#does this count as bob meta?

[beemaya]

While working on my wip i realized something about the scene where Babe and Spina try to wake Eugene during the shelling when Harry got hit.

Eugene has a one man foxhole, it's big (or rather small) only for one man. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but amongst the rest of easy company, there would be at least two guys in one foxhole (I can think of Dike being alone in his foxhole as well, but I'm not counting him okay lol). And I'm thinking how it once again represents Gene distancing himself from the rest of the guys. (Or maybe I'm just looking too much into it lol but-)

Then Babe and Spina come running in and those two are the only two guys that Eugene actually bonds with, like I know he cares for all of the easy company men, but with these two it's different. With Spina, he talks about his life outside of the war, he talks about his grandma, and with the way Spina had asked about the cajun healers, I think they had talked about this before. And Babe, well, do I even have to say anything? Their relationship is just something else.

Spina and Babe just went "we know you're trying to put a wall around yourself but let me ask you about your people and let be ask you to call me by my really weird nickname, let us find you and help you get up when you're struggling, even if you didn't want that let us be there for you like you're there for us" and I think that's beautiful.

[anonymous-dentist]

I'm going to be honest and say that I do not give a single fuck about the Federation and the workers. And why would I? they were the main villains a couple of months ago but now I'm supposed to feel bad because Fred, who admitted to know about quackity's torture and apparently participated in whatever happened to either Antoine or Pierre (I don't remember right now), is dead? I'm sorry for Tubbo, but I laughed when I saw it.

It is so ridiculous to me that now, after months of hating the Federation, some islanders want to defend the workers. Or how now I'm supposed to feel empathy for the organisation that has kidnapped, torture, brainwashed and killed people.

And now, with the addition of the eye guy, we have three (four, if you count the residents. something not even the admins seem to be doing lately) different factions that we know nothing about. What's the Federation goal and motives? who knows. What does the Rebellion want and what are the codes? keep watching to find more cryptic books that explain not a thing. The fuck is going on with the eye guy, what does he want? wouldn't you like to know that.

It feels as if the residents now have to seat and watch passively and just accept whatever happens, because no matter how much they might what to try, their actions won't affect the story whatsoever.

sorry for the long rant, I'm really passionate about the server but since the eggs' disappeared i've only been disappointed with its direction

I feel like people have seen a few of the workers act chill and decided that all the workers are doing their jobs against their wills and that they’re all good people being forced to do bad things. And, sure, some workers are like that, like Walter Bob. But also? Many of them aren’t. It’s a complex situation, but we the audience have only seen a handful of workers. We haven’t even scratched the surface! Because like. What about the guys who pulled out Child Baghera’s feathers? What about that mysterious thing the Federation had that scared Child Cellbit to the point of abandoning his beloved sister in a panic and trying to swim away from Point goddamn Nemo? When Child Cellbit said, “Don’t trust the workers”, he meant all of them, and he was such an optimistic kid that he had to have had a GOOD reason to say that

Like when people say that it’s wrong for Cellbit to kill all these workers I obviously agree because Murder Is Wrong. But also?

THE FEDERATION IS ACTIVELY HOLDING EVERYBODY ON THIS ISLAND HOSTAGE

Nobody would’ve gone to Purgatory if they weren’t on the island. The Brazilians legitimately crashed by accident and weren’t allowed to leave. The Feds purposefully sabotaged the French’s plane. Every single hardship the islanders have faced since the start of the series is because the Federation essentially kidnapped them and they’re holding them hostage and torturing and killing and brainwashing them. They’re literal human experiments! Why would I feel bad for the organization actively breaking literally just So Many Geneva Conventions?

Like, sure, Fred liked Tubbo, but Fred also enjoyed Quackity being tortured and brainwashed. Fred helped operate on Pierre. Fred seemingly had connections with the Eye and Cucurucho.exe. It sucks that they’re dead, but like. Okay? I feel bad for Tubbo, but Fred knowingly helped torture and possibly even kill who knows how many individuals over their time with the Federation. They were a higher-up. They had some amount of free will.

So do the regular workers, actually, because these Fed Streams have showed us that the workers have personalities. We know that there are rebels in the workforce. There’s an office culture. Workers sabotage Federation equipment (ie the coffee machine) and get away with it.

The workers (outside of Walter Bob) only started having personalities in September after the eggs disappeared, and on a meta level it’s because the admins A) wanted something to do and B) because the writers suddenly needed to show how incompetent the Feds apparently are because like. The Eye, ig. And people only started caring when the workers were dying, which only ended up villainizing both q and ccCellbit yet again (because the fandom’s favorite hobby is hating Brazilians.)

[melodythebunny]

1st idea - combining a bit of what we talked about with Eris about a victorian style Wordgirl with the testubular five plus other stuff. So this is a Victorian/Sherlock Holmes/Steampunk Wordgirl au where Becky, who is 13/14 in this au goes by the hero name Shadow Girl instead of Wordgirl as she dresses up in all black with a black hood, cape, eye mask with a silver star. She is secretive about this and her identity due to the social cues and constructs of the Victorian era as it was improper back then for a lady to wear trousers (pants). She serves as an investigator/crime fighter with Scotland Yard. The villains have a mafia/organized crime type of deal with Professor Terror at the top Branch. Becky Boxleitner is the daughter of researcher Professor Steven Boxleitner who represent Jekyll and Hyde with Professor Terror being Hyde (Eris's idea). The Wordgirl villains are a mix of upper class, middle class, and lower class people. Those with superpowers are not meta humans but were given their abilities when they asked Professor Terror for them. It was all willing and no trickery involved. Lady Redundant Woman was a disgruntled middle class worker who asked Professor Terror the power to prove she can be the boss so he gave her the power of duplication and creating duplicates of other people as well. Nocan is actually a viking warrior who was frozen in ice before Professor Terror thawed him out. The villains are a mixed of inventors, cons, those who asked Professor Terror for power, or families with dark secrets of their own. See not every villain received their powers from Professor Terror. Some like Rhyme, Chuck, Invisibill, Victoria, and Eileen were injected with their powers from a few top scientists that were part of an old group called the Testubule (Testubular) Five. They become bosses at one point or another. Calvin, Athena, and Steven already villains while Doohickey and Tubing tragic villains. Becky does not know about her father being Professor Terror but he does know about her being shadow girl and does not mind her heroic choices but wishes she wouldn't put herself in harms way. The reason he knows was that Becky wasn't an alien. When Becky was very small, she had gotten very sick, Steven tried to help her as much he could with the doctors and medicine of that time but it was no use. Then Professor Terror decides to try other worldly means and steals a space rock from a museum to create the antidote. The rock was Lexonite which gave Becky her powers and healed her. Ironically it still weakens her if she is exposed to it like in canon. Bob was a pet monkey that was given to Steven after Becky was born after his 1st wife, Teresa, disappeared mysteriously. Your Carrie lore happens in this au also. As for Amazo Guy, he is a traveling teacher/ male child manny. (nanny for men.)

@drtwobrainsstuff

yea. the catswells fam is some sorta aristocrats

Caroline aka Carrie is the only daughter of a count family facing ruin and is set to be sold into marriage to a man she's never met. So months before the "wedding" she decides to run off with some help of beatrice.

Her parents are furious ofc since their only way of better income is gone. and yeah they do try to hire detectives to bring their daughter back. Carrie (she changes her name to clover >:3333) in the meantime meets steven and they fall in love. but then tragedy strikes. and she becomes Calvin's Frankenstein project oof @ninjastormhawkkat

[herinsectreflection]

Would you ever consider airing some of your spike thoughts with a warning for those who may not wish to hear them? I feel like you express yourself so well and would love to hear how you parse this very complicated character but obviously understand your reservations x

Yeah, it's not like they're unspeakable or anything. I just don't bring them up unprompted like I do most other thoughts that spring to my mind.

I'll put under a Read More because I'm going to tag this for my own system and if you're the type of person who tracks the Spike tag then you might not enjoy my thoughts (even though I adore Spike). Also if we're mutuals and you're a Spike fan please forgive me I do not mean it personally.

Honestly, the "problems" I have with Spike boil mostly more down to fandom perception than the character in canon (although I also find him to be a big problem in S7 (but not as much as is sometimes made out)). There is a tendency to soften him to the point of painting over his worst qualities, and to present him as this secretly-good uwu softboy who loves very purely and who always has Correct Opinions. Basically, I love Spike as a character but I think he is a much worse person than is often made out by other people who love Spike (this could also apply to nearly every character. this fandom in general could do with relaxing and just enjoying characters being awful sometimes).

I've also found myself growing irritated at the "lesbian Spike/lesbian Spuffy" reading that has grown itself a niche of popularity. I understand this isn't an issue at all outside of a very specific section of Buffy Tumblr, and even there is I think mostly a meme/joke. But it ties into some other things that bug me about the fandom perception of Spike, and as a lesbian it has started to actively grate on me. It's starting to feel very "female-coded Kylo Ren".

Spike is a man and Spuffy is an opposite-gender relationship. It seems trite to say but I saw a tag the other day that referred to faith and spike as "two lesbians in love with buffy" and it made my eye twitch. Because look, Faith is not canonically a lesbian. I can't honestly call her "representation". But there is a plethora of evidence within canon to read her as one. I read her as one. Faith can be a lesbian within canon, because she is a woman whose feelings for another woman can be read as romantic. Spike cannot, because Spike is a man. He cannot be a read as a woman - there is no evidence for him being anything other than a cisgender man (and no, painting his nails does not count). He expresses a lot of toxic masculinity, including sexual violence and blaming women for his own emotions. This behaviour is gendered, and it is a misreading of the text to ignore that aspect of him, and of Spuffy. A little coding and queer resonance in the Spike/Buffy arc does not make it a queer relationship.

Again, this is really just me being grouchy of a minute sector of fandom that is mostly just having fun. And I feel bad, because I have mutuals that I like and respect who I know enjoy this reading, and I do not want to make them feel sad or disrespected. And I know a lot of this is just having fun and not meant in total seriousness, which I respect (honestly, a lot of my posts are not meant in seriousness either, and I could see someone who isn't fond of Fuffy for example get annoyed when I put on my Fuffy goggles and do some silly gay liveblogging).

So when I get annoyed by a common Spike take and need to grumble in a way that I know won't go down well on Spike/Spuffy Tumblr I just vent it into the drafts and watch it bob there like a horrible grouchy turd. Not because I fear retribution - there is nothing especially scary about Spike/Spuffy fans - but because I'd feel bad. As I said, I am a fan of Spike's character and have written a lot of meta about him, and as a general rule my feelings on the show tend to overlap a lot with a lot of Spuffy fans, so I am following/mutuals with a fair few of them. I'd feel I was spiting them.

(Also, when I've made tongue-in-cheek dunks on other characters or ships I occasionally get reblogged by people who actively hate those characters/ships and get involved in the shit-flinging, and that's really not my bag. I make shitposts but I want to analyse Buffy as a literary text first and foremost, that's why I keep my Good Writing pinned).

But hey, in the interest of airing turd-covered laundry - here are some of the cheap shots that I have kept from public consumption because I just can't be bothered to deal with the fall out (and I only partially agree with them myself). Enjoy. Or don't enjoy. It's not meant personally.

(The especially bitter one I thought but didn't make where I do the D.E.N.N.I.S system but with Spuffy because the post doing it with Bangel that went around a few weeks ago very much irritated me and is the exact kind of ship-based squabbling and hypocrisy I can't stand).

[monkey-network]

Good Stuff: Best of 2020

I don’t need to say much about how this year sucked. What matters is that if you’re reading this, congrats because you made it through and you’ll know that animation in 2020 has certainly made its marks as much this year as it did the last. Effort was still made to provide some of the best entertainment imaginable, and I’m here to provide the TOP TEN BEST entertainment I’ve experienced and loved this year. With that said, let’s get to it…

10. Sonic Rebuilt

I’ll admit, I don’t like the Sonic Movie. It was not a good film to me & while I’m holding out for the sequel, I genuinely never want to see it again. But like Biden to Trump, the people behind Shrek Retold gave us a reanimated telling of the Sonic 1996 OVA. Like Shrek Retold, it offers a compelling new light to the OVA and while the original is much cleaner, and it’s not the most hype thing to come from Sonic overall, the imaginative cauldron of artists that put into this makes it far more rewatchable. 

9. Central Park

I knew after watching Bob’s Burgers that creator Loren Bouchard would eventually make a musical cartoon and I’m glad I was right. Central Park is a first for me where it’s an animated musical that isn’t a film or only occasional like Steven Universe or Adventure Time and while it isn’t the best plotwise, the numbers themselves were heartfelt and sometimes catchy. There’s a struggle in being episodic and serialized, and it’s a slow burn to connect with the characters, but this was admirable in its experimentation and I’m interested in the direction season two will go.

