#fox: meh. better than nothing i guess

[blueflipflops]

I think one of my favorite genre of clone centric star wars fics are where Fox and the Coruscant Guard gets their own jedi. Usually by digging through trash chutes. There's usually a jedi there or two. Fox found them so he's keeping them. And this somehow saves the galaxy.

[waterparksdrama]

ok now do Greatest Hits

took me a while, sorry anon but i needed to be in a certain mood for it and i'm more willing to listen to this in full even if it's long.

greatest hits - as far as intro songs go i think this is a good one. i like the vocal effects and the way it builds into this stormy atmosphere before going quiet again. 8/10

fuzzy - FUCK YEAH FUZZY WOOOOOOO!!!!! this song is so chewy i don't know how to explain it. the song is about awsten's sleepless nights/sleep paralysis/nightmares but in a really fun way and there's no annoying lyrics here i literally cannot complain about this song the bassline is godly. 10/10

lowkey as hell - and from that hype we are brought back down. i was kinda meh about this song when this came out and i'm still like kinda meh about it lol. it's very much a waterparks song (big rock chorus, lyrics complaining about something stupid that no one else would really) but nothing that really makes it stands out. i think the lyrical sentiment of trying to be there for someone whether it be fans or friends despite your own problems is sweet though i will admit. 6/10

numb - when this first came out i was like "this just sounds like a fandom b side" and what do you know i was close enough. good song to hype up to live i will admit it's a lot better like that than studio recorded. another fucking song complaining how fans only like him when he's sad and more lyrics that were tweets he put in a song for some reason. which. eye roll. c'mon man. 6/10

violet! - i like the transition from numb to this it's fun. a more pop oriented song with it's 80s pop like guitars in the beginning before evolving into this sparkly chorus. lyrically it's about a supposed stalker fan awsten had and with some of these exaggerated lyrics it's hard to tell how real that is, but his own mindset on the situation is clearer than that. i like it. it's fun and tells a story regardless. 7/10

snow globe - when this came out i was listening to a lot of classical piano so i really dug the intro because it reminded me of this piece called la campanella. i like the cold atmosphere it builds with the heavy autotune and desolate synths. lyrically, this follows awsten's self doubts and experience living as a public figure, how he simultaneously experiences loneliness while thousands people know him (loose term) from his music to his online posts. one time i used one of those online mashup sites to create a mashup between this and frou frou foxes in midsummer fires by cocateau twins and it was godly. 7/10 but the remix i got for it gets 8/10 bc shoegaze.

just kidding - cmon man. a song about feeling like shit, what else is there to say. the song chronicles awsten's mental struggles of feeling hated with a touch of implications of using someone as a distraction from this while being passive aggressive to them at the same time. sonically, it rides a sort of chill emo rap wave you might hear as background music to a lofi anime beats youtube if awsten wasn't singing specifically during the chorus where this annoying vocal effect sort of sounds like it's mocking his own words (which i guess is the point? but still). the song is more annoying than sympathetic for me and i don't understand why de'wayne and travis rallied for this song so hard. 4/10

the secret life of me - okay we're back to decent songs again. the sparkly guitars and drums remind me of a classic sonic game soundtrack. the song follows awsten's disassociation after just kidding, where instead of being caught in throes of reality, he gets caught in a maladaptive daydream of better things. i do that too so i can't really bitch here. 8/10

american graffiti - titled after a george lucas movie that was made to "appeal to the mainstream", it's a song about becoming a spectacle of fan interest and dealing with those expectation (believe me you don't have to tell me the irony of me reviewing any of this rn). awsten said this song was supposed to be a "pop punk but make it good" sort of thing so essentially they just made a neck deep song. the song reprises and seems to twist the lyrics from lowkey as hell ("if you need me, i'm here now") showing how that while it is good he can be so accessible, he's so accessible to the point that it's kind of meaningless to the general public. 8/10

you'd be paranoid too (if everyone you knew was out to get you) - wow another self reference. who would've thought. it's another fucking song about anxiety and living as a public figure and at this point in the album when it's so long and repeated so much it's kinda just like "do you have other things to complain about or..." sonically it feels kinda basic with it's rock anthem feel. there's a weird dichotomy between the suicidal lyrics and the ones that try to be lighthearted and it's just. well it's a song. 5/10

fruit roll ups - i like the transition. not much i can say about other parts of this song. was the autotune always this grating. anyways this song follows awsten trying to use random shit he bought as an excuse for someone to try seeing him. instrumentally, it's a lot better but oh my god these vocals and lyrics. i'm not even that convinced he even likes this person that much. also i've had band nerds tell me the song is actually in 6/8 time which makes awsten's statement at the beginning a lie. 4/10

LIKE IT - you guys know how much i love horrible music (i help run a waterparks blog after all) so when i heard this i was like "oh my god this is like modern the blue poptarts, my favorite terrible band." everything down to the rapping feels like a refined version of "it ain't easy being gangsta". again, it's another complaining song, but i think it works better than the other ones because it's not as tonally jarring and gets away with being bitchy by being so ridiculous instrumentally. i feel like he's like one line away from saying that old "cruisin down the street in my tight jeans" line (i learned that was an eazy e interpolation a couple years back isn't that weird). 8/10

gladiator (interlude) - i like the instrumental i don't like josh madden because he's another shill in the madden family and also one time someone said he looked like a thumb so now when i hear this i just think of that. either way his rambling about gladiators as an allegory for working in entertainment becomes very relevant to the next song 6/10

magnetic - the genius page may have rejected my annotations to this song but just remember i am always right. linked to gladiator, this song deals with awsten's internal battle between his public persona and his personal life, which bleed into each other and gets him lost in everything and nothing with things he hates. i love this song i can't lie. not only is this a pretty good lyrically, the electronic tinged guitars are so addictive and crunchy in all the right ways. god and the ending??? god it's so good. 9/10

crying over it all - a love song to someone that doesn't exist lol. a sweet song to someone that's supposed to stay behind once the band is gone and awsten exists outside of that. i really like zeph's backing vocals in this it really adds to this dreamy fantasy the song tries to build. 7/10

ice bath - the sister interlude to the intro title track. a song using the intro vocals and "wakes up" back into reality and awsten gets caught back into his materialism to cope with his mental struggles. 6/10

see you in the future - a song that essentially a chaotic ramble of awsten's life at that point that for the most part settles on focusing on the future (for better or for worse). a lot of these lyrics are probably just tweets awsten never sent amongst the random shit and attempts at insight in his life. it's. certainly a song but i can't lie the drums at the end are so primal and larger than life i remember screaming so hard when otto was doing that live. 6/10

in conclusion, a lot of this album is complaining about the same thing (i mean what waterparks album isn't that at it's core really), but it makes up for its (usually lyrical) faults in some songs with its out of this world, chaotic production. it is still a solid 3/5 stars in my book and this relisten made me realize it's been so long since i overplayed magnetic that i can enjoy it again so thanks for that sort of anon. greatest hits more like greatest shits *ba dum tss*

-iz

[panlight]

Okay so in canon vampires have favorite animals to eat, like Edward's favorite being Mountain Lion and Emmett's being bears. What do you think the other cullens/vegetarian vampires have a taste for? I kind of wonder if Carlise doesn't have a favorite because, at least I personal imagine that he doesn't like to kill anything, even animals? While Jasper may not be able to tell the difference to any one creature? But I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this subject!

I'm pretty much on the same page re: Carlisle and Jasper. Jasper has A LOT more experience with drinking human blood than any of the other Cullens so he "knows what he is missing" more than the rest and I'm sure all animals are just 'meh' to him. Emmett and Edward raving about bears and mountain lions sounds like someone being like "Of all the lowfat vegan gluten free veggie burgers, this one is the best" and Jasper's like, "but I like steak."

I don't think Carlisle has moral angst about killing animals--he realized pretty quickly it was humans or animals and there was nothing in his worldview at the time that forbade it--but it's not like, his favorite thing to do in the world because he does feel compassion for them. He kills quickly and cleanly and wouldn't play with his food like Emmett does. I think he's less likely to 'treat himself' to predators, too because it's just a means to an end to him, especially in the present day, just a chore he has to do. But if he had to choose a favorite he might say deer, not because it tastes the best (it doesn't) but it was that first 'meal' of deer that showed him he could live without human blood.

With Rosalie, it's complicated. Obviously she doesn't like being a vampire, but I think she's with Carlisle in seeing that eat animals isn't "wrong" because humans do it too. It's a human thing. But I don't know that she's like super enthused about it either. It might just be a chore, although it probably is a good release for her anger and frustration. We could go along with Rosalie and Edward actually being very similar and have her favorite be some other type of big cat. Or maybe they actually like the same but Edward insists on calling it a "Mountain Lion" and Rosalie insists on "Puma" or "Cougar" so they can pretend it's ~different.

I don't know that Esme cares terribly, I could see her having that Mom vibe of "oh I don't mind, whatever you want, I'm not fussy," or whatever. Predators do taste better but it's fine, really, whatever you're having. Maybe she actually likes wolves but now feels awkward about it.

The other thing Edward suggests is that their hunting style is similar to the animal they prefer, so maybe Alice likes something smaller and quicker, more crafty and clever. Maybe she likes foxes?

IDK about Bella, but I guess SM would assign something cool and badass to her. Or else it's mountain lions like her soulmate I guess.

No idea about the Denalis. They're probably more like Jasper, with centuries of human blood in their memory, so it's all pretty blah but maybe one or more of them actually really likes polar bears and that's one reason they're still in Alaska.

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: When I Get to the Border (19x05)

Well then, I guess we know why Meredith won't be around much for the rest of the season!

Cons:

This episode was odd, it felt like an outlier that arrested the progress of certain key arcs. This was the first episode all season where I felt kind of "meh" about the new interns, and that's because we spent all our time focusing on Lucas Adams, and how his co-workers think he and Amelia are sleeping together. I thought that a was funny and potentially dramatic little wrench to put into the works when it first happened, the classic lie that grows out of control. But now we've got this whole thing where it's tied up in Lucas being a disappointment to his family and trying to stake out his own identity... and I'm just kind of bored with it all. What's going to happen when the others learn that he's Amelia's nephew? Well, nothing much, probably. They'll all judge and/or shun him for being a legacy kid, instead of for sleeping with an attending. Who cares.

Catherine Fox has never been a favorite of mine. When I saw that Jackson and Tom Koracick (my beloved fave) were going to be in this episode, I got really excited. But Tom's entire purpose was to talk to Catherine about her cancer, which has come back and is probably going to kill her this time around. I don't dislike Catherine to the point of wishing for her death, but god am I sick of the back and forth on this. She's had cancer for years now, we're constantly waiting to see if this is when she'll finally succumb to it. Can we not give Richard a break? He's lost every woman he's ever loved to sickness. I'm getting tired of this.

Also, I rather like the Zola and Meredith stuff, I don't actually have a problem with it in concept, but I do find it odd that the entirety of last season was this big will-she-won't-she game for Meredith about whether or not she'd move away from Seattle. And then the answer was "no". And now the answer is "yes", but for an entirely new reason that was just sprung on us a couple episodes ago. I don't know, it just feels weird from a pacing point of view. At the same time, I'm grateful I didn't have to hang out with Mr. Boring Nick this week, so whatever.

Pros:

Despite being sort of annoyed about Catherine, I was still really delighted to see my guy Tom Koracick. I don't know why I love him so much, I think he's just so... different from any other character they've ever had on the show, in this undefinable way. I find the performance to be charismatic and complex, I think he's funny, and I think he and Teddy would have been a way better relationship than anything she's ever had with Owen. (As a bonus "pro" of this episode, there were no Teddy and Owen scenes to suffer through. Huzzah!)

I liked seeing Zola light up with interest and joy at being exposed to a more gifted student environment. But I also liked how she was worried that it wouldn't be a cure-all to their problems. What if they move to Boston, and Zola keeps having panic attacks? Meredith is a good mom, telling her that she's extraordinary no matter what, and that she doesn't have to worry about all the what ifs. She wants to move here and go to this school, and Meredith is going to make that happen for her kid. We're really hammering it home that Meredith is being the mother for her own children that she never got to have with Ellis.

In conversations with Jackson, we also give Meredith another super compelling reason to move, and that's Jackson's research money that might lead to some innovative new opportunities in hunting for a  Alzheimer's cure. I really like this for her character, it seems like an appropriate way of sending her off for a time, kind of like how they wrote off Cristina to explore future scientific advancements overseas. If we can't have Meredith around, this feels like an okay way to lose her for a while. I like that as a direct counterpoint to the way her mother behaved, we see Meredith moving heaven and earth to be there for her daughter and make sure Zola is being cared for. But her identity as a doctor isn't erased either.

The other big plot thread of this episode was extremely heavy, and also heavy-handed, but I think it still worked beautifully. We see Addison and Bailey volunteering to help at a reproductive health clinic. They are tasked with picking someone up from across the border into Idaho where the rules are a little more questionable, to assist with terminating an ectopic pregnancy. On the way back, the woman begins bleeding profusely, the ambulance is stuck because of a traffic jam and does not arrive, and the pregnant mother of a young girl, who was hoping for another child, dies tragically. All because her OBGYN wouldn't treat her, for fear of breaking the law by ending a pregnancy.

Obviously this episode is preaching to the choir in terms of how I already feel about abortion and reproductive health care in general, but I do think it's important to show this kind of story, to acknowledge the full horror of what's happening in our country right now. They show Bailey and Addison as incredibly compassionate, skilled medical professionals who are always excited and eager to help people through their wanted pregnancies, but who also have no qualms about the moral rightness of a person's right to make their own decisions. It's simple, or at least it really ought to be. And it was brutal, watching this woman talk about all the things in her daughter's life that she didn't want to miss, listing out the fullness of experience that she will now miss getting to see. It was an abject tragedy, and I really felt the weight of it.

So that's all for now: next week we're already at the mid-season finale of Grey's, apparently. That came really quickly! I hope we get to check in with Schmitt, I missed him this week. I hope we do not get to check in with Teddy and Owen, unless we get an update on Leo. Where are the kids, anyway?

8/10

[kalboykiyay]

Kal Grasps For Straws With The Warriors Ships Because She Can

See, after what @thewarriorshomegirl said about Snow and Ajax, I'm in a shitpost mood. So allow me to rate these things (10 being the best thing, 1 being the worst thing). If nothing else, appreciate the camraderie, my dudes.

First, we've got Swan and Cleon: They have pretty respectable relationship, but I don't see it going much further than that. Though if it did, that would be some good shit, brother. Though, my inner Cleon/Lincoln shipper automatically deducts a few points, so I give this a 5/10.

Swan and Ajax: I guess the appeal is that tension between them, you know, the "I'll beat your ass, but I'll also push you into a wall and make out with you." tension. I can see the appeal, so 7/10.

Swan and Fox: They're really good friends, and they have personalities that compliment each other. In the original script, Fox is about to tell that Swan is upset and Swan tells Fox why. It's not as good in the movie, but in the script, it's totally there, so for that alone, I gotta give it the 10/10.

Swan and Rembrandt: This pairing feels wrong on so many levels. 1/10.

