#he’s awesome and so good with animals it’s a little ridiculous

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @steddiesongfics.

If He Wanted To, He Would

July Prompt: Any Song Lyrics | Word Count: 2000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | Tags: Eddie POV, Modern Setting, Sports AU, Rockstar Eddie, Baseball Player Steve, Very Public Love Affair, Corroded Coffin, Good Uncle Wayne Munson

I've used lyrics from Take Me Out to the Ball Game & Blank Space.

Even the news is covering it. 

That's fucking ridiculous. There's an animated graphic, a live tracker of where his plane is, a moving dot over the Atlantic, like it's Christmas Eve and he's Santa Claus.

Eddie's gonna make it. He was always gonna make it, even as the press ran the numbers, the miles, and milked every ounce of drama out of it.

He made game one, and game four, and now he's racing back from playing Wembley in London to make it for game seven. The media has tried to sell the idea that Steve wanted the World Series to go to seven, just so Eddie would be able to attend.

Eddie's glad he's getting to see it, of course he is, but if they could have swept it in four, or locked it down in five or six, that would have been fucking awesome. Even if that meant Eddie missed seeing it live, and had to watch on television, in the middle of the night, across the world.

There are a shitton of tiktoks every week, dissecting their every move, looking for easter eggs. Eddie is just living his life, even if a million people are always watching him like a fucking hawk.

Goodie is walking back from the beer garden in the stadium, carrying his plastic cup in his mouth as he fiddles with something in his hands. Not spilling a goddamn drop. Eddie can only see this because he's being broadcast onto the stadium jumbotron.

When he climbs the stairs into the suite, Eddie asks, "Where's Gareth?"

"Got spotted. Now he's taking pictures. I just slipped away unnoticed. Sucker," Goodie says, putting his cup down on the table.

"Unnoticed, huh?" Eddie teases. He won't tell him. He'll just wait until Goodie sees it online for himself. "There's free beer back there you know?" Eddie asks. Neither one of them needed to venture out into the crowd.

Goodie shrugs, "I wanted this kind."

He could have had that kind, could have had any kind, if he'd just asked for it. But no, he wanted to be out among the people. 

None of them are particularly fond of baseball, but they are fond of Steve, so here they are. The whole band doesn't always come, but it's the championship game, so they did.

And the score has been 1-0 forever. 

Wayne is pacing. Unlike them, he loves baseball, even if he's been a little turncoat, switching teams like a lifetime of dedication meant nothing at all. He's gotten a little shit from his friends back home, but Eddie thinks it's honestly very sweet. Eddie loves that Wayne likes Steve enough to put him and his team as his number one with a bullet, now.

It helps that Steve's part of a fucking dynasty. It's fun to win, even Eddie gets that.

Wayne doesn't always hang out in suites. More often than not, he'd rather sit in the stands. Focus on the baseball, not the celebrity that's now surrounding it. But Wayne's been dragged into their highly publicized love affair, and now he's starting to get recognized all on his own, so Eddie worries. 

Plus, he'd rather have him right here, where they can spend time together.

"What's the count?" Eddie asks. 

"3-2," Wayne answers.

Eddie's distracted, filling his plate with the various appetizers that came with the steep price of the private suite. Sliders, pigs in a blanket, and all kinds of other fancified versions of comfort food. He's just scooping some mac & cheese on his plate when he hears his main guitar riff from Buckwild. He puts down his plate, making his way to the big windows just in time to see Steve step towards the batter's box. 

Steve only changes his walk-up music to Corroded Coffin when Eddie's in attendance. He currently walks-up to Milkshake, which is fucking hilarious. He's one of the first openly out players, and he really leans into it, changing up his walk-up music, usually to something a little queer. Eddie knows it's partially to poke fun at himself first, before anyone else can. 

But tonight, it's his song. Eddie's sure he's being broadcast on the jumbotron from some camera he can't even see, and may even be on live television. Eddie watches as Steve briefly points his bat, and at first Eddie thinks Steve's calling his shot, but no. Not unless he's intending to hit a foul ball.

No, he gestured at Eddie. At least where he assumed Eddie would be.

Eddie fiddles with the rings on his hand, moving from finger to finger, twisting them around and around as Steve swings and misses for the second time. Eddie can hardly watch, it makes him so nervous.

"What's the count?" Eddie asks. It's the only question he knows to ask.

"2-2," Wayne says from somewhere behind him. Wayne doesn't stand at the front when it's likely the camera is on them. Eddie gets it, he does, but he'd like him at his side. The windows are open tonight, and the fans in the seats in front of the suite have leaned up to talk to them, to get things signed, and Eddie has done it. They all have. Waving off security.

Nobody is being shitty, just excited, and Eddie's grateful he's been accepted by most of Steve's fans. There was always the fear that he'd be seen as a distraction, and sure, that's been a bit of the narrative, but Steve's in the goddamn World Series. His head is obviously still in the game.

Eddie signed a custom Corroded Coffin jersey with Steve's number on the back earlier, and if that wasn't fucking weird and delightful. And Harrington jerseys have been increasingly spotted at their gigs, from one in the crowd, to a dozen or more.

Steve takes the next ball, and Eddie was terrible at baseball as a kid. He swung at everything. He never had the self-control to wait for something good. 

He's glad he grew out of that, at least a little, because he waited, and now he has Steve. A goddamn home run in human form. 

Eddie's relieved when he hears the crack of the bat finally making contact with the ball, and he watches intently until Steve's safely on first, Eddie leaning out of the open box window, hanging onto the frame, screaming.

He rights himself, clapping hard as he spins in a circle, screaming some more.

Then, Eddie watches as Steve steals second on a wild pitch, and the stadium sound system blares to life with Gimme Three Steps.

Steve dusts himself off from his slide in, and Eddie is so fucking smitten. 

And his ass looks damn good in those pants. His milkshake did bring Eddie to the yard.

It's the seventh-inning stretch, and Eddie hears the familiar, "for it's one, two, three strikes, you're out," being sung by the entire stadium.

He's nervous now. More nervous than he ever is going on stage anymore.

They've made it this far, and he wants Steve to win the whole thing. 

They do win. Steve fielded a grounder, whipped it to first base, and with one last out, it was finally over. Gloves being thrown in the air, lots of hugs and jumping up and down.

Steve did it.

And Eddie smiles.

Steve isn't released, not yet. There'll be interviews, and a parade that Eddie unfortunately can't attend, so Eddie only gets a few minutes in the tunnel with him. Some stolen kisses and a silly groped handful, just giving Steve's cup a squeeze, to make him laugh. 

It's all too brief, but he'll see him soon. 

They go from the game straight back to the airport, Goodie and Gareth both pretty drunk after too many celebratory shots, leaving Jeff and him to babysit as they get wheels up, to head back across the pond. Their world tour, waiting.

They'll make it. 

Steve swears jet-lag is a choice, and Eddie's choosing to believe him.

Another city, and his turn on the big stage, as Eddie looks out towards the VIP tent. Steve waves with both hands over his head, making himself larger, more easily seen.

Steve attended a few Monday shows with Robin, when their schedules lined up enough to allow it. But now his season is over. He's a fucking world champion, and it's the offseason, which is Eddie's new favorite word.

If he'd known he'd fall in love with a sportsball guy, he would have made sure their tour had a lengthy break during this magical offseason.

Next year.

And Eddie is confident that next year is a given. That's how in he is with their relationship, with Steve. They both have their own lives, their own fame, their own increasingly busy schedules. But they make it work, because they want it to work.

The fans have dubbed all their crisscrossing travel as "if he wanted to, he would" and have been straight up swooning. 

Eddie likes that thought, because he does want to, and he knows Steve wants to, too.

He's committed to this thing, and so is Steve. And if that means flying for hours to be there for the important shit, even if you have to turn around and fly right back, well fuck, you do it. And you don't even think about it.

Eddie slips in a pop cover, mid-set, just being silly, because he wants to shout out Steve a little bit extra tonight. He sings and when he gets to "'cause you know I love the players, and you love the game" and the crowd gets behind it. Steve, too, if his hands in the air are any indication. 

He's a pop girlie at heart, and Eddie loves him for it.

Steve is comfortable in his own skin, and he likes what he likes. He's supportive of Eddie, of Corroded Coffin, and very demonstrative with his affection and admiration. The love is always free-flowing. But, heavy metal isn't his thing. Not really. And that's okay.

So, a little pop is injected for his benefit, Eddie saying 'I love you for who you are' right back.

Buckwild is last, is always last, and Steve's here, so that means a subtle lyric change. He only does it when Steve's in attendance, and it makes the crowd go wild. Changing one word is enough to send them into a frenzy, like they're part of something special and sacred.

They are.

When he approaches the lyric, Steve has moved closer, right at the stage, in front of the barricade, and puts his hand up to his ear, hyping the crowd, getting ready for it, and Eddie can hardly sing through his fucking smile.

When they exit the stage, the first face he sees is Steve's, and Steve opens his arms and Eddie hugs him, pulling back and kissing him, over and over.

He's the one. 

The one he loves.

The one he'll marry.

The one. Period.

Steve waves to the crowd that's gathered to watch, and then he puts his arm around Eddie's waist, ushering him away, one more show over.

In bed, Eddie rests his head against Steve's bare chest. These last few weeks have been different, brand new, and exciting. It's the first time they've really gotten to feel like they're coming home to each other. Getting to be in the same place for an extended period of time, Steve following the tour.

Steve brushes Eddie's bangs off his face, and kisses his forehead.

"You were amazing tonight," Steve whispers, and Eddie grins. 

"So were you, working the crowd," Eddie says.

Steve laughs, and Eddie loves it. Steve's not shy. He's had all the media training, probably more than Eddie, because he's got a brand, a team, to protect. Eddie just runs his mouth at-will, always has.

Steve doesn't hide backstage where Eddie can't see him, no, he always makes sure he's supporting Eddie out loud and with his whole goddamn chest.

So, because he wants to, he does.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddiesongfics and follow along with the fun! 🎶

Notes: Obviously inspired by the very public relationship of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Goodie carrying the beer in his teeth is straight up a shoutout to Jason Kelce doing that at the Eras tour. 🍺

This one was so hard to stop writing for at the 2k max word count, lol.

[weirdmarioenemies]

SURPRISE! Did you think the day would come when we would cover Love Live on this blog? I didn't!

Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deepblue is the Metroidvania-style game based on the fantasy spin-off of Love Live Sunshine, but you probably don't care about that! Statistically speaking, our target audience is Bogleech readers who are deeply revolted by anime girls!

So why bring up? Why bring it up? The answer is 🐠 FUNNY FISH! It's Funny Fish Friday!

Since this game is set in an underwater temple, the enemies this game are all based on sea creatures, and that's cool! Again, statistically speaking, you probably think sea creatures are cool. I really liked seeing the variety of enemies when playing through this game, so I thought it'd be fun if I could share them with an audience of people who otherwise wouldn't care! None of the enemies really have names, as far as I'm aware of. But I'll do my Rubesty...?

Our first guy we encounter in the game is the sort of guy who emerges from the ground like the Zombies from Castlevania, and wow! A good first impression I think. It is sort of a squid mantle, if the mantle was also a cloak for a spooky sort of wizard! The way it doesn't really have a 'face' in the hood and the eye is below really makes it seem like a weird mimic creature. Cool!

They also get a tough lategame variant which looks like a mix between a flapjack and a vampire squid. You don't often see flapjacks be designed as scary!

---

Next is Barnacles! A whole clump of them, like a cake. They shoot Energy Balls at you. Is this what Barnacles can do if they combine their powers...? The top actually opens up, and it looks a lot like a sea urchin's mouth! So maybe it is some sort of naked urchin creature covered in barnacles? Game Theory!

There are also barnacles with Ice Powers. Like real life!

---

Let's give it up for Garden Eel!!!!

What a fine Garden Eel it is! Complete with the sort of grumpy face, and with the addition of two little arms that make it look like it's praying or maybe a bit shy. But it is mean! It also spits energy balls at you, then hides in the hole so you can't hit it. How very sneaky!

SO sneaky, in fact, that these eels have mastered the art of ninjutsu! The ninja eel shows up for a split second in one single room, before smoke bombing away. You'd have to use a time freeze power to get him, but I never got around to doing that. I don't have any beef with a ninja eel! I respect him and his training!

Did someone say CTENOPHORE? I hope you did, or my hearing has really gotten worse. This thing is a grade A ctenophore, only with a ring of Scary Teeth! A little scary to think of a ctenophore who could Bite you, but nonetheless this deserves a :ctenopog:!

---

Let's not forget Fish Vortex! Fish Vortex was the first guy to make me go 'wow, this game's enemies really are awesome!' So of course I had to put him at the top of the post! He is my selling point! I am selling all these enemies to you. For 4.99 a pop!

Anyway. This design is just so funny and cool at the same time. A swirling school of fish that leads into an endless dark abyss, and in the middle, a big eyeball. Also covered in fish. It shoots fish at you! Yay!

