#we're not gonna address what the hat says

[genericpuff]

The Derivative Fashion Sense of Lore Olympus

So I'm usually out here going Gordon Ramsay on Rachel's ass about her writing and art, but for this unsolicited essay I will be wearing a different hat.

Yep, we're going Miranda Priestly today. Specifically the Miranda Priestly who talks fashion, not the Miranda Priestly who abuses employees lmao (though rest assured, I'm gonna have a lot of curt words throughout this).

Disclaimer: I am not at all an expert on fashion, these are just my thoughts and observations from studying fashion styles as part of my own artistic journey, so as always, take what I have to say with loads of salt. I also realize the irony that I am addressing the derivative nature of Lore Olympus when I, myself, am creating a derivative retelling of Lore Olympus.

Alright, enough small talk.

There's this general misconception in runway fashion that all those "impractical outfits" are meant to be worn by the average person, people such as myself who see these outfits and go "what the fuck do you mean Lady Gaga wore a dress made out of meat?!" When we see these crazy fits, our first impression is often "Why would anyone wear that?"

Well, because they aren't outfits. They're art pieces.

And not only are the outfits themselves art pieces, but the people wearing them are the canvases. These outfits aren't designed for just anyone to wear, especially not your average Joe, they're designed both with the artist's vision as well as the model in mind. A lot of thought, expression, cultural influences, and personal messaging is sewn into these designs.

Think about it this way, you couldn't take that aforementioned Gaga meat dress and put it on Taylor Swift. Not only would it not be physically tailored to her, but it wouldn't align with Swift's brand of music. Gaga, at the time of wearing that dress, was making a statement that came about from a collaborative effort between herself, the canvas, and her fashion designer, the artist. The meaning would be lost if you put Swift, Katy Perry, or any other musician into it, because the fact that Gaga is the one wearing it is part of that meaning.

What would happen if you did take the meat dress and put it on someone else? Well, that's how you get the controversial 2022 Met Gala when Kim Kardashian wore the sequin dress that Marilyn Monroe wore for JFK back in 1962.

Not a replica. Not a re-interpretation. The actual literal dress that Monroe once wore. This was a very bold - and in my opinion, reckless - move on Kim's part, because not only was she forcing herself into a dress not tailored to her (and yes, there has been deliberation on what damage was caused to the dress on account of this) but rather than working with a fashion designer to come up with a fresh new interpretation of the same concept, she just went "yeah I'm gonna wear the exact dress", in what many interpreted as a disrespectful power move to artificially put herself on the same level of prestige as Monroe. But she still isn't on that level of prestige and it speaks volumes that she thought carving out her own legacy would be as simple as just taking someone else's. The wolf wore the sheep's clothing with the intent to fool the sheep, but it was still a wolf.

But okay okay, WHAT does this have to do with Lore Olympus?

Well, Rachel released a new interview clip.

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A post shared by Rachel Smythe (@usedbandaid)

I will say, these seem to have all been recorded at once probably when she was back at NYCC and they're probably going to be released daily leading up to the free release of the finale. Why they're hyping up the free version rather than hyping up the FastPass version that actually generates income, I have no clue, but I digress.

As always, the transcript is as follows:

"I really like looking at like, uh, vintage clothing and silhouettes that are... y'know, timeless. I mean, obviously it's really hard to future-proof work that's set in the modern setting because of course the times are gonna change, like, rapidly and there's not a lot you can do about it, but in terms of, like, fashion, there are just some silhouettes that are always going to look very classy, so... I try to put things that will not age. Like, I think there was a chapter recently where she [Persephone?] had like a very vintage Dior look which I really liked, um... and I feel like that will always look nice, like in 10 years time I'll be like, 'She looked good'. But there are some outfits which are more modern where I'm like, 'That probably won't look good in 10 years time'. But, y'know, we still got the inspired vintage Dior outfit so that's good, that's safe."

There isn't much to say about the actual transcribed text itself, but I do think it's very telling that Rachel tries to upsell her sense of fashion sense in LO when... much of it is just flat out derivative. At best she's often referencing real life people (mostly Hollywood celebrities) and at worst she's usually just grabbing stuff off Pinterest inspo boards without any consideration towards the influences or who she's putting into them.

That said, I do think she told on herself quite a bit in that final line of the interview clip - "that's good, that's safe."

I can understand wanting to play it safe in terms of knowing your limitations and not wanting to create something that would be dated in a few years.

But fashion... isn't about playing it safe. Because ultimately, how something ages in the long term isn't something that you, the artist, can control, and like many art mediums, you need to be focused on what to create next, not on how well your old art pieces still hold up in the present where they've been removed from their original context.

And I think this rings true for a lot of Lore Olympus, beyond just the fashion. It's all just a little too safe. We see it in the fashion, we see it in her uncommitted writing decisions, we see it in how often she's willing to retcon things just to write herself out of corners.

And I think that's really Rachel's biggest weakness as a creator at the end of the day. As much as she's tried to put on the persona of "screw you, I'll do what I want", her actions are always the opposite of what she says. She says that the fashion in LO is very vintage, but I can count on one hand how many outfits were actually vintage. The vast majority of them are a lot more modern, with a lot of Western influences, and sometimes with a boob window thrown in.

Case in point, the most recent outfit of Persephone wearing a practically-nude sparkle dress?

That's Rihanna's Swarovski dress that she wore in 2014.

Now, to Rachel's credit, she did find a way to personalize this to Persephone by removing the cap and giving her a rose-shaped bun, but the outfit itself is still just copied directly from Rihanna. Not only is there not a whole lot of Persephone's influence beyond her being literally made out of roses-

-but there isn't anything calling attention to the fact that this is a Greek myth retelling. And this isn't just a problem with the Swarovski dress callback, this is a problem EVERYWHERE.

And of course, that's not even touching on the fact that Hades and Hecate are forced to wear suits constantly. Because, according to Rachel, the fashion inspiration for Hades and Persephone only went as deep is "he's the groom and she's the bride"-

Rachel plays it safe by sticking purely to the inspirations she consumes from modern American media. The "modern twist" on the myths in LO is literally just "it's Greek myth but it's set in Los Angeles". She doesn't seem to want to put herself out there and actually consume Greek content any deeper than what she can find on Google, and it shows in how little Greek there is in this Greek myth comic.

There is, ironically, as I've been told by community members in ULO, a fashion collection called Persephone created by Paolo Sebastian, and in it you can see the actual Greek influences in these outfits far more than what you see in even Persephone's most visually stunning outfits:

These are dresses and yet Paolo uses them as an opportunity to tell the story of Persephone, somehow even more faithfully than an actual written adaption of The Hymn to Demeter. Because fashion, too, can tell a story - and Lore Olympus' fashion, like its writing, has no story to really tell, at least not in Rachel's hands when she's just pulling whatever she can find from what she treats as a pile of "stuff" on Google.

And that's not even getting into how the writing plays it safe much in the same way as the fashion influences and artistic choices. A good example is that S3 premiere sequence, in which Hades and Persephone are pulled away from each other so that... they can get washed down by their family and peers.

Rachel doesn't really do anything to re-contextualize this reference for the context and setting and circumstances of LO, she just goes "I liked that bath scene from Beauty and the Beast so I'm going to put it in LO."

And of course, it doesn't work as effectively as it did in Beauty and the Beast, because the whole original point of that scene was to showcase the big and scary Beast being washed down like a dog by his servants-turned-into-furniture while he stresses over how he's going to win over Belle. It's a comedic subversion, artistically by showing the ferocious beast reduced into a wet dog, but also on a narrative level by showing through his dialogue and actions how nervous he is to impress Belle because his own fate - as well as the fates of his servants - depend on her falling in love with him. He can't afford to mess this up.

But in LO, it's two naked people who we already know love each other and are committed to each other, we've already seen countless scenes of them being sweet on each other and showcasing that they're into each other, and by all accounts they've already gotten their happy ending, so it makes no sense for them to just be like "OMG SHE LIKES ME?? I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE LIKES ME!" "should I seduce him?!?!??" because this seems like a no-brainer and there's zero actual stakes riding on this the way that there was with Belle and the Beast. Plus the people washing them down aren't their servants who are in the same situation as them, they're random gods from the Pantheon whose affiliation ranges from "family" to "never even had a conversation before". One of the women washing down Persephone has literally never spoken a single line of dialogue to her; another one of them was literally dumped by her partner because he wanted Persephone more than her. Who are these people and why are they enthusiastically appearing to give her a bath? Why is Hades being given a scrub down by his own brother?

And that's really the most striking difference between inspired references and derivative ones. Undertale was a game created by a guy who was in love with retro games like Earthbound and Megaman. Stardew Valley was a game created by a guy who loved Harvest Moon and used to play it with his girlfriend. Content that's built on the foundation of another is natural and the basis of inspiration, but you have to go further with it than just going "yeah this thing existed and I'm taking it", otherwise you miss the purpose of why those inspirations were created the way they were.

And when you don't actually explore how you can re-interpret those influences and add your own voice into them, that's how you wind up writing like Rachel whose writing is about as inspired as a cheap character swap cutaway gag from Family Guy.

Rachel's great at referencing, but that's not at all an impressive thing to do as proven by Peter Griffin. She's not at all re-contextualizing or expanding on what inspired her... but she still claims that she's exactly what she's doing because she calls Lore Olympus a "deconstruction". But her deconstruction only ever goes so far as "well what if Aphrodite left Ares for Hephaestus instead of the other way around?" and then just showing that question and never answering it or delivering on the potential of what that could cause. At best, she'll ask a "what if?" but then never actually show us the what if, it begins and ends with the question and the question itself doesn't provoke any thought deeper than "huh, yeah, that would be neat I guess." Episode's over, next scene. What if we showed that clip of Bill O'Reilly freaking out on set, but like, replaced it with Stewie Griffin and changed nothing else about it except for that? That's the joke, next scene.

I know, we're digressing hard off the fashion here, but the fashion itself is just a symptom of a much bigger problem that expands even beyond Lore Olympus - Rachel plays things way too safe. Even her responses in her interviews are painfully subdued, often resorting to the same tired answers that we've heard 823190589320 times before to the same hand-picked questions that are undoubtedly chosen ahead of time to ensure she doesn't have to answer anything too complicated. And when she does say "I have thoughts about xyz" she never actually... expresses her thoughts. She just says she does and then moves on without any further elaboration because she can't wholeheartedly commit to whatever thoughts she has going on.

Granted, I'm sure that part of that is owed to the fact that she might feel like she can't say anything while the critics are breathing down her neck. I can understand that. But it's gotten so chronic that it's now bleeding into the work itself and it's led to even more criticism of her work. Need I remind you that this is the same person who copy pasted the definition of "xenia" from a first result Google search into her comic instead of naturally writing it into the script:

Rachel played it so safe that she basically treated her own audience like kindergartners by explaining what a scene meant even after explaining it in the text:

As true as it is in fashion, writing stories and making art takes risks. That doesn't mean you have to completely throw caution to the wind, but if you don't take risks, you do yourself the disservice of writing something that can truly be called unique and special to you. If you don't use your influences wisely, if you don't analyze and re-analyze what's influenced you over the years, you're going to wind up losing a lot of subtext in those influences and missing out on the opportunity to add your own voice into the re-interpretation. Rachel does take a lot of risks in LO, but they're not calculated risks, they're not risks that actually have any meaning behind them, she's sort of just throwing stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks, and worst of all, when it doesn't stick, she herself doesn't stick to it, she backpedals, she cowers away from the decisions she's made.

Rachel expressed her worries about depicting fashion that would become aged, but Lore Olympus is already aged through her own inability to commit to her decisions, take risks, and find her voice. It's aged itself through its poor interpretations of the myth, it's aged itself through its reliance on Tumblr tropes that have already been replaced tenfold, and it's aged itself through Rachel herself riding off the initial innovation of creating Lore Olympus and then never continuing to challenge herself or raise the bar for herself.

It proves true the discussion around why Lore Olympus became popular - at the time, it was groundbreaking, drawn in a style that we hadn't seen much of before, with fresh new takes on the myth; now, in 2024, its 'takes' feel tired and half-baked, and its art style has become a corporate-scrubbed shell of what it once was. And yet, Rachel is still rewarded for it all the same, so settling for comfortable mediocrity has become the name of the game.

Rachel may be trying as hard as the Disney life action remakes and Kim Kardashian to put herself on the same pedestal as the greats of yesteryear simply by copying what they did, but in playing it this safe and refusing to find her own voice out of the voices that influenced her, Lore Olympus isn't timeless. It's soulless.

[livesworthlivingau]

Lives Worth Living Chapter 30

Spoilers for ISAT/Two Hats below! CW: Screaming, Arguing, Mental Spiraling, Mentions of stabbing/murder, Mentions of suicide with intent to loop.

"Sif! Sif just hold on a second, we need to talk about this!" (Isa shouts out after you as you storm out of your room and down the stairs, finding everyone else waiting in front room of the house.)

"You told them?!" (You shout at Nille. She looks at Bonnie with a sigh, they've clearly been crying a lot, sitting on the couch and hugging a pillow.)

"Bonnie had their window open… They heard everything." (You stop in your tracks. Your heart sank as you looked back at Bonnie again. They didn't look back at you, just looking down at the ground. No no no… Why'd it have to be them…)

"Bonnie, I…" (You start to step closer. They pull away, trying to avoid you…)

"Siffrin, we need to talk about this. Please just take a breath." (Odile starts, Isa making it down the stairs after you and crossing his arms, a worried look on his face.)

"But there's nothing to talk about! I'm fine! And it wasn't even their fault! Please, you don't have to make a big deal out of this!"

"Sif… We can't just let this go without at least talking about this, they stabbed you for change sake!"

"… I'm fine."

"People who are fine don't tend to forgive being stabbed so easily." (Odile snaps. Mirabelle joins in to try and help diffuse you.)

"P-Please Siffrin! We're only worried because we care about you! We just want to understand what happened."

"There's nothing to understand! It happened, it's over, it's fine! They won't do it again!"

"How can you be so sure of that? Did you think it would happen the first time?"

"No, but-"

"You're putting us in danger just as much as you are yourself if you don't just talk to us about this."

"N-No! They'd never hurt you! That's not-"

"But they'd hurt you? That's still not very reassuring Siffrin."

"SHUT UP!!!" (You finally snap, gripping your hair and shutting your eye tight. Your heart races in a panic before you feel Isa's hands carefully hold you.)

"M'dame, I don't think your strategy is helping…" (He sternly states as he tries to comfort you. You hear Odile let out a heavy sigh.)

"Sorry… You're right, I'm just frustrated."

"L-Let's just all take a second to calm down and then go from there, okay?" (The question seems to be directed at you. You finally start to calm down just enough to avoid shouting again.)