Swan and Cowboy: They're clearly good friends, so I could see it happening but this feels like it's only slightly better than Swan and Rembrandt, but I could see it more than Swan and Cleon, so 6/10.

Swan and Vermin: I don't think Swan would want to deal with Vermin's complaining, so I doubt that would go well, 4/10.

Swan and Snow: They have a pretty good relationship, they seem friendly enough, but it's nothing to write home about. 5/10.

Swan and Cochise: listen, they seem like they'd have a fun ass dynamic. I like to think that Swan and Cochise have a pretty good relationship (if only because their actors seemed like they were chill) so I'm gonna have to say 7/10 for this one.

Cleon and Snow: I could Snow trying to gain Cleon's approval be a cause for them to get closer, but side from that, no dice. 4/10.

Cleon and Fox: Seems alright in theory. Cleon and Fox seem like they could work, but I don't think it'd be super overly cute, so meh 6/10.

Cleon and Ajax: They'd clash too much, I feel. They get on decently, but Ajax is so loose cannon I doubt that would work. 3/10.

Cleon and Cowboy: Pretty sure Cleon forgets about Cowboy's existence except in like, one mission. 2/10.

Cleon and Rembrandt: No. That is all. 1/10.

Cleon and Cochise: Meh, nothing interesting there and I'm having a difficult time picturing it. 4/10.

Cleon and Vermin: I mean... Obviously Cleon trusts Vermin enough to be willing to start a gang with him, so it's not like this ship would be pulled out of thin air. 7/10.

Cowboy and Ajax: this one is really hit or miss. It could either be really sweet or really sour. Either way, it seems like it'd be an interesting dynamic to read, so 8/10.

Cowboy and Snow: Something about these two... Just, *Chef's kiss*. They get on pretty well. And they just seem precious. The potential is just there. Plus, what were they doing that we didn't get to see how they got back to the station. ∞/10.

Cowboy and Rembrandt: Iono, Fam, they do be cute though. Two soft boios out here vibin' and in the original script there's a scene, bitch. 9/10.

Cowboy and Fox: Pretty sure these two never interact. Not even in the original script, or it's so insignificant that's it's nothing to work with. 2/10.

Cowboy and Vermin: I mean, he did call Vermin "Baby" in the original script- these two could have a very entertaining relationship. 8/10.

Cowboy and Cochise: *Inhales.* Look, Cochise calling Cowboy "Daddy" in the original script give this at least a seven. But these two have a great dynamic. They're friends, they work well together, etc. 8/10.

Ajax and Snow: They're friends. They have a decent relationship and Ajax probably trusts Snow way more than most of the other members. 7/10.

Ajax and Cochise: I don't see these two being together. They give off wingman vibes. They are really good friends. That being said, they work well together. Ajax clearly trusts Cochise and they've got a fun dynamic. 8/10.

Ajax and Fox: These two can't stand each other. That being said, this pairing could be some top tier shit. They would have that same dynamic as Swan and Ajax, especially because Fox talks so much shi- Oh my GOD. (Sorry, I'm questioning all of my life choices with this one. 7/10.)

Ajax and Rembrandt: Don't seem like they'd vibe at all honestly. 1/10

Ajax and Vermin: They have a fun enough dynamic with Ajax teasing him sometimes. Though, aside from that, I don't see it much. They seem more like wingmen also. But that relationship dynamic doesn't feel as present with these two as it does with Ajax and Cochise. 6/10.

Fox and Rembrandt: in the Script, Fox is described as Rembrandt's best friend. I like how the script treats them, but in the movie, they don't get too much of that. Though, there is that scene where Fox is reassuring Rem that the maps are shitty and the one where he sends Rem to go check the graveyard. But they could be super cute soft boios. 7/10.

Fox and Cochise: They seem more like friendly banter type, though it could be a fun relationship. It's really either way. 5/10.

Fox and Snow: There's nothing here because these two don't interact. ;-; 2/10.

Fox and Vermin: I could see it, but it's nothing too special, so 5/10.

Rembrandt and Cochise: I don't see much of anything here, but I could probably be swayed, so 3/10.

Rembrandt and Vermin: I could see it slightly more than Rem and Cochise, but still not much there. 4/10.

Rembrandt and Snow: These two would be hella wholesome honestly. Enough said. 8/10.

Vermin and Cochise: In this household, we kiss the homies goodnight. 9/10.

Vermin and Snow: Nah, I got nothing. 2/10.

Snow and Cochise: There's a potential ship there, but not much. 6/10.

I wanna hear what y'all think of these pairings honestly. These are all personalised answered, so I am only speaking for me. Let me know what you think. It is 04:46 in the morning lmao.

[charmingradiobelle]

Between the Odds

Part Five: The Morning After

(A/N: I skipped the fourth chapter for reasons you can probably guess. This one also has some 18+ content but nothing too explicit)

Judy began to wake up at the crack of dawn like she was used to. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as the sunlight poking through the window hit her face. For the first few seconds of consciousness, she had forgotten where she was or what occurred last night that even brought her to the unfamiliar location. But as she sat up in the bed, she realized she was in Nick's room, and suddenly remember their "activities" from the night before.

She used the blanket to cover herself from the chest down, her eyes slowly averting over toward the fox that laid beside her. She was partly relieved she didn't wake him up, since she rather enjoyed watching him sleep, especially with the way the sunrise was shining on his red fur. Even when he was sleeping he still managed to bring a smile to her face.

Judy took a quick look around the room, spotting some of their clothes piled up either on the floor or at the foot of the bed. The memories of last night came flooding into her brain, causing her to blush and smile to herself. It was much better than she could have ever imagined, and the way he made her feel the entire time only made it better.

But then a question popped into her mind. What did this mean? Did Nick actually feel the same way about her or was he just caught up in the moment? Did he just feel like he had to make love because it was what she wanted? Judy would never forgive herself if she made him feel pressured or uncomfortable, so she prayed that wasn't the case. But then again, if Nick didn't want to then he wouldn't have done it. He would've stopped her before it got too far, and if anything he seemed quite into it.

But that didn't mean he felt attracted to her in a romantic way. For all Judy knew, this could've just been a one time thing to him. What would that mean for their friendship? Was this the thing she feared would jeopardize everything they had?

She wasn't given much time to ponder as she heard her friend beginning to move from his spot. She looked back over at him, seeing he was shifting to lay on his back while stretching his arms. Judy realized that whatever happened next could make or break their relationship, so she had to play it cool.

Nick eventually opened his eyes, immediately turning his head to face the bunny. "Hey, Carrots." He greeted in a quiet tone, clearly still tired from what happened. But hearing some movement next to him had woken him up, and now he was too alert to go back to sleep.

"Hey," She responded, surprisingly calm. "You sleep okay?"

"Meh, sorta. You?" He shrugged, reaching over to grab his phone from the nightstand to check the time. To his relief, they still had at least an hour before they had to be at work. But knowing Judy, she was going to rush him to get ready any minute now.

"It was fine." She nodded, biting the inside of her cheek. How was she supposed to bring up an awkward topic? Maybe it was only awkward to her, but either way she didn't know how to start the conversation. "So uh..last night, huh?"

"Yeah." He nodded, leaning back against the headboard. Even though he felt a little flustered remembering what happened, he tried not to let it show and instead did what he did best—be nonchalant. "So uh, how long have you been wanting to do that, hm?" He asked with a raised brow, deciding to lighten the mood before they had any kind of serious conversation.

Judy scoffed and rolled her eyes, subconsciously rubbing her arm up and down. "Honestly I didn't really mean to take it that far. I guess something just..came over me, you know?" She shrugged, feeling tortured by the jittery feeling in her stomach.

"Hey, we both got caught up. It's okay." He said to ease her nerves, since he didn't want her to blame herself.

"Yeah but..I was just trying to tell you that I..."

She paused, hesitating to say the next few words. She never explicitly stated it last night, and now she kind of wished she did to avoid the awkward tension now.

"That you what?" He asked intrigued, although he could already tell what she was going to say. But he desperately needed to hear her say it, he wanted it to be true.

She pulled the blanket up to cover her mouth and nose, closing her eyes to avoid making eye contact. "That I'm..in love with you."

Nick was silent for a moment, taking in those muffled words that made his heart skip a beat. So it was true, his best friend was actually in love with him. A small smile crept up onto his face as he reached his paw out to her, moving the blanket away so he could caress her cheek. "Well, what do ya know? Officer Hopps has fallen head over heels for a fox." He said playfully, though still in awe at her words. "How long have you felt this way?"

"I don't know." She answered timidly, scrunching up her shoulders. "I mean, I guess I've always had feelings for you, I just didn't really realize it until last night." She sighed, leaning her face against his paw. "Do you hate me?"

"What kind of question is that? Carrots, if I hated you, I wouldn't have slept with you." He chuckled, scooting closer to her. "Besides, I could never hate the adorable bunny that turned my world upside down."

Judy looked up at him with shimmering eyes, feeling like her heart could actually burst from her chest. "W-wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" She asked, "You better not be messing with me, Nick."

"I'm not messing with you." He shook his head assuringly, kissing her forehead. "And if you think I'm saying that I love you, too, then yes."

"You do?" She asked, slowly beginning to smile. "So last night wasn't just a hookup?"

Nick laughed softly at her question, "Of course not. Everything that happened last night was 100% out of love."

She let out a small sigh of relief, feeling a massive weight being lifted off her shoulders. She honestly couldn't believe that all of this was true. Everything that happened since their kiss had felt like a dream to her, one she did not want to wake up from. "So does this make us..a couple?" She asked for clarification, eagerly hoping for a 'yes'.

"Nothing would make me happier." He responded, cupping her face to feel her cheeks warming up. He found it pretty cute how he made her blush like that, and he couldn't wait to see what else he could do to keep her face red.

Judy laughed excitedly and kissed his cheek, tackling him in a hug. He laid back down on the bed with her on top of him, allowing the bunny to shower him with love and affection. But he couldn't deny that he was quite excited himself and gladly reciprocated, squeezing her against him and giving her a brief kiss on her lips.

Unfortunately, they couldn't celebrate forever, since they were going to be late for work if they didn't get ready soon. They reluctantly pulled apart after a minute and stood up from the bed, gathering their clothes. While Judy was putting her underwear back on, Nick took notice to the bits of fur on her neck that were out of place, and it immediately occurred to him that if he could see it by just glancing at her, then so could anyone else.

"Uh, Carrots?" He said to get her attention, "You might wanna cover that up."

Judy was confused for a second, seeing him point at something in particular on her body. But she quickly realized what it was and instinctively put her paw on top of the hickey to cover it. "Oh, crap." She muttered, "Is it that noticeable?"

"A little bit, yeah." Nick nodded. He wasn't even aware of how big of a mark he left on her, and although it wasn't his intention, there wasn't much they could do now.

Judy sighed and shook her head, grabbing her uniform from his closet as she walked out of the room. "Remind me not to let you give me another hickey." She said from the hallway, making her way into the bathroom.

Nick smirked as he grabbed his uniform as well, rolling his eyes. "I make no promises, Carrot cake."

[malepresentingleg]

is it 2013 again? cause i have a rant about teen wolf coming and i feel 16 y/o.

so due to dome heavy procrastination I've consumed a lot of teen wolf content, i skipped a bunch of episodes and a lot of scenes in the ones i haven't but i still have some Thoughts TM

it's good??? i had a Good Time watching, it was funny but intense and dark and i felt Feelings watching, some of the plotlines were meh (or maybe i just skipped them heh) but a lot were interesting and i loved the characters and their interaction

scott. my sweetheart. my baby. such a cutiepie, such a great protagonist 10/10 i love him and would die for him. he's so pure and cute and his little smile melts my heart. i love how he's fundamentally Human no matter how non human he is. he's a great character all around and i kinda wish they didn't do that shit to him at the end (imma get there) or treated him like he ISN'T the protagonist for such big parts of the shows

people KNOW. Stiles knows from day one, allison finds out soon, his mom finds out in season 2! the sheriff in 3, and they just become part of the gang and can help them with stuff bc they UNDERSTAND. shows like that get really tiring when the teens constantly lie to everyone around them and it was very refreshing. the running gag with the coach ruining things tho was funny and I'm ok with it.

Ok this is mellisa appreciation time. she's SUCH a great, complex and unusual mom-of-hero character. i absolutely love her and her attitude, i love how she's not simply being used as a tool to cause scott pain (just.. sometimes) and their relationship is parenting goals.

also isn't it fucking hilarious how she's a nurse but she just knows everything medical. she's also a surgeon and a mortician and a doctor. ik it's for plot reasons but it funny af.

in general women on the show.. had a lot of potential, i love them, but i hate how they were treated.

allison was all around great imo, her and scott's relationship was built very well and was two sided from the start (unlike... yeah), she has emotions, she's smart and brave, but also human and scared, she kicks ass and, again, exists outside of Scott's GF status (mostly). andddd they killed her. idk if the actress had to/wanted to leave or it was a pure writers decision bc they needed to keep just her father or something, but that would have been ok if not for all the other things

we have 3 main kickass ladies with powers- lydia, kira and malia. lydia spent close to FIVE whole seasons not knowing anything about her abilities/not knowing how to control them. cmon, it gets old. scott masters his powers after a season or two (and had control a lot sooner), parrish finds out what he is like half a season after it becomes relevant etc.

malia- do i need to explain? she was CONSTANTLY struggling controlling her abilities, no matter how badass she supposedly was. and kira oh boy, they did her dirty, didn't they?

kira was such a cute adorable character. i loved her and her little crush on scott and wanting to make friends and being freaked out about relationships, i love her discovering her past and heritage and learning to fight and gaining control and becoming a badass. but. what? they just undid all this? oh no the fox is taking over she has no control no agency of her own she needs to disappear for years now bye :( again, idk if the actress needed to leave but it was so unsatisfying and was insulting to the character. she wasn't even mentioned later a bunch like allison was, just they needed her mom for a plot tool and didn't even acknowledge it was her sword they were breaking. uhm rude?

