#I JUS think she neat <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[just-qonika]

monika but with wavy hair!?💚

[leohnoz]

Dondls

Wanted to draw wings, but now i give you Long Hair Tord propaganda

[muldermuse]

An Unlikely Hero (ex boyfriend!Billy Butcher x reader)

this is going to be a multi part series!!! i love exboyfriend!butcher and he is on my mind constantly. if u would like to read more about him here’s some more posts! if you wanna talk about him pls send me your thoughts ❤️ dividers by @saradika ❤️

part one: the first date

OR

the first time you meet Billy Butcher

You swore to yourself that this was the last Tinder date you’d subject yourself to. Last week, you matched and met with Jack who had a Homelander sleeve tattoo and cried to you about how hard it was to be a ‘true American’ nowadays.  The week before that, it was Shay who seemed sweet but kept trying to ply you with drinks and invite you back to his place (he bragged that his ‘folks were out of town’, which would be impressive if you were a hell of a lot younger than you actually are). This week’s date is named Harry and he’s just not right for you. You thought it over texts but as soon as you sat down with him tonight; it was confirmed. It’s not even like you have a great previous relationship as a point for comparison, all romantic love has been fleeting and, with how things are going currently, you imagine it always will be.

It's a few hours later and Harry’s suddenly a lot drunker than you. You’ve moved from the overpriced restaurant to your favourite bar. The drinks are questionable in that they’re both incredibly cheap and very strong. You grab two stools at the bar which is overwise empty, apart from one man nursing a whiskey. You’re sure Harry’s drunker than you because he’s currently sobbing into his craft beer about how he hasn’t felt a connection with anyone since his ex-girlfriend, who left him 3 months ago for a co-worker.

“Like, you’re nice y’know. You seem like a nice girl” you try not to recoil at the phrase “but my ex? She was great. There’s no one else who’s ev-hic-ever been like her and there never will be”. The guy sat next to you at the bar mutters a “fuckin’ ell” under his breath as he gestures towards the bartender for another neat whiskey. His accent is completely out of place in this local dive bar; he sounds European. No trace of an american accent so you consider that he could be a tourist who’s wandered into a bar looking for a cold drink and some respite.

You try not to smirk at the utterance and tune back into what Harry’s saying, “I think we’ve both just gone through the motions tonight, don’t you agree? I can tell you’re not really into me and to be honest, I’m not into you”. You kind of admire his candor because he’s right, you’re not into him in the slightest but the next thing out of his mouth quickly dispels any misplaced respect you held for him. “I’ve been real lonely since she left though…maybe you could come back to my place-hic-she’s uh…some of her stuff is still there but there’s not a lot of it in the bedroom”. He’s that plastered that what he assumed would be a casual hand slide up your thigh becomes a full push, hurtling you into the whiskey sipping man next to you. You fall into his chest, it’s strong and kind of feels like slamming into a wall. 

“Right, tha’s fuckin’ it” the potential tourist speaks and it’s only when he stands up that you realise how broad he is. He’s tall with thick black hair and the beard to match. His outfit is seemingly prepared for a spectrum of weathers with a Hawaiian shirt clashing with a thick overcoat. He’s older than you, definitely older but absolutely attractive. More attractive than anyone you’d seen on Tinder or, probably, ever in your life. “You alright there darlin’?” his dark eyes bore into yours as you nod and cough out a meek ‘yes’. You silently curse yourself, the first thing you say to this strong man makes you sound like a small frightened mouse.

“’M jus’ gonna get rid of your little pal there and then I’ll buy ya a drink- alright?” his hand rubs your bare arm and sends a flurry of goosebumps across your skin. The whole interaction feels more charged than anything you’ve had before with another human, you wonder if he’s feeling it too and pray that he is.

“Oh nice one man, I’ll have uh…another craft” Harry gestures towards the tap, completely oblivious to the situation in front of him

“All you’re fuckin’ gettin’ cunt is a helpin’ hand out that fuckin’ door. Now, I’ll ask ya politely one last fuckin’ time…fuck off” he elongates the 3 letter word. A comically confused look spreads across Harry’s face. “’M on a fucking date here man and she’s coming back to mine, aren’t you?”

“No” you quickly deadpan, shaking your head at the still unnamed man.

“There’s your answer then cunt, off ya fuck” 

“Butcher- no fuckin’ blood on my bar this time man” the bartender shouts whilst idly checking his phone. Butcher? Is that the guy’s name? 

Harry stands up, pushing out his chest which, if anything, only exaggerates how small he is in comparison. “I’ve bought her meal, paid for her drink and I’m go-hic-gonna take her back to my place and fuck her”. He finishes his sentence in Butcher’s face. Whilst you see a flicker of fear cross Harry’s expression; Butcher’s look borders on hysterical. 

“Alright then big fella, I’ll tell ya what’s gonna happen” he slams his hand down on Harry’s shoulder, his eyes now boring into his. “You’re gonna fuck off back to your shitty little home, grab some lube, cry and wank to ya heart’s content about your ex who is probably ridin’ some big fat fuckin’ dick right now-yeah?” Butcher nods as if Harry’s going to agree with him.

Your date goes to interrupt but Butcher presses a finger to his quaking lips before he can start, “what’s not gonna happen, my sad little mate, is that you’re going to fuck her. She’s hadta listen to your fuckin’ whinin’ about your ex all night whilst you’ve fuckin’ insulted this gorgeous woman. So, get out before I throw ya through the fuckin’ window”. Harry’s lost for words, he doesn’t make eye contact with you as you stand silently behind Butcher. You see tears brimming in his eyes as he smacks $20 on the bar top. 

“Fuckin’ old asshole” Harry spits as he shoves past the pair of you.

Butcher smirks at the remark, watching the door swing shut behind Harry before turning to you. “Right darlin’, whatcha havin’?” 

It’s the best date you’ve ever been on and it’s not even a real date. You finally got his full name. Billy Butcher. Your heart races just to say it. He’s from London but has been in the States for a while. He asks all about you and you surprisingly find you’ve got a lot in common. He’s funny, charming and really fucking exciting- you have to admit. By the third drink, the chat goes from conversational to more flirty. 

“The bartender said ‘this time’, do you do this a lot? Love saving a damsel in distress? Are you a hero, Billy Butcher?” you smirk at him and he returns it back to you. There’s lust in his eyes and you see him take your appearance in for what feels like the upteenth time since you sat down.

As he goes to speak, the bell rings for last orders and he takes your hand to help you off the bar stool. You down the remnants of your drink together and he puts his arm around you and escorts you out of the bar.

You don’t want it to end, he lights a cigarette and you thank any higher deity for the extra thinking seconds it gives you. He speaks before you get chance, “Will ya let me walk you home darlin’? Swear on my mum’s life I won’t try any funny business”. He holds his hand out like he’s making a scouts honour. Honestly, you do anything to spend a bit more time with him so you smile, link your arm with his and pull him down the quiet streets.

The air makes you feel drunker than you are. If you were sober, there is no way you’d be giggling like a school girl at everything this man is saying, yet here you are. Your arms are linked and you’re resting your head on his shoulders as you tell him about your horrific dating history. Everytime he laughs and accuses you of exaggerating you say, “Billy Butcher, I would never ever lie to you”. You say it because his name feels so fun sliding off your tongue. You barely see anyone on your walk home and the sound of your shared laughter fills the empty streets.

As you turn down your street, you wish you lived miles away so you could keep walking together for hours. Your stomach drops at the thought that you’ll never see him again. Which, you completely realise, is fucking stupid. This stranger threatened your date to leave but he also made you feel safe and laugh harder than you have in months. You pull his stride to a stop outside your house. It feels like some awful hallmark romcom or trashy romance novel.

You thank him for escorting you home and he turns down a nightcap in your house as “it’s not gentlemanly on the first date”. He shoots you a wicked grin again as he says, “my mum would be spinnin’ in her grave darlin’”.

You try not to let the heartbreak from that sentence show on your expression. “You’re a gentleman, Billy Butcher?”

“The best one around darlin’. I’ll prove it tomorrow when I take ya out for lunch”

A brief flare of anger hits you, “yeah, I hear that all the fucking time. The lunch never happens, I don’t see you again but then we bump into each other at the store and you apologise and say you’ll be in touch which, of course, you never will be”. You regret it as soon as you stop speaking.

Before you can apologise, he grabs a sharpie out of his coat pocket, takes your hand and scribbles down his number. “There, alright? You call me at any time gorgeous and I swear, I’ll fuckin’ answer and come runnin’”

His kiss to your cheek is soft yet restrained. “You’ll forget about me Billy Butcher, I know it”.

“S’not fuckin’ possible, darlin’”. He says goodnight and walks down your street. A plume of cigarette smoke trailing after him.

He keeps his word.

40 minutes later, and after one final glass of wine, you call him.