There is also a pink variant - it shoots fish that give you the Solitude status effect, which basically just makes Yohane too depressed to summon her friends. Meaning? They are Depression Fish! Maybe she just becomes so jealous of the unity and teamwork of these sardines. She's me like just for real! ^_^

---

isopot :)

---

This slug is an umbrella. That is ridiculous! Ridiculously EPIC! It does the opposite of shield you from rain, which is create rain, that kills you. But I would still want one as an umbrella.

---

When I first saw this thing, I thought it was some strange round Echimoderm I had never heard of. But upon further inspection (I actually asked Mod Chikako shh), it is obviously like a Brittle Star, with each arm folded round to form a wheel! How creative and fun! It even has a bunch of eyes like a starfish!

---

Last but not least- sushi! There are sushi guys and they are cute. They don't really do much and are typically found in their own rooms, so I'm not sure what the point of them is. But finding a funny walking sushi should be a reward in of itself, I guess! Look at their funny rice feet! Or the one with the roe eyes!

I happened to use fire magic on one of them and this happened. Oopsies...

Now I am sure you are saying, thank you for showing me all these funny enemies. But are there any cool bosses? Of course there are, me! What's a Metroidvania without cool bosses? So I shall show you my favorites without delay!

First is this freak (affectionate)! It is a sort of amalgamation of lots of different animals and I think it just looks plain cool! Two squid mantles combined into one, a bit of a sea angel shape, bug legs and of course a great big eyeball!

If it is not freaky enough for you, let it be known that the bug legs turn into big green skeleton hands, and it also keeps getting pinker, and it grows new eyes and then extra horns grow out of those eyes. If THAT is not freaky enough for you then I am sorry but I cannot do anything about that.

---

Now, how about a sampling of this Freaken Thang? It honestly doesn't seem that sea-creature themed, but it uses seashells so I guess it counts!

What is really neat is that this boss has two different forms, upside down and rightside up! When it is upside down it looks a bit like a Magolor type creature. And of course, I really like the flame thing in the middle as well, that really feels like a Kirby enemy or something! Like a wisp made of plasma!

---

Fans of Anomalocaris won't be disappointed by this one! It's a big Anomalocaris tank and boy is it cool! There's something for everyone here, whether you're an Anomalocaris purist or you've always wanted to see it turn into a sort of futuristic beast with a screen mouth that shoots lasers! It really is the future, zura...

---

After covering all these wacky creatures, I'm going to have to end it off with the final boss! What could the big bad, the ultimate boss of all these sea monsters even be, I wonder? Well, it's...

...a coelecanth. Just a big coelacanth! It is big and blue! And really, does it need to be anything else? It is such an honor to make the biggest ultimate boss a coelacanth. It is even pretty cute!! Think he's smiling! 😊

Uh oh! Is it still cute? I guess so. My first thought seeing this was of course the world-renowned tongue eating isopod, so I really hope it was an intentional reference! It probably just wants to shake hands. Still, a pretty simplistic design for our final boss, right?

Buu buu! Its true form actually looks like this! Actually, it's kind of doing too much. Like let's tone it down a little?

So!! We beat the mega ultra coelacanth, and now we can find out what his motivation is! And it is... that he is the memories of the people of the past or something. And they all didn't want to be forgotten, so they turned into fish monsters! But we forgive them!

It doesn't really matter. All the girlies gather around and sing him a song. Look how happy he is! I forgot I was talking about a Love Live game until now, actually. All's well that ends well, the end, et cetera! Hit it, Yohane! [imagine this is like the end of a kids movie where all the Love Live girls are having a dance party and there is a shot of the big coelacanth in jail and he's tapping his mouth fingers along to the beat]

[anonzentimes]

hi zen!! my friends and i are doing a powerpoint night this monday and like any self-respecting person almost 7 months deep in a dangan hyperfixation (i'm never getting out of here) i am using it as a platform for an all-encompassing kmhn infodump. this powerpoint is going to be the komahina bible and i want to hit Every Stop. i will grab everything i can find. no hesitation. however !! the danganronpa franchise is A Lot. so there's always a chance i will miss something. so! as a fellow kmhn understander and enthusiast, is there any particular Komahina Moment or piece of analysis you feel people often miss or overlook? could be big or small, or involve just one of the two of them, but i'd appreciate the input! <3 have a good one :D

OH MY GOD??? I’LL TRY TO ANSWER IN TIME FOR YOUR POWERPOINT LMAO THAT SOUNDS AWESOME?????? You should record it! Well, you probably will, but I’m still saying it anyways just in case you aren’t, because something that fun going unrecorded sounds like a tragedy!

I’ve had ideas of doing all encompassing komahina rambles for a video or something, but I’m already working on other projects so It’ll be a long time before I even try lmao. Makes me happy someone is trying something similar, and with friends no less! I’d be happy to help in any way I can, I hope you and your friends have fun! :D

ANYWAYS. I’ll say a huge ramble of Komahina things and hope it helps LOL.

This is more of a silly statement, but for a FULL Komahina coverage I think it’s most satisfying to cover the different flavors of komahina, if that makes sense? Like, depending on what approach you’re taking you may not cover kamukoma, since to a degree that’s an entirely different ship, but you’d still cover the canon adjacent other flavors. Basically, try including the canon adjacent variations!!! The Dangan island events are good for analyzing their dynamic with less horrible circumstances bringing them to worst and causing them to hurt each other. The stage plays are also great to mention since there’s some komahina content that is play original, and seeing them physically interact is fun! Can’t forget the Komahina CD too Lol. There’s also smaller things like their anniversary outfits, especially the matching purple ones, their animal outfits, and their Danganronpa S Swimsuits!

Little details that are so special to me are things like the parallel of Nagito waking Hajime up being reserved in Danganronpa 2.5, and there’s also how things like Hajime’s grief for Nagito that’s so compelling, special, and telling about their dynamic.

I think my main thing to actually add on properly is that, a lot of people say Hajime hates Nagito which is absolutely incorrect. I don’t think I’d try so hard or care enough to revive and or wait until a person I hated woke up. Hajime displays he actively cares a lot, they just happen to feel hurt and betrayed by each other due to the circumstances. Komahina is unhealthy but it isn’t toxic, if that phrase makes sense. The beauty of it is that they grow TO be healthier, they learn to love each other, understand each other, and in the process learn to understand and love themselves. Komahina is reciprocal, it gets unhealthy due to circumstances, but it is reciprocal and the beauty of it is them becoming healthier together.

Nagito is not a malicious psychopath, and Hajime is not an overly horny person with no personality, I see them misinterpreted and characterized like that constantly It’s ridiculous. Hajime is awkward, conflicted, introverted, caring, and tries to be positive but ultimately is usually a realist. Hajime gets attached to people easily and deals with discrimination, insecurity, and self esteem. Hajime is relatable enough to where he’s empathetic but unique enough to where he’s special.

Nagito is a mentally ill queer coded man who is an antagonist and an anti-hero. He is morally gray when it comes to his unhealthy coping mechanism and has complicated beliefs, he’s honest, intelligent, struggles with insecurity, struggles with self esteem, has absolute beliefs influenced by hope’s peak, is a parallel and warped version of Makoto while being his own person, and he’s very sweet. Nagito’s love language seems to be mostly playful teasing, he rambles a lot and weirds people out just by saying what he thinks is fact. He has tonal issues and usually isn’t self aware, despite this he also worries about the impression he gives off if he thinks it matters. His beliefs are very hierarchy based and he thinks he’s all the way at the bottom, he doesn’t absolutely hate people like him but he thinks they have no purpose other than to help those more capable and projects onto them. Nagito is a very complex character, he is numb to intense situations due to the immense trauma of it being normal for him. He’s optimistic but also pessimistic, he’s positive but also incredibly anxious, he’s well intentioned but also thinks anything is okay if it’s for hope, there’s a lot to Nagito but in the end once it clicks it really clicks. He is contradictory in a way that perfectly makes sense, creating the perfect character. There’s a lot to him but when you understand him there’s no need for words, you just get it. There’s a feeling to him, an understanding, and I think that’s really special. He really is amazing.

Anyways, the ramble on summarizing both of their characters simply is to more expand on points about their dynamic! Nagito and Hajime are sides of the same coin. Nagito is irrational when it comes to Hajime in the way that he defies his normal behaviors because he usually avoids others and thinks he’s not worth the ultimates time, it means so much to me that Nagito just immediately had a feeling and connection with him. I’ve seen some people not think about it, but genuinely Komaeda feels something upon first sight and it’s irrational given his regular behavior it’s so sweet.

This has been just a lot of me rambling, but hopefully some of it helps! I had fun yapping haha, thanks for you ask!

[gritsandbrits]

My late night thoughts on TF ONE

‼️HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW ‼️

- Elita didnt die HELL YEAH i am so glad we are moving away from ignoring and fridging her

- Bee is actually bearable here, and knows when to take things seriously

- wow i think even animated sentinel would be disgusted with his counterpart cuz even he wouldn't resort to murder & stealing t-cogs

- megatrons turn felt a little rushed but he was still pretty cool

- i think optimus could use a lesson on how his brashness effects others

- JAZZ LIVES

- the joke over starscream's damaged vocals sounding 'ridiculous' is ableist

- the few times we see the quintessons are scary as hell! They're like a juiced up alien version of a drug cartel

- SENTINEL and Airachnid dynamic is basically adam and lute but good

- soundwave voice threw me off im so used to it sounding melodic

- i think optimus and megatron should've spent time with sentinel like they go to his "luxury" hospital or smthn, & they start seeing cracks in the facade, it makes them learning aboht his true nature a total gut punch

- Badassitron

- the music and visuals 5000/10 Will See again

- like they get pre Great War cybertron down PERFECTLY and the shifting landscape is *chefs kiss* MAGNIFICO

- like sentinel really is whay Magnifico could be as a competent villain and Airachnid is Evil!Amaya but she's the grunt and he's the macbeth (usually its the evil woman who is the thinker while the man is the violent one). She doesn't even betray him - i really expected her to be secretly plotting against him because this is AIRACHNID we're talking about but no she 100% sticks by him the whole time and she's not annoying bitch Pick me like discount Amity.

- basically its the same plot of WISH but with MUCH better writing, i know i said i gotten sick of seeing wish dragged through the dirt but even i can't deny TF ONE did a better job

- speaking of Megatron actually faces consequences for betrayal instead of that jackass Simon who was too easily forgiven

- the faces grew on me

- finally a transformers movie with a compelling plot without annoying white people im so happy

- also they put PEPPA PIG of all characters in the Hasbro logo and not MLP... the hell? This makes me confused on the state of MLP as a whole like does hasbro just not care for the brand anymore?

- the visuals the VISUALS i dont want a 2d animation fanbrat to come at this movie ILM blew it out of the park once again!

- somewhere a guro lover has died and went to heaven

- because oh my god they did not cut away at sentinel being torn in half at megs' hands.

- CLOSE UP. ON THE SCREEN. IN SLOW MOTION. I HAD TO COVER MY EYES BECAUSE I WAS SO FREAKED OUT!

- the trailers implied he was going to be murked by quintessons but his actual death is worse. So much worse... i wouldn't even wish it on Adam Hazbin.

- So glad they didn't make elita just the GIRLBOSS™, she was genuinely frustrated with the caste system that hindered her growth. she's what a girlboss should be, not a mindless bully. Lute could take some notes from her.

Lute: will you please stop?!

Me: hey im not the one so boy crazy i ended up getting jealous of a lesbian

Seth: ouch

Evan: Miss Lute why did you let Grits eat you up like that 🤭

- orion is essentially asha but the writers trusting him enough to carry the movie. I still like her but you can tell the crew didn't have much faith in her - which SUCKS!

- ooh starscream is a little kinky

- i didnt stay for the post credits scene because i had to leave to go to work right after, but whatever it was, i bet it was AWESOME

- i think movie 2 will focus on the great war and movie 3 would have the 2 factions united to stop the quintessons

- so happy they didnt try to shove in beast wars too, like i hope we get separate beast wars media

- alpha trion is so awesome, for the amount of screentime he ate every second of it! Kudos to Laurence Fishburne

- man... this sentinel is the logical conclusion to TFA!Sentinel if he doesn't stop being an asshole

- the celebrity VAs are good, really good they sound like their having so much fun and not phoning it in

- they gave bee his stingers love it!!

- the race scene was a feast for the eyes with plenty of laughs to go along with it!

- it's sad seeing megatronus being a genuine hero only to have his legacy tarnished now that Evil!Megs has his t-cog. No matter what side he's one he will always be known as The Fallen

- here you go Animation Twitter! you finally got your Unambiguously, Unrepentant, Enjoys Being Evil Villain! now can you PLEASE stop whining?

- the dynamic had such a genuine bond and i think megatron and elita are a flip of each other theyre both angry but elita learns to put it to good use and not let herself be blinded by it while megs is consumed by his

- orion and megs are actual friends, we see them laugh and hang out together. Whether you ship them or not this is a really good display of MegOp. Hell

- see you CAN make optimus a bookworm without turning him into a cop or librarian!