LET WOMEN HAVE POWERS AND BE AWESOME WITH THEM. and not just minor/bad characters thanks.

i love the concept of a pack on the show and how you don't have to be a werewolf to be a part of it, how scott becomes a true alpha and how he cares about his friends. i kinda feel like in later seasons him being an alpha was more talk than show which like /: meh. like i said, he stopped BEING the main character, just talked about as if he was.

i love how friendship is valued, but i think it could be more.. i mean the scene in the motel, all season 3b, scott and lydia, all the girls with each other.. i love it. too many times tho it "wasn't enough" and only romantic love worked which SUCKS. in 6a i was so happy scott went in to try and remember stiles and the memories hit me right in the heart. then when it "wasn't enough" i was SO pissed and frustrated goddammit. i guess that leads me to the next point-

ships, should i talk about ships? i don't want hate in my asks but oh well it's been a few years maybe there's no fandom to care. I'll start with the end

malia and scott. what. the. fuck. when, out of fucking no where, they had like a lingering look or something i was just "nope. no thanks". and then every scene they had together i had to cover my eyes bc it felt so wrong and bad and awkward. jesus. no build up at ALL, they're like family, i just. ew. no. it felt way too much like "oh we gotta pair off the leftovers" or "the main character can't end up single" well guess what, he fucking can. it was. god. i can't even explain the disgust. when he needed to heal and all she had to do was kiss him ugh. it felt so fake and empty of meaning. i would 100% prefer for it to be stiles (I'll get there) or his mom who snapped him out of it.

melissa and chris, i could get aboard with that. def cute, def weird af since his dead daughter was dating her son but, well.

stiles and lydia is a ship i have conflicting feelings about. i absolutely hate the concept of "the nerd" is in love with the popular girl since freshman year and he's borderline being a creep ("oh but it's stiles! he's a dork and he's harmless" no.), completely obsessed with her and she ignores him but then they end up getting together.. i mean, it sends a bad msg to obsessed boys about how it's worth it in the end, and it makes the whole relationship feel unbalanced from the start, makes her reciprocation feel unatural. BUT, i have to admit the show did kinda make me warm up to this ship by the end, curse them. it was kinda cute. i wish there was more mutualness before it became such an important part in 6a tho.

just gonna put it out there: malia/kira and lydia/allison. i wish we saw more girl on girl interactions in general but the ones we had were very good, great dynamics.

i won't get too much into it but i.. i don't ship st*rek. i understand why they're the biggest ship (two white hot boys that interact with each other, i mean.), and i see the couple of fan service-y moments the show throws at us but just. they don't have my heart, i don't really care about them. not the characters, the characters i absolutely love! (tho this watch i skipped most of season 1 and 2 and 3a and i think that's where derek is the most asshole.. didn't he do really bad things? idr) idk if you want a bad character on the way to redemption with someone you should ship liam and theo who had way better shippy chemistry imo, even tho their ship probably wouldn't be healthy given their dynamic history, huh.

the ship that does owns my heart? scilies. I'm a softy when it comes to best friends to lovers, and their bond and relationship is just. so. pure. don't get me wrong, i love me a good platonic relationship, but there was just one to many homoerotic interactions between them for me not to ship it, hard. (not to be that person but my guess is that if Scott was white it would have been a way bigger ship, but who knows?) i love their love, i love they would do anything for each other, and i feel like there were a bunch of very missed opportunities for them in later seasons :(

so representation. this feels like a show that is trying to be Woke TM but it's not going so well. the main character is supposedly latino but it's never ever addressed. idc about "oh we want a world without prejudice" you can still fucking address it. i mean they went to Mexico a couple of times, stiles keeps saying "Mexican cousin" i mean. god. give us something. did i mention scott was told he'd make a great "nazi youth" ..

and you don't need to be a genius to see the most characters are very white or at least very white passing. and when you don't address their non whiteness they might as well be..

i already mentioned how poorly i feel kira was treated, but also mason, who is a wonderful character, gets no depth? we know nothing about him other than being gay and smart pretty much.

i also spoke about the women already but, they were really really great women characters, but not enough of them, not enough that lasted.

there's not much to talk about disability bc it just wasn't on the show. the only blind character was healed which. /: same with epilepsy and asthma..

i think the show is probably very proud (ha) with their LGBTQ+ rep bc they're like "oh let's make this insignificant couple gay bc hey nbg". examples are lydia's grandma, La Bete and marcel, i think nolan and jiang were exes and then nolan and gabe were a thing? idr if it was explicit. the couple of girls in the tent.. probably a couple more. it's nice, def better than all random couples being straight but that's not satisfying as rep.

Danny was great. i think he and ethan were.. cute? i think he was awesome, i loved danny so much and was very excited to learn he KNOWS at the end of season 3 and was waiting to see him join the pack. instead he fucking disappeared?! wtf. #WhereDidDannyGo

brett was cute rep, especially being bi but i feel like it could go into the insignificant pool which, again, is better than nothing.

mason and corey i just don't have strong feelings about. they were definitely cute and I'm glad they were together, i love mason A Lot. i think this relationship could be explored more, or at least the characters could be explored more to give this relationship more depth.

very interesting how there's no wlw canon couple, not even hinted. just fan servicey hot malia kira dance which /:

not to mention transgenderness. god can you imagine the interesting plotline of transitioning while being a werewolf 0:

i think the rep i was most happy about was ethan and Jackson. even tho i don't think there was build up or clues in the first couple of seasons, I'm happy for the actor who i know was struggling with coming out publicly, and it was very fun and refreshing for the ending. even if we got very few scenes with them the dynamic was 10/10

the biggest problem is obviously stiles. i just don't understand why, if they're so supposedly progressive, they went to that length to queerbait without following through. the whole gag of wanting to be attractive to danny and to gay guys, the whole "aww danny want to have sex with me that's so nice", the whole "do you like guys too?". it's a gag. his alleged bisexuality is the butt of a joke, and it pisses me the fuck off. they don't have to make it a big deal or have him get a bf for it to be official. it wasn't subtle subtext. it was a CHOICE. to put a spotlight on his sexuality but not deliver. -100/10 would not recommend.

also they could talk about his mental health more.

and about Scott's, please and thank you.

and everyone's.

i had some more feelings, like villains changing sides without getting a proper redemption and having no consequences, the wholesomeness of the sherriff and mellisa being each other's kids second parent eichen house (wtf??), and more, but i think i wrote enough for now.

tl;dr- good show with A Lot of problems, will always have a place in my heart bc I'm a nostalgic gal.

[radramblog]

Retro Games WTB

So for reference, this and the last two posts were written on the same night. We went from serious discussion about sensitive and graphic material in media, to silliness about shooty mans, to this. The thing is, I’m going away on a weekend camping trip (Melbourne got delayed again but at least getting to go on this is a silver lining?), and when this post goes up (assuming I figure out how to schedule it right) is the one day where I’m just never at home. The Saturday of a weekend trip. I don’t know if the place is going to have cell signal, and I’m not letting that of all things get in the way of me posting more bullshit.

It’s been a long night.

I was originally going to do, like, a tierlist thing, but staring at the list of these was just depressing. Motherfuckers put Homestuck in the Video Games section multiple times, and I had to stare at the fact that someone went out of their way to make a FNAF shipping tier list. And lots of people played it. Fuck, man.

I don’t know if me talking about a bunch of games I want to buy is actually more interesting, but I’ll be damned if I can’t do that easily and for a lot of words. Plus, it’ll force me to actually come up with a complete list.

(editors note this is ridiculously absurdly long and it has no images it’s just 2.5K words of jack shit and me tiredly trying to make jokes about old games you probably haven’t heard of you’ve been waaaarned)

N64

The prospect of collecting all the N64 games I want is somewhat daunting, especially considering my region-based issues. But I’ve made some solid progress since that one time I talked about my collection (and I cannot be fucked dragging that post up at the moment). I’ve acquired Banjo-Kazooie and a Kirby 64 cart that I sure didn’t know was coming in fucking box.

Anyway. I’d like to pick up Smash 64 at some point, if only for the novelty of it. I’ve played it, like, once? And that was a very long time ago, the first time I ever played an N64 (possibly the only time I even touched a controller before I bought my own), and I wasn’t as mediocre to functional at Smash as I am now. 64 is kind of a whole different animal, though- no competitively viable maps by modern standards and the engine is fucky- every character combos so well that they run 5-stock matches instead of 3.

(From this point on, I’m literally looking at a Wikipedia list of games and picking ones to comment on, so it’s alphabetical)

Banjo-Tooie would be nice, I suppose, but I’ve barely played the first one- let’s maybe do that before I start thinking sequels. I didn’t realise until I actually picked up the game that Kazooie is like, a massive asshole? Extremely rude? Apparently that’s their character trait and I just didn’t know. Banjo seems like such a cool bloke, why does he hang out with them?

Even though I’d never be able to play it, the Australian version of Beetle Adventure Racing actually replaces the titular cars with Holdens, which is fucking hilarious and I need to see it.

I’ve heard a lot about Conker’s Bad Fur Day, that it’s basically Banjo/DK but M rated. I…don’t imagine it’s aged particularly well. Man, remember when he showed up for Project Spark, though? Yeah, me neither.

Donkey Kong 64 is another classic, and I’m sure it’s really good. I have managed to pick up an Expansion Pak, so there’s half the cost of it gone, too. I’ve never actually finished any of the Country games, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t play like one, so. I also never watched the HBomberguy charity marathon, so I am pure and unspoiled as to the grisly details of this jungle bash.

On the one hand, Goldeneye is arguably one of the most iconic FPS games of all time. On the other, it’s not aged particularly well, and I don’t have a cadre of people to hang around being nostalgic for it, because we’re all either younger than this game or barely out-age it. I hope someone reading this feels old now. (sorry)

Even as a Pokemon fanatic, I’m not buying Hey You, Pikachu. That game barely worked with people in the USA, imagine that shitty microphone trying to decipher my accent on fucking N64 hardware. Also it’s pretty lame even if you can get it to work, so.

Majora’s Mask is currently my White Whale, because I want nothing more than to play that game. I’ve heard so much, it sounds and looks so fucking incredible, and as I said I have the Expansion Pak now so I can actually run it. One day, man, one day. Once again I should probably finish Ocarina of Time first, but like, I know I’m going to play this one, so.

I guess Mario Kart 64 would be worth picking up, apparently it’s one of the better ones. I reckon if people showed up to play fucking Beetle Adventure Racing before knowing the game was actually really good, they’ll show up for Mario Kart. I’d rather buy 64 than 8, frankly.

I could barely get any interest in my bootleg-ass copy of Mario Party 3, I’m not going to spend stupid money on the other ones.

Oh, apparently Mega Man Legends came out on the 64 as well? I thought that was just on the Playstation. I mean, people really seem to like that sub-series, but then people also liked Star Force, so I don’t know if I can trust the Mega Man fandom on anything. (MMBN legacy collection when, Capcom)

Yo so there was a Neon Genesis Evangelion game for the N64, and apparently it’s a fighting game? Japan-only, of course, but my console can run those anyway. And like, that sounds funny and cool, I’ll punch Sachiel to death, why the fuck not? Who needs a progressive knife. Congratulations joke.

God Paper Mario is so fucking expensive god damnit

Perfect Dark rounds out the trio of “hey I have the expansion pak now”, but I know substantially less about it. So, maybe?

The Pokemon games I’m missing (and care about) are Snap, Puzzle League, and Stadium 2. I’ll consider Snap if I can find a cheap copy, as I know it’s pretty limited (and the new one just came out), Puzzle League is probably meh, and Stadium 2 sounds fun but I’d need to then buy a GSC cart to get the most out of it and they aren’t cheap. Unless I get a Japanese one, but apparently, they’re only compatible with Japanese Stadium 2 (er, Stadium GS), so I’d have to double down on illegibility.

Oh fuck, right, Star Fox. Man I thought I was going to get away with just talking about Star Wars here (I’ve already got the good ones), but I forgot about fuckin Star Fox 64, aka The Good One. Shit I gotta get that don’t I? Fuck me. At least searching for one will be slightly easier because the PAL version has a different name.

Oh, and Yoshi’s Story looks like a trip and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Like, this just looks worse than Yoshi’s Island if I’m being honest.

 GBA

I haven’t actually talked about by GBA collection on here have I? TL;DR- it’s a console I’m very nostalgic for, but my collection is lacking because all the carts in Malaysia were bootlegs.

Jesus there’s so many more GBA games than N64 ones. Like, in general, not just on this list.

Advance Wars is a solid maybe, because the carts are super fucking expensive, I’ve never played the series, and the remaster is coming soon. But apparently they’re good? Big shrug energy.

Wow, they made two whole Banjo games for the GBA. Both of these look like shit, though, so fuck it. No wonder I never hear anyone talk about them.

Boktai is an interesting series I’d like to maybe give a shot. It’s a JRPG made by fucking Hideo Kojima, where the cartridge had a light sensor in it to encourage you to play outside by buffing the main character. Which was an interesting choice on the notably not backlit GBA. It also has crossover stuff with something we’ll get into later.

I’ve played Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow to death, and as a result I’d love to pick up a copy of it’s GBA prequel, Aria of Sorrow- it’s apparently almost just as good. I’ve not heard much about the other two GBA Castlevanias, but they’re apparently similarly excellent- a stark comparison to the mediocre to bad N64 ones.

If someone buys me a cartridge of Crazy Frog Racer I will play it and that is a fucking promise.

There are like three whole Fire Emblem games on the GBA, though only two came out in English. I actually have a bootleg of one of them. It’s another one of those ones that are unreasonably expensive because it didn’t sell well and they didn’t make that many as a result, though. So probably not worth getting a real one unless I fall super head over heels for the series- I don’t see that happening soon.

Oh right, Golden Sun. Another JRPG franchise for the GBA. There were a lot of those, huh? Anyway there’s like no way this guy is getting into Smash, don’t get your hopes up.

Harvest Moon is basically Stardew Valley, but older. Two games of it came out on the GBA, and I’m probably not about to commit to buying one of those rather than Stardew. And that game has yet to successfully appeal to me, soooooooo

I have a bootleg of Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, and that’s one of the ones where it probably doesn’t matter at all that it’s a bootleg, so I’m satisfied with it. Don’t have Nightmare in Dream Land, which I’ve played before on emulator and wouldn’t mind retrying, so maybe. I’ve never been massive on remakes if the original is viable, but I don’t have an NES so I’m sure not buying Kirby’s Adventure.

There are two Zelda games on GBA- a port of A Link to the Past which I have, and Minish Cap which I don’t. Minish Cap is very expensive!!! Aah!!!

Yo they ported The Lost Vikings to GBA? Wack. I guess Blizzard gets a shoe in this console’s door, then.

Yeah okay so there are like a million Mario games here, huh. Superstar Saga was the first Mario and Luigi game, and the one of those I’ve played (Partners in Time) was good enough that I’d bite for the original. Or I’d just go buy Bowser’s Inside Story. Mario Kart and Golf on the GBA don’t appeal super hard, and I’ve played Mario Pinball Land (long before that Alpharad Deluxe series), to the point where I don’t feel the need to actually buy it.

Speaking of Alpharad, I played Mario Party Advance on one of my Malaysian Bootlegs long, long before he made that video reminding people it existed. That game actually kind of fucks, for what it’s worth, and since my copy can’t save, I’d consider buying a real one. Assuming that Alpha’s video didn’t lead to a mass buyout or price spike.

Okay, so Mega Man Battle Network is kind of the big one on this list- definitely the White Whale so far, since to my understanding the series had extremely limited release in Australia. I do have a Japanese copy of 4 (Blue Moon) that I picked up because it was like 5 bucks, but A. 4 is godawful relative to the others and B. it’s a JRPG and I can’t read Japanese. But I would Do Things to get copies of 2, 3, or 6. Not so much 1 (because it’s not great), or 5 because I’ve nearly 100%’d the DS version on my flashcart.

Seriously, I’ve considered writing multiple blog posts on this series, I think it’s a super underrated gem. It’s an eSport on GBA for fucks sake! It’s also the series that crossed over with Boktai from earlier- apparently Kojima’s kid was a huge fan, so he got in touch to get some cross-promo content going. Funny how that works.

