#But so so relatable. God does Dipper know the feeling of just wanting to find some peace and quiet after a hectic day. But for Bill. That's

[minecraftrelatedrandomness]

okay so apparently the post i made at 4am last night about the denholm family legacy and corresponding mental health implications blew up and now i'm receiving all sorts of screaming (/pos) in the tags. on a Related note, i've been brainrotting about p!scott's character intro sequence so much and now i Need to yell about all this somewhere or i'm gonna cry.

"Okay (×7), what do I need? Big day. BIG day. Okay. Okay, um, let's get the spyglass Dad got me and… Mum got me the new journal [to] write down all my discoveries."

the fact that the journal p!scott was using as a diary was meant for THIS. THIS was what it was meant to be used for. i would just like to point this out to y'all.

the EXPECTATIONS from the very start. good god it's so offhand of a comment but i am Stuck here. the Expectation of following in your family's footsteps. it's not just "do what We did" but also "do what you are Supposed to do".

"What else do I need? Ehm… outfit, check… oh, food! Um, Mum said… there we go, she'd made me five mutton wraps, okay, this will- I'm a little bit hungry… no, I shouldn't, I gotta save this; this has got to do me for a while until I can, like, find my own things. Ehm, what else do I need to take? It's Initiation Day, so everything starts here."

i don't have much of a comment on this. i really don't. only thing i can probably say is my headcanon of p!scott learning to cook from his mother.

"Um… the sword. Right. This is a family heirloom; it's served all the other Herons well, it'll serve me well, I'll definitely- I'm gonna discover so many things, I'm gonna make everyone proud, just like I was… born to do. Just like I was meant to do, 'cause I'm a Heron and that's- it's all I've ever been, and it's all I'm… was ever gonna be."

god the RESIGNATION. just. the resignation of having so much pressure put on you that it can crush rocks without using a machine. there's no way out of Being in the heron faction and doing what herons are Supposed to do. we see in the vods it's not that you Don't enjoy exploring and discovering things, but Man, would you prefer to do it on your own terms?

(what was going through your head when your brother turned up on the isles again, after you thought star dead and mourned star for a year? when star decided to join a Different faction from you and go against all you both have been taught?)

(you called the nightingales stars "new family" during the dipper quest. it's undeniable that you still love your brother and we all know that, but do you feel abandoned in that star has left you to join a new faction and have stars own life? do you feel that being in different factions means you Shouldn't have a place in stars life anymore, though you refuse to let your actions show it? do you envy star for having escaped the toxic environment where you both grew up in? that while you were born and saddled with all the expectations, star shouldn't have had to worry as much because your parents put all their eggs in a single basket, i.e. you?)

and the sword. the sword being a physical Reminder of all the baggage that comes with being raised by Internationally Famous parents who Expect you to do the same or risk their disappointment… something you either can't imagine or would rather not imagine?

"Ehm, hm… well, I'm- I guess this is everything. (sigh) Here we go. It's the life I always wanted, or at least, the life that I was given."

ohhhhh god the implication of being told this is the life you are Supposed to aspire to. and going along with it because you were raised to believe this is the life you Should have and internalizing it because you can barely even Imagine an alternative.

even when you ask yourself, "do you Really want to live like this?", do you hesitate to answer? it is just a yes/no question but does your answer Always have a "but" after it? because going against what you've been taught growing up is Not An Option For You, at least in your mind?

oh to think when someone asks, "how do you Live like this?", the response in your heart is "you don't." because in a toxic household, there is only survival and you Build Your Bed on surviving based on what you have been taught. because you can barely fathom a life where this Isn't the case.

"Alright, I'm gonna be late. Look out, world, Scott Denholm, #1 Heron, ready for action!"

this sounds like an assurance of confidence, yeah, but who Are you trying to convince? are you telling the world, or are you telling yourself? with all that you have already said, one might wonder which is truly the case.

(also, when cc!scott said that his character had "anxiety" from trying to live up to the expectations, was this supposed to mean "anxiety (emotion)" or "anxiety (disorder)"? because while the first one is very obvious, i would not be surprised if the second one happens to be the case as well.)

in summary: p!acho is a walking embodiment of trauma and drops it in Moments across many livestreams so you don't forget. p!scott is Also a walking embodiment of trauma but drops it in the first three minutes of the series and Never speaks of it again.

[themidnightcleric]

TW death, transphobia, blatant suicidality, ableism, terrible thoughts u should not indulge

vent post

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..I actually don't think no one loves me. I just fundamentally believe they're wrong and will inevitably be disappointed when they discover I am a husk person not a real human being and that's my fate and believe or not most of this is related to ADHD bc I can't fix it or stick with anything and all the meds make me sick so I feel doomed to do fuck all until I rot and die. Every time I get hopeful my body betrays me. Fucking MCAS.

Icannot emphasize enough that I will take myself out of at least run off into the woods to try and live like an animal, if something does not change in the next 2 years to make it possible for me to exist in society. Like getting disability j guess would help. I am a dog. Not a person. I cannot give anymore.

it is not worth living this way. Every day is an endless punishment for all the things I cannot do and at this point the pit is so deep i will not get out.

And so like posting in this way and alienating myself are a way of pushing everyone out but simultaneously hoping somehow the cry for help will reach someone who can genuinely help me. I know this isn't me, this isn't the bigger spirit that animates me speaking this is the thing that wants to kill me, but can't even show itself to the people who say they love me. We have seen too much and the desire to destroy something significant is getting stronger. I guess this is an admission I understand su*cide bombers and crave going out burning a bank or a church or a detention center. simultaneously a desperate plea for someone to show me some kind of other way that isn't this plodding, hesitating half life. Two of my friends before I left my home state told me I should have been dead by now. I know what they meant and it's great I am alive but I don't see a future other than death. It's so close, so intimate. I go to sleep with death every night waiting for her. The funny thing is not many people I know closely have died. If they had it actually might be easier like I could live for them. But instead it feels like I'm the one who is supposed to die. I live with that every day and I know I'm not the only one but with everything that's happening I no longer can believe things will get better. I'm just trying to do as much good as I can before it comes for me. I don't see anyone who really needs me here. Or wants me bad enough to merit staying. Like it's all pipe dreams, could have beens, obligations. Fake. In the clouds.

I haven't been real since I was a kid.

I'm sorry y'all. I'm really sorry. I don't know if it will even matter when it happens. Like a candle burning out. Who is gonna notice beyond another little wave of sad posts. Currently I'll probably be buried by my family as a woman. They'll say it was inevitable. I was always so mentally unwell. Kill me and blame me for it.

I have so many ideas and so much passion but no discipline for it and frankly I feel like a piece of paper god put a sketch on and crumpled up and threw away. Like that episode of Gravity Falls where Dipper clones himself and there's a Glitch Dipper who everyone sort of feels bad for until he dies. Two headed calf. All I have ever tried to be is kind while people saw more in me than I could give or sustain. At least I got to see the stars.

My soul is good but it can't live here on this plane right now. It doesn't want to. All the people I love are fighters who metabolize everything into medicine and power for the future or at least stick around hedonistically. I am not built like that. I find no pleasure in pleasure. I am weak and too fragile to exist by myself and at every turn am reminded of this. I try to play it off as kink or funny but really, I don't think anyone can survive the level of self erasure that my system has developed.

My friend keeps telling me to play Disco Elysium but it's 40 dollars and I have to save all my $ for gas and credit card payment. To be responsible. Why do I even fucking care. I'm scared if I stop caring anymore I will just let go and become fully catatonic.

Hopefully this is rock bottom and somehow I will bounce up into a new perspective tomorrow. I pushed myself into burnout because all this messaging online about Palestine and genocide is like you aren't doing enough and that really really works against my ability to do anything like the PDA I cannot help and have been fighting my whole life to just like, brush my teeth. I can't watch these people beg for help and so many turn away in hatred and then not even make phone calls. I am trying to look for the helpers but I think the fascists want to kill all of us.

It's gonna take a miracle to get through this winter. I wish I could show somebody how desperate I feel. The pills are right there. I never get rid of them. I could do it tonight. But I won't.

I don't know how long you have to scream for help. I don't think it helps anyone. People fall down the spiral. Maybe there is something to live for for others but for me, it's all conjecture. I have full responsibility to bring about everything that I could live for. If I give up, it doesn't happen. If I give up, the good things in this world go on without me. No one ever knew me really. I feel so fundamentally separated & invisible.

I'm mad I feel this way and am wasting my life talent and time. I am tired of being depressed and low key a shitty friend. I am ready for God to take me and use me for some new form of life that has a fighting chance to be something.

If only that weren't just a delusion. I wanted my life to mean something and leave a mark but at the end of the day this voice tells me it's not even worth that, that no one will remember me.

Pathetic. Jesus. How do you fight this.

I'm tired.

I'll keep fighting another day at a time. But there's no way to be okay right now. I have to live with this person the world has made me into and let go of who we could have been with more love.

[xpacestuff]

Su/gf crossover things part 2

(sorry if these aren't that good!)

------------------------

Dipper: So... that glowing pink thing?

Steven: Yeah?

Dipper: Why does that happen exactly?

Steven: Oh, I'm not sure... I guess when I don't feel well? It's like a burst of energy when it happens...when i feel like i need to run away or just...-

Dipper: Oh! Like a flight or fight response!

Steven: What is-

Dipper, taking out the journal: Interesting...

Steven: What's a-

Dipper: mumbles to himself

Steven: ...Nevermind.

------------------------

Steven: Hey Mabel! what are you-

Steven: Mabel.

Mabel, putting fake gems on waddles face: Whaaat... he likes it...

Steven: Why didn't you ask me to help you?

Mabel: :D

------------------------

Mabel: OH! YOU CAN DO SHAPESHIFTING, RIGHT?

Steven: Oh, yeah, but-

Mabel: Can you turn into anything!? Like a unicorn! Or a hamster! You can do this hamster ball thing, so!

Steven: uuhh haha... I don't really... like shapeshifting... sorry..

Mabel: Aw, why?

Steven: It's just... some things happened when I did...

Mabel: Like what?

Dipper: Mabel, don't bother him! If he doesn't like it then leave him alone.

Mabel: Yeahh... you're right. Sorry Steven!

Steven: Nono, it's okay, don't worry!

------------------------

this is something different than the "steven has the same powers as bill so dipper is sus" writing post i made lol (basically this one is just silly)

Dipper, walking around in circles: It's just... what does that star symbolize?

Mabel: What do you mean?

Dipper: The star on his shirt, Mabel! Does it have to do with this gem stuff? Is it related to his powers?

Mabel: Uh...Dipper, why are you questioning something like that?

Dipper: Well, he showed me a picture of himself when he was younger, and he always had this star on his shirt! Why?

Mabel: Maybe he just likes stars? Come on, bro. It's just some shirt design.

Dipper: I don't know...

later

Dipper: Steven... okay, so, this will sound weird but what does that star on your shirt mean?

Steven: Huh?

Dipper, pointing at it: You always have that star on your shirt. Does it have to do with your powers or something? Is it some magical shirt?

Steven: Oooh hahaha! No no, it's just my dads merchandise. Just like that pine tree on your hat, I'm guessing?

Dipper: ...Oh. Well then. rips a page from a notebook

Steven: ...Seriously?

Dipper: Yes, seriously.

------------------------

So what if something dangerous happens and steven completely turns pink also starts turns into his buff chad form (haha edgy)

Steven, in that form: Oh, oh no no no... oh no.. shit..

Dipper: Wha-

Mabel: What!?

Steven: Oh god, Mabel and Dipper, d-don't look at me!

Dipper: ...Does that new form... hurt you?

Steven: What? uh.. no.

Steven: I- I didn't want you guys to see me like this!

Dipper: No, no, it's uh, okay!

Mabel: Yeah, we're here! Don't worry!

Steven, slowly getting smaller do his normal form: It's just..

Steven, as his pink glow fades: This just hasn't happened in a while...

later

Mabel: Well, I made you some chocolate milk!

Steven: Thanks, Mabel.

Dipper: So... you better now? You're smaller than when you were well... all pink and glowy

Steven: Yeah, yeah i'm better now. I guess I need to tell this to my therapist though.

Mabel: You better! I don't want to see you hurt :(

------------------------

Steven: Hey do guys wanna fly

Dipper: Wh-

Mabel: YES!

Dipper: Um... what do you mean with "fly"?

Steven: I have floating powers. I can just carry you two and well.. fly around

Mabel: Oh my god!!! really!?

Steven: Yeah!

Dipper: How come you're just randomly suggesting this?

Steven: Well, strange things have been happening here in Gravity Falls, so I just wanted to lighten the mood up a little bit.

Dipper: Alright, then

Mabel: YEAHH!!! LETS FLOAT!

------------------------

Mabel, Dipper and Steven are basically floating now

Mabel: THIS IS AMAZING!!! You can float and summon a hamster ball! That's like, the best thing EVER!

Steven: hahah, yeah! ...Dipper you alright?

Dipper, absolutely worried that he's going to fall: y.. yes.

Steven: I can drop you off-

Dipper: AH- NO!

Steven: I mean like... slowly help you land on your feet again, yknow?

Dipper: Oh, uh, yes... please..

Steven: Alright!

------------------------

Mabel: Tickle attack!

Dipper: Mabel no- hahaha! Stop!

Steven, entering the room: Hey guys

Mabel, staring at him: >:)

Steven: o h n o

------------------------

Dipper: Is this your real form? You can shapeshift, after all.

Steven: Yes?

Dipper: HMM

Steven: How could I prove it to you anyways?

Dipper: I don't know-

Steven: Here, a picture of when I was younger. I can assure you that's me, and my 'real' form haha

Dipper: ...Wow you were small

Steven: You're one to talk

Dipper: Hey!

Steven: Haha!

Steven: Oh, by the way, you know that I don't like shapeshifting, right?

Dipper: Yeah... I guess you don't.

------------------------

Mabel: Uuughh I'm so bored

Dipper: Yeah, me too.

Steven: Do you guys wanna uh, bake something? maybe?

Mabel: Hmmm... like what

Steven: Oh! Have you heard of cookie cats?

Dipper: Cookie cats?

Steven: Here, let me show you a picture of them shows a picture of it from his phone

Mabel: It looks so cute!

Steven: We can bake this if you guys wanna?

Dipper: Well, we don't have anything else to do.

Mabel and Steven: Yeah!

------------------------

steven and dipper are just walking around the woods cause why not

Dipper: Ouch!

Steven: What happened? Are you okay?

Dipper: Yeah, it's just...I just scratched myself on this branch, i didn't even see it.

Steven: Oh, that's no problem! licks his finger

Dipper: uh-

Steven: puts his finger on Dippers wound there!

Dipper, healed: WH- HOW?

Steven: I have healing powers :)

Dipper: You surprise me everyday...

Dipper, whispering: Maybe I should tell Ford... hmm..

------------------------

again before they knew steven is half gem

Mabel: I love gems!

Steven: Me too! Even though some tried to kill me, most of them didn't really know what they were doing. Mostly when they were corrupted.

Mabel: H..huh?

------------------------

Mabel: Your girlfriend sure is cool Steven!

Steven: Yeah, I love her a lot.

Mabel:

Mabel: :")

Steven:

Steven: Uh-

Mabel: No, no. It's just cute. Don't mind me. I hope when I'm a teenager I can find love like this. Haha...

------------------------

Steven: You guys' grunkle is really nice!

Dipper: Yeah, at first he can be a bit mean, but in reality he's a great guy if he wants to be. Trust me, I've been there.

Steven: Aw... I said that cause he gave me something for free. That's a start, I guess?

Dipper: Sure is.

------------------------

Stan, going through a box of old stuff: Ahaha, yeah. Brings back some good old memories.

Steven: Oh, can I look? If you don't mind?

Stan: Sure kid.

Steven: ...

Steven: A... Space Train to the Cosmos CD?

Stan: Yeah, haha. He has the same last name as you. I remember listening to him years ago.

Steven: Mr. Pines... this is my dad. Greg Universe.

Stan: ... What.

------------------------

this is before D & M met Ford, I guess? (if this takes place when D & M arrive to GF for the first time)

Steven: So... what's that?

Dipper: Ah! It's uh- it's nothing. haha...

Steven: Dipper, are you okay? What are you holding there?

Dipper: sighs It's just...

Mabel: IT'S A JOURNAL!

Dipper: Mabel!

Steven: Oh, like a diary? That's cool.

Dipper: It's... more than that, actually.

Mabel: Come on! Let's just tell him!

Dippers: Well, uh, it's basically a journal that has a lot of information written down from all these weird monsters and creatures in Gravity Falls. I still have no idea who the author is.

Steven: Wow... Have you told Mr. Pines?

Dipper: He didn't take it seriously.

Steven: Hmm...

------------------------

Steven: I don't understand your purpose... nor do I understand why you look like that

Steven: But I support you

Soos: Dude it's just square pizza

------------------------

Connie visits again

Steven: Connie! Hey!

Connie: Steven!

they go for a hug, then fuse

Stevonnie: ...Uh-oh.

Mabel: :D WOOOO!!! HOW???

Dipper: >:0

Dipper: WHAT THE FUCK??

------------------------

Ford: This is so interesting... a half-gem, half-human.

Ford: Tell me, what can you do?

Steven: Well, I can summon a shield. I have healing powers. I can bring plants to life. I can bubble things up. I can also have destruct- oh, I uh, I actually don't like talking about that.

Ford: ...Can you show me your shield?

Steven: sure summons his shield

Ford: Wh- how do you do that?

Steven: Well, it's my gem that just summons it when I want to.

Ford: So how powerful is it?