"… I can't talk about it… A-and I can't…" (You feel a tear start to trail down your cheek.)

"I can't lose them again…" (You start to break down crying before Isa pulls you into a tight embrace.)

"Sif, it's okay… We're just trying to understand. How would you feel if this happened to one of us? You'd want to make sure we were safe as possible, right?" (You sniffle wipe your tears with your arm, trying to calm down again.)

"Yeah… Yeah, you're right…" (You mumble before Nille finally manages to chime in.)

"I care about them too Sif, but this isn't something to just ignore. We just gotta talk this out is all, we're not gonna send them off into the woods or anything like that."

"Of course you'd say that…"

"Bonnie, please just give them a chance to explai-"

"NO! NO I'M NOT GONNA! THEY HURT FRIN!!! WHY ARE YOU TWO OKAY WITH THIS?! STUPIDFRIN! STUPIDNILLE! I HATE THEM AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!" (Bonnie screams, running up the stairs back to their room, tears pouring down their face. Nille starts to follow for a couple steps before sighing out, crossing her arms.)

"Crab… How am I gonna fix this?…"

"They do have a point." (Odile chimes in again.)

"I can somewhat understand why Siffrin would forgive them, but why aren't you more upset by this Petronille?" (She perks up as she was addressed, her expression dropping.)

"… I'm definitely upset about it, but it's got to do with that secret of theirs. It's real hard to explain without it."

"Then perhaps the time for secrets is over. The only way I can see any of this going well is if everything is laid out on the table. If you both hope for them to fit in, we have to know." (You glance over at Nille, who looks back to you with a nod.)

"I think she's right Frin… Vale's gotta get this out, one way or another." (You pause for a long moment, trying to think of a way this can go well, imagining the way to make this easiest on Vale, because they were right. It has to be done.)

"… Okay… Okay, let's go get them…"

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

"... You really think this is a good idea?" (You ask with a sigh.)

"Not exactly, but I'm not sure what other choice we got..."

(You and Nille stand in the hallway of the Inn's second floor, speaking softly to not disturb anyone. Your thoughts begin to drift towards the idea of looping, but you quickly shut those thoughts out. No! we can't start relying on that again...)

"So... Who should say it?"

"For the love of Change, You and Vale really are the same." (She half jokes with a roll of her eyes, knocking on the door to stop you from stalling.)

"Hey Vay, You up?" (You hear a bit of shuffling from behind the door. A few moments later it opens wide to show Vale with a bright yet fake smile plastered on their face. It cracks as they spot you, especially with the expression that must be on your face right now...)

"... What is it, Stardust?"

[joanquill]

"Wanna go dance?"

May you make this with Mycroft, please? romantic relationship fluff)

Mycroft Holmes

"(Y/N), do you remember the favor you owe me?" Mycroft asked as you entered his home office, making you look at him skeptically across the desk.

"Yeah...? Why?" you questioned as he gave you an open letter.

"I believe I will be using it for this," he explained as you read the letter.

"You're going to a Valentine's dance?" you questioned with a chuckle, scanning the letter invitation addressed to Mycroft as he wryly smiled and stood up from his seat.

"Yes... And they require us to bring a plus one," he added, taking the invitation from your hands and sitting back down.

"Great! I'm sure we can find someone in no time," you supported, earning a raised brow from Mycroft as he looked at you.

"I already have," he smirked, making you furrow your brows as he gave you a knowing look.

"...No,"

"It will be quick,"

"No,"

"You won't even need to do anything,"

"No!" you kept rejecting, but Mycroft ignored your replies as he fixed his papers.

"I'm sure there's a lot of noble ladies waiting for you to ask them to the dance," you reasoned, making him sigh.

"And yet, you're the only one I'm asking," he replied, making you huff.

"Why...?" Mycroft breathed out a smile at your question,

"Because you owe me, remember?" he deadpanned with a sarcastic smile, making you groan.

"Yeah, yeah..." you sighed, scratching your head as you tried to think of an alternative solution.

As Mycroft watched you ponder, he let out a sigh.

"I understand this is not your usual scene, but I do not understand why-"

"-I don't know how to dance..." you sheepishly said, avoiding his gaze.

"Yeah... So," you clapped your hands, "Why don't we try looking for-"

"-I can teach you," Mycroft smiled, making you freeze.

"What?"

"I can teach you," he repeated, getting up from his seat and walking towards you.

"We should be done in... two weeks or so," he muttered, observing you.

"Wouldn't it be easier to find someone else suitable?"

"And who would that be?" he challenged, making you purse your lips as no name came to mind.

"...Why is your social circle so small?" you sighed, making him chuckle.

"All the more precious you are to me, my dear," he teased as he gently pulled your chin to face him, making your face burn red as you pulled away.

"Use those words to woo some woman instead of me! Honestly, your mother has been asking me when you and Sherlock are gonna give her grandchildren..." you scolded as you walked off, making him lightly laugh as he followed you out.

"How are they? Mother and father," he asked as he followed you to the entrance.

"They're good... Been waiting for you and Sherlock to visit, though," you added, making him chuckle.

"Duly noted,"

"Oh, and do me a favor," you tapped your shoes as you grabbed your coat, "Tell Mrs. Holmes we're just friends? She doesn't believe me when I say so," you tiredly sighed, making Mycroft sadly smile.

"...I'll see what I can do," he replied, putting on your hat and patting your head.

"Then, when do you wanna go dance? For practice," you asked as you adjusted your hat.

"You can come visit here whenever you are free to practice," he reassured, making you huff.

"All right... But don't go crying to me when your toes are bleeding after," you warned as you walked out, waving goodbye to Mycroft.

"I will mail you the medical bill," he retorted, waving goodbye as he watched you walk home, letting out a breath.

"Perhaps confirming Mother's suspicions was a mistake..."

[schlattsdoll]

fuckboi chapter one: in love with the morning light

minors dni

pairing: fratboy! jschlatt x fem!reader

warnings: drinking mentions, nicknames {pipsqueak} enemies to lovers,

notes: based on an actual mixer i went too yay!

word count:

it was another mundane day at the local college, sorority girls chatting away about what fraternities’ parties they planned on going too, football players talking about the upcoming game, and then there’s you. stuck in the middle with your small group of friends discussing party themes. charlie and ted, brothers of kappa beta, but you couldn’t forget their president, johnathan schlatt. the only member of the small kappa crew you didn’t like. he was attractive, sure, but he knew it, which made him all the more arrogant. all the girls fawned over him, instantly dumbing themselves down for a chance to go home with him. not you though, you saw through his façade and saw him for what he really was; an absolute fuckboy.

he sits down at your table in the common area, next to his vice president. "what's up pipsqueak?" jay addresses you as he pops a chip from ted's bag into his mouth. you groan at the nickname, rolling your eyes at the larger man. a signature smirk finds its way across his face while a hand runs through his chestnut locks, he continues to say something about that weekend's party theme, a KB- well any frat really- classic one at that, "beer olympics man! we haven't had a proper one in so long. c'mon everyone'll love it." ted nods in agreement, "schlatt has a point, it's a great classic theme for a reason, but how many other frats are gonna do that this week?" you chime in with a "make it more fun, make it so you pick partners out of a hat, then you're tied together all night. like literally, have string connecting people at the hip." "y/n, this is why we keep you around!" charlie smiled, rushing to make the flyer for saturday. "who knows, maybe she'll actual meet someone." schlatt chuckled as he drank his soda, leading to a swift kick from under the table from you. "i have class see you guys later." and you ran off to your next class.

you weren't in a sorority, and didn't go out much aside from when ted and charlie begged you to go to a party as it's winding down, or your roommate for that matter too. roxanne, or roxy as she liked to be called, had been your partner in crime since freshman year, and your sole confidant, telling her things not even ted and charlie know. she was a true friend, who pushed you to come out of your shell.

texting her about the party and what schlatt said to you, she quickly responded "i know you hate 'em but jay has a point. you might meet someone if you go when people are actually there." you hated to even hear the name "jay" and "right in the same sentence, but sadly he was, and so was roxy. deciding to put yourself out there, you texted her saying "i hate that you’re right. i'm texting teddy that we're going."

saturday night rolled around, you and roxy getting ready for the big night. she curls her hair while you style yours to perfection, thankful it’s cooperating with you. maybe tonight won’t be such a disaster after all, you think to yourself. as you two dig through your respective closets trying to find appropriate outfits for a frat party, you land on a black cropped cami, a pair of mom jeans and some beat up sneakers you didn’t mind getting dirty. “oh wait let’s match! so if we get paired together we look cute.” roxy said, grabbing the same top as you but in white.

as you made your way to the KB house, your stomach turned. you didn’t go out to large parties very much, and really the only people you knew were ted, charlie and roxy and schlatt unfortunately. you secretly hoped that roxy would be with ted so she can get over her crush on him, but also you wanted a chance to hang out more with your best friend in his natural habitat. walking up to the door, charlie is outside setting up a pong table. “hey! y/n, roxy, good to see you guys finally out!” he smiles kindly and hugs you both, then opens the door for you two. inside you’re greeted by a sea of people you don’t recognize. maybe not a sea, more like a large lake, but still your anxiety shot up.

ted is standing at the door, unattached from his partner who ran off with another brother. “ladies, pick your fate tonight!” he tells you with his usual dramatic flair. roxy pulls out the name and you see a j and hope it’s schlatt, but no, it was jack. “jack is uh, a little busy with kerri, my partner right now. i don’t mind taking his place roxy.” he offers to her. he presents a bit of string and ties it to the belt loop of her jeans. “i hope you’re good at pong.” roxy smiles back and secures herself to ted.

you unravel your paper and see a j as well. as you unfold more of it you see a longer name, oh no.

johnathan.

schlatt approaches you and smirks, that signature smirk you wanna slap right off his face.

“guess you’re stuck with me pipsqueak.” he ties himself to your waist. “gotta say, i’m shocked you came out tonight. don’t worry we’ll have fun.” he winked at you as you got ready for the worst night of your life.

oh how wrong you’d be.

[makriiii]

Wary accord (Arthur morgan × f!reader)

Summary: Invited to Angelo Bronte's garden party, you couldn't see anything fairing well. However, as the evening fades to night, and nothing goes wrong, you let yourself enjoy it more than you planned.

Word count: 3.4k

Authors notes: This is just a one-shot with heavily referenced themes from my ongoing series rn - Caught. I had to take a break from writing hardcore and unadulterated angst. ☠️ I'm also open to any suggestions, so send them in! ;)

Warnings/tags: Lots of fluff, 90% sfw, mentions of wounds, guns, some angst.

Ao3!

Pt1 to Caught!

♡

Wary Accord.

Jack ran into his fathers arms with glee, you were just as happy as he was that he was safe and okay.

You were sure this night would've ended in blood shed. Instead, you begrudgingly had to do Bronte's dirty work, handling some grave robbers with Arthur and John.

You didn't much enjoy partaking in being nothing more than a lackey, especially for someone like Angelo Bronte. This made even worse when you heard what Dutch had to say.

"Mr. Bronte has invited us to a garden party at the mayors house." He announced, still seeming unbelieving in the invite himself whilst he chuckled. "And us, just simple country folk."

This didn't delight you, fully willing to stay behind that day if you could, but you feared something might go awry and it'd be best if you were there to help. You felt much with Arthur and John there. Plus, that Dutch. He has his way with his words, and you trusted those words.

-

You'd been busy helping Pearson all day, the whispers of dusk finally upon the camp. Ready to relax, you sat up against a tree near Hosea looking forward to dinner when you were suddenly startled awake by Dutch.

"Come on!" He shrieked, "If we are gonna make it to this party, we sure as shit better clean up a little."

The party. You'd completely forgotten about the party. Your original plans for the night squandered.

"So we're doing this?" Arthur asks, disbelieving you were to actually attend.

"Oh yeah." Hosea acknowledged. "Old friend Dutch Van der linde has finally shown his true colours." He teases.

Hosea could always make you smile, if not full on laugh. "Social climbing." He states flatly.

"Old Signor Bronte, that horrendous snake has invited us to the ball, Cinderella." He addressed to Arthur. You'd be sure to tease him with that later on.

"So my suggestion is we go and get you a gown." He chuckles, Hosea laughing along with him.

While they walk by, you try not to catch attention, putting ur hat lower over your face, to which Hosea comes over and flicks it off.

"You too y/n. We don't want to insult Mr. Bronte." Hosea chimes in front of you chuckling softly.

You got up hesitantly to travel into town with them, knowing your fate long since been sealed.

-

Your mares gait matched Arthur's. It wasnt long since you had made it into town with a group of people you never saw yourself attending a ball with.

"Arthur?" You glance to your side to see if you had his attention.

His eyes met yours instantly when you asked his name oh-so-calmly. "What is it?"

"Have you been to a ball before?"

"No," he gives you an airy laugh. "Not too many people like me have."

"Well, I hope you know how to behave then." You poked fun at him, your usual goal.

"Yeah? And what would you know about behaving?"

"More than you I reckon. We'll see who gets booted out quickest."

"Deal." He jokes, nodding with a funny look on his face.

"You know, I hope it's not too costly, I don't see another occasion that I'll use a dress again." You murmured, trailing off into your thoughts, counting the money you had now in your head.

"I can see that," he coughs a laugh out, looking you up and down. "I've never seen you in somethin' so fancy."

Your brows furrow, knowing the meaning behind his tease.

"I'd like to see you run around in a thick skirt, Morgan. I don't think you'd be so tough anymore." A grin splits across your face as the image of him with a skirt on whilst chasing someone down on foot crosses your mind.

"You doubt me too much." He fights back a small smile that tugs at his lips. "I could outdo you first try."

You started giggling when the little Arthur in your head tripped over and tumbled in response to his bet.

He raises a brow, questioning your sudden fit of laughter with just a glance.

"You wanna take me up on that offer? We'll race." Then, you thought of bringing heels into the equation.

You stopped him before he went to speak in between wheezes, adding the heels into the challenge. Now he didn't look so confident.

"If you can find a pair of heels that would fit me." He couldn't help but give up on his faked seriousness, all while you couldn't contain yourself.

You looked down to his feet, wiping tears from your eyes as you observe his feet.

"Don't think there's any that'd fit your fat feet."

"Well then, You're outta' luck ain't ya."

You exhaled sharply, calming your chest after all that cackling. "But we have to find the perfect slipper for you, Cinderella."

"Oh, shut it-" He pauses mid sentence to point to a store with dresses and suits on display. "Think that's our place, y/n." Dutch, Bill and Hosea already dismounting in front of it.

You sat in awe as you turned your horse to the ties right outside. You hadn't noticed this the last time you were through here.

"Careful, don't lose yourself in there." He snickers, dismounting with you. Clearly you had made your gawking too obvious.