He answers on the first ring and says your name. He tells you where to meet tomorrow and what time to get there.

You hope he can always keep his promises.

[atopfourthwall]

How would you rank the Ju-On/Grudge movies?

I'm not really a list guy, but quick thoughts on each: Ju-On: The Curse 1/2: It's one movie split in half, though admittedly points to the Curse 2 feeling different than the first by being more a possession movie than the normal format of a Grudge movie. It's clearly just the skeleton of the much better Grudge movies to come, with a few ideas like the multiple Kayakos that would have been fun if done with modern tech and... you know... a POINT but otherwise completely skippable unless you're curious how the franchise started. Ju-On: The Grudge: I know I've watched it, but for some reason I'm struggling to remember my thoughts on it. Not helped by me mixing it up with the remake, directed by the same guy who made this one (he's made the same movie so many times, it's incredible). Ju-On: The Grudge 2: As a sequel to Ju-On: The Grudge it works great, but it is a mess of half-baked ideas and a combination of interesting kills and outright goofy kills like the wig. Kayako wanting to be reborn is fine, but there's a lot of nonsense involved in it and she's still evil after being reborn for some reason. The Grudge: Good remake with some silliness in there and how I originally got into the franchise. The Grudge 2: Garbage. A few good kill ideas and moments (I like the subversion of the classic under-the-covers kill), but it gives an explanation for Kayako's ghostness that's completely unnecessary, Kayako plays dirty pool at a few points, the main character is a plank of wood, but it does have one good line from Kayako's mom that sums up the big issue people don't get when it comes to how they think they can end the curse: "This is NOT about a house!" The Grudge 3: Underrated! I do hate how they abandoned the nonlinear storytelling that's a staple of the series, but the visuals are pretty damn good, the story is fairly solid, and overall just a decent ghost story. Not great, but better than you'd think for a direct-to-video sequel. Ju-On: Black Ghost: Never rises above "okay." There's certainly something there with its premise, but it just feels like a big ol' pile of nothing, especially with an ending where a possessed girl just goes home and punches someone hard enough in the gut to kill them. Ju-On: White Ghost: Your mileage may vary on spooky grandma ghost in her silly Halloween mask carrying around a basketball. It's better than Black Ghost, but has so much silliness in it and there's no reason why either ghost should have Kayako's death rattle since neither was strangled. Ju-On: Beginning of the End: Great movie! A reboot of the series and focuses more on Toshio than Kayako and it works, with some neat twists and good scares. Ju-On: The Final Curse: Running on the much better fumes of Beginning of the End, just felt like a disappointing finale to the franchise, though points for them bulldozing the Saeki house (though as Kayako's mom put it - "this is not about a house!") and the first time in the franchise that two active, conscious people are attacked by Kayako at once (other times with another person they're usually catatonic). The Grudge 2020: Ugggghhhhh, whyyyyyyyyyy. The replacement ghosts are so boring and if you're not going to do anything with Kayako, why even connect it to the series that way? Has a few good moments plus the awesomeness of William Sadler, but it's not nearly enough to save this movie. Sadako vs. Kayako: Underrated! The title fight is too damn short and definitely more of a Ring movie than a Grudge movie, but the Grudge stuff delivers. It is also the only movie in the entire franchise where someone tries to actually do stuff to the ghosts. Like, nobody has ever tried kicking or punching the ghosts (yeah, I know it wouldn't DO anything, but still, everyone's always frozen in terror or running) and here comes our psychic duo to huck a rock and Toshio and for Sadako to actually attack and harm Kayako.

[shoezuki]

Theresbeen many a drunk headcanon and they be fun and funky but it got me thinking bout clumsiness outside of bein drunk.

Gepard seems very sure-footed. He's the captain of the guard, always leading, never showing hesitation lest it brings nerves upon his troops. I don't think he's some sorta balance god but I do think he's a steady guy that isn't really bumping into anything.

Sampo gives off cat vibes to me, I can imagine him scuttling up a wall jus to tiptoe across its top as if it was nothing. He's doin lil hops and skips just to show off a little. Whilst Geppie is strong in his stance and motion, Sampo is graceful but not really in a delicate way? He's got the smugness of a cat but his grace is more akin to an elk. It's got weight behind it but you can tell he's not fallin anytime soon.

But I like to think he's extremely used to having everything mapped out. He has places for everything and whilst it doesn't at all look neat, he knows exactly where everything is.

His coffee table is always crooked but he simply bends out of the way as he walks past, head in a stack of documents. There's stuff all over the floor but he's tiptoeing between them without hesitation. He has cabinets full of anything and everything, look in them and god knows what his file sorting system is but you ask for something specific and he makes a beeline for the bottom left drawer, stuffs his hand to the back and pulls it out instantly.

With Gep, he's also orderly. He knows where everything is but because it's neat. Even his pens are organised by colour and use. He's not a neat-freak, he's just grown up to always put things back where he found it when he's done and having shared sleepin spaces for so long with fellow soldiers, knows that keeping everything in its place makes things less stressful.

He knows better than to mess with Sampo's files or move any of his 'work' stuff but he's defo moving tidbits off the floor and pushing furniture back against the wall. Like, why is the sofa in the middle of the room??? How does someone do that in the first place???

So now Sampo, as aware and confident as he is, is now tripping over everything. He's knocked his shin on the coffee table 3 times in one day. He's stubbed his toe on the sofa and fully fallen to the ground, he's gone to grab something off the floor (where it usually is) only to realise it's no longer there and just stand in the middle of the room, looking lost, staring into space for 5 minutes.

He feels like he's been invaded. Never had to shrug off Natasha's questioning so often when she comments on a new bruise or scrape. He's not even getting them on the field!!!! That stool was perfectly fine in front of the cupboard. That's where he liked it.

But like hell is he gonna tell Gepard that. He's tried to some extent but it's only led to long circle talk. After all, it's unsurprisingly hard to explain that you like your furniture layout to look like someone's lost a fight in your home and having things not in the way is mildly disturbing.

This was meant to be about clumsiness. They're gettin away from me again XD

~ 🥃

YesyesyesYES SBGDV god they both have like. Theyre own sense of order. Like gepard's is the most blatant. Hes got a Schedule ok he has an order to how he does things and when he does things and where stuff goes.

But sampo seems Chaotic. Like his things seem to be a mess and all disjointed and over the place but To Him he has like. A System. He has no fucking clue what that system is and can Not explain it whatsoever but hes got it. Sure its a mess and no one knows how he can possible operate like this and especially concerning his bomb making its crazy he hasnt blown himself up yet but it Works.

Them living together is Hilarious cuz if this. Like gepard needs things where theyre 'supposed' to be, while sampo shifts his things n environment according to Him. Mfers in a silent war cuz they keep moving shit back to where They think its sposed to be. Like sampo keeps shifting the coffee table to the left and at a bit of an angle so that he can rest his feet on it from the sofa but gep keeps moving it back cuz its Supposed To Be Exactly 2 feet from the sofa and Right in the middle of the fucking rug, sampo. Every late night sampo moves the dishes around seemingly randomly so that his favourite bowls and mugs are easily reachable while he cooks and every morning gepard gets up and reorganizes the cupboards by size and type of dish while he makes coffee.

Theyre engaging in domestic psychological warfare

[crystallizsch]

hi ian i come bearing angst fuel for the yuusha as twsted elsa (maybe an idea for her possible overblot idk she kinda reads to me as someone whod preemptively isolate in the case she feels...blotty)

(also seeing that art of her playing violin totally didnt fuck me up im still nursing my bruised heart 🥴🥴💕💕)

https://youtu.be/NDldNaEZTt8?si=Wm71pgTltuJLjFvk

^^this is from the frozen musical where they gave a song to elsa to explore her emotional turmoil and it just fleshed out her character so much more than the orig movie (ok i havent seen frozen 2 oops) but just this section here:

Is everyone in danger as long as I'm alive?

Was I a monster from the start?

How did I end up with this frozen heart?

