#LOOK i don't know why the embed isn't working

[thebusytypewriter]

see that girl, watch that scene

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55943938

Fandom: Steven Universe, Steven Universe Future Pairing: Connverse (Steven/Connie), implied Bispearl Rating: Gen Summary: "At the roller rink, Steven's self-doubt comes to light upon meeting Connie's friends. Bismuth swoops in to give some advice."

Steven Universe? In the Year of Our Lord 2024? It's more likely than you think.

This one's four years in the making, folks! Thought I'd finally get it out there. Also! Consider this a universe (lol) in which Steven did/will NOT propose to Connie when they're both in their mid-teens.

[actual-greenninja]

The Hashira And how I think they will act as parents (PT 1?)

Rengoku/ Giyuu/ Sanemi/ x GN Reader (modern au)

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Synopsis: Basically what the title says, this is just a little brain rot, may or may not be trash. Just me talking about how I think they would be as parents, how many kids they would want, etc

Authors note: This was kinda hard because I've never written nor read any works of Giyuu so he might not be written too well :')

Note: NOT PROOF READ

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Rengoku🔥 (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

🧡 I see him wanting many children, not too many of course but quite a few! Maybe two like him and his brother, Senjuro. Or maybe even three or four, five if you will let him!

🧡 He wants to be a better father to his children than what his dad turned out to be after his mom passed away. Has nearly sworn off drinking when his first child was born because he didn't want to risk anything , poor thing :(

🧡 However you guys plan on having children doesn't really matter,he doesn't care of they aren't biologically his or not, he will love them!!

🧡 I see him having more sons than daughters, he wants to raise them up right to become good, decent men! And if he has a daughter he will teach his son's to protect her, even though he knows she will be more than capable to take care of herself. If they want to be demon slayers that's even better!

🧡 He tries his absolute best not to be too loud when he is holding his first baby, you have never seen him whisper the way he did when he held his first born.

🧡 Loves hearing his children play! And if he isn't busy he will join in and play along! Usually their games consist of Rengoku chasing them. Maybe he is a demon and they are demon slayers trying to fight him off, it's an adorable sight!

🧡 If he sees you playing with his children he will just sit back and watch for a little. Seeing his love playing with his children brings him so much warmth in his heart

🧡 You could say it sets his heart ablaze (insert laugh track)

🧡 He has a little bit of trouble saying no to his little kiddos. But he knows where to draw the line (some what atleast)

🧡Will randomly send you pictures of him and the kids (he does it shirtless when they're babies. Says they need skin to skin contact). Usually consists of both of them smiling, or watching TV or reading a book or Rengoku nibbling their cheeks.

🧡" Sweetheart! Look at our little sun flower! He's so focussed on the story book you got! And look! Whenever we get to the page talking about parents, he starts to laugh! *Chuckle* it seems he loves his parent as much as I do. Like father like son— huh?"

🧡 It's canon that Rengoku is half deaf and that is why he speaks so loudly, so I imagine his kids definitely gained a habit of yelling naturally when talking like their dad.

🧡Prefers to be called 'Papa' by his kids. I'm not sure why I just see it.

🧡His genes are strong. STRONG. All your kids (if biological) look exactly like him. Hair, eyes, smile and all. He finds it hilarious and will always mock you about it.

🧡Is there to EVERY game or concert, and if the school needs a chaperone he's your guy! Mom's love him, teachers love him, kids love him, even dad's love him. Who wouldn't?

🧡 As much as I praise him, like everyone he isn't perfect. Like I said, he has trouble saying no. But I also imagine that as much as he tries not to be like his dad, is how much he wants you to be like his mom, because he remembers her as such an amazing mother. So there is a bit of comparing but don't worry, he loves you for you!

🧡 Another thing about him being half deaf: hes off like a light when he's asleep. Baby is crying? Sucks to suck because 60 percent of the time he will sleep through it. But when he hears he will be the first one to check on your little one.

🧡Rengoku definitely will feel very hurt the first time his kid gets embarrassed of him. Like when they go through that "YOURE EMBARRASSING ME DAD!!" phase. Like, he will get so insecure and will feel like they don't love him anymore

🧡 "Sweetheart, do I talk too loud when I'm around their friends? Or do I make weird jokes? I thought saying "rizz" was cool??" Is what he will ask In the dead of night, and you will have to comfort him

🧡I imagine that Rengoku would love taking you and his kids camping and will make it a yearly tradition, even though it ends up a catastrophe every year.

🧡Over all a 9/10, amazing dad, had his flaws but honestly who doesn't?

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Giyuu 🌊 (⁠・⁠–⁠・⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

🫐 He is okay with any amount of children you're comfortable with. He'd preferably want not too many, but also more than one, so two is a good number

🫐 Poor thing, the first time you told him you were pregnant he was completely emotionless for like two minutes, just staring at the ground. You were so scared but before you could speak he took your hand tightly and started sobbing. He was so happy he was gonna be the father of your baby :(

🫐 And if you told him you wanted to adopt he'd agree, showing support when you made the decision. But the moment he sees the child you're gonna adopt he feels tears stream down his face.

🫐 When he holds your baby for the first time, no matter how many babies you have he will never be use to holding them for the first time. He will be so gentle, whispering to them. He looks a little awkward but it's okay he's trying.

🫐 Faints the first time he sees a diaper. Why does it look like that? Why does it smell like that?! How do you put it on?! He was the youngest so he had no clue how to do this, but he'd learn for you and your baby.

🫐 "Darling! Darling! Please take the baby now!! He— he needs to be changed please!"

🫐"Giyuu I am at work what do you want me to do?!" -you guys when being new parents probably

🫐He's a very quick learner though so you won't have to worry. Soon he's working with the baby without breaking a sweat! You could even say he's a natural

🫐 He still can't handle things like puke and poops though. That's for sure, unfortunately.

🫐 When your kid is older he will definitely be at all the games, shows, recitals, whatever. But he isn't gonna be cheering loudly, he honestly justs blends into the crowd. But the moment your bundle of joy gets of stage he is congratulating them profusely.

🫐 Takes so many pictures of you and your baby. Has so many pictures, and sends it to all of his friend's (so like 3 people)

🫐 Doesn't embarrass your kids often, hes too rserved. But if a child even talks wrong to his baby, he will not hesitate to go up to them and give them a stern talking to, which may be a little embarrassing.

🫐If your kid likes to sing— He WILL sing along and take videos. But God forbid you take a video of him singing, he will chase you for your phone. He's a terrible singer, but he will do anything for your baby.

🫐 Will respect his kids boundaries. If they don't wanna hug in public, sure..he was the same at some point. He will feel a little hurt and go to you for reassuring, but he knows it's just a teenage thing.

🫐 Once tried to sound cool Infront of his kids friends but ended up looking kinda lame. TERRIBLE DAD JOKES AHEAD!!

🫐Tried making a dad joke with his kids friends, all of them stayed silent, so did he. The table was silent until one of them decided to change the subject. Giyuu has never known peace since.

🫐 Is a very light sleeper, some say he doesn't sleep so if his baby cries, he is the first to go and check on them.

🫐 He makes sure not to sound to negative about himself around his kids. He doesn't want them to end up with a mindset like his.

🫐 Do kids love him? Do parents love him? Do teachers love him? Nyeeehhhh. Quite frankly they forget he exists. He doesn't stand out, but atleast that means he doesn't do anything wrong.

🫐he has some flaws in his parenting unfortunately. You'd expect him to be stern, responsible parent but honestly he will let his kids get away with anything to 'help his chances of them liking him'.

🫐 Also something that isn't entirely his fault is that he is unintentionally emotionally distant as his kids get older. Like, he won't know how to comfort that well. But he will try his best. Nothing but the best for his kids.

🫐 Overall 8.5/10. Great dad, not extraordinary but still pretty amazing

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Sanemi 🍃(⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ノ

🌱 The moment you announce that you're pregnant he is crying and becoming a little frantic. The most stressed out of the three despite his usual nonchalant demeanour.

🌱 He is making sure that you are taken care of, making sure everything is ready for the pregnancy months before

🌱If you guys are adopting he is alot less frantic but still very on edge. Making sure the bedroom is ready. Making sure everything is baby proofed.

🌱 But the moment the baby enters your lives it's like all that stress melts away in the blink of an eye. When he takes the baby into his arms and holds it against his open chest he is whispering sweet nothings into the kids ear.

🌱 Like Giyuu, he can't handle poop or vomit. Especially vomit. The first time your baby threw up on him was on his chest, and unfortunately since he keeps his chest own it slid down to his stomach

🌱 He shrieked. Genuinely shrieked.

🌱 "HOLY SHI— SHHHH....." he is trying his best not to swear Infront of your kid. He doesn't want to be remembered by your baby as an angry man.he can't. He refuses to let that happen.

🌱 You know he is stressed. Very very stressed. He doesn't want to be like his dad, his abusive father that he could only remember beating him and his siblings. He wants to be better, he needs to be better. But this worry leads to him having many sleepless nights where you would comfort him, telling him that he will never be his father.

🌱 When your kid gets older he will definitely take part in any little games they want to play. And he gets a kick out of it when he's the villain, because trust me when I say he is a phenomenal villain for his kids

🌱 Speaking of "kids", he wants more than one, definitely. Atleast three, but if that's too much for you he won't mind at all! He is a Girl Dad™ , nothing will convince me otherwise.

🌱 If he has a kid that looks exactly like him then he will be very careful. His baby is the most pretty, handsome thing in the whole universe, so how can he nitpick his appearance when he knows he has the eyes, nose and hair of his baby?

🌱 Lets his kid trace his scars, wether it be with their fingers or with markers. It gives him a sense of purpose.

🌱 Will he be a chaperone? Hell no. He hates any kid that isn't his. Will he host birthday parties? Hell yes, if it's his kids. But don't expect him to make small talk with parents.

🌱 If his kid shows romantic interest in Giyuus child he will actually combust. He doesn't want to be overbearing but if Giyuus 'spawn' goes near his angel he wil be throwing hands (with Giyuu).

🌱 Speaking of which, when your kid has a crush he will try not to be mad and sad at the same time

🌱 "Oh? Someone has caught the eye of daddy's angel? Well that's... Nice. Who is this kid? Is he nice? What's his name? What does he say? Do you know his parents? You know daddy will always love you the most"

🌱 Gets (very) defensive of his kids. If he's at a parent teacher meeting and the teacher dares to say something like "your child is too (this)" or your child is too (that)" he will get very upset. But he knows when he's child is truly the problem and will sternly check them.

🌱 Takes pictures of your kid doing the dumbest things in the dumbest angles. Have you seen that one pic of a guy standing on a babies shoulders captioned "on baby"? That is what hed send.

🌱 "Hey, babe. Look at our little mochi. Our baby is just the cutest thing alive😊❤️" and it's a picture of your baby from that one angle from the top of its head making it look dumb.

🌱 I imagine Sanemi has a sweet tooth, meaning he has a stash of sweets somewhere and of course he will share with his babies! But only one or two, anymore and he'll start to get a bit cranky.

🌱 He gives his kids punishments like the naughty corner 😭 and will make them stay there for 10 minutes before taking them to their room and calmly telling them where they went wrong.

🌱goes it his kids games/events and cheers LOUDLY. Almost rivals Rengoku. He is yelling, cheering, even swearing but each time it gets to that level he is kicked out.

🌱 Sanemi has quite a few flaws to his parenting. He has a bit of a temper, and although he keeps it in check it's hard to do so when he just came back from work. He will apologize many many times if he gets too upset

🌱 overall 8.5/ 10. He's a good parent, and he tries his best

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Thanks for reading. Reblogs are appreciated. MIGHT make a part two with Tengen, Iguro and Gyomei

[bookshelfdreams]

Hiii I hope this isn't too forward, but your tags re: Ed's evolving reactions to abuse and Izzy as abuse-survivor-wish-fulfillment are incredible and it would lovely as its own post, if you felt comfortable doing so!

Aww thank you! The post in question

Also, tbf, I'm just obsessed with the rule of 3, whenever there's the slightest chance of seeing a pattern like this I'll pound on it with a sledgehammer until it fits.

Anyway. Ed has 3 abusive white men in his life; his father, Hornigold, and Izzy. And all 3 he deals with, to escalating effect.

His father is the one who exerts the most power over him. Ed clearly comes from a violent household, and as a child, he is obviously completely at his fathers non-existent mercy. He beats Ed's mother, throws dishware against the wall, and there was a deleted scene where he yelled at Ed's mother for "turning my son soft" (oh how I wish they'd kept that in. I can understand why they thought this was expendable, but it would have made the connection between Ed's father and Izzy so much more obvious).