"Oh please," you swat at him as you both walk for the door. "I'm not that bad."

When he opens the door to the inside, the slightly cooler air relieved you, everything smelt fresh, polished wood and all. This wasn't a place for an outlaw, made all the clearer when you spotted the clerk.

The store clerk instantly looked taken aback by your groups presence. Maybe you should've considered leaving your guns outside.

He wasn't all for you in his store, but you greeted him as softly as you could, keeping your hands well away from your dangerous metal contraptions.

"What can I do for you... folk?" His voice shrill and accented with what you could only assume as french.

Dutch waves over Arthur, who gives you one last glance before they all go to a different part of the shop, leaving you awkwardly standing there alone.

The man walks up to you after sorting out Arthur and the rest of them. "I assume you're looking for an evening gown?"

You nod, "Yeah, something that isn't too costly?"

He hums his consideration, scanning you up and down. "Measurements?" He asks out of the blue.

Now your face flushed. You would have infinitely no idea, which made you feel even more dumb.

"I-" You look away for a moment trying to think if you even knew. "I couldn't tell you..."

He makes a noise as if he already knew, gesturing his hand at you to follow him.

He sped walk so fast to your surprise, you weren't sure why he was in such a rush, having you near to jogging just to keep up.

When you reached a paltry, bright room with fabrics adorning mannequins. He had you remove most of your outer clothing and equipment. Discarding it to a chair left of you.

He was rather swift with your measurements, wandering around to find a small selection of dresses that he said would fit, with some adjustment of course.

You picked the prettiest of the bunch, almost feeling like a little girl again. Getting a new dress. It excited you - mostly.

"I'll let you try these all on, and your little boyfriend can hobble over to see, whenever he's done. But- over there." Now he shoo'd you to a dressing room, he seemed like he was trying to get the lot of you out of his store swiftly.

The curtain slid aggressively behind you, leaving you stunned inside, which you shook off but not without an amount of confusion.

You groaned, forgetting just how much of a hassle getting on dresses was, it took you a good while each dress you tried on, thankfully only three.

Once you got down the last dress - your favorite - you heard Arthur chime from behind the curtain, startling you so bad you jumped to cover yourself.

(Leaving the dress desc vague so you can come up with your own.)

"Can I see?" He questions, a mere curtain being all that separates you. He'd seen you unclothed before, but now it felt different.

"No, I'm half-naked." You scolded, but your disgruntled attitude quickly washed away when your eyes widened with shock.

Your words had only seemed to rev him up. His hand grasped at the curtain, but you stopped it before it folded back any further, slapping away his hand.

"Quit that you no-good buzzard." You hissed, fearing that the rest of the gang would hear, which would be too much for you to bear.

He crows in response, but doesn't continue dragging the curtain further. "I've seen you much more indecent than that, y/n."

Your face runs hot with his words, prompting you to start swatting and punching at the curtain to get him away.

"Get outta here before the sales clerk thinks we're doing some silly business back here." You fussed, mumbling lowly enough just for him to hear.

This prompted a defeated sigh, from the other side of the curtain. "Just give me another minute." You half-consoled, not a shred of empathy for him.

He came for the dress no doubt, but he preferred no dress just as much if not more.

"Okay, okay." He laughs, his spurs clicked as he took a few steps back.

Pulling up the sleeves that rested just by your shoulders, you took a look in the mirror.

The dress revealed a hell of a lot more than what you were use to, your bullet scar on your arm prevalent, though you didn't mind as much as thought you would.

With this dress on, there was no room for guns. So you had come prepared with a small thigh holster, only allowing for a tiny pistol.

You weren't sure what you were to do with your hair. Tapping your foot, to which you realized, you didn't have heels neither. This all getting more costly than you had hoped for.

Nestling your hair up into a loose bun, you quickly gathered the rest of your clothes before you forgot them to stuff into your saddle bags.

When you finally pulled back the curtain, you glared at Arthur with a 'are you happy now?' look for a minute. He himself stood dashing, if you put it lightly. A regular tuxedo, even on him, looked way better than it should.

You only gave him a small grace period before you walked passed him to find some heels.

"Wait-" He reaches for your arm and holds you back. "Let me get a better look, Miss l/n."

You stood in front of him awkwardly, his eyes quite literally feasting upon you which made you anxious and squirmy in his grasp.

"Hmm." His initial ogle replaced by his typical sarcastic grin, which already had you ready to sock him. "Looks fine enough, I suppose."

"And you?" You made it a point to make it noticeable that you eyeballed him up and down. "They might not let you in." It was a lie, and he could tell.

"You shoulda seen your face when you first came out." Puffing his chest out, much too proud. You gave him a small slap to his bicep, shaking your head.

Meeting with Hosea, Dutch and Bill, you finished the rest of your affairs. Climbing into the back of a carriage to eventually join the party.

-

The mayors house was magnificent, and damnably large. It felt daunting as it loomed over you.

Your eyes caught onto all of the intricate wood decals that sprinkled the faultless paint job. Every thing well lit by the warm street lights.

It wasn't a place you felt you belonged in with the life you led. Especially not with the people that were attending; Corrupt politicians and crime lords.

This whole situation was brittle and you had to run it nicely - not peeve anyone off.

A man greeted Dutch, then told the lot of you, no guns. No one suspected you of your gun, delightfully. So you followed everyone inside after they unenthusiastically handed over their weapons.

when you reached the inside, you flicked your head around to catch all the details in the interior. You had really only heard talk of such extravagant places like these. Certainly an experience, you thought.

Dutch looked to you, Hosea and Bill and told you to join the party whilst him and Arthur followed the man who led them to Bronte up a flight of stairs.

Your face soured, you had only a faint idea on how to seem a natural when speaking to the high flyers. Never the less, you did.

Eventually, you spotted Arthur who finally had left the balcony where he conversed with Bronte and Dutch. You dismissed yourself from the two men you spoke with, making your way to him.

"So? Did you find anything out?" You question, hoping he found out more than you had.

"No... not really. He suggested a take at the trolley station."

Your brow strung up. A trolley station? That sounded unusual to you.

"Good money, I suppose?"

He wasn't so sure either. "So it sounds. Dutch seems to trust it."

"Very well then." Nodding your head, in acceptance. "Whats he want us to do next?"

He hooks your arm in his abruptly, feeling a blush heat your face with his sudden act of affection.

"Try to talk to the mayor, get info." He says lowly, leaning over slightly as he walks with you to a group of men.

They stood in a small circle, chattering amongst themselves, scolding a man to their right that was much too drunk.

Arthur waited a moment before releasing you and reprimanding the man himself by touring him out. Leaving you with them alone.

They greeted you, to which you introduced yourself, waiting for Arthur to return, which he did, promptly.

They exchanged pleasantries for only a second before a series of pops interrupts their speak.

A splatter of blazing colours fill the dark sky, instantly captivating you. This wasn't something you'd seen before in all your long years of life.

You automatically pulled Arthurs hand to get a better view together. The sounds of the crowd behind you gasping and awing amongst the booms that sounded from the sky.

The bright twinkling and sparkling only lasted seconds each, spirals and scatters, each their own neon colours.

Greens, reds, blues, faded into smoke that matched the parted clouds, new splashes of colour never seizing to paint the gray and black behind them.

You stood in front of Arthur, sinking your head into his chest, gazing at all of the captivating lights before you.

Maybe your feelings for Arthur held you tighter than you cared to admit. He was still the one who had committed atrocities against you, which you weren't so quick to let go of.

Spinning around, you looked up to him, the blue in his eyes would perfectly match the skies if it were day, instead reflecting all the crackling lights you missed with your back turned.

"You know how to dance, don't you?" You beam, his hand in yours.

"No?-" He questions, not anticipating just what you had in store for him.

"Perfect!" Your hand tightens around his, leading him to the gazebo that stood not far from where you gathered just a moment before.

"I don't reckon we have time to embarrass ourselves right now."

"Oh, yes, you do. Believe it not, I still recall getting taught how to dance when I was younger." Snickering as you reveal your plans to a reluctant Arthur.

Stepping inside the lit gazebo, you glance around to make sure its clear. Smiling when you confirm it is.

"Ready?" Catching his hand before he felt he could change his mind - not that he had much of a choice in the first place.

He grumbles, but that tiny little spark in his eye proving he wasn't all that terribly put out by this.

His arm slowly slid down and around your waist, drawing you in close, in turn your arm raised up to his shoulder.

"Okay, now just follow my lead." You moved one foot back, the front of his shoe found your toes faster than you had imagined.

He corrects himself, much to the relief of your foot. "Shit- sorry."

"We'll go slow." You giggle, finding it funny that you were teaching Arthur of all people how to dance.

Which each step, his foot still strayed a few times, but he got the hang of it quickly.

"See? It's not so bad. But if you're still embarrassed from stepping on me, I can understand." Feigning a look of pity and a half hearted pat on his shoulder.

"I enjoyed stepping on them more than not." He shoots back, his timing lining up with the moment your heel caught on a loose board, nearly loosing your balance but Arthurs arm around you remained firm, holding you up.

"Not so tough are we, y/n?" He chortles, your pride hurting more than your feet.

You couldn't help the sheepish laugh that left you. "I demand you respect your teacher, Mr. Morgan."

"Or what? There ain't much you can do about it."

"We'll see about that." You challenge, returning to a slow rhythm. He never released you from his tight grasp.

Your bodies never left each others for the entire time, you both relished in it more than you'd ever address.

His hand eventually found your arm, his fingers gently brushing the double sided scar that he had punished you with upon your first meeting.

Dwelling for a few moments, he runs his hand up and over your collar bone, then meeting your chin. His gaze was soft, no trace of his typical cocky expression.

"I didn't mean what I said earlier." His thumb caressing the bottom of your plush lip.

"I-" He stops you from what he already anticipated you saying. Shaking his head.

"Not another word from you." He leans down, his mouth meeting yours. The most gentle show of affection he had shown you to date.

You leaned into it for as long as it lasted, cherishing each second it dragged further.

When he pulled away, there was a look you'd never be able to place on Arthurs face. You'd never forget it, that you could count on.

"I don't like that all the other men here get to see you like this too." He confesses, glancing over to the gathering, jerking upright when he spots something he didn't expect.

"I hope I'm not being too brash as I interrupt you two love sick fools." Dutch as much himself as ever with those words.

You and Arthur finally released from your embrace, standing side by side as if you both just got caught with your hand in the cookie jar.

Dutch hollered out a hearty laugh, the ability to stay mad lost with the guilty looks you both held. "Save it for camp... now I heard mentions of Cornwall from Mr. Mayor and one of his men. Quickly both of you."

He chased you of the gazebo effectively, Arthur sighed as you strode back to complete the mission you'd been sent on.

-

"Oh good, I was starting to regret sending you both in there together." Dutch waited no time to tease you both further, making it obvious to Hosea and Bill who had a good laugh about it too.

"Yeah, yeah. We got somethin'." Arthur confirms, waving off the insult.

"Well then," Hosea chimes, excited with the news. "Think it's time to go."

That you could agree dualy on, your eye lids started to gain weight, desiring nothing more than to return to camp.

You all made for your ride back, collecting their guns on the way out, some speak of a bank heist along the way, which definitely prompted skepticism in you. As most of these takes did.

The carriage rolled up to you, not much time spent in terms of getting in. All of you wanted out of there.

Bill's voice haughty and filled with contempt as he complained about the 'high society pigeon shit.' Which plastered a drowsy smirk on your face.

Instinctively, you sat next to Arthur on the way back, dozing off on his shoulder not long after the carriage lurched shakily over the uneven cobblestone roads.

Guys I proof read this at 3 am so ignore any mistakes...

[valoisfulcanellideux]

Transcribed highlights from Pix and Zloy's "Chicken Block" series [Ep.1 & Ep.2]

Since I've been re-watching this hilarious series, I thought I'd transcribe some of the highlights, because these two are just so damn good together. Funny stuff from episodes 1 and 2 can be found behind the cut.

Ep.1

Zloy: [sings, to the melody of the 'Transformers' theme] "Log chicken. Chicken who's a log."

-

Zloy: "I'll need you to surround me in a pen with them [the chickens]. Don't worry, I'll blend in." [looks like this, so yeah... he will]

-

Pix: "I like the fact that you've just committed to your life in this new chicken commune now." Zloy: "Look, I have a boat. I can escape whenever I want." Pix: "That sounds like what somebody with Stockholm Syndrome would say." Zloy: "This is the prison of my own making!"

-

Zloy: "Hey! Hey, look! It's our first log that was pooped by a chicken!" Pix: "Nice! Can we call them organic now? Is that what we're allowed to—" Zloy: "Pixlriffs, ALL logs are organic." Pix: [laughs] "Responsibly farmed!" Zloy: "Show me… show me a single log that would not be an organic one." [giggles] Pix: "I wanna make some kind of, like, pithy remark about fossilised wood at this point, but I dunno." Zloy: "Fossilised wood would also be organic! Because guess what? It was still grown as wood. In a tree." Pix: [laughs] "This is a fair point. I concede."

-

Pix: "I can't tell if these logs inside this enclosure were pooped out by a chicken, or if they are just… logs that fell from this tree." Zloy: "I wanna say it's probably a community effort."

-

Zloy: "Oh! There's a skeleton! There's a skeleton! There's a skeleton! And it—" Pix: "Oh no…" [skeleton self-yeets off the one-block-wide bridge from the mob-spawning platform] Pix: [loses it] Zloy: "DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Pix: [loses it some more] "It just went! It was like 'Nope! Can't be bothered with you!' It saw you riding a chicken towards it, crown upon your head, glasses on your face, and decided, 'I'm not gonna mess with that guy'."

-

Pix: "One other thing I will always appreciate about Bedrock Edition over Java is the fact that the sky darkens around you when you're looking directly at the sun, because of how bright the sun should be. It's, like, the one lighting effect that actually makes sense in this version of the game." Zloy: "Also, the eyes don't start bleeding, but that's an… entirely different thing." Pix: "Yes. That's an add-on that I imagine people could make." Zloy: "You look up and there's the Rick and Morty sun, screaming."

-

Zloy: [to stream chat, as he looks at the assorted chickens] "Okay. Anyone want to give me a breeding pair?" [pause] Zloy: "Anyone who says 'Zloy and Pixlriffs' will be banned from every single channel on Twitch."

-

[Pix goes out toward the mob spawning platform with a sword] Zloy: "You don't have to wait between the swings." Pix: "I know, I know." Zloy: [giggles] "Hehe. Silly Java players! Hehehe!"

-

Ep.2

Pix: "I have coal!" Zloy: "YAY! Pix: "I have coal. Can make torch. Will make torch now."

