#And then end up dumping out their entire backstory XD

[gffa]

Hi!  You are welcome for being dragged down into this hell with me! :D The fic in this fandom is really delightful and there are genuinely some excellent comics to read! OKAY SO.  Here's the thing about DC comics and DC fic, I find that it's easiest to think of it in four stages or four continuities: - Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths (anything pre-1985 or so) - Post-Crisis Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985-2011) - Post New 52 (2011-2016) - Post Rebirth (2016---) (Note:  Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis are two different things!  So you may see Infinite Crisis mentioned here and there, but it's separate from the really big one in 1985 that changed the landscape so much.) Like, it's a bit more complicated than that, but generally that's how they're divided in my mind and each of them is separated by a massive universe-wide continuity change and what's true of one era may not be true of another era--and that's not even getting into various retcons that are told all the time.  Then you have fic, which often takes elements from different continuities and puts them all in a blender because it's fic, you do what you want, you pick what you like!  Which means, even aside from the usual aspects of fanon, you cannot trust fic at all to be a guide to what is or isn't canon, no matter how canon something seems. For example, in the Post-Crisis/Pre-Nu52 era, very briefly, Jason came back to life because a Superboy from a different world punched reality so hard that Jason was jarred back to life, clawed his way out of the grave, and was picked up by the League to be dumped in the Lazarus Pit.  Post-Nu52, I believe he didn't wake up until after Talia dug him up and put him in the Lazarus pit.  Or another example that you'll see a lot in fic is, Post-Crisis/Pre-Nu52 Nightwing had a story where he was trying to train Tarantula into being a hero and that story ended with him stepping aside to let her kill Blockbuster and then she sexually assaulted him, but Post-Nu52, I'm not sure Tarantula even exists, despite that a ton of fic will bring that event up and blend it in with the current continuity.  (And this is fine!  I enjoy when authors do this actually!  It just means that what's in fic =/= being able to understand the comics timeline.  Like, as far as I'm aware, Jason and Damian having a relationship is entirely a fic thing, I don't think the comics have touched on it?  To be fair, Jason is not my hardcore area of expertise yet.  XD) Now, the complicated thing--DC Rebirth isn't a reboot per se, it's more like blending pre-Nu52 elements back into the current timeline, so I'm a bit fuzzy on what's currently true and what's not, and I only mention this to basically illustrate why I think it's best to just roll with whatever the story in front of you is telling you, because there just often isn't one, true definitive version of events of the characters' backstories.  And that's if DC decides to cover things at all, rather than just throwing you into the middle of the story!  Which they will do a lot. That said, while others will probably have better Jason recs for you (which I would welcome better recs!), I would say some of the best places to understand his character would be: - Batman: Under the Hood by Judd Winick (~2005) - You can also watch the animated movie "Batman: Under the Red Hood" which a lot of people love, but it does have some differences between the two.  But both are good places to start! - Red Hood: The Lost Days (2010—2011) by Judd Winick - Another retelling of how Jason came back to life, I believe this one is pre-Nu52 - Robin 80th Anniversary Special (2020) is a series of various Robin stories and Jason has one that's a good read as well--"More Time" by Judd Winick. - Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016) by Scott Lobdell - I believe this is the only Rebirth-era storyline of Jason's that covers his background, though, I haven't read it yet myself.  You want the one with Bizarro and Artemis, NOT the one with Arsenal and Starfire.  (I mean, I'm not your mom, read what you want, but I would suggest putting those much further down on your reading list.  XD) And yes yes yes YOUR LIBRARY IS GOING TO HAVE MORE COMICS THAN YOU REALIZE, also if you have a library card already, check out Hoopla, because many libraries partner with them and you can use your card to log in and they have a TON of comics (I know for sure they have Under the Red Hood and Red Hood - The Lost Days and Red Hood and the Outlaws Volume 1 + Volume 2 + Volume 3 + Volume 4 and so, so many more comics) and you may be limited to how many you can check out per month (like 10/month or so) but it's a GREAT way to support libraries, authors/artists, and check out what you like before spending a lot of money! (Further recs, I personally enjoyed the Jason story in Batman: Urban Legends volume 1, even if the art wasn't my thing, the story had some great emotional punches, and Robins: Being Robin was such a fun ride of all five Robins solving a case together and was just pure joy to read. And mileages vary, but I remember enjoying the Hush storyline, back when I was still reading comics and it first came out, though, I haven't reread it since then, so it's a cautious rec.)

[whatsaudreythinkingabout]

Matthew Patel hearcannons pls XD (I luv him s0 much it hurtz)

omg my first ask! well, ask and ye shall receive! he’s probably my second fav ex (behind roxy, of course) so i definitely have thought about him quite a bit

So anyway:

Matthew Patel headcanons!

I’m still figuring out an exact backstory behind how he got his fire powers (I have a vague idea figured out but it is partially influenced by the religion/mythology of a culture outside my own & I just wanna make sure I do enough research to make sure I’ve written it respectfully, or else just do something different), but he’s had them for as long as he can remember. He had a hard time controlling them when he was younger, and that unfortunately led to him being ostracized by his peers growing up. He did have a loving family, though; his mother did her best raising him given the circumstances, and the two have a close relationship to this day.

He met Ramona in seventh grade, and she was one of the first people to not be afraid of him or label him as “weird;” in fact, she thought his powers were actually pretty cool. She was a bit of an outcast herself, and the two of them bonded over their shared status as misfits.

They also bonded over their shared hatred of the jocks; Matt because they bullied him, and Ramona bc they kept trying to hit on her. You know how it goes from here; they teamed up and took them down.

They dated for about a week and a half, but then Ramona dumped him out of nowhere, claiming she just wasn’t interested anymore. Matt was very hurt and confused by this, and it soon became clear to him that she was just using him for his powers (which was true to an extent, but she ultimately did care about him as a friend).

Angry and humiliated, Matt lost control of his temper (ergo, his powers, which are largely connected to his emotions) and his entire body lit on fire in a sudden burst of rage. He thankfully didn’t hurt Ramona, but she was standing close enough to get startled pretty badly without getting burned.

He only calmed down once he saw the look of terror in her eyes and the way she flinched back and he realized, with horror, what he had done. He let his anger get the better of him. He could’ve seriously injured her, or even killed her; the first true friend he ever made. And now she only saw him the way everyone else did. He tried to apologize, but she ran away frightened before he could get a word in. He’s carried the guilt of that day with him ever since.

Things were super awkward between them for the rest of middle school; they both wanted to say something about how they handled things, but were both too chicken to make the first move, so they just kinda avoided each other until they went to different high schools.

It was around this time he accidentally summoned the Demon Hipster Chicks, who helped him learn how to better hone his abilities, while also encouraging him to the dark side. This is where his “evil” phase began; he decided that if people were going to see him as a villain, then so be it (except he wasn’t actually evil at his core, just a melodramatic theatre kid edgelord who leaned into the Disney Villain schtick so people would quit bothering him even tho no one really took him THAT seriously). He had much better control of his powers at this point and was at a new school with mostly different people than his elementary/middle school, but didn’t see the point in making new friends bc he figured it would just end badly (if you remember the “they all hated me” scene from Meet the Robinsons, that was kinda his attitude during that period of his life). He definitely had a few girls try to flirt with him who thought he was all dark and brooding and mysterious, but he brushed them off bc he didn’t want a repeat of what happened with Ramona (unfortunately, this only made them more interested).

Several years pass, Matt gets a better handle on his powers, and Gideon recruits him into the League of Evil Exes. Matt is hesitant at first because he just wants to forget any of that ever happened, but Gideon plays on his insecurities (as he does with all the other exes) and conflicting feelings towards Ramona, and is able to successfully manipulate him to his side.

Before the fights started, Gideon had all the exes get together for a certain period of time to train and spar with each other so they could prepare (he probably called it “team bonding exercises” like the corporate asshole he is).

It’s during this point that he meets Lucas Lee, who he develops a (heavily repressed) crush on (I’m still deciding whether I hc him as gay or bi, but either way he likes men) and Roxy Richter, who he eventually befriends BUT starts out developing an intense, bitter rivalry with. Neither can stand the other; they’re constantly bickering with each other (often over whether pirates or ninjas are superior), trying to push each other’s buttons or one-up the other, or taunting each other during sparring matches. Lucas, being the chill dude he is, usually acts as a mediator when things get heated.

But one day Lucas isn’t around while they’re sparring, things go haywire, a nerve gets struck, and Matt accidentally burns Roxy’s arm during their fight. Matt freaks out because 1. he’s reminded of what happened with Ramona and 2. he doesn’t wanna get in trouble with Gideon (think of it like someone fighting with their younger sibling and hitting them, then the younger one starts crying & the older one is trying to calm them down before their parents show up), so he whisks her away so he can bandage her up himself (bc when you grow up like he has, you gotta know how to treat a burn wound).

Roxy protests throughout the whole process, insisting that she can take care of herself just fine (even though it’s at least a second-degree burn), but Matt insists that no she can’t so just let him do this one thing. They start to open up to one another and learn about each other’s reasons for being in the League & history with Ramona, and begin to realize they have more similarities than they initially thought. They both realize that Ramona had used them in some capacity (Matt for his powers, Roxy for her sexuality; hooo boy just you WAIT until I get into her backstory), they still have a lot of conflicting feelings about her (Matt feels guilty over almost hurting her, while Roxy is still in love with her at this point), and they both just don’t like Scott.

From then on, they become the most inseparable best friends to ever best friend. Shortly after, Lucas gets roped into their shenanigans and they form an unstoppable trio of besties. Roxy is all-too-aware of Matt’s crush on Lucas and teases him about it every chance she gets.

Things are fun, and then Matt’s fight comes up and he gets demolished. Roxy is devastated, Lucas can only stare in shock (HC that during fights, the remaining League members are scattered throughout the audience as a precautionary measure to make sure everything goes as planned & no one gets cold feet), & Roxy makes Lucas promise he’ll win the next fight for Matt.

Matt respawns in Subspace (think the scene where Scott almost gets killed & wakes up in the dream desert, except it looks different for everyone), and once his body fully heals he wakes up back in his room having learned his lesson, but also realizing that Gideon has been using them all as pawns.

During Lucas’s fight he manages to get Roxy away from the crowd, she realizes he’s not dead (first she punches him in the gut & then hugs him while saying something to the effect of “don’t you ever scare me like that again you asshole”) and he tries to convince her that the League isn’t worth it. She realizes the situation she’s gotten herself in, but feels like she’s already in too deep (plus part of the reason she joined was to prove herself; both to Ramona and in general, and she’s still determined to do so), and even if she wanted to leave (which she does now that her only friends are gone) they’re all bound by contract until the job is done.

At some point during all this, he moves in with Lucas (just as housemates…at first *wink*), and then Roxy moves in with them for a period of time until she starts dating Envy and they move in together. Between the three of them, he’s the best cook by a landslide.

He does eventually reconcile with Ramona after the events of the main story (NOT romantically, just for the purposes of getting closure); he apologizes for losing his temper and almost burning her to a crisp when they were kids, and to his surprise she responds that, while she was definitely scared in the moment, she ultimately hasn’t held it against him too much since he was still controlling his powers, and they acknowledge that they were both dumb preteens who didn’t know any better and were dealing with dumb preteen feelings.

I’m debating for the above scene to take place while he’s in Subspace post-battle (once again, similar to Scott after he gets killed), but I’ve also already had a similar scene with Roxy planned out in my HC for a long time (once again, just you WAIT until I get into that); I’m wondering if something like this could happen for all the exes so she could have a chance to get closure with them if she wanted to but idk if this would be too repetitive or defeat the purpose of her character arc in the canon story.

His friendship with Roxy is almost entirely made up of affectionate snark, daring each other to do dumb shit, gossip, attempting to one-up each other on karaoke night (or just scream-singing in the car together) and at various video games, and incredibly long-winded conversations about their favorite movies and respective love lives (and unsuccessfully trying to convince the other to just tell their crush how they feel). To give you an idea, imagine Steve & Robin from Stranger Things if they leaned more chaotic neutral.

As mentioned earlier, he’s a huge, proudly unabashed theatre kid; he grew up watching a lot of musicals & Bollywood movies & was pretty heavily involved in his high school drama club when he wasn’t being an edgy loner.

Thanks to his powers, he himself is completely immune to fire.

There’s probably more I can’t think of off the top of my head, that I’m still figuring out, or that was covered in my “randomly assorted” post, but if I think of anything else I’ll add it here!

