#heck i barely played 2 so far...

[holykhepri]

twitter is broken for me so

all these gamecube remakes makes me PATIENTLY HOLD MY BREATH....

[katshelluvacritic]

Charlie Morningstar is probably one of the worst written characters I’ve seen in the series.

(This one’s gonna be a long one…)

Ok…. So I watched all six episodes and to be honest I’m pretty much pissed off by this character specifically. This might be more of a rant rather than a critique, so I do understand that not everything I say in this will end up being as constructive exactly but I genuinely need to get this off my chest, especially since she is a character I’ve specifically and recently been hyper fixating on before the show released…

(Side note: I realized the post was very long so, to have it be easier to read I added titles for each section! Hope this helps)

!!WARNING FOR SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES BTW!!

> Charlie lacks the qualities of being a main character.

Now besides the piss poor excuse of an introduction for her (and the rest of the cast) in the main series, I honestly question why exactly Charlie specifically is the “protagonist” in the first place (and I say protagonist with the biggest of quotes here, you’ll see why).

In the first episode of the series “overture”, we don’t really see much of her character, most of the time we’re shown screen time of Vicky (a nickname I made for v*ggie since I’m not gonna call her by her genitalia thank you) trying to make an ad for the hotel and even when we do get the screen time of her, she’s barely doing anything other than hearing viv’s self insert- I mean- Adam just go on and on about whatever he’s talking about.

And when Charlie does go on to explain her plan to redeem sinners she’s just interrupted and then stands there when they start singing hell is forever, she doesn’t “go off” like the hazbin Twitter says, she just stands there and then tries to say something only to get interrupted again and again and then gets pushed out of the meeting room before going back to the hotel to see it’s spread across in the news that the next extermination happens in 6 months.

Now although one might argue “Well didn’t Charlie at one point said in the show that giving orders is so mean?” Well yes but again, Charlie is literally the princess of pride ring, you would think that since her parents are literally rulers of pride, they would’ve probably teach her how to stand on her two feat, especially if your RUNNING A HOTEL. And the thing is, she has stood up and did so in episode 6 and the goddamn pilot (which is at this point is probably canon due to Charlie calling it the hazbin hotel instead of happy hotel), even going as far as to fight Katie Killjoy because she thought it was stupid.

Not only that but the episodes after overture, her screen time lessens until somewhat in 5 and 6. She doesn’t really appear that much in the between these episodes to the point where she feels like a supporting character rather than a protagonist. And when she does get screen time, she’s either forgettable at best and infuriating at worst.

> Charlie’s character is poorly written and just dumb.

In the episodes past overture, she’s literally rock solid stupid that I literally screamed in real life multiple times “you’re a fucking idiot” because of how frustrated I was from what she was doing, In episode 2 she literally trusted sir pentious to go to her hotel even though he almost destroyed her place and in episode 6 thought it was a hunky dory idea to let a person who literally exploded buildings to take charge of giving her employees a “good time”. Yes it could be played off as her being naive but if she’s that naive of a person then maybe she shouldn’t be a boss of a hotel to rehabilitate sinners.

Heck, in episode 4, Charlie gets pissed off and turns into her demon form because val literally started hurting Angel when he followed him into the room (and rightfully so) but when angel tells her to leave and drags her out of the studio, she’s just in her normal form and fucks off??? Reminder she’s literally the princess of hell! She could beat the shit out of val if she wants to, why did she just fucked off after angel had her leave?

“But Kat, what if something bad happens to angel if valentino dies?” Like what? If it was explained that if an overlord dies then the sinners that made a deal with them die too or something like that then yeah, that would make sense but we don’t know that whether or not that’s the case, if anything angel could be just fine after Valentino dies but we don’t know that.

And even when Charlie had the opportunity to go out there and apologize to him herself after he stormed out of the hotel, she and Vicky just send Husk to do it. And I have to ask, WHY? HUSK didn’t know what was happening to Angel earlier. HUSK wasn’t at the porn studio that Angel was working at. CHARLIE WAS….

“Well Kat, what if Charlie was scared about making things worse?” Fair enough, but again sending Husk is a stupid idea, I feel like it would’ve AT LEAST made sense if she sent Vicky out there. Because Charlie didn’t know if husk could fight (if you could even call it that, all he did was throw cards at people), BUT SHE KNEW VICKY COULD THOUGH. But nah we gotta do it for the ship right?

And then Charlie had the gull to be crying that angel forgave her after she fucked up, like shut the fuck up… it’s like if viv looked at a bunch of chars that had the optimistic care-free ‘ish personality and thought that meant making her as pathetic as a baby crying that they didn’t get a lollipop from their mommy.

Like I’m gonna be honest with you, it’s literally gone to a point where I think Orel Puppington (aka the 11 yo Christian kid who worships Jesus and gets harmful lessons from other Christians) makes a better Charlie Morningstar than the Charlie Morningstar herself!

And that thought is justified when he tried to go help people in Sinville, “Kat he ended up turning into a pimp at the end of the episode” yeah but AT LEAST HE TRIED TO ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING! Which leads me to another question….

> How is Charlie gonna redeem sinners exactly???

Like honestly, I’m serous with this one. How is Charlie gonna redeem these guys?

I ask this because in the series, she barely does ANYTHING to help these guys, she and the rest of the characters just sit around and then do an activity that is the equivalent of something you would do in kindergarten except it’s with ADULTS.

I don’t know about you but If your idea of helping people is doing just that and nothing else, then the only thing the people around you are gonna get is them being annoyed at first and eventually walking out with thinking your not helping them but rather just treating them like a baby who doesn’t know anything, and the only thing your gonna get personally is nothing because you did dick all.

Like other than that she pretty much just whines about sinners not going to her hotel and oh gee I wonder why, it’s not like your not doing anything to help these sinners not committing sins anymore, oh definitely not, your absolutely being helpful.

“Oh but Kat! Charlie was born in hell, how can she know how to help people? She’s not from the human world so, she wouldn’t exactly know how to help these people!” I would tell you to look at the world building for the series and it’s spin off but that’s a whole other can of beans that I don’t wanna cover today and this is already getting to long, so y’know what? We’ll go with that.

If Charlie didn’t know how to help people and was trying to figure out what she can do to help sinners get better, then why didn’t she just ask her employees for suggestions? Y’know, the other sinners who were from the human world and had experiences while they were alive and such?

Yeah, I get that not all of their advice would be exactly good or healthy (since they’re sinners who’ve done many bad things after all) BUT ITS AT LEAST SOMETHING FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!

She literally does nothing, she just expects you to immediately get better after some improvisations or whatever other activities she does and once you’ve done one nice thing then boom you’re close to redemption.

> Conclusion.

Charlie Morningstar is (like I said in the beginning) probably one of the worst characters in the hazbin hotel series, she at best a stereotype of the “everything is sunshines and rainbows” character tropes and at worst is a pathetic excuse of a main character and is nothing but a rotten shell of her character from the pilot.

I would go on about how her design’s also bad but I’m sure millions of people have already said the same issues and I’ve already posted my redesign of her before the show dropped.

I might plan on posting a rewrite of her or maybe explain my problems with another character or episode but I don’t know.

But until then, I’ll see y’all later!

[aroaceleovaldez]

I think one of the problems with the HoO characterizations is Rick kind of forgot to give half the cast hobbies and general interests, and maybe like people they know outside of their families and outside of camp, or if he did remember to it rarely gets brought up for most of them, or in the special case of Annabeth - she randomly develops a hobby in weaving for exactly one scene and then never again. Apparently she just knew how to do that, even though it is a skill she has literally never used before nor uses again.

The best examples I can give of this are comparing/contrasting the examples of when we do actually get this with the lack-thereof: Hazel and Frank are good examples. Hazel has hobbies and interests generally unrelated to all her demigod stuff (horses and art) and we see this repeatedly discussed and brought up. She also knows and interacts with people outside of the necessities of her quest/Camp Jupiter or her family - Sammy was her best friend at school and they hung out and stuff! Meanwhile, Frank, as far as we know, doesn’t know anybody outside of his family even though he presumably went to school before Camp Jupiter? His hobby is... archery? That’s the only thing he ever really shows interest in but at the same time it only rarely gets brought up except for him using a bow as his main weapon and the like two instances of noting that Frank had hoped he was an Apollo kid for a little bit. The closest other detail we get to Frank having any other kind of hobby/interest is him mentioning off-hand that he used to play Mythomagic.

Piper and Leo - We can presume that Piper knew Shel before moving to Oklahoma, because Piper used to visit her grandpa often and as far as we know that’s also where Shel lives. But we never see Piper ever mention knowing anyone else in her grandfather’s community. Heck, when she’s introduced we’re basically outright told that she doesn’t interact much at all with any of her classmates outside of necessity, and we don’t even have any confirmation that before Hera’s mind-meddling that she even acknowledged Leo’s existence. Also, Piper has like, exactly zero hobbies. We do not know what Piper does in her free time or what she likes (except vaguely that she has surfed before), only really what she dislikes. Leo at least does have some kind of excuse for not really knowing anybody, and an explicit explanation about why that is the case and how he feels about it. Leo also has a repeatedly referenced interest/hobby in mechanics that’s very core to his character.

Percy and Annabeth? Pre-HoO, they both have plenty of interests and know people outside their general circles! Percy knows kids at school. Annabeth’s general outer social circle is Camp Half-Blood, because she grew up there, but she clearly knows people at camp. She’s also super into architecture! And Percy does a ton of stuff in his free time - he skateboards! He plays basketball! He has two pets he takes care of (Blackjack and Mrs. O’Leary)! Post-HoO he’s on a swim team! But during HoO? Percy’s hobbies just kind of disappear, besides “oh yeah he uh. Does water stuff.” There’s no acknowledgement of like, “Yeah Percy sets up a little basketball hoop on the back of his door on the Argo 2 and shoots trash at it.” Literally anything! And yeah, Annabeth’s architecture interest is somewhat acknowledged, but also like, not really? We at least get some kind of “Yeah, in her spare time she’s usually on her laptop working on stuff” but we also barely get any instances of Annabeth thinking about her friends at camp except for like, Tartarus.

