#i had trouble even finding an old series promo

[pharawee]

Seems like Live in Love the Series is no longer happening with Non Ratchanon. Studio on Fire, the production company behind the series (and Hearth Chindanai's agency? I'm not sure but they do promo for his fanmeeting) just announced that the ship collab between Non and Hearth has ended due to their agencies not being able to agree on common terms.

Non's role will be recast and... I guess that's that.

What in the War of Y?? Copy A Bangkok did say there was going to be a special episode. I just didn't think it was War of Managers in real life.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - The Industry is Having Issues But the Spice Spicy Must Flow

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

March 2024 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

Two Worlds (Thurs IQIYI) eps 1-2 of 10 - One of those "he's dead Jim so time travel" thingames starring MaxNat. I'm over this concept but I do enjoy MaxNat. Phupha (Gun) and Khram (Nat) love each other but Phupha is murdered. Then Khram is pulled to a parallel world where, years ago, Khram and Tai (Max) were in love. However, Khram was killed by Tai’s dad. Now Tai finds alter-Khram. But then there is ALSO an alter-Phupha to deal with. (Phupha is played by Gun Thanawat who was Khom, the repressed butler bodyguard from Unforgotten Night. We like this, but we scared of the love triangle aspect.) Did that make sense? Yeah, okay, see what I mean?

Initial thoughts?

The subs are troubling but I’m enjoying this show a lot. It’s nice to see MaxNat get something meaty to sink their teeth into - that’s not just each other. Also it’s so smart of them to give us a fully fleshed out entire episode developing the alter romance rather than just a separation + death. It makes Khram’s grief and motivation that much more believable. Also it’s really nice to see Nat have good chemistry with other actors. 

Deep Night (Thurs iQiyi) ep 3 of 8 (10?) - I'm still enjoying it. But Two Worlds is objectively better. So this one has lost ranking. Also, unexpectedly chili (the name of my heavy metal Thai cover band).

Lovey switchy and verse main couple too.

This is all quite pleasing.

The bit where the hosts pretend to be a BL couple actor ship was epic on so many levels.

Also unsettling.

All sex work is performative, and in a way there is something more honest about this depiction, in this setting, than what BL actors are made to do on the promo circuit. Which then begs the question, how different is BL from sex work? That's the unsettling bit, for me anyway. Not to slam on sex work AT ALL, we pro-the-true-pros on this damn blog, but actors have been shaded by association with True Professionals for a very long time and BL has already had one epic shut down in this regard. (See the PerthSaint scandal around Love By Chance, no I will not explain.) Where was I? Oh yes, so anyway, see the Gossip section for the part where they better be paid either way!

Also, since I'm a warped fucker, I found this scene funny.

And then hilarious when all of those BL tropes were just trotted out. Like a greatest hits reel.

Truly beyond meta. (How Absolute BL of them.)

Note he’s even standing in yaoi's patented "hands in pocket with the shoulders back"? 

Meanwhile, the gayest bridge in Thailand made its quarterly appearance:

And lip serviced was paid to the most touristy romantic things you can do in Bangkok.

And I mean lip service literally. 

To Be Continued (Thai C3 Thailand grey) ep 5 of 8 - I’m still enjoying it but getting more and more nervous. We getting too close to Promise territory for comfort. EXPLAIN Ji’s reticence well and do it now or risk audience mistrust. We have to be given a GOOD reason for Ji's behavior, or he'll be irredeemable.

City of Stars (Fri iQIYI) ep 8 of 12 - NO SINGING. Yes smiley kisses and good communication and a nice healthy relationship. But no singing!

1000 Years Old ep 6 of 12 - Dropping in the ranks. I’m sorry it’s just gotten boring. It has, however, inspired me to invest in my own ridiculous cream fuzzy sweater. Which I plan to wear with leather trousers and huge stumpy boots, like the Kpop queer I truly am. Or do I mean vampire? 

Kiseki Chapter 2 (Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - Seems to be an excuse for a small posse of Thai actors to wander around Tokyo playing tourist and sing in public . Someone stop them?

“Most people think this kind of thing is bad manners .”

Anyway, it’s v boring. I’ll give it one more ep but I suspect I’ll DNF.

