#well it was on stream so its not that much of a big spoiler but still

[solarockk]

i love the new skin

[sourscheming]

Why the Tacomic scene in II 2 17 isnt as bad as some of you are making it out to be

II 2 17 SPOILERS BELOW!!

ive seen many people say they absolutely despise the tacomic scene in ii 2 17 due to many reasons. mainly being that the scene felt too rushed or that microphone was heavily out of character.

and while i can agree with these claims when looking at this scene from a first glance, ive realized this scene requires a lot more additional context and reflection to fully understand, using tiny bits and pieces left for us. and its my job to help glue them up! hope you enjoy my rambling :)

Arguement 1: Mic is very OOC

when first looking at this scene i can agree that yes microphone is very out of character. her acting so nonchalant, just playing off tacos actions. but let me tell you why shes not as ooc as some of you might think. first: a tweet from brian

“mic had always had a tendency to let taco off the hook” and this is very true! she will always try and play off taco’s actions due to how much she cares about her. and. with this being a life or death situation, she really didnt want to make a mountain out of a molehill and potentially die without any closure with taco. her playing off tacos actions might feel like its ooc, but it makes so much more sense whennyou consider their history and the fact thst in someways microphone still yearns and loves taco. she yearns for taco a 7/10 it used to be higher!! (source: brians streams) she still really loves taco despite everything.

i know what pissed many people off was microphone acting so… natural. she wasnt mad or anything. she was just so chill about it all when she shouldve been mad, right? i definitely agree with that, but most people seem to be forgetting this line

(nice callback to this scene btw)

but back to the point; mic hears everything. microphone always knew taco was in the hotel because she heard her. and doing this she had time to reflect and gather her thoughts so she wasn’t screaming at taco or getting mad irrationally. and keep in mind microphone most likely heard taco crying and screaming about pickle dying, i dont think she wanted to push her to do that again. hearing taco, the one who presented herself to be so strong and evil, just sobbing her heart out mustve been terrifying.

now i also wanted to bring up this:

microphone knows about the events of episode 15 and was most likely told taco died and why. she knows taco can die due to heavy emotional distress. acting angry and irrational and not sitting down to talk about wouldve stressed her out more and they couldve potentially lost her too. the reason why shes so chill about isnt because shes not upset about everything, it was because if she was, she risked the chance of loosing taco.

another tweet from brian to show microhone doesnt forgive taco yet, but she definitely woud in the future if taco proved herself:

and again it may not look like this in the episode, but microphones nonchalant attitude comes with a lot of jabs at taco, showing that she doesnt truly forgive her. plus, microphone never utters the words “i forgive you” once.

but the reason why shes able to move on so easily is because of how well she knows taco. taco had always struggled with apologizing, as seen in episode 13. she’s almost never used the word sorry consciously.

microphone had always been a big softie for taco being at least a bit sincere, so imagine how she felt when taco went fully sincere. and she knew she couldn’t just hug her and say i forgive you on a whim, so she sorta had to play it off to keep everything on track.

and this scene is so. impactful because of just what it represents. microphone had always been about “doing the right thing” and taco begrudgingly respected her wishes. but to see taco DOING the right thing mustve been such a turning point for microphone. shown her that taco CAN change, that she wants to. it solidifies that the care that microphone had wasnt one sided, taco LEARNED something from her. shes learning how to be better. shes trying because she wants to be with microphone. i think thats what really strikes a chord, she gained something, a friend.

Arguement 2: The scene felt really rushed

oh i definitely agreed with this at first. this segment will be much shorter because it’s basically hammering into your head that HEY they were in a LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION!!!

microphone needed to quickly rush taco out in order to keep her safe, they needed to do it quickly so they wouldnt die. again, mic wouldve reached out sooner but the situation was so stressful she only did it now. taco probably wouldve died if she didnt come out, and they all knew the onpy way they could pry her out was with someone she cared about.

do i wish they got 5 more minutes to talk? fuck yes, but also keep in mind they barely had time to do anything, so much was happening all at once they had to shoehorn something in. and with the points i listed earlier again, this was probably the best they could do due to circumstance.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

overall, while i do think this scene was rushed, theres still beauty to be had with it. its still really impactful when reflecting on it and i dont think it devalues the tacomic arc as much as some of you make it out to.

i wish there was more to this scene but i think what we got was pretty substantial especially considering everything that happened in ii 2 17.

they both still care for eachother, they both loved eachother so much, that they were able to put their grievances aside so they could spend their final moments together.

thanks for reading <3

[blueikeproductions]

Well it’s official: EarthSpark is dead. The next cartoon is being worked on as we speak.

Via Protoman of the Slag Podcast on TFW2005:

“All I will say is my source is someone working on the next Transformers series and *spoiler* it's not Earthspark.  Ratings were bad, toys have had a very soft distribution restocking (It's not about how much that Wave 1 is ordered, it's how much gets reordered after by retail wave after wave) and well....... better luck next time.”

If he says it’s dead, it’s dead.

What’s next?

As of typing, we dunno.

The only successful non toy media currently are the Skybound comics, and while TFONE is coming out this September, we have no idea how well that will do. The general confusion and backlash from the more comedically cut first trailer doesn’t … bode well from normies and hard cores.

One is said to have tested well, but so did RotB and it didn’t do so hot in theaters despite people liking it better. It’s still doing VERY well on Paramount+, but I don’t know if that means anything because P+ is the red headed step child of streaming… Also Paramount’s current… EVERYTHING.

So big coin flip really.

A cartoon based more directly on what One sets up makes sense, a lot of people have said it looks like a pilot for a future cartoon anyway.

An anime adaption of the Energon Universe is also possible, but it’s a little … too soon and if they adapted it now it would basically be the first Dragonball Z and first FMA anime, taking liberties and going its own direction because it couldn’t realistically keep up with the manga.

Best case scenario: a new co produced Transformers anime that uses TFONE & Skybound as a spring board for its own ideas.

What becomes of the Terrans in the future? I hope you weren’t attached to them being their own species because I guarantee it’s gonna be like post Beast Wars stuff.

The Terrans will largely just be Autobots and Decepticons like how the Maximals and Predacons tend to be like Cyberverse Cheetor and EarthSpark’s own Tarantulas.

RotB at the very least reinvigorated the Maximals as a faction, but the Predacons are largely missing from modern televised and comic media. They’re kinda there post WFC, but Transmetal II Megatron is curiously labeled a Prime Predacon…

The Prime Predacons are great but still…

Hasbro remains very weird about non Autobots and Decepticons. Mini-Cons kinda luck out by having the Cassettes be retroactively be Mini-Cons, but screw you if you want proper Maximals, Terrans, Predacons. Terrorcons are another current anomaly that I don’t know will make the cut either.

As it stands, expect Twitch and Spitfire to be Mini-Cons, Aftermath a Decepticon, and everyone else an Autobot, with Jawbreaker specifically as a Dinobot. Whether he gets used just as much as Slash remains to be seen. -sarcastic-

[flighter312]

I dunno if ya do asks or not. But, looking at your KronFau parents au with Ceci is just making me think of baby Ame just randomly coming home with an automaton

KF: whatcha got there?

Ame, half dragging a semi unwinded Ceci: mud!!

HI im late because i never really check tumblr, and i dont know how to do asks in general so i hope this works, but im taking a small break from drawing rn, HOWEVER i will give you this brainrot that turned out to be longer than i expected but i need to yap

an kronfau parents, baby ame au where maybe ame is very ""isolated"" from her peers (probably due to being constantly dirty and having a fascination with small living creatures and being a completely yapper over them(takes after fauna)), so shes used to playing by herself

you didnt specify what type of age cece would have, so im choosing to imagine she appears to be a few years older than ame (spoiler: kronii learns mechanics and always fixes cece up so she also ages with ame, but thats later on)

but maybe kfa moves to a secluded area because they are not made for the city (no matter how much kronii wishes they were), but fauna's happy because at least theres a cottage, and ame's happy because they live near a creek which means DIRT! AND BUGS! AND SNAKES- (and kronfau has a heart attack the first time ame brings one in)

but theyve gotten a little used to ame bringing in lots of creatures (which she eventually has to say bye bye to on the porch because kf is NOT hosting bugs in this home)

however, one day ame is following maybe a tiny spider and ventures off a little more than she's used to, narrating her whole journey, maybe like-

Mama said not to go too far without permission! BUT- she didn't specify who's! [in a high voice] "Ame, can i have YOUR permission to go off beyond the river? (a one foot wide stream of water)" [in a deep voice] "Why, yes Ame! But only if you bring back something fun in return!" [normal voice] "Well, if you say so!" and she skips along and splashes through the puddles

of course, the creek looks the same (but ame NEVER gets lost! right...?), and maybe ame shouldn't have lost track of the (tiny) river, but uh, its fine! eventually mama fauna will call out to her and she'll use her voice to come back home-

and then she trips on a rock.

but then its a very weird rock. like.. weeeiiiiirrd. like. a leg- OH MY GOD

oh no need to worry, its still attached to its person- OH MY GOD

ame probably hides behind a tree or something but after nothing happens, she decides to grab a stick and poke the person. still, nothing happens, so ame decides, yup! thats safe! and inspects it, and what do yknow? this person has "one of em windy- thingies" on their head, and ame knows what to do with that!

so she ends up carefully grabbing it, and then twisting it! or trying. but it doesnt budge. so ame thinks-

"Mum's super strong. What does she do before lifting heavy things...?" And she widens her stance- "ALL IN THE LEGS BABY-"

and the key finally budges and ame falls onto the person's lap. and when she looks up, the thing looks back at her and- OH MY GOD!!!

a friend!!

and ame introduces herself and the robot asks her if she could wind her more, but ame says its too heavy (she tries again, to no avail), but she knows someone SUPER strong!! (mum kronii, of course), and they can ask her for help!

