#but i think gen likes their name too because it reminds him of anime

[stinkrascal]

playing the sims is just like so fun sometimes. ive been playing in sulani for my personal save and its such a fun world to live in so ive decided gen 2 of straud needs to live in sulani

[xokohaneazusawa]

hello i have a bllk request!

can i request isagi, bachira, chigiri, nagi, reo, kuni, the itoshi brothers and barou with a socially awkward gf/crush who (kinda) hates kids?

like reader doesn’t HATE hate kids, but is like scared of them. kids are actually scary especially gen alpha 💀. how tf are these little gremlins watching skibidi toilet with a straight face just a short clip of it literally made me and my friends so uncomfortable we couldn’t continue 💀.

so more like she can watch kids from afar, and if she saw one in public, she wouldn’t throw a rock at it or call animal control. but talking to them? interacting with them?? HELL NO SHE CANT DO THAT.

it’s kinda like how we see zoo animals. best admired from afar, and if she ever gets stuck in an empty room with them, she’s screwed. as if talking to adults and teenagers wasn’t scary enough, their school just had to pick an orphanage/children’s hospital to volunteer at. she’s hiding in the corner watching her bf/crush deal with the like 7-year olds (maybe younger, who btw, were most likely bullying her just now.) wondering why and how people could stand those little gremlins.

(better still, if they go back to his place after the school volunteering activity and his parent(s)/sister jokingly mention grandkids/nieces/nephews and she’s like “ew i hate kids” or smth like that, but maybe more discreet idk how to tell even my own parents i hate children, let alone my (nonexistent) bf’s parents 💀)

once again it’s not that she actually hates kids, but sees them as a different species and can’t deal with them because they scare her, and sometimes bully her. 💀

ik you probably have a lot of requests but i kinda need SOME way to overcome my crippling fear of children.

i hope you like this idea tho and i really love your writing 🫶🫶🫶

Ngl this is actually so me, I love this idea so much- But the best part is the fact that I actually worked with kids for almost 2 years, and my friends club has us interacting with kids too... (I tried to do most of the characters but I had no ideas for some of them, but you can always re-request with the ones that I missed and the second I think of some ideas I'll def write it!!)

Isagi Yoichi -> Do we not remember when that one kid stopped him after the u-20 match.. Bro is good with kids, so luckily he can save you

-> He will slightly chuckle at you when you show up to this place where the children (gremlins) are at you slightly freak out, and he will laugh at you even more when your awkwardly standing in the corner because your way to freaked out to actually go talk to any of these kids

-> Has to keep reminding the kids not to laugh at you, and that your just not the best socially

-> Eventually tries to find you one of those kids who are also standing away from everybody else for you to interact with, both of y’all have something in common, you hate the other kids!

-> He will very much get confused on this skibidi toilet bullshit (who isn’t, tbh-) but he’ll sit through it so they can be entertained while he tries to make sure that your still alive in the corner

-> If you actually started talking to the kid that he sent your way he’ll be kinda proud, I mean obviously it’s not the other 10 kids he has with him, but it’s a step in the right direction!

-> If not he gets it, I mean what he’s watching with them right now is downright terrifying, so why wouldn’t the minds who consume it also be terrifying

-> Later on when you two finally end up heading back to his house he tells his parents about how you two were volunteering with children and when they offhandedly mention that it would be nice to have grandchildren in the future he can only laugh.

“Yeah.. Unless I can get (Name) to stop hiding in a corner when they see a child then maybe..”

Reo Mikage

-> He grew up as an only child and I’m assuming he didn’t have a bunch of friends when he was growing up so I don’t think he would be the absolute best with kids, but still better than others

-> The kids will be a little confused when he starts trying to teach them about business and economics saying that this was the age he started learning about running a business

-> They might end up gravitating towards you since you’re just kinda confused along with them, trying to explain to him not every kid grew up with their future of running a family company.

-> Will totally laugh when he sees how freaked out you are with these little (gremlins) kids trying to get your attention and asking if your any more fun than Mr.Business (Which they had nicknamed Reo) -> Will eventually learn and get them to leave you alone, after almost 10 minutes of you trying to hide behind him or anywhere else in this room so they can’t talk to you

-> Ends up helping them instead with other things like reading and math stuff, not the brain rot of skibidi toilet (thank god)

-> That night you two had ended up going out to dinner with his parents as they wanted to have a nice sit down meal while they talked about what was possibly coming up in the future, including your future with Reo, and kids. He smiled and took your hand in his.

“After today, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about an heir to the Mikage Corp for quite a while of time”

Kunigami Rensuke

-> BRO HAS TWO SISTERS, One older and one younger, Man knows his way around kids, for sure. I take no criticism on this.

-> Is actually so good with kids, you now are speculating that he’s actually a single teen dad with like 2 kids or something that he just hasn’t told you about. He’s that good (it’s actually scary)

-> He will not let them watch skibidi toilet, another man who is respectable and makes sure they are doing educational stuff

-> Also makes sure they stay away from you for the most part, just because he knows that you don’t like having all those kids near you, but he may or may not send one over your way that he thinks that you’ll actually get along with

-> He wants to see what you would be like if you actually interacted with a kid, it’s his future brain thinking

-> That also brings up to the day that his parents (and his sisters) have asked you both about having children in the future, he would just chuckle and ruffle your hair a little

“Unless I would be the only one communicating with the little one then I don’t see us having kids for quite a bit of time.”

Sae Itoshi

-> Worst person to have around kids. I mean did you see how he treated his own little brother, smh. (DROP WHAT HAPPENED IN SPAIN, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS)

-> Does not know how to act around kids, just basically lets them do whatever as long as they aren’t bothering the two of you

-> To bad kids don’t listen all that well and he basically has to keep glaring at them from where he is sat at the only bigger table in the room with you, because these kids keep trying to get your attention since they know Sae isn’t gonna give them anything, which sucks for you

-> Attempts to try something once he realizes that you're actually pretty horrible with kids, let's just say the soccer he tried to play with them didn’t go all that well.. And you may or may not have had to get over your fear a little since a bunch of crying kids kept coming over to you

-> To which he figured that this wasn’t the way to go about it so he just put on some random movie he remembers from when he was a kid, too bad it was one of the ones from his flight to Spain when he was younger and it was all in Spanish. (It’s okay, they had fun trying to figure out what the hell it said, and it kept them entertained for quite a bit of time.)

-> Once the whole future and children conversation came up with his parents, he could only roll his eyes.

“Yeah, no thanks. (Name) and I couldn’t handle one of those gremlins, even if it looked or acted like us.”

[rowiewritesstuff]

Ahem, yes it is I! So an idea literally bashed me in the face and I couldn't help but think 'Oh this is an interesting idea!' What if different versions Transformers have this crossover (Bayverse, T.F.P., T.F.A., GEN 1, Knightverse which is one of my favourites because of Charlie and Bumblebee or any other universes you're familiar with it) where T.F.P.'s groundbridge malfunctioned (probably Wheeljack and Bulkhead) The reader works in the T.F.P. universe Ratchet's assistant and they're his guardian on top of that. Of course, instead of sending them to a desired location the groundbridge ended up locating them in a different dimension... it was Bayverse's while the other dimensions were already there and T.F.P. just lands there last. Just complete and utter silence until Miko says something. You can tell how shit went downhill from there, but let's pretend no one dies for the sake of it all. My dearest reader and T.F.P. O.P. are dating but also not dating; they're just orbiting one another while being friends and T.F.P.'s O.P. is just content and not necessarily talkative but just sweet with the reader. Always carrying them around and so on. Of course, the other universes notice that. Jazz from Gen 1 is just smirking in that damn corner and all versions of Prowl wondering why is their lives are like this. It doesn't help that T.F.P.'s Ratchet has been tired of seeing these two idiots being in love and not doing shit about it. Obviously, the other O.P. versions caught on and the reactions... varied. Surprise, to utter.. confusion and curiosity to completely just wondering if there is a reader on their Earth. You can always add in anything you wish; I really love bantering amongst the others too! AND IRONHIDE'S REACTIONS TOO-

Multiverse to Bayverse  (Transformers Multiverse/ TMV)

Will probably edit it later for typos lol

(Bayverse, Animated, Prime, Earthspark, Gen 1)

Various! Optimus Primes X Reader

Ratchet noticed something was wrong with the groundbridge when it started growing a weird yellowish color. Before anyone could say anything, a wave covered all of them in golden light.

June, who walked in with popcorn, looked around the room in question. “Uh, guys?”

You all landed on the harsh ground, and heard a voice. Before you could hit the ground, Optimus caught you in his servos. 

We all looked up to see a large group of around twenty Cybertronians. There was complete silence in the room as everyone looked at eachother, when Miko chimes in. “Uh, why are there like five Optimus Primes? Raise of hands if you’re secretly another Optimus.”

Everyone gave her a deadpan look when you realized quickly that you were not in your Optimus’ servos. You looked up to see an almost cartoonish looking bot, smiling sheepishly down at you. 

“Uh, hi. I’m Optimus Prime, nice to meet you.” 

You squinted at him, and looked around the room. “Okay so I assume that this has to do with the groundbridge explosion- or I’m in a weird dream.”

The four Optimus Primes that were new to you looked at you in confusion. “Groundbridge?” Two chime in.

“Uh… yeah. A scaled down version of the space bridge. Ratchet engineered it to transport everyone anywhere on Earth- we couldn’t have anything as high-scale as a space bridge because we lack the energon for it.”

“Well why don’t you just use oil?” A voice sounds. 

You all look over to a green bot. “Bulkhead?” Arcee asked.

“Uh, yeah- how do you know my name?” 

Your Bulkhead made his way forward to inspect the other one. At the same time both Bulkheads showed their wrecking ball hand. “Woah! Twins!” Both of them said at the same time.

“Bulk, please never do that again,” Miko looked at them in joking fear. “You remind me of the twins from that one horror movie.”

“Aww come on Miko! It’s not everyday you meet, well, yourself!” Bulkhead grumbled. 

“Can we focus on the situation, please?” A gray mech asked. They looked strikingly like Megatron. The next second, almost everyone in the room had their guns trained on him.

He quickly backed up with his hands above his heads. One Optimus stood in front of him, hands up. “Woah, this Megatron is an autobot now! He’s alright.”

Everyone squinted or glared at him. Generation One’s Optimus didn’t back down. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I know for certain that I’m not cool with Megatron being here.”

You turned to him, gaping. “Did you just say ‘cool’? What?” 

Jazz laughed aloud. “Yeah, that’s Op for ya! He just started learning Earth slang from Spike!”

“Alright, enough!” All of the Ratchets shouted at once. Everyone looked at them. A good eighty percent of the room burst into giggles or tried their best to stop that urge.

“Looks like no matter what dimension you go to, Ratchet’s always the same.” Wheeljack said. A chorus of varied agreements sounded through the room, making the renowned grouches grumble.

Soon enough, you all began figuring out how you were all there. It was pretty much the same for everyone- one way or another, a yellow light ran over them.

You all started constructing various groundbridges in hopes that it could somehow send you home. 

You often hung out with your Prime, making everyone else curious about your relationship. You could almost always be seen on his shoulder or in his servo. You almost never walked anywhere.

It was pretty obvious to everyone- except a few of the younger bots like animated Bumblebee and Knightverse Bumblebee.

Bayverse Prime (with his never ending confidence) was the first to approach you. “Hello, (Y/N). Would you like to go on a walk with me?” He held his hand out. You stepped onto his hand and sat down. 

As he made his way out of base, everyone watched you two. Primeverse Optimus couldn’t help but feel a pang in his chest as you both walked out. He knew that he didn’t have a right to feel that way- you two weren’t even together. Not yet, at least. 

Everyone noticed the look on his face even though he himself didn’t.

All of the Ratchets had the same thought: ‘Primes (Derogatory)’. 

Optimus from the Animated universe was confused. He was normally pretty in tune with his emotions, and he doesn’t see why Prime Optimus doesn’t just ask you out. He’d been trying to subtly hint at that, but Prime Optimus was somehow oblivious. Animated Optimus also wondered if you existed in his universe- you were very charming and, he’s embarrassed to say, cute.

G1 Optimus teased your Optimus on the subject. He always mentioned how back in his day he was a spark breaker. Earthspark Optimus always tried to scold G1 Optimus for his behaviors, but then G1 Jazz would join in on the teasing so he’d have to chase both of them around.

Earthspark Optimus would comfort him, trying to encourage him gently to follow his spark. While he’ll never understand the attraction to a human, he believes that it’s not really his business. Even Earthspark Megatron gave fairly good advice to the other bot. 

Bayverse Ironhide sort of agreed with their advice- but also warned the Prime. “If you wait too long, they’ll find another. Make something of yourself, Prime!”

You both stopped at a pond and he sat down on the ground. He placed you gently next to him as he threw seeds into the water. You both watched as fish swam to the surface and bobbed up and down to try and snag a treat.

“Are you and my counterpart… together?” 

A flushed look covered your face as you snapped your head towards him. “Wh-n- I-” You covered your face with your hands. “No, we aren’t together.”

“Ah. I see.” Bayverse Optimus had a lot more experience with this sort of thing. “So you have feelings for him, then?”

Your face got impossibly warmer and simply nodded. “We haven’t been dating so to say… but we’re really close. I would just never have the guts to… you know.” 

Bayverse Optimus merely nodded at you and left you at the pond by yourself. When he got back into the base he and Ironhide grabbed the Prime by his arms and began dragging him off. The other Primes and Ratchets knew exactly what was going on and followed.

When they got into a more secluded room of the base, they set him down and pushed him into a chair. Primeverse Optimus was confused and a little anxious as the many bots surrounded him.

“When are you going to ask them out?” G1 Optimus teased. 

Primverse merely shook his head. “I don’t think that is a good idea at the moment. There’s a war go-”

“Oh stop being a fragging boltbrain!” Bayverse Ratchet yelled. 

“They have been waiting for you to ask them out for months now!” Primeverse Ratchet yelled. 

His eyes widened at that knowledge. “I don’t know.”

“Fine, I guess I’ll go ask the lil’ lady on a date then.” Jazz began to strut out of the room when Optimus shouted for him to stop.

“What should I say?” Primeverse Optimus questioned. 

“Alright, so here’s what you say.”

While you were at the pond,  a gathering of girls and femme bots surrounded you.

“So he still hasn’t asked you out yet?!” The Arcees were shocked.

“Yeah, you’d think he would have by now, right?” Their counterpart from Primeverse shook her head. “I think he’s just worried about the war.”

Miko threw her hands over her head. “So?! He needs to get the girl!” 

Your hands were holding your face yet again. Prowl gently laid a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t worry, (Y/N). Good things come in time- and some bots,” he glared at everyone else, “Shouldn’t rush it.”

You smiled up at the ninjabot. “Thanks, Prowl.” 

He smiled back, though irritated at the situation. Some bots were so nosy and loud. They always had to get into everything and couldn’t leave well enough alone. 

Suddenly you were swept up by Jazz, who yelled out “Sorry, I’m borrowing the lil’ lady!” Prowl facepalmed as the girls cheered.

You and Optimus were shoved into a room together. The large bot offered a hand to you which you stepped onto. He raised you up to eye level.

“I” He paused to get his words together. “I have had feelings for you for a while. I know that we’ve been friends for a while, and just friends. I have no clue if you share the sa-”

“If you’re asking me out, the answer is yes.” You planted a shy kiss on his faceplate. The Prime’s cheeks grew a flushed blue. Suddenly confetti streamers fell on the two of you. You both looked up to see Miko, Animated Bee, and Sari in the rafters. A bucket fell on Optimus’ head which made the rafter bound group wince.

“Uh.. congrats?” Bumblebee quickly grabbed the other two kids and bolted. 

You and Optimus chuckled as he brought you up to his faceplate for another kiss.

ALTERNATIVE ENDING:

You and Optimus were shoved into a room together. The large bot offered a hand to you which you stepped onto. He raised you up to eye level. “I-” he paused to get his words together. “Well, my name is Optimus Prime, yo! The other primes are my friends, yo! Uh-huh, they told me everything.”

You looked up at Optimus in confusion, about to say something when he continued. 

“And I like you a lot, yo!” 

Outside the door, everyone looked at Jazz with glares. He just shrugged as a grin pulled at his face. "What? I’m sure it will work.”

[base0h]

hello! i got to say, i really love your works for swapped au like 😩😩😩😩

and i was wondering how the worst gen trio and the monster trio react to reader-san apparently having a first mate or ally who basically is them? and by that, i mean like... has the same personality as them.

meanwhile, reader-san is just easily tolerating and going with them easily.

example is law-like character making plans and they either help them/him with their/his plans and even follows them (unlike a certain someone), zoro-like character who often naps and both of them just have nap sessions anddd lastly, (your favourite victim) kid-like character who is usually cocky and easily angered and reader-san's there easily calming them/him down.

ps. another thing for kid-like character is that they often cheer for him in the background when he starts unnecessary fights before pulling him away when it gets too far or when they think it's enough.

pss. god, imma say it again, i love your works. keep up the good work, sweetie *another spiderman with a camera meme*

a/n - ah yes. My favorite victim 💀 pls I cackled at this anon- tysm I’m so glad you like the au as much as I do- 💜 Aw- I appreciate the Spider-Man meme 🥺 I’ll smile for the camera just for you ✨ I love this idea so much you have no idea😭😭 sorry this took so long- this is wayyyyyyy overdue

Warnings ⚠️ - g/n reader, another daily reminder that I bully kid to no end 💀, swapped au

That’s me?

