#he was alright in the r/s arc my only problem was that he was pretty serious and busy but i cant argue with the last one

[aqqleshiqqing-archive]

probably one of my favorite steven panels of the oras arc 🥹

first of all i think it's very obvious why i like it - he's acting cute here HSJBFVDBSNANE hes all blushy n shit hehrhhffhhd it's so cute brbr 💕💓💕💕💞💓💕💕💓💕💓

but second is definitely what he said...

this single piece of dialogue alone was the catalyst for memoryshipping's entire lore because it's now a fact that steven was once a bratty person (or child as I hc) - which is realistic! it's hard for me to believe that all rich children were born humble, im sure there's a smidge of selfishness and that is due to their richly upbringing but i can totally see that these kids can also GROW up to be more humble people in the process, which is again - also very realistic!

it makes me adore him even more because to the public he's seen as this perfect, handsome and rich man but this is a glimpse of his flaws that make him not so perfect - and i LOVE IT. i love character analysis. i love steven. epic win. jil wins

[raralabelle1studios]

The 3rd Reality Eds Arc 27 (Alternative Version)

This is the alternative version of Mangle40211's story on DeviantArt:

EENE: T3RE - Arc 27: Relentless Devotion by mangle40211 on @DeviantArt https://www.deviantart.com/mangle40211/journal/EENE-T3RE-Arc-27-Relentless-Devotion-949543182

The phone sung it's ringing song as the arctic mangle picked it up.....

3rd reality Double D: *sigh*..... Hello?.....

Shaggy: Hey, Double D! Like, I have some Great News!

3rd reality Double D:..... N- No... B- Bad... News?...

Shaggy: Nope! You see, I made a deal for the FNAF Movie. Now, There's gonna be Three of them!

3rd reality Double D:... Wha- THREE?!... but... W- Why Three?...

Shaggy: Well... That Trilogy deal... I actually made it because... Well... I've been think about you guys, Y'know? It's been so long.

3rd reality Double D:... *sigh*... I know.... Too long..... I'm sorry.....

Shaggy: It's alright. You guys have been making the world better.

3rd reality Double D:... Heh... Y'know? That reminds me! I have good news for You too. All of You.

Shaggy: Really? Like, What is it, Man?

3rd reality Double D: Y'know that GOD AWFUL VELMA SHOW?! *coughs* S- Sorry...

Shaggy: No, Man. That's More than Called for.

3rd reality Double D: She won't be coming near any of you other Cartoon Characters. EVER. I asked Eddy to cast a spell that will forever keep her away! You shall only have the REAL Velma with You!

Shaggy: That's Great, Man!

3rd reality Double D: Yes! *Maniacal Giggling* And so is The Deal that You have Strucked! *Maniacal Chuckling* Now PATHETIC OLD WILLY SHALL SUFFER THREE TIMES AS BAD AS HE WILL FROM YOU BEING IN HIS ROLE! *Maniacal Laughter* NORVILLE, MY BOY, YOU HAVE MADE THINGS SO MUCH WORST FOR AFTON AND SO MUCH BETTER FOR ALL OF HIS VICTIMS! *More Longer Maniacal Laughing until he starts coughing from it and clears his throat* Ow... Oh GOD am I going mad from the Mistreatment of Animation... And missing you all.... and..... Just..... All of it, really..... B- But I am trying my best to keep it together.

Shaggy: Uh... Yeah, Man... I could like Kinda hear that from..... That.....

3rd reality Double D: Yeah... But still... You have made the bad time Old PeePaw Willy shall have Three times worst. Thank You. Just... Thank You.

Shaggy: Anything for You, Guys. Like I said, You have been making this world better.

3rd reality Double D: *sigh*... Yeah. That's what we do now... No more Scamming...... Just... Protecting the World..... Well... It's been nice talking with you, Shaggy. I'll talk to again some other time. Alright? And... One more time... Thank You.

Shaggy: No Problem. Let's talk again some time. Bye.

3rd reality Double D: Bye...

like that did that Conversation end..... And Like that did The Arctic Mangle feel.... Mad...

In his head, In a Soda Drunken Daze, He and the Ghost of his Former Self sat alone on a green and grassy hill with bubbles floating everywhere...

Ghost Edd: *Slightly Maniacal Laughter* Looks like the Tables are Turning more and more on old Willy, Huh?

3rd reality Double D: Heheh *Hic*... Y- Yeah. Heh! Old PeePaw brought all of this onto hi- *hic* Himself! Am I Right?

Ghost Edd: *chuckles* Yes. Though... I do have to ask... Are you Okay?... You fell into this dream Drunk on those Foxy Cove Coolers... And I guess your also in a bit of a Puff Coma...

3rd reality Double D: Oh... R- Right. Those Poke Puffs... Well, They help me cope, Okay? They are pretty good.

Ghost Edd: Better than Jawbreakers?

3rd reality Double D: WHAT?! No! Are you Insane?!

Ghost Edd: No, but... You Do seem to be going towards that route... Is trying so hard to keep it together... Really Helping You?... Because I think it's hurting you...

3rd reality Double D: Well... *hic* I- It does hurt... A little bit..... But I'm trying my best not to lose myself in this Misery... and Trauma.... and Heartbreak..... *sniff* I'll be okay.

Ghost Edd: Are you Sure?...

3rd reality Double D: With Friends like Mine... I'll be Okay.

Ghost Edd: *sigh*... God Bless You, Eddward.

3rd reality Double D: Thanks.

3rd reality Eddy: Double D? Hello? SOCKHEAD!

The Soda Drunken Sockhead had woken up... His Fur was Frizzled and Puffed Up and His Mouth was Smuthered by Poke Puff Frosting...

3rd reality Eddy: What Happened?!

3rd reality Double D: W- What?

3rd reality Eddy: You fell asleep here in the hallway. Must've been all those Poke Puffs and Foxy Cove Coolers. I mean, I found this Empty Cove Cooler in Your Hand. How do you get drunk on Soda?!

3rd reality Double D: *Yawn* I don't know, Eddy... You're the One who drinks Wine when we had these the whole time here...

3rd reality Eddy: that was When I was Depressed after our Demise. My Depressed thoughts led to Me using my magic to try all alcohols and Wine was the only good one... But I haven't been drinking it anymore. I'm a kid. Trust Me. I have been Drinking those Cove Coolers too.

3rd reality Double D: Good for You, Eddy.

3rd reality Eddy: I tend to feel drunk from those, though...

3rd reality Double D: Why? It's Soda.

3rd Reality Eddy: I know. Weird... But anyways, Are you Okay?

3rd reality Double D: *sigh* As fine as I really can be during this times, Eddy... let's go see the others.

3rd reality Eddy: Yeah.

The Arctic Mangle's Fur relaxed as he saw the rest of the death skulk fine and well enough and He licked all that poke puff frosting off of his lips. However... He still felt tired... tired of the Mistreatment of his own kind: Animation... 3rd reality Ed and 3rd reality Eddy had felt the same way, while Tails.exe and Tails doll tried to help them feel better. Later that Day... A Knock was heard at the Door.

3rd reality Double D: Who could that be?

3rd reality Eddy: I don't know.

3rd reality Ed: Let's check it out.

3rd reality Double D: Good Idea, Ed.

The Death skulk went to the Door and The Arctic Mangled Sockhead opened it. And... To their Surprise... It wasn't just anyone... For it was Bendy the Dancing Demon, Boris the Wolf, Cuphead, Mugman and Sans. That and a Female Chalice like Cuphead and Mugman and a much Taller Skeleton than Sans.

Bendy: Hello, My Favorite Fluff balls!

Boris: How's it Going?

Cuphead: See, Chalice? These are the Guys we told ya about!

3rd reality Double D: W- What The-... Bendy?!

3rd reality Eddy: Boris?!

3rd reality Ed: Cuphead?!

Tails.exe: Mugman?!

Tails Doll: Sans?!

3rd reality Double D: And... Two others we haven't meet yet?

Ms Chalice: The Name's Chalice! Ms Chalice!

Papyrus: And I am The One and Only Legendary Papyrus!

3rd reality Double D: Wow! Uh... heheh... Uh... Hi.

3rd reality Ed: So, What brings you guys here?

Bendy: Well... We wanted to see you guys during these... Painful times for Animation...

Mugman: Yeah... Netflix STILL hasn't renewed The Cuphead show!... *growls*

Cuphead: and I wanted to see The Fox who told me how to deal with My Trauma from the Devil.

Sans: And Animation is also a part of Games, Really.

Ms Chalice and Papyrus: And We wanted to Meet You Foxes they told us about!

3rd reality Double D's heart was tugged and pulled at as he felt tears trying to leak from his eyes... or... well... Eyes... Suddenly, Jim woke up and slowly Emerged from his hat with a yawn.

Bendy: W- What the-

Mugman: You have a Pet?

3rd reality Double D: Huh? Oh! No, That's Jim. My little Conjoined endo skeleton twin.

Cuphead: WHAT?!

Sans: Eesh!... Quite a Mangle, huh?

3rd reality Double D: Very Mentally Mangled really... I mean... Let's be Honest... It's February and I'm reminded by it that I'll never find love... *sigh* Like when Nazz kissed me... Or when May and I randomly fell in Love... I mean... I did always want to be a father...... But Now...... I don't even know if I'll ever see my Father or Mother again...... Or my Cactus, Jim...... Or any of my pet ants or Spiders...... Or the Other Cul De Sac kids...... And with all The current Mistreatment of Animation later...... It really hurts...... Y'know?......

Silence reigned......

Mugman: Man... Thats... Pretty Deep...

3rd reality Eddy: Uh...... Double D?...... Are you Okay?......

3rd reality Double D: *sniff*...... As fine as I probably can be, Really... Heheh... Heh......

Mugman: I get it. I still feel Lovesick over... *sigh* Her...

Cuphead: Cala Maria? Mugman, what's with you?

Mugman: Don't Judge Me!

Bendy: Quite! Let's not fight!

Sans: Yeah, Let's be Cool now.

Bendy: Anyway? I was thinking that We All go out Together to try and feel better! An Adventure of Freedom, If you Will!

Cuphead, Mugman and Chalice: ADVENTURE!!!

Tails Doll: Ooh! I'd like That!

Tails.exe: Sounds fun!

3rd reality Ed: Yay!

3rd reality Eddy: Sure! I mean... Sockhead over hear could use it use fun and fresh air, I think.

3rd reality Double D: Well... Okay. What about you, Jim?

Jim happily Nodded.

Tails Doll: Adventure Tails dolls! Keep on Eye on the pizzeria while we're gone! Table Top Tangle is in the Maintenance Office!

The Adventure Tails dolls shut the door as one of them gives a solute through the window. 3rd reality Eddy then Shield it with his magic.

3rd reality Eddy: Just to be Safe.

Bendy: Great!

With That, Bendy had Opened up an Indie Portal!

Bendy: Step Right In, Folks! We're Goin On an Indie Crossin Trip!

The Gang of Characters all went through The Portal.

Bendy: Let's see where this Portal took us-

It was a House... A Large house with a Roller Coaster on Tracks, Seemingly Lots of Rooms and a Concrete Walkway with Beartraps on it.