"Where is she then?" "...Good question!"

but ame knows because ame NEVER gets lost and ... ames lost. but its okay! because right on time, fauna starts calling out for ame. however, it sounds like the voice is coming all around them, and.. it appears ame's plan is falling apart. but ame doesn't panic! she NEVER panics! especially when its gonna get dark soon, and ame's afraid of the dark, and shes all alone in this big forest creek whatever-

but she's not alone.

and when this strange person robot windy toy asks if ame is trying to find the voice, ame says yes, because her moms taught her to not lie (and she doesnt feel like lying right now).

so, moss peels away, cobwebs fall apart, and leaves rustle towards the ground - and ame's friend stands up.

next thing you know, kronii's getting ready to go out into the creek because fauna's getting worried that ame hasn't showed up, until ame calls out-

"MAMA! LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" "Oh, thank goodness, my heart- ... Amelia. What is that." and uh oh! fauna told ame to try and not get dirty today! (she says that everyday, but whos keeping track) but still, ame can't really lie in this scenario, so- "Mud!!"

and kronii and fauna just stare at this robot girl because. what. the fuck.

"Kronii! No cursing!" "I THINK THIS ONCE I SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO."

and wouldn't you know it. kronfau adopts another daughter.

something like that :) hope this is fine! also sorry for being late, i really dont check tumblr but i should more often! this is fun haha

[youre-in-big-trouble]

so. for those who missed it:

today i was allowed TWO bathroom breaks. and i needed to drink a gallon of water over the course of the day. so... i held my morning pee as long as i possibly could. like, literally until i started leaking and couldnt stop it. um. you MIGHT think that sounds like an accident, but all of the mess made it into a container, so. it. doesnt count. its not an accident. that was at around 1pm - twenty minutes after being told to wait one more hour to pee.

then, at around 8pm, i went to go pee again. i had company over, and had been sipping on soda and water, so. it FELT really urgent, and i couldnt exactly get desperate in front of my company. so, i just went to the toilet and decided to torture my bladder further by controlling the stream to be as slow of a trickle as i could manage. spoiler! i didnt really win that battle.

so! no more potty breaks, right? game over. but, i still had like. 80oz of fluid to drink to meet today's goal! i did manage to drink all of it, but it took a few hours (understandably)

finally, at 11pm, all my drinks started to catch up to me. all i needed to do was make it one more measly hour, and id be scott free! after midnight, id be allowed to basically pee as much as i want, whenever i want! but. um. i didnt. make it...

i tried!! i really really tried! i basically sat there for 45 minutes with my hand jammed between my legs, trying to hold it all in, but... after waiting so so so long, it just. came out. at first, it was just a few drops in my underwear, and i stopped everything i was doing in the kitchen to stop the leak. i quickly finished up once i got the leak under control, and then rushed toward the bathroom. but every few steps, it just got worse. first it was a little spurt, then a big gush, and then, just a loud hissy SPRAY of piss right into my jeans. by the time i jumped in the tub, it was running down both of my legs...

i managed to stop the leak, finally, but by then id already lost about half of what i was holding. i was tempted to hold the rest until midnight, which was just a few minutes away, but... i ended up giving in and just soaking my pants the rest of the way...

so. um. i guess. TECHNICALLY, i only had one accident today. maybe it sounds like i peed involuntarily twice, but, um. it. doesnt count... because, uhhh... i... caught it. i didnt make a mess...?

well!! tomorrow (now today, since its after midnight) i get to pee eight whole times! and i only need to drink 100oz of water! my bladder really needs the release, so im happy about that...

but. do you think i deserve a penalty for what happened today? pissing my pants, and, um. the Not Accident?

[rayroseu]

I GOTTA LET THIS OUT OF MY FRANTIC MIND RN OR I'LL DETONATE FR

!! major spoilers for book 7 part 3 !!

i couldnt watch the entirety of the stream because it got released during my class D: ALSO BIG WARNING THAT THIS IS ALL OVER THE PLACE AKDJSK i just want to ramble💥

BUT from what i got--- ? The beginning was Idia's dream most likely and ofc, its the dream he wishes were real... where Ortho's alive-- 😭😭

I missed the following part after that but it seems Malleus was invited to the orientation AT LAST??!?!?!?!! I'm presuming that no matter what dream a person is having while asleep, Malleus is a part of it where he isn't excluded and feared???

☆

Its well known now that Book 7 will heavily imply familial messages and from what we seen with Shroud Family so far, is that they were very communicative and supportive of each other in the loving way possible.

I assumed they were strict and cold parents before but I'm glad its wrong, cuz this is such a nice twist 💕 their dynamic reminds me of disney Hera and Zeus affection on Hercules--- I wonder if theyre showcasing this as parallel of Diasomnia's??? So far in canon, most of them rarely talk about much they actually mean w each other or even being wholesome like the Shrouds were lol But still... its undeniable theyre family as wellll 🙏

Seems like the groovy nowadays are more 'wholesome'??? i wonder if theyre taking their whole message that "every villain isnt just purely a villain/evil" more strongly now-- 👀 idk if that will correlate w book 7 but i hope they (the devs) take time to finalize it since the impact of this overblot is so severe even I cant predict how they can mend this KAJSKAK

○

I really have to watch Mickey Through the looking glass, the references are killing me--

ALSO YESSS HIGH FIVE WITH MICKEYY AAAA 🥺💕💕 IM SO glad Yuu remembers what happened!!! IVE BEEN HOPING FOR THAT, that they got to have a big role for this book!!😭😭 Thank you TWST for hearing Yuu stans collective wishes--

this is actually Mickey's Dream... The date seems to be flipped and many theorized its flipped number 15, which is Silver's Birthdate-- 👀 idk what that means and why on Mickey's place?? and beside the mirror as well💥

♡

you know that GIF of Charlotte (Princess and the Frog) squealing with a newspaper??? THATS MEEEE--- AAAA SILYUUU FEAST!! SILYUU FEAST!!!! SILYUU NATION SO BLESSEDDD😭💖💖💖💖

when he says hold on tight while the surroundings crumbles down and we're about to get swallowed by ink blots, it is so!!!!! *delusional mind* SO ROMANTIC OF HIMMM 😭💖💕😭💖💕omg,,,, what a shoujo moment, we are winning everyone 👍🤲💕🤌✨🙌🙌

ALSO UNIQUE MAGIC REVEAL HOOYAAAHH🙌🙌

also his magic is so complicated 😭😭 theres A LOT of conditions to be met before it can even be used--

i wonder if thats similar to how Ortho said that for Mickey to appear in the mirror (at book part 1 where the first years are at the cafeteria) , certain conditions should be met??? I mean, Silver And yuu have some parallels already... esp the fact that Lilia says during when yuu felt unwell at the party, he stated its similar to Silvers face when hes about to fall asleep--

□

Afterwards is Sebek's dream..... we alll collectively sobbed at this part of the livestream HNGGGG sebek why would ur dream be like that-- IT HURTS SO MUCH 😭😭😭

Malleus accepting his graduation(?) from NRC with no qualms, Lilia graduating as well and leaving for Red Dragon Nation because of his internship and not his weakening magic...🥺💔💔

Sebek's reaction at Malleus overblotting was the most relatable one (fear and disbelief) over others and his dream was the mirror to what we(the fandom) wouldve wished what happened-- IM SOBBING WHY U DO THIS SEBEK AIDUHFJEUFN!!!😭😭😭💥💔

DONT EVEN. GET ME STARTED. ON HOW DOTING LILIA WAS TO SILVER..!!!! like wthhksjdj THATS SO EVIL TWST!!! THATS SO LETHAL MALLEUS OHMYGOD--- so evil to use everything silver wanted from lilia just for him to stay in this dream where::

-lilias healthy, lilia is staying w silver, lilia is caring to him, and how hes returning to briar valley to live with him forever??? BRO HOW MANY TEARS WERE SHEDDING TONIGHT HUH...--💔💔💔😭😭😭

●

MALLEUS IS SO MAD WE WOKE UP SEBEK OHMYGOODNESS 💥💥💥😭😭😭

I always love his voice, it seems his tone is so harsh and cold now when he overblotted its so sexy--- and at the same time terrifyingggg 👍🛐 Kazuki Kato, I love his performance in this, this is so haunting in the most agonizing way 😭💚💚

... NOT TSUNOTAROU GOING FULL BOARD ON THE DELUSIONAL LAND BESTIE I KNEW YOU WERE BAD BUT THIS IS ON A WHOLE NEW TIER OF BADNESS OORAUGJ😟💥💥

