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starbornvalkyrie · 4 years

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soccer moms | a next-gen nessian one-shot

A/N: i was going to keep this a headcannon but felt the energy to push this into a one-shot. it's written in the POV of Cassian's 16 1/2 year old daughter...and i'll leave it at that (;

my original headcannon: Cassian is the "you're doing great, sweetie!" kind of dad, while Nesta is the "you didn't get hit that hard, get back up!" kind of mom

Joana Soldato loves her father. The kind of all-consuming, unconditional love a girl reserves for that special person in her life. It had been the two of them since she was born - her mother died during childbirth - and she’s never had a better friend than her dad. She doesn’t know a time he hasn’t been there for her. He has always been her number one supporter, and she absolutely loves it.

Most of the time.

“Gooo, Jo! You’re doing so great, sweetie! That’s my daughter! Right there on the bench with the water bottle! You do that hydrating, Number 7!! Go, Jo! Go, Jo! Go, Jo!” Her dad’s booming voice somehow has the ability to reach the team’s bench from the bleachers on the other side of the soccer field.

Mentioning her dad is the Cassian Soldato, Commander of the Prythian Air Force, usually elicits looks of awe and reverence. “Oh, how special it must be to be his daughter,” they say. Oh, it’s special alright. Those people have obviously never been to a Prythian High soccer game.

Joana did her best to ignore him, fixing her attention on the girl running off the field to sit next to her on the bench. Joana handed her a water bottle and waited until she drank two large gulps before snatching it back. Francesca Archeron - Cheska to everyone she dubs worthy enough - is the biggest pain in her ass. Her skills on the field are the only ones that rival Joana’s, and this year their rivalry meant something: becoming Captain of the Prythian High girls varsity soccer team.

As a soccer player, Joana hated Cheska with everything she had.

As an only child, she was also her best friend. After her dad, of course.

“Damn, Jo. Your dad’s really going at it today.” Joana risked a glance in her dad’s direction. Even though she couldn’t actually see them, she knew the exact moment her hazel eyes locked with his. He immediately started screaming for Joana, jumping up and down, jostling parents around him. It was so like him to make a scene even when she wasn’t even playing.

Joana looked back at her friend and said, “Yeah, well, at least my dad supports me. When you bumped heads with that Hybern mid last week, she yelled at you for having a mild concussion.” Cheska winced but her eyes shone with delight.

“But at least my mom has some air of dignity. Your dad looks like he’s a kid in a bounce house,” she retorted.

They laughed and turned back to the parents on the bleachers. Their laughs faded, and they watched in horror as Cassian Soldato - the most feared, strict, and rigid commander on Prythian Air Force Base - tripped over his own feet, spilling the container of nachos he was holding all over the woman in front of him.

The two girls stood up, horror morphing into amusement, as Nesta Archeron started cursing and yelling at Joana’s dad so loudly that the opposing team’s goalie got distracted. One of the team’s star forwards, Vanessa, took the opportunity and shot the ball into the upper left corner of the net, winning the game for Prythian High.

Joana did her due diligence and cheered with her team but didn’t linger after shaking hands with the other team. She immediately made a beeline for her dad, Cheska trailing behind her. But as they got to the bleachers, they realized their parents were nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe Aunt Nes went to clean up in the bathroom?” Joana asked her best friend.

Cheska just nodded and they made their way in that direction, random people shouting, “Great game, ladies!” as they went. They were almost at the public restrooms when a girl with bright red hair called after them, “Hey Joana! Francesca! Congratulations, I’m so happy for you guys!”

Confused, Joana replied, “Uh… thanks? What for? We’re only halfway through the season still.”

The red-head, Malia Vanserra - Lucien Vanserra’s daughter - furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about? I was congratulating your guys’ parents! How long have they been together?”

Cheska and Joana stared at Malia, mouths hanging open, completely dumbfounded. Cassian Soldato and Nesta Archeron were not together. Her whole life, Aunt Nesta and her dad were at each other’s throats. They’ve had Friday night dinners with Aunt Nesta’s sisters and their families every single week since before Joana was born, and almost every single dinner has had at least one argument between her dad and Aunt Nes.

Joana looked at her best friend and found a matching look of disbelief and wariness on her face. Malia is not a credible source of information. Her dad is okay, but she’s extremely close to Lucien’s best friend, Tamlin I-Don’t-Even-Know-His-Last-Name-Nor-Do-I-Care-To. Their parents have always warned them to stay away from Tamlin, and for good reason. It seems his manipulative nature has rubbed off on his “niece”.

“That’s really funny, Malia. Everyone knows our parents hate each other. Did you not see my dad spill nachos all over Aunt Nesta?”

Malia only smirked, crossed her arms, and began walking away. Joana thought that was the end of that, but at the last second, Malia called over her shoulder, “Might wanna hurry to the women’s restroom, then.”

Joana met Cheska’s eyes and asked, What the fuck? In that special telepathic way they’ve perfected since they learned to talk. They continued their way to the restrooms, walking a little faster than before. When they finally made it, no one was near the sinks, but there was the unmistakable sound of people making out coming from the largest stall.

Cheska gagged, and Joana barked out a laugh. The kissing noises ceased.

Cheska, always the one to fill a silence, called, “Mom? Are you okay? Do you need help getting cheese out of your hair?”

Joana stifled her laugh, waiting to see how they were going to respond. There was inaudible whispering coming from the stall, no doubt an argument about what to do next. In the end, Joana had to guess that Aunt Nesta won because the stall unlocked and opened. Her dad walked out first, rubbing the back of his neck, staring at the floor.

Cassian stopped just outside of the stall, which pissed off Aunt Nesta. She shoved him out the rest of the way, and said, “Hey, girls.”

“Mom? Uncle Cassian? What? How? Since when? Why didn’t you tell us? Uncle Cass?” Cheska blurted.

Undeterred by her daughter’s rapid fire questioning and the congealed cheese still stuck on the top of her head, Aunt Nesta replied, “I know how this looks, but we were waiting for the right time to tell you.” She elbowed Joana’s dad, prompting him to elaborate. He finally looked at Joana. The hazel eyes that were twin to her own, but Joana was surprised to find her father’s were filled with wary sadness.

“Jo…” He crossed the floor and took her by the hands. “Sweetheart, it’s been you and me against the world for so, so long. You obviously know I’ve dated here and there since, since your mom, but nothing serious. But this? What I’ve just begun with your Aunt Nesta--” He glanced over his shoulder at the woman in question. The corner of her mouth turned up ever so slightly, encouraging him. “What we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of, this is serious.”

He paused to take a steadying breath. Voice thick with emotion, he continued, “I know how much you’ve always wanted to have a mom, and with how close you are to Cheska, I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” Joana didn’t even realize she was crying until her dad reached up to cup her face in his big hands to wipe away a tear. “I don’t want to take that away from you again.”

“Dad.” He closed his eyes, and this time it was Joana’s turn to wipe his tears. “Daddy, I love you so, so much. All I’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy. I’ll admit that, yeah, I sometimes wish I had mom to teach me about my period, instead of my tough, macho dad.” He released a small laugh. “But like you said, it’s been you and me against the world for almost seventeen years. You’re all I’ve ever needed.” He finally looked back at her.

“You will always be it for me, dad. But I’ll be leaving for college in two years. You deserve someone to be it for you, too. And dad, come on. Aunt Nes?” Joana leaned in, and with a conspiratorial whisper, she said, “She’s way hotter than anyone else you’ve dated.”

This time, Cassian laughed that deep belly laugh she loved so much and wrapped her in a tight hug. After she caught her breath she said, “Seriously, dad. If Aunt Nesta makes you happy, I’m all for it.”

Over her dad’s shoulder, she saw Cheska walk towards her mother. “And you, mom? Does Uncle Cassian make you happy?”

Her dad put his arm around her shoulders, and turned around so he could look at Aunt Nesta. When she responded, their eye contact didn’t break. “Yeah. Yeah, he makes me very happy.”

Joana looked up at her father, her rock, her everything, and saw the goofiest grin she’s ever seen. Joana turned back to Cheska.

With her eyes, she asked, Well, what do you think?

Cheska’s face was thoughtful for a moment before she began to smile.

Her best friend nodded at her, and in perfect synchrony, they exclaimed, “WE’RE GONNA BE SISTERS!!”

---

here’s part two!

Written by: @starborn-faerie-queen

I don’t have a taglist for my one shots yet, but one day!

Let me know if you want more Joana and Cheska shenanigans!

#nessian #nessian fanfic #fanfiction #nesta archeron #cassian #next gen #my writing #sfq meg writes #a court of thorns and roses #a court of silver flames #sarah j maas

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takaraphoenix · 5 years

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Dr who for the ask game

Thanks for playing! This is also a big, fun one! :O (I do love that the majority of these asks hit target on my own biggest obsessions x3 We checked off like all the live action shows at this point, I think, the only things left are anime/animated xDDD)

Again with a cut due to the sheer size. ^^°°°

Top 5 favourite characters: CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, The Doctor, Yasmin Kahn

Other characters you like: Rory Williams Pond, Graham O’Brien, Mickey Smith, Bill Potts, Sarah Jane Smith, Craig Owens

Least favourite characters: Rose Tyler by a landslide

Otps: not realy any actual OTPs but ships I guess I’m fond of would be Vasta/Jenny and Rory/Amy

Notps: every ship involving the Doctor, because I just honestly find it weird and uncomfortable to look at the Doctor as a romantic or even worse yet sexual being, but most of all Doctor/Rose and Doctor/River, also Jack/Ianto

Favourite friendships: I am living for the current team dynamic, 13-Yaz-Graham-Ryan are really good but my forever favorite is the Doctor and Jack, also the best team-up was the Doctor with Donna and Martha, that was perfect

Favourite family: THE FAM! 13′s team

Favourite episodes:oooh mmh, I do have multiple favorites, so let’s do this!

