#ep: the color blast game

[bitwynn]

Playlist Clips

These are just short snippets inbetween the main fics and action, like those 4komas in mangas. Although the entire Playlist series is literally just (mostly) snippets inbetween the main action of running for your life away from the "fire nation". Also, yes its not lost on me that the entire thing is VERY similar to ATLA because, while they are running for their lives, a lot of the eps are very chill lol

Blue for Barbara, Yellow/Gold for Zhongli, Green for Wanderer, red for Diluc, Italics is Reader/General, Combined is Everyone. Colors only used for singing parts.

---

"No, no, no-- you don't just move your hand down, you're drawing a heart! Like-- half of one. Here, like this."

Barbara takes a step back, as you demonstrate. You hum as you dance, getting to the mentioned dance move.

"...I wanna know, know, know, know,"

"What is love!"

And with a swish of your hand, Barbara nods in understanding. "See? Just like that." After a moment of silence, she nods to herself.

"What if I do a little something like this?"

She does the move, drawing a half heart in the heart. But as she does so, hydro energy trails after her finger and actually drawing the heart in the air.

"Oh my god Barbara, that's actually perfect!"

She giggles as she waves away the energy into a mist of twinkling stars. "Its all thanks to you, really. I couldn't have become such a wonderful idol and Vision holder without you!"

"Awh, you're too sweet Barbs."

You could almost see the sweat drop form as she says these next words. "Although, I'd preferably become a better idol without the threat of death everywhere we go." "Gomen."

---

You were hauled over Diluc’s shoulder, as you two were running from the Treasure Hoarders you encountered while picking fruits. Wanderer was providing cover as Diluc ran, dark slashes of wind trailing down on the enemy.

But, you really needed these Hoarders off your tail and running while Wanderer wildly blasts air at them won't really do much. Diluc knows this as well, as he tightens his grip on you and puts on his game face.

"Hold on."

And as you scramble to find a good grip, Diluc skids to a stop-- practically drifting as he turns to face them. They couldn't know what was coming for them as Diluc suddenly showers them in a rain of throwing knives. All that was left to do was for Wanderer to finish them off. With a great leap, he jumps onto a tree and starts running on errant branches to reach camp.

Diluc sighs as he hears you start to giggle in his ear. "What is it this time?"

"Na na na na na na na, naaa na na na na na na, BATMAN!"

He sighs again, a smile forming on his face. No matter how much he denies it, he can see the comparison.

---

"Augh, Archons! Even babies can speak better Inazuman than you!" Wanderer was fuming as you sat with him near the fire. "The i in 'sekai' is silent, and its not pronounced like a bird caw, you imbecile!"

You wilt in your seat. "Man, I was just introducing you to a song!"

"Well, the song is in Inazuman! You think I'd just shut up here and listen to your screeching as you butcher my language?!"

Sheepish, you poke your fingers together. "Jeez, I was right to introduce you to this song..."

He raises an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

Looking away, a wry smile blooms on your face. "Because you really are the 'ichiban ohimesama'..."

"I'm going to strangle you now." "Fair."

---

He finds you in the dead of night, tears rolling down your face. He sits beside you, pressing a warm, tiny cup of tea into your hands. You curl up tighter in your balled up position, leeching off as much warmth as you can from your tea.

Zhongli's shoulder presses beside yours as he takes in a breath.

"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow,"

This pries a short laugh out of you, wet and harsh. A small, sad smile graces his lips.

"Like fragile tiny shells, drifting in the foam,"

You sniffle, wiping away some of your tears. "This'll only make me feel worse y'know?"

He hums. "I've found that... the catharsis in the reminiscing of old memories is much better than stewing in your grief." Zhongli looks down into his steaming tea. "Life must go on, even if we're without them."

You take a sip of the tea he brought you. "Do you ever stop missing them?" It's chamomile.

"No."

"Will it ever stop hurting?"

"The pain will fade."

You look at him, tears having dried on your face. "Then... I guess we'll be okay."

[maxikha-ffxiv]

Mutual Catch-Up

Last Song: All Eyes on You

Currently Watching: last thing I watched that wasn't random YouTube stuff is the most recent ep of Game Changer on Dropout

Three Ships: I have 2-ish, and that's Maxi/Cirina and Jules/Fayeth (we're still figuring out that one)

Favorite Color: the combo of Teal and Burnt Orange

Currently Consuming: Pierogi quesadilla and Baha Blast

First Ship: It was definitely Maxi with her at the time wife

Place of Birth: Maryland, USA.

Current Location: DMV area (iykyk)

Relationship Status: Fuck if I know how to word it. But I'm content with whatever it currently is

Last Movie: good question. One of the One Piece ones I think.

Currently Working On: Getting Jules' alt classes ready for DT, working on a cute pose idea for Maxi/Cirina fluff (I"m having to do all my own shit with nothing to jump off of, it's not easy).

@fayethffxiv your problem now

[sp1drrthwips]

ROAD TRIP WITH CLINT AND KATE

kate bishop x reader, platonic! clint barton x gn reader ; fluff

summary — hcs for having a road trip with clint and kate

‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

❥︎ you and kate blasting music to the point that clint takes his hearing aid out

❥︎ "are we there yet?" x1 million "please shut up"

❥︎ constant thumb wars and rock-paper-scissors games between you and kate

❥︎ forcing clint to stop at gas stations for snacks and hot chocolate ❥︎ "you guys really trust that gas station hot chocolate?"

❥︎ asking clint random superhero questions

❥︎ clint forcing you two to the backseat and having lucky sit up front with him

❥︎ you and kate sneaking kisses since clint doesn't exactly know you two are together

❥︎ messing around with lucky whenever you guys stop to let him outside

❥︎ kate making clint stop at a store when you guys pass a town so she can buy a you a gift

❥︎ you and kate asking questions about clint's family ❥︎ "do you really think they'll like us?" "at this point saying no would be easier than saying yes" "wait what?"

❥︎ stopping at random restaurants for food and kate stealing taking the kids coloring placemats ❥︎ "kate go give it back" "no" "you stole it" "no, i didn't, it's free anyways ..probably" "you literally hid it in your jacket and walked out"

❥︎ clint purposely turning on imagine dragons to annoy kate

❥︎ kate telling you about the time she swung on the chandelier in her mom's penthouse and broke her arm

❥︎ you telling clint random facts about kate to mess with her ❥︎ "did you know kate isn't her full name?" "what- it isn't?" "oh god please don't say my full name"

❥︎ you and kate eventually falling asleep cuddling and clint being so happy that he gets some quiet time

❥︎ clint making random stupid dad jokes that somehow make kate laugh

❥︎ kate trying to teach you how to snap a quarter (from that scene in ep 4) while clint freaks out thinking you'll break a window

[egg-emperor]

I actually have a ton of Sonic hot takes and rare opinions outside of Eggman related stuff btw

a few examples-

Jason Griffith is my least fav Eng Sonic voice of all three main game VAs

Vandalize is one of my least fav vocal tracks in the series for the vocals, instrumental, lyrics, everything

the Cyberspace stages aren’t any better and are actually far inferior to like every single Forces level so I don’t get why Forces haters are pretending they are

I don’t like the Frontiers soundtrack much at all outside of the boss vocal songs tbh. esp don’t understand the hype for most of the Cyberspace music

Frontiers is an okay game but isn’t miles better than any of the games in the past 13 years (I like pretty much all of those more than Frontiers actually lol). and Sonic isn’t suddenly “back” or “good again” with it, he didn’t go anywhere and didn’t stop being good. y’all just haven’t even revisited them in a while if at all and let YouTubers decide for you

Sonic Forces is far from the worst Sonic game. not one of the best in my eyes but it’s overhated af for a decent game

I love Colors in every area with some level design aspects aside and don’t understand the deep violent burning hatred fans have suddenly gotten for it in recent years

Pontaff’s writing was never that bad at any point and the humor and dialogue isn’t anything drastically different or worse to the type that has already been in the games to some extent both before and after they wrote for them

I love Sonic 4 ep 1 and 2

Shadow 2005 is one of the best games and stories in the series

Secret Rings is an epic game in every way and fun to play and there’s a lot about it that I like more than Black Knight

the Werehog is epic and his gameplay is a blast

Sonic Heroes is the best gameplay style on par with the Adventure games for the team gameplay dynamic and abilities when utilized properly which a lot of people don’t do

and way more. I’m not a contrarian on purpose but I’m never beating the allegations. I’m just cursed to always have the most unpopular opinions and feel like the odd one out lol

[mag200]

music recs uuuuh lessee

nerdy folk/filk: Vixy and Tony, any album really. their newest "We Are Who We Are" is their best imo, but I have a particular soft spot for some of the tracks on "Thirteen" (specifically the title track, Mal's Song, and Companion).