HIS ATTACKS ARE SO COOL AAAAAA I WAS AMAZED AND SCARED THE WHOLE TIME I CANT WAIT TO MEET HIM ON TWST EN OMGGG😩🙏🙏

■

byeee i never wrote a reaction post as long as this before KDJKAKD

theyre really dropping the obvious hints that crowley is a fae alright....⁉️⁉️👀👀

THE ALL AWAITED GENERAL VANROUGE REVEALLL!!!!!! im just.... oh... have we all PROPERLY look at him??? RIGHT NOW IM STILLLL SAVORING ALL THOSE DETAILS!!! MY GOODNESS---

i basically sped read allllll the musings twst twt and tumblr have been swooning about him and OH HE DESERVES ALL THE ADMIRATION 🙏🙏🙏ESPECIALLY HIS MAGIC AT HIS ENTRANCE!!!!!! ARE U KIDDING THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFULLL THE BATS SWAYING AND THE RED SPARKLES BEFORE HE TELEPORTED?????? SHIT I WOULDVE PASSED OUT FROM AMAZEMENT RIGHT THEN AND THERE-- BEGGING ON MY KNEES TO GET THAT ANIMATED 😩😩😩🙏🙏

AND IT ALL ENDED JUST LIKE THAT AAAIUSIAUSU!!!!! 😩😩😩 I WANT MORE BUT AAAA too much information will make me overload now akdjksd another long few more months before part 4 releases 😳😳 AND OOO I CANNOT WAITTT

=

my prediction is that theyre delving more into briar valleys history in the lens of Lilia's past.

My interpretation is that Lilia's dream related to his past is bcs he kind of whispered to himself that the reason hes leaving is because of his weakening state and how he doesnt want to wish anyone to see him like that.... I guess his wish was that he could be as strong as he was before... Really reminds me of Mulan's father 😭

IM WISHING DESPERATELY FOR MORE YUU RELATION NEXT PART AND THIS TWITTER THREAD SUMS UP ALL MY SPECULATIONS AS TO WHY YUU ISNT INVOLVED IN THE DREAMS WE HAVE SO FAR

"malleyuu divorce" is my fave phrase from op from now on lol

livestream of book 7 part 3

[stelladess]

Spoiler ahead for the CN livestream, so chapter 14 stuff and brief IS5 mention (also anime season 3 confirmed now). Do not keep reading to avoid spoilers. Just some of my early thoughts. Stream of conciousness, not having thought things through much kind of thing. Kind of just rambling. But tl;dr is that I am excited and it looks good to me.

So, they keep using Civilight Etherna to describe "Theresa" and even outright ask "is she really Theresa?" in the live stream, so no its not a full on resurrection... so from a certain point of view, I was right. Her kit seems super good, she a bard also the freebie operator. Since I do not have Skalter this is good news for me. Big buffs, can do true damage... is neat. Logos is... outright busted. His S1 is insanely good AFK skill which can just auto kill weaker enemies who enters his range, not even an attack and his S2 seems fine, his S3 is also insane. Depending on the numbers he might outperform Eyja but we´ll see, that is always the test is it not? Amiya gets to be an incantation medic, with an outright busted talent (passive health regen on skill, off and on skill gives max HP boosts, this applies to all operators for both it seems?) and a pretty good looking S1 (attacks two enemies, bonus damage) and an amazing S2 with a big burst of damage at first, then slow and true damage with targeting two enemies and.... once per mission... again. Its... fine, I´m not salty.... Anyway, the big star, is limited (I had hoped she would be freebie since her original was limited but oh well) Walter.... or, W has now picked a name for herself, we will have to learn the context in chapter 14, Wis´adel (she has a different S but my keyboard lacks it, it is pronouched as a "sh" sound though). Wis´adel is a flinger sniper who makes all other flingers irelevant and is absolutely busted. Because I am a big W fan (depending on the day it is either her or Kal´tsit who is my second favorite operator) and flingers were in a really bad spot I am kind of ok with this but I still prefer they do not just blatantly directly power creep operators or go too far on insane damage numbers. Her damage seems... a bit too high in my opinion, but because I love her as a character and am excited for her story going forward and her kit seems fun, just really overtuned, I will be pulling. And I guess Degenbrecher and Mlynar already brought us up to this insane damage level so I should not be surprised. Power creep is something I have kept up in many many games I play and there are times where a later power crept state was my favorite period of the game so I will not go and get too hung up on the power creep. Also, I was right to take notice of the floating black crown parts I think cause it is even more prominent now. Bunch of story related stuff here but I wanna wait with talking about that until I have sorted my thoughts and maybe even read chapter 14. On that note, story for chapter 14 has me INCREDIBLY hyped. 13 was my favorite chapter, dethroning chapter 8. And I really wanna know what they are cooking next! Also IS5 has a Kal´tsit boss... she wields a sword!!!! (There are some interesting stuff about Kal and weapons that comes up occasionally, this is in the past it seems so maybe we find out what the deal is?)

I do think its a kind of bad decision to make IS5 sarkaz themed though, I like the sarkaz stuff but I feel IS is best used for parts of the world not explored in as much depth elsewhere. (I think it works with IS3 doing something explored a lot elsewhere but I kinda do not want them to keep doing that). But back to positive stuff the character designs are great. Wis´adel design has really grown on me, I think its a huge downgrade from what she wore before but it feels like it fits her so I am fine with that. Amiya has improved her fashion sense, at first I was sad at no more big coat/cape but that turned out to just be cause the blurry art... she went for a long coat instead of big coat that was actually a normal coat but just too big for her. So it still is something actually made to fit her but still retains the big coat look to some extent. Civilight Etherna boobs seem bigger then Theresa´s(?) Is it to contain the myriad souls? Deep lore implications about this at least! Logos uniform is good but like, so are all Rhodes uniforms. I do not feel it is exceptionally good for a Rhodes uniform but it suits him. Oh and also we see Wis´adel studying in one of the PVs, Hoederer must be so proud she is finally taking her education seriously~! Lastly on addressing the name situation... I will keep using W until chapter 14 is out on global to avoid spoiling people, after that I will probably switch to using her new name. Names are a very important thing especially when you pick them yourself.

[dumdeeedum]

OK, "Interview with the Vampire" Is Not Only Boring But Stupid for Other, WORSE Reasons: (Spoilers Ahead) Made some edits because apparently when I write this shit out with a headache its inscrutable. Hopefully it reads a little better now even though I still have a headache. :P

Season 1 and season 2 of this show now feel like they're done by completely different people and the season 1 people didn't talk to the season 2 people and the season 2 people are much dumber, worse storytellers. Is that the case? Is this now being written by AI?? Should I be watching the tiresome explanations of what the fuck is going on after each episode of the show to understand something??

None of this season works and that's on top of the existing issues this show already chose to have that were always going to make telling these particular stories tricky.

I have so many problems with this episode specifically and then I'll move on to the rest of the show in another post so this doesn't run too long but unfortunately since I have a headache while writing this it's still gonna be a bit stream of consciousy:

EDIT: Was there something wild about how I worded this that is making people think I thought the adaptation should have spared Claudia and Madeline? I thought I made it very clear that it wasn't THAT they died it was the way it was done that is the problem. If I wasn't then I'm saying it now: Madeline and Claudia dying wasn't THE issue and I'm not saying Claudia died and Louis was banished BECAUSE of their race. I'm saying that the way the show depicted the whole situation and Lestat's and Armand's involvement in THIS depiction was real bad optics and it could have been done differently.

Perhaps I'm doing too "woke" a reading of this but we can all agree that what the theater troupe and, more importantly, LESTAT and ARMAND did to Louis, Claudia, and Madeline was a public lynching? I'm not nuts in that interpretation of events when White people decide to put 2 Black people and a woman already understood to be a Nazi traitor on "trial" for murdering someone (who is still fucking alive), with the punishment being death, and the all-White audience gets to decide their guilt and fate, that's a lynching. Even if the audience saw it as merely a show they got to participate in, they inadvertently participated in a lynching.

Was that intentional? Was I meant to understand this as anything OTHER than a lynching with Lestat actively participating? That CAN'T be the case. Everything about this made me so uncomfortable and was so fucking bizarre that I feel like SURELY I must be missing something or SURELY they must intend to do some big time revealing next episode because what the fucking fuck was that? Was it because they had to justify all the time we wasted on boring the shit out of us with Santiago?

Is this meant to be the "gothic horror" aspect of this series that's been missing this entire season? The lynching of Claudia? Why was this done as a public trial at all when it worked perfectly well in the books to have this done in private by the coven. In the books the troupe is loyal and even indebted to Lestat so Lestat goes to them for help only to have them betray him because they never let go of the vampire law indoctrination ARMAND had a hand in for GENERATIONS before.

(edit) In the book Armand saves Louis because Armand loves LESTAT and at this point loves Louis as well but Claudia is a sacrifice both Armand and Lestat were willing to make, make no mistake about that. At this point Armand wants to get away from the coven he's been in charge of for generations, he wants to take Louis away and live with him in the modern world, and he also still wants to be wanted by Lestat, something Lestat has never given him. But they both allow what happened to Claudia to happen and a lot of what Lestat says about Claudia and how he feels about her is done in retrospect in Lestat's version of events.