[kyogre-blue]

Finished the Xianyun quest (for the encounter points).

It's...... fine. Almost aggressively whatever. It's probably in the upper half of Genshin story quests, but its overall structure sets a very low ceiling for it and it's let down by sloppy details in execution.

Three points:

First, just noting that we get a few extra details about how adepti work. Yuandai was an ordinary crane who gained sentience after being around adeptal energy for a long time. Cloud Retainer imparted the secrets of cultivation on her, and she could have become an adeptus as well if she completed her training. As it is, she loses her cultivation and becomes an ordinary crane again, but she could potentially regain her sentience in the future (presumably from hanging around Mt. Aocang's adeptal energy, same as before).

Ganyu was previously noted as having not completed her training, and Yanfei seems to have never trained at all, but they're still generally considered as adepti, so you kind of get this distinction between ordinary beings that cultivate up to adeptus-hood and naturally magical beings that can further refine their powers. Of course, in the Chenyu quest, it's brought up that "adeptus" isn't really a precise term with a set definition. It's really just the label ordinary people tend to slap on any supernaturally powerful being.

(Also, you can have magic sentient animals that aren't on the level of adepti, which is interesting.)

I'm not pointing out any inconsistencies here or anything, just thought it was cool.

Second, as I said, the details of the quest aren't really executed too well imo. The ending was especially sloppy. The traveler's expression is weirdly happy once they enter the dream. Like, we just watched a little girl functionally lose her only family member, but we're going "naptime, yay! XD" Seeing them reunited, even in a vision, immediately after Yuandai departed is also jarring and out of place. And then after the sibling cameo, Xianyun doting on Traveler and calling them a young one is also... Traveler is explicitly not a child. I get that you're selling the mommy kink, but this is just bizarre.

There's other stuff too, like how we just casually sidestep the fact that the child there's so much focus on Yuandai giving birth too died somewhere off screen in the years after, since her potential grief over that would be too inconvenient to the message. And the Zhongli scene dragged wildly too, but that's just Zhongli stuff, I guess. Overall, they could have done better on the small stuff.

Still, Xianyun's quest at least actually showcases her personality fairly well, compared to uuuuh a whole lot of other story quests.

Third, as I also said, this quest was always going to struggle to do better than mediocrity because it's hard capped by its structure. It's Genshin's favorite style -- faffle around for two acts, then info dump an entire backstory in the third, with no meaningful events in the present. This can work at times, but it's very limited in how much it can do because, being realistic, we don't know these NPCs and listening to them dump out some past event that no longer really matters is just not that interesting.

The entire quest would have been better served by fully taking place entirely in the past, where you play as Cloud Retainer going through these events in a more extended way, instead of just the short "domain" where they try to shove in some gameplay while she explains things to you. Alternatively, they could have given the present day events some more urgency by having Yuandai go missing and Shuyu searching for her while distraught, or at least something.

Thinking logically, it's not like this structure of wasting time and then dumping out backstory at the end is unique to Genshin. FGO does this fairly often in events too. But in FGO events, they've gotten into the habit of making the new character also be the main antagonist who is causing problems, so the act of stopping them is intertwined with them getting closure (after dumping out their backstory), so at least there's some sense that you're achieving something in the present day.

Anyway, it was... fine as a quest, but kind of shows that this is as far as Genshin can go due to its self-imposed limitations.

[vio-starzz]

I'm just gonna dump (almost) everything I have about my rejuv OCs and some crumbs of their AU lore when relevant xD

So the main OC for my rejuv au, the chroniclerverse, is Hauyne.

She's the Paragon Interceptor for that AU, and has been for the entire thirteen (fourteen if you include v13.5) versions of rejuv. However, she doesn't always take this form; from v1 to v12, she simply has the appearance of whoever she has as a host (Aevis for v1 and v2, Aevia for v3 and v4, Ariana for v5 and v6, Axel for v7 and v8, Aero for v9 and v10, and finally Alain for v11 and v12). From v13 and onwards, she no longer needs a host and exists as her own person, hence her current and true appearance, but even her v13's design is somewhat different from her current v13.5 design (i.e. in v13 she's physically 16, has normal human ears, styles her hair in a ponytail with blue streaks dyed in her hair and lacks the eye scars).

Her backstory is quite long, so I'm just gonna do a tl;dr version. Long story short, Hauyne was once a player of the fangame itself before she was isekai'd into Aevium to serve as the Interceptor. But since in v1 the plot only goes up to Goldenwood Forest, once she got to that point she was hit by the big Reset, and she was looped back to the beginning - this time the v2 version of events. So the more times she went through the loop, the more integrated she became with the world itself. At some point, she becomes part of the protag gang from before Storm-9, which is also how she met and befriended a young Erin (I think this was in v10 or the tenth cycle? since Erin did not exist prior to that version). However, she does not recall her past runs until the end of the thirteenth run after everything ended disastrously, and her regaining her lost memories was what set off the realisation of what she must do to create the happy ending she seeks.

Aside from her powers as the Interceptor, she also has powers of her own from her aura wielder heritage. Aura Wielders are basically a race of humanoids that exist in the chroniclerverse, as the third sapient race that once co-existed alongside humans and Pokemon. I can't go too deep into their lore without spoiling a bunch of rejuv stuff, but long story short aura wielders went into hiding when humans got greedy and hunted them down for their powers (in this verse, the garufans' magic were originally the aura wielders' before they stole it and repurposed it for their own goals). There are three main types of aura wielders: the first and most common being those who derive their powers by spiritually bonding with a Pokemon, the second being those with the ability to take the form of a non-Legendary Pokemon, and the last (and rarest) are those who can take the form of Legendaries. Hauyne belongs to the third category, although this was not discovered until her thirteenth run since up until then there was a powerful force suppressing her innate abilities.

...okay, enough rambling about Hauyne. Time to bring out my Renegade Interceptor, Electra!

So unlike Hauyne, Electra is a Garufan steel/dragon specialist and a failed vessel for the Archetype. However, prior to her dying from Genesis Syndrome, she gained the attributes of Dialga as a side effect of hosting the Archetype, so she was thought to have held some promise until she inevitably succumbed from Genesis Syndrome. Her soul was later collected upon her passing and stored away to be repurposed for the Interceptor Program, then a secret failsafe plan should things not go the way Variya intended.

Much later on, she took Aevia's place and became the Interceptor, but due to the time she spent as a disembodied soul she lost much of her memories, remembering only bits and pieces of her old life. So her journey was mainly her trying to find out what had happened to her and to look for a way back home. When she did inevitably found out the truth, she went off the deep end from grief, beginning to plot the destruction of this world in the hopes of restoring the old one. In this verse, she's the one who created the foundation of the killing spell that would be later modified into "End of Night" by Melia; her version of it utterly erases the person's soul from existence, but it doesn't completely wipes away other people's memories of them.

As a Garufan, her magic are mainly inclined towards metal manipulation and to some extent time manipulation, but using the latter drains her energy a lot so she uses it very rarely. it isn't until she absorbed the Diamond Core after the end of the Renegade .karma files that she fully gains the power of Dialga, allowing her to manipulate time freely and even temporarily assume the form of Dialga in battle.

aaaand I think that's it! Feel free to ask me more about them or the chroniclerverse, since I don't think I can fit everything in a single ask sjdfgjsdhf

OMG/POS

i have been driven speechless i ighabfbnanfnsng :0000

[the-tictac-squad]

A little bit about Kodi! (And some points that were going to be featured in the plot)

Under the cut cause uh, It ended up being more than just a little bit ^^; Whoops

So Kodi is actually Nova’s reverse! Danny had found him while out scavenging one day and decided to take him under his wing, much to Reverse!Lorem’s (RL. I never figured out a name for her xnx) annoyance.

It ended up working out in her favor, however, as Kodi had become a quickly skilled fighter! Danny refused to ever let him out on the front lines though, considering Kodi was still a child.

The duo ended up growing close over time, and Kodi eventually considered Danny as an older brother! However, when Danny swapped places with Felix and escaped, he was forced to leave Kodi behind.

Kodi grew resentment towards Danny because of it. He still cared about Danny but he hated him for leaving without him. Kodi quickly climbed up in the ranks, soon taking Danny’s former position as RL’s third in command (Second in command being Sylvia, Melody’s reverse)

When Alma was finally able to bring the trio over, Kodi had tracked down Danny and his group, demanding to fight Danny then and there. The duo agreed that if Danny won, Kodi wouldn’t sell them out to RL. But if Kodi won, he would take Danny straight to her.

The fight hadn’t lasted long, with Kodi quickly gaining the upper hand. But eventually, he stopped. He started to break down, conflicted about his emotions at the moment. He wanted to hate Danny for abandoning him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It wasn’t until Danny wrapped his arms around the other and apologized for leaving him that he finally broke. The two remained there for a moment until Kodi had calmed down. He decided that he wanted to stay with Danny and help them against RL, 

He’s still a little timid around the rest of the group, But he’ll warm up in time ^_^

[juniaships]

Loonatics Reboot: Origins

The cousins of the world-famous Looney Tunes, the Loonatics are resident protectors of the progressive city-state, Acmetropolis. Currently there are seven members headed by their mysterious mentor, but for now let's dive in deeper into the origin story of the first six Loonatics. We'll get to number seven in the future! 💛💛💛

The story goes, the Loonatics came about by chance. You see, not too long ago six individuals volunteered for an experiment conducted by the city's namesake ACME (the business). As all of them needed the extra cash, they didn't mind being used as temporary guinea pigs if it meant having the funds to pursue their dreams or pay the rent.

Unfortunately the test did not produced the expected results and was marked off as a failure. While the group were paid they were disappointed & went back to their normal lives.

Until abnormalities started cropping up.

One volunteer, a college freshman named Lexi Bunny, began hearing things, increased migraines, and physically cringing at even moderately loud sounds. Such condition affected the way she moved and grooved to the beat (she was an avid dancer) and one day, she had passed out from the pressure and sent to the emergency room. While she recovered she began seeing everything in a pink haze. Lexi didn't know exactly caused her health emergency but she had a feeling that it had something to do with the experiment. But she kept quiet, she wasn't one to stand up for herself, remembering a horrid incident trying out for her school's cheer squad. She wondered what the other volunteers were feeling...

The second volunteer was an Acmewood stunt artist named Ace Bunny (yeah yeah he's related to Bugs now let him train in peace). Whenever Ace felt particularly confident, he saw his vision turn red...literally. His eyes burned no matter how much ice or eyedrops he used. During rehearsals he started to notice how every time someone went to strike him, he dodged them every. Single. Time. Many of the crew members lucky to see were impressed, shocked even (much to the displeasure of the lead actor) & leaving the Looney cousin embarrassed at the increased attention.

The fourth volunteer was a scientist named Tech E Coyote. Like Duck he also lost his job though unlike Duck he was on the receiving end of an angry coworker. The poor man was left to craft consolation contraptions in the solitude of his workshop. One night he noticed some pieces of metal clinging to his lab-coat. At first he brushed them off but they stuck to his hands. He made a note to himself to use anti-static softener; but after several wash days the problems persisted and very soon larger pieces of metal started clinging to his clothes, hands, all around his body - one incident he knocked himself out with a frying pan! He also took notes of lights flickering around him, computers and screens turning on and off whenever he walked near them.

The third volunteer was a young man barely out of his teen years simply known as Duck. Danger Duck. He worked as a pool boy ironically had a hot temper. To put it best he loathed his job, feeling not being taken seriously by the oh-so-macho lifeguards that picked on him constantly. One minute he was complaining about his job, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of a desert. Than back to the pool. Than an artic region! He also complained of tingling sensations in his fingers, as if he dumped his hands in a bowl of cut peppers. And after one particularly frustrating day, he got so made he raised his threw something at the lifeguard... something red-hot and round...which nearly costed the lifeguard his life yet ALSO caused Duck to lose his job.

Rev, a pizza delivery man with a sense of words and no sense of direction, was the onlt one whose problems weren't seen. Not at least externally. During his trips he was relieved to not miss addresses as much as he used to. Maybe a stroke of luck he guessed. But now it seems his brain was replaced by a GPS because days by he can verbally recite the location almost every place in Acmetropolis from the tallest skyscraper to the dingey of alleyways. Not even having to travel to these places.

