#{ and i think that's a much funnier explanation/reason so

[saffronish]

I've been thinking about this for a while now but every time Cas is in Baby with Dean he almost always chooses to sit behind Sam.

(excuse the lack of images... I'm having a really hard time finding pictures of Cas in the backseat of the impala through google since I wasn't about to watch 267 episodes just for that ahaha *cries*)

Even in 9x10, when Dean tells Cas to sit in the back with Crowley, Cas specifically tells Crowley (who had sat diagonally from Dean) to move over because he's, quote, "on my side."

So I'm guessing that this means that Cas has a side whenever he isn't sitting shotgun and that that side is right behind Sam.

My explanation for this is that that particular seat gives Cas the best view of Dean's face while talking to him (or not... it's good for just staring too) and vice versa. Dean can also turn his head back a little and see him/talk to him much easier than if Cas sat behind Dean.

HOWEVER!! One scene does stick out to me. It's during that famous car ride in 12x10 when Dean and Cas are pissed at each other. Cas, for some reason, chooses to sit in the middle, even leaning more towards Dean's side

I really think Cas definitely sat there on purpose so that he wouldn't have to look at Dean's face and Dean wouldn't be able to see him... therefore giving Cas the chance to roll his eyes or raise his dom!eyebrow at whatever Dean is saying. It makes it even funnier when Dean's like "WHaT's tHaT sUpPoSeD To MeAn???" and he has to crane his neck so far back that Sam has to tell him to watch the road.

I feel like further proof of this is how most people sit in the middle when in the backseat of the Impala since it's easier to see both Dean and Sam at the same time

(^ this last one isn't the Impala but whatever... it still counts)

Cas is apparently either really into staring at Dean at every possible moment or he just doesn't like Sam's face (no offence to Sam), but I really don't think the latter is the case.

Cas' just pining silently in the backseat and having a good view of Dean makes it easier🤷

Annndd this concludes my rant/analysis... good day

[geeeemmmmmmm]

Picture Perfect

a/n:I've missed writing sm! I have another one shot in the making btw. I loved the head cannon I posted a while ago that I had to expand on it! I'm a little rusty so bare with me but as always sorry for any mistakes and enjoy!

Bucky had always taken sly photos of you. He liked having snapshots in time with you. The truth was, after Hydra, his memory could be quite dodgy, and it pained him to think of forgetting you — a preposterous thought, he knew, but still his biggest fear. Forgetting the way you clung to him during a dream, or the way you'd proudly pose in front of a new dish you made was something that made him shudder in fear.

After figuring out how to navigate the camera on his phone (with a little help from Steve, of course), he began subtly taking photos of you.

You only discovered the collection by accident. Your phone had died, and you'd borrowed his — only to find it still open on the photo app. You smiled softly to yourself as you scrolled through them. They varied from pictures of you curled up against him in the middle of the night with your head tucked into the crook of his neck like you always did, to small photos at team gatherings, laughing at a joke (most likely it was because of something you said because, really who’s funnier than you?).

The photo that surprised you most was one taken of you standing in the doorway of your bedroom — hair messy from sleep, a tired smile on your face, holding Alpine in your arms. Not your most attractive look, yet Bucky saw a gleaming beauty in you. You remembered that morning well although just not Bucky taking a photo of it.

What made you a little sad was realizing how few of the photos included him. He’s the reason for your comfort, your smiles yet he starred in very few. From that moment on, you decided to change that. You made it your mission to include him in photos with you.

You didn’t care how dramatically Sam would groan whenever you asked him to take another photo of you and Bucky. Bucky would always pout slightly when you dragged him into frame as you muttered the same phrase to him every time: "C'mon Buckkkk, it’s a perfect opportunity." you’d whine slightly. He always obliged. He secretly loved it, though he’d never ask to take more photos with you. Afraid he’d seem annoying, like you were some kind of celebrity and he was a mere fan when in reality you had been dating for a couple years.

Your favorite photo to date was one you hadn’t even asked for. It was a beautiful candid of the two of you walking side by side, your body tucked into his, both your heads turned to each other, lit up with bright smiles. Your endless efforts training Sam to take perfect Instagram shots had finally paid off.

When you got home from that walk, you immediately set that photo as your lock screen. “Hey doll, how do you change the lock screen thing?” Bucky’s voice drifted in from behind you as you admired the photo on the couch. “C’mere, I’ll show you,” you hummed, patting the space next to you on the couch. It took only a minute of explanation before Bucky got the hang of it. As he selected the same photo as his lock screen, your eyes flicked to his phone — now he knew you had officially seen his great pride and joy.

“I don’t know how I’ve never noticed you taking these,” you murmured against his side.

“Just wanted to savor your smile, in case I ever forget” he whispered, nuzzling into your hair.

“I won’t let you forget me, Buck,” you replied softly, rubbing slow circles on his chest with your free hand.

“I know. But I get so scared something will happen and I’ll lose you — even if all I had left were photos. I want to always have your smile, the way you hide away in my neck when you sleep” his tone staying quiet as he confessed “even if you slightly drool,” he added, lips curling into that soft smile you loved so much.

“First of all: I love you so, so much, and I’m never leaving you. Second of all: I do not drool!” you laughed, playfully hitting his chest from his added comment. “Say what you wanna say, but you know I’m right,” he teased. “At least I don’t snore,” you laughed, even more when you felt the soft rumble of his chuckle against you.

“Yeah, yeah,” he smirked , burying his nose back into your hair as he gently pulled you onto his lap. You didn’t need to say anything else — you just wrapped your arms around his neck, fingers threading through the soft hair at the nape of his neck, occupying your hands as you gazed into his lovestruck eyes.

His ocean-blue eyes fluttered closed, head dropping to your shoulder, arms lazily pulling your waist back like you weren’t already close enough. You sat there for a while, basking in the soft silence — only slightly disturbed by his soft snoring

Eventually, you stretched your arm out carefully, inching your fingers to reach for your phone on the couch. You managed to snap a couple of photos, your little “payback” for all the ones he had taken of you. You cringed when your phone shutter clicked and Bucky stirred.

“I’m a perfect picture, huh?” Bucky’s voice was soft against your skin, his stubble tickling the soft skin of your neck. “Don’t flatter yourself, Barnes,” you teased.

You took a quiet moment to admire the photo after your teasing died down. It had immediately become a strong contender for your lock screen. You were sitting on Bucky’s lap, legs tucked to the side comfortably, one hand in his hair, the other holding your phone. His head rested perfectly on your shoulder, arms draped lazily around your waist. With your smile lighting up the photo as you kissed his temple. A light only Bucky could bring out in you, and you knew he would never dim it.

[togglesbloggle]

I've got to say, it's a very strange feeling, becoming the sort of person that is in the exact target audience for Buttercup Festival.

Like, this thing has been running for decades, since 2000 if you believe wikipedia, and it got around without ever being really discussed explicitly by people I know. The strips always drifted past me every now and then without incident- neither offensive nor inoffensive, a bit puzzling at times.

And then... something? Something in me, not in the strip, that much is clear enough. But now I just love these little things to death, on a good day it's competitive with Calvin and Hobbes or something else really top-tier.

And it's just bizarre, you know? They certainly don't rely on what you'd traditionally call humor, and even when there's a belly laugh it's not because there was anything like a joke per se. But if I try to explain to people what it is that makes the strip work, I just come up with all these ridiculous sentences that may or may not mean anything.

So I went from not getting the strips at all, and just walking past them without registering their presence, to really enjoying them and considering them one of my favorite comics ever, without once passing through a moment in time where I understood what made them so poignant. Just bouncing between two very different kinds of ignorance.

