#btw this guy like never showes emotion when reviewing

[persephoneflowerpetals]

the disneyparks instagram dropped a video and hades is there as a face character his costume reflects the lighting and some comments are comparing him to handsome squidward my typing barely reflects my emotions rn

YOOOOOO OKAY OMG

I LOOKED THIS UP IMMEDIATELY BECAUSE I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR NEW HADES CONTENT LMAO AND….YOU’RE ACTUALLY SO RIGHT HE LOW KEY LOOKS LIKE HANDSOME SQUIDWARD 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Here’s the video btw lol

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But HOLY FREAKING MOLY DUDE

I’M SCREECHING!!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!! Why is he an odd mixture of weird and handsome?? Lmaoooo but I have to be honest when I say that the make up and prosthetics are 10xs better than some of the other live action Hades costumes I’ve seen from Disney! Also I just recently watched this video last night about the history of Hades costumes (they didn’t mention the hocus pocus shows though which kinda bothered me because I feel like that still counts but whatevs lol) so yeah, kind of funny coincidence! For example:

These are from the Villains Unleashed and Villains Unite shows from back in the 2010s…I’m sorry but I hate these sm like Hades honey I love you but you’re scaring the children…and me lmao:

This is from a show they did on the Disney cruise lines (the weird foam hair I can’t 😂 I’m so sorry but, this looks like a Halloween costume lmaoooo, like this is dollar store Hades 😂):

And then this is from their most recent Hocus Pocus Halloween show this year (I didn’t even know they were doing their Halloween shows already but I mean it’s basically fall now and stores have been putting out Halloween stuff a lot this month so I guess it doesn’t surprise me that much lol). I will say this doesn’t look bad and he actually looks decent and practically human lol! But he’s kind of a background character in the show and meant to be seen from far away since he’s on a big stage at night, so there’s not gonna be a TON of detail for this costume, especially since he’s running and dancing around the stage lol:

So yeah, I’d say besides the actual walk around mascot Hades, this is the most accurate live Hades we’ve gotten and he doesn’t look entirely hideous lmao! And he actually sounds like Hades a bit too (y’know, despite the big fake sharp teeth hindering the poor guy’s speech lol, he’s trying his best and he is so valid for that! Good job, dude! You’re doing awesome!)! Some of the other actors I’ve seen doing Hades at live shows don’t really sound like him lol. I mean, I know they can’t just call up James Woods and ask him to dress as Hades for every live show they do lmao, so they gotta take what they can get y’know. But I know Disney does their best to be as high quality as possible when it comes to their parks and their shows, like the princesses and other live characters are SO accurate to their animated counterparts it’s crazy, so you’d think they’d do the same for Hades but I suppose with Hades being so unique in personality and looks, it’s hard to replicate lol.

So, anyway, my random costume review aside lmao, HE HAS HIS OWN AREA NOW FOR THE HALLOWEEN OOGIE BOOGIE BASH 😭💙 AAAAAAA THIS IS EXCITING NEWS AND IT’S CALLED FREAKING “HADES HIDEAWAY” LIKE BABY YES PLS TAKE ME TO YOUR HIDEAWAY AND KEEP ME THERE FOREVER I BEG YOU 💙💙💙 ALSO I LOVE THE WORM MARTINI AND THE DETAILS WITH THE THRONE AND PROJECTED HYDRA IN THE BACK AND THE PAINTED VASE!!! AND OMG THE COLOR CHANGE THEY DID WITH THE LIGHTING AND THE HAIR!!??? WOWZA

Ugh I swear if I wasn’t broke af (and not on the other freaking side of the country because apparently this is in Disneyland in California and I’m on the southeast coast 😭 fingers crossed they do a Disneyworld version of this??? 🤞) I’d take all the money I have and fly out to Disneyland in October to go see him because like…omg 💙 I’ve always wanted to meet the Hades character in the park (and I’ve literally never even been to any Disney parks before because my family couldn’t afford it so low key I’m a “fake Disney fan” 🤣) but the problem was that he doesn’t talk since it’s a walk around mascot kinda thing and not an actual person, so when you talk to him he doesn’t talk back and I think it’d just be so much more fun to actually have a conversation with him lol.

But seriously…I LOVE THIS AAAAA WOW!!! THANK YOU ANON FOR SENDING THIS TO ME BECAUSE THIS MADE MY DAY!!!!

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: How to Train Your Dragon 2

(*screams in insanely high frequencies*) HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 IS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS DREAMWORKS HAS EVER MADE AND SOMEHOW EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST AND I AM IN SHAMBLES EMOTIONALLY AFTER WATCHING IT BUT I NEED YA'LL TO LISTEN TO ME AS I SCREAM ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT THIS FILM IS TO ME OK?

Woo, ok, calming down a bit. But can you really blame my excitement? How to Train Your Dragon 2 is just... so damn good, it is so damn good ya'll. It takes everything the first movie did, the characters, the story, the animation, the music, and just... perfects it. It is an utterly fantastic ride from beginning to end and it is one of the main factors as to why I am so utterly head over heels for this franchise (well, it and Race to the Edge, again go watch it, its good).

We return to Berk five years after the first movie, with Hiccup under pressure from his father to take on the mantle of chief. However, danger soon arrives in the form of Drago Bludvist, who is amassing a dragon army. While searching for Drago to try and reason with him, Hiccup reunites with his estranged mother, Valka, who, much like him, has a deep affinity and respect for all dragons. From there, well, damn a bunch of stuff happens, in a story that just flows so well and just... slams you with so many emotions, from sheer joy and wonder to crushing despair and grief. It's a roller coaster, to say the least, one that is utterly captivating and at times, utterly heartbreaking. And I adore every last second of it.

Our returning characters are all fantastic, as usual. I especially love the arc Hiccup goes through here, because while the first movie was in ways, a coming of age story for him, this one truly is, with him struggling to figure out who he really is and who he's meant to be. It's a beautiful narrative about responsibility and leadership, one that Hiccup and Toothless experience together in such a beautiful, parallel way. As for our new cast, we have Valka (who I'm in love with btw) and she's just delightful. The way we get to see her bond with Hiccup and rekindle her relationship with Stoick is absolutely beautiful (AT LEAST UNTIL THE DAMN MOVIE TEARS THIS BEAUTIFUL FAMILY APART WHY CANT THEY HAVE ANYTHING NICE FUCK).

However, I do have to say that the weakest link in both this movie, as well as the next installment in this series... is its villain. The first movie didn't have much in the way of an antagonist, and I think it worked well in its favor. Because HTTYD antagonists... are kind of mid to lame. Drago Bludvist is certainly on the more mid side; he's just... ya know, a bad guy. He isn't really a compelling foil to Hiccup, just some crazy guy who wants to use dragons to conquer people and uses violence to get his way. He's not especially interesting, despite his rather cool design. He's just... there.

But that one minor point aside, everything else about this movie is utterly fantastic. The animation is somehow even more stunning than the first, with so many new dragon designs to see and an even wider world to explore. The flying and fight scenes are so mezmerising to watch, and the music FUCKING GOD don't get me started on this score. It is utterly HEAVENLY, just like the first movie's (also For the Dancing and the Dreaming has me in shambles, I'm still crying, don't look at me). What kind of insane magic Dreamworks used to make this movie look and sound as good as it does? The world may never know.

So yeah, this movie clearly has a major soft spot in my heart. I watched it when it first came out in theaters and absolutely loved it then, just like I do now. Every time I review it, I fall more in love, especially now that I've seen the tie in shows, I can appreciate how they led up to this movie and what details were thrown in that to make them serve as something of a prologue to 2.

As for the movie itself, its such a masterful work of art, one that I'll gladly return to over and over again. Aside from Prince of Egypt, it's probably my second favorite Dreamworks movie overall. And considering some of the other contenders on this list, that's saying something. I love it to pieces, always have, always will. It's wonderful.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Verdict: Hiccup's Mom has got it going on

Previous Review (Mr. Peabody and Sherman)

Next Review (The Penguins of Madagascar)

[upsidedownlurker]

My Very Accurate Predictions for ST5 (take these very seriously)

These theories have been painstakingly researched, rewritten and peer-reviewed to ensure they will ABSOLUTELY happen in Season 5. If any of these theories are proven incorrect, it's the Duffers' faults for creating a poorly-written show.

Spoiler warning! My theories will definitely come true, so this is basically just a run-down of every plot point in Season 5.

Mike and Will have their first kiss in the Upside Down. This happens in Mike's garage. Argyle, who has been tripping on magic mushrooms for the past five hours, shoves himself in between the kissing boys and does a thumbs-up. He yells, "NICE ONE BROCHACHOS!" Will is so angry at the ruined moment that he punches a wall, which is what causes the garage light to flicker in the real world.

The gang find out that Max Mayfield is alive! This happens when Vecna is revealed to not only be Henry Creel and One, but also Lonnie, Murray, Eleven, Max, and Jamie Campbell-Bower. Vecna (whose real name is Brad, btw) possessed all those characters before the show even started. That's why Lonnie left Joyce, Murray is all cuckoo-bananas, Eleven has powers, Max can skateboard (she has powers too), and why Vecna is played by Jamie Campbell-Bower (for continuity). Vecna made it look like Max would never wake up, but actually she was just chillin'. She is completely healed by episode one.

Karen Wheeler is actually Alice Creel! Alice never died, she just faked it for the lols. That's just the kind of wacky, goofy gal she is. She faked her own death by stabbing herself in the eyes with a dinner fork and breaking all her limbs from sheer force of will. Then she recovered after a few decades and had a family with Ted.

Eddie comes back from the Upside Down! He never died, he just faked it for the lols. That's just the kind of wacky, goofy guy he is. We find out he's alive when Mike and Will are kissing in the Upside Down. After Will punches a wall, the garage collapses. Eddie is revealed on the other side, barely alive and covered in blood. He pulls Mike, Will and Argyle into a group hug and whispers, "Those bats didn't kill me... but forced conformity is killing the youth. Be gay, boys. Be very gay." Argyle cries, Mike applauds, and Will is angry. After that, Eddie dies for real this time.

Will's forgotten birthday is a HUGE plot point!!! Everyone was going to throw him a surprise birthday party where Vecna popped out of a cake, but since Will was in Lenora, Vecna couldn't make it (he gets carsick on long drives). Everyone was so bummed that their favourite spider-loving murderer wasn't there, that they pretended Will didn't have a birthday instead. Will was the only one who knew the truth– Vecna was in Lenora, after all. He possessed Angela in order to wish Will a very happy birthday. Then he realised that bullying Eleven was really funny and wacky and goofy, so he kept doing it. Will was fine with this.

Eleven loses her powers forever... when Eleven finds out that she's been Vecna this whole time, and that she's been bullying herself at school for months, she starts to hate herself. She develops internalised vecnaphobia and destroys every part of herself that reminds her of Vecna. This includes her powers... when Mike finds out, he breaks down and cries, "YOU'RE NOT MY SUPERHERO ANYMORE!!!" Then he faints into Will's beefy arms.

Robin dies... it's very tragic and sad and heroic and also tragic. This doesn't happen in the middle of the season, but at the 53 minute 5 second mark of the final episode. Vecna is dead, Hawkins is saved and everyone survived. She and Vicky are girlfriends by this point, and everyone in Hawkins accept them. Robin, overcome with emotion, hands Vicky a letter and immediately drowns herself in Lovers Lake. The letter simply reads, "THEY DIDN'T BURY THEIR GAYS! WHAT THE FUCK, DUFFER BROTHERS????!?!?!? NOW I HAVE TO BURY MYSELF." Everyone solemnly nods, chanting "Bury the gays. Bury the gays." Vicky eats half a peanut butter sandwich and tosses the rest into the water.

Vecna is defeated by Will, who has actually had powers this whole time but was just too nice to point them out to anyone. He uses his powers (he has powers) to destroy Vecna in episode three, but when he does, he also destroys Lonnie, Eleven, Murray, Max Mayfield, and Jamie Campbell-Bower. The remaining five episodes consist of the rest of the characters slowly struggling through the five stages of grief. They all miss Lonnie so much. They'll never see him in his crusty white tank top ever again. They'll never hear Lonnie tell another one of his classic Lonnie zingers... until the Stranger Things spin-off anime comes out, which is fifty episodes of Lonnie telling the same hilarious stand-up routine to the same crowd of people, which is 90% insults he used to say to Will, Jonathan and Joyce. Everyone laughs and claps. Oh, Lonnie!

Barb came back from the Upside Down in season 3, but nobody noticed because they didn't give a shit.

If you have any additional theories, please leave them in the comments. I'd be happy to use them for the show (I'm a stranger things writer btw, definitely and totally and absolutely yes I am).

[the-gayest-show]

S4E1: Day of the Sorcerers Review/Analysis

So recently I got to this episode in the show and not going to lie, I LOVED IT!