Close Friend Season 3: Soju Bomb! (Weds iQIYI) eps 1-2 of 6 - Meh. This is also looking suspiciously DNF-a-licious.  

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Unknown (Taiwan Tues Youku YouTube & Viki) ep 5 of 11 - It's brilliant. I love it. I'm ready to hurt. Let’s do this thing. 

Distribution note: This one has been picked up and is also airing on Viki now, so it may lose YT distribution in soem territories. I like Youku's hard subs better than Viki's subs, but that's a matter of preference not information since I don't speak Mandarin.

Love is Better the Second Time Around AKA Koi wo Suru nara Nidome ga Joto (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 3 of 6 - It is good. Every week I like this show a little more. I'm enjoying a reunion romance explored in Japan's quintessentially contemplative yet slightly surreal way. The juxtaposition of the tenderness of the sex scene with this Japanese brand of authenticity was oddly elegant - for lack of a better way of putting it. All in all, this is a good show. Thought provoking. Stylish.

AntiReset (Taiwan Fri Viki/Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - It remains lovely but they sure are reusing a lot of footage. Also, this was a classic penultimate doom episode. I do wonder how they are going to resolve this show ethically.

My Strawberry Film (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 8 - It is what it is, and it isn’t my style of show no matter what country of origin. Oddly that's one of the reasons I don't like it. Anyone could have made this, it's not as Japanese as I want it to be, it's just indie film club high school angst. Yawn.

I watched it, finally

The Servant and the Young Master (Vietnam YouTube) 7 eps - I dislike vertical filming, but I kind of enjoyed this show as a BL. I like class conflict romances. For me the rich kid is a bit too dictatorial (edges into bulling), but it’s kinda works. It’s sparse and underdeveloped and a bit plotless, but mildly entertaining. If you're missing Vietnamese BL you might give it a try. 6/10 

Began Beginning (Myanmar YouTube) 8eps - A Burmese BL that I had thoughts about but actually ended up recommending. Read the saga here:

It's done, ready to binge, but I suck

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps

It's airing but...

Graduation Countdown (Taiwan YouTube) ep 1 of ? - on one hand it's micro-installment vertical, on the other it's adorable and from Taiwan. I blame @heretherebedork entirely for my conundrum. As indeed, I did for My Type back in the day. (That was Nat Chen's first BL, yes of Kiseki: Dear To Me fame.) So I think I will also simply lean on Here to let me know when it's done and binge all at once. It's just too much to ask me to keep up with 2 minute pieces, I don't have that kind of endurance training, not even for BL.

Time the series (Tue Gaga/YT) 10 eps - it's finished now, I dropped it at ep 4. Should I bother?

A Secretly Love (Thai Sat WeTV grey) 10 eps - I watched the first ep but grey is too much work for this inferior of a show. I may pick up and binge if it gets distribution but for now, it gets a DNF from me. KimCop might have held this crap together but Kim without Cop? No thank you.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing for some reason.

Man Suang that MileApo vehicle from last year is coming to Netflix in the USA. I haven't heard much about it and since the KP stans would have lost their tiny minds if it was any good at all, I'm assuming it's not good at all.

Gossip

Thai BL actor Yoon breaks with his former company and talks about some very very VERY shady goings on in the Thai BL industry. Including not being paid.

And whacha know, same thing happening in Korean BL.

Have I mentioned recently how much I hate the film industry?

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting Soon

3/31 Only Boo! (Thai GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - New main couple for GMMTV in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. Other side of the tracks grumpy/sunshine pair who fall deeply in love but, of course, baby boy idol can't date. Boyband but from GMMTV? Control your singing and I'm game.

4/1 Love is like a Cat (Korea ????) 12 eps - This completed filming Aug 2022(!) which means there have been serious problems with post-production. This is another of Silkwood's Korean+Thai colab projects. Mew Suppasit plays a rookie film star, called the Cat Prince (for his cold arrogance) who goes up against a charismatic puppyish animal daycare director (JM of JUST B). There is also a side romance (love triangle?) with a veterinarian. Geonu of JUST B is also in the cast.

I wonder if this was part of the hold up, with Geonu on Build Up right now, they might have tried to muffle this one. Or maybe it's just that bad...