And that's interesting in itself, no? One kind of wants to reason through one's aesthetic preferences. I know I do. I suppose, on the grounds that I want to reason through everything. But my experience with Buttercup Festival seems determined to resist that treatment, at least so far.

Jokes as an art form are rather interesting- they get a laugh out of us before we know why they're funny, and discussions about humor tend to be unsatisfying after the fact. Explaining a joke doesn't make it any funnier, and the experience of 'funny' itself can't really be explained. Most forms of art, you can develop a deeper appreciation of the form by breaking it down in to specific shapes and methods and styles, and find new layers of beauty as you explore the structure of it. But it seems like laughter doesn't follow the same path, exactly.

Jokes aren't necessarily the only thing with this kind of structure. The koan, also, is supposed to open something to the student without any intervening explanation or analytical framework. Like a good joke, a koan often don't seem to make any damn sense at all, and like a good joke, a koan is often quite short. So that's two examples.

So there's this tricky thing where there's a class of experiences that seems to resist explanation, and we mostly encounter it through humor, but it's not actually limited to humor per se. I don't think I have the slightest idea where the contours of that thing are, or how to explore it, even though it's quite beautiful.

I don't think it's meaningless either, even though it sort of challenges the usual ways we define that term. I don't know how deep it goes, though it's much deeper than I expected. And you can grow in it over time, either because of certain experiences or certain insights or... I don't know. It wasn't signposted. I just kinda woke up here one day.

[jaeminvore]

Young God | L.DH (M) — PREVIEW

READ HERE

SYNOPSIS: desperation had this funny way of skewing one’s perception, and since you were, in fact, way past the point of desperation, it wasn’t a surprise that you jumped the gun without even questioning the absurdly cheap rent price of the seemingly perfect apartment unit. What you failed to consider was the reason why it didn't cost you and arm and a leg and it soon came in the form of an incubus in your bathroom belting his heart out on a Sunday morning.

(alternatively: in which you were essentially scammed into cohabiting with a ridiculously clingy demon that lives off of sex. It could be worse. At least he staved off from sucking your soul out in exchange of you sucking something else—among other things).

GENRE: supernatural, urban fantasy, slice of life, humor, crack treated seriously, fluff, smut MDNI!

WARNINGS: incubus!hyuck, fem!human!reader, bickering, crude language (full list of warnings will be stated in the actual fic)

WORD COUNT: estimated 15K-20K (1.1K for the preview)

RELEASE DATE: 22nd of November

TAGLIST: send me an ask if you’d like to be tagged/notified when I post the fic!

NOTES: happy October! and what a better way of starting the spooky month with a preview for a fic that I've been working on (and screaming to the girls about im so sorry 😭) that fit the spooky aspect lol, but don't be fooled! This is actually funnier (and cuter) than it might initially come off 🫡

“Now where’d you run off to this early in the morning?”

You gritted your teeth, feeling a vein pulse on your temple. That voice.

Pretty privilege could come next time because at this very second, you weren’t feeling privileged being graced by the so-called prettiness, but threatened to even fully appreciate what he’s got going for him. Physically wise.

Without thinking, your hand shot out to grab the closest thing to you, an empty vase, and hurled it with all you’ve got, aiming straight for the intruder’s face who didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. It was like watching everything in slow motion, how the decorative piece took its sweet time to smack his face and hopefully break his nose (best case scenario).

This was the worst case scenario, with the vase pausing in mid-air as if time just decided to stop being a thing, all in this demon’s favor.

You were actually going insane, that was the only explanation because no law of physics could explain the current state of the decorative vase—it’s still in the fucking air. Holy shit—nor did you think telekinesis could extend beyond the old, generic trick of bending spoons with your mind.

“Hey,” As if you weren’t terrified enough, the stranger peeked from one of the vase’s sides with a disapproving pout. You scooted further away until your back hit the arm rest. “I picked this out for you, y’know? Thought you’d like it.” With a lazy flick of his wrist the vase ended up floating all the way into the kitchen, much to your horror, to sit on top of the refrigerator.

“Maybe we should not throw things next time?”

Your eyes flickered towards him, dumbfounded.

“You… last night,” There really was no mistaking it. The voice already told you enough. It was all too distinct; the arrogance, the grating inflection that screamed he solely existed to get on your nerves, and it was working. “In my dream. That was you?”

“Wasn’t just last night, little human. I’ve been in all of your dreams since you moved here.” He shrugged, leaning laxly against the door frame with his arms crossed. “You were way nicer in them. Pliant,” he had two fingers up to prove whatever point he was making. “didn’t throw things at me,” and there goes the third finger.

Smoke was practically coming out of your ears as you sat up straighter, tense. “Oh, I’m sorry!” One of your hands flew to your chest, tone high and mocking. “I didn’t know I had to show proper etiquette to a fucking trespasser!” You scrambled for your phone. “Now, please leave or I will call the police—”

It happened all too fast. Too fast for your human brain to comprehend because just a second ago, you were really serious about involving the police in this. Now, you were flat on your back with the wind knocked right out of you and a lapful of the man plaguing most of your nights. The atmosphere felt heavier, now that the kittenish air surrounding him was gone and the very corner of his lips tilted down into a frown as he plucked your phone out of your hand.

“First thing’s first, no police. You won’t get rid of me that way. Second, this is my”— he pointed to himself —“home. My apartment. I was just nice enough to let you stay for how long you liked.”

“I paid for this unit you—you demon!” You didn’t even try to be subtle with the eye-rolling. Of course he would preen at the title. “If anything, it’s my apartment!”

“Okay? I tied a piece of me down to this place. My sigil is somewhere around here to prove it—meaning, I have higher authority.”

A sigil. Of course. This is your life now. Possibly sharing a space with a fucking demon of all things. Exciting, but not exciting enough to stave off your hunger and you were starting to get antsy. You were just arguing for the sake of arguing to blow off some steam and to get in the last word.

“I signed a lease. The lease has my name on it.” you said as if that was on par with whatever he was talking about (probably not).

“Technically, I signed away a part of my life, so.”

Fuck. Fine. He got you there.

“Are you always going to do this?” You resigned, wriggling underneath his weight. “You’re kinda heavy.”

“I mean if it works, right?” The demon giggled, tilting his head with a coy smile as he put more weight onto your thighs, one hand falling behind to rest on your knee. “It’s not like you complained before.”

“Technically,” (“I do not fucking sound like that.”) “you smothered me in my dreams—dreams, so they don’t count.”

Which meant that you had full control of your body out of the dreamscape, proven by the indignant yell the demon let out as he was unceremoniously pushed to the ground for the second time within the twenty-four hour time frame. It wasn’t enough to make up for the numerous times he had you under him, but for now, you were even.

“They sure do!” he exclaimed from where you left him still sprawled on the floor.

“Nope. This conversation is over.”

The stew was just about done, the soup reduced to the right amount as you switched off the stove and range hood, bathing your apartment in still quietness besides the bustling from outside. The soft padding of feet came in quick succession until warmth hovered just mere centimeters behind you.

Turning your head, the demon was there, his chin just shy of resting onto the dip of your shoulder as he peered curiously at the steaming pot.

“Is that… kimchi stew?” he wondered, taking a generous whiff and appearing just as hungry as you felt. “It is kimchi stew.”

You snickered, all animosity fading into faint amusement, “I take it that you’d like some?” It was such a human reaction that you couldn’t help but smile, reaching for the ladle.

“Please?” he pressed, amber eyes all wide and imploring. “I haven’t had a decent bowl of the stuff in, like, weeks.”

