#we were literally JUST shown thar

[4belphie]

belphie can try to murder me a lil bit (again) i don’t mind it rekindles our relationship actually

[the-acid-pear]

Back at it again at Krispy Kreme

Mary is so pretty btw I feel tbe need to say so. Also I liked how Stede was as unhappy about this at her usually these stories are like yeah the girl hates it.

I like how Blackbeard and his crew is as silly as Stede and his

"they got a bird guy" I love that that's a thing also Buttons my dear we're gonna crash da ship again if you come fangirl for blackbeard w the rest again

Fang is so fucking hot btw GOD

Their height difference 💥

I DIDN'T REMEMBER BUTTONS SPEAKING SPANISH I love these blonde bitches

Actually I originally thought it was a throwaway gag but Swede asking Jim if he can take the name makes a shit ton of sense bc he doesn't have a name he's the swede and that's it !

Black Pete getting hit is So funny to me esp bc it's getting increasingly softer

I just love Swede sm he's so sweet. "Makes sense, always like Jim 🥺".

This show us so good Izzy is gonna have a stroke

Izzy I remember now why we all were insane about you you're something fucking else.

Ohhh and they were also eating marmalade when they fucked :') so glad I rewatched this show

Ed was such a bitch for this honestly Izzy deserves a better man SHAKING MY FUCKING HEAD.

Ivan's tits....

I think I dislike this episode the dinning w the rich part is just so uncomfortable

Oh the daddy scene . Amen.

This rewatch making me LOVE Frenchie he's fucking amaizing

C'est Business

HIS FUCKING REACTION IZZY ILY

Oohuuhwfjfmf I hate this episode smmmm

Izzy is gonna suffer a stroke fr this stress can't be good

ALRIGHT EPISODE 6 I'M READY TO SEE MY ANGEL SHINE

Ed Kramer etc I had to make the joke

Me and who tho. Izzy is gonna die also I love you Mr Hands

This show's CGI is so good, better than in any show I've seen

I missed you Buttons 🥹

SWEDE NOOO WNEJSKRVTNRE 😭😭😭

Kill him Izzy.

Izzy "I'll kill for you please ask me to kill for you" Hands

Stede dies in all the dogs go to heaven 2

Oh my god Stede invented what's the fucking name elevated horror good god

Why is he hiding behind the curtain like thar

Damn Stede's tits look fire in this episode

I just realized The Swede is only shown now bc like Frenchie just came up w it god babygirl what's your real name 😭

Swede's hair in this bit is so gorgeous. So femme

OUR LITTLE NORDIC ANGEL‼️ MY BEAUTIFUL SIREN‼️‼️‼️

Da ptsd . . . Just like a littol kid 💔

3 fucking in a sentence worse than me.

My beloveds...

SWEDE'S REACTION TO THE STABBING IS SO CUTE LITERALLY 🫢

HIS CREW LOVE HIM SM MAN QAUHGHGF 🥺🥺🥺💞

Alright almost there we're checking at least Ep1 S2 today.....

My poor angelll 😭😭😭

SWEDE DIDN'T DESERVE THIS EMRJKFNTHT 😭😭😭

I love that he asked Jim for help they're besties your honor . . .

"it's like nourishment for them" not enough enrichment in his enclosure 🙏

I like how she respects Jim's pronouns but still deadnames them 💀

God those palm like spiky plants are hell I cut my arms more than once w those they're wicked beasts

I think I'm very autistic gentlemen I cannot pick up on "passive aggressiveness" or "sarcasm" unless very obvious

His captains are fucking 🙏

Lucius snapping made me tear up

I actually need to stop for now but that's alright I'll finish it this evening 👍 which is in 2 hours maybe

Rewatch liveblog. On a single post. Because we already did this once. Ok?

I forgot how silly this show was I also forgot how Buttons sounded somehow. Also why is Swede hanging up there come down baby

I feel like I dislike Stede more than I originally did

Buttons king I cannot catch a word you're saying ❤️

How much did I change in a year?

Buttons I fucking Adore you so much holy shit

God his silly ahh wig on the dinner table, obsessed

Also Swede standing up still holding the tea cup confused... Autism icon. To me.

Wait was that Buttons help god am I still unable to tell my babygirls apart after all this time???? 😭

Based Jim.

This IS the pilot but I love how much attention Swede got around this time and ASLO how tough he was

BUTTONS CRINGEFAIL MOMENT ❤️

Hungry bitch ily

Swede was even excited about torturing hostages amaizing

HE'S GETTING BEATEN BY WEE JOHN these men are incredible

Mirá como se agrandó el ladope

BUTTONS YOU'RE AN AUTISM ICON TO ME TOO.

I forgot Jim uses male pronouns in Spanish even before formerly coming out that's really cool

Wait how does Buttons know about Nessie? 😭

I actually adore Black Pete

I'mlisinin

Wouldn't it be hilarious if this show actually had a downer ending w everyone dead?

Lucius is so me

Oh this episode is so boring

I heard there's a bloke who for one quid more plays w your balls or whatever the post said

"well, not terribly successful ones" that's so fucking funny still

I should get attached to Jackie fast too she's soon to be my gf in law

Not too hard q how hot she is

He growled ❤️

Oh Izzy is so.

Jackie making me legs go cold !

I forgot Jim kissed Lucius

Jim doesn't even look feminine idk why they're instantly like ah she's a woman! Like they look like some bloke idk. Like imagine Lucius shaved his sideburns and they were like LUCIUS IS A WOMAN?? like it's the same to me.

Rip Stede btw idc lol

Never really cared about Ed appearing but let's just roll w it.

I'll finish this show tomorrow for sure

[v-mundi]

Thar be dragons! Metalseadramon and Seadramon were re-posed by my lovely fianceé, Danielle and she’s also my art and design partner for this project. Snakes are super hard to fit in a square frame. You basically have a couple tricks you can do. There’s the S-shape as seen by Metalseadramon (and old Seadramon). Those old arts were just screenshots of DMO (Digimon Masters Online) cut out by someone, so not great. You have the C shape as Metalseadramon DATA and Seadramon above (C-dramon...?). And you have the corkscrew shape not pictured here. There are more but we are sticking to ones that still give good model visibility through perspective.

That DATA card is a preview for the upcoming TOY set, which has some heavy Dark Masters themes. It’s only appropriate that we rework the design of Metalseadramon as well. In fact, all the Dark Masters will now be present and upgraded. I’ve previously shown off the upcoming TOY set with Fakedrimogemon, so...go digging for it ;D

If you play the game, you may have noticed this DATA has “Any Support Phase” instead of just Any Phase. That’s a change that’s coming down the pipeline for many DATAs. There’s some logic errors with certain effects being literally any time you want them. Confining effects to the Support phase will bring a bit more importance to the choice of playing the card. For example, if you could play this “Any Phase”, then you could wait till the Battle Phase when attacks are revealed before throwing down Triangle to 0. Since this game is based a lot on wagers and bluffing, that goes against the spirit of the game and provides a disgustingly easy shut-down as a hand trap. I do not like hand traps. That concept is from Yugioh and means cards being played directly from hand in response to something, with no indicator that your move will trigger this awful response. Their existence usually leads to hand control, which is a death spiral for metagames. Once people are trying to remove and control each other’s hand, they’re trying to stop the other person from playing the game as hard as possible and that’s no fun for anyone. So just one word makes the difference in an entire game’s death spiral.