4/3 We Are (Thai GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - University ensemble BL featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawinPoon - basically the good kind of messy gay friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is queer. I'm IN!

Knock-Knock Boys (Thai WeTV?) - 4 college friends conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. Familiar faces like Seng (yes, Billy's previous partner), Best and frest face, news here.

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

NOTE: It looks like one of my personal favorites of last year Unintentional Love Story is getting a spin off!

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Without ghost girl.

With ghost girl.

I think she may be my favorite part of 1000 Years.

CLASSIC tsundere seme description of a sunshine uke. Like classic'est of classic. (Two Worlds)

Is there such a thing as a tired trope in a BL? Since it is a genre that is made up entirely of tropes quilted together? Your philosophical question for today brought to you by Deep Night's kabedon (Japanese trope) + punishment threat (Thai trope).

Love me a lap sit moment. (City of Stars)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are too much work.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[disneysnowprincess]

I ADORE The Black Cauldron, and I also like The Chronicles Of Prydain. However, I do have a few issues with the Prydain books, including how most of the Prydain fandom constantly bashes on The Black Cauldron movie [thank you for appreciating the movie alongside the books!], Eilonwy's questionable treatment in the books [I know it was in the 60s, but I was frustrated seeing Eilonwy having to wash dishes and have to give up her magic], the books get mean-spirited towards Taran at times, Elidyr's arc [I don't think it was handled well, Elidyr was a egotistic jerk who got Taran in trouble numerous times and his redemption came too late IMO. Gurgi's arc in the movie is much better.], book!Dallben in general [carelessly leaving The Book Of Three where Taran would get his hands on it and get burned then acting surprised when it happened, neither him or Coll went to look for Taran during the events of Book Of Three, the fact he straight out said he had doubts about Taran becoming the High King in the final book, and choosing to leave when Taran doesn't even know HOW to be a king yet], and the ending of the High King [I'm not opposed to a bittersweet ending, but magic leaving Prydain feels like a cynical attempt to deconstruct fantasy stories, and Eilonwy being forced to give up her magic leaves a sour taste in my mouth]. I still love the Prydain books [though I prefer the movie], in spite of my issues with them.

Hi Friend!

First of all: wow, a message on my tumblr in 2024?! What is this??? I honestly don't expect anyone to see my ramblings anymore, but I really appreciate that you took the time to send this message!

In response to your question, I completely understand. I know that I am in a Facebook group for the book and I am basically the person that gives all the updates on anything film related to the page (although I'm sure a few people find it a bit annoying lol). I do so because even though it's not related to the books directly, it is still Prydain related. Honestly, any promo for those books and Lloyd's work at this point is good promo, even if he wasn't a huge fan of the film, because it keeps his work in people's mind's and might even encourage people to read the books! When I was in high school my account dedicated to Princess Eilonwy got so many people to read the books, so I don't think mixing the two together is bad.

I think your issues with the books are COMPLETELY VALID. I will admit, I haven't read the books in a GOOD few years, so small details and plots are a bit muddy for me because I do focus so much more on the film itself and other interests. I think personally when reading books I try to objectively look at them with the view that flaws in characters and plots are meant to be there because they were put in by the author for whatever reason. While they might not be our favourite pathway that could've happened, Lloyd wanted to tell his story in a particular way. I do agree, magic leaving Prydain at the end was unfortunate, but I interpret it as a way for Lloyd to connect that world to our own. Prydain is an old world for the land that is now the UK, and the series is built on old welsh mythology, so maybe that was just a way for him to in the end be like "this is also part of our history, and why we don't have magic anymore." Who knows, that was just something that popped into my head while responding to your message.

If you ever do want to chat more, please feel free to DM me on Instagram (Eillyboo)

I've been seriously considering starting a Black Cauldron Film page on facebook. There is already one for the film but it's run by one person and not really a community board as he's the only one able to post. I see so much buzz about the film lately especially with the Villains land coming so I would love to connect with more people about it!

Have a great day!

[pop-goes-the-sneasel]

Was reading your Raichu post, which prompted this giant message.