SJ Tucker, also most albums, she's a little more fae-leaning in topic, and her album Mischief is my favorite.

folk/indie/rock/idek: The Amazing Devil, their album ruin. All their albums are great, The Horror and the Wild and Love Run are both wonderful, but ruin is just blast your butt off amazing

Juniper Vale, Everything is Color. Juniper Vale is just... really pretty music idk man. The singer's voice is so pretty. Slightly poppier sound but then they're pure folk when they go full acoustic, so I think it goes here.

indie rock: James Marriot. He's only got like one EP out, Bitter Tongues, but it's worth it, and his singles are also great. He started putting out music during the pandemic and he's relatively popular in certain online circles but like, the music's actually REALLY good.

Lovejoy, EP Wake Up & It's Over has already been recced and at this point even if they're new and not yet SUPER well known they're not obscure by any means, but I'm seconding it. it just goes so fucking hard.

Wilbur Soot, Your City Gave Me Asthma. Wilbur Soot is the online... persona? stage name? of Lovejoy's frontman Will Gold, and this was one of his solo projects before Lovejoy's creation. It's quiet, mostly just one guitar and sometimes a drum, and it's a melancholy depressing sort of album, but it's great for like sitting with your headphones on staring out the window at the rain, if you know what I mean.

Sub-Radio, EP Past Selves. If you've seen that "Stacey's Dad" tiktok go around? That's Sub-Radio. They're queer (or at least the frontman is) and they're just so uplifting musically. Even when the lyrics are a little less happy, I'm constantly filled with joy listening to their music. Highly recommend.

that's all I've got. I'd recommend the Mechs but I'm preeeeetty sure you know them already. ;)

this is so many thank you i appreciate it!!!

i didnt realize wilbur soot was a music person, i've only seen him mentioned sometimes on tumblr and i think i thought he was a video game streamer lmao.

i admit i dont rlly like the amazing devil but i usually like music that sounds like them, idk its nothing against them tho

and yeah i love the mechs <3

[popculturerobots]

Digimon Adventure Ep. 21

One of the things I really enjoy about Digimon Adventure (and it is by no means unique in this) is that different episodes have different writers and directors, which leads to varied styles and tones across the series. Episode 21 takes this to such an extreme that it seems to come from an entirely different Digimon universe.

Before I begin, this episode also has the best food in the entire series (love me some KROFT Parmesan cheese). Okay, let’s dig in!

Spoilers ahead --

From the opening shot we’re immediately made aware that things are different. The colors are muted and the environment filled with grays. The hazy white sky seeps into the surroundings, fading them to a harsh white nothingness. The city is dull, repetitive, boring, and yet painstakingly detailed.

When Tai makes it home, the shadows creep in. He opens the door to an eerily empty apartment and walks into the darkness. The only light comes from the balcony windows and doesn’t pierce past the couches. Tai and Koromon remain in the darkness until Kari appears.

This is Kari’s introduction, at the border between light and shadow. She’s a far cry from her character later in the series, seeming much more fragile stuck at home sick in her pajamas. And somehow (foreshadowing), she knows Koromon’s name.

She offers him her food after only eating a bite and plays with him on the couch and lets him nap in her lap and then feeds him some more and tells him how much she loves Tai because he's such a great big brother. Truly she possesses the Crest of Light, although we won’t know that for many episodes.

Eventually, Tai realizes that the Digital World is causing problems in the Real World. And that is when this episode really surprised me.

When Tyrannomon appeared and blasted the bridge I gasped. That was destructive. I could feel the power in that attack. And then Ogremon started smashing apartment complexes? And then Agumon blasted him into the rift?

What happened!? Since when was Agumon that strong? That fire built up in his mouth. It flickered. And flashed. There was a shock wave. It knocked Ogremon across the entire screen. Against gravity. And the flames lingered. When did he become such a powerful monster?

The fight ends quickly and rams us into the end of the episode. And damn does it hit hard. Agumon is pulled back to the Digital World, and Tai begins to follow. But Kari desperately doesn’t want him to go. But he has to. And she lets him.

And it hurts.

What just happened? I thought Digimon was full of friendly colorful creatures, not fierce and terrible beasts. And why was this loving little sick girl’s brother just torn away from her in front of my eyes? This is not the same Digimon that I had been watching or would continue to watch after.

But it almost felt…familiar…

It all fell into place when I looked up the credits for this episode: directed by Mamoru Hosoda, written by Reiko Yoshida. If these names are not familiar to you, they should be. This duo is the writer/director pair behind the original Digimon Adventure short film (which is when Kari learned Koromon’s name) as well as the sequel film Our War Game.

I’ve always loved their version of the Digimon Adventure universe so much more than the one we actually got.

If all this episode had was its visual style and tone, it would be notable for those alone. But after all this time, all the series and sequels, this single episode still sticks out in my mind because it just works so perfectly.

The previous episode saw the defeat of Etemon, the biggest enemy thus far in the series. But seemingly at the cost of Tai. This episode comes out of nowhere feeling like a different universe because Tai was just forced back from a different world, and it ends because he has to return. And when he does, he discovers that the DigiDestined have scattered across the Digital World trying to find him. We’re seeing the other side of that story. Why shouldn’t it be unexpected and devastating, too?

Anyway, thanks for reading.

[sniffing]

Ultimate Sonic Game Tournament

Finally time to find out what the best sonic game is ONCE AND FOR ALL

Round 1

Edit: Results are in! Time to announce the winners of round 1!

Sonic Mania vs Sonic 06  WINNER: Sonic 06

Sonic CD vs Sonic 1 (16 bit)  WINNER: Sonic CD

Sonic Unleashed vs Sonic Lost World  WINNER: Sonic Unleashed

Sonic Frontiers vs Sonic 1 (8 bit)  WINNER: Sonic Frontiers

Sonic generations vs Sonic 3D Blast  WINNER: Sonic Generations

Sonic Heroes vs Knuckle’s Chaotix  WINNER: Sonic Heroes

Sonic Adventure 2 vs Sonic 4 (eps 1 and 2)  WINNER: Sonic Adventure 2

Sonic Rush Adventure vs Sonic Triple Trouble  WINNER: Sonic Rush Adventure

Sonic 2 (16 bit) vs Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric  WINNER: Sonic 2

Sonic Advance 3 vs Tail’s Adventure  WINNER: Sonic Advance 3

Sonic Adventure vs Shadow the Hedgehog  WINNER: Shadow the Hedgehog

Sonic Advance vs Sonic 2 (8 bit)  WINNER: Sonic Advance

Sonic 3 + k vs Sonic Labyrinth  WINNER: Sonic 3+K 

Sonic Advance 2 vs Sonic R  WINNER: Sonic R

Sonic Colors vs Sonic Forces  WINNER: Sonic Colors

Sonic Rush vs Sonic Chaos  WINNER: Sonic Rush

I’ll create a new post for Round 2 and will add a link to it here once it’s created!

[virtual-mythicality]

“whatcha gonna do about it, dirty boy?”