For Seadramon and many other cards, I’m trying to make it so mixing types is less punishing. During the base release of the game, there wasn’t a lot of actual support for cross-type decks. The ones that you could make would be creative and good, but limited due to type-limited effects. Ultimately, most of them sought out to make the most broken combos possible which is a nightmare to balance and anticipate. Now that the game has existed for about 5 years, I have some experience with what players are actually abusing or not. I’ve tried replacing most of them with comparable conditions that type has no problem making but others might have to bend over backwards to get. Clever girl.

Lastly we got EBEmon or as the contest winner that created it said “Vademon Kai”. Again, all done up nice and neat by Danielle. If you’re wondering why there’s proportionally way more art from her lately than me, it’s not because I don’t have time. It’s because she’s way faster and better at this than me. She can usually do 3 to 4 poses in the time it takes me to get one right. We actually figured out that brown xenomorph bubble on its head isn’t just a Freiza reference, it’s supposed to be translucent and contain a long brain. No thanks. So...as it’s a rebuilt mecha Freiza...I mean Vademon, I wanted to do some cool stuff with the errata. Originally, it would get a DNA to increase the use of Omekamon’s effect, but instead I realized this is unnecessary since almost every Enigma Level U or M is getting one. So I stuck to the path. Forget DP -20 cost reductions, those are boring. Let’s remove the concept of your own hand size while you have access to draw 2! :D And I buffed every one of its “response probes” in the Passives section. They were all pretty good, since it’s not really a question of if an opponent will do these things but when. But more importantly, you don’t get to choose which ones happen. It’s completely dependent on what effects your opponent has (except the draw). So instead, it has a built-in Attack Chip and Recovery Floppy. Yay! The x3 VS was also reworked. We have cute little element names for each combination of types. When something has an attack that gets powered up versus something else, we give it x3 VS [that thing] mixed from our types, as if they were elemental blocks. Marine + Nature + Metal is “Grand” and refers to planetary things. EBEmon’s gun is a Planet Destroyer. Oh no.

Anyway, enjoy the new art and card preview!

[buzzdixonwriter]

Compare & Contrast: Trumbo vs Mank

It’s the rare movie that’s about screenwriting, and rarer still the ones about actual screenwriters engaged in their craft.

Recently two films about two of the most famous (or notorious, depending on your point of view) screenwriters were released, and not only are they about actual screenwriters involved in writing scripts of actual films -- genuine classics in both cases -- but their protagonists are done in by the same group of antagonists (though to be fair, one film paints them merely as adversaries, not villains).

Yes, we’re pitting 2015’s Trumbo (directed by jay Roach, written by John McNamara off Bruce Cook’s Dalton Trumbo) nose-to-nose with Mank (directed by David Fincher, written by Jack Fincher), and may the best bio pic win.

First off, the bad: Neither film really jells seamlessly.

Both come across as a series of scenes, not a coherent story flow.

The dialog in both is too theatrical, too self-knowing though in the case of Mank’s Herman J. Mankiewicz, apparently a fair depiction of how he actually spoke (for the cheap seats:  Like a pompous asshole).

Advantage: Mank because it never asks us to pity Mankiewicz as a self-destructive alcoholic no matter how brilliant his writing is.  Mank’s struggles are more in the trenches -- even if those trenches run through the plush offices of MGM.  Trumbo talks a lot about the struggles of the little guy but never really dips down to street level.  For all its insights and good intentions, it remains a limousine liberal story.

You can’t do a Hollywood bio pic without having Hollywood celebrities in it, and for the most part Mank keeps the most famous names and faces at arm’s length.

Yes, Marion Davies (Amanda Seyfried) plays a pivotal role but virtually nobody today remembers the real Davies except as she was unfairly depicted in Citizen Kane.

Orson Welles is the best known name and face in Mank and Tom Burke does a top notch job of capturing him at his charismatic young genius stage.  Other off screen personalities also serve to flesh out their roles adequately, including Ferdinand Kingsley as Irving Thalberg, Charles Dance as William Randolph Hearst, and Arliss Howard as Louis B. Mayer.

On the other hand, virtually none of Trumbo’s famous players look anything like their real life counterparts.  Dean O'Gorman as Kirk Douglas comes closest in a dinner theater level of resemblance, but Michael Stuhlbarg as Edward G. Robinson and David James Elliott as John Wayne are virtually unrecognizable as their actual counterparts.  

Trumbo also features Richard Portnow as their version of Louis B. Meyer and it needs be said thar Mank’s Meyer is far more dynamic and compelling.

Props to Christian Berkel as Otto Preminger for coming closest to capturing the real persona behind the role, but then Preminger himself deliberately created a living caricature of himself for public appearances -- no matter how far over the top you go, he’s already w-a-a-a-y ahead of you. 

Helen Mirren as Hedda Hopper is fairly accurate in her portrayal of Hollywood’s original queen of mean / notorious gossip columnist and plays the role as close to an absolute villain as possible.  

John Goodman and Stephen Root as producing brothers Frank and Hymie King are a delight, and Goodman simply backs up a truck and drives off with the picture every scene he appears in.

Advantage: Mank because less is always more.

In terms of direction and cinematography, Mank is filmed in gloriously luminescent black and white.  Mank also plays with and explores the boundaries pf film making much more than Trumbo.  Trumbo is an expertly made film, but a very conventional one.

Advantage: Mank 

The key question for both is how accurate are they?

Truth be told, not very for either of them.

Oh, both films get their broad strokes down, but a lot of minor details are garbled or misrepresented.

Dalton Trumbo, for instance, did not originate The Brave One, which won him a best screenplay Oscar under a pseudonym while he was on the blacklist.  That project was handed to him by the King brothers who acquired it from special effects legend Willis O’Brien (i.e., the guy who brought King Kong to life) but then stripped out O’Brien’s fanciful stop motion allosaur to concentrate on the story of a boy and his bull.

One understands why this aspect was ignored -- it would contribute nothing to the actual story of Trumbo -- but it is the height of irony that O’Brien’s participation was cancelled due to Trumbo coming onboard.

Likewise in Mank there’s a scene where Thalberg complains the Marx Brothers started a fire and roasted hot dogs in his office; in real life Groucho & his siblings roasted potatoes.  One can understand Mank changing the menu -- the audience can “smell” a roasted hot dog easier than a roasted potato.

But enough fiddle-faddle!  How well did each capture their central character and their dilemma?

Ah, there we have a split decision.  

While Trumbo focuses on Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), it also spends a lot of time with the struggles of his coterie of fellow blacklisted scribes.