It’s not like they’re ever going to release Mother 3 anyway. Y’all aren’t even going to let me pay for this game, so you can’t complain if I buy a Chinese bootleg with the fan translation on it. I paid five whole bucks, and if they released it in English for real, I’d easily drop more on it. It’s a 10/10 game.

Oh alright, there’s Pokemon. I’m actually 4/7 on the GBA Pokemon games, which is pretty good considering the price just keeps going up and up. I’ve actually considered making a Living Dex solely in Gen 3- however that would either require all the ones I don’t have (save Pinball) a Gamecube with Colosseum/XD (which I have thought about), or maybe both. A long-term project, for sure, but one I’d enjoy doing.

Apparently the Sonic GBA games are pretty good, save for the infamous remake of the first Sonic game- Sonic Genesis. That is, however, the only one of them I’ve actually played. And for a long time was the only Sonic game I’d ever played. Great first impression, huh? The Marble Zone OST unironically slaps, though.

Yeah okay so there’s like over a hundred games still on this list and I care about, like, none of them. Except maybe some of the Wario games and Yu-Gi-Oh games- and I know some of the latter are complete and utter garbage. Like, I’ve played The Sacred Cards, and that game is genuine shite. I’ve still only played one Yu-Gi-Oh game I’ve liked.

I guess I can close off this wall of text by saying I want to get a GBA flashcart so I can run romhacks on console, but there’s a bunch of different types and it doesn’t seem like anyone can agree on which one is the best, so I guess I’m in limbo a bit on that one. Still, it’s worth a look at some point- I’ve gotten so much mileage out of my DS one after all.

And that’s a full-ass list. Perhaps a little daunting, but something like this is a long-term project, and there’s plenty of time to adjust, or make trades rather than buy, et cetera. I don’t ever expect to like, complete a collection, but I’m happy getting things bit by bit.

Anyway it’s like 2AM now I need to be up in 5 hours oops if I’m late then sorry james lmao except you won’t possibly be able to read this until Saturday and it’ll be too late then ha HA

[taco-night-frenzy]

June Journal

It’s time for me to just RAMBLE away again! Good luck!

Gender Time

I had some trans cake today that I found from the grocery store. It was with rainbow cake and they’re labeled “carnival cake” and not pride I guess, which is kind of annoying, but I KNOW the area I live in has a lot of pockets of old white republican people, so I’m SURE they would have complained.

Speaking of, been feeling off and on about being a trans girl. Today’s a bit of an off day. I want to be a girl but I don’t want to do any of the work to ‘pass’ really. I think I’m not too bad at least, but again, I’ve been seeing these republican/trump people around where I live and just... it makes me uncomfortable. 

I don’t even want to post a picture of it, but today we had a truck parked in front of our home covered in all the most stupid bumper stickers like “I’m TRYIN’ to drive this way to PISS you off” and like Fox News stickers and all that typical stuff you see from those people, and I just thought like... These are the type of people that might hassle me. I can’t deal with that. I don’t want these kinds of people here, where I have to worry about what I look like in my own home.

Speaking of my area... here’s a couple of the kind of masks my gf @likes-words-and-shrimp and I like to wear

Masks are coming off

California got rid of our mask mandate everywhere here a little less than a week ago, and EVERYONE is taking them off everywhere and SO quickly. It’s really frustrating. I really like wearing a mask outside. They make me feel comfortable, they hide the hair on my face, some masculine parts of my face, etc. I’m already starting to feel like the odd-one out for wearing a mask and like... they just make me feel comfortable in my gender. I hope I’ll be able to keep wearing them without feeling judged.

Oh yeah it was my birthday

Some stuff I got from girlfriend again. I might have showed it earlier but who cares??

I had Fish Grill which is like my favorite. I just eat Alaskan Salmon and rice and beans and I feel like I could eat it for my whole life.

I’m 31 now and it doesn’t feel like much is different except my back hurts more often...

Had to call my family for it of course, which was stressful. I didn’t call them till like a week later even though they called me on the day. I just didn’t want to talk to them. They don’t know I’m trans and I don’t know if I’ll ever tell them or want to deal with it. When I finally did call, it was... all right. Nothing too bad. They misgender me which sucks, but I’ve never told them, so its not exactly their fault (yet)

my mom complained about people my age as per usual at some point. Like millennials have any money or power to do anything. After the call was over, I felt just off and weird and judged throughout the day and it reminded me why I don’t like calling my family.

PILLS here!

Right, last time I talked about anti-depressants. I got new ones recently and they make me feel a decent bit better. I’ve been taking half a dosage which was OK’d by my psychiatrist if I didn’t like how full made me feel. I think a full dosage actually DOES make me feel emotionally better and less stressed all around!

BUT! I think it also makes my back hurt? Just constant back pain?? I don’t know if this is true or not, it feels like I’m making this up, but when I go back to taking just half a pill again, it seems like my back doesn’t hurt as much?? And half a pill still has good effects on me overall and makes me a lot less anxious I think.

CREATIVE time??

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this a million times, but I’m STILL working on Hotel Wario (the big sequel to my Detective Luigi series) and I’ve only VERY recently starting finally writing it again. I’ll give you a little snippet, AND! I will show you a little surprise I got for it. A preview of a commission I got from @artpghero​

The commission IS done and I look at it almost every day and feel energized into writing more of it! But I don’t want to show the full thing until this longfic is DONE.

Anyways, we’re still sitting at about 74k words here. I’m expecting the finished product to be around 90k, maybe even 100k? Probably not that long, but who knows. I’m really happy with how my creative works are going.

VIDEO GAAAAAAAAMES!

I have been playing video games as you all well know because those are what keep me going. I have a LOT I’ve played and I have feelings for them.

I played and beat Rabi Ribi and I really really liked it! This was a metroidvania that’s MUCH more open for exploring than actual Metroid or Castlevania and its got a cast of EXCLUSIVELY girls. The entire WORLD is cute/sexy anime girls and they are all CANONICALLY gay with each other, so you can be sure this will be one of my favorite games I played this year.

Played a game called Genesis Noir on Game Pass. Pretty neat artsy little point and click. Almost no dialogue. Over in a few hours. Was a cool experience where you just go through trippy and pretty art and try to understand WTF is going on. (The picture is probably gonna look terrible on tumblr, idc)

In the middle of playing Ghost of a Tale on Game Pass right now, and this game has been a GEM for me. I did not know anything about it or what I was getting into, but I really like it. You basically just play as a lil mouse friend and you go exploring this really interesting fantasy world and learning about the lore and characters. It feels like a fantasy book that you get to just sort of meander around in. Not much gameplay to speak of, a bit tedious but I just love the writing and feel of the world and that’s clearly what’s most important in this game. We’ll see how much I keep liking it as time goes on!

OTHER media??

I’m still reading Gideon the Ninth. It’s still cool! I like it. I can’t say anything new about it other than its still gay, its still necromancery, and its still got really cool environments and is still fairly funny. 

As for anime, I’m mostly just watching Slayers now, and I ADORE Slayers. We’re on Slayers Try now, and I just... I love everyone. It’s a good show, it’s good nostalgia, it is just good.

AND UH....

I think that’s good enough for now. I probably talked overly much here, but that’s about the gist of things. Yeah, my life is kind of just going to the grocery store and playing video games and hoping I will write. But it’s been okay. The day itself today has been pretty meh, but like 90% of my days are good and I’m content, and I know for a fact I’ll be feeling better very soon so I’m not too bothered. Thank you pills. Let’s hope they keep working and I keep gettin em.

BYEEEEEEEEEE

[photolover82]

The Masked Singer Season 4 Episode 3: Group A... again? Playoff Time! Commentary & Guesses

Hi all my Masked Singer fanatics! Time for episode 3 of this new season of The Masked Singer woohoo! Group A is back... and you are probably thinking how about Group C? Group C won’t be performing until after the World Series which is about last week in October to first week of November... so next week we will be seeing Group B in the playoffs as well, but having said that, let’s focus on Group A  (aka Popcorn, Giraffe, Sun, and Snow Owls) again because my guesses have changed like a lot since last week... I feel more sure about my guesses this time, I swear they are better and more researched this time... 

But First let’s talk about the eliminated contestant who is....

DRUMROLL PLEASEEE 

THE GIRAFFE 

Performance: He sang “Get Down on It” by Kool & the Gang and it was much better than his first performance, even though the beginning was a bit scary. However, I kind of figured he was going to go home because the rest kind of outshined him by a lot. 

Anyways, the Giraffe ended up being...

*INSERT DRUMROLL AND AN AUDIENCE SCREAMING “TAKE IT OFF”* 

BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN 

And if you are like, um who... same! Well he is from the hit show Beverly Hills 90210 and he’s Megan Fox’s ex husband.... and I actually was convinced due to a large amount of YouTube comments saying that it was him because of the clues (did you see how wonderful that segue was? Come on, that was flawless): 

The Fox from Season 2 and Transformers clues= his ex wife/mother to his kids, Megan Fox reference 

Peach Pit= famous scene from 90210 (idk man I’ve heard of the show but never seen it, don’t judge me) 

Robins on his shoulders= nod to him being best friends with Robin Thicke (we’ll talk about that hilarious moment in a second, btw spoiler alert Robin didn't guess his best friend) since they were both 16 

Golden Ear Time: 

It’s been a while since last time they didn’t show it (btw Jenny got a point for guessing Gremlin) so lemme explain this is the segment where I talk about the judges’ guesses... but today I am just gonna talk about Ken and Robin because they had some funny moments with these guesses (oh and btw I am gonna do judges’ guesses for the rest of them, and Joel McHale was a guest judge so he’s included below.. just so you guys know who I mean when I say Joel) 

So Ken guessed Shia Lebouf.... um, ok? Not the first time... What’s funny tho is that his explanation for his answer was so much that even the Giraffe fell asleep like damn lmao 

Then Robin... his best friend since age 16 (these men are both in their 40s, married/divorced with kids and everything), his neighbor, they were in a 2 man band together.... and HE STILL DIDN’T GUESS HIM (and a bunch of 90210 fans did and even got the reference wowwww). The best part was his face when he saw it was Brain, he was like nooooooooo I done messed up (I was about to curse, but this is a family show), funniest thing ever 10/10 would recommend watching just for that reaction

Anyways, we are done here, now to the final 3 for Group A: 

1. THE POPCORN 

Performance: She sang “Falling” by Harry Styles and damn what an improvement! This is the stuff I was looking for when I saw how adorable her costume was. Omg this was my favorite performance of the night, it was so memorable and amazing! 

As for my guess, I changed my answer and I feel confident about this one, I am locking it in.... 

I think that the Popcorn is 80s pop star.... 

TAYLOR DAYNE 

Here’s why, clues please:

Mention of her being sick and having anxiety as a kid= when she was 5 she underwent ureteral reimplantation surgery and struggled with panic attacks, anxiety, and agoraphobia (fear of open/crowded spaces) 

Crimper and Rubik's cube= 80s reference, when she started her career (1985) and gained success

LGBTQ+ Flag= huge LGBTQ+ supporter 

Venus= planet of love, which most of her songs are about

Judges’ Guesses: 

Ken: Katy Perry?! (I know it’s Ken and he’s not great at this, but really?!) 

Joel: Gloria Gaynor (meh, that’s better, I’ve seen this guess a bit, but nope) 

Jenny: Vanessa Williams (nope, I don’t think so Jenny, that’s worse than Gloria Gaynor) 

2. THE SNOW OWLS 

Performance: They sang “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” by John Legend and Meghan Trainor and I really heard the country in their voice this time and they sounded older so the moment I heard them I was like yeah nope not Julianne and Derek at all. However, even though I love them, I really preferred their first performance even though this one was cute and I really want them to go super far. 

As for my guess, I changed my answer and thank you to all the people who helped me out by yelling at me on the YouTube comments section, I am gonna go with country duo....

CLINT BLACK AND HIS WIFE LISA HARTMAN 

Here’s why, clues please:

Witch hat= Lisa played a witch, Tabitha, in the Bewitched sequel 

Going through a messy breakup = Clint had a pretty bad legal falling out with his management company

Anchor with MANagement= Clint was in a movie named Anger Management in 2004 

Opportunity fit for a queen= their song together “When I say I do” going to the Tonight Show and her being apprehensive about it, but him pushing her to do it. 

Judges’ Guesses:

Ken: Will Ferrell and Rachael McAdams (what’s your proof?)

Joel: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (I like that one, pretty close) 

Jenny: Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman (also close not mad at this guess)

3. THE SUN

Performance: She sang "Praying” by Kesha and wow, so good! I loved it so much, her and the seahorse are stiff competition. She’s amazing, I am really into her, she’s one of my faves. 

As for my guess, I am doubling down on my last guess (only one I felt good about).. Let’s go: 

LEANN RIMES

Here’s why I’m doubling down, clues please:

Fractured home= parents were divorced

Into the woods= she used to date Tiger Woods (say what now?! yes this is real, I searched it up after reading a comment on YouTube)

Ugly Rumors= She appeared in Coyote Ugly/ sang for the soundtrack and there were really horrible rumors about her and her divorce

Over the moon= her songs: can’t fight the moonlight and nothing new under the moon 

8 Ball= She was on Star Search at age 8

Judges’ Guesses:

Nicole: Carrie Underwood (her logic is bad, but close enough) 

Jenny: Mandy Moore (um, idk the voice doesn’t match) 

Robin: Katherine McPhee (I like his logic, but no, the voice is too distinct) 

Alright so that’s it! Sorry for it being late but better late than never. I hope you guys enjoy! Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments and I’ll see you in a couple of days for the Group B playoffs (little fun prediction if you made it this far: I think the Whatchamacallit is next to leave)! BYE!!! 👋🏼

[im-just-trash-o3o]

Oh? Hey, come on out! There’s no need to be shy!

There we go! Much better, darling.

Anyways, well, I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you know of [REDACTED], right? Well, I have been very good over these past few months at not spoiling anything, so I came up with [REDACTED] as their cover name!

So, after all of this time...

I would like you all to meet...

Menot!

My OC for @yeennqueenn ‘s original universe, that I like to call the ‘Belliverse’!

Their name is pronounced as “meh-not” as opposed to “mee-not.”

They are a forget me not flower object head, (hehe, get it, lol?) and the animal portion of them is a brown and white Fennec Fox!

Umm...well...hmm...

Where to start...?

Well, me and Yeennqueenn have been developing them through roleplay, art, and mini side-stories for a few months now! (The art above is by Yeenn.) They are my character, but i’d be wrongfully lying if I said yeenn didn’t help me immensely with the process of development, which is still absolutely going on. The main rp is on chapter two, out of ten, and we have explored many other topics through fics -both canon and out of canon/character- and it’s been so fun so far!!

I guess i’ll start with the basics.

What is their name?

•Menot Christine Berkovich

What’s their gender?

•biologically intersex, but identifies as nonbinary.

What is their age?

•they are, as of the day of this post being made, 9 years old! Their birthday is on December 10th! (They’re 9 days under two months younger than Lapin. Also same birthday as Chat!!)