For Jason it at least kind of works because a.) he has amnesia and it’s implied he doesn’t really have close friends at Camp Jupiter besides Reyna, so it figures he only ever really references random other legionaries like, twice. and b.) there is also the heavily implication that Jason doesn’t have hobbies, because his entire life was so focused around his training at Camp Jupiter. This works less with Reyna, but she also kind of has an excuse for not knowing people besides like, her sister and Jason, given she ran away when she was young, Circe’s island was destroyed, and she could have only been at Camp Jupiter for like 3 years maximum at that point. And she’s not exactly the most social character. We also don’t get much indication of her hobbies, besides she also likes horses and it’s heavily implied she likes nature/gardens? Presumably, given we get like, one note of that in HoO, maybe two if you count her living on Circe’s island, and then like one more nod to that in TOA. And we only get her POV chapters in BoO anyways so again, she has some excuses. Coach Hedge also is incredibly bland besides maybe him having a hobby in sports, and... violence? Which definitely does not count. And him lacking any POV chapters doesn’t really help.

I think this is why Nico continually feels like such a strong character, simply because we know what he does in his spare time. We know he knows people outside of the camps (most of those people are gods or ghosts, but he at least knows people) and technically you could argue him knowing about Camp Jupiter between BoTL and TLO counts too. He even references his old neighbor at one point. Obviously, he’s very into Mythomagic, and that comes up a lot because it’s his special interest and is usually also relevant to their quests. He travels a lot, and apparently used to when he was younger as well. We also learn he used to have a special interest about pirates and that apparently may have played into his crush on Percy. Like, all that is so simple and minor but it makes such a difference for how Nico feels as a character. Most of Nico’s stuff though is established in the first series, which definitely helps because the first series was pretty good about giving characters hobbies and maybe some people they know - Annabeth, Percy, and Nico we’ve already covered, but also like, Grover knows other satyrs and is usually practicing music and also we know what foods he likes. Thalia is very into punk culture and music. We know she particularly likes Green Day. We know she knew the Hunters of Artemis before the events of TTC. Rachel's whole thing is that she’s super into art and she has a bunch of connections through her rich family, and she’s basically Percy’s only mortal friend. They have lives!

If you put a protagonist in a room and told them to occupy themselves, you should have an answer for what they do. They should be able to name one person outside their immediate social circle who they are generally friendly with or vaguely know, unless they have a specific reason for that to not be the case. HoO crew needs to occupy their time by themselves, no weaponry, for twenty minutes? Hazel could be drawing, Nico could be organizing his cards, Leo could be tinkering, Annabeth could be working on her laptop, Percy could be trying out little skateboard tricks. Jason, Piper, Frank, and Reyna? What would they be doing?

TOA does actually answer that question for Jason, at least, because we learn that Jason makes tiny dioramas! That’s adorable! Why doesn’t he do that in HoO?! TOA also gives us more depth to Will Solace besides “He’s a medic and does medic things” with telling us that he’s into Star Wars. Like, that’s actually so much information to work with! Thank you! And then we also find out in TOA that Nico’s also kinda into art! We still don’t get anything new for Piper, Frank, or Reyna - besides again one more potential implication that Reyna thinks plants are Pretty Okay, and that nature is Mildly Alright. Like, not even “maybe she keeps a houseplant” territory, all we have is “if she had the option, she might be interested in visiting a flower garden.” But honestly TOA at least gives us something for most of the characters we see. Like at least one thing. Most of the rest of the writing is a mess but at least the characters are mildly interesting.

Anyways, give your characters hobbies, it’s good for them.

[alpaca-clouds]

Some thoughts on Nocturne

Okay, we finally have a trailer and some actual information on the show, I think it is kinda fun to speculate, right? And just have some thoughts. No, scratch that: Actually I got a lot of thoughts. Even though barely anything is confirmed.

Firstly: Yeah, let's face it, it does not look like there is a ton of plot tonna survive from the two games inspiring it. Which undoubtedly will once again leave the game fans angry. But even though I enjoyed the heck out of Symphony of the Night (still gotta play Rondo full), I still think it is kinda a good thing. Because most Castlevania games are fairly light on story. Which - I said this before - is okay. It is totally okay for a videogame to be like: "Slay big monster." But if you want to translate it into a more narrative focused medium, you gotta change stuff.

I was originally kinda sceptical about the entire French Revolution thing for two reasons. 1) Well, technically I doubt that the French Revolution is still gonna happen after how the first series ended. But that might just be me. 2) Western Media, but American Media especially sucks when it comes to portrayels of the French Revolution as it usually goes back to the "There were good people on both sides!" kinda outlook, that does not really get the revolution and everything that was going on.

Funnily enough the thing that made me a bit more optimistic on this point is just them making Annette Black and from what I gather from that preview article released two days someone who has escaped slavery. I mean, game!Annette is just the usual passive kinda woman for the most part. And this is... definitely more interesting than that.

Especially given there is also another detail that nobody seems to acknowledge: Outside of showrunner Clive Bradley, all the episode writers (Temi Oh, Testament and Zodwa Nyoni) are Black. Which kinda seems like a very conscious choice. And given that the French Revolution does not get the credit it deserves as an abolition movement and something that definitely also helped to lead to the Haitain Revolution, I start to get my hopes up that they are gonna actually work with that aspect of the (hi)story.

One thing that is also interesting to me - though also kinda iffy - is the thing with Orlox and Richter's mother.

Iffy because it makes Richter join the ranks of Castlevania protagonists at least partly inspired by the death of a woman. What is it with this franchise and that fucking refrigirating warehouse filled with women?! I mean, Jesus, you people are aware that man can actually be inspired to do stuff for other reasons than a woman dying, right?!

But... We also know that Orlox does not seem to be the main antagonist, but apparently is someone who ends up making uneasy allies with Richter and Co., which kinda makes me hope that there is actually gonna be a bit more nuance to this than it appears at first glance.

Orlox says in the trailer that Richter's mom killed someone very dear to him (honestly, if this is gonna be another refrigerated woman, I am gonna flip a fucking table, though I guess I also do not want buried gays) and a part of me kinda hopes that it might go into the direction I brought up concerning my Belmont family headcanon with this discussing the idea of "killing all vampires is kinda bad, too".

Another thing about Orlox is, too, that he is not white. I read him as Black originally, but given that he is voiced by Zahn McClarnon, who is indigenous, I am gonna assume Orlox here is of Indigenous heritage. Which is gonna make for an interesting storybeat, given that in the series so far we had non-white vampires, yes, but... none of them had much in terms of story, let alone even voicelines.

Especially given another thing...

Given from what we see in the trailer, there definitely is gonna be a theme of "nobility = vampires" going on here. We can only guess about how much of it being like actual: "Oh, yeah, all nobles are vampires!" But there are definitely gonna be some vampires nobles opposed to the revolution. That seems to be pretty clear.

Aaaaaand... that makes me wonder, whether or not there is actually gonna be some commentary about the different ranks within vampire society.

Let me explain: All vampires with voicelines (or, heck, NAMES) within the original Castlevania series were nobles of some sort. It was what in other franchises would be called Vampire Lords. Well, with the exception of Ratko, that is, who explicitly is a soldier. Most of the vampire soldiers are just faceless characters with the same four designs repeating over and over. They are just the canon fodder who dies, when the heroes need their action scenes. But... That always made me wonder what vampire society actually looked like for these people.

And given the time this is now set in... and that Orlox is apparently indigenous... I kinda doubt that he is a vampire lord, given the times. If we have the vampire nobility being actual nobility... They gotta be racist, right?

Maybe I am just conjecturing too much here. But... That would actually make for an interesting idea.

Also, also... In the original show there is not a single Black or Arabian vampire. Which is also... interesting. Just saying.

We also know that the main antagonist seems to be Erzsebet Báthory (rather than Shaft or Dracula, though obviously this could also be the trailer trying to mislead us).

Fun Fact: Did you know that there is two vampires in the Castlevania games based on historical serial killers, who these days are both presumed to have been innocent? (Bathory and de Rais.)

This is something where I am super interested to see, where they are going to go with the character. Because there definitely is this historical assumption these days that she might have been innocent - and man would that make for a more interesting character than her being actually just a child murderer.

We so far see too little of her to really speculate much. But I definitely find it interesting that they have chosen her as the antagonist.

Also... There is this whole thing of Vampire Messiah and all of that going on and blocking out the sun and what not. And I kinda do wonder if anyone is gonna go like: "Uhm, yeah, without a sun we cannot grow shit and everyone is gonna starve, including vampires!"

Other more short form thoughts:

We see this night creature apparently saving Annette from a vampire or other night creature. What's up with that? Or is it even a night creature? We definitely see night creatures in that big eclipse scene, but there issomething else that might be going on here. Because...

Admittedly, the one vampire I have trouble placing in my theory is this one. She does seem to be on the side of Bathory in this based on everything we see in the trailer. From all I can find, she does not have a name as far as I could find. But she does fight Annette and all of that. And she definitely is Black, making me wonder what her story is.

BUUUUUT... If you look at her full design in the scene where she is fighting Annette, she looks remarkably like the night creature saving Annette in the above screenshot. So...

We see those masked figures in the trailer, with the clear implication that they are vampires. And last night (well, European night that is) someone on one of the servers was like: "Hey, is the blond masked guy Alucard with short hair?" And I originally brushed it off. But... I also think now they might be right, because he has normal ears and not poity vampire ears. And that is only something we saw in Alucard so far (not that we see a ton of his ears - which made me to always assume for my fics he has pointy ears, but I crossreferenced the models and yeah, no, Alucard has normal ears). So, either this is Alucard... or some other dhampir. Probably not a full-blooded vampire though.

In this one shot of what seems to be Annette using her magic, we see that she has a Fleur-de-lis either painted, tattooed or branded on her right hand. And I gotta wonder what is up with that. Given that she is a freed/runaway slave, I do wonder whether she has some ties to the royal family in one way or another?