- love how playful orion is at the beginning he reminds me of animated with bits of cheetor

- the textures on the bots are so neat, you can tell sentinel never been in real combat because he's all shiny and stuff while everyone else has dents and scrapes

- the themes are handled a lot better than i expected, how optimus knew they have to fight sentinel but can't execute him either. How the wealthy would keep the disenfranchised down just to keep their place in society, the limits of idealism vs. Extremism, and blindly trusting your leaders

- also how we CAN choose who we want to be but that wont always work if you live in a system designed to fail you on purpose

- genuinely smart move to use airachnid's memories to expose sentinel's crimes

- the decepticons are genuinely fighting against sentinel but its also made clear most of them are just fighting for the sake of fighting. I hope they get more characteristics in later media

- megatron does raise good points but because of sentinel, Je thinks ALL primes are inherently evil when they were BETRAYED. HE EVEN SPOKE TO A PRIME! ALPHA TRION SHOWED HIM FOOTAGE OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, ARE U STUPID?!

- we agree this is better than anything out of bayverse right? It is also BETTER than the 86 movie because we actually get to KNOW the characters and the film strikes a healthy balance between light and darkness. Also the only deaths are the ones that matter.

- like finally another modern kids movie thats allowed to be DARK and not entirely sanitized for stockholders

- as for what i ate i had chicken strips and an icee; i combined cherry and Wild apple flavor it tasted alright. I should've snuck in a Chipotle burrito lmao

And that concludes my very messy, grammatically incorrect thoughts the greatest Transformers movie ever made! Go see it! Pay for it, theatre hop, pirate i don't care!

[deuterosapiens]

Binged Captain Laserhawk: a Blood Dragon Remix last-night.

So, aside from having a title so ridiculous that I will not be able to say it aloud with a straight face (heh), this thing was awesome. Weird as actual hell, but awesome.

We are talking Grade-A insanity here.

This show is a Ubisoft themed wonderland of beautiful violence and absurdity. So you have Rayman as the mouthpiece of a technopocalyptic Big Brother post-Usonian society, who goes down a drug-addicted rabbit (Rabbid?)-hole after being fired for calling out one of the city's superhero elite watchmen (who I'm sure I would care about if I had ever bothered to play Rainbow 6,).

Meanwhile, our hero, Awesome McCoolname, Dolph Laserhawk (our MC), is living through a rousing case of "my boyfriend betrayed me to Kickstart a revolution" (we've all been there), which results in him being confined to the Ubisoft Suicide Squad featuring Uncle Pey'j and Jade (from Beyond Good and Evil, a game which I've played like a dozen times), a frog-man Assassin, and a real-world wrestler whose name I can't remember, nor do I care ro since he basically exists to demonstrate that, in true Suicide Squad fashion, failure to follow the rules is a recipe in getting your head blown to tiny little gooey pieces.

If you've ever seen There Will be Brawl, the Super Smash Bros fanseries starring Matt Mercer as Ganondorf (and a Hannibal Lecter-inspired Kirby), this show kind of reminds me of that.

And to wrap this post up, I cannot praise the animation enough. It's fluid and gorgeous, vibrant when necessary. There's an experimentality to it that's also very cheeky. You'll see drastic style shifts that exist, to me, exclusively to remind you that this is a video game property and you should treat it as such.

I should probably make some comment about the sub-title or something, but I've never played Far Cry, and therefore have no opinion on that aspect of the show.

So, this thing which will probably be my new obsession for the next six months, has the perks of looking good, having interesting characters with very distinct personalities, traumas, and representations, gloriously creative violence, and an entire society of fur-bait.

This, this one I like. Might finally finish Castlevania, after this.

[phaerlax]

you as the WolfBoyGuy and me as someone who has just recently seen the puppy light, do you have any tips or what you'd consider Required Reading to get a good grip on writing wolf boys? moreso karu than garu just because i personally have a hard time writing dudes with as much bluster and "doesn't tend to default to conventionally agreed on niceties". i have (admittedly mild) torments I'd like to put him through >_>

Anon is asking me about blorbo... I have been training for this for so long... behold now the ramblings of a man possessed by two wolves. I'll talk a bit about how I approach writing Karu and then include some curated recs.

It took me some time to really get going on wolfboy fics; I also found it challenging to handle Karu's characterization. Two big reasons why:

Tsunderes are just difficult to do if you're grounded in realism. It's a very 'anime' archetype and people don't behave quite like that. This makes it harder to naturally reach for reasonable/appropriate responses when putting the character in situations. The big want/think/say/do splits can also complicate straightforward scenarios (e.g. the character wants something and does what he needs to do in order to get it. This path is often closed to the tsundere).

The game gives little insight into Karu's inner world. NU: Carnival is very dialogue-heavy in its narrative. When we do get introspection, it's often Eiden-focused. This means we basically never get to see the thought process that leads Karu to act this way or that, except in the rare instances in which he talks to himself (like in some H scenes when he goes "ugh it feels so good but-").

The style that I ended up developing for my angry wolf boy writings follows these principles:

Keep him silly. This is because I fundamentally see Karu as a comical character. Yeah, his personality can be traced back to traumas and there's a lot of interesting stuff to explore in that regard, but I am not personally interested in that tbh. The reason I love him is the wacky nonsense and ridiculous behavior that we see in the game. It was at first sight for me. I didn't need depth and I still don't XD Any advice and references I provide are skewed by that. I have a preference for almost never taking him seriously.

Mind his 'narrativization' tendencies. Karu is comically very enamored by the idea/narrative that he's a mighty warrior with many great skills who will conquer humanity and who should be respected and served. On some level, he knows this isn't entirely true, so he will sometimes (try to) avoid situations that would bring attention to his shortcomings. But most often he's trying to prove himself and get others to share his narrative. When something or someone reinforces the narrative, he gets proud, pleased or happy-flustered. When something or someone goes against the narrative, he gets annoyed and angry-flustered. He is very good at ignoring reality, however. Even though he'll seemingly take exception to every little slight, he moves on very quickly and pretends nothing happened. And though he's stubborn, he's also willing to surrender, cut his losses and 'try another day' when he's foiled.

Mix his narrativization with the narration a lot. This kind of free indirect discourse is just my style in general, but with Karu I find myself using it more intensely, to such an extent that the narration can get quite dialogue-like in how it expresses his thoughts. When I want to portray a 'tsundere stumble' moment, I sometimes make the narration interrupt itself as Karu consciously aborts a line of thinking that would lead him to unacceptable conclusions.

Let him just be rude for no reason and with little consequence. Karu's default way of addressing and dealing with people (other than Kuya) is rudeness. At best, he attempts some form of condescension in which the reason he's doing something 'nice' is because you're so weak and he's so awesome or whatever. Most characters seem to simply not mind his behavior and, again, it's usually played for laughs anyway.

Bibliography of Karu Studies

Keep in mind that many Karu fics are kuyaru, and Karu in kuyaru is quite different from the core of the character, since he's uniquely eager to please Kuya. Still, even kuyarus can have some nice insight.

who let the dogs out has a lot of juicy Karu inner conflict, and it even explores the ways in which such hangups make him outwardly grumpier. Due to kuyaru, it ultimately leads him to a place of submission, but his initial thoughts are very in-character.

Baser Instincts is a kuyaru in which Kuya gets to see the pups in a new light, because they help him in a difficult situation. It's another great source of inspiration for Karu struggling to express his feelings.

Bow Down! explores how he might react to Eiden letting him top, in a very true-to-character way.

Lonely at the Top is Karu/Dante, which means you get to see Karu at his prickliest and most insufferable, and how that can be managed.

A Matter of Pride is a good example of the 'concessions' dynamic that can be done in Eiden/Karu.

Goshujin-Ai is an older Karu/Yakumo and a good example of Karu feeling comfortable and doing the 'attempts at condescension' thing I mentioned before.

Slave number one, rub my chest again is me speculating on what it might look like for Karu to ask Eiden to do things to him and try to control sex.

Warden slander wolf Commander is probably a good example of the 'fine I give up but I'll get you next time' potential of Karu, as well as the kind of bleed-heavy narration I talked about.

Master, do you have another wolf besides me?! delves into Karu's potential for jealousy as a way of expressing affection. It's pretty canon-compliant because most of it is adapted from NEON Carnival.

There are many other fics in the Karufic Archive, but I think the ones above are among the best for the purposes of thinking about the writing.

Please feel free to talk to me non-anonymously if you ever want to discuss wolf boy content! As you can see I am cursed with thoughts and need places to put them. I'm also always very happy to do anything that I can to shepherd and sponsor GaruKaru content; if you go ahead with your impulse to write about them (please do) and want a beta reader, don't hesitate to ask~

[nijigasakilove]

Fakkk I totally forgot this aired today 😭. Dahliya my beloved he missed you

Dahliya and Wolf’s walk around town was so sweet and it makes me so happy seeing her just able to be herself, drink and geek out over magical devices. Total opposite of life with Tobias. Wolf is such an earnest, kind and genuine dude with a little nerdy side to him as well. My question is why tf did no one step in when that one dude tried messing with Dahliya at the stalls lmao. Broad daylight harassing a woman like that is ridiculous.

Oh he washes the dishes too? You got a good one, sis, keep him lol. I’m actually glad Wolf and Dahliya are staying friends for now and I hope they continue developing their friendship before going into anything romantic. They have some awesome chemistry, but let it develop organically!! Poor Wolf got girls throwing themselves at him constantly anyway 😂

Speaking of developing, the visualisation of Dahliya making wolf’s fairy glasses was so cool. Reminded me of how Ryza’s alchemy stuff was done in the games and anime

Now Tobias finally knows the truth about why his dad and Carlo wanted he and Dahliya married.. hopefully he’ll become a better person now. But I doubt it. If anything this probably makes his insecurity even worse now. He’s like Jonas from Sugar Apple and I just want him off my screen lmao

No way Wolf actually got a notarised note saying that Dahliya could call him by name lmao. Love this dude. Great episode

[laikaspotlight]

One Frame At A Time

An Article about LAIKA's upcoming film, Wildwood, from Empire Magazine. Transcript by Rampage for visibility.

"THIS MONTH I found myself in a staring contest with an owl. (Spoiler: I lost.) It's not every issue this happens, but then again, it's not every Issue you get to go to Portland, Oregon for a visit to the stop-motion magic factory that is Laika. Portland itself may have been a bit of a let-down, in that I didn't encounter a single Carrie Brownstein or Fred Armisen (if you haven't watched Portlandia, do so immediately), but there was nothing disappointing about the place behind Kubo and the Two Strings and the upcoming Wildwood, the movie that will feature said bird. It was a total treat to get a glimpse of their new animated epic coming together (though the box of tiny puppet eyeballs might haunt me for a while). Head to page 66 for our report.

Wildwood isn't out until 2025 (there's no rushing a puppet owl), but this issue also dives deep into more imminent excitement…"

"Laika isn't just a studio, it's a way of life. As the masters of stop-motion animation painstakingly put together their biggest project yet, we visit their Portland HQ to discover their slow-moving secrets."

"The Dogfight was going to look awesome. The boy was sure of it. Buzzing from the movies he had sat through, enthralled, on Saturday-morning TV or at cinema matinées in his farm town outside of Portland, Oregon- stop-motion classics such as Ray Harryhausen-enhanced The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Rankin/Bass' Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer- he had already attempted to inject life into Star Wars action figures. Now, it was time for something a little more spectacular. He marched to his X-Wing toy, like a titchy Wedge Antilles, grasped it in his eager hands and proceeded to film it, frame by frame, soaring through the sky, little explosions created using balls of cotton. His mind boggled at how incredible it was going to look when he unveiled his final cut. "Well, it looked like garbage." laughs Travis Knight now. "I was like, 'I'm going to have this amazing aerial battle here!' It was so fun to imagine what it could be. And then you see the end result, and it wasn't what you imagined. So that was heartbreaking."

Flash-forward some 40-odd years, and Knight is still tinkering with his toys. He's still just outside Portland, Oregon except now those toys are no longer purchased from the nearest Walmart. And, rather than his parent's basement, all alone, he's in a giant warehouse complex, assisted by roughly 400 ridiculously talented people. This is Laika, the studio behind the likes of Coraline, ParaNorman, and Kubo and the Two Strings; 964 miles up the coast from Hollywood but light years away in terms of how things are done. No sequels, no chatter about "IP". Productions that are not rushed through the system like fast food, but baked like gourmet dishes in a clay oven. Their new stop-motion epic, Wildwood, has been in development for 12 years; it's finally due out in 2025.

It's not always been smooth sailing here, but this is still a place where dreams come true.

Very, very slowly.

"I have a big aerial scene in this movie, with a giant bird," smiles Knight. "So, you know, good things come to pass.""

"There's a go-kart track around the corner from Laika, called K1 Speed. Every now and again, somebody from the studio will head there, clamber inside a buggy and hit the throttle, hard. Whizzing around a circuit at high velocity is a form of recalibration. Because at Laika, despite the presence of an in-studio coffee shop called Dripster's (named after a location in Wildwood). things move at, well, puppet pace.