What’s up with that whole side of their flower being gone?

•hooooo boy... buckle up, fam, because this one is a long one. So, basically, I’m an angsty fucker, and they have abusive parents. Not just verbally abusive, and not an occasional hit for no reason either. No. I mean they have nearly died twice so far because of their parents. Whenever they have to be at home, they are starved, beaten, berated and told they are lucky they are allowed to stay alive, because their parents say they would be losing a piece of furniture if they died. Their flower petal was completely destroyed by their father when they were six, along with their ear being completely cut off. They are also missing a pinky finger on their left paw. On the human version of them, the entire upper right quarter of their face is covered in severe burns, they are still missing their left pinky and right ear. Their parents hate them so much because they aren’t “normal.” They aren’t a girl or a boy, they are both and neither simultaneously, and they have adhd. Their parents see this as a horrible punishment. Having a child who doesn’t fit the norm of the “perfect little child.” They are also not capable of having another child, so they take out a lot of anger on Menot as well. Their parents call them a ‘creature of the devil.’ (This is the bare minimum, by the way. This is nothing compared to what I have actually made them go through in RP.) Yeah, it’s horrible, i know. I will talk more about this eventually. Feel free to ask questions.

What are their hobbies?

•Great question! They are a very gifted little child! They love art, music (except for church music,) E.L.A, writing, and later in life, they will take up crocheting as a hobby. They also know four languages. English as their first, French as their second, Russian as their third, and Hebrew as their fourth. Every hobby they have, they have taught themself (including the languages other than English.) Due to them having no toys, only some books, notebook paper and pen, and a barely functioning iPod they found on the street, they are constantly practicing their writing and art. They cannot practice their singing at home, but they still do at any chance they get outside of the house. They are only allowed to listen to Gospel at home. (...they’re forced to.) Their art skills are the most developed out of all of their hobbies. They have been drawing since they were three, and practice in secret (away from their parents) every day. (Fun fact: they used to sneak out to free concerts, but one night they were caught and were given a black eye by their father. They never went again.)

Alright...uhhmmm...I think that’s all of that. Now on to how they tie into the main story! They aren’t just a side character. They’re a big part of the main story (thank you yeenn for letting me do that. I love you <3!) They go to the same school as Lapin. Lapin and then met when some bullies were picking on them and they were curled into a ball on the ground. Lapin couldn’t just ignore that, and for the first time, he got into a fight. His nose bled and he made them flee, and from there, he helped hem up and took them to the bathroom to wash up. They talked, and then the rest of their story began to unfold from there. This is a big summarization of the beginning of their story, btw. It’s much more detailed.

They are a big part of Lapin’s life, and as of the day I’m making this post, they have just become a true part of Lapin, Chat and David’s little found family. Chat is like a father figure to them.

HOWEVER!!! CLARIFICATION!!! PLEASE READ THIS!!! MENOT AND LAPIN ARE NOT SIBLINGS, NOR WILL THEY EVER BE!!!

They are very close friends. They have an extremely close relationship, and are basically inseparable. But they are not siblings. Their relationship is purely friendship. Yes, the reason for this will be cleared up one day. Just not today.

Chat and David are like fathers to them, though. They just don’t see Lapin as a sibling.

..um, well, I think that’s all I have to say for now!! If you’ve made it this far into their introduction, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING INTERESTED IN MY BABY!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!

These were all the basics I could think of for now. They will continue to be developed for as long as the belliverse exists!! I will reveal many details, there will be new ones, and more story will come up.

Thank you for reading, I’m so happy i’ve finally been able to reveal them!

NOW GO WILD AND ASK ME QUESTIONS!!! PLEASE I WILL ANSWER ANYTHING SO LONG AS I HAVE AN ANSWER FOR IT!!!

Trash-O3O, out!!!

[neverwatchedonepiece]

648-649: "Making a Sortie! The Legendary Hero Usoland!" and "The Fierce Battle Coming to the End! Lucy vs Chinjao!"

*looks into the camera like in The Office*

The fight between Luffy and Don Chinjao is finally over! I think after what happened, Luffy might have found a new friend. Law also made a stressful phone call to The Krusty Krab Sunny and ordered delivery of one ship to Green Bit.

Zoro and Franky have teamed up with Sol at Resistance HQ in Flower Field, and if Usopp keeps perpetuating his fantastic bullshit, the entire Strawhat crew will be elevated to God status in the Tontatta tribe.

Slightly worried about Law and the Strawhats stuck on Sunny but I’m seventy percent certain they will pull through and won’t be captured by any Donquixote family affiliates. (The thirty percent left over remains a huge, nagging doubt.)

Luffy’s Tough Love Fight Therapy

The Colosseum showdown between Luffy and Don Chinjao picked up at the start of episode 649.

The action was fast and furious. Luffy pulled out all his quick moves: jet pistol, jet gatling, jet stamp gatling. All defended against by Chinjao. The crowd went wild. It was one of the greatest matches the Colosseum had ever seen! Some cheered for Lucy. Others cheered for Chinjao. The atmosphere was electric.

“You’re quite a fighter,” Don Chinjao said.

“Yeah, you’re strong too, as I thought,” Luffy answered. You know. Being honest as he is.

Don Chinjao totally overreacted. “WHAT U SAY? STRONG? U TRYIN TO INSULT MEH??”

Luffy was, quite rightly, bewildered. “Wtf, all I said was that you’re strong?”

Apparently, this was a grave insult to Don Chinjao. A huge kick in the ego. Chinjao had been much stronger before.

“I’m no better than a wolf without its fangs now. A skin-headed man without his drill. A brat like you can’t understand how miserable I feel living my life like this. I’m frustrated, disappointed and sad. But you can never understand.”

I laughed when Luffy yelled, “How can I understand? You keep messing with me without explaining anything!” (He’s just saying what we were all thinking, right?)

“You really want to know why I’ve become like this?”

“No, I’m not that interested.” (Lmao! We meet again, harsh Luffy.)

“Well, I’ll tell you before you die, since you insist.” 

Don Chinjao is one of those old dudes that is TELLING you that long and rambling story even though you have showed zero interest and have been glancing at your watch for the past half hour.

Suddenly, Luffy the Fight Therapist was unwilling and open for business.

According to Chinjao, Garp punched his head in thirty years ago. Literally. As in Don Chinjao once looked like Dan Akroyd from 90s sci-fi comedy, Coneheads. 

That was until his resplendent, pointy napper met Garp’s fist.

The whole flashback was hilariously weird. Turns out Chinjao’s drill-like bonce was the only means to access his remote family treasure vault under an ice sheet. Once Garp took away the key, Chinjao fell into a deep depression. Heartbroken, he retired from piracy, a lifeless shell, just idling away time.

That was kind of sad. I felt for Chinjao then. He’s like the model of the old, proud working man who suffers a physical injury, can no longer work and slips into anger and depression. Since Chinjao knows and values nothing but strength, wealth and power, he cannot and will not see another way forward. Unlike Luffy, Don Chinjao got his ass beat and never found the strength to crawl out of the gutter and retrain.

Instead, he decided to lay the blame for his misfortune squarely at Luffy’s feet.

Luffy, naturally, was outraged. “Wtf are you talking about? Grandpa and I are different people. Look, mate. I’m busy. I’m gonna win Ace’s fruit at any cost and become the Pirate King. I have no time to be your therapist.”

Then Chinjao made two Big Mistakes.

Wow, Chinjao has Really Specific Taste

Mistake #1?

Chinjao laughed off Luffy’s chances at becoming Pirate King. The reason was typical crotchety old man talk: “the media lionised you worst generation squirts and it emboldened you. But none of you are strong enough to sail across the sea *we* fought on. After Whitebeard’s death, I ain’t expecting much. The only guy who looks good is Blackbeard Teach.”

At the mere mention of Teach, Luffy’s eyes became two circles.

“If I had to pick one, it’s him. But anyway, if you’re only good enough to compete against me, just give up!”

Oh, Chinjao, I thought. Ohhhhhhhh, you just goofed. You goofed big time. You do not mention Teach in a positive light within Luffy’s earshot. You just do not. Teach was the asshole who captured Ace and handed him to the Marines. He shares Public Enemy Number One status with Akainu. Tell Luffy you believe Teach will become Pirate King and your fate is sealed.

Mistake #2?

Chinjao’s fighting style is kinda lame. People who spin during fights in shounen anime are always fodder (the one that sticks out is that spinning top guy in the HxH Heaven’s Arena arc.) This was not his mistake. It’s just a side thought.

The Teach comment pushed Luffy’s buttons. But what Chinjao said next was even worse.

“You’re not too bad but if a guy like Rayleigh chose a brat at this level as the flag bearer for this generation, he’s not as smart as he used to be. The Marines were smart when they squelched the most evil one of the lot: Ace. That man had demon’s blood in his veins. Do you think you can beat the Marine admirals, the Yonkou and surpass Roger? That’s impossible!”

Demon’s blood? Most evil one of the lot?

*cue Kill Bill red-mist music*

“Stop whining over one punch!” Luffy yelled, as he wound up a Thor Elephant Gun attack. “I can’t count how many times I got punched by Grandpa!”

When the attack connected and that spike popped back out of Chinjao’s head, I laughed like a drain. Luffy hit Chinjao so hard, he turned the clock back thirty years.

I’m sure Chinjao will be ecstatic. Take the L with good grace, mate. Your conehead is back! Go and wreak havoc on the high seas again. Recoup that treasure. The world is your oyster!

Up on the balcony, Bartolomeo still has not revealed his connection with Luffy. Cavendish is still throwing a strop. Bellamy is lurking in the shadows, clearly in two minds about his new assassination mission. And Burgess, thanks to Cavendish and his big mouth, knows that Luffy is Lucy.

Thanks, Cavendish.

(And Burgess really does walk around chortling and flexing all the time. He’s like an evil All Might.)

Thus the Legendary Heroes of Green Bit were Born

This cast reunion based on Usopp’s total bullshit was so much fun.

I loved Usopp and Robin’s expressions when the Tontatta took them to their airport. They were starry-eyed. And so they should’ve been. It was a miniature version of a proper, fully-equipped modern airport. I wouldn’t be surprised if the place had Duty Free, passport control and Starbucks concessions.

But it was not a holiday destination Usopp and Robin were flying out to. The entire airport had been overtaken by a military operation. Cub, the yellow bee squad leader, and Bian, the pink bee squad leader, reported for duty. Usopp picked up the bee planes and kept saying, “I wanna show this to Luffy.” (They are such good pals, it warms my heart.)

Unfortunately, Usopp and Robin were too big to travel by bee plane, so they had to take the local number 20 bus to Dressrosa. The buses were cute, vulpix-like foxes with huge, fluffy tails you can sink right into for a comfortable ride.

While they made their way through the tunnel, Master Roshi - the pervy little Tontatta chief - emerged from Robin’s cleavage. He bore dire warnings. “I should tell you because you will risk your lives for our cause.”

Usopp was thinking, “I ain’t gonna die for you but go on...”

“Doflamingo has been causing our tribe a lot of pain recently, but our connection with him goes way back before the last decade. Nine hundred years ago!”

Then the narrator interrupted and I was like, “So you’re just going to leave it there when I was about to get Doflamingo family history? I am not at all mad about this. No, sir. Not one bit.”

The action cut to Flower Field, where Franky and Sol descended a secret stairwell. Said stairwell led to the Resistance Army HQ! Some soldiers ran up to Sol and addressed him as “Captain”, so Sol is a Big Deal in the Resistance.

Franky was like, “Why are all these small people swarming me?”

Sol explained. The Tontatta people were called fairies in town, how they moved faster than the human eye could detect and how they were immensely strong. Franky put two and two together and realised one of them stole Zoro’s sword!

And guess who reached Flower Field before Franky? Before any of the other Strawhats!

That’s right. It’s our boy Zoro. (So proud he learned to follow directions.)

Zoro, hilariously, had made himself at home and was watching Luffy vs Chinjao on the big screen TV. He was absolutely fuming. Why hadn’t Luffy told him there was a fighting competition? THE BETRAYAL. Will he get over it? Probably.

He must’ve been distracted by the fight, as he completely forgot 

Then some intelligence scouts ran up. They had a report for Sol. “We already know what our enemies and Sugar are doing!” (Sugar? Who dat?) “And with the battle close at hand, some legendary heroes have appeared at Tontatta: Usoland and Robiland. They have brought with them Luffyland, Zoroland, Namiland, Sanland, Chopperland, Fraland and Boneland.”

Franky and Zoro exchanged a Look. They knew instantly Usopp was on the bullshit wagon again.

“Um, I think I’m Zoroland,” Zoro said. (Lmao, better get into character quick.)

“And I’m Fraland. Nice to meet you!” Franky added.

It was round about then that Zoro remembered that Nami, Chopper and Brook were in serious trouble back on Sunny. He now wants to skip the battle (he doesn’t yet know about) and rescue the other Strawhats.

I wonder how this will go? Wicka did say she would let Zoro go back to Sunny once he’d taken her back to Resistance HQ. But Leo and the others back on Green Bit were suspicious of Robin and Usopp escaping. Will they let Zoro go or will he have to fight the battle first? Hmmm... I’m fifty/fifty about this.

God damn it, Caesar

*curb your enthusiasm music kicks in*

Meanwhile, back on Green Bit, Law was under heavy bombardment. Fujitora took a step back in this episode and Doflamingo stole the limelight. The cool music from Enies Lobby (as I call it in my head. I have no idea what the real title is) played as Doflamingo pursued Law. 

As Doflamingo was about to land a finishing blow, Caesar shrieked, “OI, JOKER! Before you kill Law, I need you to take something back for me. Law took my heart and I don’t know what he’s gonna do with it!”

Doflamingo looked round like, “Wtf... are you talking about?” And while he was distracted, Law shambled his way out of trouble.

Doflamingo was furious. FFS, CAESAR. I bet he wanted to say that but couldn’t. Gotta keep your cash cow scientist happy..

Please send help. Our art teacher has locked us in class.

Unfortunately, Law didn’t have time for a breather. He had an urgent phone call to make.

While Nami, Chopper and Brook were brought up to speed on the Humans Turning Into Toys situation by Giolla, the ship’s DDM rang. Chopper hilariously ignored Giolla and answered the call (she was maaaaad).

It was Law. He said, “Is that Nami-san?”

To my disappointment, Chopper did not answer, “No, this is Patrick.”

“I don’t care what’s going on over there,” Law said. “Listen carefully. I need you to sail Sunny to Green Bit right now. I wanna leave Caesar with you guys. No time to explain. Bye!”

Okay, so I added in the “bye” part. Law abruptly hung up.

I like how he has faith that Nami, Chopper and Brook will be able to handle the situation, but their weapons have been rendered usless by Giolla’s Art Art Fruit power. I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one (and I’m keen to see Oda’s creative solution).

The shitshow that is Law’s current existence continued once he hung up. Doflamingo is Doflamingo. He caught up with Law again near the end of episode 648. With that slasher smile, he shot Law with a string bullet and demanded to know who Law had called for help.

