#and i think its just different from the more slice of life of s1

[always-a-joyful-note]

You know, I find it incredibly funny that most villains get a backstory to show how tragic and sad and sympathetic they are. But the writers looked at Qiao Jin and went, "Oh, we can use his backstory to make him WORSE." In exchange, the Li twins got the brunt of the tragedy and man are they really going through it

[mdhwrites]

Do you think it's a bit odd how muddy the premise of TOH is?

I can sum up the premise of other similar shows I've watched in one sentence to any hypothetical viewer going in blind. SU: A chubby boy struggles to master his own power, identity, and goodness while navigating complex family dynamics, old wounds, and sick sci-fi technomagic. Amphibia: Three girls search for each other, stretch their friendship to its limits, and find a way back home in a wacky land populated by amphibians. She-Ra: An imperialist soldier turned rebel fights to free her homeland from occupation whilst struggling with the unique bond she shares with her frenemy.... etc!

I'm just not sure what I could say for TOH. A girl runs away from home to be mentored by a wild witch? But she doesn't really get mentored, and she didn't exactly run away either (she just... didn't go home until it was too late.) A girl leaves her home dimension to enroll in a magic school - hm, but that wasn't really something she super duper cared about, it was just part of the witch gimmick for her.

What else?? A human enters a land of witches, only to discover sinister scheming from the only other human to genocide - which - he's 400-ish too, so, uh, that proves that... colonialism... um.. religion... Let's restart. A human enters witchland and discovers things are not as they seem - no, things are pretty much as they seem-

A closeted girl is thrust into a new world in which she can be herself, and catches the eye of a popular rich girl? Hey, that's not too bad, except it ignores a whole lot of other shit that went down.

How about: A girl enters a wacky land that fulfills her dream of living a fantasy to a T, including the unpleasant parts of the genre.

...Yeah, I guess that's the closest I'm getting. Anyway, what d'you think about TOH's premise? Is it clear to you?

So when I bring up that TOH has a split personality problem, this is what I'm talking about. It effectively is trying to tell three different stories, with three different tones. Any one would be good on its own. Any two would need some finesse but they had plenty of time. All three? Well, even disregarding time constraints, you would have had to be really smart in mixing all three elements in order to make something cohesive as keeping them all separate for longer would simply create the same problem as keeping them apart for a short time does.

And TOH doesn't even fucking try. The literal only element that consistently ties all three story ideas together is Luz. I'll get into it more in a second but this is part of why when you pitch the show to someone, you kind of just have to focus the entire description on Luz in one way or another. To mention any of the other elements causes you to inherently imply one is more important than the others and TOH never chose anything to prioritize.

But of course, what were the three stories trying to be told and with what tones? And I'll talk about how it handles each of them weaving into one another once I've just established a baseline for each.

Well, first we have the slice of life, comedy, coming of age story that is Luz, Eda, King and Lilith. Especially in S1, most hijinks with them are focused around blunt morality, hijinks and just dealing with a problem of the day. It is the most bluntly kid's show of any of them, adopting a lot of the tone of Amphibia. This is why we get so many B plots with King that are the same thing over and over again. It's why Lilith and Eda are on opposite sides of the law but they don't fight until the end but instead are just nice, silly sisters here for hijinks. It's also part of why Lilith is made into a joke in S2 because that is more keeping in line with the tone of this storyline than if she were to actually what happened to her seriously and mixed in with:

The second is a fantasy epic about the corruption of a world by hate and prejudice. Of one man's corrupted beliefs of religion and want for control ruining a land. It is a much darker toned story, meant to reflect the horrors of the real world and its prejudices. This is the plot of Belos and Hunter. It is also the plot that is the smallest part of TOH but should have been the most omnipresent due to how so much of it is tied strictly into the worldbuilding. A lack of world building easily makes this sort of story, like most dystopians, fall completely apart. It also is the one that requires the most adherence to it as conflicting elements makes this story feel all the weaker each time someone treats this existential threat as nothing to be worried about.

The third is the most obvious: The school drama/romance story. This one is probably the one actually trying to be the most concise due to how almost every element for a season and a half of this plot is dedicated just to the weird girl/serious girl romance. It's a classic and one I've iterated on multiple times myself as it's just a fun concept to handle.

So there you go. Three ideas that are each on their own a good story but have their own complications. Each one of these could have easily taken two seasons to properly explore and tell. With more efficient storytelling, any of them could have taken a single season or less.

But then you get the exponential problem of mixing them together. Because mind you, tonally you have a comedy slice of live, a romantic drama, and a dark epic. Those are VASTLY different genres for each tonally and in narrative intent.

The easiest combo is actually the first and second. This is actually what Amphibia is effectively. The show starts in a somewhat isolated part of the world so its lighter tone can not contrast with the darker epic that is to come, giving it a safe space for character development, relationships, etc. Then with each threat, it gets a little more serious with its tone. There's a reason Hop Pop buries the box in S1 but the confrontation about what that means isn't until S2. There's a reason why S3B of Amphibia is MARKEDLY more serious than anything that came before it. The strength of this combo is that when the darker elements show up, the contrast of what came before makes them hit all the harder and makes you care about the stakes.

So what about how TOH handles it? Well, Lilith and Eda are theoretically a blend of the two but Lilith is never treated quite seriously enough. Also, rather than it being ideological, it comes across more personal with those two and it kind of leaves Belos out of it for the entirety of the first season, especially due to how wishy washy the show is about the covens being a big deal. Then in S2, Lilith absolutely SHOULD be the connective tissue. Her and Luz share a similar anger towards Belos and the two acting on that anger is a way to show that hate in any form is destructive, playing on the grander themes of the epic side of it while bringing in The Owl Family.

Instead, Lilith is just kind of flicked away, rendering any connective tissue from S1 to just evaporate, especially as no one actually seems to have cared about Belos almost murdering Eda. Rather, Raine is the connective tissue for the two plotlines. You know, the character who never gets to meaningfully interact with Luz or King, nor actually has a role in potentially pulling Luz to different ways of learning like Lilith might have, meaning they don't interact with the mentor side either. Even in their first episode, Raine is entirely self contained away from the other two. Eda and King's closest contribution to the plot before S3 is honestly in trying to get info out of Warden Wrath and that's really it. Otherwise, they're entirely divorced from Belos, his philosophy and his machinations.

So next easiest combo: The grand epic mixed with the school setting. This is how you get things like S3 of RWBY, My Hero Academia or Harry Potter (Though HP sucks dick at it too because good old Joanne sucks both at being a good person and actually writing anything serious.) The school setting is used as a kind of safe space for drama, romance and teenage shenanigans while the dark elements allow those things to come to a fever pitch as well as a way to test the bonds made at school versus the grand threat's hate and evil. It's hard to make smooth though, if the fact that I listed two things with... questionable plot writing to put it mildly isn't indicative. It at least has been done before. Oh, Naruto pre-Shippuden could possibly also be counted as this.

And TOH mixes these two by... Hunter? That really is the closest it ever comes to mixing them. The school is easily the part that obliterates taking Belos' regime or themes seriously as it constantly, CONSTANTLY undermines the worldbuilding of the show and struggles to actually feel like a part of the grander society. None of the Hexside Squad members ever properly face what being a wild witch or ditching the coven system actually means after all. Amity literally treats it as something that will mildly disappoint her parents but isn't a big deal.

So all you really have is Sport in a Storm and Labyrinth Runners as at least those episodes are using the school setting to give Hunter a chance to make friends and become a better person, theoretically, and he's important to the epic storyline so that kind of counts. If you REALLY want to stretch it, Eclipse Lake is another point of crossover before all three plotlines are mashed together starting at Clouds on the Horizon but the only justification there is that Amity is from the school stuff, though it's closer to fitting the tone and tropes of the mentor's storytelling than that of the school's.

But that is still three... In almost 38 episodes.

The last one is easily the most awkward and the one I don't have examples for: Mixing the Mentor and School plotlines. It's actually pretty easy to see why this would be hard. Both are about teaching the main character but in different ways. I think you could claim some works have done this by having a specific teacher be the primary teacher/mentor for the main character while the school is just where that mentor is accessed.

So how does TOH mix the-

Error 404.

Huh...

I'm not over exaggerating that much. Besides Teenage Abomination, VERY WEAKLY, the two never actually mix. Eda comes to Hexside once. King interacts with the Hexside kids a couple times but always in episodes or B plots that are much closer to the silly slice of life stuff than anything trying to mix the two tones. Even when it does, you get Really Small Problems where neither story is progressed and it all feels bad. Remember the closest that Eda comes to ever being a part of fixing a school problem is in Understanding Willow where she's just a spell dispenser before then being an idiot for Gus. It doesn't make her look better or play with any of the themes. The next closest is during The First Day where she is isolated entirely in her own plot so it's not actually mixing it besides the fact that Eda is at the school.

And for all three?

Well... I think the best way to point this out is that the best example of all three plots coming together is Edric deciding to expand his knowledge of magic. He actively chooses to reject what society has told him, tries a new method endorsed by the mentor figure but does at least acknowledge that his old schooling didn't prepare him for it. It's not strong and it's still hamstringing the epic storyline because he's already practicing two types of magics and so is mostly just nervous about being any good at this but it's SOMETHING.

But otherwise? The three shall never meet. Even once Clouds on the Horizon happens, they never meet. Eda literally never spends time with the Hexside Squad, especially as a whole. King is barely a part of the mentor stuff by then and is purely in the Epic territory and he's still not interacting much with them. Even in the final episode, the Hexside members are entirely on their own while Luz, Eda and King properly take out Belos, rather than everyone trying to protect Luz or having to fight by her side.

This sequestering of characters, themes, plotlines, etc. causes the show to waste a LOT of time and never have a proper focus. You never know what the point to a scene is because what it's serving is unclear, if it's serving anything at all. The show, by the end, can still have cut Amity and Hexside out entirely and lost literally nothing except much of what made the fandom engage with the show. And a reminder: Disney SUGGESTED Hexside. Dana said yes. It wasn't forced on her.

And that fits the show's entire storytelling ethos. It never feels like it is actually focusing on a single point. Instead, individual episodes will present interesting ideas or statements that immediately conflict or need to be retconned by other episodes because nothing is properly congruent. It is all conflicting against each other because each part is acting entirely independent of the rest.

It is an ever growing leviathan but rather than bringing in more of what is around it to make it stronger, it only ever hurts itself more and more as the details that once shone on its surface are made murky and unclear by all it has piled upon it until there is nothing but a rancid sludge. Unclear, unfocused and hard to describe except in the most blunt way possible. So what is the most blunt way to describe TOH?

The only factor that gets to cross all three storylines: Luz. So the only way to describe the show is "A story of a teenage girl going into a fantasy story." What type of fantasy story? Who knows. The writers didn't seem to after all so why should we?