8. Interspecies Reviewers

The first horny anime I can safely say was never an off-putting or one-note gag fest; that’s gotta count for something. The momentum of this series never truly dies and even when there were a couple times where I just wasn’t feeling it, they pull me back with something ten-fold entertaining. Fresh variety is what I can describe this series at its best, it knew how to keep things going and growing even when it’s otherwise formulaic. All the while, this series never felt tasteless; it really felt structured and gallantly clear-minded in what it wants to show. Plus, it has Crimveal who next to Steven Universe is the best boy of 2020. Of course this show ain’t for everyone but my god, it does so much right for me upon most ecchi stuff.

7. Primal

I wanna believe this was what Genndy Tartakovsky always wanted to make after Samurai Jack ended (well, the 2nd time). This show really exhibits his many techniques in direction, like you can tell this is his work if you’ve seen his other shows. Primal always feels like the culmination of all that’s he towards as a man of animation. Even with the roars and the harsh sounds of violence, this is the only cartoon that never says anything but conveys everything so vibrantly. This admittedly isn’t my favorite piece from Genndy, but it definitely made it’s way to the top three.

6. Team Fabulous 2 Reanimated/Suponjibobu Anime

We got a tie here because these I especially felt brought people together. Suponjibobu brought people together to celebrate Spongebob Squarepants like never before, making it as legendary this year as Mr. Krabs Overdoses on Ketamine. A beginning to a series long in the making and can hopefully go for more as animation on Youtube has certainly delivered. 

The Team Fabulous 2 Collab was where a community came together to honor the creator to one of the most recognized fanworks for a game that has stood the test of time. Like Sonic Rebuilt, it’ll never replace the original but god damn it’s like the stars aligned, especially after we were dealt with another loss this year, where we could appreciate TF2 for the culturally powerful game that it is.

5. Crash Bandicoot, It’s About Time

I’ll say again but this game feels like a dream. A good, fresh looking, fun to play Crash Bandicoot game that feels like the gamiest game this year after all the discourse surrounding Last of Us 2 and plenty other shit surrounding the game industry, Nintendo included. Like, I just gotta appreciate this. It’s by no means the greatest Crash game, the completion journey is horrifying, but my god it was a great game to jump into again and again. It feels like a testament to what Crash can be in the modern era and I certainly want more of it. Bugsnax is objectively game of the year if not Hades, but Crash 4 is my personal GOTY. 

4. Glitch Techs

It’s the gamer equivalent to Men in Black, that’s enough of a seller. From the people behind Fanboy & Chum Chum, it’s genius well-animated, realized, and not immediately dated. It’s a mind-boggling crime Nickelodeon isn’t treating this show better because it deserves recognition as an innovative idea. It does a lot right and it’s a worthwhile action series up there with Rise of the TMNT that’s worth the risk to give it more of an audience as opposed to just thinking it’ll be the next Spongebob. If it’s future is anything, I enjoyed this series and there’s nothing like it.

3. Wolfwalkers

This was an animated film with the most personality to me in a long while, with the most memorable look to it, compelling leads, and animation that really made its mark in the moments that mattered. I’ll agree with other reviewers that, outside Mebh who is the greatest and besterest girl of 2020, it's a simple story but it’s effectively simple. Beside the 3rd act which was noticeably long, the moments flow one after another fluently and you really get the struggle between two immediate friends that are shackled with responsibilities their parents didn’t want to put on them. Like Netflix’s Klaus, it all comes together like a beautifully seasonal tapestry. Worth watching and supporting is the best I can tell you for this film.

2. Elinor Wonders Why

This is my most personal of personal choice for the list; like True and the Rainbow Kingdom, it’s the one that helped pick me up after being in a slump for most of this year. I’ve always had an interest in understanding the fundamentals of nature, and this show encourages thinking about the wonders of science, where something as simple as a feather can make you wonder of its many shapes, abilities, and functionality. It appealed to me in the best way that it does more than represents your existence but deep down represents why you are the way you are with your interests and the flexibility of your outlook. I wish it was number one but it did enough to make the top of this list.

1. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken

I mean what else could be number one? This is the most ‘anime’ anime I have ever seen. The story, characters, and world building are at their most realized. I can’t imagine anyone other than Science Saru, with the based Yuasa, animating this with the style it has. Every episode is an engaging puzzle to every 4th episode where it all culminates with the in-universe final product of our Eizouken trio. It’s so compellingly meta it hurts as I could gush about every single detail that went into this series both in universe and the real behind the scenes. But what makes this the greatest is how nothing feels contrived, everything in this anime exists for something and the obstacles our characters face are things you’d definitely face in you were in there shoes. It’s energy is what really carried me through this year and I can safely say this is one of my all time favorites. And it really says don’t give up believing and working for better things to come, because if art like this can be made nearly flawlessly, it’s always worth carrying on to see something just as great if not greater. That’s why this is a masterpiece to me...

Then again...

[novantinuum]

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 1.6K~

Summary: The question— incomplete, and yet bursting with long-held curiosity— emerges from thin air while he’s about to tuck Steven into bed in the back of the van one night.

In retrospect, no parenting book could’ve ever prepared him for this one.

A Greg and Steven focused fic, set when Steven is freshly four. This is one of those I had on the poll a month or so back, ahah! Finally finished it. Apologies for the wait. The good news is that my list is now whittled down to three non-Crack the Paragon WIPS! Woo! That’s rather exciting.

There’s some brief meta rambles on the AO3 version. If you read this and enjoy, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos/comments on AO3. Thank you! <3

____

“Where’s yours, Daddy?”

The question— incomplete, and yet bursting with long-held curiosity— emerges from thin air while he’s about to tuck Steven into bed in the back of the van one night.

In retrospect, no parenting book could’ve ever prepared him for this one.

“My...?” Smiling encouragingly, he lets the word dangle unfinished in the air for a moment, and gestures to try and prompt the little tyke to continue. “My what, kiddo? My... pajamas?” he says, pointing towards each item his kid bears in succession. “My... stuffed tiger? My very own... tickle monster?!”

In the spirit of good-hearted mischief, Greg tousles his boy’s dark, flyaway curls. When he then moves his hands to tickle his sides, Steven breaks into delighted peals of laughter, squirming nonstop.

“Noooooo,” he giggles breathlessly, batting his small pudgy hands at him to stop the affectionate onslaught. “No tickles, your gem! Like mine! You ‘aven’t never showed it.”

In an instant, the small universe encapsulated inside their van freezes, and he goes momentarily slack-jawed as he struggles to process the words that just came out of his son’s mouth.

“My- w-where’s my gem?”

He lets out a low chuckle at the absurd thought— imagine that, him, having a gem of his own! Where on Earth did his kid acquire this notion? And then... his memory can’t help but drift back to a few hours earlier, when Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl spent a mission-free day with Steven on the beach, surrounded by all manners of summer tourists. Humans coexisting amongst Gems, most entirely nonplussed by their otherworldly appearances. Steven was eagerly padding across the shore in his brand new swim trunks— the pair he received for his birthday just a week ago— the quartz gem at his navel on proud display. Midway through the afternoon, though, the kiddo seemed to become strangely preoccupied by all the human beachgoers. He’d glance at people’s faces, their sternums, their exposed navels, and then scowl in confusion. At one point he excitedly ran up to a dark skinned young woman with hair like Garnet’s to give her a high-five, and returned puzzled, his lips pressed in a thin line. At the time, Greg didn’t understand what all of his bewildered, curious gawking was about, and quietly instructed him not to bother other people. But now, given this latest comment, a theory builds in his mind... oh stars, was he looking for their gems?

Did he somehow assume both from his own and from his frequency of interaction with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl that everyone had one hidden somewhere?

Swallowing, he deliberately makes it a point to mask his nervousness about this topic in front of his impressionable four-year-old child as best he can. Oh, boy. They haven’t had this sort of conversation yet. He always kinda feared it was coming, coursing towards him like a tidal wave faster and faster with each passing moment, but never in a million years did he imagine this moment would be tonight. And now, his tongue dry as a stone in his mouth, he finds himself at a complete loss for words. As best he knows, there’s no one else even remotely like Steven in the entire universe. How does one even convey this concept to their child in terms they’d understand?

Because even if he— ignoring the rose quartz gemstone embedded flush with his skin where a typical kid’s belly button would be— looks the part, Steven isn’t human. That much is obvious. That’s simply a fact. Humans don’t glow as babies. They don’t grow so ramrod still while sleeping that they appear like they’re not breathing at all. They can’t casually lift double their body weight at the tender age of four. Not to mention, in all his years of life thus far, he’s never gotten sick. Never gotten a scrape or cut that didn’t heal up completely in less than an hour. Not once. There’s no way that’s by mere coincidence, Greg muses, there’s gotta be another reason. He’s gotta have some sort of mega-boosted immune system or something, or magically healing cells. No branch of human science can successfully justify the alien nuances of his son’s existence. He just... is. He’s a walking miracle, the light of his life.

Steven’s never been a normal child, that’s for sure.

But how is a father supposed to lovingly and sensitively explain this to innocent ears?

“I, erm- I don’t have one of those, bud,” he says slow, still desperately sorting through his thoughts to figure out what else to say about this.

The kid stubbornly wriggles free from his arms, lifting up the bottom hem of his baggy pajama shirt to showcase the glittering pink gemstone resting at the center of his belly. “But I got one, an’ Amethyst an’ Pearl got one, an’ Garnet, she- guess what,” he says in an attempt at a whisper, wide eyed as if he’s about to impart some sacred knowledge. “She even got two gems!”

“That’s right, she does have two gems!” he nods, only barely holding back his chuckle at the hilarious solemnity of his kid’s proclamation. “But Steven, not everyone has ‘em like you and them. It’s something unique to the four of you. Y’see, they are Gems, just like me and everyone else in town are humans. It’s, um—“ his speech falters as he struggles to find words someone so young could possibly begin to understand— “it’s sorta just who they are.”

The corners of Steven’s mouth turn downwards in an exaggerated pout, and it’s immediately obvious that this blind, clumsy attempt at an explanation didn’t satisfy him one bit. Greg leans back against the inner siding of the van, gently tugging at a strand of his hair as he scours his mind for any potential solutions to this parenting quandary.

Think, think, think... How does one connect this topic to things such a young kid might understand?

“Listen, uh...” he begins again, marked hesitation tinting his voice. “Pearl’s been teaching you about bugs lately, right?”

However, if Steven— bless his heart— happened to notice his heightened nervousness, he sure doesn’t let it show on his face, instead enthusiastically jumping to answer his question.

“Uh-huh!” he nods, and then proceeds to happily babble about what he’s learned, flapping his hands in front of him as he does so. “She tells me all about bumble bees an’ stick bugs, an’ these...” His brow creases as he pauses, combing his memory for the right words. “...fuzzy worms? But they aren’t worms, ‘cause they sleep for really super long and then, then they get wings and fly away!”

He can’t help but smile at his son’s animation about this subject. He soaks up knowledge like a sponge, that’s for sure. Between Pearl and him, they’ve been trying to introduce him to some of the basics lately, stuff kids his age should know. Like reading, and writing, and counting, and music, and basic science. Pearl does the math and science, (those classes were never his wheelhouse in school), and he takes care of everything else. Given, erm... given their kinda strained history, they don’t exactly collaborate on lesson plans, but so far the arrangement seems to be working out okay. Steven’s having fun, at least, which is all that matters in the end.

“Oooh, caterpillars and butterflies, huh?” he says, reaching for the thick blanket folded up against the side wall of the van. “Well, y’wanna learn a cool new thing?”

His son bobs his head, his eyes glittering.

“All those bugs you named?” he begins, unfolding the blanket for the two of them as he goes. “They’re each types of completely different creatures, or, different species, we call ‘em. And humans and Gems, they’re types of species too. And every species has something that makes them unique, different from everything else. You know how all those bugs have special things the others don’t have, like the bumble bees and their stripes, and those caterpillars’ fuzz?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, that’s what it’s like for humans and Gems, too! Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl and you, you all have gemstones, just like yours right here,” he says, tapping a gentle finger over the rose quartz embedded at his midsection. Steven lets out a small giggle at the contact. “That’s your special thing as Gems, something humans don’t have.”

“What’ve humans have?” he asks in curiosity, tilting his head.

Greg purses his lips, his fingers subconsciously massaging the blanket’s rough, time-worn surface as he considers the elements that— from personal experience— he’d consider essential to human life. “Hmm. Well, let’s see... I guess... humans eat, and sleep, and grow from babies all the way until they’re adults. Gems don’t age. They don’t really... do any of that.”

“But I can do that!” he whines, brows creasing.

“Hm?”

“I thought you jus’ said I’m a Gem?”

Greg’s breath stills upon the deliverance of this pointed question, spoken with such youthful innocence, and yet wholly capable of penetrating through every layer of his ill-formed logic. He swallows hard. Once again, he is not prepared. He likely never could be.

His son... oh, his beloved Steven. Without meaning to, he keeps ignoring the inherent humanity that sets this boy apart from the rest of the Gems. He’s similar to them in many respects, yes, but he’s also not. He’s both, but...

He’s also neither.

He’s unique from everyone, his own thing altogether. Something entirely new.

Quite honestly, the best word he can grasp at to describe him is hybrid.

And while at this present moment he has no idea if he’s doing his son a disservice, othering him from the rest of humanity at such a tender age, he figures that he at least deserves to know the truth.