Doflamingo must be confident he has Law where he wants him because he spilled the beans on his diabolical plan to snare Luffy. “Give me back Caesar’s heart already. It’s so meaningless for you to keep hanging on here. Strawhat has already walked into the trap I set. He’s fighting in the gladiatorial contest at the Colosseum. Tough contenders from all over the world come to fight in it. Outlaws only. It’s a deadly competition. When someone loses, it’s a one way ticket to hell! He will never come out of the Colosseum alive! It’s the end of your alliance, Law. Just give up!”

I wonder if Law will use the heart as leverage. Maybe he’ll give up Caesar’s heart to escape, regroup and stop Doflamingo the old-fashioned way: with Tontatta military might. (Doflamingo better not kill him off...)

Don’t worry, Chinjao. Luffy will beat you until you feel better! :D

[theveryworstthing]

in other news, i finally watched all of that Watership Down mini series on netflix this morning because i’m riding that insomnia wave bay-beeee.

it certainly was a thing i watched! a thing that was Fine i guess! watch it if you want to watch animals go on a harrowing journey and bunny fist fights.

here are some things only i probably care about (nothing serious and nothing bad really. so god help you if you bring Rabbit Discourse into my home). slight spoilers ahead and warning, kind of in a weird headspace right now so take everything with a grain of salt:

1: they really should have pushed the stylization more. it would have varied things character wise and given the general scenery more oomph. imagine how beautiful this could have been in a more illustrated or even stop motion style? imagine what could have been done with the action scenes? maybe it’s because i’ve been watching a lot of traditional animation lately but maaaaaaan. my kingdom for pretty watercolor backgrounds over hyper realistic fur textures.

2: most of the surreal imagery and dreamy atmosphere was gone for me? animation is a great opportunity to do things only animation can do, but the extent of them using that power was making a very pretty (but sorta stiff) intro and showing us Fiver’s neat (but sorta stiff) visions. the visions were especially puzzling to me. i loved that they showed them but they felt more like when people tell you about their dreams than what it feels like to be IN a dream. it would have been cool if they used the intro style for his visions or even used the 1978 movie style. maybe even had a different style for different visions, or different interpretations of different characters, like we’re seeing them as Fiver sees them. how cool would that have been?! think about what that could have done to his character!

2 part two: tacking onto the last point, the scene of the warren dying was meh. that scene stuck itself in my brain forever when i watched it as a tiny bean.

3: there was a tension that was missing. i don’t know how to explain it. even at moments where the narrative is saying ‘be scared for these characters! something bad is coming! something stressful is happening!’ i just didn’t really feel it. maybe because i know the story already, but they changed enough so that i was on my toes so idk.

3 part 2: now that i think about it there was also a missing sense of (for lack of a better term) whimsy for me? less like the telling of a tragic epic journey and more like what angsty teen with a pack of very well drawn and emotionally developed sparkle dog oc’s would write if given the same prompt. not that that’s bad, the story is Fine and some people seem to like it quite a lot. it just has a different feel.

4: the Black Rabbit as a doe? cool. but i wish she had a little more gravitas. when i think of the Black Rabbit i think of an otherworldly being. she was just literally a rabbit who was black. her voice was so nice and motherly. which is cool, just...put some spooky on her. damn. come on. this is another case of not taking advantage of the power of animation i guess.

5: the fourth episode. dragged. so much.

6: lotta Chekhov’s Guns never went off. knowledge of boats useless when needed, fastest rabbit now can’t be fast in time of need, ect.. not big things but still.

7: why did the dog look like that? bad. bad face.

8: both Holly and Hazel’s death lacked true punch for me. maybe i need the knife twisted just right to feel a thing, but Holly’s whole romantic scene before his death just made me roll back and forth with second hand embarrassment and Hazel could have just straight up been more impactful. if they’re gonna do that scene then give me his last breath fading from his body and his soul bounding through the woods damn it. punch me in the gut you cowards!

9: my favorite part was when Clover used her hutch rabbit ‘i want to speak to the manager’ powers on the guards and it worked. nice.

10: i had no idea (or maybe i had forgotten) that they made a Watership Down tv show in the early 90′s. man those character designs. maaaaaaan. i’m sure the show was good fun but shout out to hazel for being the only rabbit who looked kind of like a rabbit on the screenshot i saw.

11: Hazel only lived like a season after he finally got his warren running. poor bub. ain’t that the way.

12: Woundwort’s fam were attacked by like three or four foxes at once. foxes are not pack hunters. what in tarnation are all these foxes doing here?

13 (just for the Downtrodden fans *wink*): i am nervously awaiting the moment that someone pepe silvas all over my asks because they notice the rabbits have paw pads and hare-like bodies and call conspiracy on my Downtrodden wolves/coyotes. don’t do it kids.

[another-sonic-blog]

New Beginning

New Beginning:

“So tonight its the village’s New Year Party...remember to stay in guard. We still don’t know if Eggman could attack tonight”, Amy said to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as she walked around her apartment. Sticks haven’t come yet, for whatever reason she was coming in late.

“Yeah and make sure not to get trapped inside a cave during a snow-storm”, Sonic said sarcastically. Amy turned around and gave him a silent death stare, which made Sonic shut up. “It’s not like I wanted to get trapped you know, and besides it wasn’t that bad. I could have ended up in the worst situation than that”, Amy took a sip of her tea. Team Sonic sat ‘quietly’ in her living room. Right now they were discussing the times each member should stay in guard in case Eggman decided to attack the village.

“Yeah, she could have ended up being trapped with Shadow or something”, Knuckles felt tea being a splash in his face. Everyone turned around to look for answers, they saw a blushing Amy.

“What--t? Hahaha, what makes you think that? haha, Sha-shadow? He is just a friend-enemy, YES, that he is our enemy, hehe”, Amy gave a small smile and she could feel her hands get sweaty.

“umm...ok?”,everyone in said in unison. Tails took a moment to look at Sonic that for a second look mad at the situation. He decided to put more gas into the fire.

“Wow, Amy you sound as if you had a crush on him”. Tails winked at her and after that, he just took a sip of his tea and waited for the fire to spread.

“Tails what are you talking about? Amy having a crush on Sha-”, Sonic looked at Tails and then at Amy. He was surprised to find her quiet, blushing in a way that he could only make her when he decided to tease her. “Wait, Amy...do you actually like that emo?!”

“I-I um-no, I don’t-”

“GUYS!”

   Everyone heard Amy’s door small open. Sticks were exalted, which was normal but not so much like this.

“Sticks, what happened!?”

“SHADOW IS IN THE VILLAGE!”

. . .

   Shadow couldn’t stand anymore the stare of the villagers. He just wanted to see Amy, he had actually gotten her something this time. Ever since he received that Mistletoe from her, he looked for something suitable as a present. He never learned where the home was located, so he decided to look for her in the village. Instead, he found her badger friend. He tried to get info out fo her but that didn’t work as planned.

           “Do you know where Amy is?”

           “......”

                   “......”

           “AAAHHHH!”

   She just went running off after that. Shadow just kept looking around the village, trying to find the pink hedgehog, he was interested actually. Seeing all the villagers do their thing was actually very amusing but he stopped enjoying it as soon as the villagers stopped and stare at him. He knew that he tried to destroy them before but this time he wasn’t planning on doing so...yet. Anyways, everyone in awe and even the policemen hide from him. SO he decided to just stand there in front of meh burger, waiting for the pink hedgehog to arrive.

“Stay where you are Shadow!”

   Team Sonic had now surrounded Shadow and everyone was in the position to fight except for Amy who just awkwardly waved at him. He waved back but he stopped himself as he noticed that he lost his cool. He looked away waiting for anyone to begin talking.

“What have you done to this people?”, Sonic said at him.

“Nothing”, Shadow answered sarcastically, waiting for the drama to end already. “Yeah like we would believe-”, Team Sonic looked around actually surprised to see that none of the villagers were hurt nor screaming in fear.

“Well, if you are not here to destroy the village...then why are you here?”

“I am here to talk to Amy”

“WHAT?”, Sonic screams.

   Everyone dropped their fighting stance. Looking at Amy directly who had a nervous face. She was actually surprised that Shadow wanted to see her. She just left a small ‘hehe’ come out of her lips and then looked at Shadow to find an explanation from him.

“...she invited me to come to the New Year Party”

“SHE WHAT?”

“Oh....”

   Shadow noticed Amy’s surprised look. Maybe he heard wrong? Maybe Amy didn’t actually invite him? Maybe she was just trying to be nice but actually didn’t want his companionship. “I’ll leave, of course, if that’s what you want”, Shadow began to walk away in defeat, feeling embarrassed for the first time in his life.

“Wait, no that’s not what I mean...you can stay but you came in too early”

“HE CAN WHAT?”

   Amy tried to calm, still worried that she might of hurt Shadow’s feelings. She clumsily walked towards him, trying to stop him from leaving.  Shadow looked around and found the villagers doing their own thing. Barely decorating the streets, putting up up lights and building a small stage. This reassures him, he took a sigh, making the pressure on his chest go away.

“Well then, I guess I’ll see you later”, Shadow began to walk away, but Amy grabbed him by his arm making him turn around to face her. They were pretty close to each other and everyone went silent for a second.

“Why don’t you stay and help us with the decoration?”

   Shadow and Amy looked at each other for what seemed to be like five minutes and everyone was amused by it. It was like watching a TV Drama, an episode in which the two protagonists need to kiss ASAP.

“Fine”

“Wow...did Shadow just say ‘fine’?”, even Tails was amused by this fact, he doesn't know Shadow very well. However, he knew for a fact (well everyone knew) that Shadow was someone that should not be messed with. He never saw him as the type to...well party. So the fact that Amy convinced him to stay was honestly amazing.

“WHY IS NOBODY PAYING ATTENTION TO ME?” . . .

And so, Shadow decided to stay and help the villagers with their New Year decorations.

First, he was entitle put the lights around the village. House by house, street by street, Shadow used his rocket shoes to quickly end his first task. Secondly, he was assigned to pick up some heavy boxes and put them in the stage. This would naturally be Knuckle's tasks but Shadow said he could do it faster and in one go. And he did.  At this time, Shadow had now got himself a small group of girls following him. His last task was the most complicated one. He had to watch over the small kids of the village for a while until Amy comes back. Shadow had never interacted with kids before and they all look so fragile, he thought they could break if they tripped.

"You don't have to do much, just keep an eye on them until Miss Amy comes back from decorating the playground", Zoeey said as she left Shadow by himself with the kids in the open air. The villagers were passing by as Shadow looked just straight at the kids' eyes and vice versa.

"Would you play with us?", A little fox boy said smiling at him. Shadow had to admit, he was adorable.

"I am not good at playing", Shadow said calmly.

"Don't worry we will teach you!"

. . .

Amy walked at a fast pace this time, hoping that the kids weren't been too cruel with Shadow.  When she got there, Amy was surprised to see a larger group of females surrounding Shadow, all of them giggling and smiling. She came into the circle trying to find out what was the problem.

"Kids, what do you do if someone tries to attack you?", Shadow said out loud.

"You go for the neck!", all the kids said in unison. Shadow proceeds to give them all hi-fives as he quietly mutters 'You all will be great assassins one day"

"AAAWWWW! At this point, all the girls in the village were swooped away by Shadow. Who would think that he was so charming like this? Even Amy had to admit that she utterly impressed by his actions. He turned around to face his new group of fans, not really knowing what he was supposed to do.  He gave them a small smirk, actually enjoying a bit having so much attention.  Amy knew that if Shadow wanted, he could have the whole village eating out of his palm. Especially with the girls, who were suckers of mysterious, captivating smiles...just like her.

"Amy, you are back", Shadow stood up from giving the little kids hi-fives and made his way towards Amy. Pushing delicately all the other females who were standing on his way. All of them a bit disappointed at the fact that he gave attention to the pink hedgehog. but still happy to be at his presence.

"Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Umm...I think that's-"

"Mr. Shadow, can you help me organize my bookstore? I can make you the manager!"

"No, Mr. Shadow help me clean my cake shop! I'll give you free cakes for eternity!"

"Mr. Shadow, you don't have to do anything for me. Just come have dinner with me!"

"No, Mr. Shadow-"

"Mr.Shad-"

The girls went crazy over him and he didn't want to be rude. "I am sorry everyone but...", Shadow turned once again to look at Amy in the eyes. To make his point clear, " but right now I am all Amy's"

"AAAHHHHH!" Once again, the girls thought they were seeing a real prince charming. Appreciating the moment as if it came out straight of a fanfiction. There was an evident blush in Amy's cheeks and Shadow wonders if she had gotten a fever or something.

"Well, I just need to take the kids to the playground with their parents", Amy said quietly but Shadow had heard her loud and clear. "My pleasure"

Shadow turned around to face the kids who were currently playing with each other.  "Soldiers!", Shadow said loud enough, not yelling knowing that that could scare them.

"Yes, sir!", All the kids saluted him, a serious and funny face in all of them.

"Make a line and follow Miss Amy and I"

"OOOOHHHHH!", The kids looked at each other and giggle. All of them communicated in a weird way but knowing exactly what to do.

"SHADOW AND AMY SITTING ON TREE K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST-"

Shadow crooked his head in amusement, still trying to figure out the meaning of the song. Amy blushing uncontrollably and wanting for them to continued. "STOP IT!", Amy said demanding and kids knew better than to get Ms. Amy mad. They quickly did as Shadow had told them before and began to quietly follow them as they secretly shipped the two together.

In the background,  you could hear a blue hedgehog rage out of anger as his yellow fox tried to calm him down.

"He thinks he can just come here and steal my spotlight uh?", Sonic said already planning on a different way to take him down. Tails was really not having any of this today, not on New Years. "I think you are exaggerating a bit Sonic...Shadow is just helping Amy"

"No, he is evil and we need to get him away from Amy"

"But Sonic!"

Sonic looked around as he saw the sun go down while smiling evilly to himself. "And I know exactly what to do"

. . .

"What are you going to be doing now, Amy?", Shadow asked as walked next to her, enjoying the view of the night. The city was beautifully decorated, setting the atmosphere with a very romantic air.

"Well, I'll probably need to get going to the outskirts of the city. I need to do my 'hero' shift. After that, I am probably free", Amy said smiling to him.

"Well, after that...would you like to spend the night with me?"

"Um, yes of course! I'll see you at the beach, by the time my shift ends", was this really happening? Was she going to have her first date? It was kinda strange to her actually. She knew that Shadow doesn't probably have a clue of what a date is. As well that she thought that Sonic was going to be her first date. Talking about Sonic...

"Hey Ames, can I borrow Shadow for something? It's really important", Sonic looked preoccupied. "What happened?"

"Oh, sorry can't say. It's a guy thing"

Amy looked at Shadow making sure he wasn't uncomfortable at the situation. Shadow looked back at her reassuring her that he was was alright.

"Fine then, I'll leave to my shift now"

. . .

Amy waited patiently by the beach. Hearing the waves crash against each other and the sand. She was beginning to feel nervous, walking side to side. The wind hitting her face delicately, totally entranced by the moon above her. She turned around as she heard bushes moving behind her, she smiled knowing exactly who that was.