I’ve always been a sucker for Cedric’s character and his arc, so it was nice to see this episode essentially become some kind of turning point for Cedric, at least in the bigger sense. It was established as far as episodes like Cedric’s Apprentice and Cedric Be Good that Cedric isn’t without a heart, and this episode is the ultimate dilemma for him, choosing between good and evil, taking over the kingdom or succumbing to his more developed self. God I had some good emotions out of this.

So the episode starts off with the Day of the Sorcerer’s festival, where Sofia is invited to as Cedric’s apprentice to help perform spells. This all takes place in Hexley Hall, where we previously met Grimtrix who tried to steal Sofia’s amulet in Hexley Hall, the episode (confusing, I know). Sofia worries that this time he might make another run for the amulet, but Cedric says he probably won’t due to the various people there.

We get some nice scenes, one of them foreshadows the Mystic Isles (an episode pack/miniseries [?] I have not seen yet but I know Mystic Isles is gonna be relevant soon because I looked at the episode titles on Disney+ already) as this place where magic comes from, and I guess that princess from Wei-Ling and Wu-Chan are also there. Wu-Chan makes sense but honestly idk why they bothered to include the princess for like 3 seconds since they literally never speak of her again after that scene. Maybe when Sofia is running for the secret room but that’s literally it?

Then Grimtrix’s weasel appears and subverted my expectations almost immediately by NOT going for Sofia’s amulet. Like believe me, I was fully expecting the long creature to just swipe that girl’s amulet but the creature just spawns an envelope, likely Grimtrix doing the spawning, with an invitation to some secret greatest sorcerer’s meeting that she gives to Cedric. Cedric, being the guy who bends over backwards at the chance to be called anything but insults, immediately runs for it, and Cedric follows the Shusher ghost thing into that room. Looking back, shouldn’t that have been clear evidence to Cedric that Grimtrix is involved? As far as I was convinced (confirmed properly by the scene where the Shusher traps the good wizards in the library), the Shusher is literally just a 2nd hand of Grimtrix. Shouldn’t that have been a clear sign? I suppose Cedric could’ve overlooked that in his excitement, but I knew from the start that maybe Grimtrix was coercing Cedric into it simply bc the hand was there, can’t get it off my mind ya know? Anyways.

Sofia, wondering where Cedric has gone, follows him into that secret sorcerer meeting, where we find out that Grimtrix is leading the pack (of course he is, I called it!) but we also see villains like that music guy, merlin’s enemy, Greylock, among others. There’s always benefits in watching absolutely every single episode of Sofia the First it seems. Basically, they’ve invented something called the Order of the Wand (most badass name ever btw!) where it’s just a coalition planning to overthrow the royalty of their respected palaces, saying that they refuse to be treated like jesters and entertainers, essentially saying they’re wiser to rule the kingdoms than the current rulers.

Cedric is kinda sitting there processing this, it’s a dream come true! The one thing he’s wanted since season 1, handed to him by the power of the medusa stone! But we see he’s clearly hesitant, due to the aforementioned character development led by Sofia herself. Speaking of Sofia, she overhears that whole plan and wonders what Cedric is even doing there or why Grimtrix would call him for a meeting of evil sorcerers, which leads to a scene where we almost get Cedric confessing to his various stealing attempts but he just kinda shoos her out and gets on with it.

We get THE MOST. FUCKASS MUSICAL NUMBER. EVER!!!!!!!!! Like Jess Harnell my bro THOSE VOCALS WERE SO RAW!!!!! NOT TO MENTION THE VISUALS?!??!?! IT WAS AMAZING!!! The electric guitar in the BG was unexpected and was so good damn it. I really like how you can see Sofia’s dark purple-y shadow (of goodness I would presume) looming around him, and generally the movements and animation, VIVID. The way he threw all those people aside! The scenes with him in the chair! Ackk I love it! SYMBOLISM!!!

I personally see this song as the spiritual successor to Cedric the Great The themes of both songs tie together perfectly, going from a very confident “I am going to take over this kingdom someday, this is me imagining what I’ll do when that happens” to “I have the opportunity to take over the kingdom and achieve my dreams but something feels wrong now”. Also, the note he sang that final lyric “Cedric the great” in this song sounded literally the same as from the original Cedric the Great song, that’s what got me thinking this to begin with. Throughout the song, Wormwood (successfully) argues that while Sofia was nice to him, everyone else wasn’t, and thus everyone else should get the karma, while Cedric wonders if maybe taking over the kingdom isn’t exactly what he’s wanted, now that he has the chance to do it for real.

Cedric also talks about how people had made fun of him ever since he was a kid, and I believe that’s essentially the entire reason why he’s ever wanted to take over the kingdom. Sure, power is a bonus, but he’s always had magical power, but he’s never had someone who believed in him. To me, it’s been quite clear since the beginning that his main motivation was not truly power, but rather respect and authority, someone who can’t be made fun of. While other members in the Order of the Wand want the power and control of being Kings/Queens of their respective castles, Cedric seems to want the respect and dignity. Even in the musical number Cedric the Great, it’s obvious that that’s his main goal. Lyrics in that song like “…But that won’t last for long”, “those who used to tease me will be at my command” and “Soon everyone will know my name” feels more motivated by wanting to be known, and living up the expectations of the royal sorcerer family.

My Evil Dreams lyrically contrasts with “But now the day has come… so why am I so gloomy…”, “but I’m not sure I want them to”. I also like the lyrics about his dreams being his friends when he was alone and his schemes making him feel like he had a home. So essentially there’s the crux of him being evil: filling the void of no friends (because of how bullied he was) and no home (yeah I wouldn’t have a home either if my own parents and family didn’t fucking believe in me). In Sofia, he essentially found those things (home is a debatable one but friends for sure), which makes the evil stuff like a coping mechanism for him being alone. If that’s so, then someone like Sofia who filled that void of evil schemes and dreams, brought him some new purpose, to an extent. Should he go back to his old ways or revel in the new is the question, and it’s VERY compelling.

Over the rest of the episode, we get to see Cedric taking over the kingdom, and then there’s this scene where Sofia spies Cedric talking and laughing to Grimtrix, who tells him good luck with the kingdom takeover or something. Sofia confronts him and Cedric, having already made up his mind, admits to Sofia that he’s always wanted to go through with the plans of taking over the kingdom and Wormwood even adds the bit that Cedric has been plotting to steal that amulet from the beginning, something I was wondering when it’d happen (in universe it’s been 3-4 years now HOW has no one gotten the hint before?). Cedric ultimately says that Sofia and Cedric were never friends and runs off to freeze people with his Medusa stone.

He goes and freezes basically every guard and royal he spots, and changes up the décor a bit (honestly he’s got some great style choices), but Sofia is determined as ever to stop him. I really like that scene where she floats in on a broom and Cedric points the wand at her and tries to freeze her but is so hesitant that he lets her grab the wand. Like I said before, he still doubts his decision to take over the kingdom, if not for the fear of hurting the only other person who’s ever really seen him in a positive light.

Eventually, once his stone is destroyed, everyone unfreezes and Cedric is so cooked, as the kids say. The guards seize him and jail him immediately, which is pretty understandable for an act of treason like that. Sofia, however, is still determined to see the best in him because she saw that he was willing to not freeze her, so that means he must have a good heart in there somewhere. She encourages him to take the stand against Grimtrix and that he does. He frees himself and Wormy (RIP Wormy’s head, bro was head bashed into the ground for freedom’s sake, oof), and goes out to fight Grimtrix. Grimtrix, thinking Cedric was on his side, gave him the wand, thinking Cedric would finish Sofia off, but he double-crosses him and freezes Grimtrix instead, and essentially the plot of that ends.

But then we cut to Cedric on his knees begging for forgiveness (funniest shit ever tbh), and you could tell he was really sorry, but the royal family was hesitant to accept the apology, considering what happened. Sofia basically brings up Amber and her development (yippee Amber arc mention woohoo). Excuse me if I’ve forgotten how, but the royal family just figured out his backstory and realized, yeah, maybe we shouldn’t be belittling the guy who works for us and has a history of being belittled. History aside, yeah they’d serve to be a bit nicer, it took them fuck knows how long to come to that conclusion.

After all that, they let him in to work for the kingdom again, but on the condition that Cedric remembers that Sofia is the only reason he was even let back in and that he wasn’t just banished forever. Bro totally owns that debt to Sofia like he wouldn’t believe.

Essentially that’s the end of the episode. Overall, one of the best episodes in this series and everything about it is so, so noteworthy. I would rewatch this episode again. 1000000000/10, purple robed man did it, he fucked my psyche for real this time.

Shout out to the amazing writing of this arc and this episode that had me bawling over a show made for the 2-7 year old demographic...again!

[depressed-teacup-inc]

Ok risk

I’m in pain and I’m not dealing with this for long, let’s review the episode

Everything from Adrien’s part is good and dope, lots of drama, Adrien finally wanting to stand up for himself but clearly unable to because WOWWWW SHOCKER HES SENITMONSTER WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, Gabriel getting a braincell and developing an actually good plan, Felix being Felix (tho he was still demonized and oversimplified by the show) so for the most part this episode was good in that regard!

(Felix carrying the braincell)

And surprise, I’m not a big fan of the Marinette/Ladybug part of this episodeeeee

So first of all, this is a Lila episode. So as a rule of thumb in Lila episodes everyone but Marinette are dumbed down while Lila says stupid lies and is super evil, and Marinette is either a martyr, or a noble hero meant to save Adrien because he’s poor and helpless and can’t do anything right.

So not only that happened, but Chloe was demonized and simplified, the entire classroom was again completely changed (which btw? The only reason people are gonna hate the students and the class is because Lila/Gabriel is a bad guy, and that it’s secretly terrible and bad, in any other context, they have every right to call Marinette out on her bullshit)

And I swear to god. Marinette screaming and crying about how Adrien hates being a model and being like “I totally understand your struggle” when he says how he hates his life and how he feels forced to never tell him father shit, BECAUSE SHE COMPARED IT TO HER CRUSH????

Like, no offense girl, you’re kinda the problem? You may claim you understand Adrien on a deep emotional level, but you actually don’t? You’re like, the primary problem? You glorify him to an insane level, have all your crazy plans and thinks of him as a helpless princess, rather then go “let me help you gain a sense of self”, you have a literal shrine you still haven’t taken down, no one don’t know even half of his struggles, and if anything, you seem to be the one most enjoying the ads and modeling despite the fact Adrien looked unhappy and miserable about it for a while.

But this is a Lila episode, so no one understands and is so stupid, so Marinette looks extremely smart and profound and tragically not listened to in comparison.

I’m emotionally preparing for all the class salt fics to come pouring in again…

But hey at least the akuma was dope! A clever plan too!

(Yes this is still toxic, Ladybug is kissing chat Noir to justify trying him like shit is not good)

(Yes Rena Furtive’s design still makes me crave death)

[firespirited]

Here’s my review of Border 2018: the short story is available in the book: Let The Old Dreams Die and the movie is available on hulu and disney free and others at $4 - spoilers under the cut.

It’s a lovely story about Tina, a brilliant customs officer who can sense people’s emotions. She discovers that she’s not ugly and broken she’s just different. I recommend the story, it took me just over an hour to read, the movie is stunning too but has a secondary plot that undermines the core message. Tina’s story will resonate and ache with you if you’re deemed different or damaged, don’t fit western gender ideals... basically anyone who’s felt uncomfortable with eugenics talk because hey that could be you and people you love. Both the book and the film have graphic but tender sex scenes between unusual bodies and a bunch of the reviews seem to be more distressed by “uggos getting laid” than some really disturbing history that’s a lot like our own.

Tina is a troll, there are very few left: a genocide program in the 70s saw them placed in institutions or labs where they died, it’s been covered up and followed by cultural genocide as the few remaining trolls have been raised in adoptive or foster families, their tails cut off and told they are humans with a chromosomal disorder. Tina was raised by a father who would be considered loving if he hadn’t kept his daughter’s heritage from her and stood up for her. She would have known to avoid storms (a lightening strike left her badly hurt) and spend more time in nature which is where she’s healthiest and happiest.

She has a naf boyfriend that she keeps around for the company, they don’t have sex because they tried once and it hurt, she accidentally gave him licence to cheat when she secretly hoped he’d say “no: there will only be you”. He’s a bit of a freeloader but it’s not abusive and it gives her a sense of normalcy so she’s ok with this arrangement.

She gradually uncovers her identity and her family history as she meets a male troll called Vore who falls for her, he’s hiding something she can’t figure out and experiences her own new desires and some hidden anatomy. Both the book and the film end with her happy, living the life she wants to live and having something she’s long wanted.

Here’s the thing, Vore, as a male troll makes unfertilized embryos every few months and they die within a few days. These “eggs” can be moulded into looking like exact replicas of any given human baby. Vore who lives constantly on the run as he doesn’t fit in human society makes a living using his eggs to steal babies and sell them. This isn’t great obviously, but in the book there’s no malicious reason: he has no family, no community but it’s something he can do so he does it. At the end of the book, he’s never going to do it again.

So “humans have every reason to hate trolls because they’re baby snatchers” doesn’t work, Vore became a monster because he’s without any guidance or community, he gives it up because Tina shows him that humans aren’t all genocidal trash.

