#wow can you say exposition much

[skitskatdacat63]

Btw The Talented Mr. Ripley is the best film ever made. If you even care.

[fandomnerd9602]

Taking the House

Rhaenyra x Witcher!Reader

For @deafeningsharkslimeempath

The mere sight of your old friend made your heart flutter and beat faster. Some would’ve thought it strange: a witcher left lovestruck. But Rhaenyra always had that effect. The love you get for her only grew in the years that you had been away.

She glided up to you, her eyes showing a mix of adoration and betrayal. “You’re back” she whispered under her breath.

“I am” you replied in a gruff voice.

“Your return is quite unexpected,” your father Otto Hightower exposits. “Most thought you dead.”

“And yet here I am. And there my younger sister stands: wife to an elderly man”

“You will treat your king with—“ Otto tries to say and yet Viserys surprisingly cuts him off.

“Let the man speak his mind.” The elderly king takes a deep breath. “It is true. I have taken Alicent for a bride. You are free to judge me within the walls of this room

“I carry no ill will, my king,” you stated, “simply disappointment”

Alicent walks up to you, carrying her newborn, “this is Aemond. Your nephew”

The young Targeryan infant looked up at you in amazement. The little baby cooed and smiled at you.

“He carries your soul” you put on a fake smile for your sister. So young and yet she had to bear the pain of childbirth.

“Witcher (Y/N)” King Viserys clears his throat, “the kingdom is in your debt, please stay here as long as you see fit”

“My king” you bow. And with that you turned and leave.

Rhaenyra intercepts you mere feet from the throne room. She grabs your arm and pulls you to her. She whispers in your ear, “my chambers. Nightfall.”

And with that she turns and leaves. A part of you couldn’t help but smile.

Otto ran out after you. You led him into the open courtyard, if there was anything your father hated it was causing a scene.

“I thought you dead” he said thru gritted teeth.

“And I thought you a decent man,” you retorted. “But we were both wrong”

“You could been seated on that throne now and instead I had to whore out your sister”

You drew out your dagger and pressed it to his throat. “You had to do nothing! My sister has known more pain in her short years than you will ever know.”

You took the dagger away from your father’s throat. “I made my choice,” you continued, “and you have to live with yours, father”

And with that you turn and walked away. You were not his tool. You were your own man.

Daemon found you among the dragon stables. “Wow. Quite the sight that was. You really shook the council to its core.”

“Why did you bring me here, Daemon?”

“Simple. I wish for my niece to be happy.” He gives you a wink. “You saved my life. The least I can do for you is ensure rha you have a happy one.”

“Explain”

“You didn’t want wine or women or wealth like most witchers. And I remember the way you would look at Rhaenyra. She still carries the torch for you.”

He puts a hand on your shoulder, “my advice is this - life has too many hardships, allow yourself a little joy”

And with that he turned and went on his way.

Later that evening you made your way to Rhaenyra’s chambers, dodging guards and night watchmen to ensure that no one knew.

Rhaenyra quickly pulled you into her chamber after three knocks at her door. She hugged you tight and then slugged you in your arm.

“Uhh…ouch” you smirked.

“Why did you leave?” Was her only question. “Tell me the truth”

“I have nothing but the truth left. My father wished to use me as a chess piece.” You explain. “He wanted me to marry you and take the throne from you. And I couldn’t do that to you.”

“Would it have been so wrong? To have you by my side?!” Rhaenyra stresses as she paces her chamber floor. “You were my best friend. Surely even if you did not love me, we could’ve made it work”

“I would not be some tool for my father” you retorted. “I love you too much to allow that. I had no idea he would use Alicent in such a-“

“You said you love me,” she interrupted you.

“What?”

“You said love me. In the present tense. You could have said you loved me too much to allow that.”

Rhaenyra slowly walks up to you. “Do you? Do you love me?”

Your cat like eyes could only look into her soft gentle eyes. “I never stopped loving you, Rhaenyra. I never slept with another. This sword and my heart were always pledged to you”

“Then take me” she gently ordered you. Her tone was commanding yet so loving,“Everything I am, I want it to be yours”

“I’ve only ever wanted to be yours” you replied. You take her face gently in your hands and kiss her tenderly.

A little moan escapes her lips. Her eyes become alight with lust and passion. She wraps her arms around your neck and jumps up, wrapping her legs around your waist.

You kiss her once, twice, peeling off layers of clothing as the two of you make your way to her royal bed. She pulls her hair down, letting the white trails of hair flow gracefully over her shoulders.

You lay her gently on the bed, kissing her neck, “if tonight is all we have, then so be it” she whines.

“I promise you,” you purr in her ear, “we’ll have more than just tonight, my Rhae”

You and Rhaenyra made love into the early morning hours. Time apart faded away. You held her bare form against your chest, soothing her very soul.

“I suppose what they say about witchers is quite true” she smirks. “You truly are amazing in all your splendor. That broadsword of yours…” she laughs

“I will only be yours. Til my last breath” you whispered against her hairline. You kiss her head and rub her back reassuringly.

“But you’re immortal”

“I never took that step.” You shrug. “I’ll hunt monsters, save kingdoms but I could never live an eternity without you”

“You’re not immortal…does that mean that someday you and I can have…”

“The price of immortality is becoming sterile” you answer her silent question. “Obviously that was a step too far.”

“I want two.” She answered back with a giggle. You couldn’t help but smile.

THE END

[arsonisticscholar]

Disciple Shen yuan au, but he transmigrated as a pre/early arc reader of pidw. Say in canon he transmigrated at like 22, if pidw was written over the course of a couple of years he might be in his late teens. Innocent pre cucumber era where he had high hopes for pidw and hasn’t totally been stomped down by health issues and frontal lobe development

This is heavily inspired by Sy’s temp transmigration system because it’s a great fic and I love it but I can’t get it out of my head of what if situation is basically the same exept he hasn’t read pidw yet

Maybe he realizes he’s in a book, maybe he even realizes it is pidw (still in early stages, MAYYBE became more mainstream recently due to the start of the abyss arc) based on just seeing things online. But he doesn’t have the same biases about what the characters should be like or the foreknowledge of all the native life

I’m torn between him being the only Shen yuan there so there can be disciple bingyuan or to make cumplanes relationship more interesting by putting in not only another transmigrator, not only one that doesn’t know the world, but one that is literally the (to them, sy would kick anyone who called him this) child version of the most beautiful intelligent cunning bordering cruel wife of the emperor that lbh and sqh have gotten to know

Not only that, but I think it would be really funny if without the bias towards binghe as his blorbo since he hasn’t read pidw yet takes one look at lqg and is just standing in shock (UUUGGGHH FEED MY MULTISHIPPING TENDENCIES) but you cannot tell me he wouldn’t have a big fat crush on him. I think it would be really funny if he also is automatically drawn toward lbh and I think he would be absolutely ecstatic about it but would prob get scared away by their pda after like a week and a half

I also think it would be soooo funny if bingyuan end up adopting teen sy and find out about it and approach him like ‘you are NOT dating that BRUTE’ or some shit and he’s like huh?? Wdym?? I just think he’s really cool for when he saved me that one time and when he let me fly on his sword and gave me a cool fan and also I like watching him train and he’s just objectively pretty anyone would admire a face like that how could I not but Id never want to date him he’s a guy!?!? I’m an ally but I’m obviously not gay??? And bingqiu would just sigh and shake their heads and try to keep him away from lqg

And I think it can also be an interesting point of introspection like if I never met binghe would I really be with lqg? If I didn’t get to shizun first would lqg have stolen him away from me? I think on sqq’s part like so much of what sy does is a source of (first hand? Second?) embarrassment because ohh wow I was an annoying kid or oh my god why is teen me staring at him so much this is embarrassing I have a husband what does this say about me. And for binghe it can become a place of insecurity like if I never came along I’d this how it would end up if I never made it out of the abyss what if shizun leaves me for lqg has shizun ever thought of him that way what if what if what if what if

And i think sy would have an interesting relationship with sqh if he was still in the process of reading the early arcs when it was still mainly exposition and he’s already gotten a taste of the plants and monsters and plot set ups but it hasn’t gone downhill yet into fan service. He would totally gush about how much he’s interested in the story and share his theories and hopes for it and they might even end up brainstorming for another book for sqh to write together. And I love the idea of sqh not only being older post transmigration but also pre like he was a full adult when he STARTED writing and sy was a teen when he started reading and sqh just has the realization of ‘wow I was like 26 beefing with a high schooler online’ but also the fact that sy LOVED pidw pre fan service like you don’t stick with such a long and shitty story if you weren’t obsessed with it at some point. And I think it would give sqh a new perspective on sqq’s criticisms and upset about how it went. Yeah, he chose to keep reading, but he chose that because he had faith in the world airplane created and the character he loved.

He would like immediately out himself as a transmigrator because he went to the new kid ceremony thingy overheard cumplane being dumb and had a really obvious reaction bc wdym these two fantasy men are talking about miku in English in public out loud like what is happening here so they catch on to that, sqq accepts him as his disciple and the three of them have tea together and their interaction goes something like

*all sat at the low table in the bamboo house*

Sqh: so you’re a transmigrator

Sy: uhm I guess so

Sqh *to sqq*: psst Shen yuan bro (or something clearly Shen yuan) say something

Sy: how do you know my name!?!?

And that’s how they find out sqq and sy are the same person they eventually figure out timeline and stuff and sqq is like oh my god this is a child but also child me without pidw knowledge I need to keep him away from any trouble including plot, kidnappings, dangerous beasts, and mystery plants and obviously the most effective way to (not) keep him safe from this is adopt him BINGHEE COME HEREEEE we’re adopting this one now also remember how I came from a different world yeah this is technically me when I was a teenager before I read your story so he has no knowledge of this worlds dangers or customs we must protect him at all costs binghe locks eyes with him and the internal monologues are going in completely different directions binghe is cooing and brainstorming ways to booby trap the house so he can’t leave and sy is just gazing into his eyes like wowww what an objectively handsome guy yk his muscles are very big his hair is very big his eyes are very big,,,, I want to BE him I def don’t want him I want to BE him,,, gym goals fr,,, then he asks who he is and lbh’s like ‘oh my qingqiu’s husband 😊’ and sy just passes out on the spot

I also get the vibe that he would not be a very horny teenager like he might catch himself looking once or twice but I mean sqq didn’t really care about the porn in pidw so either he’s very particular or he’s very time and place so I don’t think his inner monologue for pretty people would be as body oriented as sqq’s is. I also want him to take a liking to yqy since he’s just like his older brother back home and sqq is like ‘no get away from this bad man’ and sy is all ‘but he’s so nice to me 🥺 he doesn’t mean bad’ like bro doesn’t know the lore also he would maybe not quite wifebeam but he would endear himself to like every single peak lord immediately.