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[ollylotl]

I WANT TO HEAR YOUR DAKOTA N VYNCENT THOUGHTS SO BAD please tell me about them.....

oooh dakota and vyncent…, where do i start. i warn you i don't normally do like. character analysis writing type posts? so please excuse if it's bad.

they have perhaps the most strained relationship out of the prime defenders. but that's not necessarily a bad thing. it's really compelling. they're very similar but also very different at the same time. and maybe this is why they can sort of grate against each other sometimes, but is also why they are such good friends who can rely on each other.

vyncent grew up living a life that, while not necessarily comfortable, he was familiar with. he was happy and he had a support system in the greats and his parents. that got ripped away from him very suddenly and he got dropped in the deep end of a world entirely unfamiliar. meanwhile dakota (from after his parents death onwards) had a very difficult childhood. he spent many years without a support system - his parents gone, his aunt struggling herself and not able to care for him as he needs. but he's had time to learn to deal with that. rockfall/new haven is where he's grown up, and he knows it like the back of his hand. so they're both struggling but like in opposite ways? where vyncent has been okay for most of his life but now he hasn't had a chance to adjust, while dakota's been going through it for longer but that means he's been able to adjust and is familiar with the rules of this world.

they also have opposite ways of coping with bad things / tackling their problems. dakota shuts down. vyncent lashes out. dakota is determined to never take a life. vyncent comes from a world where fighting to the death is normal. dakota not only trusts, but idolises heroes. vyncent has been nothing but let down by them and doesn't trust them at all.

i think about that scene in season 1 so much where they're at mark's house, and tide has been taken, and dakota's just shut down. vyncent starts yelling at him because he's lost everything he had in this world and can't afford to just stop like that. it's just the perfect example of how their opposite experiences and coping mechanisms cause them to clash.

more extremely, when william gets killed. dakota completely breaks down, while vyncent starts attacking even more furiously. then vyncent is like. almost pleading (? you could say? not sure if thats the word) with dakota to just get up and fight because he can't do this alone. he can't do this without dakota. he couldn't have done any of this without dakota.

but in perhaps the more simple ways, they're quite alike. they're the epitome of dumb teenage boys. i mean, they'll just break into a duet on the train. they goof off together - the shopping cart race, that one scene in the gym in season one.

so. like. they lean on each other. they both don't have much to rely on. but they have each other. i think vyncent was probably, even if its a large part subconsicous, feeling betrayed when dakota left over the s1-2 timeskip. likewise how dakota felt betrayed over the bino and mark thing / mal amulet / belltech, etc. etc. but they stick together. no matter what they go through they get out of it, and they get out of it together.

so. okay apologies for taking so long to say so little. essentially what i like most about dakota and vyncent's friendship is that duality of relying on each other both out of necessity and because they're the only ones who really get each other, and also having the energy of like. "hey bro how many slices of pizza can i fit in my mouth at once. hey bro bet you cant backflip off of this building. hey bro let's do a karaoke duet of breaking free from high school musical"

as vyncent himself said in late season 2. they're brothers. (falls over and sobs)

[titleleaf]

Can you talk a bit about your introduction to the Hannibal Lecter tetralogy? Did you see any of the movies first or did you read the books and then watch the films? What drew you to the series initially?

Absolutely!

I was really really into Demme's Silence Of The Lambs as a preteen in the era where you could just turn on the TV and the same 20 movies would be playing on cable —it’s interesting to look back on those really naive viewings where I wasn’t really aware of the world enough to grasp the film’s themes around misogyny (or the turbo-problematic elements, never mind the literal edited-for-TV censorship) and also not really astute enough to grasp why Hannibal Lecter was supposed to be a frightening presence. Hopkins’ Hannibal is having so much fun in that movie and when you can’t really detect the layers of irony and cruelty at play it’s a really different film. (The big thing in hindsight that's strange is that I perceived the museum bug guys as much more threatening figures — and they certainly do represent an ambivalent part of Clarice’s experience moving through the world as a woman, including being flirted with when you're trying to investigate an active serial killer but Foster plays Clarice's responses to them very differently to me now. I also just took it as a given that Clarice and Ardelia were girlfriends, not in a “I ship it” way but where I didn’t understand how it would be intended otherwise. I do ship it now as an adult, ofc #clardeliahive.) Something about Hannibal's combination of prickly sparring and weird courtliness was a blast for me even at that young (and dumb) age. I watched the film Hannibal later, probably on one of the zillion illicit movie streaming sites that used to exist and only let you watch 45 minutes of video a day, pretty miffed at the actor change but enjoying the weird villain/heroine loyalty kink soooo much… cannot remember, for the life of me, when I picked up the film adaptation of Red Dragon but there's a nonzero chance it was because of a gifset of that stabbing scene back in, ugh, oh god, 2012? Still an absolutely delightful dynamic, ponytail and all. I'm meh on it as an adaptation of the novel RD now (the novel's grim ambivalent ending makes people so uncomfortable that it seems to be nerfed in every adaptation) but it really blew my little mind.

I was dubious of the NBC series when it was announced (as a big Clarice boi), then watched s1 and enjoyed it, then got as far in s2 as Beverly getting sliced up and bailed. I didn’t finish the series until some time last year, but I'm glad I came back when I did, having boned up on the books in the meantime. Some of my frustrations remain (short version, I do think the show’s writing has a sexism problem, and I'm never as enamored with Hannibal as the writing seems to be) but it’s still so compelling to me and it’s one of those things I can turn over and examine from a million angles. Also it is stacked with hotties from start to finish, and it introduced me to the finest wettest Will Graham. Brain chemistry-changing shit.

Books-wise, I think I read Hannibal Rising first, which is probably not the way people should engage with those books — I still think that book and its film adaptation have a lot of fun stuff going on with them, it’s just not necessarily… necessary. The rest of the books only came along for me after my most recent revival of interest in the NBC series. (Which… came about after I went completely off my shit about Primal Fear and joking with a buddy about Aaron Stampler's summer internship in Italy got me rewatching the 2002 Red Dragon film for the first time since college.) I think I was scared away by the way people talked about the book Hannibal, but it ended up being my second favorite of all four, it’s gonzo and turns up the Grand Guignol nastiness to 11 but it’s also terribly fun.

I was a latecomer to Manhunter also for similar reasons — people loved to call that movie cheesy or act like it was some strange early effort superceded by the obviously superior adaptation of a different book — but simply as cinema I think it’s the finest of all the film adaptations, and Demme's SOTL owes it a massive debt. Mann gives Dolarhyde a tragedy and a dignity that no adaptation is willing to give to Jame Gumb and I’m sore about that but also. Tom Noonan’s double-l Dollarhyde being the only blond Francis on film is so funny, and I love Will Graham's tiny purple shorts. I miss the things it cuts/changes, especially with the friction within Molly’s marriage and the location specificity of the book, but it also has such a wonderful encapsulation of what’s at the core of both Will and Clarice to me — you can’t save all of them, but you still have to try to save as many as you can. Brian Cox's Hannibal is his own beast, and really compelling.

The CBS Clarice procedural is such a fun idea but it gets so tangled up in rights issues and the CBS procedural-ness of it all that it really impedes things. Some of what it adds is brilliant imo (I love the character of Julia, a married trans lesbian in the 1990s corporate world who makes tough choices and brings a fun element of the novels’ boring RL forensics to the fore as well as exploring the in-universe consequences that Clarice's explosively well-televised confrontation with Gumb has for innocent people who have nothing else in common with a skin-stealing serial killer than being queer and societally despised) but other choices it makes are totally inexplicable. (Several questionable choices made wrt Catherine Martin, and also what the fuck are they doing with PAUL KRENDLER… it felt like a Mindhunter rehash, very much pejorative.) Other elements suffer from the absences dictated by the rights issues involved — not just no Hannibal Lecter but no Jack Crawford, no mention of Will Graham as the maimed and miserable failure-state for what Clarice is risking, no nothin'. I miss Jack! Also they just cannot commit to it being a full on 1990s period piece, which is a crying shame. If it were on another network, or made by a different team, it could have been really great, but it’s ultimately a frustrating watch for totally different reasons than NBC Hannibal is a frustrating watch.

I also listened to the musical parody of Silence Of The Lambs a lot in college and it's still major earworm material ten years later. I'm just trying to mind my own business and blammo, it's If I Could Smell Her Cunt on mental loop.

[lesboymetaknight]

Tired of people saying every dark magical girl anime is a Madoka Magica ripoff, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t even like the majority of grimdark shows that came after Madoka Magica. We understand they usually all have that same twist in Madoka Magica, but that’s where most of the similarities end.

We have been watching Yuki Yuna is a Hero lately, and I regret listening to others say it’s just a weaker Madoka Magica, and it’s what kept us from watching the show for years (other than it’s mild fanservice and it’s ableism in S1, but thats off topic, and a conversation we are unequipped for.) It’s main similarities are its twist in S1, having a corrupt system, the music, and they both fight in abstract/dreamy like places (even though in Madoka Magica the labyrinths are always different, and don’t take place in the same location as they do in Yuki Yuna.) Its differences lie in its characters, relationships, themes, storytelling, resolutions, we’d even say Yuki Yuna has more light hearted tones at times, and would even call it slice of life sometimes.

It just reminds us of annoying people who have only watched Sailor Moon, or only know of Sailor Moon, and call every other mahou shoujo a Sailor Moon ripoff. If you have watched more than one mahou shoujo, you would know that’s completely untrue. Yes they do have similar character archetypes, themes, storytelling, but that’s because they are from the same genre. Just like these grimdrak mahou shoujos are a genre within a genre.

Don’t get me wrong we do think some of these shows are trying to ride the coattails of Madoka Magica, but I’m sure there’s just as much that were inspired by Madoka Magica. There’s nothing wrong with people taking inspiration from others.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Do you think that Amphibia is not getting much love for the show compared to how much love The Owl House is getting?

It's a sad thing that's pretty much happened from the beginning for these sister shows. Even tho' Amphibia came out before The Owl House, its TOH that got the most attention. I could see why tho', Amphibia's first season is more slice-of-life compared to Owl House, even tho' Amphibia's S1 was to show Anne's growth as a person from a simpler follower of Sasha to her own person who'd defend those she cares for (not just her frog family but the town of Wartwood). I understand that while there are technically episodes that can be skipped, I still wouldn't since it's all in service to a larger picture of Anne's growth.

If only Owl House got to have a full S3 like Amphibia did, even tho' Amphibia's S3 was divisive I still would've liked to see what the Owl House team could've done with a full season.