Blink: it is such a good episode, there was a time I just popped that one in when I had 40 minutes to waste

Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords: for me personally, this is where Doctor Who peaked. My absolute favorite storyline and episodes and team-up - my favorite Doctor with BOTH my favorite companions in an episode with my favorite Master as the enemy. Amazing. There was a time when I would regularly rewatch this, just these three

Turn Left/The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End:Suuuch a satisfying conclusion for a four series plotline, all of the companions coming together like that? It was so good

The Lodger & Closing Time: I love Craig and I love how these two episodes switch things up!

Favourite season/book/movie: Rather obviously, series 3 - the return of Jack, the series where Martha is the companion, a series with my favorite Doctor and four of my favorite episodes in it!

Favourite quotes:THE ANGELS HAVE THE PHONE BOX! xD And the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff! I got that one on a necklace even! *laughs*

Best musical moment: uuurgh the soundtrack of this show is actually so good? I listened to it on a loop for years. Series 3 and 4 being my favorites, they make you feel things, man.

Moment that made you fangirl/boy the hardest: Just this series when Jack returned. And let me elaborate to just convey how hard I fangirled at that, because it wasn’t just “oh a fave!”.

You see, Jack is... kind of why I’m here? I watched the first series with my mother back when it started airing in Germany. But they kind of... stopped dubbing it and it stopped airing in Germany and eh, I was okay with it because this show seemed weird like they just switched out the actor of the MAIN CHARACTER who does that what the fuck and I really liked Jack but he was gone now too so oh well.

However, then I read online about how Jack was in series 3. So... I went online and Doctor Who is genuinely the first TV show I ever watched in English, because I wanted to see Jack but there was no dub.

Then series 3 ended and both Jack and Martha left and I was very meh because I remembered that this is the show that constantly replaces its whole cast.

You can probably guess what happened next, but Jack was in the finale of series 4. So I went back into Doctor Who, rewatched what there has been so far all the way up to the series 4 finale - and that was when I was sold, because holy shit even with the switching of companions, they just bring them back! They just brought them all back! That was such a good pay-off.

Ironically, that was when I actually stuck around and started watching the show in real time instead of waiting for the next Jack appearance to bring me back from hibernation. Ironically because - well, that was the last we saw of anyone. (Aside from 10 in the 50 year special.)

That hard, hard cut from 10 to 11, no return of any companions...

Needless to say that when 12 came and went with no care for anything pre-11, I kind of... came to accept that this was it. Especially when they announced yet another hard cut - as in Moffat would finally be replaced and with the new era, both a new Doctor and new companions - I was so sure we’d never get to see anyone from the old crew again.

So when, after literally ten years, Jack Harkness returned and was so... so... Jack, I made the loudest, most unholy sound and the excitement of them actually acknowledging that he would be back for more and he would be there when the Doctor needs him? Tears of joy.

(but aso pls #LetMarthaMeet13 okay? Okay)

When it really disappointed you:YOU’RE MAKING A 50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL. YOU HAVE SOOO MANY GOOD COMPANIONS. BUT. BUT YOU BRING NONE OF THEM BACK. ONLY ROSE TYLER’S FACE. OF ALL OF THE FACES. OF EVERYONE I COULD HAVE SEEN AGAIN IN THAT SPECIAL, IT HAD TO BE BILLIE PIPER’S MEDIOCRE ACTING. REALLY? REALLY??

Saddest moment: When 10 regenerated

Most well done character death: Surprisingly enough, this show makes me care even about the one episode characters to the degree that I find their deaths frustrating. It’s pretty good at character deaths overall

Favourite guest star: Does Craig Owens count? Because he only had two appearances in total. And the second one was genuinely a surprise to me; I was sure that The Lodger would be a stand-alone, never to be seen again kind of deal

Favourite cast member: John Barrowman! David Tennant! Freema Agyeman! I love all three of them and seeing them in other things always makes me really happy!

Character you wish was still alive: I mean, Bill. Can you imagine if the lesbian companion had gotten to meet 13?? Death :D

One thing you hope really happens: Martha. I mean, come on. Jack is back, Jack warned the Doctor, promised to be there when needed. There’s no way Jack lost contact with Martha and Mickey, even with those two off in space fighting aliens alone. I’d love for this... very, very big plotline that is currently happening to include the Doctor’s old friends coming back once more to help.

Most shocking twist: I mean... I mean it’s gotta be this series’ Surprise Origin Story. Like, I still can’t quite comprehend that one.

When did you start watching/reading?: As mentioned above, when it first started airing in Germany

Best animal/creature: Does the TARDIS count as a creature? Because then Sexy wins!

Favourite location: THE TARDIS. I wish they’d show it more often just casually. I wanna see the companions hang out in there, I wanna see their rooms, see that indoor pool and stuff

Trope you wish they would stop using: "OH NO THE DALEKS ARE STILL ALIVE AFTER THE LAST TIME I TRIED GENOCIDE ON THEM *gasp*”... Like. The very first time they brought them “back from the dead”, it was really cool because as a newbie you never met them before but you get they are important. Then they were wiped out. And then they returned again. And okay, sure. So they were wiped out again. And miraculously survied again.

Look, I get it. Doctor Who has three recurring entities in the villain gallery who are like... obligatory - the Master, the Daleks and the Cybermen. But for the love of everything, stop trying to show it as a “surprise twist” that the bad guy is a Dalek like we all knew they’re coming they’re the cockroaches of the universe, they ALWAYS surprise, stop acting like we should be shocked that they’re back again.

Every time, the Doctor goes Pikachu meme but with sad eyes and like just... have the Doctor groan, kick a Dalek and go “not you again”, instead of “how did you POSSIBLY survive THIS? :O” because after the sixth miracuous survival of a genocide, it stops being a surprise twist... -_-

One thing this show/book/film does better than others: Clearly something, because it has me come back for more like a masochist despite me being a character-driven viewer - me, abandoning the show after the first series was very in character, because I’m attached to characters and if you routinely replace all the characters, that’s... not really my thing. Somehow, this show defies the odds there

Funniest moments: JACK FLIRTING WITH PEOPLE AND THE DOCTOR GOING “NO STOP THAT!” xDDD

Couple you would like to see: NONE. NO ROMANCE. KEEP THAT SHIT OUT OF MY DW!!! Urgh. Just give me fun found family space adventures. I swear ever since the cast announcement I have had a twitchy eyebrow waiting if they’ll push for Ryan/Yaz and so far I am sooo glad they are NOT. I just... want friendship and space adventures, no fucking romance. At all. Not with the Doctor, not between companions. No drama

Actor/Actress you want to join the cast: ...to stay in character, I have to say Dominic Sherwood. Partially because I am obsessed with him, but also because I WANNA HEAR HIS BRITISH ACCENT FOR A WHOLE ASS SERIES PLEASE

I would also like to see the return of James Marsters though. Time Heist teased by showing his face and acknowledging his existence in Doctor Who (it’s not like DW has acknowledged a whole lot of Torchwood canon so far, considering the catastrophic events TW has dealt with without the Doctor...), so that had me kind of hopeful he may at least cameo for an episode...

Favourite outfit: I looove Martha’s red leather jacket and Jack’s coat

Favourite item: The chameleon device

Do you own anything related to this show/book/film?: *clears throat awkwardly* ...Yes?

a metro card holder thingy with the TARDIS on it,

an I pin I have on my pencil case,

a necklace with a miniature TARDIS,

a necklace with the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey quote in a swirl on it,

a necklace with a Weeping Angel pendant,

a mug with the 10th Doctor as a cat on it,

a lanyard with Police Call Box written all over and a miniature TARDIS dangling on it

a TARDIS dress,

a whoosh-sound making door opening TARDIS with size-fitting figures of the 10th Doctor, Jack, Martha, K9, Idris, 11, Rory and John Hart (it’s James Marsters’ pretty face, okay?),

a Funko Pop 10th Doctor,

another TARDIS but this one is smaller and can’t open,

a larger TARDIS that can open (and is the right size for my Doctor Whooves),

a Doctor Whooves (if that counts since he’s technically My Little Pony but also he’s the Doctor so like...),

a TARDIS-blue stuffed owl with Police Owl written on it,

the first four series on DVD,

a poster from the 50th Anniversary with the War Doctor walking away from an explosion and 10 and 11 on either side of him,

a pocket watch that is the chameleon device

What house/team/group/friendship group/family/race etc would you be in?: Mmmh I would like to be on the current team the most, I think? Generally speaking, their adventures were less intense than most others and I dig the family vibe

Most boring plotline: Boring, huh? There are always a couple stinkers, at least one in each series, but a really boring plotline was... Clara’s post-Impossible-Girl one. I LOVED her as the Impossible Girl, she was so interesting and I think that after she went into the Doctor’s timeline, the character should have been retired. Have her, I don’t know, dissolve there, since she is spread out through time. But that she stuck around was... not good, for her character? Her love drama with Danny was incredibly boring and not fun to watch (especially when she tried to kill the Doctor :D)

Most laughably bad moment: THAT FUCKING MOON EPISODE. THE FUCKING EPISODE WHERE THE FUCKING MOON TURNED INTO A FUCKING EGG AND AN ALIEN HATCHED TO THEN LAY A NEW MOON EGG IMMEDIATELY AFTER BEING BORN AND HUMANS JUST FUCKING SHRUGGED THAT SHIT OFF. Urgh. There are a lot of cringey things happening on this show, but this takes by far the crown. It was so stupid, so dumb, so ridiculous

Best flashback/flashfoward if any: Every time we learn more about the Doctor’s past *^*

Most layered character: I... I mean the Doctor. So many layers, so many lives, so many years

Most one dimensional character:Mh, this is harder... Among the not one-episode-off characters? I guess Nardole. Like, sure, good guy, but... not really all that deep that one

Scariest moment: Blink with the Weeping Angels. They lost A LOT of their scariness the more they were used - Moffat really overused them, in my opinion; they would have done better only appearing very rarely. But that first episode with them was just daaamn

Grossest moment: Cassandra?? Woman only made of skin?