“Well, make yourself useful. Set the table, yeah? And pass me two bowls while you’re at it. You know where they are…” you trailed off, looking at him in silent question. You haven’t asked for his name, or what he would like to be addressed as.

Somehow, the demon was rather quick on the uptake, curling his lips as he pushed off to do what you asked him to.

“Haechan,” he called over his shoulder, grinning as he reached for the cupboard’s handle. “You can call me Haechan.”

note: hyuck in the banner just screamed demon to me and it may or may not have caused the brainworms still wriggling in my brain to push me into writing this (rip to my wips i had before this) like just LOOK at these photos they awoken something carnal in me and i need him biblically actually

taglist: @jaylaxies @celeste-hoon @justalildumpling @dammit-jjk

[fallen-gravity]

some thoughts on the moana 2 novelization, as threatened promised <3 under a readmore for spoilers and also because I don't trust myself to keep it short

(friendly reminder that I do not ship Maui and Moana! you can rb, but don't be weird about it)

Genuinely right off the bat I can't get over how loving Moana is described to be? She just loves others so much. She always describes Pua and HeiHei as her friends rather than her pets because of how much she cares about them!! it's so stupid cute that not only does she refer to Pua as her "loyal, adorable friend", but it's also implied that she handmade the little satchel he likes to ride in just for him. It eats me up inside!! She cares so much!!

The center island she's looking for is spelled as Motufetū!! I always love getting confirmation for these things, it makes things so much easier as a fic writer.

One of the souveniers she takes back with her alongside the broken pottery is a "massive clam". hello???? foreshadowing??? did everyone know about the giant clam guardian??

"For a man who had once forbidden her from going beyond the reef, he now spent quite a lot of time beyond it himself." AUUWHAAHHH THAT LINE KILLED ME WE LOVE TO SEE GROWTH FROM TRAUMA

"He loved her enthusiasm, but she seemed overexcited, and she was still his daughter, and he wanted to take care of her" MOANA!!! IS!!! SO LOVED!!!!

Loto's tool is called an adze! also she's apparently only 17?? two years younger than Moana?? not at all what I would've pegged her as, honestly

The storytelling tapestries are called siapos!!! more terminology!!!

"Her eyes darted to the image of Maui carved into the wall. She hadn't seen him since her return to Motunui, and she missed him. Not that she would admit it out loud" STRANGLING YOU STRANGLING YOU STRANGLING YOU

"Humans, were in fact, why he was here now, in this unknown realm of the gods looking at the pinkish white ball in front of him. At least, he thought that might be why he's here. These missions to benefit humans didn't always come with clear instructions" immediately followed by thinking about the trip to Te Fiti with Moana. What a dumbass <3 "I'm doing it for them and I don't know why? totally unrelated note haha that trip to Te Fiti with Moana was fun :)"

Never saw any of that journey coming, never could brute force his way through it, worth every second. Only considers getting the hook back as an afterthougt, ougghhhhhhh

Homeboy sucks at pretending that he doesn't care about Moana. He's talking to Matangi for all of two seconds and he's all "I'm a changed person! For um. no particular reason! It was definitely because of the thousand year isolation and nothing else whatsoever!"

There's no finite explanation for why Maui's there, but he credits Moana for making him a better person for being the reason. Something about breaking the curse? It's never made clear, even in the book.

Mini Maui selling him out for bullshitting about hating Moana is even funnier in the book, like Maui goes "yeah lol that girl was just a tool I uused to get my hook back" and Mini Maui starts pounding on him. Homeboy Moana can't even hear you and you're still mad at Maui for bullshitting, it kills me. Maui tries shooting him down. "Mini Maui wasn't convinced" has me in stitches

Maui's internal dialogue shifting to "oh wait, yeah, I wanted to surprise her with a visit. Oops." while he's tied up also has me in stitches. ffs, maui, get your priorities straight

"He refused to let Moana be hurt or threatened" I am on the floor

Every time Tui calls Moana "my dear" it adds ten years to my lifespan

The siapo of Maui in the storytelling fale is so lifelike that "it's as if he were about to jump off the fabric at any moment and start teasing her." that's so stupid cute!!!! also so stupid sad that she probably talks to it a lot hoping that it'll work someday. ough.

"Maui was having a bad day. Actually, he was having a lot of bad days"." feels like it was pulled right from a fic I would've written in 2018, I'm screaming

"I don't need her to save me...again" swallowing the earth as we speak

Curly still being the default nickname is also taking me out I need to be given financial compensation asap

There's a parallel that got lost in translation from page to movie, there's the bit where Moana's like "I'm sure Maui's off doing important demigod stuff, wherever he is", but there's also a bit of internal monologue where Maui's like "I hope Moana's faring better than I am, wherever she is" I'm gonna conk their heads together y'all need to communicate

The book directly mentions Moana and her crew passing Te Fiti. Did I miss that from the movie? Did they show Te Fiti, or is this a book-exclusive detail?

Their little Kakamora buddy has a name!! Kotu we don't deserve you. Also he's the Chief Kakamora's son! I just thought he was second in command. That's a whole baby

Maui knows who Pua is, somehow! He sees Pua waddling around and his first thought is "okay, this is weird, why do these people have Moana's pig with them?". Doesn't even remotely click that she could be with them. He's actually about to leave until HeiHei shows face and boy is he absolutely mortified. It eats me up inside. Instant shift of "goodbyeeeeee random humans I don't liiiike!!!" to oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, where is she????

Incredibly suspicious that Moana is the human that has all the gods talking. Something too about Maui having to force himself not to care about her. Did someone do a little too much bragging about his favorite human?

"I thought you'd be...more." okay a) I def think Maui's been overhyping her and b) haha More callback we love to see it

Also, Matangi's just a demigoddess! Not a goddess at all. interesting, interesting, interesting

Moana also sucks at priorities, one single mention of Maui and she instantly shifts to oh, oh my god, is he here? is he nearby? where is he?

Moana recognizes the Portal of the Gods as similar to the entrance to Lalotai...does that mean Lalotai is connected to the Realm of the Gods, in some way? are they the same place under a different name? also all :') that the dance she does to open the portal is specifically meant to be a copy of the haka that Maui did in the first movie.

You know, I think you need her just as much as she needs you. WHAT DOES IT MEAAAN? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHAT DOES IT MEAN??? WHERE DID THAT COME FROM???? YOU NEED EACH OTHER??? WHY DO THE GODS KNOW?? WHY DO THE GODS KNOW????

The first thing Moana does when she's back on her canoe is look for Maui because she thinks he's gone 🥹 wants to go back and look for him until she realizes he's the reason she's dangling in the air. Did he stop her from falling off the canoe? ough, I'm deceased

I can't get over Moana assuming he just wants to catch up, they are both such chronic babblers.

"His expression was both happy and annoyed." I'm losing my shit.

"But yeah, it is good to see you again" 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹.

"The fire in the sky lead us to you" can we stop with the written in the stars stuff. can we stop. my poor heart can't take it. platonic soulmates fr. "maybe we're supposed to do this together." THE GODS KNOW!!!! THEY KNOW!!!

"Maui bit back a smile." kill me. kill me. i'm dead on the spot. kill me.

Ohhhhh, I always love seeing what they do in place of the songs and the replacement for "Can I Get a Chee-Hoo?" kills me most of all, I think. Maui still goes to sit with her, but when Moana starts talking about all the people she's gonna let down, he comes to a screeching halt when she mentions Simea.

"If anyone should be upset, it should be me. Since when do you have a sister?"