I like to think he’d keep his body p much plus dianxia robes And the story is that bingqiu found a magic plant and made a plant son using bingqiu qi or something idk so that’s why they not only suddenly have a kid, a kid that looks similar to sqq and acts pretty similar to him but has no idea about anything in the world. These people think he was born yesterday and they might as well be right with how little he knows about the world or it’s customs

This is all I got for right now but feel free to expand on this or write it because I am a shit writer and boy have I been craving this

[toppamplemousse]

fairytalestappen part 4/5: the little mermaid

sorry for the delay in putting this part out, i've been feverishly writing the surprise brainworm that took over and is now a 21k fic that we'll be posting next week hehehehehe

please bear with me as a take about 1 million artistic liberties with the story of the little mermaid and also throw a bit of pirates of the caribbean in there

max is the captain of a pirate ship. traumatic upbringing, very jaded and cynical, doesn't trust anyone but himself to do things. he stole a Navy ship and became a pirate and now he's feared and admired in equal measure as the famous pirate captain Mad Max and his ship is #UnleashTheLion

one day, Max's crew capture a mermaid in their fishing net, and they're planning to kill him and stuff him and sell him to a museum. Max is initially ambivalent, but then gets a look at the mermaid, and my god he's beautiful. tanned skin, messy brown hair, the most gorgeous green eyes you've ever seen in your life (and they're filling with tears, god how tragically gorgeous) and an exquisite red tail.

while the rest of the crew is below deck for some reason, and max is alone with the mermaid, he carefully extricates the mermaid from the net and the mermaid is like "what are you going to do to me," and max is kinda surprised bc he didn't know mermaids could talk but then max is like "im going to go up to the helm and turn my back, and if you somehow manage to escape from my restraints and jump back overboard, well there would be nothing i could do to stop you" and so the mermaid escapes and when max's men come back he puts on the performance of a lifetime claiming that the mermaid escaped.

this will Become Important Later but basically at some point when max is bantering with his crew, one of them sarcastically says "yes, your highness," in response to Max and the mermaid overhears this

fast forward a few months. charles, who of course was the mermaid, is a mermaid prince, the (adopted) son of the mermaid king, maurizio arrivabene. maurizio hates humans, so he doesn't let the mermaids go above water. but charles was always curious about humans, so he would venture closer to the surface, which is what led him to getting caught up in the pirate's net a few months ago. ever since that day, charles hasn't been able to stop thinking about the man who saved him, his blonde hair and blue eyes and his kind smile. charles keeps going to the surface to follow boats, hoping they'll be max's. maurizio finds out and gets really mad at charles and says he's never allowed to go to the surface again. cue a little but daddy i love him moment.

charles goes to the evil sea witch, busty mattia binotto, and begs him to help him. charles wants to become human and go to the surface, so that he can meet max and get to know him (and hopefully fall in love and be with him forever and ever). there's just one tiny insignficant miniscule infinitesimal complication. because of the joke that Max's crew made, and because of how beautiful and regal and commanding Max looked on his ship, Charles believes that Max is the prince of the nearby seaside kingdom.

mattia (evil, spineless, grotesque monster that he is) realizes that he has the prime opportunity to trick charles. he tells charles that he will give him legs and send him to the human world. all charles has to do is get the prince to fall in love with him, and kiss him before sunset on the third day. of course only mattia knows that the prince is actually not max but CARLOS (the man is the spitting image of prince eric so this fits perfectly). if charles fails, after the third day he'll become a mermaid again and he'll be mattia's servant FOREVER. also to parallel the little mermaid, mattia takes something of charles that’s quintessential to who he is and could help him to charm the prince: his DIMPLES.

okay wow so much exposition. let's get to the STORY. so dimple-less charles goes to the surface. he is so unsure and wobbly on his new legs, like a baby deer, and it's very endearing. he comes ashore in the port and heads to the local watering hole, Sir James' Tavern

charles is so curious about everything and he's chatting up the bartender, asking where the prince lives, etc. the bartender (jenson button for those wondering) gives him directions to the castle.

just then, who should enter sir james' tavern but pirate captain mad max and his crew, in port for a few days and wanting to relax and have a good time at their favorite local tavern!

charles cannot believe his luck! the prince has come to him, he doesn't even need to go to the palace! this is going to be a piece of cake. max doesn't seem to remember that charles is the mermaid whose life he saved (this is a bit unrealistic as who could forget charles' beauty but. just go with it) but they hit it off, go to a secluded table and drink together and its very charged and they are each halfway in love with the other already and they almost kiss BUT THEY ARE RUDELY INTERRUPTED!!! by fernando and george, two of max's crew, almost getting into a pub brawl over tavern wench alex. the scuffle draws the attention of some nearby guards, who try to intervene. max and his crew decide to get out of there because they are of course wanted men, and max doesn't get the chance to say goodbye to charles or to arrange to see him again, which is very devastating

however, charles is not bothered by it! he will just go to the palace the next day (thanks jenson for the directions) and he will find max and they can spend more time together! foolproof plan charles

charles goes to the palace, and the guards initially rebuff him, bc he looks a bit like a ruffian, very dirty and wearing scavenged clothes (although still beautiful). the guards are trying to turn him away when suddenly, prince carlos shows up and immediately (i'm talking IMMEDIATELY) falls in love with charles on the spot. he tells the guards to unhand him, because he must meet this man and marry him. charles doesn't understand; this man is the prince? what about beautiful max? charles tries to explain that he's looking for the OTHER prince, carlos' brother, no you don't understand, i'm looking for max, the other prince? nobody seems to know what he's talking about, and suddenly he's being escorted to a room where he bathes, and he's given nice clothes, and he has a lovely dinner with carlos and. wait a minute. carlos has decided they're GETTING MARRIED? no wait, you don't understand, i'm looking for the other prince!!

carlos tries to kiss charles many times, but each time charles avoids him, trying to explain that there's been some kind of misunderstanding, he can't marry carlos, he's in love with someone else.

also it should be noted here that, even though they aren't a big part of the story, flounder, scuttle, and sebastian are still charles' trusty sidekicks in this fairy tail. flounder is andrea ferrari, scuttle is joris, and sebastian is.......well, sebastian. he sings kiss the girl to try to get carlos and charles to successfully kiss, and he also gets chased around the palace kitchen by head chef mark webber, who is trying to cook him for dinner. anyway that's unimportant.

in order to make everything more romantic, carlos plans to have their wedding on a ship at sunset on the third day. they sail out, it's so beautiful, charles is in a white dress (against his will but he still looks very gorgeous). then suddenly, the shadow of a mast falls across the deck where the ceremony is taking place. its the dreaded pirate Mad Max and his ship #UnleashTheLion. the pirates board the ship and max rescues charles. they kiss just as the sun slips below the horizon.

mattia binotto rises from the deep and laughs very evilly. everything went according to plan, charles did not kiss carlos, and now he belongs to mattia FOREVER. he turns charles back into a mermaid, and at this point, max realizes that the mermaid he saved all those years ago is also this beautiful man that he's in love with!!!! mattia takes charles and vanishes.

max escapes from the royal ship and goes back to his pirate ship, being chased by the royal navy. he searches high and low for charles and mattia. eventually, mattia gets fed up with this annoying pirate, and causes a huge storm. max is a great sailor so he navigates the storm, and he's a man in love so he's not going to stop looking for charles.

fine, mattia will take matters into his own hands. he turns into a giant (still busty) sea witch and brings charles with him to the surface. he tries to kill max but max stabs mattia with the prow of the ship and mattia dies. good fucking riddance mattia binotto.

max and charles are reunited and profess their love for each other. max marvels that charles is the same mermaid he saved and charles thanks him for saving his life. they kiss. but how are they going to be together, when charles is still a mermaid, and max is a human?

that turns out to be the least of their problems. as mattia's storm clears, the royal navy are upon them. max has given up his freedom as a pirate on the open seas to rescue charles. max tells charles and the rest of his crew to save themselves, and he surrenders to the royal navy to save his crew.

charles is HEARTBROKEN. he only got but a brief moment with max before max was ripped away from him. and now, max is set to be hanged for being a pirate. charles CANNOT let that happen.

charles' adopted father (maurizio arrivabene if you've forgotten) sees how heartbroken charles is, and he realizes that he must set charles free, in order for him to truly be happy. he casts a magic spell with his magic trident and charles turns back into a human.

charles goes back to shore and he goes to sir james' tavern, determined to come up with a way to save max. he finds max's crew there, miserable because their captain is going to be hanged. charles gives an impassioned speech and rallies max's men, along with jenson of course, to come up with a plan to save max

it's the day of max's hanging. as the noose is fit around max's neck, suddenly, all hell breaks loose. max's men all throw off their disguises and begin dueling the palace guards, distracting them enough for a lithe and nimble figure to dart onto the dais, undo max's bindings, and drag him through the crowd to freedom. it's charles!!! he takes max back to sir james' tavern, tends to max's injuries, and they once again profess their undying love. turns out maurizio arrivabene has given charles a gift, a la H2O: when charles is on land (or on a ship mayhaps) he will be human, but when he's in the water, he can be a mermaid.

how convenient, as max and charles decide they will be pirate captains on max's ship, scavenging and pillaging and plundering and also fucking nasty in the captains cabin every night. and whenever charles wants to, either to visit his family, or talk to his sea creature friends, or help when the pirates are battling other ships, he can turn into a mermaid and go into the sea.

and thus they lived happily ever after and whenever they're in port they go to sir james' tavern to see bartender jenson button, and carlos eventually falls in love with and marries the tavern wench lando and its such a scandal that everyone forgets about that time that the prince’s fiance turned into a mermaid on their wedding day and then a sea witch kidnapped him and then he got rescued by a pirate who got captured and then the mermaid helped him escape.

next up: sleeping beauty (the last part 😩😩😩😩)

[jennrypan]

The Butterfly miraculous is..ridiculously op. That needs to be fixed..quickly. Cuz??? Tikki and PLagg are suppose to be the biggest ones but..Nooroo can just give you any type of power you want at all?? Cmon now.

Rewatching the London Special and uhm— opinions. (Need to write the convo with Tikki and PLagg cuz I’m bored so—) also..why is this opening kinda hard..what tf.

Also does Alix still need to be in the ..circle places? If Gabriels dead, cant she go back to school ? Anyways. “The end of time.” Thats so..funny how casually she said this- great. Anyways fsjsj[ Gotta rewatch this so i can write some shit and crap. (The alcohol is starting to get to me. )

I love exposition. Anyways..Alix reacts more to Adrien and Marinette kissing as opposed to Adriens dad being Hawkmoth which is..interesting. Like?? “I feel bad for Adrien.” Would’ve been great but no, we care more about Marinette getting her prince..ANYWAYS— “Sending his son to London to protect him.” ..Thats not what he was doing let’s not muddy things up here.

I adore Alix design sm..it’s so cute. Anyways. Marinette looks pretty with a long braid, i love it. Anyways.. “So it’s over? Over over?” “Yes. Over over..” LIAR— YOU LIE- ANyways. Kagami you hate liars you— lovely you shouldn’t honor thiiiss.. Marinette had no issue telling Kagami that her mother was a villain but Adrien doesnt get that same agency?? Interesting interesting, anyways-

Im saying anyways anyways. A lot. And ah. Thats why they didnt tell anyone Tomoe was an accomplice. To keep up the lie so Adrien didn’t find out which is..worse i think. I guess that talk with Kagami and her mom didnt go that well cuz shes still being evil??

Gorilla could’ve let him go this entire time— also i just started laughing waaay too hard when she told him Gabriels dead i— it’s not funny it’s just..omg. Adrien has to deal with so much in like an entire day— “Youre father was a hero.” Oh that killed you to say didnt it. I bet. And awe..Gorilla cares about Adrien so much..hes literally the only guardian that deserves to be around him fr. Also Adrien got over his depression real fast after this episode. Like..he doesnt have any more questions about the fight?? None?? Okaaay. Kagami should’ve stayed shady towards Marinette ngl. It’s kind of annoying that Adriens support system is also..Marinettes support system?? Like Natalie is joining with Marinette to keep things from Adrien and so his Plagg.. and it’s just…wow. Adrien literally has no one that wont just clam up cuz Ladybug told them to. Logically the civilians would have several questions cuz how did you not know Hawkmoth ID after all this time?

And when they find out she failed they’d be..pissed off cuz theyve been suffering through this this whole time, you defeated Hawkmoth but you didnt find out who he was and you didnt get the miraculous back? It’d make no sense. All of the Kwami should also be pissed too cuz the current guardian is just as unhelpful as the last apparently.

Wait. Why didnt Plagg go to Adrien as soon as it was over?? I— sure. Ok sure “I did the right thing, right?” NO?? Plagg should be the main one telling her bluntly. Cuz theres a right answer and theres a wrong one and lying to the people you love about something SO important is never the right answer. Plaggs love for his actual holder should override his need to protect Marinettes feelings rn. “I know it was for a good cause.” ..It wasnt though. There’s nothing good about protecting Gabriel and Tomoes involvement in terrorizing all of Paris. If you feel terrible..maybe there’s a reason for that.

I fuck with Chromo bug ngl. The colors are pretty.. bright as hell but pretty.