“You’re kinda- uh, both, at once, actually,” he clarifies, these very words acting as a beacon to clarify a wide range of once deep-seeded assumptions in his mind. “Gem and human. You’ve got special things from both sides, how funky is that?”

“Huh.” Steven mulls this new information over, and then flashes a toothy grin. “That's cool!”

[amaximumtastemakercollection]

“These, ah, fruits of the late King Aerys, can they still be used?”

“Oh, yes, most certainly … but carefully, my lord, ever so carefully. As it ages, the substance grows ever more, hmmmm, fickle, let us say. Any flame will set it afire. Any spark. Too much heat and jars will blaze up of their own accord. It is not wise to let them sit in sunlight, even for a short time. Once the fire begins within, the heat causes the substance to expand violently, and the jars shortly fly to pieces. If other jars should happen to be stored in the same vicinity, those go up as well, and so—”

“How many jars do you have at present?”

“This morning the Wisdom Munciter told me that we had seven thousand eight hundred and forty. That count includes four thousand jars from King Aerys’s day, to be sure.”

“Our overripe fruits?”

Hallyne bobbed his head. “Wisdom Malliard believes we shall be able to provide a full ten thousand jars, as was promised the queen. I concur.” The pyromancer looked indecently pleased with that prospect.

Assuming our enemies give you the time. The pyromancers kept their recipe for wildfire a close-guarded secret, but Tyrion knew that it was a lengthy, dangerous, and time consuming process. He had assumed the promise of ten thousand jars was a wild boast, like that of the bannerman who vows to marshal ten thousand swords for his lord and shows up on the day of battle with a hundred and two. If they can truly give us ten thousand …

He did not know whether he ought to be delighted or terrified. Perhaps a smidge of both. “I trust that your guild brothers are not engaging in any unseemly haste, Wisdom. We do not want ten thousand jars of defective wildfire, nor even one … and we most certainly do not want any mishaps.”

“There will be no mishaps, my lord Hand.

(Tyrion V, ACOK)

After reading meta after meta, by Dany neutrals and fake  Dany stans, how Dany is going to be so infuriated that fAegon has stolen her throne, that she will attack King’s Landing, accidentally set off the  wildfire and kill over half a million people in the process, thereby having to sacrifice herself in order to redeem herself for the terrible things she will do, the above passage makes me so angry.

First of all, who says that Dany will even be that bothered about gaining the IT in TWOW or ADOS?  She might have considered the IT a valuable prize to be won in AGOT, when she was relatively powerless, but will Dany see the throne as that  important in the final two books when she has gained three dragons, an Unsullied Army, several mercenary companies and the biggest Dothraki Khalasaar in over one hundred years and has become the most powerful woman in the ASOIAF universe?  And if it is still that important to her, why is she going to get especially angry if fAegon gains the throne.  It’s not as if she feels that any of the current occupants of the throne have any right to it.  She didn’t go flying off the handle and attack them.  Okay, I admit, she wasn’t able to, but she didn’t even threaten it.

Second of all, if King’s Landing does get destroyed, and I have a feeling that it will, who says that Dany will be responsible?  She might be indirectly responsible, because I do believe that it will be the dragons that will burn the city, and she’ll probably feel plenty of guilt about that, but there are plenty of people looking to claim her dragons – people who probably shouldn’t be trusted anywhere near that much firepower.  People like Euron or Victarion.  If either of these two get their hands on Viserion or Rhaegal, it is almost guaranteed that atrocities will occur.

Finally, if KL does get destroyed and there is a huge loss of life, WHY IS NOBODY SAYING THAT FUCKING TYRION SHOULD BEAR A HUGE PORTION OF THE BLAME?

Tyrion knows that wildfire is dangerous, he knows how unstable it, but instead of doing the sensible thing, and trying to find ways of getting rid of the substance, he’s looking for ways to make more.  His use of wildfire at the Battle of Blackwater Bay put the citizens of the city at huge risk, if the wind had blown even a small spark in the wrong direction, then it could have had even more tragic consequences than it did.

And I wonder how many people would have written that Tyrion should sacrifice his own life to redeem himself, if the Battle of the Blackwater had ended in the destruction of Kings Landing.

[sometimesrosy]

Hey, 2 weeks back I asked you about the hate towards Kim by the fandom regarding her past statements and if it's justified or not. You stated that you could at length about this topic but that wasn't the time. Is it okay to talk about that now?

well it’s about racism and this is a delicate time racism wise.

But I’ll just get it out quickly And try to avoid ranting...

I did not avoid ranting. Or rather I don’t think I ranted, but maybe lectured. So it’s going below the jump to hopefully avoid trouble.

They don’t like her because they think she is biased against Bob and Bellamy and For CL and Clarke and the white girls. 

They think she’s a racist because she whitewashed Bellamy and said he had white privilege, when he’s a half filipino man. 

This is true. She did that. 

But she hasn’t done that since. and doesn’t seem to me to be against Bellarke or Bellamy, but rather FOR Clarke. I think Clarke is her favorite and she writes Clarke development regardless of love interest. In this fandom if you focus on CLARKE and not how Clarke feels about Bellamy, it’s considered anti-Bellamy, because many people feel Clarke should only exist in Bellamy’s sphere of interest. She should only be concerned about bellarke and love, rather than leading or her past or personal development. It’s a bit misogynistic.

The part I didn’t want to get into before is that the people who rightly accused Kim of whitewashing Bob and Bellamy and thus, of being racist, are the exact same people who whitewashed me personally, as a mixed race half latina, because they wanted to silence me, keep me from disagreeing with their meta, and not allow me, a mixed race person, to speak about the mixed race characters and interracial ships. I was literally told not to speak over darker skinned people when I talked about my experience as a mixed race person. I was silenced. My identity was erased. I have been called, again and again, a white feminist because I speak of intersections other than black-- like mixed race, or refugees, or people in poverty. 

So without a rant, the people who accuse her of whitewashing are ALSO guilty of whitewashing. And they want to silence me because they don’t want me to say she might have grown since then since they think she is irredeemable. Meanwhile, if I DON’T say people can grow past this kind of ignorance, then they themselves are irredeemable racists. Anti-miscegenation is RACIST and is one of the tenets of white supremacy. White washing  and claiming mixed race relationships are bad is racist. Institutionally. 

Yes colorism in the black community IS involved with this. The idea that lighter skinned people (especially women) are better and more beautiful. And some people’s internalized racism makes them want to choose a white or light skinned partner. THIS IS INTERNALIZED RACISM AND COLORISM AND MISOGYNY. But that doesnt’ mean that light skinned or “white passing” mixed race people are not POC or are instead just white, and don’t count. This is why I didn’t want to talk about it in the first flush of the BLM protests. It’s a struggle within the POC community, about who counts and who gets excluded for not being POC enough. And it sucks.

That is racism. While pointing out other people’s racism, our fandom fell into racism themselves. White washing is racist, no matter who does it. And yes, the POC community does it a lot. As a blanquita who grew up in Harlem and the South Bronx I can assure you it’s real. Also the racism that is against mixed race couples. I saw Raven Symone got married to a white woman this weekend, and half the comments on twitter were about how awesome that she’s in a wlw relationship, and the other half were about HOW DARE SHE MARRY A WHITE WOMAN WHAT A BETRAYAL. So like, this isn’t just me being self centered or well, racist for not supporting black people to the exclusion of everyone else. I’m mixed race. This is me. My identity. Fandom, and leaders in fandom, declared mixed race families inherently racist and therefore inferior. 

This is why I didn’t want to talk about this. Because it’s about the racism within the POC community and is seen as divisive when we are trying to support BLM. There’s a ranking in minority communities, and some people have a more powerful voice within the community. And if you are not part of that dominant community you are expected to support them anyway and they’ll take care of you when the time comes. Although, when we don’t listen to the minority voices and their needs, no one will think to support them, and we end up with things like American Dirt, being supported by Oprah. And realize also that it was written by a partly Puerto Rican, (who had identified as white) writer about Mexican immigrants, so I’m not saying that there isn’t racism WITHIN the lantinx community also. And it’s true that Black people and Indigenous people have suffered the most at the hands of racism in America. Without a doubt. But that doesn’t mean that we, as a POC community are free of our own racism. We aren’t. It’s an issue because we are all raised in this racist society. And perhaps it’s considered a lesser sin when mixed race people or light skinned people are erased from the POC community because they can “pass,” but it’s still racism. And it comes from the people who are supposed to be your allies. It’s like the gatekeeping that happens in the LGBT community against bi and ace people. They are not REALLY LGBT, or they can “pass” as straight so they don’t count. 

Erasure of identity is not a privilege. It is oppression. 

But it’s one of many oppressions faced by POC and other minorities, in a time where black people are being murdered in the streets. So it seems like not the time to deal with it. Although it ALWAYS seems like not the time to deal with it. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be dealt with. 

[forthegothicheroine]

not sure if it’s the kind of fic or meta prompt you want but...Coop as a Van Helsing descendant is so much fun. Vampires are the LAST thing he needs in his life

Great-grandfather Lorrimer had once been given a talk about scaring children.  The proper response to “Great grandpa, are there monsters under my bed?” was apparently not supposed to be “Under your bed?  No.  I won’t lie to you and say they don’t exist.  But they can be fought, and good can occasionally still triumph over evil.”

What would Lorrimer have had to say about Laura Palmer?  She had fought a monster.  She’d refused to let her soul be possessed.  Had she triumphed, or was triumph itself only a bleak ray of hope before inevitable defeat?

Cooper thought about Lorrimer as he turned over the letter in his hand.

I knew your great-grandfather, Mr. Cooper.  He was an extraordinary man.  Although there is not enough room on this paper to explain myself, we were something more complicated than friends, and it broke my heart to read of his death.  I understand you have taken after him in some regards.  I also understand you have found yourself in a bit of trouble.  I flatter myself that I know something of monsters- as Lorrimer used to call life’s obstacles- and I believe I can help.  Suffice it to say that BOB is no friend of mine, and I have no desire to find myself or anyone else trapped in the red room.  If what I’ve said means nothing to you, count yourself lucky and dismiss this as the ravings of an old man.  If it does mean something, reply to the mailing address I have listed.  I believe we can help each other.

-D

[lightsandlostbells]

so, overall, what did you think of season 3 of stranger things?

It took me a while to answer this question because I had to sort out how I felt about this season! I guess if I had to narrow it down to an overall opinion: enjoyable, but very messy. Had some of the series’ best moments but also, while I was watching, I had far more grumbles and gripes than the previous two seasons.

I’ve never really been hung up on whether this show is derivative or plays too into nostalgia or w/e. Plenty of media does that. And despite all the time I’ve spent dissecting micro-expressions and weighty silences in European teen dramas that are filmed for the cost of a candy bar … I am way into genre films and TV shows. I love monsters and superheroes and spectacle! I watched Stranger Things the weekend it premiered because I love ‘80s movies about kids on bikes having adventures, I eat that shit up. So I don’t expect this show to be a hardcore deconstruction and re-imagining of those tropes (though that sounds like a pretty great show), I’m fine with it being what it is: a solid, spooky sci-fi/horror throwback series. What matters most is whether the story and characters work. Personally, I would say whatever criticisms you can make of S1 and S2, they had heart, and unfortunately I think some of that heart was missing from S3. Much of that, IMO, comes from sidelining some of the familial relationships that were at the center of the narrative in S1 and S2, like the Byers family and Hopper & Eleven, and to some degree the important friendships like the party, although there were other friendships introduced in this season so that wasn’t as glaring. It’s not a surprise that one of the best-received parts about this season, Steve and Robin’s friendship, is also responsible for one of the most heartfelt scenes Stranger Things has ever done. 

There was also a way larger emphasis on comedy in S3. Comedy is probably my favorite genre, and I did laugh at a lot of humorous moments in this season. But I also felt like there was more comedy for comedy’s sake, like long sequences created intentionally to make the audience laugh. Whereas in S1 and S2, I can’t remember any scenes like that? The comedy was more understated and came from character personalities and relationship moments rather than joke set pieces. That’s perhaps another reason why S3 felt like it had less heart.

My hope for season 4 - and I am assuming there is a season 4, because apparently this show did mega ratings for S3 - is that they don’t add more major new characters (except love interests for the gay characters, go ahead with those, lol) and instead focus on the existing cast,  which is already a very strong ensemble, yet many of the characters have gotten pushed to the sides. I would love if they added to the episode count: a lot of Netflix series drag out their seasons, like they have enough story for 10 episodes but have to stretch it out to 13, but Stranger Things has the opposite problem. I feel like if they had 10 (or 11, ha) episodes they could have more time for breather moments and more space for character arcs. This season was really fast-paced in my opinion, and although that’s a positive in many respects, I missed a lot of the down time.

Also, I think every season has taken place over like a week maximum, not including the epilogues, and like … you can make the story last longer than a week! Not everything has to go to hell in like a day or two.

Some more specific opinions underneath, obviously lots of spoilers.