"You would've met her, if you ever came to visit me." OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!!! She's trying to tease him but there's a tinge of hurt in her voice, like she feels like he doesn't care enough about her to take the time for her!! You need her as much as she needs you!!!!!

"Three years is a blip to me, princess," says the liar who thought about her on a near-daily basis!!!!

"Empathy wasn't Maui's strong suit. But he seemed to be trying- for her. and that dulled the pain a little" i am in my grave. i am in my grave.

"Why are you even here?" -> "Because...because I've been low before, and I couldn't see my path. And someone came along who I underestimated and she lifted me up. Someone I don't want to underestimate herself right now." THROWING UP!!!!!

"Wow, you're the worst at this." -> "Maui pretended to look offended" conking their heads together as we speak they are so SWEET!!!!!

Maui giving her all the credit for being the one to defeat Nalo!!! not himself!!!! her!!!!!!!

"Maui said he was better for knowing her. That had to count for something" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It still destroys me that Maui's entire priority is keeping Moana safe!!! He's not just diving in to fight, he keeps going back to make sure they're all safe!!! that's all that matters to him!!!

God their little exchanges are so stupid they're killing me. "Nalo doesn't care about you!" "Yes he does! I'm Maui!!" "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!!" dumbasses <3

oooh he really doesn't want to separate, his eyes keep going back and forth between Moana and the monster storm :')

Okay. okay. okay. listen. there's a lot more to Maui's goodbye in the book than in the movie. In the book it's an apology. It's a rushed explanation on why he hadn't gone back to visit her prior. He lied about not having the time for her. All his time has been about and for her.

The reason I didn't visit...was 'cause you made me want to be better. You deserve the whole ocean...I wanted you to have it. Watch yourself out there. I could pull up millions of islands, but if you're not there to land on them, what's the point?

FOR!!!! HER!!!!! EVERYTHING!!!! IS!!!!! FOR!!!!! HER!!!!!

He hated leaving Moana and her crew behind,

He trusted her.

God, coud you imagine? First movie Maui, getting his hook destroyed? Those three words hold more power than anything. He trusted her. If anyone can do this it's her. He trusts her. He trusts her.

His thoughts kept drifting back to Moana. Nothing else matters!!! He could be all full of himself and think about how heroic he's being for The Humans (other) and all he's thinking about is his Favorite Human.

The thought of failing her pushed on him as the weight of the water grew heavy.

WHO WROTE THIS!!!! WHO READ OUR FANFICS!!!!! WHO KNEW!!!!!

His tattoos glowing with the power of the gods the first time he tries lifting Motufetū.....were there other gods that were helping him? are there gods who know?? Te Fiti if you're out there,,,,,,,,,

Moana rushing to protect Maui when lightning barely misses him the first time is.........destroying me?? taking me out??? imagine being protective over a demigod literally pulling an island out of the sea. imagine trying to take many hits for him. using her conch shell to call out to the storm to hit her instead? Maui yelling at her to Not do that? probably because it's breaking his own heart to watch?? ough.

"It went against every instinct, but Moana knew she had to listen to him." THAT'S ALSO GROWTH!!! KEEPING THEM BOTH SAFE BY NOT PUSHING HERSELF FROWARD!!!! GROWTH!!!!!

Maui getting hit by three strikes of lightning, and he uses what he thinks are his last dying moments to say goodbye to Moana. He locks eyes with her, gives her a sad smile, and yells Find your way, kid. Just to her. Just loud enough that she's the only one who can hear. and oh boy is this book brutal about that fourth and "fatal" lightning strike. It's strong enough to fry him. It launches him up so high in the air that Moana can't even see him

So, uh...fun fact! The reason Moana doesn't instantly dive in the water to go after him is because she thinks she's too late and that he's dead on impact. She doesn't even see him hit the water.

"Moana gasped as she felt her necklace pop open and her shell- Simea's shell- toppled out. Frantically,she reached for it, ignoring the danger around her. She couldn't lose that shell. She had already lost so much."

She thinks of everyone she loves when she's about to dive into the water and reach for Motufetū herself and Maui's among them right alongside her family. God. If there were ever a more indirect found family confirmation............

Lightning flashed, illuminating the sky and filtering through the water. Moana hoped that her crew was okay. That Maui had somehow survived. RIGHT!!! FROM!!!! THE FICS!!!! I SWEAR THIS IS PULLED RIGHT FROM THE OLD FICS!!!

His hook was missing, but he didn't care. He dove in after Moana. Hi, yes, 2018-era me is screaming out from inside me. She's clawing her way out of my chest. This is everything she's ever needed.

Fun fact part two! I don't remember how it was in the movie, but Maui watches Moana die too!! I think in the movie he just sees her still body on the surface of Motufetū, but in the book he dives under the water just a moment sooner and helplessly watches the lightning strike through her body. He watches her go still and sink towards the ocean floor :) Now they both have the trauma of watching each other die! :) :)

He tries desperately to catch her before she hits the floor but there are multiple instances of him being knocked back by a shockwave :') The gods sure have found his weakness!!!

He pushed through it. Nothing was stopping him from reaching Moana.

The grieving!!! The grieving is so fierce!!

Isn't it fun?? He practically has a burial ceremony for her! He catches her before her body hits the floor, and he places her gently on the surface of the island so she can fulfill her story! God! I'm unwell! He places Simea's little shell next to her body so Moana can be close to her sister one final time!

Then, kneeling next to her, he put his hand to his heart. It rested on the tattoo of Moana that had appeared after their last adventure. It had been his constant reminder in the three years since how strong a human could be. 🥹🥹🥹😭😭😭😭😭😭🥹😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

It's just...he doesn't even realize the ocean is creating a dome around them! He's that grief-striken!!

The ocean knows them. It knows what they need. He calls it Moana's. Moana's ocean. aUGGHHHHHH.

Hey so all of that talk about Maui not allowing himself to let the gods know that Moana's his friend and then he's begging them. He's begging the gods and her (her? his? huamnity in general?) ancestors to save her because she deserves more than this. she deserves better. If any of the gods knew nothing of the two of them they sure as hell did now, ohhhhhh boy is that gonna screw him over later :')

So the book never explicitly states she's a demigoddess either! It very ominously states that She'll never be the same.

Moana gets to see her ancestors this time! I can't remember if she woke up before they disappeared in the movie, but when she wakes up her thought process goes wait, where am I? to oh, shit, MAUI?!?!? to TAUTAI VASA? TALA?? HELLO??? someone please invent therapy already she's gonna need it pretty desperately

god imagine if she thought maui was also dead?? she doesn't but ohhhh. ohhhhhh the angst potential of her thinking they're all there to see her off. god.

Shock and awe. That's all Moana can get out of Maui's expression when she catches him staring.

Mini Maui, the more accurate voice, is bawling his little eyes out when he sees that Moana's okay

Moana understands the implications instantly. and she knows that she's only alive now because Maui prayed for her

"Arching an eyebrow, she nodded over her shoulder. It was time they raised an island- togehter". SICK!!! TO!!! MY!!! STOMACH!!!