Steven: Oh, pretty powerful, I guess? I was able to protect myself from the diamonds- oh uh, yeah, the uh diamonds are the most strongest gem, by the way. Yellow tried to step on me and tried to uh, hurt me haha but it's okay now.

Ford: Wow! So, how tall and strong are these diamonds? And uh, that's crazy she did that. But do tell me more.

Steven: They're really tall. I don't exactly know how much but as tall as a skyscraper... maybe taller? I'm not sure. The tallest one is White.

Ford: Interesting... I'm guessing you're a diamond too? You were able to protect yourself, after all.

Steven: starts glowing pink a little

Ford: Huh!?

Steven: Ah- sorry, sorry! That just happens sometimes!

Ford: Glowing pink... hm...

------------------------

Imagine they all (Stan, Soos, Steven, Dipper and Mabel) fall into that one bottomless pit. Steven completely panics because the others are falling and he's worried to the point where he just forgets about his floating powers. But after the others start telling some of their stories, he calms down. They turn around to him and ask him if he could tell a story aswell. He tells them about how cool it was to learn combat with his (now girl-)friend Connie. How at that point he learned something very important. The others listen very well to him, and as he finishes the story they, surprisingly, fall out of the bottomless pit. After this Mabel and Dipper ask Steven about the things he has learned and if he could teach them.

------------------------

Mabel and Dipper: wearing their peanut butter and jelly costumes

Steven: Hahaha! That looks nice, why are you dressed like that?

Mabel: Summerween!

Steven: Oh, I've never heard of that! :D

Dipper: Yeah cause they honestly just made all of this up.

------------------------

Steven hanging out with the other teens!!! Very important!!! He needs to learn how to "act his age", y'know what I mean? explore around. take some risks (that are not traumatising, thank you). just be a teenager in general.

(i could make a whole other post for this tbh)

------------------------

Stan: You have literally no legal documents, kid.

Steven: Yeahh...

Stan: I love it!

------------------------

Robbie: And who are you?

Steven: Oh I just, uh, work here.

Robbie: Yeah? With Wendy, huh?

Steven: Oh! Yeah, she's my workmate, I guess?

Robbie: Hm... right.

Robbie: walks past him while elbowing him in an aggressive way

Steven, whispering: Yikes... scary.

Dipper, from the back: I know right!?

------------------------

Mabel, goofing around, doing some weird stuff: hehehe

Steven: Wow... thinking about it, she'd get along with Amethyst.

------------------------

Mabel: gasp Oh my gosh! Steven, look at Waddles and Lion!

Lion and Waddles: literally just staring at eachother

Mabel and Steven, with star eyes: Awww....

------------------------

Wendy: Dude, your girlfriend seems really cool.

Steven: Oh, yeah! She's great. She's really smart and pretty, she can sing and play the violin... she can sword fight-

Wendy: Wait wait wait... sword fight?

Steven: Yeah!

Wendy: Your girlfriend rides a pink lion and can sword fight? That's so cool!

Steven, full of love: Ah, yeah... she's amazing...

------------------------

Hope y'all enjoyed this one. This is the second part! Even though none of these are in any order, so it doesn't matter. But here's the first one. Also, I just wanted to say something about the shapeshifting thing: I do enjoy posts where Steven shapeshifts to make his arm or whatever longer to help. It's really cute, but in my opinion (again, my opinion) I feel like after steven turning into a cat and kaiju monster, he'd be way too uncomfortable to shapeshift. It'd also remind him of when he became taller, buff and was glowing pink. That's just what I think. :-)

[bebepac]

A Quarter For Your Thoughts

This is chapter 6 of Just The Way You are.  To catch up on what you’ve been reading click:  Just the Way You Are Masterlist

The Book:  CROSSOVER: Perfect Match x TRR

Pairing:  Hayden x Kai  /  TRR MC is single (past pairing includes Nico Karahalios) 

Word Count: 2489

Summary:  Liam walks Riley home after some strange things happens.  Even more strange events continue as Liam goes inside Riley’s apartment for the first time.  Hayden and Kai have a date night out with Dipper.  

Riley, Liam, Hayden, Kai, Chance and Dipper, all belong to Pixelberry, all others are my own characters to help tell our story. 

Warnings: Mention of character death, Profanity.

This is my submission for @choicesfebchallenge​ day #9  Chance.  Which I took completely literal. 

A/N:  DW is at it again.  We have two special guest stars in this episode  Pops and Mia visit Just The Way You Are, from my series: Pops Place. The dynamic is slightly different as they have crossed into this AU.  You’ll see. 

Song Inspiration:  “If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time” R Kelly 

I don’t own rights to the Music.

She walked in silence with Liam, holding the quarter tight in her hand. Could Liam have given it to her? It didn't make sense, why or how she got the coin, unless Nico really came to her. But Riley didn't believe in the supernatural, Riley barely believed in God in recent years, her faith completely shaken, and honestly nonexistent after Nico's untimely passing.

The idea of peace of having religion in her life Riley found comforting. However, she hated the idea of the same entity that placed Nico in her life for her to love, had not even two years later ripped him away from her so suddenly, it was cruel.  How could something supposedly so good,  be so cruel?

He murdered Nico. That's what Donovan Jacobs did when he decided to get behind the wheel of his SUV knowing he should not be driving and him striking Nico's SUV, essentially taking the greatly loved father, son, soon to be fiancé (we know Riley would have accepted his proposal), and best friend. There was hurt and anger in Riley's heart now for it and he was going to feel every bit of it when she gazed upon his face at the trial.

Riley had only seen Donovan's picture in the paper. But trust and believe she hated the man.

"Are you going home Riley? Maybe you should lay down for a bit once you get there."

"That might be a good idea."

"Do you mind if I walk  with you? I just don't want you to get dizzy again and be alone."

Riley nodded.

He helped her gather her blanket and guitar. He glanced down seeing a little cop car on his headstone.

"That's cute."

"Nico was a criminal profiler for the NYPD. His son left it."

"You have a son?"

"He's not my blood, but I feel like he's mine. He just turned 10 two months ago.  He’s still a very large part of my life. I see him at least several times a week."

"That's good you’ve stayed consistent for him. Often times... when relationships.....end... the kids are left missing the person they got to know."

"He has a lot of father figures in his life now to try to help him cope, my brother and my friends, we make sure he's loved."

"That's noble of your friends."

When they arrived at the apartment she noticed Liam was sweating a little.

"Do you want to come up and cool off for a bit? Maybe have a drink?"

"I don't drink."

"It's barely past noon. I'm not an alcoholic. I meant like lemonade or something."

Liam laughed,  "My bad. Sure."

Liam followed Riley to her apartment. Her door was painted a bright pink.

"That's unique."

She glanced at him.

"That means you hate it."

"No it's unique. I like pink.  Men can like pink."

He winked at Riley.

Riley opened the door to her apartment.

Putting her keys in the dish beside the door. Riley's apartment was spacious, decorated, nice and neat.

"Here Chance!"  She called out to a small Corgi that came running around the corner.

Riley was a few paces in front of Liam.  Chance ran right around Riley and barked happily at Liam.

Riley turned around and looked at Liam.

Liam picked up Chance and laughed as he licked his  face.

"Hey Buddy."

"He normally doesn't like strangers."

"Yeah I can tell he's absolutely ruthless. You've got quite the attack dog here Riley."

Riley laughed out loud.

He put Chance down.

Chance started rolling over on the floor, in front of Liam, and he had crouched down, giving Chance tummy scratches.

"My attack dog is absolutely worthless! See why I have a conceal and carry? He'd lick our intruder to death."

Liam smiled.

"Well at least he killed them. Kindness might not be the most effective route  though."

Riley burst out laughing.

He loved her laugh, and she seemed to like his corny jokes.

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Sure it's…." Riley's phone rang. She paused to answer.

Liam knew walked down the hallway. He knew exactly where it was.

When he was done he could hear Riley still on the phone.  She was speaking in Greek again.  He walked into her room glancing around it.  It caught the light of the sun. He walked to her night table and on it there was a man's watch.

He picked it up. Maybe she was seeing someone. He turned the watch over finding, it was broken and the time on the watch was 6:32. He knew immediately what he was looking at. Nico's watch, and time the accident happened.  He put the watch down and picked up the picture frame.  It was Riley, with who he was guessing was Nico, in a cute candid photo. Riley was wearing a blue dress her head tilted back laughing while Nico held her tight in his arms. When his fingers grazed the face of the watch he felt a jolt of electricity go through him causing the watch to drop back on the night table.

Laughter. Riley's laughter was soft in his ear. He wrapped his arms around her while he was wearing the watch.

What the?.... he thought. But it was still working. He noticed the second hand still moving. What is this? Liam thought.

"No, stay in bed with me. Both of us are off today."

That wasn't his voice he thought.

"I'm hungry, I'm going to make us some breakfast. You relax. You work so hard."

He hugged her tightly.  "You feed those curves Girl."

Riley got out of bed exposing her naked body to him.

Liam gasped. Holy hell!!! God she was perfect in every way.

Then he heard his voice, but not his voice say..

"I love every inch of your sexy body Riley. You're so beautiful, you're my goddess."

She slipped her robe on. "Well your Goddess says go back to sleep." She kissed his lips softly.

"What are you doing?"

Liam jumped, and could still taste Riley on his lips when he opened his eyes.

He didn't know what happened, following her eyes to the floor. He had dropped her picture frame.

"I'm so….so  sorry Riley."

"It's okay, just let me clean it up. You go back to the living room."

Riley was carefully picking up the pieces of glass.

She glanced back at Liam as he walked out the door. Chance followed behind him, like he was his shadow.

When she came back in the room both Liam and Chance looked sad. Chance was sitting on Liam's lap.

"I'm sooo sorry Riley." Liam's voice was so apologetic.

"It's okay Liam. It was an accident."  She carried two glasses of lemonade and handed him one.

"Thank you."

"I've never seen Chance so taken with someone."

In minutes, Chance had already fallen asleep in Liam's lap.

"He must recognize dog people. They always had therapy dogs visit  when I was in the hospital. Dogs are so good at sensing when you are alone, scared or sad."

"What were you in the hospital for?"

"Not winning the genetic lottery." Liam smiled weakly.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yes, Things are great!"

"My friend Drake says that all the time."

There was something about his life that he wasn't ready to share either. She could relate to that.

Riley changed the subject and they continued to talk. Time flew by.  Chance finally woke up.

"Oh thank God," Liam said standing up. "My legs are asleep."

"He does that to me too. Looks like you're his favorite person now."

"Then maybe we should see more of each other at places he might frequent.  I guess he can bring you along too, Riley. You know to the dog walking park, the fire hydrant right out front, the vet?”

Riley smiled again.  

“Chance you call me when you want to hang out brotha.”  

Riley bit her lip.  “Maybe Chance would like to have breakfast tomorrow.”  

“It is the most important meal of the day I hear.  We should start our day off right.  Good thinking Chance. I’d like that.”  

“Take care of yourself Riley.  See you tomorrow Chance.”  

Chance barked excitedly.  

Riley hurried and changed clothes to get ready to head over to Nico’s mother’s house for dinner.  

“I want to get out of the house tonight Hayden.  Let’s do something out tonight.”

“There’s a movie on the lawn at the park.”  

“What’s playing?”

“Since it's almost Halloween they are doing a Fright Night Series. Stir of Echoes.”  

“Oooooh. Spooky I love that one!!!!!  What food truck do they have tonight?  Please say it’s Pop’s On The Go. I really need you to say it’s Pop’s on the Go.”  

“Well Kai I hate to disappoint you, but the food truck they’re having is…. Pop’s On The Go.”  

Kai was ready to be disappointed until she had realized fully what he said.

“Pops and Mia are so cute,  they banter back and forth together they are adorable.  I really wish they had an actual restaurant.  I definitely would eat there all the time.   His chilli cheese fries are life.”  

“So do we want blankets or folding chairs?”

“We want blankets,” they both said in unison smiling at each other.  

They got their blankets  and headed to the park with Dipper in tow.  

“Dipper be a good girl and mommy will give you some chilli cheese fries.”  

Dipper barked happily.

“You will not give our baby chilli cheese fries.  Has she had chilli cheese fries before?”

Kai shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe?"

“Kai, seriously?”

“She’s got a stomach of rocks like her Momma.”  

“Kai…..”  

“You love me.”  

“Let’s get us our chilli cheese fries.  None for Dipper.”  

“Hey Pops!”  

“Kai! I knew I’d be seeing you tonight! You always seem to make it out this way when our truck is out here.”

“You have the best snacks around Pops.  Can we get two orders of chilli cheese fries, with two colas?”

“And I got something for you Dipper.”  

Pops took out a box of dog treats.  

“Got to make all my customers happy.”  

He handed Hayden dog treats for Dipper.

“Thank you Pops.”  

“Mia, did you make those shirts?”

Mia nodded.  

Pops and Mia were wearing matching shirts.  There were also a few hanging on the side of the van.  

“You should be in design school, you’d do really well there.”  

“It’s just a hobby.”

“Looks like an untapped revenue stream to me.”  Hayden responded.

“We’ll also be taking two of your shirts too.”  

Mia perked up.  “Really?”

“See, I told you people would like them Pops.”

“Yep Pops, you’re looking stylish.”

Pop's stuck his chest out proudly. "She makes me a stylish and proud pops every day!"

Pops gave Mia a smile as she pulled down the shorts they wanted, and bagged them up.

They paid for their food and their shirts and picked a comfy spot on the lawn.

Hayden placed their blankets on the ground while Kai held the food.  He set up their large blanket first,  and even Dipper got her own Dipper sized blanket to curl up on and in.   Dipper quickly curled up on her own little blanket, while Hayden and Kai got settled under the tree.  

He loved watching Kai watch movies. She had so many. Hayden had to build another book shelf for Kai's DVD collection.  And this movie he had seen with her several times.  Kai was engrossed in the movie as if it was her first time watching it.

“And all this happened because he was hypnotized to be more open minded.  It’s crazy and I love it!!!”

Kai begrudgingly went to the bathroom seeing Mia walking out.

"Mia! Your shirts you made are truly awesome.”

“Thanks Kai, that means a lot.”  

“And I was serious about design school, how old are you now Mia?”

“I’m nineteen.”  

“You should be in college sweetheart.”

“Pops needs me. Things have been really hard for us.  I used to think about things like college before Mom got sick.  She had cancer.”

“She’s in remission?”  

“No… she died.”  

“I’m so sorry Mia.”  

Mia’s eyes filled with tears.  

“So my last two years of high school my grades weren’t good.  I helped take care of my mom and worked with Pops.  I probably couldn’t get into a design school anyway.”  

That sweet young girl, that always had a smile on her face every time she saw her, was carrying the weight of the world in her heart.  

She hugged Mia.  

“You’re going to get the chance to chase your dream Mia.  Please don’t give up on it.”  

“Thank you Kai, I’ve got to get back.”

Kai headed back over to Hayden embracing him.  

“What’s wrong?”  

Kai told him about her exchange with Mia.

"I'm gonna call Hana and see if she has some contacts out this way that can see Mia's work.

"That's nice of you Kai."

"Mia's a good kid, she shouldn't have to give up on her dream because her family has had a rough time."

Liam got a text early that next morning.  "Chance couldn't make it, and he was wondering if it was okay for Riley to meet him instead?"

"Sure, I guess Riley is an okay substitute,  though I was kind of looking forward to hanging out with my main man Chance."

Riley smiled down at the text.  What was that feeling she was feeling in her heart. She took a deep breath. She went over to her dresser expecting it to be gone. She imagined it all. But the coin was still there.  She put it in her pocket. And headed to the restaurant.  

Riley was already there when he got there.

He walked up to her pulling out the chair and sitting across from her.

Her glance shot up at him.

"Um….."

"Hey, how are you doing?"

"Fine… Can I help you?"

"I know I wasn't who you were expecting as a breakfast buddy today."

Liam smiled at his joke. Riley did not.

"I actually wasn't expecting anyone."

"Okay…." He wasn't quite sure what game Riley was playing.

"So are you going to order the same thing or get something different?"

"We don't know each other."

"Riley, you're acting really strange."

"That's your problem right there, I'm not Riley, I'm her sister."

He wondered if this had anything to do with her fainting yesterday.

"Riley, this is weird and teetering on the edge of certifiable. You invited me to breakfast and if you didn't want to meet up, you could have said and pretended to be, oh I don't know your twin sister? Thanks but no thanks."

"Not Riley, corny jokes dude! You seem like just the type she would like."

Liam jumped up from the table heading towards the door. When he saw her. Riley was walking through the door.  She smiled at him.

Liam halted in his tracks.

"Hi Liam, I hope I'm not too late. Chance was upset he couldn't make it and I had to cheer him up."

She smiled. Liam looked incredibly confused.

Liam glanced back at the woman sitting at the table. She smirked at him.

"Told you, I'm not Riley." She waved at him.

He turned around to face Riley again.

"So…. I guess you met my twin sister Taylor."

Tagging: @dcbbw @queenjilian @jessiembruno @bbrandy2002 @khoicesbyk @janezillow @sillypapermango @gkittylove99 @gabesmommie1130 @mom2000aggie @jared2612 @shewillreadyou @zoehanji @queenwalton @kingliam2019 @mrsdrakewalkerblog @hopefulmoonobject @hopelessromanticmonie @lovablegranny @batgirlassociationofgothamcity @iaminlovewithtrr @iam-the-kind-and-thoughtful  @ladyangel70 @twinkleallnight @kat-tia801 @caseyvalentineramsey @thequeenchoices @yourmajesty09 @secretaryunpaid @sfb123 @neotericthemis @royalromancer​ @sweatyrysconnoisseur​

[youngdumbamericanteen]

Mabel bad?