Bendy, Cuphead and Sans: Uh Oh...

3rd reality Eddy: What?

Bendy: This is the Neighbor's House...

3rd reality Double D: The... Neighbor?

Mugman: Oh Dear... I- I sure do hope he won't mind a friendly little visit-

Suddenly, The Door of the House flew off with a BANG! An Angry, Vest Wearing, Mustache Baring Mad Man stared their into them all...... Jim hurried back into 3rd reality Double D's hat as they all held Each Other within Suddenly Shock and Fear...

Cuphead: Uh... Yeah...... Hey, Mugsy? I think he minds......... ALOT.........

Bendy: Oh Boy...

The Neighbor:.... That..... TEARS IT!!!!! WHY CAN'T YOU FOOLS LEAVE ME ALONE?!!!!!

Bendy: Hey! I didn't MEAN To bring us here! I was Hoping that Portal would take anymore but Here! I still haven't completed Mastered It-

The Neighbor: SILENCE!!!!! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU FOOLS!!!!! YOU JUST WANNA KEEP REMINDING ME ABOUT HOW BAD MY GAME IS AND HOW BAD MY CARTOON IS!!!!!

Bendy: It's not OUR Fault your Game Isn't Scary, Is Poorly Lit and Confusing, reveals Everything in The First Chapter, Has Too Many confusing Puzzles and Rooms, And Works with an AI Dumber than Ed Here used to Be!

3rd reality Ed: Wait. Really?

Bendy: Seriously, It is...

Cuphead: and It's not OUR Fault Your Cartoon has Janky Animation, Repeats Stupid Jokes, Goes Nowhere, Makes No Sense, Answers NOTHING, Has TONS of Inconsistencies and Cuts Out The Suspense that SHOULD Be There-

The Neighbor: SHUT UP!!!!! AFTER ALL I HAVE BEEN THROUGH, THIS IS HOW YOU ALL REPAY?!!!!! EVERYONE LOVES ALL OF YOU FOOLS, BUT NOT ME?!!!!! I WAS LOVED AT FIRST, I HAD IT ALL LIKE YOU, BUT NOW I'M HATED FOR IT?!!!!!

Bendy: for... The.... LAST..... TI-

The Neighbor: I SAID SHUT UP!!!!! IT'S RUDE!!!!! HAVEN'T YOU HEARD?!!!!! BE KIND TO YOUR NEIGHBOR!!!!! YOU CARTOONS AND GAMES ALL HAVE IT SO MUCH BETTER THAN ME!!!!! YOU ALWAYS HAVE!!!!! I HOPE ALL OF YOU CARTOONS GET WHAT YOU ALL DESERVE WITH ALL OF ANIMATION'S MISERY!!!!!

Suddenly..... Something Broke..... Something that has been Repressed for a long while now..... Something Deep Inside of Someone..... Not the Neighbor..... Not The Ink Demon..... Not The Wolf..... Not The Cup..... Not The Mug..... Not The Legendary Chalice..... Not The Short Skeleton Brother..... Not The Tall Skeleton Borther..... Not The Doll..... Not The Blood Crying Two Tailed Fox..... Not The Platinum Clown..... Nor The Silver Pirate..... No.......... It was Longly Repressed Rage and Deep Seething Anger that Burnt and Roasted in of Him Twice of Much as The Firey Oblivion Below that is The Inferno itself.......... And it Came............. Out of The Arctic Mangle Himself..........

3rd reality Double D: HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, SIR!!!!!

His Fur Flared and Frizzled like Fire from The Inferno..... His Voice Was Distorted..... His Eyes Were BloodShot Spirals of Flaming Amber Anger Flooding Burning Tears of Anguish and Insanity..... His Teeth Baring and Grinding Down So Hard on Eachother with an Immensely Infuriated Force of Pure Firey Fury..... He could Know Longer Keep it Together..........

3rd reality Double D: DO YOU DARE TO SPEAK ABOUT MY KIND IN SUCH VAIN?!!!!! DO YOU REALLY?!!!!! WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO YOU?!!!!! WE NEVER EVEN MET YOU, AND I WISH WE NEVER DID!!!!! I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING NON-STOP FROM EVERY SINGLE BIT OF MISERY THAT ANIMATION ITSELF HAS HAD TO INDURE!!!!! I HAVE TRIED TO KEEP IT TOGETHER AND TELL MY SELF THAT THINGS WILL BE OKAY, BUT NOW YOU HAVE THROW ALL OF THAT SWEET AND ASSURING SANITY I WAS ABLE TO KEEP TO MYSELF ALL AWAY FROM ME!!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?!!!!! I AM THE ONE THAT THE MANGLE SHOULD NOT HAVE KILLED!!!!! I AM THE ONE WHO HAD HIS PAST SELF MURDER ALL MANGLES, GLITCHTRAP AND WILLIAM AFTON HIMSELF!!!!! I AM THE ONE WHO MURDERED AYANO AISHI!!!!! I AM THE ONE WHO STRUCK FEAR INTO THE HEART OF SATAN HIMSELF WITH MY RAGE AND ANGER!!!!! I AM EDDWARD DOUBLE D MARIAN!!!!! THE ARCTIC MANGLE OF JUSTICE!!!!! AND I.......... WILL NOT.......... EVER.......... LET YOUR EVIL WISH COME TRUE.......... EVER!!!!!!!!!!

Silence had Reigned All Around Them.......... Until.......... As He Grabbed A Shovel by His Door.......... The Neighbor.......... Laughed..........

The Neighbor: Says A Weak, Pathetic, Skinny Legged, Little Furry Nerd Boy Who's Parents Surely Disowned Him.

Everyone else Gasped...... And The Arctic Mangled Sockhead...... SNAPPED!!!!!.......... And..... without Any Hesitation or Warning..... He Lunged Over to The Neighbor with a Distorted Screech and Bit his Left Arm with Such A Force that His Fangs were Completely Hidden Deep within The Neighbor's Skin and Flesh! The Neighbor Screamed in Absolute Agony as He Began his WHACK The Triggered Mangle with his Shovel until He Grabbed his Tail and Pulled him Off! But That Rabid Fox Bit So Hard with Such A Brutal Force that..... While he did get him off..... The Arctic Mangled Sockhead's bite tore of a Massive Chunk of his Skin and Flesh, Followed by That Rabid Sockhead Grabbed it Out of His Mouth and Incinerated it into Flames with The Roughly Squeezing Paw that He Held it in, Followed By a Distorted Roar of Rage!

The Neighbor: WHY YOU LITTLE-

Bendy: RUN!!!!!

Suddenly, Bendy Summoned Three Indie Parts and They all ran into them out of Painiv away from the Neighbor while Bendy through The Rabid Sockhead in one of Them... And they all closed... Leaving The Neighbor Alone, Screaming in Rage...

3rd Reality Kevin: That's it!!!! I'm coming in! I'll save you dorks from your evil neighbor!

The 3rd Reality Kevin had enough of Hello Neighbor's antics, and so he decided to go through revenge by swopping into action and trying to claw him like an eagle hunting.

But The 3rd Reality Edd clawed him back away in the progress.

3rd reality Double D: DON'T, KEVIN! I GOT THIS!

3rd reality Eddy: Sockhead's LOST IT!

3rd reality Ed: His dark no longer makes me Sweat, Eddy... It just... SCARES Me...

The 3rd Reality Kevin: Dork...

3rd reality Double D:.......... I-...... *sigh*...... I know...... I am a Dork..... A Dork who Fights for JUSTICE..........

The 3rd Reality Edd tried to attempt to attack Hello Neighbor, but someone else is also attempting to attack, all with a pie.

3rd Reality Sarah: Hello? Anybody Home!

Hello Neighbor was so annoyed. That's when she started taunting him.

3rd Reality Sarah: "I'm your neighbor, and I wear a big STINKY DIAPER!"

She taunted him more and more! Can't wait to see his reaction!

3rd reality Ed Laughted as 3rd reality Eddy tried to Hold 3rd reality Double D back.

3rd reality Ed: Good One, Sarah!

3rd reality Double D: *Rabidly growls at The Neighbor*

3rd reality Eddy: Calm Down, Double D!

Sarah's evil eyes started glowing, and she steps back at the Neighbor. She stands still in the dark for seconds...

neighborhood: *Growls* WHAT?!

3rd reality Ed: TAKE THAT, NEIGHBOR!

Sarah jumpscared the neighbor, and attacked him. He was knocked to the ground.

3rd reality Ed laughed more and more and So did 3rd reality Eddy. but 3rd reality Double D, However, Was in a Dark Place in his mind...

in 3rd reality Double D's head: What am I becoming?! What am I?! I must Avenge my Kind and Protect them! But... WHAT AM I DOING?! WHAT DO I DO?! I- I CAN'T LET HIM GET AWAY WITH THIS!

3rd reality Double D struggled, But 3rd reality Eddy wouldn't let him go!

3rd reality Eddy: Hold on, Double D!

The pounce jumpscared Hello Neighbor good and The 3rd Reality Sarah really did what she intended to do... Claw Hello Neighbor...

It is unknown whether he'll wake up or stay dead...

3rd reality Double D stopped struggling...

3rd reality Double D:... Is... Is he... Dead?...

3rd reality Eddy:... I... D- Don't...

3rd reality Ed: I... Think she killed him...

They checked his heartbeat to see he's fine. She must have pierced him good...

3rd reality Ed: I... think you got him good, Sarah.

3rd reality Eddy: Yeah... Looks like It-

3rd reality Double D ran up to 3rd reality Sarah and Hugged Her with Tears in his eyes and relentless shivering...

3rd reality Double D: OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SARAH!!!!! I MAY HAVE COMPLETELY LOST MYSELF, BUT IT'S OVER NOW!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!

The 3rd Reality Sarah smiled happily to know that she was able to take care of Hello Neighbor for good.

The cups, Bendy, and Boris came back to see the commotion.

Mugman: What just happened?

Cuphead: Yeah... Did you kill him, Double D?

3rd Reality Ed: It's alright, guys. My baby sister, Sarah killed him.

Everyone gasped for a moment and then they hugged Sarah too.

Chalice: Thank you for your help, Sarah.

Mugman: You really did show that neighbor who's boss!

Bendy: You'll never stop being you, Sarah! You're always an evil protective spoiled brat that can deal with everything.

Now everyone was safe. Hello Neighbor was officially dead.