But big spoiler alert and sickening addition, in the movie, there’s child sexual abuse material being smuggled that Tina is investigating due to her work in customs. Vore knowingly sold a baby to a paedophile and stole babies because he’s getting revenge on the humans for his parents’ death and his abuse in care. This not only feeds the myth of the victim turned perpetrator (which is only backed by paedophiles’ dodgy testimony not any actual data btw), it also feeds the “minorities doing a reverse racism” revenge fantasies common among racists especially the benevolent/ignorant types that we have here in europe.

There is a HUGE difference between baby theft because you don’t know better and baby theft because you know how much it’ll hurt. Adding this not just anti-social but actively cruel dimension to Vore takes away from the horror of what was done to the trolls.

“1 minority bad guy doesn’t represent all” applies to real life where there are 100 others who would never, not a fantasy story where Vore is our sole other representative of the troll race, where Tina got a childhood without too much violence and is very kind and Vore's implied to be a product of cruelty. The subtlety given to the rest of the story falls apart for some shock value. It’s absurd. I am so mad: this story is undermined by this stupid addition.

There is a place for stories about how foster care and bigotry messes you up, how generational trauma echoes down the family line even as each generation does their best to do better by their kids. Border 2018 was NOT that place and the book knew how to keep Tina and her racial trauma front and centre.

The film does a very tactful job of showing terrible things: a graveyard with simple unmarked stones as a marker of the disrespect in death and horrible secrecy. The CSAM is people reacting to the light of a small screen and the sound of a baby crying. But it has no grace for Vore to be more than the angry retelling of horrific violence inflicted on his people and his “humans are worse and deserve worse” reasons. Tina is betrayed by her choice of lover in so many ways. This ends up being a trash retelling of an important story and makes Tina look like a chump.

Again, child molestation is not cyclical and it’s not because the perps have trauma. If you’re reading this and were hurt as a kid: the people who may have hurt you in childhood don’t have excuses and you don’t have to live in fear of being a bad adult yourself. Any media that plays into this myth is harmful to survivors and gives stupid ideas to the people around them. Some narratives stick in our culture like serial killers being smart instead of cops being biased and generally terrible at solving crime. You will hear stories about abuse within minority groups like it isn’t in all spheres of society: it’s a lie to make the majority think they’re good and they’re safe.

Full list of trigger warnings if you’d like to watch the movie (it helps to read the story and keep that as “the canon”) and know the extent of it. I’ve tagged a bunch of stuff i personally didn’t find disturbing because we’re all different.

You see, I sat in dread as this film is classified on wikipedia under “films about CSA” and instead got blindsided by the eugenics-genocide done to the trolls who look and sound like people I know and myself when i’m not verbal and unkempt. I kept flashing back to the canadian first nations residential schools, the covid ‘quality of life’ triage orders, the people I love who wouldn’t have been born if genetic testing had been around (my stance is complicated), the indigenous tribes of scandinavia who are more hairy with larger brows or monolids. It’s all very close and all very still sore.

9.20 a man has a SD card removed from his mouth, there’s some spittle and he makes gagging sounds. Dread about what’s on the card begins here.

28.50-30.30: Tina’s boyfriend gets into bed with her, attempts some grabbing, wants to have sex, she’s half asleep and unbothered, she straight up one arm throws him out of bed onto the floor where he whinges. Make sure to tune back in at minute 31 for the disney princess magic.

46.00-46.30: male troll has his version of a period, an embryo birthing, there’s screaming. {I wish I could go out in the woods for my periods and scream it out in 30 seconds}.

49.36-50.30 CSAM investigation, a small camera screen is seen reflected on a man’s face as a baby is heard crying in the video. This happens again in the interrogation room.

57-1.00 make out and consensual sex with unusual bodies and loud growling. they cry during sex and there’s a lot of tongue kissing. She has an ovipositor looking appendage she’s never seen before but they aren’t human so i’m uncomfortable labelling anything. They’re both happy in their gender which is why I’ve used male and female pronouns.

There is happy naked running in the woods and bathing, not going to bother with time stamps for that if you’re offended by non skinny happy bodies that’s a you problem, please never visit the swimming pool or art museums. They also eat insects as part of their diet, this happens several times and it’s not meant to be gross.

1.05.20-1.07 Vore does his “humans should fear us” vengeance and recounts his parents’ and his pain, Tina talks about catching paedophiles who seemed very ordinary people. His childhood pain feels cheapened by this flattening: humans were bad to trolls but just in case that wasn’t upsetting enough, humans suck because they’ll hurt their own human children /s.

1.09-1.10.20 Tina’s dad is playing up his dementia to avoid questions and Tina feels the weight of her grief.

1.17-1.17.35 close up on the squishy unfertilized embryo

1.19.25 man is grabbed out of police car and 3 punched (literally) to death barely off-screen culminating in 1.19.33-39 close up on a dead man’s fresh head wound and 1.19.56 dead body and blood pool seen at a slight distance

1.21 More Vore explaining why humans are pervs

1.22 feeding the not!embryo

1.23-1.24.30 “they took us, I take their children” Tina’s sense of betrayal is agonizing to watch.

1.26.10 the neighbours’ baby is sick and dying, we know it’s not a baby. He didn’t love her enough to stop his crusade.

1.34-36 Tina finds out her true name and her parents’ graveyard, there is joy and grief and power and pain all intermingled. I’m putting this here so you can take a moment to breathe but it would be a disservice to skip it as intense as it may be.

There is a happy ending. Also a 3 wolf hoodie over a silky mint night gown is both terrible and fabulous fashion.

What I take from the film is the euphoria of self discovery and setting boundaries, the beautiful images of nature that’ll stick with me but I choose to believe in the original story.

[fubukiswifenoimnotjoking]

One Punch Man ship reviews bc I’m bored

WARNING: BIG ONE PUNCH MAN WEBCOMIC AND MANGA SPOILERS

GenoSai: do I even have to say it?? They compliment each other so well and are already besties. They make me so happy and I love their love. Genos literally came into Saitama’s life and brought so much new life and excitement when Saitama thought he’d never get any. Genos gives him love and appreciation all the time and never abandons him. Saitama isn’t connected to his feelings, but he cares about Genos and would do just about anything for him, to keep him safe. Genos constantly teases Saitama and Saitama grumbles and takes it with some banter, Genos is super emotional and Saitama does his best to comfort him, they fucking love shopping together and just hanging out period, they talk about the dumbest shit and somehow they still understand each other with the one brain cell they both share. It takes Genos forever to realize his feelings are deeper and Saitama has to be TOLD by their friends that he should fucking realize his feelings already. Just...I could keep going but I’ll stop! 2718873737839439/10 (let’s not talk about the age gap btw, 6 years isn’t bad and Genos is a legal adult.)

FubuSai: the stereotypical straight ship ppl gravitate to. Eh. I can see it, but at the same time I feel like they don’t completely compliment each other. Are they a hot couple? Duh. But I feel like their pride and communication issues would get in the way. 4/10

TatsuSai: hnghhhh. Someone mentioned this before, can’t remember who, but Saitama literally thinks she’s a child in canon. So that just....makes it gross. Same problems as FubuSai but worse. I’d rather see them as hesitant friends w a weird bond. 0/10

SonSai/SonicSai/idk the ship name: eh, toxic. Cant see them getting past communication issues and pride, again. Plus Sonic wants to kill his ass. Also, I just feel no romantic tension?? Even in fanfic it just falls flat for me. 3/10

MumenSai: a favorite!! Wish I saw it more, it’s very cute. Mumen is so kind and would absolutely be there to help him w self esteem and just help him be a better person period. And Saitama would have a cute little kind guy to tease and open up to. I could maybe see Mumen’s kindness getting on Saitama’s nerves when he’s in a bad mood bc Mumen almost never snaps and Saitama feels shittier, or maybe Mumen being mad at Saitama for being kinda lazy at home while Mumen is working his ass off and he’s like babe I just got home, please stop playing the fucking game and pay attention to me I have a concussion again. Prob too nitpicky on this one, heh, but 8.4/10

Genos x Sonic: wtf? As a crack ship, sure. That’s hilarious. But as a serious ship, 1.3/10 bc I could MAYBE see them bond over their love of my chemical romance or sum.

Anyone x Puri: -128382839287473828739219833468282/10. Fuck Puri.

TatsuKing: eh. Indifferent on this one too. I can see them getting along and Tatsu being the mean but supportive gf in public, but a sweet gf in private. King could be like her calm oasis of video games and sweet blonde shy bf. I sway more towards ace/aro King and queer non binary Tatsu, but this is still good. 6/10

FubuPsy/Fubuki x Psykos/idk: hell yeah!! This series NEEDS more wlw ships, both for me to project onto and to cry over. Prob my fav Fubuki ship, cuz they’ve known each other since they were young and had a tenuous friendship. I didn’t use to ship it until I saw that scene in the wc after the MA arc (u know the one) but here we are. They’re big personalities so any interaction is bound to be chaotic at first, but I really think they’d work. Pride put to the side, Psykos could be someone for Fubuki to finally rely on other than the Blizzard Bunch, someone to confide in, a badass partner to fight monsters with, talk about nothing for hours with, be a super fashionable #girlboss couple with, and someone who would really see her for who she is-especially w Psykos knowledge of her from the past. Hell, Psykos might even know her better than Tatsumaki. Fubuki could be an anchor to her like she currently is in the wc, providing a quiet comfort and making her open up little by little. Would prob be toxic at first bc of the MA arc and their desire for power, but is a very good ship I think. 9/10

Speedal/Sonic x Mumen: an old fav! Sonic would have a hard time not hating Mumen at first bc he’s the picture definition of a hero, sum he hates. But hanging out with him would show him Mumen is a GOOD guy genuinely and he’d be like ohhhh shit I’m in love w this man. Mumen would thoroughly appreciate someone to make him live a little, break some rules and stand up to ppl when they talk over him. He’d DEFINITELY be upset when finding out Sonic is an assassin, but would prob be conflicted bc he knows Sonic is a good person despite that. Would prob make Sonic give up on killing for them to be together. Sucks bc of the assassin thing and bc they haven’t met in canon! So we’re not sure how they’d interact with each other, sigh. 7.4/10

Okamaitachi x Bushidrill: a very underrated ship! To be clear, I headcanon Kama as a trans woman and so does most of the fandom. Anyway, very sweet and already built as a friendship bc of their partnership under Atomic Samurai. I can’t remember who writes fic and makes art of them on tumblr but AAAAA it’s so good! Very sweet. Basically depicted Bushi as a nervous himbo who’s honest about his feelings but scared to say them and Kama as a sweet lady who’s crazy about Bushi. Very sweet. Want more of them!! 6.1/10

OneZon/Zombieman x One Shotter: never even thought of the ship till I saw @megidolan art work! Very wholesome, and from what little we know of Shotter we know he’s a sort of nervous yet strong willed guy, and Zombieman would totally help him calm down bc he’s so chill. I could see them sharing cigarettes and talking shit on heroes while cuddling u know? 7/10 only because I don’t see enough of it but very good concept.