When Empire visits the studio in early April, it proves to be the quietest set visit, by far, that we've ever experienced. The usual sounds of a busy shoot- walkie-talkies, clapperboards, Michael Bay yelling at a grip - are absent. In fact, it's hard to detect any activity at all. But as we stroll around the hushed, 400,000 square-foot warehouse complex, we find incredible things happening behind curtains. A massive eagle, wings outspread. A study, complete with marble fireplace and grand piano, the dwelling of an oversized owl. Forest tableaux with tangled trees and creeping ivy. All in miniature, and precisely put together by hand or using nifty tech: even the tiny leaves for the foliage have been laser-cut. And rather than a bustling crew gathered around the camera at each micro-set, there's just a single, hyperfocused person. "Until we shout action, you'll have set dressers, cameramen, motion control, lighting, gaffer, and somebody from puppets doing final checks," says Laika's Dan Pascall. "But as soon as we get launched, everyone's out and then the animator's in there. I mean, for a 20- or 30-second shot they can be in here for months on their own. It's a pretty solitary thing."

Wildwood is a fantasy epic directed by Knight, based on a book by Colin Meloy, frontman of the band The Decemberists, it's a sprawling tale that's actually set in and around Portland, in which a young woman, Prue McKeel, finds herself in an enchanted forest world. On the day of Empire's visit, there are 25 animators working on the project. But those animators are hidden away and silent, like monks in prayer, rapt in focus over the tiniest of details. When we encounter Jason Stalman, who's worked on Laika productions since 2012's ParaNorman, he's attending a throne room the size of Prince George, concentrating on the puppet of a female character who is reacting to something in the scene.

"She's doing very little, but you have to keep the character alive" he explains. "She's trying to be alluring, so she's doing all these little movements and body adjustments, which is really hard to do." Another challenge is her dress, which has to move independently too. The solution: tiny foam pads beneath the dress, to which the fabric can be pinned to, creating- eventually- the illusion of a swishing, real-looking costume.

Creating a performance frame by frame requires an enormous amount of mental energy. 

"It's Strange; it takes you a minute to come back to the normal world after you've done a day of this," admits Stalman. "People could think, 'how the hell do you do it? it's so boring.' But I like it, because the world is so crazy and fast. This feels nice, to do this little, delicate thing."

One animator at Laika is likely to, in a week, create three-and-a-half [3 ½] seconds of screentime. That's the kind of stat that might prompt some studio executives to kick over a watercooler in frustration. But Knight knows from experience that you can't rush these things.

Puppets move at their own tempo. "You could take shortcuts," he says. "But to me, the film requires whatever it requires. I do think making a movie like this is stupid. It's the stupidest way to make a movie. It's harder, there's more pain. But I also think there's more joy as well. I'm aware of the ticking of the clock and the mortal coil and everything else. I do want to tell as many stories as I can before my time is done. But when this group of people come together to create something, it's the most satisfying thing I've ever been a part of.""

"Back in 2009, stop-motion was on life-support (quite possibly hooked up to a tiny, hand-crafted IV). Tim Burton's Corpse Bride had barely made its money back a few years earlier, but nobody in Hollywood was baying for more. And advances in CG animation had led to studios looking for the next Shrek, not the next Nightmare Before Christmas. "Stop-motion has always been the red-headed stepchild of animation" says Knight. "And CG could effectively do everything we do in stop-motion, but better. There was certainly a moment where I think any of us who were practitioners of the craft were asking ourselves, 'Is there a future here?'"

But he, and others were deeply in love with both the process and the vibe of stop-motion. Knight, whose father is Nike magnate Phil Knight (as played recently in Air by Ben Affleck), had abandoned plans for a career in finance, deciding to follow that passion, wherever it might lead him. And it led him (after a brief stint as rapper ‘Chilly Tee’) to Laika- formerly Will Vinton studios which Phil Knight acquired in 2002, Travis becoming CEO. Laika is the name of a dog sent into space by the soviet union in the 1950's; Knight's career choice seemed as daunting an odyssey as that of the cosmic pooch. Especially when the studio embarked on its first feature film, Coraline, directed by The Nightmare Before Christmas' Henry Selick and on which Knight worked as lead animator. Not only were financers reluctant to back a stop-motion animation, but they proved unenthusiastic about the lead character being female- and not a Disney princess, but a regular teenage girl. Despite it being based on a book by Neil Gaiman, despite Selick's pedigree, despite the stunning visuals that Laika was orchestrating, the mood was grim. "There was a lot of anxiety," remembers Knight. "When we were trying to find partners who understood what we were trying to do, we were getting nothing but rejection. It was like high school all over again."

Then, at the premiere the weekend before it came out, a studio executive approached him. "According to the data it was going to bomb tremendously. And I remember an exec put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'I'm sorry. You gave it your best shot.' In this moment where we're trying to have this big celebration of what the crew had created, it was just tainted by this fact that it didn't work, and we were going to fail."

But it did work: after a surprisingly strong opening weekend, Coraline found legs, going to make $125 million. "Fast-forward a couple of months from the premiere, and that same executive team was asking me to make 'Coraline 2'," Knight recalls, "I was like, 'No, we're not gonna make Coraline 2. We're gonna tell a different story.'" Laika were off and running. Their follow-up, 2012's ParaNorman, was a zesty zombie comedy. 2014's The Boxtrolls was a raucous romp featuring mischievous creatures and industrious quantities of cheese. 2016's Kubo and the Two Strings, Knight's directorial debut, was an elegiac stop motion samurai epic. And 2019's Missing Link was a massively fun riff on Around The World In 80 Days, with a male Sasquatch named Susan. The studio's fare has remained artisanal, original and eccentric. And while the box-office figures have not been astronomical, those who do see their films tend to treasure them. In fact, some viewers became so inspired that they've ended up as employees at Laika themselves. "There are people who saw ParaNorman who work here now." Says the studio's head of production, Arianne Sutner, "Same thing with Coraline. You know, we don't make tons and tons of stuff, but what we have has a special impact. People love it for all its unusualness.""

"In Laika's 'Story room', where Empire meets Knight, bookshelves teem with thick volumes: subjects include P.T. Barnum, Art Deco, Cape Cod houses and fashions of the Victorian age. In a cabinet, meanwhile, are DVDs, many of which seem like unusual references for an animated adventure: the documentary Fires of Kuwait, The Lord of The Rings, The Birds, Micheal Clayton, Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster. "The Grandmaster is a beautiful film." Knight enthuses. "That was a huge inspiration when I was working on Kubo, because of how gorgeously it was shot. Micheal Clayton is more to do with lighting and composition, that sort of thing. But yeah, we pluck inspiration from a variety of sources." The stop-motion process is intrinsically difficult and time-consuming: boxes of replacement faces (each bearing a unique code) are trolleyed to set to create every smile, smirk and splutter. Nine 3D printers work overtime to make moulds of characters, which are then dressed with bespoke costumes, fitted with wigs and prepared for their moment in the spotlight. The quantities required are mind-boggling: Missing Link called for 106,000 unique faces; Wildwood will have far more, while also boasting 120 sets, double the number built for Kubo. But Laika is determined to keep crashing through the technical obstacles encountered, in a quest to become ever more cinematic. For Kubo, the studio tackled water, a giant skeleton and origami animation. For Wildwood, Knight is thinking bigger. He has the benefit of being fresh off his first live-action venture as director, 2018's Bumblebee, the best film in the Transformers franchise to date. And he's brought on cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, veteran of such non-puppetry epics such as The Right Stuff and The Patriot. With the rest of the team, they're making innovations both large and small. They've cracked a way to put muscles into puppets' arms ("We've never done that before," says Knight, "it looks amazing when I see it on-screen") and to create a fully articulated rat puppet so miniscule that it can rest on your pinkie ("The joints are so small - if you drop it, it looks like a human hair"). Most dauntingly, they are orchestrating a vast battle sequence, which would make Jason and the Argonauts' skeleton brawl look like a pub barney. "It's the single most difficult thing we're tackling on this movie." Says Knight. "We're starting to chip away and tentatively stepping into, like, 'Oh God, oh God, oh God, how are we gonna do this?' But I think it's going to work. And you'll tell me when the film's done if it did. Stop-motion films tend to look like they're shot on a table-top, because they are. Moving a physical object one frame at a time and trying to give it life, that's its own challenge. And then you bring all the kineticism you would have in a live action movie... it's so hard." 

Spectacle is one thing, but Laika's filmmakers are equally focused on their characters. Hailed for their progressiveness and inclusivity, they have brought the world Coraline Jones, a female animated hero like no other. ParaNorman's Mitch (voiced by Casey Affleck) was mainstream cinema's first openly gay character, leading to Laika being nominated for a GLAAD award. And they're determined for Wildwood's characters, including Prue, another young female hero, to connect powerfully with viewers.

To create nuanced puppet performances, Laika animators study live-action ones. "There's a moment in Dangerous Liaisons with Glenn Close on a sofa, and John Malkovich is asking her, 'What's your story?'" says Jason Stalman of a touchstone for the scene he's animating today. "The way she delivers her lines- I'm getting the shivers - I'm reacting so much to that that I thought if I could get even one tiny piece of stardust from that and put it into this, I'm going to try. It's nice to show a thought process happening in a two-inch piece of plastic head."

The animators also study themselves. Study their colleagues. And even their own families. "The design of the little baby in Wildwood is actually based on my nine-year-old son. That's how long we've been developing this damn thing," reveals Knight. "But he's voiced by my two-year-old son. It's a really strange thing to hear that little guy's voice come out of my older guy's puppet body. There's a scene in the film that's incredibly intense and the baby's screaming and crying and people go, 'Oh my God, how did you get that baby to do that?' I'm like, 'Well, I changed his diaper.'""

"2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the very first stop-motion film ever created: 1898's The Humpty Dumpty Circus, in which dolls of circus acrobats, elephants and donkeys came to life. That historical artifact has been lost forever, but the artform itself has refused to follow suit. Last year saw Guillermo Del Toro venture into Stop-motion with Pinocchio and Henry Selick return with Wendell & Wild. Aardman recently teamed up with Lucasfilm for a stop-motion Star Wars: Visions short (like Travis Knight's childhood film, it features an X-wing, plus actual Wedge Antilles), while a Chicken Run sequel is clucking its way to Netflix. Much of the credit for the reanimation of stop-motion must go to Laika. They've kept on ploughing forward, dedicated to the medium. The studio is expanding and transforming, with Laika set to move into the live-action realm. The first of those projects will be Seventeen, based on a John Brownlow book about the world's most lethal hitman. "It's a thriller with soul," says Knight. "Whatever we're developing, be it animation or live-action, it's going to be something that's emotionally resonant, that blends darkness and light and humor and heart."

But at the core of the studio, despite the fact they've incorporated elements of CG into their films since the start, will remain those patient-testing puppets.

While Wildwood is their biggest, most ambitious project yet, they're rolling other dice even before that's out. Including The Night Gardener, a stop-motion movie based on a script by Bill Dubuque, creator of Ozark, and described as "A neo-noir folk tale.", which is Laika's first that's not for kids. "This film is not a family film, at all," Knight says. "There's never been a film made like this in our medium. And that really excites me. It's a beautiful story, it scares me, And it's going to be an extraordinary piece of cinema, I think. Or at least has the potential to be."

The Laika philosophy is an admirable one: keep pushing in new directions, never repeat yourself. But one thing remains consistent for these pioneers in the drizzly Pacific Northwest. The pain of making one of these damn films, and the pleasure of -finally- watching the results.

"You know, these things are like little vampires," Knight reflects of the puppets that fill his warehouse. "They suck the life out of the people that touch them. At times it's really frustrating - they won't do what you want them to do. But when I see a puppet that's been imbued with life, because an animator on stage has had an emotional connection with an intimate thing, an assemblage of silicon and steel... Well, it's the closest thing to magic I've ever witnessed.""