There actually is some evidence that regular animals still exist in the Pokemon world, just not as prominently. There's actually promo material of Pikachu and Ash walking past a lady walking her dog, for example. This suggest that, originally, regular animals and Pokemon were supposed to coexist.

One possible explanation for why we don't see them is that they're less popular than owning Pokemon, and since wild animals generally avoid humans, trainers wouldn't encounter them, much.

Takashi Shudo, on the other hand, claims all real-world animals went extinct and were replaced by Pokemon (presumably by evolving into them...hopefully) but this seems to contradict all the stories of "Ancient" Pokemon, unless the series is thousands of years in the future, making us the Ancient Ones.

I actually dislike this explanation, because he also claims all the real-world animals that appeared were simply "animation mistakes" which makes zero sense in the case of the Ghastly turning into a mongoose, which was very obviously deliberately done, not a "mistake" like he claims.

There also was a Pokemon book called "Bulbasaur's Trouble" where Bulbasaur had to find a frog to settle a dispute between two children...the frog was a main part of the plot, and thus can't be written off as a "mistake."

Furthermore, the inclusion of Pokemon like Arceus, who supposedly created the world, would imply that Pokemon have been around since the beginning...unless he either wasn't originally a Pokemon, or recreated the world after it was destroyed.

Takashi Shudo's word should also be taken with a grain of salt since he didn't create the series, he was mainly the chief writer for the anime adaptation, so while he was very influential and created Lugia, his word isn't exactly final, it's just one opinion that many of the other writers for the series may disagree with for all we know. As a matter of fact, as far as I can find, he's the ONLY one who spoke on the matter, so we don't know the other writer's opinion on the matter. Raichu's entries continuing to reference Indian Elephants could be a sign that others working on the games disagree with his interpretation. We still don't have Satoshi Tajiri's word on the matter, either.

Furthermore, while it is more common in Gen 1, you can still see real-world aquatic animals in the Sun and Moon anime such as starfish and various shellfish, all the anime features coral, barnacles are sometimes seen, and in the Black and White manga they ask if someone was scared by a spider...a regular spider.

If you want to look more into it, Bulbapedia has an entire article listing all the times normal animals appeared in the franchise.

You sent this a year ago, and I’m just now publishing it because I’m only now deciding to finally return to this blog! In the year since you sent this in, though, a fascinating thing happened: Raichu’s dex entry in Legends Arceus seemingly retconned the old Indian elephant into Copperajah. Or, alternatively, an Indian elephant is just as easily knocked out by Raichu as Copperajah is, and Copperajah is simply a more useful barometer for Professor Laventon to use :U I think my stance at this point is that it’s undeniable that, early in the franchise, real animals were 100% intended to exist in the pokemon world, even in modern times. This tracks with early promotional material you showed above, and also the supplementary Gen 1 Pokedex book translated by Dr. Lava just a couple years ago, which not only includes references to real-life animals, but also theorizes that stuff like Vulpix are related to real-life foxes. Most outlandishly, Kabuto is claimed to be a common ancestor of hermit crabs and *turtles*. It’s a fascinating read and I highly recommend it! Link here: https://lavacutcontent.com/1996-creatures-pokedex-translation-1/ As for nowadays, though, I think it’s kept purposefully vague. Stuff like starfish are still shown, as are coral and some small insects, but most things that people will readily identify as a traditional “animal” are very strongly avoided. I suspect there’s not really an internal statement whether real-life animals do or don’t exist -- there’s just general orders not to show them, regardless of if they do or not. And invertebrates are just the best at slipping through the cracks. For myself, though, I agree with you -- if non-pokemon plants and fungi and rocks can exist, why not non-pokemon animals too? Anyways, with SV having recently unveiled its official artwork for its new pokemon, now’s as good as time as any to resume the reviews c:

[watchmegetobsessed]

🔥 = smut   🌈 = readers’ favorite (with more than 1k notes)   🌷 = author’s favorite

hello there! to avoid having my masterlists getting crashed, i am now starting a new one for oneshots written in 2022! the previous posts will be available of course, only my new works will be found here!

Find my other masterlists HERE !

No Regrets — You’ve been trying your best to avoid hollywood’s biggest charmer, Harry Styles. However, your longtime friend, Gemma Chan is working harder than the devil and has other plans for NYE.