First of all, I gotta say, I feel like a weirdo, because so many of the reviews for this season are like A RETURN TO FORM AFTER A DISAPPOINTING SECOND SEASON and UP THERE WITH SEASON 1 NOT THAT CRAPPY SEASON 2 THAT NO ONE LIKED and uhhhh … I liked season 2 just fine? It’s probably my favorite. There are things I don’t like about it, but the stuff I love is stuff I really, really love. Hopper and Eleven’s relationship, for instance. Steve and Dustin teaming up and Steve Harrington becoming a guardian to four children. Those are not just great elements to the series, but directions that I think only a second season could have taken - Hopper and Eleven’s bond wouldn’t have had half the weight if they weren’t established as traumatized, broken people in S1. Steve Harrington becoming a babysitter would not be nearly so delightful if we had not known him as the popular douchebag stereotype from S1 - if he were just a cool dude hanging out with kids from the get-go, the impact wouldn’t be as great. After S1 used Will Byers as a MacGuffin in S1, S2 gave Will a much larger role and that little actor acted his ass off. His performance generated a lot of genuine suspense and chills. There was Sean Astin being lovable! Paul Reiser’s character being a surprisingly good guy! Yeah, there are big flaws in the season, and you can argue it’s too much of a repeat of S1, but to me it was a version of S1 that made the characters more specific and interesting. I’m just … genuinely baffled by how it’s supposed to be demonstrably worse than the others. Because of the Kali episode? I didn’t think that one was terrible, either. I think it broke up the momentum of the chaos at Hawkins Lab, and Kali’s friends were obnoxious, it’s certainly not the greatest writing of the series, but as a whole the episode is like. Fine. It’s fine. It’s mediocre, not atrocious. It’s not the worst thing ever. It doesn’t ruin anything about the story or direction or the series. Most importantly it’s easy to ignore or skip on a rewatch if you don’t like it. The backlash was way overblown.

My biggest disappointment with season 3 was Hopper. Whaaaaaaat. Whaaaat did they dooooo. 

Hopper in previous seasons is a flawed, messed-up human being, but I always knew where he was coming from. When he yelled at Eleven in S2, I still got why he did it. In this season he felt cartoonish. The overprotective paternalistic dad trope is annoying BUT I might have been less bothered had they connected it more to Eleven’s lack of experience with the world, less RAWRRRR KEEP BOYS AWAY FROM MY GIRL. Or if Hopper had not demonstrated like, actual rage toward Mike and we just saw him fuming about it to himself or venting to Joyce, if he was trying to keep that shit under control. (I did laugh at him singing “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” in the car, I gotta admit.)

But his attitude toward Joyce was what really bummed me out. I’m not into this show for shipping reasons, but I low-key enjoyed the possibility of Joyce and Hopper hooking up based on previous seasons. This season felt like they were writing a completely different dynamic for them, one that was much more aggressively obnoxious. I think their intentions were clear - they were going for a Sam-and-Diane relationship, something that was referenced early on in the Bob flashback - but the problem is that their relationship was not like that at all in S1 and S2. When I think of Joyce and Hopper from those seasons, I think about him supporting her after Bob died, or listening to her concerns about her son, or working together to find Will. They didn’t have this combative dynamic! Frankly watching giant-ass Hopper yell at tiny Joyce was viscerally unpleasant. (Side note but in the first trailer there was a shot of Hopper running at the Fun Fair with someone else who I assumed was Eleven, but no, turned out to be Joyce, Winona Ryder is just that tiny next to David Harbour.)

Also, considering this season ended with his death (and we all know he’s not really dead but OK) it’s such a waste that there were few Hopper&Eleven moments! Only the finale brought some quality content on that front. But otherwise their relationship was out of sight, out of mind for almost the whole season, which wasn’t a great choice, both to maximize the emotional impact of the ending, and to expand upon their situation post-S2. I mean, it’s been months since then, how has their relationship changed now? Hopper’s letter talked about the stuff he enjoyed doing with his daughter - why didn’t we see any of that on screen this season? It could’ve helped with the Mike angle, too, like show Hopper and Eleven watching TV together and laughing and having a good time, and then the phone rings and it’s Mike and suddenly Hopper’s watching TV alone as Eleven’s now focused on her boyfriend, we see his disappointment, etc. 

Scoops Troop - Now they were a delight. They had such a ludicrous story but for the most part it worked due to the characters playing off each other and because the writing/acting/directing embraced the silliness. 

Steve Harrington is easily one of the best characters on this show. I fucking love that guy. He’s consistently entertaining, he’s had possibly the best character growth out of anyone in the series, he’s evolved from a stock ‘80s asshole stereotype into someone who’s funny and sympathetic and likable. He’s this amazing blend of the ridiculous with the heroic. Steve and Dustin were great together, as they were last season, and I’m cackling that Steve acquired YET ANOTHER CHILD under his supervision without even trying. But the MVP of the season was the Steve & Robin friendship. Holy shit do I love that relationship. Holy SHIT.

Robin herself is a terrific new character, smart and funny and once you know she’s half-Uma, you can’t unsee it. I was loving her already and then the bathroom scene happened and I YELLED. I was so utterly overjoyed. If they had made Steve and Robin hook up, honestly … I would’ve been fine with it, like this show doesn’t need more heterosexual romance but at least they had a fun dynamic, but man, the friendship angle was so so superior. It’s a type of relationship that media is lacking, and the specific circumstances of this friendship made it genuinely moving to me. I keep wanting to write like a meta post devoted to just this relationship because I just have so many emotions about it! But they play well off each other as a comedic duo and as an odd couple friendship, and they’re really what each other needs, IMO. Steve needed this close friendship more than he needed a girlfriend; in this season he’s clearly adrift and we’ve seen the kind of shitty friends he had in like season one, is Dustin the best pal he had at this point? And I love Steve & Dustin but Steve needed a good friend his own age. Robin is a lesbian in small-town Indiana in the ‘80s, and she was clearly full of fear that Steve would hate her if he knew, and for him to accept her so easily, not even making a big deal about it? That’s kind of life-saving, really. I can’t wait to see more of them, if Netflix wants to make the half-hour Clerks-esque spinoff about them working in a video store and shooting the shit, I would be 100% down for that.

I have some mixed feelings about Erica because I think she could have benefited from getting the same humanization as the other kids (and I’m going to leave the discussion of racial tropes gently by the side at the moment but … yeah). The other child characters are played more like actual people with vulnerabilities, which has been part of the show’s appeal since the first season, and Erica was more like the sitcom kid who always has a snarky quip ready; however, she did make me laugh and I like that they tapped into her being a nerd, I wish they’d explore that in future seasons with the character. “I’m ten, you bald bastard” was one of my favorite lines of the season, I lost my goddamn mind. 

Billy - Lmao, so Billy in S2 was the woooorst. This dude had ZERO redeeming qualities. His abusive dad creates a smidgen of sympathy, I guess, but Billy goes so far beyond normal teenage assholery that it didn’t make a dent in my opinion of him. You can redeem someone like Steve Harrington, first of all because Steve actually feels regret and works to correct his mistakes, but Steve also didn’t go to a point of no return in the first place. Billy did, for me. Physically and verbally abusing his younger sister? Attacking a black middle-schooler for the crime of being in the same room as his white sister? What a piece of shit.

With that in mind - I have no problem focusing on him as a villain this season, I really don’t. It justifies his inclusion in S2 other than as a human antagonist who’s ultimately not really connected to the main plot, as it retrospectively establishes him as an even greater threat in this season. I also think the actor did a good job with the material he was given. However, ultimately this dude’s arc was underwhelming. The thing is … I can tell they were trying to show Billy struggling with the Mind Flayer, but Billy is so lacking in any positive qualities that it’s kind of like, where does that struggle even come from? Yeah, even the worst people aren’t going to be wild about having a monster from another dimension hijack your body and use it to collect people for spare parts, but this is the same dude who was about to run over Mike, Lucas, and Dustin on their bikes last season for absolutely no reason. He beat Steve to point of unconsciousness and could’ve put him in the hospital. He assaulted Lucas. So I really need some evidence of Billy’s moral compass because it is not inherent and there’s in fact plenty of evidence that it doesn’t exist. I’m not very enthusiastic about redeeming a racist, abusive creep, but I also think if you’re going to go for him helping Eleven at the end … you have to show some current potential for goodness, not just “used to be a nice kid.”

A really glaring omission: the lack of any family/home scenes with him, Max, and their parents this season. We left off last season with Max telling him to leave her and her friends alone. How is their relationship since then? Is there still a lot of friction? Is there a tense peace? Has their relationship improved in any way? We really needed to see that follow-up. I get that Max crying over Billy this season makes sense in that he’s still her family and we can still have love for those who hurt us … but I also feel that we needed something between them to justify her pain, like even just the potential of their relationship being a fraction better, or the suggestion that Billy used to be OK to Max before he went full asshole. And I think we really needed to see Billy’s dad being currently abusive in this season - tbh, missed opportunity that the dad didn’t get flayed like, out of revenge (which would have been both satisfying and horrifying), missed opportunities for suspense when we think Billy might serve up Max and her mom to the Mind Flayer, etc.

Another missed opportunity: drawing parallels between Billy and Will. Both are possessed by the Mind Flayer. Both had shitty dads calling them homophobic slurs. Both could be read as gay (I’m not hungry to claim Billy as LGBT representation or invested in this interpretation but his scenes with Steve in S2 admittedly have that sweaty homoerotic dick-measuring vibe, if you want to take it there). Their names are both William, FFS. The difference is that Will is a sweet and gentle kid surrounded by loving family and friends who fought to save him, and Billy is a violent, cruel dude who probably doesn’t have any real friends, just shallow connections. You could show how the Mind Flayer could more easily possess and manipulate someone like Billy, but that wasn’t really explored.

Also, is anyone going to dwell on the fact that like … Max is living with an abusive man as her stepfather? He’s shown hurting Billy’s mom. Does that not concern anyone that he is very likely to attack either Max or her mom? 

Oh, and thank God they didn’t take the Billy/Karen thing all the way. In retrospect, even weirder considering Billy’s mommy issues. 

Joyce - I get that it’s a big leap downward in emotional investment to go from “must save my son” to “fucking magnets, how do they work” but I liked that she had her own investigation that wasn’t full of emotional turmoil. Winona forever. 

Mike - Everyone is ragging on him but I think he was less terrible than people are making him out to be. He was bratty in a teenage way, but he wasn’t the worst kid ever. I didn’t take his now notorious line to Will (“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls”) as something intentionally cruel or homophobic, just something that came out wrong and that he instantly regretted, and he and Lucas did seem genuinely apologetic over the D&D game and went over to Will’s in the rain out of concern. And the reason he lied to Eleven was because SCARY ASS HOPPER threatened him??? Also, his concern over Eleven overexerting herself was not misplaced, lmao! It really took that long for anyone to go, “Hey, should we be worried about the amount of blood coming out of her nose? Should we be concerned about the effects on her brain?” Sure, Eleven has the final say in whether or not she uses her powers, but tbh… she didn’t have a normal upbringing and her view of her powers is probably skewed. Like, would Eleven have enough basic medical knowledge to be worried about brain damage or nosebleeds, or would that just be the norm to her? Is she making these decisions with a full grasp of the potential consequences? Anyway, I don’t have a more negative opinion of Mike after this season. 

Eleven - I loved Eleven a lot in this season. I don’t know if it did a ton for her character arc, but it’s nice to see her slowly develop into more of a normal girl. And the season was rough for her in terms of getting her ass kicked, she goes through so much mental and physical pain! In the end she loses her dad and her powers!

Of course one of the bright spots was her and Max becoming friends! Not gonna lie, there was something a little … simplistic about some of that depiction of friendship for me - just that so much of it was SHOPPING and GIGGLING and BOY TALK, girls being GIRLS, when Max has been portrayed as a tomboy and Eleven is a telekinetic kid raised in a lab, that maybe their interactions shouldn’t have fit the mold quite so much - but it doesn’t truly bother me because they were so sweet and fun. I loved them tracking down Billy together and I appreciate that their friendship carried throughout the season, that Max was the person shown carrying an injured Eleven along with Mike, Eleven comforted Max after Billy died, etc. That was a definite sore spot of S2, the girl-on-girl jealousy and Eleven flat-out rejecting Max’s friendly introduction, and I do think they took that feedback into account for the better here. I also like that Eleven was clearly taking cues from Max, the more “worldly” of the two about boys and clothes and teenage attitudes in general - it gave their friendship a more specific shape.

I cannot WAIT to see her living with the Byers family next season. Like if they don’t spend significant time on that dynamic, it will be the biggest disappointment. There could be 8 episodes of just boring mundane Byers domestic scenes and I would love it, please inject it into my eyeballs, Duffer bros. I want to see her bonding with all of them, trying to fit in at school, attempting the most normal life she’s ever had. Also lmao, she and Will can finally have a goddamn conversation??? I hope they’ve been withholding that relationship because they were planning to go all out with those new sibling vibes in S4. They are the two characters who have been most traumatized by the Upside Down, we deserve to see them connect.

