thus losing the message to show Triton that not all human are bad. This theme any many others are lost, because the writers thought they could do it better. Can't wait to see the shitshow that will be Snow White.

My Rating: D

*********************************************

Hunger: Directed by Sitisiri Mongkilsiri

A talented young street-food cook pushes herself to the limit after accepting an invitation to train under an infamous and ruthless chef.

Hunger is a strange mashup between Whiplash and The Menu as it tries to tackles the perfectionist cook in the world of elites. However, Hunger fails to understand what made those films so special. In those two is explored the abusive mentors and the toxic relationship of wanting to be perfect. As well as explore wealth inequality in the arts. But Hunger, only explores these themes on the surface level. It feels artificial with its commentary as it is presented in a very black and white manner. As well as none of the emotional moments leading up to the exploration of themes feel shallow and unearned. This is especially evident in the movies final act.

With that stated, Hunger is still at least entertaining. There are many engaging scenes and points where the movie hit its strides. Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying gives a good performances as the aspiring cook. However, Nopachai Jayanama stole the show as Chef Paul. He owns every scene with his intimidating and commanding presence. The cooking sequences were mouthwatering as I could taste the food that was being prepared. Overall, Hunger is an interesting watch that could have been really good, but it never really comes together in the end.

My Rating: C+

*****************************

Red, White & Royal Blue: Directed by Matthew Lopez

After an altercation between the Presidents Son and a British Prince, the two must learn to respect one another for the sake of their own countries relations. However, during their reconciliation, the two slowly begin to bond into more than just friends.

As previously stated, I am not a fan of rom-coms. I find all of them to be the same and harmful as they normalize toxic relationships. So, after hearing all the praise of Red, White & Royal Blue, I decided to check it out. Safe to say that it is your standard rom-com that follows all the tropes beat per beat, but this time through a gay lens. It's a cute movie that will absolutely please the LGBT+ community, but it's just not for me. Both Taylor Zakhar Perez and Nicholas Galizine do a good job as the star crossed lovers, but their performances do come across as cheesy as points. Overall, if you are a fan of this genre, you are going to adore this movie. If not, then it's better to skip.

My Rating: B-

[themovieblogonline]

The Collective Review: A Muddled Blend of Action and Clichés

From the surface, The Collective, directed by Tom DeNucci, appears to offer a promising blend of action and intrigue as it follows a young recruit's journey into the world of assassins and human trafficking. With a cast featuring Ruby Rose, Don Johnson, Lucas Till, Paul Ben-Victor, and Mercedes Varnado, the film boasts some star power. However, as the plot unfolds, it becomes evident that the film struggles to rise above its generic premise and clichéd execution, ultimately leaving audiences underwhelmed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UbiOLp-FsA The movie revolves around Daisy (Ruby Rose), a mysterious and taciturn young woman, who unexpectedly finds herself recruited into a covert agency of assassins. The agency, known as The Collective, is tasked with eliminating dangerous criminals and human traffickers. Despite her inexperience, Daisy is thrust into her first assignment, but things take an unexpected turn, forcing her to go rogue and track down a particularly menacing group of human traffickers. The Bad: One of the film's major flaws lies in its inability to present a fresh and original narrative. The concept of a young recruit going rogue and challenging an established system is hardly new in the action genre. The plotline proceeds predictably, with scenes that feel like they've been borrowed from numerous similar movies. Even the twist, which the filmmakers hope will elevate the story, is telegraphed early on and lacks the desired impact. Ruby Rose as Daisy delivers a competent performance, portraying the character's cold and detached nature effectively. However, the script fails to provide her with enough depth, leaving Daisy feeling like a one-dimensional action hero rather than a fleshed-out character. Don Johnson's portrayal of Liam brings some gravitas to the film, but his character's arc is disappointingly underdeveloped. Lucas Till's portrayal of Sam is spirited but often comes across as cartoonish, undercutting any serious tension the movie tries to build. A significant flaw in the film lies in its pacing and editing, which feel disjointed at times. Transitions between scenes can be jarring, hindering the audience's ability to fully immerse themselves in the story. Some crucial moments are hurried through, while others linger on less essential details, disrupting the film's flow and rhythm. Another aspect that fails to live up to its potential is the portrayal of the human trafficking subject matter. The film touches on this disturbing issue, but it does so with superficiality, reducing a grave global problem to a mere backdrop for the action sequences. The lack of sensitivity and depth in handling such a delicate topic is a missed opportunity for the film to provide a thought-provoking commentary on the matter. Mercedes Varnado, better known as WWE Superstar Sasha Banks, plays the enigmatic Nikita, one of The Collective's top assassins. Unfortunately, Nikita's character remains largely in the background, only serving to advance the plot when needed. Her character, like many others in the film, lacks the necessary exploration and development, leaving audiences feeling disconnected from her role. The Good: The action sequences in The Collective are the film's saving grace, providing some adrenaline-pumping moments. Choreographed fight scenes and high-octane shootouts showcase the characters' lethal skills and keep the film from falling into complete mediocrity. However, these well-executed action scenes are not enough to compensate for the overall lackluster narrative and character development. In terms of production design and cinematography, The Collective is competent but fails to stand out from other films in the genre. The dark and moody aesthetic suits the tone of the film, but the lack of visual flair prevents it from leaving a lasting impression. Overall: The Collective attempts to deliver an action-packed narrative with a dash of mystery and intrigue. While the action sequences are well-executed and Ruby Rose's performance is commendable, the film's lack of originality, shallow character development, and underutilization of its cast lead to an overall underwhelming experience. The potential for a gripping and thought-provoking tale of assassins and human trafficking remains untapped. Instead, the movie falls into the well-trodden territory of clichés, leaving audiences longing for something more innovative and captivating. Read the full article

[pulseofthestars]

Kamille is just watching Nobu and Rin and is waiting, “If Nobu ends up having to go see Nightingale AGAIN tonight it’s her own damn fault at this point.”

@mxsecarnival​ @martyrtsm​

[shatteredxglass]

.

[kapisola]

Yes, hello. Give her all the children to love and care for. Even if they are trash. They will get many baked sweets and lots of hugs.