Oof sorry for never answering you nonnie! I’ve been pretty busy lately haha. But the post you’re responding to is a bit...old. I now understand Mabel a bit more now as a person, however I do still dislike her as a character because her flaws I was talking about in that post are never meaningfully addressed. 

This might get a wee bit long, oops. Click for a big Gravity Falls writing analysis/essay/thingy.

It’s good for characters to have flaws. Flaws that actually affect them and have consequences. Otherwise you have something of a Mary Sue that isn’t relatable and has a story that’s too easy and boring for the audience. The narrative punishes or addresses those flaws and they present a challenge for the character.

But at the opposite end, you have characters who have flaws that the narrative never addresses, which means the characters never have to grow. There’s two reasons this is bad. One, that you can have the same issue where they don’t face any struggle or grow as characters and it’s a boring story, or two, people don’t generally like to root for characters who they’d want to punch if they ever met them irl. You can have a story with main characters who are bad people, but you have to either make the character likable in other ways, present the situation so that the audience can gather that they’re in the wrong and either be rooting for their downfall or their growth, or have their actual story be compelling enough that the need to know what happens next outweighs dislike for the character. (And all of these things often require the story to be told from said bad character’s point of view.) Gravity Falls doesn't really do any of these things. Or rather, it tries but is ineffective for around 50% of the viewers.

Mabel is often presented as a pure soul, good of heart and just overall a good person. But she’s got flaws. She’s selfish and a bit inconsiderate, which is normal and not an unforgivably terrible thing, especially for a 13 year old girl figuring out her place in the world. All the Pines are a bit selfish, I think it runs in their genes. But the thing is, the show will treat her selfishness as perfectly fair and normal, with anyone her selfishness affects being shown as in the wrong. She often guilts people, mainly Dipper, into sacrificing things for her while rarely making any sacrifices of her own. She does it to other characters as well, but here’s a brief list of times Dipper has sacrificed something for Mabel (which I compiled with the help of this post on Quora):

 Tourist Trapped: Dipper spends almost the entire time worried about Mabel’s safety and trying to protect her, while she just brushes him off and laughs at him.

The Hand that Rocks the Mabel: Dipper agrees to break up with Gideon for her.

Time Traveler’s Pig: Mabel insists that Dipper give up the reality that doesn't break his heart so that she can adopt Waddles, and when he initially refuses she purposely endangers the space-time continuum as retaliation. 

Little Dipper: Mabel is very angry about Dipper making himself taller, even though Dipper would not have resorted to it if now for her teasing. She immediately demands and fights for the magic flashlight, causing it to fall into Gideon’s hands.

Summerween: Mabel drags Dipper out to go trick-or-treating in a costume he dislikes because she’d planned on them having a duo costume.

Boss Mabel: I shouldn’t even really have to explain this one, the whole episode is about her going on a power trip.

The Deep End: Mabel embarks on a rescue mission for Mermando, doing and using things that would lead to Dipper being fired from the pool job he loves, without consulting him at all. She hears his concerns and instead of just explaining she’s saving Mermando the first time, she completely ignores him and speeds off, destroying more pool property and ensuring he’ll be fired.

Carpet Diem: Dipper informs her of the the issues he has with her roommate habits, and she completely denies any fault, even though she and her friends had legitimately destroyed the room and the mini-golf course the twins had built. The two of them both overreact, and act selfishly throughout the entire episode, but she absolutely refuses to listen to him.

Boyz Crazy: This one isn’t Dipper but I still wanted to mention it because she is so ridiculously selfish throughout the whole episode, to the point where it’s to her and the people she loves’ detriment.

Dreamscapers: Again not Dipper or a sacrifice, but her worst nightmare is apparently losing her cuteness and becoming ugly. I dunno if that’s exactly selfish or anything but God did it make me wrinkle my nose in distaste.

Sock Opera: After promising to help Dipper with the laptop, she almost immediately abandons him for her crush of the week, then proceeds to ignore him for, and inconvenience him with, her puppet show, taking his things without asking and expecting him to be completely cool with all her actions. Bill literally mentions her selfishness to manipulate Dipper and it completely works.

The Love God: Dipper leaves Wendy and her friends in chaos to help fix Mabel’s mess.

Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons: Mabel, her friends, and Stan all make fun of Dipper and Ford and insist they should have full use of the living room.

Dipper and Mable vs the Future: This is one of the big ones that people talk about. Mable finds out that Dipper might want to stay as Ford’s apprentice and becomes incredibly upset because she dreamed of the two of them having fun in high school together. She sees Dipper and immediately makes it about her and her feelings, treating something he’d been dreaming of all summer (being The Author’s apprentice) as some direct attack on her happiness. She proceeds to literally give Bill the ability to start the apocalypse to avoid being separated from Dipper, all without having any sort of meaningful conversation with Dipper or considering his feelings.

Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality: Out of all of these, this might be the one that gets to me the most. Mabel, seemingly knowing full well that she’s trapped by Bill, creates an imaginary fantasy land and refuses to leave just to spite Dipper for considering taking the apprenticeship. And despite doing all this, and attempting to convince him to stay with her, she creates an alternate “better” version of Dipper who’s “cool” and supportive and very, very, different from the real Dipper.

And this isn’t even mentioning all the times she just assumed she was completely in the right about something or had the moral high ground. Mabel frequently makes rush decisions because she thinks everything should be her way or how she thinks is right. 

And I want to say again, none of these things are unforgivable. Honestly, a lot of the things on the list are pretty standard sibling things, and like she isn’t even always in the wrong. The issue is that I’m naming at least 15 times where Mabel has been selfish or forced someone to give something up for her, and she almost never learns her lesson or is punished by the narrative. There are also only 2 or 3 times I can think of where Mabel sacrificed anything for Dipper, and they were all times he was in actual danger or someone had to talk to her and say she messed up and needed to fix her mistake. 

Dipper, on the other hand, sacrifices things for Mabel, faces consequences for his mistakes and his flaws, learns substantial lessons, apologizes, and rarely, if ever, repeats said mistakes. Now, this doesn’t mean that Mabel is awful and Dipper isn’t. I mean, Dipper does some pretty crumby things and has to be told he’s in the wrong or to apologize. And Mabel isn’t a bad person. Like legitimately, that is not what I want anyone to take away from this. She does genuinely love her brother and care about his wellbeing. She’s just a little selfish and unthinking sometimes, like anyone else.

Like I said, my issue is that it goes unpunished, and she repeats the same type of offense wayyy more than any other character. She’ll disappoint Dipper enough that he’d make a deal with Bill and then everyone will still say she’s the best and most caring person ever. That’s just annoying, honestly, or it is to me at least.

This isn’t dunking on her, this is dunking on the writers. And they aren’t unforgivable either, I mean Gravity Falls was a masterful web of foreshadowing, character building, lore, plot work, and incredibly intelligent humor mixed with jokes kids would love too. I don’t blame them for dropping the ball on Mabel, and I don’t hate her or the show or anything because of it. I just want us to acknowledge this flaw of the show, and also have people get it when Mabel gets on my nerves a little bit.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #287

“keep him tied - it makes him well / he’s getting better, can’t you tell?”

What are you favorite things to watch on YouTube? I like a pretty big variety now. I’d say I’ve been mostly into pet YouTubers lately, especially reptile ones. Oh, and WoW stuff. Can you pick out any constellations in the sky without looking them up online? Besides the Little or Big Dipper (idk which is which), nope. Are you religious? If so, what influenced you to start believing God? If you’re not religious, what convinces you there is no God? I wouldn’t call myself religious, no. I do believe there’s some kind of ultimate power, but hell if I know what it is, and I don’t actually worship it. I don’t believe any “good” god would demand kissing its feet in order for you to end at peace, among a billion other reasons. I believe there is something though because the odds of life and everything is just… too perfect. Plus I believe in the paranormal, so to me, there is obviously something beyond the mortal form. Is there any animal out there that genuinely terrifies you? Is this an animal you’re worried about coming across in daily life? I am terrified of ticks and parasites in general. They’re fucking disgusting. Maggots will also make me scream. Oh, and then there’s whale sharks. In my daily life, I wouldn’t say there’s any that I actively worry about crossing paths with. When was the last time you wore make-up? Around Halloween when Summer, me, and another of her friends did a witch-themed photoshoot. It really fucking sucks that it was so dark by the time we were done that the pictures came out absolutely awful. You can’t see shit, and of course on camera, I look absolutely awful. Have you ever worn colored contacts? No, but I’m totally not opposed for a cool photoshoot. Have you seen any of the Disney re-makes (eg. Aladdin or The Lion King)? What do you think of them? I’ve seen a good number, and I really like them. I think The Jungle Book remake was the best of them. How long did it take you to pass your driving test once you started learning how to drive? Ha, I still haven’t tried. When was the last time you went out for a formal occasion or event? Do you remember what you wore? Uhhhh… I have zero clue. Well, does my last job interview count? I just wore black sweatpants and some kind of formal top. How often do you have the TV on? is it more background noise or are you actually watching things? Y’all know by now that I don’t watch TV. Do you like any songs by Elvis Presley? Well of course. “Devil In Disguise” is my favorite. Do you ever answer the phone to unknown numbers? Nope. Do you eat anything special for breakfast on Christmas Day? Nah. When you go to theme parks, what’s your favorite type of ride? I haven’t been to a theme park in beyond forever, so idk. Are you afraid of falling in love? Ohhhhh yes. Expecting something to change in the next month? No. e_e What is your biggest worry in life right now? That Mom’s cancer will come back. Well, it IS going to eventually flare somewhere else, but no one can estimate when. Could be tomorrow. Could be years. Do you give up easily? It depends. With a lot of things, honestly, yes, because I get upset with my incompetence. What are you listening to? "Going To Hell" by The Pretty Reckless just came on. Is anything bothering you right now? Always. Were you ever made fun of? Yes. Are you currently jealous? I’ve been having episodes of it. Do you find piercings attractive on the opposite sex? I find them attractive on almost all people. Who was the last person you yelled at? I don’t know. Probably Mom. What do you say a lot? “Mood,” “lmao,” “can’t relate,” “same,” “oof,” “yikes,” shit like that, haha. What is your favorite place you have traveled? Chicago. Do you like ice cream? Yeah, that’s my comfort food. Do you like bananas? Yeah, but I don’t dare to eat one if I haven’t had my heartburn medication, because otherwise I get it BADLY. Do you like Paramore? A handful of their songs, yeah. I don’t know a lot though, honestly. Do you plan on getting married? It’d be nice. Ever been given a promise ring? No. Sexual orientation? Bi. Who do you text the most? Definitely Sara. Do you still talk to the person who hurt you most in life? Why or why not? No, because he wants nothing to do with me. I don’t blame him. Have you ever given your number to a complete stranger? Um, no. Well, besides in like, job applications. What color is your keyboard? Black. Your mouse? Mostly black, but it does have this crackled pattern that can glow blue or red. Desktop or laptop? I prefer laptops for mobility’s sake. Do you like sweet tea? I hate tea. How much sugar do you put in your tea? ^ Have you ever called someone useless? Wow, no. Do you have a wood or glass dining room table? Wood. Do you tend to get attached easily? HOLY GOD OF FUCK, YES. Is Joe Jonas really hotter than Nick? I haven’t seen either in god knows how long, but I remember I thought Nick was very cute. Favorite flavor pudding? Chocolate is the only kind I’ve enjoyed. Not that I’ve tried a lot. What are three words used in your area/dialect that many other areas/dialects wouldn't be familiar with? Oh, there are most certainly some, but I can’t think of any right now. How do you feel when your partner is talking to an ex? This would depend on a lot of things. What is the most expensive gift you have ever given? Received? Given, I’m really unsure. I answer enough questions sharing that I don’t have my own source of income, so a lot of times, my mom lets me use her money, but there is obviously a ceiling to how much I can use. Received, definitely my Sager laptop Jason got me one year. Do children like you? I’m always surprised that kids seem to… I don’t know how the hell to interact with kids, but parents tend to tell me that they do like me. If you found your child's diary would you read it? What if you found the diary of one of your parents? Hell no would I read that shit. Both deserve privacy. Have you ever stalked or killed a wild animal? Fuck no. Name something you are now prepared to reveal about yourself that you weren't ready to talk about in the past? The state of my virginity. Name a talent someone has of which you are jealous: I am soooo envious of talented and actually successful photographers. What would you most likely complain about in a hotel? Probably if the bed sheets seemed dirty. Is it possible to be in love with more than one person at the same time? Probably. I’m monogamous though, so I really can’t say because I haven’t experienced this. Do you often feel pressured by others? Society, yes. Should couples live together before marriage? I feel that it’s the better decision, yes. You may not blend well actually sharing the same house. You learn things about your partner. How would you feel attending the wedding of an ex? It would depend on the person. Girt or Sara? I would love to. As a matter of fact, I better be invited lmao. Jason? I couldn’t in ten trillion years. Fiction or nonfiction. I strongly prefer fiction. Can you can lie with a straight face? Yes, if it’s something little. Name three things you have experienced that would shock your parents: Probably just sexual stuff. Do you believe in using the silent treatment? No. I’ve sure done it before, but I’d like to think I’ve grown out of this. Communication is where it’s at. Your most embarrassing thought: *shrug* Your most prejudiced thought: I don’t know. I don’t think I’m very prejudiced. A shameful moment for you: The situation w/ Joel. The biggest gamble of your life: Deciding to drop out of college the last time. Who knows if that was a good choice or not… It’s too early to tell. What is your greatest weakness as a friend? Idk off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s something. Do you feel better when you have a tan? Nah, I like being pale. I did go through a period in HS of using tanning lotion on my legs though because I was self-conscious of JUST how pale they were. Do you sometimes enjoy being mean? ”I don’t think so. Maybe like... in certain contexts. Like being mean in video games can be really fun sometimes, haha. And being a little mean in a kink setting can be fun too.” <<<< This. Are you high maintenance? Definitely not. Has anybody ever told you that you’re too young to be in love? I think my dad has, just indirectly. Did you learn anything from the last BIG mistake you made? Yes. Do you have a favorite brand of shoes? Yeah, Converse. Do you like rollercoasters with big drops? I’m afraid of rollercoasters so have never been on one. Do you have any inside jokes with your parents? Not really. Have you ever thrown a surprise party for somebody? I don’t think so? Do you know who your mom’s favorite singer is? Oh, she’s totally obsessed with James Hetfield/Metallica. What year were you born in? 1996. What is your favorite card game? Magic: The Gathering, even though I was never great at it or totally understood all the rules. I just adore the artwork, and I like the detailed tactics behind it. Have you ever tried to surf? Nah. Do you want to learn? Nah. Have you ever had a song dedicated to you? What was it? Let’s not with this. What color eyes does your best friend have? Brown. Have you ever been on a blind date? Nah. Which one of your family members do you wish you could see more often? My brother and his son. I got really close to my nephew the last time they visited for a few days. What room in your house is the messiest? Right now, the extra bedroom that I want to make my dayroom. A lot of our “extra” stuff is just shoved into there. Have you ever requested a song on the radio? No. Are you proud of your parents? Yes. Have you ever (accidentally or not) set off a car alarm? I think I accidentally have before. Do you have dimples when you smile? Yes, way more prominently on my left cheek though. Do you find graveyards scary? No. They’re peaceful to me. Have you ever carved anything into a tree? I don’t think so. Do you read those celebrity gossip magazines? Ew, no. Celebs deserve privacy. Do you give or get advice more often? Well considering I’m in therapy, probably get. Did the last type of shoes you wore have laces? No. Do you like the picture on your license/I.D. card? FUCK no. When was the last time somebody hit on you? Idr. Which one of your friends do you feel most comfortable around? Sara. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving food? Just pass me the rolls lmao. Who did you last spoon with? My cat lmao. What was the last video game you played? I don’t recall the last console game I played, so does World of Warcraft count, even tho it’s a computer game? When you’re in trouble, do your parents ever “middle name” you? Ha, my mom will sometimes. Does getting sweaty or dirty bother you at all? If so, has it ever put you off doing exercise? Very much so. I suffer (and I DO mean “suffer”) from insane hyperhidrosis, so I sweat my ass off if I so much as twitch, if even that. I just hate feeling gross. Have you ever thought about how you want to spend your retirement? No, honestly. It’s hard for me to imagine even *getting* to retirement. Would you describe yourself as healthy? Why or why not? No. I’m physically and even more mentally not okay. Do you miss anything about being a teenager? If you are a teenager, what’s your favorite thing about it? Yeah, some things. Though I really don’t even want to think about it. I look back on me being a teen with both wistfulness as well as bitterness. I don’t know which is stronger.

[pocket-luv101]

Happiness || Chapter 6

Fandom: Servamp Characters: Mahiru, Kuro, Licht, Hyde Pairings: KuroMahi (main), LawLicht (side)

Summary:  Mahiru found a baby in front of his orphanage and he thought that it belonged to Kuro. But the infant could be the key to finding his lost mother. {Historical Romance// Family AU}

Ch.1 || Ch.2 || Ch.3 || Ch.4 || Ch.5 || (Ch.6) ||

“I hope Licht didn’t have too much trouble with Machi. He already has to watch over so many kids.” Mahiru parted the curtains to see if they were near the orphanage. He had to quickly close the blinds before snow could enter the carriage. He didn’t want the winter breeze to cool the pie they bought for the orphans. “Does Hyde have any experience taking care of children?”