On that note, I have a lot of thoughts about Will in this season! Mainly - underused as FUCK. After all that trauma of being possessed by the Mind Flayer last season, they barely utilize this connection in the second half of S3. Even his Spidey sense hardly came in handy??? Now that was really weird, IMO, because the least they could do was have that feeling alert the others or be useful, but lmao it was practically pointless. 

It’s weird because I’m not sure if they just don’t know what to do with Will if he’s not being a victim (which is stupid because there’s plenty you could do with him), but at the same time, he has one of the most poignant subplots of the season. From the reactions I’ve seen, Will feeling rejected and left out as his friends move on really resonated with a lot of viewers. But then this thread is abandoned after episode 3, for the most part. Will cries and destroys the place that represents his childhood, a place that was created specifically in response to trauma (mentioned in S2 that he and Jonathan built it after their dad left), this is very rich emotional territory … and then the show’s just like ehhhhhh moving on. He’s just hanging out in the background and touching his neck for the rest of the season. 

And now I gotta talk about that other thing with Will.

I am so confused by what the Duffer brothers are trying to accomplish with Will’s sexuality, because on the one hand it seems like they have a really clear idea about it and on the other hand they’re just like¯\_(ツ)_/¯  The thing is … it seems very obvious they have always thought of Will as gay. This is blatant from the original pitch from the show as well as one of the S2 scripts (the only one that’s available publicly, so who knows what else they’ve written). I accept that people have different interpretations, but The Line this season is far from the only textual support for Will being gay, and I think it makes for a much, much stronger narrative if you read Will as gay in addition to not wanting to grow up as fast as his friends and being stunted from trauma - that is an entire meta post in itself, though. 

What gets me about the ~ambiguity is that the Duffer brothers planted the gay hints in the first place! They are absolutely not there by accident! Like I’m not speaking for the teenage actors but lmao, the adults involved in the writing and directing of this series absolutely fucking knew how that “not my fault you don’t like girls” scene would be interpreted, especially considering fans were debating Will’s sexuality from the beginning, based off the many homophobic comments leveled at him in S1. There have been TV shows where fans latched onto gay “subtext” that was likely unintentional, but this isn’t one of them. 

IDK, man, it’d just be nice to have some confidence in where this is going. I loved Robin and the bathroom scene made me think that yeah, they might do a decent job with Will’s sexuality, something I might have doubted before. Under no circumstances do I expect a Skam S3-style coming out arc for Will, but I’m also uncertain if I should expect anything from the show on this front at all or if they’ll play it coy to the bitter end. Though I guess I’d still take the ambiguity over giving him a female love interest after everything. Lol, that would be a giant oh-fuck-no.

Real talk, though, let’s discuss what an utter waste it would be to not write a scene where Joyce tenderly accepts her son when he comes out to her. You really aren’t going to bring that instantly iconic moment to life, assholes? You’re not going to provide that for Winona Ryder’s and Noah Schnapp’s Emmy reels? MAKE IT HAPPEN, BASTARDS.

Nancy and Jonathan have a reputation for the most boring plots but they’re fine, w/e. I’m not deeply invested in their romance but I don’t want to fast forward their scenes or anything. Nancy is an underrated character; she’s extremely proactive and always has been, and I enjoy watching her shoot things. I think the best thing they could do for both characters, though, is to separate them next season, not just physically but storyline-wise. Jonathan would be best in a subplot involving his family, because he’s at his most likable as a son and brother, and Nancy should either go off with Mike (a sibling relationship that is VASTLY undeveloped), or she should team up with Robin. I mean it, Nancy and Robin would be a power pairing, let me show you my manifesto. Both are smart young women who are good at solving mysteries. Would Robin think Nancy is a priss after Nancy unloads several rounds into the latest demogorgon chasing them? Would Nancy find Robin a refreshing alternative to the crushing suburban conformity that she claims to want to avoid? Oh, the possibilities. Meanwhile, Steve tags along in the background, all like OH SHIT, my lesbian BFF and my ex-girlfriend are in cahoots! 

Lucas and Max were playing relationship counselors to Mike and Eleven through much of the season. Max still had a fair amount to do, but Lucas needs a meatier subplot next time. I feel like they’re not sure what to do with him? I would like to see him and Erica interact more since their dynamic so far is one-note. 

There is one hell of a conversation to be had about the Evil Russians of this season, but I’m really not the person to do it. 

Also about the depiction of capitalism this season. That’s more thinkpiece-y than I am equipped to do right now. 

The product placement is something that should bother me more but I’m just like … shrug. Except that New Coke bit because that was an actual mood-breaker. 

Could have done without Russian Terminator guy. That was a blatant ‘80s homage so I get why he was there, he just wasn’t all that interesting. And was that guy supposed to be superpowered or something? Was he getting jacked on Upside Down steroids???  What was his deal???

Alexei/Murray was the true OTP of the season, let’s be real.

The trend of lovable, doomed minor characters continued with Alexei. Props to that actor for making you root for the guy. He even made me kind of love Murray? I was very WTF over that guy encouraging two teenagers to fuck in S2, and I’m still not into his habit of telling people to bang even when they’re adults, but I guess he just needed a sympathetic Russian buddy to win me over. 

There were a ton of moments where I felt like the characters made stupid choices as opposed to earlier seasons. Will getting dragged into the Upside Down in the first 10 minutes of the series is an impressive example of a horror movie character doing everything right and making good decisions - a 12-year-old, no less. And he was still overpowered by the demogorgon so it’s not like making good decisions will always save you! Whereas this season I was like LORD some of these characters are drinking dumbass juice. 

There was also so much silly stuff happening, like things that are even more far-fetched than previous seasons, but I just kind of went with it. Yeah, of course there’s a secret Russian base under a shopping mall. Sure.

This season is objectively disgusting in terms of gore and yet I was fine with it? And I’m someone who was repulsed by Barb’s corpse in S1. The Mind Flayer being made of people was some nasty shit but effective horror. I felt bad for the poor little rats :( Oh, and the flayed humans, too. Some of them. Was sad to see Mrs. Driscoll bite it but FUCK those cartoon misogynists from the newspaper. 

Visually beautiful! Starcourt Mall is an amazing set and I’m rather sad that the mall was destroyed, although that was basically a foregone conclusion. Some great cinematography, too. On a purely aesthetic level I had a great time just blasting this season into my retinas.

I have had the motherfucking NeverEnding Story theme song in my head for almost two weeks and I’m suffering.

[hannah-writes]

Leaving so soon? - A Cinematographic Breakdown - Part of The Semiotics of Roswell Meta

Though this isn’t image heavy, it’s pretty wordy, so I’m gonna hide it behind a cut to save your dash (after a teaser, of course)

1:06 "Leaving so soon?"

We start this on a wide shot with Michael at the very edge of the screen, larger than life in comparison to the wide, open backdrop behind him. Alex's voice comes in from off-screen and we see Michael looking to the left-hand side of the frame, where we can only assume Alex is.

The camera slowly zooms out a little, pans to the left and brings us to the framing we're familiar with: Michael on the left, Alex on the right. Michael braces himself against the truck and we see it become almost a defensive barrier - like Max's chair in the earlier shot. It's kept between him and Alex, they're almost opposite sides of the truck bed, at least that's how it looks when we're on Michael's POV. Since we know their last encounter ended in a less than warm and fuzzy way and certainly with no post-coital feels, it's easy to consider the use of the truck as a barrier. The audience sees what appears to be the other side of the truck bed from this angle, which confirms the idea that Michael might be using it to keep himself distant from Alex.

Alex, at 1:11, is shown to be standing opposite Michael and he isn't in his Airman uniform. There is, however, between them (since Michael's arm is in the right-hand side of the shot which totally counts) a trio of military people (I'm assuming Air Force but someone more knowledgeable can correct me if I am wrong). This little visual wedge becomes much more important later on when we get introduced - properly - to Jesse Manes, but it's started to be shown visually here, with the Airmen between our Malex lovers.

1:12 "I hate how it ends"

We can see that actually, though Michael is definitely using the truck as a shield his body language is definitely not hiding. He's leaning forward over the edge of it, and we can see from where the camera's behind Alex that Alex has moved closer, he's not on the opposite side of the truck. Not only has Alex sought Michael out again, but he's making a concession by stepping closer, around the edge to the back of it so that he's closer. It means there's just the corner of the truck between them and that means nothing in spatial terms. Alex has moved closer. When we're thinking about Malex and their communication styles, they communicate through touch and body language because honestly, they suck at words.

'leaving so soon?' becomes 'stick around and spend some time with me?' it becomes something close to a date where Alex wants to sit with Michael publically. It's 'I'm not ashamed of you, like you might have thought in the Airstream'. It becomes 'I'm not ashamed to be seen with you'.

'Seen it before, hate how it ends' becomes 'you've left before, you'll leave again', it becomes, 'i'm worried you won't stay'. It becomes 'prove me wrong'.

Alex and Michael communicate just off-centre to each other, they circle around the point without ever actually using the words and this is made clear in the dialogue but also in the slightly off-centre framing, the way the whole scene feels a little cluttered. Alex is boxed in by a giant red van, the open landscape behind them is small - which is never normally is - when viewed behind Alex and the Airmen.

1:12 is a mid-shot on Michael showing his upper body and the bed of the truck, but when we cut back to Alex at 1:14, it's clear on his face that he gets the subtext of what's being said. Michael's words hit him square in the face. We as an audience can see Alex's brain working in the flick of his tongue over his lip, the way he presses it against the inside, the way he takes a split second to re-evaluate what he had decided to do before his eyebrows go (ugh, Tyler's eyebrows deserve an IMDB credit all of their own, fight me) and he makes his mind up. He moves forward as he talks, it's decisive and he's not asking. Alex doesn't ask questions, not really, he makes statements, he acts.

1:18 "I'll tell you what, I'll split this sixer with you if you let me watch from here."

The camera shifts from a focus solely on Alex to another mid-shot, where we Michael and Alex in the frame together. Michael's on the right and Alex is centre left. This is an action shot, though, as they don't really stay still. He moves to the left of the screen to unhook the back of the truck and flatten it so they can sit down and he isn't taking no for an answer. Michael hasn't moved, and at 1:21 we jump to a wider shot, from the edge of the truck and we're back into that quasi-voyeuristic viewing pattern for this single shot, peeking around the cabin to look over the back to see Michael and Alex interacting.

The wideness of this shot helps to emphasise the two of them in their space, again, this time though it's the low angle over the truck that makes the truck bed - and Malex's position relative to it - seem much bigger, like a vast gap between them that's breached only by actions, as words fail them all the time.

Make no mistake, this is a date. Or Alex is trying to make it a date. He's just not good at Wording.

1:25, Alex has unhooked the back of the truck and sat down, still not waiting for Michael to have said that it's okay. He has a point to prove. A 'hate how it ends' to disprove. He has to show Michael with actions that he wants the same thing that Michael does, that they're on the same page. One of the things that's really potent about Malex is that they don't often have a steady camera, the camera moves with them even when they're in close up shots, with the exception of back-and-forth conversations, of which we haven't seen many. The camera, in many ways, is our way of viewing the current phase of Malex's relationship. We see Alex sitting down on the left side of the truck, but in the middle of the screen. At 1:28 we flick to Michael (Michael, do you know how to button up shirts? Seriously, some of us are trying to concentrate here), a mid-shot where he's also more centred than he is anything else. He's unsure, and it shows on his face. At 1:30 there's a cut to Alex, closer than before. There are Airmen again on the right-hand side of the screen doing a little bit of foreshadowing, and he, too, looks like he's possibly thinking this wasn't the best idea. We get a Tyler Jaw Tick as he waits for Michael to make a decision, looking boyish and uncertain for the first time since we've seen him in this section.

1:31 drops ups back to that voyeurism shot; we're peeking in on them from a distance, from the safety of the truck. Michael slowly grabs a bottle of beer and moves around the truck - away from where he's been using it to protect himself from Alex - and plops himself down on the right-hand side. They're not touching, they're not close enough to touch, but they're sharing a small space in a wider shot. Where most of their other shots have had people in them or around them (or between them in the background), this wide shot has nothing in between then, nothing that's preventing them from being together under the open sky and looming screen.

1:39 we close up on Alex again, beaming like a kid at Christmas as the camera bobs in time with Michael literally plonking himself on the tailgate (is that what it's called?). The Airmen are still in that shot, but they're blurred and not well framed, Alex is the focus, Alex's brightness, the way he smiles all teeth and joy as Michael sits down and understands what he was trying to say.  The almost bashful way he looks away with such a huge, alive smile does things to my heart, you guys.

1:41 we see Michael who's looking at Alex, but then glances away with what seems to be a soft laugh and a half-smile, and we see Airmen in ACUs walking around, blurred, even as Michael shakes his head and lifts the beer to his lips. Malex is back to their left-right dynamic here, with Alex taking up almost half of the frame even though Michael's the one we're currently focused on. We're back to a familiar dichotomy: Alex dominates a lot of the shots of Michael which is indicative in and of itself as to how much of a presence Alex is to Michael.