Zoro

- Zoro has never had an imagination until just now

- Everytime he naps, he imagines you resting your head on his shoulder like you do in the anime with your first mate

- He actually ends up disliking them because it’s not actually him in the anime 💀

- Bitch better move it’s Zoro’s turn 🙄

- but now? He has situations to imagine in his head before he goes to sleep

- He tries to think that it’s him in the anime and not your first mate who’s literally an exact copy of him

- But guess what? The character has the exact same hair and eyes as Sanji 💀

- He hates Sanji with a passion now

- How dare he steal his soulmate???

- Man will never forgive Sanji for what he’s done 😭

- also he never tells Sanji the details

- So Sanji is always so confused why Zoro gives him the nastiest look when that character comes on screen

- Sanji loves this character, he thinks they’re very cool :)

- This makes Zoro hate them even more 💀

Law

- Law is so creeped out

- gives him that really weird, gross feeling when someone’s exactly like him, especially if they’re close to YOU

- god he’s so jealous 😭

- He pouts when he watches a scene with you two now

- *that should be me..* sassy crossing leg thingy he did in the new episode

Law wears heels. this means something- 👀 the furry thingy on his coat reminds me of corazon’s 🥺

- no law is not happy. Not happy at all.

- man hopes that the character will die at some point 💀

- He’s so rude

- “See? He can’t win this fight, he’s gonna lose.”

- Character wins*

- “Fuck you Oda.” -Law 2022 (oda is amazing ✨)

Luffy

- he is so amused- 😭

- he loves this character so much

- “See?! He’s so cool and smart! Just like me hehe- >:3”

- “since when were you either of those things..?” -law + kid

- “HMPH- >:(“ -Luffy

- kid and law better be quiet, Luffy is awesome :)

- this boy really loves how close this character is to you because he can feel like it’s him-

- He sometimes pauses where he is to talk back to you, and then the character says the exact same thing 💀

- He gets so freaked out when that happens

- His jaw will drop to the floor

- … I’m gonna name this character.

- I’m so sorry for my shit sense of humor- but- I’m gonna call him Lucy-

- (you don’t even understand I can’t breathe rn I’m laughing so fucking hard 💀)

- So Lucy just said the same thing right after Luffy, and oml-

- “LUCY- WE-“ man’s mind just exploded 😭

- in conclusion, yes, he loves this character oh so much 🥺

Bonus - if they met irl Lucy would have a white beard and- that one vacation looking shirt he wore-

Luffy thinks his outfit is so cool and would like to dress up as him for Halloween 😭

Kid

- hell no.

- Kid is freaked out

- “Who the fuck is that?”

- He has (the same DF as Kid-) and the same kinda scar EXCEPT- it’s on the other side >:3

- and his hair is down

- Kid will criticize every single aspect of this character

- It could be something relating to their abilities, or the dumbest shit

- “his nail polish is a fucking disgusting shade of red.”

- “It looks red.” -law

- “Are you fucking blind?”

- Law: … 💀

- kid also doesn’t like this guy’s hair, same color as Kid’s except it’s combed down like all that fanart with kid’s hair down-

- He says it’s “not his style”

- what it boils down to is that he wants it to be him, not this imposter

Bonus: Luffy made him dress up, and he didn’t know what the fuck to do so Luffy decided to get him a costume himself and not tell him about it until he put it on and went to school or work. it was a costume of that character and Luffy got his ass beat while Law was dying in the background from laughter. 💀 no Zoro didn’t protect him at all-

Sanji

- this man. Out of all these guys, hates this character with a BURNING passion

- how dare he steal the y/n of his dreams???

- how dare he be so close to the love of his fictional crush dream life?

- no no no Sanji will literally have this characters photo, stuck onto a dart board, and he will literally throw old and dull knives at it every morning to wake himself up

- He uses old and dull knives because he doesn’t think that this guy deserves his nicer and sharp ones 💀

- Everytime this character has gotten close to death, he’s been so happy

- Then he breaks the tv with his foot when the character doesn’t die

- He cries himself to sleep sometimes after he sees the character giving you a hug

- This guy has moss green hair, and a scar on his RIGHT eye.

- Sanji is immediately reminded of his nemesis, Zoro

- the fact that the character that looks like Zoro, is close to you?

- Holy shit his eyes are on fire, this man can’t even take it anymore

- usually he’s so calm, but when it’s something to do with the god(ess) y/n?

- he’s gonna do anything for you even if it’s from an anime

Bonus: Sanji has beat up Zoro numerous times for absolutely no reason to Zoro’s understanding.

a/n - I wish I was more active- this was so fun to write. Pls the Lucy- 💀 why do I laugh so hard at the dumbest shit- 😭

<3

[earthstellar]

Watching Earthspark Eps 11 - 18!

So today was miserable on the Saturday shift so I’m going to be getting gradually absolutely shithouse drunk and watching Earthspark. All of the new episodes!!!  

This is my first look at all of the episodes, so these are my initial takes! 

I have not eaten today as I have been on shift, so I am likely to be genuinely drunk by the end of this, but I am taking actual notes here. 

Commentary as I go below, tagging for spoilers with every tag I know of just in case! 

Episode: 11 // Beers: 2 

Is the white woman evil? I’m going to say yes, because it sure seems like it. 

I love the idea that everyone has the capacity to experience an alt-mode slightly differently; It is dependent on the individual’s perspective, what their experience is in a changed form. 

Absolutely love that. 

Also, is this the first time we’ve seen what a bot’s experience can be, while in non-root mode? I think so! Although this seems to be specific to her? but we’ll see

The implication that alt-modes can be controlled by external forces is extremely upsetting. 

Give me a moment to be extremely old, but I remember when the hottest animation around was fucking Reboot, lmao. This show looks great!! 

Oh shit, it was the internet!!! Gen Z all star!!! This show makes me feel so old but also I like that there’s more of a Gen Z feel to the youngin’s here, that’s 100% appropriate and I like it. It seems like the writing is tonally on point for the target demographic and below, which makes sense. 

In a way it reminds me a bit of Ghost in the Shell, the way there’s this 3D space to navigate The Net. 

Uh oh, an internet meme reference which is 15 years out of date. Maybe I spoke too soon? 

An alligator alt-mode! I’m from Florida so this isn’t scary to me lmao, but hell yeah Beastformers!!! Fuck yes!!! 

That flat ass landing for Soundwave. lmao just flat on the back! Fuck. 

Evil white woman!!! uh oh

Yay, the family! I still really struggle with the family-intensive emphasis of this whole show so far, but I acknowledge that it’s because my own family is completely fucked up so all of these morals fall very short for me, personally. I do like that there’s a lot of focus on being together and achieving things as a collective unit of people, though. :) 

I love Nightshade. Not just saying this because I also don’t believe in gender, but just in general, I love Nightshade. 

This bitch is a living router!!! Yes!!! God, yes!!! 

Episode: 12 // Beers: 3 

How do they clean under the glove? Is the glove just a part of their hand? How integrated is it? 

Home movies, fuck yes. 

Anxiety son trying to choose his alt-mode reminds me a lot of 12 year old me trying to choose my gender. Relatable. 10/10 

What a cute opening!!!! I don’t have siblings but is this what it’s like sometimes? Holy shit I was a lonely kid LMAO 

I love Jawbreaker a lot. 

Dot’s hairtie looks a lot like a FedEx parcel rubberband. Not hating on it, I’m just saying. 

Oh shit this is going to be a home movie episode! YES YES YES 

This reminds me of Rewind doing interviews of the Lost Light crew, I’m gonna fucking cry over the most basic shit lmaoooo

WiFi Queen watching her stories. PLAY TELEMUNDO 

Jawbreaker is my son nobody fuck with him ever

oh no creative differences 

WiFi Queen leave my son alone, no no no no 

This reminds me way too much of all the videos teenagers made back in the day of Kingdom Hearts keyblade fights in Target parking lots and it’s truly, truly embarrassing but also very much a vibe 

 ARACHNAMECHS YOU HAVE MY ATTENTION 

calm down Elita-One

Megatron like “when’s your fucking boyfriend gonna get here” lmao 

MEGATRON INTERVIEW LET’S FUCKING GO 

OH SHIT HISTORY LESSON

NO NO NO WIFI QUEEN STOP STOP STOP YOU ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO SET OFF PTSD STOP 

hashtag her name is hashtag

oh god he’s explaining his fucking tilt-rotor alt mode, I already made a post about why the alt mode is inherently funny but tl;dr these things suck IRL :( 

oh shit are we getting an Elita-1 workout tape 

this is kinda shitty of Elita actually, maybe slow down for the kid??? IDK

ok it’s nice now <3 

oh shit!!! self-discovery!!! 

uh oh foreshadowing that this video definitely won’t be just for him :(  

the handling on that big ass van is not good, which makes sense 

sibling themed lesson, not surprising-- seems like almost every episode so far in some way or another. not complaining, it’s just something I really can’t relate to personally at all so I’m naturally a bit disconnected 

cute, edit with the scissors :’) 

is this what it’s like to have a family that loves you? like they’re supportive and shit? that’s real????? that can happen? lol my family is so fucked up idk this is actually depressing me but it’s fine I like the show 

Episode: 13 // Beers: 3 

god I love Jawbreaker 

Nightshade!! oh shit. I love them too

I LOVE Nightshade. lmao 

Nightshade is me. I also do not want to go Do The Thing. I want to Do Some Bullshit. 

Loner child!! Yes!!! They made a character for those of us that are only children lmao

CEMETERY YES YES YES 

oh fuck are they about to learn about death 

YES YES YES YES SPIDERS YES 

YES HOLY SHIT YES TARANTULAS YES YES YES YES YES 

PROTOFORM

UNAFFILIATED 

SUFFICIENTLY NON-THREATENING 

MOTHERFUCKER YES

PRONOUN INTRODUCTION YES

YES!!!! FUCK YES

HOLY SHIT 

I’M SO QUEER THIS IS THE BEST EPISODE OF ANYTHING EVER 

“YOU HAVE A MISSED CONNECTION” DON’T TELL HIM PROWL CALLED, STOP WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD 

did this goggle wearing asshole just call them an “it”? did they ever say they used it pronouns? I might just be drunk I’ll have to rewatch later but uhhh

Nightshade is my favourite, but so is Tarantulas 

IS HIS HOLOFORM DALE GRIBBLE FROM KING OF THE HILL WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON

HOLOFORMS!!!! 

FUCK ME THIS IS GREAT

I LOVE TARANTULAS I LOVE HIM

IT’S SORT OF UPSETTING HOW MUCH I FEEL HIM RN BUT YOU KNOW WHAT FUCK IT THIS WHOLE EPISODE IS SO REAL FOR EXISTING 

80S MUSIC SCIENCE MONTAGE YES YES YES 

THEY’RE GIVING ME EVERYTHING!!! 

oh no is it gonna take a turn now 

“I chose to survive” FUCKING MOOD

no motherfucker he will NOT lose another child!!!! 

YES DOT WITH THE REAL TALK <3 LOVE HER 

god dammit! this is my favourite episode of this whole show so far 

ha ha oh shit spider time!! 

PARENT THEFT 

OH MY GOD WE’RE DOING IT 

I’VE ENTERED SICKO MODE

unsupervised only child behaviour, I can finally relate to something in this show!!! god bless!!! 

PARTNER!! YES!! 

honestly I get that it’s the Maltos so he’s wrong on this occasion but in general I am fully on board with Tarantulas at the moment, GHOST is some bullshit 

BEASTMODE 

BEASTMODE!!! FUCK YEAH FUCK YES HOLY SHIT 

Tarantulas has a desire to adopt so strong that he’s wrongly evaluating the current situation, this was entirely predictable, if you know then you know lmao

OH FUCK I LOVE NIGHTSHADE’S NEW LOOK

HELL YEAH 

fuck off Bumblebee 

yeah I fucking love Nightshade’s new look, this RULES

YEAH TARANTULAS REDEMPTION ARC YES YES YES YES YES YES YES 

FUCK GHOST I HATE GHOST 

they’re just OK with this shit? what the fuck? I mean ok but also no it isn’t, what the fuck? 

CREDITS, FUCK 

THIS WAS THE BEST EPISODE. THIS WAS THE BEST ONE. 

Episode: 14 // Beers: 3 

oh fuck GHOST

had to pause to make some bagels at this point, lox and a schmear, hell yeah

god I love Nightshade’s new look so much

hate that WiFi Queen got stuck with a GHOST alt-mode, GHOST sucks so bad I hate them so much holy shit :( she deserves better but also I understand the Call of the WiFi 

Schloder you asshole 

lmao The Most Dad 

the tea kettle is shaped like Bumblebee lmao, wait why is Schloder fondling it like his dick, I don’t like this 

that’s not how lenses work 

it’s OK Nightshade, I can’t do math either 

oh shit is it gonna be Blurr, oh shit oh fuck 

god the texture on Dot’s hair is so good

BREAKDOWN OHHH SHITTTT

STUNTICONS!!! 

stupid deal, of course. there’s no plot without it 

is this the Big Sister Syndrome I have heard so much about 

oh shit evil white woman is back!!! Croft? 

the three dipshit hipster GHOST members, lol 

YEAHHHHH DOT 

fuck, the white woman strikes again 

YEAH FUCK UP GHOST 

oh shit 

BREAKDOWN FUCK YEAH

LMAO the license plate in Human Language too, fuck yeah, GHOST sucks 

evil white woman!!! 

holy shit that ruled also FEELINGS

FUCK GHOST 

WHY IS EVERYONE OK WITH GHOST???? FUCK GHOST 

this whole thing took 10 hours? damn 

Episode: 15 /// Beers: 3 

LOVE the discussion about which prosthetic to use <3 

oh shit it’s a Mother’s Day episode

this is gonna be hard, I might have to punk out on this one for Fucked Up Family Reasons 

love Nightshade <3 also hell yeah owl claws!! 

ha ha oh shit a bear! FUCK

what the fuck happened with her prosthetic what bullshit is this 

my mom used to be a ranger this sucks so bad like my relationship with my mom is NOT GOOD so this show is already hard to watch lmao but holy shit 

super worms? fucking GHOST doing bullshit in the woods

the dial up sound L M A O 

the way WiFi Queen says “picnic basket” is the same cadence famously used by Yogi Bear, for those who aren’t old as fuck and/or have never seen that show before 

THE BEAR IS SATAN

I love Large Son 

FUNGUS BEAR FUNGUS BEAR TOXIC WORM BEAR

oh shit Nightshade cruise mode!! 

what the fuck the fungus bear became a new bear

DISPERSE THE GOO

I will talk a lot about the prosthesis lesson at a later date, 10/10 I like seeing this discussed on a show for kids 

evil white woman is shaping up to be the Main Villain here 

Episode: 16 // Beers: 4 

oh fuck a flashback

oh fuck!!! 

man it sucks to watch kids act out war. like yeah I know this is fiction but it’s also real and it sucks

looks like they finally set off PTSD in Megatron, way to go kiddos :( if I triggered my dad’s PTSD by playing with a ball or something I had the shit whipped out of me, so I hope the kids can fucking run because it’s not their fault anymore than it was mine IRL but I can feel the sting, oh nooo

Scottish Megatron was a great choice 

HISTORY LESSON LET’S FUCKIN GO

HISTORY LESSON FROM MEGATRON LET’S GO FUCK YEAH

man this episode is actually already setting off my own PTSD!! nothing like family themed shows to really point out how fucked my own family is. gonna need more beers!!! 

THE BLUE FLOWERS alright yeah this is gonna fuck me up real bad

hold on I’m getting another beer 

shut the fuck up, kids-- IDK I know this is my own family trauma from war speaking here, but I would have absolutely had the fucking shit slapped out of me if I said or did anything during War Story Time. I’m like terrified they’re going to start getting beat for real in a minute here if they keep saying dumb shit :( 

megatron has been patient so far but holy shit kids shut the fuck up 

that having been said I am glad Megatron is better with kids than any of my family members lmao it’s not like I want them to get hit or anything, I’m just seriously on edge because I absolutely got traumatised when I like, breathed when my mom or dad was doing PTSD time and this feels like where that is going 

“what do you know of the all spark” GET ‘EM MEGS, GET ‘EM WITH KNOWLEDGE 

IDK how I feel about Dot alone being Meg’s turning point but we’ll see where this goes

very TFP-like, with restoration of Cybertron being the ultimate goal

Scots Meg, love it when the Scots comes through. shoulda just let the VA go full Scottish, that would rule

that having been said, oh fuck Shockwave! 

I like his design, 50% Cyberverse, 50% G1.

OLD FRIEND LINE I’M LOSING MY MIND

really uncomfortable how much this reminds me of a couple war memorials I’ve been to IRL, Do Not Like but I understand they were going for this exact association it just sucks for what are probably obvious reasons 

nobody bothered to secure Shockwave’s tube? ever? 