Best looking male: CAPTAIN JACK HARKNESS

Best looking female: MARTHA JONES

Who you’re crushing on (if any): Martha Jones

Favourite cast moment: John and David being cute behind the scenes is always amazing, but the bes moment is definitely the 500 Miles video!

Favourite transportation: The TARDIS, that’s not even a question!

Most beautiful scene (scenery/shot wise): Whenever we get to see (not destroyed) Gallifrey? It’s so gorgeous??

Unanswered question/continuity issue/plot error that bugs you:SO MANY AFTER THAT LAST SERIES. But also things like: Where did Clara fuck off to in her flying diner? What exactly is Jack doing now that there is no Torchwood anymore? How in the world did Torchwood ever even work like how was the Doctor just never around during these gigantic problems?? WHO WAS THE DOCTOR’S FIRST WIFE? And what was the Doctor’s child like? Because the only one ever even mentioned is the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan, but a granddaughter implies one more generation between. WHERE IS JENNY? Since she is also the Doctor’s daughter but also just fucked off into space and like why is she not trying to track her parent down??

Best promo: I mean, it clearly works when they show me Jack’s face so that’d be it for me :D”

At what point did you fall in love with this show/book: At the series 4 finale, as above more elaborately explained

IN DEPTH FANDOM QUESTIONS

#Doctor Who #In-Depth Fandom Ask Game #send me asks #fantasylover16

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xtremedespair3d · 4 years

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HajiKo Anime: Winter-Spring 2020 + Summer First Impressions

I wasn’t willing to return to Tumblr to keep making these posts about my anime reviews which they’re the only thing I make because I was burned out on making them and I wanted to commit on writing my novel but I ended up abandoning it now because I was frustrated with everything about it, from harsh criticism I didn’t ask for to not figuring out the story well enough.

Then I tried to keep my reviews going by making threads on Twitter, but later I wasn’t satisfied with how they turned out nor like writing them because I was feeling limited, and I was even debating on whether to keep the Twitter thread format going, returning to Tumblr or just simply tweet my tiers of every anime I watch, so what better way to keep this review series going? It’s to return to Tumblr because I really like reviewing anime and Tumblr has been the most comfortable space to make my reviews and giving it a new name, HajiKo Anime, as in my name I go on Twitter as Hajime Komaeda.

So, kept you waiting, huh?

I had a lot of stuff to do in my life to the point that it drives me totally insane to the point of questioning my will to live, and then there’s also the pandemic which everything gets delayed and cancelled, even upcoming anime!

The biggest problem with making my reviews is sometimes I have to force myself on commenting on other shows I don't have much thought on, only like few I have tons of feelings I want to express, so I really hope things will be any better once I’m back on Tumblr to make these reviews I liked doing.

By continuing to make these reviews by including my new tiers, let me remind how do I interpret the ranking tiers:

S: 10-9

A: 8

B: 7

C: 6-4

D: 3-1

E: 0

Let’s keep in mind that I wouldn’t give full reviews on literally everything I watch because sometimes I don’t have much thought on so I’ll just skip them, I make lengthy reviews on some shows because I genuinely have feelings on these shows, that was one of my struggles with my other reviews, some of them were forced but I promise I will only do lengthy reviews to some shows I have lots of thoughts to talk about.

First off with Winter which is looking qutie strong even for the beginning of the decade:

Winter 2020

(Higher resolution)

Ishuzoku Reviewers: Perhaps one of the best ecchi series I've ever watched in years to the point where the ecchi really gets near-hentai level... so much so it caused controversy for Funimation and Japanese television alike, with Funimation removing the license and cancelled the English dub due to its content, and the series being removed on Tokyo MX. Though I might say that I wouldn't go that far to consider this as the best ecchi series of all time because there are a couple of things I really hated about the show, it can be a little too biased on some fetishes, includes fetishes I’m not a fan of, etc. But still, I admire the show for taking risks by going beyond the limits of Japanese television.

ID: INVADED: This is the most surprising show I've ever seen this season, it may also happen to be somewhat underrated. How can a dying studio like NAZ produce something really well-animated for once? All thanks to Ei Aoiki. I'm not really much of an animation expert but I really hope there might be someone who will make an article saying "How Ei Aoki saved Studio NAZ with ID: INVADED."

BanG Dream season 3: This third season of Bandori is THE BEST Bandori season ever, this made me like RAS (RAISE A SUILEN) even more.

Eizouken: This was an interesting series about making anime that may or may not compete with SHIROBAKO, though even if they have the same theme of making anime, they're completely different in terms of setting. The animation, even from what I've seen with Masaaki Yuasa and Science Saru with Devilman Crybaby, surprisingly looks like the series was actually fully hand-drawn instead of Adobe Flash, though Adobe Flash is still present in the opening.

Isekai Quartet 2: This second season of Isekai Quartet was a huge letdown compared to its predecessor, my biggest deal breaker is how they wasted the Shield Hero characters into minor roles, they straight-up overhyped them. The last few episodes seemed like they were slowly redeeming themselves on making the Shield Hero characters have some more screentime. Now that the series got a third season, let’s see how they will handle the Shield Hero characters this time if they’ll truly become main character status to be shown on the OP and ED, or they continue to be minor characters on the classroom where most of the supporting and minor characters from the main isekai properties attend to. Also, at one episode there was this cameo of these two characters from a series called Cautious Hero, if they end up becoming actual main characters or something, I’m not even gonna bother binging the series just like I did with Shield Hero.

Nekopara: I was skeptical about this series, but upon watching the first episode alone, this is a very comfy series, but its existence and inclusion of original characters will always baffle me.

Honorable mentions:

Azur Lane The Animation: As of July 2020, I think I might have accepted the fact that a lot of people (At least the Western side of the AL fanbase) hate the anime and they say it sucks, I’m really spoiled about it and it sucks to feel that way. I’ve always been hype as hell when I was watching the series from the very beginning, it had all kinds of easter eggs and references I couldn’t stop pointing them out since I’m an avid Azur Lane player (JP version only), and the best part is that at one episode, it had a bath scene where in the Blu-Ray version, the whole scene happens to feature official animated nipples! Official Azur Lane nipples in official media! I wish this could happen very often, even official artists would occasionally draw their characters in full R-18, such as Sirius and Ark Royal. (NSFW, CLICK WITH CAUTION)

Sure, sometimes the series had some quality, especially at the end of episode 4, but that doesn’t make the series automatically garbage or anything. The Azur Lane anime is NOT GARBAGE, PERIOD. Got that?

If I had the time, I’d seriously love to rewatch the series (Using the BD rips of course) to prove everyone wrong.

In terms of the future of Azur Lane anime, as much as I’d love to see this get more seasons and even movies to beat Kancolle to the punch, we’re now getting an anime adaptation of the Twitter 4komas, well, at least that’s certainly something cool. With that being said, I bet people are gonna be like “This is way better than the main anime” which I won’t condone it like hell. Let me say it again, the main Azur Lane anime is not garbage.

Fate/Grand Order Babylonia: Long after watching the series when it was on the air, I’ve been thinking that this was probably okay, Babylonia is not my most favorite singularity throughout FGO because the previous ones deserve some respect and I’m biased to the Shinjuku singularity for obvious reasons. I do wish they would adapt pretty much every singularity but they’re tediously long that they need to make hundreds of anime of each, so they just happen to skip all that and decided to make a Babylonia series and the upcoming Camelot movies because they’re the most favorite. I don’t really buy it on why are they the most favorite, but okay.

My Hero Academia season 4 and My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising: Heroes Rising was probably the last movie I’ve seen going to the theater before the pandemic happened.

Castlevania season 3: For some reason I didn’t like this season as much as the first two (Unpopular opinion).

Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle: I was very skeptical throughout the first half of the season, but this second half was making me in high spirits, although I would still prefer the original PSO2 anime over this.

Moving on to Spring:

Spring 2020

(Higher resolution)

Fruits Basket: Fruits Basket continues to be an excellent series, balancing comedy and drama the way I like with the comedy always making me laugh and the drama always making me tense. (I don't wanna see or talk about EP9 ever again.)