Nervous 🔥🌈--- After a series of unfortunate events, you're stuck at your boss' place for an indefinite time. And things take an unexpected turn...

Saturday Night Live 🌈--- You’re in a PR relationship with your long time friend, Pete Davidson. Hosting SNL along with Harry as the musical guest, you are hoping your fake relationship will spark some jealousy in the british singer you’ve been crushing on forever. (collab with @harrysfolklore)

My Best Girl 🔥🌈--- Sequel to Good Girl. It’s been a year since your arrangement with Harry turned into a love story. Now you’re living happily with the man of your dreams, but something causes some trouble in your little paradise. Or maybe someone…

Intruder --- Harry, being the heroic boyfriend that he is, saves you from a vicious spider in the bedroom.

Violet --- Harry calls out the name of a woman in his sleep. But it’s not yours…

Growing Old 🌷--- Harry reflects on the passing of time on the morning of his 28th birthday. Growing old doesn’t sound too scary with you by his side.

Puzzle Pieces --- Harry loves a good party. But he loves spending his evening at home with you.

The Naked Truth🔥 --- Harry is a broke med student and Niall talks him into modeling for an art class. Naked.

Next Door 🔥🌈--- Your neighbor keeps getting on your nerves and you hate him for that but you hate how good-looking he is even more.

Language Course --- Doing promo interviews is tiring, especially when an asshole makes fun of your accent. Luckily Harry, your costar is quick to defend you.

Teamwork 🔥🌈 --- You're rather quiet in bed, but Harry is desperate to make you scream and he is not afraid to use toys in the process.

Sunkissed --- The warm spring weather brings out your obsession with Harry's neck and shoulders.

As It Was 🌈 --- You’re on a break, but Harry calls you drunk one night and you don’t even think twice before going over to check on him.

Wasted Time 🔥🌈 --- An unusually nice looking man wanders into the bar where you work at and an unexpected friendship forms along with a deal, but how long can it last when you start to fall for the man that’s out of your league?

Three Birthdays --- A glimpse of three of your birthdays in the past 2 decades, all of them somehow connected to Harry.

Proof --- People think your relationship with Harry is just a PR stunt, but you have a wild idea how you could prove them wrong.

Power Couple --- You’re an independent and strong woman and Harry loves that about you. He won’t let anyone belittle you by dropping your doctoral title.

Wet Dreams 🔥🌈--- Harry misses you. A lot… and he shares with you the wet dreams he’s been having about you.

Infatuation 🔥🌈— You’re about to start your business as an interior designer. Thanks to your best friend, your first client turns out to be none other than Harry Styles, the insanely handsome and stupidly rich business man.

Everyday Things - Harry loves the everyday things, especially when they include you. Like going to the supermarket in the night because you want ice-cream and then shagging in the car, because he can’t keep his hands to himself.

Ice Cold --- Harry goes swimming in the Irish Sea and he wants you to go with him.

My Queen 🌈--- Harry would do anything for his pregnant girlfriend, just minutes before he is expected to be on the stage he is still seeking ways to comfort her.

Exception 🌈--- Harry had a long day and enough of everyone. Everyone, except you.

The Feeling Is Mutual --- Your little Italian getaway with Harry is something you’ll probably remember forever, since it’s where Harry has decided to get on one knee.

Intimate And Public 🌈--- Being on your honeymoon in Italy, you make some realizations about your marriage.

Princess 🌈--- Harry has been relentless to get you to date him. At a frat party you finally have a conversation that overturns everything.

Cover Up 🔥🌈--- Harry gets a little too possessive when he sees your nipples peeking through your shirt.

In The Middle --- You have different beliefs about marriage, but you end up meeting in the middle.

Overprotective --- Harry takes being protective a bit too far and you snap.

Blind Eye 🔥🌷🌈--- Harry thought everything was going well in his marriage. Right until one day his wife left with no explanation and not he is stuck in the dark, waiting to find out how he can fight for what matters the most to him.

Big Boss 🌈--- Your boyfriend breaks up with you to focus on his career. So you start dating his boss.