4 Days Later... February 10th... The 3rd reality Eds got a Call...... It was from Uncle Grandpa and Steven Universe... They had Horrible News to Tell... The Cartoon Network Building... The One in The Real World... has met it's End... For Soon, a new company will Claim the Building... This did hurt The 3rd reality Eds... and They Cried... and Cried... and Cried... Uncle Grandpa and Steven Universe invited them to a Gathering, In the Real The World, To Say Their Goodbyes and Farwells to It... Later that Day, They Went There... No Real Life Humans Saw Them this Time, Like in Those Old Cartoon Network Bumpers... Tails.exe and Tails Doll were Hovering Above in The Skies like Angels, while The Adventure Tails dolls remained at The Pizzeria to Protect It and Keep Watch, With some help from 3rd reality Eddy's magic again too... Everyone was There... All Cartoon Cartoons, All Characters of Cartoon Network were There... All... All Except...... The Other Cul De Sac kids...... and Even The Past Selves of The 3rd reality Eds Never Showed Up...... But... Because of a Painful Guilt, Neither of The 3rd reality Eds even Tried to Asked... Perhaps......... That idea of The Cul De Sac kids Looking and Waiting for Them...... was False......... and The Idea of Their Past Selves just Being Figments of there Revenge for their Demise......... was True......... Everyone There Cried, Sobbed, Sniffled, Prayed that The Company Taking This Place would Treat It with Only The Respect it Deserves, and Said Their Heartbroken Farwells......... After So Much Expression of Their Sorrows, They All Went Back to Their World Before Any Real Life People Even Saw Them......... They Didn't See Anything......... They Saw Nothing.........

Back at CN City, Though... They would Atleast Forever have Their Own CN Building, Which they Have Had for A Very Long Time... In Fact... Thanks to The 3rd reality Eds, All of CN City, All of Cartoon Network... Except for Cartoon Network Studios and The Real Cartoon Network Building... All of Animation was Forever Safe from What The 3rd reality Eds have Faced... However... Despite The Good News here... There was Still absolutely No Sign of The Cul De Sacs kids or Their Past Selves... But Again... The 3rd reality Eds didn't Even Try to Ask... The Arctic Mangled Sockhead could still never get rid of The Feeling that Every Single Bit of The Tragedy and Heartbreak that His kind...... The Other Cartoon Cartoons... Ed and Eddy...... Was All Because of His Demise from The Mangle and Him Ever Even Going to That God Forsaken Pizzeria that He and His Pack now Claim as The Den of Their Skulk...... and is All his Own Fault.........

After All of That, He and Shaggy had a Talk about The Works of The FNAF Movie... From what Shaggy Said, The Whole Crew is Putting Alot of Hard Work and Effort into Everything about This Movie... He Even Rehearsed some of his Lines and in Front of The Death Skulk... They, Especially The Arctic Mangled Sockhead Himself, Were All Very Impressed...

After All of That, The Death Skulk were Invited into an Indie Portal by Bendy, for It was Bendy's 6th Anniversary. So They Paid Bendy and Boris a Visit at Joey Drew Studios, Hoping to Feel Better. Even Cuphead, Mugman, Ms Chalice, Sans, Papyrus, The Goose, The Lamb, Baldi's Whole School, Even Boyfriend and Girlfriend were invited. Bendy had Gotten Much Better at using Those Indie Portals, Now.

This did Lighten Up The Death Skulk's Day. However... Even Then... Deep Down...... The Arctic Mangled Sockhead was Still Hurting Inside......

When Night Fell Down that Day... Slumber was Fine Enough for Them... Except for The 3rd reality Eds... Especially the Arctic Mangled Sockhead and His Little Conjoined endo skeleton head of a Twin...... The little Endo Twin curled up in his Mangle's Mane like a Bird's Nest...... While that said Mangle Weeped, Sobbed and Sniffled from The Never Ending Sorrow that He was still feeling...... He missed the Simple Life that He and His Friends, Ed and Eddy, used to Live in The Humble Dead End of a Road that was The Cul De Sac...... He missed his Home in The Cul De Sac...... He missed Every Single One of his Inventions and Experiments...... He missed Every Single One of his Pet Ants and Spiders...... He missed his Cactus, Jim...... He missed his Mother and Father...... He missed the Platinum Clown's Little Sister, Sarah, and her Brace Mouthed Friend, Jimmy...... He missed Rolf's Strange Foreign Ways and His Animals...... He miss Nazz and her Sweet and Chilled Loveliness...... He missed Kevin and All of Those Times He would Call Him, Ed and Eddy Dorks...... He missed the Weird Antics of Johnny and his Friend of Wood, Plank...... He Even missed The Kanker Sisters...... He missed All of Them...... He missed All of It...... He missed Everything...... Every... Single... Bit... of his Old Slapstick Comedy of a Life...... All 130 Episodes of It......... All 4 Specials of It......... The Movie of a Finale for It......... Everything......... and he knew that his friends... Ed The Platinum Clown and Eddy the Silver Pirate... Missed it Too......... That was Always So Obvious... But... He and his Friends just Couldn't Go Back... Not After How Long they had Exiled Themselves Away from It for... for fear of being Outcasts again... for fear of being feared by them...... and for fear of how things could be there now because of them Leaving and Never Coming Back......... Are They Even There?......... or Are Those Versions of Them, In Rara's World, Like what the Sockhead and His Friends had Become, Those that Cream.exe went to Live with, Really them?......... The 3rd reality Eds would Never Truly know......... Would They?......... Would they even want to, Through?......... Would They?......... All that they Knew to do was to just keep Protecting The Word that They Live In......... and Hope... only...... for the Best......... It is Not easy Being an Ed... Or a Fox, for That Matter...... But it is worth Keeping The World Safe.........

3rd Reality Kevin: Are you all right?

3rd reality Double D: *sigh* yeah... I just... Miss the old days, is all... *hugs 3rd reality Kevin* I'm just a Mangled Up Dork in a World of Tragedy and Heartbreak...

3rd Reality Kevin: Just worried about you, man. It's just that I'm looking for Rolf. Have you seen him?

3rd reality Double D: Rolf? No...

3rd Reality Kevin: We were all looking for him ever since... Jonny was dead. And he even turned into a 3rd Reality beaver.

3rd reality Double D: oh... ED! EDDY!

3rd reality Eddy: What's Wrong Now?-

3rd reality Double D: Kevin says that Rolf is Missing and I have a Bad feeling about it!

3rd reality Ed and 3rd reality Eddy: WHAT?!!!

Tails.exe and Tails Doll: What?!

3rd Reality Kevin: So you guys are going to be on the search team?

3rd Reality Kevin thought about it...

3rd Reality Kevin: All right, follow me!

3rd reality Double D: GOT IT!

The 3rd Reality Eds and kids were searching through farmlands, valleys, and railways. While the train passes through the valley way, the 3rd Reality Eds were starting to worry...

The 3rd reality eds were Panicking more and more at the thought of Rolf being dead...

3rd reality Double D: This can't be Happening! It... It just CAN'T!

3rd reality Eddy: I hope we find him!...

3rd reality Ed: Me Too!...

It has been a day since Rolf was killed. It was the 11th of February when Rolf was dead. The future is here. Rolf was lost in the meadows far away trying to find home. No shepherd would save him... No sign of where home might be...

3rd Reality Rolf: Rolf is lost... Where could Rolf be now?... Where are the missing Ed-boys where Rolf needs them?... Where is the Casanova Kevin boy?... Rolf must find them. He will not stop his journey until he finds them...

Rolf walked through the meadows far away as he was still searching...

Rolf slept in the middle of the other meadows... It was when he heard a big rustling noise...

3rd Reality Rolf: Who's there!?!? Is it coming for Rolf!?!?

The rustling noises came closer. Rolf noticed 3 big fox tails. They made him think of a wolf... in fact... it reminded Rolf of the time where he was carrying Fluffy, and saw a wolf-man. The wolf-man chased Rolf, and stole his sheep.

This drived him nuts, and turned into full on zombie mode!

3rd reality Double D: Hello?

3rd reality Eddy: Rolf?

3rd reality Ed: Where Are You?!

Rolf was approaching closer. He was actually practically insane...

3rd reality Double D: H- Hello?... R- Rolf?!

3rd reality Eddy: is that you, Rolf?!

3rd reality Ed: Rolf?!

The 3rd Reality Rolf came closer ready to attack. He made insane foreign noises... Something out of a horror movie...

3rd Reality Rolf: neshfdehckcndsvsfnrbejdjfhrdkfne

3rd Reality Kevin: Dude... Are you ok?

3rd Reality Nazz: Rolf doesn't look to good.

3rd Reality Jonny: Talk about being dead...

3rd Reality Jimmy: SOMEBODY STOP HIM!

3rd Reality Rolf: ejfeuvefnsrjssdjfjfhevrkfjfhdnrfkdbrj

3rd reality Double D: ROLF! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!

3rd reality Eddy: OR ME?!

3rd reality Ed: OR ME?!

3rd reality Double D: You Have to Snap Out of It, Rolf!

The 3rd Reality Rolf tackled The 3rd Reality Ed and attacked!

3rd reality Ed: *Screams* HE'S GONE MAD!!!

3rd reality Double D: ROLF!!! STOP!!!

3rd reality Eddy: SNAP OUT OF IT, ROLF!!!

3rd Reality Rolf: YOU (neshdjsn).... HAVE (fhrcjdbfd)... MESSED (neshfdbdjf)... WITH (ehedjdjdn)... ROLF (fjrbfjden)... FOR THE (djebdjs)... LAST (djsdjdnfkc)... TIME!!!!

Rolf can still remember the memory as he was still attacking Ed...

3rd Reality Kevin: ROLF! STOP!

3rd Reality Nazz: Dude... Have you gone insane? What brought you up to this?

Everyone attacked Rolf to save the Eds.

3rd reality Double D: ROLF!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?! WHO KILLED YOU?! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?!

3rd reality Eddy: IT'S US, ROLF!

3rd reality Ed: SPARE US, INSANITY DRIVEN SHEEP!

3rd reality Double D: ROLF!!!

The 3rd Reality Rolf realized it was The Eds' voices and woke up. He looked around and saw the Ed boys.

3rd Reality Rolf: Ed... boys?

the 3rd reality eds: ROLF!!!

The 3rd reality Eds happily hug 3rd reality Rolf

3rd Reality Rolf: *sniffs* Ed-boys... Rolf misses you so much.... Are you all like Rolf too?

3rd reality Double D: Yes, Rolf. We are All...

Rolf: Sha killed Rolf and Rolf thought he wouldn't go back to reality...

3rd Reality Kevin: It's alright, man. In fact, we were all looking for you.

3rd Reality Nazz: Sha killed you?

3rd Reality Rolf: Yes... Rolf was alone. She reminded me of Fluffy, and Rolf slept next to her. Little did Rolf know that that would be my last day of my mortal life...

3rd reality Double D: We know how you feel, Rolf...

3rd reality Eddy: Ever Since we died, We just... Never the same anymore, really.

3rd reality Ed: Yeah...

3rd reality Double D: But we're all here together now... We are all like you, Rolf...

3rd Reality Rolf cried happily, and now knew that he's never lonely anymore...

[marinsawakening]

I really wish I could like BNHA bc Ochako and Deku are both the Actual Best and pretty much every other character also is and the worldbuilding and plot seem like a lot of fun but

I fucking hate Bakugou with every fiber of my fucking being to the point where he ruins all the others for me and I’m still too goddamn salty about Izuku getting a quirk to actually enjoy any of the worldbuilding and/or plot

[one-leaf-grimoire]

JuLisa fluff alphabet <3

I am depressed so this somehow happened when I was supposed to be working on a lab lol.

Nothing spicy under the cut, only wholesome fluff. <3

A ctivities - What do they like to do together? How do they spend their free time?