"So-sonic? What are you doing here?"

Sonic was a bit hurt at her remark. He expected for her to be glad that it was him and not Shadow. "Shadow couldn't make it, so he asked me to come in his place", Sonic walked over to Amy who was trying to hide her real feelings.

"Oh, I see...how did the thing you needed Shadow for go?"

"Why did you need me here for blue?"

"Well, I am trying to look for this very unique rose for my girlfriend. It only blooms this day, that's why need your help finding it"

              "girlfriend?"

              "Yes, Amy"

"It went well", Sonic lied as he tried not to worry Amy.  "That's good"

Sonic took a moment to appreciate the moment. He was completely baffled at Amy's beauty. The moonlight makes her skin glow and for a fraction of a second, he could feel his heart stop. Time didn't exist for him, nor the world. Only Amy.

"Amy, I-"

"I really wanted him here"

"What?"

"It's not like I don't appreciate you spending time with me...but I was really hoping he could be here"

Amy sat down in the sand and Sonic did the same. He noticed her worried face, her disappointing and even hurt in her eyes. Sonic didn't want to see her like that. Not today nor ever, he quietly throws away the unique rose he found with Shadow a couple of hours ago.  Knowing he had messed up, he knew he had to make up for it.

'I think I need to go", Shadow said as Sonic and him made their way back together.

"Oh but why? Don't you need to go see Amy?"

"No, I am afraid I can't. But, can you give this to her?", Shadow pulled out something small and gave it to Sonic.

"I...give her this?"

"Amy...I have something for you", Sonic had his hand wrapped around something small. He was quietly thinking if he should do it or not, this was risky but if this made Amy happy then... Sonic held Amy's hand, extending it as he placed a small mandarin on her hand.

"Amy, Shadow actually lik-"

BOOM! BOOM!

His words never came out, as fireworks spread to the sky. One after another, making the mixed color look beautiful in the sky. Sonic looked at Amy one again, and Chaos...he couldn't stop looking at her. Her face had changed, her expression as well.  Her eyes sparkled brighter than the fireworks, her excitement was noticeable. This moment, for Sonic, was everything. He couldn't let her go, he didn't want to. The fireworks resemble his heartbeat, exploding by each time Amy blinked. Because every time she opened them, his whole body would be paralyzed.

Only for this time...he will be selfish.

The fireworks died down showing the start of a new beginning.

"What were you saying about Shadow, Sonic?", Amy asked him, her good mood suddenly coming back to her.

"Um...Shadow actually", Sonic tried to come up with something quick. His hands began to sweat, showing a bit of discomfort.

"Shadow actually told me to tell you Happy New Year!"

"Oh really?!", Amy said smiling, making Sonic a bit sadden by her excitement but happy at her change of mood nonetheless. "Yeah, he did"

"Oh and thank you Sonic for the mandarin...how did you even find it? They are extremely rare and only grow in some parts of the world!"

"Well, I have my ways", Sonic smiled and this reassures her. Shadow may not be with her, but her blue bur will never fail her.

. . .

Shadow watched the couple from afar. He saw them from above a tree where he could watch the fireworks.  He had seen them before, but this time it felt different. Seeing all the villagers happy at his own work made him feel like he actually part of something bigger. The fireworks didn't make him feel lonely anymore, but a sense of unity within him. However, he wasn't complete at all yet. He was looking forward to giving her his present and may even give her a kiss again.

"Wait, what?"

Shadow stopped mid-track, believing his own thought. However, he had to admit that he felt betrayed when he found out that Amy was dating Sonic.  He didn't really get the whole concept of 'dating' but he thought that their relationship must be at a more intimate level. And he wanted that with her. He looks back at the couple, and sigh at defeat. Maybe he could visit her another day, at another time. He wasn't going to give up, no...no until he could see her again.

"A mandarin? Really? That's the best you can give her?", Sonic had a humorous tone to his voice. Clearly wanting to be superior.

"No, I can give her better....I hope you can too", Shadow began to walk away. Only the stepping of his shoes against the ground could be heard.

"Believe me, I can beat  you any day when it comes to that"

"Yeah, just like I beat you to be her first kiss"

. . . . . . .

A/N: this is late but Happy New Years!

[selenecrawford]

Selene Crawford: The Lady, The Promise, The Kiss

Warning: Cursing and a bit mild sexual scene

Nobunaga walked with a purpose to his meeting with Kincaid. When he set the meeting late night the day before, Kincaid was reluctant until he heard about the shooting. It was then that he told Nobunaga to bring all of his men as soon as possible to the docks. Approaching the entrance he met with Hideyoshi, Mitsurani and Mitsuhide.

“Where is Kincaid?”

“We just arrived a couple of minutes ago. Ever since we here, I got the feeling that we are being watched.” said Hideyoshi taking a look around.

“My, always late for the party Hideyoshi. This place is really kind of unique, considering what it's real purpose is.” Mitsuhides comment just earned a frown of disapproval but nothing else. He on the other hand was excited, finally the forbidden den was opened for him to explore and dig it's secrets. Too bad she wasn't here to see her face. An yet, he wouldn't want her to get hurt. The girl felt like a kindred spirit. But at the same time he also wanted to protect her. It was a shame that she choose the dragon instead of him. Chasing her away from his mind he started walking when little red dots appeared from nowhere next to him.

“I thought we were allowed in there? Are we missing something?” putting his hands up Mitsuhide turned around looking for the snipers. “A Secret handshake or,...”

“Ah this is why you were banned from here young Akechi. That tongue of yours and your eyes of a sly fox. No wonder they don't want you here. You should be humble and grateful, after all you finally got in, isn't it?” the old voice echoed thru the space with a hint of sneer and almost regret.

“Thanks for coming Kincaid.” Nobunaga approached the old man with caution extending his hand to salute him.

“Ah, Oda is nice to see you here. I see you brought everyone. Follow me they are w” he gave a look at Mitsuhide still with his hands up. “Come and if any warning is good, don't stray from the path we are walking, or you won't come out of this place ever again.”

“I guess that's for you Mitsuhide.” said Hideyoshi passing him by while following Kincaid.

The path was thru the whole fish market on the docks, Mitsurani kindly smiled to everyone and at some point a  Russian blue cat tag along. She meow sweetly and kept following Mitsurani. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi behaved like a gentleman with the ladies and the women. Nobunaga just observed the whole scene played out in silence. Mitsuhide took in into the place, from time to time counting the people who we ready to jump into them. Yes, this was getting amusing, interesting and maybe...dangerous. They kept walking for another half an hour until Nobunaga stopped. Kincaid turned around raising an eyebrow.

“Something wrong Lad?.”

“We been walking around the place for 30 minutes now, what's this?...”

“Ah, the Devil, The Brains, The Snake and the gentleman or perhaps mother hen? But some people are missing, I said bring everyone didn't I? Where is the Dragon? And the Do...”

“He is out of the equation...” Nobunaga cut it, only to be interrupted again.

“For now, I don't like to waste my time with this. That girl is such a troublesome thing. First the wedding now this. Where is she anyway?”

everyone turned to the right to see an old tall man walking to them. He seemed to be on his fifties with an old classic black with fine white stripes suit, leather shoes, a cane with the head of a Viper. Behind him Shingen and company were also walking.

“Great of you to join us. Shingen here is involved, so you will have to make a truce and come with us.” another old man appeared in front of them.

“And if we don't agree?” asked Nobunaga tentatively.

“Ah you live up to your reputation, Devil. Selene told me you were wise for your age so asking dumb questions is not wise. She has a lot of faith in you, even you Akechi.” the man answered with a sarcastic chuckle. “So you left her with the Dragon aren't you?” the old man continued to walk toward Nobunaga and stopped in from of him.

“It was the best choice, Masamune will take good care of her.” said Hideyoshi.

All the old men started laughing at once. Shingen's group and Nobunaga's exchange a confused look to each other. Only Kenshin was also laughing. After calming himself he said. “ The moment he gets outnumbered is over. That man does not do well on cases where he needs to protect people I believe the girl is still in danger.”

“Wrong, God of War, I'm surprised you haven't found out. That girl is such a stubborn thing sometimes. We didn't raise a fairy tale princess if that what you think. If the bad comes to worse she will be the perfect killing machine, but we made sure she never went down that path if she and the Dragon are truly soulmates as that old witch said they could wipe anything that dares to oppose them. Come, we need to talk.”

“You are still blabbing all those things Ian, that old woman died years ago. Stop spitting old nonsense.” Said the Old suit guy.

“Oh, piss off Lancelot, you know those where her last words, and so far Selene always, loved to hear her. I hope he takes good care of her. Because no one wants to see her pissed off like that time uh Kincaid? Come its getting cold.”

Nobunaga and Shingen started walking and their men followed.

Selene finally woke up sleeping next to Masamune. She slowly and calmly went out of the bed and washed her teeth and went to the  bag that was left on the floor of the room. Revising the things Hideyoshi packed were underwear a pair of sweat pants and a couple of t shirts. She was only wearing Masamune's shirt and felt her cheeks growing hot from embarrassment. Once she put on a sports bra, panties and the sweat pants, Selene started to explore the kitchen. The clock on the wall indicated that it was 3 am. She started to investigate the freezer when she felt his presence behind her. Putting an arm to block  her from leaving, Masamune rest his chin on her head and ask.

“Hungry?”

“Yeah, I was looking to make a simple sandwich. You?” she didn't move, her heart skipped a beat when he got close to her.

“I want a princess, rare,” both chuckled and Selene started taking things from the fridge.“Too bad there is none around here.”

Masamune took a bottle of water and opened it. Giving a long sip on the bottle. He stood next to Selene and said. “Meh, I spotting one in front of me right now.”  finishing with a wolfish smile.

“This princess stuff is getting old. First of all I'm not pretty, second will you stop...” any other reply died on her lips at the moment Masamune shut her up with kiss.

Selene closed her eyes and put her hands on his shoulders. Gripping the his shirt when her knees started to getting weak. Masamune assaulted her lips with a sweet yet firm demand. His tongue teasing her until Selene gave up and open her mouth with a soft moan. While one hand hold the base of her nape the other hand went down her shirt caressing her ribs and her stomach sending shivers, turning to the left he pin her between him and the counter. Lowering  his hands to each tight, Masamune lift her sitting her on the counter without stopping his assault. Masamune wasn't letting her think just feel, letting her know how much he wanted her. He didn't care about the damn scar, or anything only her. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss and touch her forehead with his. Both, were panting agitated trying to catch their breathing. Still Holding her by the thighs he took her to the sofa. He took a sit in the middle of the sofa and let her sit stranded on his lap. She now hugged him and rest her face on his chest. Hearing his heart beating as fast as hers Selene closed her eyes and let him caress her back.

After a couple of minutes, Selene  retire from his chest face him and spoke softly with a soft tremble in her voice. Her face was flushed red and her eyes like two shinning emeralds while her lips were swollen from the kiss.

“I'm not worthy of you...”

“It's me who is not worthy and yet I can't stop thinking about you. “

He saw her eyes opening wide and put her mouth on a fine line. “This is not a competition you know?. Who are thou worthy of who?” he couldn't help it and started laughing. “Lass, really? Now we got Shakespeare? I kissed you because it was the only way to let you know that I want you.  I want to know you better also, Selene. I like what I see, and I don't care if you are even a demon I want you ok?” the look of desire on his eyes sent a shiver to Selene.

The doubts were still there in her eyes he could see them. But also he saw something else. Everyone had a past, he knew that very well. But which past she had and how bad was only time will tell and her will tell.

“So you don't mind take things slow?” he hesitation was understandable.

“No kitten, with you I don't.” he looked her directly at the eyes.

Slowly Selene raised her hands to cup his cheeks and kiss him softly on the lips. “OK then can we go back to my sandwich? I'm starving.” with a smile Selene stood and offered her hand to Masamune.

“Right, lets get some food on that stomach.” he stood up kissed the back of Selene's hand and said.

“ I don't make promises but on this case I want to make an exception. I promised I will make sure you are always safe, no matter the situation.” Masamune looked intensely and serious.

Selene felt her heart pounding furiously on her chest, with a smile she squeezed his hand and said  “I want to make a promise to you too, Masamune Date, I will also protect you, no matter the situation, you are now mine to keep and cherish until the end. No matter what happens.”

“Hey, that sounded cooler than mine,” he frowned at her confused.

Giggling Selene replied “Common, is a promise, besides I'm cooler than you.” she just winked at him while going back to the kitchen.

“As if.” Masamune followed her into the kitchen intended to keep making her smile as long as he lived.

@colivara @datemasamunemaiwaifu @elievalentine @unstoppablelinda @la-piperina @epicdragonlady @jennacat84 @ikesenhell @serenity-writes @xathia-89 @kimi00twin  @notsafefortum-blr @mikamiw @yeshasays @masa-little-kitten

[hippychick006]

14.15 - Peace of Mind

I thought I’d do one of these for the current season. 

Meh is the word that comes to mind for this episode.  Not great, not a stinker, just meh.  Would I recommend it as a watch?  Possibly as background while you are doing more important stuff like cleaning. 

If it hadn’t already been yet another episode separating Sam and Dean in an entire season where Sam and Dean have been separated (with only a few exceptions), it might have been okay.  I really don’t think I’m complaining needlessly.  To put it into perspective, the people that I’m watching for (that by their own admission, the show say that the audience is watching for) had a grand total of 108 seconds sharing the same scenes this entire episode.  108 seconds and 50 of those were shared with Castiel.  And I’m just trying to imagine any other show doing this.  Like Starsky ditching Hutch constantly and going on investigations with side characters like Huggy Bear (because Huggy Bear is no longer just an informant, he’s an investigator because he’s a “fan favourite” character and his fans constantly ask, Where’s Huggy Bear so they made him part of the team even though he doesn’t fit).  WTF even is this?

Moving on...  

The story is credited to Steve Yockey/Meghan Fitzmartin and the teleplay to Meghan Fitzmartin.  This is the one people were a little worried about, given Meghan appears to be an open Destiel shipper (which has no place in the writers room or for anyone working on the show - completely unprofessional for anyone working to do anything that might give rise to calls of bias).  From what I can gather, Destiel fans appear to love Steve as they think any gay/bi character he writes is a parallel for Destiel.  It isn’t and although Steve’s given us a mixed bag, he did give us the witch twins in Celebrating the life of Asa Fox and Twigs & Twine and Tasha Banes.   I love the witch twins, great new, interesting characters that we no longer see because the show is obsessed with old, tired, done to death characters that only a very small, very loud section of fandom harp on about).  Sighs tiredly and moves on.

Reading between the lines, I think there was a close eye kept on this one and I think it worked because I can’t for the life of me see anything at all that’s a nod to Destiel.  If anything, the Sastiel shippers got all the cookies and good for them.  Enjoy those cookies Sastielers!  I’ll be over here drinking the hellers’ bitter tears.