[intertexts]

tell me more about dakota cole gon hunter hunter I literally know. nothing abt that anime give me ur propaganda. ramble 2 me forever and ever I wanna KNOW

I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR!!!!!!

god. okay. hunter x hunter is a shonen manga by yoshihiro togashi that's been in serialization since '98 & has had two separate anime adaptions. i'm gonna be talking abt the '11 adaption, since that's the one ive been watching! (sidenote: started hxh because of the podcast media club plus which is easily one of my favorite podcasts everrr incredibly good analysis has really affected the way i think about media analysis & criticism extremely fucking fun awesome dynamics btwn folks who are 1) very well known for having extremely good media opinions & 2) great friends who have been friends for a long time & just a delight to listen to. its a great time regardless of whether u r watching the show or not highly recommend if u ever need a new work or commute podcast etc) also disclaimer that i'm only on episode 62 of the show. so.

anyway. the hxh plot:

i will not get into the plot much because it's not as important for the dakota gon isms. but its this. ^!!

so hxh is, overall, a homage to and deconstruction of its genre tropes. togashi very much loves and enjoys a ton of the tropes he's playing with and very obviously delights in subverting just as many of them. it balances these wildly disparate tones of classic, bright candy colored shonen magical worlds and powers and big fights with genuine, seriously-considered violence, cruelty, sinister power structures and all the other heavy consequences of splashy ultraviolence. [RINGS THE PD BELL!!!] the whiplash is ridiculous sometimes-- the ease with which the show cuts from the last survivor of a genocide (kind, reasonable, soft-spoken) turning to self-destructive revenge that is quite literally destroying him from the inside out, taking an immense toll on him and his relationships with the people he loves, becoming a murderer in cold blood (& of course we spend time with the man he murders beforehand, and he's fucking awful, but also human, and has friends and shit, & it's very clear that this is something dreadful and not just a cool fight)-- to like, the two twelve-year-old main characters concocting a fucking ridiculous scheme to corner the antiques market so they get a billion dollars to buy a viddy game & one of the twelve year olds faces turns into a little >:3 kitty face whenever hes doing something sneaky & there's some cartoon ass shopkeeper scamming them, is wild. and neither of them are the "correct tone," right? the whole thing is a balance between the modes & takes them both seriously & at their own value. [RINGS THE PD BELL] so like. literally since a couple episodes into prime defenders ive been like oh, yeah, this tracks, i'm not bothered by the constant juxtaposition of stupid ass bits with genuinely serious moments, this is obviously influenced by hxh. which, like, i still can't say if that was intentional or not. but hxh is one of The manga of all time & was & still is incredibly influential (sasuke of sasuke fame is a knockoff of a hxh character btw), so i have no doubt that it was an ingredient in the mix somehow!

anyway. gon, who is literally dakota, is the protag! hes the little boy who set off to find out whats so great about cigarettes :) he is a kid who was raised by his aunt who he has a complicated relationship with after his mother was killed and his father disappeared, and he grew up in the woods and is very very strong and fast and good at fighting because he grew up in the woods!! fucking feral little creature boy who fights with a fishing rod and talks to animals and has an incredible sense of smell. gon does some shit, leaves the island, makes some friends, gets groomed by a creepy fucking pedophile which he thinks is fine, gets brutally tortured for a very very uncomfortably long time, which he thinks is fine, becomes a hunter (which is great he has awesome lines of credit now!) it's still unclear what a hunter is or does, but they have lots of power and can do pretty much whatever they want. anyway, he wants to be the best and the strongest and he loves fighting for fun, for the sake of fighting and being good at what he does!!!! and he also wants to find his dad. and definitely doesn't have any unresolved issues from the fact that his mom is dead its fine he doesn't even want to know anything about her its chill and also his dad's so cool so whatever he was doing was for sure more important than him so it doesn't matter that he abandoned him! the crux of gon as a character is that he is very silly and often kind and very much a kid, and he does not fucking care what happens to himself. he is fine with getting the shit beaten out of him by people twice his age he is cheerfully oblivious to and makes excuses for almost every single adult taking advantage of him or being just awful to him, when it's very obvious in the narrative that it is bad and not good, he's self-destructively reckless and impulsive and fixated on what he thinks is good and right and also on becoming the best and strongest even if he burns out fast and he loves his friends so so so much. and simultaneously also he's a sillygoofy kid who does dumb shit with his best friend ever (gay) n worries about his pals n stuff. its okay if he burns himself out and gets himself hospitalized for months its okay if people hurt him and take advantage of him and get off on the idea of killing him but its NOT ok if his friends even THINK about taking a risk like that >:(( head in hands. anyway. yeah. fun silly adventures strange beasts and foreign lands and wild cartoon shenanigans and very explicit horror and gore!! with often brutal and terrible consequences that leave you feeling kind of sick!!! where have i heard that before!!!!!!!!!!

[awkwardtickleetoo]

The Very Squirmy Superstar

2 fics back to back holy shit that's pretty awesome isn't it

this is a sequel to this fic with ler!freddy and lee!dream, only this time it's george's turn instead!!

and, in case anyone was curious, I have a couple (2 or 3, most likely) more dnf + fnaf fics planned for the (hopefully near) future, so if anyone likes this one and is interested in that kinda thing keep an eye out for it!! and if anyone has any ideas that I maybe haven't figured out my inbox is always open to talk about/suggest that stuff :)

but either way, let's get on with the fic

lee!george, ler!freddy (he's back!!), 4k words exactly :o

enjoy!

--

"Wait, what?!" George shouted after Freddy as he ran away, not turning around to pay him any mind. George leaned forward to let his eyes follow the bear, pushing his legs out straight in front of him, careful not to disturb Dream's head where he was still laying on his lap. "That's not fair, you can't do that! Freddy?! Come back and say you were joking! FREDDY!" George continued to yell until he no longer heard the metallic clanging of footsteps in his ear, meaning Freddy was almost certainly too far away to hear him anymore. George sighed and let his shoulders fall back until they hit the wall behind him again, looking down at Dream. "This is ridiculous, there's no way, right?"

The younger boy slowly sat up, running his fingers through his hair and looking at George as well.

"Hm?" He hummed, requesting confirmation, as he gently rested his temple on George's shoulder and pulled George's hand back into his grip. He fidgeted with George's fingers, pulling one knee up to his chest and leaving his other leg that was closer to George laying straight out next to his as well. He chuckled at the difference in where his leg ended compared to George's, then chuckled again when he looked down at their fingers and did the same thing, before curling George's fingers into a fist and cupping both his hands around it. "There's no way what?"

"Like…" George started, biting his bottom lip when he felt butterflies in his stomach, suddenly very aware of what exactly Freddy had threatened. "Like there's– like, he's not serious, right? He's not… he's not gonna actually… do it, is he?" He explained, looking over at Dream, pushing through the nerves in his chest. He mirrored Dream's position, pulling his outer leg up to his chest and tossing his inner leg's ankle over Dream's shin, watching him smile at the action. George tapped his foot on the ground as he waited for Dream's response.

"I mean… why wouldn't he?" Dream said with a chuckle, the residual flush on his cheeks still present around where his smile created lines on his soft face. "If he did it to me, I don't see why he wouldn't do it to you too?"

"Okay, well, he had a reason to do it to you!"

"He has a reason to do it to you too, George," Dream explained softly, pressing his palms tighter to George's fist to try to crack his knuckles.

"No he does not! What the hell do you mean?!"

"You were being a dick, to be fair." Dream took George's other hand, curling his fingers into a fist and pressing on his knuckles to crack them again.

"I was NOT being a dick, you were being a dick!"

"WH- literally how!?"

"You were so scared of Freddy even though he's been nothing but nice–"

"I am sorry to interrupt," a sudden, reverberating voice broke both of the boys from their argument, making them both stop short and look up at the large, animated bear standing in front of them again. He was holding two bottles of water, reaching down to hand one to Dream, who gladly took it from him. He took a few steps to the left of all of them, placing the second one on top of a charging station to be brought back around later. "They are fresh from the cases in Customer Service, so they should be clean and refreshing. Good for little kids– or big kids!– after a round of fun like that, right, Dream?"

Dream smiled bashfully at the mention of the activities that had occurred barely six minutes prior, pulling the water bottle close to his body as he hunched over to turn and hide his face in George's shoulder. George chuckled at his reaction, reaching over to pat Dream's head as he rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Speaking of that round of fun, however…" Freddy began, kneeling in front of George and resting one hand on his knee that was still flat out. "I think it's your turn, isn't it, superstar?"

George's eyes widened as he looked over at Freddy, his round, unblinking eyes staring back into his for so long that he started to understand why Dream must've been so terrified to look at him at the start. He felt his heart practically skip a beat, and felt the blood rush to his face and make his cheeks start turning pink. If he was going to get out of this, he needed to do it now.

"Oh…" George said dumbly, mentally kicking himself for not coming up with a plan sooner. "Is, uh– is that really necessary? I-I feel like we have a lot left to explore, I don't know if–"

"Do not worry, George, we have all the time in the world to explore the wonders of Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizzaplex! And you two are lucky, because you just so happen to have Freddy Fazbear as your guide for your adventure," Freddy explained, a hint of pride in his robotic voice. George smiled, thinking his plan was working.

"That's perfect! Why don't we continue on the adventure, th–" George attempted to stand up, but was stopped when Freddy's hand moved up from his knee to hold down on his thigh, and his other hand moved to press George's shoulder back against the wall. There was no force behind the push, as Freddy openly didn't intend to hurt either of the other two, but there was enough strength in Freddy's metal fingers for George to know he wasn't going anywhere, any time soon, if Freddy didn't want him to.

This realization alone was almost enough to make the nervous giggles fizzle out of his mouth.

Somehow, he held strong.

"Right after… we resolve this situation. Does that sound okay?" Freddy explained, tilting his head slightly as he finished with a reassuring tone, wanting to make sure George was aware he wasn't being forced to do something he didn't want to do.

"There's-! There's no situation to resolve!" George fought back, attempting to pull his arms in to cross them in front of his chest but realizing Dream had reached for his hand again.

"There is. The situation is finding whether or not you are ticklish as well."

"I am not!" George responded immediately, without thinking about what he was saying.

"George… do not forget what you said earlier. You told me you would never lie about this, didn't you?" George's eyes widened, the memory of saying exactly that coming back to him like a boomerang. He nodded slowly, and Freddy continued. "You did. And you have already seen what would happen if someone were to lie about that, right? Dream is your example."

"You don't have to keep saying it!" Dream whined, closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the wall behind him. George couldn't help but chuckle at his whine, however he was instantly brought back to reality when Freddy moved his hand off his leg.

"So. Are you ticklish, George?"

George's brain nearly flipped upside down at the question, his body instinctively squirming as he looked away and whined quietly at the question.

"Thahat's not– that's not fair, you can't just ask that!"

"Dream," Freddy said instead, turning his attention to the man beside George just as Dream looked back at him too. "Is George ticklish?"

"Dream, don't!" George cut in immediately, making Dream's eyes flickered over to his as they widened, unsure of what to do.

"Do not lie, Dream," Freddy cut back in as well, and Dream's eyes, once again, jumped to Freddy's, even wider this time. He paused, debating his options, before a small smile graced his features.

"Yes, he is. Ridiculously so."

"DREAM?!"

"Excellent! Way to go, superstar!" Freddy praised, making Dream bite back a smile as he looked down at his hand in George's, bashful once again. "Now, George…" Freddy's voice stayed firm, repeating his earlier question. "Are you ticklish?"

George stuttered for a few seconds, before soon accepting that there was no point in denying anymore. He knew this would only end one way, and at this point the butterflies in his tummy were too strong and wild for him to want anything else. All he could do now was make it easier on himself.

"I-I… fine, yes…" He mumbled, squeezing Dream's fingers so he'd stop fidgeting for the time being.

"Good. And is it okay if I tickle you?"

"Oh my god…" George just about whimpered out, followed by a long whine as he pulled both his legs up to his chest, dropped his head in his knees, and wrapped his free arm around them. "Y-yeah, that… that would be alright," he mumbled, squeezing Dream's hand a little tighter.

"Wonderful news, superstar! I promise to go easy on you."

"Kill me now," George whined again, voice muffled by the arm he'd pulled up closer to his face to block his blush more. Dream giggled at that, making George whine louder, and he brought George's knuckles up to his lips to place a gentle kiss to the back of them.

"You'll be okay, Georgie. It wasn't anything you couldn't handle," Dream explained, dropping George's hand to worm his arm in between George's torso and his knees, pulling on one of his legs to get him to uncurl himself and come out of hiding.

"That is true, I can promise there is no way I'll go over your limit. There are ways I can sense certain things about you, such as your heart rate and the temperature of your skin, to ensure that nothing will be unsafe for you. You'll be in good hands, you have my word," Freddy explained, placing his hand on George's knee once more and rubbing his cool thumb across it soothingly.

"Really?" George asked, looking up at Freddy as he did, in fact, uncurl himself slightly. Freddy made a noise of confirmation, smiling as George nodded in response. "Okay. That's pretty cool, to be honest. Knowing that helps a lot."

"I am glad. I think we can begin now! Dream, why don't you hold George for his turn, it might be helpful for both of you."

"What?! No! That's not fair! Dream, do not– DREAM-!" George's protests were cut off when he felt an arm behind his back and one under his knees, lifting him quite unceremoniously. Both belonged to Dream, who was ready in almost an instant to pull George perpendicular onto his lap and grab both his wrists with one hand, holding them in front of his chest. The other hand stayed on George's back, keeping him steady even as he began squirming, despite him quickly realizing it was no use. "Dream, stop it! Let go– NO!" George yelped, his back stiffening as he felt two large, metal hands holding either side of his ribcage. He pulled at his wrists, hoping they would budge even a little bit, but his attempts were cut off by sudden tensing and squirming when the thumbs and forefingers of said metal hands suddenly started drilling circles into the bottom and sides of his ribs.