Incidentally, Julius and Lisa basically spend ALL their time together, since they work and live together in the same place. But when they’re able to take a breather, they enjoy cuddling somewhere, reading a book, or going on a walk somewhere outside the noble realm. It’s nice to get fresh air and it gives Julius a chance to track down any cool magic.

B eauty - What do they admire about each other? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Lisa would say that she admires Julius’s confidence and positivity. He’s a very optimistic person and she needed someone like that to rub off on her. She finds his eyes to be very beautiful, as well as his lips...

Julius would say he admires EVERTHING about Lisa, but more than anything her tenacity and determination. She’s worked harder than anyone else in the kingdom despite being beaten down again and again. He would also say that her entire being is the most beautiful... but above all her eyes. And legs. ;)

C omfort - How would they help each other when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Julius is usually the one who has to comfort Lisa. For a man who’s good with words, he knows that they don’t work in those low moments, and instead makes sure to hold her tight, a silent gesture to tell her that everything is going to be alright. 

But even though he’s strong, the pressure of his job sometimes gets to Julius. Wordlessly, he’ll bury himself in Lisa’s chest, and she strokes his hair and whispers things in his ear to help him calm down. You’re doing your best. You’ve done nothing but wonderful things for everyone. And for me, too. You’re good enough.

D reams - How do they picture their future with each other?

Absolutely, for both of them. Julius has wanted to marry Lisa since almost day one jafkdsl but he took it slow of course. Lisa is always a little scared to dream about the future but it fills her with joy. Marriage might not be at the forefront of her mind, since she would just be happy to be by his side for the rest of their lives. And of course... they both wanted to adopt children eventually and have a big family.

E qual - Which is the dominant one in the relationship?

Funny enough, Lisa is probably the more dominant one in the relationship (outside the bedroom but I won’t get into that lol). From the start, Julius has always been very careful about the power dynamic between them, since he’s the WK and all, and his solution was to let Lisa kind of take the lead in a lot of things, relationship-wise.

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their each other? How are they fighting?

They really don’t fight all that much? If Lisa gets upset Julius can usually tell right away. If Julius gets upset, he’s quick to say something about it. But if it’s a rare, bad fight, Lisa usually retreats into silence until Julius comes to apologize. But like I said, they are fairly harmonious and even the fallouts of the “worst” fights only last an hour or so.

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? 

Lisa is beyond grateful. She’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for Julius, and his presence in her life has changed it completely. As for Julius, meeting Lisa brought new meaning into his life that he didn’t before, and he was able to imagine a future for himself that wasn’t lonely and dedicated solely to his work.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from each other? Or do they share everything?

Lol it is VERY hard to hide secrets between them, so they usually tell each other everything. However, there’s a few notable exceptions to this, including when Julius managed to hide the fact that he met a future version of Lisa during the elf arc. He did tell her eventually.

I nspiration - Did they change each other somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

Yeah! For Lisa, Julius was the one who finally convinced her to leave her old life behind and become a magic knight. And later, he inspires to her want to become the Wizard King one day, returning long-lost ambition.

For Julius, it’s the other way around. He was ambitious when he was young, and sprinted to the top as fast as he could. He had resigned himself to a life committed solely to his job, but when he met Lisa, all that changed. Not only did she give him a more human reason to protect the kingdom, but she opened up a new future to him that he never thought he would be able to pursue... he finally found something he could love more than the kingdom itself.

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Both of them have many admirers but they’re both comfortable enough to know that nothing unfaithful would ever happen. However, Julius does NOT trust other men around Lisa ajksl and is not afraid to flaunt his status proudly if he feels like someone is trying to get friendly with her. 

K iss - Which one is the better kisser? What was the first kiss like?

At first it was definitely Julius. Lisa’s only kiss before him was quick and drunk, but luckily she was now in the hands of a master ;) Their first kiss was shared after Lisa was badly injured trying to stop an assassination attempt and their feelings were finally spoken. Over time, Lisa definitely grew to match Julius’s kisses :)

L ove Confession - How did they confess to each other?

At the same moment as their first kiss! Lisa realized that the reason she fought so hard was because she couldn’t bear the thought of Julius not being in her life, and Julius realized that Lisa meant more than the world to him. Holding her limp and almost dead in his arms was what hammered that point home for him. In the hospital later, he came to visit and they both ended up all over each other, and never wanted to let go again. :)

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

Like I said before, YES! It wasn’t on Lisa’s mind until Julius brought it up, but she really wanted to. They were talking to each other about having kids, and Julius mentioned that, if they did, he would be expected to be married to the mother of his children. But he promised that he would do a better proposal later! Which he did... When Lisa came back from the Sea Temple mission, Julius took her up on the roof before pulling out a gorgeous ring, and asked her to “be my queen.”

As for a wedding, sadly they never got to have an official one. However, they eloped before the Royal Knights exam and sealed the deal. However, now that Lisa lives in a timeline where Julius is very much alive and well, they are still planning a large ceremonial wedding for sometime in the next year.

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

Lisa usually sticks to simple things like “darling” or sometimes “Juli~” because it sounds cute. Julius bounces between many pet names, his favorite being “sweetness” <3

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Before they confessed, both of them kept their card close to their chest. Lisa was slightly worse at this. Images of Julius were constantly dancing in her mind and she would often get distracted lol. When she was around Julius, just a mere touch or an intense look made her blush furiously. It was pretty easy for Julius to tell that something was going on with her.

As for Julius, like I said, at first he was able to stay calm, but rest assured he was freaking out all the time on the inside. But in private, he too got distracted easily and would smile to himself “creepily” (in Marx’s words). It was very hard for him to get any work done.

Once everything was out in the open, Julius was not afraid to show his feelings at the drop of the hat. Lisa still got very flustered about it but was very happy to know that she was loved.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Sadly, the two of them could not be upfront about the relationship for a long time. Lisa got into trouble last time someone found out about it, so they keep to themselves. But within the castle, Julius is very loving and doesn’t mind PDA at all. Lisa still is a little worried that someone from the press is going to find out, but is usually very eager to receive whatever he gives her.  

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Dyad. I’ll leave it at that ajkfdsl

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make each other happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Oh boy. As soon as Julius got a girlfriend it was clear that he was the epitome of the romantic type. He can be creative AND cliche, and both are just as sweet. Flowers, fancy dinners, romantic escapes to the countryside, he would do all of it at the drop of a hat for Lisa.

Lisa’s approach is less of the grand gesture type and more small things. Small gifts, quality time, that kind of stuff. 

S upport - Are they helping each other achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Absolutely. Julius has already kind of reached his goals but Lisa is a great help to him every day as he goes through his WK duties. As for Lisa, she doesn’t really have any future goals for a long time but wants the kingdom to prosper, so she helps Julius as much as she can.

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Their relationship is very spontaneous. Both of them like to run off on a date at the drop of a hat, sometimes in the middle of a work day! But they do value routines too, especially when they’re winding down for the day.

U nderstanding - How good do they know each other? Are they empathetic?

After six years together, they know each other inside and out. Even without the help of a Dyad spell, they complete each other and are always open and understanding with communication.

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

More than anything.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

Lisa really likes curling up under Julius’s robe. It’s so soft and warm and it smells like him. When Lisa is away, Julius sleeps with it too because it smells like her. In truth... the two of them have the exact same scent but it’s the thought that counts lol

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Yes. :) Julius is a big softie and Lisa is a human space heater so their cuddle sessions are pretty mindblowing lol.

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing each other?

Neither of them are very happy when they’re apart. Lisa deals with it a lot better, since she’s usually out training when she rarely leaves him. Julius is a lot more clingy and can’t focus as well when she’s gone. The nights are long and lonely for him, and he finds it very hard to sleep alone now.

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Both of them are really secure in their relationship and it is not really in danger. However, both of them would do anything for the other.

[akechicrimes]

ok alright there’s been some talk about sumi’s outfit being modeled after joker and how this is disappointing, so today i’m getting on my soapbox and we’re talking about:

sumi and akechi are foils of each other through foiling joker.

this breaks down really easily. it’s literally like math.

sumi wants a happy ending so badly that she’s willing to sacrifice her entire identity, sense of self, even the physical manifestation of her soul, to become like kasumi and model herself after joker. she is heavily invested in the damsel-in-distress narrative, and models herself after it. she’s so heavily invested in it that she conscripts joker into performing it with her (take a look at her showtime and how she grabs his hand to make him dip her). and ultimately, as we already know, this means that she literally is destroying her sense of identity as “sumire” in order to become literally someone else (kasumi and also joker).

akechi is... the opposite. of literally all of this. not only is he not into happy fairy tales, he actively embraces villain aesthetics. especially in royal, he has a strong sense of self and sticks to it, even when it pisses off other phantom thieves members, even going so far as to antagonize them with it. he spends less time cooperating with joker as he does asserting his independence and arguing against joker. on the note of akechi arguing against joker, akechi actively advocates against a “fairy-tale” ending, 

in sum: akechi is joker’s opposite--his antithesis, if you will. sumi is joker’s replicate--his identical. 

so of course sumi’s outfit is identical to joker’s.

sumi, i think, is a really interesting observation that in some way, sumi’s erasure of herself is exactly what joker does throughout the game: he erases his self, hides who he really is, all for the sake of pleasing other people’s social links and narrative arcs. in the same way that sumi is trying to fulfill kasumi’s narrative arc post-death, joker can model his answers to whatever will help the other person’s personal story, and the game actively rewards you for modeling joker’s personality after s links according to the person. dating sumi, especially in the valentine’s day scene, feels like fulfilling all her princess-in-a-castle dreams, and joker successfully models himself after the same fairytale narrative that sumi’s modeled herself. 

akechi, by contrast, asks the exact opposite: he wants to see akira’s true self, wants to see what akira’s really made of, wants akira to choose reality and truth over a manufactured happiness. (i don’t think it’s a mistake that akira as a character with a personality is far more prevalent in akechi’s storyline than sumi’s.)