[squeakyleftsneaker]

Watching Voltron for the 1st Time: S6 Ep. 4-5

IF YOU'RE NEW CLICK HERE FOR BACKSTORY. Or ig just take me at my word that if it hadn't been for the joy of this kid I tutor, I would never have gotten nearly as far into this show as I have. But now I'm here and like. Fuck it. We ball. We shall see this through to the end. To it's glorious, probably absolutely disastrous end. I have MANY feelings about this. Mixed. BUT THEY ARE NUMEROUS. I know I said I planned on finishing season 6 today but. I may need to pause after these 2 episodes.

Pleasantly Surprised

Keith showed up and didn't explain shit. In character.

Wow Keith also got a based feminism moment "Romelle should tell her own story" (this is obviously not serious I am tearing my eyes out from the exposition)

Romelle wants Lotor's ass dead she's so real

Allura fucking HURLING Lotor was cathartic for me

When they fix Shiro ig he and Keith can coparent the black lion

Keith said "I can fix him"

New drinking game take a shot every time Keith says "shIRo"

WOW the art is beautiful WOW WOW WOW. I love it. I unfortunately love retro space-age aesthetics

Clone Shiro wow there's so many of them how fun (I am not surprised)

And again I am so impressed by the quality of the animation and the fight choreography, both of which are STUNNING and the character beats are beautiful throughout. Man. This fight is. Such a gorgeous piece of animation AND writing put together. I'm unwell. We could've had a whole show full of stuff like this!

AND NOW THEY HAVE MATCHING SCARS BRO I'M SICK THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL. THE QUIET LITTLE "Keith" WHEN HE CUTS OUT THE ARM? THE WAY THEY FALL TOGETHER WITH THESE LITTLE SHOTS OF THEM TOGETHER BEFORE ALL THIS HAPPENED? IT'S SO GOOD HOLY FUCK

IF THERE WAS ANY JUSTICE IN THIS WORLD MAN IF THERE WAS ANYTHING SACRED AND GOOD WE WOULD HAVE THIS ALL THE TIME.

MOST MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP IN THIS FUCKING SHOW MAN AND IT'S SO LOVINGLY RENDERED HERE

TOOK SHIRO SAVING HIM OVER AND OVER AGAIN AS A KID FOR HIM TO COME OUT HERE AND RECIPROCATE IT FINALLY ON LEVEL PLAYING FIELD MAYBE AGING HIM UP WAS WORTH IT

*Arrested Development Scene Plays* "Well I Don't Know What I Expected"

*Evil instincts* DEEP BELEAGUERED SIGH

THIS IS THE SAME ALLURA WHO FIRED ON THESE PALADINS WHEN SHE FELT SHE HAD TO. THE SAME ALLURA WHO RIGHTFULLY DID NOT FUCKING TRUST THE BLADE OF MARMALADE UNTIL THEY PROVED IT. AND YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE LOTOR FLIPPED HIS LITTLE HAIR AND THAT WAS ENOUGH? KILL ME

MORE FUCKING EXPOSITION BRO THIS COULD'VE BEEN AN EMAIL

I again think that this could be SO MUCH MORE of an impactful reveal if Lotor had SEEMED trustworthy at all but we SAW people on planets who werent Galra distrust Voltron more and more, we SAW Lotor not acting in any way. I JUST. MAN. yOU COULD DO SO MUCH HERE

LIKEWISE THE BITS WITH SHIRO AND HAGGAR CONTROLLING HIM? COULD'VE BEEN GREAT IF THEY'D SET IT UP RIGHT

This fucking assembly sequence bro get me OUT OF HERE

Subtitles informed me Little Miss Blue Dabadee Dabada is named Axca. Sure. Also wtf is her DEAL like they do not know what to do with her

Lotor's really doing a dash of Altea fetishism.

Axca is really just. Thoroughly a confused character. They don't know what to do with Lotor's goons and it's. A pain in the ass.

See how much better this could've been if they were setting up Pidge being worried about Shiro, if they had set up the other stuff, IT COULD'VE BEEN WONDERFUL RISING TENSION THROUGHOUT THE SERIES SINCE SEASON 3 BRO

I'm kind of. Reeling. Wow. What a fantastic fucking fight. It's genuinely this show's crowning moment and I completely didn't expect it. What a genuinely pleasure to watch. I genuinely am now kind of retroactively much sadder about the rest of this show being the way it is and I would love to understand WHY. Because this is such a beautifully written fight. Gorgeous.

Keith and Shiro were really the only interpersonal relationship that received any time or development, and we see a lot of it with Shiro still taking on a sort of leading role, this fight was kind of necessary to get them now onto a much more level playing field– hell even in the fight you see that ultimate shift in dynamics.

Shiro is winning winning winning winning until finally Keith just lets GO and that's where you finally see em as true equals. LOVELY stuff. Which makes me just. MAD.

Because the writers CLEARLY aren't just hacks, they packed a ton of growth and emotional depth into all of this. So something in the development of this show was just. Broken. And that's infuriating. There's a great story in this show somewhere. There's so much you can do. And like. Even with these two characters, who (and I cannot stress this enough) are the most developed relationship over the course of the show, you see these long stretches of time where they don't know what to do with them.

Where they'll just have Keith do whatever The Trope demands without thinking about what he's supposed to be doing, where they just forget that Shiro was compromised for long stretches of time (and man how great would it have been for Keith to have felt Shiro was off somehow, how great would it have been for Shiro to have been trying to hide the headaches and such from Keith bc he felt he still had to be in a sort of leading role with him).

This show is just RUSHED. They know what moments they want to get to but there's so little thought put into HOW and that's how we get long-ass segments of pure expository dialogue and these flat characters until they can do what we need them to do to get in position for A Moment. And that's.... a shame! Because fights like the one between Keith and Shiro really just highlight how much is LOST in this show.

Man

This show PISSES ME OFF DAWG. Anyway I hope that the writers move forward by having Shiro get a chance to lean on Keith more and grow himself. That's what they've been setting up from SEASON ONE really, which is. Kinda wonderful.

ALSO ALLURA GIRL GET UP. LOTOR IS JUST A GUY. HIT HIM WITH UR LION!!!!!!

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Fnaf Movie thoughts!

I wanted to ramble some of thoughts and theories I had about the Fnaf Movie.

Cause the brainrot is real and won't leave my brain.

(wow just read back that sentence. Excuse any grammar errors or dumb shit, I'm still very sick)

Below the cut will feature heavy spoilers, so unless you want to be spoiled of the major twists this movie has, I would recommend wait to read this.

I unfortunately couldn't see the movie in my theatres, cause I got horribly sick and wasn't able to get the full theatre experience.

I was able to watch on Peacock, with all my fnaf plushies with a super sinus clogged headache, so that's the mindset I had. lol

Anyway.. Movie time

I absolutely LOVED Mike and Abby. First off.

I didn't even mind a lot of time of the movie was spent AWAY from Freddy's. Because so much is just about learning about Mike and his family and connection to Abby.

Sure, we could have spent the WHOLE movie at Freddy's. But that is not what this movie is about. And it's clearly trying to tell a bigger mystery and this felt a very introduction friendly entry point to anyone confused about the fnaf lore.

I love how completely obsessed Mike is with Dream theory. To the point he's taking heavy duty sleeping pills on his job that he clearly doesn't need and just is doing it so he can relive his dreams/fabricated memories.

The intro credits with the 8-bit style graphics of the minigames in fnaf2-4??? Like bro? I cried. That was so iconic and they fill in the backstory for the purple guy, who actually appears as his sprite??? Like... Man iconic.

Also... Dude... Mike Schmitt in the movie is like... what the Fans wanted Mike in the games to be for YEARS. Like... Mike in the games is nothing. He's a silent face. We know so little about him, and everything else is purely speculative. Even the whole "he was foxy bro and has regret over his brother" ...That's all theory and not confirmed. As far as we know, Crying child and his brother might not even be Afton kids.

But this Mike is EXACTLY the motivations we wanted Mike to have? If that makes sense? He laments his brother was taken at a young age and expresses regret and motivation to want to get him back. he has the motivations that the fandom built for him for years and ran with it, and I LOVE THAT.

FNAF Movie actually gives good reasons why Mike comes back every night, as said in Living Tombstone's iconic song "why do you want to stay?" Cause of his regrets with his brother and his obsession with dream theory and doesn't realize the animatronics are a threat until like... night four.

THE ANIMATRONICS?? THE PUPPETS??? THEY LOOK SO GOOD??? HECK YEAH!!!!

I SCREAMED when I recognized Matpat's voice, and then I saw his face. Reconized him for his voice WAY before I saw his face. I didn't think he'd have a speaking or face cameo and get to say his iconic "it's just a theory" line and about food too??? King shit.

Letting the animatronics have moments where they can just be cute and friendly as well as creepy and bloodthirsty is so great! I want to give them all pets.

THE CHILD ACTORS ARE ALL SO GOOD! To the point you don't even notice! It's often hard to get children to play a convincing performance, but these children acted really well! They must have a real talented director who knew how to get the best of their child actors. You don't even realize that the child actors are great, cause they're so good it's unnoticeable. AMAZING

VANESSA BEING WILLIAM AFTON'S DAUGHTER IS NOTHING SHORT OF BRILLIANT!!!!

I MEAN, I SCREAMED WHEN SHE SAID "William Afton My father"

I was screaming about this in my group chat.

I was screaming for a thousand years.

AND IT makes sense why the cops never found the bodies. Vanessa is a cop! She's covering for her father!

I absolutely LOVE what a girl failure Vanessa is too!

Like she shows up, HEAVILY flirts with Mike (like she was laying it on so thick my demisexual ass was picking up on her vibe) and just shows up to give him exposition on the FNAF lore. fheogheahf. Like. It's great.

(no doubt she was flirting heavily with Mike at the start due to manipulation from her father, I do believe it grows to genuine fondness later)

I've heard people complain about her flipflop nature... BUT THAT's the POINT!

(a literal arcade game in security breach.)

She let Abby play with the animatronics, knowing it was dangerous. Her original plan was to kill Mike, but she changes her plans when she sees he has a kid. (who she thought was his daughter at first) It was only after Abby got injured by Accident, she realized that what a danger she posed by brining them here at all. She only threatened to shoot Mike because she hoped that such an extreme threat would get him to quit. She even tells him about how many security guards quit. But it doesn't.

She even said she tried to warn in her own way. She's terrified of her father. And we get deep foreshadowing about that throughout the movie.

I really hope that in some sequels we will get to see Vanny at some point. Maybe even Springtrap and Vanny working together in the same movie??? CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS?!?!? I WOULD GO FERAL

Anyway, Vanessa is such a girl failure and my girl blorbo. I support her and her woman's wrongs

The minor look of regret after Will stabs his daughter... peak cinema.

The springlock scene... The quiet of the stabs, giving such a realistic collapse... the "I always come back" ...Embracing the monster he knows he is. He is the mask. He isn't hiding behind the mask, like he is being Steve. he is the mask now. Just... Chefs kiss.

The animatronics dragging springtrap away mirrors the ending of Silver Eyes so well, and I'm glad, because that was the best part of the Silver eyes. <3

THE LIVING TOMBSTONE GOT TOP BILLING FOR THE FIRST CREDITS SONG! PERFECT

Garret is 100% going to be the Puppet in the Movie Series. He was the one taken in the car, the spelling out in the minigame sounds at the very end says: "COME FIND HIM" And after Living Tombstone ends, the credits music fades into Grandfather's clock music box... Puppet's song..... Garret will be the Puppet in this universe and I so look forward to that.

I enjoyed the movie. I'm glad that they left the overarching mystery of Garret open to be explored in the sequel.

[stormandforge]

Raw reactions to X-Force #10

As rushed and busy as expected, but honestly a very good issue that gives us as many answers at it can.

Spoilers!

Let's get it out the way: Tank is actually Colossus and no one is surprised. And there's not enough time to explain the why or how. Grrr. I would have enjoyed him as an official member of the team.

Main spoiler number 2: Nori lives! Once again, not surprised, her return was seeded. And she's a combinate electromagnetic and extradimensional energy thingy now, which is pretty much a gift handed down to future writers.