Shin Sakura Wars The Animation: Sanzigen continues to deliver quite a lot even after BanG Dream! season 3, not only we get one but TWO shows this season. My main problem with Shin Sakura Wars The Animation is that they really must have abused the hand drawn parts so much, and this was a really frustrating problem that this should be A tier instead, but it was still quite good regardless, I love Sanzigen to death.

Watanuki-san Chi To: This was a neat second season and this makes me strongly believe that the Watanuki-san Chi series are the future of VTuber anime, or dorama as what the series is, and I’m still mad that there are still no subtitles for this, neither official subs nor fan subs.

My few complaints for Watanuki-san Chi To is that Ikuko's role that kinda takes Futaba's place a little too much since Futaba was working at a karaoke bar most of the time and Ikuko and Futaba had interacted on-screen like twice (or three if that ending from episode 3 counts) on episodes 5 and 12 (the final one). I'm hoping that we'll get more of the Watanuki sisters and Ikuko interacting together on-screen some more but I think things will be the same with Futaba continuing to work on the karaoke bar.

Then there’s episode 12 which was the episode where Ikuko leaves the Watanuki house after finding her real parents, the episode was kind of predictable as Ikuko returned and decided to stay with the Watanuki sisters afterwards. This is one of the few, if not, the first time that something definitely made me say and feel something was actually predictable, but not that I would hate on it or anything.

Another complaint I have for this entire season is that it lacked the crowd laughs the first season had, the first season felt like it was true a comedy and having no laughs this season gave an entirely different atmosphere and I wasn't very comfortable with it.

Despite the flaws, I give huge thumbs ups for what they did with the world and the characters, they finally happen to bring the characters from the audio drama played by various other VTubers, and we finally happen to explore outside of the world for a little bit between shots of the streets where Ikuko walked through at the beginning of the series and the karaoke bar, not just sticking to the Watanuki house over and over.

The best part of introducing the newer characters is that they finally showed male characters for once, one of which was Futaba's boyfriend, Kenji, who's sort of a recurring background character frequently mentioned in the first season, he happened to finally have his body revealed, but still no face reveal. And there was also this other male guest character in episode 3, he was interesting to say the least. Finally, something to make the series not sexist.

I wouldn't really consider myself as the most dedicated Western Watanuki-san Chi fan. As much as I'd like to call myself that, I don't really speak Japanese to understand the series some more and I would have to be a badass to actually make fansubs, some events happened in Japan, which I don't live in Japan, and I don't buy the merch, let alone the Blu-Rays and the audio dramas. The worst part about the audio dramas is they're purchasable on Pixiv Booth, which Pixiv doesn't really let me use my debit card (or might if I were to use my Wallet app or something). I for one wouldn't really consider myself as the ONLY person who watches the Watanuki-san Chi, I wouldn't be watching the series if it wasn't for the people who have been uploading torrents of every episode on Nyaa, there's a very niche amount of people who do watch the series.

(I probably shouldn’t talk too much about piracy related things and sites like Nyaa, and I try to make my review posts as formal as possible to stay away from such things, but I’m just an independent reviewer who makes these posts as a hobby, I’m not a big anime news site or anything and I can say whatever the fuck I want, so who cares?)

BanG Dream! Garupa Pico Ohmori and Welcome to the Japari Park season 2: These ones are definitely the absolute surprise and looks like things are definitely gonna get absolutely better. They both premiered between late April to early May, so they're kind of a special case.

Kaguya-sama season 2: I didn't get the first season as much, but this second season is finally making me feel better about the series. (Probably because when I binged the first season, I multitasked and get occasionally distracted, that's why I didn't get it at first)

Argonavis from BanG Dream: This one's quite an interesting series. Not as good as the mainline female-centric series, but as a self-contained universe, it's pretty good on its own. It even handles topics that the base series won't even do, like music industry and money. Although Chuchu is probably the closest thing we experience when she's a music producer character of sorts but she's more entitled to her own band, money is a far more important issue the series doesn't want ot tackle, and Argonavis does it right.

The only thing that almost ruined the series is the unnecessarily dark final episode where the entire episode was basically Banri passing out after doing their debut performance in Destiny Rock Festival and Argonavis were having a hard time about what to do if something were to happen with Banri and they made a song dedicated to him afterwards. Episode 12 should have been the final episode, we didn’t need to see a rollercoaster episode, this should be played out more as an OVA, but I digress. This isn’t the weakest or the worst finale but it’s seriously unnecessary.

Now I just hope the second season makes the other bands teased in the last few episodes become regulars, just like how the first season of the female Bandori where they teased a lot of the other bands, and then from season 2 onwards, the other bands have become regulars. I just really hope they'll make the other bands from Argonavis be full CG because they were all hand drawn for some reason, and I also need season 4 of main female Bandori series so bad so they can introduce Morfonica which in anime format they're introduced in the Garupa Pico Ohmori series.

Brand New Animal: It partially is because BNA starts with B, but he main reason is that I thought it was alright, and as a Netflix series that I can binge in one run, it's easily forgettable. Not the weakest of TRIGGER, but I feel rather indifferent with this.

Princess Connect ReDive: This was my absolute least favorite of Spring, I couldn't stress enough on how much of a Konosuba wannabe this is, it's such a poor imitation and I wish the actual game wasn't this ridiculously bad. From the over-the-top wacky tone to goofier background character designs and a very retarded MC. I don't know why but I thought this would be a simple way to get into Princess Connect without getting into the game because I see fan arts a lot, and Japan apparently seems to like this, as evidence with the fan arts and as much as I would like to like this more because of it, it just didn’t work for me, the animation is alright, though. At least this is way better than the NOT Shadowverse anime.

I got a comment from someone saying that the Konosuba influence comes from the director of the Puriconne series and this series serves to introduce the game as an original story for non-Puriconne players without touching any major plot points.

And finally let’s talk about my first impressions to all the shows I’m watching this Summer season:

Fire Force season 2: I was hoping this season can be a little bit better animated than the first, but upon the first episode of this season alone the terrible pacing is still there, but then the second episode, things get really interesting. The story is the main thing that will keep me intrigued for the rest of the series.

Dokyuu Hentai HxEros: The first time I heard about this series was when I retweeted and saving a Suketto Sanjou-related picture by artist Rakko where he hid a reply where someone posted a link to the Amazon page of the upcoming volume of the manga of HxEros (which the manga is not by Rakko and this is totally unrelated, what the hell was the guy who made the reply thinking?), that was a little while before I heard that this was getting animated.

At first I was 50/50 on watching it or not, but I saw the news that there’ll be this “H Energy Unleashed” version, which is the “uncensored” version and that sold me, but I continue to be unsure on watching it, that is until the day of the premiere where I was randomly seeing screenshots of the episode on my timeline, particularly scenes where the girl Kirara was completely naked, and I was absolutely sold on it and decided to watch it, and after doing so, I kinda dig it.

However, I dislike Kirara because of how she is. It makes me feel bad for how she used to be when she was a kid during some flashbacks where she was a dirty minded girl to present day where she’s a hardcore tsundere hiding her horniness, the way she is, it really makes me hard to empathize with her. She’s pretty cute and hot too.

Re:Zero season 2: It feels weird having a second season of Re:Zero considering it’s been 4 years since the first season came out, and after watching the first episode, now I just feel unprepared.

Oregairu season 3: While I was watching the episode, I was randomly reminiscing some memories and characters I remember from the first two seasons and who do I like, which I kinda like most characters, but Komachi is my least favorite because she constantly says “gross” to poor Hachiman, geez.

Uzaki-chan: This was a pretty solid series and this is definitely being AOTS. However, recently I found something very hilarious that I’m dying to talk about.

Remember the time when there was a controversy from an SJW where they criticized the Uzaki-chan Japanese Red Cross poster because of her big boobs? Well, that’s a separate story, but things with Uzaki-chan gets more laughable, as I stumbled upon this tweet a few days ago and...

Anime News Network gave the first episode a 1.5 star review?!

Holy jesus... What is that?! What the fuck is that?!

Yikes, Anime News Network are a bunch of clowns!

I’m really glad ANN is getting the hate it deserves, I just don’t like ANN when they do reviews, I never liked them since their discussion post on Netsuzou Trap and then episode 0 of Saekano season 2.

All that aside, this series is going to be quite a fun ride.

This Summer season could have been strong if only Akudama Drive and Danmachi season 3 weren’t delayed, but that’s for the better as Fall 2020 is looking like it’s the strongest season of the year, and you’ll find out why in September.

And that’s it for all my reviews! I really hope you enjoyed my biased reviews and I can’t wait to continue to make these reviews just like I used to. Also, let me address that I don’t make money from making these reviews, I only write these posts for fun.

Anyways, see you in Fall 2020 for my review for this Summer season and what am I gonna watch in Fall!

Check out my Carrd.

#HajiKoAnime #anime #review

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mezzy303 · 7 years

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Digimon Tamers Review

In which I finally make it past the first 8 episodes and finish the series

Ahhh after years of trying to get through Tamers, I finally went through all the episodes! Since 2010 I’ve gone through this cycle of watching the first couple of episodes with hopes of watching the entire season, stopping, and never picking it back up until years later so I have to rewatch from the beginning lol. But yay! Now I can say I’ve seen all of the first 4 seasons of Digimon.