Ed cannot protect himself, or his mother, against this violence - up until the moment that he can. The moment he realizes he is no longer weak and helpless, he retaliates in the only way that he has ever seen conflicts be resolved. He knows that he can't intimidate his father into better behaviour, if he wants to end the abuse it has to be permanent. So he just fucking kills the bastard.

This is, of course, Not Ideal. Even 30odd years later, he feels monstrous and unlovable because of this moment. The violence scars him. Not because he was wrong in killing his father, necessarily; the show doesn't judge him for it. But Ed destroyed the life he could have had when he did it, and he wounded himself.

Violent solution? Possible, but he deserved better.

Next up, Hornigold, who is also a mean, abusive bastard. He represents the avoidance solution: Leave and never look back. We do not know what became of Hornigold after Ed left his ship, but 02x03 implies that Ed expects him to still be alive somewhere. Ed clearly suffered horrific abuse at his hands, both physical and emotional, and even though that is years in the past, he clearly never dealt with any of it. Gravybasket!Hornigold tells him "Sorry doesn't rebuild an abdominal wall. You gotta move on.": Don't expect an apology, don't try to make amends, just ignore what happened. Apologies are pointless, you can never expect your abuser to change his behaviour. So just try to get away from him and ignore him.

This also doesn't really work. In the gravy basket, Ed is clearly still desperate for Hornigold's approval - and is refused, as he probably was often when he sailed with him. "You're never good enough" is one of the core mantras of abusers. Hornigold is still living in Ed's head, and heart, and soul; the poison he fed him is still alive and well within him. Ed even tries a violent solution this time, but obviously that can't work.

Still, avoidance is better than violence. Hornigold is left behind, standing on that cliff, while Ed goes back into the light. Ed doesn't have to take him with him. He cannot make Hornigold regret what he did, but he can remove himself from his clutches.

And then there's Izzy. With Izzy, Ed obviously has the most ambivalent relationship. He seems to truly like Izzy, to some extend (why is that would be another post, but as briefly as possible: I think Izzy provides an interpersonal dynamic that is familiar, and therefore, a twisted kind of safe for Ed. Chronic mistreatment will embed in you the idea that there's something wrong with you, and that's something Izzy is all too willing to point out to Ed. Crucially though, Izzy is someone who's approval is actually attainable. Ed keeps around someone who will tear him down, yes, but who it is also possible to impress, and over who he has authority. He's going back to the previous relationships, only now he is in a position of power, and that may feel like he can fix them. Obviously this isn't exactly a healthy dynamic. Izzy, for his part, clearly gets a kick out of the power and status being Blackbeard's first mate gives him, and manipulating Ed into doing what he wants. Just watch how pissed he gets when his control over Ed starts to slip.).

And there's another, crucial difference: Izzy wants to come around. Izzy is the fantasy of the toxic person who realizes how shitty his behaviour is, and who deep down, cares enough to want to fix it. Who recognizes the pain he caused, and who tells Ed the things he most needs to hear: I hurt you, and I'm sorry. You didn't deserve this. I was wrong; you're fine.

And then - and this is also an important part of the wish fullfilment fantasy! - he dies. Ed doesn't have to deal with him anymore. We remove the possibility that he goes back on his apology, or tries to use that as a wedge to carve out a space for himself in Ed's life, or goes back to manipulating Ed. No. The apology has to be the final note this relationship ends on.

And this fixes it. Ed can look back on Izzy fondly.

He was a fucking nightmare. What a guy.

[wannaeatramyeon]

Meeting Ryuhei Kuroda for the first time

Leans F!Reader. You, new in 2A. Pre-relationship.

"Why don't you pester Y/N instead? They seem like your type."

Mitsuki continues flipping through the pages of new candidates for the game. It seems promising this time. Enough range to satisfy the VIPs.

"But Mitsuki, you're my type and I'm your type." Ryuhei pouts and whines, a daily routine he has adopted, "When are you going to admit that to yourself?"

"No." She peers over at him, face cold and dismissive, "You're not."

"Ouch, that hurt!"

.

.

What was that saying again, treat them mean and keep them keen? Would it work on Mitsuki? Ryuhei contemplates this, striding along the corridors and scratching idly at his chin.

Maybe you could be the pawn in his game. Just until Mitsuki realises that he's perfect for her.

He recalls your face during your first day. Body bowing at a ninety degree angle. Perfect with your formalities and show of respect, no one can deny that. But he and he alone saw your smug, condescending smile as you looked up at him like a challenge.

What was that supposed to mean? Ryuhei isn't sure he's met you before, he tends to not forget a face as striking as yours or such a look of defiance.

And what exactly did Mitsuki mean by you being his type?

.

.

"Hey," Ryuhei leans against the doorway of your office, mask off, playful grin on his lips.

You take one look at him and return back to your task.

"What are you doing after work tonight-"

"I don't think so, Nomen."

Damn. This is a dagger to his heart, rejected by two women in one day.

"Y/N," he grumbles, "You don't even know what I was going to say. As you're new here, maybe I was trying to be generous and show you the ropes. Have you thought about that?"

"Ryuhei," If this guy is going to drop his professional conduct, so would you. "I know your type. It's not going to work on Neko and it's not going to work on me. You're pathetic."

Ah, there's that smile of yours again.

.

.

Who's pathetic?!

It's bad enough that Mitsuki thinks that.... and that's understandable. But Ryuhei has absolutely no grievances with you.

Fuck. He angrily adjusts his pillow, hoping to take out some of his frustrations, allowing his temper to simmer down and for his brain to stop buzzing.

It doesn't work.

As he lies awake, he realises he can't remember the last time he thought about anyone else's opinion other than Mitsuki's.

.

.

"Didn't sleep well?"

Ryuhei sips his coffee, narrowing his bloodshot eyes over the top of his cup and flips you off with his other hand.

"Nomen," strutting over, your hand covers his middle finger and pushes it back down, "Behave please, we're at work."

You turn on your heel, flicking your hair in his face and purposely knocking at his coffee.

His grip loosens.

The cup, still nearly full, falls. Brown liquid spills down his suit, staining his white shirt and mustard tie.

"Oops, sorry!" You smile, baring your fangs and blowing him a patronising kiss.

Ryuhei should be annoyed, should be bristling and hostile.

But, the kiss lands and embeds itself in his mind.

[padfootscoldleathers]

i'll leave (a light on) ch.1

The stage lights flash over Sirius's skin and the open air in the arena suddenly feels thin and muted. Performing under the bright eyes of hundreds of adoring fans with some of the best friends he's ever had: Peter, Marlene and Dorcas. He’s at the height of his career, the band has taken off, they're on the band's first international tour. It's everything he's always wanted. So Sirius should feel at the top of the world right now, should be happy but what is there to feel behind a mask you painted meant to show that you feel nothing?

Bought a bunch of makeup

Just trying to cover up my face

He looks into his lap and fiddles his thumbs just to do something, to work up the nerve to say what he came here to. Where do you find the courage to break a heart? "I can't do this anymore." He says it slowly and sighing, but it's a sharp taste. Possibly finally more than Sirius can take in a lifetime. "What do you mean?"

Bought a new prescription

To try and stay calm

But there's always something missing

There's always something in the mirror

That I think looks wrong

His lungs start to burn as his throat swells and voice rasps yet gorgeously compliments the song. The crowd's roaring seeps through his earpiece but he can still hear the buzzing. The annoying wasp of Walburga whispering in his ear when he was young and easily manipulated that beauty was pain; that they were one in the same. Sirius doesn't feel beautiful with hot salty tears sparkling on his cheeks. Doesn't think anyone watching tonight would see a radiance in his silent heartache.

Pretty isn't pretty enough anyway

"You know what I mean, Sirius." Barty was dancing around something Sirius didn't want to acknowledge, so obviously he wasn't going to help. Crouch had to summon his own courage, Sirius had none to spare. "I can't be with you. I know you see it, even worse you feel it and yet," Barty blows out a suffering sigh that leaves his chest caved in. "You let me stay; you let me hurt you."

Sirius winds a hand through his long curls and lifts his head to watch the ceiling fan spin around. "You're not hurting me, Bat." Crouch jumps onto his feet from where he's sat next to Sirius on the sofa.

"Bullshit! Black. You're not just lying to yourself now, you're lying to me too. You know that lies and I never fare well."

It's in my head

It's in the boys I bring to bed

It's all around

It's all the time and I don't know why I even try

The crowd is still raging from the surprise song signifying the end of the concert. They're all screaming their hearts out, probably trying to embed this night into their minds; some happy memory to pull up on a bad day. Sirius never wants to remember this night. Doesn't want to ever recall this bareness; raw and defenceless.

I could try every lipstick in every shade

But I always feel the same

"I can't just come over and pretend that being here and with you isn't eating at me, Sirius. I can't live in this delusion."

"If you knew that why the fuck did you let it drag on for 5 months? Why did you let me believe I could have this? WHY DID YOU LIE?!" Sirius's voice grew louder and louder. With his rage came grief and more anger to disguise it.

"I didn't lie, Sirius, I told you from the moment this started that I wasn't ready!"

"You haven't said anything since! Was I wrong to think that maybe this was working?!"

"YES!"

None of it matters and none of it ends

You just feel like shit over and over again

Oh it'll never change

As the ending chords to the final song fly out the speakers surrounding the arena, Sirius makes his way to the platform that'll bring him beneath the stage. Away from the lights, the crowd, the pressure, the thinning air, the heat, the cheers but not the heartache.

The silence stretches for a buzzing moment, the anger and anxiety becoming something sombre and desolate. "Why now, Barty?"

Crouch slides his arms around Sirius, unreciprocated because there's something in Sirius like a light switch gone off. A skill learned after years and years of having to hide everything he ever was in that wretched house. Hiding because no one could be trusted, no one except Regulus.

No one but Regulus, and Mary, and Peter.

"My mother taught me a lot about love, but I don't think I've ever really gotten the romance bit. Between the movies, and the marriages, and the loves, and the lies it's so hard to even begin to tell what I'm supposed to be feeling." He sighs.

"I've known you since we were yay-high, Sirius" Barty holds his hands about half a metre off the ground smiling fondly. I always kind of thought we'd have a love like the novels and movies. We'd grow up and fall in love and it would be you and me, always. But we did grow up and I still can't love you like that even though I want to. Trying to is eating at me and regardless whether you see it or not, it's eating at you too."

Barty pulls away slowly, slipping his hands from Sirius's back down his arms then further down to hold his hands.

"I love you, Sirius. I always have, I always will but not the way you want. We can't love each other like this." Barty gets himself up to walk the little hallway to the front door but stops with his hand on the doorknob when he hears Sirius start talking again.

"Well, you got what you wanted; a love like the movies. You asked for something fake and you got what you asked for." Sirius's voice echoes through the walkway from the living room. 

"Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead." Barty utters as he leaves. 

The click of that door locking is a changeless and unceasing echo in Sirius's mind like the ringing in his ears. That was nearly three months ago before he and the band left on their All American tour.

He takes his final bow as the platform descends under the stage. He stares out in front of him at nothing in particular. Stays frozen until the platform stops completely. The walk to his dressing room is a blank memory along with every conversation along the way, unlocking his dressing room door. Doesn't remember standing in the doorway to closing the door behind him and leaning against it. Or the mechanic movements to switch out of costume into a big, comfy maroon sweater and soft black leggìngs. From the deep breaths to lying on the floor in the middle of the room was entirely of his subconscious.

Sirius hasn't clicked back into place yet. He is still insensate when Peter comes in a short while later and lies next to him. They both watch the ceiling fan turn and try to follow one of its blades before their eyes can't keep up anymore. Then listen so his pocket watch tick for what feels like forever. Sirius wonders what it would be like to have certainty in life. To know what is coming, when to move, what to do. Wishes he could just have something consistent but nothing seems to stick.

The only love that ever stuck was his family. Reggie, Andy, Peter, Mary, Marls, Cas and Minnie. There is, of course, Peter's very big, very Colombian family. Not to say Sirius doesn't have room in his life for love and romance, but how much more heartache and heartbreaks can you take until you run out of heart?

"Sirius?" Peter whispers after a few minutes. Forever isn't a particularly long time anyway. When he gets no response he starts humming a familiar beat. It catches Sirius's attention which means it did its job. He can't quite pinpoint it and then it all falls into place and he starts to hum along.