Bringing destruction to the stage

Caught in a war that I was never meant to wage

anyways lmao i jus think the song is neat i think yuushas neat (i wanna see more of her ahehehe i love seeing infodumps abt ur yuus)

-diodellet

(throwback to this “what if yuu had magic” ask where i had a ✨realization✨ and this more recent yuusha lore drop that i gave zero elaboration on 🙃)

very rough ob yuu design??? idk i came up with it on the spot ;;; and it’s kinda based on disney’s concept art of elsa when she was supposed to be the villain.

evil ice queen vibes :3

also i know the ob monster is supposed to be based on the villain— which is elsa in this case— but lowkey. an ice monster is way cooler.

also also i just realized after i drew this i couldve done a grim/yuu tandem overblot ough 🤧🤧 (next time I'll do that instead if i ever go back to this concept)

(read more below because it got SO long)

AAH anyways hi hi dio!!! when i saw your ask i went —

— with this entire post

AAGH HOW MANY MORE UNINTENTIONAL CONNECTIONS ARE GOING TO BE BETWEEN FROZEN AND YUUSHA

i guess watching the movie everyday when it came out when you’re like 9 does something to your brain chemistry (and still haunts you at least a decade later) 💀

but anyways the angst ;;; overblot yuu ;;;;; my brain is rotting and the worms have taken over

also i didn’t even know that there was a frozen broadway musical so im gonna have to check it out later 🏃💨💨💨

(also dont worry frozen 2 is a nice watch for the most part but the way they concluded the characters did not feel 100% satisfying to me 😭 BUT i love some of the songs tho ;;; kristoff’s goofy 80s ballad song is one of them specifically, i need everyone to listen to it)

hfgnnfhfgv anyways thank you so much i’m chugging that angst fuel as i expand more on a possible ob yuusha with another infodump 💪💪💪

⚠️⚠️⚠️ ALSO IM SORRY BUT mentions of taking one’s own life so please proceed with caution ⚠️⚠️⚠️

i had to reread what my initial thoughts about it bc it was months ago??? and after rereading im just like, huh what was i on— (just that feeling when you just cringe at your old posts ;; but idk i think the insanity/cringe sometimes can loop back into being a genius and the cycle just continues)

anyways i’ve been on and off writing yuusha’s bio and overblot yuu was just at the back of my mind chilling but i didn’t really do anything with it.

but now that i have the opportunity,,,, im gonna go on the magicless route this time bc i feel like I've said all what i thought if it was an overblot due to her own magic.

so uh from what i gather overblots are a mix of overuse of magic + intense negative emotion.

since it’s magicless yuu, i guess the one of the general headcanons around the fandom is that they’ve been too exposed to overblots and then intense negative emotions suddenly just triggered their overblot.

uh anyways onto the elsa parts

Is everyone in danger as long as I'm alive? Was I a monster from the start? How did I end up with this frozen heart? Bringing destruction to the stage Caught in a war that I was never meant to wage

THE LYRICS ARE SO GOOD ;;; i really love how some broadway interpretations expand on the source material

and yeah you're right 🤧🤧🤧— yuusha would try to hide and escape, especially as she overblots bc she would try to avoid hurting people (and like elsa, it'd only hurt others more trying to escape bc of probably how she leaves destruction in her wake trying to make others stay away from her 😔)

(this is a small tangent but i remember thinking about an overblot kalim and i imagine him to be similar, like he would not hurt anyone intentionally in his overblot.)

anyways so the way it would go is that i imagine her friends got fatally injured either because a) she feels that she’s too “useless” without magic to help and wasn’t able to do anything OR b) her attempts at helping to try and prove that she can help without magic made everything worse.

and then she just goes into a guilty spiral then boom — overblot.

ALSO in the song, the way elsa briefly contemplated taking her own life but then realizing there’s no guarantee that would solve anything hnghgh (<- another unintentional parallel to my yuusha lore because that’s actually how she ended up in twst except she did NOT have the latter realization)

there’s this “yuu is dead” theory i’m just using and that the black carriage actually just caught yuusha’s soul after she took her own life from all the burden.

also some bonus angst context for that violin post :3

yuusha back in her homeworld is raised and known to be a gifted musician. people can feel the life and soul in her music but when people interact with her, they are usually met with an ice-cold (heh) personality.

the dead family member was the one who taught her music and the only one who was kind to her.

there’s always an expectation from her family to perform well and to keep up appearances as to not be a humiliation since anything she does can reflect on her entire family. (also hi, slight yuusha/jamil parallels maybe???)

the way she presents herself also stemmed from an incident as a child when she went apeshit on another kid bc she was defending a friend.

so from then on she was taught taught to conceal don’t feel those emotions — which just unfortunately extended to any positive ones, not just negative ones like rage.

so when she is brought to twst, there’s no memory of her being forced to hold back her emotions so she’s just unapologetically affectionate and open with everyone bc that’s how she really is.

but every now and then, memories of her breaking down haunt her in her dreams or as subtle reminders in the waking world.

then yuusha just goes on her day like she just wasn't reminded of her past.

(unnecessarily tragic lore my beloved, but anyway—)

another extremely brief tangent and bonus -> the two songs i had on loop while drawing pre-twst yuusha

lindsey stirling my beloved i love her music

the songs are such a vibe

her instrumentals in “lose you now” especially makes me feel some sort of way 😖

[therummesoccupied]

IDW'S SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, ISSUE #78 - THOUGHTS

Hello, Friends and Romans!

A new issue of IDW Sonic drops tonight, so it's time we dove into the last one!

I believe this issue will be included in the Cause and Effect TPB, so I'm gonna go ahead and call this Cause and Effect, Part 3.

Like parts 1 & 2, the writing of this issue comes to us courtesy of Ian Flynn, while we also get inks from Matt Froese, colors from Valentina Pinto, and delicious, delicious pencils from Aaron Hammerstrom, of whom I am growing to be an increasingly annoying fanboy.

Part 3 here follows up on the storyline of Tails, Amy, and Blaze travelling to the Restoration's regional offices to see how they're faring after the fall of Restoration HQ at the end of Collision Course. This little trek gets us all sorts of neat little callbacks and fun new characters designs as we see that the Restoration seems to be thriving even without a central headquarters to organize all of its branches.

Folks seemed to really like the rabbit lady from Barricade Town, and we also got to see the monkey and their raccon? chipmunk? squirrel? friend from The Last Minute! Calling these two back was a neat way to give us a glimpse at what happens to some of these nameless side characters after their big moment in the main story has passed.

Speaking of callbacks...

In the second half of this issue, we get to visit Turtleshell Island!

For those who don't recognize this place, it is very briefly mentioned by Amy way back in Issue 21 as she's managing Restoration rescue missions during the Metal Virus Saga. It's really cool that we get to spend some time exploring a place that was just an off-hand mention way back when! And it's a super-unique setting, too! You know how I love my fun environments in Sonic stories, and this place is exactly the kind of thing I'm into.

This is also where we get the reappearance of Surge and Kit, who are continuing their journey to become heroes - or at least, Surge is. Last time we saw these two, Kit was forming plans to cause crises for Surge to solve without her knowing, and we see that plan beginning to play out here, as Kit plants an explosive that sends the town into chaos.

From here, this issue is pretty much entirely action, though we do get a little bit of character drama with Surge haphazardly trying to solve the problem on her own, drawing the ire of Blaze in the process.

It's a cool little moment, but they make up pretty quick and work together to save the town. I wish we'd gotten more of a real confrontation between Blaze and Surge, but I think this is the best I can hope for with the direction these characters are heading. I just wanna see more Sonic game characters who aren't Sonic fight this Sonic comic character who was made to beat Sonic!

We get this little introspective moment from Blaze as she pulls off her part of the plan, and while it's nice to give her some character focus, I do feel like the execution here is a little awkward. She got similar moments way back in The Battle for Angel Island, and I felt like it was kinda clunky there, too. Like these are big, climactic conclusions to a character arc that... hasn't really happened?

Like, I know her character arc happened over the course of Sonic Rush and Sonic Rush Adventure, but those wrapped up! They're over! If we're gonna give Blaze these moments where she has to dig deep and find what drives her, I'd really like her to get some more buildup to those points instead of the story showing this to us every time she does anything.

I guess what I'm really saying is that I can tell Ian Flynn really loves Blaze as a character, but I think I'd like to get a honest-to-god Blaze storyline or miniseries to justify these dramatic character beats.

As the story wraps up and the day is saved, we get one last little glimpse at what to expect from Issue #79 - the long-awaited final confrontation between Whisper and Mimic.

All-in-all, I think this issue was... fine. Like, there was nothing bad, it just didn't do a ton to excite me beyond getting to see more Hammerstrom pencils. I was happy to see how well the Restoration is doing in the aftermath of the Clean Sweepstakes, but that's partly because I'm glad to see that they don't need Sonic and friends to clean up their messes.

If I'm being honest, I like the Restoration as a story element, but... I'm growing a little weary of it being the centerpiece of this story. I'm reading this story because I'm a Sonic fan! I wanna see Sonic characters going on Sonic adventures - travelling through Zones and collecting Chaos Emeralds! Deep down, I'm kind of hoping that, going forward, the Restoration can become more of a background element and I get to see more of what I'm here for.

Again, I like all this stuff, so I won't be heartbroken if the Restoration continues to be the main focus going forward, but I'd prefer some other stories for a while.

Before that, though, we gotta see how this whole Mimic storyline wraps up, so I'm gonna go read Issue 79 now. I think it's out? Guess I'll find out.

As always, thanks for reading!

[fandomsandfears]

💖🤮❤️💜🃏?

💖 favourite character?

obligatory Chase Redford answer. Does he deserve this placement? based on canon probably not but I was obsessed and I have a lot of fun with my own fanon of him. Same idea with Alistair tbf.