We do see Maria summon what clearly looks like Byakku. And I am wondering how they are gonna go about Maria's powerset. Because it is another thing were the games do not have a ton of story happening. She summons beasts that are strictly linked to East Asian mythology, even though she is not from East Asia because of... reasons. I certainly hope she is gotta get more of a reason to do so here. (Especially given her entire Ninja-thing in Symphony, that made about as much sense lol Please note: I love game!Maria. It is just kinda a hilarious "Japanese games will do this" thing to me.)

We do not see a ton of Tera using magic in the trailer. Buuuuut in this scene she uses ice magic and definitely uses the same hand sign for it Sypha uses. She also vaguely has the same color scheme (blue and black) as the speakers do. And the same blue eyes like Sypha. Is she related to the speakers somehow? (And given the role that the Romani people also kinda had in terms of the revolution: Will we just stick with the speakers taking over the roles of Sinti and Roma?)

What is going on in this scene?

I mean, we definitely see Richter using magic in the trailer (which still makes a ton of sense to me, given he is gonna be as much of a descendent of Sypha as he is of Trevor). But this... does kinda seem as if he might have something more than just normal magic going on there.

Also: I just adore that half of the trailer Richter is crying. Someone hug this poor boy.

Finally: I sure hope it will keep up the gay levels of the series so far xD

[thethreeeyed-raven]

i jus know bran would be nervous as heck talking to you for the first time while having a massive secret crush on you, he doesn’t know where to look because he’s afraid to make eye contact, even though he loves your eyes. jojen,meera, arya, and sansa keep “ooo”-ing whenever the two of you are trying to have a normal conversation bc they all know he swoons over you😭 (it’s super obvious, he’s a big show-off whenever you’re around and perks up everytime he hears someone say your name)

wanna go on a date?

navigation | warnings : none? | a/n : sorry if this is crap, usernames are cringe af sorry abt that, lmk if u want a part 2 :) | bran stark playlist | tags : @knight-of-flowerss @lost-in-fiction-like-ur-mom

Bran couldn't stop staring at your lips.

Was it weird? Maybe a little bit.

Maybe a lot.

Fuck.

Surely you would've noticed by now.

The conversation started when you mentioned to Sansa a video game that you enjoyed playing, and it just so happens that Bran plays that game too (only because you do).

Then you had stopped talking to Sansa and turned to Bran. Your voice didn't reach his ears, he was far too distracted with the thought of what your lips must feel like.

Catelyn had let Jojen and Meera visit, but it seems they were being ignored.

Bran swears he isn't ignoring them, he just likes you so much. So, so much.

"Bran."

He didn't answer.

"Bran. Are you listening?" You eyes flashed with concern. Oh how he could look into them all day long.

"Hm? Oh, yes. Yes, I'm listening." Bran shook all thoughts out of his head, focusing all of his attention on you.

"He's daydreaming about your luscious, red lips." Meera teased, causing a light pink to dust across his cheeks and nose.

"No I'm not." He barely whispered.

Jojen, Meera and Sansa laughed, but instead, you sat with a smile on your face.

You were quite aware of Bran's feelings towards you, and so did everyone else. But they didn't know of your feelings for him.

Bran grew tired of their mockery, sighed and left the room "Just fuck off!"

You had waited for months now. Waiting and waiting for Bran to make a move on you.

And you were sick of waiting.

You got your phone out and pulled up his instagram, clicking message.

y/n.is.tongue.tied :

hey bran! i have a question PLEASE ANSWER😭🙏🏻

literal.3eyed_raven :

is it about [fav video game]? because girl you know i'm shit at it🫠

y/n.is.tongue.tied :

actually i wanted to know if u wanna go on a date?

literal.3eyed_raven :

what

y/n.is.tongue.tied :

a date-

seen

"Oh, my, fucking, god."

"Oi! Language." Ned warned.

"What did I say about phones at the table?" Catelyn held her hand out to take Bran's phone.

"Jon!" Bran shouted to his brother who sat at the end of the dining table.

He looked up, chicken still stuffed in his mouth.

"What do you say when someone asks you on a date?"

Robb laughed loudly, making Jon glare at him out of the corner of his eye. "What are you asking him for? He's never even looked a person in the eye!"

Jon picked up a piece of his food to throw at him, but Robb dodged it.

Arya was quite frankly getting annoyed with her brothers teasing each other, and Bran's unnecessary panic. "Just say yes, it's not that hard."

Bran rolled his eyes. "Of course you wouldn't think it's hard Arya, no one likes to talk to you."

literal.3eyed_raven :

sorry for not answering

yh ofc!

y/n.is.tongue.tied :

do you wanna work out the details tmr?

literal.3eyed_raven :

sure!

y/n.is.tongue.tied :

💗

[britt-kageryuu]

Leo is streaming! His model is dressed in a Sonic the Hedgehog jacket, a white shirt with a Trans colored unicorn, black short-shorts, over the knee blue socks, his mask, and white/blue sneakers. He's on his inflatable blue chair. River is sitting in a inflatable ring slowly spinning. He's playing Stardew Valley and currently attempting to see how far he can get in the Skull Caverns.

Leo: So recently, since Dad went on a vacation, me and my bro tried to find anything interesting among his collection of stuff from when he was in the film industry. And you would not believe what we found!!

Chat is excited, and asking for the answer.

Leo: So apparently there was an attempt to make a Lou Jitsu family sitcom!

Chat is a bit confused, but also amazed by this information.

Leo: Yeah, they never made it, but Pops has alot of the pre-production stuff, like the pilot script prototype. So apparently it was a family based sitcom where Lou Jitsu was going to be the Dad who was once a champion martial artist, who would teach his kids life lessons, and how to kick butt, that part was considered too problematic with parents.

Some of the chat said they could see kinda how it would work, but yeah it wouldn't fly with the parents that would be worried about their kids copying everything.

Leo: There was some notes on who the show runners wanted to cast, like apparently they wanted Tang Shen to be the Mom? Don't know how well that would work, but hey the biggest set back would've been casting the kids! They would've had to find like 2 to 3 at least vaguely Asian kids to teens to act as the kids to make it somewhat believable!

Chat is in some confused agreement, some pointing out how hard it was for Aisian actors during that time, let alone finding child actors!

River: Not to mention how they would seriously mess up the trying to represent an average Asian household, or how they believe it would be. Though Lou didn't really seem embrace his heritage much.

Leo: Yeah, many good points, heck we barely know much about how the star actor wanted this to happen, but it's still very funny to think about. Well it would probably work in the current way they make shows, but not as well.

River: Oh yeah, there was a few shows where they had the main characters be martial artists, but they would have to make Lou the Grandpa!

Leo: Wonder whatever happened to the guy? Oh shhhh-oot it's late, I didn't get as far as last time. Back to the farm before I pass out.

The topic was changed, but there was lots of conspiracy theories being tossed around in the chat. Yes, Leo was proud of the slight chaos he caused in the chat, and purposefully left them hanging.

--------------------

Masterpost

I took way to long editing all my posts to add color.

[kendrene]

If there is something that sits badly with me in regards to WOT s2 so far it's how they've cut out Siuan's presence. I would like to believe it was a choice forced by Sophie Okonedo's other commitments, but it's a problem that could have been solved by making her a series regular instead of a guest star. (maybe they tried and it wasn't viable, I guess we'll never know).

Because if they've reassigned Siuan-centric book scenes as a conscious choice that is... troubling to say the least. Firstly because a pivotal character interpreted by a POC actress is (again) sidelined/reduced in importance to prop up other (white) characters, and secondly because it guts into the narrative arcs that'll come into play later on in the adaption.

Siuan sending the girls to hunt the Black Ajah? How do you get to that point when she has shared maybe 2 minutes of screen time all told with them? The coup? Not as dramatic when the Amyrlin has barely been introduced. Siuan's role in Salidar as Egwene's mentor and her struggle to adapt to being stilled? Would they spend any time on that when they're already exploring the same struggle with Moiraine?

And even just thinking in s2 terms: what the heck is Siuan doing away from the Tower? Why would she leave Leane behind? My guess is that they're trying to somewhat mirror Siuan's visit to the Borderlands at the start of TGH but she's going to go to Cairhien. Why though? Because of the Horn? Because Moiraine sent her a note about Rand being there? (at least from trailers this seems a plausible explanation.) The show is doing a really bad job explaining any of it, though, and while I understand them wanting to preserve mystery, I also wonder if show only fans feel maybe a little lost?

TGH and TDR were the books that cemented Siuan not just as "the Aes Sedai boss" but a MAJOR player in the story. And with a lot (most?) of her scenes being given to other characters I am afraid her impact on the whole narrative will be greatly reduced.

[ioannemos]

so. YESTERDAY.

1. woke up in time to shower before walking to church

2. here's the thing. the church i've been going to? next town over. even i cannot walk that far. so i decided to check out one of the churches in town

3. there are... several. i honestly did not expect that many

4. what the heck, i've never been to a nazarene church before, let's see what they've got going on, it's one service

5. start walking, get distracted by a sign for an art fair. the temptation is real. maybe after church i'll go check it out. i can fit in something fun before grocery shopping and picking up my medication

6. it's a thirty minute walk. i'm not even halfway there and have to turn on my data to look at the map. getting hot. this sucks

7. look up. i'm right next to a different church. according to google, this one has a female pastor. i rejected this one earlier for that reason. the 'can women be pastors' thing is not something i've really researched for myself but i have read the verses and idk, seemed pretty clear cut that the answer is no. on the other hand, i'm right on time for the service, and do i want to do this right now?