I expected (wanted) this issue to be Forge-heavy, because it's the conclusion of the arc that he started. But Thorne gives everyone a chance to shine instead. I'm a bit sad, but objectively it's the best thing he could do.

Framing this issue within Xavier's and Magneto's dreams raises the stakes, makes it feel like an important part of the X-Men's history. Nice.

Kestrel darling? The proverbs are getting annoying.

Yay Warren/Betsy reference! Ah, we were all so young and innocent back then.

Hehehehehehe Rampage chomping on Cyclops.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH ANGEL GOT SQUISHED LIKE A BUG. 10/10 on comedy timing.

''Someone I know was reverse-engineering them''. Sage and her Rolodex, I swear.

Moses Magnum! I didn't expect him, this is a cool reveal.

The Forge betrayal moment was going to be a cliffhanger, wasn't it? Leaving me to bite my nails and defend him against idiots on the internet calling him a villain? Sigh. Still a very good moment though, with good tension.

All rise for the Ceremonial Removal of the Headband.

This is The Forge Name-Calling Competition! With your hosts, Sage and Captain Britain!

My boy tinkering 💙

Awww, the jet! Defying expectations of what jets do by going underground! Fucking hell, here I am, feeling nostalgic about the bloody jet...

Zanda's appearance feels gratuitous, because there's not enough time to explain. She's just here all of a sudden.

Betsy Sailor Moon moment 🤩 I used to be indifferent to Betsy. Now I have affection for her. I blame Geoff Thorne.

Oh Sage, my favourite exposition device. My favourite narrator, too. My favourite everything.

''You could have said one thing. To me, at least.'' I'm reading this as recognition that Sage and Forge had a special relationship within this team, and that she's a bit hurt by his behaviour. I will accept no argument to the contrary.

Forge, my dude. I know you get a little thrill out of beautiful women shouting abuse at you, but seriously, JUST TELL SAGE WHATS GOING ON WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A DICK.

''Machines don't argue''? Oh wow, that's next level. Forge has always been a bastard, but he's usually a sneaky and repentant bastard, who uses people like pawns behind their backs and feels bad about it afterwards. Here he's openly despicable and God, I'm so turned on. I'm going to fix him with so much fanfic, prepare your loins.

I TOLD YOU he didn't plan Nori's death. He's not a monster. He's just a bastard. A very sexy bastard. Who needs to be punished. *growls*

Oh. Wait, that's it? They decide they've had enough of Forge's nonsense and they all go home? The ending was always going to be abrupt, but...wow.

Ohhhh I hate that there's no resolution to the tension between Sage and Forge (Betsy and Forge, too). That's what feels most unfinished to me. Let them have a proper shouting match or something, and clear the air. I really hope that's what the X-Force scene in the Hellfire Vigil is going to be, because my brain needs this resolution. With my luck it'll be 2 pages about Tank though, because Marvel reaaaaally wanted us to care about that, didn't they?

And that's the end. What a ride! I had a blast with these posts. Not that I'm done talking about this X-Force - I'll probably have more to say once GT's annotations are out and the dust has settled.

[madaqueue]

Practice Makes Perfect | Chapter 2

synopsis: you and yuji have been best friends basically as long as you can remember, and you made a promise to each other to stay friends and help each other be the best versions of yourselves for your future partners. but will things change when yuji finally starts looking for a relationship?

pairing: yuji itadori (18+) x f!reader

themes/content: modern college au (characters aged up to 18+). fluff, with a whisper of angst. language, nudity. 18+, MDNI.

word count: 1.8k

a/n: i am tormented writing this, i wake up in the middle of the night with ideas but this is fr just exposition don't you worry, we're getting there i promise

previous chapter | series masterlist | next chapter

The next week goes by in a blur. You and Yuji don’t run into each other, which is pretty typical, and you try your best to act like you weren’t completely shocked at how he kissed you the last time you saw each other whenever you’re texting him.

During a break between classes on Thursday, you head back to your dorm to relax for a bit and get some lunch. As soon as you close your door, your phone lights up with an incoming video call from Yuji. You answer it and see his face suddenly take over your screen.

“Hey there! Sorry to call you suddenly, but I have another favor to ask you,” he says with a cheeky smile. “You remember that girl I told you about last week? Well, she and I are kind of supposed to hang out and I wanted to practice the whole date thing with you,” he pauses, expectantly.

“Sure,” you sigh with a small smile forming on your lips, “when are you supposed to see her?” “That’s sort of the thing…” Yuji hesitates, breaking eye contact with the screen for a moment before turning back, “we’re supposed to hang out tomorrow so I would kind of need you to come over tonight.” “Tonight?” your eyes widen. “Yuji, I have class, and assignments, and-”

He cuts you off. “I know, I know, but I promise I’ll make it up to you! Look, come over to my place tonight at 6:00, pretty please?” he pleads, batting his eyelashes at the camera.

You concede, “Fine, but you owe me one.” Yuji cheers and thanks you profusely.

You hang up the phone and walk towards your bed, laying down on your back with your feet dangling off the end. You still don’t know what to make of the sudden change in your dynamic - I mean, you guys haven’t hung out one-on-one for months and now suddenly you’re making out like it’s no big deal? And what’s with this girl he went from not being sure he even had feelings for to suddenly going out with her tomorrow? Is he going to kiss her like he kissed you? You feel a pang in your stomach.

Are you…jealous? No, no way, you’re just hungry because you still haven’t had lunch. You push the thoughts aside as you get up to grab some leftovers from the mini fridge in your room and try to keep it out of your mind until tonight.

–

By the time you get to Yuji’s, the sun has set and the streetlights are starting to turn on as you walk across campus. When you arrive you knock on his door and he opens it, his eyes immediately scanning your body as he takes you in. You’re wearing an off-white bodycon dress you found in the back of your closet with a black jacket to help keep you warm on your way over, an outfit that’s fairly atypical for you since you don’t often have a reason to dress up like this.

“Wow,” Yuji says with a smile, eyes still glancing over you, “you look…really nice.”

“Thanks,” you shrug. “I figured this should be as immersive as possible so you can actually use it as practice for your date tomorrow rather than us just hanging out like always.”

He nods in agreement and moves to let you step into his room. Inside, you notice candles lighting the space rather than the LED lights like last time, and it makes everything feel much cozier.

“It looks nice but isn’t this a huge fire hazard?” you tease, slipping your jacket off and hanging it on one of the hooks behind his door.

“Dunno, just wanted it to be nice for you,” he says nonchalantly as he moves toward the center of the room. There’s a fold-out table that was almost definitely used for beer pong at some point with two chairs you’re pretty sure were stolen from his dorm’s study room on either side of it. He pulls out one of the chairs for you and you sit down in front of an empty paper plate and red Solo cup.

“How classy,” you smirk at the setup.

“Hey, it’s the best I could do on short notice - besides, it’s not like she’s coming here tomorrow anyways,” he argues, crossing his arms. You notice him trying to hide a grin before he moves to sit across from you at the table. “Anyways, thank you for coming tonight.” He smiles genuinely at you. “Before we begin our meal, could I offer you some of our finest wine selection?” he asks while pulling out the cheapest-looking box of red wine from behind his chair.

You laugh at his question. “Seriously? How did you even get that in here? Isn’t alcohol banned in the dorms?”

“Don’t worry about it, sweets,” he says with a wink. In reality, Yuji had worried about it, a lot. He had to ask his friend Toge to help him smuggle it in, pretending it was a new gaming system they were going to play, making sure to give the security guard posted outside the dorm a good show of how excited they were about it. But, now that was all said and done, and Yuji was just glad his efforts paid off and he got to share it with you.

He leans forward across the table, propping his elbows on either side of your plate to steady himself, and begins pouring wine out of the box into your cup. He looks down to make sure he doesn’t spill any, when suddenly the table gives out under the weight of him resting his arms on it. The nearly-full cup tumbles toward you and covers your dress in dark red.

“Shit, Yuji!” you scream reflexively as you stand up. You try to brush the wine off your dress but that seems to only smear it more.

The boy looks up from where he is now laying on the floor on top of the collapsed table, taking in the situation before he immediately springs into action. “Okay, you take your dress off, I’m gonna go grab some laundry detergent, and we’re going to fix this - I-I mean, I’m going to fix this,” he states, trying to reassure himself as much as you.

He uses his hands to push himself up off the ground and steps over to his closet, quickly grabbing one of his oversized t-shirts and tossing it at you before running out of the room. You stare at the black shirt in your hands, still trying to process the scene that unfolded but realizing you do still need to change. You begin to unzip your dress and the second it hits the floor, Yuji runs back into the room.

“I found the detergent!” he proclaims, excitedly holding the bottle above his head before he realizes what he just walked in on. He freezes, eyes glancing quickly all over your body just like he did when you first arrived, but this time with the notable absence of your dress. His eyes pause over your matching black bra and panties before he looks back to your face, watching your cheeks suddenly turn red from embarrassment. You aren’t even sure why you’re blushing since Yuji has seen you change more times than you can count, but just like when you were sitting on his lap last week, this time feels different.

You both stare at each other before he lets out a nervous chuckle that breaks the silence. “You, uh, you want me to wash that dress or not?” You look down to the crumpled dress at your feet and instinctively toss it to him without a word. “Sweet, I’ll get this in the wash and be back in a second,” he says before promptly turning and leaving.

As you look down at your hands, you notice they’re shaking. What is wrong with me? You think. It’s just Yuji. Shaking the thought away, you slide the t-shirt over your head and it nearly reaches to your mid-thighs. You let out a sigh, thankful to finally feel a bit more covered.

Yuji pops his head back into the room. “Are you decent?” he teases before swinging the door open without waiting for an answer.

You feel a bit better now that you’re clothed again, finding some energy to joke back with him. “What a romantic dinner, Yu,” you say with a chuckle, your voice still a bit more shaky than you would have liked.

“Hey, it was still good practice! What if there’s a horrible wine emergency on our date tomorrow and I have to think fast,” he laughs. “Besides, we can still finish this date. You haven’t even seen the main course yet!”

He reaches under his bed and pulls out a familiar bag, holding it up with a toothy grin. “Taco Bell? Seriously?” you groan and flop back on his bed.

“Don’t blame me, you’re the one who said you didn’t want to eat my delicious cooking,” he jokes. “Besides, it’s the only place where I still have your order memorized, and I wanted to make sure I got you something you’d like,” he hums.

You shift your eyes down from the ceiling onto his, and it’s almost like you can see his gaze soften as you look at him. Yuji was truly nothing if not genuine; it was clear that he really did care about getting you something you’d like, and he wanted to show you that he still knows things about you, even if they’re as simple as your fast-food order. You felt the air in the room shift, and while you couldn’t read Yuji’s mind, after knowing each other for that long you could make a pretty good guess: he needed this. You could almost sense his subtle desperation for your approval as he walks towards you, and without thinking, you say, “It’s perfect Yuji, I love it,” with a smile forming on your lips.

He lights up at your words and leaps forward onto the bed, landing next to you on his stomach before turning to face you. “I know this isn’t exactly how you pictured this ‘date’ going, but I’d still like it to be special. Besides, it’s late, and you can’t exactly walk back to your dorm in my t-shirt, so why don’t we make tonight fun, just the two of us? Like we used to?” he pauses, waiting for your answer.