(again, not to make it LGBT, but i think it’s worth noting that the fairytale aesthetic is one of the most insidious forms of heterosexual scripts, employing men as the masculine savior and women as delicate and in need of saving. as lesbianakechi mentioned, sumi’s adherence to fairytale heterosexual scripts feels a lot like comp het that she’s conscripted joker into. by contrast, akechi, the coded queer love interest, gives less than a negative fuck about heterosexual scripts, and instead pushes an alternative romance script in which both partners are religiously equal to each other in power and agency, respect each others’ decisions as individuals, and are unafraid to disagree with each other while still remaining dedicated to each other.)

if we’re taking it as a fact that both sumi and akechi are more or less presented as opposite love interest options for joker, what ends up happening is that they become paired up as two completely opposite ways of going about a relationship with someone. and in pairing the two of them up, royal is able to demonstrate the pros and cons of both situations. the comparison means that royal walks away with pretty consistent and strong message about what a good romance should be--hell, what a good relationship in general should be. 

royal says that it’s actively harmful to erase oneself so be in a relationship with someone else. royal actively pushes against sumi’s erasure of her own identity and asks her to be--well, sumi. royal’s bad ending is akechi’s free will and his identity being erased. royal’s good ending has them all returning to reality, in which the phantom thieves go on to pursue their individual interests and don’t have their selves erased to fit into some perfect ending, and this reality includes the fact that akechi picked being true to himself and his ideals over being alive (insofar as he was aware), and also this reality includes sumi having to do the terrible, horrible work of actually being herself at the risk of being hated for being imperfect.

basically, insofar as i can see, sumi’s not just there to distract from the amazing amounts of shuake in royal. sumi is struggling with the core problem of royal’s storyline all by herself, which is the need to sacrifice oneself and one’s free will and one’s truth for a mandatory perfect, happy ending. takuto struggles with the same issue from the other end, in that he’s sacrificing other people’s free will and truths for a mandatory perfect, happy ending. akechi and joker are obviously struggling with the same issue, but for each other (��if only akechi were just NOT an asshole to all the thieves, people could be friends... if only akechi WEREN’T dead, we could have a fairytale ending...”)

ironically, what sumi does seem to be there for is to illustrate the ways that shuake, for all its arguing and fighting and the fact that both parties have attempted to kill each other, is a relationship that’s founded on respect for each other’s autonomy and individuality. their rivalry has an appreciation for the ways they’re different, rather than merely tolerating the differences or working around them. akechi disagrees all the goddamn time with the phantom thieves, from the minute he shows up in the interview newsroom at rank 1 all the way to the moment he tells joker to return to reality even if it means akechi will die. and this is shown as a good thing, and this is especially obvious because sumi is there to demonstrate the opposite situation in which nobody argues and nobody is honest and we achieve happy perfect endings at the cost of everything else.

according to royal, a romance in which someone erases their selfhood to fit a (heterosexual) fairy-tale script is a deeply fucked up thing, and we should not do that. royal says that sumi is making a mistake in trying to be kasumi and trying to be a perfect damsel--or should i say, perfect waifu.

the irony about sumi is that in this light, her storyline is really a self-inflicted crime. she’s hurting herself at its core. it has nothing to do with romance or joker or being a cute waifu. her adherence to fairytale scripts is a means of self-destruction. which, in my opinion, is a pretty bold fucking plotline to pitch for a female character: that her adherence to feminine-coded roles and heterosexual interactions are actively destroying her as a person.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

618: "Raid! An Assassin from Dressrosa!"

The whole squad catch up at the end of arc wrap party!

Back from the trip, so it’s business as usual again. Will do one episode a post until I get back into the old routine. Will also catch up with all replies this week. The reason I didn’t post yesterday was because I am way too excited about the RE2 remake and watched my first ever Twitch stream. If anyone has any recommendations for good streamers playing the RE2 remake, please pass them on. :)

As for this episode of OP, it follows on from 617 but feels even less like an ending, as Oda is introducing new characters directly and also some new contexts via Caesar’s DDM stream to the brokers. More than ever, Punk Hazard now feels like a prelude of plots to come (this is a good thing because I cannot handle endings).

Plus, I’m sensing another *wild ride* coming up. Haven’t had the joy since Water 7′s Sea Train, so looking forward to that truck busting out of Punk Hazard. :D

Best Captain

The action picked up where 617 left off. We had a lovely shot of Caesar tanking that massive double punch. But this time, we saw Caesar flying down a rather long tunnel, unconscious and out of sight.

The whole “out of sight” thing would turn out to be... not ideal.

Caesar’s Live-Stream DDM picked up Caesar getting his ass handed to him. The Brokers were disturbed by the turn of events. “What the hell? Is this what they call a public experiment? He kicked Caesar’s ass!” one shouted. Tamago turned to Pekoms and warned that, “Mom should hear about this right away.” 

Another guy in an Abraham Lincoln hat said to a nearby messenger, “Joker is going to take action. Let Jack know about this.” When the messenger said, “Are you sure? It’s not going to be pretty,” he replied, “I think they’ve made an alliance. Let the world know. This is not just an underground problem anymore.”

That one was interesting. I have no idea who Jack is, but he seems a cranky, “head guy” type too. Whoever top hat guy is was important enough to be allowed to deal with plot exposition. (Unless he’s filler, in which case....)  One potential theory: a Jack is a type of card, as is the Joker. Might Jack be connected to Joker? Who knows? Well, you guys do, but that goes without saying.

But the fact the mess on Punk Hazard has been broadcast all over the New World does mean the whole “shaking up the New World” part of Law’s plan was a huge success. Everyone is now after their blood. Love it.

To be honest, I hope Law has a crew to return to after this because I am still wondering where the hell they have been hiding all this time.

At least we know where the other Strawhats are. Usopp played another blinder. He has gone through some major but subtle development this arc. Up in the Secret Room, Usopp took charge of the control panel and communications. He could see the other Strawhats running for cover to the R Building. He spotted Chopper and Mocha first, then Nami and the others. He gave them directions and encouragement. Excellent. 

Not only that, Usopp also is also, if I am not mistaken, about to act as a leader to directionless, crestfallen, used and abused Minions. One guy lamented, “I can’t believe Master was such an awful person. Who will we trust now?”

Usopp. That’s who. The guy who is about to lead you out of the crumbling lab building - though only after he ensures everyone else is on the right track. Not only does Usopp earn major brave points, he also earns leadership points.

I also like how the other Strawhats can act as leaders to other people when Luffy is not around. Nami guided all the kids out. Sanji took charge of the G5 guys. Brook dragged Kinemon out of the gas when the idiot went running in, thinking his spirit would carry him through anything (nope) and Chopper calmed him down and told him what was happening. And Usopp guided them all.

What a guy.

The only two he didn’t help out were Law and Smoker. They already had another plan in the works.

Smoker Has Been Watching Too Much Marie Kondo

Just when Tashigi was wondering whether Smoker had prevailed in his battle with Vergo, he rocked up to Building R with Law! Three cheers for the existence of “the enemy of my enemy is my (temporary) friend!”

Between them, they dragged a SAD truck, the kind, Law said, that had been used to transport the lucrative substance off Punk Hazard. Law’s plan was to let everyone jump on and they would ride that truck off into the sunset together. Good plan, I thought. Since that building is crumbling faster than an overdunked biscuit, it’s gonna be a wild ride.

When they entered Building R, Luffy was there to greet them. “Tra-guy! Smokey! Didn’t expect you to come from that way!”

Of course, Law is a pragmatist. Concerned about his plan, he glanced round and noticed an important factor was missing. 

“Where’s Caesar?” he asked Luffy.

“I kicked his ass and he got blown that way. How far did he go?”

Law was not pleased. “Our plan was to kidnap him!”

“But I don’t wanna catch that bastard anymore.”

I could hear Law’s internal sigh of despair. “That was the plan whether you like it or not. What are you going to do if he runs?”

“Who cares about that jerk!” Luffy scoffed.

“You think you can just change a plan as you like. I shouldn’t have trusted you. I need to get him.”

At this point, I don’t think Law regretted entering an alliance with the Strawhats. He was maybe regretting trusting Luffy with the whole kidnap part, as it is a delicate operation requiring laying aside morals and grudges for a sneakier purpose. That’s not Luffy’s strong point. He is a straightforward, loyal and faithful kind of guy.

That’s why when Nami looked back and asked Luffy if he thought Chopper, Usopp and Brook were alright, Luffy stared straight ahead and said, determinedly, “I’m sure they’ll get here.”

Meanwhile, outside the lab a couple of others had managed to get there too.

Well, they got close.

Two New Challengers Enter!

Baby 5 and Buffalo were back, sent by Doflamingo to retrieve Caesar. Baby was still mad about the whole fiance situation. Apparently, Doflamingo killed her “sweet fiance” by burning down an entire town. The weirdly hilarious thing? He has done this eight times.

Reminds me of that line from Chicago: “he ran into my knife. He ran into my knife ten times.”

But did this guy have it coming?

Yeah....... he kinda did. 

Buffalo (who must have eaten a DF because he is a freaking plane right now) said that Doflamingo did it because he loves Baby like a sister, so he doesn’t begrudge destroying an entire town. Why is Doflamingo like this? Turns out Baby has a hard time saying no to guys she thinks “need her”. She lends too much money and has major 98 million debt. The last guy who proposed to her was majorly skeezy and only after Baby for what he could get out of her. So Doflamingo must have taken him out, just like the others.

That was interesting because, in a very weird, brutal way, Doflamingo is looking out for his useful crew members. You guys have mentioned that Doflamingo was inspired cartels or the mafia. Now I can see it. There’s the “young Master” term they all use to address him, the older people working for him, and now he loves Baby “like a sister.” 

But still, this guy is a villain, so it’ll be a business type family. If you cross him, there’s no way he’d let you away with it. I expect Law knows this and that’s why he was so careful.

While flying over Punk Hazard, they noticed right away that the Shinokuni gas was a problem. Buffalo used a “typhoon-like power” to blow away some of the clouds. This revealed a SAD tanker docked at port. Since they were travelling when Luffy kicked Caesar’s ass on TV, they didn’t know what had happened. They decided to wait until Caesar, Monet and Vergo escaped.

Then there was a loud whoosh, a flash, and a sparkling KABOOM as Caesar tore through the air and slammed into the tanker.

An unorthodox entry, but I liked it. Maybe knock a point off for grace and finesse, but the speed was impressive.

As soon as I saw Caesar sprawled on the dock, I facepalmed. “Luffy,” I thought, “you have just handed them Caesar!”

And that is exactly what Doflamingo thought too.

Buffalo checked in with the boss and was given a new set of orders.

“Joker! This is Buffalo from Punk Hazard. We’ve just arrived but Master Caesar was blown out of the building, injured.”

Doflamingo was shocked, but only for a split second. The guy recovers quickly from setbacks. “Recover Caesar immediately and come back to Dressrosa.”

“Okay,” Buffalo answered. “We’ll recover Caesar. What about Monet and Vergo?”

I didn’t hear Doflamingo’s answer, but Baby said, “There must be a reason. Do as he says.”

I’m guessing Doflamingo has cut Vergo and Monet loose. They are on their own now. Damn, this guy is ruthless. Even Vergo, who served him so faithfully for decades is not immune. The message here is: if you are no longer useful, you are done.

Luckily for Caesar, he’s one of the most useful guys in the OPverse, as Doflamingo himself admitted in a private, villainous monologue.

“Hey, Squirts. Luck is on *my* side. As long as I have Caesar in my custody, he can create SAD for me.”

And this was why Law was so irritated that Luffy had let Caesar out of his sight.

This could go one of two ways. Caesar will slip away from the Strawhat/Heart Pirates alliance and they will be forced to storm Dressrosa to retrieve him. Or the certain robotic someone who has just shrieked back into the plot will save their asses and help them kidnap Caesar. Then Doflamingo will go after them directly.

This is getting good! :D

Franky is back: freshly waxed and ready to fire.

[ifdragonscouldtalk]

congratumalations and merry crimsi i am gifting you pr666n. actually there isnt much pr0n in it, its a lot of aftercare cuz im feeling pretty needy right now, but you get it anyway. second time writing pr0m, hope i didn’t frick it up, sorry it’s shitty. read with caution y’all

“Safe words?” Steve whispered softly in his ear as he stroked up and down his side. The room was warm and the scene was easy, and he had already told his wonderful lovers he was feeling a bit needy today. They would take care of him. He shuddered at the soft touch, and the sounds of Bucky moving behind them. 