More legitimate though out answer? Probably Cerise or Maddie? They get the screen time deserving of favoured spot. Cerise has a good arc and had a lot of potential. Maddie screen time just never misses lol.

🤮 least favourite character?

Easy pick on Headmaster Grimm. Both because he's a dickhead but also in canon I just don't think he even lives up to his full potential? Like he's decently intimidating and pretty bad, but then they just let him off? Hate that man should have lost his job. As character his arc would have benefited from some fuckin consequences

of the students I'm saying Crystal. The hate defo rubbed off from gummy lol but also wtf was her character she didn't even go well with her story origins what happened.

❤️ top 3 royals?

Hard because yknow, most of them end up rebel by the end there. ANYWAYS if Briar counts which she doesn't I pick her. She's technically royal but I like her for all the reasons that make her a rebel. her arc with the book, rejecting her future, snapping at Apple. God Briar had so much potential and even besides that she's just a genuinely fun character <33

Faybelle pissed me the hell off sometimes but by god I respect her commitment to being a bad bitch. I love a character who is unapologetically mean, knows they're mean, and revels in it. I think having an evil destined character like Raven but who really was into it was such a good narrative choice.

Tough choice, gonna say maybe... Daring? If they hadn't ruined his character in epic winter he was honestly jus ta very fun character but also the moments of genuine care for the people around him. idk he has high himbo energy and I respect that. Is he self centered? yea but not nearly to the extent epic winter seemed to think. His date with Lizzie? his respect for Cerise? his concern and care for Apple? sibling moments with Daring and Darling? this man had fuckin layers and i think he's neat

💜 top 3 rebels?

Maddie my girliepop you never miss not in canon not in Gummys rewrite which should be canon, literally never a miss with Maddie I think she deserves top spot

Cerise I respect. She had a lot of potentially and what they did end up doing was very good fun. One of the characters who I think had the most interesting relationship with the rebels because she was almost kind of born to rebel. Her parents rebelled, she by product of them had one of the most interesting relationship with the conflict. She's also just a fun character.

Darling the wlw rep we fuckin needed. I'm counting her as a rebel because i think she is? She technically seems inline with her "true" destiny but she acts under the assumption she is going off book and is chill as hell with the other rebels. I'm counting her. Anyways, interesting character, wlw rep, fantastic for the plot whenever she's around. Also feeding my sibling dynamics quota because all fanon with her and her brothers in great (go read Gummy rewrite has some fantastic charming siblings stuff)

🃏 top 3 wonderlandians?

Chase Redford my beloved y'all know this. Does he deserve to be my favourite? probably not but the fixation disagrees lol

hmm everyone else is a bit hard. Lizzie is fuckin great love her to bits, especially love gumjesters interpretation of her in their rewrote (go read it go go go) so I'll let her be the fav #2

3rd place is probably Maddie. I like all the wonderlandians a lot, but ignoring Chase who gets favour hypocrisy, the others i don't really have any much for in canon. Love Alistair, but mostly my own characterization. Kitty is great and i appreciate her arc with her mom, but we get so much screen time with Maddie and she's such a good character you just can't help but love her! Maddie also has a hat-tastic characterization in gumjesters rewrite so yknow <33 doesn't hurt

[cleromancy]

ive heard that prime earth brought willis back to life at some point which like i gotta be honest if it was up to me and *i* was in charge of jason I'd have been tempted too, bc the note in the file that jason finds just says Willis is suspected to have been killed by twoface--i mean the word suspected is there. and i tend to have thoughts about how jason narrative-izes willis in my headcanon, so i think that has potential even though i doubt the way dc did it actually did anything interesting with it lol.

but ultimately i actually think it would be more interesting as an exploration of Jason's character, and a way to develop him, to resurrect sheila who had indeed been very dead and force jason to deal with the fact that she, and the choices she made, was a major player in his death. i want to force jason to reckon with that, that sheila never intended for his death to be anything more than an unfortunate blip in her own story; i want to force him to look at the senselessness and be unable to make sense of it.

jus think it would be neat <3

im really such a big "jason does not touch cigarettes after his resurrection" truther bc i love the contrast btwn surrounding himself with symbols and reminders of his death, of the way he's purposely this big gaping open wound, but only in a way that fits the narrative he's trying to build for himself. he believes there's no part of that personal tragedy he hasn't or won't face, but he hasn't ever allowed himself to think about sheila haywood. if you asked him why he doesn't smoke he'd say something dismissive about how he already died inhaling smoke once, he's not in a hurry to do it a second time, and then he'd casually be hanging around in buildings he rigged to explode, no sweat. and he doesn't have any problem with the scent of cigarette smoke either, and fuck you for asking, he's only nauseous because he ate something off this morning, finish your cig he's just gotta get some air.

[fvaleraye]

💭

Random Daydream Number 3: dragons are the only things that can use magic in an otherwise not-magical world, but then a bunch of jerks kill all the dragons. the dragons magic goes to humans bc it’s got nowhere else to go, and thus Mages(tm) are born. they look v dragon-y and can become actual dragons if they get strong enough. dragonslayers admit they may have caused more problems than they solved, but keep doin’ the same shit anyway.

[viatagrinner]

Keith Howell. Chapter 2 & 3 + Letter.

The chapters are too long, knowing myself, I understand that the route will come out faster in English than I translate everything. But the important (in my opinion) conversations will be translated. The translation is not perfect. All rights and CGs belong to Cybird.

Chapter 2

Keith anxiously and fearfully grabs a notebook from the table.

The letters are sloppy on one side, neat on the other. The handwriting is similar, but different. "This person" acted while Keith "slept".

Liam, Keith's butler, came in.

Keith: Good morning. Looks like I've been "asleep" for two days after my tea party with Ms. MC.

Liam: Yes. ..... It seems the shift hours are getting longer again.

The other Keith doesn't seem to have caused any worries or problems.

However... what about MC?

Liam: I don't know, we weren't together 24/7. But for the time being, I don't think there are any problems.

Liam: Compared to the goodwill party Lady MC seems to be less wary of Lord Keith.

Keith: I see... I'm relieved. Really.

Keith wonders why the Rhodolitian princes and Mr. Gilbert like this girl.

Keith reads the documents. "Arms smuggling in Rhodolite and Obsidian..."

Then, distractedly, the prince tells Liam that he doesn't believe MC has anything to do with the rumors that are circulating in Jade.

Keith: I..... don't think she would do anything wrong because she was a good-hearted and sweet woman.

Liam:.... I'm still not convinced.

Keith: If the three nations form an alliance, even the neutral nations can't just wait and see. I don't want to, but....

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

It's time to get ready to go for a walk with MC. He doesn't want to, because he's afraid of drawing a lot of attention to himself and being the black sheep.

Keith: No. Don't be a wuss.

Keith: Even weeds are struggling to survive every day until they are exterminated. I have to do my best, too.

Liam: Is this encouragement to yourself?

Liam also says that there are rumors about his master and MC.

Keith doesn't care, but it's bad for MC. Even though it's only been two days since their tea party. How could a rumor come out in two days?

Liam: For better or worse, you are perceived as having dark roots.

Keith: For better or worse, there's nothing pleasant about having dark roots.

Despite his strong and large body, Keith's eyes look lost, like a child's.

Keith: Could you tell me about this rumor?

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━ MC wants to perform interviews with the guys in Leon's faction.

She tries. But Jin attacks her with questions about Keith. He says it's love at first sight because of Keith's rave reviews. MC didn't know about the rumor. She told them about Silvio and Keith's help.

Leon: If someone has a problem, he's the one who will help. There's nothing wrong with that.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

How Yves and Licht met Keith:

When Prince Keith was at the castle on a refugee protection issue, he was terribly hungry, so Yves invited him over for tea. Keith loves sweets... So they had a lively conversation and became friends.

Jin also has a sweet tooth, but he is no longer invited. The first time they met, he talked about his muscles. [🤡]

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Jin: Keith has an odd way of getting down, but he's soft-spoken and reserved.

Leon: That's the kind of guy you like, even though it's only been a few days since you met him.

Leon: That got people's attention in court and became a rumor.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

MC recalls meeting Keith recently. They discussed books. He likes to read everything, regardless of the genre.

Keith: Even though you're busy, I thought you were so cute, I wanted to see more of you.

(Keith's direct words, bad for my heart.)

(Smart or pushy...)

(Does he really have an aggressive side too?)

(I don't think he really fell in love at first sight and launched a furious attack... absolutely impossible.)

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Leon informs MC that Keith was taken by the court apothecaries and apothecaries. There is nothing wrong with the prince. The apothecaries just want Keith's opinion on herbs and medicines.

MC watches Keith answer questions.

He looks like a teacher or a scientist.

The girl even gets curious.

(Lord Keith is so interested right now, I can feel it).

(Maybe next time I'll read a picture book at the library about plants.)