“We were only gone for a few hours and I can’t imagine anything drastic happening in that time. You don’t need to worry.” He said. The carriage came to a stop and he stepped out. Mahiru gathered the boxes of pie in his arms and started to follow him. Kuro landed in the snow and turned to him. “I’ll carry those boxes for you. Take my hand. The snow is slippery.”

“Be careful not to ruin the pies. We’ll have to travel another hour to go back to Misono’s inn and buy more pies. Machi is too young for pie but she’ll like the cinnamon apple slices Lily made for her. I hope they’ll be able to come down and meet her.” He handed the boxes to Kuro. He shifted the boxes into one arm and held out his free hand to help him down.

They both wore mittens but Mahiru could feel the alluring heat of his hand as he took it. He helped him down from the carriage and gestured for the foreman to leave. Kuro walked with Mahiru to the orphanage. “I remember when I left for school, Lily and everyone were still kids. They would become clingy each time I came home for vacation. Machi will probably miss you like that.”

“Me?” He looked up at Kuro and their eyes met. Mahiru unconsciously walked slower. He wanted to be by his side a little longer. With Kuro’s warm body beside him, he didn’t feel the cold breeze or thick snow. Mahiru lifted his fingers to his lips and gently blew onto them to stop himself from reaching out to Kuro’s hand. “I think she’ll miss you since you’re her older brother. You’re also a father figure to her.”

“I always thought my family was unconventional but it’s more complicated than I could imagine.” He didn’t know if he could raise a child well. His father was far from a nurturing person and he only became worse after his mother disappeared. He did his best for his siblings but his title kept a wall between them. Kuro looked up at the sky and wondered where his mother could be.

They stopped in front of the orphanage and Mahiru was confused to find the door locked. He took out his key and said: “Yesterday, Licht locked out your brother. I hope he didn’t do the same today. I should give him a lecture if he did. We have to put aside our feelings and do what’s best for Machi.”

Kuro wondered if Mahiru was holding back his own emotions around him. Mahiru wasn’t a resentful person but their parting hurt him. It was clear that he cared for Machi though. Since he found her, Mahiru doted on Machi as if she was his own daughter. The compassion and kindness Mahiru showed others was one of the things that made Kuro fall in love with him.

Mahiru opened the door and walked into the hall. He could hear small cries from the main room and he immediately recognized it as Machi’s. He felt guilty that he left the infant when she was still becoming accustomed to her new home. While he trusted Licht, Mahiru felt responsible for her. He entered the living room and found Hyde struggling with the baby.

“Thank God, you two are back. How do you two manage to sleep with a baby crying about everything?” Hyde ran to them and handed Machi to Mahiru. “She’s not even old enough to tell me why she’s crying. I tried giving her milk and changing her dipper but she just won’t stop.”

“Aren’t you exaggerating, Hyde? She seems fine now.” Mahiru stopped his short rant. He looked back down at Machi whose tears had stopped. While she whimpered against Mahiru’s shoulder, she was calmer. He slowly rocked his body and hummed to her. She nestled into his familiar warmth. A small smile softened Kuro’s face as he watched the two.

“I brought you a pie for your hard work. We actually bought a lot of treats for everyone.” Kuro handed one of the boxes to his brother. The moment the orphans saw the pies, they surrounded the two and asked them for a slice. They struggled to manage the children until Licht’s voice stopped them.

“I just finished making lunch so don’t spoil your appetite. You can all have a slice after we eat. Now, wash up and set the table. Make sure to thank Mahiru and Kuro too.” Licht added the order as he ushered the children to the dining room. He had a commanding presence and Hyde admired that trait. “Welcome back, Mahiru. Did you two find anything?”

“No.” Mahiru answered in a soft voice so the orphans wouldn’t overhear them. “Misono said he would tell us if she does check into his hotel. Was Machi a handful while we were gone? Hyde seemed to be having trouble with her when we came back.”

“She was an angel.” Licht said and ruffled her hair. He wondered if she knew that they were talking about her since she started to babble happily. His expression became troubled as he told Mahiru: “A man came and scared her. We haven’t been able to calm her down since then. He left about ten minutes ago and I didn’t know if he would come back.”

“Was that the reason you locked the door?” He asked and Licht nodded. His answer made Mahiru more concerned because he would only lock the doors if he thought someone would endanger the children. He placed his hand over Machi’s head protectively. “Do you think he knows that Machi is from the Servamp family?”

“He seemed determined to take her and it must be for our family’s rank. Anyone visiting would assume she was an orphan and no different from the other kids here.” Hyde reasoned. “Mahiru already had a lot of opportunity to take her and blackmail us. I saw Lichtan’s reaction to the man and he didn’t know him. Nii-san and I have only told our siblings about him.”

“Our siblings know better than to tell others about Machi before we learn everything too.” Kuro added. When their mother vanished, a hundred different rumours surrounded the family. They weren’t able to go outside without people staring and whispering at them. He moved to the country to escape that life and he found a haven with Mahiru. He should’ve known that he couldn’t run forever.

“Then who would know about her?” Kuro’s brows furrowed because he already knew the answer to Mahiru’s question. The person could be the one who brought Machi to the orphanage or associated with the person. The tense atmosphere made Machi uncomfortable and she started to fuss. Mahiru gently stroked her hair to comfort her and Kuro moved next to the two. He wanted to protect them.

“The man wasn’t someone I recognize. He isn’t a part of our staff or a nobleman. Do you anyone who is this tall with a slim built? He has short dark hair.” Hyde described the man who tried to take Machi. “He thinks that Machi is staying here. He might come back and try to take her again. Do you have more employees to help protect Machi if that happens?”

“There are thirty children living here, Shit Rat.” Licht told him curtly. He glanced into the next room where the children were eating. They weren’t related by blood but Licht considered them his family and he wanted to raise them to be angels. “Most of the other caretakers went home for the holiday but I can protect them by myself.”

“Machi will be safe at Kuro’s home but I’m worried about the man targeting the children here. I know you’re strong, Licht, but you’re still one person.” Mahiru chose his words carefully to not hurt his friend’s pride. “I can stay at the orphanage during the nights but you’ll need help during the day. Hyde, will you be busy while you’re in town? Can you work a few shifts at the orphanage?”

“What?” Hyde and Licht yelled at the same time. His blue eyes flashed as Licht said, “I don’t need help from this demon. If anything, he’ll just get in the way. While you were gone, I had to teach him everything from burping a baby to nursery rhymes.”

“Hey, the kids liked when I read to them.” Hyde pouted. They only met so Licht’s words shouldn’t hurt his pride as much as they did. “For now, I’m exchanging letters with our prior staff for information. Once they answer my inquiries, I’ll have to travel often to talk with them in person. I didn’t tell them about Machi in the letters and they might see her if they come here. I don’t know if I’ll have time to watch a bunch of kids.”

“Can’t you two get along and work together for the children’s sake?” Mahiru thought that Hyde was slowly growing to trust them. He lifted Machi and brought her closer to Licht and Hyde. She beamed at them with a smile full of trust. Then, she took a lock of their hair in each of her hand. She pulled them closer together. He chuckled and said, “Even Machi wants you two to work as a team.”

“That’s not fair, Mahiru.” Licht sighed and gently eased his hair from Machi’s grip. Hyde was slightly surprised when Licht reached over to help him as well. A faint blush dusted both of their cheeks when he stepped back once he was finished. “Fine, I’ll accept his help. Your shift starts at six o’clock sharp, Shit Rat. Don’t be late.”

“You’re the only person I know who can make an angel and demon work together.” Kuro said as they prepared to return to his home. Since Hyde didn’t know how to care for kids, they stayed at the orphanage to teach him. The hours quickly passed until it became night. Hyde fell asleep on the couch so they decided to let him be.

“He won’t be late for his new job if he sleeps here.” Mahiru struggled to slip on his shoes with only one hand. Machi was tucked safe in the baby sling he wore but he wanted to keep an arm around her. He thought of the man who tried to steal her. He didn’t know what they would do if he came back for her and he held her protectively. “Will your brother be angry that we left him here?”

“He’s an adult now so he can’t expect me to carry him to bed as if he’s six.” Kuro knelt down and gently took Mahiru’s shoe into his hands. He slipped the shoe onto his foot and glanced up at him. Staring into his warm eyes, Kuro almost told him he loved him. He forced himself to break his gaze away from him before he could. He stood and they found themselves close to each other.

“Thank you,” Mahiru said breathlessly. “We should get going. Machi is sleeping soundly now but she needs a proper crib. Do you think we should summon a carriage to take us home? I’m worried that the night might be too cold for her.”

“Actually, I was hoping we could walk and stop by a place. It’s on the way home and we’ll only be there for a few minutes so I don’t think it’ll be too cold for Machi.” He said. Kuro adjusted the blankets around Machi so she would be snugged. He opened the door for them and they walked into the night. The street lamps lined the road and the light made Machi turn into his chest.

Kuro placed his hand on the small of Mahiru’s back and led him down the street. He wondered where he wanted to take them. Mahiru found himself searching the shadows for the man that Licht told them about. He relaxed as Kuro rubbed circles into his jacket. He leaned into his reassuring presence and reminded himself that Kuro would protect them.

“The moon is beautiful tonight. It’s almost a shame that Machi’s asleep and she can’t see the stars.” Mahiru whispered so their voices wouldn’t wake her. Despite how late it was, he wasn’t tired and simply enjoyed Kuro’s company. They spoke in secretive whispers like they would long ago. The conversation flowed between them smoothly and the late night walk was almost nostalgic.

“Maybe we can wake her up for a few minutes so she can see this.” Kuro stopped. With his arm around his waist, he turned Mahiru to the ice sculpture garden. His breath was taken away. The lamps behind them allowed him to see the delicate statues. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky so the stars and the moon’s light reflected through the ice. Mahiru stepped closer so admire the details of the ice garden.

“This is beautiful, Kuro.” He whispered. Mahiru felt Kuro’s heat behind him and leaned backwards into it. He gently shook Machi awake and she grumbled slightly. Her irritated face from being woken made Mahiru chuckle because it reminded him of Kuro. Carefully, he adjusted Machi in his arms so he could see the ice garden. “Isn’t it stunning, Machi?”

“Oh!” She gasped in excitement.

“She likes it too. Thank you for showing us this, Kuro.” Mahiru smiled up at him.

“I saw it when we were driving back from the inn. I planned to bring you here earlier but we lost track of time earlier. At least the sculptures still looks nice at night.” Kuro said and brushed a few snowflakes from his brown hair. “It’s late and cold. You should stay at my house. Since Machi missed you a lot, I doubt she’ll let you leave again.”

Kuro didn’t add that he also missed Mahiru after they parted ways years ago. He wanted to hold him and never let go. He knew better than to voice that and whispered, “We should head home now.”

[friendlycybird]

1x01 - Tourist Trapped - Rewatch

So, I actually watched this episode, and the next couple? With a friend before I got access to Gravity Falls on my own terms. Which means this is actually my third time watching it. I think this time I’ll be paying closer attention then I was either of the two previous, as I’m doing this little liveblog writeup thing. 

May include references all the way up to the end of the series. Be warned, this gets LONG. 

Here we go. 

Do we ever see the family in the first couple shots of this show again? I don’t recognize them as later used background characters? 

The golf cart spins when it goes over a rock. I never noticed that before. It’s like something out of Mario Kart. That’s hilarious. 

I kinda love the themesong. I had a whole revelation about the show based on the footprint-inside-a-bigger-footprint moment at one point. I still think of it as something of a Thesis Statement for the show as a whole. Let me know if you want me to expound on that at all. 

Only Mabel could possibly be excited by splinters and getting chewed on by a goat. 

Okay but, in hindsight, WTF was the whole putting on a mask and scaring Dipper thing about, Stan? We know he knows, possibly better then anyone at this point, about the weirdness of Gravity Falls. We also know from a later episode that a lot of his early cruelty toward Dipper was an effort to “toughen him up” ...so was the mask some kind of misguided attempt to gage Dipper’s fear response to the unknown/truly weird (or something similarly related) or was it Stan just legitimately being a dumbass? 

...I kinda feel like there’s a lot to unpack in Mabel’s early Boy Crazy emphasis on Crazy behavior that they flash through here. I guess you could say it really just boils down to her trying too hard? Maybe. I don’t think I’m gonna think too much about it right now but it might be fun to have a conversation about later. (I do think I’ll keep my eye out for other instances of Mabel trying to hard in general though.) 

Side note - 4 minutes in and I’m at 350+ words on this...um. These are all gonna be really long, aren’t they? 

Soos and Wendy’s introductions are hilarious, and for Soos, we get a key trait of his right away. He’s remarkably well-adjusted despite generally being treated like shit. Wendy’s introduction, on the other hand, starts with a trait I keep forgetting about her, laziness. Which really gets overshadowed later on by how badass she actually is. 

“My misquito bites spelled out ‘Beware’“ ...okay that would actually be really creepy though? 

Okay but. I can’t help but wonder. Do you think Dipper ever tells Stan he found the journal while doing chores for him? 

Okay so. The damage to the “Property Of” page. Deliberate or just wear damage? Weigh in! 

Also it kinda blows my mind that this scene has the first, however vague, reference to Bill. “...before HE finds it.” 

Dipper talking about the authors mysterious disappearance stands out to me for some reason, but maybe more relevant is how Mabel just completely...like it doesn’t seem she disbelieves Dipper at this point, but she clearly doesn’t take anything he’s saying seriously. More on this later, I think. 

 Now, here’s something weird. The description of zombies from the journal in this episode doesn’t seem to match the zombies we actually see much later in the show. The description implies intelligence, whereas the zombies we eventually meet (with the exception of the briefly turned Soos) seem much more like classic, mindless fare. Is there an explanation, or is this a goof? 

...Stan being confused by mishearing “Zombie” as “Crombie” and saying “You’re loosing your mind” really stands out to me. I feel like there are threads to pull on there concerning Stan’s actual mental state at this point...but that might be too much for a silly little throw away line. 

“How many brains did you see him eat?” ...god I Love Soos.

I have always loved the whole bit with Dipper opening the page in the journal to Gnomes when he means to open it to zombies, given. You know. I think that moment/the upcoming reveal is what convinced me I *could* like this show in the first place. 

“You know what the book said about Gravity Falls. Trust no one.” 

“What about me, why can’t you trust me?”

...this...this is their problem for the entire series, isn’t it? Like. In a nutshell. That’s the major conflict between Dipper and Mabel throughout. 

The whole Rock that looks like a face Q&A bit is achingly familiar to be as a Customer Service employee...explaining really basic stuff to people is *hard*

“I need to borrow the golf cart so I can save my sister from a zombie!” 

What. What exactly does Wendy think is going on here? Does she think he’s playing some kind of game? Does she just genuinely not care at this point? There’s no way she believes him...

Soos arming Dipper with a shovel “for the zombie” and a baseball bat “in case you come across a pinata” is the perfect kind of like...playing support while being utterly ridiculous that Soos is best at. 

Hey. Here’s a question. What happened to the OLD Gnome Queen? 

and so we have the first moment that I recognize from seeing in gif form all over tumblr for years. The gnome puking rainbows. I love recognizing these moments. I think I’ll number them as we go. So this is #1

Hey Dipper. If someone in the vehicle is even remotely worried about being chased, maybe the best response to hearing somewhat thunderous footsteps behind you *isn’t* slamming on the breaks? Just a thought. 

...so did Stan actually get distracted by “the worlds most distracting object” or was that part of the show? 

So you know how the zombie/gnome misdirect made me think I’d like the show? ...the...fucking...leafblower resoloution? Made me think I *wouldn’t* like the show. Just. Pushes the boundary of the flavors of weirdness I can take. 

So, has anyone tackled the question of what was going through Stan’s mind when he offered them stuff from the gift shop? I feel like it’s kinda...like...they seemed dismissive of him as they were coming in? And it was just...he wants them to like him? Is it that simple? ...does he somehow realize they’ve officially been exposed to the weirdness at this point and is trying to endear himself/the shack to them in a bid to keep them safe? ...hehe, playing with Stans motivations for little stuff is fun. Fun enough to keep me overthinking for dozens of episodes to come. 

Oh hey, I totally forgot we see the secret vending machine door at the end of the first episode! Wow. ...so after that little moment I’m curious...how many people went into this show not trusting Stan as far as they could throw him? Tell me stories of your early opinions!

[jackskirby]

Avid fans of the blog may recall me mentioning in tags on somebody else’s post that I am the proud owner of the Jack Kirby Fourth World omnibus, which is an amazing book and also an amazing doorstop, bludgeon, and weight-training device (more than 1000 pages!). Today I bring to you the first of many stories contained within. You may wonder where the New Gods are, and why this is a Fourth World story, but rest assured, all will become clear in time. And until then we’re in for an absolutely wacky ride aboard the Whiz Wagon. Venture under the cut for the exciting adventures of Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and the Newsboy Legion in The Wild Area in “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133: The Newsboy Legion”!

The comic opens with dear old Jimmy rendezvousing with the Newsboy Legion. The Newsboy Legion are not New Gods, nor had I ever seen them in anything else before that I can remember. Prepare to see a lot of them until we push through to issues actually about the Fourth World. The Newsboys show off the fantastic new vehicle they’ve acquired thanks to Morgan Edge, new owner of the Daily Planet and Very Obvious Bad Guy. 

This vehicle is the Whiz Wagon, and I love it for the name and its status as a fantastic Kirby vehicle. Look at those pistons(?)! Look at those swoops(?)! What do they do? Who cares!