[x]

[allisas]

🌻 Sunflower Cottage - CC Free  🌻

The Sunflower Cottage is a true blast from the past of good old 2016! I simply can’t understand that it’s been so many years since I built this sunny cottage. The original build was full to the brim with custom content. We didn’t have almost any bright and colorful furniture in the game back then so there wasn’t much of an option really if you wanted that style. 😅 

I got an ask a few weeks back from a console player that couldn’t find the Sunflower Cottage on the gallery and I thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to revisit this old gem and reimagine it as CC free to make it available to all players! The original cottage was a starter home but I got a little carried away with this one and it’s definitely no starter home anymore but it’s super cute so I hope you forgive me! I will try to create a starter home version that uses less packs too, so if you’re more interested in that keep your eyes peeled for the next iteration! 🌻

Lot type: Residential Lot Size: 20x15 Lot Traits: Sunny Aspect, Great Soil, Fast Internet Location: Oak Alcove, Newcrest

Used Packs:

EP’s: Get to Work, Get Together, City Living, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Island Living, Discover University, Eco Lifestyle, Snowy Escape GP’s: Outdoor Retreat, Spa Day, Dine Out, Parenthood, Jungle Adventure, StrangerVille SP’s: Perfect Patio, Cool Kitchen, Romantic Garden, Kids Room, Backyard, Vintage Glamour, Laundry Day, Moschino, Tiny Living, Nifty Knitting, Paranormal Kits: Country Kitchen

Download* at the Gallery: Origin ID - Allisasims or #Allisas Download* Tray-files: Simfileshare

*kitten not included ^^

[buttterknifeee]

An Introduction Pt. 2 - Teen Titans x Aquagirl!Reader

I've already finished part 3 and will be posting it soon, meaning that requests for this series is now open!!! Info can be found here and here is Part 1

Summary: You've teamed up with cloak girl, robot man, emo traffic light, and Beast Boy. What could go wrong?

Pairings: none; if you would like to see pairings for this in the future, requests are now open!!! (see info above)

Word count: 1370

A/N: This is my 100th post on Tumblr WOOOOO!!!! Thanks for the support yall :) Once again this is a reader insert of the Teen Titans 2003 show season 5 ep 10 "Go!" (The one where they all meet for the first time!)

You all hid in an alleyway to hide from the aliens, who were on their search for the pink haired girl. You all silently waited for the aliens to finish rummaging through the cars near you.

“So,” Beast Boy whispered. “I didn’t catch all of your names; I’m Beast Boy.” he re-introduced himself again with an endearing tone, opening it up for the rest of you to respond.

“Robin.”

“Raven.”

“I guess I’ll be going by Cyborg.”

“And I guess I’ll be going by uhhh-” You stopped in the middle of your sentence, now realizing that you never thought of your hero name, especially for the fact that you’ve only been a “hero” for the past 3 hours. Lets see, you think. I have water powers sooo water woman? No! Thats stupid. How about Aquaman? No you dingus, Aquaman is already a person and you’re a girl! Wait how about-

“-Aquagirl.” you decide. “Nice to meet you, Beast Boy.” You grinned and shook his hand, while Robin continued to look out for the aliens. They seemed to all be gone as the five of you peeked your head out of the alleyway.

“Alright,” Robin says, stepping out of the alley way. “We need some way to-”

Raven interrupted him. “She’s near.” she blurted, causing the rest of you to stare at her confusingly. “I can sense things,” she says to her defense.

“I’ll see if I can pick up her scent,” Beast Boy says, and you realize why he was called “Beast Boy” at that moment, as he turned into a dog and began to sniff around. You stared wide eyed at the newly transformed dog, before staring even wider eyed and Cyborg’s revealed arm, which was actually a bionic arm. He explained that he's able to hear her with something called a sonic analyzer.

Beast Boy and Cyborg both perked up, saying that they’ve both got the alien girl’s trail from their respective methods. You and the others follow the two boys, leading you to a video store with the entrance blown apart. The five of you find the girl in the middle of the store, chowing down on junk food.

“Uh… Those taste better without the wrapper,” Beast Boy says, announce your entrance. She finishes her handful of sweet treats and prepares to attack us, her hands glowing a familiar green. You gasped in fear.

Robin steps in front of the four of you, trying to stop the girl. “ It's all right. We're friends, remember?”

“Friends? Why? For what reason did you free me?” she spits, her hands glowing even greener.

“Just… Trying to be nice.”

“‘Nice.’ We do not have this word on my planet. Closest is ‘rutha.’ Weak!” she yells. Cyborg steps up this time.

“Well, around here, ‘nice’ means ‘nice.’” He says calmly. “And if you want us to keep being nice, you better tell us why the Lizard King took you prisoner.”

“Not prisoner. I am...prize. The Gordanians deliver me to the Citadel, to live out my days as their servant.”

“And the Citadel are...?” Raven asks raising an eyebrow.

“Not nice.” She says flatly.

“God, that's terrible,” you gasp. “You can’t go with them.”

“And you’re not going with them. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Robin promises.

“Um, don't you mean ‘we’?” Beast Boy corrected him. Before Robin had a chance to reply, the wall next to you exploded, sending the six of you to the floor. You quickly got up as the alien army advanced.

“Seize her!” one of the aliens yelled. You noticed the others around quickly assumed a fighting stance, and you prepared to fight as well.

You ran towards the aliens, raising your arms to burst the pipes below you, sending water straight up from the ground and overwhelming an alien soldier. You punched your arms forward, the water from the pipe shooting back the aliens from the wall they entered from. You jet the water out using your fists, sending aliens crashing into one another.

You continue to fight, making note of the others out of the corner of your eye. Beast Boy is changing into various animals to launch the soldiers through the air, Raven’s using her magic (of some sort) to send a group of aliens through the roof, Robin uses a staff and his fighting skills, and Cyborg uses his brute strength to overcome them. The alien girl uses her green bolts of energy to shoot the aliens away from the rest of you.

You notice Cyborg being carried by Beast Boy in bird form, trying to escape a few of the flying aliens. You concentrated, and a geyser shot out from under the trio of aliens, putting them off balance. Raven takes control of a streetlight and hits them with it, much similar to a game of golf.

You rejoin the others as the army of aliens lay in a pile, defeated.

“I believe the expression is ‘thanks’” The alien girl says, slightly blushing.

“Its what friends do.” You smile, gently taking her hand for reassurance.

“Aw man, my suit!” Cyborg groans. You hadn’t noticed before, but the teen’s sweat suit had been completely torn to pieces, revealing his body to be completely robotic, with colors of blue, gray, and black.

“So? You look way cooler without it.” Beast Boy says, and you nodded your head in agreement. Cyborg looked at you then Beast Boy, raising his eyebrow.

“Yeah. Like I'm taking fashion advice from the guy in the goofy mask and a girl who fights crime in a surfing suit.” He roasts you and Beast Boy’s outfit choices. You make a face at him, taking obvious offense to his statement.

“I would have changed if I didn’t literally wash up from the ocean a few hours ago!” you defended yourself, arms crossed. Beast took his comment way harder than you did.

“Goofy? My mask is cool. Isn't it? Raven?” He looks at Raven, a pleading look in his eyes. Her facial expression remains the same.

“What secret identity? You’re green.” she points out. Beast Boy mumbled, then hesitantly took his mask, revealing bright green hair to match his skin. You laugh as Robin and your new alien friend walks towards the four of you.

“This isn’t over. Now that we’ve interfered…” Robin began, deep in thought.

“Trogaar will strike harder. It's only a matter of-” Alien Girl tries to finish his sentence, but was interrupted by a loud noise. Another hologram appeared over the city, this time with the alien (whom you now identified as Trogaar) fuming with rage.

“Fools! The Earth scum were warned. Your insolence will be punished. Your city shall be destroyed! “ the large alien bellowed. A large gun at the front of the alien ship began to warm up, preparing to release on Jump City.

“Great.” Raven mutters.

Beast Boy is the first to freak out. “So, after trashing a pizza place and a perfectly good video store, now we've managed to make a humongous space gecko mad enough to vaporize our entire town?” He asks rhetorically.

“Go Team.” Cyborg says unenthusiastically. The alien girl turns to Robin bitterly.

“All the fault is yours! I commanded you leave me alone, but you insisted upon the being nice!” She yells.