I remember when Tamers first started airing in the US so it’s pretty bittersweet to finally complete it :’)

(I’ll be referring to everyone by their Japanese names, but call the evolutions by the dub names since that’s what I’m more familiar with)

Overall, the season was ok. I’ve always loved the concept of combining the Digimon world with the card game and the overall story was really good, but there was a lot of holes in the development of the characters that were overlooked or briefly skimmed on. I feel like Tamers is so hyped as being darker and better than the previous seasons that my expectations were set really high, only for them to not be met.

I’ll first start with things I liked:

Jian’s card swipe and matrix evolution. It’s so extra. I love it

Curumon and his voice is the most adorable thing ever, I just wanna eat him up :3

Terriermon

Ruki and Ryo’s banter. Too bad I ship her more with Jian haha

LEOMON

Impmon’s character arc

Juri’s character arc

Momantai~

Ruki and Renamon

Renamon refusing to sit at the table with everyone because she’s so modest lol

Guilmon and Takato’s development

I find Takato annoying most of the time, but I do respect how different he is from the rest of the goggle-wearing protagonists/leaders

The series is indeed darker and has heavier themes than it’s predecessors and I really appreciate it for that. I liked the theme of “what is a digimon?” and therefore “what is a tamer?” And all the main 3 deal with these questions in different ways. Jian went through thinking everything was just a game before meeting Terriermon, which made him realize that digimon are also living creatures with their own thoughts and feelings though they need to be given a moral compass. They are more than just monsters that fight each other to get stronger, they are his friends. Although this turns into a whole other problem for him that I’ll discuss later. Ruki goes through something similar, albeit longer, to realize that digimon aren’t just tools to become stronger but are her partners. I love Ruki and Renamon as a duo, because even though they are both complicated individuals, they come to have this understanding of one another that goes beyond words. With Takato, since we follow his path as a Tamer from the beginning, we see all of his doubts and growth. He goes through the excitement of having a real life digimon as a partner, to the realization of the beast-like nature of digimon and having to move past it, to the acceptance that they are more than just bits of data. I really liked the moment when Takato was able to grasp that humans and digimon are all connected, triggering his Biomerge.

Going with the heavier themes, I also appreciated how there was a certain reality to the situation in Tamers. The main characters are children and are involved with very dangerous and life-threatening situations. We see a greater amount of reluctance on the adult side of letting their children face these on their own, way more than the previous seasons.

Alright, separating this out bc as I said before, there were several things I was disappointed about in Tamers. Most of it has to do with the character arcs and how their development was handled. Ruki and Renamon’s arc was pretty straight forward with Ruki learning that winning and becoming stronger for the sake of strength isn’t everything. Takato’s fear of Guilmon changing could’ve been played up a little more, since it was so integral to the story, but I did like how it played out in the end.

Jian’s development isn’t as good as the other two in my opinion. He’s the kind and mature one who considers all digimon to be living creatures and learns that some battles are worth fighting for, juxtaposing Ruki’s cold nature and Takato’s insecurity. He’s super over-protective of Terriermon because of this, since he sees him as a good friend and doesn’t want to see him hurt. This extends to his little sister, as Siuchun is very young and is quite literally thrown into the world of the Tamers. Yet, it’s not until episode 45 that we find out more about Jian’s backstory. When he Biomerges in the real world, he talks about when he was young, he got in a fight with a friend and hurt him, resulting in Jian restraining himself. And he states that this has been holding him back. As I’m watching this I’m thinking, where has this been the entire season?? How could they hold back such information that helps us understand his character??? This moment was supposed to be an accumulation of the Tamers’ developments, where everything comes full circle, and the writers decide to add new information for Jian? I can’t help but think about how I was taught to write essay conclusions: to never include new info at the end lol. They should have put that when Terriermon evolved to his Ultimate since there strangely wasn’t any Jian-Terriermon development that episode.

Moving on to Juri, I think they did a poor job with establishing her and Leomon’s relationship, considering it was so important to the plot. They start with Juri fangirling and chasing around Leomon, only to give her a Digivice after Leomon feels sorry for her and then all of a sudden the two are bffs. Yes, I’m exaggerating a little, but this is basically how those few episodes went down. It’s sad that the two only had one true battle together before Leomon died though :( And poor Leomon, getting killed in two different universes. Give a digimon a break lol at least in Adventures he can be reborn.

With the rest of the Tamers, they seemed almost pointless, like they got a Digivice for the sake of getting a Digivice. Idk maybe I’m putting too much importance on having a Digivice but I’ll just state my opinion. Siuchun is an exception in this, but Antiramon/Lopmon’s switching sides could’ve been played up more. Considering the writers already did something similar with Hikari and Tailmon (Kari and Gatomon), the Tamers version wasn’t as well done. In Adventures, Tailmon’s switch was much more impactful. Kenta and MarineAngemon just felt like a deus ex machina tbh. Like he didn’t receive his digimon until the last moment and it was already in it’s Mega form… I found it funny that MarineAngemon never devolved into his In-Training form with the rest of the digimon though. And why didn’t Guardromon ever digivolve back to Andromon? He probably could’ve been more useful in his Ultimate lol. I really like Andromon too so I felt deprived of the opportunity to use him. I’m also confused why Ai and Mako only got a Digivice at the very end, it makes more sense for them to get it when they reunited with Impmon but whatevs.

Phew, I feel like I’ve just completed a life-long challenge haha. My next step is watching the movies! I don’t really have much of an interest the more recent series, so maybe I’ll go back to Frontier but watch the Japanese dub. I also don’t think I ever finished Adventures in Japanese, so I guess should do that too xD

#woops forgot this was in my drafts lol #my reviews #digimon #digimon tamers #probs my most indepth review yet

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artandteaandstuff-blog · 7 years

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Princes and Princesses

Summary: Sequel to Kings and Queens. | Actor AU | Emma is finally getting used to life in the spotlight, thanks to hit TV show Kings and Queens. She has many people to help her along the way; her son, her friends and her boyfriend, Killian Jones. But changes are going to have to be made on Kings and Queens, and the world she's getting used to is about to turn upside down, leaving her questioning if she ever really understood it at all.

Read it on FF.NET

Read Kings and Queens.

Author’s Notes

So a few notes before this chapter: this is a sequel to Kings and Queens. If you haven't read it but want to read this, don't worry about it! I've done my best to fill in as many blanks as possible, so a new reader would be able to understand without reading the 1st one. However, if you want to see Emma and Killian fall in love, check it out!

Secondly, thank you so much to you guys who wanted a sequel! I didn't think the idea would be met with so much enthusiasm so it really really means a lot to me that you guys are on board with this. I'm excited because I just think there's so much I could do with this universe. Thank you for supporting me with Kings and Queens- I hope you like Princes and Princesses. And with that, let's dive into the next chapter of Emma and Killian's journey! Happy reading!

BIG BIG BIG thank you to @irishswanff and @captainwiley for being the most amazing betas and friends a person could have. <3

Tagging some amazing peoples right here:

@swanandapirate @kmomof4 @katie-dub @ofshipsandswans

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Chapter 1

Emma pulls on her jeans. She jumps up and down on the spot as she tugs. They’re a little tight, and it’s a fight to fasten them– she even ends up catching her skin as she zips them up. It’s official. Emma has entered into a relationship where she is so happy, that she has given into chocolate and cake. Or maybe her jeans have just shrunk in the wash. Hopefully.

A beep comes from outside. Shit, she thinks as she hops over to the window, and peeks through the curtain. It’s Killian- she knew it would be- sat in one of his many cars. What is it this time? A Mercedes? A Jag? She doesn’t know and quite frankly, she doesn’t care as long as it gets them to work.

She grabs her phone from where she’d thrown it on the bed, and types out a reply.

Be down in a second. Getting ready.

His reply is instant.

Need some help? ;)

She can’t help but smile.

Haha.

It’s at that moment she realises how late she’s running. Hell, Killian’s already outside and she hasn’t even got her shirt on yet. She grabs something crumpled from the bottom of her bed, knowing she’ll be changing into her costume soon anyway. She pulls her hair into a tight ponytail at the back of her head. She passes for presentable now; she can be attractive later, when she gets Killian alone.

Killian.

Her boyfriend.

She never thought she’d say that out loud, not after everything that happened in the last year. But they’ve been together a few months now and she can honestly say, she’s never been happier. Everyone loves him: her son, Mary Margaret (who keeps asking them to dinner), and even David. Though he was a little suspicious at first, insisting that Graham was a far better match, he’s warmed up to him. If Killian could charm David, he can charm anyone.

She runs out her house, slamming the door behind her. It’s only then that she realises it’s five in the morning, and Henry is probably still fast asleep. Sorry kid, she thinks, as she makes her way over to Killian’s silver, well, whatever-it-is and slides in.

“Emma,” he says with an easy smile.

“Killian, hey,” she says, hoping her voice sounds calm, and doesn’t betray the butterflies she seems to get whenever he’s around.

As if he can read her mind, he chuckles. Thankfully, he doesn’t make any comments, but asks her if she’s ready to go.

“Ready,” she confirms, buckling herself in.