Even in the books Lestat is a total bitch to her throughout her life even though they have more in common with each other than either of them have with Louis. But it simply makes no sense for the coven to make this vampire business public in THIS way. These vampire do WAY too much vampire shit in public and it's annoying and this time it's just gross. It was important to the story that Madeline and Claudia die, I'm absolutely NOT SAYING THEY SHOULD HAVE LIVED. My issue was with the way the show handled their deaths.

I know that up to this point in the original "Interview with the Vampire" book we understand Lestat to hate Claudia but still be attached to Louis but the show has done such a messy job at incorporating aspects of both "Interview..." and "The Vampire Lestat" into the narrative that I don't understand why certain aspects of how Lestat feels about Claudia were left out/kept in and this is inexcusable. I'm DONE with the way they're handling Louis telling Daniel this story. I'm surprised Daniel didn't close his laptop and walk the fuck out by now because they're wasting the little time in his life that he has left.

Everything about this episode was deeply disturbing in a way that I have a really hard time with because I, as a reader of the books, understand Lestat and Louis to be endgame and understand Armand to be part of the gang so what the utter fuck is going on here? Am I meant to never want THIS Lestat and Louis to be together again because that's how I feel right now. Am I meant to want Armand to fuck off forever because that's how this entire series has made me feel. I feel like Lestat and Armand threw Louis and Claudia to the racist wolves and there's no excuse for anything that happened this episode to have happened this way.

(edit) I am NOT saying that Claudia and Madeline should have lived and that that's the only way for Lestat to stay in our good graces. I truly believe that in the books EVERYONE understood Claudia's death to be a necessary evil because she was untenable given her age (5-6) when she was made and the negative implications of that. That's way less the case here and on top of the way it was handled you DO begin to question whether it was something they can get past in the way they get past it in the books.

The cutting the back of their heels and how they conveniently don't heal even though these are vampires, the way Louis' is positioned as aggressive and abusive to the White guy even as the White guy tells us that it was mutual (we're not even going to get into the depiction of "mutual abuse" in this series right now), the way Claudia got ZERO sympathy from anyone even though the audience is told in no uncertain terms that Claudia was the victim of something monstrous even by vampire standards and Lestat is just as guilty as Louis. And this is ANOTHER example of why Claudia doesn't work as "14" because not only would she have been seen as almost a woman if not already a woman in that time period at 14 but even WE, the SHOW'S audience, are having a hard time seeing her as a child because the show has done such a bad job with that and hired an adult woman to play her. Is that intentional for the sake of this scene and making it so this audience wouldn't empathize with her?? Why?? It'd have been SO MUCH MORE IMPACTFUL, even with this racist ass lynching retelling, if she'd been VERY VISIBLY a child!

What IS the theater audience supposed to be seeing? Did the writers even CONSIDER that? Because we know that White people have ALWAYS and CONTINUE to see Black people as older than they are and teens in particular in this time period were not given the same grace that they're given now, especially Black ones. So the only conclusion I can come to is that the writers of this show sacrificed Claudia's ENTIRE arc to have her sexualized for a few minutes in ONE episode, to have her fall in love with the Nazi lady (?) and then decided that her end would come at the hands of a racist lynch mob who was never going to see her as the child she was meant to be VISUALLY. No, really, was that intentional??

Am I supposed to still want to see Lestat after this? Because make no mistake, Lestat does some wildly fucked up shit in the book series, he fucks up a lot. But this is something else entirely, this feels like the writers didn't think this through and are going to have a really hard time putting Lestat front and center, if they intend to do that at all, after all this. How am I supposed to want to continue to entertain Armand's shit after this? With everything we know Armand to be capable of and he somehow couldn't take the little vampire dude "guarding" him? Be fucking for real. Even the book series didn't hide the fact that Armand was very much involved in this and ultimately Louis still chose to be with him. But in this I see absolutely no reason for Louis to pick either of them unless he's being coerced to do so and that doesn't seem to be the case.

(edit) Claudia being 14 instead of a proper child also makes Lestat and Armand allowing her to die less forgivable to us as an audience. Because when we understand all the problems of a child vampire stuck in a 5 or 6-year-old's body we see that she was untenable unless she had a person willing to be a sort of parent to her for the rest of her life. Especially when book Claudia didn't have the abilities that show Claudia would. But in the show she's 14 which means she was absolutely viable if a little unstable. The problems with a CHILD vampire aren't the problems of a teen vampire, especially one that could simply explain away any issues people may have with her appearance as "I look young," which we know already worked in the past. What if book Madeline got sick of Claudia? What if book Madeline died, etc. We can't help but think of this stuff when Claudia is a little girl but when Claudia is 14 and has already been alone for stretches of time it makes less sense to us as an audience that she would have issues alone for any length of time later.

Why is this the way they've chosen to tell this story?? Not only have they committed the ultimate entertainment sin of being BORING but they've changed EVERYTHING to make it so much WORSE and to DRAG. They really DO think they're telling a better story than the original and it's fucking AWFUL. It's an AWFUL adaptation even by adaptation standards, it's inexcusably bad when they were given more time than they'd ever need to tell this ONE book's story and as a result should have had more than enough time to flesh out the more interesting parts. Instead they said very little this entire season in the most excruciating way possible. Fire this entire writing team, get Bryan Fuller back ASAP and I'm not even joking because there's absolutely no way this show runner and writing team are equipped to do the VERY DIFFICULT work of making a character like Lestat entertaining and likable even as he does awful shit. Not if this is how they've chosen to go about it.

I'm so upset at this. I totally understand why both Anne Rice and Christopher Rice distanced themselves from this adaptation and Christopher Rice doesn't even promote it like he did "Mayfair Witches."

[ultraviolet-psyche]

One last Yorukura episode review thing from me. Spoilers under the cut.

Well... that was kind of disappointing.

I don't think the finale was bad, per se. We got some nice moments, like Kano's anxiety persisting even as she goes on stage to perform, and Kiui's big smile as they end their stream with their usual sign-off. Overall, I think Kiui and Mei got some pretty solid conclusions to their character arcs.

Everything else about this finale, though... it all feels very fairytale-like. It feels a lot like everything just got magically resolved with a song and some smiles. If this was a typical happy-go-lucky idol or CGDCT anime, that'd be fine, but Yorukura's first half gave me the impression that its conflict resolution was going to be more grounded. The pacing has been seriously off throughout the last few episodes, and while I certainly appreciate Mei and Kiui getting more development, I'm not sure if they each needed an entire episode dedicated to them so late in the anime. I don't even think the low episode count is necessarily the problem; I feel like 12 episodes could've worked fine for the scope of this series if they allocated their time more wisely and maybe cut out some parts that weren't entirely necessary (the Koharu episode for example didn't really add much to the overall plot; nor did the Shizue episode for that matter, and I say this as someone who really enjoyed that one.)

And yes, sadly, we all got baited. There's no confirmation, or even any sort of strong implication, that Kano/Mahiru is canon. I wasn't expecting them to start making out on screen or anything like that, but come on... even just a super brief scene with Kano or Mahiru saying something like "I want you by my side, for the rest of my life" while they're smiling and blushing at each other would've been enough for me. And I think it would've been enough to clearly communicate that yes, Kano and Mahiru are in love. As far as LGBT+ rep goes, I can at least say that we have the trans(-coded?) Kiui, and Mei very clearly having romantic feelings for Kano and liking girls in general (though she does unfortunately fall into the "predatory lesbian" stereotype), but Kano/Mahiru feels like a missed opportunity. We were getting some great relationship development that genuinely seemed like it was going to lead to a sapphic love story, then episode 9 happened and it all went downhill from there. I struggled to even care all that much for their relationship in these last few episodes because there was so little focus on it, and when they do finally see each other again, they're just hugging and giggling like besties as though nothing happened. (Well, they each acknowledge that they said/did some shitty things, but that's about it really.)

Make no mistake: I really enjoyed Yorukura. I love the JELEE members and even some of the side characters. The art, animation and direction is fantastic, and overall I think it's a fairly solid coming-of-age story that emphasises the importance of loving yourself for who you are. However, I do wish that the second half of this anime was better. I wish it had better pacing. I wish we had a more satisfying payoff to the major conflicts introduced, and Mahiru and Kano's relationship in general. I wish the antagonists – Yukine and Mero – got further development and perhaps more serious consequences for their actions. I just wish the last few episodes held up as strongly as the first few. I suppose I'll just go check out Girls Band Cry for the Yorukura I'd hoped that Yorukura would be.

So, yeah, that's about it. I may end up writing some fanfics down the line to "fix" some of these issues I have with the ending haha

[ussernams-is-unavailable]

Murder Drones - Unforseen Consequences

Prologue

So before this begins, I would like to state that this is a Tessa x Original Male Character fic, and spoiler warning, this is a hurt no comfort fic soooo.... enjoy!

Word Count - 1,238

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

Elliot James, he was born on Earth, somewhere that doesn't matter. His parents had a large wealth, millionaires from some highly advanced mechanical company. Growing up, James had quite the high intelligence, flowing through the school's classes and graduations like a stream of water with no obstructions. Having to start off any new school in the advanced classes, and in all truth, it was all almost a little too easy, damn near insulting actually. Even as his parents would pay more and more to get to higher advanced schoolings.