-

Pix: [having farmed a bunch of wood] "The log chicken just gave me another log, as if to say, 'Why are you even bothering?' [addresses the chicken] I'm bothering 'cause you're not productive." Zloy: "Pick up the speed. Clench your… whatever muscles you're using." Pix: "Tighten your buttcheeks!" Zloy: "Yep. Push, lady. [pause] Don't actually push ladies."

-

Pix: "There is now a zombie with a gold hat who seems to be… okay, there are two of them; they seemed to have claimed the ship." Zloy: "They boarded the ship!" Pix: "We've been boarded." Zloy: "Oh noes." Pix: [grabs a sword] "I'm gonna go and defend us. I have lost the ability to sprint, though, so I'm not exactly charging into battle, but…" [walks toward the zombies] "GET OFF MY SHIP, YOU DINGUS!" Zloy: [giggles] Pix: "Oh hey, he dropped his hat! Yay! I have armour." Zloy: "You have a crown." Pix: "You have your crown, I have my crown." Zloy: "The matching attire." Pix: "It gives me Fire Protection 1, as if that's even an issue." Zloy: "MINE GIVES ME DIGNITY, DARN IT!" Pix: "I have no dignity."

-

Zloy: "Hey look! A spider." Pix: [laughs] "It's a string chicken." [they both laugh] Pix: "After a while everything on this map just becomes a chicken to me."

-

Pix: "I spawned with you in the cauldron. Which looks even more soupy now that it's filled with rainwater." Zloy: "Exactly! We're gonna be delicious!"

-

Pix: "Every time the honey dripping sound happens, I just feel like it's slime. I'm like, has a slime just spawned? Nope. It's just the scarecrow dripping."

-

Zloy: "I have, like, twenty dirt. Place it responsibly."

-

Pix: "Oh, a zombie villager! Haha, yeah!" Zloy: "WHAT? No way!" Pix: "Let's see what we can do about him." Zloy: "I mean, we have a boat." Pix: "Yeah, that is true. That is true." Zloy: "I already decided that his name is gonna be Grephew. Which is a very bad idea, because I can see there's another zombie inside of him. He probably will not survive." [Pix creeps out toward the zombie villager, who self-yeets off the bridge. Pix runs back again] Pix: "There's a tiny one! There's a tiny one behind him! He has a son! There was a child!" Zloy: "Grephew Junior! Yaaaaay! I… don't want to go near him. Okay, Grephew, son of a gun, you're making me do this. Here are full blocks to preserve you." Pix: "Oh man. It's super creepy that baby zombie villagers have the same sound as regular zombie villagers. It's like a child with an unnaturally deep voice." Zloy: "They just have a very deep voice, okay?"

-

[Zloy builds a shelter around Grephew, out of oak fences with an oak plank roof] Pix: [laughs] "He has a freaking abandoned mineshaft over the top of him now."

-

Zloy: "A skeleton on this platform. So… potentially bones. And I apologise, but also potentially getting boned, so…" Pix: "Yeaaah… 'bout that… I'm fine taking the risk. I have fire protection on my helmet." [I'm struggling to resist the innuendo on that one…] Zloy: "I also am fine with you taking the risk."

-

Zloy: [musing] "So, mycelium would be… a log and dirt, all right." Pix: "Consult the notes!" Zloy: "I have them on my lap. The entire whiteboard. It's not a big whiteboard. But it does obstruct my view so I don't see the keyboard and my own teacup. So there's a disaster waiting to happen." Zloy: [laughs; probably at a suggestion from stream chat] "Consult the book of armaments! Oh my god." Pix: [laughs] "Hold thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Four shalt thou not count. Neither countest thou two. Unless, in counting two, thou proceedest to three." Zloy: "Are you still speaking English?" Pix: [laughs] "I'm just quoting Monty Python. Which is probably the most English you can speak." Zloy: "Are you still speaking English, or have you transcended into communicating only in Monty Python quotes?" Pix: "It's touch and go." Zloy: "Yeah."

-

Zloy: "This is the Grephew Island." Pix: "The Grefuge." Zloy: [cracks up] Pix: [laughs] "I'm sorry!" Zloy: [giggling] "That's going into the episode title. Like, you're ruining my SEO, but that's gonna be the episode title."

-

Pix: "We have four apples in the chest now. Which is nice. I'm still not eating any of them, because I enjoy chat freaking out about the fact that I have no health left." Zloy: "There is no reason to eat. Just DIE!" [they have Keep Inventory on] [long, awkward pause] Zloy: "There is so much political commentary in that one phrase I just said..."

-

Pix: [peers across at the spawning platform] "I keep looking at stuff over there and thinking, 'Is that a skeletal chicken?' and it turns out it's just, like, a sapling and I can't really see. Oh, yeah… ENHANCE!" Zloy: [laughs] "Crying out loud, I was waiting for you to remember that one. What do your elf eyes see, Pixlriffs?"

-

[Zloy is about to boat a chicken along a one-block-wide bridge] Pix: "Do you need a bit more space on the platform, or is that enough?" Zloy: "No, no. But I would appresh you taking out the spooder [spider]. I dragged a shulker this way, through the End, over the void, for thousands of blocks. [whispers] I think I can manage with a chicken. [pause] Mostly because the chicken is not actively trying to kill me."

-

Pix: "Oh my god! Phantoms have started to spawn, and they're skinless chickens!" Zloy: "WHAT?! NO!" Pix: "I DID NOT EXPECT THIS!" [both start laughing] Pix: "Yes! Oh, this map is good. This map is so good!"

-

[they kill a chicken-phantom] Pix: "Oh, it dropped feathers! What?" Zloy: "IT DROPPED RAW CHICKEN!" Pix: [absolutely loses it] "So phantoms are actually chickens?! What?! Oh, that's so good." Zloy: "They're regular chickens that came for vengeance!" Pix: [cracks up] "That's incredible." Zloy: "I just realised that they're gonna burn in the daylight and drop cooked chicken." Pix: "I mean, in theory. They could not do." Zloy: "Yeah, they couldn't." Pix: "But yeah, if they drop cooked chicken, that's like… actual genius." Pix: "Look at it dive. Look at it dive, like a graceful swa— [chicken-phantom bursts into flames] Nope, it is burning. Yes!" Zloy: [cracks up] Pix: "Self-cooking chicken!" Zloy: "Yes! We finally found the Kentucky Fried one!"

[currymanganese]

Here's another Sydcarmy song guys, 'Ajai Finale', it's used in Season 1 Episode 2 when Syd approaches Carmy with a business plan and COGS breakdown for revitalizing The Beef, which he brushes off initially. The spoken word intro of the song is not included in the episode, but it mentions a minor domestic dispute between the song's clothing obsessed protagonist (Carmy and his denim collection ring a bell anyone?) and his WIFE:

The full lyrics to the song are below, but the line that stood out to me most was,

"At my wife's business meeting and I'm showing them rap..." which plays as Syd enters the office with the COGS....

So.......This could just be me, but the next time the showrunners say Syd and Carmy are meant to be platonic I will just laugh and go about my day! 🥴

Lyrics from here:

[Intro Serengeti]

So at the Black Caucus Dinner, Dr. Mitchell is talking to Ajai about the reduction of drug costs, making it mandatory for federally qualified health centers to accept Medicaid

And then Ajai opens his phone and shows him the Doernbecher 8s,  and asks him, "Have you ever won a shoe lottery?"

Looks to his left and talks to Dr. MacKenzie also and asks him, has he ever won a shoe lottery?

Pro-shoppers guided by a website, Ajai is crazy to his wife. She knows that once a special ringer buzzes, Ajai is off. She knows there's no work emergency. She looks in the trunk in hope that the bags won't be there or a cedar closet in the basement

He holds up the entire line in security. Sprawls out his gown, and it won't fit inside the TSA body scanner. His wife, who's already at the gate, texts him his flight has left. She's furious, she's holding back tears. He texts "wa-wha-ha-jaaa-ha, did we put the extension poncho hanger in your bag or mine?"

Frustrated wife, kicking and banging on the master bathroom door, "Ajai, please honey, we're gonna be late, we're gonna miss the flight, you look fine, you look fine Ajai, you look fine, you look fine Ajai." "Uhhu," Ajai muffled through the bathroom door, "We have plenty of time, you don't need two hours for a domestic flight. Oh, who the heck is flying to Cleveland anyway?" Wife sighs, "He's such a weirdo." Twenty minutes later Ajai exits. "Oh sorry babe, I couldn't find my gloves. Uh, are you ready to go? Why are you crying?"

[Verse: Serengeti]

But I should be good

I see the Benetton green

They've been gone for minute

This collab is a dream

Grey Poupon had a thing

Eating meals in a car

It made you feel a certain way

When you held that jar

That's what I can achieve

I feel the same about drops

I feel a bit rare in the shoes and the watch

Or those Preston socks

Or that just don hat

At my wife's business meeting and I'm showing them rap

Question, "you seen this?"

Question, "you seen that?"

Cuz there's questions 'bout the culture that just ain't facts

Some people are cows and they sit and they graze

I'm like a hummingbird cause I'm simply amazed

We're all on earth just bidding our time

Some people like to read, some people like wine

Some people like both

I love my wife and my coat

Balenciaga trench angled words and my tote

I like to move to the rhythm cause I'm feeling engaged

If I chose a colorway, it'd be purple and sage

I like to chill on the yacht, talk to the people at drops

About the top ten cops they surprised that they got

Cause I got a spot

Number one on the list

It had to be the Abloh Five I thought that I missed

Cause I had alarms set

When I woke it was dead

That's the last time I sleep with my phone in my bed

So when I awoke, I put my hand in my fist

And I looked in the mirror, and said "you can do this"

In all of my years, I never wore those shoes

The Abloh 1s that had me confused

Cause I bought them online, but they never came

Store-side mix up and the address changed

And it wasn't my fault, and they settled me straight

Just a half size bigger; whoever got them felt great

And I think about that

If one day at the door

A delivery came and the Abloh 4

That I didn't expect

What the hell would I do?

Who even knows if

They knew the scope of the shoe?

So today I wore those

And take them outside

First time they hit the ground

So now they alive

And now I'm near the spot

6 blocks away

It's already gettin' a little crowded hours passed on drop day

I said to myself

"The fives will be mine"

Ones so bright

People sayin' they blind

I relaxed and I stop to get tea

Fella says "Yo, it's me"

[autobot-ratchet]

Lost Light 22-25

Lost Light 22

love how pissed Magnus is at Megatron lmAO he talks to Megatron like a jilted ex

I will admit, it does kinda suck that we never got the time to address that it was Terminus's fault Megatron got stuck in the functionist universe, Roddy and Magnus think Megatron ran away and Megatron thinks Roddy and Magnus abandoned him and I don't remember this ever being cleared up

damn this thing can just punch a planet to pieces, no wonder both Drift and the Grand Architect were like “we gotta do something about this thing”

aw man, that casual drop that Terminus and alternate Orion Pax are dead... lines like this make me wish we weren't forced to jump to the end so fast, we could've maybe expanded on this if we'd been given the time...

it was very likely not on purpose but it is kinda funny that Drift is the first one to get shot on not-Pharma's order lmAO especially after he “needed to see the prisoners (Ratchet).” Some part of Pharma was just like “this fuckin hand-slicing boyfriend-stealing bitch”

ADAPTUS, that's the name of the god that took over Pharma's body, I could NOT fucking remember lmAO

aww, cute that Megatron remembers the Scavengers

I also wish that we could've gotten more between Megatron and Drift, but again, we were forced to jump to the end and honestly I'm grateful we got these two panels at all

god. Still so fuckin wild that not only are the guiding hand still around, we've already fuckin met them all. I remember not taking the news that Rung is Primus very well lmfAO

Lost Light 23

this fuckin panel of everyone reacting the the reveal is so funny gdhfsjk Whirl thinks this is exactly as funny as I've been finding it throughout this reread, Tyrest is in the back quietly having a crisis, this is great

ghfd Rodimus being like “yeah yeah shut up for a second Adaptus, we're still processing the whole Rung is Primus thing”

IT WAS HIS HAT MR. KRABS, HE WAS NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!

wild that Drift's account of the Guiding Hand and the birth of Cybertron wasn't too far off, but it was Adaptus that betrayed the others and not Mortilus

also wild that literally everything about Rung has been foreshadowing for this reveal, his serial code, his coming back from the brink of death, the jokes about how forgettable he is

“Not even my beloved Ratchet will be able to...” oouUUGHGFHDFJ in a way, Pharma ended up helping us stop Adaptus... by being so gay for Ratchet that it distracted him long enough for Tyrest to kill him dead lmAO

still so thankful for this

“Hey, Froid? Shut up.” lmfAO GET HIS ASS

love the squad coming up with their own plan despite “The Magnificence” telling them they have to do things exactly as they say. Hell yeah, fuck destiny, make your own destiny

So Epistemus was the one who ACTUALLY orchestrated all of this, or rather the Omega Guardians speaking through what's left of Epistemus. I'm not gonna lie, this is definitely a bit of the lore that just went in one ear and out the other, especially since Nickel just unceremoniously crushes the shit immediately after it shows its true colors and then we go do our own plan lmAO so like. Truly none of this monologue matters beyond telling us this thing is why this is happening and being a cool little bit of lore if you care about that kind of thing

Lost Light 24

god, Rung still breaks my heart, he tells Rewind and Chromedome they're lucky... he puts their hands together........

fuck I forgot about Fort Max and Red, okay NOW the whole gang's all actually here for real this time lmfAO

oughfdhj Rung deleting his patient files and reminiscing about the first time he met Skids... he loved that guy........

aaaaAAUUUGH GOD... HE GAVE EVERYTHING HE HAD TO MAKE THOSE MATRIXES........

love Drift being unable to really explain what is meant by “be a good person,” and I love everyone else chiming in with more nitpicks about how to define “a good person.” It's a good question! And there's not really a set answer! Which is why that's not really what the morality lock's truly about, it's about being at peace with yourself, and that's what makes the part where everyone manages to open their respective matrixes hit so hard. It means that, if only for that moment, they all felt okay enough about themselves to bypass the lock, tangible proof that they are indeed good enough despite everything

“Ratchet, if this is it, I...” “I know. Me too.” This is another moment that, now, is very sweet and gay, but when this first came out it still hadn't been explicitly confirmed that Drift and Ratchet were in love with each other so I was burning alive inside from wanting so badly to believe they were canonically together but not wanting to get burned lmAO not to mention how many people were insistent that they weren't gay and therefore would never believe that they were unless it was quite literally shoved right in their faces lmAO I wanted both confirmation and indisputable proof that Dratchet was real

that being said, as much as I personally wanted that proof, I'm glad Anode and Lug are the ones to get an on-screen kiss and an explicit “I love you,” the trans lesbians deserve that W

love that Ratchet is the first one to open his matrix, he really is soft at heart and that kicks my ass every time a piece of transformers media confirms it lmAO soft old man full of love... a romantic underneath it all........