They’ve been carpooling for the first few weeks back at work. It’s usually in one of Killian's fancy, stupidly expensive cars but sometimes they take Emma’s bug when she wants to drive. The entire time Killian complains about the noise the engine makes and Emma rolls her eyes, but fails to suppress a smile. His complaining is a cross she’s willing to bear. As long as they continue to carpool, that is.

“You look beautiful,” he says, his eyes flickering towards her.

“I look tired,” she says as she settles against the leather. She breathes in the familiar pine scent of his air freshener with a sigh. It’s funny how the little things seem to catch her attention now. “My schedule is so messed up. It’s so early; why does it have to be so early?” Then she remembers last night’s shoot. “No, forget that, I could give with the early mornings, but why do they have to do night shoots? Why can’t they just shoot in a dark room or something?”

“You should be showrunner.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

He gives her a look. “Me? Make fun of you? I am offended, Swan.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just keep your eyes on the road.”

The road is almost deserted, as it should be at 5 am. The morning is peaceful against the gentle hum of the car and her own soft breathing. That’s why the ding of her phone makes her jump. She pulls it out of her pocket and the words Mary Margaret flash up on her screen.

Is today the day you’re going to tell him you loooooove him?

For one moment she frowns at her phone, wondering what the hell her friend is doing up so early, but then it dawns on her. She’s probably up with Hope, her and David’s three month old daughter. Emma’s going to have to start getting used to that. She slips her phone into her jeans, but then her phone dings again.

Have you told him yet?

She’s just about to slip the phone back when–

Don’t ignore me, Emma Swan!!! Get those words out. What are you waiting for?

“Someone’s popular,” Killian comments.

“It’s Mary Margaret,” Emma sighs as she types out a hasty reply telling her friend to shut up, and she’ll tell him when she’s damn well ready.

“Oh, aye?”

“You don’t wanna know. She’s talking about you.”

“Then surely I have a right to know?” She watches his lips curl up into a smirk. “Is it about my tight leather trousers?”

“What?”

“Mary Margaret so kindly told me that you’re partial to my leather trousers.”

Emma’s eyes widen. She remembers this conversation with Mary Margaret, about a week ago, on her first night out since she had Hope. It took a lot of alcohol before Emma even opened up about Killian, let alone told her that she liked his leather pants. Though, it was less about the pants and more about his butt in said pants. That also happened to be the night she let slip that she was completely and irrevocably in love with him.

“Wh– when did you have this conversation?”

“Yesterday. We were on the phone and–”

“You were on the phone?”

“Only for a few minutes, love. She wanted to ask you and I to dinner but since you keep giving such vague answers, she thought she’d ask me personally.”

“I was going to ask you,” Emma says, a little sheepishly. “Just with work, I kinda forgot. We’ve been busy.”

“Aye, we have. And I have a feeling we’re about to get busier.”

She looks at him, puzzled. “How come?”

“Well, we have that meeting today.” When she continues to look at him blankly, he prompts, “With Belle.”

“Oh yeah!”

“My guess is that she’ll be increasing our hours.”

A few days ago Belle had sent an email telling everyone that there was to be a meeting tonight. The email was oddly cryptic, giving no information or hint to what the meeting might be about. That usually wouldn’t have worried Emma, if it wasn’t for the lack of warmth in the email. Especially since Belle’s emails are always warm. Always. But she knows Killian’s probably right and it’ll have to do with increasing hours or something along those lines.

“I just hope it’s not because she’s decided to bring Gold back,” Emma murmurs, more to herself than anyone.

Ever since the writers found out Gold leaked the scripts, they’ve been finding a way to write him out the show with as minimal damage as possible. Even though everyone told Belle it wasn’t a good idea, she wrote him out anyway. Emma can’t help but agree with her. The king may have been a good villain in terms of story, but Gold had to pay some way or another. They can always find another villain. A show as established as Kings and Queens has a big enough fanbase to push through this hiccup.

If anything, Emma’s filming experience is much better without Gold breathing down her neck and she knows Killian’s is too. As soon as they watched Gold walk off set, Killian visibly lightened, like the chip on his shoulder was gone.

“What can I say, Swan?” he said when she commented on it. “I’m not constantly thinking about punching him in the face now. And that’s thanks to you!”

Emma’s popularity with the rest of the cast and crew has soared since she exposed Gold for the snivelling rat he is and she’s often greeted with wide smiles and back-patting. They must have really hated him. These days, the cast treat her like some sort of saviour. She likes the idea of that, for some reason.

“Have you read the scripts?” Killian asks, bringing her back to the present.

“Of course I have.”

“This season is going to be a brilliant one, I can feel it!”

He bounces in his seat, as excited as a child and she rolls her eyes again, though it’s etched with fondness. She doesn’t blame him; she’s excited too. She’s only been given the first few scripts, but they seem good. Now that the king has so sadly and so unexpectedly “died”, Alexander, Killian’s character, faces running the country alone. With the whole castle against his relationship with the servant Rose, Emma’s character, they face a few bumps in the road. It sounds like a lot of angst.

If she’s honest with herself, she prefers to act angst rather than being in love, especially with her and Killian’s relationship. Before, she could separate work from romance, but now that they’re together, it’s proving difficult.

It doesn’t help that every time they film a kiss, Will and Robin direct their wiggling eyebrows at the pair of them and Emma blushes, she actually blushes. Emma Swan doesn’t blush for anything. At least, she thought she didn’t.

“Anyone home?” Killian asks, tapping her on the forehead. “We’re here.”

Sure enough, he swings into a space in the parking lot. Emma looks around, blinking. She hadn’t even noticed; she’s been preoccupied with her own thoughts. She shakes her head, mumbles an apology and jumps out of the car into the warm air. It’s so hot, her shirt is already sticking to her back.

“Ah, it’s a fine day for heavy, layered period clothing,” says Killian as he walks over to her, shielding his eyes from the sun.

She folds her arms. “Tell me about it.”

They walk towards the make-up trailers together in silence. Emma itches to hold his hand, but she decides against it. Ever since they started their relationship, the media have been watching their every step. If they so much as look at each other and someone gets a sneaky photo of it, they’re headline news. They have to be careful. They don’t want every aspect of their life out there.

Well, Emma doesn’t at least. She knows if Killian had his way, they’d be holding hands and practically skipping. The amount of times she's turned her face away as he leaned down to kiss her in public is starting to get ridiculous. That always sparks headlines too: TROUBLE IN PARADISE? KINGS AND QUEENS’ KILLIAN GIVING UNWANTED AFFECTION?

It can’t hurt him, not really, yet she can’t help but feel a little guilty. But it’s better this way.

“Hey guys,” Ariel, their makeup and hair artist, says as they make their way into the trailer. “Take a seat. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

Make-up is, as always, endless. They sit there for hours as Ariel and her team wash and curl her hair, then cover the dark circles under her eyes. Killian takes it all in his stride, leaning back in his chair, book in hand.

“What’re you reading?” she asks, wishing she’d brought a book of her own.

“Just a novel about pirates, love,” he says, keeping his eyes on the pages. “You know how much I love pirates.”

After they’ve been made up and they're in their costumes, they make their way onto set, the sun beating down on them. It’s always hard filming on location in this weather. She touches her fingertips to the back of her neck, which is damp with perspiration. At least it’s only going to be a short scene, and then they’ll be back to filming inside.

Emma’s costume is ridiculously heavy and layered today, even though it’s only a servant’s dress. It weighs heavy on her hips and is tight around her waist, thanks to the corset. Her castmates aren’t much better off, especially the men, who wear thick jackets over their shirts and trousers.

Elsa seems to be the worst though. She’s wearing about seven layers, maybe even more. It’s a bad day for royal purple and a wig that falls halfway down her back. She marches over to them, pulling her skirts up as she walks.

“It’s a tough life,” she says in way of greeting.

“Tell me about it.” Emma laughs. “How are you?”

“Oh, so and so. To be honest, I’m a little worried about the meeting. Belle hasn’t called for one in a while.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Killian says, draping an arm around Emma. She leans into him, despite the heat. “What could go wrong?”

“I don’t know. They might be bringing Gold back,” Elsa says, grimly.

“If that’s the case, I’ll eat my shield.”

Everyone laughs. “I wouldn’t make bets like that if I were you, Killian,” Emma says. He responds by pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead.

“Right, everyone!” comes a loud voice, making them jump.

They all turn to see Grumpy, the director, marching towards them, his team behind him. He carries a clipboard, waving it at them vigorously. His face is red, his eyes narrowed. Already, Emma can tell he’s not in a good mood. For one wild moment she gets the feeling that it’s because he knows something they don’t. Then again, Grumpy is never in a good mood, hence the nickname.

“Stop chatting, get moving. We have a lot to get through today, so no slacking!”

Though Emma devoured the scripts a few days before coming back to filming, she flicks through them quickly to remind herself what’s happening in this scene.

Killian was right, they’re so good, it was impossible not to read them. She even found herself neglecting Henry a few times, and forgetting to cook dinner until he reminded her. She had to settle for reading them in the dead of night, all night.

With this new season there are serious developments between Alexander and Rose. There’s an ‘I love you’, and Emma isn’t sure how she feels about that. She’s already struggling to tell Killian she loves him. Though Rose is only a character, it’s still going to feel weird. Mary Margaret was right, she needs to get it out there. She needs to tell him. Especially before they have to film the ‘I love you’ scene and it makes everything awkward.