Both Dalton Trumbo and Herman Mankiewicz (Gary Oldmam) fell under the curse of always being the smartest guy in the room, and when you’re the smartest guy in the room you grow impatient with all the others.

In Trumbo’s case, he runs roughshod of the eminently justifiable concerns of others involved in his crusade, and in the end his miscalculations of the era’s real politik led to the notorious blacklist and the rise of McCarthyism.

That he subsequently tries to mitigate this by creating an underground talent pool of ghost screenwriters is shown as positive in one sense and capitulation in another.  Trumbo -- quite accidentally -- torments screenwriter Arlen Hird (a composite character played by Louis C.K. as if he were channeling the late Ricky Jay) , turning his already stressful life into pure misery.

Again, it is a tribute to Trumbo’s character -- at least the screen version of same -- that he recognizes the harm he inflicted and tries -- however inadequately -- to atone for it.

Herman Mankiewicz, on the other hand, was just an asshole -- a charming, entertaining asshole, to be sure, but an asshole nonetheless.

Both writers are laid low by far right politics determined to root out any and all “leftist” influence in Hollywood -- both the ideal and the workaday reality.

Trumbo depicts him as “a communist with a swimming pool” who enjoys the finer things in life while championing the largely unseen underdog.

The film doesn’t shy away from this and an encounter in prison with African-American felon Virgil Brooks (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is played as a reverse Shawshank Redemption in which Trumbo learns exactly how the underclass perceives his efforts on their behalf.

Mank makes more direct contact with this underclass -- while skewering Mankiewicz’ own hypocrisy in this area -- but Mankiewicz himself steers away from any direct involvement.

He’s bright and erudite and his scenes with Marion Davies do much to show the complexities found at the intersection of art / commerce / politics -- but in the end he remains more of a spectator (albeit a spectacularly self-destructive one) than a participant.

Mank creates the fictious character of Shelly Metcalf (Jamie McShane), a low grade MGM employee who makes anti-socialist propaganda for Hearst and comes to a tragic end.

This is part of what spurs Mankiewicz to a drunken rant at San Simeon aimed at Meyer and Hearst, and in the fallout of that, the inspiration for Citizen Kane itself.

This is where the two films share a profound overlap,

But with wholly contrary messages.

Both films try to humanize their players.

Mank gives Meyer, Thalberg, and Hearst very human and wholly believable reactions to Mankiewicz’ assholery -- they sincerely try to save him from himself and failing that, only then do they cast him quite literally into the outer darkness.

Yet in trying to humanize them it also shows their monstrous natures.

Hearst, escorting Mankiewicz out of San Simeon for the very last time, tells him the parable of the organ grinder’s monkey, and while the story is delivered in an almost sad patrician tone, the underlying threat and menace is unmistakable. 

Trumbo, on the other hand, does a better job of humanizing its players, Hedda Hopper not withstanding (and she is depicted with deeply personal motivations, not purely ideological ones).

Quoting from the real Dalton Trumbo’s acceptance speech for his WGA lifetime achievement award, Trumbo the movie takes pains to recognize its story possesses no simplistic duality of good and evil, heroes and villains.

Both sides were caught up in a storm of societal change that swept the world and both sides did what they felt they had to do in response to it.

Trumbo doesn’t shy away from choices having consequences, but it recognizes the vast spectrum of gray in the middle.

Advantage: Trumbo

In summation: Two good but not flawless movies.  Mank is the more fully realized one and all around better production, but Trumbo is then one that gives you the most to chew on.

    © Buzz Dixon

[one-shoop]

My mother actually admitted to a professional that she would "push us to face our fears" and "square up" or whatever when we were anxious. I don't know why this information doesn't make me happier. I have proof that she's the one who's been at the core of all my most complex mindsets -- like the "don't ask for help unless you really need it" and "am I hurt enough to be allowed to be sad" and "is this bad enough so I don't need to swallow it and search for solutions, or is this pain bad enough I can keep it". She literally admitted to doing all of that.

She's the reason I didn't ask for help in exams. She basically admitted to all the stuff she did as a mother -- her miraculously-unused scheme to push me off a bike so I wouldn't be scared of it anymore ("but pushing you nicely, so you don't actually get hurt, just to show you it's not scary" says mom like this excuses anything), all the times she talked about messing around with her students' rigidities and complex things (she called it "breaking them" like seriously) -- she'll "confront" autistic people or perfectionnists. She admitted to making sure the kid who hated losing loses at all games until he "learns to suck it up" and "accept things" or whatever, she admitted to messing up an autistic/rigid kid's meticulously arranged pieces of paper to "show them it didn't matter if they were messed up, it's the paper itself that counts", and doing that everytime they meet up, even going so far as pretending the kids actually like when she does that. How is this woman even a freaking orthopédagogue, I have no idea.

But she keeps "pushing them out of their comfort zones" and it's just not okay. And the way she talks to them, the way she behaves around them -- it pisses me off just thinking about it. And yesterday she confessed to her motives.

And -- this is a woman who said that the Roman Empire was justified, the murder of millions and all the crap was justified, that people were being stupid when they refused to have roman soldiers on their land -- this is a woman who said that "the tribes didn't want to be in peace, they wanted to keep fighting" and "Rome was keeping the peace". Someone who literally has no freaking reason to believe this crap -- seriously???? The Roman empire was garbage???? This is someone who said "well, if you see slavery as the limit, no civilisation ever was good" when I told her the goddamn empire worked on slaves' back, and refused to acknowledge how Caesar was a piece of garbage, how people watched prisoners of war get freaking KILLED in arenas like it was a fun thing to watch.

Like seriously???? She told me "homeless people should just work harder" and "it doesn't mean society is broken if they can't get jobs/housing" and "it's their fault -- and I know, I watched a documentary once" and "most homeless people are idiots, they don't want to get healed, they want to do drugs and they're childish, they don't want to get jobs, they don't want to work" and "we can't force people to do things they don't want to do, they don't want to get healed so leave them be" and "they basically want to stay homeless" and "they can't handle having a job" and "there are shelters in place, so if they don't go there, they're basically saying they want to stay homeless" like sure mom, this is a good mindset. Absolutely -- i so agree with the humanity of "they don't want to work, so let them starve" like this is forgetting that many homeless peeps are mentally ill? Or addicted? And they CAN'T GET TREATMENT much less any sort of respect from people???? And shelters are the worst??? If I base it on my experience at an Elder's retirement home, let me tell you social workers can be assholes and retirement homes can be a hostile environment to its patients. And also???? Some homeless peeps just leave because OH SNAP maybe they got THROWN OUT OF THEIR HOUSE and and since they're going they have fucking nowhere to go? Like -- ever hear of someone losing their spouse and having nobody ro turn to, so they spend a night outside, and then another, and when their boss hears they fire them so now they're jobless and penniless and BAM. And ever heard of the concept that maybe BEING ALCOHOLIC ISN'T CONTROLLABLE WITHOUT EXTERNAL HELP and do I really have to explain how buying alcohol/weed and being left to starve and freeze and get mugged all the time -- like seriously, there is NO REASON you should LET SOMEONE DIE.