“lower class cy-brids” oh FUCK 

IT WAS A CLASS WAR, IDW/TFP influenced origin semi-confirmed for this continuity as well??? 

“we have just enough energon in us for those things to hurt” -- interesting 

I love that the park insignia is a human fist grabbing a Cybertronian finger in a “handshake” 

don’t spew centrist bullshit Megatron but war fucks with everyone’s heads so I don’t blame you. 

although yes “don’t do leftist infighting” is very good advice, he’s not wrong about that. 

Episode: 17 // Beers: 5 

what the fuck is this underground dog fighting pit Cybertronian battle arena gladiatorial contest bullshit right the fuck here 

ARE THEY IN FUCKING PHILLY 

THEY ARE!!! THEY’RE IN FUCKING PHILLY 

SHOUT OUT TO ALLEGHENY COUNTY!!!! 

what weakass drumline is this, come on there are buskers better than this 

WHERE’S GRITTY

PLEASE GRITTY

everyone is rude in Philly, these kids don’t know shit 

also “city mileage” is literally going nowhere because traffic isn’t moving LMAO

oh shit a hipster is about to get Bad Timed

OH FUCK YEAH RED EYE OWL SUPERHERO TIME

YESSSSS OUR THEY/THEM HERO YES YES YES YES YES

no honey don’t breathe in the train vent air, you’re breathing in so much pollution, noooo

they’re encountering a white woman in the wild, oh no 

OH NO THE WHITE WOMAN IS ENTICING THEM TO JOIN A PIT FIGHT

DON’T LISTEN TO STRANGE WHITE WOMEN DON’T DO IT, NO 

god dammit! 

none of the Philly people have good Philly voices but I expected this 

NO SKATEPARK HAS AN AMERICAN FLAG ON IT THAT ISN’T VANADALISED, I CALL BULLSHIT IMMEDIATELY 

Twitch is fucking up her paint so bad right now 

fucked up graffiti, oh no :( 

SHE/THEY PINS ON THE BACKPACK HELL YEAHHHHH

YEAHHH NIGHTSHADE CALLED IT OUT 

QUEERS UNITE

YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH

I LOVE THIS SCENE SO MUCH

YESSSSSSSSSSS NON-BINARY DISCUSSION 

YEAH YEAH YEAH FUCK YEAH 

please god have a trans man on this show someday, please god 

white woman quoting bugs bunny lmao fuck off 

GUITAR CHILD IS RUNNING A PIT RING??? 

SOUNDWAVE COME GET YOUR KIDS

ha ha Bumblebee’s like what the fuck “we just wanted to see wrestling” LOL 

lmao staged fight let’s go, WWE back in the late 90s early 2000s energy for real

are they gonna do the Hulk Hogan Mr. America lie detector test thing LMAOOOO

I like that the arena is made up of fucked up old subway cars though, that’s real Philly energy tbh 

GRIMLOCK HA HAAAA GET FUCKED

no memory? also reference to IDW 1 Grimlock losing memory? idk I just want there to be as much IDW 1 in this as possible tbh 

also fucking LOL Lazerbeak is doing amazing as the announcer 

Mandroid!! 

wait the mind control eyes were purple here and the bear with the fucked up fungus tentacle worm situation also had purple eyes but that was from the GHOST shit so I’m calling it now, the Mandroid shit and the GHOST shit is the exact same shit 

lmao uh oh, fuck them humans

interesting how they said “we changed you” and he instantly said “you didn’t ruin anything”, uhhh not quite the same thing but also I’m drunk and this is a child character talking so I will revisit this later if need be

Stevie fucking sucks, very true, good lesson: friends that suck are not actually friends

OH SHIT REAL MISSION TIME IN PHILLY LET’S GO

I love that fucking owl alt mode so much, jesus christ

Episode: 18 // Beers: 5

humans are fucking shitty

very similar reveal shot to the shot in TFP where Ratchet and Optimus are looking around in the plague ship, 10/10 love it 

oh fuck, Brawl’s toast

OH FUCK NICE SAVE LARGE SON

this scene looks great

Mandroid’s looking fucked up!

oh shit, Bot Brawls, there’s a name for it. and it’s just normal human bullshit, not related to Mandroid. yeah, that checks out. SIGH

EXTREMELY ANIME SHOT OF MANDROID 

holy shit those cables really jammed in there

they made one of the worms from Tremors into a giant spider worm (not a sexy Tarantulas spider worm, like a bad one) 

oh shit Hashtag’s mind controlled 

ha ha holy fuck she just rocked Thrash

MENTAL BATTLE ZONE YEAHHH

this is fucked!!! 

ha ha it’s fucking with Teslas, that kinda rules 

HA HA YES IT’S ALL CARS WITH WIFI SHIT INVOLVED, YEAH I KNEW I DIDN’T TRUST THAT SHIT!!! I WAS RIGHT!!! THANKS FOR VALIDATING ME

can’t beat the internet, y’all are fucked pretty bad right now 

obligatory “I know you’re in there” line 

if the power of family is what defeats a microchip in this episode I’m going to be so fucking pissed off l m a o

I really wish this show would stop making me feel bad for having a shitty family at literally every opportunity, it really is sort of overbearing, but I’m also drunk right now so maybe I’m just being overly sensitive, but what about kids watching this with shitty families? like dude this is so genuinely painful 

god fucking dammit 

the power of family is what did it 

I mean good, I guess, but also this just makes me feel like such shit lmaooo

also I’m an only child so I mean IDK what the fuck sibling love is LOL

if I took shots for every time they said the word “family” I’d be dead within 15 minutes, guaranteed

the little girl is the only one with any common sense lmao, I am too drunk to remember her name, I still have not eaten all day -- wait I lied I had 2 bagels

confirmed: Bot Brawls are the only option for Decepticons, it’s literally just a new version of gladiatorial battles on Cybertron (assuming that was also a thing in this continuity, seems likely but I don’t think they’ve mentioned it yet) 

fucking bummer 

I wouldn’t be laughing at a drained Bumblebee passing the fuck out but that’s just me, also apparently Cybertronians can snore despite having vents and no airways, maybe that’s different here for some reason, IDK

it could also be Bumblebee actively trying to put them at ease with the last bit of his energy in a subtle way as the Terrans/kids might not understand Cybertronian anatomy so this might not register to them as being weird, which is the option I prefer but this is just me thinking out loud 

EVIL WHITE WOMAN!!! I TOLD YOU THE WHITE WOMAN WOULD BE THE REAL ENEMY!!!!! I TOLD YOU!!!!! 

oh fuck she’s the pit fight organiser, because of course she is

OH SHIT ENERGON PATCHES. Mandroid’s reaction to it is a lot like TFP Megatron’s reaction to dark energon, hmmmm

“they’re all disposable” wow fuck you lady 

also the shithead kid learned a lesson and fixed the graffiti, good 

great ending frame on a deranged Mandroid

ALRIGHT SO THAT’S IT

I’m going to sleep now, will re-watch all of this sober once I have the time, just desperately wanted to see Tarantulas tbh LMAO and I do not regret it!! 

[glocodile]

Something that just has been on my mind lately is that art doesn’t need a reason to exist. I’ve noticed that a good chunk of the people who get wayy too into media discourse are artists themselves. Like Steven Universe’s biggest critics seem to be other artists, especially animators/aspiring animators. And I understand this, as someone who’s about to graduate from art school this spring. Me and many of my peers have a lot of opinions about art, if that’s something you study then you probably will.

But I also think it comes from this desire for art to be important. I’d say about a quarter of people in art school will say that they just want stuff to look cool. Most really want their work to be important and to feel important. Representation in media NEEDS to be one of the top issues for them because it’s one of the few ways that they, as an artist, can feel like they’re contributing to society.

Art has existed for as long as humans have existed. It existed when there was much more food scarcity, when there was a lot more daily struggle for our own survival. Art always manages to exist in society even when there’s more important tasks to do.

I think a lot of my peers would get defensive over the question if art is as needed as say a doctor or farmer. And I would ask instead, does art need to be needed? Does it need to justify its existence?

There’s something very capitalist about this way of thinking, part of the philosophy that has seeped into art and religion. I consider myself a non-denominational Christian, but I was baptized in and currently go to a Seventh Day Adventist church. There’s some things I agree with them on and some things I don’t.

At some point I decided I wanted a necklace with a cross on it, and eventually got a rosary from a street artist and I wear it nearly every day that I go outside. Once I wore it to church and someone just a bit older than me, I’d guess early millennial/late gen X (I’m a millennial-gen Z cusper), told me how when he was younger, members of the SDA church weren’t supposed to wear any necklaces, even cross necklaces. People would hide it and put it on after leaving the house and take it off before going home.

I asked him if that was a gender thing and he said no, it was that everything had to have utility. If you proposed to someone, you were supposed to give a watch instead of a ring, because a watch has a purpose that isn’t just decorative.

Of course in modern times it’s a bit different and no one really cares that much. But it is something that ties into that “Protestant work ethic” and how capitalists treat art and religion.

The concept of everything needing to be utilitarian is so anti-Christianity (and likely anti-spirituality in general) if you really think about it. Jesus didn’t only turn water into wine, he turned it into GOOD wine (John 2:10). There’s a lot in scripture that suggests that we’re meant to get joy out of life.

It’s also so insidious to some core beliefs about Christianity. SDAs take the Sabbath very seriously, I mean they named themselves after it. They emphasize it as a day of rest. I can use my baptism certificate to get out of working on a Saturday if my boss tries to make me. That concept is already in conflict with capitalism. It also reminds me of that one atheist meme that I see floating around sometimes, talking about the collective hours that Christians spend in church every year, and how that time could be better spent building houses or whatever. And like, people who are otherwise anti-capitalist post it, implying that if something isn’t “productive” enough that we shouldn’t have it?

I often lightheartedly say that one thing I agree with Catholics with is their aesthetics. Like yes a lot of the iconic architecture was commissioned as a response to the Protestant reformation in order to attract more people into the church, but churches having room for “frivolous” things like art is something we need. It’s very much capitalist influence on Christianity that causes the emphasis on nonstop productivity and utility.

Not to mention all of the other anti-capitalist Christian messages like giving to the poor and whatnot, having time to rest and enjoy your life is something constantly devalued in capitalist society. And that extends to how we treat art.

This doesn’t mean that the meaning in art doesn’t matter, the themes are part of what makes a story interesting to me, and being mindful of the messages you perpetuate is important. But you don’t have to justify your existence as an artist. You don’t need to feel like someone would die without your work. You can just do things that bring yourself joy. I really think we’re meant to, and if you’re not religious or spiritual then you also exist the same way plants or animals or anything exists. You can just be.

[ecargmura]

Delusional Monthly Magazine Episode 1 Review - A Very Weird Premiere

Sometimes, you just want to watch an anime that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Delusional Monthly Magazine is one of those animes. It’s a huge “WTF did I just watch” type of anime and I’m all for it, honestly. I’ve noticed that I do have this odd tendency of reviewing anime that no one else watches. I just hope that this turns out to be something decent and not be a train wreck like The Marginal Service.

To be honest, this anime doesn’t actually explain a lot. What I’ve deduced from this episode alone is that this scientist in green, Goro Sato, is searching for the Delusional Monthly Magazine publisher in hopes that they’d publish his article about the elusive Mo Continent and the remnants of the lost continent, the MOParts left by the residents, the Motarians. Goro is in possession in one of the MOparts and because of this, he is targeted. He drags Delusional Monthly Magazine editor Taro J. Suzuki, his assistant Jiro and his dog Saburo into all of the mess. From the get-go, I can tell that this is a premise about the lost continent of Mu and OOparts. The tale of the Mo Continent is almost like the tales of the Mu Continent. The only difference is that Motarians are most likely furries while Mu people are not. I do think that the Motarians are inside the MOparts, which is why Taro changed into one.

I also noticed that in this show, the characters have their names in Western order. Instead of Taro having his name as “Suzuki Taro J”, it’s “Taro J. Suzuki”. Goro’s name isn’t ordered as Sato Goro, it’s Goro Sato like how it’d be said in a Western country. While their names are Japanese, it kind of shows that Most City isn’t exactly in Japan and that it’s more of a western city as we have characters with Western names like Catherine, the editor-in-chief and Nancy, the receptionist lady at the marriage consultant place. The summary of this show even states that the city is located in an unknown country. Love the self-awareness.

The characters don’t really show much other than a few traits. Taro is a slacker in life and his dream is to be a househusband so that he doesn’t have to work. He has this weird scar on his forehead, but he doesn’t become Harry Potter; instead, he becomes a furry. For being the protagonist, he doesn’t really show much. Other than his weird scar, he has some hypersensitivity towards supernatural beings, as shown with him freaking out over the little spirit that looms over Goro. Jiro is a kid who doesn’t like being treated as a kid. He has mysterious healing powers that he doesn’t show to people. Saburo is a dog and probably the smartest character in the show. Goro looks more like a leprechaun than an actual scientist. Also, I’m surprised he’s 18 years old. He seems to be that one dude who’s gonna be Taro’s total opposite in terms of passion and drive. His main trait, other than being fascinated with the Mo Continent is that he has corns on his toes. Why do we need to know this? Anyways, I do hope that we know more about these characters because a lot was shown but not told. I don’t even know anything about the side characters. I can tell this show doesn’t take itself seriously because of how those villains in shades acted. When Goro was asking if they were after his MOparts, they were wondering about that to themselves.

The animation is decent. For a OLM studio production, it’s average in terms of quality. Compared to how beautiful Pokemon Horizons and The Apothecary Diaries look, this looks a bit underwhelming, but it’s the first episode. I’ll let that slide. The music is actually really annoying. It’s really loud and I can’t hear some of the dialogue at times. All of these trumpets remind me of Gen 3 Pokemon games; instead of a symphony, the trumpets used here feel like a cacophony.

The voice actors are actually pretty good for a show like this. Four of the characters here were in Boeibu! Taro’s voice actor Takahide Ishii was in the spinoff sequel of Boeibu, Happy Kiss as the main character Nanao Wakura. Jiro’s voice actor Kazutomi Yamamoto voiced Yumoto Hakone in Boeibu. The dog Saburo is voiced by Yusuke Shirai who voiced Io Naruko in Boeibu and he’s also Sasaki in Sasaki and Miyano; yes, Sasaki-senpai became a DOG! The last Boeibu actor is the blue-haired guy in the end who is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, who voiced Yumoto’s brother Gora. This feels like a Boeibu reunion and I’m enjoying it. Goro’s voice actor is Shunichi Toki, who voiced another green coded character in Hokusai from Paradox Live—the voice he uses for Goro and Hokusai are so different; I can’t believe they’re the same person.

I honestly have no clue what’s going to happen in this anime, but I think that’s the fun of it. It’s crazy and weird and that interests me. How much weirder will it become? That’s why I’ll be tuning in until the end to see if I regret my life choices later on. If you’re watching this show, what are your thoughts on the premiere?