"NOHO-!" George's back arched immediately, his knees drawing up again slightly, but this time he simply stomped his feet on the patterned carpet and slid the heels of his sneakers against it as he shook his head and twisted his body as much as he could manage. "Plehehehease!" He begged, pushing forward and back and to either side to no avail in an attempt to somehow dislodge the fingers digging into the most sensitive parts of his ribs.

"My goodness, George, you are very squirmy!" Freddy pointed out, making George scrunch up his nose in discontent and shake his head wildly.

"Shuhuhut uhuhup!" Any attempt George could've made to keep his laughter at bay was completely useless, his giggles spilling out in new waves with every single circle and movement of Freddy's hands. His continuous giggles then turned into squeals, genuine laughter, and full body squirming when Freddy's fingers pushed back just enough to press all his fingers into the backs of George's ribs and vibrate them against the bones. "NOHOHO, oh my GOHOHOD– PLEHEASE NOT THIHIHIS, PLEHEHEASE!"

"Uh, yeah, that's a bit of a bad spot for him," Dream explained softly to Freddy, leaning in slightly so he could be heard over George's frantic laughter. "I'm not really sure how long you should stay there."

"Hm, yes, I can tell. His heart rate skyrocketed as soon as I pressed in," Freddy explained, pulling his fingers off the back of George's ribcage and gently holding his sides to keep him balanced. George took in as many gulps of air as he could manage, his eyes slipping closed as he let his head roll back in exhaustion.

"Thahahat– thahat was nohot… goihing easy on mehehehe…" George complained, tugging at his wrists in Dream's hand and tapping his feet against the floor even more.

"I apologize, George. You handled that part very well. However, my sensors tell me you can endure a bit more," Freddy explained, not giving George any time to react before scratching his fingers at George's stomach. George's back arched at the sensation, and he sucked in his tummy and held in his laughter for barely a second to try to deter the animatronic from that spot, but all hope was lost when Freddy brought his other hand into the mix, skittering his metallic fingers all over his tummy and sides in random bursts.

"Oh myhy Gohohohod! S-stohohop! I caha– stohop ihihihit, plehehease!" George's pleads were ignored, and his squirming and whining only increased when he gets Dream's palm gently rubbing circles on the middle of his back, in an attempt– that was, unfortunately, working– to soothe George's nerves as much as he could. "Dreheheam, stohop– Freheddyhyhy! Stohohop!" George took in a sharp breath right as Freddy's thumb swiped underneath his belly button, the action catching the edge of his t-shirt and letting the cold metal slide along his bare skin. George squealed, jumping away from the touch, but Freddy simply swiped his thumb a few more times, chuckling when George squealed once again when he caught the bottom edge of his belly button. "NOHO, okahahay!"

"Okay?" Dream questioned, furrowing his eyebrows at George as he waited for further explanation.

"Okahay! Mohohove somewhere ehe–ELSE, N-AHA!" George yelped, his entire torso arching and flinching as Freddy delivered a single quick pinch to the space right above his hipbones before pulling his hands away to give George a breather.

"You're doing extremely well, superstar. You're lasting longer than I expected."

George whined, crossing his arms over his chest and holding onto his own biceps the second Dream let go of his wrists. Dream, instead, wrapped his arms around George's waist and pulled him closer, cuddling into his side where he still remained sideways on his lap.

George would never admit how much he melted into it.

"Now… why don't we out how you react down here, okay, Mr. Twinkle Toes?" Freddy teased with another echoey chuckle, gently poking fun at George for the way he'd been tapping his feet against the floor, in comparison to Dream's kicking from earlier. He shifted backwards a few inches, grabbing the underside of George's right leg and gently guiding him to let it be held up, outstretched, leaving enough spots exposed and vulnerable that George began squirming again almost instantly.

"No, nonono, whahat are you doihihing?" George protested, curling his toes inside his shoes and attempting to wiggle his leg out from Freddy's hold. It was useless, however, as Freddy's large, metal hands were almost bulky enough to wrap entirely around the middle of his calf, and the grip was so strong that his arm barely moved a few centimeters even with George's wild squirming. George knew, without a doubt, that he was screwed.

"It seems like someone is getting nervous. Dream, are there bad spots on George's legs that I should know about?" Freddy asked, glancing between the two boys as Dream smiled and George's eyes widened.

"No! No, Dream, please, I'm serious, please don't say anything, please!" George begged, reaching one hand over to rest on Dream's shoulder and the other to hold onto one of his arms around his waist.

"Uh…" Dream paused, conflicted on who to listen to again, but Freddy placed a hand on his other shoulder and spoke again.

"Dream, you don't have to worry. He knows I can tell when he's taken too much, and you know firsthand that I will stop accordingly the second I sense he's reached that point. He will be fine."

"But I– that doesn't–" George stuttered, his face heating up and turning even more red than he thought it could ever get. "Ugh, Dreeeeammm…" George let out a long whine of Dream's name, tilting his head and partially hiding his face against Dream's shoulder, the position too awkward and strained to do much more.

"Behind his knees are pretty bad, and above the knees are even worse than he said I was. Oh, and his thighs are an absolute death spot, you can't stay there too long either. That might have to be your finale, if you've already gotten his ribs."

"Dream, when we get out of here, I'm gonna get you back and wreck you so ha–"

"Perfect! Thank you, Dream, you're so helpful!" Freddy cut off George's empty threat with a compliment to Dream, then suddenly squeezed right above George's knees with the hand that wasn't holding his leg in place.

"NOHO– ohoh gohohod!" George squealed, jolting up from Dream's shoulder and hunching forward. He curled his hands into fists, pinning his elbows to his sides and shaking his fists slightly in the air– something he often did when he wasn't sure how else to expel the ticklish energy coursing through his veins. His leg flinched against Freddy's hold with every touch, giggles and squeaks falling from his lips no matter how hard he tried to bite them back or protest through them.

"Hm, it does seem that this might be more of a sensitive spot on you than on Dream… but I wonder if back here will get you to giggle as much as he did?" Freddy said as he slid his hand around to flutter over the back of George's knee instead.

George squealed, loud and unfiltered, and he was pretty sure it could have transformed into a scream if he hadn't broken off into high pitched, equally loud, doubly embarrassing laughter immediately after, tossing his head back and letting his jaw go completely slack as he smiled so wide his cheeks began to hurt. He flinched and kicked his leg out straight, then tried to bend his knee to hide the spot as best as he could, but it was useless.

"Nahahaha!" He protested through his sunny laughter, scrunching his nose up at the humiliating pitch it was at and covering his mouth with one hand. He tried to keep in as much as he could, letting out muffled giggles now as he scrunched his entire body and squirmed like his life depended on it.

"Oh, c'mon, George. Don't do that," Dream complained, curling up closer to George and gently guiding his hand away from his mouth. George shook his head, looking away from both of them, but Dream straightened his back to lean up and place a soft kiss on George's temple. George nearly melted again, whining between laughs, letting his hands be guided away until they were in shaky fists by his chest again.

"THIHIHIS– thihis ihisn't fahahahair!"

"Hm… you're right, we have been going for a minute or so longer than we went with Dream, perhaps that's not fair. I can sense you're getting tired."

"Yehehehes! It's nohohot! So stohop ihihit!" George complained, wincing at how whiny he sounded, but he didn't have much time to think about his tone when Freddy quickly switched to squeezing and scratching at his inner thighs. "NOHOHO! OH GOHOHOD– NAHAHA, PLEHEHEASE!" George practically screamed out his protests, his voice starting to become raspy from the force of his laughter.

"Oh, my… I see what you were saying about this being a… 'death spot', I believe you called it? This is quite a find."

"SHUHUHUT UHUHUP!?" George yelled, face flushing even more red than it was and only getting worse as his breathing became even more labored through his torture. He pulled in a sharp breath, immediately pushing it back out in the form of a new wave of frantic laughter ripping from his throat, and he jumped forward to grab onto Freddy's arm, one hand pulling at his wrists and the other wrapped around his wide, blocky, metal fingers to try and pry them away from his thigh. He begged and pleaded, each word being cut off by a new laugh as he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "PLEHE– FREHEHE– COME ON, PLEHEHEASE– I CAHAHAHA–!"

"Okay, I believe this is a sufficient ending. I can see you're nearly beyond your limit, so we're done," Freddy explained, gently patting George's leg a few times before placing it down next to his other one and letting him go entirely. George immediately curled his knees up towards his body with a whimper, then curled his arms around his torso, and turned slightly to hide his face in Dream's shoulder once again. Freddy and Dream both chuckled at his overdramatic recovery, but they both found ways to comfort him nonetheless– Dream's fingers scratching the back of his head and holding one of his hands, and Freddy rubbing his back and patting his knee to help his breathing return to normal. "You did such a good job. You're a real superstar, George, I mean that."

"Shuhuhut… shut up…" George mumbled against Dream's shoulder, squeezing his fingers where their hands were linked in response to Dream chuckling at him. "You too, idiot. Don't think I'm, like… ever, ever gonna forget this. Okay? I'm gonna destroy you when we find a way home."

"I'm looking forward to it, Georgie," Dream responded, his tone more fond than ever, and both men giggled at the idea for a few seconds.

Freddy stood up and walked over to the charging station on the wall near them, grabbing the second water bottle he had brought back with him. He cracked the lid open delicately with two fingers as he walked back over and handed it to George. Then, all three of them noticed a blinking red light on the screen of the charging pod.

"Oh… I apologize, but it appears I'm about to enter power saving mode, so it's time for me to rest in one of these charging pods for quite a while. Will you two be okay without me for the time being? I will come find you as soon as my battery level is full again."

"We'll be okay," George reassured with a nod. "Well…. I will be. Not sure about Dream, he's still a big baby scaredy cat, aren't you, Dream?"

"Normally I'd call you an idiot, but you're not even wrong about this one. But we'll be okay, we promise," Dream agreed, both of them looking over at Freddy with honest smiles.

"Wonderful. Once you're both ready, the best place to go next would probably be the daycare center on the ground floor. I will meet you outside the door when my battery is charged." And with that explanation, Freddy turned away from them and entered the charging pod, and Dream and George watched as the lights flickered to life and the whirring sound of a power surge rang through the machine.

In all honesty… Dream was immediately terrified again.

But, alas, he pushed through, and the two finished their waters and headed towards the long staircase down to the ground floor where the daycare was located, unsure of what adventures and explorations the area may hold for them.

[selicyoats]

my thoughts on the persona 4 cast

SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW

Yosuke Hanamura Battle Rating: 7/10 I didn't use him all that much, but he's your earlygame guy, he pulls his weight pretty well. He's saved my ass with Trafuri plenty of times, so I've got that to thank him for. Character Rating: I dunno man/10 Yosuke as a character has me on the fence about him. On one hand, his S. Link is great and you really get to see him grow. On the other hand, he is an ASSHOLE and is incredibly mean-spirited to Kanji. If the supposed cut romance is real, it'd explain how behavior as him being closeted, but as it stands, he's just a really mixed bag that is also sometimes a pervert because Persona. Chie Satonaka Battle Rating: 8/10 She probably has the best battle follow-up; being able to straight-up punt the enemy out of battle can be a life-saver in certain miniboss encounters. However, she kind of falls off the Phys department around the same time Kanji joins, and she'll definitely be outshined by the later Naoto when it comes to add clearing. Still, she gets some time in the sun since she joins very early. I also really like her battle idle animation, it's probably my favorite battle idle animation in all the games. Character Rating: 7/10 Chie's not a very "deep" character, but that's perfectly fine. Her S. Link was simple but it helped give you a glimpse into her character and her resolve to actually fully come to terms with what her Shadow said. Yukiko Amagi Battle Rating: 10/10 She provides the game's best healing and some damn good damage thanks to a great Magic stat, she's probably a first-playthrough final team staple. Character Rating: 5/10 Man, I REALLY wanted to like Yukiko. I really did. But her S. Link just ends her back at where she started, and even with the new outlook she got, it didn't fully feel very... satisfactory, I suppose? Kind of like a worse Kou S. Link. Kanji Tatsumi Battle Rating: 10/10 POWER CHARGE PRIMAL FORCE Kanji's an ABSOLUTE beast in combat, he's so awesome. Character Rating: 10/10 Kanji is a character that really resonates with me. I've been at points where I have questioned my sexuality, points where I've thought about maybe even trying to transition; but in the end, I placed my confidence into my own masculinity and became confident in who I am. I think seeing Kanji come to face not just that uncertain aspect of himself, but also get through his fear of rejection in his S. Link, makes him one of, if not, the best written P4 party member. Rise Kujikawa Battle: she's the navi/10 She's the navi. Cool benefits though. Character Rating: 9/10 Another contender for the best written P4 party member. Rise's internal struggle to find who she "really" is was a great part of her story, and I actually think it was portrayed quite well in the Persona 4 Animation. Neat character, she's cool. Teddie Battle Rating: 8/10 Early Matarukaja and some good support makes Teddie a good party member to have around if you're not using Yukiko for healing. Character Rating: 8/10 Teddie's fine. He has a lot of hit-or-miss moments, and his voice can get grating, but I liked the moments he had in the hospital when Nanako was hospitalized, and seeing him in the Velvet room was also pretty cool. Naoto Shirogane Battle Rating: 10/10 MIND CHARGE MEGIDOLAON Naoto's the magic equivalent of Kanji, and she does ridiculous damage with the addition of also being incredibly good at shadow add clear. Character Rating: 9/10 I really liked Naoto coming to accept herself for who she is and realizing she can succeed without changing, even if the writing is a little dated. Her S. Link was neat, and while it didn't do much for her character, it gave a deeper glimpse into her character which is always appreciated. I think people who say Naoto is trans kind of miss the point of the character; to say she should've been trans would be to submit to the idea that women cannot succeed in male-dominated departments, which is the opposite of what her arc was trying to say.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Bulbie

Debut: Pikmin

Pikmin 4 has a doggone good time being as doggy of a game as it can! I'm sure you are well aware by now of the new Funny Weird Dogs!