It's clear his mental prowess was far exceeding when compared to his more primal acquaintances. He finds his fellow species' minds weak, unusable, pathetic. Just somehow barely managing to scrape by in life through the grace of God alone it feels. Though there were few he was willing to consider an acquaintance, having some contact to this day.

See, he believes himself and others, mainly himself, as the only true intellectuals. Having to help inform others of their wrongful ways. So in order to do this, he uses his intellectual magnificents to build an empire! An unstoppable force, powered and built from purely his own mind's magnificence!

Though it was not easy, a small miscalculation on his part, though it was an easy to fix accident. Nothing too big. He had the money to build any company he could dream of, and he'd be damned if he couldn't.

Within this seemingly fruitless journey, he found the love of his life, the lovely whatever her name was. With her in his palm, he was able to build a family, garnering a daughter. And not only was she a genius from birth, but his life began going upwards since, more people finally began to recognize his potential fully! More have started working for him, more people that were something higher than some bumbling idiot like those around him growing up. Surely this was a sign it was meant to be!

It felt almost as if it all happened over night, he had it all. A family, a thriving company, a beautiful manor built in the hills, servants to work said manor, and people he could consider acquaintances, even a few “friends.”

Though apparently he would treat his servants as slaves, well at least that's what they'd say. Elliot saw it more as a grace. A saving, to allow them to work in his presence. Though he believed they deserved no such thing, he refused to do such taxaxious work himself (like putting a dish in the sink) when he could be doing much better things with his time.

And one day, he would acquire that which he needed, something new and state of art he's been funding and personally putting his own sweat and blood into. Autonomous worker drones, molded by his genius.

He was quick to “fire” his past employees, ecstatic to present his great white whale. Though they did come with issues, AI wasn't exactly perfected yet, but at least this one wouldn't be too vocal about his… Methods of improving their skills.

Though something odd happened one day, a knock on his manors luxurious doors, allerting one of the drones. As it's meant to, the drone approached the door, opening wide to reveal 3 people, an adult male and female, and a young boy, around 5 or so. The three drenched from the heavy rain.

“I must speak to James Elliot.” The father spoke, the drone stood still, unmoving as text appeared on its visor, seemingly sending a message to Elliot.

Upon receiving the message, Elliot growled in annoyance, slamming down his wrench, cracks splintering through the wooden desk. He was quick to attempt and control his composure, walking to the front. “What is so important that I must be disturbed at such a-” His words got stuck in his throat upon seeing the three at his door. “Oh, I see.” He finished, fixing his coat as he stepped forward fully. “You, leave. I can handle this on my own.” Elliot would order, shooing away the drone.

It was quick to follow it's orders, moving away. Turning his attention back to the three, he straightened his posture. “Well hurry up, come on in quickly. Oh but, just on the rug. Don't wanna drag in any filth.” He sneered, looking at their dirtied clothing, stepping back a bit. ‘Thank you.’ The wife breathlessly spoke, grateful she and her loved ones are out of the cold, the father closing the door behind him.

“Been a while since we've last met Charles. I take it you are not here to visit?” He spoke, tone mute and unwavering. The male nodded, a frown etched deep into his face. Charles would take a deep breath, trying to regain his composer. "Our house. It's been destroyed, our home has been taken by a storm. Please, we have nowhere else to go James." He'd explain, all while the young boy looked around amazed, entranced by the large building, his gaze landing on a young girl, around his age, peering around the corner. His eyes brightened, giving a small wave, the girl returning the gesture.

James would nod slowly, letting out a quiet cough to clear his throat. "Well, it has been a long time, and you are a close friend of mine..." Elliot started, contemplating it all. "How about this, I shall allow you, and your family, to stay here. Until your house is rebuilt, or a suitable living space can be built. And in return you are to help around when needed and required so. I'm no charity fund after all. Sound fair?"

The two adults shared a quick look, both sharing a relieved smile as Charles held out a hand. "More than enough." Elliot grimaced slightly, but took his friend's hand, given it was just only wet, not like he'd get dirty from it. "Good, I'll get one of the drones to find you some spare clothing. You can go rest for now in the sp-" He stopped himself, spotting his daughter trying to be sneaky.

"Tessa! It's the middle of the night, go back to sleep this instant missy." He'd chastise, the girl jumping as she was caught. The two guests chuckled softly at the child as she quickly rushed back to her room. Elliot would let out a tired sigh. "As I was saying, you can head to the spare rooms." "Thank you, again. I truly mean it." Charles spoke, before turning to his child. "Come on Aiden, we should get you dried and to bed too." The young boy huffed slightly in annoyance, but was admittedly very tired.

As the three were escorted to the spare rooms, Aiden turned to the adult in a funny hat, waving his arm. "Thank you mister Jay." The kid would call out, a smile on his face, the latters face scrunching at the wrong name. The mother chuckled lightly, turning to her son. "His name is James sweetie, not Jay." She corrected, her son humming in acknowledgment.

Elliot rubbed his eyes in annoyance, turning to a nearby drone. "You! Clean this mess up already, I won't tell you again!" He barked out to the drone, quick to go back to his room as the drone began cleaning the water and mud that was tracked in. All while the grateful family got cleaned off, ready to finally rest after such an eventful day.

[ncisfranchise-source]

In an era when few streaming shows last beyond a single season, over on network TV, sturdy if faintly overheated procedurals like “NCIS” are still going strong. The first 18-plus of its 22 seasons were led by Mark Harmon as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the impassive Special Agent in Charge and boss extraordinaire who liked to build boats in his basement in his spare time. “How did he ever get that way?” said nobody ever. But CBS is taking a page from “Young Sheldon” with its latest spinoff “NCIS: Origins.” Or as audiences will be tempted to call it, “Young Gibbs.”

Harmon (who is an executive producer here) makes a brief return on screen to set the stage for a TV series that functions as one long flashback to 1991 when Gibbs joined the Naval Investigation Service (NIS as it was known back then) fresh out of the Marines and shortly after the murder of his wife and child. Austin Stowell is appropriately stoic as Gibbs, but he’s stuck playing a character who doesn’t have many layers beyond his trauma, and the show more or less hopes his tragic loss will do most of the characterization work instead. Spoiler: It doesn’t. He failed his psych eval! He’s wound tight and suppressing grief! Well, that will have to suffice.

TV and film love nothing more than a strong silent type who has lost a wife or child, or both. That way, he can be endlessly sympathetic without having to actually be an emotionally present spouse or parent — or hear about it when he’s not. At least for a few years over on “Law & Order: SVU,” they gave Elliot Stabler a family he could constantly disappoint. But I digress.

Does a weekly procedural need lore? No! But lore you will be served. The show is solidly made and if you’re a dedicated viewer of “NCIS,” maybe there’s something satisfying in the premise. It does try to emulate the original’s sensibility, tempering a super-seriousness with a modicum of comic relief and quirky side characters. And wow, there are a lot of side characters here — as if show creators Gina Monreal and David J. North were throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks — but at least they’re interesting enough, what we see of them, anyway. I especially like what Michael J. Harney does with a brief appearance in Episode 3 as the kind of unflappable, seen-it-all guy who’s been around forever running things in evidence storage. He underplays it just so (and will be a recurring character).

The group of primary investigators is small, if not particularly interesting. Mariel Molino plays the sole woman on the team and she’s a rebel because she wears her NIS-issued baseball cap backward, or something. She and Gibbs have a tense dynamic, but chances are that will thaw into something more. Or not. Just seems like things are headed that way.

But the real breakout is Kyle Schmid as the cowboy who runs this ragtag team of NIS investigators. He’s got a Marlboro Man mustache and a big swinging … ego. This character trope shouldn’t work, but it really does. There’s not much in Schmid’s resume up to this point that stands out, but he is making a meal out of the role and his performance might be the best thing “NCIS: Origins” has going for it. “I’m thinking somebody wanted her dead,” he opines at one point about a case. That’s your theory, his boss asks annoyed? “It’s what we got, ’til we got more.” It’s a great line reading and it doesn’t hurt that Schmid has one of the better voices (twang included) on TV at the moment, marbled one supposes by cigarettes and whiskey and nights by the campfire telling stories about bar fights and his old mare Bessie.

The cases are barely compelling and I’m always reminded how difficult it is to do this kind of economical storytelling well. What about the 1991 of it all? At first glance, the show doesn’t look like a period piece and I’m guessing that’s due to budget. The music does much of the heavy lifting, but there are other details that show up: Beepers, pay phones, microfilm, an overhead projector. It doesn’t feel conspicuous until you really pay attention (or maybe I’m just old) but analog technology is also just more interesting, prop-wise, than endless footage of dossiers and ballistic analysis pulled up on one computer screen or another.

There’s even an extended sequence that takes place at the mall, a place where the average person used to blow hours of their day in a consumerist fog. Somehow the mall might be the most significant throwback of them all and it was smart to think of ways to build a story around it.

“NCIS: Origins” — 2 stars (out of 4)

[scifimagpie]

Tagback superpost

@toribookworm22 did this first, but I liked the idea, so here's an extended excerpt from The Foundling City, book 3 (the final one) in The Nightmare Cycle! Book 1 is available here or here. MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!