[childeproof]

clone high oc + self insert information dump :]

jimmy h, known mostly as jimmy // clone son of jimi hendrix

goes by jimmy not jimi ( same sound, diff spelling to stand out from clone father )

went parachuting because his clone father was a paratrooper in the 101st airborne division at one point ( hated it )

he’s well liked by british clones of musicians from their clone father’s era ( think john lennon, eric clapton, etc )

^^ i think it would be a neat gimmick if british people esp ladies were fond of him in general. brit magnet.

jimmy is a cis man, uses he/they pronouns without preference, sexuality wise i haven’t decided quite yet. I think i’ll leave them unlabeled

^^ one of jimi’s song lyrics was continuously misheard as “‘scuse me as I kiss this guy” fun fact. also he wld sing this incorrect version live on occasion & fllw it with a fake makeout session. did u know? lol

jimmy is a deep sleeper and has interesting dreams similarly to their clone father. i think he keeps a written record of all the dreams he can remember, just for fun

he’s deff the type of guy to go “this reminds me of this one dream i had”

1st gen clone

i do think they’d follow in their clone father’s footsteps as a musician ^_^

richard “richie” pyror // clone son of richard pyror

has a huge soft spot for animals much like his clone father, I think he’d own a dog or two

huge class clown but hasn’t seriously considered a career in comedy. he has a very blunt humor but it’s still clever and it often makes you think to get the joke

2nd gen clone

i think he’d be more of an actor than an actual comedian. deff joined the school’s theater troupe btw. he’s a funny actor but he doesn’t want to do stand up

richie uses he/him pronouns and identifies as straight 🙏 subject to change but i think he’s cishet

he’s a very clever & witty person in general

very expressive in the face

i think he’s actually a chick magnet bc funny guys always get babes it’s a real phenomenon please believe me!!

uses richie as a nickname to stand out from clone father but rlly doesn’t mind being called richard

jean-michel basquiat // clone son of jean-michel basquiat ( second clone high self insert of mine )

fully goes by his clone father’s name, doesn’t mind being viewed as him bc he’s confident in his own character

does go by “johnny” / “johnny-boy” as a nicknames ( jean is pronounced similarly to john so it fits still ) but they’re not necessarily his preferred name

was hit by a car once like his clone father ( too busy on his phone to notice it coming ) ( embarrassing memory )

2nd gen clone

pals with debbie harry ( she likes his art! ) we do not speak of Andy warhol currently.

does street graffiti mostly inspired by the human body, sketch book is full of anatomy and natural poses. rlly big on the beauty of human form

currently speaks french & english; occasionally jots down notes in franglais

there’s probably a clone high friend group consisting of clone children of the infamous 27 club.. and he is a part of it. i am srry. like imagine being a clone and having ur clone father die so young. imagine approaching that age.. that’s gotta be scary, u need a coping group for that.

jean-michel uses he/him prns & probably neos since he’s new gen. i think he’d be queer generally like he wldn’t use any specific labels just queer.

rlly science smart ^_^

ella baker // clone daughter of ella baker

no differentiation between her name and her clone mom’s name

valedictorian of her class :)

sort of unknown, but prefers to be in the “background” of life much like her clone mother; would rather work behind the scenes

friends with harriet & frida even though she’s a 1st gen clone, she finds them to be nice

always “knows a guy” for every situation, i just think that gimmick is funny

i’ll develop more later + I think she’ll get glasses

she/her prns, i think she’d be a lesbian also. but that’s just me.

arthur “artie” ashe // clone son of arthur ashe

cis guy, he/him + “straight”,, rlly bisexual just unaware

has a man crush on Ryan Reynolds n also Nick Jonas don’t ask. me why don’t ask. and also jude bellingham. he thinks it’s normal

2nd gen clone

his adoptive father raises him alone btw no mother

still into tennis like his clone father, i think he’d get agitated whenever ppl make fun of the sport 😭🙏

also talented at soccer! but mostly focused on tennis.

glasses wearer.

pretty chill ^_^ 2nd gen clone

jeanie clisson // clone daughter of jeanne de clisson

works summers on cruise ships!

pirates movies online once new gen clones teach her how ( she’s 1st gen )

her name is jeanie but don’t make genie jokes she’ll actually kill you

i think she’d be a more masculine woman ( i’m not sure if butch is entirely appropriate to use though ) and she’d have muscles & wld work out. cld probably bench press jfk /hj

has an attack dog named smth sweet like “cupcake” lol. & also wrestles for the girl’s wrestling team

she/her pronouns, cis woman, don’t bother talking to her if ur a man ( “my clone mother only pirated because of a man. i pirate because i’m badass” )

it wld be funny if joan or marilyn ( CLONES THE CLONES ) fell for her

thea dexter // clone daughter of timothy dexter

trans woman, she/her, idk her sexuality yet

has insane luck just like her clone father, i think she’d be able to find money on the ground rlly easily

1st gen clone

makes capitalism work for her. a lot of her get rich quick schemes should NOT work but they DO <\3 probably runs a minor pyramid scheme /JOKE maybe. probably. but she does do get rich quick schemes

gandhi wld deff fall for her get rich quick plots n it wldn’t work out for him just for her

topher wld be like “as a cishet white man I recognize my privilege over you, a trans woman” and she’d be like “if you feel so bad just pay me” and it’s a running gag I think. that every time topher sees thea he gives her a dollar or two.

do not let this bitch onto the internet SHE’S GOING TO SCAM PEOPLE. /hj

josephine “josie” baker // clone daughter of josephine baker ( my 1st clone high self insert )

cis woman she/her bisexual

had a thing with frida at one point ( inspired by her clone mother ) ( they’re still friends after the break up and do once a month ex “dates” for fun )

shares a soft spot for animals with richie ^_^ her adoptive mother is a zoologist too, which helps, her adoptive father is a stay at home dad

loves cheetah print ( faux fur ofc )

dating joan hahahahahahaa!

she owns a cat named chiquita.. wld like more pets but can’t have more

more of a actor & singer than a dancer or comedienne, super funny but only situationally, not rlly into stand up. can dance but not rlly a dancer person, her passions rlly lie in singing

2nd gen clone also

[cursedwithwords]

HP Next Gen Headcanons: Lysander

Full Name: Lysander Newton Scamander

House: Ravenclaw

Wand: vine and snidget feather

Patronus: irish wolfhound

Boggart: Lily and/or Lorcan's dead bodies (they are the most important people in his life)

Profession: auror

Sexuality: straight

Image(picrew):

Bonus: keeps his hair shorter and neater than his brother and wears glasses. The real oddball in his family because he's a more serious, no nonsense person while his parents and brother are generally pretty chill in most situations. Animals do NOT like him, which outsiders see as unbelievable because he's related to THE Newt Scamander (fucking hates when people say that)! Everyone knew he had a crush on Lily, including Lily, accept for him. He was literally the last to know. Extremely protective of Lorcan. Not the best in social situations and has difficulty making friends because he word vomits when he's nervous and comes off as a know-it-all. Is actually a huge softie. He loves learning but he HATES studying outside the classroom (he's got better things to do if you ask him). He also hates taking tests. Loves hugs but will never admit it. Wants to be cool but is not. He grew up around the Weasley and Potter kids so they're the only ones he feels comfortable being entirely himself around without worrying about being judged. Spends a lot of his later school years fretting over how useless he is with Magical Beasts and not knowing what to do with himself after graduation until Lily reminds him that just because he comes from a line of Magizoologists it doesn’t mean he was required to follow their footsteps. He chose to be an Auror because of his aptitude with defensive and offensive spells, and because "someone needs to protect my parents and Lorcan, they're all way too soft hearted for their own good". Doesn't get along well with Rose because she seems to look down on Lorcan (reminiscent of how hermione acted around luna pre friendship).

Wand Wood — vine

Extras:

"Vine wands are among the less common types, and I have been intrigued to notice that their owners are nearly always those witches or wizards who seek a greater purpose, who have a vision beyond the ordinary and who frequently astound those who think they know them best. Vine wands seem strongly attracted by personalities with hidden depths, and I have found them more sensitive than any other when it comes to instantly detecting a prospective match. Reliable sources claim that these wands can emit magical effects upon the mere entrance into their room of a suitable owner, and I have twice observed the phenomenon in my own shop."

This wand had been sitting on the shelf for many, many years before Lysabder came along. It was created before the Olivander's had decided to focus on crafting just with the two cores we currently know best (dragon heartstring and unicorn hair), so it was something special when Lysander stepped through the door. Tucked at the back of a high shelf and hidden by dozens of other boxes, Lysander's wand began shaking in its box before he'd even entered the shop. When he finally stepped through the threshold, boxes burst from the shelf from the wands eagerness, and Olivander was absolutely fascinated when he saw the vine wand shaking in its box. People generally seem to believe they know who Lysander is due to his familiar family name and eccentric parentage, but Lysander is consistently surprising people with his goals and motivations (such as his decision to join the aurors).

Wand Core — snidget feather

"These wand cores are extremely rare due to the Snidget's protected status. Wands with a Snidget Feather core excel in Charms, Potions, Dueling, and the ability to cast spells faster than most other wand cores. The major drawback with this wand core is its inability to perform proper Transfiguration spells. These wands will bond with a witch or wizard who has a glorious and fulfilling future ahead of them."

A wand seemingly made for an auror, this one aids Lysander from the moment he first takes it up. It is much less powerful in someone else's hand, and only shows its full potential with its chosen partner. Lysander is a talented wizard, and consistently shows that. He's a powerful auror, and is always the first to volunteer for field missions if an auror has not yet been assigned to it. Eager to change the things within the ministry that bother him the most and build a world that can be experienced by everyone without prejudice (a tall order, perhaps, but he is ambitious and motivated about his goals).

Patronus — Irish wolfhound

"Irish wolfhounds are reserved, soft-spoken, and patient creatures. Those with this Patronus exhibit a quiet inner strength that helps them remain calm even in the most stressful situations. However, this Patronus is not one you should ever underestimate. While they have deep stability, they are not afraid to fight back and defend themselves if you mess with them or their loved ones."

"The AKC identifies the wolfhound breed as dignified, courageous and calm, with a famous motto of "gentle when stroked, fierce when provoked." Considered one of the largest dog breeds in the world, as puppies they're quite gangly and clumsy, but they grow into what I consider to be one of the most visually intimidating and stunning dogs on earth."

I always consider Lysander to be quite similar to the Wolfhound, in that as a kid he was somewhat clumsy and awkward, but is able to grow into himself and become a powerful and intimidating but outrageously gentle man. The statement of the Wolfhound being alert and courageous but not suspicious or aggressive feels very on the nose to me, because it seems like the ideal way to be as an Auror. Lysander is dignified, calm and very focused. He has the unexpected ability to always make the right choice during missions. He isn't short tempered or "finger on the trigger" so to speak. He would never throw out a curse or spell without thinking first.

Lysander is absolutely an intimidating presence when he's older and an impressive auror, but he's gentle with his loved ones to the point or coddling almost. It would take a lot to upset him, but god help you if you cross that line.

[fairytheo]

enhypen as your boyfriend.

boyfriend!enhypen x gen!reader. fluff. 1.9k. curse words. mention of bugs, food. not requested.

🐈 ⸝⸝ HEESEUNG ˙𐃷˙

super-duper caring !!

he’s so whipped for you — he smiles just by thinking about you

also very giggly around you

LOVES lending you his beanies

(aka. you stealing them..)

+ you steal his earrings as well ! not that he minds

absolutely adores singing for you / he loves singing you to sleep :D

hold up, is being heeseung’s s/o just being his personal ramen cook 🤨🤨

he aaalwaays bugs you to play games with him (especially wii and nintendo switch lmao)

either that or you’re playing animal crossing while eating takeout at your dinner table

you’re the only person in the world who he’ll ever do aegyo for. 

he secretly enjoys it, but shhh you didn’t hear that from me

i think he likes calling you names like cutie, cutiepie or just a shorter version of your name <3 (if there is one !)

booping your nose is on his everyday to do list ☝️

lowkey therapist & boyfriend in one ngl

WAIT he loves making playlists for you two,, 

“y/n! i made another playlist, do you wanna listen to it? i made it while thinking of you.” <//3 

the type to write cheesy lyrics about you, then later cringes at his own writing bUT then leaves it like that because you like it !

you have his cover of lauv’s “i’m so tired” either set as your alarm or play it on loop everyday 

(random but for some reason i can picture him giving you a cassette with his cover on it just for the vintage vibes)

🐈 ⸝⸝ JAY ˙𐃷˙

the mom-and-boyfriend in one ;] 

f a s h i o n  c o u p l e 

you are literally fashion icons. no disagreements. 

you have matching clothes or accessories ! even if it’s really subtle, the gesture behind it is super adorable <//3

cooking pt. 2 :D but this time there’s a gorden ramsay in your relationship

i can just SEE how you both two impersonate gorden ramsay while cooking which makes everything 10 times funnier !! checks every 5 seconds if the food is ready tho because he doesn’t wanna risk anything

never cleans up afterwards, either you do or no one does

since you’re both fashion icons your social media followers are going 📈📈📈

literally couple goals.

he loves taking pictures of you,, but also wants you to take pictures of him 

jay gets flustered easily so please make him flustered with sudden compliments, hugs, kisses, etc. !!

he’s also the only member i can really see calling you babe

confident but shy about pda at the same time ??? he’s both LOL 

you always tease him with his RAS moments and randomly quote them when you’re in the middle of a conversation with him lmao

random and idk if this fits here, but he likes making your lunch — leaves you encouraging notes too <3

last but not least: jokingly gets angry at you when he wants something from you, and you do the same thing back ♡

🐈 ⸝⸝ JAKE ˙𐃷˙

sweetest and softest boyfriend to ever exist. i’m so soft for him JSHSHS

definitely calls you sweetie and darling. 100%. fight me if you think otherwise. 

shows you pics of layla everyday (it’s become routine for him >_<)

a tiny bit cliché BUT lends you his jacket whenever you’re cold (even when you’re inside !!)

random thought: jake puts his hands in your hoodie pockets...

💔💔💔

it’s his personal goal to peck your cheek and forehead at least twice a day — gets pouty if he wasn’t able to do that ))):::

talks in english a lot because you love his accent !!

if you’re an english speaker, you’ll have conversations in english all. the. time.

if you’re not an english speaker, no worries, he’ll teach you !

+ reads you bedtime stories in english (jake’s australian accent >>>) 

dreams of travelling with you to australia <33  

if there’s a bug in the house you better know that jake will NOT be removing them and runs out of the house

WILL stay over at one of the other member’s houses untill that bug is REMOVED . 

so if you’re afraid of bugs as well,,, i’m sorry bae, but it’ll be your task to remove these little... creatures 😐

ngl you have more photos of layla than of him on your phone lol

(spams you with her pictures and captions them with “y/n!!! look!!! layla with a flower!!!! layla with a butterfly!!!!” it’s just so sweet aaa)

we need some “””drama””” so you make jokes about him being a “🥶💸🔥💪” boy a lot in your relationship LMAO

🐈 ⸝⸝ SUNGHOON ˙𐃷˙

ice skating dates.

this has been mentioned in other headcanons a lot already but i just HAD to include it,,

convinces you to eat ice cream after your date LOL even if it IS winter

btw. fashion couple nr. 2 !!! 

MIRROR SELCAS

MIRROR SELCAS 

ugh the visuals and the power you two hold,,,, i can’t,,,,,

has better clothes than you ngl so you share clothes lmao

it started with him lending you his sweatpants, but then you didn’t want to return them forgot to return them and BOOM 💥 here we are

extremely awkward and shy at first — don’t worry though, he becomes much more chaotic in the later phases of your relationship

he teases you SO MUCH. LIKE. SO MUCH.

always has small smile (smirk?) on his face when he’s about to make a cocky remark (so beware)

you tease him back just twice as hard which 1.) results in him in becoming flustered 2.) fails LOL

off-topic but he’d love a s/o that has a similar style to him ??? a more elegant, classy, dark style perhaps

when he’s away / busy he’ll send you some selcas and captions them with “how r u doing??” “did you eat yet?” “cheer up :P” 

kinda shy about pda but likes showing off too ???

i mean,, men... 🙄🙄 /lh

whenever someone mentions your name near him, he’ll just try to hide his smile while biting his lip (yk what i’m talking about???) and you’ll see his dimples and the affectionate look in his eyes and just AAAAA

the type of boyfriend that calls you love~

🐈 ⸝⸝ SUNOO ˙𐃷˙

skin care routines with sunoo 24/7 🤝

he does your hair (if your hair is long enough to do different hairstyles with it ofc !!) 

send you daily weekly skin care products he thinks you two should try out / that’d be good for your skin <3

spa nights every friday at 9pm — he only lets you in if you wear a stylish pyjama LOL

you buy him peach items because they just remind you so much of him (｡•́︿•̀｡)

SELCA TIME !!! his phone is always ready !!! (apart from his storage maybe?)

PARTICIPATES IN SELCA DAYS OF YOUR FAVOURITE IDOLS AAA

loves to go on walks w u

does A LOT of aegyo,, 

and i know that you knew that this point will be in this headcanon.

for eg. instead of saying goodnight or bye he’ll just do aegyo for you not that anyone minds tbh

stages of sunoo flirting (?):

a — tries to compliment you (it sounds more like a flirty remark tbh)

b — realizes then blushes

c — cringes and runs away LMAO

playfully acts jealous, so you know it’s a joke but deep down he’s actually jealous

you two match each others vibes a lot — if one is sad, the other is sad as well

+ tells you your posture is bad when you sit like a banana or tells you to go to sleep early and when you don’t listen to him, he’ll show you an article that proves that (abc) and (xyz) is bad for you and says “i told you so.” 💀

🐈 ⸝⸝ JUNGWON ˙𐃷˙

impresses you by doing kicks (does the kick cap challenge on tiktok and/or you play kick it by nct 127 for the funzies) 

poking his dimple is a MUST . 😩😩

though gets super shy when you kiss him and also if you buy him gifts !!

cheers you up whenever you feel down or are upset

compliments you a ton ))): will randomly come up to you and tell you that your fit is cute or that you look brighter today,,, little does he know it's because of him ;]

HUGS!HUGS!HUGS

poking his dimple comes first, then hugging

the other members tease you two everytime you’re over LOL it’s like there are two koalas clinging onto each other

our yang garden gained another sheep +1

you two randomly play sheep,,,, like,,, everyday ???? sheep cosplays 👍

idk why ig it’s just fun to imitate sheep and go “mmmeEeEeeEhh” to annoy others

talking of that, even THOUGH he is a responsible leader he will not hesitate to do stupid shit with you

“hey how about we ring on that house there and yell “sheep for sale!” do you think they’ll open the door?”

“i don’t know... let’s find out!” 🤝

let’s just say that this didn’t end well..

also kinda bullies you (in a loving way ofc !!) pand teases you nonstop

either calls you asshole or love aHA

in conclusion: a very unpredictable relationship,, would 10/10 recommend.

very random but i feel like his love language is acts of service

🐈 ⸝⸝ NI-KI ˙𐃷˙

oh look it’s our tsundere 😼

can’t go a day without dancing so you two have vibing sessions at 2am everyday ft. the others telling you to go to bed

you’re the only one that can make him soft lol

if you’re older than him, you would definitely take care of him like your own baby !! 

if you are the same age as him or younger it’d be awkward for him at first, because he isn’t used to taking care of someone younger, so he’d treat you as if you were his best friend at the beginning

you love to watch him dance !! it’s so satisfying,, LITERAL asmr.

pranks you 24/7. boy has NO mercy. will not care if the others will scold him later. he will do the prank smoothly (?) — doesn’t care about the consequences LMAO

probably sets your alarm to someone screaming or a cringy aegyo song <//3

wants to film dance covers with you !! you don’t have to be the best dancer either !! as long as you have fun ^__^ 

the other members find you really cute but are also vERY TIRED OF YOU,, two energized teens in a relationship was not a good idea ☝️

likes to randomly hold your hand and swing it around 

probably distant at the beginning of the relationship because a.) he doesn’t want to pressure you/make things awkward b.) he doesn’t really know what to do either ???