Like ffs?????????? She said bombing an entire town full of civilians was a good move???? Since "they didn't want to surrender, they were too proud" and "they were too stubborn to give up so they had to be shown we wouldn't back down" like wow, minimalizing much??? We're talking about two whole goddamn towns being blown away -- imagine freaking Montreal just blown away like that. Those bombs were MASSIVE. Imagine the freaking KIDS. Seriously -- she can't bear to watch documentaries on the atomic bombs, it should be enough to make her realize that hey, maybe if something is too horrible to watch, you shouldn't DO IT TO PEOPLE? Nor excuse it????

Said that our country "didn't do too much slavery" and "WE were nice people, not like the English" and "we lived in peace" like seriously???? Remember all those times native people got sold as slaves??? Remember how métis came to be, with white people going in forests, stopping for a night at a tribe, and raping a woman there????? And then that woman would get expelled and her baby would be shunned for not belonging either with the white bastards or with the mother's birth tribe?? Remember how Montréal was built to be a freaking conversion thing for the native peoples thar lived near??? Remember how we had missionaries?

Remember that time she kept saying that in the Bible, the Jewish people were the bad guys -- the Romans were good? Defending the dude from the washing hands thing, saying he had no other choice to keep the people happy than to kill J-boy, and saying it was "the Jewish religious leaders's" fault for all of it? For "forcing people to hate him"? Saying the Jewish people were jerks like they didn't want to pay taxes to this guy who invaded their land, right??? Well apparently they're jerks for that???

Saying Sikh community people can never get into politics because "politicians are supposed to represent the majority of their people, and they're never part of the majority anywhere" and rolling her eyes when I say "what, so what you're saying is that if you're part of that community, you can't EVER get into politics? What if it was your dream??? Should you give up your religion to be allowed to compete?"

And apparently all of that is because of some "book" she read once about how to deal with anxiety in kids. How, apparently, this "book" was enough to spark all of this nonsense.

Like wtf mom

Wtf

Like for someone who keeps talking about "facing your fears" she sure is ignoring a whole lot of information back here. Like ever heard of someone dismissing the truth because it's too hard? Like if this was really your philosophy I'd think you'd be the first one to fall out bs propaganda and fight for a better place and a more compassionate view of others, and like -- her philosophy is supposed to be about confronting your fears to work on them like how tf can you do that without even admitting there's a problem???? She's making shif up for a shitton of historical shit that have literally no fucking data on all the goodness she pretends exists -- like seriously man just google literally any of those things and you'll have proof it happened -- even NOW we have literal places where every native person lives like some weird ghetto bht wirh government funding. Native lands aren't even legally recognized by our bs country, they don't have a fucking representative or their own, they don't even have their own province ffs they live in shitty places where poverty happens because SURPRISE when you strip someone of their land, their dignity, their culture, and their religion, and all their space to just freaking exist -- MAYBE it fucks them up. And just MAYBE being stripped of your integrity as a person and a clan is MAYBE stripped away and MAYBE you have nothing to really do with your identity. So MAYBE you should consider that when you pretend the shit our people did wasn't completely horrific. MAYBE you'd understand how desperatly something needs to be done.

And ALL OF THIS just doesn't cut it for a goddamn book about education or whatever it was. I dont know what this is but this just feels like fucking victim blaming. This can't be about "facing your fears", this is about dictating them, this is about making things up, about controlling the reality. This is about making the reality to be more pleasant for you to live in, this is about you controlling people to see things as you do. This is about you thinking people will never like you if you outright say you agree with the goddamn empire so you pretend there's some silver lining on it.

[five-rivers]

Hey, there.   I’m still working on this!  Again, I am using @charcoalhawk and @thecommrade ‘s prompts!

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Collateral

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Chapter 4

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Youngblood was bored.  Super bored.  Mega bored.  Ginormously bored. Bored to infinity.  So bored that even Bones couldn't un-bore him. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored.  He didn't like being bored.  

So he decided to go bother Phantom.  

Phantom was a lot older than him (or a lot younger than him, depending on how he counted), and could be kind of weird sometimes (though Youngblood understood that was because he was a halfa, and therefore kind of sick, like Youngblood used to be), but he was good for a game or two, or a laugh, or a straight-up fight.  It really depended on how polite Youngblood was feeling, and how patient Phantom was feeling.  Or, from another angle, how bratty Youngblood was, and how territorial Phantom was.  No matter which way it played out, Phantom was never boring.  Unlike some people.  

Youngblood flew to Phantom's portal, giggling madly, already planning out his next game.  Giggling madly.  Like a mad scientist.  Ooh, that was a good idea.  He could be a mad scientist and Bones could be Frankenstein!  Or maybe Bones would be Igor, and they could make a Frankenstein!

“Hey, Bones, do you think you're more a Frankenstein or an Igor?”

Bones sighed, already shifting into a bony hunchback.  “I assume you're speaking of Frakenstein's monster, so I would have to say Igor, master.”

“Isn't Frankenstein the monster?”

“No, Frankenstein was the scientist, master.  The monster wasn't named.”

“Well, that's stupid,” complained Youngblood.  “Why didn't anyone ever name him?  He was the coolest ever!  Or he should have named himself, like ghosts do!”

“That's part of the book,” started Bones.  

“The book!?  Boring!”  

They had reached the portal.  Phantom's portal itself wasn't safe to go through.  His parents had sealed it tight, and had stuck a lot of guns and junk onto it.  Not to mention the house itself.  On the other hand, smaller, temporary, natural portals to Amity Park spawned near it literally all the time.  Bones and Youngblood didn't have to wait long for one to appear.

“Maybe I won't be a mad scientist,” said Youngblood, after they had gone through.  “Maybe I'll paint on the walls.  I always wanted to be an artist, you know.”  Youngblood had always wanted to be lots of things.  He vaguely remembered wanting to be a dinosaur when he grew up, but growing up was for losers.  “But the adults didn't recognize my genius.  Whenever I drew they were all like 'oh, no, you can't draw on the walls!'”

“I see,” said Bones, returning to his favorite parrot shape.  

Two cans of spray paint popped into Youngblood's hands, his outfit transmuting into a childish image of an artist, complete with a beret.  A too-wide, too sharp smile spread over Youngblood's face. He couldn't wait until Phantom showed up, so that he could spray the teenager in the face.  He could just imagine the look on Phantom's face.  It would be hilarious.  

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Two hours later, and Phantom still hadn't shown up.  Neither had his weirdo parents, or his friends.  Which was weird, and also bleh. Boring.  He'd entertained himself with painting for a while, and with avoiding the coppers, who couldn't see him, and that red girl with the hoverboard who also couldn't see him even though she was obviously a teenager, but those games had limited utility.  

He wanted to play with Phantom.  That's why he had come in the first place.  