"She ain't got no money,"

"Her clothes are kind of funny," Sirius scrunches his nose.

"Her hair is kinda wild and free." Peter goes on in a whisper then jumps to his feet and hauls Sirius up by his torso. Then twirls him around and ruffles his hair. "Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes," Sirius continues. "And nobody knows–"

"LI-i-i-Ike MeEee." Peter belts out before he changes out the final note for a screeching high pitch.

"Aagh, oh, stop! Stop! Please! I get it!" Sirius clamps a hand over Peter's mouth and he stops abruptly. It takes a good second for Peter to shut up, but he eventually does. "If I let go–" Sirius glares at him head on. "Gross. Real mature." Peter giggles behind his hand, so Sirius lets him go to wipe his hand off on Pete's face.

Prolonged eye contact.

The dressing room is silent while Peter slowly pulls something out his back pocket. They're in a staring contest so Sirius doesn't look to see what it is. That is before he gets sprayed in the face with a mini water gun. "Down, Bessie." 

Sirius wipes the liquid from his eyes but some gets in his mouth and it tastes... strange. "Is this," he licks his upper lip and Peter raises a brow comically like he's crazy. "Why are you tasting it?" He asks through a laugh.

"Is this my fucking rice water?" He ends, his mouth hanging open. "What? Did you think I didn't know why your hair's so shiny? With your incestuous bloodline you should be balding right now but," Peter scoffs and shakes the spray bottle. "Here we are."

Sirius wheezes out, "You motherfucker." 

"Not yours though." He snips back quickly. Sirius runs his tongue across the line of his teeth and looks down at their feet. He looks up and accidentally makes eye contact. Peter shakes his head, "Not even for your Make a Wish,” before they both start cackling.

That's when Dorcas walks in to find Sirius curled up on the floor wheezing and Peter giggling with an arm against the wall. She scans the room for something, but seems to come up short. "Are you guys high on helium again?" It has the opposite intended effect because it just makes them more manic. Hands on her hips, she says, "Don't make me call Minnie." Marlene pops her head under Cas's arm to take a peek inside. "No! No, don't call Minnie," Peter gets out through his fit of giggles. "We're not on helium."

"Why's Black on the floor barking his left lung out then?" Marls asks, making her way on the floor next to him.

Sirius tries his best to wheeze through an explanation. "I called Petey a motherfucker and he said–"

"Not yours though." Peter adds while he slides down the wall. Dorcas hangs her head with a smile and Marlene absolutely loses it.

Sirius grips her by the thigh, wheezing for air. "Marley, Marls. He said he wouldn't shag Walburga if it was my last cancerous dying wish." Dorcas is hanging on by only her grip on the doorknob. Marlene snorts randomly which acts as the catalyst of their cackles. "You going to tell her how we got there?" Sirius stops laughing and channels his fiercest Walburga glare, "On my dying, laboured breath.”

They then hear heels clicking down the corridor but it's freshly late because Minnie looms over Dorcas, confusion painted on her face. "I don't think I want to know," she mutters, eyeing all of them. "Time to go, the clean up crew wants to get done and get home. Pack your things in and get moving. I haven't got the energy for a pissy Kingsley. He'll take that bus and leave without a moment's notice and you were lucky he didn't get far the last time."

The bus is gone. Sirius is at a gas station. Alone. In the dark. In Texas. He rings Pete. "Why are you calling me from inside the bus?" Peter says cautiously slowly and Sirius chuckles awkwardly. "Oh my– Are you not on the bus?" He hears Peter yell for Minnie to turn the bus around. "Why are you not on the bus?!" Dorcas screeches from the phone. "I told Marls I had to pee!" He hears a tired sigh on the line in the background, probably Peter. Cas yawns, "Sirius, Marley was sleepwalking the entire time." He shrugs and says that he couldn't have known as the bus' headlights flood the street. The door slides out and he's met with an amused and smiling Kingsley, "I knew you weren't on the bus."

His mouth hangs open incredulously. "You bitch." Sirius mutters under his breath and Kingsley starts laughing like he's got endless oxygen.

"Yeah. Lucky."

(day one of spot/get the reference) taglist under the cut

ch.2

@moonyswarmsweaters @sspadfoot @thingthatoncewastruee @probs-reading @cheekyboybeth

@starving-marauder-lover @yourlocalbadgerscales @taleofapart-timepoet @mirrs-ball @tea-blankets-andstars

@where-is-vivian @amberlink @wastingawayinmyroom @ashes-to-ashesxx @percabeth-trash

@equippedtolove @moon-girl88 @jamespotterbbg @drunktayloratthevmas @labyrinthhofmymind

@s0ggyguts @nyx-taylors-version @will-vs-the-homo-sapiens-adgenda @siriusly-insane

[homestuck-music-tournament]

FAQ

Are you really doing this?

Yup. 622 tracks, 621 polls. It might take a year but I'll complete it in time.

Why?

For fun. Also I love Homestuck music, and want to share some great tracks I love that most fans haven't heard at all.

622? Which 622?

Every official Homestuck track from Vol. 1 to Vol. 10, including removed ones, side-albums, and unreleased tracks that still featured within Homestuck. Not the old Indigo Archer and Purple Tyrant though, and nothing into post-canon.

Why is __________ missing?

Penumbra Phantasm was never released as an official Homestuck track, nor did it feature in Homestuck itself. That's the main one I expected people to ask about. Similarly, many other tracks (and albums, like The Baby Is You) aren't official; they're fanmusic, even if the official team made them. If you still can't find what you're looking for, it's possibly I added an identifier to the tag because it shares a name with something else: for example, the two tracks called Light, or the tracks Alternia and Alterniabound. Tags are also punctuation-sensitive, to that may be causing issues.

Why are some of these Bandcamp embeds and some of them YouTube?

If there's a YouTube embed, it means I couldn't find a Bandcamp one. There are various reasons for this.

All tracks by Bill Bolin and SolusLunes were removed from official Homestuck Bandcamp pages when they left the team (a falling-out for the former, and accidental plagiarism and subsequent self-removal for the latter), and many of Bolin's tracks were also replaced.

Some bonus tracks are also not available on Bandcamp unless you purchase the album, and a few tracks were removed from albums for unknown reasons when they were merged, such as Sburban Countdown.

The Squiddles! and Wanderers albums were taken down from Bandcamp, and never reuploaded, so I have to use YouTube (except Raggy Looking Dance! Thanks Alex!)

Indigo Archer (the non-plagiarised one) and Temporal Shenanigans were removed from Bandcamp by request of their creator (I'm aware of the drama this relates to, I don't want any part of it here, please).

null is Toby Fox doing a funny. Unreleased tracks were never released, so have no Bandcamp link.

Why are some images high-quality art and others just Homestuck screenshots?

Almost every track in this tournament has a unique cover art, and some early ones are direct screencaps from relevant events in Homestuck, as chosen by the Homestuck team. However, some have official (or slightly less official) cover art designs by a variety of artists (who are credited on the wiki pages). If more than one cover art was provided, I picked the one I liked more, or thought fitted the best.

Why is John tagged as June Egbert?

June is confirmed to be canon to Homestuck: Beyond Canon (not just Toblerone canon, actually canon), and I like her. It's a personal choice, like some other choices like some of the art used.

You made a mistake!

Please tell me so I can fix it! Below are some common mistakes I expect to have made:

You missed a place this song was used.

Probably. All sorts of creators use these tracks for their works, and my source is the wiki, which doesn't know everything. Please tell me where so I can add it.

This isn't the right leitmotif/actually you missed a leitmotif/(something else to do with the leitmotifs).

*Please* tell me more. I'm not a music expert, and while I know the leitmotifs pretty well I'd definitely appreciate the help, and I'd love to learn more about the interconnectedness of Homestuck's music.

Why is this track tagged with this character/not tagged with this obvious one?

Character tags are determined by 4 things: is the track associated with the character through use of leitmotifs and/or the track name; did the composer intend this character to relate to this track in some way; is this character featured in the flash this track is used in within Homestuck (how much counts as "featured" can vary); and do I personally think this character and track are associated. Yes, the last one is subjective, and no, I don't care about cover art (mostly. Sometimes it's important). But if you disagree with any character tags, please tell me, and I might change them!

[c-atm]

Dollar dogs chapter 2: reunited pt1

10 weeks ago

A red hover convertible floated down in front of the subtle-looking bar known as 'Three-eyed Love'. From inside, the driver looked out of the window and towards the top floor window to see what looked like paper cranes and planes being tossed out of them one after another, a usual sight. One that caused the driver to sigh in annoyance.

"Why am I his handler again?" The driver questioned himself, knowing the answer and regretting their history a bit.

Climbing out of his car and making his way to the bar entrance, he felt another sigh come as he pressed his finger on the wooden and steel door before entering.

"Afternoon Detective McKluth." The owner greeted," Here for pleasure, or is this another professional call."

The detective gave the owner a somewhat tired grin and pointed upward," Business, but I'll take a drink before beginning, Garnet."

Garnet pursed her full lips in a small smile," the usual, Kevin?" Her voice was cool silk to the ears, a welcoming sound to go with her curvaceous and alluring physique. She didn't wait for an answer as she began her work.

"So, how long has he been up?" Kevin inquired, looking at Garnet and her figure in her black and red bodysuit, which accentuated every curve of the African-British woman. Her afro was soft and steady as she made his drink, something called a twist martini.

"How many are out there?"

Kevin knew what she was referring to, the mess of cranes and planes that didn't quite get the same hangtime as the others.

"Didn't count," Kevin shrugged as his drink slid to him, "too busy wondering how I got this position."

"My," Garnet leaned over the bar, moving a bit closer, the cut of her collar surprisingly inviting, showing a fair amount of cleavage, "it's almost like you dread coming to my bar."

"Well, it's not your fault." Kevin smirked, taking a drink, "Your hospitality is always a joy."

"I'm aware, your eye-fucking assured that."

"I'm a detective, just trying to detect how you got all that sexy in that tight bodysuit."

"Though very salacious movements and very enticing hip rolls, from what I am told." She didn't smile, but her tone held joviality and tease.

"Lucky person, waking up next to you."

"No one gets to wake up next to me." Garnet spoke with a bit of steel and dark pleasure, "Unlike you Kevin, our dogs don't usually hold relationships and start a family."

"You're not a dog anymore. You served your assignments."

"Not an active one, but I do house one, Handler," Garnet stated with a bit of distaste.

"Another way those on top keep others under their thumb."

"You volunteered to be a dog," Kevin sipped his glass, savoring the taste, "I always wondered why, someone with no criminal record choosing to be a government dog, especially when the bounty hunter registration was right there."

"Government assistance, they still need to treat their little enforcers with some kind of respect, Detective," Garnet stated as she adjusted her three lens shades before taking a drink of her own. "Rather they like it or not, they need to keep us pleased, even those that are paying a debt to society, after all.."

Kevin watched as Garnet placed the now empty glass face down and flipped up her shades, revealing her three eyes; left a ruby red, right a sapphire blue, and on her forehead an eye the color of a purplish Garnet.

The same gem that embeds the palms of her hands since birth.

"The city's peaceful days rely on its dogs' fangs... isn't that right, Handler?"

Kevin was about to respond when heavy footsteps could be heard from the staircase behind the bar; its furthest northwest corner.

"Hey Garnet, can I get a broom? I..." The voice of Steven resounded before he showed himself.

Opening the red and blue swirl-painted door, the gem hybrid revealed himself, dressed in a black tank top and slacks; he gave them both a look over before turning his attention to Kevin, his handler.

"You're earlier than expected, McKluth," Steven spoke nonchalantly as he made his way to Kevin. "How's Holly and Helen?"

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Steven gave a smile through half-lidded eyes.

Kevin threw himself away from Steven's grasp, nearly falling on his ass as he moved, only for Steven to catch his wrist.

"Now, it's not a good look for a handler to be afraid of his dog, is it?" Steven pulled him up to his feet, "the dog just might bite if they feel they can't trust their handler." Steven grinned before wiping his shoulders, "Lucky, I know I can trust you, Kevin. Giving our history."

"You.."

"But, that was a lifetime ago, " Steven interrupted, a smirk on his face that was gentle but sent a shiver down Kevin's spine, though the detective didn't let it show as he cleared his throat.

"Right...A lifetime ago." Kevin mumbled referring to the ex-criminal. 'Still doesn't wash away your past extortion methods,' Kevin thought to himself before pulling out a metal circular disk with a bluish-green platform in the middle and placing it on the bar.