(if you’re not japanese or don’t know how to speak japanese) he’ll definitely teach you some japanese phrases and words !! introduce you to his culture as well :DD and he really wants to know more about your culture too <3

teaches you phrases like “sunoo is a dumbass” for the funzies LOL

randomly makes micheal jackson impressions,,, it’s hilarious LMFAO

[expectingtofly]

Claire Novak's (Surprisingly) Not-So-Lame Day

2k

this fic is written for @dean-has-great-taste as part of @starrynightdeancas' gift exchange. thanks sophie for organizing this, it was a lot of fun <33 and i hope you enjoy this, gen!!

*****

How did Claire find herself joining Dean, Cas, and Jack for an excursion to the mall?

Well.

Cas had texted her yesterday, with an extreme amount of emojis and emoticons that took some time to decipher, asking if she wanted to go shopping with him, Dean, and Jack. Apparently Jack needed new clothes and they needed a gift for Eileen’s birthday coming up, and maybe they could go bowling or something afterwards.

And normally she would’ve said no way because hanging out with old guys was lame and she didn’t like little kids, but she needed an excuse to get out of Jody and Donna’s weekend plans of cleaning out the garage. Plus, Kaia needed to study for a test—she actually enjoyed school, the weirdo—and had requested no distractions.

So that’s how she found herself sitting in the back of the Impala next to a carseat, listening to one of Dean’s old cassette tapes (which wasn’t too bad, but she’d never admit it).

“What’s that?” Jack asked, stretching against his carseat straps to jab at one of the pins Claire wore on her leather jacket.

“It’s the lesbian flag,” she told him. Cas looked back at them from the front seat, smiling.

“This one?” Jack pointed to the rainbow pin on her pocket.

“It’s the pride flag.”

Jack considered that for a moment before announcing, “I want one. And this one.” He pointed to the mothman pin on her lapel, then the big-eyed, green alien. “And this one... and this one, and this one.” (Alex said she had more pins than leather on her jacket, but sue her, she liked making her clothing her own).

Jack, it seemed, also liked… unique clothing. The kid was wearing rain boots even though the sun was out and overalls with embroidered flowers. He dressed weird, there was no way around it. But so did Cas, so there was probably no hope for him, poor kid.

“Okay,” she decided. “I know where to get you some.”

Jack beamed and swung his legs. “Don’t kick the seat,” Dean told him, and Jack pouted at him.

Claire was surprised Dean even let a carseat in his precious Impala. Pulling out her phone, she asked, “Can we listen to my music?”

Dean started to respond with a “Hell no,” but Cas spoke up first, “Of course.”

Dean spluttered as Claire connected to the bluetooth connector Sam had finally convinced Dean to install. The old man didn’t realize it was the 21st century, apparently.

“I wanna listen to Gaga!” Jack said, leaning over to look at her phone.

At first she thought that was some baby talk, then she realized Jack was into pop music. Ugh. But it would annoy Dean, so...

Leaning in conspiratorially with Jack, she let him scroll through her phone and choose which song to play. When “Born This Way” started filtering through the car, Dean groaned.

“Really?” he asked, sending her a glare in the rearview mirror. Mission accomplished.

Jack clapped along and Cas turned the music up louder. “Great choice, Jack,” he said.

Dean, for all his grumbling, didn’t turn down the music, and Claire caught him glancing at Cas, who tapped his fingers on his thigh to the beat. Dean looked like he was fighting back a smile and Claire rolled her eyes. Dude was so whipped.

When they parked at the mall, Cas grabbed Jack’s hand before he could sprint across the parking lot. “You have to look both ways,” he reminded him gently, and Jack nodded.

“Claire’s gonna buy me pins,” he said, jumping onto the curb.

“Yup.” Claire pat her jacket pocket. “Good ol’ credit card fraud.”

“Woah, now,” Dean started to protest.

“You and Sam are the ones who taught me!” Claire reminded him.

“We’ll pay for them,” Cas said, opening the door to the mall. Jack skipped inside, his rain boots squeaking on the tiled floor.

“We’re doing what now?” Dean asked Cas, taking his hand. Gross.

“Come on, Jack,” Claire said, catching up to the toddler. “Let’s go get you some style.” Over her shoulder, she called, “Meet up with you guys later.”

“Have fun!” Cas called.

“Don’t get kidnapped,” Dean added.

As they distanced themselves from the old geezers, Jack grabbed her hand, and Claire startled a little. “Do you like dinosaurs?” he asked.

Someone passing by gave them a smile, and Claire realized people probably thought Jack was her younger brother. She let him hold her hand anyway. “Sure.”

“What’s your favorite? Mine is the bon-ta-sore-us.” He sounded out the word carefully.

“Don’t know. What’s the one with the spiky horns?”

“Ti-ce-a-tops?”

“Yeah, that sounds cool.”

“That’s my second favorite!” He started jumping from one colored tile to the next. “And the T-Rex. That’s Dee’s favorite. And Dad likes the steg-a-sore-us.” He peered up at her. “Did you know he got to see dinosaurs? Right in front of him!”

“You know what that means, right?” He shook his head. “He’s super old. He’s basically a dinosaur himself.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “He’s a dinosaur,” he repeated in a hushed whisper.

“Yup.” Spotting Hot Topical, she headed that way. “You should tell him that.”

Inside the store, Jack let go of her hand to grab a stuffed cat. “Claire! Like yours!”

Claire rolled her eyes. “Yeah.” So, she still had the Grumpy Cat Cas had bought her. She wasn’t cruel enough to throw it away when the guy was trying so hard to make up for walking around in her dead dad’s body. Plus, the stuffed animal was kinda cute. Not that she was going to tell anyone that.

“Here ya go,” she told Jack, finding a box of pins at the register. She brought the box down to his level and Jack ran over to look inside.

“I want a Doc McStuffins pin,” he said, plunging his hand into the box.

“I don’t know if they have those.”

As they rooted through the box of pins, she heard familiar voices and looked up to see Dean and Cas walking inside.

“What are you guys doing here?” she asked.

“I like this store,” Cas said and Dean rolled his eyes. Among the pleather and black, Cas’ dingy old trench coat—over a Winnie the Pooh sweatshirt instead of a suit—and Dean’s ratty flannel and boots only looked more ridiculous. She took it back—even Jack dressed better than them.

“You guys don’t have to be in here,” she told them.

“What, we’re too old?” Dean asked defensively.

“Yeah, actually.”

Cas poked at a toy and it squeaked. God, could they be any more embarrassing?

“Dad!” Jack called, holding out a rainbow pin. “Look, they have soo many.” Cas joined Jack in going through the pins and Claire asked Dean, giving his outfit a meaningful look,

“Was the Army Surplus store too trendy for you?”

“Did they kick you out of Sephora for buying up all the eyeliner?“ Dean shot back.

Touché. In a truce, she held out a pin with the bisexual flag. She wasn’t really sure what Dean identified as, if he even gave it any thought, but guessed it was close enough. “For you.”

Dean rolled his eyes but took it. “I’m not weighing down my jacket with this crap, though.”

“No, ‘course not, that would mean having any sort of style.”

“Can I help you with anything?” asked an employee with two nose rings and jewelry up and down their ears— so cool. Claire saw the way their eyes flicked between them, probably thinking they made a weird group, and she took a step back, trying to silently communicate that yes, she was shopping with them, but no, she was not as lame as them.

“Just looking,” Dean told them.

“I like your drawings,” Jack said and the employee looked down at their arms which were littered with tattoos.

“Thanks.”

“My dad has a drawing. It’s Enochian.”

The employee—Wren, by the name tag—looked at Cas with new respect in their eyes. “Language of the angels. Sick.”

Cas looked pleased. “Thank you. It’s come in handy more than once.”

The employee went back to looking confused and, starting to walk away, told them to call if they needed anything.

“Do you want anything?” Cas asked Claire, and Claire looked through the box. She grabbed a pentagram pin and, seeming to copy her, Jack grabbed another one, clutching several pins already in his fists.

“You like bees, right?” Claire asked Cas, spotting a “Save the Bees” pin. She held it up for him.

Cas’ eyes brightened. “That’s a wonderful message.” He glanced back at Dean and frowned. “Dean, they’re not going to bite.”

Claire looked over to see Dean shying away from a few emo teens. “Look like it,” Dean muttered, joining them. Jack lifted up his hands, asking to be hoisted up. Dean set him on his hip and Jack showed him the pins he’d selected. He held a dinosaur pin to Dean’s collar.

“Do you want one, Dee?”

“He’s too lame,” Claire piped up. Not for the first time, she noticed the healed over piercing mark on Dean’s right ear and pointed to it. “Looks like he used to be cool, though.”

“Yeah, guess so,” Dean said dryly. His hand went to his earlobe. “Pierced it myself, in high school.”

“I think you’re still cool,” Cas told him, and Claire fake-gagged, making Jack giggle.

Cas took the pins to the cash register where Wren rang them up. Dean added the bisexual flag pin and Claire threw in a pair of spiky earrings, because, hey, they were paying.

“15.36,” Wren told them, dropping the pins into a bag.

“My dad’s a dinosaur,” Jack told them, trying to see over the edge of the counter. Wren raised an eyebrow, Cas looked surprised, and Claire stifled a laugh.

“Claire, help me,” Jack said, grabbing the bag from Cas as they exited the store. Moving to the side, Claire helped him attach the pins to his overalls. A smiley face, a pride flag, a grinning Stitch, a sunflower, a dinosaur, and the pentagram. The pins clacked as Jack tugged at his overalls, trying to look at them all. Overall, a chaotic look, but it kinda matched his vibe.

“Lookin’ good,” she told him, and Jack beamed.

“I’m like you!”

Alright, she wouldn’t take it that far, but, “Yeah, close enough.”

Cas attached the “Save the Bees” pins to his trench coat pocket and it ended up crooked. Rolling her eyes, Claire said, “Let me.”

She reattached the pin and stepping back to look it over, decided, “You could actually make that coat look cool if you added more stuff to it.”

Cas looked down at himself. “Thank you.”

“Nothing’s gonna save that sweatshirt, though.” Couldn’t let his ego get too big.

“Dean said he liked it,” Cas said, glancing back at Dean, who was shooting an evil eye at Claire. He quickly wiped it off his face and draped an arm over Cas’ shoulders.

“Yeah, it’s uh… Charming.” He guided Cas away from Claire. “Don’t listen to her, she still thinks sarcasm is a personality trait.”

“Screw you, old man,” she called. Jack skipped after them and she checked her phone to see Kaia had texted her: How’s everything going? They drive you crazy yet?

They’re so weird, she texted back. Then she added, They’re not too bad.

“Come on, Jack,” she said, hurrying to catch up with him, Dean, and Cas. “Let’s go get our ears pierced.”

“Yay!” Jack cheered. He grabbed her hand and tugged her down the mall.

“Woah, woah, you’re not doing that,” Dean protested like the wet blanket he was.

“You can get yours pierced too,” Claire told him, and he faltered,

“I don’t want, we’re not—“

“You know you want to.” She let Jack lead her away and Dean called after them,

“We're never bringing you shopping again!”

Grinning, she turned to shout over her shoulder, “You know you love me!”

[uchihashisuii]

truth.

Summary: Sumiya stares at her son's back when he leaves, the shadow of expectation hanging over him like a shroud - her boy grown up much too quickly. He reminds her, so very much, of his father.

or: in which Shisui is Minato’s son

Pairing: Uchiha Shisui & Uchiha Sumiya | Uchiha Sumiya/Namikaze Minato (past)

Rating: Gen

Author’s Note: so we joked about shisui being minato's son and it. isnt a joke anymore. sumiya has been a half-done oc for months and months now, because i have a soft spot for anime moms. especially the ones that dont exist

Ao3

-----

Sumiya watches her boy grow, with all his bright smiles and offered kindness. He's the pride of her heart, the most precious thing in her life. She trains him and holds him, bandages his cut hands and kisses them better, sharing broad grins as they sit in the dirt after practicing shunshin. Stares at his back when he leaves, the shadow of expectation hanging over him like a shroud, her boy grown up much too quickly.

He reminds her, so very much, of his father.

-----

It's bright and sunny, the day they bury her husband. A small, somber affair; the clan gathers around her and Shisui to offer gruff words, most of them showing solidarity as Uchiha and nothing more. He was not one of the greats, and she has been tainted since she was sixteen. It's a miracle any of them arrived at the cemetery at all, with the wide berth they had given their small family for many long years.

Those who know the truth make sure to remind her how great a man he was, to take in both her and her shame and agree to try and love them. And Sumiya smiles at them, and thanks them for their condolences, and reminds herself she shouldn't think ill of the dead.

-----

She loved her husband, truly she did. He was kind to her, and had looked after Shisui admirably. It was a difficult thing, asking someone she barely knew to raise another man's son as his own. But he had agreed, and they had wed, and he had held Shisui that very first time with tears in his eyes.

He loved Shisui, in his own way. More as a friend and not as a father, and when the boy had grown and shown signs of being a prodigy, of being clever and quick and skilled beyond compare - something had shifted. Jealousy, perhaps; he was making waves in the village, his name on the tongue of every Uchiha by the time he was nine. And Sumiya was proud, so infinitely proud of who he was growing into. Not simply his skill, but his heart, and laughter, and warmth. And yet still she had watched her husband look to her son - hers , not theirs- with something gone cold. His smile, his skill - a stark reminder of who he takes after. If her boy had looked like her heart and not herself, she wonders how different things would have been, right from the very start.

-----

And then the sickness had altered her husband's mind, and there came a day when Shisui was still only waist-high and he didn't understand why his father shouted at him to get out. Sumiya kept him out of the house, took him down to the Nakano to train and swim and play. Expertly watching for shifts of his mood and the rising of his temper, as her husband lost himself to trauma and memories better left alone. She doesn't blame him, not truly; but those were the dark days of brutal honesty. Sumiya is only thankful that Shisui was never around to hear his father tell his mother that he never wanted her or her bastard, that they had ruined his life and shamed him in front of the Uchiha.

She wishes, not for the first or even the hundredth time, that the Uchiha elders had acquiesced to her desire to raise her boy alone. If only to save him the ache.

-----

It's raining, the day Sumiya finds her bravery. She sits at the dinner table with a cup of tea gone cold, holding tight to the stump at her elbow. It aches with every shift of weather, and she wonders if the pain is what she deserves after lying to her boy for all his life.

Shisui comes home and steps from his shoes, shaking his wet hair out and grinning in her direction. But she doesn't chastise him, doesn't chuck her slipper at him for bringing a mess into the house. She only looks at him with something haunted in her eyes, and reaches her hand out to him.

"Come here for a minute, please. I need to talk to you."

Her boy. Her clever, earnest little boy - he trips over his own feet as he rushes to her side, hands on her shoulders and expression stricken. "What happened? Are you okay? Are you sick? Should I go get Auntie Mikoto? Where are your shoes, come on, we'll go -"

"Shisui," she laughs breathlessly, palm pressed flat to his chest to remind him to breathe. She thumps her hand against him with a shake of her head, offering a wry sort of smirk. "I'm fine. Now sit down, this is important."

Shisui blinks at her. Narrows his eyes, gives a soft sort of hum as he looks her over. Slowly steps back until he can collapse into the empty chair next to hers, mouth pinched into a frown. "You're lying, aren't you? You've been getting slower with shunshin, you are sick aren't you?"

"Boy -"

"Alright, alright! Put down the slipper, c'mon."

Sumiya takes a steadying breath, and looks to her boy. He watches her in turn, brows furrowed above those bright and beautiful eyes, worry bleeding from him in waves. His father has been gone for half a year, now, and he's had to handle the differing swell of emotions alongside the Uchiha expectation, juggling missions and Itachi and his new girlfriend and -

Is she wrong, to tell him now? Or would it be worse to continue to keep her silence?

Sumiya reaches her hand across the table, feeling a twinge in her other arm. Takes her boy's hand, and does not look away from him to hide. "Do you remember anything about the Yondaime?"

Shisui's expression twists into surprise, blinking rapidly as he tilts his head to the side. He's completely thrown, and the familiar confused look only serves to bring a long-since-gone feeling of melancholy to her heart. "Uh - not really? I was like, eight, when he died. Remember all the stories about him, though. Wonder if I'm faster than him now ... Hey, kaa-san, if we raced -"

She watches him trip over his words, ideas and thoughts swiftly changing like the wind. It warms her heart, and even as she smiles she feels tears prick at her eyes. He rambles as he always does, and she's a teenager all over again, lifting her hand to curve a palm over his cheek. "Focus. Look at me, love."