He floated in the air over a building that was now tastefully decorated in dinosaurs and superheros, pouting.  There had been fewer policemen than there usually were, too, and the red girl had seemed especially upset (and incompetent), now that he thought about it.  His eyes narrowed.  Youngblood might have been immature, but he wasn't stupid.

He floated higher, scanning the town.  

“Hey, Bones, help me find where all the police are.”

“The police?” asked the skeletal parrot.  “Aye aye, captain.”  He spiraled up even further than Youngblood, his circles growing ever wider as Youngblood spun beneath.

“Thar she is!” said Bones.

“You don't have to do that,” said Youngblood, flying in the indicated direction.  “We're not playing pirates right now.”

“If you say so,” said Bones, swooping down alongside Youngblood.  

They reached the part of the town that had the tallest and fanciest buildings.  Police and cameramen were swarming all over them.  There was yellow tape everywhere, especially in front of a stately building with columns.  

It was very exciting.  

But it wasn't terribly informative.  Most of the police officers and detectives were only talking about what was going on right then, about what they were doing, or what they had found.  They weren't talking about what had happened, which was what Youngblood was interested in.  Because this had to be related to why Phantom wasn't showing up.  It didn't look like it had been a ghost fight, at least not a typical one.  There wasn't enough damage, and Youngblood remembered enough about the human world to know that its buildings and structures didn't repair themselves.  In fact, as far as Youngblood could tell, there wasn't any damage at all.  But then, what ghost fight was typical, especially when Phantom was involved?  When was anything involving Phantom typical?  He was a weirdo from a family of weirdos in a town of weirdos.

What a weirdo.

“Perhaps we should listen in on one of the reporters,” suggested Bones.

“What? You think that they'd know something the cops don't?”

“Unlikely, but they will be talking about what they do know.  That's their job, after all.”

“Ooh. Good idea!”

They zoomed over to a nearby reporter, whose crew was just starting to get ready to film.  They waited impatiently.  At least, Youngblood did. He jiggled and bounced and made faces at the reporter.

“Hello!” said the reporter, finally.  “I'm Harriet Chin for Amity News, reporting from the site of the attempted assassination of our own mayor, Vlad Masters by a sniper in one of these buildings.  Mr Masters was not hit, thanks to the swift and heroic actions of Daniel Fenton, who had been receiving a scholarship from Mr Masters at the time.  Mr Fenton, however, was shot, and brought to South Mercy Hospital.  We are currently waiting for word on his condition...”

Youngblood floated off, no longer particularly interested in what the reporter had to say.  No longer wanting to hear what the reporter had to say. She had said the forbidden, most hated word.  Hospital. Youngblood hated hospitals.  He wasn't scared of them, he had spent too much time in them to be scared, but he hated them.  

And Phantom had been sent to one?  He'd been hurt that badly?

Youngblood barred his teeth.  He didn't like that, didn't like the idea of that. But it couldn't be that bad, right?  He had to see.

South Mercy.  He knew where South was, right?

“Come on!” he said, zooming away.  

The hospital, to Youngblood's dismay, was surrounded by minor and not-so-minor ghosts shrouded by low-level invisibility.  Phantom must really be hurt, for them to be acting like this.  There weren't any children among the ghosts that he could see, though, so it wasn't like he could just ask what was going on.  No one would be able to see him, and he wasn't interested in talking to humans right now.  

Flying through the crowd of ghosts was like flying through a sea of whispers.  They were angry.  No, they were furious.  

“Their lord has been wounded,” said Bones, voice low.

“Their lord?” asked Youngblood, curling his lip.  “Phantom's a lord?”

“It's a technical term.  He is the lord, and they are the vassals, although they might call themselves something else.  It's a relationship, not entirely unlike what you and I have.”  Bones settled on Youngblood's shoulder.  “He protects them, lets them stay in his haunt.  There are certain obligations that go along with that, even if Phantom does not demand them.”

“Obligations?”

“Duties, commitments.”

“Heh, you said 'duty.'”

They located the room around which the most ghosts were located, and slipped in.  Phantom was there, in a bed, trapped beneath tubes and wires, just like-

Youngblood fled the hospital.  It wasn't because he was scared.  It wasn't. But he couldn't be there anymore.  He had to leave.  He had to.

He didn't know what to do.  He had to talk to someone about this. Someone other than Bones.  

Ember. He'd talk to Ember.  

.

.

.

The ghosts of Amity Park swirled around the hospital in a ghostly analogue of human pacing.  There were all kinds of ghosts there. Blobs and will-o-the-wisps.  Ghosts of dogs, cats, birds, tigers, rats, foxes, bats.  Ghosts of men and women.  Ghosts that had been born ghosts, or who had never been born at all.  Little goblins. Pixie people.  Elves and fae things.  Monsters of myth and legend. None of them were particularly strong on their own.  In fact, most of them were on the weak side for ghosts.  Even the very strongest was only on par with the Box Ghost.  Many of them struggled to make themselves seen or felt by humans.  That's why they had sought protection from Phantom in the first place, why they chose to reside in Amity Park.

But that wasn't why they loved him.  They loved him because he cared. Because he loved them first.  Because he deserved it.  Because he was precious, and soft, and lovely.  Because he needed love. Because he belonged to them, as much as he belonged to the humans of Amity Park.  

That someone hurt him...  That someone here hurt him...  Hurt him this badly, and not even in a proper fight...

It didn't just make them furious.  It made them incandescent.

.

.

.

One of Vlad's duplicates glanced out a window, and all of him froze.  

He had known of the other ghosts that called Amity Park home.  Being one of them, how could he not?  He usually paid little attention to them. They were weak.  Nonentities, like the Dairy King, who nonetheless managed to avoid Vlad's attempts to evict him.  Annoyances.  True, Vlad could have put them to use, great use, had they been loyal to him, and he was the most powerful ghost in Amity Park, but they favored Daniel for some incomprehensible reason.  

Well, maybe not so incomprehensible.  Daniel had never understood power, had never bothered to learn how to exert it, how to use it for his benefit.  Daniel never asked anything from them, despite the traditional obligations he was owed.

But just because Daniel didn't ask, didn't mean he didn't receive.  Vlad, unlike Daniel, was very aware of what had happened to the missing GIW agents.  Weak these ghosts might be on their own, but when they acted together...  

Vlad's mouth felt very dry.  Surely, they wouldn't blame him for this.  He had been the intended victim!  He would have stopped this if he had known!

He shook himself.  He had nothing to fear.  Even together, these ghosts wouldn't be able to hurt him.  Still.  

But perhaps...  Perhaps he could use this.  Yes.  The ghosts circling angrily around the hospital were out for blood, yes, but the blood of the ones responsible for Daniel's injury.  Not Vlad's.  Well, as it so happened, Vlad had a bone to pick with the perpetrator himself, and he doubtless had more information than the pathetic specters outside.  

A thin smile spread across his face.

[hvitserkk]

Just wanted to say thar your "i don't have love here" edit is absolutely amazing.what did you think of the episode?