His eyes lock onto yours and again, without thinking, you turn towards him and throw an arm around his shoulder. Glancing at the clock behind him, it illuminates the time: 6:43. It was absolutely not late and you could easily borrow some of his sweatpants to walk back to your dorm, but instead of saying that, your mouth moves before your mind can catch up. “Like we used to,” you say through a soft grin.

previous chapter | series masterlist | next chapter

[pjowasmy1stfandom]

This is something I should probably save for when I'm not supposed to be asleep. Ce' la vie or whatever

I've been wondering about what exactly Morro did to deserve getting banished to the Cursed Realm bc why not. Anyway, I have a headcanon as to how he got there exactly (taken from an amazing fic I'll probably talk about later) but I wanted to know if there was a canon reason so I went to the wiki

I guess this turned into an essay of sorts so I added a cut bc it got long what the heck

Summary isn't proving helpful. What 'previous actions'? Cause if you're talking about his being willing to defy fate, I think that could honestly be taken as either arrogance or desperation

Again with the arrogance vs desperation. He's been told by Wu for years or however long he's trained that he's the Green Ninja. He essentially was taught to associate his self-worth and competency with being the Green Ninja. And then that got taken away from him

Audacity??? Really?? Did the person who wrote the wiki watch the same episode as me?? He hadn't even hit his growth spurt yet, he still had the tiny legs! Okay, yes, waking a Grundle. Not smart. He's what, a preteen/teenager? That's kinda what they're known for

Okay, now we're getting somewhere! Aaaand nevermind. The link just took me to the summary of the episode where they do the whole entire exposition dump. From Wu's perspective. Hmmm. I wonder how the way the story was written would change if we heard it from Morro instead?? Anyway, they say he's committed atrocities, but the only atrocities I've actually seen any real proof for are the things he did during Possession, not before he ended up in the Cursed Realm. I'm not saying he didn't commit them, I'm just saying if they want me to believe he actually deserved to get cursed, they needed to give me a better idea of what he did wrong. So far, I'm just seeing a kid with an identity crisis

Oof. Awful way to go out. I mean, it could have been worse, but still. The fact that the Master of Wind died underground... Yeah, that's all sorts of levels of irony this post isn't about. Anyway, still haven't gotten any clear idea of what his 'actions' were and why they were so horrible

And honestly, I'm not even gonna touch what the wiki's saying about his personality rn. Let me just summarize it as 'literally everything is negatively spun, even the good things'. Which, yes, I get bc he is a literal antagonist, but at the same time...

Okay, moving on! Trivia!

I mostly knew this already but. Wow. That's a teenager. I'm somewhere around that age and yeah, being that age is hard. Having an extra identity/existential crisis on top of all that and having no way to actually healthily deal with that... Yep, I can see why he went evil

Okay, that's it? Just 'some bad act'??? Wait, as he perished?!? But he was in an explosion... We don't see any other skeletons around him, right? I think that'd be mentioned/shown at least ONCE. So I don't think he killed anyone...

Anyway, cool cool cool. I learned... Pretty much nothing I didn't already know. Nice. I wanna fist fight the wiki now

If anyone's curious, my headcanon is based off Land of the Living on Ao3 by CaptainBrookeworm. Basically, Morro accidentally managed to curse himself just by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time (and I highly recommend reading the fic if you haven't already, it's one of my absolute favorites)

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 6-4: Daddycop

Alright, Sabrina Focus Episode! And Zoe might get something! Funny ass episode name!

Oh hey! It's fake Chloe!

Damn, they're adding on the Chlobrina subtext. Also who made the Queen Bee action figure?

I forgot how bald Officer Roger is, lmao.

Oh. She lied. Of course she lied.

Hm. Jupiter. According to my cosmic theory that's Marinette.

Special privileges from the mayor? What if Marinette ended up becoming Chloe 2.0? That would be a fun irony.

Oh hey! She wants to help Marinette like in Evilustrator!

Oh boy! Exposition and Marinette noting she failed Chloe! She did, in a sense!

Look how they massacared my girls. The hair hunters got to them but didn't complete the job. Also I guess Kagami and Zoe are part of the girlsquad now. Wish I could've seen that development.

I used to have a movie night with a friend every Wednesday.

Kagami status: cooking

Oh. Just a friend?

Wait, love.

Also I'm liking Zoe comforting Sabrina about this. Cute!

Hamster named Marinette again lmao

It should end like this, honestly. Adrien's a Virgo and you're a Leo. According to Astrology, you two are incompatible as hell.

The sudden turnaround lmao

Oh, so Felix's Henchgirl is going to preach to Zoe now!? Mylene I can understand, but Sabrina did zilch to you!

Oh boy! More dramatic irony!

Oooh, Zoe lore?

Yes! Go Adrien! Stand up for yourself!

Oh my god that was instantaneous. Sabrina W.

Another decent mind-control akuma.

Wait, he loves being a distraction? I guess the Marinette salters were wrong.

So did they decide on the Miraculers as well in the episode 11 flashback?

Outfit upgrade! (Although I think this was in episode 2 as well. Yet Marinette was alright with Miss Hound taking her motorbike. Was it because she was helping her? What is the timeline on this stupid season?)

Ah, Pegasus again. This is the second time. Will this be a common thing?

And a detransform phase for the powerups. That was missing all the way back in season 2!

Alright, quick pajama review for the new PJs:

Mylene: She's wearing Ivan's season 1 shirt. It's so good.

Rose: The unicorn kigurumi (or is it onesie? What's the difference between the two?) it hyper-fitting. I'd also be jolly if Rose had handmedowns from Juleka as PJs and vice versa.

Juleka: I always imagined her as wearing handmedowns from Luka as PJs and occasionally regular clothes. Unless we wanna imagine Luka in that black tank and sweatpants.

Kagami: Silky rich pajamas are good

Zoe: Yeah, sure. She has so little going on for her that

And Zobrina. On one hand I do love extra yuri, but Zoe isn't beating the "meant to take everything Chloe was going to have post-redemption" allegations. I'm more of a Julerozoe fan anyways.

Eh. I don't like the new cut that much. Kindof a downgrade and not even that different. I'd rather grow her hair out. I love short-haired girls with long hair and vice versa.

Jesse-ass sounding prick

That was a good episode! It felt like good damage control after Chloe's Swan Song that was trying to say: "If you're a bully in middle school you aren't scum less redeemable than an actual supervillain and deserve to live with your abusive mother." And it worked!

So I marked off everything I believe in for S6 from the past two episodes with two new colors. Cyan means I think it's happening but not yet confirmed while piss yellow means it's deconfirmed. I love the CYM color scheme. For example, it seems like Zoe's getting some extra backstory and the fact that Sabrina and Ivan have focus episodes makes me think Nathmarc might too, but I don't have any proof for either of those.

Wow, if those cyans become magentas we have 4/5s of a bingo!

As for the Axes of Funk, making Ladybug and Chat Noir into Sabrina Zombies would probably make them drop their guard, the handcuffs stuff would be better. Also the car is cool, but I prefer the original Rogercop design.

[tuxedokit-sys-selfships]

Della + 💐

flowers

thats it! perfect! those are romantic or something, right?

della punched the air, reaching for her coat and scarf as she marched to the door. she had all day to prepare for her date, but that wouldnt stop her from fussing. not out of a giddy daze necessarily, more anxious anticipation. normally, she wouldnt even humor the thought of anything so... romantic, in fact she kinda hated the whole concept. but this would mean a lot to luna, she knew this in her heart of hearts. and luna was... different.

not as in she wanted to do the whole staring into their eyes and slurping up the same spaghetti noodle or whatever—gross. no, more in the sense that they knew each other... theyd met briefly when they were kids, then, again in their early 20s. most consequential one night stand of her life by FAR.

.... well, maybe second. but thats irrelevant right now.

point is, they'd woken up in bed together, realized they actually did know each other and decided to keep in touch. luna went from a booty call to a dear friend (with benefits) to.... god. what the hell do you even call that? best friends+? anyway, eventually they were 26 and luna confessed, because of course it did, and della panicked. she didnt want to lose luna, but also dear fuck the idea of being someones girlfriend made her sick. not to mention her secret baggage (three eggs, to be precise).

so she shot it down, turned off her phone and cried. then in that week there was the rocket, and the moon crash, and now a decade later, here she was finding out that luna had been looking for her that whole time. had accepted her rejection with grace, said it hadnt meant to pressure her, simply wanted her to know she was loved, no reciprocation necessary... and then that thing spent a decade proving it. even after her case had gone cold, luna hadnt bought it, and spent ten years traveling the globe in search of her, texting her the whole time.

ten years. wow. it... really had been a while, huh?

a lot can change in a decade, and they both knew that. which was why this was just supposed to be grabbing lunch with an old friend and catching up. but della had been doing some backreading, and she knew those feelings hadnt faded. if anything they had somehow grown, planted in the soil of desperation. seriously, some of those texts date back to the month before she got back. crazy. and they werent all love letters, too. musing on whether she had just gone off the grid, was hiding from them, kidnapped (prime theory), or just actually dead... anyway, point is, that context changed things. that thing was for real about how it felt, and didnt need her to figure out how to feel the same back.

she found herself at the flower shop before she realized she had even left the mansion. wow. was this an adhd thing? or was it normal to put your body on autopilot so you can reminisce in a particularly expositional manner while doing tasks? how long had she been standing in front of the flower shop staring at the door? she should probably move now.

della shook her head and pushed open the door, entering the store with the chime of a bell. cute. she'd always liked those be—

"Hello, how can I help you today?"

oh right, people exist. including the small old owl lady behind the counter. this was probably her store. della realized she should probably say something.

"hi! im just browsing for now, but im super putting together a boquet for someone, so ill be back!" della shot the woman two slightly awkward finger guns as she delved further into the store

"Wonderful, dear. I'll be here if you need any help."

okay, flowers. couldnt just throw anything together, no, this had to be good. and, as much as shed like it, she doubted the lady had picks for "im willing to try this even if i dont feel the same way also i missed you a lot and i love you" on hand. but with the power of google and her notes app, anything was possible.

.......

"heyy im back, can i get a boquet with lavender..."

della glanced back and forth as she spoke, between the shopkeep and her phone, which was sporting of a list of seemingly random flowers shed seen in the store.

"...arborvitae, honeysuckle, valerian, cranberry, forget-me-nots, and... hazel? oh, and tie it with a vine instead of a ribbon!"

"Hm... Quite the mix, but alright! I'll be right back"

the elderly owl shuffled off to god knows where, eventually returning with dellas boquet. it looked nice, she thought. yeah. this would work.

"Alright, dear, let me ring you up."

della found herself checking her phone as she waited and OH NO SHE WAS GOING TO BE LATE.

"THANKS LADY SORRY GOTTA GO KEEP THE CHANGE BYE!!" she slapped some random jewels and treasures from her latest trip on the counter and bolted with her boquet.

weird. usually she reserved this level of dedication for life or death running... she supposed she did really really care how this went. luna was someone dear to her. and hey, if she had to date anyone, this lunatic butch catthing would be her go to. hey, soeaking of, there it is! on its phone—wow its aged nicely—sitting at a table. finally, it heard her panting and looked up and della had not realized how badly she had missed luna until this exact moment. luna was already out of their chair by the time della reached it, and before they knew it they were hugging like this had all been a bad dream.

"i, uh... i got you something"

della took a reluctant step back from the hug, mostly to reveal her gift. the look on lunas face once again reminded her why she was doing... all of this. awe, wonder, hesitance...

"...wow... you... you got me... flowers?"

[mothofstars]

Epic: The Musical - Tier list to appease my autism

Epic is quite possibly my favourite musical of all time, and after the release of the Wisdom Saga, I really wanted to rank the songs and put my thoughts about them somewhere.

And I'm not about to spend 5 hours on this and not post it anywhere, so please enjoy my ramblings! From least favourite to most favourite, here is my Epic tier list!

30. Full Speed Ahead - Troy Saga

It's worth pointing out, I don't dislike any of these songs. I like all of the songs, and think they are all important and serve the overall musical. But this, for me, is a bit more of an 'establishing' song. It serves as exposition to get us from one place to another, both literally for the crew, and musically as we move from the emotional song of Just a Man to the more fun Open Arms.

29. Storm - Ocean Saga

This is also a little bit more of an exposition song, but for me I think this mix is stronger, I love the call and response, and for some reason still giggle when they all point towards the island in the sky!

28. Luck Runs Out - Ocean Saga

I like the way this shows the starts of the cracks forming between Ody and Eurylochus. Eurylochus, quite rightly, gets a little weirded out by the idea of climbing up to a floating island that has a potential god resting upon it. Ody on the other hand hasn't had the crap beaten out of him enough times yet, and still has the optimism that means he will do just that. You can hear a twinge of pain in Ody's voice as he realises that his second in command is starting to doubt his actions, all the while he is just doing his best to keep his crew together and alive.