He pauses mid thought, blinking at her and nodding his head. He apologizes for getting distracted, she tells him with a smile that it's alright, and then it's quiet once again. For how many years has she imagined telling him their secret, and now the words refuse to come.

But she's blunt. Forthright, about most things. Except when it came to protecting her boy - and one little lie had determined the direction of their lives from the moment she wed a man she didnt love. Sumiya has always held a certain gentleness with her son, but there is no slow-going with a truth revealed. She remembers Shisui with skinned knees and a missing front tooth, grinning up at her and telling her just get it over with, kaa-san, it won't hurt! when she had to pull a kunai out of his thigh.

Just get it done, we'll deal with the bleeding as it comes.

"Minato was your father."

-----

He'd left the house quickly after that. Had listened to her explain, that they were young and stupid and she'd ended up pregnant and made the mistake of telling her parents. Uchihas are traditional to a fault, and she was kept cloistered and alone. Had been pulled from her squad, and married off within a week. She didn't see Minato, despite his attempts to find her, until months after Shisui was born. Secrets upon lies, all to save face. Sumiya left out the bit that she'd had to tell her first love with tears streaming down her face and an infant strapped to her chest that she never wanted to see him again, that she'd found love within the clan as was right and expected of her.

Her boy listened, staring blankly at the table with brows drawn. And when her words had run out he had stood, and walked out the door. And once more Sumiya had to watch his back turn from her, the uchiwa bright and proud, and wonder to herself if she had failed him.

[mattholicguilt]

cats in the cradle by Duck_Life

Fandoms: Supernatural [Gen, No Archive Warnings Apply] Words: 1,745

Tags: Claire Novak & Patience Turner, Cats, Psychic Abilities, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Friendship, Found Family, claire novak will see a stray animal and be like, is anyone gonna project onto this, and not wait for an answer

Summary: Claire helps Patience hone her abilities. Patience helps Claire track down a cat.

Written for SPN Women Week Day 1. Prompt: "skills"

Bub is missing again.

“Bub” is the name of a mean stray cat missing a chunk from his ear. Claire’s been leaving cat food out for the ugly old thing for weeks now, and whenever he doesn’t come running she panics.

So, for the third time, Patience finds herself enlisted in the search for a cat that Claire doesn’t even technically own. “If it’s gonna bother you this much every time,” Patience says, “why don’t you just take it in? You know, get him his shots, a collar, a microchip.”

Claire makes a face at her before turning back to look at the road. She’s been driving around the neighborhood slowly, scoping out every shrub and checking under every parked car. “Bub doesn’t want to be chained down,” she explains. “He’s a free spirit.”

Alright, well, Patience is too tired to unpack that right now. She lets it lie and looks out the passenger’s side window, alert for any signs of movement. “Maybe he was never a stray at all,” she tries, “and his owner finally tracked him down and brought him home.”

“Do you know that?” Claire asks.

Claire’s always asking if Patience knows things— what happened on Jody’s date last weekend, what Dean’s middle name is, whether or not Alex is the one who ate the last ice cream sandwich in the freezer. Patience keeps trying to explain that she can only see the future. “Psychic” might be a misnomer— her abilities are precognitive, not telepathic.

She basically gets previews, little spoilers about what’s to come. And though she’s been working at it, she can’t seem to get her psychic abilities to do the kind of reading and divination her grandma could do. She gets glimpses with no context, no backstory.

Missouri Moseley could walk into a room and feel every ounce of heartbreak, grief, hope and faith in the people standing there. Patience can barely pick up on it when Alex and Claire are pissed at each other.

Still, Claire brings her along whenever the cat goes missing. Seems to think her ESP can home in on missing animals. Patience keeps telling her otherwise, and yet here she is, once again. That’s the trouble with having no social life and no better plans.

Maybe she should join a book club.

Claire rounds the corner, eyes darting around for any sight of the mangy cat. The first time Bub vanished from Claire’s sight, all the neighbors seemed intent to help. They explained they hadn’t seen the cat, but hoped Claire would find him soon and offered baked goods and platitudes in the meantime.

But these things have an expiration date. You can only lose the cat so many times before the routine gets old and the neighbors lose interest.

“My educated guess ?” Patience sighs. “The cat’ll come back when it gets hungry. Just like before.”

Claire makes a tch sound and mouths “educated guess” under her breath. Apparently, because Patience is psychic she’s supposed to be omniscient. “So which is it?” Claire says. “Is he back with his ‘real’ owners or is he going to come home when he gets hungry?”

“Don’t be a jerk,” Patience says. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m helping you.”

“... Yeah. You are,” Claire says, ducking her head. “Sorry.” Her eyes scan the road ahead, looking for the telltale streak of a cat darting out from under a parked car or vanishing around a tree trunk. Still nothing. “Hey, Patience the Pet Psychic,” Claire says. “You should write that down, that’d be a great children’s book.”

“Very funny,” Patience says, rolling her eyes. She’s silent for a few moments and then says, “Cla-aire the Monster Slayer.”

“That doesn’t really rhyme.”

“Sure it does.”

When the sky darkens and the streetlights flick on, Claire drives them back to the house, Bub-less and dejected. “I’m sure he’s fine,” Patience tries.

Claire bunches her shoulders, the collar of her leather jacket looking like a cat’s raised hackles. Maybe, Patience thinks, that’s the connection— Claire in many ways resembles an angry cat. She and Bub might be kindred spirits.

“I’m just tired,” Claire says, yanking the keys out of the ignition. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

Patience considers pointing out that Claire could at least ask instead of just assuming , considers reminding Claire that she has her own life outside of playing “pet psychic.”

But she doesn’t actually have anything to do tomorrow. Or the rest of the week. And as futile as it feels riding around looking for a runaway cat, it is something to do. And it makes Claire feel better.

And… straining her psychic muscles to pick up on any trace of the old tomcat is at least better than doing nothing and letting her abilities degrade. Over the last year, she’s been trying to find ways to train her brain, shape her psychic visions into something useful.

Jody’s supportive, but she, like most people, doesn’t know anything about being psychic. Kaia’s got a fraught relationship with her own special skills and usually chooses not to talk to Patience about seeing the future, and Alex is so entrenched in nursing and hunting that the few “normal” moments she gets at home are devoted to unwinding and relaxing.

Which makes Claire Patience’s most ardent supporter in developing her psychic abilities. A very grouchy, blonde and mostly clueless Yoda. What she lacks in background knowledge she makes up for in persistence.

“Hey, Patience, guess which hand?” Claire will ask, holding the last fortune cookie behind her back. “Hey, Patience, what number am I thinking of?” Claire will ask, perched on the arm of the couch. “Hey, Patience, heads or tails?” Claire will ask, flipping a coin to catch it in midair.

That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of it works— Patience can’t predict things at will. Her psychic visions operate on a schedule of their own, with no concern for Patience’s own convenience or comfort. One minute, she’s watching shitty reality TV while Alex nods off on her shoulder. The next, she’s watching Jody narrowly avoid being bitten by a vampire.

It’s a lot different from just guessing a coin toss. Still. Patience can’t help but think that her grandma would’ve passed all of Claire’s little tests with flying colors.

That night, Patience doesn’t dream about anything— at least, not anything useful. She has an anxiety dream about being lost in Aldi, roaming the aisles with increasing frustration. But nothing about the future. Nothing about Bub the cat.

She’s pouring herself a bowl of cereal when Claire stomps inside, the porch door swinging shut behind her. “Still gone,” she says darkly, grabbing the cereal box and her own bowl. “Food hasn’t been touched.”

“Claire,” Patience says, “why don’t we just go to the SPCA? You can get yourself a cat that’s not, you know—”

“What? Not damaged? Not a lost cause? Not hard to love?”

Whoa, Patience wants to say. “A cat that’s not missing ,” she finishes. “We can get him his shots and a collar and everything.”

“I don’t— I don’t just want some random cat,” Claire says. “I want to find Bub. I want… I want to find him and bring him home. I have to bring him home.”

“I know,” Patience says, and just like that she does . She does know.

She knows everything, feels everything, the aching loss in Claire’s bones that’s both recent and so, so old. Memories of Claire hitchhiking and stealing and conning her way through the country, desperately chasing a mother who was desperately chasing a dead man. Jimmy Novak’s voice in her head, his face seen through Claire’s eyes, Please, Castiel, take me. Just take me. Again, his forehead pressed to hers, Take care of your mom, okay, bub?

Bub.

Patience looks at Claire. Sees her, in a way she hasn’t been able to see anyone before. “Bub… ‘bub’ is what your dad used to call you.”

Claire squints at her. “Uh. Yeah,” she says. “Wait, I didn’t… I didn’t tell you that.”

“No,” Patience breathes, meeting her eyes across the kitchen, “you didn’t.”

Slowly, a grin spreads across Claire’s face. “Holy shit , Patience, you just… ? You just did that. You, like, read me.”

“I, uh, I didn’t know. That I could do that,” Patience says, caught between marveling at this new development and feeling self-conscious at intruding on Claire’s emotions and her past.

Claire doesn’t seem put off at all. She’s actually bouncing with excitement. “We gotta test this out. Oh my God. It’s like a whole new Pokemon evolution for you.”

“It’s not really. Like that. In any way.”

But Claire is already humming the Pokemon theme song. She grabs her car keys. “Alright, well, let’s go look for that cat. I’ve got a good feeling about today.”

“I read you, Claire, that doesn’t mean I can read the cat,” Patience reminds her.

“Yeah, yeah, but you can still help me look,” Claire says. “I don’t need your third eye, just the two on your face.”

“That’s… yeah, fine,” Patience acquiesces. To be honest, she’s buzzing with the knowledge of what she can do with her powers. If Claire’s happy to be her test subject, she’ll spend all day with the girl. “Just let me grab a coffee.”

“Ooh, me too. Wait!” She wiggles her fingers toward Patience. “Do you Know how I like my coffee?”

“Half-and-half. And enough sugar to kill you,” Patience reels off. “But that’s not because I’m psychic. I’ve just seen you fix yourself coffee before.”

“Y’know, I think the line between ‘psychic’ and ‘observant’ is thinner than you might think.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Patience says, and then pretends to stumble backward toward the table, overacting the part. “Oh, oh, I’m having a vision… I see you … making coffee for us…”

Claire rolls her eyes, but she dutifully sets her keys down and busies herself with getting the travel mugs out. “That’s not gonna work for everything, you know.”

“Aaah I see you bringing Jody’s suit to the dry cleaners next week. I also see you driving me to the science museum.”

“Hilarious.”

Patience smiles at her. It’s nice to have someone else get excited about her powers. It’s nice to be allowed to be excited about this, to learn a new skill and have it mean something good to someone besides herself. She doesn’t feel like a freak or a failure. She just feels… like a psychic.

She feels like her grandma would be proud.

[sergeantsporks]

Nowhere Else to Go

Rating: Teen, Gen

Graphic depictions of violence, Major character death.

TW: Self-harm, mentioned child abuse, emotional manipulation

Chapter 1/4: Houseguest

The titan's plan wasn't some glorious purpose. Hunter found that out the hard way. And now there's not many places he can turn to.

Ao3

“I’m going to get more elixir.”

“Thank you, Mother.”

“I will be gone for a few hours.”

“Right.”

“You’ll be okay alone for a few hours?”

 Lilith looked up from where she was poring over a few of the ancient scrolls her mother had picked up trying to heal Eda—even if they were mostly hoaxes, there was likely a grain of truth in them. “Yes, Mom. I’m sure I can handle a few hours on my own.” Probably better than I do when you’re hovering over my shoulder.

Her mother paused at the door. “Love you, sweet flea.”

“Love you too, mom.”

And then she was gone. It was an… odd sensation, having her mother so worried about her. Caring so much. Lilith could almost understand why Eda had felt so smothered.

That didn’t mean it was a necessarily bad feeling. Just… different.

Lilith stretched and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Alright. Time to stop staring at bogus documents before she started needing to wear glasses all of the time again.

A knock at the door echoed through the silent house, and she frowned. No way that her mother was back yet. Lilith scribbled a few glyphs down  on scraps of paper and approached the door slowly, opening it with a jerk. The world tilted and dropped away beneath her.

Belos was at the door.

He’d come to finish her off—

What if her mother came home?!

“Lilith—” Belos started.

Lilith didn’t give him the chance to get any further. She slapped one of her light glyphs, squeezing her eyes shut as the flash went off, then went on the offensive, kicking Belos in the chest.

“I might not be the witch I used to be, but I am not powerless,��� she hissed, sweeping his legs out from underneath him and tracing a quick ice glyph in the dirt to make shackles of ice that locked him in place.

“Wait!” Belos yelped, “It’s not—I’m not—Lilith, I’m not the emperor!”

“That is just about the worst ploy I’ve ever heard. Any last words before I rid the Boiling Isles of your rot?”

“You were the one who burned a shelf of library books because you were using wild magic!” he yelped in a very un-Belos-like voice.

It was an incredibly random detail to bring up, and filled her with a really ridiculous amount of annoyance given the situation she was in. “That brat! He promised he wouldn’t tell you!”

“I didn’t!” Belos protested, then after a second, “Hey, brat?! Really?!”

Waitasecond. Lilith squinted at him. “…Golden Guard?”

“Not anymore,” Belos replied sullenly.

Right. There was probably a reasonable explanation for this. “You… hit a growth spurt? And changed the outfit?”

He didn’t reply. Lilith heard something that sounded suspiciously like a sniff. “Are you… okay?” she ventured.

“NO, I’m NOT!” he burst, “Uncle Belos, he did—I don’t know, something, and now I’m stuck in his rotting body, and I… I don’t understand!”

A single tear rolled out from under Belos’ mask, and Lilith ripped the thing off.

Oh.

Oh, that was gross. Lilith stumbled back with a yelp. “What is that?!”

“Oh, what, like you turning into a great big owl monster is any better?” he retorted.

“Yes! Yes it is!” Lilith melted the ice shackles, squinting at him. “What… what happened?!”

“I don’t know,” he repeated, sitting up, “It’s a curse of some kind, but he never told me anything about it, I just…”

“No, wait, better question. Why did you come here?! We’ve never gotten along—what are you playing?”

He looked away, his hands balling Belos’ robes up into fists. “I… didn’t know where else to go.”

“My sister would have been a better bet,” Lilith said flatly, “She seems to be making a habit of collecting strays recently. Let’s see, misplaced demon king, human, bird worm—yes, I do believe a kid trapped in the body of her worst enemy would fit right in.”

“You think I didn’t consider that first? But I’m willing to bet that’s exactly where Belos will be going. If he plays the runaway card, your sister will be putty in his—or my, technically—hands. And I don't think they'd listen to me while I look like this.”

The momentary flare of hurt that Eda was, once again, the first choice, was almost immediately overturned with the thought of Belos sneaking into the owl house. Lilith ran for her mother’s crystal ball. “I’ve got to warn her!”

The golden guard hesitated in the doorway, watching her as she opened and slammed shut cabinets. She glanced at him. “What?!”

“Can I—you never answered—”

“What? Yes. Fine. Come in. Try not to get that weird face slime on the floor, my mother will freak.” Lilith tore through the cabinets. “Oh, come on! I know she has one! Hey, guard boy, help me look.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Lilith rolled her eyes, performing a smarmy little bow as she opened another drawer. “Oh, do lower thineself to help such a peasant as I, Golden Guard, sir.”

He scooted a little further into the house, checking under the couch. “Just Hunter. Please.”

Lilith paused, mid-slamming of a cabinet door. “That’s your name?”

“Of course it is!”

Of cOuRsE iT iS. Lilith finished slamming the cabinet shut. “Pardon me, but you never deigned to tell me! Or Kikimora!”

“The human never told you, though?”

“The hu—Luz? Oh, of course you told her. Sure. Why not? I suppose I’m always the last to know.” Lilith opened one last cabinet. “Oh, finally!” she pulled out the crystal ball. “Owl House. Edalyn Clawthorne.”

The ball went hazy, then re-asserted itself to a lovely view of Hooty’s face. “LULU!!!!!”

Despite the severity of the situation, despite the fact that Hunter-in-the-body-of-Belos was standing right there—hiding behind the couch, actually what was he doing there?—Lilith felt a smile creep over her face. “Hootcifer! Hey, the Golden Guard hasn’t shown his face around there, has he?”

“Bad but sad? Noooooope!”

“I resent that nickname,” Hunter muttered from his hiding spot.

“Okay. Good. I need you to make sure he doesn’t come in, and if Edalyn tries to bring him in… let him know exactly why it was so hard for me to capture my sister.”

“Okay! Any reason why?”

“Belos is up to something. I can’t tell you much over the crystal ball, I don’t know who’s watching. But the Golden Guard is part of it, and you can’t trust him. Don’t let him in, no matter what sob story he sells.”

“Got it, Lulu!”

The crystal ball faded to its usual blue color, and Lilith knelt on the couch, peering over the back at Hunter. “…What are you doing?”

“I’d think it was pretty obvious.”

Lilith thought she just might strangle this kid before the day was out. “Okay, fine. Why are you hiding behind the couch?”

“Because I look like Belos, and if they saw me here, they’d probably come swooping to your rescue.”