Mumarou/Mumen x Garou: a lot of ppl are gonna hate me for this but....I don’t like it. I’ve tried! I just—idk. I’ve read so many good fics about them that make me like it a bit, but the concept is just eh. I think their relationship is, in most reps, really cliche angsty stuff. I wish I could elaborate I just...gah! Basically, there’s better ships for the both of them imo. Sorry!! 4.3/10

Sonic x Flashy/SonFlash: yes!! Prob my fav Sonic ship. They have soooo much tension, it’s almost worse than Genos’ tension w Saitama. Flashy LITERALLY poisoned Sonic so that he wouldn’t be forced to kill him at the ninja graduation. He cares. They’ll never say it out loud, but they care. They have someone who understands what they went through in each other and someone they’re both so similar to, yet so different from. Sonic is more vocal about his expressions and let’s people know it while Flashy often keeps things to himself, they could really influence the other to be more this or that. I could see a lot of comfort with these two, and not much is needed for relationship development; they already have so much unspoken between them after meeting for the first time in years. Love it. Wish I saw it more! 10/11

KingSai: wonderful! Out of the few ppl Saitama is close to, def my second fav pick for a ship for him. There’s a post saying how Saitama doesn’t cut King off when he’s going on rants about games and stuff bc he’s talking TO Saitama, not at him like Genos tends to do on accident. They’re already great buddies! Saitama could find a shy gamer man who he can talk to about manga and stuff and also a passionate bf who could break out of his shell w Saitama and be himself with no lies. King can have someone to protect him, duh, someone who finally understands his weird sense of humor, and someone to shower him in the love and kindness he deserves when Saitama is in the mood to be all out like that w his affections. Plus he’s Saitama’s anchor and brings him back down when he’s super anxious and depressed and tells him what’s up that he needs to fix without sugarcoating it. Would def have a bunch of inside jokes and go on dates that are just staying inside playing video games all night. Domestic af. 10/10

Fubuki x Mizuki: my first wlw Fubuki ship! Hard to find but very good. Mizuki is this big ball of kindness, energy, and raw power that would make Fubuki go ‘Ohhhhhhh, big pretty lady make brain go brrr.’ I could see Mizuki grounding Fubuki when she’s in over her head, giving her random gifts bc she saw sum and thought of her, doing a marathon run and wildly waving at Fubuki in the crowd, and all around being a dependable woman confident in herself and in love with a mysterious esper. Prob a little shy when it comes to anything physical bc she loves Fubuki so much and is overwhelmed by the realness of being w her. Fubuki gives Mizuki advice on ‘acting like a proper hero’ or whatever and though Mizuki thinks she doesn’t need it, Fubuki still helps her a lot w her career and being taken more seriously by others. Would give Mizuki someone who loves her for who she is and would go wild on her in private when she can be open about her affection, would be someone Mizuki could exercise with and listen intently to Mizuki’s physical knowledge, and would absolutely bandage her when she’s all banged up. Hnghh love this ship. It’s only behind the FubuPsy ship juuuuust a little bc they haven’t met in canon so we can’t be sure about their interactions and stuff. 8.8/10, I love WOMEN

Batarou: how could I go this far without mentioning them?! They have SOOOO much tension in the centichoro fight, like come on. Both snarky assholes who are huge softies one the inside, Badd being the more logical one (still a himbo, tho) and Garou being the more chaotic one. Probably take forever to admit their feelings bc they’re so prideful and stupid <3 flirt through constant wrestling matches and it takes Genos saying ‘they should kiss already, they’re getting on his nerves’ for them to finally realize what’s up. (@rayadraws has a great au where Garou Genos and Badd are a chaotic friend squad and Genos is the only brain of the group, haha. Very good au y’all check it out!) Would constantly pick on each other affectionately and switch into concerned SO when the other is hurt like the big teddy bears they are. Raise Zenko together for sure. Garou would fumble being romantic and Badd would find it both hilarious and cute. 11/12

Zombie mask/Amai x Zombieman:

So. I don’t like Amai Mask and I used to hate him, BUT the webcomic and fic have really helped me calm down on him (he’s still a dick tho), so it’s easier to want to ship him and stuff. Bc of Amai’s anger issues and controlling behavior, I could see this relationship being super toxic and icky—but I think they have some form of understanding that pulls Amai back from being a complete dick, you know? Start off as fuck buddies and slowly form something else from spending companionable time together other than screwing. Zombieman pulls Amai back from his angry fits and soothes him over with his logic. Talk maaaaaad shit about heroes, but only when they’re alone because Zombieman knows Amai will talk loud af about the heroes they’re roasting and Zombie doesn’t wanna stop a fight from happening. Zombieman loves making Amai flustered and has a secret check list in his head of all the things that get Amai red faced. Loves to listen to Amai rant about things for hours and loves to watch his face go through almost cartoon like expressions as he talks. He won’t admit it, but Zombie loves to be spoiled by Amai’s shit tons of cash and often takes rides in Amai’s limos when he wants to smoke and think to himself. Amai has a hard time realizing how his feelings have changed, but gets hit hard with it when he wakes up to Zombie making them breakfast one morning while wearing Amai’s underwear. Amai also loves to spoil Zombie and takes him out to restaurants and buys him cool new weapons on the weekends. @batneko has pretty much gotten me into this ship and I strongly suggest looking at their works! 7.9/10

DemonKnight/Genos x Zero/Drive Knight: I’m pretty sure this used to be a crack ship before the past like 10 manga chapters—and now here we are! Not a fav bc 1. ZERO LEFT GENOS TO SELF DESTRUCT AFTER THEY COMBINED TO FORM THE FUCKING JET HE WAS JUST LIKE lol bye SO LIKE if he left him to die that’s super hard for me to forgive and ship grrr 2. Disregarding the manga’s canon and looking at the wc, while I love the little trip they went on where Zero demonstrated his abilities and helped Genos kill monsters, it’s super sus. He knew alllll of this info on Metal Knight and was super supportive and understanding when Genos said he needed time to think. Like,,,what are his intentions? We know so little about him—is he trying to trick Genos or was he being sincere? THAT STUFF ASIDE, they’re a really fun ship. They’re both huge fucking nerds and can keep up with their talk on robotics for hours, they’re both cyborgs so they understand each other’s pain, and they’re both super cool and angsty. I think they could really settle into a deep bond that can go platonic or romantic, just depends. Genos needs more ppl in his life so hell yeah! Plus, he can really let go with Zero bc they don’t have that teacher/student relationship and Zero, if he’s really a sincere and kind guy like in the wc, can be there for Genos and listen to him. Don’t have much to say on this ship other than @wellthisisembarrassing makes GORGEOUS art of them! 6.3/10

Webuiko/Suiko x Webigaza: YEAH I KNOW THEY HAVENT INTERACTED IN CANON AND WE DONT KNOW MUCH ABOUT THEM BUT HEAR ME OUT. Webigaza—cool af determined cyborg idol who’s surprisingly down to earth when talking with Child Emperor. Suiko—sassy and honest fighter who doesn’t take shit and is very passionate. Suiko would go to talk to Web then immediately freak out bc aaaa she’s way prettier than she thought, she can’t do this! Web would have to gently encourage Suiko to talk and at first is like ‘ah man, must be an adoring fan, ugh I’m so tired. At least she’s hot’ but when Suiko snaps out of her shyness Web is like oh! She’s super cool wtf. Always bump into each other during fights and help each other get fixed up, Suiko using her muscle power to lift Web’s pieces (and give Web a great view of Suiko’s muscles holy SHIT) and Web would patch Suiko up. Not to be stereotypical, but they’re def a masc/femme couple. I love the idea of this ship soooo much and I really hope they interact! 6.6/10 only bc they haven’t met 😭😭😭 look them up on here! There’s some great art of them by a few blogs

Dr. Kuseno x Bang: pretty sure @baldyborg came up with this one! Super cute. Just two old dudes finding a nice friendship in each other, maybe after Bang helps carry Genos to Kuseno’s after a day of fighting. Bang would find Kuseno to be a very cute little nerd man and would be sooo impressed by Kuseno’s mad scientist skills. Kuseno would be super impressed when seeing Bang in action too. They’d prob talk as soon as they meet each other and Genos would be in the background like you guys it’s been an hour, please fix me I’m on the verge of death 🧍🏻Bang would give Kuseno advice on training techniques to teach Genos and advice on making his bodies more martial arts ready or sum, meanwhile Kuseno would give his take on how to be kinder to Garou so that Bang would learn to repair the relationship with a gentleness he’s seemingly lacking (yes I’m talking about the chapter where he and Garou start fighting and Bang is just not doing enough to reach out to Garou, he’s being a callous old man! So yeah I’m still mad about that). Genos and Saitama would prob be out on a date and Saitama would be like oh theres Bang, wonder what he’s doing? Then Kuseno would walk up and kiss Bang and Genos and Sai would be shocked like SIRS 👬 Genos would tell Bang he doesn’t need another adoptive dad and Bang would be like....ok.... I see them retiring in a cottage together and Bang would become a huge softie. Yes I’m actively ignoring chapter 141 of the wc, shut up. 7.6/10

TankTop master x Mumen: they have a nice friendship going on in the manga right now! Just bros supporting bros. Tank is the picture definition of a muscly himbo and Mumen is his cute passionate bf. Also workout buddies af!! Don’t have much to say other than pretty good ship, just not a fav. 5.2/10

To sum it up—

GenoSai: 2718873737839439/10, Batarou: 11/12, SonFlash: 10/11, KingSai: 10/10, FubuPsy: 9/10, Fubuki x Mizuki: 8.8/10, MumenSai: 8.4/10, ZombieMask: 7.9/10, Dr. Kuseno x Bang: 7.6/10, Speedal: 7.4/10, OneZon: 7/10, Webuiko: 6.6/10, DemonKnight: 6.3/10, Okamaitachi x Bushidrill: 6.1/10, TatsuKing: 6/10, TankTop Master x Mumen: 5.2/10, Mumarou: 4.3/10, FubuSai: 4/10, SonSai: 3/10, Genos x Sonic: 1.3/10, TatsuSai: 0/10, anyone x Puri: -1283828319833468282/10

If there’s any ships I left out, it’s bc I don’t know them, don’t wanna talk about them, or just don’t have an opinion strong enough. Also, I know there are some poly ships like Genos x Saitama x Fubuki, but I’ve read only one fic about that (it was pretty good, here’s the link https://archiveofourown.org/works/5406992 ) so I don’t feel like talking about it. Hope no ones offended! All my opinion here :)

[nepenthendline]

Heyyy, could you do a headcannon post for tsukki, kenma, suga, Kageyama, and kurro, and how they would go about proposing to their s/o. I love your writing btw!!! 💜

proposal hcs make me so sOFT, and thank you so much 🥺🥺🥺 It means a lot! I’m going to bury myself in these hcs to get rid of the stress my uni are giving me rn also kageyama’s is so long omg i got a little carried away

slight timeskip spoilers (kenma, sugawara, kageyama, kuroo)

Requests are open!

Proposal Headcanons - Tsukishima, Kenma, Sugawara, Kageyama and Kuroo

Tsukishima:

Tsukishima wasn’t one for extravagant publics displays of love and affection, so his proposal wouldn’t be either

he wanted it to be natural, not some crazy, over-the-top event that had everyone in the neighbourhood witnessing

it would be around 5-10 years (depending on how old you were when you started dating) of being together when Tsukishima decided he wanted to marry you, it’s not that he never thought about it, he just wanted to be sure this was the right decision for both of you

he had mentioned marriage to you one night a few months before proposing to test the waters and see your opinion so that he could gauge whether you would say yes or not

he took Yamaguchi with him to pick out a ring, he was great friends with you too so he knew your style and preferences well to help out Tsukishima

the proposal itself what somewhat planned, he knew the day he was going to do it but, other than that, he left it open to change

the two of you had gone for an evening walk across a pathway that overlooked the town, something you two do often to wind down

you two hadn’t spoke much, a comfortable, warm silence surrounding you besides pointing out the odd squirrel or brief check-ups on each others day

both of you had stopped at a railing on your walk, leaning against it to watch the sun set over the tall buildings

his hand was in yours, brushing his thumb over the back of it as he looked out to the view

“I love you (Y/N),” his voice was quiet but it seemed certain

he wasn’t the kind of man that told you he loved you multiple times a day, it was reserved for special moments and the times where he couldn’t get how lucky he was to have you out of his mind

“I love you too Kei,” you didn’t need to be loud, or shout your confession to the world to know that you both meant it deeply

“Marry me,” it sounded more like a instruction than a question and his gaze hadn’t left the sky

“W-what?” had you heard him wrong? was this a joke?

he turned his eyes to you, locking them with yours - this was the most serious and sincere you had ever seen him

“Marry me,” he repeated

you stood with your mouth slightly open, eyes wide as he pulled out a box from his pocket, opening it to display a simple, yet stunning ring

“I always thought that if you went for what you truly wanted, it would just end in pain and disappointment, that all the effort and sentiment would be for nothing, but with you it’s so easy. I might never be, but I want to become the best man for you, that you deserve, so marry me.”

Kenma:

gets married for tax purposes

marriage was not something Kenma had ever though about in his life growing up

he never thought he would get married or find someone he had a connection with and, honestly, he was fine with that

he didn’t really see the appeal of it in the first place

it wasn’t until many years down the line of being with you and his friends around him getting into relationships when he started to consider the possibility

the first time it came into his head was at Kuroo’s wedding

he spent most of the time wishing he could go home and get out of this uncomfortable suit, but there were times when he say Kuroo’s beaming smile that he was glad he came

some of the ex-nekoma team members had poked at him with questions of when he was going to get ‘hitched’, which he responded to with a sigh

he certainly wasn’t going to propose because others told him he needed to

the next time it crossed his mind was when he started a new game that his fans had recommended he play

it was a romance game which wasn’t his usual go-to genre, but it had incredible reviews and created a storm in the gaming world so he thought he might as well check it out

through the game he got to witness an endearing story of a couple that went at odds to be together

the story delved into their married life and all the little things they enjoyed together through the years

he didn’t really want to admit it, but it did make him feel a little emotional

he saw himself and you in the characters, as if he was watching his own life play out on his screen

every now and then you and Kenma played some games together so you could spend time with him and he could show you want had been interesting him lately, so he decided to show you this game

you thought it was adorable, so heartwarming yet a little sad at points, but you had always been a little more outwardly emotional then Kenma

“imagine if we got married haha, how cute would that be!” you gushed out in the moment without thinking as you played

“eh...I guess” it wasn’t really the answer you were hoping for, but at least he didn’t sound utterly disgusted by the thought

you continued to play with him for a while, tucked into his side and making comments every now and then

a particular endearing part was plating on the screen and your eyes shone as they fixated on the characters

he could tell by the glassy look that you were getting a little affected by the story, but you looked so cute

the way your lip pouted ever so slightly, and how you gripped at his hoodie, as if to steady yourself

he had a sudden rush of adoration for you, he really did love you and the last couple years of you living together had been wonderful, how he got to wake up beside you, do daily chores with you, how you supported him in his many careers

“Maybe we should get married,” he blurted out, you whipped your head towards him so fast you almost got whiplash

“Are you...proposing?” you questioned, with somewhat of a laugh in your voice

“huh...looks like I am.”