"Can I get a drink, Garnet?" Steven asked the bartender as he sat down eyes on the dusk as its center began to light up, displaying a hardlight folder.

Garnet glanced at Kevin, her expression unreadable, before turning her attention to Steven. She nodded and prepared a drink for him, the corners of her lips curving slightly. "Here you go, Steven," she said, sliding the glass over to him. "Enjoy."

Steven took a sip of his drink and turned his attention back to Kevin, his eyes flickering with an intensity that made Kevin uneasy. "So, what's the assignment this time?" he asked, his voice laced with a mix of curiosity and mischief.

Kevin sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small holographic device. He activated it, projecting an image of a man onto the bar counter. "This is Gregory Kane," he explained, pointing at the figure. "He's a renowned tech genius who recently went missing under mysterious circumstances."

Steven leaned forward, studying the image intently. His eyes glimmered with excitement as he processed the information. "Interesting," he murmured.

"He's also a serial killer or so we believe," Kevin added quickly as he took a sip of his drink.

"You believe?"

"Every officer who tried to find him never returned. so far five are still missing."

Steven hummed looking at the holographic image of Gregory; he looked between 35-40, and his sharp features held a kind and tired expression with his grayish-blue eyes and slightly combed-back hairstyles. His skin was flushed red and his lips were clammy, chipped, and thin. "Doesn't look much of a murderer to me."

"Looks can be deceiving, you should know that more than anyone, Mr. Pink."

Steven kissed his teeth at his handler's comment, his eyes taking on a dangerous pink glow, "I'm not that person anymore." Steven gave a small grin that didn't reach his eyes, "despite what you think."

"No, you might be more dangerous now."

"Only for criminals." Steven chuckled, "Besides, I'm more of a lover now; like I said not that person anymore and paying my dues to this fair city."

"Sure, you're a hero." Kevin blew an annoyed sigh" A bastion of goodness and light."

"Ha! Far from it!" Steven laughed, "But I'm much better than I used to be. Trying to be better. "

"Trying huh?" Kevin questioned, a sense of unease settling in his gut as he watched Steven's playful demeanor.

"Is that why you litter the front with paper planes? Trying to reach someone, Maybe?"

Steven hummed taking a sip, "Not something for you to know, McKluth." His voice held a slight warning, "Personal matters."

"Which makes you hard to trust, Pink."

"I handle the work given to me, don't I? Two years in, I haven't acted outside of my contract."

"Sure, but the whole change came a bit too quickly, and after disappearing for a time before... there's a whole blank period in your past."

"It's in the past why worry about it?"

"Because I've been extorted by you and your family in the past."

"You were just an informant."

"And you used my then-girlfriend as a pawn to keep me in line, didn't you, Pink."

Steven kissed his teeth gulping his drink, his demeanor hardening as a bit of guilt gripped his heart, "Well that's why I requested you as my handler, now you get to boss me around, retribution or whatever. leave it in the past."

Kevin clenched his fists, trying to suppress the anger that burned within him. Memories of that time flooded his mind—the fear, the desperation, the feeling of being trapped. He had thought he would never escape Steven's clutches. "Sure, says the one who still trapped in his own past. broken heart maybe?"

Steven said nothing but gave a low humorless chuckle as he took the last of his drink.

"Oh, now that's surprising if a little funny" Kevin pushed seeing Steven's hand tighten," Didn't think you have a special someone...or Had, I should say."

Steven's eyes flickered with a mix of anger and pain, his pink glow intensifying. "Drop it, McKluth," he warned through gritted teeth.

But Kevin was relentless. "Who was it? Someone you couldn't save? Or someone who couldn't handle the truth about you?"

Garnet watched the exchange silently, her three eyes observing everything with an unreadable expression. She could sense the tension in the air, the weight of their shared history hanging over them like a dark cloud.

Suddenly, a violent surge of energy erupted from Steven, crackling with pink electricity. The bar patrons around them started to back away, sensing the danger in the air. Kevin braced himself for an attack, but before Steven could unleash his powers, Garnet stepped in between them.

"Gentlemen..."Garnet's voice cut through the tense air like a blade. Both Kevin and Steven turned to look at her, surprised by the sternness in her tone. She placed her hands on the bar, her gemstones glowing with a fiery intensity. "Enough," she said firmly. "There's no room for grudges and personal vendettas here. You have a job to do, and going to do it professionally."

steven sighed before nodding and turning to the folder.

"Right," Kevin muttered, his gaze fixed on the holographic image of Gregory Kane. "We need to track him down before he strikes again."

Steven nodded curtly, his pink eyes flickering with curiosity before reverting to his normal brown.

"So do you have any idea about where he might be?" Steven inquired, "I doubt he would still be in the city by now?"

"That's the thing." Kevin started, "He usually stays on the city outskirts, and has a whole mansion-like lab up there."

"Government funded, I'm sure," Garnet commented.

"State government funded." Kevin injected, "His research is greatly respected, but can't fund a possible murderer."

"And paying the families of these maybe deceased cops is hurting the government's pockets." Steven sneered with a huff,

"enough to send one of their very expendable dogs."

"Believe it or not, I'm not a fan of it, but it is what it is." Kevin clenched his jaw, his eyes narrowing at Steven's tone. He had always known that Steven had a rebellious streak, but sometimes it rubbed him the wrong way. Still, he couldn't deny Steven's effectiveness when it came to getting the job done.

"Such a bleeding heart."

"Compensation, government-paid board, freedom, and a chance to get your record clean." Kevin listed off several perks of Steven's situation." You have more than the regular nine-to-five, or local officer." His nostrils flared in annoyance, "Not that the government cares about the lives of a few cops when compared to their precious funding."

"But you do," Garnet stated looking at Kevin's disappointed and sardonic demeanor.

"They're my fellow officers, good men, women, and others. Like me, they care about justice and protecting innocent lives," Kevin took a gulp of his drink finishing it off before placing it down.

"Going to their families to announce their disappearance... yeah, it weighs heavy on me...add that to the higher-ups who only care about their interests, and make those on the front lines expendable. Sometimes the government feels as criminal as the gangs and mobs we try to take down."

"every institution has its corruption." Steven stated as he got up from his seat, "That's why justice is singular as it is varied." he stretched his arms, "But that is a conversation for another time. so where are we going?"

"Woods in the county of Reekskill," Kevin stated as the hologram shifted to a map highlighting a dense forest area with a path heading to the center of the area. " The mansion itself is near the center."

"Not on the map I see, an unregistered address?"

"No address, government wanted to keep it under wraps," Kevin stated as he pressed on the hologram showing the Co-ordinates of the mansion,' "Need to keep protecting their assets after all."

Steven smirked at the sarcasm," So we're just bringing him in, right?"

"You're just bringing him in." Kevin corrected.

"What?"

"There's some other business I have to attend to." Kevin told Steven as he gave him the holodisk, " But yes, the goal is to bring him in alive."

"I'll make sure he's unharmed." Steven agreed

"Never said unharmed." Kevin said pointedly, " I said alive. Just use your best judgment... Depending on any of the officers you might find."

"and if they all are dead?" Steven arched his brow as his handler finished his drink.

"my statement still stands," Kevin informed " Alive, don't care how alive..."

Steven whistled, a dark smirk coming to his face, "Aye aye, sir."

Garnet shook her head with a smirk, "I'll clean up the mess you made outside, go get ready for work Steven."

"Work." Steven chuckled as he headed towards the stairs, " Thanks for cleaning up Garnet, I'll make it up to you."

"You always say that." Garnet grinned as the hybrid made his way upstairs. door closing behind him. She turned to Kevin who was getting ready to leave himself, "So, they coming today, huh?"

Kevin smirked, " They should be in the city in a few hours, I'll be there to pick them up...Thanks for giving them a place to stay."

"Hey, I'm just looking after a fellow dog, besides I've known them since they were sixteen years old, it would be nice to see them again..." She went to get a garbage bag and broom, "It's not a problem, you want to come with to pick them up?"

"Naw, you have your business to run and everything. I'll be back later to drop them off." Kevin smirked, " Later G."

"Say hi to the missus and little one for me." Garnet waved as the detective closed the door behind him.

Meanwhile, on a hover train, A mother is watching her child read an AR newspaper with a smile on her face, the child's pink gem belly button slightly peeking from under their t-shirt.

Unaware that she and her child are being watched. if one was detailed enough they would see an indigo tattoo peeking from the watcher's wrist, as they reached for a hidden weapon.

a tattoo that symbolizes one belonging to a branch of an assassin clan.

a less detailed offshoot of the same tattoo bored by mother and child alike. the runaway princess and her child.

They bear the mark of the main family of the Maheswaran, the world's deadliest assassin clan.

[vidreview]

VIDEO ESSAY ROUNDUP #6 [PART 2]

[originally posted august 1st 2024 NOTE: while migrating the archive from cohost i've discovered that tumblr has a 10 link-block limit, which means i have to split some of these roundups up in order to maintain the embeds. we love websites don't we folks]

"New Zelda isn't Zelda" by Eroymak.

it's novel to see one of these shot in the mountains! vibes like a younger, ganglier nakeyjakey. i like to imagine that there's an escalating war of spectacle happening between white outdoorsy middle-class nerds all trying to one-up each other by casually filming an otherwise anodyne video essay in increasingly precarious locales. how long until a 22 year old DJ from Wisconsin dies on the slopes of Everest trying to film an essay about Mario 1-1? who's going to be the first human being to levy a citation-heavy critique of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead while skydiving? how long until Shiey accidentally loses Jacob Geller down an abandoned mine shaft? anyway, Eroymak is extremely correct here about what makes modern Zelda games a drag, namely that their "go anywhere do anything" attitude ruins the sense of progression that once defined the franchise. i worry about this with the upcoming Echoes of Wisdom, which seems to be applying the Of The games' open toolset philosophy to the 2D Zelda template, but i digress. for being only 7 minutes and 20 seconds, this is a pretty succinct and broadly comprehensive summation of why the open world Zeldas lack a certain magic that was once so easily flaunted by their forebears.

"so that's why they cut all her scenes from the movie" by CinemaStix.

i've seen CinemaStix videos in my recommended feed multiple times and avoided them like the plague. i mean, come on. "CinemaStix"? at a glance this conjures a monstrous Third-Way chimera betwixt CinemaSins and CinemaWins, and i would sooner stave my own head in with a rock than give such a thing the time of day. EXCEPT… Constantine 2005 is one of my favorite comic book movies. i saw it in theaters and it changed me. in the years since, i've defended Constantine's honor from the haters to little avail (thankfully the tides have turned in recent years and people are realizing that they totally missed the second-best John Wick movie), and it's top of my list of fun movies to show guests when we're bored. this special interest overrode my kneejerk book-cover judgment survival mechanism, and i'm so mad that i don't regret it. this video is about the editing of Constantine 2005, and how many of the film's iconic moments were constructed in post. as the title suggests, a substantial amount of time is spent trying to understand why an entire character was ultimately cut, a question that's also plagued me ever since watching the deleted scenes on the DVD in 10th grade. whether you've seen Constantine 2005 or not, this is an excellent portrait of editing as a substantive authorial process. i've since gone and watched multiple CinemaStix videos, and god damn it, these are some quality essays. sometimes popular things are good, she said grumpily.

"Conservative Comedy Ruined My Life" by Big Joel.

oops, can you tell this vidrev roundup has been sitting in my drafts for a long time? this video came out on April 2nd of 2024 and has nearly 2.5 million views, so i won't belabor the point. this is a great deconstruction of conservative comedy that looks hard into why so much of it sucks beyond the empty platitudes endemic to smarmy liberals. it's some of Big Joel's best work in my opinion.

"On Online Entitlement" by CJ The X.

an excellent autopsy of the rhetorical implications of an overly familiar instagram comment-- a description that i know probably sounds obnoxious, but genuinely is not the case. Mx. The X goes to great lengths to assure us that this is not about the person who left the comment, but the various attitudes and assumptions that are implied in its construction. gen z essayists in particular seem to specialize in this sort of editorial post-game breakdown of the things people say when they think they're saying something else, and i think they're always worth paying attention to. consider this something of a downstream epilogue to Shannon Strucci's seminal Fake Friends series. even as i don't always agree with the totality of their conclusions, i do always come away from CJ The X videos feeling like i've learned something about how i and other internet-dwelling social animals think.

"How Uber Is Destroying Food Delivery" by More Perfect Union.