As for Slam, his already phenomenal strength increased tenfold, and so did his speed. Such growth massively helped his wrestling career. Every time he spun however, he swore he felt and heard the crick-crackle-boom of lightning...which one day during a match he accidentally electrocuted his opponent, promptly suspended for the rest of the season. At least the guy was alive...a cooked steak but alive.

Eventually these side effects took their toll and the citizens finally had enough. Weeks after the test the group went back to Acme to report on what they were experiencing, hoping to get some compensation to pay off frequent trips to the hospital.

To their surprise ACME was pleased to hear the results of the experiment had been successful after all. The CEO, Otto Matthias, saw potential in the ragtag group of Tunes and offered them a deal: work for his company as sponsored superheroes. There was a mixed reaction: Tech was skeptical, as was Lexi and Slam. Ace didn't know what to think of the deal, he wanted to be recognized for his talents. Danger was the only one totally on board with the plan (no more finding lost trunks). Rev was also excited yet nervous at the prospect. Otto added that the offer came with free housing, access to any and all Acme products, and a lifetime supply of Scooby Snacks (much to Slam's fancy).

Duck didn't have to hear anymore before immediately agreeing to the deal. He did not want to go back to being a lowly pool boy or any other position to be laughed at and bullied, and saw the deal as a surefire way to success. The rest of the group & Scooby Snack Slam decided to wait a week before giving their answer. Acme signed Duck as Danger Duck, the Living Magma Extraordinaire! Cool name is it?

Throughout the week the remaining Tunes pondered long and hard about the company's offer. Would this deal really help them find meaning in their otherwise pitiful lives? Or was it all a glorified corporate tactic designed to keep them quiet? Danger Duck, Living Magma Extraordinaire seemed to be having a good time, so they might be missing out on a stable fulfilling lifestyle. Surely it wasn't an evil trick? Right? Right??

The answer to their dilemma showed uo at their door. Literally.

For five days, each person received a visit from a woman dressed in a simple lavender coat with the hood drawn up. From the shadows they could make out ruby-colored lips, yet her eyes seemed to lack irises as they were entirely blank-white.

This woman claimed that she was the creator of the drug and that is was not meant to be in mortal hands. She claimed that Acme stole her formula for personal gain, warning them the CEO was not who he seemed & that they shouldn't take his word. When the civilians asked about Danger Duck, the woman vowed she would do everything in her power to try to steer the young man from a terrible fate.

"How do you know I can trust you?" That was the sentiment shared by the five Tunes, in varying words.

The woman only smiled. "It's all up to you," she simply replied before handing out a shiny triangle with the familiar shield logo on it.

As each Tune took the metallic shape in their hands, they wondered how would this hunk ol metal help them decide their future? The lady's words echoed through their minds...maybe...the shield was a emblem of their roots. How did she know so much about them and so concerned about their lives?

By the morning of the last day, it was Ace who came to his decision first. "I'll believe you," he relented. "If only you'll tell me more about this drug you made."

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid that'll have to come in a group meeting," she said a bit tersely. The truth is too much to bear on one man.

"Here." She scribbled a few words down on a piece of paper. "Meet me at this location later this afternoon. Don't bring anyone else."

"Okay," Ace said a bit skeptically. He was about to ask more but the lady quickly left with a hurried goodbye. Ace blinked his blue eyes before reading what she had wrote. "I hope this ain't gonna land me on a watchlist," he muttered before starting to prepare for his impromptu meeting. He prayed that he made the right choice.

I'm making this as I go along XD

My goal for this chapter and the next one is to give the team a better backstories and the why and HOW they got together. I know the show had an origin episode but it didn't show them their first mission or how they actually met, only how they got their powers. As this is a reboot there are a lot of changes so instead of being set in the future, it's set in modern era and they're cousins of the Looney Tunes. I'm also trying to give them motivations: Danger Duck seeking fame and fortune; Tech seeking recognition for his genius; Ace forging his own path out of his cousin's shadow. I haven't gotten to Slam & Lexi's motivations as much as that would be for when I get to writing Weathervane (who will be Lexi's foil) and Massive (Slam's foil). Rev's motivation will also be explored as him learning to be more independent away from his family's wealthy lifestyle. As for my OC Mikayla Jordan, she's going to appear in a future post pertaining to the Freleng Royal Family oop spoiled my own OC subplot XD

[panharmonium]

next round of in-progress naruto thoughts under the cut!  we started season 12 finally and we’re only like ten episodes into it but i have already experienced the most stressful moment of my life so.  lots to scream about.

[spoiler policy disclaimer first, as always: I am watching naruto for the first time and have only gotten a partway into season 12.  i am trying to avoid spoilers, so please don’t interact with this (tags included, because the notifications now show them to me automatically) with any spoilery commentary, including even general things like “oh i love this show but it gets less good after X point” or “X season is better than Y season” or any general assessments of quality/likability/etc re: future seasons.  Thank you! <3 ]

- the amount of information dumped on us in the first half of this season is SO MUCH!!!!  i don’t remember any of it!  i can’t keep it straight!  we met kushina and did the entire nine-tails attack backstory and all that stuff about the land of eddies and the previous nine-tails jinchuriki (which, UH....yikes), and then a bunch of very confusing information about the sage of the six paths (we still don’t even know what that title MEANS) and some kind of special/complementary creation powers inherent to the senju and uchiha clans that apparently were used to create the tailed beasts from the ten-tails, and then all these references to other things like....madara fighting the first hokage to acquire his powers?  madara giving nagato the rinnegan (...how?)  nagato being an uzumaki??  and then we get dumped into the actual formation of the allied shinobi forces and how they’re organized and that in itself it a lot for me to keep straight........so many characters...i still don’t know half their names....i feel like i need to rewatch the entire first half of this season just to try to absorb all of this information again

- i can’t believe this show actually gave one of the mothers a personality.  shocking.  

- re: above - i liked kushina a lot.  but can i just say, while we’re on the subject, how FUCKED UP her entire story is???????  the hidden leaf administration......imported a child........to make her the nine-tails jinchuriki......a fate in which she had no say.....that’s.........abhorrently fucked up.  i thought we’d reached the limit of “how evil is this administration actually” but i guess not

- relatedly, i still feel like.......weird about minato’s choices?  not really sure where i stand on that one yet.  like...they kind of make us assume up until these episodes that minato HAD to use the reaper death seal and sacrifice his own life in order to stop the nine-tails, but now we know that’s not even the case.  kushina was going to take the nine-tails down with her.  minato didn’t actually have to die, and kushina didn’t want him to.  she didn’t want to make naruto the jinchuriki, and she didn’t want him to grow up without any parents.  and it’s not like her original plan would have been a permanent solution for everyone; minato says the nine-tails will just reemerge someday if they don’t seal it inside someone now, but still.  i dunno.  

it’s not like an EVIL choice.  i get what he’s saying.  i just don’t know how i feel about it.  minato on the whole has just been a character that i haven’t quite figured out how to connect with - i don’t dislike him, and i WANT to like him more than i already do, but even back at the end of the kakashi chronicles his vibe just felt a little weird to me.  a little...detached.  i dunno if i’m just like...wanting him to be something other than what he is, because the show builds him up so much as the ideal?  but then he doesn’t quite match what i envision.  

he’s not BAD in any way.  i just keep wanting him to be...warmer, or something, and maybe that’s just not who he is.

- i was bizarrely fond of young!Killer Bee.  the way he was just such an optimistic kid who never let anything get him down...he’s kinda like naruto in that way.

- and i had a Very strong reaction to that moment where motoi apologizes for trying to kill Bee that one time and Bee’s smiling response is “you know, i don’t remember that happening.”  that was, uh.....you can definitely feel what they’re getting at with that.  

honestly, the second half of this show is doing a lot with radical forgiveness/compassion and that is one of my BIGGEST thematic weaknesses, so i’m prepared to continue getting punched with it.

- KISAME LMAOOOO.  man, i’m gonna miss him.  i guess if you’ve gotta go out, feeding yourself to your own sharks is one way to do it.  

- i loved that flashback to kisame meeting itachi lol.  they have a brief tense moment and then kisame literally is just ‘lets be friends and have some fun’ and he’s not SERIOUS obviously; it’s meant in a ‘let’s just not make waves here so we can get our work done,’ but then it’s hilarious because the two of them literally never argue again.  they’re the only two akatsuki members who actually get along XD

- KONAN OMG.  ;________;  

- how fucking badass do you have to be to pull off that move though.  six hundred billion paper bombs???  six hundred BILLION?????????

- i was EMOTIONALLY COMPROMISED by the sudden jiraiya flashbacks and his little froggy tile system for keeping track of the children, oh my god.  that was...no.

- loved naruto telling the nine-tails “i’m sorry...i won’t do wrong by you...just hang in there for a while longer”.......i loved that.  (see again: radical compassion)

- how DARE they use the reanimation jutsu on asuma.  how DARE THEY.  

- i....really can’t imagine that sasuke is gonna be cool with them using itachi’s dead body like that.  like i know he can’t see that they’re doing it right now, but those bandages have gotta come off at some point, right? 

- definitely Did Not Like kabuto saying that he also reanimated “other shinobi of significance”...that really just leaves the door wiiiiide open and that is a stressful feeling

okay now the main event -

WHEN KABUTO SAID HE WANTED YAMATO FOR HIS EXPERIMENTS I STARTED FULL-ON SCREAMING THREATS AT THE TV (@PADMERRIE WAS THERE SHE CAN CONFIRM)

AND THEN THE VERY NEXT EPISODE KABUTO SWALLOWED HIM AND SLITHERED AWAY AND NOW YAMATO IS CAPTURED AND BEING EXPERIMENTED ON AND/OR USED LIKE A FUCKING...DNA BANK OR CHAKRA RESERVE FOR MADARA’S PLANT ARMY OR SOEMTHING AND IT’S HORRIBLE AND I WANTED TO CRY THE WHOLE TIME

you guys i cannot emphasize enough how upset i am about yamato being trapped in kabuto’s clutches i was clutching a blankie the whole time we were watching and i cannot stop thinking about it even into today; i am just sobbing on the inside

one of this show’s recurring themes is the whole “treating people as if they’re nothing more than weapons/tools to be exploited is bad actually; maybe we should stop doing that” (eg the cultural view of shinobi, the jinchuriki, the hyuga clan’s curse marks, all of orochimaru’s “projects” [kimimaro, taka, etc]), and yamato is another victim of that - we’ve barely gotten any details about his history yet but we do know that he was originally one of orochimaru’s experiments and i just cannot STAND the thought of him being back in the hands of those fucking people.  i cannot stand the thought of him being tortured and stripped down and experimented on.  the idea of him being trapped in this dehumanizing position again is KILLING ME INSIDE.  i need kakashi to break in there and rescue him YESTERDAY.

[belliesandburps]

Followup with MGS4 Peace Walker and 5?

History has a funny way of repeating itself. :P

This one's actually gonna be long, so I'll cap it here to spare those uninterested in non-kink posts the burden of having to scroll past this fanboy rant. 'XD

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

3. It's Okay

Soooooo...not a controversial opinion to say that I don't think MGS4 is GREAT. I adored it when it first game out, and I still enjoy replaying it from time to time. But good lord, so many of the interviews shed light on a LOT of this games problems.

Some backstory is required. Hideo Kojima was done with MGS by this point. He planned to move on and leave the series to the younger generation. But then, there was a lot of internal conflict and struggle to determine what MGS4 should be after Fukushima quit (AND was rumored to have been murdered by the Yakuza...how that rumor started...and became a SERIOUS rumor that millions believe, I do not know...). So Kojima came back, course corrected, and the end result was kind of a giant mess.

I'm not talking story because, there's just way too much to unpack. But as a game, MGS4 can't decide what sort of video game it wants to be. It had a brilliant idea that had never been done before with its Battlefield Stealth, which were the best parts of the game. And then they get dropped two acts in, and what gets replaced in their stead is not nearly as fun.

The game had substantially less boss fights than its predecessor, and a lot of them were mechanically simplistic or just didn't let you get creative with how you fought them. And we later learned there were a lot more bosses planned, more gameplay sequences planned, and an entire other PMC group that got canned in favor of the Scarabs so Shadow Moses could be guarded by machines instead.

There's a lot about MGS4 that I love. I think the first two acts are amazing, ESPECIALLY Act 2. I think the mechanics are great. REX vs RAY is criminally fun. The sheer buffet of insane weapons gives the game a good amount of replay value. And the graphics still hold up to this day!