The Newsboy Legion, running clockwise in the picture above, consists of Big-Words (he’s smart), Flipper-Dipper (he scuba-dives), Scrapper (he’s short and scrappy), Tommy (he’s just Tommy), and Gabby (he’s short but not scrappy). They’re going to be Jimmy’s sidekicks and assistants in this exciting expedition to The Wild Area, and, let’s face it, they’re going to steal our hearts with their wacky antics.

Meanwhile at the Daily Planet, responsible adult Clark Kent points out that The Wild Area is a dangerous place to send a bunch of kids, even if we know nothing about it except the name. Morgan Edge (you see what I mean about him being an untrustworthy type. A purple suit? At the office?) assures Clark that Jimmy will be fiiiiiiiine, and that Jimmy has to be the one to go, as the denizens of the The Wild Area, the Hairies, don’t trust anyone over 25. They’re those hippy types, ya see.

Clark leaves, and Morgan Edge immediately calls Intergang to assassinate Clark, confirming all my suspicions. Clark, as it turns out, is immune to hit-and-runs, and realizes this is a job for Superman.

Across town, Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion set out on the adventure of a lifetime, as it turns out the Whiz Wagon can fly. Phenomenal.

They arrive in The Wild Area, only to be attacked by one of those aforementioned weird motorcycle groups, and there’s some intense fisticuffs. Jimmy knocks out the final troublemaker, but our heroes find themselves surrounded.

And so Jimmy becomes the new leader of this weird motorcycle group, and sets off to revel in his newfound power and glory.

Clark, worried now that Morgan Edge has it out for him and Jimmy, goes into Superman mode, and heads to The Wild Area, where he proceeds to act like a supersquare.

Superman runs into Jimmy’s hardcore new motorcycle gang, and they zap him with a Kryptonite laser gun, after he tries and fails to convince Jimmy to leave The Wild Area. I don’t know if I’d really call you Superman’s best pal at this point, Jimmy, you’re not being very nice.

Also, I relate intensely to Superman’s expression in this panel. It’s just one of those days, huh, Clark?

Superman wakes up to the friendly faces of the Newsboy Legion, who inform him that this town is Jimmy’s now. And what a town it is! Turns out these weird motorcycle groups live in a fantastical tree city. This does not prove particularly narratively significant, but it is awesome.

Jimmy reveals to Superman that his real assignment is to find out what the Mountain of Judgment is. It’s some kind of vehicle, and travels along an incredible psychedelic drag strip called The Zoomway, but beyond that we know nothing. Yango, Jimmy’s second-in-command and a guy who has clearly seen some shit, offers cautionary words.

Jimmy is not deterred by this, despite Superman’s protestations, and the issue ends with what seems to be an earthquake, but must of course be The Mountain of Judgment approaching, much to the excitement of Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion.

New Gods in this issue: 0

“--”: 18 in these photographs alone

Amazing vehicles: Praise be to the Whiz Wagon

Fantastic turns of phrase: “The Whiz Wagon grabs sky like a crazy eagle”

Classic Kirby: You know it.

While I was somewhat disappointed upon originally reading this story, since it’s the first one in the Omnibus, and has exactly zero (0) New Gods in it, I’ve since come around on it somewhat. Not a lot actually happens, since it’s the first episode of a longish arc, but Kirby just packs so many weird ideas onto every page. It’s hard to resist the charm of such sheer nuttiness. The unifying quality of every story in this book (and there are A. LOT.) is that Jack Kirby drops stuff into stories for an issue or two that other writers could spend a whole series developing, and then he just barrels onto the next idea without hesitation. Reading this, you start to realize why Kirby’s such an influential figure in comics mythology. Every page has something fantastical and mind-boggling on it.

And that’s awesome.

Join us next time as we travel The Zoomway to face The Mountain of Judgment and perhaps even some actual Fourth World content (don’t get too excited, though, there’s a lot of Newsboy Legion left to go). And feel free to drop me a line if you want to see more pics of this issue (hopefully less shitty, I’m literally taking pictures of the pages of my book with my phone right now), or more pics or recap in the next post.

[thebadhorse-blog1]

RPER Resolutions

Write your RPer Resolutions for 2018! (What are some goals for yourself as a writer? Improve descriptions? Plot with more members? Etc.

I want to do better at describing things and doing more action-based things. I feel like I’ve gotten really bad at that so I want to majorly improve that for sure. Add more detail and that kind of thing. I really really admire people who can do good action based plots or fighting or something like that. I want to be able to do those. I really do. So those are things that I definitely want to improve on. And of course I would love to plot with more people. I’m a tad awkward so it takes me some time to throw myself at people but I really would love that too.

Write at least one resolution, or “goal,” that you have as an RPer for your character(s)

I want to actually have Shego do her job. As a “henchwoman” or as a “thief” let Shego take from your character and get away with it. Let your character be frustrated with whatever was taken. Is it valuable? Sentimental? Even better. I also want to focus a bit more on the financial circumstances of my characters. Maximus and Shego both don’t have a lot of money, and neither of them have stable work right now, so my goal is to explore just what they do when the money gets really tight and stuff. Shit what else? I think I talked about my many goals for Maximus in an ask, but to summarize I want him to be more comfortable with his magic, and to actually be able to joke about it and see where he goes from there. Shego I want to actually do shady shit, and make really cool connections, and I want to honestly explore her backstory a bit and how it’s made her who she is. I want to do more one shots with that because there are still so many things about her, and it’s close to the chest cause she doesn’t share with anyone. She doesn’t trust people. So giving her a person to trust would be cool. As for Wilbur? He’s got his major quest to hunt down the stolen item, but I want him to get into other trouble. I want him to be manipulated by someone shady, or maybe have him jump into a situation he’s not well informed on and majorly fuck up.

Write at least one resolution IN CHARACTER for your characters. What do THEY want to accomplish or change in the New Year?

Shego: “Okay, so I really don’t buy the new year’s resolution thing. I think you should make up your mind to change whenever the fuck you want. But, I suppose my new year’s resolution is to at least not be in an empty bed on next new year’s. I plan on having a good lay for the next one. Oh is that a bad one? Fine, my new year’s resolution is to have a stable job with a sensible boss, so that I can do my job and not have to worry about him fucking up his or her side of things. I deserve a good boss fucking hell.”

Maximus: “I...well I’d like to make up for being gone. I want to show Gabe every day how much I missed him, how much I love him, and how much I want to spend every day with him if I can. Really all I can think about is making right for my past mistakes. I want to do better, and be the person that Gabe seems to think that I am.”

Wilbur: “I feel like I’m doing pretty good with this stuff. Last year I wanted to jump into the lake when it was winter and I did that so go me. This year...uh..let’s see. I want to start a food fight at school, learn a little more about kissing, FIND MY DAD’S INVENTION, learn how to drive, find a way to fly just once that’d be really fucking cool, pass my classes, do something wild in the nude, ride a horse in tandem (so like where me and a friend ride the same horse) because why not? also bareback would be rad, go cliff diving (i heard it’s awesome). meet a shapeshifter and ask them to do something cool, have a sorcerer cast a spell on me (yolo), fight a magical creature and not die (but you know just a friendly duel nothing serious) and uhhh....not tell my parents about any of this.”

List one or more characters you have never interacted with that you would like to do so:

Oh I have so many characters that I’d love to interact with. I’m going to go ahead and list at least one per mun cause I want a lot of things. Yep okay:

MK- Hercules largely

Lauryl - I want to meet Charlie, but also Merida I think would be interesting

Avarick - okay but imagine putting Shego and Jessica in a room together. Right? I’d love to write with Jessica, but also Alasdair and Terence.

Alex - Kim. Possible. Yes. Let me actually write with her properly this time that’d be great. I would love to write with Kim. Also really wanna meet Tito tbh. Tito seems great.

Andy - Jiminy and Mateo. Honestly all of my kids could use some therapy tbh. And Mateo...well he’s part of the Avalor squad and I want to meet them alllll. Let me at him.

Ashley - it’s in the works interacting and all, but I would love to meet Panic too, and Moana.

Bee - god damn let me interact with Sgt. Tibbs!!! I want to so badly! He seems so great! Also Judy or Marie would be rad for different reasons. Honestly just all of these. All.

Carter - I would happily interact more with Orville. He’s great. I really like him.

Chloe - okay so I’d love to put Mitte and Shego in a room together lol. But also I really really want to write with Perry. Come back soon so I can love them okay?

Dee - Miss Spider would be absolutely fascinating. Give me a chance to get to know her.

Emily - dude I want to meet the Huntsman. I think ooo him and Maximus could be a rad combination, but him and Shego could be great too.

Faith - um both of your characters. but damn WOODY! I wanna meet him. With my former cop, my criminal, or my troublemaker, any will do. Any.

Ginny - I mean I’ve got my hook into you already with Namine and Hook who I love. But I’d also enjoy meeting Thomas O’Malley, or perhaps Cornelia. She seems like she’d be a good time. I think she and Shego could theoretically see eye to eye.

Jaby - lol listen I always want to write with you and your characters. Particularly Tink, Soleil, -whispers Adam-. Honestly. I love all your babes. I will write with all your babes. Haven’t met Rita yet though so I’d love to interact with her for sure.

Kate - I am here for interacting with Tombo! Granted I know very little about his story, but I’d love to find out about it.

Katie - ugh omg I want to interact with so many of your babes. Why have I never had the honor? I’d love to be able to write with Celia or Dodger. They look like they’d be so fun to interact with.

Kiara - my god you have the incredibles babes, and I love them. I’d love to write with Dash. Dash and Wilbur maybe causing trouble. or who knows really. Yeah I’d love to be able to meet Dash.

Lauren - EEYORE pretty please!! He’s so precious! i have in fact gotten to interact with Roscoe a little teeny tiny bit i think. And I love him and want more chances. But my god Eeyore is a cutie patootie.

Lichi - Wendy is awesome, I love Peter Pan characters, and I’d love to throw my children at her. Possibly Maximus? I’m debating on what would work best.

Lily - Beau Dunn looks absolutely adorable and I’d love to meet your other babes Lily.

Macy - damn I want to interact with all the Adamsons tbh. But yeah Barrell. He could influence my youth Wilbur, or Shego could mess with him or idk. Either would be cool.

Mathew - it’s Nick Wilde! Yesss. Idk maybe throw Nick and Maximus together? lol they’d probably hate each other. But that’s always fun.

Mckala - well I’ve gotten lucky and been able to interact with two out of three of your children. So last left? I must interact with Will obviously. Not sure yet who would work best with them though.

Pet - all your babes. lol but real talk I’ve never met Lymantria or Dipper or Alana...or Callie even honestly. Any of those I’d love to write with. Dipper I think would be fun to put with Wilbur. Wilbur is just the kind of guy who would go along on an adventure with Dipper. Whatever that might entail.

Reanna - SHOCK! And Kovu!!! Pretty pretty please? Shock and Shego perhaps? Shogo? Shock and Go? Go Shock? lol idk but I think they’d be fun.

Sam - Jenny and Theo omg goals. Theo and Wilbur really should meet. They could both make terrible life decisions. Also they both have big families right? They can relate to each other sort of?

Sarah - I think I’m getting both of yours, so for now I shall say I look forward to getting to know both Cass and Penny <3 and to plotting more with them.

Sav - uh I want to write with both Shere and Frollo like wtf. VILLAINS. Everyone knows I love villains. Let Shego get close to both of them. My dream.

Sierra - Rapunzel! And Lock! I would love to have Rapunzel and Maximus meet or to discuss their stories some more. And my goal to interact with the Adamsons is real. Shego or Wilbur to get into trouble with there.

Silv - okay I really want to meet Goliath for very obvious reasons, and Jim cause he seems great. lol. Jim and Wilbur possibly, Goliath and Maximus or Goliath and Shego lmao. That would be incredible.

Plotting Exercise! Pick one of the resolutions/goals in #2 and plan a rough guideline to how you could accomplish it.

Shit okay...so for the one goal with Shego to steal stuff it’d be like

Part 1: Shego seeks out target

Part 2: With mun’s permission, Shego sneaks into place and takes item she wants (in a one shot or if you want your character can get a glimpse of a figure or a green glow idk)

Part 3: item is stolen and your character gets to go to the police or worry over the item and Shego gets to go try to pawn it off somewhere out of town for money.

For Maximus:

Part 1: Maximus connects with another person and gets comfortable being around them/friendship

Part 2: He shifts around said friend and the reaction to that etc.

Part 3: Maximus starts shifting more if said friend reacted well to part 2.

For Wilbur:

Part 1: Wilbur meets shady af character

Part 2: Shady af character convinces Wilbur to do something

Part 3: Wilbur does something hella sketch and gets busted

[drv3-and-imagines]

The Boys Trying to Flirt with Kirumi

Rantaro Amami

He always liked Kirumi’s charm.  She was so professional and dutiful, her hard work and dedication was definitely admirable.  Kirumi was efficient when it came to taking care of others, something Amami related to with his countless sisters

He enjoyed her company and tried to encourage her to take breaks after working so hard.  But she would refuse every time, stating that “duty comes before self” and he saw it like a game, teasing for her to take a well earned hour of relaxation.  Although she appreciated his attempts and saw his point she didn’t need any breaks, she was fine.

The teasing had got to him.  He really wanted her to take a break and he wanted to share that time with her.  He really wanted to make her a full course meal to thank her for all her hard work and then some.  Maybe even a little more... He went for it.

“Hey, take a break!”  It was the same old thing.  “You know the answer to that Amami.”  He paused and clasped his hands behind his back.  “How about I rephrase it: will you take a break to go out with me?”.

That was new.  Kirumi smiled politely.  “You know the answer to that as well.”

Ouch.

Kokichi Ouma

Ouma hung off Kirumi like a doll.  He loved her company and was infamous for calling her ‘Mom’.  Every time she would deny it and that nickname would only ring louder in her ears.  Having Ouma around was a thorn in her side but she really did think of him like a child and allowed it.

However Ouma wanted more than just that mother and son relationship.  He liked her a great deal.  Not in a romantic sense but he liked her a lot as a person.  And he liked trying to get a reaction out of her.  A look of bewilderment or how she tried to stifle a laugh; he liked seeing her break that mature persona.

But something he hasn’t yet tried was flirting with her.  He wondered if she would get flustered or angry... you won’t know until you find out!  And boy did he want to find out.

So he skipped up to her per usual as she stood just outside of the dormitories and layed it on thick.  “Hey hey!  Kirumi!  You know how I call you Mom all the time?”

She inhaled sharply.  She knew something was coming and she needed to prepare herself for it.  “Yes, why?”

“How about I call you my girlfriend instead?”

Kirumi smiled and bent herself at the hips to pat his head.  “Maybe when you fit into men sizes we can talk about it.”  That didn’t go like he planned but his teeth were sinking into his lower lip to prevent a sly grin.  He didn’t know she had that side of her... He wasn’t complaining.

Kiibo

Kiibo always found Kirumi to be very nice.  They never talked with one another excessively but she respected him being a robot and was careful with her words and he appreciated that.  There were times where he would ask her what some things meant, like “updog”, because she would give an honest answer.

Miu, Ouma, and Kaito were trying to teach him what flirting was one day.  Needless to say he was at a loss because as they used words like “with someone you love” or “when you like someone a lot”, he didn’t understand!  He couldn’t feel those!  So they rephrased it for him and said that “flirting was something you do with someone you find attractive to impress them”.

Thanks to that boiled down explanation he felt more capable of understanding it.  Then they told him to test it out on someone.  To which he got rather quiet, but stated that no one here was unattractive so his options were endless.  “Just try it with Tojo or somethin’”  The two boys agreed in unison and the peer pressure was really starting to get to him.

After a lot of ushering and motivational stage whispers, he shuffled towards her and proclaimed, “Miu, Ouma, and Kaito said I should try flirting with you!  I think your eyes are a very attractive shade and your hair is well groomed!”  He still didn’t fully understand.  But after shooting the trio a dirty look she nodded towards him.

“Thank you Kiibo, that was very nice of you to say and I think your eyes are an attractive shade as well.  Not to intrude but may I offer some advice?  Don’t listen to what Miu, Ouma, and Kaito tell you to do when they plot with each other.”

He nodded and marched back towards the three obediently.  It didn’t go bad and he learned one thing today.

Gonta Gokuhara

Gonta thought Kirumi was very lady like!  As a gentleman, Gonta wanted to have strong bonds with Kirumi!  They understand each other’s manners very well!  It makes Gonta happy!

Gonta likes to do little things for Kirumi!  Like grab things that are on high shelves!  Kirumi seems to get a little frustrated, but she thanks Gonta!  Kirumi cannot be that mad at Gonta for helping!

Gonta likes to spend time with Kirumi when Kirumi is not working!  Gonta likes to learn about Kirumi’s interests, but Kirumi says Kirumi’s only interests are in Kirumi’s job!  But that’s okay!  Gonta likes telling Kirumi about bugs and Kirumi listens!  Until somebody asks Kirumi for help!

Gonta gathered up the courage to ask Kirumi for Kirumi’s hand!  Kirumi gave Gonta Kirumi’s hand and Gonta kissed it like a true gentleman!

Kirumi didn’t mind it!  But Kirumi politely asked Gonta to not do it again!  Gonta said, “Thank you for letting me know.”!

Shuichi Saihara

Shuichi was god awful with words.  He stumbled over them and he always had to rehearse what he was going to say in his head before he said it aloud.  He was much better with writing things down where he wasn’t able to stutter.  Surprisingly, the same went for Kirumi.  She was so professional, he felt like he needed to try extra hard to impress her.  He wanted to seem like an actual detective with achievements to be proud of too.