Sugawara:

Sugawara was sensible, mature, a little bit of a tease and sometimes chaotic if Daichi wasn’t watching but also traditional

he had often thought about what it would be like to grow up, get married and have a family

it wouldn’t take long before he knew he wanted to marry you, even throughout the 3 years you had already been together he had daydreamed about marrying you more times than he could count

from all the memories you had together, all the times you helped enough other in rough patches and the learning the two of you wanted to continue in the future had him certain that he wanted you beside him forever

so he set out his plan

he took his old teammates, Daichi and Asahi with him on a hunt to find the perfect ring

Daichi was there to keep him in check and calm his nerves, although Asahi was probably the most nervous and Asahi had a great eye for stylish, beautiful pieces due to his designing career

now it was time to plan

he didn’t want it to be crazy, but he wanted it to be something, a whole event in itself

so he scheduled a meal for the two of you and some of your friends

it was at quite a fancy restaurant in the evening and your group had its own secluded table at the back, surrounded with dividers from the rest of the restaurant

all of you spent the meal catching up and laughing, but Sugawara seemed a little quieter than usual

you had asked him if he was ok, but he just replied with an ‘of course!’ and a smile, so you let it be

Asahi was shaking but you put that off to general anxiety

you guys had ordered desserts and everyone had gotten theirs first

as the waiter brought yours over, the table went silent

the waiter came from your left, Sugawara on your right, so you had looked over as he came

as he set the plate down, you noticed the words spelled out in chocolate sauce 

“Will you marry me?” 

you gasped and turned towards Sugawara, who was now on one knee next to you, holding out an open ring box

“I have known for so long that I wanted to marry you. You’re beautiful, smart, courageous and so loving, and I want to have you by my side forever. I promise I will continue to grow as your partner and take care of you every step of the way, so, will you marry me?”

Kageyama:

the only thing in this boy’s brain is you and volleyball, its all his one braincell can cope with

that being said, he has never once thought about marriage

his whole life he has spend all his energy and focus on becoming a better player, the best setter he possibly can and standing on the court longer

but you were the first person to get him, to understand him and accept him as is while helping him improve and grow

you helped him to open up and communicate with people better

you helped him whenever he was frustrated with volleyball and a certain play he was working tirelessly on

you never once turned your back on him when he struggled or lost his temper

you were his partner, but it was different from a volleyball partner

he cared for you, every part of you, and always wanted to know if you were ok or spend time with you

you made him genuinely smile everyday and he knew that he wanted to be your partner for life

it came about when he was hanging out with Hinata on one of their rare days off to catch up

he had been talking about you constantly, expressing how much he loved you and adored you

“Why don’t you just marry them?” Hinata questioned with his held tilted, as if it was obvious

“w-what? Hinata boke!” he shouted as his face grew red and pushed Hinata aside

the two talked about it and Kageyama decided, very bashfully, that yeah, he should just marry you

but how does he ask you that?

he knew nothing about marriage or proposals, so he spend the next few weeks asking his friends, teammates, even his coach on how to propose to you

“Take them to an expensive restaurant!”

“Wouldn’t it be cute to propose in Disneyland??”

“Well, I proposed to my partner by sending them on a scavenger hunt”

he was bombarded with ideas, but none of them seemed right

none of them seemed like him

he was getting frustrated with the pressure of coming up with a good way to ask you to be his forever, it had to be perfect, it had to be special and it had to fit with your relationship

you noticed he was getting agitated a lot more recently, he was quieter and snapped more often, he stayed back later at the gym to train and he rarely ate dinner with you anymore

whenever you asked what the problem was, he replied with an ‘it’s nothing’ and stormed off

his teammates had noticed too and were less than pleased with his attitude as it affected their gameplay

one of his teammates had begged you to come to the gym and talk some sense into him when he started continuously overworking himself

it was 7pm when you set off from your house to the gym where he was still training

as you entered, you noticed that he was the only one here, hitting serve after serve that never seemed to land right

“Tobio,” you called out

“Baby,” you tried again but you couldn’t catch his attention from his deep focus on the ball

you walked over to him and lightly grabbed his arm, stopping him from serving the ball again

“Tobio, what’s wrong? Everyone is worried about you. Are you having trouble with a play? Because we can sort that out with your coach-”

he cut you off by mumbling something under his breath, much too quiet for you to hear

“What was that?” 

“I want to ask you to marry me and I don’t know how,” he said louder this time, his eyes staring at the ball in his hand as he gripped it tightly

“O-oh, right...” you were stunned, speechless, this wasn’t something you thought you would hear from him

“Everyone’s been telling me how to do it, but none of them seem right,” his voice was low and his gaze still hadn’t let the ball

you put a finger under his chin and lifted his face towards you

“It doesn’t need to be what everyone else tells you, we can do things our own way,” you tried to comfort him with a smile and he simply stared back at you

“So go on then,” you were beaming at him by now, yet his face got even tighter with confusion

“Go on, ask me to marry you.”

his jaw hung wide open, his eyes seemed to be staring into your skull like he had seen a ghost, this is certainly not what he expected

he tried to speak a couple times, stumbling on his words as they got caught in his throat

“It’s ok, take your time,” you brushed your thumb over the back of his hand as you held it, encouraging him to continue

“w-will you....will...willyoumarryme?”

BONUS: you two picked out a ring together afterwards, this boy has no sense of style, don’t trust him by himself

Kuroo:

Kuroo had jokingly asked you to marry time multiple times throughout your relationship

the first couple times ended with you being a blushing mess while he teased you

but by now you just tell him to shut up go off sis

marrying you had always been part of the plan for him, just a natural progression of your relationship

while Kuroo can be quite the tease, he was extremely serious of his relationship with you and your future

he started off his plan by asking your dad if he would like to spend the day together, you know, father-son-in-law bonding time

what your dad wasn’t prepared for was Kuroo to turn up in a shirt, suit trousers and confess how he wanted to marry you

he had a whole speech prepared about how he would be the best husband for you, how he would be sure to take good care of you and, possibly, be the best father in the future if you planned to have children

you dad had to eventually shut him up as Kuroo kept going, saying how he would be delighted to have you marry the man

step one: check

now he needed to find the right ring

he had a look around at multiple stores but he couldn’t find anything that was unique enough to be called yours and that captured you or your relationship

since Kuroo had quite the high-paying job plus a little backing from a certain famous youtuber so the cost wasn’t an issue and he wanted to spoil you

so he got one custom made

he sat with a designer for hours creating the most stunning, distinctive ring that he knew you would love

step two: check

over the next couple days he planned a meet-up evening with your family and his where he would pop the question

you both had spent the day cooking and preparing for the evening before they all come to your house

you had all finished dinner and moved over to the living room to chat

Amidst all the chatter, Kuroo stood up and cleared his throat, grabbing everyone’s attention

“I have something I’d like to say,” he said with confidence, then turning to you with a grin

“The last few years with you have been perfect. We’ve had some ups and downs, but we have made so many amazing memories together. You really are my other half and I think everyday about how truly lucky I am to call you mine. You know me better than anyone else. I know I’ve asked you this a couple times in the past when we’re laughing together, but this time I’m serious,”

he got down on one knee, holding one of your hands while presenting the custom ring in the other

“will you do me the honour of marrying me?”

and the crowd goes wild

Tagging @togasknifes so she can read Kageyama ty ly

[artnachronisme]

Since a bunch of you really liked the BUCK-TICK's discography review I made last month (you can find it with #artnachronisme's buck-tick review), I thought it could be nice to continue to talk about my feelings on their music. We stopped at Six/Nine (1995) last time, which was for a reason : the next album, Cosmos (1996) is a clear transition to their industrial years.

Cosmos is remarkable for its very light tones. Six/Nine was very different and varied/experimental from Darker than darkness style 93 but Cosmos appears to be more like its continuation while it's also the path to a very new sound, more industrial, as I said before. A song like Living on the net shows it clearly in my opinion. I like this album for songs like Maria, Tight Rope, Sane, Idol or Ash-ra. There seems to be a new maturity in the lyrics. The guitars are very strong, langourous - if I may express myself this way - and Atsushi seems to continue to try new stuff with his voice.

Next album is Sexy Stream Liner that I absolutely adore, out in 1997. You can feel how much the album was filled with tons of sci-fi inspirations, thanks to Kazutoshi Yokoyama's keyboards (who worked with them since 1993 - keyboards part since 1995). The instrumental song Sexy Stream Liner is very interesting and a clear testimony of their transition to industrial rock music. Songs like Heroin or Lizard skin no shoujo have very electronic sounds in their compositions for example. As usual I'm very fond of Hidehiko Hoshino's music, Rasen Mushi is one of my fav song from this album. What I love is the fact that they never lose themselves with this new type of sounds and songs like Muchi no Namida, Sasayaki or My Fuckin' Valentine are, with their structures, anchored to their roots while being proof of their evolution. I think this album is quite interesting for its various experiments, Imai being, as usual, very capable when it comes to create an homogeneous project.

In 2000, One Life, One Death is released. I don't know where to start with this one tbh. I got lost when I heard Baby, I want you for the first time. It's almost a pop song with this dance beat - but I reminded myself that Du Hast by Rammstein had the same type of flavor and is still close to my heart so... anyway. But using the term "pop" isn't a nonsense since I feel like this album is quite accessible. Once you get used to Sexy Stream Liner, this project is not as interesting in my opinion, because yes, I do think that it sounds more pop - the keyboards parts are probably the reason why I feel this way. But... a little bit of context : in the early 00s, rock music was quite the trend all around the world and we had a lot of this type of productions. Glamourous, as much as I like this song, is kinda... cute (?). But don't get me wrong, Megami is very hypnotizing (guess who wrote the music ? Yeah, Hoshino), a rock ballad if I may ; I LOVE the atmosphere from Sapphire, Rhapsody is quite interesting as well and Flame is a very beautiful ballad too (probably one of my fav). I don't hate the whole project. I just think that it's not as dark and deep as their past ones.

In 2002, Kyokutou I Love You is released. Songs like Oukoku Kingdom Come -moon rise- and Brilliant remind me a lot of Cosmos's atmosphere and are quite light. 21st Cherry Boy is kinda cheesy, build to be a single obviously (never forget the mv where Atsushi is surrounded by two dancers on his chair haha) but efficient in its style. I also like how TRIGGER is structured and the guitars are very nice, same goes with Kyokutou Yori Ai wo Komete. I love Shanikusai -Carnival- and yes... Hoshino is behind the music again ; it's a sensual song, I like how Atsushi sing on this one. Finally, the masterpiece in my opinion is Long Distance Call, so emotional... but well, since the subject is what it is. Long short story : I prefer this album than its previous one. It ends with Continue for the simple reason that this project was supposed to be a double disc with Mona Lisa Overdrive, released in 2003.

Oh... and this album. Where to start ? I have the feeling that it's one of their most underrated project and I kinda don't understand why because I find it very efficient. The songs are powerful. The whole album sounds more straight rock again and yeah... I do like this. The opening song (fed with the ending of Kyokutou I Love You) Nabayuki shows the colors of the project very simply : it's gonna rock. Limbo is a UFO, clearly made for the stage - I like that the lyrics refers to some old songs they created by the past. The main theme from this album is definitely power because everything is catchy, pulsy, it goes straight to the point and I LIKE THAT. I don't have much to say on this project, I appreciate how it sounds in its whole. It's the kind of album that I listen to entirely, but rarely pick up a song all alone. It's a perfect ending point for their cyberpunk/industrial years !

I really appreciate this era because the guys experimented as much as by the past but into a new universe. Industrial rock isn't the easiest kind of rock to create, there's not that much bands who based their entire career on this type of sound and I truly appreciate how they manage to produce 5 different projects.

Btw, Would you like me to talk about their early works from Hurry up mode to Taboo , cause I started with Aku no Hana ?

[starcookiechu]

ROTT Review

SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE. You have been warned.

FYI: I just finished the movie. So my opinions may change a bit but here I am writing a full review.

Before I talk about the movie, I have to say this movie has fantastic animation. The music is as good as usual.

Ok now the story. Let’s start with the our Trollhunters.

Fair Lady Claire. My girlie Claire really brought her all into this. I’m really proud of the young woman she has grown up into. However for the sake of the plot and story they make her run out of magic juice quite a bit. But my girl is still the best and gives it her all.

Wingman Domzalski. I will be perfectly honest. Toby is kind of the annoying best friend at times and bothers me as a plus size person. (They really push the over eating thing to the point that it’s his biggest factor.) Toby is a very eager kid who is ready to get in the action. Never being negative to his friend but the best emotional support who will always be at his side. Sure Toby was used a bit as comedic relief in the movie but when push comes to shove, Toby will always be there to do the right thing.