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

A pleasant fragrance diverts MC's attention.

It is a beautiful flower with white-pink petals.

She gets closer, but Keith won't let her smell it. And takes her away from the flower.

Keith: This flower has a strong soporific effect even among plants, so be careful.

Keith: The smell is unusual at first, but as you keep sniffing it, your brain will perceive it as a sweet scent......

Keith's breath tickles her ear, a soft and low voice whispers something, a warm arm around her waist... And Keith himself smells of something woody. The girl feels that she is about to lose her strength.

Keith finishes his lecture on the flower.

1. I'm so embarrassed i'm about to collapse.✔

2. It's red because of the sun.

3. Do you know why it is red?

Keith: There's nothing to be embarrassed about.

Keith: This medicinal herb is difficult to grow, it's in the rare category, so it's only natural that you wouldn't know about it.

(That's not what I meant...!)

MC: If Lord Keith will let me go...my red face will calm down.

Keith: Let you go?.....

Keith: *sounds of panic*

He's blushing.

Keith: *sounds of apology*

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Suddenly he changes the subject.

Keith: And the flower is beautiful, right?

The girl agrees, but the initial interest is because it is a medicinal plant. Keith talked very interestingly about herbs. She couldn't take her eyes off him.

Keith: ..........

The guy has low self-esteem so he's trying to convince MC that someone else would have told things more interesting, etc.

He's not used to being praised, the heroine concludes to herself.

Keith: But I'm glad my story interested you at least a little bit.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Why is the heroine here? Is it time to go to town? She talked about Leon's words about Keith getting to the farcicals.

Keith: Leon is a humorist, but he is also surprisingly evil.

A valuable herb was stolen from the warehouses and used to make an expensive medicine. So the pharmacists turned to Keith for advice.

About Jade:

Jade is said to be an agricultural country because of its rich nature, farming and livestock. Among these are the plants used in medicine, medicinal plants that especially stimulate the economy.

MC confesses that he doesn't know much about Jade.

Keith: Even if you don't understand something, I don't want you to get upset because you haven't learned enough.

Keith: You are in the process of learning. Take your time, just learn at your own pace.

Keith: Yes. If you want to learn something about Jade or any of the plants that interest you, I'll tell you.

(Keith's kindness is as warm as sunshine and even makes me feel comfortable.)

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Chapter 3

Keith apologizes for keeping her waiting.

MC replies that no apology is needed, she has learned a lot about plants and Jade.

She asks him if he knows any rumors.

The third eruption of apologies is ready to begin.

Keith: ....Even I realize this is too much.

MC notes that he sounds like he's talking about someone else.

But the prince hopes she will remain his guide.

Once again MC can't find the strength to ask Keith about his change.

Once again she feels Keith's intense gaze.

1. Stare back ✔

2. Pretend not to notice

3. Look away

Keith: .....Ah.

Keith: ........

MC: ....What's wrong?

Keith: I thought you weren't wearing that hair ornament when you came to the infirmary.

It was a little ornament that was reflected in the glass of the carriage window.

Keith: It suits MC very well. It's pretty.

Also, Keith noted that MC had changed her hair style.

(Cute how he tries to communicate using both hand gestures.)

Her hair has to do with the fact that she met the chief fashionista of all Rhodolite, Yves, and he pointed out that if she is going out with a prince, and especially from another country, she must look good.

Keith: It's an honour to go out with you dressed up more than usual.

Keith: I think I've spent all my luck to get you.

MC blushes again. And so is Keith.

The girl avoids the center of the capital so no one will accidentally recognize her.

She was remembering where she'd been and what to answer if she met someone she knew.

The girl's head was filled with thoughts and....

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Keith rescued her from the carriage.

Keith: You're welcome. I'm sorry... for hugging you again.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

They are standing on the doorstep of that store where little Keith bought the bookmark when he was first in Rhodolite with his father and when he got lost.

A girl helped him and took care of him.

Keith apologizes a lot for remembering a lot.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

The biggest bookstore in the country.

Keith picked up the book.

Keith: I recently read this book, and it was really interesting. Have you read it, Ms. MC?

MC: Yes. It's the book we already talked to you about.

Keith confusedly agrees. And quietly says.

Keith: ........I taught "him" correctly...and that's the worst part.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

They discuss their favorite writers.  There are a lot of them... But they both like the author Sonja. Keith likes her very first story.

Keith: It's nice to see that we like the same writers.

He may have been quite happy, his body swaying slightly and his sweet movements producing an involuntary smile.

Lifting the boy up, Keith helped him get the book. But the child lost his wallet, Keith headed for the cash register with it in his hands. And he paid for the boy's purchases.

There is no awkwardness with the child, and Keith seems very used to it.

She asks if he has any brothers, but then remembers that he is the only heir. Keith reacts strangely to this question.

━━━━━━━༻❀✿❀༺━━━━━━━

Letter

(Letter rolled up and thrown away)

Keith Howell.

I think I already told you this, but I wanted to convey it to you in writing as well.

I am sorry that I frightened you by forcing you to be my guide.

If I ever misbehave again, please feel free to run away. If you want, you can hit me when you leave.

I'm just saying you shouldn't act like that in the first place...

I can't see myself being conscious...

I wish the guide had continued, even in this case. I'm sorry I was so selfish.

I know it's too late to talk about it now, but I enjoyed the tea party.

I couldn't even tell you a single funny story, but you were kind to me and pleased with the sweets I made for you. I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I was happy to make you smile with something I enjoyed....

Hopeless. The narrative is inconsistent. Even if she gets the letter, she is the one who will be stumped.

I don't know what to do.... I should probably not write... Stop it. I wasted the paper.

Sorry.

Keith Howell

Keith's Masterlist

[pokeinalover]

Hello Portal fandom

It's me again, the girl who only recently got to play the games and barely knows what's going on in here

And even in those conditions i can see that the only reason there's no portal 3 is because valve is scared of the number 3, because it's so easy y come up with an idea i did it in under 5 minutes.

So that's what I bring today! Could be some chelley drawing or something but no, I'll just annoy everyone reminding them there's no portal 3 xd

If i wrote portal 3 (but it won't be called portal 3)

A.K.A what i think would work if valve had the guts to do it

So, we know that Cave Johnson died because he thought it was a good idea to buy a bunch of moon stones and experiment with them, that they used to do the portal liquid-fluid-white-thingie and that got him sick and killed.

I'm other words: Moon rocks = Toxic for humans.

The portal liquid that Chell is exposed to for like a good few hours is made out of this stones and was still in an experimental phase when aperture went to shit, they weren't sure if it was toxic. Therefore that (and well, the few seconds she spent on the moon) could have been enough to make her sick too.

So picture me this: Chell is sick, she knows why, she had to listen to Cave's bs while in aperture, she probably also saw somewhere along the way out that there are other aperture facilities in USA (In Ohio, googled it to make sure) and she knows that there's nothing where she was and even if there is, getting on GLaDOS nerves a third time doesn't sound like a good idea. So, out of options, she decides to go to the other aperture facilities in Ohio in hopes to find a cure.

She gets there, the place is a mess and it's more ruins than labs, even worse than the facilities in portal 2, making this a more open adventure because i think it's necessary (don't worry about missing the lineal chambers and GLaDOS, I'll get to that later). There's a bunch of stuff lying around, a lot of broken tech. She picks a few things that are more or less in decent conditions, a round thingie amongst them, and connects them to a computer in hopes to get some info about what the hell to do in this place. Much to her surprise and disgrace, that round thingie that seemed to not be very functional and was scorched and broken was Wheatley, and somehow the software survived falling to earth like a meteor (somewhat blue sky way) but his hardware is basically trash. He is automatically transfered to new hardware because protocols and blablablah (maybe an update so that he can move on his own instead of having to be Carried around, that Could be neat but idk)

Chell does not want to deal with Wheatley after portal 2, obviously. She's mad, she has a right to be mad. So she just leaves. But then the roof collapses and because Chell has that habit of savings robots that she should leave to rot because they were mean to her (the turret or potatOS) she saves his ass and whether she likes it or not she's kind of stuck in this place with him.

So yeah, there's space for a Wheatley redemption arc! Because he deserves it, idc. So now they have a sick Chell and a very sorry about what happened Wheatley (but still Wheatley, you know what i mean xd) having to take the very broken and fucked test chamber route because it's the only way around the facilities to find a cure for Chell

Alternatively, because Chell would be a few days in there and i think we should acknowledge she needs to sleep and stuff, when it's night we could be back at the original aperture facilities with GLaDOS and playing as one of the test subjects that get "released" in the portal 2 coop so that we don't have to let go of GLaDOS completely but yes narratively because i know she's iconic but she doesn't really have a lot to do with Chell's life in this. (Idk if as a fundamental part of the game or a dlc, that's jus an idea i have xd). Plus we can have bits of Caro and get more into old aperture like this. This could also be disguised as Chell dreaming she's back at aperture because PTSD but she's not, it's really happening to other test subjects.