I just wish people would stop pitting the two show's finales against each other as they're both different themes, etc. not to mention that Anne and Luz would 100% be friends. They're sister shows and as such should be treated as equals

[brofightiscancelled]

mr rice can u please share your thoughts on ososan s1 and 2 vs s3 differences , like the direction they went that was less meta referencing the reboot nature of the show, and more on the mundanity and sisyphean nature of being directionless young adults (who are also virgins). Personally the bits focused more on the mundane were rlly good I think. U dont wanna see the matsus do chores? Play hide and seek? i personally enjoyed it. also, your omusubi thoughts if u have any?

i could probably write a thesis paper on this, and idk how having watched all 3 seasons back to back in the year of our lord 2024 affects my opinions, but ill try to keep it brief (1029 word stream of consciousness )

tldr: S3 lost sight of The Bit

dont get it twisted i LOVE slice of life stuff. i like characters. season 3 had some of my all-time favorite segments (pizza, the way home, mt takao). however to me what felt off about the season was moreso like… the Ratios. the Overall Season Balance, Ebb and Flow, it was all wrong. s3's skits were as a whole longer, fewer, and less funny. i did tier lists of every single segment from each season and i was shocked how fewer segments s3 had compared to s1. theyre too freaking long. and not even funny!!!

i didn't realize how.. idk stale? s3 was getting until cosplaymatsu and then i was fucking gulping for fresh air like FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING OUT-OF-CONTINUITY BITS!!!!!!!!!!! 

the thing is to me i think the Bit should trump all. s1 finale took this very literally, trampling all over the emotional cliffhanger for the Bit, but i think s2 finale also valued the bit of "well s2 is over so all that's left to do is die" while also retaining the emotional flow of facing mortality. i think s2 had the best finale for this reason btw. but ask me aboit that separately

to me osomatsu-san's Core Bit, at least that it started out with in s1, is "-kun is about these sextuplets being identical, so it's funny that they're all different as adults". the differences between them was in and of itself a punchline!! six same face!! to me as soon as you lose sight of this you lose my interest. no -kun flashback for s3e1 was a death keel. also, fuck you inumatsu

s2 took this core bit and ran with it a little further, now a little more confident in their characterizations they used the differing personalities as new comedy material. it's probably the platonic ideal of how ososan can combine its identities of "60's anime remake" and "jyushimatsu cordyceps"

i think s3's bit is, if there is one, at best, "there is no joke. we deadass just haven't done anything of value". which i just don't think is a good bit. it's one note, it's not versatile, and it gets dangerously close to being at the audience's expense- i think you can convey the lethargy and sisyphean existence without also making the audience feel like they wasted their time (i.e. the absolute worst sin a piece of media could commit). So the bit isn't good and they're not even dedicated to it in a way that matters. 

"does there have to be a bit" well yes! I think so. it's a gag anime. i guess that's the crux of my argument. if you dont have the balls to commit to character development you MUST commit to the bit. i think s3 fell flat for me bc it couldnt commit to anything

i watched osomatsu-san with a dear friend of mine who, bless their heart, still can't tell the sextuplets apart 3 seasons 2 mini serieses every bonus episode and 4 movies later. but they could still enjoy s1 and s2 because the matsus and their personalities were vehicles for the punchline- not the focus. as soon as they started writing about the matsus themselves and losing sight of the Bigger Picture (the bit) they got very lost. and im aware theyre an outliar viewer but i don't think it's unrelated. 

i think mt takao is a good summary of this issue. there's no bit- we're just slice of life moments with the brothers. but then tbey feel like they need to make a joke, lest people start expecting them to actually let these boys find happiness, so they just do a "and then we all died, jk, we can't actually accomplish anything of value" punchline at the end. it's a disservice to people who are invested in the characters, and for people who aren't, it's just not funny!

omusubi thoughts: theyre cutes. i could tell watching them that they were probably quite disliked for derailing the season so i immediately became like, fans in a hater way. lol 

i think their core bit is good: showa anime meets modern robots who don't Get It. but their storyline doesn't tie into their Bit, and its attempted tie-ins with the sextuplets never emotionally resonated. episode 12 was, affectionately, a huge waste of time (though the sheeh payoff made me woop and holler) considering i couldnt even get over my suspension of disbelief that the sextuplets would actually give a shit enough about them as People to bust their asses saving them (which, after their self actualization, they clearly still were treating them like machines. so it's like yeah i knew that shit was fake)

but like yeah after that they weren't their Bit anymore. they just became characters. maybe that's the summary of my issue w s3? no one is their Bit anymore. everyone's so attached to the Characters now that no one values the Bit anymore. we've gone so far into gap moe that ichimatsu isnt even scary anymore. if rental girlfriends had happened in s3 it'd be totty with the tiger cage 

but anyways. omusubi are interesting to me because i said earlier how s3 doesnt want to commit to anything, but it does seem like they wanted to commit to telling full character arcs, but had trapped the sextuplets into a Popularity-Induced Personality Prison where they've become too popular to meaningfully change, so they tried to do it with new characters and side charas (nyaa single mother arc peak). so like… i enjoyed the omusubi character arc bc it was at least something solid to grasp onto in this season with writing more fleeting than sand 

(but again, it still got invalidated and didn't matter in the end!)

in the end it is hard to cheer for characters if you know fucking nothing will matter in the end (very similar to my aggretsuko review i wrote in my head and didn't post anywhere), so if they're not at least funny about it i'm like What's the point.

a faustian tale, etc  

[broke-on-books]

☕️ + the Scooby Doo fandom in general

Hmm okay so this is a very broad question to me and that really means it's going to recieve a broad answer, especially to me as "Scooby fandom" really has differing levels in my heart etc.

For example with my friends and the smallish community of fellow Scooby fans I've found here on tumblr (the Scooby Dootuals!!!) I really love and like! Everybody is so nice and it's cool that people have various levels of knowledge about different series and iterations. Like I really enjoy that on here Scooby fans (as in, like my friends and people who regularly post scooby) have such differing levels of experience with this huge huge franchise as it makes it so much more interesting. Like we have people out there who have seen almost every episode (or feels like it) and can seemingly remember the smallest of things from them, and then we have people who weren't into Scooby as a child but are exploring it now, and then we've got people (like me) who did like it as a child and kind of know a bit of everything, with huge areas of weakness in Scooby they haven't seen, (for me APNSD, anything more than the premise of 13 Ghosts, the 80s trio minus Boo Brothers, anything past s1 of bcsd, much of the 70s era movies, SD & SD, Guess Who, SDMI details, like the list goes on, people!!! I've only seen a Scooby series in order in its entirety one time in my life and that was SDMI age like 12) while also having a few areas with greater knowledge or familiarity and a few spots where they just know a ton/are constantly rewatching. (Me with Goes Hollywood for sure) anyways I don't really remember where I was going with this but uhhh I like that my buddies and whatnot all know different amounts with many being chill or knowing a little bit of everything so we can still like each others posts and talk about Scooby with there still always being so much more to discover <3. So like basically thoughts on the besties are that besties are cool

However I know anon that by sending this you likely mean "Scooby fandom" as in people outside of this insular little bubble so let's talk about that. I think I'm reluctant to really label this group "Scooby fandom" as for ME PERSONALLY fandom really means a kind of engagement with the work beyond what most general Scooby fans do. Like what I'm trying to say is that this group of "wider Scooby fandom" liked Scooby and watched it as a child and consider themselves a fan of Scooby but they aren't rotating Scooby characters like blorbos in their mind too much. Or if they are, it's generally in the creation of like dark!Scooby aus or the live action Scooby show pitches that blow up on here every time Scooby is a topic of general coversation. I guess for me personally the line between this "Scooby fandom" and my own little bubble of people I'm chill with gets drawn based on what fans want out of Scooby. Like do they love Scooby as it is, or do they want to change the audience to create a new Scooby for themselves. Hm, I'm not really phrasing this right. What I mean is like we're all Scooby fans. If you've ever liked Scooby, at any age, however long ago, you're a Scooby fan, I'm not trying to like, gatekeep Scooby fandom or whatever. I just think that differing groups of fans have different pictures in their head of both what Scooby Doo IS and what they want from it based on their familiarity with it and how long it's been since said fan has watched Scooby.

And that's kind of wherein my frustration with "wider scooby fandom" lies. It's really in the fact that there's thousands upon thousands of these "sleeper fans" (which in my mind is really a better term for it) who awake when I or the popular culture mention Scooby, to share their opinions. And these opinions just frankly drive me up the wall. This is because when confronted with a real life Scooby fan (me) there's generally 3 things they want to talk about: 1) SDMI and how it's the greatest thing since sliced bread 2) Doesn't HBO Velma suck 3) (once they learn I like Scrappy) Scrappy hatred and copious references to his portrayal in the Gunn Movies. Plus MAYBE a bonus 4 of other miscellaneous takes that get on my nerves (stuff like Shaggy always smoking weed, Fred and Daphne splitting up together to have sex, just all sorts of things I do not for the life of me want to talk about).

So I guess my take on the wider scooby fandom is as follows: there are positives like some genuinely funny SD posts once a blue moon, or people to share things like concept art and leaks to much of the content canceled by HBO Max, but the vast vast majority of the time it kind of gets on my nerves because people always want to talk about the same few things (which I feel have been talked to death already or I highly disagree with OR BOTH) and it's just really tiring to deal with. Idk I don't think I'm going to go into it to much more here because this post isn't too coherent to begin with (I'm blaming it on like 70% of this being written before work this morning) but there's so many people out there who think so similarly about Scooby (and SO differently from how I think about it) that it feels like I'm getting talked over constantly whenever I have a discussion about Scooby with someone from this group. And that's just like not fun for me? It's just like for me, Scooby Doo is my number one thing. Like I'll be in different fandoms concurrently or whatever and I don't really read fic for scooby but I will for other stuff etc. But like scooby is always there for me like MY MAIN turned into a scooby doo blog like honestly while that's just not the case for some other people. It's very much a difference in the value and time put into the franchise, (which like you can just like things casually that's not a bad thing) it's just that it's frustrating for me talking to sleeper fans about Scooby because I get trapped (literally, like irl) in the exact same conversation that I don't even want to be having(!!!!!) pretty much all the time.

[rebelgodking]

Emilie Smith’S RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted. Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

Mun name: Monroe OOC Contact: either inbox, or tumblr I.M., I don't have a discord

Who the heck is my muse anyway:

👑 💀 In a nutshell, Emilie is a pure demon, meaning she is (aside from other old ones ,and a small percentage of old demons) the top of the food chain. Created by magic rituals ,and a sacrifice of the bloodline, a Cressida Flora Priest , The plans of making perfect hosts for the old ones failed. ++ Emilie is over 10,000 years old, the equivalent of a young adult, in (old one ) demon years. Aside from her age, she is the Illyria's blood, (and the decedent of Fjölnir Freyrson ). ++ She's a demon that plays by her own rules. And cares not for what other demons think of her. *her Owl & Knight version is different, in a small, but noticeable way

Points of interest:

Other supernatural beings could feel confused,etc by her appearance, since she smells like an old one ,but looks very human. Though ,some ,at first might not feel like shes a threat. Since she never hides she's a demon, and shes too lazy to put on any aura of being a threat. ++ She smokes, but never around children, mothers, and anyone whos's trying to quit. ++ Her "punk" attire, and as well as her devil may care/un afraid manner

What they’ve been up to recently:

++ Post the show, she's either still not sure how to spend her time. Her lifespan is infinite. She splits her time with investigating supernatural stuff. Or just doing nothing to traveling. It depends on which main verse, btvs, bprd, or owl & knight

Where to find them:

pre-sunnydale: varies since she was kicked out of a few high schools after her big fight with Eric Dragomir btvs season 1 - 3: Sunnydale,CA btvs s4+/angel s1 - 3: L.A , CA, USA misc: The Whistler 'sanctuary' manor/house (location varies), B.P.R.D. buildings (bprd verse) , at the Inferno Bar, Caritas , Hyperion Hotel, -

Current plans:

++ Truthfully ,I've never thought of events from post btvs to her 'feared & revered' verse. Which is more than a 1,000 years after an apocalypse. In which she is one of the ruling demons ,and a god to some humans' (and maybe some non-human beings) ++ She's mainly procrastinating going though the stuff she inherited from the Whistler House in Sunnydale, which is something I also what to thread out.