Though this next bit isn't exclusively Malex, it's still important for us to analyse. At 1:44 we see Jesse Manes for the second time, but this is the first time we see him interacting with others in any meaningful manner. There's a small kid playing with a gun and Jesse Manes interacts with him like a gentle adult, he's playful, like an adult gently and playfully interacting with a little person. At 1:53, he turns away as he's saying 'you got me' for the second time and the bright adult-to-kid tone's already dropping out of his voice. It does, however, set him up initially as a likeable figure, kind to children and smiling, enjoying the event.

Alex comes in from the right with a bitter and sarcstic "heartwarming" and is moving across the frame with no intention of stopping. The camera's fixed in a mid-shot. We then cut at 1:54 to a wide shot with Jesse in the centre of the frame and Alex walking away to the left. We're set back from this, an observer of what - at this point - might be a casual interaction, the cars in the foreground emphasis how far away we are from what's happening, how detached.

1:56 After Jesse Manes has called 'Hey' at the 1:55 mark, we swing into a mid-shot over Alex's shoulder, and the camera steps around to his right as Jesse moves up into his space with "maybe you'd better call it a night". We then focus on Alex's face; everything focuses on him. Jesse is slightly taller and at 1:59 though we're focused on Alex, Jesse dominates the shot.

2:06 Following Jesse's dig at Alex learning how to properly represent his country, the camera swings to the left, and we look over Alex's shoulder as he does, at Michel, sitting small and alone on the back of his truck. The frame's split then, Michael's the focus of Alex's attention, and ours, but also of Jesse Manes. We don't know why that's dangerous right now but at 2:07 before he turns back to his father, you can see Alex's mind working to try and handle this, to complete damage control on the situation before it gets worse. It's only a second before he's turning back around and even then he's crowded into the corner of the shot, whereas Jesse's in the middle, broad-shouldered and tall.

2:10 "Do I embarrass you, Dad?" The camera angle is slightly up, emphasising the height difference. Alex looks angry, which - fair point he should be, from what we know upon a rewatch it's more than evident that Alex is probably a little panicked, too, that Michael's back under the scrutiny of the man who Did That Thing to Michael in the toolshed. The best defence is a good offence, so this is a one-two step to try and put himself in a position of control in the conversation, however it doesn’t work as Jesse turns what should have been a jab to make Jesse say ‘of course not’ (which, since he was kind of set up as a Good Person in his interaction with the kid is what we might expect, is a surprise to the audience when we get something entirely different) is turned around in a heartbeat and used against Alex to make him doubt himself. We see Jesse Manes getting into Alex’s head here (more below).

Can I also say that the derisive smirk-snort at 2:11 makes my blood boil? It's so dismissive, like Jesse is automatically discounting anything and everything Alex might want to or have to say as irrelevant.

2:15 We've got another wide shot of Alex & his father on the left and Michael on the right. Jesse's leaning into Alex's space, dominating it (which, also, abusive father, fair) as he speaks, patronising and slick as honey, telling Alex that he's not letting his father down, he's letting himself down. It's a behaviour not too dissimilar to gaslighting; what's Alex thinking, being with someone who gets arrested all the time? Who's got a criminal record. Doesn't that just invalidate all of Alex's time in the service?

So the framing and acting choices in the conversation from 2:15 -  2:24 are interesting. We switch from Jesse to Alex in a shot-for-shot switch. When Jesse lists Alex's accomplishments "decorated, purple heart airman with three deployments under his belt" Alex's head is up, but when we switch back to Alex again and Jesse's talking about Michael, though the distance and framing hasn't changed (Jesse is still crowding the shot, dominating Alex's space), Alex's head is down, his chin is lowered and he's no longer looking straight forward, it's like he's looking down and processing the information, eyes dropping lower as Jesse lists Michael's criminal history "arrested once a week for gambling and bar fighting". (I have a personal headcanon that Alex feels guilty and responsible for the downfall of Michael's life after The Hand Incident, and so this probably just feeds into that even more). It’s in the downward tilt of Alex’s chin, the way his eyes drop and the way he stays still afterwards - after that final verbal punch from his father, turning his own words against him - that we see where Jesse’s slid into Alex’s head. 

It's here, and when we move to the end of this section "seems to me the only one you're embarrassing is yourself, son" we pull back to a wide shot (2:27) and Alex is left alone for a moment and though he's surrounded by people, the distance of the shot and the immediate aftermath has Alex looking small, especially since he turns his head to look after his father when he leaves the shot.

The music underlying the conversation is low and ominous, subtly underpinning the conversation in a way that is uncomfortably intrusive, pulsing in time with the way that Jesse moves. It adds an extra layer to his words which already feel like they have extra weight to them that, as an audience, we're not fully aware of at this point.

TL;DR in this section we learn that the Airforce has a hand in driving a wedge between Michael and Alex, though we're not a hundred percent sure why at this point, and that Jesse Manes is a Bad Force, or at the very least, he Doesn’t Like Michael and he’s a massive influence in Alex’s mind.

[ao3feed-bakudeku]

by Vusellii7

Vusellii Johnson. She's a wild child, a force to be reckoned with, but a really fun person to be around. That's what most people think.

Well, most people who aren't Bakugou. He calls her "Thottie" on a daily basis because, well, according to him that's what she is. That's because Vusellii does as she pleases yet STILL manages to stay on the good side of almost everybody--everyone who isn't stubbornly angry all the time like Bakugou, or too tired to deal with her horny teenage bullshit like Mr. Aizawa. She's a rebel without a cause, unless you count her weird drive to "get some dick" before the end of 2019. He doesn't get her. Some days he wishes he understood what makes her tick.

'Just what the fuck does this bitch think about?' He wonders.

It's no surprise that he ends up resenting his curiosity not long after.

Words: 3168, Chapters: 1/10, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Underage

Categories: Gen

Characters: Original Female Character(s), Bakugou Katsuki, Todoroki Shouto, Kaminari Denki, Kirishima Eijirou, Midoriya Izuku, Aoyama Yuuga, Ashido Mina, Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead, Original Male Character(s), Uraraka Ochako, Shinsou Hitoshi, Iida Tenya, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Yagi Toshinori | All Might, Dabi (My Hero Academia), Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Monoma Neito, Midoriya Inko, Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru, Asui Tsuyu, Kayama Nemuri | Midnight, Fukukado Emi | Ms. Joke, Amajiki Tamaki, Toogata Mirio, Hadou Nejire, Chisaki Kai | Overhaul, Eri (My Hero Academia), Tokoyami Fumikage, Ojiro Mashirao, Yaoyorozu Momo, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Todoroki Fuyumi, Todoroki Natsuo, Yamada Hizashi | Present Mic, Toga Himiko, Hagakure Tooru, Satou Rikidou, Shouji Mezou, Sero Hanta, Koji Koda, Kuroiro Shihai, Shiozaki Ibara, Kaibara Sen, Tokage Setsuna, Kendou Itsuka, Tsunotori Pony, Yanagi Reiko, Honenuki Juuzou, Kamakiri Togaru, Tsuburaba Kousei, Rin Hiryuu, Yoarashi Inasa, Utsushimi Camie, Shishikura Seiji, Shindou You, Nakagame Tatami, Hatsume Mei, Kan Sekijirou | Vlad King, Sakamata Kuugo | Gang Orca, Awata Kaoruko | Bubble Girl, Sasaki Mirai | Sir Nighteye, Takeyama Yuu | Mount Lady, Toyomitsu Taishirou | Fat Gum, Takami Keigo | Hawks, Tatsuma Ryuuko | Ryuukyuu, Mizushima Masaki | Manual, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Tsuchikawa Ryuuko | Pixie-bob

Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku/Original Female Character(s), Bakugou Katsuki/Midoriya Izuku, Jirou Kyouka/Yaoyorozu Momo, Ashido Mina/Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina/Uraraka Ochako/Original Female Character(s), Hatsume Mei/Iida Tenya

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon, POV First Person, Bisexuality, Denial of Feelings, Promiscuity, Angst and Humor, Attempt at Humor, Love Triangles, Love Confessions, Unrequited Crush, Hypersexual Original Character, pop culture references, slightly meta, Explicit Sexual Content, Implied Sexual Content, Explicit Language, Class 1-A Shenanigans (My Hero Academia), House Party, Modern Era, Slang, Bakugou Katsuki is a Little Shit, Nicknames, Flirting, Original Character Has a Quirk (My Hero Academia), Original Character Has Two Quirks (My Hero Academia), Telepathy, Astral Projection, Wet Dream, Past Sexual Assault, Past Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Sex Addiction, Inappropriate Behavior, Inappropriate Humor, Teenage Drama, POV Female Character, Flashbacks, References to Other Anime Characters, References to Canon, Semi-Canon Timeline, My Hero Academia Season 4 Spoilers, Mid-season 3, pre-season 4, still working out the details, WINGING IT, Don't Have to Know Canon, Out of Body Experiences, Recreational Drug Use, vulgarity, Virgin Original Female Character, Loss of Virginity, Teasing

[lady-divine-writes]

Coldflash - “Not All Endings Are Happy, but We'll Give it a Shot” (Rated PG13)

Summary: Len is going through some changes - big changes. But instead of facing them in Central City, he's running away - from his life, and from Barry. Barry doesn't mind Len running ... as long as he can go with him.

Written for the @coldflashweeks Valentine’s Day Exchange, and @sparroet prompt 'A merfolk au. It can be either or both of them. Something with a happy ending preferred'. I actually wrote both prompts given, but the other story is turning into a monster, and it isn't ready yet. It'll go up when it's done :)

Read on AO3

“You runnin’ again?”

Len, shirtless at the end of this weathered grey and abandoned dock, stops undressing at the sound of Barry’s voice. Len hadn’t heard him approach, too focused on making plans to pay attention to what might be sneaking up behind him. But he also couldn’t care less. Because if it wasn’t Barry - if it was another meta out on the take, or some rival back from the dead looking for revenge - that might solve his problems for him.

But no. It would have to be Barry.

It’s always Barry.

Len shakes his head and rolls his eyes at Barry quoting his least favorite movie of all time – X-Men. That was the movie they saw together the first time Len ever hid out at Barry’s place. Barry thought Len would like it. He figured since Len talked like a comic book villain, he might be into it. But Len hated it. He hated the story, the plot, the reformulation of the characters and the weakening of their origin stories. Basically, the franchise sucks in Len’s opinion, but that’s besides the fact.

Barry chose a quote from that movie to irk Len.

And to prove a point.

Barry knows Len hates that movie because Barry knows Len, inside and out. Not just the big ticket items – the things that any Tom, Dick, and Harry can find on a rap sheet, during a Google search, or splattered on the front page of newspapers across the country, but the tiny, arguably insignificant things as well.

Barry knows that Len’s favorite color was blue long before he ever got his cold gun.

He knows that Len’s favorite cake flavor is German chocolate, even though he eats red velvet now.

He knows that Len’s routine is like a religion to him, that diverting from it tends to set him back a few days.

He knows that Len’s a bit on the obsessive side when it comes to how he keeps his things and where.

He knows how Len takes his coffee – black with a heaping dash of whiskey.

He knows that Len became a pescetarian a few months or so ago (which should have been a huge clue that something was up), even though his diet mostly consists of French fries and beer.

He knows why Len wakes up at night drenched with sweat and panting as if he’d been drowning in his sleep, his head forced under water until his chest is about to explode, then yanked out in the nick of time, long enough to get a single taste of fresh air, just to be plunged again.

Barry knows whom in those nightmares is playing Russian Roulette with Len’s air supply, whose sinister laugh Len hears ringing in his ears before Barry’s voice seeps in and rouses him from his sleep.

Barry knows these things because they’re the things a lover would know.

But the biggest secret Len has been carrying - a secret he’d kept from his sister, his partner, his team on the Waverider - Barry didn’t discover until recently. Which is one of the reasons Len has yet to turn around and face him. Because Len knows that the eyes staring through the back of his neck are filled to their lightening depths with hurt over him keeping it for so long.

Len could use it to get what he wants, to make Barry go away, but he cares too much about him to exploit that.

Barry is right, of course. Len is running. And since he recognizes it’s a dick move, especially after sticking around this long and allowing Barry to make assumptions that he hadn’t reconciled with, he’d hoped he could slip out of Central City without Barry noticing.

No such luck, but at least he gave it a shot.

“Sorry, Red,” Len says, back turned to the man he never wanted to say goodbye to. But that’s why he has to. Barry has become more than a lover. He’s become an anchor, someone Len has begun to rely too heavily upon. That makes Len weak. And Len can’t afford weaknesses. “Time’s up. You know the motto. One and done.”

Barry scoffs. “Yeah, well, one and done was about six years ago, so don’t give me that crap.”

“I know. That’s why I have to go. Gotta stop throwin’ plans out the window until I end up behind bars … permanently.”

“But why would you end up behind bars?” Barry moves forward, stepping carefully along the worn wood of a dock so old it shouldn’t be able to support their combined weight. “You gave up robbing ATMs.” He glances at Len’s cold gun, sitting at Len’s feet, wrapped tightly in some sort of plastic cocoon and ready to go … like its owner. “Didn’t you?”