Blinky is amazing as always. One of the best father figures out there.

Aarrrgh was there. Was great for the scenes he was in, but all together didn’t do much that altered the story.

Our Trollhunter, Jim Lake Jr. Someone I admire and basically see as my little brother/child. Kiddo really did it. I know everyone is upset that Jim’s arc was redone when we had the “Unbecoming” episode. If I could come to a peaceful middle ground, I saw we all need to blame Merlin. He really rocked Jim’s world and self worth. When the creator of the object you need to save the world with tells you “You’re not enough”, it really can be a great setback. But once we past that, Jim really pulled through. Amulet or not, he is our Trollhunter.

Mommy Dr. Lake was there. Barbara was mostly there for our emotions.

Dilf Strickler. I felt that he was changed a bit since we last saw him, but he had a new purpose. He was more cautious and happy because he had a chance at a happy life with Barbara. Which makes what happens to him more upsetting. 

Nomura my sweet. This movie did not deserve you. At least she was with Draal.

And Not-Enrique (seriously why didn’t they ever give him an actual name) just wasn’t in the movie.

How about some CreepSlayers?

BABY ELI PEPPERJACK CAME BACK LOOKING SO CUTE. So proud.

Bumbling knight oaf Steve the Palchuckian was great as usual.

I will say though. The whole pregnancy plot was just a way to get Eli and Steve out of the way. I could feel that the writers maybe didn’t like Steve so much since Wizards. But Steve was once again someone to laugh at. Pregnant and out of the way.

How about some Akiridions?

Aja my darling girl, oh how you’ve grown. I understand some think she has changed. However I must say that her preparing a plan B on the side was smart. She isn’t just a princess on earth anymore. She is a queen on a distant planet. So if she thought evacuation was best, it would ensure that everyone would live. And avoid losing more valuable people from her life. So no, I can’t blame her.

DJ Kleb was there. He was kinda doin his own thing and messing with Steve. Brother-in-law stuff.

It was good to see Varvatos Vex.

Stu was the man in the background working on the busy important things like working on the amulet. Personally I feel like the series REALLY underutilizes Stu A LOT so I was so happy to see him being a part of something huge.

And finally some Wizards.

Douxie my love, you were amazing as usual. His powers have grown greatly and have contributed to the adventure. But god the writers really do love to take everything away from him don’t they. It’s unfair.

Archie was kinda just there and just... I understand leaving Douxie but that doesn’t mean I like it.

Nari the sweetest. I can only imagine the guilt she felt to end Nomura. Her self sacrifice was probably the one in the movie most called for.

Alright now I’ll talk about the movie.

I can whole heartedly say this movie was rushed. To be honest I feel like the original writers weren’t completely in this. At least it felt kind of not so much Trollhunters or 3Below vibes but more Wizards, if that makes sense whatsoever. Something is off.

I just want to blame Merlin for everything. To hell with that guy.

The beginning sequence was great. A car chase to a moving train. Which ends up with Toby of course screwing up and breaking the brakes. Of course. The train falling off the tracks which ultimately ends up with Nari gone. Oh yeah, and video recordings of Magic, trolls and being taken in by the police. Great.

WHY TF WAS TOBY TELLING THEIR STORY TO THE POLICE. YOU DON’T MIX THE POLICE IN STORIES UNLESS YOU KNOW THE COP PERSONALLY. CUZ IT’S A MESS AND THE POLICE GET IN THE WAY. GDI TOBY.

Our heroes go back to base on the new and improved Camelot. Where we discover that Barbara and Strickler are now engaged. Happy news and would secure that Jim has another Father figure in his life and his mother’s happiness. Which explains Strickler’s “stay behind” advice. Now he has a family to watch over. He must be careful and warns that Jim’s actions could cost so much that he might not be able to afford.

Enters our Majesty Aja and the new stud on the block, Eli. Dang I wish puberty hit me like that.Truck-kun strikes again. And also enters... the pregnancy thing. I will say, I didn’t mind it too much... at first. But there are complications. Steve is too young to be a father and dang 7 kisses?? I can’t help but feel like Aja should have mentioned that or it was a last minute plan to write out Steve and Eli. (Which it was.) It was funny sure cuz omegaverse and ALIENS but all together it’s really iffy.

They really had Douxie preform a body-swap spell only so it would be undone. And undoing the spell only hurt them both?? C’mon. C’mon.

And they mention the Krohnisfere. We’ll get back to it. Jim gets a brand new amulet infused with Akaridion tech. However theres an issue. It was created by Merlin right? Who is a wizard right? Who uses MAGIC. Shame Douxie wasn’t there to help make it. Ya know. 1/2 of the original creator of the AMULET. So it’s missing a huge part and for the sake of the plot, Jim doesn’t test the Amulet which is out of character personally.

Toby makes a silly big deal over a penny. I was actually hoping they would make it a silly Chekhov's gun later on. But no, it’s just Toby being loud and comedic relief.

The titans are released and we visit a very pregnant Steve. Ok so it’s a rushed kind of thing. ok.

Aja suggests evacuation. You can say it’s out of character but we need context. When Aja helped in the Doomsday Battle, she was ensured a way out but if she let the people of Arcadia perish. She decided to stay and help. But now the Trollhunter himself can’t help. So to ensure the survival of everyone, evacuation. A best chance for everyone to survive. Plus she is now a Queen. She rules over a whole planet which must change her thinking.

Now our characters are split into 3 teams:

Blinky, Archie, Archie’s dad and Claire for the Krohnisfere.

Jim, Aja, Toby, Strickler and Barbara for the Glacial Titan.

Nomura, Douxie and Aarrgh for the Earth Titan.

Now here is where I have problems. WHY. DID. THEY. SEND. TROLLS. TO. BRAZIL. IN. THE. DAY. Nomura dying was just so out of pocket. Unnecessary. I couldn’t even grieve properly I didn’t have a chance to process. The best thought I could think was “At least she’s with Draal now.” 10 seconds later, Strickler makes the choice to sacrifice himself. Because of Jim’s heroic’s, Strickler decided to try to save the most important people in his life. The person who was always dishonest finally had a chance to live a happy life with his family. The one who played it safe now had to make the final impulsive move. And unfortunately, his death was in vain. These deaths were just so forced. It wasn’t in any way good. And Strickler being one of the best written characters just going in such a way was just off. He died for nothing. He could have turned back and fought another battle but... no.

(BTW Barbara was just there... for Strickler’s death.)

We move to Babara and Jim having a heart to heart. I’m glad she didn’t blame Jim but a small moment of anger. Something a little more real for me but no I guess. Barbara will always just be Jim’s mom. She mention’s Jim’s father and it passed so quickly I missed it on my initial viewing. I’m happy that Jim’s father is never revealed or made a bigger part in his story. This is good representation for those of us who did have our fathers walk out on us. That we can grow despite our parents failing us.

And finally team Krohnisfere. Archie just leaves. He’s gone. Poor Douxie. A mentor and now his closest companion.

Our heroes meet up to go against the Volcanic Titan. In comes Varvatos Vex on a Gun Robot. Nice to see some good ol Gundam with a character mentioned throughout the entire trilogy. However it doesn’t last. BTW for the sake of survival, Aja leaves Jim and Toby. Iffy.

Douxie pulls a “Jason stop. This isn’t you.” thing with Nari and is reunited with his friend.(+ points for the shippers. It’s kinda winning me over?) Also, Claire now has the power to teleport a Titan. I know she’s much stronger than she was for the Trollhunters Sn 2 finale, but cmon. You can’t just say she’s out of magic juice and then pull this. C’mon.

(btw did the titan make a War of the Worlds tripod sound? No? Just me?)

Nari sacrifices herself and takes the other god with her. Which takes away Douxie’s other companion. Mr. Stark I don’t feel so good. Why does this movie hate Douxie so much. (I am so sorry shippers. Angst.)

BLINKY DIDN’T SEE A PAGE? ADDRESSING IT IN THE SHOW DOESN’T GIVE YOU A PASS. I forgot the word but this irony isn’t greatttt.

Jim now has to pull out the legendary sword Excalibur. But he can’t cuz he hasn’t harnessed the power of friendship.

And Steve is giving birth. At the worst time. What is this a zombie movie??? C’mon.

Jim says “Magic is friendship” And Stu is finally being used for one grand act. Seriously Stu is just so unappreciated. So he fixes the amulet with magic.

Basically everyone who went on top of the Volcanic titan falls off at some point. Except Jim cuz of course some 1v1. 

ONCE AGAIN Claire is out of magic juice. Because... reasons.

Toby makes the choice to race to Jim’s side with the technology to cancel out magic. (Wait how does science stop magic again)

BTW, For the Good of all doesn’t hit as well BUT it’s not mentioning any glory towards stinky Merlin so I am happy with the change.

JIM HAS A NEW TRANSFORMATION. MY BOY. MY SON. I’M SO PROUD.

Toby races to Jim and his helmet falls off the taco truck. That honestly should have been a huge warning sign. I was worried he didn’t have armor but we know how this goes.

Jim defeats the final titan and everyone is happy. The fight is finally over.

STEVE HAS 7 KIDS. OUCH. 

Seeing Jim run to Toby was heartbreaking. Now this is the one scene where the movie really let out actually process a character’s death. How on earth can you process your best friend, your most faithful companion dying. Jim goes through too much I swear to god.

Now let’s discuss the time travel plot. I honestly feel like they pulled some kind of Attack on Titan ending. The main character burdened with knowing the future and what could have been. And if everything is meant to be how it will be, destiny will reconnect them again. (Jlaire reincarnation AU???)

I’m actually ok with this ending. I understand people would want the time stone to return only a few minutes. But even then, the kiddos still have police records, so many people dead at the titan’s hands (or feet) and now the world knows about the existence of trolls thanks to the internet. In New York no less. And people are still dead.

We return the the beginning of everything, reflecting the “Unbecoming” episode.

(NGL I’m bothered that they didn’t do anything to stop Steve from bullying Eli, but Jim can’t do it. He’s saving it for Toby.)

And now finally, let’s discuss Toby becoming the Trollhunter. From the beginning, Toby never considered himself good enough to be the main star. Always the wingman, the 2nd best. Support. Now it was Toby’s turn to climb the ranks and be the Hero he’s always wanted to be. It’s Jim’s turn to live an easier high school life. I don’t doubt that he won’t follow Toby. But now he knows what to avoid and how to make the story process more smoothly.

I understand some are unsatisfied with this ending, which is kinda trademarked with Dreamwork’s shows. I get it. But honestly as of right now, I think I like the ending.

The amulet didn’t choose Jim because this Jim is not the same Jim as in Sn 1 Ep 1. He is a new man. And I think we all can agree that it’s his turn to be happy.

---

I still love this series so much. It is my favorite cartoon. Of course it has it’s flaws, but this ending is at least satisfactory and not heartbreaking. Now it’s up to us to either continue the story or contribute our ideas in fanfiction. I look forward to everyone’s creations.

Don’t think. Become.

[weaselbeaselpants]

Weird week behind me weird week ahead of me but I’ve done a lot of self reflection and came to the weirdest epiphany. The older I get the more I realize all my ‘problems’ with VivziePop - her thoughts on criticism;  the choices she makes in story telling; some of the people she’s worked with (not that any of that’s my business; I’m not her mom) really aren’t about Viv, but more about her fandom.

I’m speaking of the preHazbin era Viv here and as someone who’s only watch horny fish jump at the surface rather than jump straight into the Hazbin-fandom, but given my ‘noncritical’ fellow fans have told me that the Vivziefandom now is also terrible - I guess I’ll go over my experience and make the most out of what I do know.

I followed Viv in 2009 and fell off in 2013 cause I kinda just lost interest and found myself wrapped up in other fandoms. I’ve always felt amicable about her content; I could give or take designs or the way in which she wrote characters -- ((Zech represent!!!)) but it’s honestly surreal and really fun seeing this person I recognize make it big and improve so much. Like I’ve said before I am very happy and very impressed with Viv doing all she’s done in the span of TWO YEARS. wow gurl.

Trouble is, there was the particular breed of fan who really made me...uncomfortable. They felt almost possessive of Viv’s attention. They sang praises about her work in a way that just made me want nothing to do with it because I was worried if I drew those characters these people would be like ‘hey, I’M Viv’s fav artist, not you!”. They would  unironically write Viv messages like:

“you are a GOD” -- “I’m so not worthy compared to you” --“I wish I was as talented as you” -- “YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND CAN’T DO WRONG VIV”.

The kind of messages which were meant to sound flattering but, intentional or not, came off as gaslighting, like they were guilt tripping Viv about being better than them. This behavior, treating your favorite artist/internet personality like your superior and groveling like Starscream, it strikes a nerve with me; partly because I was this way with my favorite artists and influences back in the day,  but also because once I got a taste of that treatment myself I realized just how bad it could be:

There was once a girl on dA who was jealous of me because of the attention I got on my art instead of her. I told her that I wasn’t gonna stop drawing but also that there was nothing wrong with her art and she’d find her place. It was weird being put in that position where someone is very clearly upset at you but also looking for your approval.