More Perfect Union is not typically in the business of video essays, focusing more on feature stories that heavily rely on interviews and on-the-ground reporting. this one's a unique development in that it is just straight up a video essay, using the business model of Uber as an avenue for understanding Corey Doctorow's theory of platform decay (except he calls it Enshittification because god forbid 21st century materialist philosophy grow out of its twee blogosphere adolescence). if you know the theory then there's probably not gonna be much here that surprises you, but i felt it a notable inclusion nevertheless.

do you have recommendations for video essays i might not have seen, new or old? well my askbox is open and i'm always looking for ways to penetrate my experiential-algorithmic youtube bubble. hope you found something enjoyable in this collection, see you in the next one!

<- ROUNDUP #5

[thescentofrainonstone]

On Class in Britain and why the same kind of actor ends up getting our panties in a twist (see Hiddleston, Cumberbatch, Goode, etc...)

Isn't it peculiar that all this adoration and fandoms tend to be about white-cis mostly het (thought admittedly that's the more laxed of attributes) able thin, tall, pale but most importantly coming from riches guys?

You look at a Tom Hiddleston and his first headshots and roles and the wonder has got to be there: "how much time and means were available to him to get his degree from Oxbridge and then decide to do another entire BA on top of it at RADA?"

Admittedly he gets off easy going back historically("just" baronets in his line) when in his league we have Benedict Cumberbatch, whose existence is literally dependant on the slavery his direct ancestors built their empire on in Barbados, and were paid compensation when the end of slavery came to England. Finally his Wikipedia has a full description of this even though when I worked on the essay that took the Downton Abbey series and films as examples of the inhumane social divide the UK depends upon, it was all incredibly well swept under virtual rugs with a vague quote from Mother Cumberbatch advising her son to change his surname in case "they come after you for money" where money stands for "reparations" and considering the luxury of an arts career like the last few Cumberbatches have had is something intrinsically entrenched in wealth and privilege makes perfect sense if you ask me. A councillor in New York carries the same surname and she is Black. Slaves carried the surname of those who owned them.

Let that sink in: there is currently a commissiomer (and Professor at Columbia) in New York who carries the Cumberbatch surname because they are a direct descendant of the Slaves the Cumberbatches owned and owe their fortune to. Stacey Cumberbatch.

So yeah, when people think the UK is not the US, they Invented class and the divide that come with it. It is so crucial to come from a family that can afford you connections and the luxury to work for nothing while never risking bills or rent going unpaid.

And I guess what I'm trying to say is: it's ok for all the fandoms to salivate over anyone, I just think it's important we know why the media propels in front of our eyes the same prototype of Englishman over and over, and perpetrates the production of new pieces of media that casually seem naturally meant for white, rich, het passing people.

The system works like a bottleneck for privilege and I think the SAG-AFTRA strikes also show that: everyone that had some privilege and didn't do anything to average out the system will see their own reduced over time until only the tip of the top remains. And "eat the rich" is going to be another post but you get the gist.

That is to say, next time I go to Insole Court (the Victorian house where a Lot of A Discovery of Witches was filmed, including Matthew's "rooms at Oxford") will I touch every single book of the reading room because likely I will have touched something Matthew Goode touched when he was there filming? Sure.

I also do know that house was paid for by coal miners who actually died in a tragedy in the mines owned by the Insole family and that admittedly I find the only decent way to keep real estate built with the blood of people can just be that: give that back to the people.

It's about educated choices, that's what I'm trying to say.

Fun fact: I started watching a discovery of witches because after filming the essay at Insole Court, wanting to bring down the bourgeoisie, I learned the show was also filmed there. So i went and found it and now I have another white, pale, lanky, English twink to lose sleep over just because he's been given a character created by the mind of a woman who dreams enough, possibly because unfulfilled in some part of her life -because when we're happy we go out, we don't vomit pages over pages let's be honest -.

If none of those elegant white British men who embody the characters we love come from a program that allowed them to raise from the working class... or are anything but white or adhering to a white-er standard (Rege- Jean Page is the quintessential example of this, better than nothing but still, my point)...Maybe we should ask ourselves why, and how is that ok.

Just a random though on a day I wanted to go back to Insole Court for the aforesaid reason.

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

I see you have had many asks but I am much curious about Witcher Yennefer (a witcher!Yennefer, part-Fae!Jaskier, modern with magic Yennskier AU) and literally all of your originals.

Any fun fact about one of the originals? 👀❤️

My Witcher!Yennefer modern with magic AU is a fic where Yennefer saves Jaskier's life and Jaskier being Jaskier, he's immediately smitten. But having spent several hundred years trapped in the Fae world and still not being entirely sure how courtship works in the human world, he thinks the best way of winning her heart is setting up increasingly elaborate scenarios where she needs to save his life.

A snippet:

“Well, hello.” The human sacrifice gazes up at Yennefer from the altar, batting big blue eyes like an ingenue in an old film. “Come here often?”

Yennefer has just cut through a half dozen of the cultists trying to bring about some kind of apocalypse, because people these days have far too much time on their hands. She’s covered in more viscera than she would like—she’s not Geralt, who can walk around covered in selkiemore guts for hours and hardly notice the stench. She isn’t in the mood to play the noble rescuer today; she was really hoping there wouldn’t be a human sacrifice involved. But of course there’s a human sacrifice. End of days cults aren’t known for their originality.

“Why the fuck would anyone come here?” With her blood-soaked steel sword, she gestures around the half-falling down, long abandoned house where the cult had the unfortunate idiot tied up.

Thoughtfully, he looks around. “I see your point. Though I suppose if anyone’s going to spend a lot of time skulking around definitely haunted houses, it would be a witcher. That’s what you are, right?” He bats his eyelashes again. “Two swords, medallion, slit-pupiled eyes. Though I’ll admit, no one ever told me witchers were so pretty.”

Yennefer gives him a long, unimpressed look, which he returns with a smile. “How fortunate that they didn’t gag you.”

“They kept threatening to. Apparently, my suggestions for how they could improve their villainy weren’t appreciated. Really, black robes, abandoned houses as lairs, chanting in archaic Elder? It was all a bit gauche, in my humble opinion.”

One of the gauche cultists comes charging at Yennefer, dagger raised. She slips a throwing star—a thoughtful Midwinter present from Aiden last year—from her belt and hurls it at the man. He collapses with a shriek as it embeds in his throat.“See?” The human sacrifice gestures as well as he can with his hands shackled to the altar. “No poetry. Truly, I owe you my life and my dignity. I would have never lived it down if I died like this. I shudder to think what kind of eulogy Valdo Marx would give.”

I don't know if this counts as a fun fact, but due to a major plot point in An Inconvenient Union, I've had to spend an inordinate amount of time lately contemplating the best preparation methods for an entirely fictional type of berry. So naturally, a spent part of this morning dissecting various types of berries to figure out the best ways to get all the seeds out. Which probably isn't close to the weirdest thing I've ever done for writing purposes.

Ask me about my WIPs!

[calvinreadscomics]

Moonray by Brandon Graham and Xurxo G Penalta. This is the second book by Brandon Graham that I've read, the first being Multiple Warheads, published a decade prior. Multiple Warheads was a really impressively imaginative and energetic work, every page stacked with a mass of puns and visual gags, illustrated in a cool, chunky style but with very little going on in terms of plot or characters. The leading lady of the book was named Sexica, the leading man a loser with a werewolf's penis and a sarcastic sense of humor. It was fun, but also kind of lame, a sign of better things to come. And here they are! Moonray is an improvement on the promise of Multiple Warheads in a lot of regards, a maturing of Graham's work without any loss of imagination or style. Moonray centers around the idea of great, reincarnating, ever in conflict space gods and their old corpses. Our protagonist is the stuff of one of these gods, broken off and given its own consciousness after the gods death, and we follow as he explores and finds a place in the god-touched world he was born on to. Compared to Graham's previous work, the constant stream of odd ideas and interesting designs is not quite as constant, giving each new thing time to develop and embed itself in the world and narrative. The sense of creativity in Moonray goes beyond its creatures and designs. Graham's previous work showcased inventive paneling and lettering and these have both been leveled up in Moonray into something really inspiring. Combined with improved illustrations, which focus on sense of scale, appealing forms, and texturing detail, Moonray can reach some really incredible heights of visual spectacle. I especially love when sound effects are allowed to slip entirely into abstraction, marks that clearly indicate a sound without any recognizable letters. It's hard to imagine pulling off effectively without experiencing it in context, but it gives the impression of otherworldly or encompassing sounds in a way literal writing of their sound couldn't. In the realm of paneling, most pages don't do anything too out there. Graham rounds the corners on all his panels, a simple choice which allows them to graphically blend with his illustration style and give each page a more satisfying and unified overall look. Graham rarely leaves a page with empty borders, instead placing panels varyingly overtop and underneath one another. Panels are also rarely placed on an obvious grid. This leads to a host of low level creative decisions being visible on each page, adding to the vibrant energy of the rest of the comic. These decisions feel like they've been made intuitively, but they're not without purpose, as they make for an extremely smooth and energetic reading experience unique to Graham's work. These decisions make already impressive splash pages hit with an exhilarating rush. No two pages, aside from splashes, are laid out exactly the same, something you're not likely to be able to say about another comic of this length. Not too harp on this point too long, but it's remarkable that every page is so easy to follow given the creativity behind each one. This certainly has to do with the subtlety of a lot of these decisions, but I think it also reflects a really strong understanding of the form by Graham.

I know I've had nothing but good things to say about Moonray, but it's not perfect. Moonray does suffer from an apparent lack of direction in its plot, especially in its later chapters. The characters are also really nebulous, which isn't a big deal in a story like this for the most part, but it gets a little insulting with the sexy sentient sword woman who appears halfway through the story. If everything is more tied together than previous Brandon Graham stories, it doesn't mean it adds up to too much. Things are more fun and cooler, but I couldn't actually tell you now why anything happened in this story. I can't say that any of this diminishes the successes of the rest of the above, but it does keep Moonray from reaching the next level.

Penaltas sections are cool and well illustrated but they come and go quite fast and I found myself more excited to move past them than to turn to a page and see them. They're so short, outside of the ending story, that they haven't really factored into my perception of the comic at all.

4/5

[gnatlistens]

30-day song challenge! (PART 1)

 i'm lazy to commit to doing one every day, so i'll be doing them all at once! credits to @/eggtaurus on instagram i'll be typing my thoughts for most of it and including youtube embeds for a few ! not rating today but the songs here would def be >7/10

DAY 1: a song you discovered this month

dancing with your ghost -- sasha alex sloan

can't believe i haven't listened to this before this month

DAY 2: a song that always makes you smile

talk too much -- COIN

honestly any anime/movie ost i love would work, but i'll leave those for later and choose a hype song!

DAY 3: a song that makes you cry

月光 -- shion miyawaki

the assassination classroom ost when aguri died 😭 tbh any sad anime ost works. like grave of the fireflies

DAY 4: a song you know all the words to

you're so cool -- tate mcrae

any wdw/recent shye songs.. ok but making it hard for myself and not choosing those

DAY 5: a song that proves you have good taste

YELLOW -- yoh kamiyama

helpp my taste is 50% mainstream pop, 30% osts, other music no one else is interested in,, i'll choose a song i'm proud of liking i guess! WATCH THE MV it's so cool

DAY 6: a song title that is all in lowercase

chaotic -- tate mcrae

the whole album LMAOO

DAY 7: a song title that is all in uppercase

CORDUROY -- shye

basc the whole album ❤❤

DAY 8: an underrated song

the internet -- GRACEY

ANY SHYE SONG but i'll choose an underrated song from a more popular artist. LISTEN RN. 