“My fault?! You blast me, you kiss me, but you never stop to mention that they have a gigantic particle weapon?” he retaliates. A shout match begins between the alien girl, Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, overwhelming and seriously annoying you.

“UGHHHH” you say out loud, ignoring the others. “I should have gone back into the ocean and tried swimming back home, but NOOOO i had to follow that stupid green LIGHT and-”

“QUIETTTT” Raven finally yells, snapping all five out you out of your pity parties and arguments. You all turned to her. She simply waved and said “hi.”

Robin sighed. “Look. It doesn't matter how we got into this mess. We're in it, and we will get out of it, together.”

Murmurs of agreement and nodding came out of the other five of you and Robin started walking away. He turned his head towards us.

“Come on. We got a city to save.”

[heyitsyn]

Keeping Up With Seijoh Ep. 1

a/n: this is a mini-series that are based off of your asks and once i,,,,, finish,,,, my seijoh phase, i will also do this for the other schools but pls take these offerings in the meantime as i work on the next part of my manager!seijoh and the time traveler au 

for more seijoh content, check this masterlist out!

anon request: 

Wow, your series of Seijoh managers is so cute.🥺👉👈 After starting to read, I can only think about Oikawa and y / n on a Saturday night seeing mean girls, painting nails, taking care of the skin and the another day Oiks rubbing the face of everyone who spends much more time with his dear businessman LMAOO Anyway, congratulations on your work 💕💕 seriously, I LOVE this series omg-

I MIGHT BE AN IWA AND KYO STAN BUT OIKS IS DEFINITELY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND PRETTIEST DUMPSTER IVE EVER SEEN

yep lets start the pilot

so basically, oikawa was being oikawa again

what might i mean, you ask

well, he was starting to work much harder than before since this was his last ever inter-high and his last ever chance on beating ushiwaka 

even though they finally have the team assembled avengers assemble! with kyo back on the team, he still felt lacking and wanted to use every single free time to work on becoming better

yall fun fact about me, oikawa is actually my favorite character bc of how hard he works and the pain i have in that once scene during the karasuno match when he slammed into the tables and was struggling to get up bc of his knee----NO IM SOBBING AGAIN

iwa noticed him doing this again so he sent you out to drag him out and distract him from this 

‘cmon oikawa-san-’

‘NO, Y/N-CHAN! I HAVE TO-’

‘no, the only thing you have to do is spend time with me bc i miss you and i want to have that movie you kept talking about’

bahahaha he is so whipped that a single ‘i miss you’ from you will literally make him break his back and bend for you

it was successful and you were in your room, your parents understanding oikawa and his antics since youve complained about it before, and he was sitting on your floor while looking through movies

‘y/n-chan, do you have no alien movies in here? or barbie?’

IN MY CONTENT, IT IS CANON THAT OIKAWA LOVES THE BARBIE MOVIES FITE ME

you laughed from your spot on your bed and shook your head

‘no, oikawa-san. natsu took all my barbie movies and i get scared of alien movies’

he pouted but continued to look until his eyes literally lit up

it was like god took a picture of him and you saw the flash

‘MEAN GIRLS! Y/N-CHAN I DIDNT KNOW YOU LIKED THIS TYPE OF MOVIE!’

he shrieked but you shrugged

‘meh. katsuki, natsu’s boyfriend, gave it to natsu as a joke but he gave it to me instead bc he cannot stand regina george’

you reasoned while picking out nail polish colors and looking through the ingredients of your face masks

‘WE’RE WATCHING THIS! PERIODT!’

omg hes so loud but i am too so we compatible

ugh i hate my logic

then later,

as the movie played, you were arguing with oikawa as he refused to wear the unicorn and wanted the panda one, which was your favorite

‘OIKAWA-SAN, I LIKE THIS ONE!’

‘Y/N-CHAN I LIKE IT MORE!’

you sucked in a sharp breath before relenting bc you wanted oikawa to be relaxed per request of your beloved senpai

‘fine. but i get to paint your nails’

he nodded eagerly and you handed him the packet, to which he simply stared at it

‘y/n-chan, can you,,,, put it on me?’

he sheepishly asked and you gave him a confused and bewildered look

‘oikawa-san, have you never put these on yourself?’

he shook his head, cheeks flushing and eyes focusing on the blue blanket

‘my sister always put it on for me. or iwa-chan’

‘IWA-?! wHAT-?!’

but you nodded anyways and he made you sit on his lap to put it on

‘um, oikawa-san, this position-’

he smiled at you, a gentle and real smile, not the ones for his fangirls

‘nuh uh, its fine, y/n-chan. oikawa-san loves you so he likes you right here’

he mumbled, blushing and wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you closer making you giggle and nod

‘okay. close your eyes then, oikawa-san’

he excitedly nodded, expecting a kiss from you but you flicked his forehead making his eyes fly open and wince at the pain

‘so perverted, oikawa-san. pervert-oikawa-san’

you scolded and he pouted

he said something but you didnt listen, instead placing the mask on his face and smoothing it out

his fringe was about to touch the wet material so you hastily grabbed a clip and held his hair up

he looked so cute that you couldnt help but reach over and snap a picture of him

‘ara ara gomen did y/n-chan just take a picture of oikawa-san?’

he teased but you shook your head

‘no. what are you talking about?’

he did the same thing to you and now you were both painting each other’s nails, ofc staying loyal to your school mint green and baby blue on the ring fingernail

lmao dont blast me for not being exact w the school colors but it looks mint green to me

he finished yours first and omg?? hes so??? good?? like what???

you were holding his large hands with your small fingers and his heart started thumping really fast at the simple touch 

‘thank you,,,,, y/n-chan’

you looked up to him with large eyes, still unfamiliar with the softness of his voice

it was such a contrast compared to his usually loud and obnoxious, mocking tone

‘oikawa-san is not a really good captain since he burdens and bothers everyone but you always fix it all and keep everyone together. so, sorry for everything’

he mumbled and the eye holes from the mask let you see his sad eyes, genuinely sad about himself

you made the last paint stroke and capped the nail polish before leaning forwards, hands on his thigh so you could be closer

oikawa ofc freaked out because wow youre so much prettier up close and he doesnt?? deserve you??

your eyes blazed with anger and he stuttered your name but you cut him off

‘OIKAWA-SAN IS NOT USELESS. HE IS A REALLY GOOD CAPTAIN WHO LED HIS TEAM TO BATTLE THE ULTIMATE RIVAL AND EVEN THOUGH THEY LOST, THEY STILL WON IN MY EYES. YOU GOT KENTA-KUN TO COME BACK EVEN THOUGH HE DIDNT WANT TO BUT HE DID BC HE KNOWS HOW GOOD YOU ARE. HE WANTS TO PLAY ALONGSIDE A PLAYER WHO DESERVES TO BE ON THE COURT AND EVERYONE ELSE THINKS THE SAME THING. ME, Y/N, IS JUST A MANAGER WHO MIGHT NOT KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT VOLLEYBALL OR THE TECHNIQUES AND ALL THAT BUT I RECOGNIZE YOUR TALENT AND YOU WILL MAKE IT BIG SOMEDAY, OIKAWA-SAN! I PROMISE! AND WHEN YOU DO, I WILL SUPPORT YOU AND COME TO YOUR GAMES BC YOU ARE MY CAPTAIN AND I DONT REGRET EVER MEETING YOU. SO DONT APOLOGIZE AND SAY SORRY TO ME, INSTEAD TELL ME YOU ARE HAPPY TO BE IN THIS TEAM AND SAY YOU LOVE THE TEAM AND YOU LOVE VOLLEYBALL AND YOU LOVE-’

but he cut you off, placing a chaste kiss on your exposed nose

yall really thought it was the,,,, speaking function part of your face

nahnahnah that is only for the doggie

oop what

 you stopped, flustered at the sudden action but oikawa smiled

‘i love you, y/n. i really love you so give me a chance, okay? i will wait, no matter how long it takes but,,,, let me catch up and for now, think about me, okay?’