“Buzzsaw for pause,” he answered with a quiet sigh. “Welding for stop. And you?” 

He got “monkey” and “airplane”, then “bootstrap” and “mudcrawl”, respectively. They had decided to come up with unique words and symbols because they all felt safer that way, even though they could’ve gone with generic words. They did colors as well, to check in on each other, but the safewords were unique and intimate, and incredibly important -- on that they had all agreed. 

“Alright,” Steve said with a smile and a kiss to his cheek before rising from the bed. Tony shifted, listening to the clanking of the spreader bar attached to his knees and the chains that kept his elbows from straying too far forward. It was supposed to keep him from rutting against the bed, and he knew from experience it was an exquisite torture. “Colors?” 

“Green.” 

“Let’s fuck already!” Tony laughed at Bucky’s impatient tone. Steve huffed, and Tony tilted his head to look at Bucky as he gently settled the soft velvet collar around his neck. He shuddered, a breath whooshing out of him as Steve stroked up and down his back and spoke to him softly, nonsensical endearments before he settled again. (beware of read more) 

“Color?” Steve asked him softly again. Tony closed his eyes, trying to relax, letting his forehead slip down until it was resting on the bed. 

“Green,” he muttered, the warmth in the room making him drowsy. He hated being cold. It was a surefire way to send him into anxiety, and frost had started creeping on the edges of the windows in the morning recently. He was glad Bucky had thought to turn up the heat -- all of them had problems with the chill. 

“Good,” Bucky muttered, pressing soft kisses to the back of his neck and shoulders. “No hard play today. Just the spreader, doll. You tell us what you need.” Tony shuddered again and felt more tension slip out of him, nodding. 

Most of the time he enjoyed being told what to do in bed. It was the only place he didn’t have to feel in control. But today, he wasn’t sure he could handle it, even though he wanted it. So they were dialing back on the dom/sub play. He shivered as Steve settled behind him, running a soft hand over the curve of his ass before teasing one lubed up finger against his hole. He sucked in a breath at the feeling as Bucky settled on the bed next to him, sucking softly on his neck and shoulder -- not hard enough to leave a mark, but solid enough to be present. Not a pain, but a grounding feeling. They were being careful with him, and he appreciated it. 

Gently, Steve worked two fingers inside, stroking and stretching so softly Tony might cry at the tenderness and need welling up inside him. He bucked his hips, moaning when he couldn’t rut against the bed. Bucky let his hands roam, stroking up and down his sides, teasing his nipples, ghosting over his slowly hardening cock. None of them were in a rush, and Tony couldn’t help but think that this is what people meant when they said ‘making love’. 

“Beautiful,” Bucky muttered as he slowly slipped into his headspace despite the lack of play, licking and teasing the sensitive shell of his ear. His fingers tweaked Tony’s nipples, teasing them to hard points. “God, you’re gorgeous like this... Doing so well... Just for us...” Steve twisted his hand and Tony cried out, his back arching as pleasure shot up his spine. 

It was perfect. It was perfect. 

So why couldn’t he get the thoughts of Obadiah out of his head? How helpless he was whenever he was with the man, listening to his cloying lies, hearing the praises that never came from anyone else and were only gaslights for the man who would take everything... 

And Jesus, frozen on the couch with Obie leaning over him... He would be lying if he said it didn’t cross his mind, what the man could do to him, anything, he could’ve taken anything, and lucky he only wanted his life. 

Steve twisted his hand again and he cried out once more, tears springing to his eyes. “No!” He arched his back, rocking forward to try and pull away from them, from the hands that were touching him, they could do anything to him and he wouldn’t be able to stop it, he wouldn’t be able to stop it if they killed him. 

They wouldn’t. But if they did, he wouldn’t be able to stop it. 

Tied up or not. 

Bucky had him gathered up in his arms, warm and strong and smelling of stupid two dollar Head and Shoulders that Tony had come to love as Steve undid the spreader and the straps attached to it, gently repositioning him in Bucky’s lap as his legs came free. “Tony?” he asked, his voice full of fear and worry as he crowded close, gently pressing his hands to Tony’s cheeks. “Tony, are you okay? Baby, talk to us.” 

“I-I- R-Red, welding, I’m s-sorry I can’t-” His voice cracked and tears blurred his vision as he buried between his two lovers, wanting them to shield him from the pain and the fear. They pressed close, sandwiching him between their chests, breathing steadily. 

“Alright, okay doll, you’re alright. We got you.” Bucky pressed his lips to his hair, rocking them both gently as Steve gentled his hands down Tony’s sides, giving the arc reactor a wide berth. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony choked out. He did this more often than he should, and he-

“No, none of that sweetheart,” Steve mumbled, softly kissing his chin. “You’re fine. It’s alright to stop. It’s just sex. You’re more important.”

“What do you need?” Bucky asked gently, still rocking him slowly, and he would be lying if he said the soothing motion wasn’t helping. 

“I want...” Tony’s breath hitched and he reached up to tug on the velvet collar, a rich red that he normally loved but now seemed stifling, suffocating him. His fingers trembled as he tried to work the latch. “I-I need it off- I need to, to be clean, I don’t w-want the, the lube, I can’t-” 

“Okay,” Steve soothed quickly, easily removing the collar and tossing it away. “You’re okay, that’s okay. A bath?” 

“I... Not on my face-” 

“A bath then,” Bucky mumbled. “We’ll keep you above the water, babe. Us with you?” A flash of panic went through Tony at the thought of them leaving him, of him being unprotected, of this being the last straw for them and them not coming back. 

“W-with me,” Tony sobbed. “With me, I just- Don’t leave me-” 

“We won’t leave,” Steve mumbled to his cheek. “We won’t leave you, baby. We love you. More than anything. You’re stuck with us.” 

“Stuck with Stucky.” Bucky smiled at him and Tony couldn’t help the weak chuckle that escaped him. They had discovered shipping names a couple weeks ago and found them amusing. He was fond of ‘starkbucks’. 

“I love you,” he breathed, his voice cracking, as Steve and Bucky peppered his face with soft kisses that didn’t feel overwhelming. He repeated it as they helped him into the bath, as Steve held him in his lap and helped him clean off. As Bucky carefully massaged shampoo into his curls and used a cup to rinse it out, never getting any water on his face. As Steve scrubbed at his back and Bucky massaged his hands. As they cleaned off and teased, all smiles and laughter. As they helped him out of the tub and wrapped him in soft towels and patted him dry. 

As they climbed into bed and ate chocolate and nuts and forced him to drink a bottle of water because “Like hell I’m going to see you dehydrated just because you had a spot of panic, doll”. 

As they wrapped themselves around him and listened while he cried out what was wrong, and told him that it was perfectly alright to feel that way and they would never want him to force himself to keep having sex with them when he felt like that, that they would always be there for him. 

And one more time as he dozed off, exhausted and full and contented and warm. “We love you too, Tony,” Steve whispered into the back of his neck, tightening the arms around him. 

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Bucky said with a choked voice to his forehead, pressing a gentling kiss there. 

“Even when I’m fucked up?”

“Especially then.” 

[artlessictoan]

How I’d do Naruto Next Gen

okok I’ve been wanting to do something more in depth and organised than my usual ranting about how everything is terrible now, so here we go! (though lbr this is just my usual ranting but 10x longer)

for the sake of brevity ha and my own piece of mind I’m not gonna go into how unnecessarily hetro the ending was and how everyone should’ve been gay and hey not every couple absolutely had to get married and/or have kids and also nart should’ve gotten the opportunity to realise that becoming hokage wasn’t necessary to achieve his real goal of becoming someone loved and accepted by others and he deserved so much better tbh and why isn’t sak just running the whole show and why isn’t there more sand sibs, bc let’s face it none of that was ever gonna happen, so these ideas are mostly built with the premise that all the canon couples stay canon and all the kids are still around and the product of those ships and the big plot things that happened (like nart becoming hokage and the like) stay roughly the same

forewarning bc else someone’s bound to say something; if you enjoy the next gen stuff? not a problem! that’s great, people enjoying stuff is a good thing! I wish I could enjoy more stuff, bc enjoying things is far more fun than not enjoying things! everyone has a different taste though and for me – and a lot of other people – the way that the next gen has turned out has been a disappointment, this post is for those people, so we can talk about why we think it’s failed and what we would’ve like to see instead, if you don’t feel that way about it.. well just scroll on past this post and keep enjoying the things you enjoy! have an absolute blast, you’ve earned it!

under the cut bc I am apparently incapable of keeping my rambling concise, there’s 2000 words of only vaguely coherent thoughts and tangents, so maybe get yourself a cuppa and a snack before trudging through it (some of this I’ve said in other posts before but w/e)

---

first off lets change some of the kids’ personalities, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with any of them, but like….. 90% are carbon copies of one of their parents (and mostly their dads but I won’t get into that issue rn) which is ridiculous, bc personality traits aren’t genetic?? like my mum is super chill and sensible and my dad is short-tempered, but I’m an anxious mess and my bro is an anti-social control freak.. we didn’t get any of that from either of our parents

while it’s certainly true that you might be influenced by them (me and mum share a lot of interests and tastes), it’s not a hard and fast rule and I don’t find it realistic that EVERY kid takes after their parents, though I probably wouldn’t have such a problem with it if they were more a mix of both parents than just their dads, so here’s some potential alterations:

Boruto. good fucking lord, no, we did not need a clone of Naruto heading another series, if we wanted to see a rambunctious scamp who gets into trouble but loves his friends a whole lot and has a knack for giving inspirational speeches, then there’s already a whole 700 chap manga for that! one with a far more likable and interesting rambunctious scamp tbqh. so how about we make a few alterations, maybe instead of taking after Nart, Bolt takes a bit more after Hinata? a little quiet and a bit of a pushover, but someone who’ll quickly stick up for a friend and has an ease of communication that’s a bit more Nart? not shy so much as laidback and composed, maybe he isn’t all that interested in being a ninja too, like he’s quite skilled but is a pacifist and would much rather get a civilian job as idk a baker or gardener or something

Shikadai. only a few minor changes here bc I really do like the kid as he is, I’d just like to see him using Tema’s abilities too (and maybe also being just a bit more snarky and unyielding like his mum)

Inojin. I’m kinda torn on this one, bc I do like that he’s a lot like Sai (at least in the anime, he seems to have a pretty different personality from what little we’ve seen of him in the manga???), but I think it’d be pretty interesting if he was just not like either of his parents, maybe if he was very quiet and subdued, but also the mastermind behind all the kid’s pranks, has a mischievous streak that often shocks people, but his friends always love hanging out with him bc of it. also why doesn’t he have Ino’s powers? let’s give him Ino’s powers too

Sand Kids 2.0. ok so at this point we haven’t seen nearly enough of them to say much either way but I have negative faith in kishi and ike so I’ll just say that I want them all to be Gaara’s adopted kids (since it’s still unclear if it’s just Shinki or all of ‘em atm) and I want them to be exactly like this shameless plug for me and @spellfire01‘s versions of them which are the best fucking versions and I will protect my children with my life

now some changes to the original cast (this is where I’m gonna get proper bitter, prepare yourselves):