But what I finally realized is that the game juggles way too many ideas and doesn't give any idea the time they deserve to flourish. Battlefield Stealth could've CARRIED MGS4. But it gets dumped before we can get our moneys worth. A disguise sequence could've been really creative, having to juggle different identities with OctoMask every time one identity is burned. But it's only used once and wasted because it's only used for a terrible tailing mission that doesn't let you actually explore the European City. And too many of the action set pieces are kind of bland except the bosses and piloting Metal Gear.

MGS4 should've been MGS4. Not MGS's "Best Hits."

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

1. LOVED it!

I know this is unpopular to say, but I'll say it. Peace Walker is one of the best Metal Gear games ever made. I adored almost everything about it. The gameplay improves on MGS4 in most ways because it doesn't juggle a billion ideas all at once. It's MGS4 stripped down to stealth action from start to finish, and that's all I wanted. The level design is great. The insane volume of guns changes the entire feel of combat in later post-campaign gameplay. The mission select options mean you can jump into all the parts of the game you enjoy the most. There's TONS of bonus missions that are really inventive and fun to replay. And the story is one of the best in the series. It's straight forward, very tight, characterized well, and is the best iteration of Big Boss to date.

Peace Walker's also the FUNNIEST MGS game by Kojima as well. There's so much more personality and levity to everything, to the point where Big Boss often feels like an MCU character. That might sound bad, but it's really not. That corniness fits MGS PERFECTLY, and I'd argue is tonally spot on for this series. MGS doesn't need to be dark, gory or explicit. It's a silly series that's about giant robots, corny bad ass super agents with an anti-nuke message.

The only downsides to Peace Walker are the QTE's and the boss fights. This was a feature that only ever appeared in this game and for good reason...it was fucking terrible. So basically, you had cutscenes that forced you to do various QTE's or else get dinged on your ratings at the end, even if you played perfectly. Fairly minimal, but then, you get to Strangelove's torture. And this is the single most rage-inducing part of any MGS game ever made. It's an insanely physically painful button mashing sequence that will leave your fingers raw and your PS3 triangle buttons jamming. And the ONLY way you can replay one of the best missions in the game (the prison escape where you have no items) is by redoing that sequence over and over. And the boss fights? While inventive, they're all just grindy bullet sponges with no personality, no stealth tactics, and no room for creativity the way you can get creative with every other MGS game's bosses. This was the biggest disappointment for me because the stealth and combat mechanics of PW are great and would've been SO good against human enemies like what Portable Ops had. Instead, every boss is a mini-Metal Gear all voiced by the VOCALOID AI from the mid 2000's, and each one takes forever to destroy. It sucks because PW had a TON of bosses, but only a few of them are any fun, and that's only if you have weapons that are strong enough that they don't take ages to destroy.

But asides from the bosses, the REST of the game is so damn good that I don't even care because that's just one element to a much larger, grander game. Which is even more impressive when you consider PW was originally on the PSP before the PS3 port. And this game has more content and replay value to it than most games I've played since.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

1. LOVED it!

Hooooooookay...so, I've rambled about my storybook romance with MGSV for YEARS now. (Just ask @twistedtummies2, he's been subjected to my fanboying of this game more than anyone in existence XD) But there's a reason I regard this game as one of my all time favorites and the best MGS game to date.

It's REALLY freakin' fun.

Kojima had been re-energized by the time he got to MGSV. He'd been working on the game around the time he finished Peace Walker in 2010. He KNEW it was his final MGS game and wanted to do something completely different...

...He wanted to make a game where the central focus was on...waaaaait for it...the gameplay...

MGSV was designed to be, what he described, as a toybox. You have these missions that all take place in structurally unique outposts like any level in MGS. And the missions are designed with the structure needed so that they all feel different, but all remain so open ended that you can play them countless different ways.

MGSV's game model is everything GTA SHOULD'VE been. It fully embraces the open world freedom and incorporates that into the missions flawlessly. And it plays in such a way that stealth and combat both feel like they were the primary point. In MGS, combat is usually a last resort. But with MGSV, you can fly into an outpost blasting away on your helicopters mini-gun, shoot up the bad guys, rescue your target, throw them back into the chopper and fly away while "The Final Countdown" blares on your choppers loud speakers.

Every method of gameplay is valid and the controls, the enemy AI responsiveness, it's all, bar none, the best I've experienced in ANY video game. Sneaking around feels tight and tense and combat makes you feel like Jack Bauer on adrenaline. (I mean, he IS the voice of Venom Snake)

And I really like the story for the most part too. Its weaknesses are really glaring. Namely, the "Fun" of MGS is completely devoid in the story (which is really odd since it's FRONT AND CENTER in-game). Venom Snake only has maybe six minutes of dialogue in the entirety of this 30+ hour long game. And the way Skull Face gets completely undercut right at the home stretch is something I have NOT stopped bitching about for almost six years, and my friends can personally attest to that.

That and the ending feels too abrupt.

We know that Kojima got fired by Konami's VP and said VP scorched the entire production company after that and made a series of dickheaded decisions that pissed off a LOT of fans, burning much of the good will Konami IP fans had towards the company. But that had nothing to do with MGSV's abruptness. That was the plan from the start because only Kojima would think to end the entire series on a plot twist like that.

And I think the issue isn't the twist at all. In fact, I LOVE the twist. The issue is that the game should've continued beyond it so Venom Snake could cope with the truth and realize how badly he'd been screwed. I think even people who hated the twist could've been won over if there was a little more to the games epilogue than Episode 46.

Also, the games boss fights were a tad underwhelming. Not the fights themselves, I LOVED all five of the games bosses.

Oh? There were twelve?

No. I meant what I said. Because so many of the games bosses are rematches against the same bosses. All MGSV has is the Skulls, Quiet, Eli, The Man on Fire, and Metal Gear. They're great bosses that do everything the best MGS bosses always did; give you tons of options, incorporate combat AND stealth, have varied attacks AND even have multiple methods to sneak around the boss and avoid the fight completely. But for a game as long as MGS, you need more variety. And frankly, the bosses NEED more personality. Skull Face should've had more XOF assassins acting as the bosses in the game along with the ones we have. Elite assassins like Quiet, with their own powers and specialized weaponry so the fights feel completely different from the ones we have. And oh yeah, SKULL FACE HIMSELF SHOULD'VE HAD A GOD-FUCKING-DAMN BOSS FIGHT!!!!

Buuuuuuut those issues don't even matter if for all the games issues, I still replay it frequently when it's almost six years old.

So yeah! There's the massive rant you totally didn't ask for! :D

[purrincess-chat]

In your opinion, what are all the things that ML writers could do to fix the show and make it better?

Oh, Lord, how much time do you have?

I don’t even know how to begin gathering my thoughts for this, so if this ends up being a big incoherent brain dump then, uh, I’m sorry. XD

So, first and foremost I guess, they need to balance their main characters better. Why is all of the plot tied to Adrien? Why does Adrien have a more fleshed out backstory than Marinette? This is supposed to be a girl power show, and yet it revolves more around the boy’s life from the girl’s perspective basically. Marinette really doesn’t have a dog in that fight outside of the fact that she was asked. 

Marinette needs some kind of tie into the plot that doesn’t revolve around her love interest which is basically all they are willing to give her in this show. Everything about her has to relate back to the boy somehow, and if girl power is their message, then they are kind of defeating the purpose. Sure, they have episodes that are supposed to depict that the girl doesn’t need the boy, but then when you pile on top of that dozens of other instances where she gets pushed aside in favor of the boy, including words coming out of the creator’s own mouth (or off of his two thumbs onto a screen) then it doesn’t exactly hold the same weight. 

If your protagonist doesn’t have a tie into the plot, then why are they the protagonist? Take other shows, for instance: Avatar: the Last Airbender, Aang is the avatar and it’s his destiny to keep the balance in the world, She-ra, Adora was destined to become She-ra, it’s in her blood. But you have Marinette who is Ladybug because….the greater good? Some fairy sprite bug thing asked her to be? 

The villain isn’t personal for her, there is no mark of destiny that deems that she must be a hero, she’s just kind of there. Even her family barely gets fleshed out in comparison to Adrien’s. I mean, her parents are just blindly supportive of her meanwhile Adrien’s mom is in a magical coma, his father is cold, distant, and neglectful, which for some reason turns his assistant on and makes her want to sacrifice her fucking health even though Gabriel looks like a dried up soft pretzel. They canceled the special where we were supposed to learn about Marinette’s family, and I think that about sums up my point.

Secondly, I think they need to abandon the idea that Adrien is perfect because it’s not doing his character any favors. Thomas is so far up his ass about Adrien being a perfect example to boys that he has actually looped back around and made Adrien a poor example to boys. He gets away with all of his bad behavior because Thomas just covers his eyes if you call it bad behavior, he refuses to take no for an answer from the girl he likes, he thinks standing up for yourself is being unkind to the other person regardless of how unkind they are being to you, he conveniently turns a blind eye to the abuse of his friends, but god help you if you try to assert yourself against your aggressor because “you should just be nice to them and eventually they’ll change” like um, and maybe they won’t, in the mean time, I don’t want to put up with their bullshit! 

By insisting on this perfect image, they prevent Adrien from growing because you can’t improve perfect. I have said it before numerous times, but Adrien reeks of amateur fanfiction author’s self-insert OC. He’s described as being perfect, he’s good at a lot of activities just because, he’s wildly attractive, charming, smooth, can generally do no wrong, everything revolves around him, the narrative is constructed in a way that usually puts him above the everyone else. The fact that more people don’t realize that, especially the creator himself, is laughable. 

“But Cat, Chat Noir gets mind-controlled and thrown around and is goofy and-” Okay, but when Chat throws a tantrum about Ladybug not returning his feelings, who apologizes sincerely? Who is painted as being wrong in that situation? When Chloe puts a train full of people in danger just to play hero for a day, who does he scold? And of the two, who does the fandom adore more? Bonus: who do the Chibi specials revolve around and pity? 

Thirdly, they need to actually delve into shit more. It’s season 3, they’ve only been greenlit for 2 more seasons, and what plot do we have? Gabriel wants to bring his wife back from her magical coma, Master Fu messed up something in the past that led to two Miraculouses being lost as well as their temple to be destroyed where presumably everyone else but him died making him the last member of that magical society. That’s it. We don’t know how Emilie got to be the way she is. We have suspicions, but nothing explicit in canon yet. Same with Fu. We don’t know what his mistake was, only that he made one. We barely know any lore about the Miraculouses, the origins, how they were made, when they started working with humans, why they were created. 

If you want my honest opinion, with how slowly they’re dragging out this Agreste plot, they could have accomplished it in two seasons if they actually made every episode count and mean something. We get like maybe 1-2 minutes of actual plot relevant information once every few episodes, if that, and sometimes that “plot relevant information” is just the villain learning that there’s a guardian. Hang onto your asses, guys, they’re really laying it on thick for us. 

Seriously, they give us breadcrumbs of plot, and they don’t even go into any of the cool shit (like fucking Master Fu and his ancient magical fight club perhaps??) because obviously the villain’s assistant being in love with him despite the fact that he’s married, has a kid, and is doing all of this to resurrect his comatose wife whom he loves and devotes everything to is WAY more interesting and important than all that froufrou magical ass Chinese bullshit, right? Like, this show has all of this Chinese lore and a biracial lead, and they still somehow manage to make it all about white people. but ya know, the French are proud of themselves I guess

Fourth, chunk the status quoyo out the fucking window. I get that this decision may not have been the writing team’s, but in fact a higher up decision, but it’s still a stupid ass decision. For a show that is trying to introduce deeper plot, you cannot progress anything if you constantly have to set everything back to the way it was at the end of the episode, and that much is evident. The relationships are getting stale, characters aren’t developing, plot is moving at a snail’s pace, all because they are so bound by this idea that everything needs to be right in the end to maintain an episodic format. If they wanted to keep the series episodic, they shouldn’t have gone in for all of this lore and backstory that they say exists, but never tell us what it is because that just leaves a lot of people unsatisfied. 

Fifth, for the love of god learn how to write dynamic characters. Not everyone needs to be dynamic, but your main cast should probably be. Adrien, I love him to bits, but he is static as all fuck. Which, again, see point number 2. One of the biggest complaints floating around about Stormy Weather 2 is that the characters haven’t changed. With the exception of Marinette, none of the other characters have really learned anything. Adrien hasn’t, Nathalie doesn’t have enough focus to learn shit, Nino and Alya really haven’t, Chloe sure as hell hasn’t, and Gabriel can’t decide if he’s an abusive piece of shit or a sympathetic, heart broken sad man, so I barely count him. 