Thank you! Although I’m sad now because I could’ve added the Dothraki, but when I was adding Jorah actually dying, I forgot cos it was too dark so I went to the next episode LOL

But thank you! 

I really liked the episode here are some of my thoughts: 

For the episode as a whole, this last week I was 100% on the “burn KL” bandwagon, but that was too much. Like it went bad fast. I didn’t expect that much damage. It was very sad to see the reactions of people in the city, Jon, Davos, Arya, Tyrion. Too see everything they’ve wanted just crumble literally to ash. 

Here’s some thoughts on the characters: 

Sandor - very sad about his death. I really like the convo he had with Arya about becoming him. Like his entire life was filled with rage and that lead him to lead a very lonely life. So sad he died in fire though. 

Arya - I am glad she made it out alive, but I’m more glad that she wasn’t the one to kill Cersei! 

Jon - I feel so bad for him. He chose Dany’s side and watch Varys be executed and I think on the scene where the sound was low and you could just hear him breathing, I think that was when he realized he did choose the wrong side. We know Jon has never wanted to be a leader at all, his whole life he’s been the “second” tier. I think it’s safe to say that he will probably end up on the throne.

Varys - Just want to say real quick, that I’ve seen a lot of people saying that his “men choose power” comment was like sexist, but I’m pretty sure he meant like “man kind”. Like the people choose who they want to lead, and it’s obvious people are choosing Jon. He wasn’t a fave of mine, but it was sad to see him go.

Cersei / Jamie - I am so glad that Cersei died. I wanted to her to suffer a worse fate, because imo, dying in Jamies arms was the best way to die for her. I really wanted him to kill her because, once again, I was on the bandwagon of “he loves Brienne and is going to KL to kill Cersei and said mean things to Brienne because he knew Dany would burn KL down”. So I was very sad to see that he would always love Cersei. I think that acting from Lena was the once of her best performances for GoT. Like he going from denial thinking the scorpions and Iron Fleet were going to save them and the fear finding out that Dany was winning and then her really crying trying to escape. I don’t like Cersei at all. I wanted her death to come like 4 seasons earlier, but Lena did amazing. As for Jamie, in the words of Tyra Banks “WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU! HOW DARE YOU!”

Euron - finally. Wanted Jamie or Cersei to tell him he was never a King and was never going to be a father though. 

Grey Worm - I am most disappointed in him. Even if Dany hadn’t gone mad, he really was the start of the massacre, because that’s what it was. The battle of KL went from just that, a battle. Dany won, and when she started burning down the place, the soldiers could have saved hundreds of people, like Jon and the Winterfell soldiers tried to do. I get 100% that he wanted to avenge Missandei, but Missandei’s entire life was filled with fear and hatred and that’s exactly what Grey Worm and Dany put KL through. If they would have stopped when the KL guard laid their weapons down, THAT would have been the vengeance Missandei would have wanted. They finally won what they had been fighting for this entire time. 

Dany - Okay so before I start I want to say that Dany is my fave, I’m part of @targaryensource for Daenerys, so don’t send me any hate pls lol. Okay  also before I start, I want to also say that I am 100% here for Mad Daenerys and that’s mostly because I have never been the viewer to want things to “change” or fit my views, ofc I have my own opinions and wants from shows, but I take the shows as they are! 

So let’s start with the bells, I DO NOT think the sound of bells is what turned Dany mad, she didn’t her the dingle and was like ???!!! I think it’s what they represented and what that meant to her. Let’s start with her early life, her and Viserys spent their lives alone, their entire life, they had nothing. They were in hiding. I didn’t like Viserys but if we take into account why he was the way he was, then we can understand. Dany was the same, she feared Viserys and him releasing the “dragon”. Then she was forced to marry Drogo, and she fell in love with him and that was the first thing that was “hers” that she lost. She also lost her brother, and even though he was an abuser, that’s one of the only people she had. 

Then she had the dragons. I don’t think she was so naive that she wouldn’t kill, but I think her killing that witch in order to bring the dragons was a big step for her character. So throughout the seasons she raised the dragons, and we can guess that she spent a lot of alone time, sitting by the fire with those dragons. Then two of them were murdered in front of her. 

Skip to Jorah and Missandei, I could write an entire book on their relationship with Dany, but we know and once again, she lost something she never had before, love and friendship.

My timeline is all over the place but let me add in finding out her father really was this “mad king” and an overall terrible person. Finding out that her brother wasn’t the monster they mad him out to be. Those, good or bad, for her must have been devastating because again all she probably had growing up was her thoughts and memories of what they had / should have had. 

I don’t want to really get into Jon x Dany, but I will say that the thought of her losing what she was raised her whole life believing was rightfully hers to someone she loved was also a big deal. He didn’t want it, but I think Varys said it right when he said  “men choose”. Seems like every group Jon comes into contact with choose him over Dany, and she’s noticed. I don’t think it has anything to do with him being a man. Like look at Cersei, she’s had men, but she’s always in power. I think it’s because of who he is and what he’s been through. Everyone knows of the Starks and when Eddard and Robb both have done for Westeros, and specifically the North, so Jon is the next, even though he’s always been “the bastard”. 

So I think that it wasn’t the jingle of bells that set her off, I think it was the thought of everything she had lost, now the people that essentially took it from her (not the people as individuals, but KL as the capital, as the symbolism) are giving up, but it’s still not enough. 

Now don’t get me wrong, obviously she killed probably thousands of people due to hatred, BUT I’m just saying that her entire life she’s only ever had a handful of people care for her unconditionally, and even more recent, shown the unconditional loyalty to not only her cause, but to her. And I think that’s what sent her off, the bells signaling surrender, but that isn’t enough to make up for what she lost. 

I’ve literally told all my GoT friends (literally two lol) that my wishes for the end is when Dany had that “dream” (vision?) when she was in the throne room, but left the throne and went to her baby and Drogo… remember that snowy scene? I want that to be re-done, but maybe like how everyone’s saying Jon kills her, like if Jon stabs her, and she stumbles into the throne room, and it’s not snow this time, it’s ashes and right as she touches the arm of the throne, she falls in front of the throne and dies. LOL that would be IT. 

Okay so those are my thoughts, and like I said, I’m here for Mad Daenerys, I’m not one to make a fuss over shows, so I can fully appreciate and enjoy the series, even s8. I love it, I got the main things I’ve wanted so far, Cersei dying, Euron dying and since we won’t be getting Dany as queen, I’ll be happy with Jon. 

[audio-sexual]

No one would be mad if Steve had consistently been longing for Peggy. It feels like they shoehorned Peggy in.

They’d already visited him moving him on. He’d already accepted that Peggy had married & moved on. He did too. It was badly written that he would suddenly make that decision despite having done work to move on (therapy), building a family in the here & now, & not to mention that his solo movies basically revolved around the (platonic or otherwise) love between Steve & Bucky. How he had regrets about not getting to have that shot with Peggy but he literally risked everything to keep Bucky by his side? Steve’s ending along with a lot of other plot points & characterizations in Endgame felt...regressive & sloppy & very “heteronormatively ever after”.