27. Open Arms - Troy Saga

This song is great - What is there to say about this sweet boy that hasn't already been said? We all know and love him, and this song shows off that sweetness and love for life so well. However, this song is so much better when used in other songs to absolutely shatter your heart into a million tiny pieces as we all grieve our happy friend. This song is still strong, but I think its overall impact comes more from its use in other songs, rather than the original!

26. Polyphemus - Cyclops Saga

The brutality of this introduction to this saga is terrifying. I still get chills during the cyclops saga, and the turn at the end of the song is so well done. Each verse seems to add another layer of tension, and we feel like we are sneaking closer and closer to a conclusion that favours the crew, and then, we get stomped.

25. The Horse and the Infant - Troy Saga

This is one of the best openings to a musical - we know the main characters, we know what they want, and we know exactly where they all stand. This is achieved without too much wordy-ness and exposition, and just serves as a great and powerful introduction. Also, love how Ody is immediately humbled by being presented with a challenge he already struggles with, bringing him closer to the listener. I've been told by a few that if you have the prior context of the books that came before the Odyssy that the names being read out at the start is like a nice little round of references to previous stories - it's a shame this doesn't hit for me yet, as I am still learning quite a bit of the context surrounding this musical. For me, as well, there is just so much going on in this song, that my head spins a little lol.

24. Survive - Cyclops Saga

Very similarly to the Troy saga, the second song of the cyclops saga once again seems to have the aim of humbling Ody and making him closer to us, your average mortal, than a god. You can feel the genuine pain and fear in his voice as his friends fall, and the splashes and smashes of blood and club are poignant and painful to listen to. We get to see the tactician brain of his working to full speed, with a steady ticking in the background making it feel like Athena is right there with him, which is a lovely touch.

23. Remember Them - Cyclops Saga

Wow, this song is so strong and painful at the same time. The fade into the song, hearing Ody's mind snap straight into action and then him calling out to his friends with directions demonstrates his tactician brain and his ability to lead them really well, but also feels like he is also trying to guide the crew through the first big loss they will experience together. He steps right up, refocuses them, and gets shit done. Shame he didn't kill him, but this would be a very short story if he did!

22. Keep Your Friends Close - Ocean Saga

I am but a small, simple lesbian. The way Kira sings here just feels so nice and floaty, while also showing her more mischievous nature. The longing in Ody's voice as he sings for his family is so painful, and makes the next song hit so much harder. The promise of him being the same, knowing that not to be the case it heart-breaking. Also, give me more Winions. I need them as plushies please. Thank you.

21. Mutiny - Thunder Saga

The absolute gall of Eurylochus to be a massive fucking hypocrite and then pull out the line of "I'm starving my friend" with that much pain in his voice is breath-taking and incredible. He doesn't even feel like he really wants to betray Ody, but is just doing exactly what he thinks he needs to do to see another day. Little does he know. This song also suffers a little from the same problem I have with The Horse and The Infant - a lil too much going on

20. Ruthlessness - Ocean Saga

HELLO SIR! My goodness this mans vocals are so smooth but rough at the same time. The growl that he gives to his voice whilst still flowing the lyrics together so musically is just so impressive. And the background instrumentation imitating the crashing of waves against the ship is *chefs kiss*. And then..... ALL I GOTTA DO IS OPEN THIS BAG!!!!!! I think this song might rate higher for me if I didn't end it with the most tonal whiplash ever. It's hilarious, don't get me wrong. But my gods, does it pull me out of the song a little bit lol.

19. Different Beast - Thunder Saga

The way I jumped out of my seat when I first listened to this saga, admittedly at 6am, I think I could have punched a hole in the roof were I less vertically challenged. He means business, this song shows that, and gods is it good. The small plea for mercy from the sirens who feel like they already know the answer, and the ruthlessness of his response. Hey look, he is learning!...

18. Puppeteer - Circe Saga

A woman. What? She had me in just one song. I would thank her if she turned me into a pig. Her vocals are perfection, the chanting of her power, the way she can hypnotise a whole crew. I find it interesting too, how just the promise of a warm meal and a safe place, even if it might be a trick, is enough to pull the crew into her arms. They may be under her spell, but part of me thinks so may have chosen this if given the option.

17. Wouldn't You Like - Circe Saga

Look, all I'm saying is that it was very telling that the day after the Circe sage came out that my Spotify started filling up with TROY's music. He is amazing, plays the character in the best way I have seen bar none so far. And that fur coat and sunglasses?! What a look. Also its funny hearing a British phrase as a plant name.

16. The Underworld - Underworld Saga

Jorge please, my face is stained from tears shed in this song. Every single time I listen to this I shed at least 3 tears. It's like a subscription cost of pain in return for a song that is as moving as it is powerful and reflective. The call backs to the previous sings are haunting, no pun intended, and the choice to have his own mother play Ody's mother is genius, and I hate and love it. As someone who has lost a connection to their own mother, it always makes me tear up as he yearns to be with her again, and shows the regret in his voice that he never got to say goodbye.

15 and 14. Done For *and* There Are Other Ways - Circe Saga

I cannot separate these two songs in my mind. Not only do they flow from one to the other perfectly, but they just do such a good job of leading us from a battle of power to a battle of the mind, with the flowing, seductive vocals from Talya and the trance of the music behind it. Again, I would have absolutely stayed with her, I am weak. I like to think my wife would forgive me!

13. Little Wolf - Wisdom Saga

Little wolf is such a good song because, even without Athena, the vocals are just so damn crisp and punchy. When I saw that the animatic in the livestream showcase was a streetfighter style animation, it made perfect sense - the punch of the beat and the chanting of the team behind the enemy works so well. And then, my goddess arrives to swoop in and steal my heart. She has clearly grown in the last few sagas and years that have passed, and I think this introduction of her back into the musical does a great job doing that. She comes in, bestows wisdom, helps a kid kick some ass, and with it once again confirms my status as a lesbian.

12. Just a Man - Troy Saga

This. Is. Heart-breaking. I'm sure that many people have the same reaction to this, but as the beginning of Ody's journey, it just hits so hard. Him recalling his own young son, and then knowing how long they will be apart makes it even more impactful. The change of pacing from the lullaby of the first part, to the painful growl in his voice as his questions his actions and realises that he has done is just pain.

11. Monster - Underworld Saga

This was so hard to pick apart from I'm Just a Man. I love them both. The only reason this stands a little higher is the overall arc from the song that precedes this one into it is a little stronger, and I love the complete rage in his voice. He did all this, tried to do right by his crew and his wife, and is told by the man who he thinks will help him get home that "yeaaah nah you are absolutely fucked, have you seen yourself recently?!". Yeah, I would sing like this too. He can see where he went wrong, and this acts as a really nice turning point for him going forward. If he is going to be seen as a changed man, who's ruthless actions will hurt those him around him, he might as well go all in. he is the monster ra ra ra

10. Suffering - Thunder Saga

Jorge tucking his hair behind his ear. End of review. No but really, this is great. I know he did a TikTok on this, but the way the lyrics flow into each other to create this hypnotising melody is just breath-taking, and I will never forget the moment of 'wait hold up what is happening' the first time I listened to this song. First I thought that this was dream Penelope, back from her saga with the windy bag, and then was genuinely taken back by references to a daughter. oh no

9. Thunder Bringer - Thunder Saga

I get a bit annoyed, very stupidly, when I cannot sing along to a song I really like. It's one thing I love about listening to musicals, is learning the songs and then performing them to mu plushies in a vague attempt to satisfy the very anxious performer that lives inside me. Which means that a lot of my favourite songs are ones that fit within my vocal range, that i can sing along to. This one is so far outside of my vocal range, it might as well be on a whole other plane of existence. But my gods do I absolutely adore this song none the less. How can the asshole that is Zeus sound so fucking cool while being this much of a dick towards women while flipping off Ody in the background. This song is just an ego flex. Good job Luke Holt. Fuck Zeus.

8. My Goodbye - Cyclops Saga

I really like the way this song shows the 'youth', for want of a better word, of Athena and the impact on Ody's actions on her and its just so good. The vocals show so much of their pain and anger, and the mix is just perfect. The contrast is Ody screaming at her and then the genuine pain in her voice, the impact of her responsibility as a god is so good. No words can properly do this song justice. The best part is, neither of them are correct here. If they had just sat down and had a chat like grown ups they might have stayed alongside each other, but both think that their actions are the correct one, and i cannot entirely disagree with either response.

7. We'll Be Fine - Wisdom Saga

Kinda loving that most of the Athena songs are all sat together. It makes me so happy. The absolute sobbing that erupted from my eyes, nose and mouth during this song would have probably classed as a downpour. I love both of these characters so much, and Athena's vocals at the start are so heart-breaking and bittersweet, followed by the most heart-warming duet that has ever graced my ears. Also, the childlike joy and wonder behind the vocals from Telemachus are so beautiful and cute, and I would fight for him!!

6. Warrior of the Mind - Troy Saga

Ah, Athena, my beloved. I would perish for you in a heartbeat. I just love the heart that Teagan gives her through her performance - its so warm and playful in the introduction part, and they both almost feel like each others hype, its fantastic! It's also a great way to show off the influence that she has over Ody - she puts herself right in the centre, reminding him exactly why she respects him so much, while affirming her stance on his training.

5. Legendary - Wisdom Saga

Miguel's casting was one of the most perfect ones in this history of this musical. Not only because of his incredible vocals, but because they fit so perfectly with Jorge's. I can fully picture this kid and his dad together, their voices sound so much like each others, just like a younger version. This song is the perfect match of catchy and smooth, and it just soothes my brain perfectly. Special credit to the retort to Antinous about his mother. This is the perfect opening to one of the best sagas we have been gifted yet. Side note - I cannot wait to see Antinous get absolutely stomped into the ground (please gods tell me he does or I will never sleep at night) because my goodness, what a line delivery. I will throw this man. Protect Telemachus, throw Antinous off a roof like the baby, and someone get Argos a new toy.

4. God Games - Wisdom Saga

I'm not someone who listens to the demo's much (bar listening to Hermes laugh on repeat, and occasionally looking up lyrics). I like that they are out there, and my wife absolutely adores them, but I prefer to wait till the full release so I can listen to everything with a full cast and mix. Did that stop me from having over 20 videos of different people lip-syncing to the bits of Hera for this song, making me look like the thirstiest person in my area. No. I don't think that this song could be anywhere other than my top three. All the singers are incredible, all of the animatics are incredible (special shout out to Athena disco dancing into madness) and I wept like a baby when it was over.

3. No Longer You - Underworld Saga

This song is perfect. I have no notes. This is where my true top songs really begins. This song is so passionate while not straying into anger (outside of Jorge's owl impression that is), while at the same making the prophet sound entirely distant, almost uncaring. It's an added bonus that this song sits right near the bottom of my vocal range and so serves for great belting material when I need to let out feelings.

2. Scylla - Thunder Saga

This saga did an amazing job of making me absolutely loose my mind with every single one of its songs. Not all of them are what I would regard as my favourites, nor would I even say that this is necessarily my favourite saga (I think we can all guess which one is), but my gods can Scylla absolutely take my life. This song is perfect - The slow introduction into the absolutely mind bending vocals from KJ, with the growl of a monster and the voice of a monarch. Its incredible, and I will forever be trying to sing this just as half as well as they do.