8. fk it. i'll miss more than half the service at the other church by the time i get there. if it sucks i'll hit the bricks

9. two old people are thrilled to see me. i am gifted a bulletin and a nametag

10. the sanctuary is more than half empty, most heads that are present are grey, and there is no sign of technology except for the dude up front wearing a mic. there is no apparatus for streaming online, no tvs to display lyrics, no soundbooth or even the person in charge of making the mic work. i have absolutely nothing against those things, but it's kinda nice tbh

11. the pastor is def a guy and they just moved their service from 10:45 to 10:30, so i've missed a lot of this service too. but i didn't miss the sermon, so whatever, fine, this is just my life today i guess

12. HYMNS. they do HYMNS here. i am instantly pacified that they didn't update their sign outside with the new time

13. don't get me wrong i LOVE contemporary Christian music okay, i have a playlist that's stupid long, great stuff, makes me think, makes me cry, all that

14. but HYMNS!!!!! from a HYMNAL!!!!! how i've missed them. i can hear some people harmonizing. this is the Good Shit

15. the bulletin says that after the service they're having a baptism and picnic at the lake. i'm trying to be more... social *gagging noise* so... maybe... i'll go... but only if someone invites me

16. service is over. hey who's that. i recognize her face. shit. what's her name and where the hell have i seen her

17. fk it. approach. "hey! i recognize your face but can't for the life of me remember your name or where we met 😅"

18. her name is vicki and i met her at my previous job *more gagging noises* but she only worked there once in a while. thus i don't have to feel guilty at not knowing her immediately. phew

19. she has a baby! her baby is cute, of course. coo over baby appropriately

20. while cooing over baby, someone else approaches. her name is marnie. i barely play sdv but it's enough that i don't think i'll forget her name very soon

21. marnie: are you going to the baptism?

me: i don't have a car

her: oh, i can drive you there and back if you want

guess i'm going!

22. her: do you want to stop by your house and get some shorts?

me: i don't own any shorts

her: ... your swimsuit?

me: i don't have one of those either

her: ...okay

23. she has to pick up something at her house first. she offers to lend me something lighter than jeans 🥺 i turn her down, bc i'm just. used to wearing jeans everywhere, but i appreciate the offer

24. the beach we go to is lovely. it's part of a camp that a bunch of churches in the area use. the water itself is probably freezing (the lake doesn't really warm up, a familiar refrain to someone who grew up right next to lake michigan lol) but the area is nicely shaded (it is hot in the sun)

25. the picnic food is good. i talk a little with the people at the table i sit at. it's... fine. there are a few conversations going at once, which i find distracting and unpleasant (my brain struggles with what i'm supposed to be paying attention to)

26. it's time for the baptism!

pastor, quietly: how do you guys do this here?

me, very amused: idk man, this is my first day attending this church

pastor: what, really?? okay, stick around after this, i wanna talk to you

me: okay

27. the guy getting baptized cries during his testimony, we pray for him, he gets dunked, we cheer and applaud, we pray for him again, he lets a few people take pictures and then cannonballs off the end of the pier into the lake to more cheers and applause

28. some people leave. the pastor's wife asks if i want to go kayaking. i think i've gone kayaking once? i say yes anyway. fk it, i'm already stepping out and i don't feel like killing anyone at this picnic or myself yet

29. obvs both the pastor and his wife are in high demand so it takes a while but eventually we start hauling out the kayaks

30. marnie, who works at the camp, is very conscientious that everyone has an emergency whistle and is wearing a life jacket that is appropriately sized. she also lends me and the pastor's wife hats. marnie is the best, i think

31. the water is crystal clear and the weather is about perfect. marnie suggests we head for a slightly shallower part of the lake, where there are lily pads

32. the youngest member of our party, a teenager, capsizes on the way. we all come together to tow her and her kayak to shore. the pastor's wife uses her emergency whistle to tie the swamped kayak to the guy towing it. i wrangle the teen's paddle and point out that the person who offered to tow the teen doesn't have anything for her to hold onto but that someone else does, and they switch accordingly. the extra water is dumped out on shore. the teen is checked on and encouraged. we all head back out onto the lake

33. the pastor talks to me for almost the entire trip. it's nice bc he tells me that if i don't want to answer any of his questions i can just tell him to back off, but honestly i like talking about myself 😅. i realize that the person his voice reminds me of is ted danson and it is made abundantly clear to me why he has a mic in the otherwise electronics-less church: his voice is fairly quiet and barely carries (which are separate things, fight me)

34. amongst other things i talk about mom. when do i not tell people about mom. i mention how the night she died i had the feeling that i wasn't going to see her again, so before the paramedics left with her i had a chance to say goodbye and give her a kiss. he describes this as the gift of... discernment, i think? anyway i want to talk this down a bit, bc when do i not talk down any gifts i might have, but the more i think about it the more instances come to mind. huh. i will need to think more on this

35. we see the lily pads and a few lily buds, hang around for a little bit just talking, and then head back. we arrive back at camp without incident, put up the kayaks, and go our separate ways

36. except marnie has a thing to do first, do i mind, no i don't, repeat about three times, lol. but i really don't mind, i have tomorrow off also to do what i need to, and the things she needs to do are a. all for the camp, which has kids who just arrived and b. the kind of tasks i find completely non-stressful, like refilling napkins and hand soap. i am introduced to her boss. we leave eventually, each with a plateful of brownies

37. we talk the whole way. i am once again asked questions about myself and i am once again more than happy to do so. i should probably shut up occasionally. 🙄🤐 she drops me off but not before asking for my number

38. i have neither done my grocery shopping nor picked up my medication. fk. guess i'm doing that tomorrow

39. go inside, take dog out back to play with her. one of the other dogs also wants to play. thankfully there are two balls, so i kinda just juggle between them. neither dog seems to mind

40. another roommate shows up with his new dog: the tiniest puppy 😭 so small! one and a half hands big! and i got to hold her 😍💞🥰 reminded me of my dog when we first got her 😭😭 i miss her... 😭😭😭

41. did my laundry. turned on my laptop and only made it through one of my yt rec'd videos before realizing i was falling asleep. reluctantly decided to do the right thing and just. go to bed

42. fell asleep almost instantly and finally slept well. so all i need to do is wake up early, eat no breakfast, walk to church, go to a new place, talk to people i don't know, go kayaking, play with two dogs, do a big load of laundry, and then i'll sleep well. glad to find out it's as simple as that 🙄

[eorzeanflowers]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 tags

Basic rules: choose 10 fandoms that you are part of/support, and choose a favorite character from each of those. Then, tag ten folks!

Tagged by: @miqojak Ty for the tag!!! Sorry it took a hot minute.

Tagging: Uhhhhh, @terminuspride, @fair-fae, @alannah-corvaine, @voidsentprinces, @healerstail, @ahollowgrave, @alicelufenia, @starrysnowdrop, @briar-ffxiv, @driftward

Now to the list! In no real particular order cause I really just drift from thing to thing.

Penny Polendina (RWBY)

I love my quirky little robot girl. She's the absolute best, a brilliant fighter and very emotionally intelligent. She is such a cheerful ideal, someone who tries to see the best in people. She knows when they've gone too far and isn't afraid to stand up for what she wants! Which is the whole core of her little arc. Being a weapon given a soul and all. It is a beautiful story of a little girl who cares so much and wishes to be able to just... be that cheerful little girl without the weight of the world. Its just so sweet.

Honorable mentions: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, Oscar, Neo

2. Kafka (Star Rail)

In all honesty she's the reason I'm even playing Star Rail. She is such a mysterious character, with a voice to die for. Yes, Hoyoverse characters tend to be rather shallow (that's a gacha game for ya), but Kafka just hits everything I love in a character. Her character short when she was fully released is... *chef's kiss* just amazing. I will admit, every time she does her ult in game I join her in saying "Boom." ^_^;

Honorable Mentions: March 7th, Stelle (Trailblazer F), Seele, Bronya, Jingliu

3. Lyse (FFXIV)

Shocker, the leading lady of Stormblood is still my favorite? Honestly, all three of the ladies from Stormblood are the trifecta of favorites. (Lyse, Fordola and Yotsuyu) The various storylines that cause them to interact is such a delight. I wasn't too bothered by the whole "Yda was my sister" thing, cause well, Yda was barely in the game post ARR... And like, it was always Yda and Papalymo. Never just one or the other. So when Lyse got the chance to shine and actually take center stage, I was smitten. She's tough, gentle, sassy, collected, brilliant, a bit silly, and more. Such a well written character. I'm still upset she left the scions tbh. Could've added a little hair color diversity by a little bit. :P

Honorable mentions: Aymeric, Hilda, Erenville, Zero, Y'shtola, Thancred, Ryne, Gaia, Minfillia

4. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Ok, seriously, this series grabbed me by the throat and would not let me go. Gideon is such a lovely first viewpoint (and I adore all the viewpoint characters). She takes no shit, talks a lotta shit, and can fight a whole heck more shit. The way she interacts with Harrow at first, then the other Necromancers and their Cavaliers is such a delight. Sure you hate Harrowhark so much Gideon, why are you obeying her command to not speak a single word to literally anyone else, hmmmmmmmmmmm?????? Also the gay panic that Gideon seems to have on the regular is just. Great. I don't want to speak too much more on Gideon, cause this series is just great and you should read it.

Honorable mentions: Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Nona, Camilla Hect, Ianthe Tridentarius, Coronabeth Tridentarius.

5. Raiden Ei (Genshin Impact)

Last time it was Eula, now it is Raiden Ei. It is always a toss up between them, if I'm being honest. Ei is just... such a sad puppy? XD Its the best way to describe her. So trapped in her own past and trying to do what would best preserve her sister's memory... She's just SAD guys. Yeah, she may not be the best governing force for her nation, and she indirectly killed a lotta people with her retreating away and leaving a puppet behind, but we the Traveler showed up and fixed things! Also she gets two amazing boss fights, I honestly wish I could do the story one again but I ain't working through Mondstat and Liyue again. >.>;

Honorable mentions: Eula, Alhaithem, Deya, Kamisato Ayaka, Zhongli, Nahida, Navia, the Wanderer, Wriothsley

6. Karlach (Baldur's Gate 3)

KARLACH IS THE BEST AND SHE IS SO SWEET AND LOVELY AND SHOULD NOT HAVE TO GO BACK TO HELL OR DIE OR [redacted]. She is such a lovely goofball that even shows platonic love if you don't romance her and I really think that is great! Her arc tying into Gortash was delightful, bringing her much more into the story instead of just a bystander like a couple of them. (Like out of all the origin companions Astarion barely has any connection to any of the major players in the story, he's pretty self contained tbh.) Her sweetness, the way she says she's gonna eat dirt if you leave her camp, and her cheerful demeanor are just.... Amazing. I'm really running out of words for Karlach cause she is my favorite. I'm gonna have to start BG3 up again and actually play my romance run of her soon.