"She saw Maui, a familiar comfort in this uncharted territory" [AGGRESIVE TABLE SLAMMING] THAT'S FOUND FAMILY BAYBEEEEE

:') there's a big group hug with Moana's crew and Maui tries to wiggle his way to the center. That's almost shot for shot a scene from one of the first Moana fics I ever wrote back in December of 2017 :') turning into a little lizard and skittering into the center of the hug where Moana is because he wants a proper hug too :')

Okay so I definitely know for sure that when it says the villagers of Motunui are shocked Maui's there because they've heard so many stories about him that it's just the regular old legacy stories. but listen. let me be deluisional. it's because Moana always tells stories and Moana's like. known around the island as his best friend. so it's like!!! oh!!! there he is!!! Tautai Moana's best friend!!!! :')

He calls Simea Mini Moana!!!! weeping and sobbing

Simea's big brown eyes familiar. He Also calls Simea tugging on his ear Very Familiar. That's so stupid cute. I wonder if he ever visited when Moana was out voyaging and he ran into Simea if he'd be able to tell that she was her little sister? :') also hilarious because I'm sure it implies Moana told him Simea wanted to yell at him and he went "yeah okay that's fair"

(still lowkey sad Maui never gets included in the family hugs. Ohhhh if they ever found out what he did to save her they'd pull him straight in for sure)

MAUI STAYS!!! CONFIRMATION THAT HE STAYS!!!!

He stays long enough for things to calm down. He and Moana head out by themselves to help their little Kakamora buddy reunite with his family (cough cough)

Moana goes from "that kid" to his "dear friend." cherished. beloved. it's not even relelvant to the plot. He just smiles at her and goes "where to now?" and it's just. that's his dear friend!!! god!!!! so beloved!!! that feels like it holds even more weight than best friend!!!

god. god. I really gotta write a fic where they talk about watching each other die

good shit!!! gooood shit!!! I'm gonna be screaming about this forever. god.

[imaginehappyhavoc]

ooooh love the dark humor prompt can you do that with the girls 👀 (praying this didn't send multiple times)

A/N: I’m so sorry these are taking so long to come out! I’ve been crazy busy, and I haven’t had much motivation lately. Thank you so much for being patient with me!! ˶ᵔᴗᵔ˶

Paring(s): Thh girls x Dark Humor!Reader

Genre: Fluff!

Warnings: Dark humor and everything that goes along with it (death, violence, self-deprecation, etc.)

Kyoko Kirigiri:

♡ Congratulations! You’re one of the few people on the planet that can make her laugh!

♡ It may be just a chuckle, but that’s huge coming from Kyoko!

♡ In her line of work, dark humor is par for the course. It’s how her colleagues cope with the gruesome scenes they’re subjected to daily.

♡ So while she doesn’t joke around much herself, she can certainly appreciate your sense of humor!

♡ She’ll crack a smile, or laugh under her breath, while the rest of the class stares bug-eyed. Did that really just happen??

Aoi Asahina:

♡ You’ve never seen her eyes go that wide before.

♡ Her reaction is just absolute shock. She whipped around to look at you with both hands slapped over her mouth.

♡ Even though she’s covering her mouth, it’s still really easy to tell that she’s trying not to laugh.

♡ She can’t help it! She’s such a giggly person by nature, especially when it comes to you!

♡ She’ll give a little snort behind her hands, and you grin.

Toko Fukawa:

♡ Toko is shocked, but for a completely different reason.

♡ It’s not that she doesn’t think you’re funny. She thinks you’re hilarious!

♡ She just doesn’t expect such a nice girl to have such a dark sense of humor!

♡ You’ll crack one of your jokes, and she physically jolts out of surprise. No matter how many times you do it.

♡ You always get a rare, genuine laugh from her, and it makes you feel a little proud of yourself each time.

Sayaka Maizono:

♡ She can’t laugh. She can’t.

♡ It’s not that she doesn’t want to! She just can’t afford to be caught laughing at those sorts of jokes.

♡ I mean, just imagine what her PR Team would say! It’s much safer to pretend like it’s not funny.

♡ Right after you make a joke, she falls completely silent as she purses her lips. She’s known for her impeccable willpower, but you’re really feasting her limits!

♡ After she gets a hold of herself, she starts to gently scold you. However, you can see that there’s no actual displeasure in her eyes.

Mukuro Ikusaba:

♡ She doesn’t even bat an eye at your jokes.

♡ At Fenrir, her fellow soldiers would make cracks like that all the time. Hell, yours don’t even make the top ten darkest things anyone’s said to her!

♡ She gives a breathy chuckle, and shakes her head subtly each time it happens.

♡ You’ve taken it as a personal challenge, to be frank. What could get a reaction out of your girlfriend?

♡ You have to get very, very creative, but you get there eventually.

Junko Enoshima (non-despair):

♡ Laughing uproariously. Head tilted back and everything.

♡ She doesn’t have any real backstory explanation as to why she thinks dark humor is so funny, she just does. It’s even funnier when it’s you making the joke!

♡ She’ll laugh at any of your jokes regardless, but this is the icing on the cake! You’re just her brand of funny!

♡ The laughter stops once you make a dark joke about yourself. Jokes about self-deprecation or harming yourself are a no-go.

♡ Her tone is just as lighthearted as ever when she scolds you, but her voice carries a seriousness that you very rarely hear from her. Maybe it’s best to stick with other jokes.

Celestia Ludenberg:

♡ Oh, you’re going to ruin her prim and proper image.

♡ Every time you make a joke like that, she can’t help but give a few high pitched giggles before she quiets herself.

♡ It’s a mixture of surprise and amusement that gets that reaction out of her, and she curses you for making her laugh in such a cute embarrassing way.

♡ She’ll cover her mouth daintily with one hand as she gets a hold of herself, then clear her throat as she says something along the lines of: “As humorous as I find you, was that really appropriate, my dear?”

♡ She’s just trying to get you to stop so she doesn’t giggle like that anymore. No one’s fooled.

Sakura Ogami:

♡ There’s no amusement, but no disapproval either.

♡ In all honesty, she’s just surprised. She’ll turn to look at you with one eyebrow raised. It just makes you laugh harder.

♡ Eventually, she’ll smile at the sound of your laughter, and shake her head as she turns her attention back to wherever it was before.

♡ She is quite particular about appropriate timing, however. She won’t like it too much if you make a joke like that in the presence of the wrong company. “Time and place, my girl.”

♡ But, honestly, you wouldn’t do it so often if her reactions weren’t so cute!

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

How do you feel about the "Gotham is Literally Cursed" thing that comes up every so often? Perosnally, while I feel it has fun story potential for the occult folks, it also feels like lazy writing for the larger Batman mythos or straight up refusing to engage with how a city like Gotham could legitinatly stay like that for so long.

Like, I've for a while felt that the simplest reason that could be given for why Gotham is an endless struggle is that Batman is just one billionaire in a city with a disproportionate amount of wealthy folks & a particularly bad wealth disparity that just keeps getting worse. Doing that, however, would require challenging the systems Batman's owners benefit from.

at risk of outing myself as a hack, I think Gotham being cursed is sooooo funny. like why shouldn't it be? it's the worst city in the world in a world where every flavor of magic under the sun is canon. the biblical heaven and hell are real. every time we see a flashback to ye olden Gotham it's some freaks starting a cult and doing atrocities. Gotham's not just cursed, Gotham's cursed by like seven different competing eldritch forces, and that makes it that much funnier that Bruce is stubbornly attempting to swim upstream against forces literally beyond the human mind to make his city behave for like three seconds.

idk, it might feel like more of a cop out if magic wasn't such an established part of the world. it might as well happen, and it's funnier than a lot of other explanations. I also hardly think that throwing out that Gotham's cursed, like, negates the very real issue Gotham has re: massive income disparity, any more than the rampant supervillain activity does. the city's Bad and the nature of comic books is that it can never actually stop being bad long-term in any meaningful way, so we might as well explore all the different ways it can be bad!