But the thing is, she’s scared. The last person she said ‘I love you’ too left, running with her money, landing her in prison. Granted, Neal was a dick and Killian is not Neal, but the idea of loving Killian still shakes her.

He’s so good. Their relationship the past few months has been blissful. As Mary Margaret called it, they’re still in the ‘honeymoon’ phase. She doesn’t know how long that’ll last and that terrifies her. She doesn’t think she’s ever been so scared to tell anyone anything in her life.

“Emma!” Grumpy barks. She jumps. “Back to earth, please. We have a lot to get through today.”

Emma and Killian are background characters for this scene; it’s more focused on Elizabeth, Elsa’s character. She has the biggest subplot at the moment. The next few episodes are going to be about her trying to find herself now that the king is dead; she’s going to be struggling with how she should feel - sad that her father is dead, or relieved that he’s never coming back?

Emma’s sure the relief that Gold has left seeps through their acting.

“Elsa, I want you to kneel down on the grass, okay?’ says Grumpy, pointing to a flattened patch of grass. “Remember, I want pure, pure emotion. You’ve just found out that your father has been taken by the plague. You’re distraught. You’re guilty. And you’re crying a load of tears, yeah?”

“Yes,” Elsa says, rolling her eyes.

“KILLIAN!”

Killian doesn’t even flinch. He just turns to Grumpy, one eyebrow raised. “Yes?”

“You’re not as distraught. You’re more relieved, yeah? The death of the king means you can be with this one–” he points to Emma, “–as well as be the king. You don’t know how to comfort your sister.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” he says with a salute.

Grumpy is not amused. “And for that, I’m going to make this afternoon’s sex scene as painful as possible for you.”

“When don’t you?”

He ignores him and turns to Emma. “Guilt, sister. We want to see guilt here.”

She gives a firm nod. “Got it.”

“We roll in three. MAKE-UP!” and he disappears off-set.

Then everything is a whirl of people. Cameramen whiz around, setting things up, untangling wires. Emma watches as Killian’s make up team touch up his face and apply more gel to his hair. He catches her looking over at him and meets her gaze with a soft smile.

The scene takes forever to film. During it, everyone is weary from the sun and tired of repeating the same lines over and over again. Elsa does an excellent job, crying on command every single time. She gets so into the scene, she can’t quite get out of it.

“I’m so sorry,” she blubs through great, shoulder-shaking hiccups. “I’ll be– okay in a minute.”

“Don’t worry, Elsa,” Grumpy says with a wicked smile. “Killian will cry later when he sees what I’ve got for him.”

Everyone gives unsure laughs. They assume Grumpy is joking by the glint in his eyes and his smile, but they can never be quite sure with Grumpy.

They find out a few hours before the sex scene they have to film. Emma’s heart is fluttering in her chest. She takes deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but it doesn’t work. This is the first time she’ll do a scene like this since they decided to start up a relationship. Suddenly, it’s not just work anymore. It’s real. And she doesn’t know how she feels about that.

She tries to distract herself by reading a book. It’s an old thing she picked up from the props department during their last break—Jane Eyre. She’s ashamed to say she’s never read it, but better late than never. She’s never been a classics person, but surprisingly, she’s enjoying it.

“Swan!”

She glances up to see Killian coming towards her, an easy grin on his face, his shirt halfway unbuttoned. She swallows, hard, and forces a smile.

“Killian, hey.”

He slides into the chair next to her. “What’s that you’re reading?”

“Jane Eyre.”

“Ah. It’s a good one.”

She quirks an eyebrow. “You’ve read it?”

“I, Swan, happen to be a great lover of the classics, believe it or not. Back when we were growing up, they were the only books we could get our hands on. Liam spent many hours reading them aloud to me.”

She quirks an eyebrow. “Liam read you… Jane Eyre? Out loud?”

“Aye. Amongst many others.”

She chuckles, as her eyes dart back down to her book. “I shouldn’t even be reading this. I should be reading the script, rehearsing my lines.”

“Well, they’re not really lines. More like… noises.”

She sighs. She doesn’t want to think about that too much. “I’m pretty sure I have lines too.”

“I’m more than sure those lines get cut off.”

She glances back up at him to see him smirking at her. She rolls her eyes, slowly and deliberately, hoping he’ll catch on to her mood and drop it. “Don’t remind me.”

“What’s wrong, Swan? You usually have no problem with–”

“Shut. Up.” She hits him with the book across the arm.

His hand flies up to rub the spot as he casts her a wounded look. “Relax. I’m merely joking.”

“Look, I am drawing a line right now. This is acting, okay? When we go in there, we are Alexander and Rose. When we are alone, we are Emma and Killian. Got it?”

“You’ll have nothing but professionalism from me.”

She gives him a look. “I hope so.”

“Emma, Killian, you're on!” comes Grumpy’s voice.

All at once the nerves increase. Grumpy approaches them, a smile on his face. He usually never smiles and it just makes Emma feel even more nervous. He holds a small midnight blue box in his hands. He throws it in front of Killian, who looks up at him.

“What's this?”

Grumpy just continues to smile. “Happy birthday.”

“It's not my birthday.”

“I wasn't talking to you,” he says, his smile growing wider. “I was talking to Emma.”

She frowns. “It's not my birthday either.”

“No? Well it just might be.”

And with that, he turns and stalks back, leaving them to look after him with puzzled expressions on their faces. They both turn to look at the box.

“Open it, then,” says Emma.

Killian slowly takes it in his hands and opens it, placing the lid back down on the table, carefully. He stares at it for a moment, blinking, not really understanding, and then realization dawns on his face.

“Bloody hell.” He throws the box down on the table.

“What is it?”

She peers inside to see a pink fabric and for the life of her, she can't work out what it is. She frowns at it for a moment.

“It's a sock,” he finally says.

“It's bright pink. And… fluffy.”

“I thought they were cutting back on the nude scenes.”

“Oh.” And then, despite herself, she giggles. “Well I'm not complaining.”

“I bet you're not.” He sighs. “I guess that means I better strip off.”

He's already unbuttoning his shirt as he stands and kicks his chair under the table. He makes his way off set, and Emma is sure she hears another bloody hell before he disappears completely. She shakes her head and stands, making her way to set. As soon as she gets on, Grumpy corners her.

“Listen, Emma,” he begins.

She places her hands on her hips. “Yeah?”

“We're not going to make you do any sex scenes today.”

“You're not?”

“No, we're gonna have to cut it short because of Belle’s meeting. We are, however, gonna film Killian naked.” He flashes her a smile. “You remember the scene?”

“Yeah.”

Of course she remembers the scene. It's the one where Rose accidentally runs into Alexander naked on the way to his bath. It's embarrassing for both of them, but it'll be great for the comedic aspects of the show.

“So you just need to get outside his chamber. You're gonna run in and run into him. Speak of the devil.” He smirks.

Emma turns around to see Killian walking on set, dressed in a black robe. He isn't smiling. In fact, he has a sober expression.

“Let's get this over with,” he growls.

“Don't be moody. Think of the fangirls,” says Grumpy.

He approaches Emma.

“The fangirls are gonna love it,” she says and he actually gives her a smile. “I thought you'd love it, being naked in front of the camera?”

“There's a lot you don't know about me, love,” he says, but it's gentle, and he touches her face. She looks up at him and he leans forward to kiss her, but she steps back. There's only so much public displays of affection she can promise.

The scene goes smoothly enough. Killian strips off his robe to reveal nothing but the sock. Emma tries to keep her eyes off him, she really does, but they're drawn back to him at every given opportunity. She's glad it's just them filming the scene and no-one else.

She can't help but think about how attractive he is. She debates dragging him off to her trailer, but she doesn't think ten minutes will be enough time. She wants hours with him.

“ACTION.”

Emma runs on set into the bedchamber. Killian is walking through the chamber to his bath, which steams with hot water. He pretends not to notice her as she runs in.

Emma’s gasp turns him around. “Sire!”

“Rose!” he gasps. For a moment he's stood there, mouth open in shock, before he grabs a cushion off the bed. He positions it over his hips. “What– uh– are you doing here?

“CUT!” Grumpy yells. “We need more naked Killian.”

Yes we do, she thinks, as her eyes travel up and down the length of his back. He must feel her gaze because he looks back at her, and raises his eyebrows. She gives him her most innocent expression in response. She thinks they’re being discreet until Grumpy gives a very loud cough, and they tear their gazes away from each other, embarrassed. He makes them do the scene another five times until they get it right.

Fully dressed again, Killian pushes the door open, and Emma walks into the meeting room. Everyone is already there apart from Grumpy and Belle. They all sit around chatting nervously, asking each other if they know what Belle wants. Is it bad? Is it good? No-one seems to know.

She catches sight of Graham who’s sat next to Elsa. He gives her a small wave and a bright smile. She makes a beeline for him and grabs the seat next to him.

“Hey, Graham,” she says as she tucks herself in. She feels Killian sit down next to her. “Why are you smiling? Aren’t you worried about the meeting?”

“To be honest, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” he says, “I’m sure she’d tell us if it was something to worry about.”

“I’m not so sure, mate,” says Will, with a grim expression.

“Always the optimist.”