In fact, 3 of those characters’ “development” just revolves around being in love. Nathalie’s “change” is that she for some reason wants to fuck Gabriel (I guess the whole gray-ass pompadour, candy cane aesthetic really does it for her), and then Alya and Nino’s “change” is that they fuck love each other now which them being a couple has basically just become their entire character. They’re barely separate anymore, particularly in Nino’s case more than Alya’s. I’m sure that Chloe’s bit about having changed juxtaposed with flashbacks of her not being nice coupled with how she wasn’t nice in this episode was just for humor because they like to make the point that mean people will never change, but for some reason they still feel the need to teach the protagonist a lesson about being nice to mean people so that they can change, but they don’t do that, they just think that you should keep hoping. :) :) :)

I honestly think that the writers don’t know what “character development” means, and Stormy Weather 2 was just proof of that. All they did was show that the characters have been in a number of different situations, but none of them have really learned anything or grown from those situations, so it’s kind of a weak argument to say that they’ve changed when they’re all intrinsically the same. Except for Marinette because she is constantly the writing teams’ punching bag in all of these morals of the day cause can’t teach shit to perfect boy cause he’s perfect, but of course they don’t reflect on all of the lessons they forced her to learn, what are we, stupid? No, her only importance to the plot is the fact that she loves the boy that the plot really focuses on, so of course her only significant development of character is that she can talk to him sometimes without foaming at the mouth. Not a peep on how she has learned to overcome her jealousy and hotheaded nature, gained confidence in herself, and learned to maturely accept when someone doesn’t return her feelings, a lesson that a lot of us wish good old perfect boy would fucking learn, but he can’t because he’s perfect. :) :) :)

Another part of the problem with characterization in this show, is that often times characters behave in such a way to push the moral of the day rather than giving them established characters. It’s why Alya only questions Marinette’s sources in Chameleon while she just lets Lila claim a bunch of wild shit without batting an eye because she only cares about journalistic integrity when she can use it to beat down her friend so she can learn a lesson about turning the other cheek. :) :) :)

Sixth, pick up a fucking romance novel every once in a while cause hot damn is their relationship progression a heaping pile of hot garbage. Their love drama is so forced and there’s no real development because of the #status quoyo because they must drag this shit on until we’ve all basically lost interest. I’ve seen more people dropping off the love square in the last half season than I’ve ever seen in any other show. Part of that has to do with Adrien becoming a real “nice guy™” but a good chunk of it also has to do with the fact that they don’t really know how to write love drama or romantic tension in a way that makes you care. We all pretty much know that Adrien is never going to figure it out, even if someone grabs him by the shoulders and screams it in his face that Marinette is in love with him, so why should we care? We know that Chat Noir is never going to stop loving Ladybug, but Ladybug is never going to stop loving Adrien so why should we care? We know the show is never going to break the square because they’re endgame so why should we care about the love rivals? 

Seriously, Captain Hardrock didn’t give me a reason to care about Luka or ship him with Marinette. I still stand by my opinion that their chemistry was incredibly forced and inorganic, and it still is, and as much as I love Kagami, I wasn’t convinced that she was interested in Adrien at the end of Riposte either. The only reason we know Luka likes Marinette is because Winny said he “fell in love with her at first sight” on Twitter (which the whole love at first sight trope is bullshit, but that’s a post for another day). Somehow in Frozer Kagami was randomly into Adrien all of a sudden, and no one likes to bat an eye about the fact that she told him to change targets because the girl he likes doesn’t like him back and then at the end of the episode when Adrien admits that he still likes the other girl over Kagami, Kagami is all “well, it’s fine. I’ll wait.” like bitch, again on characterization. A strong and confident character like her would know her worth and would show that boy the door. But of course she would contradict herself because they need her for #love drama later even though we all know it doesn’t matter. 

I love the love square, and I live for soft moments between them, but I’m ready for them to turn up the heat and give me some actual drama and tension that doesn’t revolve around Chat being a pouty pissbaby or Marinette fucking up another love confession. Cause when you do that too many times, it stops being interesting. You have to throw us a bone somewhere or else we’re gonna stop caring, and lots of people already have.

Seventh, can we please stop pitting all of the girls against each other while the boys just get to be cool with each other? For a show that promotes itself as being a “girl power” show, there are a metric fuckton of misogynistic undertones to this show. See: why does the plot revolve around the boy even though the girl is the slated protagonist. See: why does the girl learn all the lessons while the boy gets to be right all the time. See: why two teenage girls are “the worst things I can think of” while an actual neglectful father gets to be sympathetic and “do anything for his family” uwu

Seriously, I think making Kagami and Marinette rivals while Luka and Adrien are just chill dudebros is so tired. Girls fighting over boys is tired, especially because we have it not once, not twice, but three fucking times in this show. Chloe and Marinette don’t often fight over Adrien, but in Despair Bear Chloe sure as hell didn’t want them dancing together. Marinette initially follows Lila because she’s hanging off of Adrien, and even at the end of Chameleon, Lila makes it known that she is still gonna try to steal Adrien. Kagami basically tells Marinette that she better stop hesitating or she is gonna steal Adrien away, and we have Backwarder where Marinette is basically plotting to cockblock them even though we had Frozer where she decided she wasn’t going to be jealous of them because Adrien liked her. Again, see: characters behaving in a way that is convenient for the plot of the episode. All of the drama is between girls. All of the women in this show are described as being terrible, the worst things they could think of, never going to stop being mean. Seriously. Chloe and Lila? Worst things Thomas can think of. Audrey is constantly shown intimidating her husband who is extremely corrupt himself, not that anyone bats an eye at that. Nathalie/Mayura was described by Jeremy as “making Hawkmoth look like a baby.” Any time they show a man being problematic, they have to bring in a female to be ten times worse, and the worst part is: they don’t even know they’re doing it. #girl power, am I right?

Eighth, speaking of making people bad, can we stop half-assing redemptions? Honestly, they’re so back and forth on whether or not they’re going to redeem Chloe. First it’s “mean people will never get a miraculous” then dingdong, who’s that? Queen Bee, motherfuckers. Then it’s talk about how they’re not going to redeem Chloe then bam bitch, “why don’t you love me?” But even after that they reset the status quoyo and have her go back to being mean. Even after they give her a second chance to be a hero and do good, she still goes right back to being her nasty self. I think they really highlighted in Stormy Weather 2 how much they haven’t changed her at all, and yet somehow she still gets to play the hero. 

Additionally, now we have them trying to make Gabriel sympathetic? Boo fucking hoo my wife is in a coma so I terrorize the fucking city on a daily basis, pity me! Also I neglect my son, verbally abuse him from time to time, and I don’t even let him see his friends or feel any happiness, and even though my superpower revolves around feeling people’s negative emotions, I never seem to care about my own son’s unhappiness, but hey, I’m doing it for his mommy, so that makes me better than the 14 year old girl. :D

Shit or get off the pot, Zag. Either you’re going to redeem these characters, or you’re going to leave them the way they are. Make up your damn mind.

Ninth, be diverse in more than name only. For a show that prides itself on its biracial female lead and its ties to Chinese culture, uhh, they spend a lot of time focusing on not those things. I said it before, but they focus all of their plot attention on rich ass white people drama more than the vastly more interesting Chinese lore they have going on. Their black characters were paired together just cause, and their only real important quality now is that they love each other. Their ship is basically their character now, and we barely have a reason to root for them outside of the fact that they’re canon. They have such shallow relationship development that my feet wouldn’t get wet if I stood in a puddle of it. Can we have more on them, please? 

This show is diverse only on the surface. They use diversity as decoration then fill everything else with less interesting shit, and even then they get a lot of shit wrong. It drives one of my Asian friends nuts that Sabine’s neckline is facing the wrong direction. (for those unaware of what I mean, it should look like a y. hers is backwards) They use diversity to pat themselves on the back and say they are diverse, but they have no intention of doing anything meaningful with it. It’s just a gold sticker they wanted to give themselves to draw in an eastern market. It’s cheap, and several of us see through that shit. 

And last, but certainly not least: Shut the absolute fuck up on Twitter. Just shut the fuck up. Every time Thomas opens his mouth, he just pisses off more people or makes everything more convoluted. Shut the fuck up. Please. 

Now, I know a host of you are going to be like “buhhh, it’s a kid’s show, go outside, hur dur, I’m so smart and mature,” but like, honestly that’s a weak argument. Yes, Thomas’s audience is young now and they may not be able to see all of this shit, but when they get older and decide to go back and watch one of their favorite childhood cartoons, all of that shit is gonna come out. They’re not gonna be so naive forever, especially if our generation is raising them, and just because they can’t see all of this shit now, doesn’t mean that it’s not still there just because they don’t notice? That doesn’t make it any less problematic. One thing I love about several shows I used to watch as a kid is that they aged well. When I go back and watch them now as an adult, I find things that I missed as a kid that I appreciate now as an adult. I can’t say that the same is going to happen with Miraculous, especially in this day and age. 

Additionally, kids learn a lot through media. I never believed that I was any less than the boys growing up because I consumed a lot of media that taught me that, and going back and watching it over now, I still get that from those shows. Clearly, if you apply two ounces of logic to this show, it falls apart, and that’s not because it’s a kid’s show, it’s because it’s bad writing. I can always see what they are going for, but they always miss just a little bit. sometimes a lot

A lot of us complain because we are concerned with the message being spread to the next generation because those kids are going to grow up one day and be influenced by what they are consuming now. If we teach our girls that the perfect boy is going to chase after us no matter what we say to them and if we teach our boys that in order to be the perfect boy we have to continually chase after the girl until she says yes, how are those kids going to approach relationships? That mentality is actually something that we are trying to combat in the world. That mentality is why rape is so prevalent because we teach boys that they are entitled to a woman’s affection if they’re “nice” to them, and if she doesn’t give it to them, then she is wrong. 

Media has an impact on kids, whether we like to admit it or not. Yes, parents can still teach them, but sometimes things get into your subconscious and it can determine how you see yourself and the world. Lots of kids engage in make-believe play where they put themselves in that character’s shoes and play pretend. I just think it’s important to give them the right things to look up to. 

[btflglitch]

Which route was the most fun to write?

Maggie Herskowitz (Writer): I had the honor of doing the first Z’Gord totem route in the OG game and that was a blaaaaast. I loved building up increasingly horrifying Lovecraftian nightmare consequences of the eldritch god’s actions whilst keeping Polly and Miranda ever more focused on how precious and adorable and cute their Li’l Buddy is! Good times. I ALSO *LOVED* writing Blobert’s route, which has since grown even dearer to my heart since he was then voiced by Jesse Cox, who has become a great supporter and inspiration to me (hi, Jesse!!!). Blobert is great because in all the cruelty and “be your worst self”-ness of most of the characters, there is a shining beacon of purity and adorableness who seems like he’s walked out of a different game into this one. I also got to sneak in some slayer lore of my own invention, which is fun because the madman behind it all, Julian Quijano, has created this BRILLIANTLY full world with very in-depth backstories for each character, so any time I get to help shape that world by adding new details/history for characters and he likes them and lets them stay, that’s always a very cool moment for me XD

Julián Quijano (Creative Director & Writer): First of all, thanks Maggie for the nice words above! 

So… I write some of the routes myself. Normally I keep the ones that are heavier on lore or message. So, for instance, I did the first Valerie route, the Damien Hairdresser route, or the Zoe route about her identity, etc. 

On the DLC I loved writing both Hope and Faith routes for very specific reasons. On Hope’s route I decided to break the internal rules and have a stupidly long outcome of around 50 lines that summed up the plot of 7 entire seasons of the Coven fictional TV show. It was INSANE. It took me many hours not only to write, but to come up with. I had my charts and wild ideas. I knew it would be a pain in the ass for most players (I made the narrator suggest to skip the whole scene, actually)… but the knowledge that at least some fans would enjoy such an obscene and unnecessary lore dump made it 100% worth. Dunno… it was super weird and wild. 