Desired interactions:

++ Just Emilie flirting with other ,single, demons, or other supernatural beings (have you not seen her type tag). She prefers demons to humans. Also friends, colleagues getting after, or teasing her about flirting with demons. Basically not huge on the enemies relations. but I am big on found family. My one endgame ship is with Eddie Hope, this is still an idea. Not sure who's her "endgame" ship. ++ Slice of life stuff, hanging out , late night research into some supernatural mystery ++ Going on cases ,with other agents, either in her Hellboy verse or owl and knight verse

Offered interactions:

++ its a running gag is anything supernatural ,at least once, smells Emilie. Either cause she looks way to human to smell like a pure demon, or some other reason. ++ Just this plot, like jumaji but more elf, DnD type thing. I have starter call for it,and a tag ++ Her just actually being her her demon form, even if humans, and most beings can't understand what she's saying in that form.

Current open post/s:

(Insert links here, if you have any). open starters || memes | bingo meme ||

Anything else?:

I use the weekends to take a break from all things R.P. And focus on relaxing or work on any projects I have. And it takes me a while to open up, cause the whole OC thing. As well as an oc who's related to a canon

Tagging: @bewitchingbaker , @parainvestigate & @giftedeath (plus anyone who would find this usefull) (tagged by: @obscurushydrae )

[herobrinna]

ok so ive spammed my friend with toh thoughts a bit to much so time to ramble here i suppose. (sorry in advance thisll be very disjointed and go from one random point to another).

my main take away from the finale is that it felt a bit... hollow?

like dont get me wrong, the animation was so fucking good. getting more titan and collector lore was also so cool (and hellooo The Titan being such a genderqueer royal? absolutely love how natural toh rep is, like its just thrown out there and no one questions it, just how shit is, absolutely bangers- *gets shot*). and aaaa, the aged up re-designs of all the characters are so good, especially like the detail how all the hexsquad have a flapjack tattoo.

yet there are so many bits that just feel off? like they couldve been handle better (even with the cut runtime the show had).

first lets start with the Collector who just got done dirty, like their whole arc was about the fear of being alone again, yet at the end they decided to leave? just like that? like would it not make more sense for him to stay with Eda, to learn to control his powers better and make new friends. especially them leaving to "mature" or whatever doesnt really make sense, like how can they grow as a person if they dont interact with others, if they dont get exposed to different opinions and believes and all that.

and i dont really like Collie, but it still feels like he deserved better, especially after taking up so much runtime.

actually you know what wouldve made the show better? not introducing the Collector in the first place.

no but think about it, why waste so much runtime on a character that didnt even exist before the show was cut (and thus had very little foreshadowing and buildup to his introduction) and then to not even give them a sweeter ending?

if anything the show shouldve stuck with the Day of Unity being the true finale. like honestly if DoU happened over the 3 specials they actually had plenty of time to flesh out all the existing characters further, maybe there could have been even a little more time for more slice of life moments. but then the whole bit with Collie just feels likes taking away precious time, that his character could have only worked if the show wasnt cut, but if it wasnt cut he wouldnt have existed in the first place, so man idk.

and on the topic of the DoU, holy shit Belos got done dirty, im actually mildly mad at his demise.

like it just overall doesnt make sense thematically.

like, ok this is gonna be hard to phrase, and i would like to straight away say i dont think Belos should ever be redeemed, just gonna use other characters redemptions as example.

so toh throughout its enite runtime is really set on showing that everyone deserves a second chance for as long as they want and are willing to change. we see this with Lilith who was pretty much immediately redeemed at the beginning of s2, and whilst many people say it was rushed, or she didnt deserve it, i think otherwise. like throughout s1 she only tries to get Eda into the Emperor's coven out of the belief that Belos will cure her, cuz yknow, she feels really fucking guilty for cursing her sister, and even then she doesnt really force Eda that much into joining, like there are many moments of weakness were Lilith couldve dragged Eda to the emperor, but she didnt, she gave Eda many chances to join on her own. and again the only reason she even wanted Eda to be in the coven was to right her mistake of cursing her. so after going through that guilt for years of course shed be forgiven quickly, as she showed that she wants to change, be better and all that.

we see this with Hunter as well, though his redemption was more gradual, yet still his past wrongs arnt brought up, like how he patronised Eda and Luz during his first meeting, or attacked Amity in eclipse lake, cuz he was also doing shit out of the belief of helping people, and clearly wanted to change for the better, so why bring up his past wrongs when hes a better person now and all that.

why bring this up?

well with Belos toh brought up an interesting dilemma, what do you do with a person that doesnt want to change, thats stuck in a loop of his short sighted beliefs in a system thats ready to accept and help anyone that tries to change regardless of their past?

and the answer to that being to just kill him?

like how does that solve anything? he died thinking he was in the right, that witches are still spawns of satan or whatever tf. it just feels like it goes against what the show established.

now dont get me wrong, the scene of him trying to manipulate Luz for the millionth time and her just staring him down completely unfazed is amazing, it says more than any actual words could ever. what isnt is then Raine, Eda and King immediately stomping him afterwards, which again, just proofs Belos' point that witches are "evil" from his perspective. (how did he even die from that when even mf Collie wasnt able to kill him? and ne got hit by a car and that *still* didnt kill him either, it just feels like he shouldve survived that)

so imagine if instead of them stomping him down they decided to imprison him, that will of course also have the effect of saving him from the boiling rain. so now Belos has to live with the fact that it was witches that saved him, the same witches he'd never show that kind of mercy to, the same witches he would murder the second he got the chance, and what makes it worse is the fact that the human, the one he oh so creepily obsessed over didnt even do anything, wouldve left him suffer in the boiling rain if she had the choice.

and just generally, letting him actually *live* with the consequences of his actions would have been so much more fitting. like dying is easy, wayy too easy, an escape from consequences, but actually living with said consequences, well thats delightfully horrific.

and his death isnt the only way that they done him dirty, the Titan also basically just said that Belos is just evil and theres nothing more too it, when there literally is?? like hello what were all thos Hollow Mind paintings for if not to show that Belos aint just pure evil, how he is a victim of shitty circumstances, yet how despite that it doesnt excuse the extent to which he took shit to.

and the just forgot about that?

... oh right, they forgot the memory paintings even existed untill someone posted their own redraws of them, no wonder they fucked Belos' character up so much :/

man im getting tired from rambling this much lol

but overall its just toh has so many missed opportunities, i could go on and on about them, although not like my rambles make any sense probably, and many people have def explained similar point much better so im just gonna shit up now.

(and of course im gonna rewrite this for my oc x Belos au <3 )

[thetorchwoodarchive]

Found family event masterpost

Thank you for all your submissions! Below the cut is the list of Torchwood fic recs focused on found family, as submitted by you, our followers!

we built a family (home) by myre ( JackIanto | Complete | 17844 | M )

When Jack gets back, things are different—he’s different—and he’s not sure where he fits anymore, but he should’ve known that there was a place reserved just for him.

Ianto Jones' thoughts on Life, Death, and Summer Squashes by Arnica ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 17762 | T )

The first thing he remembers afterward (and the rest of his life will always before and after Thames House now) is waking up to the sound of hospital machinery droning away, Gwen's head heavy on his legs as she drools on him with Rhys snoring away in the chair next to her, his hand spread wide across her back, head tipped back as he sleeps. Then there's Jack, sitting sideways in the window with his gun drawn and resting in his lap as he does something with the wrist straps in his hands.

Two of Us Are Hung From the Same Twisted Rope by ShastaFirecracker ( JackIanto, ToshOwen | Complete | 15799 | T )

An accident with some sort of brain-scanning alien device leaves Owen and Ianto sharing Ianto's body. Hijinks and nightmares ensue.

Does Africa Know a Song of Me? by etmuse ( JackIanto, MarthaTom, GwenRhys | Complete | 17618 | T )

Jack gets a call from UNIT. They need his help in Namibia. And when they arrive, Jack and Ianto (because Jack wouldn't leave him behind) discover the only communication they have with the team is letters.

Torchwood One Archive by james ( JackIanto | Complete | 11346 | M )

AU after season one. Jack has returned to Torchwood and to Ianto. Ianto is determined to make the best of it but he knows it won't last forever. Their time together threatens to get even shorter when the Doctor shows up unexpectedly.

In Bits and Pieces by reiley ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 83306 | M )

Sort of a fill-in-the-blanks story throughout the entire series: How they pull the pieces together after the world shatters, focusing mainly on Jack and Ianto, but all the others are there, too. Takes place between 'Exit Wounds' and 'The Stolen Earth', goes through all of series 1 and 2, and far back into the past.

Lost and Found by Kaneko ( JackIanto | Complete | 3642 | E )

Straddled over the rift, the Hub was a place where things were lost and found. Strange objects washed in like driftwood. Things went missing. There was never any sign of where they'd gone.

Personnel Issues by PinkFairy727 ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 41434 | T )

The Torchwood Three email newsletter: an excuse to gossip, bitch, plan dates, fight, and discuss squirrel rats. Co-authored with sparking_off.

Warnings: canon character death and swearing.

Just this once by Beleriandings ( JackIanto, ToshOwen, GwenRhys, LoisEsther | Complete | 239639 | T )

(Everybody lives.) (Or: when a certain Doctor arrives to save Owen Harper from a stricken nuclear power station, it begins a chain of events that will lead Torchwood Three down a very different path. From time locks and telepathy to tea and coffee, high-speed chases to unresolved sibling issues, their new lives (and new and old loves) may be different, but their bonds of friendship and family grow stronger every day. But when every child on earth starts speaking with one voice, the team are torn apart again as they’re forced to fight for their lives, and to confront monsters they’d thought they’d left behind in the past. But with all of them working together – along with some allies they’ve made along the way – Torchwood Three will stop at nothing to save their friends and set the world to rights. The consequences will ripple out across the universe and into the distant future. But they have to start somewhere, and the present is as good a place as any.)

Club Wales by pocky_slash ( Gwen&Ianto, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 19898 | T )

In the wake of Jack's disappearance, Gwen finds comfort in a new friendship with Ianto. Gossip, bonding, and other hijinks of understanding ensue.

Hell or High Water by aliciajazmin ( GwenJohnTosh | Complete | 3102 | T )

Toshiko, Gwen, and John have been married for a year now, beginning a life of adventure and crime (but only against those who deserve it). A mission going wrong results in the discovery of an orphan.

The three of them and the orphan must then decide what they want for their future.

A E I O Moo, I love Y O U by aliciajazmin ( GwenJackIantoRhys, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 627 | G )

Jack finds a new song to introduce to Anwen.