Lilith crossed her arms. “Maybe I’ll let them. So what if Belos was using you? He used all of us, you’re not special. At least I was trying to help my sister and fix the mistake I made. What’s your excuse?”

“I… don’t have one.”

“Wonderful.” Lilith grabbed the back of his robes, yanking him up to his feet. “Out. If Belos comes looking for you—”

Hunter grabbed her wrist, panicked. “Please don’t kick me out! I don’t…”

“Have anywhere else to go, I know.” Lilith twisted her arm out of his grasp. “Fine. Fine. Luckily for you, I’m trying to be a… better person.”

Hunter snorted.

“Do you want to stay here or not, brat?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Then stop acting like one! Belos told you that you were special, and you believed him. This body swap thing? That’s why you were special, okay, it wasn’t because you had some great purpose, you weren’t meant to save anyone, or make the world a better place or any of that, you were just the perfect vessel for him to stick his slimy soul in, so don’t act like you’re better than me, because you’re not.”

Hunter jerked back, his lip quivering. Lilith took in a deep breath. Okay. Maybe that had been a bit too far—she had to remind herself that this kid was Luz’s age, just about, and he hadn’t really had anyone but Belos. “Belos was… good at making people do what he wanted. He uses people and then throws them away. I know. I get it. I’ve been there. You don’t even realize what he’s doing until he’s already cast you aside. But you’re here now—you know what he’s like, you know what he does. Welcome to Belos’ garbage can, Hunter. You better get used to it here, because Belos isn’t taking you back.”

The door burst open. “Lilith, who are yelling a—”

Lilith whirled around to see her mother standing in the door. She dropped the sack she was carrying and summoned her staff. “YOU!”

“Mother, wait—”

Too late. Her mother practically flew across the room, delivering a flawless blow to Hunter’s gut. He stumbled back, tripping over Belos’ robes and landing on the floor. Lilith’s mother raised the staff again, bringing it down on his head.

“YOU! YOU HURT MY DAUGHTERS!” whack. “YOU HUNT THEM LIKE ANIMALS!” whack. “AND NOW YOU’RE BACK?!” wham. “YOU’RE NOT TAKING MY DAUGHTER AWAY AGAIN, YOU MONSTER!”

Lilith grabbed her mother’s staff before she could hit Hunter again. “Wait, Mother, it’s not what you think! It’s not Belos—it’s the Golden Guard!”

“Please stop hitting me!” Hunter yelped, his arm up to shield himself from any more blows.

“The… Sweet Flea, I’m not sure that’s any better.”

Lilith gently pried her mother’s fingers from her staff. “It’s… complicated, but he’s not working for Belos anymore. Long story short, he needs a place to stay for a bit, and… if it’s okay with you—”

“If it’s okay with you, Lilith, it’s okay with me. If you’re sure he’s not up to anything.”

Hunter’s hands twisting Belos’ robes as he told her he didn’t have anywhere else flashed through her mind, and she nodded. “I’m sure. He’s… just a kid. An annoying one, yes, but.”

“A kid,” her mother sighed, “When I find the real Belos…”

“I’m sure it’ll hurt,” Hunter squeaked from the floor.

“I do apologize for that.”

Lilith hauled Hunter back to his feet. “Alright, alright, let’s find somewhere for you to take a nap, you look awful.”

“I… don’t think a nap is going to fix this.”

Lilith’s mother sloshed a bottle of elixir in one hand. “No, but I know what might help!”

“I… I don’t know. If fixing this curse was that easy, I think Belos would have—”

Mrs. Clawthorn uncorked the bottle and shoved in his mouth while he was talking. “Who said anything about fixing it? Make it manageable, perhaps, if what Edalyn and Lilith have told me is true. Drink your potion and take a nap.”

“It can’t hurt,” Lilith said quietly, “I think.”

Hunter did drink the elixir, then spit the bottle out with a grimace. “Okay, that’s horrible.”

Lilith pulled him upstairs to… Eda’s old room. “Don’t touch her stuff,” she warned, “I’m going to see about getting you something else to wear, you keep tripping on those robes. You should fit into some of my dad’s clothes.”

“Okay. Uh… I… appreciate it, Lilith.”

Lilith froze halfway through the doorway. “Sure,” she managed, “Just… don’t sell me out to Belos.” She quickly shut the door. Her mother was waiting down the hallway.

“What is the story, Lilith?”

Lilith shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Hunter… he’s been in the Emperor’s Coven since he was a kid. No magic to speak of, but he could do impressive things with a staff. We… never really got along, that’s just the way it was there. We were always competing for Belos’ favor, at each other’s throats to stay on top. Belos… always said that Hunter was special, and that the titan had plans for him. Turns out… that plan was… to steal his body. It was never the Titan’s plan, it was always Belos, planning to get out of his own cursed body.”

“Is there a way to reverse it? To switch them back?”

“I don’t know. Hunter doesn’t seem to remember what happened—it might just be shock, though. Maybe he’ll remember more about what Belos did, and we can reverse this—but we’d probably need his body back, and I’m not sure we’ll be able to find Belos.”

“One problem at a time, Sweet Flea. Let’s focus on getting him settled in, first. How long do you think he’ll need to stay?”

Lilith crossed her arms. “Long enough for me to explain the situation to Edalyn, at least, at which point he’s probably going to ditch us for her.”

“Oh, Lilith. Don’t think like that.”

Lilith glanced back at Eda’s room, making sure the door was still closed. “Actually… I… I don’t think he has that much time left,” she said in a low voice, “Maybe Emperor Belos just was inconvenienced by the curse enough that he decided to make the switch. But… I’m thinking taking over Hunter’s body was an escape plan. For when he got close to… you know.”

Her mother gasped. “You think…”

Lilith folded her arms, hugging herself. “The elixir might hold it off. Give him more time. But… probably not enough time for us to reverse this.”

“We… we can’t just give up, can we?”

“I’m not going to give up,” Lilith promised, “I’ll keep looking. But… I’m just saying that it might be all we can do to make him comfortable before… before the curse finishes what it started and… Hunter dies.”

Ch 2

[smallersocksx]

My Problems with the Pokémon Journeys Anime

Pokémon Journeys as an anime has divided the Pokémon community in so many ways but in particular last week’s episode has sparked a lot of debate and personally, I had mixed feelings about the end result. So, I thought I would write down my opinions on the Pokémon anime in its current state and comparing it to some of the previous anime.

I feel the need to say this: these are my opinions I am just as entitled to my opinions as you are to yours, so you don’t have to read this if you don’t want to. Secondly, this will probably be a long post but I’m going to split it into sections so it’s hopefully not too overwhelming.

But these feelings have been building up and up and I think I’ll feel better writing them all down and getting them off my chest to some extent.

Introduction:

So, I’ve essentially been a fan of Pokémon for as long as I can remember particularly watching the anime when I was very young. The anime didn’t really begin to stick with me though until around AG and DP in particular. The first Pokémon game, I played was DP which is why I have a particular fondness for that series and that cast of characters and Pokémon.

I didn’t watch the series as intently around the time of BW because I found Iris’ character rather annoying and I understand she developed and grew as the series went on but that initial characterization of her kind of ruined the series for me. But I did dip in and out of the series mostly for Ash’s Snivy.

My friend recommended that I watch the XY series and I fell in love with the cast and the storytelling that the series provided as it reminded me of DP. Sun and Moon was a good series as well providing fans with some of the most heart-breaking and tear-jerking episodes to date. (And Rowlet).

When they announced that Journeys was Ash travelling around the world instead of staying and travelling in a specific region, I’ll admit I was sceptical. To be honest, I kind of preferred the old formula particularly as I’m a creature of habit myself but I decided to give this new series a chance as the premise did sound interesting and there was the potential for Ash to reunite with some of his old travelling companions.

With the benefit of hindsight, I realise this was one of the problems: the series kind of relies heavily on the nostalgia provided by older fans.

The Premise:

The whole premise of Journeys was Ash and his new friend, Goh travelling the world and there lies one of the series biggest problems. For a series that is meant to be about travelling around the world, a bulk of the series has been set in Kanto in particular Vermillion City where Sakuragi/Cerise Lab is situated. Now that shouldn’t be a problem as Ash and Go need a place to stay and go home to. The problem is we are nearly 60 episodes into the series, they hardly seem to leave Vermillion City or Kanto for that matter.

I went through all the episode synopses released so far to see how many episodes Ash and Go travelled to an alternative region. In this case a visit to a different region only counts if Ash and Goh (and Chloe) visit the region therefore episode 32 wouldn’t count:

Johto – 2 episodes

Hoenn – 4 episodes

Sinnoh – 2 episodes

Unova – 2 episodes

Kalos – 2 episodes

Alola – 1 episode

Galar – 11 episodes

Arguably, as this is meant to a Gen 8 anime, its not particularly shocking that they have visited Galar the most especially as Ash hopes to battle Leon someday. Nevertheless, the initial premise and selling point of the Journeys series is travelling the world and yet only 2/5 of the series so far has been set outside of Vermillion City. They promised the world (no pun intended) and are kind of falling flat…

 Goh and his goal:

Now Goh is certainly a character that has divided the community some love him and some definitely hate him. Personally, I’m in the middle, I like Goh’s personality I thought his rational and logical personality made him a great counterbalance for Ash. The problem I have with him is: his goal, his rapid character development, and his status as a protagonist.

1)   His Goal:

Goh’s goal is to catch every Pokémon in existence and considering there over 800 Pokémon that is a lofty goal to begin with. Initially, I thought it was an interesting goal as we never had a character wanting to catch every Pokémon as there are some trainers in the anime universe who only specialise in a specific type, some who catch only cute Pokémon, some who only catch evolutionary lines etc. Therefore, I thought this was an interesting goal and wondered how they would execute its portrayal and there lies the problem…

Goh was named after the game Pokémon Go and is essentially being used as a walking advertisement for Pokémon Go and the Let’s Go series as his gimmick is throwing a Poke Ball at a random Pokémon which can get pretty old very fast. I honestly didn’t understand the need to create a character to promote these games as it has been 4 years since the release of Pokémon Go. Arguably, they could be trying to re-ignite the hype around Pokémon Go as after the initial excitement a lot of people stopped playing or uninstalled it as it was taking up a lot of space on their phone.

One of the things, I particularly love about the anime series is not only the human cast gaining character development but their Pokémon as well. Around the AG series, the writers really begun improving on giving each Pokémon their own unique personality traits as well as traits of their species. It gave the Pokémon more depth and made them memorable for example there’s Dawn’s prideful Piplup, Brock’s weird and wonderful Sudowoodoo who would salute every time he came out of his Poke Ball, Clemont’s gluttonous Chespin and Serena’s shy Eevee to later a confident Sylveon. The list could go on and on but I think you get the point. Therefore, this gives me my second issue with Goh’s goal.

Goh’s goal is to catch every single Pokémon currently in existence, with so many Pokémon, there is difficulty feeling any attachment to them. Cinderace and Sobble (and now Grookey) are the Pokémon Goh is most seen with, needless to say, Cinderace underwent a lot of development and was interested in battling which to be honest I found a little strange as Goh’s goal doesn’t particularly align with Cinderace’s interests. Nevertheless, it is clear that Cinderace is Goh’s ace and utilises him when he does need to battle. Sobble didn’t receive any development until 26 episodes after his capture. However, aside from Cinderace and Sobble we don’t feel any particular attachment to his other Pokémon, one strength is that anime does give each of his Pokémon some spotlight like Goh using his Goldeen to teach Jinny’s Feebas how to swim elegantly but aside from that.

My final issue with Goh’s goal is development, from a story-telling point of view his goal isn’t that engaging like with some of the other goals we’ve had in the series. Take Dawn for example her goal is to be Top Coordinator in order to do that she needs to win 5 Ribbons, participate in the Grand Festival and win the Ribbon Cup. On paper it sound simple but it’s not, we have Dawn’s arc where she lost twice in the Performance Stage fell into depression, lost confidence in her abilities and was uncertain as to whether or not she was a good coordinator. It wasn’t until she befriended May and competed against her that Dawn found a renewed sense of confidence in her abilities, even after that Dawn still lost a few contests before being able to compete in the Grand Festival where even then there were a few rough moments like her battle with Ursula.

My point is even though Dawn (and May’s) goal looks simple on paper they had a lot of struggle to get there. Whereas, with Goh’s goal and the current execution of it, I don’t get that same sense of story-telling especially when he’s already caught a Legendary Pokémon, there just isn’t that same level of struggle. The most I could see Goh struggling at this moment is not catching a Pokémon the first time round.

2) His rapid development

One of the biggest issues I have with Journeys is pacing and development, and this issue isn’t just exclusive to Goh. In the beginning, Goh is a rookie trainer after catching Scorbunny and as we saw in the Flute Cup his lack of battling experience caused him to be eliminated very quickly and yet 29 episodes later, he’s defeating a Flygon with a Fire-type and using a technique Ash had once used himself in his battle against Grant. I understand Ash and Goh are close friends and understandably their traits are going to rub off on one another for example Goh’s logic and caution has rubbed off on Ash to the extent Ash had his Dragonite use Dragon Dance in his battle with Korrina. Before this, we’d never seen Ash use these types of moves in his Pokémon battles. I have no issues with Goh developing as a character, everyone loves good character development, my issue is with how rapid it is.

I’ll use Dawn’s arc as an example again, I loved it because it was well-paced, in the first season of DP Dawn was overconfident in her abilities which led to some losses particularly towards the end of the first series and Dawn didn’t fully recover from this until nearly midway through the second series of DP. Arguably, Ash’s influence has caused Goh to develop an interest in battles but I feel like we haven’t seen him go through enough battles to justify the level he is at.

3) His status as a Protagonist

To be honest, I didn’t realise Goh has a protagonist status until someone pointed it out to me, I just saw him as another one of Ash’s travelling companions. This is one of the biggest issues Goh haters have with him and that’s feeling as though Goh is taking the spotlight away from Ash and there are a lot of episodes focusing on Goh. Arguably, Ash has taken on the role of mentor like Brock had done once for him. However, my issue with Goh’s protagonist status is that I don't feel like Goh's goal justifies him having it, even in episodes focusing on Ash and his participation in the World Coronation Series, Goh still manages to catch a Pokémon which as I mentioned before it got old pretty fast. I can understand some people would see this as a good thing they are both closer towards their goals but if an episode advertises its going to focus on one character, I want it to focus on that character.

In some of the previous series when May, Dawn and Serena were participating in Contests or Showcases, Ash would generally put his training the back burner and support his friends. Likewise, his travelling companions would support him during his gym battles. In some cases, Ash would even get ideas for his own battles from watching them compete like the Counter Shield from Ash watching Dawn and Ambipom.

Sometimes, I feel like Goh is there for the sake of being there like in Episode 56, I honestly felt like him and Scyther/Scizor didn’t need to be there. The episode did focus on Ash and Farfetch’d relationship improving but I felt like the only reason Goh was there was to have his Scyther evolve their presence at the training camp didn’t really contribute anything to the story.

Ash and his Pokémon:

Whenever Ash starts a new journey, he always starts with a clean slate leaving his most recent Pokemon with Professor Oak or Kukui. One of the things that excites fans the most is guessing which new Pokemon from the new generation Ash would catch. Arguably, since Sun and Moon, certain traditions have been turned on their head. Some of these traditions included:

Ash catching the regional bird e.g., Starly, Pidove, Fletchling etc.

Catching at least one of the region’s starters

Although, in Sun and Moon, Ash never caught the regional bird and it was one of the first series with Ash not having a water-type either. However, in this current series, Ash only has 2 Generation 8 Pokémon being Farfetch’d (which will evolve into Sirfetch’d) and Dracovish. This is kind of understandable as Ash isn’t based or travelling around Galar but to be honest it’s still disappointing.

As many of you know, in the most recent episode Goh caught Grookey completing the Galar starter trio (which I’ll cover later), however, a majority of the fandom wanted Ash to have Grookey as they felt personality-wise Ash would be compatible with the Chimp Pokémon and it would continue the long-held tradition of Ash catching one of the new region’s starter Pokémon which is why this latest capture has sparked a lot of controversy with some people calling Goh a thief.

Personally, I would have liked Ash to catch Grookey but in one of the earlier episodes like when they first visited Galar. The reason for this being the storyline development and I know many will argue Ash is a Champion he doesn’t need a starter at this point but Leon in the Sword and Shield games took on and trained the starter that was left over after the Protagonist and Hop had chosen theirs. However, as I mentioned earlier one of the things, I love about the anime is each Pokémon having their own personality and character but also their own traumas and trials to overcome alongside their trainer this can be particularly reflected in the case of Ash and Infernape.

I am not trying to suggest they re-create the Ash and Infernape storyline with Ash and a Grookey but one of the ways a Pokémon develops as a character is through evolution or in some cases like Pikachu and Bulbasaur choosing not to evolve and finding strength in staying the way that they are. Pokémon when they evolve can go through personality-changes whether that be good or bad but having a Pokemon at its first evolutionary stage allows us to go through that development and journey with them.