On the other hand, I loved Faith’s route for a total different reason. Not only it contained lore and it served to make some self-critique on an unfortunate joke I wrote for the original made (the “Dark Polly” one), but it let me write one of my fav events to date. So I was exhausted of lots of lore heavy events and such… and then I decided out of the blue that the conflict of the first even should be basically “what do you know about cats?” just to make some smalltalk with Faith. It was both absurd and delightful to write a lore dump on the event’s introduction just to leave it by the end and make the actual conflict about something so mundane!

Finally, I need to mention briefly 2 routes. I did some heavy rewrites on the “Dragon Heat” (basically wrote the 1st and 3rd events myself) and I loved it. Weird as fuck, in the best way possible. I loved seeing fans who are avid fanfic readers/writers saying how “true” the route felt. 

And the other one is obviously “The Caganer” route. I’m from South America, but I came to Barcelona many years ago. I love this city and the culture of the region (even if I don’t practice the customs myself). So I wanted to show my gratitude by sharing Catalonia’s culture with our huge lovely audience. Also, it was MonProm’s absurd tone at its best! 

[otagamerkorin]

Could you give us any more info about your OC Mila? :)

Absolutely! I’ll throw together a bit of a character profile you.

Name: Mila Flores

Gender: Female

Age: 28

Species: Sooty Swift (They look like this!)

Feather color: Blackish-brown, with some lighter and darker streaks through her hair and tail feathers.

Hair feather style: Short and fluffy, sort of fly-away with a lot of cowlicks. They also mostly blend in with the rest of her feathers (sort of like Lena or Fenton).

Eye color: Dark Grey

Height: Being a smaller sort of bird, I imagine her being a little bit taller than Donald, but shorter than like Gladstone or Fethry.

Build: Very slender but with surprisingly toned core and strong limbs from her gymnast days.

Clothing style: Mila likes to be stylish but comfy and tends to wear more subdued colors. This is what I imagine her day to day outfit looking like:

Personality: Mila is typically pretty friendly and relaxed, though she values her privacy and tends to keep most personal details to herself. Despite hanging out with a bunch of energetic dorks regularly and getting thrown into one odd scenario after another, she has a penchant for managing to stay reasonably calm in the face of most situations. Her tolerance for bullshit does have a limit however and when she reaches it, her temper is explosive. On a similar stem, it’s rare to see her cry, haven gotten good at hiding sadness from others, but when she does she basically shuts down entirely. Despite what her non-nonchalant attitude would imply, she lives for excitement and adrenaline though  and delights in hearing about others adventures.

Notable character relationships: Mila has a good relationship with several of the canon characters. She’s quite close with Panchito and Jose, actually being related to the former (her being his second cousin), and the three have a very close familial relationship. She’s also especially close with Gladstone, with the lucky gander essentially being her best friend at this point. (He takes a lot of pleasure in dragging her out with him to whichever swanky location he’s off to that night, if for no other reason than getting her out of the house.) She tends to spend a good amount of time over at the McDuck manor, with Scrooge having taken a liking to her and hiring her as his personal barista. While it had taken a while, she eventually opened up to the old man and he’s now one of the few individuals privy to her past. Their relationship is a warm one and she loves to listen to the stories of he and his families many adventures. 

Oddly enough, the one other notable person she’s connected too is Negaduck of all people. Mila lives over in Saint Canard (she commutes to Duckberg for Mcduck stuff) and, after a series of ever increasingly bizarre events, was briefly kidnapped by the villain in an attempt to get info out of her. She refused to give anything up and, as the situation began to snowball even further, the two ended up having to work together to cover both their asses. They ended up bonding a lot over the course of it all and by the end Mila may have developed a bit of a thing for the guy ¬‿¬  (This is admittedly leaning more towards the OG Negaduck’s personality.)

Backstory: Having trained as a gymnast from a young age, Mila was at the top of her game by the time she reached her teens. She regularly placed first in competitions and eventually made her way to the rank of national champ under the alias “Allegra Solis”.  As it turned out, a lot of important people had their eye on her and soon after she found herself being scouted for the American Olympic team. She accepted their offer and for a time she was on cloud nine. But then tragedy struck. During practice one day, she suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. When she woke up she was told two things. 1.) She had a previously un-diagnosed heart condition that, if pushed too far by her training, could prove fatal. And 2.) She was off the team and banned from participating in any other professional competitions. As though to add insult to injury, in order to prevent a potential scandal if the news got out, the entire situation was swept under the rug by the higher-ups. She and her coach tired to fight it, to at least give her the ability to do coaching herself if nothing else, but in the end there was nothing they could do. Her career was over.

Her savings held her over for a time while she more or less spent the next few months locked away in her apartment, till eventually an old family friend offered her a job at the coffee shop she owned. For lack of anything else to do, Mila took her up on the offer. She’d had always liked coffee. Eventually she found a new rhythm in her life, helping out at the shop, making deliveries and running catering events. Over time she began to come to terms with her new life. One day, a coffee catering was called into the shop by one Scrooge Mcduck for one of his large staff meetings. Over the course of the meeting, she could sense the pure boredom and annoyance coming off the old duck and, as a kind attempt to try and make the whole affair a bit more bearable for him, secretly fixed him a Celtic coffee. (A type of coffee drink made with cream and scotch whiskey.) He caught onto her plan immediately and her bit of subtle mischief indeed improved his mood considerably. Upon going to thank her after the meeting however, he found her half-collapsed in the kitchen, having pushed herself too far while running about and setting off her illness. He ended up having to call an ambulance for her and went to visit her in the hospital afterward. Upon learning about her condition and being stricken by her determination to make his meeting run smoothly despite her own discomfort (as well as her expert coffee making), he decided to hire her on as his own personal barista, to cater all of his coffee needing events as well as drop by the mansion a few times a week for breakfast. Shocked by his offer but knowing that the man was notoriously picky, she excepted. Eventually the two began to bond beyond just that of a employer and employee and she began to met more and more of the family, eventually striking up a fierce friendship with Gladstone and a friendly rapport with his other workers.

This ended up being an absolute info dump, whoops. I could talk about Mila for hours XD Hope it helped though!

Edit: One detail I forgot to mention! Mila actually drives a motorcycle! It’s what she uses for deliveries and her catering.

[severe-fangirl-syndrome]

1, 3, 4, 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 40, 44, 47, 49 for the writers asks?

Thanks a ton for the ask, friend!

1. Do you listen to music when you write?

Yes, but not often. Usually, I only do it when I'm writing something inspired by that song specifically.

3. Computer or pen and paper?

Tough choice, but... computer. Mainly because whenever I put something down on paper, whether a random piece of paper or a notebook, I never manage to find it again. Anything I have recorded digitally is... just as unorganized, honestly, but at least it has to be in the device somewhere.

4. Have you ever been published, or do you want to be published?

Never been published, but maybe, one day, probably in the far, far future, I am definitely tempted to get something published, professionally even.

Though, if this means published as in just posting something on the internet, I haven't posted any actual writing in ages, but I do definitely hope to post more, sooner rather than later

10. Do you set yourself deadlines?

Not really, I already know how horrible I am with deadline, they'd just upset me, not to mention getting myself to write something when I'm feeling completely against the idea never works out.

15.  How do you deal with writer’s block?

Ok, so, I don't actually get writer's block all that often! At least, not complete, total writer's block, where I can't write anything at all. When it comes down to it, I love writing, so if I let my instincts take the lead, there's usually at least something I'd enjoy writing. But if I'm trying to work on a specific project and the words just won't come? I rarely try to tackle writer's block head on. I usually always choose to just take a step back, let myself have a break, write something else that demands less mental effort, then wait for inspiration. My imagination is more hyperactive than not.

20. How many WIPs and story ideas do you have?

Oh..... my God......... why would you ask me that........

Uhhhhh if only just what I consider to be my main, proper, actual WIPs, then around four. If you count the ones that I'm not entirely convinced are legit yet, but have solidified too much to just be going away now, then maybe like... fifteen, including the main four. If... you... really want the estimated total then.......

UHHHHHHHHHHHH

24. Favourite genre to write and read

Oooooohh, tough question. I enjoy a whole lot, and you should know I just love to genre-mash. But, I suppose, if it really comes down to it, I'd have to stick with my age-old answer: fantasy. I've always loved it and I don't hope to stop.

30. Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

Depends what you mean by "haven't started on yet." If I had the idea at all, it probably has at least a few scenes written down already. So, if we just go by a story that hasn't made any progress since those first inspiring lines I put down, then this original story by the working title of "Long Live The Foreign Dead." It's... quite chaotic. To summarize as shortly as possible, it's about a girl working as a grim reaper in a fantasy world.

40. Share some backstory for one of your characters

Ummmmmm, we'll do........ my girl Zoeri, from my Treasure Trove WIP. Her short description is "the blind host of an eldritch horror," and these attributes have affected her since day one.

From the day she was born, and the villagers realized she harboured a demonic entity within her, they wanted to leave her for dead. So they cast her from the village and dumped her in the middle of the forest, but in the end, at least one of the villagers there couldn't bear the thought of leaving a blind, helpless, infant girl all alone to die in the woods, so they went to retrieve her and raised her in secret.

But eventually, either other villagers found out about it, or they watched her take her eldritch form and were too horrified to keep her any longer, she ends up abandoned in the woods again. Someone else finds her, and takes her in again. The formula repeats. She survives by a miracle, even if, usually, she isn't able to stay long enough to develop any substantial bonds.

And, finally, inevitably, as she's only just reached preteen age, no one takes her in again. She ends up alone again, and stays that way this time. She grows up in the woods, largely isolated and wary of all strangers, until the very start of the plot.

44. How much research do you do?

Probably more than what is healthy XD

When I'm only just beginning on a story, or haven't gotten the flow of it going yet, is the most dangerous time, where I am at risk of spending ages on Google looking for this one (1) extremely specific piece of information that somehow lead me to thirty tabs.

But, fortunately, at least, when I've finally picked up the rhythm of writing something, I tend not to spend too long on research. I've learned to put a [***] where something I don't know is meant to go.

47. Best way to procrastinate

Lol idk dude, tumblr or smth? YouTube? The internet in general?

49. Which character would you most want to be friends with, if they were real?

That's another difficult question. I think, if it really boils down to it, the choice is... between Deva and Dani, the protagonist of the Treasure Trove WIP and his older sister. I really love Deva, I have to, when he's the leading voice of a project I love, and I'm such a character-centric person. He's just a relatively cool guy in general too.

But also, Deva really cares for and admires Dani, and I look through his eyes a lot so... not to mention, I will confess, she is..... a tad bit of a self insert. Except, like, better than me. At life. She's a slightly more ideal me. I'm certainly tempted to meet someone like that.

[ghost--apple]

I feel as though I won't be able to move on from Ossan's Love and proceed with my life normally if I don't write what I feel about it so I need a place to dump all my feelings about it... 

(Spoilers ahead)

Basically, I have been experiencing horrible withdrawal symptoms after the drama ended around three weeks ago. I mean, I spent seven weeks looking forward to each episode and watching it in real-time (via live-stream) so of course after it ended I was like "how to proceed with life????" XD I didn't think I'd get THIS attached to the series and I seriously blame Hayashi Kento for it. A little backstory: after getting addicted to HIGH&LOW last year, I spent many months watching almost all dramas I could find with Masataka Kubota in it (since I fell in love with him after that, thanks Smoky!). And when there's nothing else to watch, I proceeded watching Hayashi Kento's dramas next since he became my number 2 favorite in H&L after Masa. So since I've been stalking them, I'd regularly see news about them in Twitter. Last March, when I saw the news in Twitter about Kento starring in a new spring drama called "Ossan's Love" (shortly after I got hooked on Masa's winter drama "Unnatural"), I immediately got intrigued because apparently, it's the drama version of a special one-episode “BL” drama that already aired in 2016.  

SO KENTO IN A “BL” DRAMA??? KENTO AS A GAY CHARACTER AGAIN??? YES PLEASE. So I immediately researched about the SP and in doing so, I realized that Kento didn't appear in it at all so initially I was like "WTH???" but still I watched it because I'm a fujoushi HAHAHA. And OMG I loved it, it was so insane and hilarious and just really a feel-good show!! I realized after watching it that Kento will actually replace one of the main characters (Hase) as an entirely new character (Maki), while the two other main characters will be played by the same actors (Tanaka Kei and Yoshida-san) reprising their roles from the SP (Haruta and Buchou). I already liked the character that Kento would be replacing but fortunately I love Kento as a person and as an actor so I was like "I hope Kento will do a great job in the drama so I will not miss Hase that much~" and it made me more excited to see how the drama version will unfold with Kento and the entrance of his character this time around.  (This is why I get quite sad when I read comments from other people who watched the SP that they're disappointed that Hase will be replaced, that the “new actor is not as cute as Hase” (EXCUSE ME!!!) etc etc~ T_T I was like “Kento is a wonderful actor, give him a chance!!!!”) 