The rest of this is something i have yet to think through but so far so good i think.

And i would call this Portal Answers or Portal two sides since Valve seems to be scared of number 3!

I'll probably come back when I've thought the rest of this through

Please feel free to correct me and leave your opinion!

[elderflowergin]

What makes Queen Consort Cho so fascinating?

Oh Anon, please do strap in for a long ride. I'm just going to qualify myself here: I do not have the cultural knowledge or historical context to offer anything about Queen Consort Cho in those respects. That said, I am happy to witter on about QCC in other ways. Trigger warning for blood, body horror and periods:-

I've been taken in by Queen Consort Cho since the beginning, to be honest. Her entrance alone is a layered, incredibly well-choreographed/written scene. It is a power play in which she as the Queen, a senior royal, can deny Chang the opportunity to visit his father. Everything in that scene feels wrong, almost pleasurably cruel (Lee Chang's on his knees, after all) but it follows the rules and strictures of the world they live in. Lee Chang understands that; it's why he bows, kneels and waits for days for his -- stepmother - a girl younger than him -- to grant him permission. I'll come back to that scene at the end.

I like thinking of her in relation to her family, the Haewon Cho clan - one that is powerful enough to occupy an ever-expanding web of choice positions in the government (we're told, anyway) all the way up to the Prime Minister, and cruel enough to be name-checked at the outset of the show, right in the treasonous letter that is found all over the kingdom. The Haewon Cho is bloodthirsty and brutal in general, which we see through Beom-il, the un-named Queen Consort Cho's named brother, and her ruthless father Cho Hak-ju who has no problems feeding unwitting servants to the King in order to keep him technically "alive", or to the death and hunger of peasants and farmers if it fattens up his clan and consolidates his own control over the throne.

(I suppose then, the broad question is whether it's the system here that's at fault, or the Haewon Cho clan in particular, and I think we're meant to see them as the logical end point of an oppressive system. By season 2, everyone with a modicum of power is implicated - even genial, patrician leaders like Lord Ahn, who are usually set up as the heroes in a tale like this. Ashin: Kingdom of the North, goes one step further and decisively denounces the entire system - one that Lee Chang seeks to protect, no less, for reasons borne of a different moral calculus - as corrupt, criminal and cruel. This should make for a juicy season 3, should we ever get there, but that's a whole lot of sidetrack).

Where's Queen Consort Cho in all of this? Take the Haewon Cho family's bloodthirst and turn it inward, and you get Queen Consort Cho - a woman desperate for an heir, for royal blood within her, because she knows her father's expectations and the bet he's hedged on her: to do the thing only a woman can do in this universe, the only thing they're useful for (derogatory), which is also what secures the Haewon Cho clan's future and position, and to be wholeheartedly resented and detested for it anyway.

In a show that's wall-to-wall body horror, Queen Cho might not stand out much. The body assigned female at birth and the myriad horrors associated with it are fairly pedestrian and commonplace, except that in a neat inversion, it's the absence of those things that's the horror. Queen Cho's healthy body and its ordinary functions are a betrayal to her. For a woman who's been heavily pregnant before our eyes, the reveal of her childishly flat stomach feels like a transgression even if we've had our suspicions since the beginning. Menstrual blood is the evidence of the biggest, boldest lie in this kingdom, to be concealed, burnt and buried. And at the apex of it all, Queen Cho's mind: slowly turning, churning with the bad blood, with the weight of her father's contempt (just because she holds the fate of the clan in her womb doesn't mean he has to like it, after all), tied inextricably to a venture bound to end in catastrophe.

That feels like the oldest story in the book when it comes to the female body - its tells, the way it betrays us, the way it fucks up our minds. Zombies are a horror, but Queen Cho lives in a horror story of her own: value tied entirely to an impossible mission, an empty womb, bleeding month after month, a villa full of girls who can get knocked up and disappeared with equal ease.

Sure, Queen Cho's always at the behest of her father, but she's created an entire conspiracy right under his nose, and she will go to any lengths to secure her outcome, even if that means patricide, a crime so unspeakable in this world that Chang grapples with it twice with great grief and despair, even though the King and Lord Ahn were zombies at the material time. And she does it to secure her place in the clan, and in history: as the mother of the next king. I don't know why Cho Hak-ju didn't see that coming; she's principally doing the same thing he taught her to do, which is to do whatever it takes to consolidate your power and position.

And all that talk of power - which is what drove Cho Hak-ju, and her, and eventually the death of Cho Hak-ju by her - is a nice point to bring me back to her opening scene. Throughout this exchange with Chang, she's never expressly cruel or mean - she doesn't have to be. All she has to do is turn her body and display the fact that she's heavily pregnant with a child who will usurp Chang. It's her version of her brother's wanton cruelty, but it never quite veers beyond the polite, the strictures and the rules - and again, it doesn't have to, because the system itself is twisted here, it's the system that permits her this power that is comical, cruel and will have grave consequences (literally). But you can still see the edge of delight in her face, the glee in making him wait; and Kim Hye-jun skirts right to the edge in that scene.

Which brings me to the fact that Queen Cho is played by the ultratalented, aforementioned Miss Kim Hye-jun, an actress who excels at skirting these precise edges - good/bad? Innocent/not? woman/child? with that beautiful, eerily mutable face of hers. (She reminds me of Lee Joon-hyuk in this respect - yet another stunningly beautiful person who is a character actor above all else).

To answer your question, and in conclusion: why do I find Queen Cho fascinating? I think it's hard enough to find well-written women on television (Kdrama has an abundance of them, comparatively speaking) and it's even more challenging to find bad women, bad seeds, with complete arcs that centre them. I enjoy her slow ascent (descent?) into what I can only describe as insanity. I like the way her life reflects the small ways in which we are treated with contempt or sneering hatred and/or are commodified. Do I want to be her? Or think that she's admirable, etc? No, and obviously killing babies and their mothers is a terrible thing, which should go without saying. I appreciate strong heroines as much as everyone else, i.e. those who overcome the Bad Stuff to become Good, like Seo-bi, but I also think it's narratively cool to see women who are Overcome by the Bad Stuff and Become Very Bad. We contain multitudes, after all, and part of wanting well-rounded characters hopefully means we get to see women all across the scales of morality. If they have their much older stepsons on their knees for days, that's just a bonus for me.

Thanks Anon, and I hope that answered the question!

[flameo-hotman]

Hello! For the Zuko adoption menu, how about 3?

Long Feng adopts Zuko. (Not the worst adoption on the menu though mwhahahaha) @muffinlance This is the one! (One of the Ju Lee kills the Earth King fics I have in the works tbh lol)

One day Long Feng did not have children and the next he had a son named Ju Lee. No explanation was given on where this child had come from or who they were.

The citizens of Ba Sing Se were too afraid to ask and when the Earth King asked, the man claimed the child had been here this whole time and he just hadn’t introduced Ju Lee to the king until now.

Ju Lee was thirteen and had a scar from a burn. It was an accident, but he couldn’t tell anyone what that accident had been. His head would ache whenever he tried to think about it.

But the Earth King trusted him because the Earth King trusted his father.

Ju Lee knew how to follow orders and knew not to question the gaps in his memory. Father told him that he had amnesia from the accident that had left him scarred.

Ju Lee knew better than to mention his nightmares and dreams of another life.

He knew their mission. Keep the peace in Ba Sing Se and let no mention of the war reach the king.

The last time he mentioned the dreams to his father, Father put him in front of that green light again.

There was no last time. He wasn’t sure what dreams he was thinking about. There had been no life before father. He wasn’t sure why he had thought that for a moment. He would do well to not think about that too hard.

Ju Lee was now a member of the Dai Li, and he was assigned by Father to keep a close eye on the Earth King and those who spoke to the king.

When he asked Father what he was to do if someone did manage to tell the king about the war, the orders had been clear. Or at least at the time. Ju Lee could not say what the orders were. He only knew that he knew what they were and would carry them out when the time came.

He had a dream of his mother. She had told him something and then she was gone.

Zuko Ju Lee did not know his mother. He was not sure why the thought he didn’t know his mother had occurred to him.

He asked Father about this.

He did not ask Father about this.

The Avatar was in the city and the water bender with him cured Jet.

There was no brainwashing happening in the city. Brainwashing was science fiction. He did not know why the thought occurred to him.

Zuko was brainwashed. That’s why!!! Mother said not to forget who they were! He had to remember!

Ju Lee was not brainwashed. He had amnesia from an accident when he was thirteen. There was no reason to think further on this.

Uncle The Dragon of the West had come with the Avatar and tried to tell him who Zuko was tried to lie to him.

Then the Avatar told the Earth King about the war.

Ju Lee reached for his swords and stepped towards the Earth King.