[anoant-haikyuu-dump]

got bored, nekoma ship wheel + sexuality hcs (explanations under cut along with empty templates in case anyone wants them)

FUKUTORA TIER

This is self-explainatory. They're basically 90% of my account. If you go to the fukutora tag its just me talking to myself because no one else has posted in it since 2022

LOVE

Kuroken - I have specific opinions on Kuroken because I'm a fan of unrequited Kenhina in highschool. Don't get me wrong, I still like how most of the fandom portrays them, but I much prefer them getting together after the timeskip when everyone's settled into their new jobs. I also really like it queerplatonic, as much or even more than romantic.

Inushiba- Idk man they're just silly, no deeper reasoning. Funny guys doing funny things with a cute height difference

LIKE

Kuroyaku/Levyaku - Honestly I like these two about equally, i think they're both shitpost-able and that's my top priority for a ship. My gf likes Levyaku so i lean towards them but i've seen some good Kuroyaku art too so i can be won over. I'm a firm believer that Kuroo and Yaku were each other's first kiss

Fukutoraken - I think Kenma being a serial third-wheel is infinitely funnier but i dont mind it, as long as fukutora aren't separated i'm chilling. Kenma getting dragged along despite not being part of the relationship is my ideal for them tho, also i think Kenma being Tora's unwilling wingman/the recipient of his sexuality crisis rambles is hillarious

Anything else i'm neutral on or haven't heard of

[casual-praxis]

It's Praxis rambling about Red hours

My two favorite interpretations of why Red acts the way he does in the manga kinda go hand in hand, but I do want to explore both at some point, even if neither are quite how I hc Red to be.

Interpretation 1: Red is simply faking his emotions. The way he bounces between moods so quickly without acknowledging his change could potentially be explained away as him exaggerating the reaction he thinks he’s supposed to be having.

He’s Link’s innocence (and optimism?) after all, this might be why he doesn’t always take situations seriously (hence, the Vaati fight). He’s kinda just playing along.

It’s for this reason that I do think his tears are definitely fake some of the time, but it’s interesting to think the ability to cry on command might pair with Link’s lying/acting capabilities (which went to Vio). Red’s just missing the ability to act alongside his emotional outburst, which is why they feel so jarring sometimes.

I know some variations of this hc include Red doing it for manipulation reasons, which he could be, but if so, he’s doing it really badly. Like, at no point does his crying/excitement/what-have-you ever get one of the others to do what he wants lmao.

I think the closest we get to Red manipulating in this case would be in the ice cave where he tells Blue, "I never thought I'd see you again. I thought I was alone forever," while crying in a much more subdued way. To which Blue seems to respond..positively? I've always interpreted Blue's expression in that panel to be soft, but I don't know exactly what emotion it is, other than maybe the semi-gentle realization that Red cares about him? (It could also just be the realization that Red is alone and that means they're all still split up, since Blue's attitude shift doesn't actually occur until after the fairy tells him to chill.)

Interpretation 2: Red is aware of the audience, and acts according to how they might expect him to. This idea comes mostly from how Red is the only one to directly break the fourth wall by acknowledging the readers, and how they expect something of him, but would be an interesting way to explain his behavior.

In the first chapter, Red acts the most different from how he does later in the manga, as their personalities really haven't been established yet outside of vague dialogue and expressions (plus Green and Blue squabbling). At no point does he remark on being scared or even really show signs of it (outside seeming a little panicked about releasing Vaati again), and he willingly attacks the enemy without prompting, as one would expect a Link to do.

It's not until they get their names and assigned personality traits does Red really start acting as the comedy relief, as the audience probably expects of him. He almost seems to lean into it on several occasions.

I like to think this is why his reaction to Shadow's death is so muted. He either didn't know how he was supposed to be reacting, or just assumed he was out of frame so he was idling (which is the funnier explanation).

Wouldn't it be wild if he knew the actual manga's theme was personality, and that's why his is so all over the place?

[starlightshadowsworld]

In the manga (as far as I have read) it shows Fukuchi only fighting Were-Wolves.

No other Were-Creature in sight or heard off besides Atsushi being a Were-Tiger.

Do you ever wonder what Fukuchi’s thought were when he first heard about the tiger? Like do you think he went ‘did those scientists try and create a were-zoo?!’ Or ‘did I forget to kill one and it turned into a tiger!?’

Like what are you ideas?

PS where did the idea of Were-creature come from or was that just a translation error?

So I went back and checked.

In the subbed anime (season 5 episode 2) they say he fought werecreature experiments. But in the manga (chapter 82) they say he fought ‘skill based “werewolf” test subjects.’

It could be a translation error but the double quotes could suggest they were like werewolves but weren’t actually werewolves hence werecreatures.

But I’m not sure.

Regardless the implications are huge. Atsushi is the only weretiger, hell werecreature in general we ever hear about.

I’ve often thought that maybe the reason Fukuchi knew so much about Atsushi’s ability during their conversation on the boat prior to fighting him.

Was because Fukuchi had fought beings like him before. Though there could be other explanations for that.

The idea of it being solely werewolves and Atsushi is thus an enigma and a creature that Fukuchi has encountered. Is not one I’ve considered but that’s really interesting.

I mean we know Atsushi’s ability is rather unique. He’s called the antithesis of all special abilities and is connected to the book.

Could be a Deadpool situation where others tried to replicate the tigers ability through their own experiments which resulted in these werewolves or other werecreatures.

Though I now have the image of silly goofy Fukuchi getting absolutely plastered the evening of the massacre and waking up one morning like..I think I got them? Yeah yeah I got em I pfft I’m Fukuchi Ouchi I know I got them.

And then learns about the weretiger joining the Agency and is just like…FUCK!

And that’s even if Atsushi is connected to these experiments to begin with. Because we really don’t know.

I mean we’re told Atsushi’s parents abused him so bad that the headmaster considered his methods not even counting as abuse. And well experimenting on a child from infancy…yeah that’d do it.

There’s a lot of paths this could take.

Also begs the question why Fukuchi was sent to another country (Republic of Kenya) to kill hundreds of thousands of experiments in the first place.

Why is this man the one we send out for dealing with supernatural threats? First the vampires now this.

Oh who am I kidding its because of that fucking sword isn’t it?

The special abilities division did know about the book. Perhaps in an event to keep it hidden they tried to eliminate these experiments to stop people from going after it.

Which if we’re going solely by werewolves only does make the concept of oh fuck it was a tiger so much funnier.

And it is never explicitly said that Fukuchi killed them all, just that he killed a lot.

And Fukuchi’s fucking old so like who knows when that massacre took place. Like Atsushi could’ve come about a lot later. Fukuchi’s just busting down the doors like now they’ve made a zoo?!

It does make me wonder that if the tiger had been known to be an ability user to the public if Fukuchi would’ve been deployed to Yokohama to take out Atsushi.

The Agency are known for taking cases the police can’t handle so even with a seemingly normal tiger things were difficult.

Maybe that’s why no one considered it was an ability user because no one had ever heard of a weretiger before.

I could go on about this all day there’s so many possibilities.

[more-than-one-us]

Went to see a couple of my friends perform in their college play version of the musical Be More Chill today (the musical holds a special place in my heart for multiple reasons). I haven't really listened to the musical much in the past few months, but today, listening through the songs and parts of the script (especially the song Voices in My Head), it was a click of "oh my god this is what being plural feels like-"

Feel free to skip past the coloured text if you don't want a short explanation of the plot of the musical (though if you haven't listened to it, it might help make more sense of all this).

For those of you who don't know, the basic storyline of the musical is that the main character, Jeremy Heere, is a high-school outcast and wants so badly to survive the treacherous school year all while dealing with family struggles at home - oh, and we can't forget the fact that he wants to date this girl named Christine.