Shuichi was always insecure about his title of SHSL detective, he didn’t feel as if his work was worth any value compared to anyone else’s.  They were all so unique and he was something that belongs on Law and Order SVU.  But Kirumi’s talent could be applied to most anything.  Being a maid is a job that serves just about anyone, you could hear secrets about anything and you have eyes everywhere... A detective’s dream.

He would try to get closer to her through some small talk that he hoped would escalate.  Sometimes it did and he would have fluent talks of the people she took care of; other times he spent 30 seconds talking with her about her day before someone came over and asked her to make food for them.  He found the gesture kind of rude, but she had better things to do than talk to him.

He would write letter after letter after letter during their curfew, containing the exciting thoughts of her adventures in hopes that she would understand and they would have something to talk about.  He got maybe two hours of sleep for two nights in a row as he tried to perfect his letters and make sure each meticulous detail of how much he respected her was inside.  When no one was watching, he slipped them under her door and ignored her for three days afterwards to settle his anxious heart.

Kirumi came to Saihara and gave it to him straight: “These letters are amazing and your skill amazes me,” she confessed, “but I’m not this exciting.  I’m only a maid, I clean and that’s all I do.”  Somehow that made him feel better about himself.

Korekiyo Shinguji

As he was learning more and more about his class, Kirumi stood out like a sore thumb.  But this sore thumb was a thing of beauty and wonder and he let her know it too.  He would spend copious amounts of time with her, just watching her clean over a cup of earl grey that she had prepared for him.  And he just watched.  Every little flick of her wrist to the way she dusted off her pinafore.  She was truly a sight to behold.

While she cleaned he would occasionally tell her about his findings about human behavior.  He would tell her, “You’re different from the other girls.  You have yourself together; you know your needs and your wants while the other girls in our class are still trying to find themselves, or perhaps someone to help them along the way, maybe even do it for them... But not you, Kirumi Tojo, you don’t need anyone to help you along.  Maybe you even push people away because you feel like you’ve already found yourself.  That’s how your different.  Isn’t the diversity of human beings just so fascinating?”

She would hardly listen as she was devoured by her work.  But she only seemed to listen when he mentioned her full name and even then she felt transparent, as if he could see right through her.  It gave her the creeps.

One day he offered if he could study her more closely.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Shinguji?”

“I want to get closer.”

“Sorry, I have work to do.”  And like that he was right, she was pushing him away.

Ryoma Hoshi

Hoshi, a lot like Kirumi, had a calm and collected exterior which not a lot slips past.  Despite, their paths never really cross and they never bond over such traits.  They have more of a mutual respect for each other.

They don’t often butt heads but they do politely say hi to each other as they pass.  Hoshi has said that Kirumi is “pretty cool” and he thinks she’s a sweet gal, but that’s as far as he gets.

Kaito Momota

Kaito lays it on thick.  As the coined older brother figure of the class, it’s his duty to playfully pester everyone and Kirumi is no exception.  He takes his ‘job’ very seriously and Kirumi isn’t a huge fan of his teasing antics.  No one really is but does that stop him?  One can only wish.

Kaito loves making pick up lines or puns about stars and space.  Kirumi, being so cool and mature, is his natural victim.  He’s tried everything from “You must be the North Star, because the light around you guided me here” to “Hi. I'm an astronaut, and my next mission is to explore Uranus”.  She finds them cheap, and often walks away from him mid joke.

After so many pick up lines, she began to grow tired of hearing them and began plotting a way of her own to counter act them.  The next time Kaito slid in front of her to say, “Astronomy is a great thing. Want to see the Big Dipper?”, she replied with “Okay”.  That really caught him dead on, this was the first time she provided such a response that seemed serious.

“Kirumi.. it’s a joke.”

“I know, just like you.”

(space pick up lines)

[eregyrn-falls]

Headcanon: Ford is a Period Accuracy Stickler at SCA events, but also 100% goes to Renn Faires dressed as a member of a Starfleet away team. After Dipper shows him Stargate and SG-1, he does that, too.

Oh my god.  Okay.  I had to mull this over for a bit, but here we go.  (This got long!  Sorry!)

YES, I could totally see Ford being the kind of snarky asshole (and I say that in the fondest possible way!) who would wear a Starfleet away team uniform to a RenFaire.  Complete with a working tricorder that he built himself (possibly with Fidds’ help).  (Re. SG-1, I can’t decide which I like more: the idea that yes, Dipper marathons the series with him and Ford loves it; or, of course, Ford actually met SG-1 during his dimension-hopping.)

Now, with regard to SCA events… hmm.  What popped into my head was Ford adjusting his glasses and saying, “That’s why it’s called the Society for Creative Anachronism”, with that raised eyebrow and slightly condescending tone, you know?  Not least because if he was that much of an Authenticity Maven, then he wouldn’t be able to wear his glasses, and we all know he’s probably blind as a bat without them.  (Yes yes, I know, that or he would choose a period in which he was allowed to have some kind of glasses – which he would research meticulously – but the thing is that I’m not sure that college Ford would be able to afford a custom pair of period glasses.)  After all, one of the early taglines for the group was “the Middle Ages not as they were, but as they should have been” (or, “could have been”), which was meant to cover everything from trying to leave behind the perception of the medieval period’s sexism and racism, to allowing for modern conveniences where possible or necessary (the biggest Authenticity Maven in the world is not going to refuse to use a real bathroom).  For a lot of Scadians, “emotional authenticity” is more important than material authenticity, and there’s a realization that that means emotional authenticity as described by the participants (who are, after all, modern people, and each of whom brings their own desires to the group).

But another reason I feel like Ford might be into authenticity when it suited him, but ignored it when it was inconvenient (which, let’s face it, describes 90% of the SCA then and now), is because the early SCA after all was one part “medieval” and one part “we all love Tolkien and we kind of want to have a big LOTR cosplay party”.  While it’s obviously never explicitly said in canon that Ford is an epic fantasy / Tolkien fan, I extrapolate his enthusiasm for DD&MD to conclude that he was (given how strongly LOTR influenced the development of D&D). 

So I kind of feel like Ford would have gotten into some things about the SCA that encouraged attention to authenticity, but that the overall appeal to him (as for many people) is the way it allows for the recreation of the “good stuff” while ignoring the bad stuff or the inconvenient stuff.  I mean, if you want super strict authenticity, the Civil War reenactors are right down the road. 

What would Ford have been into, in the SCA?  I have to think about that some more.  But I already have a few ideas.  (Disclaimer: I’m supposing that Ford and Fiddleford would mainly have been able to attend some SCA events during their college years.  After Ford moves to Gravity Falls, I feel like he’d be too busy, and too alone, to do it.  And once Fiddleford shows up in Gravity Falls, the impression I get is that they’re both too busy and there’s barely any time for them to have the occasional DD&MD session, let alone devote the time necessary to find and go to events.  However, this disclaimer is also for the fact that I feel you kind of have to stretch a point to suppose that Ford had any time for the SCA during college, given he was taking such a ridiculously heavy class schedule in order to complete both his bachelors and doctoral degrees in only 6 years.) 

One obvious thing that I think might have drawn Ford’s attention, and that he would have been good at, and I think could have been an outlet for his “authenticity” side, would have been the scribal arts.  I could see him getting really into creating authentic tools, and learning period book-binding techniques – which he later puts into practice in Gravity Falls, when he makes his own journals; and which would have served him during the portal years.  (After all, when he emerges from the Portal, he’s still got a quill pen in his pocket.)  With his artistic abilities, I think he would have been really good at both calligraphy and illumination.  And I also think he would have really enjoyed researching period manuscripts, with the bonus of that being a way to study how medieval scholars recorded information about the kind of “anomalies” he would go on to study.  You just KNOW he’d get excited about bestiaries and had all these theories about how those monsters might really have existed.

I actually also think Ford might have really gotten into performing as a storyteller.  The SCA does not have as strong a “performance art” or live role-playing component as some other similar organizations.  People do adopt medieval(ish) names and “personas”, but the extent to which people perform in-character as their personas or according to an interpretation of medieval manners is extremely variable.  But, we do see that even into the present, Ford retains some fondness for getting into a character and performance – such as when he’s being DM (Princess Unattainabelle?).  And as someone interested in folklore, he’d have a lot of legends and stories to draw upon. So I could see him standing up at a bardic circle and doing the storyteller schtick.

Meanwhile… those weapons!  I actually think that they weren’t all necessarily for show, especially the crossbow.  As @a-million-chromatic-dreams headcanoned recently, it seems like Ford really started getting in shape once he started college.  So I could see him being drawn into the fighting side of the SCA.  If, at the time, he was really getting into the idea of becoming more athletic, and more capable of defending himself, I could see him trying heavy-list fighting.  (Which, in the SCA, does involve padded weapons and homemade armor, but the hitting is real, even though heavily regulated.)  I’m not sure if he would have stuck with it. I know plenty of people did it, but wearing a helmet while also wearing glasses is a huge pain in the ass.  I could certainly see him getting really into archery, though; and I could see that crossbow as being something he built himself (again, as an outlet for an interest in doing some things authentically).  (I admit that this fits in with my perception of Ford as more of a distance fighter, as opposed to Stan, who is a hand-to-hand fighter.  Ford certainly seems capable of hand-to-hand, but he clearly has a preference for using guns.)

One last thing that I think is kind of interesting with regard to imagining younger Ford interacting with nerd culture in general (under which umbrella I absolutely include the SCA), is that because scifi fandom and related groups like the SCA are heavily comprised of a lot of nerds, who often felt (and were!) bullied for their interests, there certainly tended to be a general acceptance of and even celebration of the unusual.  And this was especially true in the early 70s, when fandom culture is a lot more limited and insular because it is not widely advertised (by means of the internet, for example); and when fandom culture is intersecting with the general counter-culture of the time.  All of that is to say, I think Ford’s six fingers would have been more of a positive in that group, than a negative.  I think that could have resulted in some of the early positive reinforcement that later led him to make anomalies his life’s work, and to proudly use his six-fingered hand as his identifying symbol (such as on the journals).  

I can totally see him running around, adopting “Stanford the Six-Fingered” as his SCA name (because rules were a lot more lax in those days, and it wasn’t as unusual for someone with a medieval-ish-enough sounding name to just use their real name and append a cool epithet to it), wearing a red cotton broadcloth tunic with the gold six-fingered hand on it.

Whether or not it was very likely, I’m finding that a pretty endearing image. :)

[groundramon]

I’m bored and I cant focus on my drawing so...

Since I’ve been ratting on Teen Titans all week even tho I insist I like the show (I SWEAR TO GOD I DO...I was off-put at first but? its okay, its hard for shows to immediately hook me), I think it’s only fair to list some of my major problems with some of my all-time favorite shows and some other shows that are currently on that aren’t really my favorite, but I still think are objectively decent and arguably pretty damn good.

I’m not gonna go in order from best to worst but here we go: (keep reading tag because this is going to get really fucking long and ik i dont usually do this with my rants but i feel like i should this time, idk im inconsistent this is a personal blog sorry)

Steven Universe: - I sometimes feel bad critiquing SU because it’s not too far into its run.  I love the show, some of the moments and even full episodes are legitimately mesmerizing, but it...has quite a few problems, yeah.

- The one I bitch the most about is the pacing.  Steven Universe tries to combine serialized storytelling, which is telling an overarching story over the course of several episodes (IE Avatar: The Last Airbender, most anime, ect), and episodic storytelling, which is telling several smaller stories that each fit in one episode with little to nothing connecting them besides the characters (IE SpongeBob, We Bare Bears, most cartoons honestly).  But emphasis on “tries”; Steven Universe, unfortunately, is not very good at blending these two styles.  Steven Universe ridgedly adheres to the idea of having a season that is half filler/”townie” episodes and half “cool alien”/plot-related stuff - and this is something that’s been confirmed, by the way.  So while this was fine in the first season (where the only true overarching plot-related episodes that weren’t just worldbuilding were at the end of the season) and the second season (where the plot episodes can be summed up all-together as “they catch and befriend Peridot and learn, not stop, the Cluster”), it isn’t in the later seasons.  Season 3 has the following plot points: the Cluster is defeated, Malachite is found and defeated and defused, Lapis joins the Crystal Gems, more homeworld gems (rubies) find earth, Jasper is corrupted and bubbled, its revealed that Rose Quartz shattered (killed) someone, and Steven gets lost in space because of a plan gone wrong with the Rubies (and he’s rescued in the last episode).  That is a paragraph worth of plot points.  And, being generous (IE including plot-forwarding episodes that feel more like filler than actual plot, like the baseball episode) that is 13 twelve-minute episodes worth of content.  All of those plot points are addressed in 2.6 hours time.  That is not long enough to visit all those episodes.  And there are a few more I didnt count that /are/ related to the aliens, but Bismuth and Centipeetle currently irrelevant and weren’t related to the plot points I listed so I didnt mention them.

- I’m also still waiting somewhat impatiently for resolution on certain character arcs.  Pearl’s behavior hasn’t been properly addressed for a while and I’m really hoping they dont wimp out of addressing what a piece of shit she can be sometimes.  Like, I love Pearl, but get the fuck outta hear with your Pearl stanning shit.  She’s unintentionally awful and I lvoe her for it.  I’m more patient about Bismuth but.......crewniverse, im starting to get a little impatient with her too.  Bring her back.  You should’ve brought her back in the next episode, because her friends shouldn’t have left her bubbled, but whatever.  It’s fine.  I’m fine.  (I’m not fine).

- Also, Lapis’s character arc.  Wasn’t properly addressed.  One episode she was saying she deserved to be with Jasper and the next she seems fine.  One episode she hates Peridot and two episodes (well several episodes, but two episodes as far as they appear) later they’re buddy-buddy with one another.  I get that there was probably a time gap where they developed closer with one another, but fuck, I would’ve liked to see that instead of Future Boy Zoltron but okay :) (and i dont even hate future boy zoltron, its just one of the few “meh” episodes I bothered to remember the name of)

- SPEAKING OF UNPROPERLY ADDRESSED CHARACTER ARCS I swear to god Crewniverse, if Amethyst was being sincere when she said she didn’t have self esteem issues anymore, I dont think I can call this one of my favorite shows anymore.  Where.  Where did she find the resolve to get over her self esteem issues.  The last time we saw her talk about them was when she broke down in Sardonyx’s room, but, she was speaking through Smoky Quartz (btw, where the fuck has Smoky been? I literally forgot about her because its been so long...).  But still, even if she WAS speaking through a fusion, before then she displayed the same self-destructive mindsets and she was never given the resolve to better herself.  All she did was wallow in her own pity with Steven (which? relatable, but not constructive).  Show us her getting the resolve to better herself.  Show her positively reinforcing herself.  Have her whisper “you can do this, Amy,” under her breath right before she kick’s a bad guy’s ass.  Have her high-five herself, have her cheer for herself, have her be sincerely proud and acknowledging her accomplishments.  Because that’s how you fix self esteem issues and kids should be taught that by someone other than a therapist or the internet.

- Just because a lot of these issues could be fixed with time doesn’t change where they are at this moment.  The past pacing issues might not ruin the show for me depending on the direction they go in, but I feel like they’re going to continuously make the same mistakes over and over - and with the intense direction this show is going now, the idea of having five filler/townie episodes in a row while Lars is in space is terrifying because of how awful that pacing is.  I do not care about Onion, please go back to Lars.  But even if they fix it and the rest of the series is near-spotless, what’s done is done, you cant fix the rushed pacing of the past seasons’ stories and the dumb filler that padded out the seasons in the wrong areas.

- Also, another problem with combining episodic and serialized storytelling is that SU’s story gets WAY too serialized for an episodic show.  There’s so much going on that you can’t just sit down and watch a random episode of the show and start watching the show from there, which is a huge problem when you have episodes like Onion Gang and Future Boy Zoltron that take up 30% of the episodes and offer literally nothing to the story and honestly arent usually even that great as far as episodic stories go.  You cannot have 30% of your serialized show be 100% filler.  That’s bad writing.  And SU is in denial of the fact that it’s too serialized to be episodic.

Gravity Falls: - I generally cite Gravity Falls as one of the best combiners of the traditional episodic and serialized styles.  It’s what Steven Universe dreams of being; it becomes serialized when it counts (the final half of the last season), but up until then, it’s episodic with just a few clues/reoccuring things sprinkled throughout.  However, this show is far, far from flawless.

- Some of the episodic shows, and I mean a lot of the episodic shows, have a tendency to feel rather generic.  Ah yes, a girl whose obsessed with boys and boybands.  Okay.  Seen that.  A nerdy, whimpy boy who has a crush on a cooler older girl.  Again, seen that.  I’m not saying that’s all there is to Mable and Dipper; clearly not.  But a lot of their traits encompass many different stereotypes, and while the characters themselves aren’t bad, the situations they find themselves in aren’t always the most original.  Sometimes I feel like Gravity Falls is a PG-rated Scooby Doo meets Disney Sitcom.  Which is okay if you like Scooby Doo and Disney Sitcoms, but it doesn’t always make for the most eloquent storytelling.  Which is fine for a kids show, but less fine for one of the cartoons heralded as a harbinger of the current cartoon renaissance (then again, I’m not into hardly any of the other harbingers of the “current cartoon renaissance” and I’d argue that we aren’t in a renaissance at all; we’re just finally, finally getting some decent cartoons after the awfulness that was the late 2000s)

- I’m gonna say it; we should’ve learned more about Ford’s adventures in the other dimension.  It’s possible some of the non-animation related materials (namely books) have information about his travels, but as it stands, I havent got a clue what happened to him during those years.  And I want to know.  I should know.  Its a glaring plot hole in all honesty, because we should know what happened to him and how it affected him.  Or maybe im overreacting idk.