The Earth King did not believe the Avatar.

Ju Lee stood down. He had not known what he was going to do, only that he felt relief and his King’s decision to not believe the child.

Zuko Ju Lee went with them to each of their failed attempts to convince the King of the war.

The drill proved to be too strong of evidence for King Kuei and the man ordered Father to be arrested.

Ju Lee reached for his swords and stepped forward.

Zuko froze. He wouldn’t do this.

Ju Lee did not know a Zuko.

Ju Lee ran the Earth King through from behind with his swords.

Uncle was horrified.

Ju Lee did not have an uncle.

Zuko had an uncle.

There was no Zuko.

Zuko Ju Lee was confused knew his place.

Father was livid. This was not how he meant for Zuko Ju Lee to kill the earth King. There were too many witnesses.

Ju Lee was arrested alongside his father.

Uncle the Dragon of the West pleaded with him to remember who he was. Mother had told him to never forget. Zuko didn’t forget! Zuko could never forget!

Zuko was trying to break free from what Long Feng had done to his mind!

Zuko felt warm water pressing against the walls in his head.

He didn’t know who he was anymore. Zuko had been Ju Lee for so long now that he didn’t know who he was anymore, even with his memories back.

He felt broken and confused. Freedom was a prison and he wanted to scream.

But then while walking with Katara and thanking her for undoing what Long Feng had done to him, while Aang and Sokka were away from the city, a woman dressed as a Kyoshi Warrior met with them.

She looked familiar, but some of his memories were still cloudy and didn’t come easily to him.

Katara knew the girl though.

“Azula!” She sounded horrified.

That was his little sister’s name...

Azula spoke, “Well, this is unfortunate. Oh, well, a new friend of mine taught me a neat little trick.”

“Zuko go tell the others, I can hold her off!”

Zuko turned quickly and just as he was about to run to go tell his uncle, Azula spoke.

“Zuzu, the Earth King has invited you to take a trip to Lake Laogai.”

Ju Lee answered, “I am honored to accept his invitation.”

Ju Lee did not know a Zuko.

[clownmoontoon]

Recently found your blog so I was wondering, thoughts on the Animaniacs reboot?

AAAA OMG WELCOME!!! HOPE UR ENJOYIN IT SO FAR \OUO/!!!

i LOVE this question and i have sO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THE REBOOT so ima try to break it down into my likes, dislikes, and hit or miss (things i liked some of the time but not all the time)

🌈  10 things i liked!!!!! 🌈 <-- in no particular order

1. THE THEME SONG REWRITE!!!! ITS GREAT!!! og series callbacks, DELIGHTFULLY MORE INCLUSIVE, all those unnecessary side characters cut out, no weird celebrity references JUST RLLY WELL DONE and im glad they just redid the old one instead of making a brand new one ITS A CLASSIC!! plus this way u rlly notice those differences and how great they are

2. SPEAKING OF nO BORING SIDE CHARAS... YEAH!! THAT!! perhaps an unpopular opinion but ive never been a fan of the side characters and watched the og show p much exclusively for the warners so i LOVE that its mostly about them now!! (( i do miss the mime tho but they shoulda been nicer to him u_u ))

3. also like the theme song: MUCH LESS CELEBRITY CAMEOS/REFERENCES there are still a few but i feel like they were WAY more abundant in the og series and im rlly glad they calmed down w that, its actually Not That Fun to try and spot all the celebrities 

4. mORE “IRL”/TIME IN THE TOWER!!! while there are some shorts where the warners are “acting” (gold meddlers, warners unbound etc) the VAST MAJORITY(19) of the 26 warner shorts take place “irl”!! WE GET TO SEE THEM IN THE TOWER SO MUCH!! eating together, shopping together, TRICK OR TREATING TOGETHER!!! and i just LOVE this stuff its sO GOOD FOR CHARACTER BUILDING!! 

5. DIVERSITY!!!! EVEN THE BG CHARACTERS!! EVEN IN BODY TYPE!!! no more fatness only as a joke and hotness as the only other option for women, PPL ARE AVERAGE AND I LOVE IT

6. OVERALL CONSISTENT QUALITY!!! THE ANIMATION IS REALLY INCREDIBLE AND BEAUTIFUL TO WATCH!!! that was one of the BIGGEST flaws of the og series, so many eps were animated poorly bc they were handed off to studios that rlly didnt know how to draw the warners so its HELLA to see them beautifully animated in EVERY ep of the reboot so far

^^ animation by @/lemurasart on twitter!! 

7. nO HORNY JOKES...POSSIBLY ANOTHER UNPOPULAR OPINION?? bUT I NEVER RLLY LIKED ALL THESE HORNY JOKES GIVEN TO KIDS IN THE FIRST PLACE LKDKD its actually rlly neat to see how creative the writing gets when they cant just horny joke their way out of a situation ALSO THIS BIT WAS AMAZING 

8. I RLLY LOVE THAT THE CEO DOESNT HATE THEM!!!!! it was so frustrating in the og series that the ceo wouldnt even hear them out EVEN WHEN IT WAS STUFF THAT WOULD BENEFIT HIM its nice that this lady is insane AND greedy aND YET ISNT REALLY MALICIOUS TOWARDS THE WARNERS AT ALL at least not any more than she is to anybody else ITS REFRESHING!! I LIKE NORITA

9. ANIME-NIACS!!!!! thATS ALL I GOTTA SAY ABOUT THAT LDJLKD

10. FANGIES!!!!!!!!! they always had fangy energy im so glad it finally manifested...

⭐ 4 things i didnt like ⭐  i was gonna make this a top 10 list but i couldnt think of 10 things i didnt like djkldkljd

1. THE REDESIGN.... yes i know i was just celebrating the fangs bUT other than that i rlly wasnt a fan of the redesign.. its just too ...animal?? the triangle noses and changing their white faces to beige just seemed rlly unnecessary imo..

aLSO THEY LOST THEIR CLOWNINESS!!! ;;;;; i miss that clown aesthetic... big round red noses, white faces.. also i loved it when characters would try to describe them and say things like THEY HAVE FACES LIKE A CREEPY CLOWN dLdlkjdJLK

im not sure why they couldnt at least stay w the white n black like the old cartoons theyre based on??? THERES EVEN A SONG IN THE REBOOT THAT SAYS “LIKE US, ITS BLACK AND WHITE” bUT... THEYRE NOT BLACK N WHITE ANYMORE LDKKDJ 

also the redesign is a lot more angular/less round than the original and i jus prefer the sof..

i miss this ;n;

2. GROSS OUT HUMOR  ..LIKE HONESTLY WTF LDLJKLJKDD theres not too much of it thankfully but the og series had like.. nONE so it was a shock when theyd suddenly zoom in on marie antoinette’s finger and it was LIKE THAT and the pigeon scene at the end of “the cutening” actually made me feel sick sdjkdjk JUST IN GENERAL IM NOT A FAN OF GROSS OUT HUMOR SO .. EUUGHGH 

3. those random new shorts that are like???? whyd u get rid of the side characters if ur gonna have these guys anyway?? the gnome in ppls mouths and the alien guy?? neither were funny to me and again the gnome short was mostly gross 

4. YAKKO CANT DO MATH?? YAKKO DOESNT KNOW WHAT PLEBIAN MEANS??? HELLO?? HE HAS A VERY COMPLICATED SONG WHERE HE BREAKS DOWN MULTIPLICATION AND ANOTHER WHERE HE SINGS EVERY WORD IN THE DICTIONARY!! hES SO SMART LET HIM BE SMART hES A HUGE NERD PLS...

💣 HIT OR MISS 💣 

THE SONGS!!! while i love that they brought back the musical aspect of the show (its rlly not animaniacs without singing tbh) the songs were sUPER VARIED IN QUALITY IMO 

the reboot song? AMAZING

the song about dot’s zit??? ... no..

🌈  OVERALL I HAVE A LOT MORE POSITIVE TO SAY ABOUT THE SHOW THAN NEGATIVE AND IF ANYBODY ASKS I ALWAYS SAY I LOVED IT!!! 🌈

IS IT PERFECT? NAH

IS IT FUNNY AND FUN AND IN GENERAL A SHOW THAT MAKES ME AS HAPPY AS THE OG SERIES DID? ABSOLUTELY 100%!!! 