AKA Roses are red, violets are blue, Jack likes to sing: A E I O Moo.

Never Has He Ever by Jackdaw816 (JohnAndy | Complete | 1666 | T )

Hub lockdowns are great for juvenile drinking games and revelations of the self

Coping by innocent-until-proven-geeky (JackIanto, Gwen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack | Complete | 910 | G )

After the events of Exit Wounds, Jack, Ianto, and Gwen are exhausted.

Hug by innocent-until-proven-geeky ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 401 | G )

Not-wanting-to-let-go hugs.

March 31st in the Torchwood Family Household by innocent-until-proven-geeky ( JackIanto, GwenRhys, GwenJackIantoRhys | Complete | 117 | G )

Happy Trans Day of Visibility! Please enjoy this little ficlet of trans Torchwood polycule. In my headcanon, Ianto is a binary trans man using he/him pronouns, Jack is genderfluid using he/him pronouns, and Gwen is nonbinary using they/them pronouns with Torchwood and she/her pronouns in public.

Here For You (a friend's night out) by BookWerm ( Ianto&Tosh | Complete | 354 | T )

An answer to the prompt : “I’m their best friend” with Ianto and Gwen or Ianto and Tosh

The Lonely Cheryth by BookWerm ( Alice&Jack, Steven&Jack, Others | Complete | 6581 | G )

Steven's Uncle Jack is a mystery. One that he's determined to solve.

A fic through quite a bit of Steven's life (yes, he lives through Children of earth) that was quite a bit of fun

A Moment (An Eternity) by Clare_Hope ( JackIanto, ToshOwen, GwenRhys | WIP | 10923 | T )

Owen slid underneath the closing door just in time to escape the room about to be flooded with radioactive coolant. Tosh didn't die of her wounds because with Owen there, she got medical attention before it was too late. The entire Torchwood team made it through that terrible day. Everything should be alright now. But Jack is really, really not alright.

Below 20° Celsius by Clare_Hope ( JackIanto, Team | Complete | 5182 | T )

20° Celsius is generally considered to be the lowest a human's body temperature can be before dying. This is bad news for Jack, who is a bit colder than that when he's pulled out of Cardiff Bay after drowning continually for a couple hours. The good news is that he doesn't have to deal with it alone.

Work Friends by Clare_Hope (Ianto&Tosh | WIP | 3431 | T )

After everything that happened with Mary, Ianto is the only one who doesn't seem uncomfortable around Toshiko. She can't read his mind anymore, but pretty sure she knows what he's thinking: We've both seen someone we thought loved us killed by Jack. I understand. I might be the only one who understands.

Of Motion in Perpetuity by Beleriandings ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 106708 | M )

When Gwen, Jack and Ianto investigate a cold case from end of the nineteenth century, they find themselves pulled back in time against their will, fighting to protect each other and to get home.

Conditional Iteration by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto, GwenRhys | WIP | 35431 | T )

Gwen can only watch, helpless and raging and grieving, as Jack and Ianto die in Thames House. The next moment though, she finds herself pulled out of time, back to the moment it all started to go wrong. Maybe second chances aren't in quite such short supply as she thought.

Coffee Break by firesnap ( Gwen&Ianto | Complete | 2069 | G )

Gwen and Ianto steal a few minutes to chat and make plans.

Another Rainy Day by SerenityJane ( Team | Complete | 3088 | T )

Tosh darted the occasional look at the closed door, curiousity warring with courtesy. So was Gwen, but she looked more like someone was dangling sweets in front of her nose and telling her she couldn’t have them. No prize for guessing who the candy was. Owen was watching the girls, and desperately trying not to think of pink elephants.

The Right Kind of Doctor by joonscribble ( Owen&Team | Complete | 2008 | R )

Three times Owen Harper was good at his job. Set between season 1 and 2.

Stargazing and Truth-Telling by earlybloomingparentheses ( JackIanto | Complete | 4632 | T )

A month after the events of "Exit Wounds," Jack Harkness heads off to an unknown galaxy on a mission for UNIT, and Ianto and Gwen are left behind to stare up at the stars and wonder when he's coming back. As a small act of rebellion against Jack's perpetual mysteriousness, they decide to play a game: they have to answer each other's questions with absolute honesty. There's a lot Ianto needs to get off his chest, his feelings about Jack Harkness not least, but the truth is tricky--it's never safe, and it's certainly never easy.

ghosts in my head by Sholio ( Team | Complete | 2637 | T )

Owen doesn't sleep, but he does dream. And the dreams he gets are mostly nightmares, because of course they are.

Facing Light in the Flow by engagemythrusters ( JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 3821 | T )

A slice of a life nobody had dreamt they would ever have.

The Door Wide Open by sherlockpond ( GwenRhys, JackIanto, ToshOwen | Complete | 5333 | G )

Torchwood incurs a tough life on its field operatives.  They deserve times where they feel like they need to be vulnerable in  front of each other. [6 times the team were emotionally honest with one another - set during various points of S1 and S2]

Flatpacked by Beleriandings ( Ianto&Rhys, JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 6946 | G )

Rhys has a day off, and decides to spend it peacefully looking at homeware in Ikea. He's not expecting to bump into one of his wife's coworkers there; much less, a shapeshifting alien that likes to eat batteries. But then again, that's Torchwood for you.

On saving the world, and what happens after by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto | Complete | 2447 | G )

After the events of Journey's End, Gwen and Ianto wait for Jack to come home.

Domestic Disharmony by thirteeninafez ( Gwen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 3163 | G )

In which Jack and Gwen get stuck in the Archives and discuss green milk, thermostats and Ianto Jones.

After the events of Journey's End, Gwen and Ianto wait for Jack to come home.

Pastries, Avoidance Tactics, and a Bottle of Scotch by pocky_slash ( Gwen&Ianto, JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 6220 | G )

In which Gwen said something she regrets, Ianto makes a poor dinner choice, Rhys offers sound advice, and Jack has a key. A different sort of "Meat" post-ep.

Respite by Beleriandings ( Gwen&Ianto, GwenRhys, JackIanto | Complete | 2591 | G )

Even by their usual standards, Gwen thought it was absolutely fair to say it had been a rough week.

Blood on Steel by Sholio (Owen&Ianto, Gwen&Jack&Owen&Tosh&Ianto | Complete | 12257 | T)

An alien booby trap turns the Hub into a deathtrap. Lucky thing it doesn't react to someone with no vital signs. Now Owen is their only hope. More specifically, he's Ianto's only hope.

The Cartography of Feeling by Sholio (Owen&Ianto | Complete | 20846 | T)

"We're sodding gladiators," Owen said. "Fuck this entire day and Jack Harkness too."

(Or: Owen and Ianto are abducted by aliens and forced to arena-fight. But the worst part might be the control device that connects them in an emotion and pain-sharing bond.)

Haul Out the Holly by Flamingbluepanda (JackIanto, GwenRhys | Complete | 1069 | G)

Sometimes you need a little magic in your christmas

with a lil’ help from my friends by Flamingbluepanda (JackIanto, GwenRhys, OwenTosh | complete | 1307 | G)

Everyone needs a Hug sometimes, Torchwood Included

(Or, five times Jack thought about hugs and the one time he thought of nothing at all)

I’ll think of you each time I watch from distant skies by Violetmessages (JackIanto, GwenRhys, Jack&Team | complete | 3749 | T)

In which Tosh makes a discovery and the team comes together to show Jack how much they love him.

Halfway Back by Sholio (Gwen&Jack&Owen&Ianto&Tosh | complete | 13953 | T)

Team Torchwood run a sanctuary for magical creatures, and this time they've got a basilisk on their hands.

Team Means Pack by Sholio (Gwen&Jack&Owen&Ianto&Tosh | complete | 2615 | G)

Post-Countrycide in a universe with werewolves.

Stormwrack by Sholio (Gen | complete | 2111 | T)

The last time Owen was in the Brecon Beacons, Welsh cannibals tried to eat him. This time, it was pouring buckets on him, and he was dead. At least the latter might help with the cannibal problem, although given his luck, probably not. They might just consider him well-aged, like a side of bacon.

Sky’s the Limit by Blackkat (JackIanto, SuzieTosh, Ianto&Suzie | series | 6,694 | T)

Ianto and Suzie meet as strangers on a rooftop, and bond over aborted suicide attempts, failed plans, bastard fathers, and the fact that they're batting for both teams. Friendship is a beautiful thing.

Forever and What Comes After by violetmessages (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 10028 | T)

“Hm, imagine if they did,” Ianto said. “Torchwood would have to come out of retirement.”

In which Gwen and Ianto relax at a spa, Jack and Rhys attempt bad science, and Anwen is just along for the ride.

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time by paycheckgurl (JackIanto, GwenRhys | complete | 3351 | T)

This wasn’t exactly how they planned their Christmas going, but they were going to make the best of it.

Remnants of a Forgotten Past by paycheckgurl (Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness & Owen Harper & Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato | complete | 7523 | T)

Torchwood's latest case hits close to home for Tosh when it seems to center on Lodmoor Research Facility's Newest project...of a destructive off world variety.

Written for Torchwood MiniBang

Midlife Crisis by Princessoftheworlds (JackIanto | complete | 371 | T)

"You do realize," begins Owen one day during their usual lunch meeting, chopsticks dangling from his hand, "that technically, Javic is your mid-life crisis?"

Found you made us a star by Princessoftheworlds (JackIanto, OwenTosh, GwenRhys | complete | 6477 | T)

Millennia after having lost their team, Jack and Ianto set about reuniting with old friends and crafting a Torchwood for a new future.

[the-golden-ghost]

Top 10 avatar episodes? (ATLA or LOK)

I've never seen LOK so... A:TLA it is!

The Siege of the North: (technically this is a two-part episode but shh) anyway WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT THE SIEGE OF THE NORTH?! Siege of the North is flawless. Amazing Showstopping Impeccable. The scene where ash starts raining from the sky, changing the tone of the scene from peace to tension? The glimpse of the rows upon rows of Fire Nation ships and the sinking dread it brings? The waterbenders in action? The part where Arnook is going “some of these faces will disappear from our tribe for good” and it flashes to Han, Yue, and Pakku, all of whom did indeed leave but for different reasons? The part where Zhao traps the Moon Spirit and the WHOLE WORLD goes red? And then gray after he kills it!??! And the only color left in the world is the glow from the fire and YUE’S EYES!? Koh? Iroh’s confirmation that Zuko is son in all but technicality? Yue’s sacrifice? There is just SO much good stuff in this episode and I’m not even listing all of it I’m just listing what I can remember. Peak season finale 10/10. Outstanding.

The Tales of Ba Sing Se: Okay it’s pretty obvious why I like this one and the answer is “because it owns, duh” but beyond that it’s just a nice episode. It’s not big, and intense, but there’s plenty of Big Intense Episodes. This one’s just everyone going about their lives and we get a lot of quiet reminders that while these are the Saviors of the World they’re also just people (and a lemur) with their own problems and desires and wants. It’s just kind of nice to have a slice of life episode that doesn’t... feel like just an odd shoehorned plot (like some of the season 1 filler episodes I could name...) but actually feels like it’s about the characters.