BRUH HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO HER LONG RANT LIKE WHAT---

you tilted your head to the side, confused

she is deadass naive like bls protect her

‘a chance for what? you want to catch up for what? youre already good, oikawa-san’

then he laughed

so much more different than the ones he let out in public

it was so,,,, beautiful

you found yourself grinning with him and he calmed down, brushing away the stray hairs that is in danger of getting stuck on your mask

‘come on, y/n-chan. lets go take this off’

he stood up and offered his hand which you took

after the moisturizing and final touch-ups for your skin, you finally settled on the blanket fort and dozed off, the movie still playing but you were too comfortable in oikawa’s arms that you didnt even notice the credits rolling

the next day, you didnt feel the need to mention it at all

but oikawa did and it was still truly an accident

iwa heard about him staying late again and you having to drag him out of there and he was hitting him and kicking him again

you were so used to this that you were just writing down your notes at the corner, oblivious to oikawa’s crying

finally, he had enough of it

‘SEE THIS IS WHY Y/N-CHAN DOESNT LET YOU SPEND THE NIGHT WITH HER! BECAUSE YOU ARE SO MEAN!’

um, sire what did you just say

that was completely taken out of context and everyone, omg, especially iwa and kyo just froze

‘what,,, did you just say?’

iwa asked in a dangerously low voice and you shrugged

‘you told me to distract him, iwa-san, so i did. he was happy and satisfied and thats all that matters, right?’

you shot them a smile and oiks had such a smug smile when iwa looked at him and he was about to hit him when kyo just came out of nowhere and YEETED the smile off of his face

oikawa screamed

just a wittle blurb about this bc i totally love this :( and he totally needs more love and some of my readers love oikawa and want oikawa manager content so here it is!!! feast on these crumbs!!!!

[protagonist-slayer]

WandaVision theory time

AIM is behind what’s happening and it likely connects to Ant-Man and the Wasp.  Spoilers ahead.

“Westview” was a secret AIM base where they were attempting to create an artificial Mind Stone, as seen in the second trailer for the show.

They likely stole Vision’s body and the data on the stone from Shuri’s lab during the Blip, when both T’Challa (Wakanda’s primary defender) and Shuri (apparently their main scientist) were both erased by Thanos and portion of their population disappeared.

Even if the Mind Stone hadn’t been shown in a trailer for the show, the dialogue from ep. 4 would have confirmed it.  Director Hayward of SWORD simplifies Darcy’s explanation of CMBR as “relic radiation dating back to the Big Bang.”  You know what other “relics” are confirmed to have been created by the Big Bang?  The Infinity Stones, as explained by the Collector back in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

So now that we have an Infinity Stone (and the Mind Stone to be precise), why AIM?  Simple, because of Jimmy Woo and his previous appearance in Ant-Man and the Wasp.  The question of who Sonny Burch was working for in his attempt to steal Hank Pym’s lab is still unanswered, but even at the time of the movie’s release there were theories that it was AIM.  Especially since concept art from the movie directly showed AIM in their iconic costumes from the comics.

Agent Woo is involved after a witness (to a so-far unrevealed case) went missing in Westview after being relocated there as part of the Witness Protection Program.  Except, as it turns out, the story was likely fabricated as no contacts had even heard of the witness.  We saw how Sonny Burch, and likely his employers, were able to pay off FBI agents before, meaning that if AIM was behind the attempted theft in Ant-Man and the Wasp, the witness Woo was meant to relocate was actually one of their scientists and they just took him back to their base in Westview, New Jersey.  

As we also saw in this episode, the SWORD team established that the sitcomifying field around Westview is hexagonal in shape, which was important enough to be recorded by Woo, meaning it is important to the show and a direct storytelling choice.

So why is the hexagonal symbol important?  It’s the shape of AIM’s logo in recent comics/games, and because groups like AIM, Hydra, etc. are dramatic bitches who demand everything be on-brand, so that’s definitely something they’d do.

So in conclusion, AIM was attempting to create a new Mind Stone for yet unrevealed reasons, Wanda became involved somehow, and likely because her powers came from the OG Mind Stone, shit went nuclear and that’s how we got this show.

That also means all her neighbors are probably AIM scientists/workers who got caught in the blast and warped like Monica was into “Geraldine.”  If so, that’s likely why they were  jumpy about a woman wearing the SWORD logo walking around, even if they weren’t consciously aware of why.

tl;dr AIM fucked around and found out

EDIT: In the new episode (ep. 5), the message SWORD sends to the computer in Vision’s office warns of high levels of radiation throughout Westview.  But since everyone in the town isn’t dead after multiple days of exposure, my guess it’s an effect from an Infinity Stone.  As stated in The Avengers (2012) and Avengers: Endgame, the Infinity Stones emit gamma radiation.

EDIT 2: The Wanda that confronted the SWORD agents in the new show is not the same Wanda who’s starring in the Westview broadcast.  That Wanda is a manifestation of the real Wanda’s grief, shame, and every other negative emotion caused by the explosion of the artificial Mind Stone (pictured above and in WandaVision trailer #2).  When Wanda told Vision she wasn’t controlling everyone in Westview, she was telling the truth.  This entity will be given the codename Scarlet Witch.

The real Wanda will have to fight and defeat the other Wanda at the climax of the show, likely joined by Vision, Quicksilver, and her sons who develop their comic book superpowers.  Incidentally, did anyone else notice how Tommy and Billy’s shirts had the same color scheme as their original comic costumes?  Curious...

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: March 2021

Hey March was a weird month what with all the pandemic anniversaries and such but here we are. It’s March. Goodbye March.

……….FILM……….

Attack the Block (2011) After about 20 minutes my partner asked if this was basically a British episode of Goosebumps and....she’s not wrong? I liked it back when it came out but it’s aged really well. Tight script and casual class politics along with the very good space stuff.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) It turns out I’d remembered so little of this movie that it was essentially a fresh viewing. The artistry and ambition still holds up today plus a noir set in L.A. is always good time. But then you add cartoon hijinks and it’s all just that much better.

The New York Times Presents: Framing Britney Spears  (2021) So we watched the ep on Britney Spears and...it didn’t really seem to cover all that much. It kept feeling like it was about to start and then after an hour and a half of that it just sorta wraps with a small legal victory. I know this isn’t fiction so I’m not expecting a happy ending, but I don’t know what it wanted to say.

CBS presents Oprah with Meghan and Harry  (2021) I mean I don’t think anything said or shared was surprising anyone. Though I appreciate Oprah not letting either of them sidestep a question. Either answer or say you won’t; none of this fancy poetry.

……….TELEVISION……….

Great British Bake Off (Episode 9.01 to 9.04) This is our first season without Mary Berry, Sue, and Mel and it’s a real shift! But despite all the new faces, it still feels very much like the good-natured GBBO I’ve come to love. Great stuff.

City of Ghosts (Episode 1.01 to 1.06) I hope all that I’m seeing about this means that Netflix will greenlight another season and more television like this. The artistry is fantastic, the concept allows for both whimsy and poignancy, and it’s casually funny in a way that I can’t fully describe. Great stuff.

WandaVision (Episode 1.09) So this didn’t quite stick the landing for me. I figured there’d be some blasts and magic and zooming around in the sky, but I also assumed we’d get some resolution (maybe even consequences) for what Wanda did to the town. Sure, she’s not the villain and it wasn’t intentional, but the show appeared to be built around this theme of denial and acceptance yet abandoned that in the end. But I will give it this: it really has sold me on the relationship between Wanda and Vision.

The Night Manager (Episode 1.05 to 1.06) You know I think I’ve been so primed by Bond films and action set pieces that, while I won’t spoil the ending, I was pleasantly surprised by how it wrapped up. It was a nice change of pace. 

The Bachelor (Episode 25.09 to 25.12) What a season. It was a mess, sure, but I also think it was the uncomfortable mix of stagnation and progress. The show needs to evolve and I feel like the finale and aftershow really highlighted that the change has to happen. Maybe it’s starting to happen already or in future seasons it’ll change whether production likes it or not.