OH NARUTO MY POOR CHILD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU I’ve already talked about this but let me just reiterate in as eloquent a way as I can; Naruto would never become a neglectful father. N e v e r. not after the childhood he went through, no matter how much work he had to do as kage, don’t dare fucking try and tell me that Naruto – "It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them… They rescued me from my loneliness" – Uzumaki would EVER neglect his kids. just fucking don’t. in this version Nart is a doting and involved dad (perhaps a little too much, to the point that his kids find him kinda exhausting and have to ask him to leave them alone sometimes) who sends his clones to work at the office while he hangs out with his family.. I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t already do that

let all the girls out of their houses to do some ninja work for the love of god

poor put-upon Shino-sensei is alright.. but we’ve already had that with Iruka, I’d honestly much rather see the Cool Sensei who keeps all the kids in line without even doing much of anything and has a knack for inspiring them and always has a line of students trailing after him asking to hear more of his awesome ninja stories and everyone always trying to show off when he’s around, bc Shino is literally The Best

have Sauce and Saku be divorcees. seriously, are even the people who ship them happy with how their relationship has turned out? they barely see each other and apparently it’s been that way since chap 699, so why not just have them split up? it really wouldn’t change much, just say that, at some point after Sarada was born, they realised that they were both gay incompatible personality-wise and they were both so busy with their individual work that there wasn’t much of a relationship to lose. not only would this be good for both their characters (there’s no reason they couldn’t still be good friends) and just more sensible all-round, but it would also be a nice way to show that not every childhood romance/first love works out and that’s perfectly fine and normal and they can still live happy, full lives afterwards!

speaking of Sauce, let him spend at least a little bit of time interacting with his friends and family in Konoha, even if he’s still mostly travelling around on important missions he should at least be taking every opportunity to visit his daughter when he’s in the area, seriously, c’mon

Temari got done so dirty in that one episode.. here’re some much better words than I could ever muster but generally I’d want her to be less the ‘scary, overbearing, harsh’ mother and more the ‘strict but cool and sneaky’ mother, like she’d honestly be the type to use reverse psychology and gentle manipulation, she’d make her boy do some seemingly meaningless task that somehow makes him have an epiphany and come back to her when he’s done like “I know what I did wrong now and I’m sorry” than just shout at him and refuse to make dinner (also I just really like to hc that she’s a terrible cook so it’s Shikamaru who does all the cooking anyway)

it’d be really great to see Hina either being the new clan head or at least otherwise involved in Hyuuga clan politics, so we could actually see how she’s working to destroy that whole slavery thing they’ve got going, rather than that plotline just being dropped somewhere around the end of the chunin exam arc and never picked up again (I mean I assume that it’s all supposed to be fixed by now, but that’s not the kinda thing that should happen entirely off-screen) and so we can see her life revolving around something other than Nart and her kids, she’s remarkably capable and had so much potential but she’s been denied every opportunity to really exist as her own character by the writers

Kiba…… what the hell is going on with Kiba? where is he? what is he doing? how’s he feeling these days? is he supposed to be married to that nameless cat lady we saw for a single panel? these are things we shall never know I guess. tbh what I’d really LOVE to see would be Kiba-sensei, just imagine him and Shino both being teachers who work in completely opposite ways, Shino is the quiet, inspiring, lowkey scary one and Kiba is the gigantic fucking dork one who cheers his students on way too loud and makes the classes super fun and joins in the kids games, him and Shino have a class rivalry and Kiba is constantly roping students into joining his attempts to prank Shino (they’ve never once succeeded but oNE DAY)

Ino should be the next head of Konoha’s intelligence division, I will fight kishi on this one

why the actual fuck is oroch still happily living it up in his penthouse lab?? kill the fucker. or at the very least imprison the fucker. just say that Mitsuki was an old project of his that somehow kept developing in his absence, or was a product of research carried out by some lackeys’ years after he’s gone, anything that means I don’t have to accept that everyone has apparently forgiven him for everything and knows that he’s still experimenting on kids but just don’t care

and on that last note: Justice for Yamato 2k17

right now let’s get onto the actual plot/story for this very self-pandering au

make Sarada the main char. while I can see why they would choose to go with Boruto, honestly Salad’s more interesting a character and! A Girl!! Main Character!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!! focus on her goal to be hokage and her struggles with her parents and follow up on that ‘restoring the Uchiha’ plot thread that just.. dropped right off the map somewhere between 699 and 700, her reconciling what her clan was with what she wants to make it

get rid of that weird demon-sensing eye thing that’s going on. and the demon thing in general. and also that jarring post-apocalypse future thing they’re building up. I didn’t slog through over a decade of kishi’s bullshit just so my kids didn’t get to live long, happy lives. make the plot just slice-of-life fluff, nothing more dangerous than a bully, just some kids trying to be awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore bc peace and all that

waaay more of Chocho, Himawari and Inojin (at least enough so they all get equal billing)

show how the ninja world has grown and developed since the end of the original series (not just technologically), what do ninja do now that there aren’t any wars and international relationships are at an all-time high? have missions completely gone from being combat and intel based to more about construction and assistance? are ninja numbers actually dropping, favouring civilian jobs in these more peaceful times? how well are people – ninja or not – adjusting to these changes? is learning ninja techniques still encouraged but in a way that’s more about culture and traditions than actual use in combat (in the same way that swordplay today is mostly practiced for performance, fun and sport, rather than out of any real-life practicality)? there are so many interesting things to explore that you don’t even need to be adding in new threats to keep the series entertaining

I’ve said this before, but I think it’d be really cool and cute if after the end of the war and with some drastic changes to the ninja world’s politics, this next gen is less about becoming ninja, than realising that they’ll never be ninja (at least not in the way that their parents were) and how they react to that. maybe they’re frustrated because they hear so many cool stories about the grand battles of the previous generation and they want to be able to do those things too damnit! so the kids are just going around trying to be super-awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore, picking fights and trying to make their boring d-rank missions seem more important and dangerous than they really are, maybe at some point they learn a bit more about how hard and traumatising that life was for their parents and why the world had to change, until they eventually decide that if the role of a ninja has to change, then together they’re gonna discover what that new role will be, what will being a ninja really mean in this new, peaceful world?

and, a final ending note: fuck ike’s sickening treatment of Sarada with regards to her sexualised presentation and the disgusting reveal that someone taught Boruto (a young child!) the sexy jutsu. Let The Kids Be Kids 2k17

[woolishlygrim]

Thinking about Digimon 2020′s first big storyline.

Alright, so the first big storyline of Digimon AUdventure has ended, so it’s a good time to take stock of how it all went.

Obviously, this is all just my opinion, but I think it goes without saying that all of my opinions are objectively correct revelations from God and if you happen to disagree that automatically makes you morally inferior to me, I guess.

So, I’m liking AUdventure? But it is an extremely flawed series. Not irredeemably flawed, it’s not Xros Wars, but still very flawed.

Like, we had the two consecutive evolution arcs where even though the episodes themselves were solid, it was just too much of the same. We had that twelve episode period where it was just nothing but fighting, and that was so tediously boring I think a lot of people stopped watching, and honestly, it’s tough to blame them. And throughout the series, there’s been a fundamental problem with a lack of any distinct, characterful villains (Devimon was the closest we got, and he was kind of a non-entity a lot of the time).

The plot’s also been generally meandering, and by that I don’t mean ‘the show goes too long without plot episodes’ that’s not necessarily a problem, I mean that as the show goes on, it more and more starts to drift from one plot to another. We start off with the really strong Algomon arc, but then we segue into a Devimon-and-Soundbirdmon arc that just sort of fades out in favour of Eyesmon and then fades back in, except then we also have the Calamaramon arc going on, and all those arcs nominally tie into the Big-Eye-Thing-In-The-Sphere arc, except then it gets shoved not so much onto the back burner as off the cooker altogether in favour of a Millenniumon arc that starts with a still very meandering ISS arc placed awkwardly around a DarkKnightmon arc, before we eventually get back on track with the journey-to-FAGA arc.

It’s kind of a mess. 

I’m inclined to blame behind-the-scenes shenanigans for a lot of this, whether that be Bandai pushing toy deadlines meaning that the show has to get its contracted-commercialising-time for specific ‘mons in, or a changing projected episode number meaning that the timeframe for the plot contracted and expanded multiple times over, or executive meddling to try and drum up more interest (and we know from Toei’s business reports that the early episodes didn’t draw in a large enough audience, which in this instance has less to do with ratings and more to do with merch sales, although we also know from those reports that the audience numbers did rise to an acceptable level). Most likely a combination of all three.

Watching the fandom has been ... interesting, because fandoms tend to be full of very credulous people and people prone to catastrophising, which is how we got situations like “A youtuber told me that it’s a really bad sign if any show in Japan doesn’t regularly get in the top 10 most watched shows for a week, so now I’m Alarmed, even though if I applied a basic understanding of statistics I would immediately know that’s not true.”

The ratings are fine, incidentally. They’re actually incredibly normal, not coming anywhere near the dizzying heights Adventure 01 did (or the even more dizzying heights Adventure 02 reached), but fitting comfortably within the window of ‘about what we’d expect for a show in that timeslot on that channel.’ The ratings data is staggering in its utter mundanity.

But beyond all that, the show actually has a lot of really good points. It feels like when the writers are allowed to cut loose and don’t have the looming need to advertise a toy to us, they have a really solid understanding of the characters and a genuine talent for fun, character-focused episodes. The entire journey-to-FAGA arc is a joy because it’s just pure, undiluted character work, and the episodes in that arc actually stack up really well against Adventure 01 episodes.

That also carries over to the end of the arc with the final battle against the Vademon cult and Millenniumon: Getting it basically over and done with in three episodes, with only one of those episodes actually set aside for Millenniumon himself, is a choice that I know is controversial, but it’s a) Not unusual: Devimon is battled and defeated within a single episode, VenomVamdemon goes down in two, the Dark Masters both go down in one each, save for Piedmon who gets two, and b) A vastly better choice than episodes upon episodes of fighting.

And we got some really great character moments in those three episodes too. Mimi making corsages because she needs to do something to stop herself feeling powerless, and motivating the others with her clear-headed view of the situation, is a really great character moment. Yamato briskly and flatly taking control of the situation, leading Koushiro and Sora into battle and briefly demonstrating his much colder, more straightforward and soldiery style of leadership is another great moment.

-- But I also think the episodes were a slight letdown for people because Millenniumon isn’t really a person, he’s a Thing, a natural disaster more than a character. That works really well for him, but since the series has no strong villains, it just highlights their absence.

Similarly, I think the evolution arcs showcase some really strong character work, and are mostly let down by the fact that they come back to back, so it feels like the show’s in a holding pattern for those episodes. 