They don’t have to wait long to find out because mere minutes after Killian and Emma arrive, Belle bursts through the door, carrying paperwork in her arms, Grumpy at her heels. She sets her paperwork on the table with a brief, “Hello everyone,” and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

Emma can’t help but notice she doesn’t seem like herself. She hasn’t even smiled at them, and usually she never stops smiling. She worries her bottom lip between her teeth, as she desperately sorts through the paperwork she hasn’t had a chance to organize. She’s not wearing one of her usual flow-y dresses, but jeans and a crumpled jumper. When she finally looks up at them all, her face is pale and dark shadows reside under her eyes. It sends a jolt of panic through Emma.

“She does not look good,” Elsa whispers from the other side of Graham. “It’s bad news. I knew it was bad news.”

“Relax,” Killian whispers back before Emma has chance to speak. “She’s just going through a bad break-up. I’ve had my fair share of heartbreak to know it when I see it.”

Emma wants to agree with him, but she can’t shake the feeling that that’s not the case at all. She gets the same vibe from Grumpy, who stands next to Belle, arms folded, frowning at nothing.

Emma feels another jolt when Belle opens her mouth to speak.

“I bet you’re all wondering why I’ve brought you here.” She gives a laugh but it sounds hollow to Emma’s ears. She tries to smile, but it looks thin and stretched across her face. “Nothing to worry about.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing to worry about,” Elsa murmurs out the corner of her mouth. She folds her arms and leans back in her chair.

“But as it turns out, ratings have been… dropping.” A confused buzz comes from the actors but Belle continues. “It’s been happening for a while. The network informed us halfway through last season, but we were to wait before… changes are made.”

“Changes are made?” Killian hisses, dropping his relaxed bravado. “What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”

“We’d already filmed most things, so it was too late to change anything last season. We thought perhaps the dip in ratings was temporary, and they’d climb back up again, but that was not the case.” She takes a shaky breath. Her eyes flicker to Grumpy.

“Don’t panic,” Grumpy says. “The last thing you wanna do is panic. The thing is, a drop in ratings is normal for a show that’s been running as long as we have. That means there’s gonna be some changes. Most of you will keep your jobs.”

“Hang on, what?” shouts Robin. “What do you mean, ‘most of us’?” Emma looks over to see him scowling.

“I’m saying some of you might lose your damn jobs. Do you want me to sugarcoat it? I’m not gonna. I’m going to give it to you straight and I don’t give a damn if you’re butt hurt over it. That’s the way it is in this business. You knew that when you signed the damn contract.”

No-one dares to speak again.

“With that in mind,” Belle continues, more gently. “Try not to worry. We’re working extremely hard to get the ratings up, and to still keep Kings and Queens as the show we all know and love. Changes are going to have to be made, that’s just how it works. I don’t know what changes exactly-” Her voice falters and she glances over at Grumpy. “Since… since…”

“Since what?” Killian asks, the only one brave enough to speak.

Grumpy is the one who answers him. “We’re getting a new head writer, pal. And he has some very big changes in mind.”

It’s like all the air leaves the room. A new head writer, Emma thinks. What the hell? Belle’s their writer. It’s always been Belle. No-one can take over her show.

“Again, not to worry,” she says. “You’ll all meet him next week. He’s busy working on the next scripts at the moment.”

The next scripts? He better be something special.

#cs au #captain swan #cs ff #captain swan ff

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coffeemakernamedhank · 7 years

Text

purposeful procrastinating

hey kids, so, there are things i really want to watch this season but i don’t want to torture myself week-to-week? especially with nobody to excitedly yell about anime at. i got a couple hours of it when my brother visited and we sat around talking weeb shit, but just like sleep debt, i have a lot of pent-up weeb babbling leftovers.

because i want to keep myself away from the urge to watch the things i want to watch RIGHT AWAY RIGHT NOW OH MY GOD, it was time to go back to the to-watch list and the number generator to decide. the random number told me it was time for Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist. and shit, the character designs were generically pretty boys, and it had all that weird Very Christian Bullshit. it should have been a good time, but mostly it was annoying and full of recycled animation and stills on roller skates. have thought about it exactly none since finishing, probably never will again.

after that disappointment, Hotarubi no Mori e was a tiny huff of fresh air. i love the shit out of Natsume Yuujinchou, so an adaptation of a manga by the same author was always gonna be great. a short little movie about growing up and forest spirits and a gentle blending of two worlds and there’s a masked person and for some reason i love the intrigue of a character being masked and only getting to see their face in tiny flashes and special moments. i was crying as it got to the end, and then cried harder when i realized that it was over and sometimes life is just bittersweet like that. please give me all the youkai/ayakashi stories, forever and ever, amen.

let’s go right from spirits to demons, and specifically, demon business hell. Hoozuki no Reitetsu takes the idea of hell and makes it a some very organized Japanese business. hell on your hell sundae. i thought it was a good time, but probably more of a good time if you already have knowledge about Japanese folklore and mythology? the second season is airing now, and it’s probably just as funny-to-a-specific-set-of-people.

right, so there’s tons of the “normal dude gets sucked into his video game fantasy world” genre, right? Sword Art Online will never fucking die, after all. in spite of the popularity of “omg video games anime,” i think Quanzhi Gaoshou got massively slept on. granted, it’s about actual people PLAYING a fantasy video game competitively, as opposed to going into one to collect a harem of waifus. but really, i think it didn’t get watched because it was a Chinese anime. it was certainly difficult for me, because i’ve gotten used to my mediocre understanding of Japanese carrying me through not paying continual attention to the subtitles? not only do i not speak Chinese, but also Chinese is a FAST language. it was sometimes hard to finish reading a line before the subtitle needed to change to the next one. in spite of needing to focus more than i’m used to, it was still good, though. fun, nice animation, and hey: nobody went into the fantasy world. maybe “e-sports anime” will be a trend?? no, no it won’t, there’s no waifu collecting, what’s the point.

i feel like i talked about Seikaisuru Kado before? i put it on hold to finish airing, and only just came back to it. right, so, the first episode was mostly animated traditionally, and then it changed into this lovely 3D animated magic time? i know tons of people want nothing to do with 3D anime, but shit. this was NICE to look at, all the time. the music was nice too! the whole show seemed to be going along at this atmospheric but weirdly grounded pace, and everything was GOOD. and then everything changed when Unnecessary Heterosexual Romance attacked. there was just this point where it was time for a romance subplot, and from there, everything went off the rails. the tone was lost, the in-universe rules were smashed, and relationships that had been building and changing were just left off, because Time For Heterosexual Romance. i really enjoyed most of this show, so the end was.. extra disappointing. ugh.

after that SUDDEN HETERO ROMANCE FOR NO REASON, i figured it was time for some hetero shit done well. i was always gonna enjoy Nodame Cantabile because piano, so watching every single episode and OVA and special was easy. it’s cute and silly but still dramatic and full of lovely music. this is the classic shoujo shit i do like, and also i got to listen to my husbando Seki Tomokazu for a bazillion episodes. with tons of piano. i can’t wait to try to get my girl to sit down and watch this, because she’s a musician and it’s just full of technical music shit.

Higashi no Eden came highly recommended and apparently won awards and shit, and yeah: it’s pretty. but it’s also confusing and weird and doesn’t seem to care about answering questions or.. any kind of satisfying resolution. which, sure, that’s.. a thing you can do with your anime. but uh. probably just a show to watch to say that yes, you’ve watched it, stop recommending this to me. i took this screencap, because unnecessary and bad English on signs in anime is still funny.

i think probably i hadn’t watched or read anything from CLAMP since i watched the X/1999 movie on VHS in high school? and mostly, after watching every sliver of xxxHolic, i just wanna watch that movie again. i still think about some of the lightning/power animation from that movie. xxxHolic was honestly pretty good, full of the youkai/ayakashi shit i love, but just. just slightly too silly, at points, to go along with the more serious tone it kept trying to hit? if you can handle the ridiculous anatomy that tends to go along with CLAMP works, you’ll probably enjoy the shit out of this show. my favorite part was the last two-episode OVA, because older characters, but it was pretty much good all around. a warning that it ties into Tsubasa Chronicle, but it’s really optional to enjoying xxxHolic by itself? it was just really nice to hear “Syaoran” pronounced properly, after having last heard it in the dubbed version of Card Captor Sakura.

i remembered to go back and score a couple idol shows from a while back (Tsukiuta The Animation and B-Project: Koudou*Ambitious, both of which i’d describe as “fine, i guess”) and so, since there are a few idol shows in the current season, i decided to go ahead and give one a shot. friends, i really enjoy the general awfulness and cheese of idol shows, but i dropped Dynamic Chord like a hot sack of rocks. i don’t think we’re allowed to actually know the names of most of these characters? and there are so.. so very many. in addition, the animation was mostly.. awkward and stilted. hard pass, hopefully the other idol shows will be watchable.

i watched Boku dake ga Inai Machi in a total rush yesterday, and man. most of it was pretty compelling, but the end was exactly as bullshit as i’d seen everyone saying it was. it did some interesting things, and is probably worth watching, but.. i was just glad that i was going into it expecting disappointment, after the hype was over and ruined. i cried, but then i totally expected that i would? predictable-chan.

HAHA WOW THAT’S A LOT OF ANIME but in my defense, i’m knitting a shrug? lots of background noise needed.

#a post about emchan #shut up emchan #weebhauschan #i'm getting closer to a second page of posts using that tag heeeeey #anime prison is eternal

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