……….READING……….

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Complete) Really fantastic read and such an effortless blend of science fiction and...necromantic fantasy! Dark and gross and light and funny all at the same time. 100% recommend and am very excited for the next entry despite this feeling whole and complete on its own.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) I want to work my way through the series (or at least the original 14 written by Baum) so we gotta start at the beginning! There’s such a light air about the book that everyone kinda just rolls with everything. Sentient objects and talking animals and lots of murder are just met with a “Great! on to the next adventure!” and I love it.

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) It’s really great that the second book has a lot of the same core components (human child meets a bunch of wacky sidekicks while on a very small adventure) yet casually expands the mythos and world. It even builds on the plot established by the first book (the main conflict revolving around Scarecrow being overthrown as leader of Oz ever since the Wizard disappeared). Great stuff.

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) Bringing back Dorothy and it’s really a merging of characters from book 1 and 2. If anything, this series is shaping up to be about making friends and the genial conflict resolution is really heartwarming. Now i’m keen to watch Return to Oz.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank Baum (Complete) This might just be me but I find a mostly human cast (outside of Jim the Cab Horse) to be far less interesting than the diverse adventuring parties of the first three books. Lots of fun stuff in here and playing fast and loose with the world-building works well; highlight the fun parts of a land made of wood and then continue on to the next location! Great stuff.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 9 by Ryoko Kui (Complete) It feels like everything is starting to come together and wrap up and I’m totally here for a story that knows what it wants to do. And while there doesn’t seem to be as much room cooking with the overarching plot that is driving the story, it never feels like it’s moved away from the heart of the characters and for that I can’t recommend it enough. Excellent world-building, excellent cast, and really great humor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection Volume 9 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Mateus Santolouco, Dave Wachter, Pablo Tunica, Sophie Campbell, and many more! (Complete) The human/secret agent stuff will always be boring to me (even if they’re hunting the turtles) cause that’s not what I want in a comic. I don’t want Batman hunting burglars, I want bright colourful villains for our bright and colorful heroes. Luckily we get into a pocket dimension for a toad god and his relatives during the second half of the volume. Overall, still my favourite ooze series.

……….AUDIO……….

Musicalsplaining (Podcast) Great host dynamics and hot dang I love a good musical.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group has taken a break from the infected giant colony to sort out some Pirate drama! Further session breakdowns are over here on Reddit!

Dungeons & Designers (Podcast) I had the rare chance to play in a D&D campaign instead of run it and it’s even up online! They also air the sessions through their podcast!

And that’s it! As always, let me know anything you think I should check out and thanks for reading.

Happy Wednesday.

[fizzingwizard]

Ep 38 is another good one! We are on a roll. I have some thoughts on why and whether I could still end up whining in future episodes again... but for now let’s just enjoy the moment.

We are finally catching up with Yamato (and Jou) who has the sort of episode you’d expect from the brooding lone wolf of the group. I wish they’d pushed it just a liiiittle further than they did and I’ll tell you why below. Still, the point is we learned some things we needed to about Yamato, and with some higher than usual stakes (for a side plot) than usual.

Pic of the day, though, is all about his highness, our lord and savior, JOOOOOOOOO.

You will bow before him, peasant!

More below.

Like I said, the stakes are a bit high this week:

Right off the bat, Gabumon’s been beaten, captured, and tied to a cross...

... where Mephismon (this guy) is apparently planning to kill him in ritual sacrifice.

In other words, this episode is: Yamato and Gabumon Go To Digimon Hell

:P

I mean... Mephismon even looks scary. Very Satanic. Gives me chill, lol. Probably not as scary for kids who didn’t grow up being hit over the head with a Bible every day by evangelicals, though. Sometimes I look back on my childhood and just think “wtf?”

That being said, Mephismon is the sort of lackey you’d expect Millenniumon to have, much more in the vein of Devimon or DarkKnightmon. Aka, pretty darn scary. I was so frustrated for so long by all the small fry Digimon Taichi “struggled” with by himself for no apparent reason - they felt like filler episodes, tbh - filler for a show that has no reason to have filler!

And I STILL do NOT understand why we got WarGreymon’s evolution over a totally forgettable nobody Digimon, but these recent episodes with Koushirou, Mimi, and Yamato have all been serious crises where the characters put everything on the line, and yet nobody evolves. It’s not that I think they HAD to evolve here - I can see they’re leading up to it and since that guarantees more focus on them in the future, I’m totally down for that. What I don’t understand is why Taichi DIDN’T get that. Why play WarGreymon so early? The episode itself did involve Taichi challenging himself, but it all felt so setup. And so unmemorable that it’s just hard to care.

Anyway... I’m ranting about things that didn’t happen in this episode. Rant over xD Back to Yamato.

His desperate play to rescue Gabumon by himself goes as well as you’d expect.

Yamato: I’m too cool for this shit

He is chased by those gas mask-wearing Digimon whose name I forget. But they are conveniently blown back by the gush of a timely geyser. Geyser, you say? That means hot springs must be nearby. If hot springs are nearby...

Jou: Now I know what it feels like to be Team Rocket!

Jou falls out of the sky and right into Yamato’s path. Dressed in nothig but a towel, he looks to Yamato like a scrawny, nerdy, guardian angel.

Yamato: You’ve gotta help me, Clarence. Fly me to the top of the mountain.

Jou: I can’t, I haven’t got my wings.

Yamato: Yeah, you’re about what I’d expect my guardian angel to be like...

So, Jou immediately starts to chatter at Yamato, and it looked to me like Yamato might be getting annoyed. If this were 99 Adventure, he’d had snapped and said something like, “Can’t you see Gabumon’s gone? Aren’t you even going to ask about that or do you only think about yourself?”

But this is 2020 Yamato, and 2020 Digimon Adventure, where the kids are all Very Nice and don’t have much in the way of flaws. That’s my number one complaint about this show so far. So Yamato just waits for the moment where Jou needs to take a breath to break and ask for his help rescuing Gabumon.

(Gomamon reminds Jou to get dressed first, thankfully.)

Up on the mountain peak, Mephismon sacrifices the Data of poor blue!Elecmon to the fragment of Millenniumon he is guarding.

At first I was like, why do Yamato and Jou know about these crystals?? But then they’re like, we heard from Taichi over the digivice. Ah, of course. I kind of miss the old digivices that pre-date smartphones :P

Yamato explains how they ended up in this situation, and I REALLY like this. They came across Mephismon sacrificing innocent Digimon on their journey to reunite with the rest of the team, and it was Gabumon who insisted they had to stay and save them. Gabumon!

So this is not the first time we’ve seen the Digimon partners take initiative this season. The lack of personal flaws and personality clashes are my least favorite part of the reboot, but the increased agency of the Digimon themselves is probably my favorite. When DanDevimon swallowed Taichi, it was Agumon’s pain that caused his warp evolution. Not saying Taichi had nothing to do with it, but the focus was certainly way more on how losing his partner sent Agumon over the edge. Now we’ve got Yamato actually arguing with Yamato because he feels so passionate about rescuing the captured Digimon.

Yamato’s not heartless, of course - he just prioritizes the people closest to him first. And I have no idea if we’ll see much more of this sort of willpower from Gabumon - it’s partly there for convenience, since no one else is around. (Last time, it was Sora who wanted to help others at their own risk and Yamato clashed with her over the same thing.) The other reason is, this is the episode where we find out how Yamato and Gabumon became friends - which is especially important for the guy who gets the Crest of Friendship - so they needed something a bit more meaty than “the proof of our friendship is I follow you wherever you go and do whatever you want.”

But I love it because it really makes them feel like partners.

Of course, Yamato can’t say no in the end, so he and Gabumon go to save the Digimon. But they’re overwhelmed.

The vision of his partner’s bony ass shrinking into the distance as bullets fly overhead will haunt his dreams always ;^;

Yamato: Once a psychic read my palm and said I have an unusually short life line. I guess she was right. But she also said I’d marry Emma Stone and have eight children.