love that Swerve and Misfire open their matrix together, love how excited Lug is to open hers, love that Tailgate gets to open a matrix just like how Ten drew him doing on his skateboard, love that Whirl gets to open a matrix at all

fuckgfhdajsk Roddy's speech is hitting me just as hard as it ever did. I've teared up a handful of times, but so far only two parts of this comic have made me full-on cry during this reread, Rewind's final message and this speech from Rodimus, they're both so fucking good, so filled to the brim with love I can't fuckign stand it lmfAO

as cool and dramatic as it would've been to have Megatron be able to open the matrix (for real, like how striking of an image would that have been, on par with/parallel to him standing in the Necrobot's flower field), I'm so fucking glad Rodimus got to do it instead, he deserves to feel okay about himself after how much has been stacked against him

get vaporized, idiots

“Don't forget me” I wON'T!!! I WON'T EVER FORGET YOU RUNG

Lost Light 25

still absolutely hysterical that after so many crumbs of Dratchet and begging for explicit confirmation, I finally got it on the same page that reveals that Ratchet's fucking dead lmfAO I'll take it, it's still a W because it means that all their previous interactions throughout the comic are now romantically tinged as dictated by canon so I was right all along lmAO Fandom interactions aside, I like. Still can't believe this, I had already read Chromedome and Rewind's interactions as romantic and turned out to be right about that, then Cyclonus and Tailgate's, then Drift and Ratchet's, but because I personally liked Dratchet the most and their buildup was a bit more subtle than CDRW or Cygate (though not by much if we're being honest, they just never had a big plot-relevant death scare that forced them to explicitly declare their love like the other two couples did) I didn't want to just assume they'd also be canon because it would break my heart if they weren't. But they WERE... I WAS RIGHT ABOUT ALL THE GAYS........ and more than just going “neener-neener” at the fandom, it makes me happy to be right about all of them because like. It feels good to have seen the love present between all these sets of characters and for it to be properly realized in canon instead of just remaining platonic because no gays allowed or brushed off for different cishet pairings that fit the status quo more. It's not about fitting in, it's about the love, they're misfits who are happy because they love each other dearly and they're like that on purpose and how is that not the best fucking thing ever

ugh, hate that Prowl's right about everything he's said since he showed up in this issue lmAO and even though the Knights of Cybertron turned out to be a bust, at least the crew had something good to bring back home in the form of a whole 'nother Cybertron filled with new life, we achieved something on more than just a personal level so ha ha fuck you to everyone who had no faith in us lmAO

god, everyone's going through it in the non-quantum duplicate ending, I definitely understand why this upset so many people lmAO

absolutely fucking obliterates my heart that nobody remembers Rung. I vaguely remember there being some sort of scrapped arc or dialogue or something that implied there was still a trace of Rung left and the quantum duplicate version of the crew that travels to another universe had to go find him and I cling to that idea very hard lmAO I can't stand the idea of everyone just forgetting and moving on from him forever, especially after he left that final message

“And this is my wife, Anode.” BEATS MY CHEST LIKE A GORILLA I know that the words “conjunx endura” would function just the same but. “Wife” hits different and I am about it

lmAO AWW I said earlier that Fort Max and the Scavengers were cute, I forgot that they literally do have a moment where they talk again and become friends

oh I forgot we actually get somewhat of an explanation as to how exactly Drift started getting future visions. Granted it's more of a theory but I've been paying attention this time around and it makes sense to me lmAO

“Treat him well, doc. He's a keeper.” awwWWWUUUHHHH ❤️❤️❤️ I remember a lot of people assuming there would be/wanting for there to be drama between Rodimus and Ratchet over Drift and I'm still so grateful for this panel for being like “nah fuck that” lmAO everyone involved in the Roddy/Drift/Ratchet trifecta is a good person who loves the other two and that's that on that *bangs gavel*

hjfsdk love all these moments they're reminiscing on that we didn't get to see, here you go kids, have some fanfic material

MAGNUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSS ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️WAAAGHFGSHFDJAGFDJfsdhj

god same Swerve, I'm not ready for this reread to be over, what if I just reread it again after this lmAO

absolutely wild that after all the on-screen romance between Cyclonus and Tailgate, Rodimus is the one who gets a kiss from Cyclonus lmAO don't get me wrong, this kiss is everything, it is an unbelievably powerful and sincere gesture coming from Cyclonus but it's just very funny to imagine Tailgate being like “where's MY kiss?????”

“A present from Ratty. Sorry- from Ratchet.” god... that is still such an ugly-sounding nickname lmfAO the thought/reasoning behind it is very sweet, I remember Jro saying on twitter he got it from an old children's story that he liked, but. I hear the word “ratty” and I think of a wet chinese crested dog

ohh my god I forgot that Roddy lied and said that Megatron opened the matrix when he himself couldn't... swEETHEART........ urgh and the parallel between this and when Rodimus spoke to him before the first trial...

oughfsgjd Magnus and Megatron... it's like. Honestly fucked up how sweet they are together lmAO like could you fucking imagine in any other continuity

at least CyWhirlGate is winning in the sad ending lmAO

god the fuckin one-two punch of Rodimus clearly not being happy in this universe and Whirl refusing the gift of Ratchet's hands... Good for Whirl for knowing he's not broken and I'm sorry Roddy baby you deserve better

I fully understand why a lot of people were upset by the sad version of this comic's ending, especially since we see it in so much more detail than the happy quantum duplicate ending, but like. I dunno man I like that it's left so open for this version of them. I remember it being explicitly stated that this was done on purpose as a way to hand this series off to its fandom and let them make whatever kind of continuation they want, and I really love that a lot. In fact, it's kinda got me looking at some now four-year-old notes I jotted down about some ideas for fics to write. I love that it's presented as “not quite right” to have everybody go their separate ways and to have things end “more realistically” and that even though there was only the slimmest chance of the quantum duplicate trick working, it worked because that WAS the right ending. This comic's story was always more about the journey than the destination, more about the characters and the love between them than about completing our objective, and I think this ending reflects that perfectly

For as much as fandom keeps killing my passion, art is still so fuckin good and worth making and engaging with lmAO rereading this comic was an excellent decision, I really needed this to help reignite my passion, and fuck I gotta make something again lmAO

[skydigiblogs]

i'm just gonna go ahead and paste what i sent to a friend about my thoughts for chapter 3 and the bit of 4 i got to today

this is extremely long, and still primarily a lot of criticism since while i enjoyed chapter 3 more than the first two chapters, it failed to address a lot of my core concerns with the writing of chapters 1 and 2.

for people who missed my chapter 2 thoughts, Sad White Boy is Leon

i typed most of this on my phone without being able to reference the spellings of any of the names i was hearing so it isn't until the end that i'm able to double check the name of Shuu/Xu Yulin. any time i am referring to Professor Suspicious Eccentric, it's Professer Ryusenji. agufridge is Saya.

you can also see kind of where i got to certain plot points between breaks lol.

[Okay chapter 3 is going along way more smoothly to us but also we officially have a never before seen phrase because the best way I can put it is that all three main factions have the same Agumon-fridged wife/daughter/friend fueling their obsession with the digital world]

[All of the world building so far has also been exclusively around the tragedy that set in motion all three factions going about their way and it's more clearly establishing a theme of, like, the ways paths diverge in life. First there was Eiji and Sad White Boy, now Professor Suspicious Eccentric, his would be son in law Tartarus (who I know is going to pull some villain shit after glancing at the wiki for something yesterday), and Cop Lady (who, while being a cop, I do actually like the characterization she's been given. Shame about the being a digicop though.).

Tartarus's fiance went DMIA while mind linked to what I'm guessing is the BlackAgumom SOC has a stupid high bounty on, hence me saying there's an Agumon shaped fridge

At least I don't have to deal with Sad White Boy

Who is in a Kazuchimon shaped fridge I should specify but like. It doesn't feel like fridging when you give a whole quarter of you narrative to establishing a character as opposed to like. An hour on Agufridge.]

[At least I have something other than Eiji to look forward to in this novel lmfao

But also man. They really are leaning heavy into Eiji having a huge amount of regret for what happened to Sad White Boy and like. I think we're meant to see it in parallel to Agufridge, but she was established to be RECENTLY AND PROLONGEDLY CLOSE with all involved parties affected by her fridging.

And I just don't buy it even if SWB saved Eiji's life from drowning in a river when they were kids.]

[i also realized a succinct way of putting why he feels so gross to me is that his whole plotline really edges into "white savior complex" territory, if that makes sense?

fully convinced seekers is just flat out better without SWB

because like it has its problems but damn if SWB isn't just a walking sandwich of them all in a single succinct package]

one real world "i got home from work" later

[Okay so this observation I made about almost all of the Digipol forces being members of the D-Brigade (most are literally just commandramon) made me a little bit frustrated with an element I see as missed potential in seekers that I doubt will be capitalized on. The only members of DigiPol with fully realized characters are Satsuki (Numemon's partner) and Shuu Yulin (Ryudamon's partner, Cop Lady), who are both high ranking officers, and were this not really struggling to decide whether it wants to condemn or fuck the police, I think it would've been a missed opportunity not to at least show the experiences of one of the lower ranking officers. Shuu, while being the head of the DPol, was formerly a hacker/code cracker before going on to do white hat hacking with the police and rising to her position.

But like, something Satsuki's said during the first hour or so of chapter 4 made me wonder something because there are members of the DPol that Mind Link. At least two of them with Commandramons, which puts them in the body of their Digimon. Satsuki calls what they're doing in Chapter 4 a "war"--- they're fighting against SoC and Wall Slum (local) Digimon alike because the SoC is trying to break open the gate into the Actual Digital World (basically everything humans have seen is the outside of an eggshell). I don't think Seekers is self-aware enough to realize that this act of the DigiPol imposing their forces on the Wall Slum is akin to digital imperialism, so I really doubt it would have tried to interrogate that at all.

The thing I was thinking about that might have been interesting (but absolutely could not be trusted to Seekers) is that like… all of the DPol Digimon are Commandramon, whereas the brass have Special Partner Digimon. I would have loved some interrogation into the way that being a cop (or military in general) seeks to depersonalize someone, stripping them of their individuality in order to make them more a tool than person. Commandramon could have been a very useful way to tell that story, especially since anyone MLed to a Digimon always has to wear their Digimon Linker. That means they are always burdened with the reminder of their function in the force. MLed partners are also the only ones to experience the Wall Slum with the five human senses. What does it do to someone to see through the eyes of just one of hundreds of Commandramon, all literally looking the same to an untrained human eye? You're literally nothing but the tool you embody at that point, only so useful as you can wield your Digimon like one. MLed Digimon are also the only ones that can talk to humans. Do you think the Commandramon who aren't MLed wish they could talk to their partners, express anything beyond following the commands the code running on them like dog training tells them to enact?

What is individuality to a Digimon who is a soldier? What is individuality to a soldier who is only as good as their Digimon, one of a thousand like it raised only for warfare?

It just bugs me so much thatt we don't even get an inkling of individuality from the Commandramon, which really heightens the militaristic feel of the D-Pol to no positive favors.

And since I can'tt tell if Seekers wants me to like the DPol or not, it's hard to judge whether that is a failure or intended attribute of the writing]

[i really hope i have more things that i can say i actually like about seekers but man oh man the bad is so hard to get through

like, for example, i really find the structure of the digital world interesting in this series! and mind linking is an interesting way to get characters involved in the digital world without having the barrier breached (while also introducing stakes). even if i am a little sad that the humans get stuck as fancy holograms in the digital world.

the digital world in seekers, like i said before, is basically an egg, with the network of the human world floating high above it

data falls from the human world onto the egg's surface, but the barrier is functionally closed off

digimon that have been in contactt with human world data are forced to live on the outside of the digital world, unable to return to the Actual digital world

this is the Wall Slum

and like, on occasion little pockets of open data storms, breaches in the eggshell will appear--- they're called vortexes

we don't find out what's in them until when sad white boy martyrs himself but like, anynthing that enters them gets presumed deleted

SWB's death is how we find out that it's because a royal knight will pop up to erase anything trying to breach the vortex

(they also keep describing the RKs as their relationship to "yggdrasil" so like. god help me i'm holding my breath and praying i don't have to go into that.)

they haven't talked at all and seem to be regarded as "angels of death" to those on the shell of the digital world

bringing it back around to how it's introduced, though, i think about that self-oblivious introduction to the digital world and digipol where humans (possibly the implication was supposed to be just code crackers but idk) through their interaction with the digital world, have brought impurities to the digital world. they even repeated during chapter 3, in the extended flashback to project tartarus and the first DMIA candidate (miss agufridge), the comparison to "15th century seafaring explorers" or something which. hm. are you self aware enough to really be pulling that comparison twice? i don't think you are.

so like, even when i'm enjoying the shit in seekers it inevitably ends up ruined by the story's own lack of coherent nuance (or functional attempt at it)]

[artaxlivs]

Trick, please? (Only if there's still time 😄)

Okay soooo I did go to your blog to make sure I'd be in the right realm of interests (Even though its a trick and I get to pick, I still want you to like it) and I saw these two things...and couldn't resist the combo.

Drumrolllllll, a frog leans out of the skrim on the stage and wails, "It's the special Halloween Muppet Show with tonight's guest star, His Royal Highness Arthur Pendragon!"

"And cue the dancing girls."

Arthur looks over to the scrawny dark haired man wearing the headset. He looks frazzled and strangely cold because it's sweltering backstage but he's got on a jacket and a red scarf around his neck for some reason. Maybe he's sickly?

"Excuse me-" Arthur starts to say loudly, trying to get the man's attention.

"Shhhh!" A chicken hisses at him.

A chicken.

Arthur raises an eyebrow and glares at her but she's not cowed.

A scraggly looking bear in a neckerchief leans across Arthur and looks out to the distance, waving his hands cheerfully, and says "Wokka wokka!" Then he wanders away.

Arthur sighs, turning to get the man in the headsets attention again.

"Listen, Arthur? Is it? I'm gonna need you to move aside. The dancing girls are coming straight through here in a second and you'll get run over." The man whispers, nudging Arthur into the corner behind his podium.

Scoffing and bristling because how dare he, Arthur starts to step back toward the man but a line of kicking cancan girls dressed like witches all linked together at the elbows kick their way past him. They continue kicking, linked together well into the hallway. Arthur shakes his head and moves back near the man again.

"Now, see here. You may address me as Your Royal Highness-" Arthur starts to say but then a pig in a black evening gown and opera gloves pushes him to the side. He thinks she's supposed to be dressed as Mortica Addams since the frog was wearing a pin striped suit and had a mustache drawn on.