The Deserter: GOD this episode is so pretty. I’m talking about the lighting and art design. Seriously go watch one of the other earlier episodes of s1 and then watch this. The soft filtered lighting with a subtle gold/orange tint to it, hinting at the element we’re covering in this episode? Gorgeous. The foreshadowing is also glorious. Magnificent, even. When I rewatched the show a few months ago I was catching little subtleties that went over my head as a kid. It works beautifully as a self-contained piece and also in tandem with its sister episode, the Firebending Masters. It’s also got the ONLY Zhao vs Aang battle in the entire season. I could go on about it more but I won’t, it’s just a SOLID episode and I think it’s underrated.

The Southern Raiders: Okay I know everyone likes this episode for the part where Katara makes the rain stop and that’s also why I like it. That was one of the most memorable moments of the whole SERIES for me. Beyond that there’s the flashback to Kya’s death which... we’ve known about it. We’ve known about it for the whole series. It’s affected Katara and Sokka deeply and we see it through their actions, but we’ve never really known what happened. Here, we do. And we get to see it from three perspectives, three times over. And then there’s Aang’s and Katara’s conflicting ideas of justice and vengeance and whether violence is ever necessary or justified. It’s just... a good episode.

Sokka’s Master: The Only Sokka Episode (but really why did it take until season 3 to give him one!? He deserves better) Anyway Piandao is the best teacher character in the series bar none so there’s that. For another thing we actually get to see Sokka at his best and realize just how necessary he really is. He sort of gets written off (even IN the show) as pure comic relief or just the One Nonbender Who Hangs Out With All The Cool Guys but here we have a Justice For Sokka episode that goes ‘you know what? Nah’ and points out that he’s a strategic genius who carries the team from behind. AND that he can be a badass, too.

The Runaway: First of all the episode opening with the END of the events was kind of a fun gimmick. I mean it’s not hard to see where it’s going but it was different. Secondly it’s about time we got a Toph episode that isn’t just about her not getting along with her teammates or about being blind. For example, in this one she becomes a career criminal. It’s what she deserves. Also the stuff about them all missing their parents and driving home the fact that this is a group of lost children is surprisingly heartfelt. (I’m not describing it well but I love this episode)

The Blue Spirit: This episode gives us some of our first inklings of Zuko As Good Guy and boy does it deliver. The thing that gets me about this one is the tension of the situation. I remember being a kid and seeing Aang trapped and alone and being like “oh shit” because for the first time, he doesn’t have his friends. Except he had a ~friend all along~. Also the herbalist is an icon.

The Avatar and the Fire Lord: We Love a Flashback Episode and we especially love one that comes with the caveat that “friendships can last more than one lifetime”. We also love to be sappy. We also love to make fun of Roku for not realizing that he was in love with Sozin.

The King of Omashu: Bumi is The Character Of All Time and I think I appreciate him more than any other minor character on the show so jot that down. This episode is so goofy and so much fun but it feels organic and light because we’re still early and we haven’t hit the point yet where the goofy episodes are annoying and out of place (looking at YOU, Nightmares and Daydreams...) also when I was a kid I totally missed the idea that Bumi was testing Aang not to see if he was smart n’ talented but to actually find out if he’d learned any of the other 3 bending episodes. “Don’t you have any surprises for me?” And Bumi’s earthbending having airbending elements that are specific to his bending... because he’s one of the only earthbenders alive who knew and trained with airbenders... I die. I feel similarly to Jeong Jeong’s firebending taking after waterbenders because he’s envied them and giving him a unique style of his own... I LOVE when the show gives minor characters these little details that make them stand out okay I ADORE it

The Blind Bandit: Okay this one’s just a fun episode and the character designs slap. The Final Battle (tm) also slaps. Toph’s bending style? The dinner scene? The reference to Dwayne Johnson? It’s all good and the animation for Earth Rumble XI was off the charts.

[mdhwrites]

Hi 🦝 I followed recently, I really enjoy most of your takes about toh so far, you're able to put into words issues that I also been having with the show for quite a while now (since s2).

My feelings towards toh are mainly (a bit negative) neutral now for many reasons that you mentioned and I would love to find more content creators criticizing it's writing and characters, but I was wondering how do you feel about the show now with all it's flaws? It feels like a wasted potential to me so I have mixed feelings. Can't say I like it or hate it because I have equal reasons for both and I'll probably still think about it after it's finished.

.

Also, hypothetically, do you think a reboot (done right) would solve most of these issues?

So... I am inclined to say that the first season, in isolation, is still probably a 9/10. A just incredibly solid kid’s show with representation, fun characters, neat magic and while some hiccups, it tells its story well and the story of S1 actually is emotionally powerful. The show as a whole so far though is a 7/10, though especially if you don't think about it. It's a 5/10 if you do probably. It has good animation, fine characters that start as good and then... Jesus christ the character 'arcs' of TOH are a fucking mess and the transformations of the show are just a whole topic unto themselves. It doesn't necessarily teach bad morals, besides not being willing to criticize Luz's blatant bad behavior, but also struggles to teach good morals at times, often going for something honestly more complex than many kids are going to pick up on, especially with what is more clearly being said and done straightforwardly. It also has a plot that is functional but is NOTHING special as far as the fantasy genre goes and is awkwardly told and not just because of the shortening. The lack of follow through on so many elements or having characters actually react to things done to them or around them is awkward and makes you incredibly aware of the hand of the author at all times when it comes to the writing. Worse yet is that what it tries to do cleverly falls apart when questioned in the slightest and has a hard time being followed by the audience because the worldbuilding and rules of the show are honestly established so poorly. So much is changing at all times that you just don't know what to care about or what is true. BUT the biggest issue with TOH is honestly no one element. No one thing makes the whole thing fall apart... Because the show is fractured from concept. And this fracturing is also why a reboot couldn't ever fix the issues with TOH because there is NO version of TOH that is distinctly it that didn't require 5+ seasons to try and handle its identity crises. Because it has one. Because it's not one show. It is split straight down the middle between a comedy adventure about found family and coming to terms with reality and a slice of life, school based, drama romance. Literally the only thing genre wise keeping the two together is fantasy and fantasy is a setting, not glue to slap things together with without EXTREME finesse. And there's no finesse here. But think about it. How little do King and Eda actually impact any of the Hexide Squad? How often are Willow and Gus actually going on adventures with Luz? How often does Amity contribute to the plot... at all? Hell, you can even look at this with Hunter. When with Luz, he's in adventure mode, with Willow he's in romance mode. And the two are genuinely written differently for that sake. And it causes a lot of problems with consistency, especially when you have a team of writers who will blatantly disregard or change things in order to... Actually. I can showcase this with one aspect of the world EASILY. For Eda, being a wild witch is a death sentence. She has been on the run ever since she was a young woman simply because she decided she didn't want to be a part of the system. She has molded her life around being able to keep that freedom and be who she wants to be but she also recognizes (at least in Season 1 before Mama Eda erased Eda's history. Like I said, the arcs are bad in this show) that she can't be as big as she could be or wants to be because of all of this. She will always live in the shadow of society, only 90% of what she wants to be, because the coven system is law and disobeying it is met with death. Amity treats it like deciding not to go to college. In Reaching Out, she treats not joining a coven like something she can just choose to do and the worst repercussion is that it will mildly disappoint her parents. And everyone else treats it this way too where they just nod along and go "You know what, you're right. That's your choice to make," like it simply means that she is deciding to try to be a creative rather an accountant instead of doing something that will have her be a marked woman for the rest of her life. Now there's a lot more analysis I could do into Amity's character about this but I want to focus on asking you all to really think about the role of the coven system at times in the series. Luz being allowed to study all tracks. Bump allowing multi-tracking when he's dooming those students to mediocrity in their fields or exile from society. It's... a mess. And incompatible. And there is no way to reconcile it because it is such a core element of the show but used vitally in two different ways. And therapy fixes identity crises (I hope it does for me some day), not a reboot. OH! And thank you so much for the follow and I’m happy you’ve been enjoying the blogs! I’ve been told I’m actually really good in general in giving words to people’s feelings. Comes from a hyper analytical brain mixed with the ability to write well. I’m happy it’s helping you figure it out yourself.

[deltaengineering]

that was the winter anime 2021 that was

Still not quite ready for a dozen posts about how terrible the likes of Combatants Will Be Dispatched are, sorry. Watch Vivy though, it owns. Here’s some more things that are (mostly) good. As always, worst to best.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki S3

Yatogame has long run out of hot Nagoya facts and its ensemble comedy never amounted to much, so now it seems mostly content to just spam more and more wacky character designs. About the only thing that it has left going for it is that 3 minutes a week are more effort to drop than to watch, so I expect them to make a movie next. 4/10

Go-toubun no Hanayome S2

Quints is a weird one. S1 was a barely good enough (i.e., well above average) implementation of the ages old harem chestnut. S2 is actually better at the core of its appeal, since it gives all the characters a sharper profile (things like taking Nino from joke to badass and making Ichika a villain are no mean feat), but it does pay a steep price for it. You see, to deliver a steady drip feed of meaningful character moments it apparently has to rush through the source material at a breakneck pace, which completely wrecks the "story" part of this story and makes every episode seem like a recap. And it still keeps wasting precious time on vestigial nonsense like its framing device and the Kyoto flashback scenario that was already the worst part of S1. But by far the most annoying aspect is its insistence on keeping all the options valid, since it prevents any real progress and makes everything seem arbitrary and pointless. So sure enough, after a season of much ado we still don't end up anywhere — you can't really raise the stakes if all at stake was "who wins" to begin with. It's watchable and even enjoyable scene-for-scene but it's getting harder and harder to call it a solid show overall. 5/10

Skate Leading Stars

I was watching this primarily because I didn't like Yuri on Ice much and wanted to see if something that is a blatant attempt to cash in on it would be better — because while YoI delivers on one aspect (being hella gay), it really is an absolute shambles of a sports show. And sure enough, Skate Leading has none of the auteur appeal of YoI, but it just works much better. In particular I appreciate how it managed to make me care even a little about a cast of assholes, which is a nice contrast to the nauseatingly ingratiating way YoI tries to make you love its characters. Also, Skate Leading is just generally cheap and unambitious, so not susceptible to trying hard and painfully flaming out on the presentation side like YoI is. But at some point you gotta let go of these comparisons and on its own Skate Leading is... just fine, I guess? Competent, mildly engaging, not very memorable. And that's probably where it loses to Yuri on Ice in the end after all, even if I think it's "better". 6/10

Idoly Pride

Idoly Pride sold itself on me with a really good (and hilarious/tragic) first episode that was just too bizarre to ignore — I mean, how can you ignore GHOST IDOL MANAGERS. Well, the majority of the show isn't like that. It's a competent and solid version of the idol franchise show, yes, but it really had more potential than that. Especially midseason, it gets lost in these dozens of characters, and while they're all likeable, it does seem like a waste of a good story just centered on Mana/Kotona/Sakura. By the end it comes back around to the heart of the matter with a Maeda-style sob story, which could be a disaster but seasoned veteran Jukki Hanada makes it work anyway. Overall, there's quite a bit of ridiculous hacky melodrama in this, but quite honestly that's the best part and I wish it would concentrate more on it. The rest is just okay. 6/10