Digimon Adventure 01 and 02 has always had two big advantages: The first was that it had an ensemble cast of fleshed out, interesting characters and backed that up with some very strong writing exploring those characters. The second, and one I think a lot of the fandom passes over because they’re unfamiliar with the society and politics it’s taking aim at (and also because, let’s be honest, a lot of them are Americans and so tend to react with something between confusion and a panic attack if you remind them the world outside America is real and complex), is some pretty razor-sharp socio-political commentary. 

Having a character who was an adopted kid, less than a decade after the legal framework for adopting children was put in place in Japan, when adopted kids were (and still are) heavily stigmatised, was a bold political statement in 2000. Having two mixed-race characters, the children of divorcees, when mixed-race kids were (and still are!) heavily stigmatised, and children of divorcees were (a n d   s t i l l   a r e) heavily stigmatised, was a bold political statement in 2000. Having characters deal with the pressures of being forced into family businesses and ultimately finding their own ways to fit into that mould was sharp socio-political commentary, as was discussing suicidal ideation in kids, as was discussing the social expectation of stifling grief and how that might affect a kid. We do not give Adventure 01 and 02 (and Tamers, actually) enough credit for being sharply, often viciously progressive socio-political pieces.

And that tradition has continued into AUdventure, at least sometimes. Like, the fact that antimonopoly laws keep being brought up, and that an entire episode was focused on the benefits of unionising, is not a coincidence. It’s not a coincidence that we got an entire episode about how small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and that that episode also had a throughline of ‘we are overworking kids.’ The writers have a different set of bones to pick with society, but when they’re let off the leash they’re just as progressive as 01 and 02 (and Tamers!)’s writers. 

And I like that. It’s something that’s lacking from Frontier, and definitely lacking from the mildly-conservative Savers and Xros Wars, and largely lacking from Appmon, although to be fair Appmon was aimed at a much younger audience than any other Digimon series, and still occasionally found something to say about data privacy and the omnipresent threat of large tech companies.

So that’s all good.

Anyway, we’re hitting a new arc now, and whether that arc is 10 or 16 or 24 or 50 episodes I can’t say, and neither can you, because a one-time report from Toei Europe is not an adequate source. What I hope is that we’ll see ... a bit of rebalancing, I guess. Keeping that strong character focus of the journey-to-FAGA arc, but maybe weaving the actual plot threads in a little more elegantly, and maybe actually giving us a proper villain. One who speaks. And has a personality. 

That last bit alone would drastically improve the series. 01 and 02 both had strong villains, and so far that’s something AUdventure has really needed but has completely lacked. The one nice thing I will say about Xros Wars is that even with its much looser plot structure, it had interesting villains. AUdventure direly needs an actual villain to give it focus.

Whew, okay, that got long. Bring on the lore episode with the big Crests.

[gyrlversion]

Amber Mark On Insecurity, Her Next Album, and Learning to Love Old Town Road

Though a thunderstorm sidelined her scheduled set at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago’s Union Park this past weekend, singer, songwriter, and producer Amber Mark hasn’t let the rain dampen her spirits. The artist behind 2017’s 3:33am and 2018’s Conexão EP speaks warmly and effusively as the weather clears and the sun begins to set on a chaotic summer evening.

Mark, who self-produced both 3:33am and Conexão, has steadily earned critical acclaim and a widening fanbase for her stirring alt-R&B and do-everything approach to her music. But this year, in advance of her next project, Mark is beginning to bring other creatives into her fold: April’s “Mixer,” a bouncy summer groove, was produced by “Shallow” songwriter Andrew Wyatt, while her most recent effort, “What If,” is a collaboration with Jeff Gitelman, whose credits range from work with Chance the Rapper, H.E.R., and Mac Miller.

Though additional details on her next album remain scarce, Mark knows where she’s headed with the project, as it aims to delve into a three-chapter arc of a rising artist in search of their self-confidence. MTV News caught up with the “S P A C E” singer to learn more as she awaited the Isley Brothers’s closing set to cap Pitchfork’s second night.

MTV News: Your most recent single is “What If.” On Instagram you called it your favorite song you’ve created so far. Why is that?

Amber Mark: I think just the whole vibe and the message and… I don’t think it’s the most meaningful song I’ve ever created but it’s definitely the one I bop to the most. I just feel like it’s one of those feel-good songs. Sometimes, I listen to music, and I’m like, “Fuck, I wish I created that!” And that song is one of those songs to me. I’m so happy I was able to be a part of it, and write half of it, and help with production and stuff like that. It’s pretty crazy that I get to call it mine.

MTV News: Was there a song you had in mind when you were making it?

Mark: No, not at all. [Jeff Gitelman] made this beat from scratch, and I just sang a bunch of melodies and gibberish over it, and wrote a hook, and we did the first verse. I didn’t work on it until two years later, and this guy, Lincoln Bliss, ended up writing the second verse because I had to go into the studio the following day and I was in a session prior. I didn’t really have time to write a second verse, so I just had my friend Lincoln write it for me.

MTV News: Oh, wow.

Mark: I was kinda nervous! Because he’s a poet, and I had never seen anything, and he was, like, “I’ll just try it.” And I was like, alright, you wanna try it out? I kinda expected it to not be good, but it ended up being really good. I was like, Oh, I guess I’ll use this!

MTV News: How do you know him?

Mark: He actually is — or was — a bartender at my godparent’s restaurant. And we became really good friends, and he kept telling me he was a poet.

MTV News: Having produced your past two projects, 3:33am and Conexão, what is it like to turn that process over to Jeff Gitelman on “What If” and Andrew Wyatt on “Mixer”? 

Mark: It was hard. At first I really didn’t like it. It took awhile to like any music I had done with people or even get acclimated to working with other people. But now I understand it more and I have less anxiety going into sessions. You just gotta find the right people, people that you really vibe with. It was hard having a song I didn’t write, with Andrew Wyatt, but he’s such an amazing guy and the second I heard the song, it was just a fun… Because I really try to have a lot of meaning behind the things and be really honest with a lot of stuff I have, but just “Mixer,” as a single, it was a good vibe. It really felt like a dance tune. I kinda let it go for that one and I’m really happy I did. It’s really weird. You have this mentality when you start out, No, I just wanna do it on my own. I don’t want anybody’s help. But then you just realize, opening up and compromising and things like that, you have a whole new set of ears and creativity.

MTV News: What drove your desire to learn to produce? How difficult was it to pick up?

Mark: It is still difficult. I go into sessions and I see these producers just, like, what takes me hours to do, they’re just like… I get frustrated with myself a lot, but it’s a learning experience. But when I started out wanting to do music and being an artist and writing and stuff like that, I used GarageBand and would just come up with demos and was like, oh, I’ll just show this to a producer and then we can do something with it. This was before I had put anything out. It was two years before I had put out “S P A C E.” Anytime I would go into sessions — [with] random friends of friends or whatever, anyone I could find and would wanna work with me — I never really liked what they would do. So I just learned a lot and accumulated a lot from people and there was one point where I just got really frustrated, toward the end of 2015, where I was like, y’know what? I feel like I know what I’m doing. I can do this on my own. I had just gotten Logic. That’s when I wrote “S P A C E.”

MTV News: That was the first song you produced?

Mark: That was the first song I’d finished. I had started “Can You Hear Me?” prior to that but I never finished it. I just put it out, and then one thing led to another, and then I was like, y’know what? I’m just going to continue producing on my own. And still to this day I prefer it. I get really nervous being in the studio because I feel like I’m not as quick as they are and I take a really long time to really think about what I want to write about and how I want to go about doing it structure-wise and stuff like that. So I still enjoy being on my own. I feel like I can be my weird self when it comes to that stuff.

MTV News: You mentioned to Teen Vogue that this next project will be inspired by insecurity. Where does that stem from? Relationships? Self-image? Your career?

Mark: I think it’s all of those things, really. I definitely have moments where I’m like, am I good enough? Or, self-image, physical appearance, working with other people going into sessions. I definitely have the anxiety of: I am not good enough to be here. All the time. I think that really puts a block on my creativity. I’m slowly but surely learning, and the whole album is about… It has more of a dramatic experience; it happens in three parts. It takes you on this whole little journey of being insecure and then being confident and then being overly-confident. I wanted there to be a lesson in it, and my mom is still accented in a lot of the interludes, and I wanted to have what her advice would be even though I know it probably would’ve been really shitty advice. She was always like, “Just surrender to the problems!” So, yeah, I really wanted to talk about that whole thing, and towards the end, part three is just talking about, I am enough. No matter what, I’m doing the best I can. Something I have to remind myself every day is just stay true to what you believe. A lot of people say, “Just listen to your heart and your intuition,” but sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what that is.

MTV News: Your music is influenced by a range of styles from around the world. You just got back from Europe; I was wondering if you heard anything during your travels that you’re excited to wrap into your next project.

Mark: I will say, I was not a fan of the Lil Nas X song, but we went to Paris, and it was playing everywhere, and I got into it, I really got into that song. I don’t think I’ll be making anything as close to that, but I will say that became a jam, our tour jam theme song. If I were to talk to myself two months ago, or a month ago, I would’ve probably been like, “You are crazy for ever thinking you would like that song.” But I like that song now, so!

MTV News: What was inspiring about that tour for you and connecting with those fans overseas?

Mark: Oh my god, it was so surreal. I thought there were going to be, like, 10 people at some of the shows. But all of them pretty much ended up being sold out. I think we only had one that wasn’t sold out but it was 10 tickets away from being sold out. So it was pretty insane.

The first time I went to Europe I was opening, so it was a completely different experience with the response from the audience. Being at shows where all these people were singing lyrics, I really got emotional performing, especially performing “Monsoon” and having people sing along to that. I couldn’t even sing the song, I had to kinda let them take over a lot of the time.

MTV News: From your last two projects, to this upcoming one, is there any type of growth you’re hoping people will hear? Whether in your sound or your songwriting? Is there anything you’re particularly proud of?

Mark: I’m rapping a little bit on it. So that’s a whole new world for me, honestly. And I wouldn’t call myself a rapper at all because I definitely cannot freestyle. But I get a little angry on it, to a certain extent. Production-wise, I was really interested in — it’s something I never thought I would do — into the whole trap beat world. First it just started off as a joke of me making a beat like that. Then I was like, oh, this is kinda dope. I started doing more beats like that and I ended up rapping on it. So that’s different.

There will be other producers on it as well. It’s going to be a mixture, it’s going to be a collective of me doing it as well as other producers on it. That’s the first project I’ve put out that other people have touched. That’s a little scary for me. But it still has the old, minimalistic sound that I have. Then there’s some songs that are full and big and they “go hard,” as they would say. [Laughs]

MTV News: Are there any other collaborators on it apart from Gitelman and Wyatt who you want to shout out?

Mark: Oh, Timbaland!

MTV News: Really?

Mark: Oh, that I’m working with?

MTV News: Yeah, yeah.

Mark: Oh, no, no, no. I wish! Yeah, Timbaland! The future. I’m manifesting it.

This producer, he’s amazing, he produced “Put You On”: Julian Bunetta. He’s great. He’s going to be helping me with a lot of the tracks that aren’t done yet. Even the ones that have been produced by other producers. He’s kind of doing the whole executive thing on it right now.

MTV News: And Timbaland is for the next project.

Mark: Yes, Timbaland would be great. [Laughs]

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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