"Merlin, Merlin, where is my Ker-my?" She pouts to the man in the headset.

"He's dealing with that blown tuba in the orchestra pit, Miss Piggy." He cringes a little like he's preparing for a physical blow.

"I need to talk to him about my number!" She hurumphs; her facial expression morphs into anger and she's squeezing her hands...hooves? No she has fingers - hands - into fists.

"Well, I'm here and His Royal Highness is here if you wanted to talk about your duet," the man, Merlin, waves his hand toward Arthur. When Miss Piggy gasps and crowds Arthur, Merlin's whole body relaxes and he turns back to his work, keeping one eye on the stage and one on his call sheet.

"Ohhhhh Arthur, may I call you Arthur? We're going to make such beau-ti-ful music together." She turns her body so she can lean into him and gaze up, eyelashes fluttering.

"Uh..um, er...yes. I mean, yes our duet will be good but no, you're not allowed to call me Arthur, it's Your Royal Highness," She starts to shake like she's going to explode and Merlin inches away from her, though he doesn't look over at her, almost like he's afraid to make eye contact. "You know what, just for tonight, you may call me Arthur."

She melts instantly, leaning in again, eyelashes fluttering, "Oh Arhth-y, I'm so hap-py. I have to go warm up my voice but I'll see you soon, okay?" She makes an air kiss and turns away. A chicken run across her path and she growls, voice dropping low and gravelly, "get out of my way you stupid chicken!" But then she simpers back of her shoulder, "by-yeeee!"

He can hear her singing "I Put a Spell on You" By Nina Simone as she walks away and he gulps.

"What-" Arthur starts to ask but then a Muppet in a chef's hat mumbles by, knocking Arthur into Merlin who ducks his head and blushes. "Excuse you!" Arthur almost shouts and the chef doesn't looks him just mumbles gibberish as he pushes a cart with a bubbling cauldron on stage.

The chef immediately starts throwing in whole bottles that say "eye of newt" and "dragon's teeth." The impact splashes and slooshes liquid over the sides of cauldron and it hisses as it splatters on the stage. He continues to mumble happily the entire time.

"If you'd get out of the way, Your Royal Highness," Merlin says snarkily, "you'd stop getting pushed out of it. Sit here." And he points to a chair next to his podium.

For a moment, Arthur thinks about being difficult because this person, this stage manager, this Merlin, can't tell him what to do, he's royalty, dammit. But then he nearly gets bowled over by the chickens again as they run across the stage in the middle of the chef's skit for apparently no reason.

"Why did the chickens cross the stage?" he asks in confusion.

The bear leans in from nowhere again, waggles his jazz hands and says, "To get to the other side! Wokka wokka!" and then he wanders away. Again.

Arthur sighs, sinking into the chair. What is wrong with these people?

The entire show seems to drag on for an eternity but also is over like a whirlwind and Arthur finds himself sitting next to Merlin for all but the two skits he's in. One where he's afraid that Miss Piggy actually did put a spell on him and another where he fought a dragon to save Miss Piggy.

The dragon was actually just four Muppet monsters wearing a big shaggy pink rug with a hole in it where one of the monsters stuck his head out and growled at Arthur menacingly before he stabbed it with a rubber sword. When Arthur returned to his chair after that one, he found Merlin smiling down at his call sheet, the tips of his ears as pink as the shag dragon.

As the night wears on, Arthur has to admit that he finds Merlin rather charming, efficient and well organized. When Miss Piggy comes to collect Arthur for their skit, Merlin blushes again, nodding to Arthur and advising him to break a leg, "but not really."

It's endearing really. And even amid the loud chatter of a herd of Muppet monsters and a broken tuba that sounds like a foghorn, Arthur finds his eyes drawn again and again to Merlin, with his secret little smile and his ears that are just a little too big. But every time he goes to ask Merlin out for coffee, there's some calamity happening that can only be solved by the stage manager.

After the final bows, Arthur returns to the stage manager podium, hoping to find Merlin but instead he finds a note addressed to "The Once and Future King." It contains only one sentence, "Not yet, but soon." It's signed with a drawing of a wizard hat.

[itsclydebitches]

The Bumbleby scene feels too random at this point. It’s like they literally picked the scene out of a hat to “confirm” it. As you mentioned, the don’t even hold hands. You’re telling me that’s more intimate than the freaking cheek holding head touched in V8? Wait a minute, didn’t everyone think BB started back in V6 after they killed Adam? What the fuck is even going on anymore?!

People have always shipped it, but yeah, 'canonizing' them started post-Volume 3 and ramped up into 'Oh damn I think they're really gonna do it!' territory in Volume 6. We've got:

Yang grappling with Blake leaving post-Beacon. (She's not, for example, similarly concerned that Weiss 'abandoned' her too. Yang shouldn't have any idea that Weiss was essentially kidnapped by her dad)

Tender and then rejected hand-holding in the shed at the farm

Agreed upon hand-holding while fighting Adam which, yeah, a lot of people read as the moment they 'solved' their relationship troubles, seguing into something new. Hand-holding is often used in RWBY to indicate a romantic relationship, the only problem with using this as a confirmation is that all our other examples also have something more overt: Saphron and Terra are married, Nora kisses Ren/he says "I love you," etc.

Adam's "What do you see in her?" line. Although, this one is severely complicated by a contradiction in the fandom. Many fans claim this implies that Adam recognizes Blake's interest in Yang precisely because she was once interested in him - how can you like her over me? That's compounded by his motivations changing from being politically focused to what feels like stalking and hunting down an ex. However, these fans don't want to admit to the other implications that Blake and Adam were an item due to a lot of anti-men sentiments, biphobia, gold star lesbian nonsense, and the like. Basically, some fans want to use Adam's potential relationship with Blake as proof that she's in a relationship with Yang now, but not actually admit that they ever had that relationship because ew, how could perfect Blake like a male villain? There's also some of that with Sun: fans using Blake's interactions with him to support an interest in Yang ('She has a type!'), but simultaneously denying that blacksun was ever a possibility because that supposedly (not actually) threatens the sanctity of her One True Sapphic Love.

Forehead touch after Adam dies + a promise to never leave

More hand-holding in the airship

Blushing over Yang complimenting her haircut

Having fun pre-outing in Atlas that kinda implies it might be a date, but no one actually establishes it as a date and everyone is going out together, so...

Taking silly pictures together when they get their licenses

Nora's comments to Ren about how they're likely more than friends

Yang being worried about Blake even though she fought with Ruby

Yang tenderly cupping Blake's cheek when they're reunited

Blake loosing it when Yang "dies"

Tackle-hug when everyone else gets...uh, a knee touch?

Blake being flirty, leaning in, finger brush

Weiss' "It's about time" comment

I've probably missed some stuff, but the point is that it's been four years (or even six years depending on how far back you're willing to go) and we're still in this flirty, teasing, ambiguous stage where, as demonstrated above, reading a romantic relationship often requires making a lot of assumptions that rely on having a lot of trust in your writers. I don't know if I'd call all this random, but it is a holding pattern. They blush, hold hands, and others vaguely comment on what they might be. But unlike our straight couples, we're not given anything solid to canonize them with.

I mean, even if you're a fan who believes that these little breadcrumbs are enough to prove the love between them (and here I'm addressing the fandom at large, not you specifically, Happygaynoises2) we get how the queer couples aren't given equal treatment, right? Pyrrha kissed Jaune. Nora kissed Ren. Ren said "I love you." Jaune asked Weiss to the dance. Weiss blatantly chases after Neptune. Ozpin marries and has kids with Salem. Everyone but Adrian has married, straight parents.

Compare that to our queer rep (with May being an exception due to her gender) and it's pretty obvious that this glacial "slow burn" has less to do with the needs of the story and more about RT hesitating to make two of the main girls unambiguously queer. After all, if most of your fans are happy with those breadcrumbs and a canonical relationship would drive away the homophobes... why not just toe the line to keep both groups around, giving you more money?

That's a form of queerbaiting and it's why so many of us remain nervous. I seriously hope given what we've seen so far that this will FINALLY be the Volume when we can set the 'Will they, won't they?' to rest. But who can actually say.

[duckapus]

Mario vs Muppet

As the battle bus rolls across the felt countryside, Kamek stands up from his seat near the front and turns to address everyone, "This is it. The last seed. Given Kermit's abilities, we'll have to be especially careful not to be see-"

"No."

Everyone looks to see who spoke, and it's Mario, who's standing up as well with his head lowered, eyes hidden by the bill of his hat, "We've tried the stealthy approach twice now, and it's only made things worse. We know where the seed is, we know what Kermit can do, we're riding in a fucking tank, and quite frankly he's made this personal." He raises his head, revealing a steely glare and a fire in his eyes, "I say we do this the Avatar way and storm the place. Memes, violence, excessive amounts of fire, the works."

While some of the group has concerns, there's a general ascent to the idea. 4, Meggy and Marcy in particular remember all too well the first conversion they ever saw.

Seeing that they're in agreement, Mario nods firmly, "Alright, here's what we're gonna do..."

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

It's a lovely, peaceful day at Muppet Castle. The kind of day that makes you absolutely sure that nothing can go wrong.

*HONK! HOOOONK!*

Those are, of course, the best days for everything to go wrong.

Kermit gets out of his throne to see what that noise is, and his eyes bulge out when he sees the battle bus about to hit the wall at top speed, "WHAT THE FU-"

*CRASH!*

He's thrown ragdolling across the room, which is now full of dust, rubble, and a completely undamaged tour bus on tank treads. The door opens, revealing Mario with a rocket launcher, "YOU KILLED-A MY BROTHER! YOU SONS OF-A BITCHES!"

With that, and a rocket that Kermit just barely blocks with his shadow hands, the rest of the group pours out of the bus with various weapons in their hands, apart from Phineas, Ferb and Cubot who stay inside to use the bus's weapon systems.

4 speaks up, "Alright Kermit, give us the Wonder Seed or we'll take it from you."

Kermit gulps, then scowls and pulls out the blue seed, "Oh, you mean this?" and then, in a show of defiance, he puts it in his mouth and swallows.

Everyone looks at him with varying degrees of shock, with Marcy as the first to recover, "Well, I guess we're dissecting frogs today."

"GUARDS!"

And so the fight's on. Muppets and shadow hands pour in from every direction, many immediately getting blown up by the battle bus's arsenal. Marcy and Schezo raise their blades and jump directly into the fray, while Meggy, Kamek and Sig try to keep their distance and fire ink and magic from afar. 4...ends up in a slapfight with a converted Fozzie Bear. And Mario only has eyes for Kermit, chasing him all over the battlefield in a frenzy of missiles and Madness, which eventually causes the two to separate from the brawl end enter the halls, which thankfully takes the shadow hands out of the equation.

"I'm-a gonna get you!"

Kermit runs for his life, knowing even in his corrupted state that he stands no chance against an Avatar in full Crazy Stupid Mode. He rounds a corner, and when he sees where he is he grins, "Oh, Luigi!"

Mario freezes in his tracks at that name, and then flinches back when he sees the felt form of his lost brother burst out of a nearby door and plant himself between the two, Kermit smirks down at him.

"That's right, if you want to get to me, you'll have to go through your brother first!" He throws his head back in an evil laugh...which lasts for only a few seconds before a now flaming, ragdolling Luigi hits the wall behind him, "WAT!?"

Mario just gives him a blank wall-eyed stare, "You don't know me very well, do you?"

Kermit looks on in horror as Mario slowly approaches, "Iiiiiii'm about to whup some-bo-dy's aaaaaaass..." before running again.

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

Back in the throne room, things are...more-or-less going in the group's favor for once, seeing as the crowd of Muppets has thinned out significantly. Not to say everything's going smoothly. In particular, Schezo's apparently accidentally said something inappropriate yet again and is on the receiving end of a Miss Piggy Beatdown, and 4's still "fighting" Fozzie.

They end up near a balcony, where Statler and Waldorf are of course watching all the action, "Uh, not that I'm complaining, but shouldn't you be down here trying to stop us like everyone else?"

"Are you kidding? This is the best show they've had all week!"

"Maybe even all year!"

"Plus my grandkids would kill me if they found out I attacked Phineas and Ferb."

"Mmm."

He just shrugs at this, "Fair enough."

"I'LL SHOW YOU PENETRATION! HIII-YAH!"

"I CLEARLY MEANT WITH MY SWORD, YOU THICK SIDE OF BACON! AREIADO!"

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

And now back to Kermit, who's found a table to hide under.

"Come here, fishy fishy!"

He shivers in fear, praying that the crazy plumber moves on, and after several seconds of silence he's almost convinced that it's safe...

And then a gloved hand shoots down around his neck, "Got ya bitch!"

He yanks the oversized frog up and onto the table, a massive knife in his free hand, and Kermit breaks, "Please, I'll give you anything to let me go!"

Mario...seemingly thinks it over, a wild look in his eyes, "...offer me money."

"O-of course, all the money you could ever want!"

"Offer me power."

"I-I'll make you a king! I'll give you Anything!"

"Anything!"

"Just name it! What do you want!?"

"...I want my brother back, you son of a bitch." And the knife comes down, tearing through the soft fabric body, fluffy clouds of stuffing falling around them as the seed is exposed. And then he grabs the seed and goes back the way he came, leaving what's left of his enemy behind...

...which has a single, hilariously ironic remark about the situation, "Wow, what an asshole."

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

A few moments later, Mario bursts back into the Throne room, "I GOT IT!"

4 gives him a thumbs up from where he's sitting on the now-unconscious Fozzie, "Perfect! Alright everybody, let's blow this joint!"

The rest of the group heeds his words, finishing up with whoever they're fighting and going back to the bus. Once they're all in, Phineas does a three-point turn before flooring it back out the hole they'd made, and once they're a few yards away from the castle makes a sharp turn towards the Tower.

"Get some rest guys. It's gonna be a long drive, and we need to be ready for whatever's in there."

[brainyxbat]

Chapter 10: Vs. Wapol's Corps! The Power of the Munch Munch Fruit!

(episode 87)

"It's him!"

"Huh?"

"Doctorine! There's a problem! He's... Wapol's back!"

"Is that so."

"Ahh! That bastard! That annoying mouth!"

-

"Look! Everything is as it used to be! This is my castle. We're restoring the Drum Kingdom!"

"Just a moment, Wapol-sama!" Chess interrupted. "On top of the castle..."

"Hmm?" There was a flag bearing a skull and cherry blossom petals. That wasn't there before. "What's that strange flag? What happened to the Drum Kingdom's flag?!"

A laughing Kureha stepped outside with a furious Chopper. "I burned that thing."

"So you show yourself, Dr. Kureha! The last survivor of the doctor hunt!"