***

I’ve only looked at videos and pictures of big animals before. Understanding the concept of ‘megafauna’ means absolutely nothing compared to seeing a huge, stocky thing that’s like a deer but way too big, with a fat, weird nose and strange, chunky antlers that just kind of moseys towards you, flapping its small, absurd stub of a tail. Apparently, it was called a moose, and it was like ten metres away, which was still way too damn close. I screamed, and it moseyed back down the river, not even bothered—then dropped a huge pile of turds on the riverbank and kept clopping along.

I’d seen the odd picture of a moose here and there, but let me tell you, when I saw it in real life, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack.

It’s amazing how many animals there just are up here. It’s wild. Literally. Being up here all the time means we get to see plenty of days with like—actual clear skies? So life is really hard compared to what I’m used to, but it’s also so beautiful that my eyes burn and my chest hurts sometimes. I thought we’d only have Dust above us forever, the way it had always been as far as I knew and remembered, but no—with so much Dust having migrated back to its home—dimension? Plane? Other place, anyway—you can actually see how blue the sky is.

It’s this thin but deep blue that goes on forever. Apparently there’s this atmosphere that’s layers and layers of different molecules and different kinds of air and a jet stream or something, and water vapour? And outside of it is space? I don’t really understand how space works, but at night, it’s dark like Dust but different, so deep, and all the stars come out, and sometimes I cry just looking at it.

Apparently cities used to be like this, glittery and bright but on the ground. Dad told me that once. I can’t imagine it; it sounds weird. Sometimes the wide open spaces and the flatness up here are kind of scary, like it makes you feel naked and small? A few people have had agoraphobic panic attacks since we’ve had to come up here, and I can’t really blame them, because the bigness of the world just doesn’t end unless you go inside and get to stop looking at it.

But it’s more than I ever dreamed of, and if I’m really honest? Which I can be, I guess, since this is my journal, not just some big fancy chronicle of the history and exile of my people. Well, if I’m honest…sometimes, when the night is clear and sparkling and I can hear the coyotes and wild dogs singing to the moon? Being exiled was worth it for all this beauty.

The one thing I don’t understand is how people from before could stand building over all of this and making so much city. Didn’t they miss the wilds? Then again—we lived in a city, down below. But—they had the choice. We didn’t.

Maybe it’s a good thing their world died. But then—so many people died with it; sick people and well people. I remember being those people, and dying, and I remember bits of that tame, domesticated world with its sidewalks and lawns and so, so many smelly, loud cars.

It was a comfortable world, a safe one. They had no way of knowing it would be taken from them.

I don’t know if it’s good or bad, what was lost. But this is what we have to work with, and I’m going to fight to make sure more of our people don’t die.

All of this, though, is just kind of a big, philosophical distraction from my real problem, which is that my spouses are fighting and I have no idea how I feel about this whole baby issue, and it’s making my head explode.

Nathu took us aside to check on things—after all, neither of us has immediately moved out, or anything. At the end of a long day, we all sat down on the crappy couches in this crappy apartment.

“So…how are you doing?” he said cautiously, hands wrapped around a mug of herbal tea.

Una glared at him. “Not well, asshole.”

I winced. It wasn’t a great start.

Nathu took a deep breath. “Technically, this is my fault. Would you like to punch me?”

That, at least, got a little laughter, and a hint of a smirk. “That won’t actually help.” She let out a sigh. “I’m just…overwhelmed by this right now. Frankly, I still don’t know how I feel about…” She gestured between him and us, then set a hand on mine. “Things between Janelle and myself are fine, but with you…I mean, you lied to us, Nathu. About something huge. This entire project. And then, faking your own death like that? I guess I’m just wondering, how can I even trust you?”

He rubbed his temples and set his face in his hands. “To tell you the truth, Una, I don’t have an answer. There’s nothing you’ve said that isn’t absolutely right. If I were in your shoes—I wouldn’t know how to trust me, either.” He looked up, grave seriousness on his face. “But I will do anything you ask me to, whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. I owe you that, and—whatever you choose,” he said, his voice husky and cracking with tears, “know that I love you. I love you beyond reason or fairness or logic, and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to mend this.”

The earnest way he gazed at her, like a dog trying to please its master, made my heart twist.

She pulled in a long, shuddering breath. Tears were trickling down her cheeks unwillingly. She inhaled, taking a sharp breath. “Nothing except telling the truth, I guess.”

He winced like she’d stabbed him in the chest, and looked down. There was a long, heavy moment of silence.

“I—I don’t know what I need,” she said, her voice a little more even, measured. “But I know the people of this community need us, and that we have to keep working together. Keep doing that, and—keep giving me space.” Her voice quavered. “I don’t know whether I want to leave you or not.” She shut her eyes, and shook her head slowly.

It was petty and stupid, but I felt ignored. “Is anyone gonna ask what I want?” I said, my voice small and petulant.

Una whipped her head over to look at me. “Well, hell, what do you want?”

I froze up. “To be honest, I wasn’t actually expecting to—get this far.”

Her lips quirked in a tiny smile. “This whole conversation is a disaster.”

All three of us couldn’t help laughing a little at that.

Nathu sat up, though, and directed his attention towards me. “I’m sorry, Janelle, you’re right; I did lie to both of you, after all. I’ve just been…very thrown off and focused on Una because of this pregnancy issue. But you’re not less important.”

Una let out a huff of breath and glanced away from both of us, tears beading her eyes. “Can I actually get some space? I need some mental quiet.” I saw that she was wearing the silver and real shell button earrings I’d made her, and they swung through her pale gold hair, catching the light for a moment as her head turned. My heart clenched again.

Nathu just nodded and stood, then held out a hand to me, and pointed to the bedroom.

So we went there, and each of us sat down on the bed cautiously, on each end.

“So,” he said.

“So,” I echoed.

The words hung there like the fog of breath on a cold day.

(I never used to be this poetic. Maybe it’s all the manual labour driving me crazy, or all the novels and crap I’ve been reading at night. I’m so tired that it’s about all the energy I can muster—flipping pages, that is.)

Anyway, poetry or not, there was a heavy silence between us, and it just went on and on.

“Everything I said to Una, I meant for you as well,” he finally said.

I nodded. “Well—no offense, but watching you two fight is also just worse somehow. You’ve been together for so long, and…I always loved how you are together. So seeing you both like this, now…I dunno. My heart just kind of aches even to see it.” I let out a long sigh. “And I’ll be honest, Nathu—things weren’t really good between us, you and me anyway, for a long time when we were down there. You spent so much time like, brushing me off. And like—don’t get me wrong, there’s part of me that’s really, really relieved that you secretly agreed with me the whole time. But I feel pretty rotten and awful about being lied to so thoroughly.”

He took my hands in his own and stared at me earnestly. I would have thought it was a move if not for the ashy circles below his eyes and the seriousness in his dark brown gaze.

“—And I don’t know what I need, either,” I said, before he could ask, “but—actually, I think one thing I need is for you to be honest with me. To know you’re really saying what you think and believe, now that you don’t have to hide anything. Can you do that? Like—just be honest to a fault. And, try to spend time with me. We were barely around each other for a while there, and frankly, it sucked. I just want some of your time. To know I matter.” My throat closed up.

He nodded and stroked the back of my hand with his thumb, gentle as a breath. “I can do that. Anything else you think of, don’t hesitate to ask, all right?”

“I’ll try.”

“How are you feeling?”

I choked up a little laugh that died on the way out. “Right about now, I got the most mixed feelings a person ever did have.”

He smiled mirthlessly. “I can’t blame you.”

Hot, helpless anger rushed up behind my cheekbones and burned behind my eyes. Why can’t I just forgive him? Why can’t I just say “okay” and let things be the same as they were? It should be so simple.

And yet, somehow, I can’t.

I stood up abruptly. “I think I might get some air. Go for a walk.”

He looked alarmed. “Janelle, it’s cold out right now. At least minus fifteen.”

“I have a coat.”

He gave assent, resigned. “If you insist.”

So I opened the door, stepped carefully through the living room without making eye contact with Una, and brought my journal and a pen out here.

There isn’t much light—pretty much just the moon, and it’s a skinny little crescent; almost a new moon. I’m still not used to how damned dark it gets up here, too. Down in the tunnels, it was a different kind of dark; more absolute, when all the lights went out. Up here, sometimes you see a little light from one of the houses or the apartment windows, and of course there’s all the stars up there. If I look off in different directions, I can see a bit of light where I think Downblack might be. But the snow’s really reflective, so that helps.

Okay. I’m cold, and I think I’m done pouting, so I’m gonna go back upstairs and get some sleep.

I still don’t know how I feel about anything. How can one person’s head and chest contain so many feelings? It’s absurd. It feels downright unfair. And yet, I’m still here, my whole body knotted up tight and tense, feeling way too old and way too young at the same damn time.

***

Tagging in! @bluberimufim @squarebracket-trick @writernopal @digitalsatyr23 @aziz-reads @sam-glade @fire-but-ashes-too

[riftiee]

hi I got you on my tl because I follow the hld tag and saw the ask talking about what the game is about! I've beaten the game myself but I have pretty much no knowledge of the lore , I know you weren't wanting to talk about it bc spoilers but do you know where I could learn more? I don't think the wiki is a good place is it? is there a wiki that's not the Fandom one that might be better? :0

[SPOILERS FOR HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER]

Forgive me, I’m pretty sleepy and typing this on my phone, but I’ll take a crack at it ;]

sadly Hyper Light Drifter doesn’t really have a great comprehensive lore wiki that is all in one place. The game itself is very interpretive and the lore is pretty ambiguous, a big part of it is a lot about filling in the blanks.