Cozy Sunday --- Spending the day in bed with your boyfriend.

Snacks And Sex 🌈--- You’re three months pregnant, but the world doesn’t know. Seeing some pictures of yourself online really get to you.

Parent Trap 🔥🌈--- Harry has been crushing on the mother of her daughter’s classmate and now that she has divorced, a bake sale finally brings them together.

Golden Ticket --- You change your mind about your halloween costume last minute because you fear Harry might find it too revealing, but he thinks otherwise.

Childish 🌈--- It was supposed to be a perfect, cozy fall weekend. Right until you doubt whether you’re the perfect fit for your older, successful boyfriend.

Hopelessly Devoted To You --- You’re hopelessly devoted to Harry’s Danny costume.

Like Fine Wine 🌈--- Harry needs glasses, but he refuses to put them on and there’s a deeper meaning behind it than you thought.

Date Night 🌈--- You’re supposed to go on a date night, but when Harry comes home he finds you, his pregnant wife asleep, so he changes your plans for the evening.

Delicious 🔥🌈--- There’s just something incredibly delicious about seeing Harry sunbathing.

Subtle 🌈--- Harry’s not so subtle way of hinting that he is in the mood.

Midnight Crush 🌈--- Harry has had a crush on Sarah’s sister for a long time and this year, at the NYE party he can finally shoot his shot, because she’s freshly single.

No Heartbreak 🌈--- You planned to spend the holidays alone, just like you always do. However, your boss had other ideas.

Sauna Session 🔥🌈--- All you wanted was some relaxing time alone in the nude sauna cabin, but that one mysterious and ridiculously handsome man had to be there at the same time as you. Things get hot, but not just because of the sauna.

Twenty-Nine --- It’s Harry’s birthday, he is surrounded by love, but there is one person missing from beside him. You.

And The Grammy Goes To 🌈--- The moment Harry wins another Grammy.

The BRITs 🔥--- You and Harry are getting drunk at the BRITs and you can’t control your desires for each other.

Early Morning --- Early morning snuggles in bed.

Sneaky --- Everyone is into the hot TA that substitutes for your professor. One sneaky picture leads you to what every girl dreamed of in class.

Fascination --- Part 2 to Infatuation. Making your first official appearance as Harry’s girlfriend brings some struggles, but you realize that nothing really matters as long as you have his love.

Bulletproof 🌷🌈--- Being Eroda’s first daughter is not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s tough out there when people are so fast to judge you and turn their back on you. But there is one person who’s been there for you all along. Your bodyguard, Harry.

Decode --- You’re up for the promotion you’ve always dreamt about, but right when you need to prove everything goes downhill. Lucky for you the cute, quiet IT guy, Harry, is there to help you out.

Night Out 🌈--- You’re getting ready for a girls’ night out and Harry joins you in the bathroom in the process, mesmerized with everything you do.

Too Far 🌈--- Harry has been extremely clingy since you’ve found out you were pregnant and this morning is no exception either.

Dessert 🌈--- Harry gets hit on at an event, but the woman fails terribly, because he only has eyes for his pregnant girlfriend who is busy by the buffet table.

Cheesy --- It's your annual trip to Italy with your boyfriend, but he is planning to make it special by asking you one important question.

My Hero --- Some drunk guy gets dirty with you when you refuse to serve him. Luckily, Harry is there to stand up for you, even if he is not too good at it.

No More Games 🔥🌈--- Your friend forces you to give Tinder a try. Surprisingly you fetch a date with the handsome and a little bit older Harry. But he stands you up and you lose hope in dating. However it’s a real plot twist when you run into him at your dad’s barbeque and he is introduced to you as the future CEO of your father’s company.

Crush --- Harry has been into you for way too long, but you haven’t given him a chance. You run into each other at the Grammy’s afterparty and you finally tell him why you’re so adamant about keeping your distance.

Puppy Love 🌷🌈--- Harry has been on his well deserved break, but has run out of activities faster than he expected. Killing time he’s been going to the same café and park for a walk pretty often, but it might have something to do with the pretty woman with the cute dog he’s been seeing on these walks.

Wardrobe Malfunction 🌈--- You’re dealing with a bit of a wardrobe malfunction upon arriving to a wedding. At first your boyfriend is no help, but then he saves the day as always.