Honorable mentions: Shadowheart, Wyll, Astarion, Lae'zel, Dammon, Orin, Jaheira, Minthara, Isobel, Aylin

7. The Doctor (Doctor Who)

Ok, a bit of a cop out since, you know, they are the star of the show. BUT COME ON. The Doctor in their various iterations have been so enjoyable. My personal favorite is Tennet's 10, but Capaldi's 12 is a strong second. Its just a good show to binge at times. There are a lottta good episodes, a few really bad ones, but overall its a good time. The scene at the end of the special where they rescue Gallifrey is still one of my favorite scenes in the whole franchise. And hell, the Archeologist is based (loosely) on them, so how can I not include them?

Honorable mentions: DONNA NOBLE, Rose Tyler, Clara Oswald, Bill Potts, Me, Strax

8. Xion (Kingdom Hearts)

Have I mentioned I love tragic characters? Xion is literally the definition of tragedy, with all the problems with her just existing lol. Her presence in 358/2 Days really made the game for me. Roxas was kinda bland and having someone that was similar in age (like Sora, Riku and Kairi were) to interact with made it all that much better. AND SHE GETS THE HAPPY ENDING. Eventually. Boy is it a long road, but that's Kingdom Hearts for ya.

Honorable Mentions: Kairi, Namine, Riku, Sora, Aqua, Terra, Master Xehanort, Isa, Lea

8. Lucina (Fire Emblem)

I really wanna pick someone else in all honesty, but Fire Emblem has a worse problem than Hoyoverse games in their bit characters. :/ Lucina is a strong character that really delighted me when I played Awakening. She's such a surprise that it really helps make that Fire Emblem my favorite. She's got a good supporting cast too, with Robin and her dad Chrom, but Awakening was really her game. Chrom was kinda there just to be her dad lol

Honorable mentions: Robin, Chrom, Ike, Mist, Soren, Sumia, Erika, Marisa, Lyon, Elincia

9. Trevor Belmont (Castlevania)

Full disclosure, I have not played his game, in fact the only two castlevania's I have played both feature non Belmont's as the lead players (Portrait of Ruin and Order of Ecclasia). But the way Trevor is in the show, OH BOY. He is rough, he is blunt, he is smart, he is SOOOO dumb, he is loyal, he is a fighter, he never gives up, HE IS JUST GREAT. He's also one of my biggest Bi panics when he shows how much of a badass he is in episode, I think, 4 or 5 or later? Its been a hot minute since I watched that series. When he first uses the flail weapon that I forget the name of.

Honorable mentions: Shanoa, Jonathan Morris, Charlotte Aulin, Sypha Belnades, Alucard, Dracula

10. Aigis (Persona)

Aigis is a super cutie and I love her interactions with the female protagonist. I really wish P3 wasn't such a long game and Aigis actually showed up a little earlier. She's just a doll! I do need to try and find a copy (or emulate) FES to play the storyline with her as the lead singer. Its just so rough to get thru P3 I just lose motivation. T.T I've made it to the vacation part with the female lead, like, three times and no further cause my motivation tanks. WHICH IS WEIRD CAUSE THAT'S WHEN YOU MEET AIGIS. Its just too long for me I guess. XD

Honorable mentions: Teddie, Female lead P3, Male lead P4, Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Fuuka Yamagishi, Shinji Aragaki, Junpei Iori, Chidori Yoshino, Elizabeth, Theodore

Not gonna lie, kinda struggled to find a full 10 franchises to pull a character from. My mind just goes blank when asked my favorite character from X place. Names escape me and everything. XD But as you can see, I love robot girls, strong girls, mysterious girls, tragic girls, a fail man, and traveling weirdo.

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

Y'all want my hot take on why we didn't have a Marshall movie for the second movie, but this time not focusing my answer on Skye?

THEY WERE AFRAID OF AUDIENCE REACTION.

No, really.

Marshall is a fan favorite, NOT ONLY AMONG KIDS - they gotta please the kids parents and relatives too, it's the parents and relatives who will spend their fortunes on buying Paw Patrol merchandise for their kids and throwing birthday parties with custom "I'm the Paw Patrol kid's dad/mom" matching shirts.

THEY KNOW IT'S NOT ONLY KIDS WATCHING THEIR SHOW AND MOVIES, heck they're all adults working there and you need TO LOVE kids stuff to create and/or work on GOOD kids animations. And EVEN MORE NOW after the Mighty Movie, they KNOW two things:

1- The younger kids might not care MUCH, but the older ones will and the percentage of adults that follow the show will as well: Everyone who loves Marshall will NOT be satisfied with just anything.

Usually the people who work on movies are not all the same from the show, so both things can run and get produced without interfering with each other. The people working in the movies are bound to know how the audience is reacting to the show in order to get things done okay in the movies as well, or at least do whatever they can do under what orders they receive.

They know people have been unhappy about Marshall being put more in the sidelines, they know people are unhappy with how they're following orders to give Skye more spotlight in the show which means she's been doing rescues that usually would be more suited for Marshall. It's like she's pushing Marshall to the sidelines. I don't even remember when was the last time I saw Marshall work as EMT and I don't remember last time I even saw his Ambulance in the show (I'm currently at the beginning of 7th season). They might even know how people miss Marshall's interactions with other pups, especially with Chase, as in the beginning they were portrayed as best friends, playing together, doing things together, and now it's like they're all just coworkers. My guess on that is because they're avoiding situations that can be used for shipping characters XD Given the whole issue with ideologies and whatnot now, I wouldn't be surprised they're avoiding anything remotely close to that.

They know people are unhappy and wish for Marshall to get his spotlight back.

2- THEY KNOW WE'RE UNHAPPY WITH HOW MARSHALL HAS BEEN PORTRAYED IN BOTH MOVIES SO FAR. Especially the whole issue about his clumsiness, which is barely hinted at in the movies, even if we see a lot about it in the show. Not to mention how it's treated mostly as "natural clumsiness", things that could have happened to literally ANY of the other pups, not because of his "clumsy condition". I mean, tripping while dancing, yeah, that's normal. Getting startled when a hologram shows up in your face? Any of them could have gotten startled outta their fur at that. Chase literally spawning by his side when you had just seen him all the way across the room not even half a second ago? I'D HAVE SCREAMED AND THROWN THAT FIREBALL OUT AND AWAY DUE TO SUCH JUMPSCARE TOO.

He didn't do MUCH in the movies at all, maybe just taking over the matters when Chase had his panic attacks in the first movie. Which also makes sense, we gotta admit that: Police AND FIREFIGHTERS are usually the ones who are more suited to do crowd control and deal with people. I'm not even going about how Marshall would take over, it's just that he's the more suited to go substitute Chase in ANY CASE. It's not just because they're close friends.

But aside from that? The main focus were Chase for the first movie, and Skye for the second. Marshall was along for the ride, as well as all other pups, but fans are ESPECIALLY UPSET literally because they felt Marshall was supposed to have the spotlight for the Mighty Movie and it turned out it just wasn't going to be about him XD He didn't do muuuuuch, he barely had not even a fraction of his signature clumsy moments.

And after how people complained after the first movie, they weren't going to do anything about Marshall just yet anyway. Now fans are even more pissed and I'm here holding my bucket of popcorn watching this circus catch on fire and waiting for our beloved firepup to come for the rescue.

Sort of literally XD

At least we know we're gonna get a third movie by 2026. Now it's a game of wait and see what it'll be like.

[hotcheetohatredwastaken]

currently how long are bdor and its prequel when combined wordcount wise

you brought up 200k and i am both terrified and intrigued. like thats impressive. i am in awe. i can barely put a sentence together much less that many

Okay let me give you a lay of the land. And before we begin, I just have to say that I am so, so sorry. I gave you such a wrong number.

BDOR Arc 1, as of its official word count right now, is 152,892 words. It’s completely written and ready to be published save chapters 15, 18, 20, 24 (12,000 word chapter that has to go 😱) ch 27-29, and then it’s pretty much smooth sailing (with a few minor edits in there and a few scenes to add) until ch 75-76, which need some tweaking, and then the final ch 78 needs a bit of an adjustment as well, and I may delete it completely. All of these chapters specifically mentioned above are in various stages of editing, but generally the story at this point is solid. The final chapter count will probably be 80-82, because there are a few beats that need to be hit that haven’t been, some characters to flesh out more, and lovely beta reader @needfantasticstories revealed some logic errors that I need to spin up some bullcrap to cover💀. I have 9,000 words of notes for things to change in pages, and about that amount of changes in google docs as well. So I’m estimating 160,000 words for the final product there, if not more.

Arc 2 is where it gets SO dicey. My word count in my final doc right now is 44,424. I have another 6,000 ish words of notes in pages to change/tweak scenes/general scene layouts. I have another 15,884 words that have been digitized but haven’t made it into the final document because they need editing. Add onto that about 30?? Pages handwritten that haven’t even made it that far. I usually get about 600-750 words per page, so let’s tally that up to a generous 45,000 since I write front and back. There is leeway of about 20,000 words in there too, because there’s a big chunk of time (heh) I am considering only hinting at happening, but I have written out in their near entirety.

The thing is, I’ve probably written about half of arc 2 with all of that.

So assuming I keep that 20,000 chunk, and assuming I double my word count as I think I will, the final tally here is nearly 110,000 already, which will probably grow to an estimated 200,000 if not more. I am working on cutting this down XD, so stay tuned. The main plot is generally solid, but there’s a LOT of little subplots I need to wrap up lol.

Prologue: this is a little side thing I meant to just be cute little scenes from Twi and Wild’s past and it got away from me. An official 28,424 words of this are written. I’d say I have another 15 handwritten pages (front and back counted, i should clarify) in various stages of editing, so let’s say a generous 11,250. The thing is, I have a LOT of ideas, and once I finalize arc 1 and arc 2, I’m going to have a lot of free time to dig into this while the other story comes out (I probably need to start updating multiple times a week if I want to get this story out before I turn 90 XD). So this number will most definitely grow, but for now it is an estimated 39,674.

Final estimated word count (if I did the math right and also didn’t underestimate my ability to purple prose), everypony?

396,174 words!!