DAY 9: a song title that has three words

me myself and i -- 5SOS

love this!! EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: wth that isn't 3 words. my new answer is Mess It Up by Gracie Abrams

DAY 10: a song from your childhood

blank space -- taylor swift

yeah i don't have to explain this one it was the earliest added song in my mainstream pop playlist

DAY 11: a song that reminds you of summer 

summer -- joe hisaishi 

LOL he has 3 songs with summer in the title but this one has the most summer vibes

DAY 12: a song that feel embarrassed listening to

trust fund baby -- why don't we

wdw's old songs. almost all of them

DAY 13: the first song that plays on shuffle

million reasons -- jess glynne

shuffling my lastfm library! wow that's random

DAY 14: a song that someone showed you

nuh uh -- jades goudreault

my sister kept playing this

DAY 15: a song from a movie soundtrack

FINALLY!! sparkle -- radwimps no words required :D

DAY 16: a song with no words

spring -- joe hisaishi

most ghibli osts would work too

DAY 17: a song about being 17

14 -- clinton kane

he mentions 17 ok. i just didn't want to put another olivia rodrigo song lol actually on 3rd listen it's quite good omg i'm adding it to my june playist

DAY 18: a song that reminds you of somebody 

sunroof --  nicky youre, dazy

my sister kept playing this too lmao

DAY 19: a song to drive to

slow down -- why don't we

they are already listening to it in a car (edit from the future: i change my answer to Style by taylor swift)

DAY 20: a song with a number in the title

99% -- GRACEY

i love gracey

DAY 21: a song you listen to at 3 am

mirror -- shye

it says looking at sunsets but it fits stargazing

DAY 22: a song with a long title

i don't want to watch the world end with someone else -- clinton kane

i'm listening to this rn HAHHAS what a coincidence

DAY 23: a song with a color in the title

red -- taylor swift

ugh i already used yellow. tswift again i guess

DAY 24: a song that you've had stuck in your head

comedy -- gen hoshino 

i love spyxfamily too much

DAY 25: a song in a different language

enjoy enjaami -- Dhee, Arivu, Santhosh Narayanan

not choosing eng chi and jap because that's too easy lmao

DAY 26: a song that helps you fall asleep

HOW R U SLEEPING -- shye

first thing i thought of, and unlike the screaming title it's a v soft song! listen to the slowed + reverb or instrumentals for a stronger effect

DAY 27: a song you describes how you feel rn

modern day titanic -- jasmine sokko

i used the other 2 songs with quotable lyrics already oops

DAY 28: a song you used to hate but love now

mixed nuts -- official hige dandism

i originally didn't like the SxF OP BUT NOW I LOVE IT SM omg.

DAY 29: a song you have/want to download

potential breakup song (cover) -- why don't we (originally aly and aj)

needs to get on spotify rn!!!

DAY 30: a song you want to share

moment in the sun -- sunflower bean 

actually all the songs here!! i'll choose a final one that didn't fit any category this song is from heartstopper! one of the few eng background songs that are rly good

i planned on doing 150 songs straight but 30 already took so long lmaoo so that's it for part 1! stay tuned for parts 2-5 😈

[shihalyfie]

Maybe you can explain to me - what's the deal with Ryo Akiyama? He has his WonderSwan games, he cameos in Our War Game, then in 02, then pops up in Tamers as a semi-major character, and supposedly it's the same Ryo in *everything*? Even though his personality isn't even consistent between depictions? I can understand if it's different versions of the same person, but... Could there be a weird production reason for this or something?

You know what? I've got some free time (something I don't have a lot of lately) between work and playing Survive, so what the hell, why not: it's time for a completely Akiyama Ryou-centric meta!

Who is Akiyama Ryou? Why is he so popular among Japanese Digimon fans? Why does he pop up in Adventure, 02, Tamers, and V-Tamer with almost mutually exclusive and contradictory portrayals? What happened here? Obviously, he’s canon to both 02 and Tamers, but how does that even make sense? Well, a lot of this has to do with the complicated history of Ryou in real life, in terms of the history of his games and what development notes for the anime have indicated about planning regarding Ryou. And unfortunately, a lot of Ryou’s meta-history is often misleadingly reported or even outright smothered in misinformation in English-speaking circles, making the issue even more confusing.

The tl;dr is that almost everything messy about this is extremely likely to be Bandai’s fault.

So what are the “WonderSwan games”?

As you are probably likely to know already, Ryou originates from a series of Digimon games for the WonderSwan, Bandai’s handheld console that never left Asia but did have a pretty decent following in Japan (at least until it got wrecked by the Game Boy Advance).

Now, here’s the part I’m going to deliver in a way that probably sounds really cold, but please understand that understanding this context is really important to understanding what went on with Ryou here: while many Digimon games have fans who are Digimon fans (and they are no less valid for it), most of them are actually awful games by general video game standards. The writing is usually low-effort at best, and if anime canon characters from Adventure or whatnot appear in it, they’ll be horribly out of character with flanderized or just really off characterizations (even Re:Digitize, generally agreed to be one of the better games, is not immune to this). And this was especially the case back then, when the games Bandai was churning out were basically the equivalent of the kind of bargain bin game churned out to cash in on marketing value more than they were actually any good as video games. There are exceptions, but they’re few and far between, and that was especially the case back in the day when Bandai was obviously much better of a toy company than a game company. It’s only very recently, like “last decade” recently, that Digimon games have actually started putting any real effort into nuanced writing, and that’s probably mostly because of a certain former Tekken producer named Habu Kazumasa becoming a hardcore diehard Digimon fan who started actually pushing for better writing.

The WonderSwan games, which also are equally as guilty of completely destroying the anime characters’ canon characterization and generally being very bare bones, might have been completely tossed into the ether and remembered in history as more low-effort licensing cash-ins if not for Akiyama Ryou and Millenniummon and his whole entire surrounding saga. Not because the games were the pinnacle of the world’s greatest writing, and not because they really integrated all that well with anime canon (in fact, play the games or watch a Let’s Play and you’ll see timeline and characterization contradictions all over the place to degrees that make the anime’s awkward handling of the issue look masterful in comparison). But I think the best way to describe this is similar to how many people feel about the original Pokémon games for the Game Boy. The games themselves are riddled with bugs and sloppy programming to embarrassing degrees, and the writing is stilted, barely present, and at times borderline surreal...but at the same time the concept of it all was so strong that it captivated an entire generation with so little and kickstarted one of the world’s most profitable franchises. Those games actually didn’t have a lot of substance in themselves, but the concept was strong, and the gaps were just big enough for imaginative kids to fill in the blanks with their own creative ideas.

That’s basically also what went on here with Akiyama Ryou. Advertised as “the ninth Chosen Child” and featuring a post-Adventure side story where Ryou is called to save Taichi and his friends and teams up with and fights against familiar faces, eventually fighting the embodiment of a Y2K bug who eventually becomes his eternal rival, even if they didn’t really have much to it when actually put into practice on the WonderSwan (and to be fair, it was handheld hardware from the late nineties, it’s not like it probably could have particularly detailed writing), it’s just a lot of interesting concepts that make a kid inspired to fill in the details of what’s going on with Ryou’s adventures, especially since it’s (apparently) canon to the anime as well. You can’t deny there’s appeal in the idea of a Tamer who’s sent around to do odd, unusual jobs with “borrowed” partners and fighting against the embodiment of Y2K.

Thus, Ryou became a popular character, and in very much the same way Pokémon fans latch on to the idea of Red as the world’s most badass Trainer despite the fact we don’t know a single thing about him except the fact he apparently doesn’t talk much, many a Japanese Digimon fan became very attached to Ryou and the tale of how he became a “legendary Tamer”.

The many attempts to get Ryou into the anime

Digimon is what’s known as a “media mix”, meaning it’s a franchise that’s fundamentally planned as a multimedia outlet from the get-go. Ultimately, it’s more Bandai’s IP than Toei’s, which means that if they veto any idea the anime staff has, the anime staff can’t go with it, and if they demand something get put in the anime, the anime staff has to go along with it.

As I said earlier, Ryou’s games are far from the only games to have glaring contradictions with the anime, and since Ryou’s games are more about him than they are the Adventure or Tamers characters, that probably puts them in a better position than games that are ostensibly supposed to be anime tie-ins but aren’t great about it (trying to think too hard about how Digital Card Arena makes sense with the rest of 02 will make your head hurt). However, since Ryou was a popular character, Bandai and Toei started entering in talks to make Ryou relevant to the anime, too. The thing is, though, with the games already off the rails in regards to consistency with the anime in the first place, that basically left the anime staff at a complete loss as to how. Interviews with the anime staff on the matter have all graciously stated that this kind of thing is probably just inevitable when you have a media mix, and, putting Bandai’s known history of being completely unhelpful about this issue in every way imaginable aside, this is probably true to at least some extent (as long as two branches of a media mix are being planned simultaneously, it’s very unlikely they’ll be perfectly consistent with each other).

As a result, the anime staff started making repeated attempts to find a way to fit Ryou in the plot somehow, but the problem is that the games themselves didn’t really give them a lot to work with, and Ryou didn’t even have much of what you could call a characterization in said games (again, it’s all in the realm of where you’re supposed to be filling in the blanks imagining what he’s like). The first known appearance is Ryou (in Turkey, for some reason) sending an email to Taichi and Koushirou in the Diablomon fight in Our War Game! (This was probably just intended as a “cute reference” at the time, but starts posing problems for Tag Tamers later; see below.)

After that, the staff started discussing making Ryou the central character of the summer 02 movie, presumably because the “self-contained” nature of a movie would allow for them to explore Ryou without interfering with the main series too much, and it would have also given them the opportunity to expand on his relation to Ken’s backstory -- but the plotline of the movie ended up rejected for being too depressing for a summer movie, we ended up getting Hurricane Touchdown instead, and Ryou ended up only getting his short 02 cameos in episodes 23 and 43. (Amusingly, if the original plan for the movie with Ryou had gone through, Ryou would have likely been Terriermon’s partner instead of Wallace.)

It does seem that, as part of planning, the anime staff and Bandai had firmly agreed that Ken’s backstory would be related to a game tie-in, so that part was non-negotiable even if the movie with Ryou was scrapped. In fact, in real life, the game in question, Tag Tamers, was released right before 02 episode 21 aired -- meaning audiences would get a taste of the knowledge that Ken was, indeed, originally a good-natured and kind young child who fell victim to dark forces before it was formally revealed in the anime. So when the relevant scene in 02 episode 23 aired, the kids could point at the screen and go “I remember that!!”, and they’d have extra information about Millenniummon’s role in Ken’s downfall to work with as the plot went on. As you can imagine, very fun for the kids.

However, if you look into it closely, despite it apparently being important for Ken’s backstory, Tag Tamers...doesn’t make sense with the anime, and despite what a lot of people like to claim about it being “necessary” to understand what was going on with Ken, it actually makes it even more confusing:

According to the game, Ken and Ryou were sucked into the Digital World after witnessing the Diablomon incident together, but this contradicts Ryou’s depiction in Our War Game!, Ken getting depicted as going in and out of the Digital World alone in the 02 episode 23 flashback, and Ken’s statement that his encounter with Digimon was in August 2000 (long after the Diablomon incident in March 2000!) in 02 episode 33.

Ken is characterized in ways that would make the emotional backdrop of his backstory in 02 completely fall apart. The game has him recognized as as “boy genius” even at that point in time (the fact that Osamu was and Ken wasn’t is vital to backstory), his room is full of toys and sports equipment when Ken and Osamu’s room conspicuously lacking anything that allowed them to be “normal kids” informs their characters, Wormmon doesn’t even call Ken “Ken-chan” despite that being vital to their relationship...

Ken is a year older in the game than he was during his initial Digital World trip in the 02 episode 23 flashback, and considering Ken coming back to the real world alone and clearly not gravely ill is a major plot point, him making only one trip to the Digital World doesn’t quite make sense.

The epilogue of the game depicts Ken clearly remembering Millenniummon when declaring himself the Digimon Kaiser, but that would open up a huge can of worms regarding the Kaiser’s depiction in 02.

One game later, in D-1 Tamers, the young Ken has an almost naively chipper attitude towards Ryou apparently vanishing off the face of the planet, and he tells Gennai to “cheer up” because Ryou will definitely come back, in such an insensitive manner that a Japanese Let’s Player called the game’s Ken “irresponsible”.

To be blunt about it, it seems the only information Bandai and Toei had in common was that Ken was a good kid in the past who met Wormmon in the Digital World and fell into darkness after a piece of Millenniummon lodged into him, and everything else is contradictory!

Ryou in Tamers

Nevertheless, Ryou didn’t really show up in 02, so there was still a stake on Bandai’s part (and by extension, on the part of anime producer Seki Hiromi, whose job description also involved representing Bandai’s wishes for the anime staff) to actually get him in the anime this time, so when things rolled around to Tamers the attempt was made again. The problem was, Tamers was not in the same universe in Adventure, and so far, Ryou had only appeared in games that were (ostensibly) in the Adventure universe.