An important thing to note is that the game itself was inspired by Alx Preston’s (the creator) congenital heart disease. There is a lot of symbolism relating to this concept throughout the game.

One of the most important parts of lore in the game comes from the Monoliths. Once you locate all of the Monoliths, you reach a library room containing every monolith plus a bonus walk of text. The bonus wall of text, after being translated, reads:

“HARNESSING A GREAT WELLSPRING, A PERFECT IMMORTAL CELL WAS CRAFTED TO BE IMBUED WITHIN ALL SENTIENT LIFE A NOBLE GOAL, THOUGH SUCH A POWER TERRIFIED OTHERS, AND BROUGHT RUIN AS ITS PURPOSE WAS TRANSMOGRIFIED THE ABHORRENT CELL STILL FESTERS DEEP IN THE CHAMBERS OF THIS WORLD”

Knowing that Judgement is also known as the Perfect Immortal Cell, we are able to figure out that HLD is set in a world where scientists (?) created the ‘immortal cell’, Judgement, by harnessing the power of something called the Great Wellspring [Anubis]. I believe the Perfect Immortal Cell’s original intention was to, well, grant the people of the Land of Light immortality… but some people were fearful of of this power, and so eventually, a war broke out, which caused the Immortal Cell to become corrupted, creating what we now know as Judgement.

It is unclear what the four Titans came from and what their intended purpose is, but we do know that they were somehow involved in the war. It is often theorized that Judgement was the one who ‘activated’ the titans. The four Titans ravaged the land, wiping out almost everything in their path, and completely wiping out the South zone, leaving it as an uninhabited desert. They were all eventually ‘killed’, leaving their ‘skeletons’ to litter the Land of Light.

After the Titans ravaged the land, in order to try and contain the Immortal Cell/Judgement, the remaining population gathered together and trapped the Immortal Cell in an underground cavern in order to prevent it from being able to harm anyone anymore. This same underground cavern under the central town is where the final battle of the game takes place.

The Immortal Cell (at least up until the events of the game) has festered beneath the earth ever sense, waiting. However, for some reason which is unclear, Judgement still haunts the Drifters, giving them frightening, violent visions and presumably causing them their illness.

Again, as I’ve states before, there is seriously just a TON of extra stuff that I can’t even begin to dig into… This game is absolutely full of little secrets. Alx Preston has also done a lot of Heart To Heart streams in which he talks about the lore of Hyper Light Drifter, so if you’re ever interested, those are a cool thing to check out; He gives a lot of interesting little details that we otherwise may not have every known!

Overall the game is intended to be pretty vague, and is extremely symbolic. A lot of it is meant to be left up to interpretation, so take it as you will…! There’s some really great posts out there on Reddit, as well as this Youtube video which does a MUCH better job than I could ever do at explaining the lore in much more detail.

Sorry if this was a bit convoluted or not what you asked for, but I do hope this helps “:] Thank you for the ask, as always!!!

[mk-wizard]

Beware the Batman: An underrated gem in the Batman lore

I am not saying this piece was perfect as nothing ever is, but after finally having the chance to stream it, I can say without a doubt that it is awesome. The animation and art holds up especially for CGI, the fight scenes are cool, the plots are well thought out, the character development was intriguing and most importantly, it gave us a glimpse into the parts of the Batman we don't get to see very often. Note that there will be spoilers ahead.

Number one, the fact that Alfred Pennyworth was a former MI6 Agent is not only explored, but also plays a crucial role in the series and his character. Instead of being comic relief or solely the doting father figure, he is a serious man who's still got it when it comes to being able to fight, he has a hand in Batman's training and he has his own story within the story. I can also put the rumor of him being "mean" to Bruce to rest as he is nothing of the sort. If anything, he is still as kind and loving a father figure as any other version. He's just not a big clown. You can't even fault him for Bruce reacting badly to him leaving to take care of some unfinished business. That's on Bruce not Alfred especially when you consider that as soon as he was asked to come home, he did. After seeing how big of a badass Alfred could be, I really wish this version of him became normalized and reverting him back to the bumbling, gone soft old man was a shame.

Number two, I really like Katana as a character and as Batman's sidekick. To start, I really like that she is not a love interest or crush at all. Her relationship with Bruce/Batman is sororal and her character contrasts him very nicely. While Bruce started off as a normal person who would become a fighter. Katana started off as a fighter who is still learning to be a person and have social skills. I also like that her being a fighter doesn't make her good at everything nor is it the same as being a superhero. My only complaint about her is that I wish she got a better costume. I don't mind her wearing all black or even her title, but I do wish they put just as much love into her costume as they did her backstory and character development.

Number three, they really tried to give us something fresh and new by giving us bad guys from Batman's rogues gallery that we don't often see and they were reimagined beautifully. Professor Pyg (who you see here) as a fanatical animal rights terrorist and Magpie as a psychotic kleptomaniac who is not above murder attempts to name a few were really well done. I would have used a few of the iconic enemies too like Joker and Catwoman because the lack of some amount of familiarity caused to show to not be tempting enough. I speak as someone who for the longest time was one of those people who just weren't initially attracted to how obscure it looked. The only familiar foe we got were Ras Al Ghul who was not that impressive in this show and Two-Face who only appeared near the end.

Number four, it tried to be independent and different in all the right ways. Rather than solely playing up Batman as this perfect hero, this show dared to show us how vulnerable he can be especially when dealing with loss. As mentioned before, when Alfred had to take a leave of absence to take care of some personal matters, Bruce handled it very badly. He became a borderline shut in and became especially aggressive and senseless towards danger as Batman. As controversial as this sounds, I like that they did that because it reminds us that Bruce has loss trauma so losing someone again even just socially and temporarily is not something he is going to take well. It also didn't follow the set rules in the usual way. Sure the constant points were respected, but on its terms in a way that worked. For instance, Batman has a sidekick, but they aren't a Batgirl or a Robin. Barbara becomes Oracle, but doesn't need to undergo trauma, be Batgirl first or become paraplegic. On a side note, I don't think this version of Barbara Gordon was destined to become Batgirl. Jim Gordon becomes an ally, but after Batman earns his trust. Batman gets allies, but they are not Flash, Superman or the usual DC heroes.

In short, this show was really neat and it is one I recommend watching as it is both delightful and inspiring. Like Batman the Animated Series, Beware the Batman took the best constant points of the Batman mythos and reimagined them as their own, but it took it one step further. It decided to pick the parts that are not often used and ran with them. Sadly, I think this series is also a case of something being too ahead of its time and while it is way too late for a season 2 to have ever been made, I think making a reimagining of this show that cleans up the flaws and goes further would be a great idea. Though that's just my thoughts.

What are yours?

PS: If you haven't seen Beware the Batman yet, please watch it at least once.

[captainbobbin]

Hi, hello! 💜 📝🦐 please! 💜 Also: *boop!*

(in response to this ask meme)

awuaaaagh a boop! - prepare for one in return mwuaha - also I'm gonna do these two out of order because it will flow a little better haha, plus I'm rambling so its under a readmore -

🦐 - tell me about a character or story that is giving you shrimp emotions right now

spoilers for DQXI ahead!

I went back and replayed some more DQXI yet again yesterday (I play a good chunk of it every week on stream for my chat and I always loredump and theorise with them as we play haha) but I had missed a few weeks due to the recent funeral and other irl distractions. But going back to it was like coming home and. man. man. Hendrik. Hendrik my special boy who I love so dearly. I could talk about him for weeks, he has rewired my brain chemistry. I'm pretty sure you followed me for my KH stuff in general but DQXI is another square enix game and to me Hendrik has a nice overlap with the way I characterise my version of Isa. Hendrik is a big brooding dad type of guy who begins as an antagonist to the player due to being misled, lied to and betrayed; as the game goes on you realise that not only is he the most powerful thing in-game but that he is wracked with survivors guilt, catholic guilt, imposters guilt, every kind of guilt imaginable, he's a giant socially awkward unstoppable force teddy bear man who is the worlds most revered hero, destiny's chosen strongman, a horsegirl and a clown and I will never tire of talking about him he is just so so special to me. He's so pretty. I think I spend most of my time playing DQXI either deep-diving into lore/theories or just going 'god look how pretty Sylvando is. Look how pretty Hendrik is. I love them. I love them so much' lmaoooooo (a lot of people pair Hendrik and Jasper together and I totally get that but I love Sylv and Hendrik winding up together, they just work so well as a pair, they fit together so nicely auuugh)

One of the things we talked about in my last DQXI stream was that right at the start of act 2, when Hendrik is at your side but not a party member yet, (and hes only just getting over his projection of angst onto you and he's trying so hard to be better already and he dedicates himself to you there and then pretty much), in the throne room of Heliodor's ruined castle where Hendrik once served you fight the Spectral Sentinel Tyriant, and we discussed the possibility that Tyriant might just be the reanimated dead body of Arnout, the former king of Zwaardsrust (Hendrik's original home, which was razed to the earth when he was just a little boy.....). The size of the body, the way it fights, the fact that the orb it is designated is the purple orb, which was buried in the ruins of Zwaardsrust..... awauaugh I love this game so much and I am obsessed with digging up lore and playing with it, especially the stuff revolving around Sylv and Hendrik haha