✨ GO WATCH IT!!! ✨

(( ironically this scene RIGHT BEFORE THE PIGEON SCENE is one of my absolute faves DLKLKJDJKD ))

[nobody-knose--archive]

i’ve been aching to commentate spirit phone’s commentary for ages. glad i finally got around to it, this was an ejoyable experience. liveblog below the cut

-i'm like half certain i've heard this commentary before. maybe not the whole way through & it was probably actual years ago

-nice hearing stuff like this. in-depth personal view of the album-making process. makes it seem like more of a real thing i could do myself someday

-neil cicierega real person momence

-i could probably go real in depth about neil cicierega/tally hall parallels specifically concerning like. the arc of their musical careers. but i won't, here

-wild how i legitimately don't care much about micheal jackson

-didnt we get a bunch of spirit phone stems from the needlejuice release/his patreon? we could probably hear the funny track he speaks of here in that

-i love hearing musical artists, especially neil cicierega, talking about the meanings of their songs. like, not only has this song been claimed to hell & back by the tumblr gays, but with later ones i just can't see where he gets these ideas from. also, claiming there's any one meaning or plot to a song just seems silly to me

-shoutout to neil reusing a midi from like, 1998, that he made at 12 years old, whose entire melody was reused for the main verses of everybody loves raymond. loved finding that out on my own 2 years ago. now it's common trivia in this fandom. not bad times

-it'd be neat if neil did individual trans tracks here like he did with view monstel, those things are half of why i consider it my favorite album

-it's a lot easier to ignore the creator's intended meaning behind a song when he can't even remember it. thanks neil

-seesaw effect

-and there's my joke all but 1 of my followers wont get. moving on

-what kinds of movie theater lobbies has neil been to where there are arcade machines. i mean im not one to talk but that does sound rather strange

-why do songs' titles even need to be taken from the lyrics. ive never seen that as any sort of requisite. it's like titling any form of prose you can just give it whatever name ya like

-"this part sounds pretty cool right"

-is neil's vocal range only mildly better than mine? with training i could change that

-oh i haven't processed any of the last 25 seconds hold on

-god. a shit ton of vocal modification in this song. it's like neil returned to his roots but with quality this time

-i, as an ace/aro, have never related more to an allohet guy in my life. what is the point of eyes!

-professional humming/whistling takes skill. it's different from the recreational or casual stuff. i'd know

-there's a name for the way sound (especially music) gets distorted when moving past you and i can't remember it but it's probably what neil's referring to here in the way he recorded the intro

(- update: it's the doppler effect no need to tell me cas already did)

-as someone who hasnt seen the rugrats or take me there by blackstreet i'll just say it sounded like a bouncy music box melody. nice to hear a song that messes with the typical scales though. lydian & diatonic.

-that's a rather specific thing to be glad about, but given what he talked about in his last full audio commentary about the jew harp i suppose i'm not surprised

-i know that tmbg song now. listened to it & saw the music video too. yep they're different alright

-where the hell does neil get all these instrumence from anyway

-huh. hadnt heard this part of the commentary before making my oc concerning this song but i like to hear neil's approval concerning part of my interpretation

-i love how ive heard a billion different tellings of this mellified man story from lem dem fans talking about this song and neil's is by far the wildest

-good god that does only make it worse neil

-i love making liveblogs of lemon demon albums. with the fullerenes or tally hall i cant name a specific dude to take out my woes on generally but with lemon demon i can just say neil all the time. i like being on a casual first name basis with this dude ive never interacted with once ever

-is sweet bod the one other than cabinet man with a demo in the bonus tracks? i forget

-holy shit the boston molasses disaster someone call up soapy if it doesnt already know, it'd love this

-two thousand nine. god i miss the fiddle solo. the ver with it is truly the best one

-he pronounces it jeff? i've always read it as gef with a hard g. that's what i get for knowing words that are never spoken aloud

-that's a fun meta interpretation of this ghost story that's over a century old. i like that

-i've noticed neil generally does the same synths across a whole album. it's especially more clear in the earlier ones, and does mean i occasionally mix up songs between clown circus & live from the haunted candle shop

-ah! ancient aliens! my least favorite track on this album. i cant even claim to have the least interest in a popular one i've just generally not liked this one much from the beginning. so im curious to see what neil's got to say, i think ive been in ~new commentary zone for a while now

-anyway. newest update on the loolin not realizing a song's funky time signature front: i think this one's in 6/4. or at least switches a lot between time signatures. granted i dont listen to it very often for the reasons stated above

-see the way neil describes it. eldritch horror upon being visited by the unknown at a time when humanity'd hadn't even yet had a chance to imagine such a thing occurring. should be right up my alley. but the sound itself & many of the lyrics simply turn me away.

-must i specify i don't dislike it? spirit phone is neil's best album it not being my favorite doesn't mean i think it's bad yadda yadda nobody should be surprised by this it's not like anyone in these fandoms reads my liveblogs <3

-granted i think this is. the first bit of spirit phone content i've made on my blog ever. so who knows things can change <3

-the transitions in spirit phone are much less view-monster transition tracks & more extended outros. view-monster's were a bit more intro than outro sure but they also seemed directed upon making a 2-way rather than 1-way bridge between tracks. or something like that

-.............soft fuzzy man is an incredible nickname for a cat. i'd steal that if i werent afraid of introducing my relatives to lemon demon

-jirls

-an underlying metaphor is good enough. the literal side of the lyrics are fun. nothing but agreement here neil my good man

-the transition into as your father i expressly forbid it from soft fuzzy man is the best one in this album

-buddy you ask if a musical idea has been used before odds are the answer is yes in this day & age the question is has it been used in the way you're using it. like sure this soul jazz record from the 60s that was sold out in kansas stores for a week used this bassline that youve found yourself copying. but seeing as youre using it in some angsty garage rock ballad type tune does anybody actually care

-doesn't everybody like to say things in an unhinged manner from time to time

-imagine having a guitar dad, i say, with my dad being a folk accordion/fiddle dad, which is infinitely worse in every way

-i think he was in an actual folk band at some point. idk the 90s were weird

-iron my life?

-m-more intimate? there are a lot of ways i'd describe this song but intimate isn't one of them. granted as your father is negatively intimate so from there i guess you've got nowhere to go but up

-...still glad to see his interpretation kinda supports my oc at least

-the way he says characters in songs shouldn't worry about death really strongly makes me think this is some sort of. thematic continuation of stuck from dinosaurchestra, even if there's no real death in there. interesting. would also mean that the dad from these past 2 songs is named carlos betty (no last name)

-i literally never assumed this was a flute solo. piccolo at best. it's pretty clearly a recorder

-my mom plays the recorder. i wonder if she can play recorder better than neil cicierega

-we can throw a party in honor of the crushing weight of responsibility! i simply won't be the one throwing it because i have enough on my plate already <3

-what the hell does "a sense of intent" mean

-i've never heard rush before however i disagree with neil's understanding of 6/4. 6/4 is meant to have emphasis (onbeat or another term i can't remember) on the 1st & 4th beat of every measure, which is greatly different from a measure of 4/4 then a measure of 2/4. it's why his 5/4 always sounds weird, because while it's recognizable in sequences of 10/4, it's more 2 measures of 4/4 with one of 2/4 tacked on the end. that's also how it's different from 3/4. i don't know much music theory but what i do understand i will fight to the death about

-"canonized" that's. a very interesting term to use when referring to a former president

-from now on i will interpret every love song directed at some unseen "you" to be inviting me to marry them for tax purposes. thanks neil for being an aromantic icon

-ah hell yes hell yes man-made object is my favorite goddam song on this album

-short & sweet & good damn vibes. neil's thoughts on it all are only making it better

-wild how he uses very few vocal effects for a song that he clearly is straining his vocal range for. go off neil

-the qualifier of man-made is a wonderful thing. oldest or biggest thing? oldest or biggest man-made thing? what a incredibly important specification. a world of possibilities lie between the two. oh i love it

-just gets me thinking yknow! what we consider weird/impressive in another species, in our own species- what kind of equivalent to that would there be from an outsider looking in? are there alien versions of the significances we place upon things, that we could never imagine? the limits of the human imagination mean we could never conceive of something else in the world that isn't, in some way great or small, just like us- and are we wrong for thinking that? such a juicy topic i wish there were a name for it because it's kinda hard to explain concisely

-spiral of ants. my second favorite song from this album, in fact. a good one to experience

-the vocals are just another instrument. they really truly are. i wasn't going into this commentary expecting to feel solidarity for neil cicierega in this chili's tonight on more than one occasion but here i am.

-like, his whole stance on interpreting songs is something i agree with almost entirely. you can take it at face value, you can dig to their very depths, you can listen to songs without caring what the lyrics mean whatsoever, and those are all fun. & yeah while any of these people can be annoying as one of the types who enjoys gliding on the surface more than anything i find those who dedicate themselves to figuring out the whole meaning of a song over anything else to be both slightly scary & slightly annoying <3 keep up the good work

-i want to make songs for my siblings the way neil makes songs for his sibling(s)

-spinch

-neil really shouldn't be allowed to be this funny like this whole album youre thinking golly! he's just a normal man this neil cicierega! and then he starts listing the cat hacks jokes & you remember he's had ridiculously consistent viral success with all his humorous endeavors and holy shit it's neil cicierega in action talking about his music. god bless you neil

-you're welcome, no problem, my pleasure. good eveternoon, radio audience!