“Yes, Red. I gave it up,” Len groans, sliding his pants down his legs, taking his underwear with it, mildly concerned about what Barry thinks when he looks at him now. You can’t tell what he is when his skin is dry, can’t see the scales that erupt up his legs like gooseflesh if he even so much as thinks of water, nor the excruciatingly painful fusing together of his bones when they become a single fin. Isn’t that how the fairytale goes? The mermaid gets to have legs as long as she stays on dry land, but the second she touches water, she turns into a fish.

As it turns out, those fairytales may have been documentaries.

Only then does he realize he’s thinking of the movie Splash and groans again.

He’s getting too old for this crap.

“So, why are you leaving?” Barry asks, using his voice to conceal two more creaky steps.

“To save you the trouble.”

Barry takes another step, but Len does, too, dropping over the side of the dock and into the water. Barry rushes to the edge, determined to have his say before his boyfriend swims off and leaves him. He scans the calm, dark water, counting the seconds until his boyfriend emerges. There’s no guarantee that he’s going to. Even with his cold gun and his duffel waiting for him at the end of the dock, there’s a fifty-fifty chance that Len said, “Eff this,” and took off without them. That thought makes Barry’s heart hurt. He knows for a fact that STAR Labs can whip up something that will help Barry track Len under water, but the fact remains …

… if Len left Barry behind, he doesn’t want him to follow.

Caught between racing back to the lab and jumping in after him, the subtle sound of splashing grabs Barry’s attention and he sees Len’s head bob to the surface a few feet away, the bulk of his body shrouded by the water. Barry smiles, relieved that he has a chance to change Len’s mind. His voice trembles with it, but he can blame that on the chill air.

“J-jeez! If you’d told me this was a pity party, I’d have brought a cake. Maybe some streamers.”

“Nice one.” Len wipes a hand over his shaved head and down his face – a hand covered in silvery-blue scales. They catch what sunlight diffuses through the clouds and wink at Barry, and Barry can’t help thinking how beautiful they look, how delicate, how ornate – such a stark contrast to his stern, rough-around-the-edges Leonard Snart.

“You know, there isn’t a place in the world better equipped to deal with metas than STAR Labs.”

“Thanks but no thanks. I’m not interested in becoming a part of your little aquarium.”

Barry chuckles. “Interesting choice of words.”

“I’d rather deal with this on my own.”

“And what exactly qualifies you to do that?”

Len sighs, this witty banter that has become the heart of their relationship, suddenly exhausting to him. This confrontation wasn’t part of his plan. But then, when it comes to Barry, most of Len’s plans fizzle into obscurity anyway. “I don’t think your friends down at STAR Labs would be too happy about accepting me into the fold, do you?”

“Well, you have been an ass to most of them …” Barry stops and looks thoughtfully up at the sky “… all of them, but I think, considering your turn around, they might be willing to overlook it.”

“Bullshit.”

“Au contraire. See for yourself.” Barry reaches into the back pocket of his jeans and pulls out a crimson tube, plain except for the familiar yellow lightning bolt that’s stamped on every piece of Flash tech. Len, against his own better judgement, swims closer, pulled by his curiosity … and his reluctance to leave. Barry pinches an edge of the cylinder between his thumb and index finger and gives it a hard shake. It pops open, immediately quadrupling, continuing to expand in size.

“What … is that?” Len asks, brows cinched together as the object transforms.

“This is a prosthetic tail,” Barry says proudly, holding it up higher so Len can get the full effect. “Otherwise known as a Flash Fin.”

“A … Flash Fin?” Len props himself up on the lip of the dock to examine the material, which looks like a cross between the same fabric Barry’s suit is made of and actual fish skin. And while he does, Barry examines Len. Scales, like the ones on his hands, dot his flesh in odd places like freckles, but they also travel in distinct paths up his arms to his elbows, down his spine from the nape of his neck to the curve of his tailbone, and cap his shoulders. They bring a new and exciting definition to Len’s body, putting emphasis on bones and joints instead of muscle, protecting him like armor.

Streamlining him for speed.

There’s something about that in particular that makes Barry’s skin sizzle straight to his blood.

“A-ha,” Barry says. “Cisco made it.”

“Named it, too, I bet.”

Barry shrugs. “It was kind of a group effort.”

“It’s grotesque,” Len declares, pushing off the dock and dropping back into the water.

“Harsh.”

“And what, pray tell, is it for?”

“I think you know what.”

Len locks eyes with Barry. Yeah, he knew, but he wanted to give Barry the opportunity to back out of it. “The answer’s no, Red.”

“I’m not asking.”

“You can’t come with me. We’ve talked about this before.”

“Not enough, if you ask me.”

“I told you everything I know! We went to this freaky version of Earth that was all water, I fell in, and got bit by a … a something. After that, this happened.” Len lifts his arms out of the water for emphasis. “I didn’t find out until we were home. And the time signature of that Earth? Lost for some reason. Possibly even destroyed. No way back. What else is there to talk about?”

Barry hears the bitterness in Len’s voice and he understands. Without access to that other Earth, there’s almost no chance of them finding out what happened to Len, or how to reverse it. Not unless he gives himself over to STAR Labs for testing. But coming up with a cure? That could take months, possibly even years, if ever. If the ‘fish fry process’ (as Cisco calls it) has mutated Len’s DNA for good, there may be no going back for him. And then all that time spent in the lab would have been for nothing.

But there’s another wrinkle to this whole situation. The crew of the Waverider didn’t encounter the inhabitants of ‘water Earth’ aside from Len’s attacker, and Len never saw the creature that bit him. The only evidence they had was the bite mark - jagged and made from pointed teeth, like a shark’s. There’s a chance that the inhabitants of water Earth aren’t like the half-human/half-fish incarnations of their Earth’s folklore, but completely scaled aquatic monsters, void of a discernible language, society ...

… or sentience.

They won’t know for sure until Len becomes one.

“When you met me, I was already the Flash,” Barry says. “I was known – my strengths, my weaknesses, how I became that way. And yet, we’re still learning about my abilities, my limitations. We know nothing about what’s happening to you. I don’t even know how you feel about it.”

“You belong here,” Len says, swiftly avoiding that subject. “Central City needs their superhero.”

Barry frowns at Len’s dodge. “Maybe. But I deserve a little vacation time. I think the team has things pretty well handled here. And if anything big comes up, I can be back …”

Len smirks. “… in a flash?”

“I was going to say a couple of minutes, but, whatevs. Where are you headed anyway?” Barry asks with another glance at Len’s gun, the weapon an even more sinister presence the more Barry considers its possible purpose.

“You’re always on my case about doing good deeds here on this Earth, so I thought I’d pull an Arthur Curry – become an environmental activist. Take the old cold gun up to Antarctica and fill in that Manhattan-sized hole in the glacier.”

Barry raises an eyebrow, not entirely sure Len’s not kidding. “That does sound noble. It also sounds like a big job. Maybe a little too big for one man. You might need some backup.”

“Backup?”

“Leopard seals, man. I hear they’re … vicious.”

Len blows out a sarcastic laugh. That’s his Barry, beating dead horses and never knowing when to take a hint. “Why are you doing this, Red? Why do you always have to make things harder than they need to be?”

“I want to help you through this.” Barry kneels on the dock, trying to get as close as he can to Len without pushing him away. He curls his fingers into the wood, fighting the urge to reach out and touch him, to grab him back before the swells pull him out of reach. “I want to help you the way my friends helped me. I want to help you find a solution to whatever’s going on with you. I don’t … I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Don’t want me to be alone, huh?” Len rolls his head on his neck in annoyance, his smug grin becoming a grimace. “I don’t need your pity!”

“I’m not pitying you!” Barry snaps, knowing he’s lying a little, knowing he’s bad at it.

Len meets Barry’s gaze, stares him down. “Then try again.”

Barry hears the wood beneath his hands complain, the tips of his fingers sinking in like it’s made of sand. “Okay, how about this: at heart, I’m a selfish, terrible excuse for a superhero, who’s tired of being at everyone’s beck and call, but who can’t seem to save the people in my life that I care about! The people who really matter to me! And if this … this … whatever it is …” Barry gestures in Len’s direction “… is going to take you away from me, and you’re too pig-headed and stupid to get help, then I’d rather spend as much time with you as I can, because, to be honest, I don’t know what my life is going to look like without you in it, so I don’t want to find out what that’s going to look like today!”

That final word echoes off into the distance, leaving a tense silence behind. Len doesn’t say anything, floating in quiet observation of Barry Allen, leaning so far over the edge of the dock, one stiff wind would push him in. Threads of electricity circle his fingertips, bouncing arcs off the surface of the water. But Len’s not afraid of being electrocuted.

He’s afraid he’s about to make the worst decision of his life.

“If I told you to go home, would you go?” he asks.

“No,” Barry answers quickly.

“What if I told you I was hoping you’d keep an eye on Lisa for me while I’m gone?”

“Cisco’s got that one handled. She’ll be fine.”

“I’ll bet,” Len mutters, dipping under the water – a new habit he’s developed when he needs a second to think. “What if I told you I didn’t want you?” Len swallows hard. “If I told you I didn’t love you? Would you leave?”

“No,” Barry says, the reality of those words burning his eyes. He doesn’t think Len is talking about now, but about some point in the future, when he might turn into something undefinable, something so far from human, it isn’t even Len anymore.

Something that doesn’t recognize Barry as the man he loves.

But that’s a chance Barry is willing to take, as long as they take it together.

Len nods. Then he grins. “So, you’re a selfish asshole, huh?”

“I never used those words exactly,” Barry says, prying his fingers out of the now splintered wood, “but that’s the gist of it. Yeah.”

“I guess I can live with that. Toss me my stuff, will you?”

“How about I toss you the duffel, and I take the gun?” Barry shoves Len’s abandoned clothes into the neoprene duffel, then adds his own shoes, socks, and jeans after he undresses. Len watches in amusement, slightly annoyed that Barry didn’t have the decency to go commando if he was going to crash this escapade.

At least he’s wearing a Speedo.

“Not a chance.” Len leaves the bag to Barry and snags the gun off the dock before his boyfriend can confiscate it. “What do you say, Red. Do you think you can keep up with me?”

“I’m offended you’d even ask that question.”

“Oh, and another thing.”

“What’s that?”

“That creepy tail? It stays here.”

Barry looks at the fake fin he was preparing to slip on over his legs, disappointed that he doesn’t get to take it for a spin, especially after all the tricks Cisco said he’d included. But in terms of compromises, this is a small one, so he can’t turn it down.

“Alright,” he concedes, rolling the fin back up, sliding it into the bag when Len isn’t paying attention. He jumps into the water, shocked by how cold it is when it touches his skin, marveling over how at ease Len seems hanging out in this frozen bath from go. The Speed Force inside him, at odds with the icy cold encompassing his body, kicks in like a generator to keep him warm. Moments later, the cold is not an obstacle. “Len?”

“Yeah, Barry?” Len asks, busy securing his gun to his torso with thick straps.

“Can you talk to fish?

“Barry …”

“Ooo, what about whales? Can you talk to whales?”

“Barry …”

“Because it would be awesome if you could talk to whales.”

Len grabs Barry by the shoulder. He drags his body close and kisses him hard, kisses him to feel his lips on his again, the warmth of his mouth – a warmth he no longer has, that’s foreign to him.

But mostly to shut him up.

“Don’t make me regret this, Red. Don’t you dare.”

[krinsbez]

Marvel Comics #1,000

Managed to find a bit of room in m’budget and bought it.

My thoughts as I read it below the cut.