I liked the opener, head go splody.  Though the guy that played the gas station clerk was a very questionable choice by casting.  If that had been his 1 minute, then fine, but no, we see him later in the episode and because of the known nepotism on the show, I’m automatically wondering if he’s child/brother/friend/third cousin twice removed of someone on the cast or crew because he is terrible (sorry kid, don’t listen to me, keep working at it, the only way is up).  

Oh great, yet another Cass/Jack conversation.  Cass is not the best at speaking to people as we’ll see later in the episode.  Screams into the void about the distinct lack of Sam and Jack this season.  I know we’re heading for something between them, but this is my problem (or one of many with Dabb).  I think he has the weird view that if he rations the good stuff, then it makes it all the better when we get it.  Not really, it just switches me off from watching the show. I want good every week, I don’t actually think that’s too much to expect from someone who is getting paid to entertain the audience and not bore them to death.  

Anyway, Jack thinks his snake is sad and Castiel suggests it might be missing his former owner.

Ah, now Dean and Cass talk – is there a checklist? If so, it’s missing “Sam and Dean” on it. Interestingly, as I’ve pointed out many times before, their conversations revolve around other people; usually Sam, but Rowena and Jack get included, because “family”  

Speaking of Sam, we switch to him and see he’s having flashbacks of the dead hunters, so he really isn’t doing good. Appears he’s trying to keep his mind off things by hunting constantly and has found another case.  He walks in on the awkward silence between Castiel and Dean (not awkward because he caught them awkward, just awkward because they’ve got nothing in common, other than talking about Sam and Jack and when that runs out it’s just... awkward).   Dean says he needs a break, but Sam’s leaving in ten.  End of.

Castiel: Maybe I should go with him and you can stay with Jack

Dean: Why?

Me: * Whispers * because Dabb hates us and he’s passive/aggressive about it.

Castiel: You were right… Jack is struggling, and I’ve tried…

Dean (interjecting): Why do you think he’ll talk to me

Castiel: Because he looks up to you (Dean rolls his eyes, so I don’t have to), and his soul, I mean… you’ve seen this before...

Me (interjecting again): You really think he’s the right person to handle someone soulless after he beat Sam beyond the point he was already unconscious. Seriously?  I’m with Dean on this one.

Dean: No, no, no, see I was not great with Sam.  You know when he was…

Thank you show for acknowledging this.  

Castiel: Jack’s soul isn’t completely gone.  At least I don’t think so, we just don’t know how much is left.

As I’ve already seen in other posts, my instant thought on this is “You can’t do the fist check?” I’m really tired of wondering what powers Castiel still has and what he doesn’t.  They seem to switch them on and off as needed.

Dean asks how he’s supposed to know.  Castiel says just talk to him, get him to open up.  

I completely understand why Castiel is not going to the obvious person for this – duh, Sam of course – because he feels Sam is overburdened as it is and going though his own issues, so this does actually make sense for me and I’m fine with people trying to keep him out of it while they try and deal with it (It will go wrong though).

Castiel is driving and I seriously have to question Sam’s driving ability at this stage since he’s either happy to be chaperoned around or they don’t trust him in the driver’s seat. Also, all the beautiful classic cars in the bunker and this is the clunker Castiel chooses to drive around in? Would some soap and wax go amiss?

We’re back with Griffin from earlier and least said about this scene the better. The guy is just terrible.  Sorry, but he is and unsurprisingly, only has 1 other credit as “Asian teenager” before getting this part.  

I love the drive through the town.  It’s obvious something is going on with all the clothes dating back to I’m guessing the 50’s.  Castiel: “It’s like we’re stepping into a Saturday evening post.”  Sam at least knows what this is, he’s just surprised that Castiel does.  I however have no clue, so had to google it and it’s a magazine that ran from 1897 to 1969. Here’s one of the covers:

Men doing menly things and women… I’m kind of not sure what she’s supposed to be doing.  I think looking clueless at the engine.  Anyway, Sam looks at Castiel who explains that he “looks at them sometimes after you fall asleep at night.”  Sastiel for the win on this one! Who isn’t picturing Castiel sitting up on the bed reading while Sam sleeps, hmmm? Because as we all know, Castiel has zero boundaries when it comes to personal space and Sam’s not likely to call him out on it, because he’s used to having his personal space invaded..   

I like that they are five minutes into the hunt and they already want to call Dean. They can’t though as no cell signal, so they are on their own.

We meet Justin Smith (the first).  I like him, he’s swell. But he’s yet another clue that all is not right here, not least because he doesn’t know what a cell phone is. My first suspect of being a witch is his stepford wife, so we’ll keep an eye on her.

We head to Harrington’s for a milkshake.  They’re looking around and the place is straight out the 50s, but I’ve been in diners that are set up like this, so it shouldn’t actually be that unusual.    What is unusual, is that Sam accepts a free milkshake from the waitress (Sunny) in a town that he’s investigating and that clearly is under the influence of something. Let’s put this down to Sam being tired (*whispers lazy plot driven writing).

Chip points them to the boarding house where splody head guy was staying.  I love the boarding house, but would have to change the outside colour. I also love that everyone knows who they are, and the owner of the guest house is no exception.  Small towns really are like this.

Back with Dean and Jack. Jack’s trying out different food with the snake.  Dean investigates a Chinese take-out container that he quickly discovers contains live mice and not take-out.  He suggests going out with Jack for a drive.  Jack is hopeful for a hunt, but Dean says more of a field trip. Jack’s okay with that, but first Dean wants bacon.  Of course he does.

At the boarding house, Sam and Cass are shown to splody head guy’s room. Sam asks for coffee, leaving Castiel free to search the room.  He finds some letters under the mattress and is reading them as Sam comes back.  And I know Jared has large hands (beautifully in proportion to the rest of him), but I think there is an element of also finding the tiniest teacups they can get a hold of. However, since this scene gives us another Sam drinks tea gif, I’m happy. Anyway, the letters are from Sunny and are explicit from the sound of them.  

Sam says great, they’ll look into it tomorrow.  He wants to stay at the boarding house because the landlady is making pot roast.  Oh oh.  Castiel for some reason lets this slide and leaves Sam overnight.

We’re now at my first suspects home with Justin Smith (the first).  He’s still talking about cell phones.  He’s started to remember who he is.  He runs out of the house and his head goes splody.  Poor guy.

I’m really not sure that Dean’s test for whether Jack has his soul is legit.  Choosing Angel food cake or Devil food cake.  Jack looks like he’s going to choose devil food cake which arouses Dean’s suspicions but at the last second, chooses angel food cake. Dean heaves a sigh of relief.  

It’s the following day and Castiel goes to check on Sam who isn’t there.  I like Mrs Dowling, the landlady who is cleaning and dancing. She tells him Sam was going for a walk and a milk shake.

Sam is not at the milk-shop place, but Sunny is there.  Castiel seems to be as pissed off as I am that Sam repeatedly gets referred to as “the tall one”.  Sunny tells him about Mr Smith dying so Castiel turns up to Mrs Smith’s house to investigate.  Yet another house I like. Where are all these beautiful houses in Vancouver?   Anyway, Mrs Smith doesn’t look all that upset that her husband has died.  Castiel says he’s looking for his “partner” and that he’s tall with “beautiful hair”. He could have added “drop dead gorgeous” but it’s better than just “tall” so I’ll let it slide.  Mrs Smith is clueless, and I have to question if she’s a robot at this point.

Castiel goes to sit in a chair and Mrs Smith screams.  I have the exact same reaction after I’ve cleaned everywhere, and someone comes in and starts dumping their stuff all over the place.   Castiel starts speaking about her dead husband but Mrs Smith laughs and asks if Castiel has already had a martini today.  We hear someone call “honey” and I don’t know why they tried to hide the person in this scene because Jared has a very distinctive voice so we know it’s him.

I love this next scene though.  We get “agent” from Castiel, but Sam responds that he is: “Justin… Justin Smith” then asks, “And you are?”

Castiel (winking): Your partner

Justin (still smiling): Partner?  Super, that’s swell, great…

Justin (the second), asks Castiel to stick around as they are “having pot roast”.  This seems to be a 50s staple.  Thank Chuck the 70s added prawn cocktail and blackforest gateaux.  I like to give Misha his due whenever possible and his confused face here is brilliant.  Mrs Smith is sent off to make a martini and Castiel tries to get to the bottom of things.  He’s still wondering if Sam is “under cover”.   But no, Sam really thinks he’s Justin Smith and married.  Mrs Smith comes back during this and says they are low on olives and asks “one or two”. Justin is a fussy one though and asks for “three” and adds that he’s “feeling adventurous.”  Mrs Smith does a perfect “rawrrr”, Justin  responds awkwardly “roarrrr”.  I just can’t with Jared in this scene.

I didn’t pick up on it, but with the three olives and “feeling adventurous”, added to Castiel’s wink and “partner” comment from earlier, other people are suggesting threesomes.  If that’s the case, Justin seems up for it.    

While Mrs Smith goes to get more olives (or slip into something more comfortable - who knows at this stage), Sam asks Castiel if he wants one (get your mind out the gutter, he meant martini).  Castiel tells him “Your name is Sam Winchester…” Justin: “So that’s a no no on the hootch?”  Castiel’s had enough and commands Sam to “snap the hell out of it.”

Justin: Sir, you watch your mouth, if we cannot remain civil, then you can skedaddle.

Castiel: Sam…

Justin: That’s not my name.  (He grabs Castiel to see him out). “Cindy, grab his hat.”

Castiel: I don’t wear a hat

Cindy: Honey, I don’t think he wore a hat

Justin: Fine.  

He shows Castiel the door. “Sir, using language like that; h e double hockey sticks (Sam shakes his head and waggles his finger).  You should have your mouth washed out with soap.

Castiel: Sam…

Justin: It’s Justin! (slams door closed).

Dean and Jack arrive at a house, Donatello comes running out.  He and Jack go inside to chat and Dean waits outside.  I think the next bit was supposed to be funny when Dean taps the car to check on the snake then slides along to get away from it.  It wasn’t funny.  And that isn’t on Jensen at all, he’s a really funny actor, it’s on the material.  Don’t force the comedy elements.  Yellow Fever was genius, this attempt is lame.  

Donatello and Jack talk about souls.  And in sharp contrast to Jared with the ridiculous tiny cup earlier, could they have found a bigger cup for Alex? Donatello tells Jack that not having a soul is a lack of pity, empathy, humanity. He asks what Jack feels.  Jack doesn’t know.  He doesn’t feel nothing, but he doesn’t feel the same either. He just doesn’t want Sam, Dean and Castiel to worry.  Donatello, “They’re your family.  Families worry.” (Family mention box ticked – phew, I really thought we were going to get through an entire episode without one).   Donatello tells him he always asks himself “What would Mr Rogers do?”  Jack asks who Mr Rogers is and Donatello answers, “The best man I know.”

Jack: Sam and Dean are the best men I know. (heh!)  Look, I know Castiel isn’t a man, just let me have my petty moment in peace!

Donatello suggests that Jack thinks of WWWD.  What would the Winchesters do.  But considering the Winchesters have continually sacrificed themselves for the other, I’m not so sure this is such sterling advice.

Jack returns to Dean and Dean asks Donatello if Jack is okay and does he have his soul.

Donatello: I suppose the first question we must ask ourselves is… what is a soul?

Dean (I am not in the mood for your shit): Donny...

Donny says to keep an eye on him but if he says he’s okay, he probably is.  He goes on to say that Jack is the most powerful being in the universe, who knows what goes on inside his head.  They both turn to the car and Jack gives a dorky wave.   Dean is not in the least reassured.

Back at Harrington’s milkshake place, Castiel has decided that Sunny is the witch.   He says to tell him the truth or he’ll rip it from her mind (keep an eye on these powers, I’m pretty sure they won’t work the next episode).

Turns out not to be Sunny, but the mayor, he has Justin (the second) with him and he doesn’t look amused, he’s at least a little mildly ticked off with Castiel.

We then get villain monologue – why do villains do this? – Just get on with it. Long story short, Chip can make people do whatever he wants.  Sunny runs out during this - I don’t blame her - and Chip runs after her, leaving Justin and a couple of other goons to deal with Castiel:

Castiel (to Sam): I won’t hurt you, Sam

Justin: Golly, I told you my name is Justin!

Justin is a terrible fighter, even someone as bad as Castiel normally is manages to put him on his back (Sastiel for the win).  Castiel’s actually doing well this fight, but Justin suddenly realises he’s got height and weight advantage and lunges at Castiel, taking him down.  He sees Castiel’s angel blade and pulls it from his sleeve – and if this was Dean and Castiel, the hellers would be going wild right about now, about Destiel being end game and true love (because nothing says true love like one partner trying to kill the other).  Anyway, for anyone interested in the whole top/bottom debate, Sam is on top, but he’s cowgirl in this scene so I’m calling this topping from the bottom.  Don’t @ me top!Sam people!

Moving on, Castiel does that thing where he talks, and he shouldn’t.  He says he knows what it’s like to fail as a leader.  That Sam needs to fight and not lose himself, because if he does, he fails them, all of those they lost, he fails Jack. He fails Dean.  Sam raises the blade and slams it down…

So, a couple of things on that.  The narrative once again saying Sam has “failed” in some way kind of completely sucks. Done with Sam being told things like that and everyone else getting told they did good (*coughs* letting Lucifer out of the cage the second time around *coughs*).  But I’m sure I’ll get hurt!Sam out of it and Dean seems to be the trigger word for Sam to snap out of things so toxic co-dependent bros for the win.

…Sadly the blade slams into the diner flooring and Castiel lives to hunt another day (tries to summon up a “yay” but fails miserably).    But Sam’s back to normal (yay!!!).  

They exit the diner to stop Chip, who TK’s Castiel through the air and tries to kill Sam.  Sunny’s had enough though and uses her own powers on Chip, trapping him inside his own mind.

Dean and Jack are back at the bunker.  Dean asks Jack if he had a good time, Jack: “It was… illuminating.”  

Before Dean can process that statement, Sam and Castiel are also back.   Dean not one to miss some good brotherly ribbing: “I heard you wore a cardigan.” Sam turns to Castiel.

Castiel: Yeah, I told him about the cardigan.

Jealous!Dean alert: And the wife. (Sam looks at Castiel again).  He said you were… really happy.

Castiel decides it’s time for him to exit stage left and goes to find Jack.

As usual with getting nothing out of the episode, the hellers are making a lot more out of the “off screen” conversation between the “hunter husbands” than merits.  Of course Castiel told Dean what happened, it’s more than his life’s worth not to if Dean found out Sam had been in danger and Castiel didn’t tell him.  The phone conversation would have went something like this.

Castiel: Now, don’t get angry, Dean.  First of all, the important thing is that Sam’s fine... now...

Dean: WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?!

Back in Jack’s room, he tries to do what Sam and Dean would do.  He thinks they would help the snake so uses his powers to Thanos the snake to the afterlife so it can be with it’s owner again in heaven.  Jack, I really don’t think the owner would have passed the abacus good/bad test so no idea where you actually sent that snake other than purgatory.  Camera pans out and Castiel is watching from the doorway.  Parenting advice from me Castiel: you need to trust your teenagers and give them space.  Constantly checking on Jack is just going to make him feel closed in.