The second was some scumball who I blocked in 2016. He wouldn’t speak to me, only write condescending, backhanded comments on my art; check on my profile daily; call me a bootlicker (cuz I took commissions) behind my back; redrew my art and would talk about me in his personal artist notes about how I ‘probably wouldn’t see this’ - oh yeah all the while he did fan art of my characters but again never spoke to me when I replied. When I finally messaged him about his behavior he said he thought I was “really overrated” and “bad for the fandom” cuz I took money and kept him from getting the love he deserved. It took messaging another person within our fandom, one I had been in spats with online before, to finally realize I shouldn't put up with that bs....

That guy who was stalking me btw did so while I was well under 1.K watchers and am still pretty obscure. Anyway, I had one guy unhealthily watching me for the wrong reasons. Just one. This is why when Viv says she “hates creeps” I 150% believe this woman and am not about to call her a liar who just can’t take criticism. Like, if you really think that, I’m sorry but you don’t know what Viv’s gone through from both her critics AND fans.

Of course, a lot of people will be like “I bet you’re just jealous and really just want that kind of attention yourself so you’re preaching to the choir”, but like...no. I am envious of just about any creator who’s the social butterfly I’m not, but, like, if I'm jealous of an artist none of that is that artists’ fault. Ever. It’s my own issues with being comfortable with myself are at stake. If I criticize Viv’s work it’s not because I see her as competition or my Squilliam Fancyson; it’s because I’m a critical fan of animation and cartoons and have my own thoughts to share on the cartoons of an artist I’m familiar with.  Jealousy/envy/mixed-admiration/godIwishthatwereme.jpeg feels are totally natural and valid emotions when you’re a creator. Envy becomes a problem when you internalize, weaponize, and scrutinize people on the basis of them being what you aren’t which -yes - some people do in the name of criticism. ((Although, I would hardly say some of the nastiest AntiViv folk are jealous as much as they are angry that this project they think is harmful is getting attention and using that as justification for some really shitty behavior of their own, which no, this post is not a part of by virtue of coming from a critical fan.))

Critique can come from either a good place or bad place; good critique can be used to bad ends and bad critique can come from a well-meaning place, and vice versa.   It’s the difference between many a criticalfan having a sour taste in their mouth regarding the Viv’s base but persisting in a critique+admiration separate of that, and this asswipemonster trying to weasel his way into Spindlehorse while also bashing Viv on a public forum for clearly vitriolic reasons. He was a creep.

So yeah um please stop insisting that every Hazbin critic is just jealous’ because a) there are people who have a past with Viv’s base and that clouds their judgement, but in a lot of cases that doesn’t invalidate their feelings or thoughts on her work separate from that, and b) I’ve seen what clingy gaslighting jealous fans are. Spoiler: they’re not so much Annie Wilkes as much as they are Tommy Wiseaus. You don’t want Tommy Wiseau following you.

Another bad vibe I really picked up on that I can kinda confirm is still probably the case now: people think that they know Viv and the Spindlehorse crew and have the right to send them shit they don’t need or WANT to be seeing.

Like, I talked with Viv once ages ago. I don’t remember what I said other than we were talking about Frankenweenie, I think. She was nice. Outside of that she said “thank you” to my comments on her deviations but that’s it. I DO NOT KNOW THIS WOMAN AND unless you’ve worked with or are a legit friend/mutual of hers, NEITHER DO YOU. But I don’t think every Vivzie stan/critic knows this. Whether it be people assuming she MUST think they’re headcanon is now canon-canon cuz she liked a comment they made; or some critic thinking they must have seriously hurt her pride because they’ve been blocked by her on twitter (or you know, maybe she and the rest of Spindlehorse is tired of getting @s and don’t have to time to read through your analysis so they’re gonna just block and move on cuz they’re busy).

Just because the creators talk with fans doesn’t mean fans are literally their best friends and have a part in the show’s direction. And yes, critics and reviewers fit that bill as well. Know your damn boundaries people.

If you find/make some kind of contribution as a viewer that’s awesome but you should never expect nor DEMAND the creator see it. The most obvious horror stories involving this and Helluva/Hazbin have been the Instagrams made by the crew being harassed by incestpedo enthusiasts, but it applies even to just @ing creators as well.

I’ve seriously had someone tell me to just take my criticisms directly to Viv and like...no. Why would I do that?

I respect Viv and the artists working with her enough to know that they’re working their asses off on an animated series and should not be bothered. I don’t want them to stop all they’re doing and reply to me. I want them to keep working. Also, that kind of logic makes me wonder how many critics Viv’s found because she found it on her own or if some obsessed fan told her about it - which is really messed up cuz if it IS just good critique you’re, again, just pestering her, and if it wasn’t critique but full on harassment WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU MESSAGE HER ABOUT THAT ANYWAY? I’m sure she doesn’t need to be reminded that people drew and said really awful shit about her on Tapatalk. My point being I’m sure what people think they’re doing is

“OOOoh Viv lookitwut this person is doing in our fandom we need to ban together against this toxic behavior”

but what they’re actually doing, and sounding like, is -

“Hey Viv I know you are working so hard on the show and you’re trying to figure out where to go from here but LOOKITWHUTTHISHATERSAID. LOOKATIT! VALIDATE ME VIV AND PUT’EM IN THEIR PLAAAAAACE!”

TL;DR Viv’s fanbase back in the day consisted of everyman artists and interests but there was this one breed of fan -who I hope was just a vocal minority- that ruined it for everything else.

Call it stanning or ‘simping’ or as it’s classically known, ‘white knighting’, whatever it was it really soured a lot of people on her because of those fans.

That’s why the DollCreep drama got so bad from what I can tell. Doll and Viv had a falling out and then called out eachother online where people who took it upon themselves to speak for them starting throwing mud.

Back in the day I remember Viv used to get mad at artists for ‘stealing’ her style. I think this attitude from Viv directly has vanished but I remember it happening because one of the people she thought was stealing her style did art for me at some point and they were basically shamed/chased off deviantART by a gaggle of these really nasty Vivfans.

inb4> “VIV WAS AWARE AND STILL WEAPONIZES HER FANS THO”

I don’t know that. And honestly, where I’m inclined to believe she’d do something like that then I think Viv is really different and has improved her business and public image from her college days. I’d be very disappointed in her if she was pulling a Butch Hartman or Derek Savage, but I just don’t think she is one, k?

Viv is more self critical and aware than any of these uber protective-gatekeeping fans give her credit for. She said on the Pizzapartypodcast that she knows the Hazbin pilot wasn’t perfect; she’s been able to identify the problems with old Zoophobia; this woman knows that criticism of all kinds need to exist and from what I see she sounds like she’s trying to get used to that. It’s just, you know, when you have nasty antis badgering you, stalkers, obsessive yes-mam’ fans, opinionated shit posters, r34 artists, entitled shippers and the NDAs of a company alongside your own branded image - all that negativity, even the constructive bits, tend to clump together and you just want to scream at it so you can finish the damn cartoon already!!!!

TL;DR: PART TWO

VivziePop/mind is basically indie Tim Burton.  Her work is fun, shallow and made with love but is marketed as being for everyone when it’s really not. Parts of it I love to watch; parts of it drives me crazy cuz of reasonswhatev this isn’t a review.

BUT any fanbase where people tell me I should just “expect what’s coming to me” when I’m trying to argue against dragging creators into fandrama is troubling. People have a parasocial bond with fandoms and their creators and they need to learn when to back off.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4

Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.

Persistent Pam

 Curmudgeonly Carl

And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.

No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once

All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)

And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo

Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips

 And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)

 She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub

 Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.

As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.

In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.

Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.

 However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.

Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…

On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend

BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…

… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.

 Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.

But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.

Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.

Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?

 Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.

Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.

 The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen

Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.

Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.

BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.

 Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.

And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!

This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS

And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…

 You can frankly go and screw yourself.

On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.

Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.

I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.

But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.

There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…

And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.

 What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.

For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?

I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.

Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.

Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…

And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen

And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.

As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.

Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.

Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.

Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.

There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them

 You failed.

Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.

Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.

Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?

 Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.

The comic here is actually called politics. … ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.

Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.

Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.

When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.

Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?

And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.

It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!

… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.

 And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!

And that is it.

Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.

Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.

[djemsostylist]

The Great Dizi List, Part 3b (The Alperen Dizis)

Okay, so allow me to start by saying that I've finished Son Yaz, and as as result I may have fallen the tiniest bit in love with Alperen Duymaz and thus have embarked on the journey of watching all his dizis. He has this sad, earnest puppy vibe combined with an incredible amount of BDE in all his roles, plus he's just so damn pretty. Anyway. And by all I mean just two others bc I like him beardy and his teen one is a little young for me.

Son Yaz

This one will actually get its own post, because it deserves its own post. Tbqh it deserves sonnets written to its beauty, bc this is one of those shows that I watched all the way through in like, 3 days, and then immediately wanted to go back and watch again. It was that good. The main quartet are a delight, and honestly I haven't loved a ship like AkMur in far too long. (okay technically Edser but that ended in disaster and in retrospect I kind of think they were awful and I'm not even really sure what I loved about them tbh they kind of sucked.) They are one of those ships you can believe in, where you know they are going to work out no matter what and you want them to. The way they are together--they make my heart happy.

Zemheri

This show I actually started to watch back in September of last year, when I had just started watching Turkish dizis. Back then I was entirely on my own and I got about 40 min in and then freaked out. I read some reviews, freaked out some more and bailed. But I'm a dizi pro now, and with this being a combined Alperen AND Ayça dizi I basically couldn't resist. It helped that it was only 10 episodes and that meant it couldn't get too crazy. Both Alperen and Ayça were amazing, of course, and they are just so damn beautiful together. Their chemistry was electric and since they spent about 90% of this dizi crying at each other (and let me tell you that these two may be the best dizi criers I've seen) it was incredibly well done. They are so pretty when they cry. There is one story line which didn't make a whole ton of sense and kind of pissed me off, but honestly it gets so little screen time as to render it easy to dismiss or headcanon. (Hint: It should have been a hysterical pregnancy). But the acting was great, the ending was intensely satisfying, and honestly if you want to watch Alperen with curls and turtlenecks and peacoats (his curls, btw, may or may not have caused a few minor breakdownsif they give Akgun curls I won't make it) cry at Ayça beautifully while she cries beautifully back for 20 hours or so, then I highly recommend.

Çarpişma

Okay, so I've watched several mafia/crime dizis. They're probably my favorite kind tbh. Usually they feature super smart main characters who are always a step ahead (you think they are in trouble but they always had a plan) and a bad guy with infuriating but understandable motives who usually lives too long, and at least one minor henchman guy who gets what he deserves. And usually our mains live happily ever after. Usually.

This show was not that. I should preface this by saying that my brand of humor is what you might call "dark"--I laughed more at the Americans than I ever have a comedy, lets put it that way. Anyway, this show featured 4 of the stupidest people ever to exist in a tv show, and I do mean that, and was also technically I guess kind of horrible what with the death and killing but tbh I laughed a lot. Now, I should say that the cast was excellent, and the acting was excellent and I loved every single one of those stupid idiots. But they were, in fact, extraordinarily stupid. These people got kidnapped like, and I'm not joking, at least once an episode. Sometimes twice. There actually came a point where they were getting kidnapped from their kidnappers by other kidnappers. And then literally every episode they'd get saved (and by they I mean the women, the two dudes never got kidnapped really) and then literally like, go right back to life as normal. Neither dude ever made sure their respective girlfriend got back in the house at night, neither girl ever believed in calling their respective boyfriend to, idk, buddy walk anywhere, they never checked before opening doors, they drove away without looking, got in cars without looking. It may sound like I'm exaggerating but I swear I'm not. And mind you, this dizi started with the main characters family getting blown up, and the other one being kidnapped and forced to shoot her husband in the face to save her kidnapped daughter. Spoilers I guess. So you'd think they'd be a little cautious but nope. Not even a little. Just out there, living their lives. The main villain of the first half of the dizi actually got redeemed and tbh by the final episode I was rooting for him to live his best life an co-parent with Kadir. At least he had a reasonable motivation, and he also did try and make up for the atrocities he committed. And really, what's a little murder now and again. The other bad guy's motivation was, and I swear this is true, "my son hates me for blowing up his family bc I didn't know it was his family, so bc he hates me I'm going to kill the rest of his family." That was literally it. The thing is, while the constant dying and torture would make you say "Djem, wtf is wrong with you, how did you get glee out of this show?" let me tell you that by the 945th kidnapping, you too will be like "can't even feel sorry for you really" and the just settle into this state of low level amusement and glee. Like, literally 90% of these kidnappings and deaths could have been prevented by like, idk, actually having police protection, or staying inside the house, or not opening the door for strangers, or watching to make sure the love of your life got inside safely, or not walking alone at night, or not GOING TO THE PARK TWO DAYS AFTER YOUR BESTIE WAS KIDNAPPED AND HAD A BOMB STRAPPED TO HER. So like, I mean, not to victim blame. But. Let's say by the end, while I loved the fuck outta the mains, I honestly was more emotional over Veli. Bc they were just so fucking stupid. Like, kidnapped, from a kidnapper. You really can't make it up. They make Akgun and Soner look like geniuses. And that's saying something. Anyway it was great and if you ff through most of the boring shit, I highly recommend. The acting is superb, the foursome is hilarious, and tbh Veli is a great villain that I loved. It was the stupidest dizi I've seen (that's a lie I watched parts of two Ayşe dizis) but tbh it was enjoyable as hell, so that's saying something I guess.