The full details of the story behind how Ryou ended up the way he was portrayed in Tamers came from a blog post by Konaka from 2021 (which I will not be linking here for various reasons, but savvy people can probably find the post themselves). The events went as follows:

Seki decided to have Ryou appear in the Digital World arc, feeling it would be best to have him in the Digital World due to Tamers being, in her words, "a meta-Adventure" (basically, she felt the Digital World arc would be a better place to put a meta element like Ryou rather than one of the real world parts of the story)

Konaka agreed to it at first, knowing he was working with a media mix franchise and this came with the territory (and Ryou’s presence in Tamers was determined before he even joined the staff), but later learned about what the games entailed and realized this risked having to connect with the Adventure universe when the whole point was that they weren’t the same universe

Konaka decided to avoid the topic of bringing in his history with Ken since that would (rather understandably) make things overcomplicated

...so basically, the decision on how to address Ryou’s presence in the Tamers universe on the part of the anime staff was just to not deal with it at all.

According to Konaka, while Ryou’s Tamers characterization isn’t necessarily meant to contradict the WonderSwan games, he still focused on making Ryou a character more for Tamers than anything else. Ryou’s status as a “legendary Tamer” is obviously a wink and a nod to the games (and, of course, a way to appease all the fans who would murder if Ryou were portrayed as anything less, kind of like how Pokémon fans would also murder if you insinuate that Red is anything less than the world’s coolest badass), but it also comes from Konaka himself -- he was apparently inspired by the character of Tuttle from the movie Brazil, in that he showed up in the Digital World before them and was a super awesome senior who showed everyone up by being badass. As for Ryou’s characterization, Konaka let Yoshimura Genki (the writer for his first episode) basically handle his entire characterization, which was also heavily inspired by his voice actor Kanemaru Junichi having a similar “refreshing” personality. The part about his antagonistic relationship with Ruki apparently came from simple logical inference that if he were an accomplished Tamer, he must have met Ruki at some point, and they probably wouldn’t get along, and so on and so forth.

So as you can see, the Tamers writing staff really wrote Ryou as a Tamers character more than they did a character from the WonderSwan games, but they also deliberately left enough doors open so they wouldn’t incur a direct contradiction. And, again, you can tell that Bandai never really gave them a Ryou characterization to work with in the first place -- it’s apparent Ryou would have had different characterization if he’d been in the 02 summer movie as originally planned, or not voiced by Kanemaru.

True to form, Bandai’s next two games sort of seemed to explain how Ryou jumped universes; D-1 Tamers depicts Ryou getting recruited into a fake tournament by the (uncharacteristically jerkass-like) Adventure kids and set to fight against Millenniummon again, which blows them through the multiverse. One game later, in Brave Tamer, an amnesiac Ryou engages in a battle with Millenniummon across the multiverse (including the Tamers universe) and even partners up with a Monodramon, who forces a Jogress between himself and Millenniummon to end the battle once and for all, the idea being that he’ll counter Millenniummon’s endless hate for his rival Ryou with his own love for Ryou, resulting in an egg that we’re probably supposed to assume will eventually hatch into Tamers!Cyberdramon. (Contrary to popular English-speaking fandom rumor, there is no indication Millenniummon was ever Ryou’s partner besides in this way.) So that explains everything, right?

...Not really.

Brave Tamer ends in a cliffhanger of sorts. It doesn’t explain whether Ryou ever gets his memories back. It doesn’t explain where Ryou goes after that. It definitely does not explain how this is supposed to lead up to Ryou having a dad in Fukuoka or a multiple-year career in the Digimon card game, nor the fact that the backstory for Ryou and Cyberdramon in Message in the Packet doesn’t match the above at all...I mean, it’s probably theoretically possible to come with an explanation, but it will definitely make your head hurt. And then to make things worse, in 2002 V-Tamer had a crossover chapter with Ryou, and his personality is in stark contradiction with the Tamers version (in that he’s portrayed as an argumentative hot-blooded protagonist type), probably because, again, the games never actually gave Ryou a characterization, and Yabuno and Izawa were probably just using their own interpretation of what he must have been like in the games.

So are all of these versions of Ryou the same character?

The official stance is technically yes, but...

In an (extremely infamous) interview from 2002, Seki confirmed that 02 and Tamers Ryou are indeed intended to be taken as the same character. The thing is, almost everyone on the Japanese end, and by that I mean including Adventure/02 and Tamers staff, has called bullshit on this, or has at least been really shocked that this is apparently supposed to be the case (for example, Kakudou himself saying in 2003 that he was still shocked about that). The Japanese wiki article for Ryou on Pixiv immediately follows Seki’s statement up with the observation that this doesn’t make sense. However, vague wording from staff since then has also hinted at the real reason Seki said this: because she has to represent Bandai’s wishes for the anime staff (and vice versa), she probably had no other choice, because Bandai made D-1 Tamers and Brave Tamer under the obvious premise they’re supposed to be the same character, so she has to deliver their viewpoint regardless of how much sense that makes or not. (Otherwise, she’d be basically telling the public that the games are wrong, and Bandai would obviously not be happy with that.) In the aforementioned 2021 blog post, Konaka admitted that his choice to dodge the topic of Ken in the course of Ryou’s Tamers portrayal probably contributed to forcing Seki to give that very forced explanation.

Although the Japanese fanbase still likes Ryou and the games, most people on that end generally don’t really treat them as the same character, and the aforementioned Pixiv wiki’s suggestion is that you treat them like different timeline possibilities of the same character akin to Ultraman’s “parallel isotopes”. Ryou is still clearly canon to 02, and canon to Tamers, and nobody disputes that, but the part that's more uncertain is whether the events of the WonderSwan games themselves are canon to Adventure/02/Tamers or whether it's more of a "broad strokes" thing (or in other words, something mostly resembling what happened in the games is canon to Adventure, 02, and Tamers, but it can’t be precisely the same way with the exact same presentation because there would be massive logical contradictions).

Pixiv’s stance is that Ryou’s background in the games is “somewhat parallel” to 02 (a shorthand way of saying “treat it as if it’s canon AU, but something close to its events did happen in the original timeline”), and for the most part I generally feel like I’ve seen people approach Tamers!Ryou somewhat differently than they do the original WonderSwan Ryou. Personally, I’ve already written about the arbitrariness of “canon” in Digimon, how official stance has always been “everything is canon regardless of how much sense that makes”, and how individual fans will have to decide their own stances on each issue for themselves. The WonderSwan games are only the first in a long line of things that make Digimon fold on itself in terms of canon, so the best thing to do is just accept that Bandai and Toei probably aren’t interested in making any more clear statements on the matter, and figure it out for yourself.

[rayfollowsfromhere]

Crossing the River (KotM #1)

I have been working on a story line for my Kingdom of the Mountain characters, attempting to weave a plot against their wishes (or so it often feels). At the very least, it'll let me introduce the characters and play with them a bit. Never a bad use of time in my opinion. They're coming out a bit like interconnected scenes or drabbles. Here's the first installment.

It is also available on my patreon, where the second installment just went live for patrons.

-.-.-

His breath echoed through the trees, as loud as his steps on the ground as he ran. There was blood in his mouth. His vision was blurry.

They just had to make it past the river.

Chana was heavy on his back. Her dead weight slipping to one side or another every time he stepped wrong. He'd tied her hands together with a ribbon to loop them over his neck. The bruise on his neck would be well worth it if Kano could keep her safe.

"Almost there," he swallowed down his next breath as the sound of rushing water met his ears.

A thunk sounded and out of the corner of his eye Kano saw the arrow embed itself in the tree to his right. He held tighter to Chana, pushing himself to run faster. His lungs ached. The air felt like fire licking at his insides.

Another arrow sliced through the air beside his head. Kano felt the blood on his cheek as he twisted to the side, feet tangling together before he caught himself on a tree. He took cover behind it as a barrage of arrows crashed into the ground.

The dense foliage was no longer troubling their aim. Soon the arrows would be replaced by swords. Or worse.

They weren't going to make it to the river.

"Come out thief!" the captain of the band of soldiers called out as they approached.

Kano pursed his lips and then shifted around to lean Chana back against a tree trunk. Her soul hadn't returned yet. He pulled on the ribbon and the knot holding her hands came free.

She couldn't protect herself, not like that. Kano gulped. He wasn't exactly protection. But... he could be distracting.

Reaching a hand towards his neck, Kano grabbed hold of the charm hanging there. His mother's sigil, cast in iron the night he was born. Eyes squeezed shut, he whispered a prayer to the mountain.

Don't let this come to bloodshed.

He stepped out from behind the tree, snaking his way through the forest till he stood before the captain. The man's chin rose high and his eyes fluttered as Kano appeared before him.

"Hiding in the trees? I thought you were braver than that, coward."

Looking pointedly at the man's shield, the king's name pressed into the metal pinned to his chest, "Hiding behind the law, I thought you were better than that, captain."

Captain Milo was no stranger to Kano. He'd been the one to recruit Kano to the king's legion as a healer. He was no stranger to Kano's village either.

"I won't let you take the witch beyond the river," Milo raised his sword. The blade was aimed at Kano's heart. "Hand her over and I'll let you cross."

Kano chuckled. His face was bloodied and bruised. One eye swollen nearly shut. His hair was a tangled mess of black strands matted with blood.

"You're in no position to negotiate, Kano," Milo stepped forward with a snarl. His blade moved to rest against his chest.

"Then why are you negotiating at all?" Kano ignored the sword, focused his shaking gaze on Milo.

They both knew Kano was no match for him, even on his best day, which this certainly wasn't. Milo pursed his lips, eyes narrowing, "Don’t throw your life away for her, she isn't worth it."

"I'm not," Kano stood firm, "But she is."

A bird squawked above them. Milo looked up. His head hit the ground.

Kano stumbled back as a man rushed forward. A blur of black hair and brown clothes. The short blades in his hand sliced through the air as he danced around the remaining members of Milo's party.

They fell, one by one, with their weapons half-drawn. The smell of burning flesh rose in the air. Not a single drop of blood dripped from their bodies.

"You know..." the man sighed, tossing his hair back as he approached Kano with a smile, "...when your mom said you don't fight, I didn't think she meant to the death."

"Uncle Taerus," Kano breathed out as he looked up at the man. He was clad in leather armor. His blades weren't in his hands, but they were red from the heat of his palms all the same.

Taerus had palms as black and burnt as wood in a fire. He smelled faintly of ash. Kano had never seen him when he wasn't smiling.

"Let's get you home, eh, Kano?" Taerus quirked his head towards the river. His blades snapping back into their holsters with a click as Taerus dropped his arms to his side. Kano nodded and scrambled to his feet.

Chana was groggy, head lulling to the side, but she could stand on her own two feet. Kano helped her across the river, the hem of her dress catching in the water. She sighed as the current slid around her feet.

A sizzle rose up as Taerus crossed. He hummed, unbothered by the steam rising around him.

"Last time I saw you two..." Taerus snorted, shaking his head, "...actually, I can't even remembered when I last saw you."

"The spring festival," Chana croaked, tongue swiping over her cracking lips.

Kano nodded, one arm wrapped around Chana's waist as she leaned heavily on him for support. He looked up at Taerus as he walked backwards in front of them, "We were twelve. You bought us ale."

"Oh yeah." Taerus cringed, brow furrowing, "You think your mother will remember that?"

"Yes." Kano and Chana answered in tandem. Taerus pouted, spinning on his heels to walk forward. The gate to the village was rising on the horizon and there was a figure waiting just beyond.

Taeshi was not someone anyone kept waiting. Not if they knew what was good for them anyway.

[morkhan]

Will Byers is Gay: The Evidence So Far

With the release of Stranger Things 3, there has been a lot of discussion kicked up about the character of Will Byers and his sexuality (or lack thereof). I've seen a lot of takes about what "it's not my fault you don't like girls" was intended to mean, many of which seem to take it in isolation, so I wanted to make a post putting it into what I think is its proper context; not an isolated incident, but the latest carriage in veritable train of queer themed language and imagery that has followed Will Byers since episode one of season one, and before that. You ready? Alright, let's go.

Season Zero: the Montauk Files

Before Stranger Things became Stranger Things, it was called Montauk. Like many would-be show makers, the Duffer Bros put together a "show bible" describing the premise, setting, tone, and characters of the show they intended to make. Like many shows, a lot of these ideas changed or were lost on their way to the screen, but it's always worth looking into their original concepts. Here is their description of Will Byers in the Montauk show bible:

Obviously, the major whammy there is in the first line "sexual identity issues." But there are some other interesting notes, like his "colorful clothes" that you might want to keep a lookout for on your next rewatch. Now, onto...

Season 1

The thing to pay attention to regarding Will in season 1 is in the language used to refer to him when he is not present (which he isn't for most of the season).