Basically, in order to achieve that, he's able to get his hands on this pill that plants a supercomputer into your brain, which tells you what to do in order to be cool and move up from the "weird and loser" status in order to achieve popularity and greatness. Obviously, there are bumps in the road along the way, and the concept that seemed so great at first turns out to not be so great after all.

He and everyone else who had the SQUIP (the supercomputer) in their brains end up getting rid of it by the end.

The point that I'm getting to is some specific lyrics from the last song of the musical, "Voices in My Head":

C: "Say what's on your mind, Jeremy."

J: "Lunch? Just the two of us?"

C: "And any voices in our heads?"

And

C: "Me and the voices in my head have made up our collective mind."

J: "What do they say we should do?"

C: "I think that all of us want to go out with you."

Oh, and we can't forget:

"So many voices in my head. And they can yell and hurt like hell, but I know I'll be fine."

Like- take this with a grain of salt. Obviously, I know plurality is not the premise of the musical. I just found a lot of the musical a lot funnier when I thought about the SQUIP and the "voices in my head" because, you know,,, there are so many Dreamers in my brain that talk A Lot hnrnjf

I do recommend the musical. While it's not the greatest of all musicals, it's comedic in many ways and relatable in many ways... and for me, it's just very nostalgic (for many reasons also).

Anyways, just thought I'd share!

- 🌸

[theoceanswaves0]

Opinion time!~ Spoilers for up to ch. 3 of Jewel Joker!

Just wanna start by saying I haven’t felt so invigorated to talk about something like this in so long. Like, Shugo Chara isn’t my first magical girl manga, but I think it’s the one that resonated with me the most. One of these days, I really need to write that Dia arc essay, because years after reading it, it’s resonated with me so much.

—> So we learn about the existence of Arc-eggs, which seem to be some sort of manufactured (?) egg made by the school? I have a few theories that pertain to them:

A. The X-Egg in chapter 1 was an Arc-egg, and the reason it couldn’t be healed was because it wasn’t anyone’s actual dream.

B. Kurumu (Amu’s roommate) will have an arc about rejecting the manufactured arc-egg and coming to accept her own dreams, even at risk of not actually being able to have her own guardian character

C. Erito will reject Rosetta in favor of an Arc-egg, with Amu trying to convince her to accept her own authentic self over seeking out power or whatever else tempts her.

—> Kinomi (the Spade dorm leader) is def a horse boy, that is the only explanation I will accept. Also, what are the chances he’s related to the Arcana academy director?

—> Niya is another character I suspect has deeper ties to the director. Also, he’s clearly meant to foil Ikuto. We know he’s into make up and content creation (just as Ikuto is a musician), and he’s got the cat thing going for him, but now we have Michaelangelo the Second (who insists on his full name), and interestingly, Niya’s egg isn’t an arc-egg (which isn’t entirely surprising).

—> Erito insisting that she will beat Amu at the games when Amu doesn’t even know what’s happening is funnier than it has any right to be.

—> It’s interesting to see Tadase and Amu no longer in positions of power, and now be on the outside as part of the student body. Of course, they’re not entirely normal, and still have targets on their back (especially from Erito) and it almost feels like it’s using what made them popular in elementary school and leveraging it against them.

[bleachbleachbleach]

[Bleach 072]

This scene is important to me for the express reason that Hitsugaya was apparently the one to tell Jidanbou about these rules. Because they are friends! We know this not from any in-story interactions but from one line in Hitsugaya's Souls profile:

[Souls 133]

I'll be honest with you, I've never actually read Souls and have never thought about where it ties to canon temporally, but the answer to that is apparently sometime before Hitsugaya confronts Ichimaru.

This amuses me because at this point we know all of five things about this guy, and one of the five is that he's friends with Jidanbou. We don't even know the name of his Zanpakutou (that's the "?" in his stats profile box), but we know he's FRIENDS WITH JIDANBOU.

I don't have the English version of this page, apologies, but basically it's just like, Hitsugaya is a shinigami who comes from Rukongai, he's the youngest Captain in history, and he's currently investigating the Rukia business and trying to bring Ichimaru's shit to light. By the way, he's friends with Jidanbou and taught him the "Rules of the City." (Then the bottom sidebar is about how Hitsugaya treats Hinamori like blood, and wants to protect her.)

Which honestly makes this Jidanbou connection even funnier because Hinamori, the reason Hitsugaya is even in this story and the only reason we know this much about him (through Hinamori's Academy flashback), gets a neat sidebar, but the line about Jidanbou is just thrown in at the end of the main narrative like, beeeeee-tee-dubs!!

I've always wanted to write fanfic about this, but I haven't yet come up with a premise that was actually interesting to me. I assume they get paired up in this way for the size kink, though internal to the narrative that only gets us so far. After that it's like, okay, they're both associated with West Rukongai, so there's that. They're probably both socially ostracized: According to himself, people in Junrinan find Hitsugaya off-putting because of his white hair and his, well, off-putting demeanor; people probably make fun of Jidanbou because he's enormous and speaks with a lisp (though this doesn't carry into the Viz)/doesn't come across as normatively cognitively developed. But I'm kinda like, okay, sure, whatever. The most interesting part about that for me is still that Hitsugaya has a casual friend at all, because what few relationships we do see are extremely not casual. But also BTW Jidanbou!

I still think my favorite version of this relationship is the one where, while Hinamori's been off at school, Hitsugaya casually mentions to her that he's friends with Jidanbou the Gate Guardian, with absolutely zero explanation, as a child might about a brand new ride-or-die friend, as though this were completely normal and natural for him, and that's all that's ever said about it. Hitsugaya is definitely someone who has a mental white paper for anything he's ever done, which is why I find the contrast/discrepancy so appealing.

If my life depended on writing Hitsugaya Jidanbou friendship, though, I'd probably start with the City Rules. Because:

Jidanbou has been guarding this gate for 300 years. We don't know how long Hitsugaya has been living in Junrinan, but we do know he would not have had first-hand experience with any City Rules more than ~35 years ago. Not that you need to go to the city to know the rules, but I think canon Hitsugaya establishes pretty well that he doesn't talk about things he's not interested in or things that he doesn't have personal verified knowledge of. So for the first 265 years, no one bothered telling Jidanbou very much about this place he was guarding (not even his brother). He's a utility, and one that lives outside the gates (FUGAIKUUUU)--also one that's not perceived as smart enough for that information to be meaningful. But that whole vibe is not really Hitsugaya's style, because he loves an infodump--but also because he has a bone to pick with the notion of instrumentality.

If we're making a point of saying that Hitsugaya taught Jidanbou the "Rules of the City" (in quotation marks), we're introducing an interlocutor's specific POV. I'm not saying Hitsugaya's just making shit up for the hell of it, but how important these rules are, why these would be the top 3, what their original contexts were vs. being pulled out like this, and what's a literal municipal code vs. a social more vs. just something Hitsugaya has personal commentary about, are up in the air. What I'm saying is, I feel like these have "a gigai is for eating beans" energy.

At minimum, I enjoy this because this is all information that is completely incidental not only to the main storyline but ALSO to the Detective Hitsugaya B-side. But I love that Bleach is consistently so, so interesting about all these characters and their POVs and the rules that do or don't exist in the world, particularly at these early junctures, where most of what we've heard about Soul Society is from Rukia, and a lot of it we've already seen contradicted; and we'll continue to as the arc unfolds. Who even NEEDS Kyouka Suigetsu??