I just. I love the guy. He has so much grief and inner turmoil and layers and the entirety of Act 2 is him learning to be a person again and trusting those around him, pushing through his internalised blame (with debatable results) and just trying to heal while out on the road. I'm just. obsessed with him. My big purple wife 💜

📝 - tell me about a project you're working on, or share something from a WIP -

here are some messy notes I did recently for the next instalment in my Open Wounds series, which is about Hendrik dealing with his emotions regarding Norberto (Sylvando) and their strange, budding relationship -

Thank you, my darling. It hung in his ears. Hendrik had followed Sylvando to the Stallion and back five times over, carrying whatever burden he was issued, internally leashed by those words of praise. In order to save the world, one needed provisions. The ship needed stocking. Hendrik was only doing his duty. It was merely a boon that he did so whilst looking at Sylvando's back, sauntering ahead of him, smile easy and reputation preceding him. The scarlet clouds ought to make the clown vanish into gloom, as it had yesterday, yet spirits seemed to have risen. Like Hendrik's own flesh, perhaps the world was healing, just a little. The clown's presence certainly gave the impression of that effect. The longer they were in Gondolia, the more people came out of hiding, the more townsfolk did business with them, the more smiles began to appear. Conversations were had with shopkeepers that Hendrik did not understand - don't you worry, honey, those Beastly Boys aren't so anymore! They've done me very proud since last I was here - and Sylvando glittered under Erdwin’s Lantern, a thought that was both horrid and harpsichordical; in times of strife and despite any grief, the strong flourish and bloom, and to observe a knight perform his duty and be one with the people, taking hands and offering encouraging words, offers of support, promises to repair, all while doom crept ready to be taken down, it offered Hendrik a cacophony of implacable feelings that he really could do nothing with. He just followed, experiencing it, fascinated by the way civilians recognised the two of them, recognised that the two of them were together, recognised that the two of them were different, and then recognised that the two of them were the same. 

Shamefully, Hendrik had almost forgotten to think of Jasper. Shamefully, he still rather had.

The only time Hendrik's mind had drifted to Jasper was when, as they gathered materials together, idly talking about nothing - and by the Gods it was nice to talk at all, to be able to talk at all with him - Sylvando regaled some airy tale of a time when he had discovered some squeaky little mousies had made snuck aboard his ship and tried to make a nest in a gap in the pantry floorboards. He talked of how he had kept an eye on them, left small amounts of food near the opening to save the mice from gnawing through sacks and taking more than their share. Sylvando had scooped them out the next time they moored and freed them, finding some snug shrub to set their fluffy little hiding place under and watching them scurry away. He had told the story, again, smiling, faint gestures with his hands, harmless, pressureless, filling the silence. It was rather admirable, and Hendrik could not help but think that it spoke of Sylvando's character, a character that had not changed despite everything else changing so much. Norberto had tried to bring home a wild sabrecub once - his father forbade it, for obvious reasons. But the boy - and now the jester - had always been able to see the good in all things, had always had a soft spot for creatures in need of aid. 

Hendrik's back tingled.

Sylvando had cared for rodents aboard his vessel, had refused to outright kill pests that, by all means, he could have and perhaps should have to ensure the ship was clean and safe and without burden. Instead he had left tissue nearby for them to nest with, crumbs and peeling nearby for them to eat, and had personally made sure that the mice had a real home as soon as he was physically able to, carrying them to where they ought to be with gentle hands and no doubt nurturing words.

Vermin, Jasper would have said. Disgusting, vile, loathsome little cockroach-beasts. He would have raised his boot over them and brought it down swiftly with a wrinkled nose and curled-back lip. 

If we pass where I left them, I'll show you, Sylvando had turned to him and said, smile light and charming. It's the finest little mouse-house around! I bet none of their other forest friends have purple crepe paper and ribbons adorning their humble abode, eh? Those little stowaways got only the best - I'd have nothing less on my ship, you know.

Hendrik peered out of the window, stood in the belly of The Stallion. 

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Caught up on MONSTERS AT WORK...

*spoilers ahead*

This is an interesting show in that it's a Disney TV Animation production, and Pixar had a *lot* of involvement in it. Rumor had it, years ago, that Pixar halted the show for a brief bit and took a look at it... Hence it missing its projected 2020 release date and ending up debuting a year later, in July 2021. Other Pixar shows made for Disney+ were in-house Pixar productions, like CARS ON THE ROAD and DUG DAYS. MONSTERS AT WORK is the unique exception, much like BUZZ LIGHTYEAR OF STAR COMMAND.

With Pixar seemingly drifting from Disney+, now that streaming isn't this be-all end-all thing that the movie giants aggressively bet on, I wonder if future shows based on their beloved movies will be made still... And by whom? They themselves? Or Disney TV Animation? It was already something of a surprise when MONSTERS AT WORK was announced in late 2017 as a DTVA production, considering how much John Lasseter supposedly despised BLoSC and how in-house Pixar tends to keep things. Also curiously, this show's second season aired on the Disney Channel first and then dropped on Disney+. Once again showing where the tides are going...

(Also, Disney... Pixar... Where the heck is WIN OR LOSE?)

Season one of MONSTERS AT WORK is this sort-of in-between-quel thing, in that it takes place between Waternoose's arrest and the epilogue of everyone on the Laugh Floor in the original MONSTERS, INC. And ends there, with at least one scene recreated verbatim. I must say, that ICON studio really did a fantastic job making a show that looks like the original movie and doesn't look noticeable cheaper. Amazing to think that the original movie released in 2001 cost $115m and was *top of the line* in technical terms, and today this Disney+ show looks almost as movie quality...

This new season follows up directly on MONSTERS, INC.'s ending.

And because we're past the first movie now - which is going to be 23 this year, it was pretty cool to see the sort-of mundane stuff going on in the company and around Monstropolis. Softball games and old abandoned hallways and fun stuff like that, I also like how it integrated all the stuff established in MONSTERS UNIVERSITY. Worthington returning alongside Chet, Claire and a few others, plus Fear Co. finally being shown. Good stuff!

Season two kinda does this thing where it's still trying to be the OFFICE-style workplace comedy that the first season was, but also functioning as a big sequel to MONSTERS, INC. Pixar bypassed doing a sequel to MONSTERS, INC. by giving us a prequel instead, so it was definitely kinda weird seeing this show function - in its second season - as a sequel of sorts. A big conspiracy with Fear Co., Randall Boggs returning, some pretty high stakes too. A near-finale fallout for the two main characters as well. It feels like it's trying to aim for those great beats in both movies, reprising them in that Pixar sequel style, a trick that's quite noticeable from a mile away. Right down to Tylor scaring a kid in the same way Sulley accidentally did to Boo. Still, it was cool to see some worldbuilding there, and the characters just simply existing. Day by day in Monstropolis. I'd love to see more shows like that w/ big animated movie characters, honestly. Even if I wasn't entirely onboard some aspects of this show, it was still cool to spend time in that world again without it having to be a big sequel.

As a kid, watching MONSTERS, INC. on DVD multiple times and burying myself in the second disc's special features, I always wanted to see more of the Monster World. Outside of Monstropolis, outside of MU, etc. What other cities and towns are out there? Or other kinds of monsters for that matter? What's the wilderness like?

I feel like that's a world you can really, really explore. A lot of the early concept art for that movie suggested something even weirder and gnarlier. Like, where are all the monsters like these?

You kinda get that with "The Shrieker", the legendary monster that roams the archaic underbellies of the factory. I'd like to see more of that kinda stuff, Monster World history and lore, ya know? It's literally a goldmine of stuff to dig into.

But I suppose you can weave a ton of things out of unmade versions of Pixar movies, for sure.

I was always very curious about that one treatment done up in the late '90s where Boo - called by her real name, Mary - was a little bit older and Sulley was still named Johnson, where the premise is him hiding this kid for the whole runtime and then her getting lost in the city at one point. That had a somewhat eerie, more ominous mood, almost a completely different movie from the workplace comedy we ended up getting.

But it was the stuff like that on the DVD bonus features that stoked my imagination circa late 2002, and... Well... Nothing Monsters came about - in terms of screen media, not theme park stuff - until MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, 11 years and one cancelled Disney Circle 7 sequel later. The Circle 7 sequel that was being developed around 2004-05 had some potential, I think, but I don't know ideas from it can legally be integrated into a future Monster World project. You can kinda sense - as others have pointed out - that young Mike and Sulley getting lost in the human world in MONSTERS UNIVERSITY's 3rd act seems to echo the plot of Circle 7 MONSTERS, INC. 2.

I still wonder if Pixar will greenlight an actual sequel (which would easily make a massive billion, probably completely blow MU's great $730m+ take out of the water), and if it'll treat MONSTERS AT WORK as canon or not. But this second season certainly went big, bringing back characters from both movies and attempting all these big payoffs. I found it to be amusing at best, sometimes good even. I felt the first season locked together better, but this one - despite how I felt about some of the character dynamics - tried all the stuff, so that's cool. And it got me thinking of the Pixar monster movies again, so that's also neat.