Episode 1: the subject of bullying comes up right away in the conversation between Joyce and Hopper. "The kids, they're mean. They laugh at him, laugh at his clothes, call him names." "What's wrong with his clothes?" "I don't know!" This harkens back to the Montauk show bible, but it's arguable, since it's never made clear what about his clothes draws ire.

She also mentions that he is "sensitive," "not like most," and that his dad said he was "queer" and called him a "fag." Hopper asks "is he?" to which she replies "He's missing is what he is!"

Episode 3: Troy says he's not missing, he's dead. "Probably killed by some other queer."

Episode 4: Troy, again "Will's in fairyland, flying around with all the other little fairies, all happy and gay."

Sensitive, queer, fag, fairy, and gay are all used to describe Will in season 1, but perhaps more notable is the fact that they aren't used to describe anyone else. If the show were truly period accurate, let's be real; the whole party would've been called queers on a pretty regular basis, because "queer" doubled as a generic insult back then. But in season 1, these words are only ever used in relation to Will, with one exception; in episode 6, Steve says to Will's brother, "I used to think you were queer." So it's not even an active accusation in that moment; it's used in the negative.

Hell, Troy walked up to Lucas mockingly proposing to Mike and proclaiming his love for him, and he still didn't call them queers. That language is reserved for Will.

Now granted, most of these are used as insults by characters who don't like Will, but still; as a writer, if you want your audience to remember something, repetition is an excellent way to embed it in their minds. There's a reason for the specificity of language surrounding Will, and a reason that language keeps coming up over and over and over again.

Season 2

Season 2 retires much of the homophobic language used to insult Will, replacing it with "Zombie Boy." The only homophobic language used in season 2 is the word "faggot," used by Billy's father to refer to Billy, who expresses a clear interest in women (and an arguable interest in one particular man, but that's the subject of another post).

Still, there is an arguable bit of queer theming in Will's conversation with Jonathan regarding the benefits of being a "freak" and how normal people never accomplish anything. Jonathan even invokes bisexual icon David Bowie to make Will feel better about his "freakishness."

The clearest piece of queer theming for Will in season 2 comes in episode 8, in this beautiful speech from Joyce to Possessed Will:

"When you turned eight, I gave you that huge box of crayons, do you remember that? It was 120 colors. And all your friends got you Star Wars toys, but all you wanted to do was draw with all your new colors. And you drew this big spaceship, but it wasn't from a movie. It was YOUR spaceship; a RAINBOW Ship, that's what you called it. And you, you must have used every color in the box. I took that with me to Melvald's, and I put it up. I told everyone who came in, 'My son drew this.' And you were so embarrassed, but I was so proud. I was so, so proud."

This is one of the most powerful memories of her son that Joyce has, an image so strong and distinct that she uses it to invoke his true identity against the monster that is slowly subsuming him. She notes very specifically that it's not something he copied, but something that came entirely from Will himself, an image that she felt represented him so perfectly that she took it with her to work and proudly touted it as his to everyone she knew. The Rainbow Ship is Joyce's picture of her son's very heart, and surely I don't need to explain to you how powerful a piece of queer imagery the rainbow is.

Some subtextual stuff; in episode 9, when the girl asks Will to dance, he stammers "I... I don't..." and only goes to dance with her when Mike literally pushes him towards her.

During the final montage, the scene cuts to different characters in time with appropriate lines from the song: "every move you make" cuts to Mike and El (as he is teaching her to dance), "every vow you break" cuts to Nancy dancing with Dustin (as she technically cheated on Steve with Jonathan), "I'll be watching you" cuts to Lucas dancing with Max (as she has playfully called him 'stalker' all season). What line cuts to Will? "Every smile you fake," specifically on the word fake, while Will dances with a girl wearing this expression:

That is not a real smile, that is not a comfortable boy, and that is not an accident; Noah Schnapp is one of the best actors in the entire show, and of the young boys, he is the one the Duffers trust most to do dramatic heavy lifting.

Do you want it to be a little more explicit? Okay, here is that scene in the script:

I mean, that pretty much speaks for itself. It's less explicit in the actual show, but it's still there, you know?

Season 3

And now, the biggest and most explicit thing to date; The Scene. I mean, you could discuss the obvious subtext in the simple fact that Will is the only male main character who has yet to find a girlfriend or express any interest in girls whatsoever, but that pales in comparison to The Scene.

The setup for The Scene is pretty simple; after declaring "a day free of girls" in order to get his friends to run the D&D campaign he's probably spent a significant amount of time creating, his friends have blown him off to continue bemoaning their girl troubles, so Will has decided to leave. Mike, realizing too late that he has genuinely upset his friend, chases after him to try and get him to come back.

A back-and-forth argument ensues, where Will accuses Mike of ruining the party and abandoning his friends in favor of girls, and Mike, in the heat of the moment, responds with "It's not my fault you don't like girls!" After which, everything stops. There is a full second of silence, and a close up on Noah Schnapp's face so you can take in his reaction.

There is a lot to unpack here. Now, acting is up to interpretation to a degree, but to me, that expression conveys two primary emotions; shock, and betrayal. That face says "how could you?" Because here's the thing; regardless of what Mike does or doesn't know about Will's sexuality, Mike knows for a fact that Will has been called a queer all his life by everyone from his school bullies to his own fucking dirtbag father. By invoking even the specter of that, Mike has crossed a fucking line, and he knows it. And we know he knows it, because he immediately backtracks and tries to mitigate the damage. But it's too late. The damage has been done.

I also think there is a tinge of fear in that image. Just a moment of soul raking panic that pretty much every closeted queer person knows intimately. It's very brief. But I think it's there, if you look.

This scene sends Will into an emotional tailspin that culminates in him tearing down the literal last bastion of his childhood in a fit of sorrow and rage. His innocence has been destroyed. He cannot regain what he has lost, and he can never go back to the way things were before. This is the emotional climax of his arc for season three. It's a powerful one-- shame it comes in the third of eight episodes, but that's neither here nor there.

And that's pretty much it for now. Any one of these things taken in isolation could be very easily dismissed, but here's the thing; they aren't isolated incidents. They are part of a clear and consistent pattern, one that goes all the way back to the show's inception, before even one minute of footage was filmed. And this pattern points to one very obvious conclusion; the Duffer Brothers have always intended, and continue to intend, for Will Byers to be gay.

Now, for the obvious question; why haven't they made it explicit yet?

The answer is as unfortunate as it is obvious; I don't know.

It's entirely possible that there is some external force that the Duffers have to answer to that is preventing them from actively pursuing this particular storyline. This happens all the time in Hollywood, and it could be anything from Netflix to Noah Schnapp's parents to Noah Schnapp himself just being uncomfortable with it. Many are the creators who dream Big Gay Dreams only to run into the horrors of our Forced Hetero Reality. If the Duffers ultimately submit to these pressures, I hope you won't be too hard on them. This shit is harder than you think to get to the screen sometimes.

But it's also possible that they just aren't ready for it yet. That they have been saving this for a future storyline, that they just want their characters (and the actors) to get a little older before they pursue this particular storyline explicitly, but they've been busily laying groundwork for it so that anyone paying attention will know it's coming.

I don't know. Only time will tell for sure.

For now, I can tell you this; I see a great deal of evidence that the Duffers still intend for Will to be gay, and precisely zero that they have changed their minds.

I hope that holds true.

[oncerpotter2018]

My Thoughts On Attack on Titan Season 4 Part 1 (SPOILERS)

I'd convinced my sister to watch Attack On Titan with me and soon she and I were hooked and dragged into the world of the Titans. What we weren't prepared for was the many moral and philosophical decisions we would also have to make while watching this show. My sister had never seen Attack on Titan before and it was her first time watching it. And as she watched more of it the more we zoomed pasted the seasons. Along the way I cried but it wasn't until I we watched Season 4 that the really water works started.

When we finally gotten to watch the back story of those we didn't know about. We had gotten to know about the people over the sea. How these people were nothing but human. Both Eldians and Marley. Everyone had their own stories, dreams and hopes. I cried when I found out that Reiner, Annie, Bertrolt were just children used to find the Founding Titan and broke through Wall Maria. They were children of war, made to believe that beyond the walls that they live in were their enemies. That in the island of Paradie, they were told they were the "devils" and told they were bad people.  I understood the pains of all of them. And from the beginning I too judged Annie, Bertrolt and even Reiner for what they've done but after knowing where they were from, what they were taught and what they have seen, I felt sorry for them. They didn't know better, they only were meant to believe what they know because others told them too. Fear of the unknown lead them astray and led them on the wrong path. Both sides of the ocean were living in fear and acted upon it with hatred. Its this action that will eventually kill humanity in the end.

When it came to Sasha's death, I cried. I didn't want her to die. And a bit of me wanted to rip Gabi apart but I understand why she killed her. I may still not forgive her but I am not going to pull her down to the depths of hell for something she didn't understand. She only saw what Sasha did and acted upon it as she was taught. A life for a life. Gabi let her hate and anger and fear take control and she became what Eren had become. She had abandoned all of her moral judgment and humanity and all was left was the monster. She tainted her heart and turned it black as coal. She saw the only means of seeking justice was through bloodshed. She was blinded by what she thought was right, that the ideology she had spent her whole life being taught was true. What she didn't relaised was the human side of Sasha. The funny side, the goofy side, the bright sunshine who loved to eat a lot. She didn't gave them a chance to show that they aren't a threat. She pays for that heavy burden. It wasn't until she met Sasha's family that she finally realised all she believed and what she had been taught was a lie. And yet she still refused to see the truth because the lies she had been fed with had been embed in her mind corrupting her heart and soul.

There were so many other moments of humanity being as cruel and as unkind. It felt like nothing has changed. Even today, we still live in fear of the unknow. Shove people away because they are different. Put "walls" to keep people away. We a blind of others and like the Marley and Eldians, we are only taught what we want to hear not what we are meant to be told. The whole 16 episodes so far taught me that humans are the most dangerous animals of all, hate and fear will always be with us. We'll never see eye to eye. And countless more people will die through our ignorance and fear. Its this that makes this season for me so human, so down to reality and how much it can relate back to our own modern times. There will be people who will betray us, try to push us away or bring us down because we're not like the rest but somehow, we must push forward no matter what.

There's something about understanding how everyone feels and how they view each other. How it relates back to our own society. We place invisible walls up so we don't talk to each other. We judge other people before we get to know them, we all ready judge their character without seeing their faces or get to know them as a person. Its the same with both sides, one side sees them as the devils, the other sees them as monsters. But the harsh reality is that they are both in the wrong. There is no good or bad people, no heroes or villains, there is just humanity. Eren became the monster he hated the most. They thought he was humanity last hope but what they didn't know, and I'm quoting my sister here, is that inside that Titan was a human being. A human being with emotions, a human being with a heart. It's a human being who can feel anger, pain and hurt and fear. It's a human being who can be just as destructive without being a Titan. He is the human being who can hurt his friends. Take away what little trust they have left in him. Eren, from my understanding, became who he was because he just wanted to be free. Free from the suffering and pain and anger and hatred. He just wanted take it all back but his ideology is not maybe in the right place.

Speaking of Eren, when Connie asked why did Eren laughed when he mentioned that the last words Sasha spoke was meat. I get it now. He laughed because at the mention of the word meat took him back at the time when she took the meat from the store room. He remembered how her dream was to live through his hell so they start a farm. It was the shock and the memories of the old days that made him laugh. I didn't feel like it was cruel laugh, it felt like a laugh of denial and hurt and disbelief. It was the kind of laughter from the shock of the realisation that Sasha could no longer achieve her dream. I know this because I laughed too. I was sitting alone on my bed and thought about the exact memory and suddenly I found my self laughing. Laughing how silly it was to be crying because deep down she isn't dead, that she'll live her dream. But I know she is somewhere up there now, eatting all she could.

Then there's Levi. The man who always remained strong, saw his comrades transform infront of his very eyes. I have never seen that look in his eyes before, its fear and yet it is also pitty. Its the "I'm sorry, its my fault" look. It was a tough decision for him, but he had to make the sacrifice. He had to make the hard choice evne if it means to lose those closest to him. I really hope Levi is alright. I hope at least he survives because he isn't called humanity's stronger solider for nothing.

So, in the end of watching all 16 episodes so far, I thought I whatever may come next, I know I'll end up crying once more. Know more people will die and it will be all over soon. And to end the story means that there's still a new beginning to go. I hope that there'll be a time when humanity will be free from hate and pain but only time will tell. All I can say is that this first half of the season ended with so many more questions then answers and I seriously wish winter 2022 would come soon.