And that is BITTI for the Alperen dizis. For now. Son Yaz will be back soon and I can't wait!

Next up is Kuzey Guney, bc I made promises.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

[cozyforjate]

MacGyver 5x02 Review

We had another great MacGyver episode. That's two for two!🥳👏

This season so far has brought us back the good ole "MacGyver" feel that was partly lost in season 4. And i have a good feeling that it's only gonna get better.

As a MacGyver fan since day 1, i couldn't be happier. The characters are more open with each other. They are getting more depth. Mac is doing more hacks. I’m enjoying the lighter tone of the episodes. We are not getting any unnecessary drama between Mac&Desi. Which is a breath of fresh air! Totally helping the quality of the episodes. We have 40 mins, so we better use it the best way possible, right?

Back to the episode.

I've always been big a fan of heist plots and this episode did not disappoint. Loved the blonde thief lady AKA Jess Miller. Loved the chemistry between Desi and her. The training scenes were awesome. And we had not one but two heist plots. Go MacGyver!

This episode mainly focused on Russ and Desi. But before that i’d like to point a few things.

Matty noticing right away that Russ had an emotional connection with the case was brilliant. Nothing gets by the boss lady!

Action scenes were so good!

The songs they pick are on FIRE! I’m gonna need the season 5 soundtrack.

I wished we had more Bozer and little bit more Riley but i’m not gonna complain.

Now lets talk about Russ and Desi.

Russ & Desi

Russ:

Henry Ian Cusick is a brilliant actor. I’ve been a fan of his since LOST and so far I'm really satisfied with the Russ character. Sometimes he makes me want to shake him real hard, sometimes he makes me laugh i wanna be besties with him and sometimes i just wanna hug him badly! That's a great character for you btw. He has many layers and he is growing. His sadness over losing his protegee, the way he feels responsible for her death, the way he made the choice of sending the bad guy to prison instead of taking revenge were all great moments. And instead of keeping secrets from his team this time when Matty and later Mac asked what’s going on, he opened up and told them the truth. The last scene with the grieving family was also very emotional. 😭

Desi:

Now you know that i'm not a big fan of Desi. I've been waiting for some growth, asking the gods to save her from being a one dimensional character since season 4 episode 1. Last season didn't do good for Desi. Apart from a few good moments, she was mostly and badly used as a love interest. 

This season tho, i'm finally starting to relate to this character. In the first episode i didn't enjoy that she blamed Riley for her own wrongdoings but in the end she revealed that she was mostly angry at herself and regretted what she's done. This episode she was great from the start to the end. She tried her best without complaining, she risked her life, she bonded with Jess and it was beautiful to watch. We've seen her smile more! And she pulled a Mission Impossible level job like a professional thief.

MacRiley-MacDesi... What's happening with the triangle?

I didn't talk about MacRiley or MacDesi much in my first review bcoz i wanted to watch at least one more episode to see the situation more clearly. The first 2 episodes did not focus on romance and it's totally fine. I'm good with that. What i hate is when they "force" scenes into plots for no good reason. Romance needs to feel natural just like the action scenes or character moments.

While 501 and 502 didn’t have big “ship moments” they did hint on where all 3 characters are standing. It was done subtly and didn't feel forced at all.

In first 2 episodes the thing that caught my eye was the lack of "sexual tension" between MacDesi. The writers been forcing the sexual tension between them ever since Desi first showed up. They created so many out of the blue situations to catch the "hot couple" vibes, it was agonizing to watch at times.

The first 2 episodes announced the good news: No more forced tension between them.

But the important question is, what kept MD so far was mostly the physical attraction and now that it's gone, what's left? 

The training scene in the ring could have been one of those moments where the writers use to keep the tension going, but it didn't happen. Jess made a comment on how Mac might have lost his chance of dating Desi. But Mac seemed pretty cool about it. The look on his face didn’t say "Oh no i can't lose her"; it was more like "Lost my chance? Oh lady, i’m way passed that!"

But Desi's reaction told me a different story. She heard what Jess said and she looked at Mac with this “almost” sad expression? Like she wished he would still want to have another chance with her...

Btw- Mac coming up with a plan to electrify Desi and made it stronger than what he would do to a cow was the funniest sht ever! 🤣🤣🤣

Jumping to MacRiley…

I know we didn’t get any MacRiley solo scenes (yet) but have you all felt the "closeness" between them? The camera intentionally focuses on them a lot more.

501- Running towards each other in the corridor... Mac looking at her for ideas, her teasing him... Riley telling Mac to follow her to the medical room and Mac running after her without asking why... Them giving each other the signature MacRiley looks before they all get lifted up to the roof?

502- Mac's eyes always finding Riley's... Them sitting face to face in the plane (in both scenes).

& The cheers scene? It was reminiscent of the scene from 4x05. They’re celebrating a successful mission just like 4x05 but with one difference! In 4x05, the camera focused on the shared looks and cheers between MD, hinting what's about to come. But now the focus is on MacRiley. The way Mac stared at Riley and the smile she gave him... very telling!💯🔥❤

And i should also mention the first scene with them. MacRiley hunting down Jess in their own nerdy ways was great. Riley hacked every device possible, Mac improvised. Macsplaining was priceless as always. And Jess's "The Geek Squad" comment was SPOT ON. Yes Jess, Mac and Riley are professional geeks. That's how they roll and get the job done.🤣 Loved it so much!

5x03  

Next week we'll get the first new episode that's written and filmed with Monica Macer as the showrunner. So it's an important one. We'll be getting a confrontation between Mac and Desi. And the synopsis says they are "forced" to confront their relationship. 10 months passed and they NEVER discussed the broken trust between them? Wow... just wow.

I'm expecting a scene with less yelling this time. I'm expecting a resolution that ends with "we never worked as a couple but how about we try to be good friends?"

We need some peace between these two. Lets start over, this time with no forced romance please. (Don’t let me down writers!!!)

Of course the triangle will not be resolved that quickly. So here’s how i see it going: 

Desi slowly lets go of Mac, figures out what she really wants from a relationship (if there’ll be a season 6, she finds happiness with her true match).

Mac realizes his "hidden" feelings for Riley and finally dares to explore them.

Riley decides whether she should take the risk and act on her feelings for Mac or not.

I believe that the triangle’s fate was decided the moment Riley realized her feelings for Mac in 4x04. The writers didn’t let Riley (finally) fall for Mac for nothing. It’s for a reason. MacRiley is happening!

See you next week!

[bethanyeliseart]

Rise of Skywalker, a movie I genuinely loved!

Ok so I've had almost a full day to think about my thoughts on Rise of Skywalker. Right from leaving the cinema, I knew that I loved this movie! Sure it had it's flaws but every single Star Wars movie does and I like to think the positives outweigh them. It had amazing cinematography, the adventure was there, and all the emotions that come with Star Wars.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I think first I'll talk about the flaws because I love ending things on a cheery note. First, Rose Tico was pushed to the sidelines and I wish we got to see more of her character arc. I think after seeing the backlash some fans had for Rose, JJ was afraid to have her in the spotlight. She could've done more. I would've liked to see her interact more with Finn even platonically. And interact with Rey.

Second, I'm a huge Anakin Skywalker fan so part of me feels like they disrespected his arc in this movie with Palpatine being back. I kinda felt like it was all for nothing. But then I did see some other reviews that said he brought balance for a long time, but balance isn't permanent. So that post brought me some peace on that, thanks to who wrote it (I can't remember who, sorry!).

Third, Ben Solo's death. So I'm not sure if I just hate it because I loved his character or if it really wasn't a good decision. Star Wars stuck to their algorithm of redeeming the villain but to only kill him seconds later. We already saw this with Anakin. Did we have to see it again? Then again it was really meaningful that he sacrificed himself for Rey. Maybe he's still alive somewhere, idk I'm in denial still.

Ok so now onto things I liked/loved which is a lot, but I'm not good with reviews so I might not name all!

First I must say that I loved Rey and Ben's relationship and chemistry. There isn't too much dialogue, but you can see how much they care for one another through expressions. Props to Adam Driver for conveying so much in just looks and actions. The way he looked when he found Rey's dead body was so heartbreaking. He looked so vulnerable.

Also the way Rey was so relieved to see Ben after he brought her back. She smiled like he was this bright light. And oh my, my heart fluttered when they kissed. It's probably just me being the huge romantic that I am, but that was one of my favorite parts. From the beginning they had a strong emotional connection. In TLJ we can see how strongly they feel for one another. Ben wants her to be by his side constantly and really opens up to her. Rey does the same. She let's her self open up about her past and desire to belong somewhere/someone to Ben. In my mind, the buildup was there. It saddens me that it had to be a tragic romance, but Star Wars always has that tragedy. Ben also showed that hope leads somewhere. Rey held onto hope that he would return to the light and he did. He was at peace when he died.

Second thing I loved was the trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe in this movie! We have been waiting to see them all in action together since TFA. And JJ did not disappoint. The banter between the three flowed nicely and was comedic. It felt like a family. It was also so nice to see Rey interacting with Poe! You can tell they have spent a lot of time with each other. For those who think Rey is alone, she has these two guys for her family.💛

The scene where all the ships showed up last minute gave me Endgame vibes and I loved it. Especially when the main theme started.

The entire be with me scene in the throne room was chilling and awestrucking! (wow that first part of that sentence just threw back to GoT😨) When Rey looks up into the sky and the lightning fades to the calm and serene stars I too felt so relaxed. The soft music was so lovely, John Williams never fails. Hearing the jedi voices was what had me smiling like an idiot, especially hearing Anakin's voice saying "Bring balance as I once did". (I guess that's proving that his arc wasn't completely ruined). I would've loved to see Hayden Christensen, but I appreciate that we got to hear his voice.

Was anyone else so surprised to see Han even as a memory? It's not even that I was surprised because of how it goes into the plot, because it makes perfect sense for Ben to look back and remember his last interaction with his father. His father would be the key in him returning to the light. It just surprised me because I did not expect Harrison Ford to show up on set of Star Wars ever again😂. It was a very nice and welcome surprise though. From the moment he killed Han, you could tell Ben felt regret and remorse. I also loved that Leia reached out to her son one last time, showing Ben that his family has not given up on him.

LEIA! It was so awesome to see her training as a jedi with a lightsaber! That flashback gave me so many chills. I loved how Leia continued to train Rey even though she knew she was related to Palpatine. It shows that Leia doesn't judge someone based off blood. Leia loved Rey and had faith in her. People can't help where they came from.

It was so sad to see Leia die but we all know it was going to happen. Chewie's reaction was so emotional and made me shed a tear. The galaxy will remember Princess Leia and Carrie Fisher forever.❤

The Ending

Overall, I loved the ending. Sure I'm still devastated that Ben is dead, but looking at the big picture it was good/satisfying.

People are saying that Rey didn't grieve Ben and she moved on too quick. I think she knows that he will always be with her because no one's ever really gone. He is one with the force. (Ngl, part of me likes to believe he is alive out there somewhere or waiting to come back).

Also as I said before Rey still has people she loves! Finn and Poe are still alive and there for her.

This is just the way I saw it, but I don't think Rey plans to stay on Tatooine very long/permanently. Rey didn't start and end the same way. She has a family now (Poe and Finn) and knows who she is. I think she went there to pay respect to the Skywalker family, it is where it all started with Shmi and her son, Anakin. She buried the lightsabers because they are no longer needed (her new lightsaber is beautiful btw) And don't hate me, but I don't mind her calling herself Rey Skywalker. She felt a deep connection to the family and both Luke and Leia took her under their wing. She doesn't care for/need the name Palpatine. It's not who she is. Which brings me to people being mad that Rey wasn't a nobody. I respect their reasons and everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I don't think it hurt her character arc. Rey being related to the worst Star Wars villain and still not falling to his dark ways shows how strong she is! She defeated him and brought balance once again to the galaxy despite being his blood.

The ending shot was beautiful and was a perfect way to end the Skywalker saga. The binary sunset and theme was ethereal. It's how the movies started and it's how it ended.

Star Wars is tragic, romantic, and hopeful. This movie showed all of those things. We lost Ben but he felt love again with Rey. Hope was restored with him turning back to the light and Rey defying expectations of a Palpatine. Personally, I loved this movie so much and it did not let me down.

Feel free to add anything you liked about the movie!