Oh Lord I don’t think I’d realized before I tallied everything up that it was actually this long. I think this project has run away from me. I just wanted to play with my blorbos not write the next Ancient Greek Epic. What the heck. I need to go lie down.

Also just took 3,500 from the final count because I realized I had double counted a chapter sorry ignore that.

But yeah I am hoping to cut down arc 2, so maybe 350,000? That’s being optimistic in my ability to not be longwinded though.

[angelsndragons]

well it seems like caduceus won’t be part of the mighty nein two shot so the way i deal with my grief is to plot out how the nein will play mechanically without him (because holy heck did he carry that party on his thin furry shoulders time and time again). warning: word vomit. but you should be used to that by now.

baseline assumption: matt’s going to level up kingsley, just not to the nein’s level of 16. probably level 10 minimum and 13 max. essek will be along for the ride as well, leading to an 8 person party.

okay, so. right away the healing pool has diminished greatly. cad’s healing role in combat was topping people off, mass healing word, mass cure wounds, prayer of healing after the fight, that sort of thing. he did some cure wounds during combat as well. cad was also on standby to help in cases where characters went down or suffered a removable condition (ie dispel magic, revivify, or greater restoration when they had the diamond dust to burn). towards the end of the campaign, he also provided clutch death wards.

all of that is to say our healers are now jester and fjord, with yasha providing an emergency healing hands (probably for beau) and caleb holding a raise dead in the back pocket. there’s good news/bad news there. good news is fjord: he regains his three 5th level spells after an hour’s nap, has a small lay on hands pool, has access to the paladin prep list, and has teleportation for days in an emergency. bad news is fjord doesn’t have any 2-4 level spell slots nor spells, which means he doesn’t have revivify, lesser restoration, or any of the other higher level healing spells. that means that fjord doesn’t have access to big group heals, so the nein will be wholly reliant on jester for those plays. good news is that jester and laura both have grown into the healing role. cure wounds was one of jester’s most cast spells and she was mostly providing single target pick me ups to make sure her teammates got their turn if cad couldn’t provide. now that she has access to better healing spells like mass cure wounds and heal, she seems to find healing a much more cost effective use of her higher slots. bad news is that jester is the only member of the nein with access to revivify, which puts a lot of pressure on her to conserve a few slots for those emergencies she would otherwise use to blast the baddies. considering how team oriented he is, i cannot imagine travis not stepping up to the plate and helping laura in the healing department so that she can play the way she prefers.

mechanically speaking, jester and caleb are the pair you have to keep up if you want to make sure the nein survive their journey. good news there is that caleb and essek could have a few new spells in their arsenal thanks to tasha’s, as wizards can add to their spell books without gaining levels. and they’ve been off in aeor doing who knows what for how long so there’s a built in excuse if liam wanted something like wither and bloom for caleb (skeptical here but also it’s thematically fitting dunamancy). really, what the nein have going for them this time that they didn’t have back with molly is a) jester has far more slots plus backup and b) caleb’s ac and hit points are no longer that of wet tissue paper. they’re not great but base ac of 15 for a wizard puts shield, mirror image, and protection from evil and good into play, as we saw in the finale.

the nein have also traded healing/support/utility for dps/support in kingsley while essek runs a support/control build. outside of just healing, caduceus provided a range of support and utility options for the nein. water walking, control water, bless, bane, spirit guardians, dispel magic, commune, holy weapon, and that all important clutch sentinel at death’s door are the bare basics of the support/utility cad provided. the good news is that kingsley, essek, caleb, and veth can provide some relief in this department. kingsley has access to blood curses, one of which is that lovely curse of the eyeless we saw molly use on vax and another is chet’s curse of bloated agony to punish multi-attackers, essek has haste and tether essence, caleb has a boat load of support spells like polymorph and dispel magic, and veth has things like hypnotic pattern and phantasmal force.

so, assuming kingsley plays similarly to molly (taliesin could very well multiclass him or tweak him based on the battle royale), what do the nein gain? assuming kingsley can stay up, the nein have a third front line melee fighter to throw into the ring. and this one will hit hard. blood hunter does not play around in the dps department. crimson rite, brand of castigation (psychic damage to the opponent when they damage the blood hunter or a creature within 5 feet, damage doubled if kingsley is level 13+), the ghostslayer’s brand of sundering (extra crimson rite damage), yeah, that damage stacks fast. again, assuming a molly-esque build, that’s two attacks round 1 after a bonus action to activate the rite, then three attacks from then on. that’s 1d6+2d8+DEX for each main attack, then the bonus action attack is 1d6+DEX (assuming two weapon fighting style). kingsley being in melee with his prey will punish enemies who try to damage him, yasha, or beau (or fjord if he goes into melee) by inflicting psychic damage on the branded opponent every time they do it. that’s an extra 3 or 6 damage (calculated off molly’s WIS) every time the opponent damages someone near him. note that it says damages, not attacks, so opposing damaging spells should count. yeah, kingsley is going to be a single target meat grinder. he’s also going to be the biggest target of the melee kids. yasha has her rage protecting her while beau has her ridiculously high ac. however, this could be a good thing. beau and yasha’s sentinel features cancel each other out when they’re the only ones in melee. if a third person is in melee and they’re the target, sentinel is absolutely fair game for both of them. (honestly can y’all imagine beau and yasha teaming up against the clown picking on kinglsey, protecting him in a way they couldn’t protect molly? boy howdy i sure can).

bottom line, the nein’s versatility will shine once more. certain characters will have to shift roles a bit to accommodate caduceus’ absence, fjord, jester, and caleb in particular. they’re trading some staying power for (hopefully) finishing fights faster. it’s doable and they’re still a cockroach party but i have a feeling they’ll be lamenting their cow man’s absence before too long.

[broomballkraken]

Title: As in Coffee, As in Life Chapter 10: All I Want for Aelfric’s Day is You(r Love)

Fandom: Octopath Traveler 2

Pairing: Osvald/Partitio

Word count: 2205

Warnings: None

Summary: It’s the night of the Partitio and Roque Coffee Company’s Aelfric’s Day party, where employees, regulars, and friends partied the night away. Partitio and Osvald manage to slip away for a moment alone, and Osvald gives Partitio a present that he will never, ever forget.

Aelfric’s Day was swiftly approaching, and New Delsta certainly looked the part. Brightly colored lights decorated the lampposts and storefronts, while seasonal wreaths were hung outside the majority of homes and businesses. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground, and tonight it was slowly drifting down from the sky, making this the perfect night for the Partitio and Roque Coffee Company’s Aelfric’s Day party.

“Hey, y’all! The ‘nog’s all topped off, have at it! But be careful; it’s strong enough to knock ya on yer ass if ya drink too much!” Partitio yelled over the party noise, and he earned a few shouts of thanks in return. He filled up two cups and walked back over to the table where Osvald sat talking with Castti and Edmund.

“Here ya are, darlin’!” Partitio said, handing one to Osvald as he leaned down to place a kiss on his cheek. Castti giggled when Osvald’s face flushed, but he was all smiles and took Partitio’s hand when he sat down.

“Thank you, my dear.”

“So, Partitio, I hear you recently moved?” Castti asked, and Partitio beamed and gave his head a vigorous nod.

“Sure did!” He pointed up at the ceiling. “Ya see, I’ve been waitin’ for the place above the shop here to open up for a while, and I snagged it right up when I saw it was finally vacant.”

“That’s nice. Don’t have to go far at all for work that way,” Edmund chimed in.

Partitio nodded and took a generous swig of his drink, which caused him to cringe and sick out his tongue. “Hoo-ey, this really is strong...”

“Pops, Parti! Look up!”

Partitio blinked as he turned to see Ochette smirking at him and wagging her eyebrows. She had really gotten into the holiday spirit, dressing in a reindeer costume, complete with a red nose and a hat with antlers. Slowly, Partitio’s gaze traveled upwards, and he flushed red when he saw that a bundle of mistletoe was dangling above him and Osvald, hanging from a string that was attached to what looked like a play fishing rod.

“Where the heck didya get that thing, Ochette?” Partitio asked, pointing at the rod, and she shrugged.

“Same place I got my costume: the resale shop! But, no changing the subject, plant one on Pops already!” she shouted, attracting the attention of the other partygoers. Partitio felt sweat start to bead at the back of his neck, embarrassed by the eager stares, and he pulled his hat down over his face as he let out a nervous chuckle.

Partitio’s breath hitched when fingers slipped under his chin, and his head was tilted up so that he was looking into Osvald’s pretty dark eyes, which had a very rare, mischievous glint in them.

“Let’s not keep them waiting, hm?” he said, brushing his thumb over Partitio’s bottom lip as he leaned in close.

“R-Right.” Partitio managed to squeak out, and he smiled against Osvald’s lips when he closed the minuscule distance between them to give the crowd the deep, tender kiss that they were waiting for.

Partitio barely heard the chorus of ‘awws’, giggles, and wolf-whistles that erupted around them; golly, he had kissed Osvald countless times by now, but this one felt just as magical as every single one that came before. That feeling increased a thousandfold when he felt Osvald’s lips also curl up into a smile.

“Alright, alright! Get a room already,” Throné teased as she walked by their table, her arm slung over the shoulders of Hikari’s friend from his hometown, Rai Mei. Partitio raised a very curious eyebrow at that, but his attention was pulled back to Ochette when she whipped her fishing rod to the other side of the table so that the mistletoe now hung over Castti and Edmund.

“Okay, Ma, Eddie! Your turn!”

Edmund grunted and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “Will ya quit callin’ me that already, shrimp?

A small pout crossed Castti’s face as she reached up to brush her fingers over Edmund���s cheek. “Oh, but I just think that nickname is so cute, honey.”

Partitio bit his cheek to keep himself from barking out a laugh at the way Edmund’s cheeks flushed as red as his beard, and he turned his head, probably trying to hide the goofy grin that was now plastered on his face.

“It’s not so bad, I guess...” he mumbled, and he let Castti pull his head back so that she could kiss him and satisfy a very smug Ochette.

“Yay! Kisses for everyone!” Ochette grinned as she turned to scan the crowd for her next victims. “Oooh, hey Aggie, Hikarin! C’mere!”