Jou: are you sure she wasn’t just playing a game of MASH?

While Yamato and Jou plan their strategy, we switch back to the rest of the team, where the girls are having tea time.

I know I complain about this every time but WHO DA HECK decided Sora and Mimi should wear the same color scheme look what you did now they both blend into the couch

The boys talk a bit of shop, then Takeru reveals that he and Yamato don’t live together because their parents fight and don’t get to see each other because they both work so much. He doesn’t really come out and say “they’re divorced” but he says he and his brother are separated. Even though Yamato calls Takeru to talk a lot, Takeru still feels sad that there are things he misses since they live so far apart.

Taichi assures Takeru that Yamato will be fine, pointing out that Yamato had already been adventuring in the digital world for an unknown amount of time before Taichi’s group ever got there. Wow, haven’t referenced that in literally ages. I’m glad these things are finally relevant again. Also like how it seems to confirm Taichi still kinda holds special admiration for Yamato. That seemed like the route they were going way back when Yamato joined the group in episode 8, but then it wasn’t touched on till now.

Then we get the long-awaited Yamato & Gabumon origin story! Yamato appears to have arrived in the digital world in a similar way that Taichi did. He looks the same, so probably it wasn’t a huge time difference (in human world time anyway).

At first, Yamato’s like, “leave me alone. I don’t have any interest in the digital world. Where’s the exit?” And Tsunomon says, “Fine, then I will just protect you whether you want me to or not.”

Yamato: Reeeeeally wishing Ikkakumon could fly, lol

Yamato recalls how, despite his chilly behavior, Tsunomon still jumped to his rescue.

(The rescue involved Ikkakumon shooting torpedoes up the mountainside so Yamato can grab them and climb to the top. What I don’t get is why this didn’t draw Mephismon’s attention :P I guess he figured his gas mask lackeys would handle it but uh.)

Past!Yamato rescues Tsunomon, who is so touched that he is able to evolve. Yamato makes an attempt to remain aloof...

... but in the end he turns into Taichi :P

So that’s the origin story! It’s more or less what I figured. Kind of surprised we didn’t get any scenes of them in the digital world proper, since I got the impression Yamato was familiar with that world as well as this plane that seems to be a sort of interface between worlds. But maybe not, who knows.

What they try to do here is set up that Yamato is an aloof type who tries to avoid relationships. But he snaps out of it and warms up to people so fast that it’s hard to really appreciate it. Plus he doesn’t really do much to push them away other than say “leave me alone.” Eh.

Lol it’s funny because he’s strapped to the cross but because his leg fur hangs like that, from behind it looks like he’s just standing there....

Mephismon starts to sacrifice Gabumon!

A power blast of dark energy starts to pulse from the mountain, sending everyone to their knees. Jou thinks fast and hides inside his bag. Nylon is good at blocking out satanic chanting after all.

His eyes fall on... his textbooks! Social studies, chemistry, the periodic table, Japanese history memorization textbook... these useless books! Could they actually be useful?!?!?!

no.

no they couldn’t

Yamato: Ahh! That’s it, I have got to start lifting more.

But wait - Jou gets an idea. There’s something that calms him when he’s stressed and that’s... chanting passages from his rote memorization technique books x’D So he sits down and... it’s basically a throw back to the Bakemon episode in 99. I believe he’s chanting things from the Japanese history book, but as I’ve never been a Japanese kid, I’d have to do more research than I want to to figure out for sure.

He then switches to chanting the numerals of pi! He has pi memorized! x’D I don’t know why that should surprise me. He soon begins to glow with the Zen energy of a cram school trance.

Jou: 3.14159265359... 3.14159265359...

Gas mask Digimon: 3.14159265359.... 3.14159265359...

These bright ripples emanate from Jou, counteracting the evil ripples coming from Mephismon’s mountain. It soon pulls the gas mask Digimon into the trance as well.

Ikkakumon: ... I have no effing idea what is going in this episode on anymore

Jou comes out of the trance to discover the gas mask Digimon ARE NOW HIS OBEDIENT SUBJECTS. WHAT.

(see I told you you’d bow)

seriously what just happened! XD is this Jou’s mutant power

or is this something all Japanese children who survive juku can do as a result of spending so much time memorizing shit

Ikkakumon then is able to shoot a bunch better pathway of torpedoes for Yamato to climb and MEPHISMON STILL DOESN’T NOTICE

Yamato finally makes it to the peak!

Mephismon’s like, “nice try, but what were you planning to do now? You left your friend at the bottom of the mountain and I’ve got your partner. And I doubt you’ve memorized all the numerals of pi.”

He kindly creates an evil burning vortex to increased the hellishness of the landscape. He understands that a Yamato episode needs the proper ambience.

Gabumon’s about to be sacrificed to Digi-Satan lmao

Yamato steps into the pentagram and get shocked. But he presses on despite the difficulty (and the hellfire), thinking about how much his partner means to him.

He drops to his knees while Gabumon begs him to save himself.

Yamato: “You’re my... friend!”

The power of friendship destroys the pentragram and also frees Gabumon from the cross.

The Crest of Friendship glows...

Gabumon is strengthened and becomes... WereGarurumon.

:P

Yeah... seemed like a good time for MetalGarurumon but whatever.

After a cool but brief fight, Mephismon is defeated.

He appears frozen? Can Gabumon freeze stuff? Whatev. Anyway he’s frozen and then disintegrates.

Gabumon is tired but happy. Their bond is now even stronger.

Cute Takeru on Pegasusmon flies down to his brother at last.

And the others wave up to them from Komondomon. Aw. So finally the team is back together! ;__; Please let it last this time, please please please....

Kay so, overall... I liked this episode. The whole “You’re my friend!” bit would have been stronger if we’d seen more of Yamato resisting that though. I don’t really know why but the reboot seems to pull its punches a lot. I really wish they’d let the kids be mean to each other like 99 Adventure did sometimes. Being mean doesn’t mean you’re a bad person and a terrible influence on children watching your show. It just means you are human and your viewers can learn from watching your mistakes and seeing your growth. Try to understand that, showrunners :P

A missed opportunity in this episode: Yamato and Jou. I was excited that they were gonna be together because they often clashed in 99. And in the reboot as well, it was established that Yamato is annoyed by Jou, although he’s much more polite and hadn’t said anything about it till now (just stayed away from wherever Jou was until he fell asleep lol). So I thought, in this ep, we’d see them butt heads and learn to work together, something like that. But aside from the very first moment where Yamato might look a teensy bit annoyed, they just get alone fine. Idk. Not interesting.

In the end, though, the ep was clearly meant to be Yamato only and Jou was just there as a matter of convenience so the whole group would be together at the end. Since the team is finally reunited, I hope we do start to see all of them interacting in different ways that show their personalities more. Might not be the same as 99 (or, I should say definitely won’t be, at this point), but just something more than “look how well we all get along.”

Next week...

Looks to be a light and funny episode. The Burgermon were one of my fav bits of Frontier. But I’m a little nervous about this being a Jou epiosde. It’s his turn, I know, but everyone else got something meaningful. Even Mimi - though there was lots of humor in her episode, she was also major league cool the entire time. Maybe that will be the case with Jou here, but I’m not sure because 2020 Jou is a little different - more scatterbrained, more open, more talkative, less serious, less likely to act sullen... he’s quite different, now that I think about it. So I’m actually having difficulty imagining what his personal test will be in this episode. Guess we’ll have to wait and find out. Maybe it won’t even be that kind of episode anyway.

Also, just a guess, but next week is ep 39. So ep 40 maybe will be the start of something big again. It would be good timing: the team’s together and everyone’s had a chance recently for an episode to themselves...

See y’all next week! As usual didn’t check for typos :P

[thisbassslaps]

My Favorite Video Game Levels

Here are five video game levels/areas that are memorable to me. The music, creative design, unique atmosphere and intrinsic value are all decisive factors that led to my ultimate choices.