And I love these weird dogs! They are wonderful. I'm glad they are so important and beloved. But I would like to focus on a different dog, the very first Pikmin Dog, who we have known about since the very first game! Olimar's dog, Bulbie!

With this, I have shown you both official images of Bulbie that exist. I wish there were more! Bulbie is a dog even weirder than Oatchi and Moss, a whole different kind of critter that also happens to get called a dog. Isn't that great? These people have the concept of "dog", and so far we've only seen it used to refer to these funny bipeds! Olimar has no problem referring to both Bulbie and Moss as dogs, so I am led to believe that "dog" is more of a category of creature to these people, rather than a distinct species. Like how "mole" is a category of creature to us!

We know a precious little bit of Bulbie Lore. He is lazy, and able to sleep anywhere. He loves carrots. He farts a lot. That's about all we know. Awesome! Sure sounds like a Dog to me! And of course, Olimar loves Bulbie very much. Just like he loves his whole family! He is a Family Guy, complete with Funny Dog!

You may already know, or you may have noticed yourself, but Bulbie looks quite like a Bulborb. This is because Olimar named these creatures after Bulbie, due to their resemblance! It is also for this reason that they are members of the Grub-Dog Family. You see? Bulborb is just like a dog! While it is sweet of Olimar to name the species after Bulbie, it must also make his encounters with them even more disturbing. Not only is this a (comparatively) massive, hostile beast that could easily eat him whole, but it looks like his beloved little friend! That's like a nightmare! Especially with other, scarier Bulborb variants! I am happy to know that his Bulborb experiences do not affect his love for Bulbie one bit.

As much as I love and talk about invertebrates and funny fish, dogs have always been among my favorite animals, and always will be! They're an extremely conventional animal to love, and for very good reason. They're wonderful! And on this post about Weird Dogs, I would like to talk about how dogs are, in fact, weird in their own ways.

They're always sniffing with their wet noses, which they keep wet to smell even better. They love to lick, and lick to show love. And that love is such an important thing! Dogs are creatures of love! It is our love for dogs that shaped them into what they are today! It is what drove us to shape this single subspecies into countless distinct caricatures of its noble ancestors. All still members of the very same species! The amount of dog customization that has occurred is ridiculous. Need a better way to hunt badgers? Make a Long Dog. Yeah sure! Why not!

Obviously, most dachshund owners today aren't interested in hunting badgers. They are interested in having a Pet. And a Pet Dog is such a truly incredible thing! There are not many animals that should be kept in a house around humans, but then there is Dog, literally born to be among humans. Born to be loved, and born to love! If you don't think that's one of the most wonderful things ever then get outta here!

This is an animal that runs around and spins in circles because it sees an ape that it loves so much. An animal that ends up learning snippets of human language, because those are the snippets that make it happy. An animal that gleefully exposes its vulnerable underside, because it trusts a member of a different species to rub it in just the right way that feels so nice.

Even with the general consensus on dogs being pretty dang favorable, I feel that it's easy to take a lot of their behavior and history for granted, to see them as the "default animal", when they SO aren't. The default animal would be a parasitoid wasp, silly!

If I was not able to convince you that dogs are weird, then just look up canine transmissible venereal tumor, obviously using your own discretion, because there will be graphic photos. If you ask me, this one medical anomaly easily makes dogs a contender for one of the weirdest animals EVER! Bet you didn't know dogs could be contagious!

I like funny dog Bulbie

[anyablackwood]

WIP Questionnaire Tag

Thanks for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck! I'll use Traveling Bards for this, as is the current trend for me.

1. What’s the first part of your WIP that you created?

The outline? That's usually how I start. If you mean of the actual story, then chapter 1. If you mean the concept itself, the characters.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

Best I can find is Passerine by The Oh Hellos (the artists who made Solider, Poet, King). I'd love to find a more comedic/energetic song, though.

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

Within this story? The MCs, lol. Especially Felix, my beloved son! I'm not gonna lie, the sisters are inspired by some IRL people that I love very much. But even without that, they're just so fun! This is my first "simple"/comedy story, so there's less of a focus on prose or "depth" and more on me just dicking around with these guys, so I'm really having a blast with them. Their characters are the most unhinged I've written so far, though I hope to change that soon.

Felix isn't inspired by an IRL person, but he's kind of shameless wish-fulfillment. Traveling Bards initially began as a parody of a very specific genre of anime, so he's essentially what I wish would happen/what I love to see for characters with his archetype.

For the favorites of all time? Can't choose, honestly. Love all of them!

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fanbase would share?

Memes. Or, I'd hope so. If it ever got adapted, I'd love a compilation video or funny edits. Regardless? Endless shitposts, sprinkled with random and unwarranted brainrot thesis-long thinkpieces on elements of my characters and world-building that I never even considered when writing it that ultimately change the way even I view my characters. I'd love a good Tumblr essay from someone being Totally Normal about one of my funky little guys.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

Actually writing it! Lmao. For the 3 people that have seen my writing logs, you'd know I had to recently overhaul the entire initial arc as well as the 3 chapters I already wrote! Though I guess plot points would also be part of that struggle.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

All kinds! Anything from normal animals to classic fantasy ones to ones I personally made up! My favorite out of all of them are the dragons. Because dragons are fucking awesome. My second favorite are the ones I made myself.

One of the first ones I introduce is the "crystal frog" which is this really cute frog that's quite literally translucent- kind of like the glass frog, but even more translucent! And light refracts off of it like a crystal!

7. How do your characters travel/get around?

Carriage/horse most often at first, then eventually via ship, then flying (with magic or on a magic creature). So. Basically anything but a plane or car.

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

Actually writing it! I'm currently only a few chapters in on my first rough draft. My goal is to create the entire rough draft with as few edits as possible and then to go back and revise the whole thing, since that'll be easier for me than trying to make each chapter "perfect" before I move on.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) You think will draw your audience in?

I guess for those that are more familiar with this genre, it'll be that. Isekais/reincarnation/transmigration/portal fantasy/whatever you want to call it. It's also got found family and friendship (kinda spoiler-y, but there's a sibling adoption involved!). Lots of "be gay, do crime" instances too.

It's also primarily an adventure-comedy, with a kinda parody-angle to it. They're intentionally gunning for these classic Hero Adventure experiences, in a bucket-list kind of way. Also, they're bards (for lack of a more accurate and snappy term) in a fantasy setting. So if you like a heavy emphasis on a sibling bond and ridiculous people getting into ridiculous situations of their own making, I'm hoping this will be appealing!

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

That it gets finished, LMAO. My goal is to complete the rough draft by the end of summer, so that I can spend fall and winter revising, rewriting, editing, etc. I eventually hope (like most writers) to one day publish it. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! I can't get there if I don't even finish it.

Not sure who to tag, so I'll come back to it later.

[m4gp13]

Day 6: Songs / Gods

OctaBryThanBaster (Octavian x Bryce x Ethan x Alabaster) but this just features Ethan and Bryce

Word count - 2767

@them-awesome-rarepairs

-

Standing in a snowy corner of Central Park, Ethan shifted on his feet and heard the snow crunch under his heavy boots. “And you’re sure this will work?” he asked of the boy standing next to him.

Bryce cast him a sidelong smirk that showed off his long canines. “What? Don’t you trust me?”

Ethan frowned. “I’m standing in front of a pile of rocks with a guitar, in order to sneak into the Underworld. Forgive me if I’m a little sceptical.”

Bryce hooked his arm over Ethan’s shoulders and brought him in close; messing up his hair with a loose fist. “I always do. And if it all goes even further to Tartarus than it already is, just remember it was your boyfriend’s idea.”

With a huff, Ethan rolled his eye but made no attempt to dislodge himself from the crook of Bryce’s elbow. “He’s your boyfriend too.”

“Eh, you had him first.” It was a decent perk of having a son Hecate as a boyfriend. Instead of taking one of the less pleasant and more permanent ways of ending up in the Underworld, Ethan could just get Al to point him in the direction of the Musical Rocks route. Bryce used his hold on him to tug him up the snowy path to the big pile of boulders that was supposed to take him to the Underworld. Ethan straightened his back as much as he could under Bryce’s weight and tried not to look too nervous. It was only hell. And he only had to play a little ditty on the guitar to get there.

When they were but a few feet from the stones, Bryce stopped and removed his thick winter coat to lay it over the snow like a picnic blanket. “What are you doing?” Ethan asked, a few steps of legibility away from a groan.

Bryce sat cross-legged on the blanket like an eager elementary schooler in circle time, and beamed up at him. “Getting us a comfortable spot for the show. Won’t you join me?”

“We won’t both fit on that.”

“You can sit on my lap.” Bryce leaned back and patted his thigh while Ethan frowned at him with an unimpressed look. “I’m not joking,” he said, smile growing wider. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

Ethan held the guitar up by the fretboard, feeling a little like a butcher hoisting an animal carcass by the ankle. “I barely know how to use this thing.”

“I’ll help.” All the logical parts of his brain were telling Ethan to throw the guitar in Bryce’s face and stomp back to Mt Othrys. He could face whatever consequences Kronos wanted to throw at him later. But the other parts of his brain, his body as well, looked at Bryce’s stupid, goofy smile and got snagged on his hook, begging to be reeled in. Ethan heard his boots crunching over the snow and before he knew it, he was indeed tucking himself into Bryce’s embrace and relishing in the soft heat of his hands on his hips while they got themselves comfortable.

Taking stock of exactly what he was doing, Ethan tipped back against Bryce’s chest with a defeated sigh, still rigidly tense. “I’m serenading a pile of boulders so I can go to hell, while sitting in my boyfriend’s lap like a child.”

“Underworld,” Bryce corrected, and before Ethan could elbow him in the ribs added, “And does it count as serenading if you don’t use your voice?”

“Don’t care, didn’t ask.” Ethan twisted around and hefted the guitar in his hands. “Now what do I do with this?”

Bryce’s chuckles reverberated into Ethan while he raised his hands to his boyfriend’s. He took a gentle hold of Ethan’s left wrist and guided his right hand up to the fretboard, resting each of his fingers on the equivalent on Ethan’s hand. Leaning forward, he propped his chin up on Ethan’s shoulder, which looked a little ridiculous given that Bryce was almost a foot taller and had a good few inches on Ethan, even with him perched on his thighs.

“Just follow my lead,” Bryce said. His lips were close enough that his warm breath tickled Ethan’s cheek and forced the blood to rush to his face. He really should have come alone. With Bryce here, there wouldn’t be any blood left in his hands to keep his fingers moving across the strings.

“What will we play?” he asked.

Bryce hummed to himself before a wicked smirk cut across his face. “Pick at the ready,” he ordered and Ethan fought back a groan. He did as he was told while Bryce arranged his fingers on the cords and steadied Ethan’s other hand in preparation for the strumming. “Keep your wrist loose and follow my lead.” He rocked his hand to move the pick pinched between Ethan’s fingers up and down the strings. He didn’t recognise the first few notes as they adjusted to the arrangement but after they got the hang of it–

“Is this fucking American Pie?” He tipped his head back and tried to grumble through his grin. “It’s so long!”

“And we’ll love every second!”

As much as Ethan wanted to kick him in the shins and smash the guitar against the rocks, he couldn’t easily prove him wrong. Growing up, Ethan always got told he had his dad’s taste in music and he supposed there was some truth in that. Older songs were just fun to him. And Bryce, the asshole that he was, knew it. He knew guitars much better than Ethan and although he gave it a valiant try, he wasn’t quite good enough to make up for his co-player’s lack of experience. Ethan tried to follow his right hand on the cords as close as he could but a lot of the cord changes were too fast for him to keep up, often making their strums hit at the wrong time and sending discordant wails echoing from the instrument.

Bryce didn’t seem at all dismayed. His dopey smile didn’t falter for a second while he nodded his head or tapped his foot to the time they were supposed to be keeping. Every time Ethan cringed at a sour note, Bryce chirped, “Don’t worry, we have plenty of time to get the hang of it!”