[feministsouthpark]

Betty Boogie's Avatars

I don't see many people talking about it, but one of the more interesting and most definitely the cutest characteristic of recent South Park is Trey Parker's daughter voicing some specific characters. Most viewers might not even realize how much impact she has on the actual show. For instance, when she has favorite pop songs, Trey makes sure to include them in the episodes, such as Humble in S21E1 or when she got into horse dressage, Trey made an episode about it (S25E4), and he specifically stays up to date about current children's trends through her. I'm here to take you on a journey of the characters she played, so naturally first comes Ike.

Ike Broflovski Ike had a lot of voice actors, famously voiced by the children of crew members. Betty's been voicing Ike since season 20, and that might just be a reason why Ike had such a big role in that season, since Trey evidently loved making his daughter say the silly obscene things Ike said. She started doing the voice when she was 3 years old, just like Ike is. And while she gained other roles, she still does Ike at the age of 10 in S26.

Hannah Williams Interestingly this first grader, Hannah, has been a background character since S9, waaay before Betty was even born. But she was never named and she never said a word. That changed, when in S21E2 she is singing at a school talent show, voiced by Betty. In S22 she continues voicing Ike and also she provides sound for the priest call whiste. ("I love Jesus! I love Jesus!")

As of S23 she is also credited for voicing the PC Babies, most prominently Riley, and a vegan boy, who might be a first or second grader, she is also Menorah in S24, the daughter of future Eric.

However an interesting shift happens at the end of The Return of Covid, in which we meet an entirely new character, Heather Williams (also mistakenly addressed as Heather Thomson before her on-screen appearance) who is decidedly a new fourth grader created specifically for Betty to voice.

We first see her watching Terrance and Phillip and eating ice cream. Then the boys (as adults from the future) blackmail her with a photo of her farting, since she can get Denver Nuggets tickets from her dad. Then she becomes a recurring character in S25, keeping the idea that whenever Trey thinks a line would be funnier if it came from the mouth of an actual child, he invited Betty to say it.

In Pajama Day she calls PC Principal a fascist and appears to be friends with Wendy and Millie. And she dares to argue with Eric about the correct pajama terminology at a kids meeting. In The Big Fix, she is seen in the main fourth graders' classroom, arguing with Stan, and it's clear Trey enjoys Betty opposing with his characters specifically.

I wonder if there's some history behind her voicing two characters named Williams. We know she played a girl called Harper at the South Park 25th Anniversary Concert specifically named after one of her friends, so Williams might be the surname of one of her friends as well. Soon, Heather fades into the background without any explanation, after the show seemingly decided to make her a regular, she gets replaced. Why? It seems like when Betty got 9 years old, Trey decided she should get a permanent character. Perhaps for that idea, they had a better design to use...

Back in S24, before either Heather Williams or Menorah Cartman got introduced, there was a Lil' Qties member who has never appeared before. She was specifically designed by Betty, seemingly already created to serve as her avatar (and I applaud Trey's bravery to represent her daughter as an anti-vaccine character). Still, I forgot about her, kept waiting for Heather Williams to have a role in S26, and instead when Stan's family buys a japanese toilet, which girl voiced by Betty shows up?

The blonde girl with the black jacket and bow. And she's officially named Betsy now. The personality is the same as Heather Williams: an assertive, outspoken girl who lashes out at Trey's characters without ever being talked back to. Except she is a different character in-show, and therefore none of the development and experience Heather had in the episodes count anymore. While both of them had exactly one season at this point, I believe Betsy is here to stay, since she is designed by her, named after her, so unlike Heather, she is a more personal avatar.

Betsy already seems to be friends with Nelly, Nichole, Bebe, Red, and to a lesser extent, on friendly terms with Wendy (although I can imagine their strong personalities would clash at some point), I hope they decide to expand upon her character and make her a mainstay. And it seems like that's the intent. Especially after Trey's father's day cake had Betsy's face on it. My theory is that Heather was supposed to stay relevant, but they just chose the Betsy design after a trial year. So if nothing else would change in their real life, I think it's safe to assume we can count on Betsy returning.

[oodlyenough]

I haven't bothered with posts about the anime episodes because for the most part they've been like... fine to moderately amusing and there's not really anything to say beyond that. 2x06 Sound the Turnabout Melody (what a title) was uh not like that lmao so

started off strong with that terrible Wright & Co commercial. god bless you Maya.

ever since they introduced the concept of the friendship keychains I've been wondering if Larry still has his or if Larry is a normal person and the keychains are a consequence of Phoenix and Edgeworth specifically being Like That.

I thought s1 really tried to be like "a no homo trio of besties!!!" so I assumed it was likely Larry did. instead not even 3 years later Larry is like "lmao you still have that?" and Phoenix is both embarrassed and defensive which is much better and funnier than I expected from this show lmfao god bless

Larry discovering girls while Phoenix is STILL thinking about Miles and then deciding to dedicate songs on the radio to him fahfkdhlhkhglh .... incredible. showstopping

the dedication just kept going and going, too. i thought it would end with like, 'to signal red from signal blue' but it went on and on. i know she read page one of his ten page letter. didn't even mention the illustrated annexes of red and blue holding hands 😔

edgeworth thanking phoenix aloud and meanwhile phoenix sensing a disturbance in the force and turning around to look ... lmaoooooooo?!?!?... I mean even by the high bar set by their game canon I was pretty stunned

the flipside of all the crazy but believably IC baby narumitsu stuff was I found the Von Karma stuff all kind of weird and not particularly believable/IC

I appreciate the anime making it unambiguous that Edgeworth was raised by MVK, I feel like in the games there's a bit of vagueness for no real reason despite it being the most logical explanation for everything. so that was nice. but:

as hilariously cruel as it is to imagine MVK raising this kid for three years before turfing him to an orphanage, even applying 5d chess psychological torment logic I can't really make sense of that. why would he wait that long lol. why would he have taken miles in to begin with if not part of a long-term scheme.

baby franziska was cute as hell but i think she was too nice. i totally believe she'd be obsessed with her new little brother and want his attention/approval/etc. i ...don't really believe she's emotionally equipped to go about it so sweetly, lol.

miles' prosecutor vs defense ambition arc was convoluted to me, and an example where i feel like the games already gave us reason enough for the switch (the idea that greg's murderer got away + mvk's influence) without the anime now presenting something that makes less sense. (i'm still playing AAI but i sense i'll have similar criticisms of it, as in, "you're offering me a new explanation that makes less sense than the original". a common issue for prequel media.)

the cravat-giving scene felt like it was presented very earnestly despite being objectively kind of creepy given, you know, everything.

dog person miles edgeworth REAL

why'd they name that puppy napalm 😭😭😭😭

oh most importantly THE EPISODE TAG?? LMAO? edgeworth giving them the only like on their commercial why can't i find a clip or gifset of it the people need to know NEVERMIND @camalyng has bravely answered the call with a gifset

[conpalos]

Indulge me for a moment here as I talk briefly about the best worst game of all time: Deadly Premonition. This is about a texture, so nothing to do with the plot.

One of the main characters in the game is named George. This is the front of his house.

Notice the flag? This game takes place in 2008, but that’s not the 50-star flag. The 50-star flag looks like this.

There are nine rows of stars on the flag. George only has 5. Now, I think there’s a reasonable explanation where the game devs couldn’t make the real flag look good and opted for fewer stars or even tried to make it from memory or something. But I have a much funnier alternative.

This is the 31-star flag that was in use from 1851 to 1858. It’s the closest historical flag to what George is actually flying. Here is a map of states that George recognizes

And here is a map of the country he knows and loves

Truly incredible