After Partitio watched her rush off with a skip in her step, he finally let out the laughter that he had been holding back, and his chest flushed with warmth when he heard Osvald start laughing as well.

After their laughter had died down, Osvald sighed and shook his head. “I think Ochette might have taken too much of a liking to that spiked eggnog.”

“Naw, that’s just how she is all the time.” Partitio snickered as he jabbed Osvald in the side with his elbow, causing Castti and Edmund to laugh when Osvald pouted at him.

As the party continued on, Partitio found an opportunity to drag Osvald away for some relief from the noisy and crowded café. It was a nice, clear night, and the only noise besides that from a car passing by every so often was the flapping of the large pride flag that hung over the door.

“Whew, it was gettin’ kinda hot in there...” Partitio said, letting out a sigh as he threw on his jacket. Osvald chuckled as he slipped his arm behind Partitio’s back and pulled him flush to his side.

“I agree. Although, I was never a fan of cold winter weather…but having you here to keep me warm makes it quite bearable now.”

“Daw, Osvald...”

Partitio beamed as Osvald leaned down to kiss him, and the warmth of his lips was enough to heat Partitio to his very core, even as the wind whipped up the snow around them.

When he pulled away, Partitio raised an eyebrow as he studied Osvald’s face. His brow was knitted and his eyes were locked onto the ground, which told Partitio that he was thinking very hard about something. What that something was, however, Partitio had no idea.

“Hey, darlin’, you alright?”

“Er, yes,” Osvald said, clearing his throat as he turned to face Partitio, “It’s just...er, I mean...Um...”

Partitio blinked rapidly at him and cocked his head to one side, and repeated his question with a bit more concern in his tone: “Uh, y’alright, Osvald? It’s not like ya to get tongue tied.”

“W-Well, yes, but I’m, er...”

Laughing as he wrapped his arms around him, Partitio offered Osvald a cheeky grin. “Well, just spit it out already!” He waited for Osvald to speak with baited breath, but nothing could have prepared him for what was about to come out of his partner’s mouth:

“I-I love you, Partitio.”

Time screeched to a halt as Partitio tried to process what Osvald had just said. Maybe the wind had carried the wrong words to his ears, those three little ones that Partitio had been aching to say to Osvald himself for such a long time. However, from the way that Osvald was looking at him, with his eyes filled with affection, adoration, and an overwhelming amount of love, Partitio knew that he had definitely heard him correctly.

“Y-You...really?” Partitio barely managed to squeak out past the lump that had formed in his throat as he fought back the urge to burst into very happy tears.

Osvald had lost his own battle with that, and he sniffed as he pushed his glasses up to rub at his watery eyes. “Yes, of course I do. I love you, with all of my heart.”

Partitio choked back a sob as Osvald reached up to cup his cheek, his thumbs brushing over his cheeks to clear his tears away. “W-When I lost Rita, I thought that my heart died with her. Loving someone else was never an option that I considered...until I met you.”

“You, with your unrelenting optimism, compassion, and drive to make everyone around you happy...” Osvald paused to try and compose himself, and even through a veil of tears, the smile that Osvald gifted Partitio was clear as day and managed to completely and utterly take his breath away.

“...Your kindness and patience with me, and how you’ve treated Elena with so much compassion as well...When I think about it now, it was so easy to fall in love with a man like you.”

Partitio was really a blubbering mess now, and Osvald let out a soft chuckle. “Was that...too much, my dear?”

“No...” Partitio shook his head and placed his trembling hands on Osvald’s shoulders. “‘Cause I love you too, Osvald! I love you so godsdamn much!” Partitio’s voice had jumped in volume with his jubilation, and Osvald blinked at him in stunned silence.

The floodgates had been opened, and Partitio let out a whoop and pulled Osvald into a tight hug as he continued to shout: “I love you! I love you! I love youuuuu!”

“P-Partitio...” Osvald grunted as Partitio tightened his grip, and he laughed as he finally returned the hug, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Whoops! Guess I should explain.” Partitio giggled as he pulled away, but not before placing a quick kiss onto Osvald’s cheek. “Yah see, I’ve loved you for a really long time, and now that you’ve said it, I’ve gotta get all that bottled up love outta me!”

“You’ve...loved me for a long time?” Osvald raised a curious eyebrow. “Just how long?”

Partitio hummed as he counted on his fingers. “Let’s see...when was that night where we first watched ‘The Real Housewives of Canalbrine’ ?”

“Partitio...that was six months ago.”

Partitio snickered as he leaned up to nuzzle his nose against Osvald’s. “Well, now ya know why I need to scream it from the rooftops, sweetheart.”

Osvald stared at him for a moment with his jaw hanging open, before he burst out laughing so hard that he was wheezing by the time he had composed himself. Partitio smiled and took Osvald’s hands in his, giving them a gentle squeeze.

“Osvald, darlin’, I love you, so much more than I’ve ever loved anyone before. Yer so passionate about everythin’ you do, and you have so much love to give, to me, to yer students, to yer friends, and most importantly, to Elena.”

Partitio leaned up to press his forehead against Osvald’s before continuing: “You’ve been through so much hell, but you’ve carried on, and I reckon I’ve never met someone as strong as you. I’m so, so thankful that ol’ Aelfric decided to lead you right to this spot on the café’s opening day.”

Osvald’s eyes went wide as he took a look around them, and a chuckle rumbled through his chest as he brushed the back of his fingers over Partitio’s cheek. “That’s right...we met, right here. A very fitting place for us to profess our love for one another.”

“Hehe, it really is like we were meant to be!”

“I agree wholeheartedly.”

Partitio stared deep into Osvald’s eyes, feeling like the luckiest man in the godsdamn world at the moment, before he leaned up to kiss Osvald again, deep and tender and full of unconditional love. He really couldn’t have asked for a better Aelfric’s Day miracle than being loved in return by such an incredible man.

“I love you, Osvald,” Partitio whispered when they parted, and Osvald cupped his face as he pressed their foreheads together.

“I love you too, Partitio.” Osvald’s tone was soft and loving, and Partitio couldn’t help but kiss him, again and again and again...

“Hey, lovebirds!”

Partitio pulled away from Osvald and raised an eyebrow when Agnea leaned out the café door. She let out a giggle, and from the way her cheeks were fully flushed and her eyes half-lidded, Partitio guessed that she had really been enjoying the hard eggnog.

“Y’all better -hic!- get back in here! Partitio’s dad just dragged in a karaoke machine!” Agnea dissolved into a fit of giggles and beckoned them with her hand. “He sure seems real excited ‘bout it!”

“Uh-oh...” Partitio said with a wince as Agnea went back inside. “Pops sure does like to sing, but he can’t carry a tune to save his life.”

Osvald chuckled and leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Well, that sounds like fun, so let’s not miss it, love.”

Partitio practically swooned at the new pet name, and he slipped his hand into Osvald’s as they followed Agnea back inside, where they were met with the sight of a very drunk Papp serenading a very embarrassed Roque with a very off-key rendition of “All I Want For Aelfric’s Day Is You.”

[thecrazedpotato]

Bocchi The Rock Review!!!!!!!!!!

So overall, I really enjoyed this series. The entire time it has been entertaining and comedic, and the Kessoku Band are entertaining throughout the entire runtime. Especially Ryo, Ryo is awesome as heck. I do feel the ending could've been a bit better for reasons I'll explain in the spoiler segment, it didn't really feel all that climactic, but to be fair the climax of the season was at the beginning of episode 12 so the rest is falling action and setting up for a season 2, which I am very much hoping will get greenlit in the near future because it would be VERY disappointing if this anime ended here.

SPOILERY THOUGHTS BELOW YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!

So episode 12 started off REALLY strong with the concert, it was really fulfilling to see how far the Kessoku Band has come, and especially how far Hitori has come as a person, the girl who could barely make eye contact or speak when handing a drink to a customer is now playing in front of a huge live audiene, that part where one of her strings broke before her solo but then she improvised was really cool, it was awesome.

But then Kita made Hitori do a speech in the middle of the concert and it caused her to panic and do a stage dive because she had no idea what to say or do so she went unconscious and they had to call off the concert early. I feel like at this point Kita would know better than to put Hitori on the spot like that, and I really do think she should've apologized to Hitori since she pretty much caused that. To be fair Hitori had the courage to play in front of an audience so I guess Kita overestimated her confidence, and doing a stage dive was not really a good choice on Hitori's end, but still Kita should've apologized to Hitori after Hitori apologized to Kita for ruining the concert.

Anyway after that the rest of the finale is them getting a new guitar for Bocchi because the old one broke. It's definitely not bad, it's still entertaining Bocchi shenanigans, but I feel like there's way more of it than there should've been. Maybe have more concert time, like they play one more song before Kita pushes Hitori to do a speech (or better yet Bocchi gets so confident and excited that she does the stage dive thing herself and falls to the floor that would've been really funny), or maybe put the end of episode 11 where they get ready for the concert at the beginning of episode 12, though the drawback would be that 11 wouldn't have as much important stuff going on.

Speaking of, yeah episode 11 is definitely the weakest episode for me. I feel kinda bad because a large factor of it is that this episode shoves a bunch of fanservice animeisms in your face (everyone wears maid outfits, the swimsuit gag, etc) and that's not really my thing so it's kinda the weakest by default. The problem with this is that means there's less important stuff going on, which like yeah I know this is a slice of life show but the concert is about to happen I don't think we should be doing all this fanservice-y stuff in the middle of it. I don't hate this episode, it's still got that charm the rest of the show has and it's still very funny, that post-apocalyptic biker gang is probably one of the show's funniest bits. And I do like Ryo in a tux that was really cool. And fortunately there isn't a ton of this animeism/weird stuff in the entire series, like the only other major animeism is in episode 2 when Hitori is getting in the ice cube bathtub and it shows her in her swimsuit and that's literally just the opening of that episode that that's basically it.

So yeah, rad anime, it may have lost its balance a bit near the end but it still stood on the rope. Again I am SERIOUSLY hoping season 2 gets greenlit I will be very upset if it doesn't, I am currently debating on if I get a Hitori figure or a Ryo nendoroid or both from Good smile, you should totally watch it, "I think it's really good"/10

[pancake-breakfast]

Took me longer than anticipated to get back to this. Let's see how far I can get through Volume 3 tonight. Hopefully, I'll at least pass Puppetman up....