-So, of course, we begin at the obvious starting point. -Gotta be honest, I've seen so many retellings of this moment it's gonna be hard to make this one stand out. Let's see if it does. -So, no. Oh well. -FERRET! I love this guy! -Oh, the Three Xs, I've never read anything with 'em, but I remember 'em from a Handbook entry. -...They remembered Mystery Men exists Awesome -OK, so let's see how they try to do something new with Cap's origin. -...Yeah, that'd do it. No idea what's going on here. -Hmmph, I recall the Thunderer's name, but nothing about him. -Ah, now we're tying things together... -Aww yeah, Jimmy Woo! -Has anyone ever framed America Chavez as a legacy before? Because they absolutely should. -Naturally Patsy gets a page. -Oh, ho, the plot thickens. -Aww yeah, Namora! -And again, Aww yeah, Jimmy! -Aww yeah, Bob! -Western heroes now, huh? Let's see how many they can cram into one page... -Gotta admit, bit of a let down there. -Next, up...the name Tessie the Typist is vaguely familiar, but not the other. -Wonder if Minnie and Sherry will show? -Oh, hey 'nother character I don't know! (I mean Rocky Jorden) -And again, Aww, yeah Bob! -Aww yeah, Venus! -More plot, huh. -Also, a bit of a mix-up, innit? Given that the page who's headline is Bob being introduced comes after one where he's already active. -Guess that one's a bit of a breather, episode huh? -Not quite sure I get this one, as I'm not up-to-date on Loki lore. -snrk -Forbush Man! -Aww, yeah Ken! -Huh, Ken questioning Jimmy's orders, that's a bit odd. -Interesting framing of things in that Black Knight story. -And back to Jimmy! -Huh, that's a neat philosophical point there. -Huh. Man, that makes Ferret look poorly in light of his previous appearance in this book. -Man, this thing is doing a lot of continuity-stitching isn't it? Though I'm a bit uncomfortable with villainizing the Three Xs. -Heh. -snrk -Here. We. GO! -Verra nice take on Ben ,there. -Hah! -Though, why would Ock be in the biology department? He's a physicist and engineer. -That's a good take on Tony, too. -...what in the heck. I thought they were done with that synergy stuff? -Ohhh, it's a hallucination/dream! -Hah! -I'm saying that a lot, aren't I? -That's pretty profound, I think? -And also kinda ties in to the theme of the book, don't it? -Back to the plot. -Bit peeved about the Mar-erasure here. -But it's still a neat story. -...Sheep are mostly farmed for wool, so the metaphor doesn't really work? -Aww, yeah, Conan! Though his inclusion here feels a bit off. -Again, it ties in thematically, even if it doesn't tie-in to the meta-plot directly. -When was the last time they did anything with Red Wolf? -Feel a bit sorry for the rest of the Drac Pack, but that was neat. -Eh, I know some people who'd be annoyed by this page about Gwen. -It is pretty neat, though. -Bit late in the game to be breaking the Fourth Wall, innit? -Also, of all characters to do so with, why Logan? -Pretty good Frank story. -Wait, there are two White Tigers (not counting Kasper, of course) now? Why didn't I know about this? -And again, including this feels iffy. Albeit somewhat less so, given that the IIRC, the SW book saved the company. -Well, that's depressing, and honestly tonally out of sync with the rest of the book. -Is Blind Justice an actual character? -Don't recall this Night Raven guy at all, but more of him please. -I can't help but feel like someone's editorializing in this She-Hulk page. -Oh man, that was great, though I'm not sure Tony's first clash with Doctor Doom was really a milestone worth commemorating. -Aww yeah, Herc! -And with a great story, too. -(Storm story) D'awww. -That's two d'awww stories in a row! -Thor story is neato, that is all. -That's a pretty great Howard story, I think (I don't think I've ever actually read any Howard stories) -Oh, that story! Wow, talk about ibscure; I only know about it cuz it got mentioned on m'tumblr once. -So, Speedball's story is about him angsting over something silly. Yeah, that's definitely a dig. -Oooh, Damage Control... -Yeah, that's a very Damage Control sorta story. Also sorta synergistic, but not in an obnoxious way. -And we're back to the plot. Man that took awhile, huh? -It's true, the meta-plot is being carried by the bit characters and I love it. -Oh, we're into the Dark Age now, so this should be interesting. -Yup, mockery. -Love me some heroing banter (Thing and Spidey) -Again, mockery. -Oof. That..gets ya right in the feels. -Well, that was ominous. -Bit of a breather again. -Yeah, this is pretty Deadpool-ish, isn't it? -Bit of tonal whiplash there. -Wait, when did Rick get old? -Also, I'm astounded it took this long for him to show up. -'Nother thematic tie-in. -D'awww. -D'awww and ha! Very Elsa. -This X-men bit feels...vaguely redundant? -I'm with Gabby on this. Also, a neat meta-joke. -Man, I don't even care about thee Young Avengers and I love this. -HA! (and hey, the story where Luke makes Doctor Doom pay his debt was awesome) -Love this Hulk Family group shot. And that's not even the whole thing, I think? -Well, that's a bit trippy. -And back to the plot again. -I want a new Three Xs series starring these guys now, is that weird. -Oh, hey the MJ page that's one of the reasons I bought this! -Cute little Miles story. -And again, a Spider-Man story hits you in the feels. Albeit less so for some reason i can't quite put my finger on. -Neat way of doing a Cable bit. -Very meta that MM story. But also, thematically appropriate for the over-arching plot. -Doom alone pontificates narcissistically. -Actually, Wade, this is your third appearance. -JMS put himself in the comic. Is that allowed? -Granted, it worked (as does the rest of the page, but still) -Haven't really got anything to say about the Silver Surfer page. Asides form, y'know thematics. -Ah, starting to wrap things up I presume...

All in all, a great book. Only downside being that the meta-plot is so good it’s kinda annoying that they kept cutting away from it so much.

[animereviewsandotherstuff]

Top 5 anime of 2018

Pop Team Epic

Anime as a medium is something that allows for great experimentation and artistic expression that not every delves into, and that is ultimately okay. Not every show has to be something new and exciting. But then there comes a show like Pop Team Epic. A 4-koma manga that takes the slice of life genre and plays with it by adding absurdist ideas and a healthy dose of meta humor. A manga like that is not something I would ever expect to see adapted into anime. The jokes are super quick and sometimes work on anti-humor, the art is simplistic on purpose, and there is no story just gags. But I am very happy someone had more foresight then I did and just adapted it whole hog. This anime takes what it means to be an anime and turns it on its head. The first episode started on a completely different generic anime about a guy and idols and a possible harem and immediately swerves into the show proper. Every show ended with a preview for that fictional show. The ending theme was sung by different people every episode. The who was only half the run time and then it would run again with a different set of voice actors, swapping from an all woman pair to an all guy pair. Sometimes this would change whole jokes as the voice actors would make different choices. They would swap between different art styles and redo whole segments between episodes swapping between Pop Team Epic proper and Bob Epic Team. They had a segment all in french, animated in a third completely different style from the previous 2 which cost a ton of money to make and was written by a french intern who never read the series or something. The last episode had a live action pop singer bring the one of the main characters come back to life. This show was beautiful. It was a true work of art with layers of meaning and references, an experimentation of what an anime could be. Not every show should be this, but more shows should be able to just go wild with what an anime could be. Or maybe I was just thinking of Hellshake Yano.

Yuru Camp

There is a genre of anime I like a lot even though I usually know the return on investment for watching them is not super great. The best way to describe this genre is “the author has a very specific hyper-fixation and wants to write about it but doesn’t know how, so makes moe girls talk about it instead.” This is a very hit or miss genre but sometimes a show will come out of it that will stick with me forever. And Yuru Camp is one of those shows. Yuru Camp is a show all about girls camping. The authors love of camping really comes through, as the characters talk about the rules of camping and how to do it safely, and about how expensive the gear for camping is. The conversations the characters had felt surprisingly natural. Some of the back and forth the characters had felt like a conversation I could have with my friends. The best part about this show was how relaxing it was. This show was a calming breath. It was a show that knows how to set back and let a scene breath, like you are one with nature, fitting for a camping show. There is another genre of anime I like that can be hit or miss, known as healing anime. Healing anime are soft, kind, relaxing shows that are like chicken soup for the soul. Yuru camp is like that. It is relaxing and kind and made my day every time I watched it. But the most impressive thing this show did was make me, someone who hates nature and being in nature, actually consider camping for a few seconds.

Cells at Work

I am not someone who enjoys the intricacy of the human body. It is a gross thing we are all forced to live in. so when this show was first announced I had a bit of trepidation about this show. I don’t like watching the workings of the human body, it makes me uncomfortable. But this show was really was able to get past my initial discomfort and make the human body something interesting and more fun.  The story of the human body as told from the perspective of the cells who help run the body was perfectly told. It makes you sympathetic for your blood, fighting against the germs and diseases we come into contact with, rooting for the red blood cells who deliver your oxygen and the white blood cells who protect you, and makes you intimately familiar with your lymph nodes, and sweat glands. I really appreciated the small arc involving cancer of all things. Cancer as told from the perspective of the cells is really interesting, watching there fellow cells not become infected but born so, and the necessary need to kill them coupled with the inherent want to protect the body is an interesting perspective to take. It is not saying cancer is good or anything ridiculous like that, but it is just a perspective I was not expecting and one that led to an interesting story. The anthropomorphizing of the body and its cellular interactions was clever and engaging and made this a show I was glad to watch.

Planet With

I am not the first person to say this but this was the best show to come out of 2007. Everything about this show felt like a throwback to a very specific era of anime. A story about giant physic armors controlled by young teens and young adults fighting against aliens, the reversal of who were truly the good guys and truly the bad guys.  The larger themes of why one should fight and shouldn't fight, of growing up and reality being greater then any passive but beautiful fantasy, all fit into a show from a decade ago. Even the maid girl and the giant cat alien and the high school club for people who like supernatural stuff, the transfer student with amnesia being the main character, all of it fits a show that could have been a 52 episode series with slow reveals and mysteries and filler beach episodes. But instead this show was a tight 12 episodes. Each episode packed so much information and plot and action, it feels like watching more then your actually getting. It is concise but the emotional impact of every reveal and every hit is perfectly done. The best show of 2007 was also one of the best shows of 2018.

SSSS Gridman

Tokusatsu and anime are two great tastes that seem to rarely come together. It might be that there is something lost when live action goes to animation, at least when tokusatsu does so. Something intrinsic about tokusatsu, something that is fundamental to it, doesn't always survive the jump. This cannot be said about SSSS Gridman. This show captures the spirit and heart of tokusatsu shows and takes it to another level. It is a love letter to tokusatsu as a medium and to the original Gridman. The fact that the title of the show is a reference to the American adaptation, Super Human Samurai Syber Squad, alone shows a knowledge and love of the material. But at the same time I never felt the show was bogged down by references and external knowledge. Yes there were millions of references to other tokusatsu series, mainly Ultraman but not Ultraman alone, but you didn’t need to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese live action shows to enjoy the show. They enhanced but never detracted in my opinion. Same with the fact that the show itself is a sequal to the original Gridman series while still standing entirely on its own. If you never watched the original you are fine, but it is enhanced so much with that knowledge.  And the ending had me in tears. I don’t want to spoil anything for these shows but like many tokusatsu series finales this one too made me tear up slightly. Truly a show I will carry with me into the future.

And those were my thoughts on the year of anime. This of course isn’t counting tokusatsu I watched but I love Kamen Rider and Super Sentai enough that they would be a permanent place on this list, so its only fair I keep them off. There was a ton of good shows other then these five, but I am looking forward to the new year ahead. So until next time, keep on watching.

[pigballoon]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

(Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman, 2018)

By my count this is the 7th Spider-Man movie in about 17 years (count the other two MCU movies in which the character has featured, and it's the 9th) that's a lot, even in the current over saturated comic book movie market, but thankfully, on the evidence of this movie that nobody thought they wanted, and based on the unique look one that maybe nobody wants to take seriously (perhaps the cinematic equivalent of Zelda's Wind Waker?) the webbed wonder is as alive and well as ever.

For anyone familiar with their work it will come as no surprise to see the names Phil Lord and Christopher Miller attached to this movie (both credited as producer, Lord credited with screenplay and story) just as with The Lego Movie, just as with their Jump Street films, the two of them get meta, and in doing so, in bending time and space and doing narratively whacky things they manage to uncover something intimately, beautifully human in the midst of all the madcap madness they unleash.

And madness is absolutely what they unleash, anyone that has seen the trailer will be able to see that side of the movie unveiled, the sort of ridiculousness some will find side splittingly hilarious, and others would consider just stupid, but to me at least it all works. How do you blend a porky pig-alike Spider-Man, an anime Spider-Man, a hardboiled noir Spider-Man (and more) into a movie and keep it credible? First is the brilliant balancing of tone managed by the filmmakers, the film is honestly probably more a heartfelt coming of age story than the almost Guardians of the Galaxy like absurdist deconstruction of the genre that it seems to have been primarily sold as. It's aided in getting to that point of credibility too on account of a tremendous ensemble of actors assembled to do the voice work(Brian Tyree Henry, Mahershala Ali, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld and Shameik Moore are all incredible. Smaller roles are filled out by the likes of Kathryn Hahn, Nic Cage, Zoe Kravitz, Lily Tomlin, Chris Pine and Liev Schreiber) and some animation that may take a couple of scenes to get used to, but once you do really does have plenty of tiny little very realistic details in the movement and emotions in the eyes to sell it all as meaningfully human.

Yet for me it all comes back to that screenplay. By delving deep down into the world of the comic book, by embracing the format in all its glory from the stylistic visual choices to the craziness of the narrative that once upon a time only a comic book could have gotten away with, the movie finds its beating heart all laced intricately into the action in the best way, choosing to find meaning in the most unobtrusive and unpretentious way possible. It's the Miller-Lord magic where it just looks too stupid for most people to think twice about, but if and when you give it a chance it slips under the skin. Just like... well, a comic book. 

Don't be put off by the idea of multiple dimensions, and multiple spider-men, when it comes down to it Into the Spider-Verse is one of those movies about how even the most ordinary and every day can accomplish the most major things. It's not a new sentiment, but it ain't ever been done quite like this before. The movie and its story linked in that way, the simple within the absurd, and the many filmmakers (two credited writers and 3 directors - again, reflective of the movie they've made) proving it don't matter how many times you reuse well worn characters (though the brilliant use and sidestepping of the origin story and the iconic mantra is a highlight) if you have a good story to tell.