5. Great Deer Yard Hotel

Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut - (2013)

The Great Deer Yard Hotel is filled with interesting facts about Greenvale and its historical hotel. If you enjoy game aesthetics, you will love Deadly Premonition. All of the main locations (e.g. the Hotel, A&G Diner, Sheriff's Dept, Galaxy of Terror and Muses Gallery) are carefully decorated and should be explored at a slow pace. The Great Hotel was the point in-game where I was wholeheartedly pulled into SWERY's mysterious world. The nods to Lynch and Kubrick in the hotel were pleasing, especially the picture of Snoqualmie Falls in York's hotel room. While inspecting each room, hallway, piece of art and furniture, I enjoyed reading about specific objects and finding a few easter eggs here and there. The meeting with Polly for breakfast is my favorite cutscene. The ridiculously long dining table and the nonchalant behavior/deadpan conversation is hilarious and charming. And...what better way to finish an early morning meal than with a hot, fresh cup of coffee?!

4. Ice Cavern

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D - (2011)

Recently, I have noticed that I enjoy the colder seasons a lot more than the warmer ones. For whatever reason, winter levels intrigue and comfort me (Ando Prime in Star Wars Ep. I Racer, Mountain Village in Majora's Mask). The Ice Cavern is my favorite winter level and one of my favorite game areas of all time. The ice cold soundtrack is what really stands out for me. The shimmering keyboard bells and gusts of wind offer the sensation of arctic serenity. Besides getting the Iron Boots, there isn't much of a need to spend too much time in this mini-dungeon, but I really enjoyed the serendipitous atmosphere and the puzzles that were a part of it. I loved the sliding block puzzle and the incorporation of the Blue Fire. I was in awe of the final room, where you meet with Sheik in order to learn the "Serenade of Water". As the serenade plays, the camera angles sweep to show the stars on the ceiling and also reveal the glistening icicles that surround you. I love the sense of peace and beauty that is offered in this area.

3. School II

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - (2000)

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 was one of the funnest games to play as a kid. Each new game release seemed to get better and better in some way (up until Project 8). I have some fond memories of Tony Hawk's 1-4. I primarily chose School II to take the number three spot due to the overwhelming sense of nostalgia that I feel for the level. Oftentimes, this was my "free skate" level of choice. Its career goals were nicely implemented/spread out and the secret areas were fun to engage with. In free skate, School II was a fun choice because I could spend a solid amount of time at a specific quadrant in the level, perform more "realistic" tricks (maybe a kickflip back-smith or kickflip back-lip), then move somewhere else and have just as good of a time (the Roll Call Rails and planter ledges were always a blast). It was also cool to skate a few famous skate spots within the level. These spots included the Leap of Faith, the Gonz Rail and the Carlsbad Gap. Watch out for that golf cart! Beep beep, "skate or die, dude"!

2. Clock Town

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D - (2015)

If I could live in a video game world, I would choose to reside in Clock Town. It is a quaint, vibrant, entertaining and cordial place to live. During my first playthrough, I noticed that there is always some "goings-on" in Clock Town. I had fun walking through each building and engaging with the townsfolk. Everyone has their strict schedule, with certain tasks that Link can observe or investigate. I enjoyed following the Postman and Kafei during their daily routines. In addition to the incredibly personalized NPCs, the attention to color and set design are impressive. The Stock Pot Inn seems like a wonderful place to stay. Granny's (Anju's Grandmother's) room is beautifully decorated and the Mayor's Residence in East Clock Town is filled with endearing character. For me, the curved marketplace in West Clock Town is the most memorable area. I've had vivid dreams that take place in something similar to this bazaar strip. The Astral Observatory is one of my favorite locations as well (if it counts as a landmark in Clock Town). What I love about Clock Town, and Majora's Mask in general, is that it has an incredible fall carnival, harvest season atmosphere. There are many games that pull from traditional Halloween themes. In my opinion, MM has more of a unique autumn, crisp air, comfortably spooky art-style. If I were to be a Clock Town resident, I would prefer to be a pumpkin farmer...or a corn grower...and...I'd sell my crops before the moon drops!

1. Angry Aztec

Donkey Kong 64 - (1999)

There is something special about the developer Rare's game design. Banjo Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64 and Conker's Bad Fur Day all have distinctive graphics, campy storylines and collectathon-driven gameplay. In regards to DK64's levels, all of them are quite memorable. Fungi Forest's day and night cycles offer an innovative twist, Gloomy Galleon is an entertaining 3D water level, and Jungle Japes is a great beginner level. When compared to Jungle Japes, Angry Aztec slightly increases the difficulty, offering more challenging puzzles, platforming and enemies. Angry Aztec takes the crown because I felt completely engrossed in the game environment. The copious amount of tasks had me on my toes for hours on end. There were two Kongs to unlock—Tiny Kong and Lanky Kong. There was also a giant dragonfly boss to defeat. The act of forward thinking was firing on all cylinders and the childish fear of being defeated was raised at a fairly high level. Diddy Kong was my favorite character, and I thought that his jetpack challenges were the coolest thing ever. The additional temples were also exciting and filled with creative content. The Arabian-inspired "Angry Aztec" music track, composed by Grant Kirkhope, is absolutely phenomenal and one that I think about and listen to in present times. As a kid, I would often daydream about DK64. During recess, I would talk to one or two of my friends about boss battle strategies, or go over ways in which to progress through a certain level. My friends and I loved this game, which makes it very special in retrospect. Thanks to Grant Kirkhope's spectacular soundtrack and Rare's love and care for the Donkey Kong franchise, I have become a lifelong Donkey Kong 64 fan.

[morningsound15]

Hey dude I’ve been seeing a lot of CR stuff from you lately and I love me some Ashley Johnson and was thinking about starting it and realized there is an absolutely insane number of episodes!!! I wanted to ask if you been watching from the start? And if you usually watch it or listen to it as a podcast? Sorry for the questions I’m probably going to start it anyways bc what the fuck else am I gonna do during this panasonic LOL thanks dude

omg yes hi! you mean my wife Ashley Johnson, whom I would die for? She is lovely

So to answer — yeah I know there are so many eps. Very daunting! It took me a few times to actually get into CR, because I never reallly played D&D and the eps are like 4 hours long each but I was entering winter quarantine and it came highly recommended from a friend of mine (plus I love lesbian hijinks) so I stuck with it! And am now obsessed (clearly).

So they’re obviously in campaign 2, meaning you can totally skip all of campaign 1 (vox machina) there are like mentions & Easter eggs from that campaign that you won’t understand but you don’t need to have watched it to get this story. I started from the beginning a few months ago and I’m somewhere in the early 30s right now, but I ALSO have been watching live for the past several weeks. Watching live is really what encouraged me to stick with it because the drama! The stakes! It’s such an adrenaline rush. Anyway so I’ve seen like the first 30 eps and the last 6 or 7, and then I’ve also tried watching compilation videos on YouTube to try and get a basic understanding for the almost hundred episodes of story I’m missing in between. I don’t mind spoiling myself since watching live basically ensures I’ll be spoiling some big things (like deaths), so there are also synopses you can read, wiki articles about the characters and their backstories, etc. etc. But yes, a daunting number of eps, I felt the same way, I just am watching nothing at the moment and still locked away in quarantine so I figured fuck it, you know?

It’s definitely tough! But I’m having a blast. I usually watch it as a YouTube video on 1.25 or 1.5x speed that I’ll slow down if something I’m invested in happens. I love watching because half the fun is seeing the cast as actors react to what’s happening in-game, always a delight, but I know people who podcast it too. There can be quite a lot of dead air, especially in the early episodes, so I try to do something else while I watch (clean, cook, do laundry, color, read sometimes) which also helps! I will warn, if you go in mostly for Ashley she spends quite a lot of the early campaign away, because she was filming for a TV show at the time and her schedule always conflicted, so there are big Yasha gaps until the later numbers (80 or so?) When her show gets cancelled and she’s back full-time. But you’ll totally fall in love with the whole cast, they’re so funny and joyful.

Anyway I can’t recommend CR enough! Except for all the stress and anxiety it’s been giving me recently lol but if you ignore my sleep deprivation