AND SO THE DRAMA SERIES STARTED AND I IMMEDIATELY FELL INTO OSSAN'S LOVE HELL RIGHT AFTER THE FIRST EPISODE. So yes, why do I love it so much??????

Reason#1 HAYASHI KENTO AS MAKI

I'm not being biased when I say that Kento did an amazingly wonderful job in this drama as Maki. For me, he exceeded all expectations and proved all the doubters wrong. He was so great I almost immediately forgot that an SP prior to the drama ever existed (this is coming from a person who really enjoyed the SP and really liked Hase). No doubt he managed to capture a lot of hearts with his portrayal of Maki~! (*A*) I mean, while the series was being aired (and even now), he would consistently win in popularity polls regarding who's your favorite character in the currently airing spring dramas (or 2018 dramas), and he's not just winning, he's winning by a large margin even against people from Johnny's. Maki is already a great well-written character to begin with, but the way Kento played him, it's almost impossible to not root for him. AND HE'S SO PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AS MAKI I WANT TO HUG HIM SO MUCH AAAAAAHHHH. 

No seriously, Maki is a wonderful character (did I already say he’s wonderful???). He doesn't really show or say what he truly feels, he acts tough and okay all the time but actually has a lot of insecurities, prioritizes the happiness of the person he loves (read: Haruta) over his own happiness and I think these make us viewers really empathize with him. Maki never had any internal dialogues (unlike Haruta) so the audience only had to rely on Kento's acting-- his body language, the movement of his eyes, the sound of his voice -- to be really able to understand what Maki truly is going through, and I think Kento's acting was super effective as he was able to truly make me feel Maki's pain when he's suffering and Maki's joy when something good happens, even with just the slightest change in his facial expressions or voice. I can actually feel his emotions even in scenes wherein you can only see his back or silhouette!!! He's that great, his whole body is acting, but in a very natural way. 

For me, Maki is a complex character and I think it's a shame that we only get to see him mostly through Haruta's point of view, but I really love him because he's so self-aware, so strong yet also so vulnerable. While the show was airing, fans would mostly tweet "please be happy, Maki-kun!!" because seriously, he's a character who deserves all the happiness in the world!! I even came to a point when I was like "I don't care if Maki ends up with Haruta or come back to his ex-boyfriend Takekawa-san as long as he's happy!!!" because really, the screenwriter loves making him suffer, my poor child. And eventually, after finishing the drama, I came to understand why it seems Tanaka Kei would often say in interviews that the drama (drama's success??) relies on Kento's Maki (one of the directors even calls Kento something like "genius chihuahua bearing the future") because I seriously think Maki is the backbone of the story and how the viewers will accept Maki and eventually his relationship with Haruta (especially those who are already fond of Hase or who already love Buchou since the SP) will depend entirely on Kento's interpretation of this character. Haruta may be the face of the story, Buchou may serve as the arms (don’t know if this makes sense but whatever) but for me it's Maki who truly kept the story together. I've seen a lot of jdramas over the past thirteen years but I can say Maki is one of the most amazing characters I've ever come across. No seriously, I'm being overly dramatic but he's really special for me. *__* I'm really glad that Kento was chosen to play Maki in the drama version, bless the person who decided on this casting. (*A*) 

Reason#2 HARUMAKI

I think I'm in the minority this time since I prefer HaruMaki instead of MakiHaru. *coughs* Well... one of Maki's official character traits is being a "do-S" but actually I think he's just a tsundere. XD And he’s an extremely sweet person, almost an angel, how can that be do-S??? XD I get it that Maki's the one who's always doing the first move but I think that's primarily because he's the one who's sure of his feelings and sexuality. Haruta is still confused with all the things suddenly happening around him (since he’s dumb sometimes haha, but at least a lovable one) but I guess as soon as he's able to fully understand and come to terms with his feelings for Maki and the nature of their relationship, it will be easy for him to really start showing his affection for Maki and initiate ~things~. This is why I'm so thankful for that scene in the last episode!! Haruta going on top of Maki to kiss him with that smug expression on his face!! That just screams "HARUMAKI!!!!" to me and made all my dreams come true (well almost haha)!! Initially I felt sad that Maki had to suffer a lot because of his feelings for Haruta, but I know he really loves him and so I’ve been waiting for that moment when Haruta will finally return Maki's feelings and make him happy. Fortunately we see them getting the happy ending they deserve~!! The drama really did a great job showing all those funny, sweet, and bittersweet HaruMaki moments, until now I still keep on re-watching almost all of their scenes together. T_T (And OMG those kiss scenes seriously, Kento should be illegal!!!) 

Reason#3 TAKEMAKI

Okay so Ossan's Love is the only series that ever made me multi-ship!!! Since I watched the SP, I was so sure that I will be shipping Maki and Haruta hard and that they’re going to end up together (following the Hase+Haruta route in SP)... but then Takekawa Masamune happened HAHAHAHA. Takekawa-san was portrayed by Mashima-san whom I became fond of after watching another drama (TonaKazo) wherein he played as a gay character in a relationship with a younger guy too (my precious WataSaku!!!! but that's another story) so when I learned that he will be in Ossan's Love as well, I thought "wow, the more reason to look forward to it!" So some hours before the second episode aired, TheTelevison website posted this off-shot photo of Kento and Mashima-san and I was like "ooooh I can support this if it happens!!" jokingly since I love Kento and Mashima-san and they looked good in the photo together. And then as fate would have it, after the 2nd episode, the preview for the 3rd episode showed them finally interacting with each other with Takekawa-san shouting at Maki and kicking a trashcan!! And from there a lot of speculations arose-- does Takekawa-san like Haruta that's why he's angry at Maki, or he's actually Maki's ex-boyfriend?? I was praying for the latter because a lot of characters in the drama are already in love with Haruta (Buchou, Maki, Chizu)!! So somebody has to be in love with Maki too and make Haruta jealous so he'll eventually realize his feelings for Maki!! D: And then poof, THAT TAKEKAWA+MAKI “HAND-GRABBING” UNDER THE TABLE SCENE HAPPENED!! I almost fell from my seat while watching that for the first time and was like "HOW CAN THIS SCENE BE SO EROTIC?????" And so from then on I started officially shipping Maki with Takekawa-san too (although I call them my “guilty pleasure ship” since I love seeing them together but I want HaruMaki to end up together). And then it turns out they were really ex-lovers so I couldn't help wanting to know more things about when they were still in a relationship, why they broke up and so on. I keep saying this but really, I need TakeMaki spin-off of their time together!!! 

Reason#4 Everyone's acting

I know I gushed over Kento's acting a lot already, but the rest of the cast’s acting was so good as well. All characters complement each other that's why they’ve been such a delight to watch! Their interactions can be so funny and heart-warming that I just kept on wishing that each and everyone will be happy in the end! And plus points to Tanaka Kei for having extremely perfect comedic timing!!! Like other people said, Haruta can be an idiot sometimes (or most of the times?? XD) and can be borderline irritating occasionally, but Tanaka Kei makes the character adorkable and lovable despite all his flaws~ ^^;; I already watched him in another series I think two years ago (Kosodate Play) and his character there was almost similar to Haruta so I’m not surprised anymore about how extremely funny he is! ^_~

---

Wow, that’s gotten so long... I guess I should save my rant about things I’m not so fond of in the drama in another entry... 

[shu-of-the-wind]

rebelcaptain; foster care au vi

Whoops that took forever. 

No particular warnings for this one. Rey’s backstory has been modded for a modern AU,. XD 

She didn't think it was going to work out badly, per se, but there's a certain amount of relief in her gut when Rey comes home from the third or fourth meeting of the history club beaming and babbling about a girl named Rose Tico and a museum trip 

"Next Saturday," Rey says, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Jyn, struggling with the zipper of her jacket, grunts. "Can I go?"

"Which museum?"

"African-American History." She bounces some more. Out of the corner of Jyn's eye, Finn creeps into view down the hall. He's not been entirely sure what to make of Rey joining the history club--he might like Mr. A's classes, but he's more a taekwondo enthusiast than anything. Actually, Jyn's surprised that Rey is enjoying the history club so much. Rey's the type to take apart toasters and microwaves and put them back together again as her weekend activity, not go mad over old flyers from the Second World War. But still. "Can I go?"

"Are you taking the bus?"

"We're meeting up at the school and taking the metro. Mr. A's coming with us."

"So it's a school trip?"

Rey sucks her teeth. "Sort of? A club trip. But everyone's going. Mr. A says the Smithsonian museums are free, you just have to schedule tickets for some of them a few days before. And I have a metro pass."

Right. Jyn's not much of a museum person. She wins her wrestling match with her jacket, and hangs it, dripping, from the hook next to the front door. "Huh."

"Can I go?" Rey bounces again. "It's with Mr. A. And then Rose and me were talking about going to get food after."

She's thirteen, Jyn thinks. And Rey can take care of herself. Something clutches at her throat, and eases almost in the same moment. "I have a shift at the Cantina until six, if you want to come there after. So you don't have to walk back alone from the metro station."

Rey gives her a look that's altogether too self-aware, for a middle school student, but she just says, "Yeah, okay. Can Rose come?” 

Jyn shrugs. "Free country."

"Sweet."

"Let me know how it goes," says Jyn, as Rey darts off.

In the hallway, Finn's watching her with that weird look again, like he's trying to put together a jigsaw with only half the pieces.

The Cantina's kind of a shithole, if she's being honest about it. Not as much of a shithole as other places she's worked in her life--this, for sure, has nothing on the Wobani pub up in Maine--but it's still kind of a shithole, and the people who work there are only granted human status nominally in the eyes of everything holy. Nobody ever slacks off, at least. Maz would have them out on their ass with their spleens crammed up their noses if anybody tried. It makes up for the sleazeballs at the bar who try to palm handfuls of her ass as she goes by.

One more time. She breathes deep, in and out through her nose. One more fucking time--

"Uh-oh." It's Lando, eyebrows arched. Jyn's never been able to decide whether she wants to punch Lando in the face or not. It bothers her sometimes. She ought to want to punch him in the face. "Scowl power at nuclear."

"Fuck off," she says, and in the kitchen, Chewie snorts.

"If it's table six again I can take it."

"I don't need your help," says Jyn. Maz is fluttering around somewhere in the back. Going over supplies, probably. She's not about to get fired for reaming out a customer, especially one that keeps whacking her ass, but she'd really rather not let Maz know what's going on, and Lando will rat her out the instant he thinks he can get away with it. "Go do assistant manager things."

"I'm doing assistant manager things," he says. "I'm making sure our servers aren't being harassed. That's an assistant manager thing."

Jyn rolls her eyes, and jams a plastic cup with far too much force against the soda fountain.

"Jyn, come on."

"It's fine." There's no crack in the cup. Good enough. She sets it on the tray. "I'll deal with it."

Lando puffs out his cheeks, his version of I think you're wrong but I don't want a broken nose. "If you say so. I'm just saying. Intimidation is an option if you want it."

"That I can do all by myself," she says. "Considering your track record."

"That was one time."

"A toddler," says Jyn, and walks off while Lando makes kettle noises.

"You break anything, Erso, you're paying for it!"

She flips him off behind her back.

The Cantina's a place where people pass through, and tonight isn't much different. It's not exactly the kind of place that attracts people from the Hill or any surrounding newspapers. She's pretty sure she served bad bourbon to Jason Chaffitz in disguise once, but that's just something that happens in DC: you never know who you're going to run into that you might see on the telly the next day. Tonight it's fairly quiet: a few businessmen at the back, in one of the booths, making a deal to do with their air traffic control programs or whatever it is Lando keeps blatantly eavesdropping on; a handful of families who went out to the Smithsonian circuit, judging by their new T-shirts; a few locals; the gaggle of Howard Uni students who use the corner table to practice their Spanish conversation and usually bamboozle her with slang she'd be better off not knowing the meaning of. (The last person who openly hit on her, instead of just goosing her ass, wound up with a broken nose and filed a suit against the Cantina. As pissed off as she gets sometimes, she'd rather not have to have Maz settle out of court again because of her bullshit.)