Archive

Trigun Volume 1: Covers + 1-3, 3 Detailed Thoughts, 4, 4 DT, 5-6, 5-6 + DT, 6 DT, 7-8, 9-10

Trigun Volume 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 1 Supplemental Research, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Volume 1: Covers + 1-2, 2 DT, 3-4, 3 DT, 5-6

TriMax Volume 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7

TriMax Volume 3: Covers + 1-3

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 3, Chapters 4-5 below.

Chapter 4: Emilio the Player

Oh, hey. We're starting back with Brad instead of with Vash or Wolfwood or the girls.

"Something must've happened to them." Do I want to know? I probably don't want to know. Am I gonna find out anyway? Of course I am.

I still don't know who Emilio is. But it just occurred to me that "player" can also mean "actor," and Puppetman thinks of what he is doing in terms of a play, so that might be it.

Puppetman is talking about winning, but Vash has already lost. He has lost so much already. This isn't a fight where Vash comes out on top. It's one where he tries to survive while somehow keeping the core of his being intact. But I'd hesitate to call the bare basics of getting through this a true "win" scenario.

Ugh, Vash with the girl he accidentally shot. I love how his coat is just... going nuts behind him. What is physics? It doesn't matter anymore. Coat is now a part of him and it reaches out both like a defensive shell and like grasping claw, ready to tear apart whatever threatens them next.

Oh, good. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't know who the heck Emilio is.

LOL, NOBODY knows who Emilio is.

Dude. Did Vash just get in Puppetman's brain??

Ooh, Puppetman didn't like the name Isabel. What's more, Vash knew he wouldn't like it, and deliberately paused before delivering it.

Puppetman's having a meltdown. Good for him. Please melt more.

VASHU ZA STAMPEEEEEEDOOOOOOO!!!!

🎵 It's raining men! 🎵 🎵 Hallelujah, it's raining... wait, those are just doll parts. That's not as fun.

"Why are there so many?" Please, Brad. Stop asking questions neither of us want the answer to.

Mmm, that's bad. Looks like maybe Puppetman got the doc. Oh, gods. Just thinking about what the equivalent would be in Stampede makes me want to curl up into a little ball and die.

I wonder if in all this, some part of Vash wished Wolfwood was just a bit closer to speed things along. Then again, I don't think Vash would linger on such a thought. Not while cradling a girl he accidentally shot in his arm. Not when Wolfwood might make a similar mistake with a far greater chance of fatality.

Oh, so Emilio doesn't know he's Emilio. Dang. NO ONE. NO ONE KNOWS WHO EMILIO IS.

LOL, he forgot about his little doll boy whose name I already forgot.

Is... Puppetman melting? I thought Ninelives had the monopoly on self-inflicted body horror this round.

Where'd the girl go?

Did... Vash set off the sprinklers?? With a Molotov cocktail???

Tasty shot of Vash silhouette in the sprinkler rain. Pure art, this.

Six miles of string? That's too much string.

Wet, angry Vash!

Don't grind your teeth until they crack, kids. You need your teeth for the rest of your life.

RIP Puppetman's hands. I bet he wasn't a fan of his own blood circulation, anyway.

Wet, tired Vash. Someone get this man a warn towel and a hot beverage.

Vash isn't doing so hot, is he....

Uhhh, what are all these little cross boxes???

Thank you, Brad, for asking a question that's actually helpful this time.

Oh, that must be Isabel.

Chapter 5: The Long Goodbye

Oh, shoot. She's awake.... -ish.

Ah, let's just upgrade that "oh, shoot," to an "oh, shit." Brad's in, like, the WORST possible place to be right now.

Eyyyy, it's my boi Wolfwood! He looks tiiiiiired. But maybe Ninelives is out of lives? Maybe? Possibly???

Ew, he has PEOPLE in him!

LOL, Wolfwood just punching the shit out of the weird little people. I don't blame him, TBH. I'd have had enough of this creep show already.

Strangling the old man-baby thing.... As priests do....

GoshDARNIT, this thing won't DIE!!!

Ms. Bingo?? I don't know if that's supposed to be her name or if Brad's making a pun on how she's the thing they needed to find in all this.

Oops, Puppetman knocked over all his precious boxes 'cause he was pissed at Brad.

Ah, that box does not, in fact, appear to be full of doll. Brad's reaction to its contents is... reasonable.

I know Brad is kind of a jerk, but I do hope he gets out of here ok. I'm glad he's keeping his head about him in spite of everything.

Ok, I don't know what's going on here. The... ship is... coming apart... I think??

Ah, yeah. There goes a chunk.

Puppetman, saved by his strings.

Wait, Vash!? Ugh, babygirl....

Messy-haired Vash! Messy-haired Vash!!!

Yeah, there's a reason we don't tie MILES of string to our fingers. You can take a little physical pain to your hands, Puppetman. And losing your doll lady, too. I'm cool with that.

WTF, now there are mini-puppets? And they're attacking Vash?! No! Go away, mini-puppet!

I guess that's one way to commit suicide.

Wolfwood, behind you. WOLFWOOD, BEHIND YOU!!!

AAAAHHHH!!!! GIrls! Milly looks like she's having a blast. I'm so proud of them!

LOLOL, Wolfwood is shook.

And Vash is here, too! The party is back together! Hooray!

I mean, THAT sure went from agony to pure silliness fast.... I might need a moment to process....

[whatisthismandoinghere]

I bring a little snippet of my post war Hogan + family story which takes place at one of Daisy's tea parties, just keep in mind it's still a bit of a work in progress lol and you should be fine 😂

“More tea, Mr. Hogan?” Daisy giggled as she held up her small toy tea kettle.

“Why yes Ms. Daisy, I would love some,” Hogan replied in his best British accent.

Mr. Hogan he smiled to himself. I can’t remember the last time I was called that. Usually it’s General this and General that. Has a nice ring to it.

Daisy happily obliged her father’s request, filling his cup to the brim with pretend tea. “Be careful not to spill!”

“Oh no, we wouldn’t want that. Would be a waste of perfectly good tea!” Hogan said as he gently took his cup.

Daisy quickly grabbed her own tea cup, gently clinking it against her father’s in a toast before taking a sip and bursting into another fit of giggles.

“What’s so funny darling?” Hogan asked, barely able to hold in his own laughter at the sound of hers. It was one of the best sounds in the world.

“Daddy! You’re supposed to hold your pinky up like this when you drink your tea!” Daisy smiled as she grabbed her cup and showed him. “Didn’t Uncle Peter teach you anything?”

“How silly of me! How’s this?” Hogan held his cup up for her approval, pinky extended as far as it could go.

“Perfect.”

It was afternoons like these that made it all worthwhile. Sitting in the backyard with his young daughter, laughing and playing pretend until they were called in for supper. Daisy was the spitting image of her mother, except for those dark brown eyes of hers that twinkled with mischief - just like her father’s. And that twinkle was starting to shine right about now…

Hogan calmly took a sip from his cup, placing it gently back on its saucer on the table. Daisy looked entirely too pleased, and Hogan waited patiently for the inevitable surprise she had planned for this tea party. Hogan had been to enough of them to know that these things never ended peacefully.

“You’ve made a grave mistake, Mr. Hogan,” Daisy said in her best sinister voice. 

Where the heck did she learn to talk like that? Hogan thought as he tried to stifle a chuckle.

“And what would that be, Ms. Daisy?” Hogan asked, trying to be as serious as he could manage.

“That tea you just drank, it’s poisoned.”

Hogan’s eyes widened in mock fear as he clutched at his throat, conveniently ignoring the fact that Daisy herself had drank the same tea. The girl was only four, so such a mistake could be ignored for the time being.

“Oh no! What am I going to do?” Hogan cried.

“Well, I have the antidote right here.” Daisy whipped out another small plastic cup she had been hiding in the pocket of her dress. “If you tell me where the queen’s jewels are hidden, I’ll give it to you, and you’ll be saved.”

“Hmm, that is a tough decision… How much time do I have to think it over?”

“Ten seconds!” Daisy cried.

“Oh dear, that’s not very much time. Whatever will I do?”

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1…”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you!” Hogan cried. “They’re hidden in the rose bushes. Now please give me the antidote!”

“Excellent! I knew you would crack under pressure, Mr. Hogan,” Daisy giggled as she gave him the cup. “Here is your antidote.”

As soon as she handed her father the cup, Daisy skipped off to the rose bushes to find the queen’s jewels. She was so engrossed in her little game that she hadn’t noticed her father sneaking up behind her…

“Gotcha!” Hogan smiled as he grabbed Daisy and swung her high in the air, her pigtails flying and the sound of her laughter filling the air.

“Daddy, that’s not fair!” Daisy laughed. “I gave you the antidote, but I haven’t found the queen’s jewels!”

“You thought you could outsmart me? A general?”

“I’ll get you next time, Hogan!” Daisy shook her fist playfully at her father. “You just wait till the next tea party!”

“I look forward to it, darling,” Hogan smiled as he held her, gently brushing her hair out of her face. 

“Daisy! Robert! It’s time for dinner!” Hogan’s wife, May, called from the porch.

“Aww, but mommy, I haven’t found the queen’s jewels yet!” Daisy cried as her father carried her up the steps.

“Looks like it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Your supper’s getting cold.”

“I’ll have you know this is under protest!” Daisy shouted as Hogan sat her down. 

“Your protest has been duly noted,” May quipped as she patted Daisy on the head. “Now go take your seat at the table.”

“Yes, mommy,” Daisy sighed as she skipped off inside.

“You’re teaching her terrible habits you know,” May couldn’t help but smile at her husband.

“Oh she’ll turn out just fine. I did,” Hogan winked.

“That’s up for debate.”

“Hey, you agreed to marry me.”

“One of my poorer decisions, I have to admit.”

“Hey! Now I protest!”

“Your protest has also been duly noted, General. Now come inside and eat before your supper gets cold too.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Hogan saluted as he kissed his wife and followed her inside.