Voltron: Legendary Defender: - Hoo boy, where do I even start with VLD

- VLD seems like a show that wants to be character-driven but somehow refuses to.  It wants you to be emotionally attached to the characters, but either it does that and does nothing with it, or it doesn’t even bother to do that.  The only characters whose struggles I care about are Pidge, Shiro, Allura, and only as of season 3, Keith.  Allura I was kinda on the fence about until season 3 but thankfully, if season 3 did one thing right, it was Keith and Allura (and yes I know people are complaining abt Allura’s treatment but I like watching my faves suffer).  That leaves two paladins - and Coran, but I’ll give him a pass because literally the only show that’s done a comedy relief right is ATLA so I’m not expecting him to be superbly well-developed - that I dont give a shit about.

- Lets start with Hunk.  GOD I want to love Hunk so much.  So FUCKING much.  But every time a new season comes out, I feel more and more disappointed.  This show is so obsessed with melding him down to “the fat kid who eats a lot and makes a lot of dumb jokes” and it’s....so disappointing, because there’s so much potential here for something more.  In the first episode of the series, we see Hunk display cowardice (which isn’t an uncommon trait for a fat stereotype) and a prowess for engineering.  Yes he’s a bit of a fat stereotype, but you know what?  I dont care if a fat character is cowardly, makes bad puns, likes to eat, throws up a lot, all that jazz.  I care that they’re more than that.  I hate the idea that a character having a stereotypical trait (assuming its not straight-up a caricature) makes them automatically stereotypical.  Sorry buddy but smart asian people exist.  Preppy blondes exist.  And food-loving fat people exist (hi! i know that last one is true because I am one).  But they’re so obsessed with ignoring Hunk’s other traits - his love of cooking and his engineering skills.  I dont even remember if he used his engineering skills in season 2 and I know he only used it once in season 3.  He didnt even cook in season 3.  And I think the most telling thing in this show is how the show described Hunk’s relationship with Shiro.  As Keith was expressing grief over loosing essentially his big brother figure, Lance thought back to when he viewed Shiro as a legend and a hero, Pidge reminisced about how her father and brother used to praise the guy, and Hunk?  Hunk basically said “uhhhhhh he taught me to pilot my lion.....that counts right.”  Because Hunk has no relationship with Shiro.  Because Hunk has no relationship with any character.  He doesn’t even have that much of a relationship with Lance, and the two seemed to be best friends - or at least friends - prior to the formation of team Voltron.  At best, Hunk is friends with Lance and Pidge.  But all Hunk has done with Keith is make bad jokes while Keith acted all loner-y, and Hunk hasn’t even interacted with Allura and Shiro.

- Now, speaking of Lance, lets talk about him.  While Hunk gets points from me because he’s a sweetheart who deserves better, Lance is a flirter whose too high on his own horse and makes even worse jokes than Hunk does.  Considering Lance is the one we follow in the first episode, I would’ve expected him to be the most centric member of the team.  But first off, fuck me for projecting anime stereotypes/tropes onto a western cartoon (even though voltron was originally an anime kinda but shhh), but secondly he actually is...the most forgettable of all the Paladins.  Yeah I said it.  I legitimately dont like Lance at this point.  Yeah, I said that too.  I basically cant remember anything about him besides the fact that he flirts and jokes around a lot and that Klance is inescapable (like, not that its inevitable that you’ll ship it, but you’ll never escape the fandom for it).  He’s Sokka with all the charm, intelligence, and depth taken out of him, and also bi but that’s the only improvement.  Seriously, what...draws you all to Lance?  I dont want to judge, but he’s just....so stereotypical.  So boring to me, despite being the most lively paladin.  And the development cockteasing.  Oh, the development cockteasing.  I cant tell you how many times I’ve gotten my hopes up specifically because of something the show said about Lance/Lance seeming to be insecure about something, only for them to immediately shoot it down and replace it with more bad jokes or...nothing at all.  Because did Lance even do anything in season 3?  He pilots Red now, he had a funny bit with Blue during the “breakup”, he comforted Keith, Keith comforted him, uhhhh ??? did he even have a line in episode 7??  I feel like there might’ve been episodes where he literally had no speaking parts.  The only good things I can say about Lance so far are: 1. sometimes hes really fucking funny, and 2. it looks like they COULD be building up to something.  But if they’re just cockteasing me all the way through, I’m disowning dreamworks entirely.

- The tone of the show? also shouldn’t vary as much as it does.  The tone of a show varying is fine, but it shouldn’t vary in the way it does in Voltron prior season 3 (I’ll get to what I mean by that in a second).  In season 1 and season 2, the heavy moments of the show were almost entirely carried by Shiro; there was something for Pidge and something for Keith, but even then, Shiro got involved or was there for the entire time.  Shiro, by merely existing, brings the tone of this show down to something almost too serious for a kid’s show (emphasis on almost).  During the light-hearted parts, he just has to keep his mouth shut, because the only time he’s done anything funny (besides ironically funny like with his new outfit and haircut) was when he was yelling at Sven.  Yelling should not be your only source of humor.  But the rest of the show?  Was pretty goofy, yeah it took itself seriously sometimes but it also knew how to have fun.  Which is fine, a show should be able to have fun sometimes.  But that means all parts of the show, including Shiro.  Shiro is physically incapable of having fun and that’s kind of sad.  Season 3 was better about this though; nothing in season 3 felt fun and goofy, like at all, besides Lance taking selfies with girls in the first episode, and that was just one scene.  So I mean, they didn’t fix their problem, but the tone didn’t vary as much.  And I’m not saying the tone shouldn’t vary.  No, it should; you shouldn’t have all serious moments or all goofy moments.  Have some fun, but also take yourself seriously sometimes.  The problem is that parts of the show can’t take themselves seriously (Lance, Hunk) and other parts of the show can’t take a joke (Shiro, Zarkon/any villain too but they get a pass since they’re villains).

- Also we REALLY should know all of the Paladins’ backstories by now, ESPECIALLY Keith’s.  I know his is a mystery, but we need to know what he knows or else we cant get invested in the mystery.  If we dont have the same facts as the characters, we dont know where to start or what to expect.  We should’ve also seen flashbacks to Lance and Hunk’s families - ESPECIALLY Lance’s, since he seemed to care so much about them, but welp now that’s gone :).  We should’ve also seen more flashbacks to Pidge’s family but at least she’s trying to find them.  Nobody else gives a shit about their families and I just.  Aaaaaaaaaa this show infuriates me sometimes.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: - There’s nothing wrong with ATLA, move the fuck along

- I’M JOKING IM JOKING SWEATS okay but it’s no surprise I like ATLA and think its near flawless.  But still, it’s near-flawless, not flawless.

- If you cant stand a little kiddish cheese, you wont be able to stand ATLA.  ATLA takes itself super seriously for something on Nickelodeon, especially something on Nickelodeon in the mid-to-late 2000s (god I wish I watched this show as a kid, my standards would’ve been so much higher and i would’ve known what animation could actually do if you tried) but it’s still written for kids.  Which is fine!  I actually prefer things written for children over things written for adults.  But if you can’t handle something with content that’s clearly written for children, ATLA isn’t for you.

- Ozai fucking sucks.  There’s no other way to put it, his character fucking sucks.  He’s meant to be the embodiment of pure evil, he’s not meant to be sympathetic like Zuko, but for fuck’s sake, we needed his backstory.  And no, The Search doesn’t count; love that comic book, but that’s not enough backstory on Ozai (unless I’ve forgotten an important scene in the comic, idk its been a while).  Azula isn’t a sympathetic villain but we see her reasons and backstory.  Give us something like that for Ozai.  Show us a character that was emotionally neglected and then grew up in a society where killing and genocide were encouraged and praised.  THATS the backstory for Ozai I want.  I want to know where he came from to fuel my hatred for him, to see him as a real person but not as someone who should’ve done what he did, and I want to hate him BECAUSE he feels like a character.  Right now he just feels like the embodiment of evil and that doesn’t make for a good, truly intimidating villain.  A truly intimidating villain is one that you understand and can possibly relate to.  Not...whatever the hell Ozai is.

- Katara and Aang’s romance plot fucking sucks.  I am ace/aro and cannot write romance for shit nor tell when characters have chemistry, but I can still tell this.  It’s not...forced?  It’s not...rushed?  But it’s unnecessary and poorly written and it’s just puppy love and honestly if it was real live I couldnt see their relationship lasting.  Also the idea of seeing someone as a brother and then dating them later is verrrry .... poorly worded to say the least bUT ANYWAYS NEXT BULLET POINT

- Toph and Suki could’ve been developed more.  Like, they were okayly developed, they were great characters, but idk.  Toph didn’t grip me nearly as much as Sokka, Aang, and Katara and I feel kind of bad about it, but thinking about how much development the others got compared to her, it’s not really surprising.  I also am not the hugest fan of rude characters anymore, but I digress.  Also Suki.  Suki had like, little to no development.  I want Suki to be part of Team Avatar.  Can we do that

- General Zhao also fucking sucks.  He’s so generic that the first few times I watched the show, I forgot he was even a significant reoccuring villain.

- Sokka could’ve also been more developed but they could’ve all been more developed honestly?  You can always add to perfection.  I shouldnt complain about Sokka tho, he was finely developed and I love my nonbending son

The Legend of Korra: - Uhhhh the first season’s ending?  0/10 bad, rushed, not good.  I wanted to see Korra deal with the loss of her other elements.  I wanted to see her cope with that.  But no, because Nickelodeon kept screwing over LOK, they had to rush it because otherwise it wouldn’t have been a happy ending for the series if they potentially had to end it after one season.  Fuck Nickelodeon :) but I’m still going to critique LOK for it even if it is Nickelodeon’s fault.

- Bolin and Mako were horribly underdeveloped.  Especially Bolin.  It’s so sad how underdeveloped “Team Avatar” was in this series compared to the last series.  I feel bad complaining about Toph, Suki, and ESPECIALLY Sokka in comparison to LOK.  The only one even comparably as bad is Suki, but she got half a season to be developed and these two got an entire series.  We got some of their backstory and then...that was it, besides the love triangle that Bolin was barely part of.  I guess they were kinda irrelevant for season 2 and season 4, but they had no reason to be missing in the later half of season 4, plus they had season 1 and season 3, so....  God, poor Bolin.  It would’ve been nice to see a nice (fat) comic relief guy like him get the same treatment as Sokka, but whatever....its fine.......ill just sit here patiently waiting for my good representation coughs.  Also all Mako did was do the love triangle and I Do Not Like Him for it.  Keith is a better Mako than Mako ever was because Keith dont need no love triangle and also he already has more development

- Asami also should’ve been more developed, but it looks like there’s potential for more development in the comics so thats good.  From the series alone though, she was pretty flat; better than Bolin and Mako for sure, better than Suki from the original series, but not nearly as good as Toph or the others.  At least she did have some development and a likeable personality that’s relatively original.

- I hate saying this but...Korrasami should’ve been more developed.  I wouldn’t like, take points off of a rating for this point because I mean it was the first lesbian/gay representation in a kids cartoon (from my understanding) and Nick might not’ve even known they were sneaking in something romantic at the end, not to mention they completely subverted the love triangle plot so it actually gains back favor in that way and its great.  Also, I mean, they had that buy-curious joke lmao.  And I’m pretty sure its expanded upon more in the comic; there wasn’t really room to expand upon it in the show because it was just starting.  But they probably could’ve done better than that.  It was still okay though and also, the subverting of the love triangle trope is the greatest thing ever and i long for the day that I can do that plot twist in one of my shows lmao.

- The Villains could’ve been more developed.  Besides Ammon (who is FUCKING AWESOME and you can FIGHT ME) they all had the same problem as Ozai; we dont have many reasons to see them as human or relatable and it makes it hard to hate them as much as we should.  I mean, they do show /some/ human qualities which I appreciate, but I dont entirely understand their motivations half the time and I want to know how they came to view the world the way they do.  But at least unlike Ozai, they do feel somewhat human.  (Except maybe Unaloq, I didnt like Unaloq very much)

And that’s like half of what I could say about each of those shows, and those are just some of my favorite shows I watch.  Dont ask me to go off on like, AOT or something, because I’ll be writing for another three hours lmao (actually feel free to because i wanna INSULT this PIECE OF GARBAGE ANIME that looks rlly pretty but otherwise IS BAD AND IDK WHY I WATCH IT lmao [idk if im joking or sincere sorry])  No show is flawless so I’m going to insult whichever flaws I see.  Fight me.

[moonshroooms]

Random Fandom Questions Oh My

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

Currently the other ships I like right now are Human Bill Cipher and Dipper (a big guilty pleasure). If there are any Billdip shippers reading this may I humbly recommend Defining Bill Cipher, cause it’s 100% fantastic with plot, characterization, and some uh, heated moments if ya get what I mean. 

I always enjoy Frisk x Sans from Undertale, though I’ve been lagging behind on fanfics. I also like Sans and Toriel (which honestly, I like Frisk and Sans better for fanfics, but I’d want Sans and Toriel to be canon), and Frisk and Asriel are super cute too.

I’ve started reading Owari no Seraph (like, I think I’m only like ch 5), and I already knew about Mika x Yuu long before I ever started reading so I’m absolutely shipping them right now A++

I also ship Gon and Killua from Hunter x Hunter, though I don’t read a lot of fanfics for them. I just kinda annoy my friend with it when we watch the show XD

B - A pairing–platonic, romantic or sexual–that you initially didn’t consider, but someone changed your mind.

You know, I actually don’t think I do

C - A ship you have never liked and probably never will.

Ciel and Sebastian from Black Butler. And it’s weird cause like, they are absolutely ripe for shipping and there are plenty of other ships in like, nearly the same position I like but just. He doesn’t love-love Ciel man. He don’t even friendship-love him. Sebastian wants to eat his soul like literally and that’s it he’s just food. For whatever reason I just can’t get into that pairing. Please just let Ciel be with Elizabeth she’s such a cutie and let them be happy forever on okay good okay

D - A pairing you wish you liked but just can’t.

Ichigo and Masaya from Tokyo Mew Mew. I am 100% a Kisshu x Ichigo shipper and I know Ichigo x Masaya is like, oddly, one of the healthiest relationships you could have in an anime and Masaya would be a boy I’d fall head-over-heels for myself if he was real like honestly everything about him is basically perfect but I just. He’s so boring. He’s a really boring character to watch. And he gets more interesting near the end of the show, but it was just kinda too little too late, yanno? If they’d put more hints at the darker side of his wonderful personality then I’d probably would have shipped them, but I saw Kishigo first and that’s who I glommed onto srry

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

 I don’t contribute anything to society let alone a fandom XD

  F - What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

 I mean, that’s under the idea I’m actually in a fandom? Do I have to do something to be in a fandom? Can I just enjoy content? Does that count? If it do then I’ve been in the Tokyo Mew Mew fandom for like, 10 years or more. It’s like 99% dead so it’s not like I’ve searched up anything recently, but believe me if it ever gets a good remake I will be there 100%

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

 My first OTP back before I ever knew what an OTP was was Kisshu and Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew. And that fandom is super dead and I’ll probably never read a new good fanfic ever again but I’ll probably never let them go. I still consider them my OTP, and I’ve never found anyone that tops it XD They’re also completely toxic but just. Ah. I love them so much I just want them in a cute relationship plz

H - What is your favorite source text for fandom stuff (e.g., TV shows, movies, books, anime, Western animation, etc.)?

 Ennething. I guess anime is the easiest one to find though. I think I like Western animation better than anime, if only for comedy that hits home a little bit more, since I grew up in that culture and whatnot

I - Has Tumblr caused you to stop liking any fandoms, if so, which and why?

 Nah. I avoid the Discourse by never joining the conversation e v e r. And most of the time I don’t really follow fandom blogs specifically, just blogs that happen to post some fandom stuff, so I probably don’t see any sort of annoying people or awful environments or anything. I don’t understand how people can get so annoyed I feel like discourse is just so easy to avoid/ignore??? But maybe that’s just me

J - Name a fandom you didn’t think about until you saw it all over Tumblr. (You don’t have to care about it or follow it; it just has to be something that Tumblr made you aware of.)

 Voltron. I didn’t even know it existed until some of the funny blogs I follow started posting stuff about it. I don’t even know what Voltron’s about, other than the name sounded really familiar, like it’s an old anime being remade or something.

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

 Peridot from Steven Universe. No wait, Rinna from Forest Born. Forest Born is one of my favorite books (from the Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale, I highly recommend them). When I was younger I related to Rinna a lot (and I’m like, nothing like her now but that’s beside the point), and I loved her development her slow development towards not hating herself so much. It’s wonderful and steady and feels real

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

 Jackie from Star vs. is a really nice girl A+ girlfriend material and if I didn’t ship Marco and Star she’d be next up for the Marco ship train. I absolutely don’t hate her and she’s a fun and nice character, but sorry you can’t be Marco’s girlfriend the bloodmoon and also me said so

M - Name a character that you’d like to have for a friend.

 Isi from the Goose Girl. She already reminds me a lot of my friend, so maybe I’m a little biased, but she seems like an absolutely wonderful person to be friends with and I’d 100% love that. I’d also like Dasha from River Secrets and Enna from Enna Burning. Just. Any of the main girls from the Books of Bayern. I love them all

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

 Since I don’t have a main fandom, I’ll just choose one:

 From Steven Universe I want more funny comics, dumb memes, and Stevonnie anything. And that’s considering there’s already a shitton of all of that. There’s never enough

  O - Choose a song at random. Which ship or character does it remind you of?