"This castle is no longer yours!" She stood her ground. "This isn't a place for rotten brats like you! Leave this country! The Drum Kingdom has already died out!"

"What'd you say?!"

"Wait!" Luffy ran outside, catching everyone's attention. "I'm gonna beat the crap outta him! Gum-Gum..."

"W-Wapol-sama!" Chess stammered fearfully. "It's Straw Hat!"

"Ah!"

"... Pistol!" Kureha and Chopper watched in shock, as Wapol was sent flying back.

"Wapol-sama!" Chess and Kuromarimo screamed in terror. Unfortunately for the heroes, they grabbed his legs before he could fall too far. "That was close," Chess remarked.

"How dare you bastards..." They turned to see an angry Luffy. "Over and over again... how many times do you have to be in our way?!"

Sanji joined them outside, and sneered in distaste. "Hmm? Why are they here?" His eyes widened at the next witness. "Venus-chan!"

"I'm not missing this."

"Since I had someone injured with me then, I ran, as there was no other choice," Luffy recalled, before smiling, "But this time... I don't have to hold back anymore!" He laughed mischievously.

"Hmm, you bastard!" Chess glared. "How dare you suddenly attack Wapol-sama, the king of the Drum Kingdom!"

"That's right!" Kuromarimo added. "He's the king! How dare you do such a thing to his Excellency, the most excellent ruler of all the citizens on this island!"

"Who cares!" Luffy stretched his cheeks out. "You guys tick me off!" He stuck his tongue out.

"Hey, young man," Kureha addressed him, "You know them?"

"Yeah, I do! He's that annoying mouth! The annoying mouth pirate!"

"That annoying mouth?"

"He keeps getting in my way!" Luffy stomped his feet.

"He ate part of our ship, and attacked our friends!" Venus added.

"I won't let him get away with it anymore!"

"Before that, aren't you cold in that getup?" Sanji asked.

"Huh?"

"See?"

"Didn't they say he was the king?" Luffy asked after a moment. "He isn't a pirate?!"

"That's what you just realized?!"

"Humph! What an idiot!" Kuromarimo smirked. "It seems he finally realized his rudeness. Wapol-sama is the king of the Drum Kingdom. When we met you before, he was temporarily a pirate for his own reasons. That's all."

"He's done being a pirate, and is going back to being the King of this castle, and country," Chess added.

"Hey, this place is cold!" Luffy shivered.

"That's what I've been saying!" Sanji exclaimed.

"It's 50 degrees below, you know!" Chopper added.

"We don't care about his reasons!" Venus snapped. "You're no king! You're just a big bully!"

"Venus-chan!" Sanji silenced her with a hand over her mouth.

"They're making light of us!" Chess glared, before Wapol hauled himself up. "Wapol-sama!"

"I'm really mad now... Straw Hat! I'll bite you off!" When Wapol looked up, his target was gone.

"Um, could you hold on a minute?" Sanji requested casually. "Luffy went to get some clothes."

"He's gone?!" Wapol raged.

"Let me ask you guys a question." Sanji and Venus turned to Chopper. "He... stretched earlier. His arm..."

"Yeah, he stretches," Sanji confirmed, "It's because he's a rubber man."

"Wh-what's that?"

Sanji smiled widely. "It's a monster!"

"Yep!" Venus added just as jovially. Chopper looked at them silently, taking their answers in.

"To sum up, the rebel old hag, and some of the Straw Hats are in this castle," Wapol observed, "Once we eliminate all of them, there won't be anyone else impudent enough to defy me."

"Precisely," Chess agreed, "This will become the bright day of the Drum Kingdom's restoration."

"I'll start with you, Dr. Kureha!" Wapol chose. "You've got quite the nerve settling in the castle during our absence, and even flying a strange flag!"

"I made this castle Hiriluk's grave. I wasn't really interested in such a run-down castle, but this reindeer insisted on flying Hiriluk's flag up there."

"I raised this skull towards all the diseases!"

"Skull..."

"This is a symbol of the belief that nothing is impossible! I will save this country as a doctor! By raising this, I'll fight just like pirates do!"

'Doctor fought to save this country,' Chopper thought, 'By raising that flag. This castle is where Doctor died. He died trying... to save this country. So this place is... this place is Doctor's grave!'

Wapol laughed mockingly. "Grave?! That stupid doctor's?!" He suddenly stopped after a moment. "How dare you violate my sacred castle with that scum doctor's flag! Burn down that flag already!"

A furious Chopper started to change form. "I won't let you make it inside this castle."

"Hmm?!"

"Never!"

"Wapol-sama... he is-"

"That's right!" Kuromarimo cut him off. "From that time... the monster, that followed the stupid doctor!"

"That flag... is Doctor's faith! So I won't let you take it down! Never!"

"Show them no mercy!" Wapol ordered. "We're going into the castle! Take down every single one of them!"

"Are you gonna fight too, old lady?" Sanji asked, making Venus perk up in worry.

"Old lady?" She landed a kick to his head. "If they're more than you guys can handle, I'll give you a hand."

"Appreciate that," He muttered.

"Wapol-sama! Please leave them to us! We'll clean up the small fries right away!" Kuromarimo launched an afro at Kureha.

"Doctorine!" Chopper exclaimed.

Thankfully, Sanji blocked it off with his leg. "Hey, hey, hey, you with the afro. What kind of brother are you, throwing an afro at a lady?"

"Hey, you're getting it now," She smirked.

"You fell for it."

"Huh?" Sanji turned to his leg, and tried to shake it off, but it stuck to his pants. "Ah! What?! I can't shake it off! What's this afro?! Static electricity?!"

"Exactly!" He laughed evilly.

"Ahh! Dammit! Come off! Dammit!" Sanji started becoming frustrated.

"Ohhhhh, it's cold! It's cold!" Luffy griped. "Clothes! Clothes!" He burst into the room, waking Nami from her slumber. "Clothes! Clothes! Clothes! Where're the clothes?!"

"What's going on outside?" She asked while sitting up. "It seems noisy."

"It's cold outside! Where're my clothes?"

"I didn't ask that," Nami frowned, "I asked what was happening outside."

Luffy dug through a chest. "Ahh, it's a fight."

"I see. You guys're okay, right?"

"Yeah, so stay in bed."

"You can use my clothes," She offered.

"What? Your clothes're ugly."

"They're cooler than yours," She retorted.

"Really? Well, I guess it's all right if they're warm." He pulled on Nami's orange/yellow plaid jacket, and ran back out. "Alrighty!" He closed the door behind him.

"Oh," Nami laid back down nonchalantly, "I wondered what the fuss was about."

"That bastard! I'll beat up that annoying mouth!"

"Dammit!" Sanji was still shaking his leg. "What's with this afro?! It doesn't come off! It doesn't come off!"

Kuromarimo laughed evilly, and plucked off a small hairball from his own head. "There're lots more coming!" When he squished it, it grew much bigger. "Marimo's Static Cling!"

He chucked two at him, and they stuck to his right arm, and left side. "What the hell are these things?! They're damn gross!" The one shifted to his left arm. "Hey, reindeer! Don't just watch! Help me!"

"Okay!"

"Take these off quick! They're really gross! On top of that, they're plain! Too plain!"

"That's what you're focusing on?!" Venus exclaimed angrily.

"Stay away, Venus-chan! Don't let them touch you!" She jumped away.

When Chopper tried to help, the situation didn't improve. "Ahh! They're now stuck on me! I'm giving them back to you!"

"Ah! Don't give them back to me! Keep at least one!"

"No! They're gross!"

"They're gross to me too!"

"Stop it!"

"Don't give them to me!"

"Ahh! Stop it!"

"What the heck are you guys doing?" Kureha sneered, as Venus facepalmed.

"Humph!" Kuromarimo scoffed. "They know nothing about teamwork."

"I'll tell you one thing," Chess remarked, "Despite their plain look, those Static Marimos burn flashily."

Sanji's eyes widened at the flaming arrow ready to be shot. "Hmm?! Oh no! He's going to burn these afros!"

"Here you go!" Chopper gave them to him, and booked it.

"Okay... hey! Where're you going?!"

"Decoy plan!"

"D-decoy plan? Am I the decoy?!"

"Check mate!"

"Sanji!" Venus yelled when it was fired.

"Ah!" It hit the afro on his right leg, igniting it. "Ow! Ow! Snow! Snow!" He tried to throw snow on the ember.

Meanwhile, Chopper began going after Chess, swinging a missed punch at him. "Move!" Wapol pushed Chess away, and opened his huge jaws to successfully chomp down.

"Wapol-sama!"

"Darn it!" Sanji griped, as Venus gasped.

"Chopper!" His legs kicked helplessly between Wapol's teeth.

"Whoa, this is really warm!" Luffy rejoined them, now ready to battle effectively.

"Luffy!"

"Huh?"

"Grab my leg from there!"

"Your leg? Sure!" He stretched his arms out from where he stood, and grabbed his right leg. "Like this?"

"Okay then! Don't let your hands go!"

"Hmm? Got it!"

"Armee de l'air Assault... Gum Shoot!" He launched him into Wapol, letting a now small Chopper fly out of his mouth. Wapol flew back from the hit, sending Robson into the sky.

"Alright, guys!" Venus cheered, as Kureha drank some sake.

Sanji confidently smoked a cigarette. "That was okay, I guess," He smirked.

"Th-thank you," Chopper stammered, "You guys're amazing."

"Ah! Hey, Luffy! You jerk!" Sanji glared. "Isn't that Nami-san's jacket?!"

"Yeah... look! He's still alive, though the hippo flew away."

"Take it off!" Sanji pulled at it. "You jerk!"

"Knock it off!" Venus separated them.

"Wapol-sama, are you alright?" Kuromarimo asked.

"They're stronger than we thought," Chess remarked, "We underestimated them!"

"I can no longer let them live! Those bastards!"

"What?!"

"I'll show them... the true power of the Munch Munch Fruit!"

"Wapol-sama!"

He pushed himself up, now furious. "I'll show them... Munch Munch Factory!"

"Oh, he stood up!" Luffy noticed.

"Would a normal person stand up after taking that attack?" Sanji wondered aloud.

"He's tough!" Venus remarked.

"Chess! Call out what I ate today!" Wapol ordered.

"Yes, sir!" He brought out a booklet. "Well... you ate one butter-sautéed cannon, and one raw cannon on the ship. Also cannonball and gunpowder salad, as well as a toasted house in the village."

"What kind of stuff do you eat?!" Luffy exclaimed.

"When it comes to omnivores, this guy takes the cake," Sanji remarked.

"Wait and see. Food soon becomes my blood and flesh."

Chopper watched with caution. "He's gonna do something!"

Suddenly, a chimney started growing out of Wapol's head. "Huh?" Luffy leaned his head closer.

"What's that?"

"Weird," Venus quirked a brow.

"Munch Munch Shock!" To everyone's surprise, he transformed into a house with a face, and cannon arms. "Wapol House!"

"A house?!" Sanji exclaimed.

"Sweet!"

"Don't get swept up!" Venus ordered.

"It's too soon to be surprised. Now this is the king's technique!"

"Ahh!" Chess and Kuromarimo tensed up.

"Munch Munch Factory!"

"Ahh!" Luffy stared in shock; Wapol ate his subordinates!

"What the-? He-he's eating his own men!"

"He's eating his own people!"

"This is weird!" Venus grimaced. Wapol danced back and forth, sounding like a robot, with steam shooting out of the chimney and cannons, before standing in place.

"He stopped moving," Chopper remarked.

"Feast your eyes on this! Come out, miraculous union!"

"Huh?!" Luffy gaped.

"What?!" Sanji exclaimed.

"Union?!" Venus leaned her head closer.

The door on his torso began slowly opening, as everyone tensed up. "I am the strongest warrior of the Drum Kingdom." It was Chess, and Kuromarimo, with the latter on top, and the former on the bottom "Chessmarimo!"

The group stared in boredom. "Well, isn't that just one riding on the other's shoulders?" Sanji pointed out.

"Sweet!" Luffy admired them.

"What's sweet about it?!"

"Don't let your guard down," Kureha ordered.

"Hmm?"

"If they really were weak, a stupid act like exiling doctors would've been stopped by the citizens."

"R-right," Venus nodded, and readied herself.

"The Drum Kingdom's Constitution, Article 1: "Those who don't do as the king wishes should die." That sums up this country! It's because this country is my country, and this castle is my castle. Of all the flags, don't fly that quack's flag! It will ruin the castle!" To Chopper's horror, Wapol shot straight at the flag! Venus gasped in horror, her hands over her open mouth.

Luffy noticed the flagpole starting to fall from the hit. "A pirate flag. Hey, reindeer. That flag..."

Chopper watched with despair, as Hiriluk's words ran in his mind. "Nothing is impossible for the man who raised a flag with a skull! That what I told you, right, Chopper?!" After some silence, he began charging at the attacker. "You bastard, you attacked Doctor's flag!"

"Chopper!" Venus called out in vain.

He turned big, and pounced on Wapol. "Doctor... tried to save even you!"

He went to punch him, but he heard Hiriluk's voice again. "Chopper... Don't hold a grudge against humans. This country is sick right now. The king also suffers from a sickness of the heart."

"Hmm?" Wapol watched in confusion, as he continued to hesitate.

"Why? Doctor, a guy like him isn't worth saving!"

"Chopper?" Venus watched in concern.

"I... I won't hit you... so leave this country!"

"What're you saying, Chopper?!" Kureha shouted. "You think he'll just listen to you?!"

"But... after all..."

"Humph!" Seeing an opening, Wapol shot him away with one of his cannons.

"Chopper!" Kureha watched in horror, as he landed in the snow on his back.

On top of the castle, Luffy had ripped off one of the jacket sleeves, and tied it to the flagpole, securing the flag where it rightfully belonged. "Hey, annoying mouth!"

"Huh?!" Luffy defiantly gripped the pole by the flag. "Straw Hat!" Chopper watched in surprise from the ground.

"You were a fake pirate, right? You don't know what this pirate flag means, because you were fake pirates who didn't even risk your lives!"

"That guy..." Chopper muttered.

"What that flag means, Straw Hat?" Wapol laughed tauntingly. "Stupid pirate flags have no meaning!"

"That's why you're hopeless!"

"What'd you say?!"

"A pirate flag isn't something that you can raise as a joke!"

"What an idiot! If it weren't for a joke, there's no way I, the king, would raise it! Don't put that stupid flag back up when I take it down!"

He shot another cannonball, to Chopper's horror. "Dodge it! Watch out!"

"You can't break this flag!"

The cannonball hit its target, resulting in another explosion. "Luffy!" Sanji exclaimed.

"It's a direct hit!" Kureha remarked.

"He must've been blown away!" Wapol grinned evilly. "Such an idiot!"