Particularly with the two guys whose relationship brushed up against Marvel’s no homo alarm too hard. Which is sad. B/c as far as we know they’re both straight & into women but two masculine men having an unbreakable bond where they’re literally shown to be emotionally vulnerable for & to each other just got shoved 5 feet apart in a hottub b/c they don’t even want the appearance of a less than rigidly super heterosexual.

In the end, anyone who didn’t fit this trope lost out on a real ending. They were tossed to the wayside. We’re supposed to believe that after closing thar chapter in TWS, Steve was just ready to throw away everything for Peggy while not even acknowledging when Bucky returns from the dead? Like I get it. Steve gets the life that he possibly would have had back...even though it really mucks up their ideas of playing in timelines(the writers & directors aren’t even on thr same wavelength about this) but it all...played so badly. Even for him to be there old & still not even speak to Bucky? Weird. It’s not weird Sam got the shield, he’s literally Captain America now in the comics & it would look mighty sus to bypass him.

But Avengers spent alll these movies building them up as a found family, even when they fought against each other...for them to pay dust to that same concept.

!Endgame Spoiler!

FYI this is my opinion. I just want to say something, because the negativity around this topic bothers me a bit.

@ all the people calling out Steve for leaving Sam & Bucky for Peggy:

Why can’t he be happy? Why don’t you let him be happy?

He couldn’t be 100% happy in the 21st century, as he wasn’t able to find peace. So he went back to Peggy like he said the love of his life.

I get your point that he left Sam & Bucky, but they have each other. Why is no one talking about that? Bucky and Sam are friends.

And Steve didn’t give the shield to Bucky, because he wants him to find peace and stay out of fights. And Sam seemed pretty happy about it, he doesn’t mind fighting.

I think Steve’s happiness shouldn’t depend on anyone else but himself. He doesn’t owe anything to Sam or Bucky and they want him to be happy as well.

They are all grown men, even though people sometimes put them into scenarios of children/ teenager or treat them like that (which is a problem in so many fandoms, in my opinion)

[firebirdsdaughter]

Oh, yeah!...

... How could I forget!

I’ve got my tea... (well, not that tea, not yet)... Time to rewatch the Zi-O 22 raw for rambles!

In no order:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really don’t care, Kuro Woz.

In other news, Shiro Woz was actually weirdly tolerable this episode. I fully expect him to go back to being a manipulative bastard next week, though.

Oh god, I guess I have to get used to the guy, since we’re apparently keeping him. I still say bring back Woz.5. I loved him.

Even the suit actor is doing the head tilt.

I am now significantly more concerned about that shot in the opening of Sougo walking away from the other two...

When is Trinity coming out, again? The boys will have to be getting along by then...

Now, see, they’re alone, so Geiz is like ‘okay, I can admit to having feelings again.’

Well, I guess that question got answered by the end of the episode.

I think Junichiro wanted Sougo to deliver something, but Sougo got stuck in the mirror world (also some angel put the thing about Geiz freaking out when Sougo got pulled into the window on the TV Tropes Heartwarming page for Zi-O and I thank them so very, very much), so now he’s trying to get Geiz and Tsukuyomi to do it.

Geiz was gonna straight up henshin right in front of Junichiro if an enemy came out of the mirror, oh my god. XD

EVERYONE’S EXPRESSIONS IN THIS SCENE.

I just love how Geiz goes from ‘ready to fight it’ to ‘WTF?’ to ‘Oh yeah, he’s here’ to pretty much just checking out of the whole situation over the course of a minute or so.

Seriously, Gaku’s expressions in this scene were golden. Shirei’s, too.

I think that’s her name. I’m slowly learning their names but names are hard.

Geiz is like ‘you’re an idiot, fine, I’ll explain.’ I guess the reason is that their Rider Kicks have slightly different effects. I didn’t even think of that. Interesting.

Tsukuyomi is so frustrated by Geiz’s lack of self preservation and that is very valid of her.

Hm... Okay, so having given it some thought, I think part of Sougo’s muted reactions are that he’s one of those people who projects a cheery exterior all the time and bottles stuff up. So, like, when his ‘negative’ (so to speak--like sadness, pain, anger, all that stuff) emotions show even a little bit, it’s like the tip of the iceberg. Which isn’t healthy, but it’s a possible explanation. I still wish they had made him react even a little more at the end, but that’s just my opinion.

Geiz just freaking teleported to the door there.

Geiz feels bad bc he actually considered going through with Shiro Woz’s idea. And he probably feels bad about feeling bad about that, bc he’s a soldier, and soldiers are supposed to complete their mission no matter the cost.

I guess she’s looking at Sougo, but it feels like she’s looking right at me, and even though she’s pretty and I love her, that sort of thing always makes me uncomfortable. I can’t look real people in the eye, stop trying to make me look tv characters in the eye!

Aw! There’s something twistedly heartwarming about Mirror¡Sougo tormenting Sougo about his relationship w/ Geiz. Good drama.

Also, I remain alone on the casual SouGeiz raft and it is still funny. XD

Sou Okuno remains much too cute for me to be frightened of him in any capacity.

I really wanna know what that line said. Something about Geiz and Puma Zi-O, but I don’t know.

Well, Sougo just died. (by which I mean, he fell over)

WAGA KYUURANGERS.

Shiro Woz being suspiciously tolerable. I’m sure he’ll be back to his usual manipulative jackass self next ep.

Aw! Tsukuyomi is breaking out the Hawk Droid now!

I keep getting this incredibly in depth Chinese State Farm ad and it’s hilarious.

Shiro Woz is dead now, too.

Honestly, he’s on the right track.

Yes, he is technically Kamen Rider Ryuki. By which we mean, he was Kamen Rider Ryuki, but then time got totally rewritten so that he wasn’t. Twice!

Not that I think he enjoyed it that much the first time... At leats he met Ron, though. Man, this is making me want to go back and watch Ryuki proper.

Lessons for the Mirror World: Don’t talk to your Mirror Self, it’s a bad idea. Also something about accepting yourself.

He looks different w/ short hair and older, but every now and then, he turns his head or makes a particular face, and it’s like ‘yeah, that’s him, that’s the boy.’

Shiro Woz died again.

I’m just gonna start assuming that Rider and Sentai weapons magically go back to their pocket dimension as soon s they’re thrown offscreen (thinks of all those times in Ex-Aid where you could literally hear them hitting the ground somewhere).

WAGA KYUURANGERS.

And thar he go. Goddamnit, Geiz.

Kudos to Okuno for pulling off as truly adorable and hilarious confused Mirror¡Sougo face for this whole scene. He’s just like ‘wth, dude?’

See, this is part of why I think Sougo’s the ‘hide all my ‘negative’ emotions’ kinda person. Bc he’s like ‘I’m really scared’ but he’s never shown it. Which isn’t healthy, sweetie, please talk to someone. Who... Isn’t your Mirror World self.