 He’s Hurting Me by Maria Mena. And Kisshu x Ichigo, mostly because I’ve seen an AMV with them and that song XD

  P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

 Active Fandom for Tokyo Mew Mew AU!

 Okay fine, that doesn’t count. But oh geez I can’t think of any good ideas though. I don’t know but anything but a coffee shop AU. Give me something with adventure man. Uhh *spins wheel* Siren AU with *rolls dice* Pokémon. Make it happen, people

  Q - A fandom you’ve abandoned and why.

 Eh, considering I’m never an active part of any fandom, I can’t say I’ve abandoned anything. I’ll even go back to really old fandoms and try to find something I haven’t read before

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

 Do Steven and Connie and Star and Marco count even though I ship them? Because I value their friendship just as much if not more than their shipping capabilities. If not then, Sailor Moon and the other sailor scouts from Sailor Moon (from the original anime). I just really like that they joke and roast and support each other. A lot of the episodes focus a lot on their random interactions and it’s a joy to watch.

S - Show us an example of your personal headcanon (prompts optional but encouraged)

 I have none honestly XD I’m not usually a person that gets into headcanons much. I ship plenty of people that aren’t together but I wouldn’t really call them headcanons, I dunno. Gon and Killua end up married. There, there’s your headcanon.

T - Do you have any hard and fast headcanons that you will die defending?

 Kisshu returns to Earth for Whatever reason (any reason that means more battles and adventures is good), Ichigo ends up falling in love with him, Pudding and Tart end up together, Lettuce and Pie are together, Masaya is just fine and not dead, and everyone’s happy the end

 That’s the best I got XD

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

 Kisshu from Tokyo Mew Mew: Other than the fact he’s from my long-standing OTP, he’s just really fun to watch. He’s probably the reason I have an immediate attachment to character that are slightly crazy and shit tons of dangerous. He’s cheeky and flirty and gawd I luv it A+

 Peridot and Lapis from Steven Universe. I couldn’t choose really. Peridot is such a trash gremlin and Lapis is amazing when it’s not complete angst she is just Ultimate Emo Child.

 Willis from Awful Hospital (I highly recommend this comic by the way. It’s weird and wonderful). So far he’s just the cutest little thing and I love watching him it’s great

  V - Which character do you relate to most?

 I used to relate to Rinna from Forest Born a whole bunch, especially when I was younger. Nowadays I relate much more to her older brother Razo from River Secrets. He’s self-concious, but always cracking jokes and always in the mood for eating. I think he’s hilarious and honestly I hope I can be as funny as him. He’s got a lot of talents he just never notices. I hope that gets to be me, too.

W - A trope which you are virtually certain to hate in any fandom.

 Characters with no personality. And I think this is mostly just in the otome and harem anime’s that this kind of thing is rampant, cause you gotta make a character that people can slip into but just. My god. I tried playing an otome once and I couldn’t even finish it it was so awful and infuriating. Watching Diabolik Lovers was so painful this girl just L E T everything happen she didn’t even try putting up a fight even when some dude GAVE HER A KNIFE TO STAB HER VAMPIRE WHATEVERS WITH. MY GOD. I hated everything I wanted to cry. And don’t even get me started on the manga Black Bird I hate it so much they just rinse repeat everything. ‘No love interest don’t do sexy things at me I don’t want it’ ‘I’m doing it as punishment for you doing/not doing Whatever’ ‘Noooo’ and then proceeds to just continue to love the assbag. Just stop oh my goooood

  X - A trope which you are almost certain to love in any fandom.

 Enemies to Lovers. Or enemies being in love in general. Or forbidden romances of any kind. Basically I want a shit ton of angst and a happy ending.

Y - What are your secondhand fandoms (i.e., fandoms you aren’t in personally but are tangentially familiar with because your friends/people on your dash are in them)?

 I know a little bit about Homestuck, which I tried to read once and got bored. I keep wanting to pick it back up but just… aaaah the beginning is so boring I can hardly tell what’s going on. And I hate the 1 panel thing. I’m sure it was good while it was being posted, but it just takes so long to load the next page. I need a multi-page version please.

 I also know a tad bit about Madoka Magic, which I’m not entirely sure how. I just kinda. Read stuff I came across, despite never being interested in the show myself.

  Z - Just ramble about something fan-related, go go go! (Prompts optional but encouraged.)

 Dear god please let Star and Marco be together (they probably will).

 I want at the very least a cute cheek kiss from Steven and Connie, also, can Stevonnie fuse with other gems??? That’d be wild.

 Danny Phantom needed to be longer also he needed to be with Valerie I loved her why the flip flap did they give her such a crappy reason to not be with Danny AAAH

 I haven’t been able to watch the Legend of Korra because I tear up anytime I see something about the old gang being old or dead like legit if I ever see Aang being all dead and spiritual and shit I will cry

 The Amazing World of Gumball is hilarious and I want more people to watch it

 I tried watching Bob’s Burger’s for just like, a funny show without a plot and I got bored eventually. Thankfully Gumball saved the day

 I think Ni no Kuni is an adorable game and I love their little definitely-not-Pokémon monsters and I’ll probably rant about who’s on my team one day

  I ship Link and Midna 100% but like, only the TP incarnation of Link. Skyward Sword and Breath of the Wild and Spirit Tracks Link can be with Zelda. Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass Link can be with Tetra (specifically Tetra).

 Speaking of Tetra, why the flip flap SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED WIND WAKER BUT LIKE, IT’S REALLY OLD AND HAS A REMAKE SO I GUESS THAT’S MOSTLY YOUR FAULT BEWAAAAAAAAAARE. ALSO THE BEGINNING OF BREATH OF THE WILD I GUESS? THOUGH IT’S NOT REALLY A BIG IMPORTANT SPOILER. 

does she get pale when she turns into Zelda? Like, bam you’re royalty also kiss your tan goodbye. Same thing happens to the mysterious old man when he becomes the king. Do bluebloods just not get tan or something like, the flip?

[kaoarika]

I was tagged somewhat a while by @greengargouille, but didn’t have the time to write thoughts and feelings about the next characters due to work’s time constraints. but hey, now you know that sometimes is better to say “I cannot explain how much I love them” instead of writing walls of text (not that I’m complaining, though).

Potential spoilers ahead, below the keep reading cut.

Rules: Choose 10 different fandoms and pinpoint your favorite character from each one, then tag 10 people if you want to do this, go ahead... I rarely tag people :P.

Corrector Yui - Synchro.  My love towards Synchro has been there since I first saw the anime. I always loved his loyalty towards Yui and the sacrifice he sometimes put himself into (especially the times he does it for Yui! I mean, it was shipping fuel before I knew what was “shipping fuel”! I dunno, part of me would have loved to see him more in his original form, but oh, well.  He is one of my first proofs that I simply incline more to mysterious characters since I was a kid ^^;

Dance with Devils - Nanashiro Mage. The thing I came first for dandebi was mostly the seiyuu (and it is a great cast, tbh), but I was initially too scared about Mage (I was getting too into Subaru’s voice work) because I thought he may turn to be so hateable. The initial profile release info (which may have been mistranslated, though) didn’t help. But then… the guy turned out to be a huge DORK, and I… you tsundere devil! Even in the otome game, his good endings are very “feel good”. Very fluffy. The guy gives me very fluffy feelings.  

Sket Dance - Yuuki Reiko. I can kinda figure out a top 5 of characters from the series, and even after all this time since the manga ended, she is still one of my faves.  I always liked that her design was different than the usual cutesy girls that Shinohara makes (this is even extended to Astra, too), and I still like her development. Like I always point out, I adore that she wasn’t just a rival that loathed another character (Switch in this case) and that she also had respect for him. It was always mutual, despite what these two claim, because context exists.

Gravity Falls - Mabel Pines. I like her optimism. I wish I could get into more deeper but that’s the thing with her that I can easily mention. I just… simply love her optimism and her sibling relationship with Dipper?  

Gintama - Shimura Shinpachi. Last time I did one of these, I mentioned that Kagura was one of my favorites (she is not *the* but one of them), but this time I picked Shinpachi… mostly because sometimes I identify with him, in the aspect that he is considered plain (in-universe and out), and still he manages to show the opposite. Even though Sorachi showed that he can get a big spotlight moment last year… HE DESERVES MORE THIS YEAR, GARRRGHH.

Sweetness and Lightning - Inuzuka Tsumugi. The marvelous thing about Sweetness & Lightning is mostly Tsumugi, hands down.  I really wish the anime wasn’t sorta concluded in its own right, but continued more the storyline of the manga (because I quick read some chapters a few months ago) in the future because Tsumugi keeps growing little by little as time keeps progressing in the series. It’s very heartwarming to see her through new experiences, and AHHH…

Mob Psycho 100 - Reigen Arataka. Here is the thing with Reigen, though. He is one of my fave characters that I tend to relate to. Especially now that I’m getting older. There are times that I question myself if I’m in the right road of a career, and there are times that I wonder if I’m fully satisfied with my choices. Maybe I’m not waiting to a Mob to appear and tell me that I’m inspiring them to become a better person (w/psychic powers, but), maybe what I really want is to have some mutual inspiration I guess? to become a better person (professionally and the usual). Because that’s one of the qualities that I like from Reigen, too. Mob’s presence in his life (despite his still continuous con artist act) really changed his life, and that makes him happy most of the time.

Uchuu Kyoudai - Itou Serika. It’s also been a while since last time I read or even watched UK and, I think Serika clicked more faster with me when it’s revealed that she was pursuing an space career to find a cure for the same sickness that took out her father (and her flashbacks made me cry because I also have a very close relationship to my dad, and there are times that I wonder what would happen if… hahah, I’m actually crying when writing this…).  I find it unfair when people criticize her, because her character isn’t mostly related to food or the fact that she is also a big eater, she is also willing to help people a step at a time.

Assassination Classroom - Okajima Taiga. I love the Class 3-E students quite a lot. Okajima is one of them, and… WELL, it’s a bit complicated to say why he is one of them (yes, I was also influenced by my seiyuu biases, surprise, surprise) but I think part of it is that he is so ridiculous at time, and I really enjoyed that (although he did give me a LOT of second hand embarrassment in his KoroQ portrayal)? Sure, he is the perv, the very obvious one at that who has the BIGGEST (dis)advantage to make his things happen. But he has a photographic talent and it also helped the rest of the class to get out from some situations. At last, but not less important, I am thankful to the great voice gods that Ryo-san was cast as him, since Okajima was the latest recent and regular character he has had for a while… and it is going to take a while until I hear news of another regular character voiced by him…

Ace Attorney - Ema Skye. I don’t know what clicked on me when I started to play AA on the DS, when I started liking her. I think what I eventually liked her was her grumpy self in AA4, although it brings another topic in the table as I remember WAAAAY before AA5 was announced that people disliked what happened to Ema in the AA4 game. I know AA4 is a “dark” game when we consider that Phoenix was disbarred and how the justice system collapsed just after that… and poor Ema, became a detective instead of becoming what she really wanted to. So, I don’t know… maybe I’m empathic because I fear for failure and all… good to know the team behind AA6 reinvindicated her character (AFAIK, since I haven’t played it), so all is good in the world, as my own hopes.

[cheeziswin]

You probably answered this before, but what are your opinion on Carla and sta/rla? And what do you think about the fans? For me I don't like it. I guess is just how the show showed about their relationship. And what are your opinion on g4g? For me I don't like it either. I would love to hear your opinion. Hope this question isn't a bother.

Hmmm, I think I’ve talked about it before, but I don’t think anyone has outright asked me what I think about it before- they’ve all just been vents or someone wanting to complain with me. This question isn’t a bother at all, friend!

For Carla, on her own and in canon... I don't really give a shit about her??? She's a character that was used as a minor plot point in like two episodes, she has less screentime than fucking GOMPERS for God's sake. Like, it's cute that Stan and Carla dated for a while, but the fact that she became a HUGE ship and people thought she was actually significant it's like. I started to hate her REAL quick. Plus the fact that she left Stan on a dime, and that Stan probably wasn't the best of boyfriends, and if you ask me I headcanon that she kind of shamed Stan into getting more fit. And then after that, Stan got so jealous he harassed both her and her new boyfriend.

So like, I don't mind the ship much as the fluffy-short-lived-high-school-romance, but when the ship is like "omg carla is the love of stans life!!!!!!! omg carla is gonna come back and they're gonna get together!!!!!!!!! omg carla is the grandma of dipper and mabel!!!!!" it's just. shut the fuck up. she's literally JUST a teenage fling that was used to get Dipper and Stan to bond over something.

And as for the fans, my goodness, they were terrible. They fought so much with the Stancest shippers back in the day when they were still rampant through the fandom. And gosh, it's been a while and my memory is hazy, but I know there were ACTUALLY ST@RL@ FANS who said some homophobic as FUCK stuff (Since Mystery Trio was still a big thing, so was Fiddlestan, and the Starla fans got SO pissy that Stan was being shipped with another male - no, instead, he should be shipped with CARLA, because SHE CAME FIRST etc etc), and there was some entitled as fuck stuff they said, including one Starla shipper getting pissy that there was a Fiddl3st@n art that had Stan and Fidds dancing - because that's a ST@RL@ THING. ONLY STAN AND CARLA CAN EVER BE SEEN DANCING TOGETHER EVER. And that's just scratching the surface, but I know so many of them were like "STAN CAN'T BE WITH ANYONE BUT CARLA EVER" because that's some of the stuff they said to me back then lol. Plus the fact they just KEPT spouting off like they were the definitory ship, even when the show proved again and again that they aren't into each other at all anymore, they still acted like they were the best ship ever and they were NOT a tiny dingboat with a fucking hole in it. And it's not like they've changed, there was actually a recent incident with a shipper that happened that I don't want to go in depth on because it will be too obvious who/what I'm talking about.

And then god... g4g..... legit and honestly the worst thing in this entire fandom. Like, take St@rl@ shippers, make them ten times worse, and that's G4G. Like, THE worst I swear. There's a lot of bullshit going on with antis right now and all that, but I'm still SO relieved that G4G is mostly dead.

Like, just focusing on the theory for a moment, it makes no sense and it never did. They claimed that Stan got Carla knocked up in their teens, and then Dipper and Mabel are their grandkids. Timelines wise, it's not TOO far fetched - but they also were like "Stan got Carla knocked up and then ditched her and the baby" which fucking NO. NEVER IN HIS LIFE DO I THINK STAN WOULD EVEN CONSIDER ABANDONING A KNOCKED UP LADY AND A BABY. That is just SO INCREDIBLY OOC AS FUCk. And then they turn around and ALSO say that, a big reason G4G is "confirmed" is because "Stan loves the kids too much just to be a great uncle" which i think is one of the arguments that got me frustrated the most because like????? okay u say Stan loves them SO MUCH that it doesn't make sense to "just" be an uncle, but he's okay with abandoning their parent for years on end????? and the kids' parents are totally okay with sending the kids to stay with the brother of the man who abandoned them???????? what the fuck??????? but it just frustrates me SO MUCH that they were like "He's just an uncle he can't love those kids THAT much if he was just an uncle" like what the absolute FUCK does that mean. family ties???? mean nothing when it comes to love and bonding????? they act like the more closely related u are the more you care about a person and like no????? there's people who hate their parents and parents who hate their kids and there's some grandpas that couldn't give less of a shit about their grandkids, and then there's uncles who are better dads than the dad in question. like, I had a great uncle, he lived in california and he cared about me more than one of my grandpas ever did so??????? that logic is so skewed and actually kinda offensive so jeez

and there's so many other little things that they saw and screamed "CANON" at the top of their lungs like an idiot. MABEL WORE A FLOWER AND CARLA WORE A FLOWER IT'S CANON. STAN SAID SOMETHING ABOUT KNOCKING A GIRL UP, COULDN'T HAVE BEEN A JOKE HAD TO BE CARLA. And uh. god there was a ton of other stupid shit that they said was "evidence"

but I think their attitude was the most absolutely abysmal - like I said, they screamed. they literally got into all caps fights with people who didn't agree with the theory, called people who didn't agree with it idiots, generally screamed down ANYONE who wasn't along with the theory - all while believing there was no way ever in the possible universe that THEY could be wrong about this completely true theory!!!!! Stanley says he's their great uncle? HE'S BLUFFING G4G IS CANON!!!!! Alex says Stanley doesn't have kids? LIES HE DOES TO ALEX IS TRYING TO THROW US OFF!!!! Alex says AGAIN that Stan never had kids? L I E S STILL HE JUST DOESN'T WANT US TO FIND IT OUT TOO EARLY!!!! Stan literally says outright that they're Shermies grandkids? LYING ALEX IS GONNA PULL THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER US AT ANY MOMENT!!!!! Alex literally answers a fan asking 'is stan the grandpa' with 'no'? HE'S STILL LYING HE JUST CAN'T SAY IT YET!!!!! Canon compliant game mentions Shermie again and Stan mentions fighting him off to hold Dipper and Mabel? LI E S HE IS TH E G RA ND  PA

It was the most infuriating bullshit. Even though Alex had said himself three times before Stan wasn't the grandpa, even though there's a shit ton of canon evidence and outright things that debunk it, they STILL thought they were the most canon thing in the universe, to the point that they STILL yelled at people who didn't agree with them.

just. ugh. seriously, if you're new, be relieved you didn't take the brunt of the G4G bullcrap. i mean i still feel bad the for the stancest shippers who were there before me because I came in at the very end of it but I saw how bad it was. weirdly enough St@rl@ shippers targeted Stancesters a shit ton???? it was weird but yeah