However, he and the flag were still intact. The latter was ripped at the edges, but was still alright, as he held the portion of the pole broken back off. "See? It didn't break."

Wapol glared angrily. "C-can't be! He's stupid!"

"I don't know who the heck this pirate flag belongs to, but since this flag is a person's pledge to risk his life, it's not raised as a joke!" He glared daggers at their enemies. "This flag isn't something you can just break while laughing foolishly!"

Chopper watched him in awe, as the three were physically taken back. 'Incredible... so this is... a pirate!'

"It won't break... never," Luffy vowed, "The skull is a mark of faith!"

[fireflyhwufanficwriter]

My thoughts on Dr. Stone’s S03E01 (“New World Map”)

(Safe to read for anime-only folks.)

My thoughts after watching Season Three, Episode One:

01. The first two lines we ever hear in this season, THIS season, is Senku saying, "This scenery takes me back. I'm absolutely bawling" while he and the others are flying to Ishigami Village. Which I'm SURE is a direct reference to when he stood over Byakuya's grave, said "this takes me back," and cried the very first tear we've ever seen Senku shed... at his father's, Ishigami Byakuya's, grave :') Very, very well-done already, and it's only been two lines so far! :O

02. Chrome is NOT willing to let Ryusui have his village, haha! XD

03. I know Senku was looking to the side probably because he rope helped him navigate the balloon downwards, and stuff... but Chrome tossed the rope to Kohaku, so he should be looking somewhere in her direction, and I'm gonna choose to believe he was looking right at her! :D

04. The production quality in this first scene is top-notch! And of course we're getting a short clips show :) It's pretty cool to see what Ryusui was doing right before he was petrified! :O

05. The kids and adults are so excited to see Senku! :) He even has a hand on a little girl's head, and he's smiling; aww! :D And another little girl asked him to play, AND he said agreed! That is so sweet! :) I HAVE to remember this for my fanfic! :D

06. Apparently, "Come. We'll show you around Ishigami Village," is Kohaku code for, "Come, I'm going to give you a walking tour of why Senku's so awesome" XD

07. He has a globe in his laboratory... that's a nice detail! Something else I can use in my fanfic! :)

08. Ryusui teleported from the laboratory to the shed of science XD

09. What's Ginro holding in his right hand? Is it a tool for smoothing the wood? :O

10. A ship building team and an oil searching team, both working towards the goal of sailing and finding out the truth behind the petrification! :)

11. I must say, I'm not feeling the opening song of Dr. Stone: New World. It's too fast for me, and it doesn't help that I don't know the English translation of the lyrics yet, so it doesn't have any personal meaning for me, although of course I like seeing my favorite characters, and certain new characters that will be introduced later on in the season :) ...Well, except that big hat guy. I know his name, but I don't like him... -_-

12. The second-to-the-last shot of the OP is really nice. At the end of the previous seasons' three OPs, Senku was always, always alone. But in this season's OP, he's with so many people - Suika, Kohaku, Ukyo, Kinro, Ginro, Gen, Nikki, Ryusui, Francois, Kaseki, Yuzuriha, Chrome, Yo, and Taiju. He really, truly isn't alone anymore - he has friends by his side :)

13. Ah, the title of the first episode of Season Three... New World Map! :) And the title is on paper now! :D

14. It is so cool that they have enough metal now that they can use some of it on things that aren't vital to their scientific goals, but are just little things that make life a bit better, like those metal food covers! :)

15. Ryusui... what you're imagining ain't what you're getting... XD

16. Grilled fish, grilled fish soup, grilled fish salad, grilled fish desert, grilled fish... something XD Small fishes inside big fishes! :O

17. Small detail, but I like that Senku addresses Jasper and Turquoise by name :) I suppose it's too bad that they... WEREN'T attacked? XD

18. Ryusui is SO determined to find food! XD Poor guy... And Senku's being quite encouraging! :D

19. Kohaku! ^_^ Kohaku's flying!! Yay! :D She's so happy and thrilled! AND prepared; she has her sword and new shield on her even though she's hanging from a hot-air balloon! :O

20. Senku casually said she should stop freaking out like a child, but he looks pleased AND he called her "lioness!" Ah, it's been WAY too long... :) Kohaku noticed, too! :D

21. Finally, a shot with just Senku and Kohaku! They're talking about the possibility of finding oil :)

22. I wonder why that forest stood out to Kohaku? She's seen a lot of forests, and even on the hot-air balloon, she would have seen bunch of trees already. Maybe cedar is rare for the villagers? Or maybe something about how the trees looked made her think they were noteworthy or useful? :O

23. High-quality animation AND new graphics - they're really showing what they've got in this first episode! :D

24. First, Kohaku and Chrome worked as a team to find the cedar forest, and then Ryusui and Ukyo worked as a team to find that feral goat herd. And the way he showed genuine respect and care to that goat was so Ukyo :)

25. But... are they supposed to let the blood out in the water like that? I thought you weren't supposed to do that because the bacteria would go into the water and negatively affect the fish there... or maybe that's just for guts and innards and stuff, but not blood? Or maybe that's just when it comes to fish? Don't know... :O

26. Sigh, Senku writing and Kohaku pointing, with Chrome and Ukyo and Ryusui, making a map of the new world together... :) It's so nice to see this in detail and color! :D

27. The villagers were impressed by the map! :) Although, Ryusui, you could have been more tactful; I'm sure the villagers would have also liked more variety in their diet... -_-

28. This is the second time we've seen that particular elderly woman show her relief that nobody will starve to death anymore... poor woman... :( And something I hadn't considered was that anime lends room for empathy when it comes to voices. Turquoise said pretty much the same thing to the world woman, but it seemed more dismissive/annoyed to me in the manga and more empathetic in the anime :)

29. Ah, so the village was a lot bigger before Kohaku was born, but a lack of food one year meant a lot of people died, including Turquoise's family... :(

30. Uh, this "plants enslaving humanity" angle is new to me... XD

31. Oh, Kohaku might not know about currency yet, haha! Oooh, she found golden foxtail... or wheat! :D

32. They're going to their own food, by themselves! :)

33. Slash, slash, slash, goes Kohaku on the golden foxtail, just like she did on the green foxtail! :D

34. I love how Kohaku's hopping easily with at eight bundles of wheat, Chrome is carrying two with one arm, and Senku is using both his arms but is still struggling and walking slower than Chrome with just one bundle XD

35. I really like that they included Kohaku's special attack move question AND animated it a bit! :D

36. Kohaku seriously just loves to, like, all-out brag about Senku and/or science XD She did it in Season One with Kokuyou; in Season Two with Hyoga; and this season with Ryusui earlier AND with Nikki, Yuzuriha, Magma, Taiju, Gen, and Ginro now XD

37. Awesome detail that Yo's farm sign has writing and Magma's farm sign has a sketch of his face :D And even though they're rivals, they seem to be pals too, taking breaks in the afternoon and resting at night together like that :)

38. Yuzuriha has insight into why Taiju is the way he is; Taiju talked about his past... :) And I really like that Gen had his head bowed in honor of Taiju's words :) Also, about the petrification... uh... um... what about the- wait, actually, note to self: talk about this thing in the future when it won't be as spoilery XD

39. Taiju's farm looks so green and plentiful, and Yo and Magma's farms... have a few sprouts? XD Very cool that Taiju remembered what Senku said about seashells all the way from the first part of Season One :D

40. Senku looks proud and happy that Taiju remembered his words, and Magma and Yo look proud and happy that their farms prospered after they did what Taiju did! :)

41. And even though the latter two aren't thrilled about it, they're still in the crowd that gives Taiju the straw hat of the farming/food king! :D I like that Taiju bent his head so that Yuzuriha could put it on him, like he really was being crowned :)

42. Even Senku acknowledged Taiju as the food king! :D

43. Whoa, a couple of seasons passed and the wheat ripened, just like that! :O

44. Also not feeling this ending song, although I do appreciate that there are some English lines. Are the circle thingies related to chemistry, and elements and protons and electrons and stuff? And maybe I'll like it more if I understand the lyrics; I should look them up! :)

45. Sigh, I dislike the lack of Kohaku in the ED, but I do understand, the five wise generals and all that :D

46. Ooh, they have an brick baking oven now! :) Senku's clearly unprofessionally baked bread looks like... that... but Kohaku genuinely likes that it's like a rock and has a fun, crumbly texture :D (Or... stone? Haha! XD) And Chrome and Turquoise and the elderly man who believed in Senku in Season Two like the burnt bread as well! :)

47. Ah, so Ukyo learned that about food in the Self-Defense Force survival exercises... :O And Yo, you do NOT need to be jealous... XD

48. Senku and Ryusui are united in their resolve: They MUST revive a professional chef! :D

49. So ends the first episode about Dr. Stone's Age of Discovery! :) A triumphant arrival in Ishigami Village; reuniting with Kohaku and other old friends; making a new world map; looking for resources; the rediscovery of agriculture; the crowning of the kingdom of science's food king; a bread baking experiment that was very successful for some but not successful at all for others... and a new goal for the latest required skill set for the kingdom of science! :D

50. I'm so glad that I'm finally watching Season Three - my own goal is to finish watching all the available episodes before the second part of the season starts airing in October 2023! :)

https :// fireflyhwufanficwriter . tumblr . com / MyDrStoneEpisodeMangaThoughts

[7ban-sama]

waking up from a dream where nene was trapped in a surreal horror scape, looping hallway, some real. silent hill PT shit... lights turning off and being chased by something Unknown, being grabbed by the ankles, thinking she's finally safe but steadily realizing she's not, interacting with illusions. etc. Honestly a level of horror that would not happen in JSHK... it was really making her hysterical and desperate. Just when she was going to have to walk through another trap, the door behind her that she just shut opens. obviously scary moment, but then out pops...

Tsukasa! Without a hat... front half of his torso leaned out. She is agog. He extends his hand out to her. She has to outrun some apparition of an old 'kind' lady talking to her, clearly not wanting her to go to where he is. Tsukasa says nothing, is not smiling, eyes are dark, but his hand is outstreched and palm-up, to her. There may as well be a halo of light upon it. Ignoring everything else around her, heart pounding in her ears, Nene dives towards him desperately and squeezes his hand. He pulls her out in one clean motion.

This time is 'for real', she's escaped properly, and she can tell. She crumples to her knees in relief, clutching her chest, nearly crying. Tsukasa crouches down and pets her head, yosh yosh...

he says something like, "poor nene-chan!" pitying her for always getting stuck in things. she... like, processes for a beat, the use of 'nene-chan'... come to think of it, 'this' tsukasa (yorishiro, in his kimono and what-all) has never addressed her by name before. but when she had met him as a child... *math equations flying around nene's face* *suddenly processes*

"wait... tsukasa-kun, do you... remember me?"

to which tsukasa is very XD about, big beaming grin, fangies out. "of course!"

woke up soon after. but man. [laying here in contemplation]

been thinking about TsuNene fractals lately...... makes sense I'd dream about it. arghh, but maybe now's just the time to dream of future interactions, as we wonder about our next interaction with Tsukasa in canon...

the best thing ever would be a confirmation of Tsukasa having his memories from the Red House. Whether it's him saying something about that day, thus making Nene realize he still remembers their meeting — or if upon seeing him, Nene thinks back to the 4yo Tsukasa she held, and is compelled to point-blank ask him... in such a case, I wonder if Tsukasa would be surprised? Happy? That Nene on her own drew a conclusion, affirmed their past meeting... and for the follow-up, I wonder how Nene would feel, looking back on all their interactions. Fascinated...? Confused? (maybe a comedic beat of: then why did you drop me in a pit that one time...)

I wonder also if we'll ever get some outright affirmation, of Tsukasa saying... "I like Nene-chan :)" or "We're the same. ^^ Remember?" He's so capable of being direct, I feel like it could happen...

On top of it all, I'd still really enjoy some sort of TsuNene conspiring to get around Hanako sometime. I mean if we learn the twins are playing games with each other (functionally) and Nene has to swallow this crazy pill. but then decidedly gets like "💢 if Hanako-kun is gonna connive and lie to me then I'm gonna work with his brother.... FINE!!!" or, basically any sort of moment where Nene decidedly goes to Tsukasa over Hanako, due to him being, at least more LIKELY to ASSIST than to NOT... Considering Hanako's behavior as of late.

I feel like I could go on endlessly... Envisioning a moment where both twins have outstretched their hands but Nene takes Tsukasa's...... Or them isolated amidst the upcoming school festival...... and so on. (more likely [??] though I think the school festival will be us going on a wild goose chase for Natsuhiko or smtn...)

[thegoatboy]

To be honest tho, these punishments would lead to the same behavior as beating a kid, just less extreme.

The problem here is that none of these punishments address the problem behavior. It doesn't teach the kid why the behavior is unwanted, just that it's unwanted. Punishments should not really be implanted in parenting at all, only natural consequences.

If you're at a library with a kid and they're being too loud, you don't say, "hey kiddo, if you keep being loud you'll have to wear The Hat." Instead you get down on eye level and say,

"Hey kiddo, I see that you're really happy and excited to be in the library. Libraries are place are quiet places tho. Notice how the other people are being quiet so that everyone can read without being distracted? I need you to not yell or shout becuase it's respectful to the other people here, and if you can't be quieter we're gonna have to leave the library."

Acknowledge the emotion and behavior, explain using positive statements the behavior you want (meaning, don't say libraries are not loud places, instead say they are quiet places), explain why you want it, and communicate what will happen if they don't change that behavior.

This will get much better results, and instill trust and communication with your kiddo.

And if you can't find a reason for them to stop the behavior other than "that's not what you do" maybe do some internal work to see if that behavior is actually a problem or if you just don't like it.

A lot of people around me are having kids and every day it becomes more apparent that hitting your children to punish them is insane because literally everything can be a horrible punishment in their eyes if you frame it as such.

Like, one family makes their toddler sit on the stairs for three minutes when he hits his brother or whatever. The stairs are well lit and he can see his family the whole time, he’s just not allowed to get up and leave the stairs or the timer starts over. He fucking hates it just because it’s framed as a punishment.

Another family use a baseball cap. It’s just a plain blue cap with nothing on it. When their toddler needs discipline he gets a timeout on a chair and has to put the cap on. When they’re out and about he just has to wear the cap but it gets the same reaction. Nobody around them can tell he’s being punished because it’s in no way an embarrassing cap, but HE knows and just the threat of having to wear it is enough.

And there isn’t the same contempt afterwards I’ve seen with kids whose parents hit them. One time the kid swung a stick at my dog, his mother immediately made him sit on the stairs, he screamed but stayed put, then he came over to my dog and gently said “Sorry Ellie” and went back to playing like nothing happened, but this time without swinging sticks at the nearby animals.