1 . Love in Paradise - Wisdom Saga

I wish I could write all of the words that this song deserves, but I'm sobbing too much to focus, so you will have to deal with whatever I have that i can see behind this waterfall of tears. Athena travelling through the previous sagas and reliving all the pain that Ody went through sent me into a state to begin with. And then, Calypso arrives and reminds me how gay I am. I want to go to her island and give her hug. If it weren't for the animatic, and the little face that she makes when she finds out Ody is married, I wouldn't have stopped crying for a single second. Her intension aren't pure. She is desperate, she is alone, she is sad. She is very morally grey. All she wants is someone to soothe her, and in turn she tries to relieve his pain. It's important to note here that, outside of looking up her future songs, I have very little knowledge about Calypso. For me, based on the lyrics we have from "Not Sorry For Loving You", she seems to have been forced to remain on this island for hundreds of years with no contact. Is what she does to Ody horrible - yes. Do I think she wants to hurt him -no. And I also don't believe that she is trying to manipulate him to get off the ledge just so she can have her lover back - I read this as someone who is in love and trying their best to make them happy and keep them safe. Ody couldn't leave the island, and she couldn't let him be free, they have to ask Zeus for that. Not to get too deep, but her crying out to Ody makes me melt every time. The gut retching pain from Ody drying out for all those he has lost and who he thinks he will never see again is haunting. Give me a year and the ability to remove my fear of thousands of needle pokes, I will probably get the line "Life would be so much worse if you had died" nicely printed onto my body. This is the perfect song to top off all the other perfect songs here. I cannot express how much this song means to me.

Thank you, Jorge.

To give a summery, here are the Saga's ranked!

1 . Wisdom 2 . Underworld 3 . Thunder 4 . Circe 5 . Cyclops 6 . Troy 7 . Ocean

[frogsndogs]

So recently I watched this pilot short: Epilogue of endings. It’s about 12 minutes long, created by a group of animation students over a single summer. I had never heard of the project before it showed up in my youtube recommended.

It changed my brain chemistry. I watched it 9 days ago and I can’t stop thinking about it to save my life. The music? Spectacular. The voice acting? Perfect. The art? astounding. The characters? I’m already emotionally attached. Hotel? Trivago.

Listen, I don’t tend to watch of a lot of things anymore unless I’m with other people, and I have this weird thing about engaging in new media, I think because a lot of what I’ve been watching recently has been kinda disappointing, or very… I don’t know… it’s hard to describe. It just feels like a lot of studios are making characters shallower, relationships strained, and half-assing their world building. A lot of media that I’ve taken in recently is trying very hard to make itself seem edgy and serious and that’s not what I want right now and definitely not what I need.

But this 12 minute pilot? This is everything I never knew I needed. The characters feel like real people, with complex motivations and interpersonal relationships. They’re flawed, but they’re trying their best with the situation that they have. They have things, other people that they care about and would fight for, they have motivations and backstories that you can see the breadcrumbs of, but have not been revealed yet, and the breadcrumbs are so good you can’t wait for the whole loaf. The world-building is exquisite, built up enough that you can see the beginning, but still drawing you in with more questions. 

I have a more detailed review under the cut, with SPOILERS, but I highly recommend that you go watch the pilot. It’s 12 minutes of time well spent in my opinion.

So the first scene. We’re introduced to Lucy, Blu and CG. I think Blu is already my fav, lol. In this scene, we see the three characters playing eye-spy while walking through a forest. It’s a pretty innocuous scene if we didn’t pan up to the sky and see the sun having broken open and Lucy becoming emotional over having to leave town, and presumably the rest of her life behind. Blu doesn’t answer her.

So Lucy clearly doesn’t know what’s going on, and I’m wondering if Blu has limited information himself. Maybe even Blu doesn’t know why or how any of this is happening. Maybe Blu literally can’t answer her question because he doesn’t have the answers. Maybe it hurts, being so helpless and out of control, so he’s in denial to a certain extent, trying to pretend that everything is fine. He’s trying to keep this little girl, happy and safe and alive, while also presumably dealing with his own shit, and no he’s not doing it perfectly, he’s flawed, as people and characters should be, but he’s trying and so far she is alive and safe to a certain extent so way to go Blu! I think this will probably cause some tension between the two down the road, but for now they just keep walking.

I wonder where they’re going, if anywhere specific? Why did they leave town specifically, we see there’s lots of danger pretty much everywhere, did something happen?

Anyways, then we get to this scene of someone fixing what appears to be a subway train. He stops, pulls out a journal and we get some exposition stuff. We find out that the world ended, and how. And WOW. This whole thing was gut-punchingly realistic I feel. People blowing up the competition trying to race off into space when it’s announced that the sun is going to die out? That’s something that unfortunately I can see people doing. I wonder/hope that this will become a plot point again later on, and we’ll find out what happened to all those people. But anyways that’s not even the craziest part; the fact the sun broke open and released a whole bunch of eldritch horror monsters??? Yep here we go. And then the next thing hurts. Like a lot. Because the narrator says that ‘people who hoped to live out their last days in normalcy quickly found out that their life-style was no longer sustainable’. That shit made me want to cry. The want for a peaceful death, a calm death, a painless death, but having even that ripped away from you. This setting that these characters are in is awful and very terrifying, and we can see how it is hurting them, torturing them, but I got to give props to the world building. It’s good writing. They set up the plot, the problem, what’s been going on the past couple yrs, some mysteries, to both the viewers and the characters, and in doing so give us some idea of the characters that we do have. Because the characters that we do have are trapped. The characters that we do have are abandoned. The characters that we do have are survivors. 

And then we pan out to see the narrator having an interaction with one of the Monarchs. And this scene? Gave me chills, man. I was so creeped out by this. Acedia’s ‘I do not like that response,’ Mole’s utter helplessness to do anything, his clear, potent fear of the creature, the way that it just lightly touches him and he flinches. Then the frustration that we see on his face after it leaves, the anger that turns into tiredness and then hopelessness? Someone needs to wrap this man in a blanket stat.

And this is where I’m starting to think that Blu doesn’t really know the full extent of what’s going on. There’s a good chance that Mole knows about the Monarchs because he’s being held prisoner by one. It’s possible that Mole is seeing the world collapse before his very eyes, while Blu is just seeing the aftermath and not knowing why and I can’t say which is more terrifying.

The ‘I have influence?’ line is peak. I love it so much, I can’t even say why. That whole little interaction with Lucy saying that she takes after Blu, Blu being so genuinely touched and CG being low-key offended is perfect and I love it. It shows how close they are, how much they care about each other.

The the… zombie ppl??? I love the detail of how unlike a lot of teenage protagonists, Lucy listens to Blu, and gets out of danger. She trusts him to handle the situation on his own, and knows that the best thing that she can do right now is get to safety. There’s an implicit trust there, in spite of her clear issues with Blu not telling her things, and this is what I’m talking about when I say the character relationships are complex.

Oh fuck. The transitions? The way that it cuts from one character to another, each unintentionally completing one another’s scentences, and unknowingly engaging in conversation. It’s amazing storytelling, an amazing presentation and for some reason it just confirms to me that these characters are family. They fit together like puzzle pieces. I don’t know what else to say.

We get more info on our mysterious narrator, Mole, who is an amnesiac, and clearly going through it. During this scene we see a crumpled newspaper of what seems to be a younger version of him, winning an award for his dedication at being a subway motorman. His name is crossed out in black ink, so we can’t see it. Which makes me question, did he do this to himself? Is his amnesia a trauma response to everything he’s going through? Did something happen to the point that his brain decided shutting down and forgetting everything was better than remembering this one thing? And it hurts, because in the picture in the newspaper he looks so happy. So young. So alive. It’s a stark contrast to the man we see with bags under his eyes, talking to himself and becoming increasingly distressed. I read through the article, and again, props to the team, some other people might have just did random letters or whatever but they put in a whole ass-story, giving the viewers more info about Mole than even he has. We know he was a dedicated subway motorman. We know he was inspired by his father. We know he had a sister. But these answers only serve to bring up more questions? What happened to his sister? Was his father still alive at the time of he end of the world and what was their relationship like? Because there’s a chance that their relationship was really good, and that’s why he went on to become a subway motorman, but there is also the possibility that he was pressured into doing so, and the way that he complains about being on a train when the world ended makes me kinda lean towards that option.

Then we see CG and Lucy walking around the underground tunnels and we get more info on them. We find out that CG was created by Lucy’s mom, which begs the question of where is Lucy’s mom???? What happened to her? Is there a chance that she’s still alive? Does Lucy know what happened to her mother?? Or is this just another thing that Blu is keeping her in the dark about? Does Blu know what happened to Lucy’s mother???? Or— as you can see I am totally normal about this woman. Anyways.

CG is a fun character, optimistic and bringing a lighter atmosphere to the show, but there is just something… off about her in this scene. The disregard for the danger, the naiveté, the joyful voice in such a horrible situation, feels so wrong to me. I wonder though if CG chose to be like this, or a certain amount of it is her programming? Does CG know what happened to Lucy’s mom? I think CG was created to be take care of Lucy but it seems to be the other way around here, why is that? 

And then we get info on Blu. Blu was a solider during the war when ppl were trying to get all the resources to race off into space. I wonder if Blu had believed that he would be granted a place on one of these ships. (If he managed to survive of course.) Or had he been in the military prior to all this, and was just pulled along? This makes me want to know more about his belief system before and after the end of the world. Also it is implied by CG that Blu is carrying a lot of pressure, and I wonder how that will be dealt with later on… hmm… 

Also the music that plays when Blu uses his arms to pull down the wall? Amazing, I love it, I love the scene, I love the fact that he’s a cyborg, I am so invested in these characters already it’s killing me.

Then we see Mole almost (accidentally) kill Lucy and CG. He’s out of it, he’s the only person running the trains, he didn’t expect to have to watch out for anyone, I think that we can give him a pass on this. Blu doesn’t think so obviously.

(Sidenote: the way that Lucy curls into Blu, as he protectively shields her is so cute, my heart, help)

Blu is pissed. His tone doesn’t change too much, it’s light, but there’s this threatening undertone there that kinda creeps me out. Mole tells them he doesn’t have a name, before Blu forces him to tell them that its Mole. Wait… is he called that bc Moles live underground? Anyways, Blu wants to leave him to die there, which shows an interesting side of his character. Prior to this we’ve seen him take a protective, fun role as Lucy’s guardian but here we see this apathy towards someone who is obviously not doing so well. A lot of other people would be excited to find another living person in the apocalypse, but he’s fine just walking away. Is this just because he almost killed Lucy? Or is there something more going on here? In Blu’s bio on the rainbott instagram, it says that Blu was ‘left to die in a mysterious incident’ and it’s interesting that he feels fine leaving someone else to die in such horrible conditions. Again - complex character writing, props to the team.

But Lucy doesn’t want to leave him. This shows her compassion and maybe too her want for connection with other people. Blu resists; ‘Lucy that is the most unimpressive man I have ever seen,’ this line has no right to be so funny, esp with Mole just staring at him in the background. Did he hear that or is he too far away, too out of it? Then he relents, perhaps solely because of Lucy, or maybe also because of his own want to do the right thing. He doesn’t like Mole, he makes that obvious, but if Lucy want’s to adopt this strange hobo man, fine, if it makes her happy. He’ll do whatever it takes to make Lucy a little more happy.

Mole’s ‘it doesn’t want me to leave’ scares the shit out of me, and the way that he just freezes up when Acedia shows up… 

The scene when it talks about humans really creeps me out, and makes me worried even more about Mole. Calling him ‘entertaining’ and saying that he ‘belongs’ to them. It sounds like it sees him as a toy at best, and reminds me of the way that Mole said earlier that the Monarchs had the power to ‘turn Earth into their own personal sandbox’. Did Acedia get rid of Mole's memories for that purpose? So that he would 'belong' only to them. I wonder though, why Mole, and if there were others, if Mole had to watch those around him die, or worse when they gave an answer that it didn’t like. I wonder what Mole has had to do to scrape by and survive, what he’s been through. But Blu pulls him along anyways, kind of against Mole’s will. Like obviously being with Blu, Lucy and CG is better than being with a horrifying shadow monster, but aforesaid horrifying shadow monster is going to be pissed at him. I wonder how he’s going to react to that, if he’ll lash out at Blu or worse, Lucy for rescuing him because now it’s gonna be angry and he’s gonna have to be the one to deal with the fallout of that.

Then the scene where Blu pretends to buy tickets to appease CG? It’s for comedic relief, but again it makes me think about Blu. Is he doing it because he knows CG will be annoying if he doesn’t? Or does he genuinely not want her to be hurt? I’m not sure. 