All in all, it's definitely not the worst job she's ever had. In conjunction with what she makes from Mara, repairing cars and motorbikes for men who'd rather pretend a manly man does all the greasy work on their engine instead of a bird with too many scars and a stupid tattoo on her hip of a star, she makes enough. Maybe not quite enough to let Rey and Finn do as much as they want, but enough to keep them all comfortable. It's enough for her.

What do you want to do?

She shakes it out of her head, and snaps back over to table six to glare threateningly with a long knife in her hand. Better to head the bastard off at the pass early, before he decides copping a feel is a little less interesting than trying to pin her at the end of her shift.

The three year old at table thirteen has tossed a handful of salsa at her blouse and she's trying to mop herself up while simultaneously refilling three water glasses when the bell chimes, and Rey's chatter filters in through the rain. She's in infodump mode--about Prey, from what Jyn can tell, she's talking about aliens and weapons mods and that's usually Prey mode--but the girl next to her, a small southeast Asian girl with big eyes and closely bobbed hair, is listening very hard, which is better than anything that Jyn could have imagined. "Excuse me," says Jyn to table thirteen, and then shoves her tray of water glasses into Aphra's hands without a word, beelining for the door.

"Hi," she says, and Rose Tico's eyes about bulge out of her head. Jyn is not about to imagine what she looks like. "You're wet."

Rey shakes her head like a labrador. Water spatters Jyn's service apron. "It's raining."

"I can tell." She sucks her teeth. "Who's your friend?"

Rey blinks a few times, and then it rushes back to her, the social thing. She straightens up a little. "Mom, this is Rose. Rose, this is my mom."

Jyn bares her teeth. "Rey."

"She doesn't like being called Mom," says Rey, and bares her teeth back. "So she's Jyn."

Rose looks about ready to faint, but she steels herself, and says, "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Erso."

"Fuck," says Jyn, "that's worse. Both of you go sit in the back before I vomit."

"She's fine," says Rey, happily. "Cheers, Mom."

"I'm going to dump you off a cliff," says Jyn, "and I'm not going to tell anyone where to look."

Rose's big eyes get even bigger when she takes in Jyn's stained shirt. "Oh."

"Go sit, you yokel, I'll bring you something." Jyn can't help it. She scruffs her hand through Rey's sopping hair, pushing it back out of her eyes. "And a towel. Maz will skin you if you ruin her seats."

"I can't ruin vinyl, that's the whole point of vinyl in a café. Nobody can ruin vinyl with liquid things. Unless it's acid, I suppose." Rey frowns at the salsa stain on Jyn's shirt. "You didn't have that this morning, did you?"

"You think Finn would have let me out of the house if I had?" Finn's as scrupulous about laundry as he is about cooking. One of his old families used to make him do most of the chores. Now he just says it relaxes him. She hasn't pushed the issue, yet. "Go sit."

"Mr. A should be in in a minute," says Rey, and then darts off before Jyn can do more than blink. Rose looks between Rey and Jyn, somewhat bemused, before trailing Rey into the corner. Jyn opens her mouth, and then shuts it again before Lando notices.

You're fucking kidding me.

The door opens. The bell chimes.

Fuck!

She wipes her face clean. She can do that. She knows how to do that. She's known how to do that since she was a child. Jyn breathes, in and out through her nose, and then turns to face him. His hair is wet (though not as soaked as Rey's; Rey had probably been prancing about in the thunderstorm the way she usually did, daring lightning to come after her) and the fabric of his coat is damp about the shoulders, but it's the hesitation that makes her want to spit. He's eyeing her like a cat about to scratch.

"Hi," he says, finally.

Jyn, refusing to be intimidated, says, "Hi."

Cassian awkwardly stands there for a second or two. He says, "I wanted to make sure Rey and Rose made it here all right."

Rey. Rose, too, but more Rey. Don’t make it uncomfortable for Rey. Jyn nods, and pretends that he hasn't noticed the salsa stain on her shirt. She bites the inside of her cheek hard to keep her expression from shifting. He's not supposed to be here. There's a thin, high voice in the back of her head, one that sounds remarkably like a child. He's not supposed to be here. Not without warning.

She shoves the voice into a box, and locks it.

"I don't mean to intrude," says Cassian. He's interpreted her face right, then. Kindly fuck off, Andor. "I didn’t know this was where you worked. Rey didn’t--I'll go."

He's halfway through turning on his heel when Jyn thinks better of it, and rubs at the bridge of her nose. "Rey will be disappointed," she says, and doesn't look at him when he snaps a look at her. "She's sitting at the back with Rose. I'll get you a towel."

"You don't have to," says Cassian, but it trails off in a rather pathetic sort of way as she slams through the swinging doors to the kitchen, and ducks down to get more water glasses.

"Well." Lando leans over the counter, smirking at her a little. "He's cute."

"Fuck off, Lando."

"Ouch. She bites again." Lando lifts his hands. "Don't mean to intrude, Jyn, sorry. Just never figured you for the tall, dark, and accented type."

She's definitely going to hit him. Possibly in the next three seconds. "Fuck. Off."

"Fucking off," says Lando, and swans away whistling, hands in his pockets like he's just scored big in some gambling ring. Scratch hitting him. She's going to take the baseball bat Chewie keeps under the counter, and she's going to use it on the windscreen of his car. Jyn fills three glasses with water, snags a handful of dishrags out from beneath the drink fountain, and hipchecks her way back out onto the floor again, ignoring Aphra hissing "you owe me, Erso," on her way in.

Rey is still talking. She's also stimming, hands flapping back and forth in her happy stim, the one that means I'm excited and I'm going to be talking ten thousand kilometers a minute about this for the next five years. Jyn slows, and watches, for the three seconds she can grab. Rose is still just listening, nodding very seriously as if Rey's imparting the secrets of the universe. Cassian doesn't seem to have noticed, really. He's staring at the menu, and then at the ceiling, and then at the wall, in a show of discomfort she wouldn’t have expected of him. Not after the PTC.

Still. He is in unfamiliar territory.

Something strikingly close to pity swells up her throat. Jyn strangles it with her bare hands.

"Right," she says, and puts the waters down, dumping the whole handful of towels on Rey's head. Rey stops flapping, but to laugh, not to flinch. "Report."

"The museum was good." Rey disappears under one of the towels, and Rose, after darting another shy, confused look at Jyn, filches one for herself. Jyn refuses to watch what Cassian does. "The United States is bollocks."

"You're an American citizen," says Jyn. "Same as me."

"Not originally," Rey says, muffled. "We don't know what I was originally."

"Yes, you suitcase baby. Mysterious sprog, you."

Rose's eyes get very big.

"I was found in an airport when I was six," says Rey, very matter-of-factly. Out of the corner of her eye, Jyn sees Cassian still. "I don't remember anything before then. I think my birth parents must have left me there. They said they'd come back and get me, but they never did."

Rose's hands curl up into fists on the table. With surprising force, she says, "That's horrible."

Rey blinks at her a few times. "You're mad. I'm sorry."

"I'm not mad at you." 

"Oh." She darts a look at Jyn. It's only after Jyn nods that Rey says, "Okay. Cool."

Rose clenches her fists hard enough to look painful, and then rams right up against Rey's side to peer at the menu on the table. Jyn could cry. Thank fuck. Thank fuck. Thank fuck. It's working. She's not entirely sure Rey's even realized, but it's working. She might have a friend now. Other than Finn. Someone else she can lean on. Thank fuck.

Cassian's still watching her. Jyn can't help it. She catches his eye, and nods once.

He looks at the table instead.

"Museum," says Jyn, and taps at Rey's shoulder. "Good?"

"Horrible," says Rose, not Rey. "People are horrible. But interesting."

"That was the point," says Cassian, without inflection. "History isn't pretty. But it can show us patterns."

"Yeah, you said." Rey looks up at Jyn, and then peeps at Cassian, back and forth. “Mr. A knew more about the exhibits than the museum proctor did. He kept explaining things.”

“Really,” says Jyn, and tries not to feel uncomfortable. “It’s good that he’s teaching you, then.”

“If we go to the Museum of the American Indian for a field trip, you should come.” Rey looks completely blasé, but there’s a hint of—something. Not quite the cunning Finn has, the willingness to sneak. Rey looks schemey. Christ, not both of them. Tell me Rey hasn’t noticed the oddness, too. “You could help.”

“I don’t know if I can get the day off anytime soon.” She refuses to look at Cassian. “I’m going back to the kitchen, for a minute. I’ll be back.”

“’kay.”

She has no shame left, apparently. She bolts.

Jyn’s halfway to the kitchen doors and halfway to freedom when she hears the footsteps behind her. Aphra’s peering at her through the gap in the doors, and she’s laughing, a little, the way she always does when someone else is in for a hell of a lot of shit. “Jyn,” Cassian says, “wait a second,” and she’s not so much of a coward that she can ignore that. Not when it might come down to a fight. She slows, and then stops, and wishes that her shirt weren’t ruined. She wishes that she could run. He looks tired, all of a sudden, and lost, even if it’s just in hints—the lines around his mouth, the hidden tension in his shoulders when he puts them back. Like a soldier, she thinks. Regimented to keep the fear at bay.

“What,” she says, when he stands there watching her for too long. Cassian’s shoulders hitch, just a little. His hands fall loose at his sides.

“I wasn’t planning on organizing the class museum trip for at least another six months,” he says. He’s all clipped, now. “You don’t have to worry. If we need a volunteer, one of the other parents can do it.”

She jerks her chin up, and wipes her hands absently on the apron she has to wear. She can’t remember how they wound up so damp. Words fly out of her head. “Right.”

He hesitates. She can see it in his hands, more than anything. His fingers curl, and uncurl. “I’ll make an excuse to Rey,” he says. “I won’t make you uncomfortable.”

For some reason that, more than anything, is what snags on her temper. Jyn breathes, deep, in and out through her nose, but her control’s already shattered. She snaps, “For fuck’s sake,” and the family that had been sitting at table thirteen, halfway out the door, all yip in unison. Cassian blinks once. “This is stupid.”

“What is?” he says, but his voice is too tight to quite be calm.

“This.” She glances over his shoulder, but Rey hasn’t noticed. She’s still chattering with Rose Tico. “This—stupid dancing thing. It’s stupid.”

Something flickers in his face. She thinks it might be his temper. “I wasn’t going to mention it.”

“You can’t teach my kids if you’re always going to act like I’m about to explode,” says Jyn. “This doesn’t work if we keep doing this.”

“Keep doing what?”

She gestures, pointlessly, at the air between them. “Whatever the fuck this is.”

Cassian’s mouth goes tight. He looks back at Rey, now, too, faster, more subtle. She’d barely notice if not for the fact that he turns away from her to do it. He says, “I wasn’t aware there was an issue.”

“Jesus Christ, Cassian, you’re not stupid.”

Cassian blinks again. It’s different, somehow. Like shock, instead of evaluation. She’s not sure where the difference lies. Maybe in the speed. He swallows, barely visible.

“Look,” says Jyn. She roots herself to the ground, and thinks of Saw, of Steela’s photograph on the mantle. “My kids like you. That--they trust you. They don’t trust a lot of people. I’m not going to fuck up one of the best teachers they’ve ever had because of something that happened years ago.”

There’s another flicker, then, in his mouth. Cassian puts his hands behind his back. “I see.”

“They’re not stupid. They’ll notice something’s up, if they haven’t already. If this—” she jams a fist into the empty space, again “—keeps happening. So it can’t. Anymore. Otherwise they’ll work something out, and even if they’re wrong, it’ll just keep making things worse until we can’t do a damn thing for them, no matter what we want.”

He weighs that, carefully. Cassian looks at her, unblinking.

“Truce, then,” he says, in an odd voice.

He holds out his hand.

Jyn looks at it, at his long fingers and the skin of his palm. She looks up at him, too, and sees a question there she’s not sure she can answer. Still, she reaches out, and takes it, as firm a handshake as she’s ever given in her life. Twice, up and down, and then he lets go first, shoving his hand back into his pocket and watching her like she’s a Rubik’s cube. Like she’s a puzzle to be turned and contorted until it makes sense.

She turns.

“You’re a good mother,” Cassian says. He blurts it, almost. “They love you very much.”

Jyn jerks her shoulder in an acknowledgment, and vanishes into the kitchen. She can’t find the daring to look him in the face. Not after that.