If they do do ‘balance of light and dark’ thing for Zi-O, I really hope they do a thing about Geiz and Tsukuyomi being his sort of ‘main anchors’ for the ‘light’ part. If that makes any sense.

Me when someone falls over in Toku ‘Whelp, he’s dead.’ Me when someone actually dies in Toku ‘Nah, he’s fine.’

WAGA KYUURANGERS.

Man, though, I hope they don’t remember the entirety of the time reset. Bc he’d have to remember dying, and she’d have to remember him dying in her arms. And they’re EIGHTEEN.

Shiro Woz.exe has stopped working.

Also, in that overhead shot, you can totally see Another Ryuga standing next to the tree before he respawns. XD ^^

Or maybe that’s a crew member. Either way. ^^ XD

Still wish they coulda given him more of a reaction, but I can justify it. He prefers to keep things in, and he probably guessed what the situation would be when he got there and was mentally preparing the whole way. Still wish we coulda had a small ‘mentally prepared but not quite ready for the real thing’ moment. I guess he does seem a little perturbed, but... Nrgh.

Spent several minutes rewatching this part, partially for angst lover reasons, and partially bc I was trying to see if I could see Gaku still breathing even though he’s playing dead. I actually didn’t notice any moments, but maybe someone else did.

God, I hope he didn’t hold his breath that whole time. Though who knows. Maybe he has the breath holding skills of an olympic swimmer.

I accidentally paused on a shot of Kuro Woz while Shiro Woz was flying into the scene to grab him and it looked kinda hilarious.

Keisuke be like ‘Hello, my suit actor!’ ^^ Poor boy over here talking to himself.

So what is going to happen w/ these two? Will the Wozes fuse? Will there be a third, true Woz? Will he not be a manipulative jerk-face? The questions are numerous.

Also, what’s the history between him and Geiz? I care more about it bc of Geiz than bc of Woz.

But also... Woz Fight!

CUTE. Makes one remember all the hijinks that went on at the office.

See? That’s Sougo reacting to something. :/

Now the other two are worried though, bc that’s a Puma Zi-O power. God, please, please don’t break up the Zi-Ot3. I’m putting my faith in you, dude who wrote Ninninger! I mean, you gave us Kinji and the Igasakis! (crap, that was the family name, right?) Admittedly, slightly lower stakes, but I’m counting on yooooooooouuuuuuu! *continues howling off into the distance for no reason*

But Geiz is straight up like ‘it’s my fault,’ the poor baby. Like. He’s not even blaming Sougo. He seems to be saying that he caused Sougo to make that choice. Bc the online translator says something like ‘led him’ to that ‘path’? Then gain, the online image translator also like to periodically translates things as ‘it’s all about sex’ and for the life of it cannot decide on what ‘Ouma Zi-O’ translate as. My favourite remains ‘the ostrich.’

Tsukuyomi apparently makes a note that one isn’t supposed to ‘play with time or someone’s life’ and now I’m like... About... Two or three of Sougou’s ‘steps’ towards becoming Puma Zi-O were bc he was trying to save Geiz? What if... What if the reason he became Puma Zi-O was that breaking the ‘rules’ of time does mess w/ your head and he kept using to to try and save Geiz from himself, or something... Like, wasn’t there some other time travel thing about the universe really trying to kill someone and someone else trying to prevent it? Like, coming back to my ‘die to prevent Puma Zi-O’ thing. If it’s something like that... Like, what if it seems like in the end that most sure way to prevent Puma Zi-O w/out killing Sougo is just letting Geiz die? I mean. He’d accept it in a heartbeat, I’m pretty sure, but if it does come to that, I’d prefer they found a third miracle option.

Of course, she could actually be saying something else entirely and I just went off on an aimless tangent.

But Geiz’s face during this talk... Like, I definitely think he's upset bc at this point he doesn’t want to kill Sougo at all anymore, and he also now feels like he’s responsible for destroying the future on one hand and starting the process that turned adorable little Sougo into Puma Zi-O on the other. My poor baby.

Also Tsukuyomi is talking directly at me again, and it is still making me uncomfortable!

And now they both stand there and look kinda sad.

Where the hell are they, anyway? Why’d they come back out here?

Shut up Kuro Woz, I don’t care.

Also, hi Kikai! ^^

And now for a completely clashing goofy promo!

I am still nervous, and the tea and shirts are ready to go, but one of the preview images looked like the boys having a normal conversation, so I’m still hedging my bets. Do right by me, Ninninger man! Not that I have anything to offer if you don’t, but, you know....

Okay, maybe I’ll buy something.

That’s all folks! Virtual lemon meringue pie for anyone who read all that nonsense. Or whatever type of pie you like. If you don’t like pie, cookies or cake or anything is fine.

Still hoping for good friendship drama. Love the Zi-Ot3, suspicious of how tolerable Shiro Woz was this ep. Suppose I’ll have to get used to him, since we're apparently keeping him. Now instilled w/ a desire to rewatch Ryuki.

Tea and shirts remain on standby.

[tessatechaitea]

The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #4

Can we call a moratorium on using The Vitruvian Man as the basis for comic book covers?

"I can't put my finger on why it looks like they're both pondering the situation?" I think as I stroke my chin and ponder the situation.

Captain Atom, in his civilian identity of Cameron Scott, has hired a detective to find his son. She has a robot leg so wounded vets have a character with which to identify. This turns out to intersect with one of my hobbyhorses:

Close-up shots of women's legs while wearing skirts!

Captain Atom's first mission as a government tool is to figure out why a man being put to death who was hit by one of Captain Atom's Quantum Tantrum Blasts has remained in a stasis field for five years. His name is Max Thrane and I bet he winds up taking some kind of stupid super villain name like Max Power! A STAR Labs scientist is on the scene to explain how they know the things they know about the "Temporal Warp Bubble." See, they know time is stopped inside the bubble because Max Thrane hasn't grown any facial hair! But even though time has stopped, his heart is still beating, though slowed down exponentially. Yes, he said exponentially. I have doubts he means it in the literal sense. He probably just means "slowed down a lot!" Which means maybe he should have said it's slowed down logarithmically? I'm beginning to doubt this scientist's scientific credentials. You can't just say he's from STAR Labs and get me to buy into his nonsense! Max Thrane manages to absorb a bunch of Captain Atom's power and escape his Temporal Warp Bubble. He also escapes the prison. What he most likely doesn't escape is the plot to this comic book. I'm sure Captain Atom will hunt him down and defeat him in the rematch. Captain Atom's detective tracks down Captain Atom's kid and his name is Genji. Which reminds me it's time to play Overwatch! Goodbye! The Ranking! No change! Captain Atom may have had trouble tracking down Genji but Dr. Megala has been keeping an eye on him and experimenting on him in secret for years. So far, he hasn't shown any signs of being a superhero. But I'm sure that will change when his dad tries to hug him and he's all, "Where were you when I was growing up?! DADDY ISSUES!" Then his Quantum Pilot Light will flare up and he'll be Captain Atom Kid!