Yuru Camp S2

Yuru Camp is still likely the best pure iyashikei show when it gets down to business. Compared to S1 though, this seems to happen less and less. At its peaks (i.e., basically any quiet moment with Rin) it's at least as good as ever, and there's some good cast additions like Mini-Inuko, but it appears that Yuru Camp simply has run out of things you can do with camping and it fills up the time with other... stuff. This stuff includes the generic school club shenanigans it was never particularly good at, and a gigantic helping of crass consumerism. Yeah, I would say the majority of Yuru Camp is just a straight up infomercial at this point, which itself ranges from the perfectly acceptable (which cute anime isn't about food constantly), to the sketchy (I don't know whether the Izu tourism board cut this production a fat check, but if they didn't, Yuru Camp still gives its best effort to make it seem that way) to the highly irritating – I am aware that camping requires gear and you can't just ignore that, but you most definitely do not require whole arcs dedicated to talking about raising funds for the purposes of acquiring the Lamp of Comfy Happiness at your friendly local Caribou™ either. Not to mention an arc where the aforementioned lame school club does the same, for double irritation. Make no mistake, this show is so riddled with scenes that beg for a solution to embed affiliate links in video files that it makes me wish I was watching something as anticapitalist and underground as Love Live. And irritating really is the last thing a show with this core concept, as stellar as it is at that, can afford to be. Bummer. 6/10

SKOO the Infinity

Skoo has one really huge asset: ADAM, its magnificent villain. It also has one really huge liability: Reki, its not magnificent protagonist. To be more specific, it's very good at anything outrageous, physics-defying and silly, such as most scenes ADAM is in, and quite bad at anything serious, dramatic (in a serious way) and down to earth, such as most scenes Reki is in. So, what's the verdict? Well, the rest of the cast is more ADAM-like, and Reki's co-protagonist Langa is fine as the straight (yeah, right) man. The tedious buddy drama is a comparatively small part of this show, and at least it pays off quite well in the end. Seriously, I was ready to give this a 6, but the final episode is probably the best one of the show, in all of its aspects. That's really not something you see often. Skoo's a great time. Except when it's not. 7/10

Non Non Biyori Nonstop

Speaking of the rare good ending, what about we gave one of those to a slim and inconsequential slice-of-life show? NNB has always been solid, comfy and amusing quality with a couple of standout moments (usually something with Renge), and Nonstop has that plus an ending as conclusive as any show of this type is ever going to have. Besides, it does a lot of things right by focusing on more characters than the central 4 (especially Konomi has great material in S3), it expands the universe just enough to not get stale, and it moves things forward — It's definitely a lot better than the movie, is what I'm saying. Apart from that, well, we're three seasons in, if you have any interest in this you probably don't need me to explain what's good about NNB at this point. Bonus points for being nothing but an ad for the manga. 7/10

Wonder Egg Priority

Oh boy, so here's the big one. Wonder Egg is the rare Meaningful Arthouse Show About Real Issues You Guys, as you might have heard. And well, the long and short of it is that it's a very good show with quite a few glaring problems (besides not actually being finished due to production issues, but what we have is enough of an ending to be able to meaningfully talk about it). In particular, one problem: WEP is, at its core, one of these metaphorical Magical Girl-ish series that are just a thin layer of abstraction over coming-of-age or societal problems. The issue is that "metaphorical" in this case means "literal" and "thin" means "basically nonexistent". This show is not subtle regarding what it's about, at all. This is a double-edged sword — on the positive side, some things really should just be said aloud, and I'm really, really fucking tired of the Ikuhara style of "here's some wacky things, maybe a blog post will eventually tell you how it's actually about the most important thing ever" obfuscation — if it's really so important, just spell it out. On the other hand, there are limits to this and when a second, different Ai appears I don't really need a voiceover line telling me that yep, this show is about parallel universes now. WEP spells out many important things, but it also spells out many things that are implicitly clear or better left vague. Not to mention that with being so obvious up front, the show's tendency to leave figuring out what it's actually saying about it up to the viewer can leave the wrong impression. Again, I settled on the opinion that it's subtle after all where it counts the most, but you might easily get the impression that it pulls its punches (Ikuhara does this the exact other way around — once you figure out what the fuck he's talking about it's abundantly clear what he's saying about it).

In fact, this show is so good at subtle, quiet character moments that it calls into question the need for big huge fighting fantasy layer in the first place, especially since I'm not a fan of the fantasy designs and the fights aren't great. Sure, they look impressive on a technical level (this show is very good looking in general), but the lack of actual impact or rhythm makes me think this is not made by people who are very familiar with action and maybe they should have asked some seasoned shounen veterans for this — or just, you know, not do it. They can (and do) impress with character acting in quiet scenes just the same. And while Ai's character story actually does pay off quite nicely by the end we got, and Momoe and Rika are also handled well, Neiru's backstory is significantly less good, not to mention the whole Frill subplot regarding the show's mythology that they introduced just before (and that's the part to be resolved at a later date), which is a huge can of worms. We'll see how well they handle that, I suppose, but as it is it's a weird and vestigial detour that doesn't add much besides thematic headaches.

But yeah, apart from all that — I like it, a lot. Great character writing in the details, cool looks for the most part, tons of ambition, and a message that I consider to be appropriately handled — for the most part, and for now. Not quite ambitious arthouse anime at its finest, but also not a pretentious disaster like Sarazanmai, Monogatari et al. 8/10

[anxiousstark]

S1 02.1 |Heart Monitor

MASTERLIST

Stiles Stilinski x Reader! Half-sibling!Mccall

Word count:1998

Warnings: Injuries, anger issues, blood, swearing (always).

↪ Please respect my work. Don’t copy, translate or claim them as yours. Not on this website or another. All Rights Are Reserved. Otherwise, legal actions will be taken.

"I thought I said we would talk about this...alone." Melissa smiled at Scott. I could see behind that smile she probably wanted to hit him.

Scott had brought me to his house, and we hadn't said a word to each other. At least we had something in common, none of us wanted to be in this situation. I also got to meet Stiles, his best friend. He asked me a lot of questions on the way to Scott's house, most of them related to what had happened in the store.

Stiles was filling his mouth with pizza that Melissa had ordered. "I can' belief you don' zink of me as family." He talked with his mouth open, and I chuckled.

"Stiles is going to know anyway." Scott fiddled with his slice of pizza. "I would have told him as soon as we finished this conversation." His voice was dull, he seemed to be annoyed. It's not like he was the one living with strangers.

Melissa sighed. "This situation is strange."

"Yes, it is," Stiles replied while grabbing two more slices of pizza. He looked up to see Melissa glaring at him. "Oh, sorry. Continue."

"Like I was saying, this situation is strange." She wiped her hands, looking at her son. "But there are situations in life where we need to think about other people and-"

"Why doesn't she stay with her father?" He spat back as if we didn't have the same father. Well, more like the same sperm donor because none of us grew up having him by our side.

"Because I haven't seen him since I was four," I replied. Scott glared at me, and then he glanced at his mother. "Why doesn't she stay with her mother?"

I swallowed and answered again. "Because she is dead." I heard someone gasp, looking to my side I saw Stiles looking at me with huge eyes, but for the first time in my life, I didn't feel like someone felt sorry for me and that was...peaceful.

"I hope you guys will get along in school."

"She's coming to the same school?!" He got up from his chair.

"Yes, Scott. She is." His mom got up from the chair. "Now, go walk your friend to the door. There's class tomorrow and it's late." She turned around and looked at me. "I will show you your room, sweetheart." She smiled lightly and started walking upstairs.

Scott went outside the house, not without yelling for Stiles to follow him. Now, Stiles and I were alone in the same room and I smiled at him before starting to go upstairs.

"Wait." His voice stopped me. "Are you sure it was a bear? Maybe it was a wolf?"

I grinned. "Good night, Stiles. I suppose I will see you tomorrow."

Stiles beamed at me happily while the teacher introduced me to the whole class as the new student and Scott McCall's sister. I was going to interrupt him and tell him that we weren't siblings when he told me to sit down on a vacant seat.

Instantly, Stiles started to point to a table that was on his left, telling me to sit down there. I rolled my eyes at his enthusiasm and couldn't help but grin at how goofy he was. He seemed like a good guy. Well, at least better than Scott.

"How was your first day?" He rested his head on his right hand, turning his entire body towards me. He looked at me while I took papers and a pencil out of my backpack.

"Well," I put everything in its correct place and looked at him. "I'm in a new place, a new school, new people, and living with my father's other family," I smirked. "Seems like an adventure," I added sarcastically.

"Well, Beacon Hills can be a damn adventure." He whispered. I think he was trying not to say that too loud. But I heard him. "And believe me, Scott isn't that bad." His face got serious. "I mean, he has never watched Star Wars and he sometimes makes stupid decisions...but apart from that, he ain't that bad."

"Seems like we have something else in common." I snorted. I noticed Stiles looking at me as if he was confused. "I have never watched Star Wars." He gasped. "What? It seems like it's boring anyway."

"Okay." He pointed at me. "First of all, that was disrespectful. Second of all, we are going to change that. You McCall's are going to watch Star Wars with me. That is going to be my mission."

His composture changed when Scott came into class, sitting behind him. Scott glared at me, and I rolled my eyes while looking away. But from the corner of my eye, I could see how Scott was getting closer to Stiles. Both of them seemed to be arguing about something. Well, most likely Scott because Stiles was completely ignoring him. He seemed pretty mad.

I decided to lose my focus on them, focusing on my blank paper. And it seemed like I focused too hard because what seemed like seconds have been hours. My head started hurting while putting my things inside my backpack.

Melissa had told Scott to be around me in school and to not leave me alone. But I could tell that Scott didn't like me at all. I guess I discovered that when he didn't talk to me or when he glared at me. Oh, or maybe when he told me to be at least 3 meters away from him and Stiles when walking on the hallways.

"After work. All right, well, that gives me to the end of the school day then." I heard Stiles' voice and felt confused. They were quite far from me.

"To do what?"

"To teach you myself." Stiles turned around, staring at me. I tried to seem confused, even though I was. I just heard their conversation. "And she is going to help." He made a sign for me to walk closer.

I got closer after swallowing. "Yeah?" I asked and tried to avoid Scott's gaze which seemed to pierce my forehead. Yes, Scotty, I know you want me far from you. “You called me?”

"Yeah." Stiles grinned, placing his arm around my shoulders. "You know, your brother, right here." Both of us glared at him. "I mean, you...like. Well, it doesn't matter." He sighed. "He has been dealing with..." He looked at Scott and shook his head in response. "He has been dealing with anger issues, and I just offered to help him control it. And you are going to help me."

"Why do I have to help?" "Why does she have to help?"

We, the McCall's said at the same time.

"Because I say so." The hazel-eyed boy replied while making us walk to a field. "Okay. Now, put this on." He took something out of his backpack, handing it to Scott.

"Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?" Scott asked frustrated while I sat down next to the other boy, letting my backpack fall to the ground. Stiles let him know that he had borrowed it while Scott corrected him. "Stole it."

"Temporarily misappropriated. Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day." I grinned, even though I didn't know what was going on.

"Isn't that coach's phone?"

Stiles looked at me, rolled his eyes, and then grinned. "That, I stole." He went back to his earnest expression. "All right, well, your heart rate goes up when you go..." He looked at me again and then immediately, looked at Scott. "When...when you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."

"Like the Incredible Hulk?" Both of them snapped their heads at me when I talked.

Stiles smiled. "Kind of like the Incredible Hulk, yeah."

"No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk." Again. He was glaring at me.

"That is literally what I've said," I replied to him with a little anger.

He was going to reply but got interrupted by Stiles. "Would you shut up and put the strap on?" Stiles helped him and then, he took a tape out of his backpack. "All right. You ready?" He grabbed my wrist, and we both started getting far from him.

"No."

"Remember, don't get angry."

"What is going on?" I asked.

"Wait and see, McCall. Wait and see." Stiles grabbed his lacrosse stick, he began to throw balls at Scott. He was enjoying it, and to be honest, I was enjoying it too. He deserved it, he was being an asshole to me. "Wanna try?" He asked while offering me his stick.

I grinned, grabbing it confidently. "Yeah, I think I would like to try." I felt strength gathering in my body. I threw the ball as hard as I could, accidentally hitting Scott in his private areas. Well, maybe it wasn't an accident."

Stiles 'wooed' while laughing and taking the stick from me, continuing to throw balls at Scott while the taped boy tried to repeat over and over again that he should stay calm.

I saw Jackson looking at us from afar, but I got distracted when I heard a heartbeat? Was I hearing a heartbeat? It was going fast. I glanced back at Scott. Was it his heartbeat?

He was on the floor, making some noises, and I wasn't sure if he was angry or in pain, maybe both. But what I didn't expect was for him to break free from the tape. Sometimes I couldn't even cut it with scissors.

Stiles peered at me, he looked nervous. "Ah..you know. Anger issues."

"Yeah," I whispered, looking back at Jackson. He wasn't there anymore.

"Let's go change." Stiles helped Scott up. Then, he looked at me and told me to wait for them in the corridor so they could accompany me to class. We had a different class now, and to be honest, it scared me a little bit.

I sat down on the floor, my back against the blue lockers. The corridor was empty, the only thing I could hear was my breath. Until I heard footsteps and the back of my neck started burning, making me hiss.

"Agh, it hurts like a bitch." I frowned.

"Mine does too." Jackson was sitting down next to me. "How are you holding up? Lydia told me that you are Scott's sister." I grimaced. "Uhm, Lydia is like pretty popular so she knows everything that happens in this high school, or maybe in Beacon Hills."

I chuckled. "Well, first of all."

"We are not siblings." He imitated my voice.

"How did you know I was going to say that?" I unconsciously touched the back of my neck.

He also seemed bewildered. "I'm not sure." He noticed my hand, lightly touching my neck. "Is it...is it itching?"

I nodded. "A lot. Yours?" I asked, remembering that his wound had appeared after mine, which seemed completely strange.

"Mine too." His eyes seemed to seek some sign on my face. "Do you feel strange?" He started to go into more detail when he noticed that I was confused about what he was referring to. "Like, I feel tired and I sweat a lot."

I heard my name being called and saw Stiles waving at me, standing next to Scott. The other boy didn't seem too happy, he was glaring at Jackson. I suppose that was Scott McCall's thing, glaring at people like he wanted to kill them.

"I think you have clear signs of being a teenager and being exhausted because of school." I offered a little smile while getting up from the floor. He nodded, but I could see that he was quite worried.

I started walking towards the boys when a thought crossed my mind. It smelled like someone was dying.

.

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[jeffrrandell]

I'm intrigued by your Balance theory. That little man plagues me. I wonder what everyone's circus sideshow counterparts would of been.

I tried finding it but couldn't if you'd be willing I'd love to know your theory

I’m very flattered that you’re interested in it! I wrote this a little while ago, but hopefully it still makes sense.  (this is like my 5th time trying to post this too ugh) WARNING: very long post!!

Episodes important to the Balance theory-

- In Dreams - episode 49 S1 (mainly speculation)

- Balance - episode 50 S1

- Tales of Madrynia - episode 15 S2 (mainly speculation)

- Clarences Stormy Sleepover - episodes 5-10 S3

- A Nightmare on Aberdale Street: Balances Revenge - episode 26 S3

In Dreams

In this episode, we have Clarence experiencing a Lucid dream, he meets his buddy named Jeremy. Jeremy lives in Clarences head. He is playful and fun, but never wants the fun to end. He did everything in his power to make Clarence not want to wake up and leave him. The dream surrounding Clarence gets out of control and almost seems nightmarish, like a crazy place you cant escape. However Clarence does manage to wake himself up, and promises Jeremy he wouldn't forget him. He left Jeremy.

Balance

Balance is a character who looks to be Clarence but quite opposite from him, and acts that way too. He's a circus act whos main talent is balancing on objects. Supposedly he goes to the school to escape the circus and live a different life, but he appears to be much more than that. He isn't one for making friends with any of the kids, but Clarence being Clarence, of course he tries to. This angers Balance and he grows a distaste for him. He threatens Clarence not being a nosey Nancy or there could be consequences. Balance does this thing where he gets into peoples minds and tells them exactly what they dont want to hear. And by get into their minds, I mean quite literally. He plays this trick on Belson and Clarence comes to defend him.

Next scene, Balance is seen in class carving an apple in the shape of Belsons head. He then proceeds to slice the apple in half, cut to Belsons look of terror. Balance is already aware of their fears, he knows Belson is special to Clarence much like all his friends he talked down to.

Clarence comes up with a plan to try and get Balances intimidating words on tape to show the teachers, and he sets up Belson with a tape recorder. Another mishap occurs and Mr Reese interrupts. The boys give the tape to Mr Reese, believing they caught what Balance had said on tape. To their surprise, somehow all the tape played was Balance singing a tune. They are both confused and baffled, Belson steps away from the situation too freaked out. During class next scene Balance goes to the washroom to shave some stubble. Clarence catches him and runs to the staff room to alert them, but Balance fools him once again, appearing in the room entertaining the teachers. Balance says to Clarence: "how did I what, doc? How did I switch the tapes? How did I know you were gonna come here? Well you see, I've always been here Clarence. And now, I got the teachers eating out of the palm of my hand. I can make you think you're hearing anything I want, even smell anything I want. Listen to me boy, theres the mans world, and theres the spirit world, but you cant handle my world. Little bird, fly away home. Your house is on fire, your children all alone-"

hes cut off by the ringmaster. During his speech however, it shows everyone around him in a hypnotic state. He gets taken away but escapes in the very end. This could all be seen as silly, but I think he really means it. Balance is an entity, an entity out for horror and fear upon others, for that's what he lives off of. He's like a mind demon, abusing his power and controlling what people think and see. I also dont think the invisible circus is even real, hinted at the fact its called "invisible circus"

Tales of Madrynia

This is mainly just extra, but let me explain anyways. This episode is centric on Percy and Clarence. Percy has these imaginary characters he wishes to be real. Clarence has him over that day and has said animals in the garage. Despite them being literal wild animals, Percys imagination takes over. This is where Jeremy and/or Balance comes in. The animals in Percy's head talk about 'the pink one', Clarence. There's a story going along, but at the end of the episode theres a song sequence about them talking about killing 'the pink one'. Percy is so in this little world that he believes hes moving along with them, needle in hand, and marching to kill Clarence with his animal friends. He snaps out of it of course, nothing would've actually happened. But possibly, this was Balance being able to manipulate Percy's imagination into trying to potentially harm Clarence. The reason I mention Jeremy is because if Balance is in Clarences head, he has met Jeremy. (definitely confirmed in later eps) Jeremy has the ability to world build, make believe like a child and could be able to create a daydream. Balance takes this to his advantage.

This whole series of episodes is all a story told by Balance himself. Though the outcome is positive, it still has a lot of fearful aspects. Clarence 'goes missing' causing Mary and Chad to freak out, they get stuck with Jeff who feels as if hes the cause of a power outage AND Clarences disappearance. They go out into the storm to find them. Throughout this, Jeffs starts hallucinating and seeing Clarence talking to him. He kinda drives himself insane. Belson and Mr Reeses story are more about lesson learning, probably because Balance had a real fun time picking out the things Belson was guilty of in his debut episode. Not much of anyone else's story is very easy to tie to the explanation, but in the end Clarence finally gets his sleepover, bonds were made and everyone was fine. People learned and grew.

Clarences Stormy Sleepover

At the very end of Balances story, he goes over to a crib, which was in front of him while he read. Inside the crib reveals Jeremy, who he refers to as 'my child'. It is possible that Jeremy was a set up from Balance from the start, a creation of his.

Balances Revenge

This was the first episode seen where all of these theories took place, really. Clarence has people over on Halloween. He all enters their dreams, which all turn into nightmares. This is all Balances doing. He uses Clarence to enter other peoples dreams and turn them into terrors, a pink goop appearing more than once in disturbing ways in all the dreams.

Each time he gets out of the others dreams, they disappear in what appears to be real life. When theres no one left, he decides he needs to enter his own dreams.  Hes met up with Jeremy. All of Clarences friends are caged up by Balance. Jeremy tries to help Clarence rememeber how to control his dreams. Honestly, probably just a pawn at this point pretending to be friendly towards Clarence in an act to make him stay. When he feels he's ready he attempts to fight Balance, ending up in his capture as well. Clarence, being himself once again, plays by the dream rules and gets them all out of the kerfuffle. In the end Balance gets turned into nothing but pink goop. Does this mean hes gone? Naw dont think so. I think he just got away this time. You cant kill something thats merely an entity

What does this all mean?

Basically, all of this means that Balance is a figment of Clarences imagination, but not quite at the same time for he seems to be very real. He wants to use his power to manipulate and control his friends around him to see and experience horror and fear, causing them distress. All of this causes Clarence distress, for the one thing he cannot stand is his friends being hurt. I think that his dreams will haunt him for a long time, and will haunt others when around him. Like in Tales of Madrynia, I feel that in others dreams they will see Clarence as a monster. Like he did something wrong, or he is the villain. All of their dreams play with their biggest fears. Jeffs possibly being things like failure, guilt, imperfections and uncleanness. Sumos possibly being failing in protecting his friends and them ending up hurt, being met with disappointment and disapproval, and failure. Belsons possibly being criticized and met with the way he treats people, being shown his actions and how they hurt people, hard truths about his personal life and what he'll never gain from the way he acts.

Clarences would be about letting people down, his friends being hurt, being alone, and so on.

Some dreams could contain disturbing imagery or night terror material, scarring them for life. All horrible, but Clarence just has to cope. He feels guilty that hes the cause of his friends nightmares during sleepovers and such. A potential end to this has not crossed my mind yet.