Which is one of the issues, I have with the series, Ash caught two fully evolved Pokémon being Dragonite and Gengar. Before anyone gives me any grief, I love Dragonite and Gengar’s personalities but as they are fully evolved, we don’t get that same sense of development as we’ve had with some of Ash’s other Pokémon. The only development I could see for these two is potentially learning a new move or overcoming a stronger Pokémon alongside Ash. But having two fully evolved Pokémon makes it difficult to go on a journey of development alongside them. There is also the fact, Dragonite and Gengar are meant to be incredibly strong Pokémon and yet Ash hardly uses them.

Another one of the biggest issues in Journeys as previously mentioned is Ash not fully utilising his team. Whenever, a battle occurs Ash either uses Pikachu or Lucario, the others are kind of pushed to the side and that annoys me so much particularly with Farfetch’d and Gengar. I’ll start with Gengar, Gengar was abandoned by its previous trainer and told to wait in an abandoned building that would later become Cerise Laboratory and in the earlier half of the series (before Riolu) Ash utilised Gengar a lot like in his battle with Visquez and Team Rocket but after Riolu came along Ash used Gengar less and less. In Episode 57, Gengar was taking its anger out on Renji, Chloe and Chrysa and Chloe pointed out that it may have been angry Ash left it behind. This is what I found frustrating; Ash is kind of repeating the behaviour of Gengar’s previous trainer.

Next is Farfetch’d, personality-wise Farfetch’d reminds me of Ash’s Buizel and Hawlucha, with how prideful and aloof it is. I feel like the writers thought they couldn’t flesh out Lucario any further so they decided to focus on Farfetch’d and after two Farfetch’d-focused episodes I can’t help but feel that Farfetch’d is going to evolve in the next episode and that’s what annoys me, that is lazy writing, they haven’t given time to develop Ash and Farfetch’d relationship although it has definitely improved since Episode 56, I feel like it’s too soon. Farfetch’d has so much potential to grow as a character before evolving as I previously mentioned evolution in the Pokémon universe can contribute towards development and I feel like for Farfetch’d they’ll use it in a positive light as Sirfetch’d are noted for their fighting spirit and noble personality. But, as I mentioned before, I would have liked to have seen more development before an evolution.

Then there is Dracovish, this was a completely unexpected capture, however, many fans were surprised by how strong Dracovish was in the games. However, Dracovish was captured in Episode 50 and nearly 10 episodes later, we haven’t seen it… On the other hand, many of Dracovish’s Pokédex entries state that it can’t breathe unless its underwater, therefore, applying that logic to the anime world, may make battling with it difficult...

Team Rocket:

One of the biggest complaints’ viewers have is the series use of Team Rocket. Particularly, using their use of the Gacha machine and using them to create easy conflict. I love Team Rocket; they are basically lovable idiots to me. They’re meant to be “bad guys” but we’ve seen on many occasions they’re kindness and compassion such as rescuing a bunch of wild Ekans and Koffing from a Pokémon hunter and releasing their Arbok and Weezing to protect them whilst they distract the hunter, Meowth sympathising and trying to cheer up Litten following Stoutland’s death are just two examples of their kindness.

Nevertheless, the Journeys series has been utilising them poorly using them as convenient plot device and in my opinion Team Rocket deserve so much better than this. Initially, a lot of viewers may have found the Gacha device interesting but much like Goh throwing a Poké ball at a random Pokémon it got old fast. Similar to one of my issues with Goh, we don’t feel any attachment to the Gacha Pokémon they use unlike other series where they had their own Pokémon which I’ll get on to in a minute.

I feel like the writers missed a huge opportunity, as one of the initial selling points of the series, particularly to the older fans was nostalgia. Team Rocket keep some of their old Pokémon in Team Rocket Headquarters and as the series seems to like staying in Vermillion City, Team Rocket could have collected their old Pokémon and use them similar to when they brought some of their Hoennian Pokémon to Sinnoh. I loved some of Team Rocket’s Pokémon like James’ Mime Jr. and Inkay and Jessie’s Gourgeist and her Yanmega was noted to be strong.

Moreover, in series such as AG, DP and XY they expanded on Team Rocket’s role outside of trying to steal. Jessie showed a promising career in Pokémon Coordinating (particularly in DP) and Pokémon Performing, I loved how she became a rival for Dawn and Serena and particularly in XY, Jessie showed maturity in her loss in the Semi-Finals much to Meowth and Gourgeist’s surprise compared to when she begrudgingly congratulated Dawn on her victory. I just loved the fact in these series they expanded on Team Rocket, showed their friendship and support for one another whether it was cheering each other on from the side-lines or willingly helping Jessie in her pursuits of fame and glory. I realize in Journeys, it’s a bit difficult to expand on Team Rocket’s role in this way but they way they are currently using Team Rocket is to be honest kind of insulting to them as characters who we’ve watched grow over the years.

Chloe, Yamper and Eevee

I’ll get this out the way, I honestly love Chloe, and I’ve loved her development so far, I think they’ve gotten the pacing right for her when they’ve given her focus. I think many people like Chloe because she is similar to Serena, in the sense, she doesn’t have a goal and is discovering what she wants to do in life which is something a lot of people find relatable. I think what would be interesting for Chloe’s character if she does decide to be a Pokémon Professor after initially feeling as though the idea was being forced on her by her peers. Anyways, one of the biggest issues with Journeys is pacing, it takes ages before they actually decide to give a character development and ever since Chloe got Eevee, I feel as though Yamper has been pushed to the side (which is kind of ironic as Chloe calls Ash out on this) and I know Yamper is Professor Cerise’s Pokémon but Yamper acknowledges Chloe more than his own trainer. I feel like a great way to use Yamper was for Professor Cerise to actually give Yamper to Chloe when she was old enough to have a Pokémon, as a lot of Chloe’s earlier development was a result of her bond with Yamper.

Next is Eevee, I love Eevee it is one of my favourite Pokemon, but I also feel similar to Goh, she’s a walking advertisement for the Let’s Go Eevee game as she is unable to evolve. However, the fact that Eevee is unable to evolve makes her a good match for Chloe who is uncertain of her own dreams. Nevertheless, what I don’t understand is why they are trying to promote one of their older games in a new generation (especially when Lana’s Eevee (which don’t get me started) should have filled that role). Also, with Chloe catching Eevee, arguably, she should be joining Ash and Goh frequently, this could allow for Chloe and Eevee to develop and find their own path but aside from joining them twice in Galar, they’ve hardly left Kanto. Which is frustrating because I love Chloe and Eevee and I don’t want it to be another 20 episodes before we get any development from either of them.

Structure

I’ve realized that above I’ve kind of been focusing on the characters and some of the issues surrounding them. Arguably, one of Journeys biggest issues is structure or lack of it for that matter and pacing. Everything is all over the place but I’ll cover each section.

Pacing:

One of my biggest gripes with the series is pacing, lately we have been having back-to-back filler episodes and I don’t mind having filler every now and then to give us a break as you don’t want a show to be too content-heavy. And I don’t mind when the filler is at least entertaining but that Gulpin episode from two weeks ago was absolutely pointless, I’m sorry. So much stuff has taken place off-screen and Ash went up by 500 ranks to Rank 415 they could have taken out some of the filler episodes and used it to show Ash training at least or put it towards actual development for characters like Chloe and Eevee or Farfetch’d.

Another issue, I have with the pacing and I think a lot of you will hopefully agree is the pace of Goh catching a legendary Pokemon (which I’m in the middle about). Normally, around the end of the series, all of the respective characters have found or are closer to their goal like Dawn and Serena coming Runner-Up in their respective competitions or having confidence to keep pursuing their goal. This is normally, in the last series of that generation’s anime adaptation but Goh’s already achieved such a huge milestone towards his goal in the second series. I can’t help but feel as though this has been completely rushed.

Continuity:

Continuity in Journeys is strange, I can see it as a strength and a weakness. I’ll start off with the positives, continuity-wise I like the fact that Journeys at least references to past episodes and characters for example episode 57 Chloe’s younger brother says he’s going to a sleepover at his friend, Jinny’s house, the girl with the Feebas from episode 31. Or episode 47, Goh uses his prize from winning the Pokémon Eating Contest to have a dessert tour around Unova’s Castelia City. These small examples of continuity are something I can appreciate. But I can’t help but feel some of the past characters returning are merely fan-service for the older fans, so far, some of the character returns haven’t really contributed to the series’ narrative aside from the Alola episode contributing to Goh’s development.

A good example of utilising a past character is the Wallace Cup arc, with May and Dawn helping each other out of a losing streak and allowing Dawn to renew her confidence. I think no matter the outcome, both Coordinators gained something from the tournament even if Dawn lost to May, I think she would have had a regained her confidence but winning the Aqua Ribbon allowed her to re-affirm her self-belief and skills.

Episodic vs Linear:

Now I’ve watched a few videos on this to have a better understanding, the reason why Journeys feels so unstructured is that for some reason the writers chose to go down an episodic route instead of linear. The best example I know of episodic storytelling is Phineas and Ferb where characters and elements are introduced and can come back. But utilising episodic storytelling in a series like Pokémon feels like an unnatural choice we’re meant to be following these characters and their journeys towards achieving their goals whereas in a linear narrative this would be a lot clearer.

The Setting:

A lot of people have an issue with the fact that a series, that promises travelling the world, it really fell flat. As I have previously mentioned, so far only 2/5 of the episodes have taken place in other regions, most of the time Ash and Goh end up staying in Vermillion City. With the way things are currently being executed, I honestly would have preferred a Sword and Shield anime, with Ash at least travelling around Galar, it would allow for the Galar story to be more fleshed out instead of shoe-horned into a four-episode arc and with the announcement of the Sinnoh re-makes, I feel as though they are going to promote that in some way in the anime later on. (Perhaps with a Dawn cameo).

As I’ve been writing this, I’ve kind of realised one gripe I have with the anime that has become rather blatant as of late. That is the commercialism in the anime, I understand the anime is utilised to promote the game and re-makes of games but with this latest series the commercialism is blatant and honestly annoying. An early example of using the anime to promote a game was the Johto arc in DP to promote HeartGold and SoulSilver. Whereas, currently we have Goh, the human advertisement for Pokémon Go and Chloe’s Eevee promoting Let’s Go Eevee (which I honestly don’t see the need to advertise older games).

The controversary with Grookey…

Needless to say, the latest episode of Pokemon Journeys has sparked a lot of debate and anger particularly from Goh haters who have declared him a thief and are dropping the anime. There are some people who don’t mind Goh catching Grookey, they may have disliked the storyline they used for Goh to catch Grookey. I’ve made my feelings clear, that I would have preferred for Grookey to have been introduced much earlier and for Ash to have caught it.

However, I do have an issue with the way Goh caught Grookey as I can kind of understand why people are calling Goh a thief, I wouldn’t go that far maybe immoral at the most. The initial concept of Grookey belonging to Team Rocket was interesting but the whole story falls flat when they don’t give us any backstory like how did Team Rocket catch Grookey? why was Grookey so desparate to stay with Goh? was Grookey being mistreated by Team Rocket?

Honestly, if Grookey was being mistreated by Team Rocket, I’d understand why it’d want to leave them but this is Jessie, James and Meowth, the trio that released Mimikyu and Mareanie since they didn’t want them to be left in Team Rock Headquarters because they’d thought Mimikyu and Mareanie would be unhappy. So, I honestly can’t see the mistreatment storyline.

Also, the fact that Grookey smashed its own Poké Ball to gain its freedom kind of undermines other storylines that have seen Pokémon being abused by their trainers as they could have arguably smashed their Poké Balls to gain their freedom. Although, you could argue there is an element of fear in these cases.

I feel like if they built up the story more, I may have been more accepting but I kind of find it hypocritical in the sense Goh wants this Pokémon that belongs to someone else and it smashes its own Poké Ball to be with him. Whereas, its bad when Team Rocket try to steal someone else’s Pokémon but its okay for Goh because he’s the protagonist. Considering this is a kids anime that kind of sends the wrong message. I honestly would have found it more interesting if Grookey decided to stay with Team Rocket that would have been an interesting twist with Team Rocket having a starter Pokémon on their side. Plus, we know, James loves his Grass-types.

Conclusion:

Basically, I needed to get this off my chest and honestly, I feel much better for it. No Pokémon anime series is perfect by any means but lately I feel as though the writing has taken a huge dip and it has taken the enjoyment out of the series. I’m still trying to give the series a chance and hopefully I can warm to Grookey under Goh’s ownership, I think if the episodic formula has taken away the storytelling element that I love about the Pokémon series.

I have honestly never seen a Pokémon anime divide the community so much but I’m hoping that things begin to improve particularly if Ash’s Farfetch’d evolves in the next episode.

[ctrlemis]

art as one of the younger kids on sfw enhablr (i’m assuming you’re around 05’ - 08’) how do you feel abt the current content for the maknae line? like ik it’s not always super sexualized or anything but sometimes i see stuff that’s just the way it’s worded really rubs me the wrong way ☹️ esp bc some of the kids on here like you are so young it makes me feel like if they see stuff like that , they might start think it’s okay for others to treat them the same or vice verse … whenever i see edits of niki on tiktok , i have to avoid the comments bc there’s almost always like a “daddy” , “how is he 16” or “you don’t know what you do to me” like wtf he’s a literal child ?? it makes me so mad and honestly so uncomfortable :( and i saw an article on kboo today too that said niki apparently has around 200 explicit or mature fics written abt him on ao3 … sometimes even the fboi trope (usually when it’s written abt minors) bothers me bc i see minors writing abt it (like 13-15 y/o) and i don’t understand why they don’t just use the term player or smtg … bc they’ll go out of their way to mention how the character has sex a lot an whatnot , even that feels way too suggestive for me personally for a minor too write let aline abt a minor too , sorry for the rant,, i was just wondering how you felt … omg also though tbh i noticed that some of the minors on here / blogs in gen seem way too comfy on here like they’ll be sharing where they live , their actual names and sometimes like giving a lot of personal info … like did they not learn abt internet safety or do they just no care? as one of the older kids , i kind of worry abt them :( i really hope everybody stays safe on here <3 & some reminders: never be afraid to block anyone ! bc i’ve seen a lot of minors on here get sent stuff from the p*rn bots or just weird dms :( & u don’t need to force yourself to interact with someone , make sure ur comfy with them first !

hi anon!! firstly you're correct, i am in between 05 & 08, but as someone with basic common sense this rubs me the wrong way so much. back when i was a bigger anime fan, especially from 2020 going forword, i noticed alot of younger kids on apps like tiktok or w@ttp@d not only writing things about adults(like rengoku, toji, gojo, levi) but also minors (bakugo, itadori, megumi) and nobody really said anything? as far as tiktok, i used to see alot of younger anime fans talking about getting railed by thesw characters and so on so forth, and again, most werent talking about it, and if they did they would get attacked. and now, im seeing the same thing happening with younger idols, especially enhypen's maknae line and its so wrong.

number one, there is a difference between sexualizing and sex shaming. alot of the time when these kids get called out there respond is "lets not act like teens dont have sex" and this a response that makes no sense. regardless of whether they do or dont, as a minor you shouldnt be talking about it, especially because it puts you at risks for older people in general to pret on you. this doesnt mean i think we shouldn't educate teens on sex and etc, but talking about railing someone you dont know, older then you or not, is both dehumanizing and just disgusting. there is no way or response to justify sexualizing a minor.

the current content for the enha maknae is 50/50. alot of times ill see people writing scenarios like yandere enha and they include the maknae line and it doesnt feel right. the fboy troupe feels wrong but i see it so much for them and its like 😐😐 why are talking about how a MINOR gets around? or when they age them up purrply to do that but its not sexual😐even with smaus and series, alot if the ways things are put do not feel right. for example, using someone older then the love interest for a faceclaim? especially when the person is a minor, it doesnt feel right. even if its not your intention really think about that shit for a moment. this is a callout woth me naming names cuz this isnt shade or nothing but its basic critical thinking

i have seen the article kboo did, and its just disgusting that the article had to be made. society today is so focused on setting us back and its not setting up these kids for the future. as for the GROWN ASS ADULTS out there writing these fics about the maknaes...... get some help. that is a MINOR and you are a predator.

and youre right, alot of the younger blogs on enhablr are too okay with sharing social medias and info about them and its both shocking and worrying. even things like revealing your age seems unnecessary to me if you're a minir, especially because majority f the time these predators are waiting on that, looking for younger kids. at one point i did have my age in my pinned post and i took it down. at the wnd of the day i am a minor and thats all that is needed to be said. and a response i hear alot to going out of your way to protect yourself is "but why do i have to do this? people should know better." people should also know not to sexualize minors, but they dont. so yeah, dont give out your personal info, what you look like, social medias, etc, and if you do, be careful about that shit.

so heres the bottom line: ni-ki is 16. jungwon is 18. wonyoung is 17. leeseo is 14. eunchae is 15. jongseob is 16. bahiyyih is 17. sunoo just turned 19. all of them are minors minus sunoo, but yall were writing smut or "suggestive" stuff for sunoo before that. stop it. whether you are grown as hell or fresh off the tit yall need to have BASIC COMMON SENSE and realize that shit is fucked up.

and whats worse is thise same 'fans' go and sexualize everything, to the point where you could be 20 and bias and stan an idol whos 19 and you'll be called a predator. get it together, cuz truly, im sick of having this conversation, and ill start beating the color off/into yall if we keep coming back to this.