And, gods damn him, they did. Sort of, but it was better than how they started. The song had its repetitive parts and Ethan started anticipating when to put his fingers where, which stopped the chord changes from being a flailing mess of digits getting tangled up together. It went from sounding like a mangled dirge to something almost passable as a functional song. With Bryce’s soothing presence, it even started to become a little relaxing. Ethan’s rod-straight back eventually softened as he allowed himself to lean into Bryce and his warmth; a gentle shield against the brisk cold.

“Bryce,” Ethan murmured under his breath, watching as it froze into a small cloud before him, “Do you think the Underworld gods like music?”

“I think everyone likes music to some degree,” he answered, not taking his eyes off the guitar or his hands off of Ethan’s.

“I mean more than usual,” he said. “More than the other gods.”

Briefly, Bryce flicked his eyes up to Ethan’s. “I’ve never thought about it. Why?”

“Just the entrances. The LA entrance to the Underworld is a record label and this one opens with music. I know it’s because of Orpheus, but it was his music that cut his path to the Underworld and charmed the gods into letting him try to get Eurydice back. I just thought there might be something to it.”

“That’s . . .” Bryce leaned his head closer to Ethan’s and the lengthening tips of his shaggy hair brushed against his face, “An interesting point, actually.”

“Actually?”

“You know what I mean.” Bryce nudged him with a shoulder. “To be honest, I’ve never really given it much thought. Underworld gods and songs, that is.”

Neither had Ethan until about five minutes ago. “Do you think it’s like a ‘chicken and the egg’ scenario?” he asked, and at the look of bewilderment crossing Bryce’s face, he clarified, “Maybe the connection stems from Orpheus’ influence or maybe Orpheus only had influence because of the connection?”

“Well,” Bryce said as he teased a softer melody from the guitar. The way his deft fingers worked their magic across the board was almost mesmerising. Ethan could have watched it all day. “They are Underworld gods, right?”

“Yeah. What does that have to do with songs?”

“Think about it.” Bryce shrugged. “They’re all a bunch of ancient, immortal beings doomed to spend an eternity surrounded by death. Everything just stays exactly as stale and dead as it’s been for the past several thousand years. It’s all stagnant.”

They were getting to Bryce’s favourite part of the song and his hands started moving faster with firm intent but Ethan wasn’t paying much attention. He was too busy trying and failing to work out Bryce’s logic in his head. “You’re losing me.”

Bryce snorted a laugh that hummed through Ethan’s back. “Songs are art,” he said, emphasising each word in time to the beat. “They’re inherently reflective of when they’re made, so they’re changing all the time.” A smirk slanted up his face. “In New Rome and Camp Jupiter, they liked to emulate the ancient Romans as much as they could. But we’re not ancient Romans, and it shows in everything except the latin.”

“So,” Ethan drawled as his hands tried desperately to keep up with Bryce’s effortless movements, “You think the Underworld gods like music because everything is the same down there but songs are always changing?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” His strumming thankfully started slowing as the song began winding down to the last few repeats of the chorus. His hair kept falling in his eyes but he didn’t seem to take much note of it. “If I was a god living in the Underworld, the only people I’d ever let in were the people who could handle a melody.”

“Would you make them all play for you?”

“Probably. That’s the nature of godhood, right?” He slashed the pick down the strings. “Mortals like us are just entertainment to them.”

“Oh?” Ethan glanced over his shoulder at Bryce’s face, trusting him to carry on the tune on his own. “Rather dissenting for a Roman.”

“Well, you’re rather obedient for a Greek,” he huffed under his breath.

Ethan stiffened and sharpened his look at Bryce. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Bryce sagged with a sigh, but his hands didn’t skip a beat as they kept plucking the last few melancholy notes from the strings. “She doesn’t love you, you know,” he said, making Ethan stiffen even further against him. “She’s a goddess. It’s in her nature to use you. You’ll never be anything but a resource to her.”

The ending of the song drifted on the air and before Ethan could snap back, a deep rumbling drew his attention to the mound of rocks before him. The thin layer of frost coating them was shaken off to drift to the ground as the old stones grinded against each other. As if a knife had been stabbed into it, a long, thin slice of blackness appeared gouged into the surface and widened from its tapered tip to a flat bottom. The rumbling stopped, and Ethan felt Bryce’s hand grip tighter onto his.

They sat in silence as they assessed the triangular crevice that appeared where the boulders used to be. A serpentine shiver snaked its way down Ethan’s spine and curled up into an uneasy knot in the pit of his stomach. The scent of mildew and rot drifted from the open passage to assault his senses and give him harsh reminders of his time in the labyrinth a few months ago.

Instead of getting up or shoving Ethan off, Bryce let his fingers trail further down the inside of Ethan’s wrist and forearm. “You know–”

“If you’re going to tell me that I don’t have to do this, and that it’s too dangerous, and that I’d be much better off if I just ran away with you to hide until this war blows over–” He cast him a dull look over his shoulder “–Save your breath. We’ve been over this.”

He watched Bryce transform before his eye. “She doesn’t deserve your help.” His voice cut like a knife, his eyes narrowed into pointed shards and all the softness he’d enveloped Ethan in for the past several dozen minutes had been instantly chipped away to form a serrated edge.

Ethan set the guitar on the ground beside them. “That’s not for you to decide.” He got up to go but Bryce wrapped his arms around his waist, keeping him down and pressed against him. “Bryce!” Ethan snapped. He couldn’t wriggle his way out of Bryce’s grasp so he twisted around in his lap to face him and shut up any protest working its way to Bryce’s lips with a militant glare. “You have no right to tell me what I can or can’t do for my people. Not when you’re no better.”

Bryce’s head snapped up and his eyes locked onto Ethan. “Excuse me?”

His arms had loosened so Ethan took the opportunity to haul himself to his feet, looking down at his boyfriend. “What’s Orcus ever done for you? Or the legion, for that matter? And yet you still defend them, you’ve never considered joining the army and you’d kiss their boots in a heartbeat. You have no ground to stand on when it comes to me and my mother.”

“That’s completely different.” Bryce braced his hands on his knees and hunched forward. Even sitting on the ground with his head craned back to look up at Ethan, he still appeared as if he was looking down his nose at Ethan. Probably from being so used to being the tall one. “You don’t see me running around doing errands for them.”

“You would if they asked you.”

“What’s that got to do with this?” Bryce demanded.

Ethan didn’t care for his deflections. “If the legion came for you right now and offered you a place with them, would you take it?” Bryce didn’t answer. Not verbally. But Ethan watched the shameful drop of his head and the way he let his hair fall like a curtain before his eyes, shielding them from view. “See?” Ethan said. “We’re both servile little mortals.”

“It’s–” His voice broke. “It’s not easy, being an exile.”

Ethan sighed. “I know.” He was well acquainted with that kind of lifestyle.

Bryce flicked his eyes up to meet Ethan’s. “But you’ve never asked me to join the army.”

“It’s not easy being in the army, either.”

Bryce opened his mouth as if to snap a retort, but his eyes skipped past Ethan to the yawning mouth of the cave before them and wisely shut his trap. Ethan turned around, taking a deep breath to steady himself, and started walking towards the entrance.

The snow crunched behind him and in an instant he was facing Bryce again, his wrist clenched in his hand. His eyes were wide and desperation was etched into every line of his face. “If you don’t come back–”

“You’ll what?” Ethan cut in and arched a brow at his boyfriend. “Kill me?”

“No,” he huffed. His shoulders sagged and for a moment Ethan thought he was about to let go and send him on his merry way down to hell. He didn’t do that. Instead, he tugged him forward by his wrist and enveloped him in a hug. “Just remember that I know how to get down there too.”

Bryce’s body was a bastion of warmth and Ethan couldn’t help but bury his face in his chest, savouring it in case he’d never get to feel it again. “Yeah,” he murmured against him. “I won’t forget.”

Bryce pressed a shallow kiss to his forehead and stepped back. His lips were quivering but he forced them into a smile nonetheless. “I’ll see you soon,” he said. “And if I don’t, you can tell Hades and Persephone to expect the concert of an unlifetime.”

Ethan gave Bryce’s hand a quick squeeze. “I’ll pass it along.” This time, when Ethan turned to leave, Bryce didn’t stop him. He could still feel his eyes on his back and when he stepped into the shadow of the dark cave, he held Bryce’s warmth close to his chest; his shield against the surrounding cold.

-

[star-stream]

Bakuage 13

Im really glad that the crossover episode had a lasting effect on the team, specially Taiya. I think that meeting Speedor is a really good reason to make animal themed cars rather than just "well kids like animals and cars so". Its good!

Its also fun to see who does what in the development of the Boonboomcars... but also...

Of COURSE Chasshiro made AIs that dont trust easy. Of course. This fucking guy... Hes so funny i love him. Please open your heart.

Someone on twitter pointed out that this is the same house (and maybe same girl) that was keeping Tsubasa in the dog house, putting it here cause thats funny as hell.

Im glad you went through the trouble of showing Taiya pay for parking. For a moment after the Sanseaters turn up i was gonna be worried it would get towed but Taiya was on the ball so I could continue watching with no problems.

Why are you here Chasshiro? You love riding on the passenger seat, I see you. I think its fun how he was looking pleased right UNTIL Genba showed up, then he became suicidal. Im so obsessed with this dynamic.

If you did more informant work rather than going on dates perhaps youd be on the ball but i dont blame you. Continue.

This is perhaps my favorite shot of the Boonboom Killer Robo. Its so funny theres something about it thats just real charming. It looks like some kind of lizard perhaps. Maybe its cute cause its hands are raised like a red panda thats trying to look scary.

The Sanseaters were so good in this episode... Them dancing to this folk song... You guys are real nice guys, maybe just misguided.

Bakusage.... So cute... Chasshiro likes to curl up, Genba and Mira are halfway to laying down.. Jou is gone... so cute!

WHEN HE PULLED THIS OUT I LOST IT. I almost accepted it but its too ridiculous, where did it come from!!!!

Its cute that Taiya is trying to crank himself up by sitting in his cool car... It didnt work, but its cute.

Chasshiro went back and then immediately resumed this position, under his desk... This is way too funny...

They honestly struck gold with the Sanseaters, i feel like everyone immediately loves these goofy guys. Im smiling just looking at this picture. It was cute how innocent their individual requests were... Also, the way Genba softly spoke to them while he procured stuff was so good, hey...

Their transformation poses!!! So good, honestly Itasha killed it. Also, "Bun Aka" Yarucar is just a little guy... it was nice of them to give Red to Yarucar. Thats the rule of playing pretend rangers, you gotta let the little guy take red.

I LOOOOOOVE that the Sanseaters are driving the Robo. I was surprised i wasnt expecting that! Its finally Dekotorades time to shine, since he wasnt able to do much of anything until now when it comes to general chaos. Also the Killer Robo has such a cool design, look at these toys?! crazy good ones

This was Awesome.

I love the clawing motion for this finisher. I love when they do little poses in the cockpit.

LET THEM PLAY!!! THEYRE HAVING SO MUCH FUN!!!

[lizajane2]

Avatar the Last Airbender Live Action Episode 1

Oh, damn the bending is awesome. Like I can see why people say that the earth bending still needs a little work but it's still good though. And I appreciate that when the fire hits you your clothes are singed.

Shit. We're burning people alive now. Okay. Wasn't expecting that.

The music though. Such nostalgia. Makes me tear up a bit.

They made Aang fly like Zaheer. You know what? I'm not angry about that, I always wondered why Aang never tried it.

Gordon embodies Aang. They are the same person, and you cannot change my mind.

"Monks don't trust me to feed the baby bison and they want me to save the world." "I'm scared of my power! I'm scared of being alone." He is just a boy and has no idea about the world.

Okay seriously the writers showing the battle between the Airbenders and Firebenders is pretty fucking cool. Especially seeing a bit of Sozin vs Gyatso.

"Finally." Maybe it's just me but the way Dallas said that was perfect. That was Zuko. All the way. That ponytail isn't easy to pull off and somehow it works.

"Sky bison. Sky bison. Sky. Bison."

"Repeating it doesn't help."

I admit that made me chuckle.

I have watched the animated series again and again and again. However, I still never get over the fact that a 12-year-old boy was thrown into a completely different world from the one he was used to, one that he has to immediately save from due to war when he wasn't ready to even face the fact that he's the Avatar.

"When the world needed the Avatar the most he vanished because he's a coward." That's not fair, Sokka. Don't be so harsh he's just a kid.

"Lord of uh Snow and Ice." lol. That's definitely Sokka.

God the bending is just perfect. Yes, the dialogue needs work and the acting is sub-par but I love the writing and the visuals. I enjoy the cheesy one-liners. I think every actor does great at portraying their character, especially Dallas. He's a perfect Zuko. It bothers me a little bit that they didn't have Aang waterbend in this episode while in the Avatar State.

I like that they changed that it was Gyatso who was able to calm him down rather than Katara like in the show. Nice little change there.

Okay, I really don't understand the hate here. And I'm seeing people all over Tiktok suddenly love the live-action movie more? God, that movie sucked, it always did. I definitely prefer the series over that ridiculous adaptation.