Then the campfire scene. Lucy looks away when Blu removes his mask, Mole tries to lean in to see what’s behind it. Blu doesn’t like this, I assume it’s a sensitive subject, but Mole is again, kind of out of it. Mole is scared of Blu and Blu clearly knows this, even kinda uses it to freak him out. I’m looking forwards to see that relationship developing, maybe one that contrasts Mole’s relationship with Acedia, I dunno, someone who cares about him in this really twisted way that hurts him, and someone who at first doesn’t care at all(at first), but still takes care of him in spite of it. I dunno… just vibes.

And Lucy’s little ‘what if we tell ghost stories around the fire’ breaks my heart. It’s like she too, is in denial to a certain extent. This is just a fun camping trip not the end of the world. Everything is fine. Everything will be fine.

Then the post-credit scene. There’s presumably, something left of the government that is working to try and deal with the Monarchs, which gives me hope that there might be a way to stop them, a way to stop all this death and destruction. I am curious about what’s left of this order, what the gov was like during the war, and how they’re operating now. Also the way the commander calls the droid C21, and the way that CG is called CG, and the way that he says ‘find the girl’ and C21 frowns and does this have something to do with Lucy’s mom??????? What does any of this have to do with Lucy? Does she know more than she’s letting on, or does not even she know what she knows??? Help I need answers.

Also all the characters in the credits. I desperately hope that they find the main cast and all become friends pls.

CG’s little song is beautiful and I think that it embodies the heart of the show. Like I said earlier a lot of the stuff I’ve watched recently tries very hard to be dark and edgy and a dystopian show where all the characters have been trapped and abandoned and tortured is the perfect setup for some grim and gritty TV. But it’s… not. The characters are funny and lighthearted and smiling in spite of all the shit that’s going on around them. The characters are trying to be nice, to be good. They are connected, they are a family. It is a dystopian setting for sure, but I think that the story is about family, about love and caring for each other. The story is about Blu, Lucy and CG playing eye-spy. The story is about Lucy smiling when she tells Blu her mom said he was a bad influence. The story is about CG wanting Blu to get some rest and take a break. The story is about Mole’s desperate panic at trying to stop the train before it hits Lucy, and Lucy not wanting to leave him to die. The story is about four people sitting around a fire, listening to music.

I really love this story, and I hope to see more of it one day. It’s really beautiful.

[stinkigami]

i cant believe shroomy is my new favorite kemoji character

I was waiting for more plant mamono exposition, his possible dillema about being 'inferior' to 'normal' kemono, but the current writing for him is based more on his relationship with others and wow do i have to say that so far it's been handled very well.

Even in the above page, he's already being looked down upon as a 'just a mushroom' (but his high intelligence is recognized)

I find that currently, he's the best written/more fleshed out of all the ministers (makes sense as he appears a lot in the current arc). He's kinda naive at first sight and was literally born yesterday (he's two years old).

I like it that just from a few panels i can see that he truly loves science& he's very kind to the subjects...his eyes shine when he's talking about kaiju. (to kaidou ugh)

Bake-take don't have any intelligence or will and are basically plants (in Mikage's words, i am kinda stumbled lol but later he does call himself a plant again??)

Should mention that plant kemono has been shown as well in the gaiden chapter and that one didnt seem to have 'human-like' intelligence either, so theres that too yeah

He wants other plant-like kemono to stand on the same ground as other kemono and be no worse than people, too.

I thought that he's as naive as in-universe characters make him out to be, with Tsubaki saying he's got child-like emotion/mental state being indebted to Inari or Akira saying how he seemed to be charming in his mushroom form while on TV, in fact he even thought they could become friends. Shroomy even was looking up what to do if the person he likes has a wife and if friendship is considered cheating, so even though his intelligence and scientific endeavours are recognized even by Ranbo, he seems to be clueless about how to actually approach others (but apparently he's speedrunning that as well).

He apologises for everything to the apes even those who are below him, and Ranbo warns him that he could lose all respect (not like he actually had any lol). The apes at the lab definitely dislike him, as they believe in strength above all and Mikage is kinda weak physically.

So I was thinking he could not be realizing he was disliked, but he did. He wonders if the missing vaccine is yet another prank by the apes, but also he reminds himself that these things don't matter anymore when he's taking an ape form himself now.

Initially Kabane thought that Mikage is a child who's doing bad things for Kaidou to be of use to him. Aimoto did a good job leading the readers to the same conclusion before finalizing it in Kabane's words, as Mikage at first has some parallels to Kon.

Well, I'm glad it's not what Kabane suspected. Would be kinda boring just to have him waltz in to the lab and have a good talk with Mikage to get him to their side.

He is a plant (okay Aimoto) that gained intelligence and every day there are more and more things that he starts to understand. So he realized that what Kaidou is trying to do is terrifying. And yet...(yes he is crying as he's trying to draft a kaiju to make Kaidou into that won't destroy him).

He's internal conflict is shown as he's finding the right words that would make Kaidou happy.

he's looking so sad listening to his bestie yapping about kaiju and strength. also thats one strong alcohol actually kaidou what are you doing.

Let's make kaiju existence known to the world

Yes (No)

That's right, Kaidou-kun (I am sorry.)

^^^might be my favorite part from the chapter.

So, he is fully aware of things and he's about to have/face an internal conflict of following with Kaidou's plan even though he thinks its terrifying. (or so i think) Also, he doesn't want Kaidou to die (because mamono-kaiju are still super unstable)

Kabane's talk plan failed as he saw that Mikage knew exactly what he was doing. Kon didn't feel any malice from Mikage, so why...

lots of good stuff this time.

Don't have much strength to go into some nuances of his speech but there's some peculiar things that made me go 'woah...' so honestly i think he's very well written.

Looking forward to his development!

[mariana-oconnor]

After a short break to do... I don't even know. I am back on my bullshit with Roar (1997), the 90s fantasy show starring Heath Ledger I never even knew I'd missed out on.

Episode 4 is titled "Banshee" so there had better be some screaming.

Okay... fair bet that the banshee is a beautiful woman wearing very little clothing.

The thumbnail has Heath Ledger doing his best kicked puppy impression, which makes sense because banshees herald death. Who's going to die? Moustache? BFFOC? Potential Love Interest?

I'm guessing probably not potential love interest, but alas both of the others are distinctly possible. Given the era, I'm not holding my breath for BFFOC (I think his name was Tully? I genuinely don't remember any character names in this show yet, not properly.) But I would have expected him to get another couple of episodes of character building before his tragic demise. Moustache (Fergal? Fergus?) has had the most character work done so far, so he might shuffle off the mortal coil.

We shall have to see.

We're just starting out with the wailing. Which, not to put down the sound designers at all, sounds more like a cross between a wolf and a cockerel than an eldritch unearthly being.

We're forging an alliance with a new clan while the Banshee provides backing music, very nice of them to lend their voice to this. Heath Ledger (Conor! I remembered his name!) gets a nice piece of new bling.

While Fergus serves the role of Mr Exposition. Repeating what I already said. Death is coming, no one knows who. He's a real hoot to have at your parties, ol' Fergus.

"What does this Banshee look like?"

Well, I'm going to guess they look like a woman who just raided the bondage aisle of the nearest sex shop, but I'm prepared to be wrong.

This is the chief of the clan they just allied with. I'm not holding out much hope for his survival. He just doesn't have that Main Character Energy, y'know?

But this guy?

Also doesn't have main character energy. But he wants to.

He also took it personally that the Banshee foretold his father's death and now he wants to hunt them down and kill them, which is just rude. Banshee's just out there, doing their job. Think of how sore their throat must be. No lozenges in 5th century Ireland, and a whole lot of death. This Banshee is putting in the hours and what do they get for that? No respect. They should unionise.

Also, his hair is a choice. Someone said 'mullet, but while the party's still at the back, the business end is the business end of a mace.

I'm calling him Sonic. I'm sure he has another name, but I will not remember it.

Which brings us to the world's least stealthy hunting squad.

OMG

Fancy seeing you here. I didn't recognise your name in the opening credits, but I definitely recognise your face. Guess our banshee's going to be more of a misunderstood person with a curse than a leather mommy type. But maybe both? Who knows.

Back shot of Sonic's hair because it needs to be seen to be believed:

Notably no one is asking for Brigid Branshee's name. She's not saying anything at all, just being fought over then letting Heath Ledger and pals walk away with her. Maybe she can't talk. Maybe she can only scream. Her poor vocal cords.

Maybe she isn't even the real banshee...

Oh wow, we found someone less stealthy than the hunting party.

This Roman soldier literally rattles when he walks. You can hear every step. They didn't edit it out. It's hilarious.

Oh no! Heath Ledger just got shot! But Brigid Branshee had a premonition of it just before it happened. She's not evil, she's just misunderstood. But Sonic wants her dead. God forbid a woman do anything.

I'm beginning to think I did late 90s fantasy a disservice by assuming the banshee would be wearing a skimpy leather outfit. In my defence, I watched all of Charmed.

I know we're not getting lesbians, but this episode has now actually passed the Bechdel Test and these two are bonding more with each other than either has with any of the other characters. Over sheep, admittedly, but the rituals are intricate. Which is all to say I think there should be ancient irish lesbians and one of them should be a banshee. (Seriously, love interest, whose name I still can't remember, has barely spoken two sentences to Heath Ledger and I am still fairly certain they were intended to end up together by the end of this show. She's had an entire conversation with the banshee.)

Oh, there's a woman having a baby. I'm sure everything will be just fine. No harbingers of death anywhere near here. no sir. totally normal lesbians only. Banshee? Never heard of her.

...yee-eah... saw that one coming. And now they're all going to be like 'hey, you screamy lady. you did this' I swear to god, not a one of these idiots understands the nature of cause and effect. Although, it being the baby not the mother? On 90s TV? Ballsy fucking move, Roar. And then showing the funeral? Kudos for committing.

To be fair to them, one of them did point out that maybe harbouring a woman who screams uncontrollably isn't the best idea when you're in hiding. An actual reasoned argument.

Meanwhile Evil Queen is sloppy drunk:

And sexually harassing another rattling soldier.

Who is about to be defenestrated, I'm pretty sure, because he doesn't want to fuck her. Oh... he's going to rattle all the way down.

Oh... no, she's going to hang out the window and scream at Sebastian Roche instead.

This is the face of a man who has just realised there isn't enough money in the world to make this job worthwhile.

Having a major villain whose entire quest is wanting to die is an interesting choice. One that really makes you question why Sebastian Roche and Heath Ledger are on different sides. They both want Sebastian Roche to fuck off and leave everyone alone. The only person who doesn't want that is the Evil Queen, who is the definition of a toxic relationship.

And realistically all Sebastian Roche has to do is leak the fact that the Spear of Destiny is the only thing that can stop him and Heath Ledger et al will find it for him. And even do the stabbing for him, if it comes to that. Genuinely not sure what the conflict between these two is. Or why it is. I'm sure we can all work together to kill Sebastian Roche.

"They say that demons rule up there." "They haven't met us yet."

Strong words for a man who when he came across an actual demon five minutes ago ran screaming like a little boy.

But apparently none of the banshees has ever seen Sebastian Roche's death. Shucks.

Apparentlt if a banshee drinks some river water their visions might not come true. Makes you wonder why the whole banshee village (yes there is a banshee village) doesn't just drink the damn river water. It wipes your memory, sure, but also might save lives? I know, I know, don't think too deeply.

No, but seriously tho...

They're definitely lesbians. This is not the way you say goodbye to the friend you met a couple of days ago. I have friends I've known for years I wouldn't be this upset to have lose their memories of me.

She's going to die, isn't she? She's going to wipe her mind and then Sonic's going to shoot her with a crossbow. Maybe any banshee who drinks the water dies and her mum just sent her to her death.

Ohp, yeah, here we go.

And her lover screams and shoots him through the heart in revenge. Istg. This is the gayest shit ever.

The river water memory stuff was bullshit, wasn't it? Her mother had seen her die and sent her to the river knowing that was where it would happen.

Well, that was significantly less misogynistic than expected. I'd better go and change the gif at the start of this post.