My Husband 🌈---  It’s been days since your wedding, but it is just now sinking in. Harry is your husband.

On Repeat 🔥🌈--- As his personal assistant, you definitely shouldn’t be havin dirty thoughts of Harry, especially not about the way his tongue on his guitar. But it’s hard to resist and you need relief, but you never thought your boss would be more than willing to help you out.

Just Hands 🔥--- Harry, your college best friend has offered to help you move, but neither of you expected him to find your dildo in the midst of packing. And you especially not expected what came afterwards.

Unspoken --- Your college roommate wants to get you out of your shell and brings you to your first frat party. It’s not quite your setting, but when you meet a nice boy in the bathroom it gets better. Right until he catches your roommate’s eyes as well.

The Final Show 🌈--- You made a promise in the beginning of Love On Tour and now it’s catching up with you and though your heart wants you to keep your word, you know it’s not that easy, because it’s about your boss, the person who matters the most to you.

Home --- You knew the emotions would catch up with Harry once more after the show. And you’re there to guide him through these overwhelming feelings.

Illicit Thoughts 🔥🌈--- Harry has been nothing but professional when it came to you, but the short skirt you wore to the office seems to crumble his whole act finally.

Illicit Temptation 🔥🌈--- Part II. to Illicit Thoughts. A business trip to Italy brings more than just professional success. One hot afternoon, deliciously cold water and a series of unfortunate events bring out the illicit temptation you both have been fighting.

Illicit Acts 🔥🌈--- Part III. to Illicit Thoughts and Illicit Temptation. The temptation is higher than ever, especially when Harry has to watch you dance with his possible future business partner.

Fruity --- Italy, Harry, pregnancy cravings and an ice-cream crisis solved by your wonderful husband.

Siren --- It was supposed to be a little lonely getaway in your dad’s Italian villa, but plans get a little messed up and you end up having to share the villa with your dad’s friend, Harry.

Trophy Wife 🌈--- You’re not what one would expect a CEO’s girlfriend to be like. You’re not like all those trophy wives. But does it bother Harry? That with you it’s not yachts and fancy drinks and modern luxury, just wildflowers, mismatched furniture and shared finances.

Unofficial --- You and Harry are in a temporary phase of bein unofficial, but you don’t mind it, especially the tiny moments you share when no one is looking.

Mistletoe --- Everyone knows Harry is crushing on Y/N, but he hasn’t made any major moves. Maybe tonight, when they find themselves under the mistletoe…

One Year --- On the day before Christmas you realize just how much has changed in one year.

Mistaken hatred --- Things don’t go as smooth as you planned with your bakery’s opening, but you’re doing your best to overcome the struggles. However there is one person who is hating on your business as if it was his job: Harry Styles. You just wish you knew what you did to earn his hatred…

The Usual --- It’s a slow day at the diner, everyone is in a post-Christmas haze. However yours clears up when your favorite stranger shows up, smug as always but this time some nasty bruises are all over his handsome face.

Forever --- Bucky feels like the luckiest man alive to call you his and he is ready to call you by another name: his wife. But for that he needs to make you his fiancé first.

Hot And Nice --- Sebastian accidentally goes live.

Monster --- Frank shows up at your place again but this time you’ll not let him belittle your feelings for him.

Avenge You 🌈--- When Steve is pulled into the Upside Down through watergate, you do not hesitate before jumping after him.

Back Together 🌈--- You and Steve broke up not long ago, but watching over Max in the night brings the two of you back together.

[finelinevogue]

I love your “little moments” series… I have a weak spot for dad!Harry💕 and I love the relationship between the family’s members 🤗 and I really hope u will continue to update it! And for this series I would like to request Harry doing the 73 questions interview for Vogue and his kids and wife make an appearance (u can choose if the kids are toddlers or teens) and they even answer some questions OR an Howard Stern interview where Harry is asked about his family,maybe the host makes like not so nice-low key shady comments on his wife and on Harry’s daughter coming out story. Ok I’ m done, so sorry ik it’s so long 😅 it’s just I love your series sooo muchhh 🥰🥰 ok I’m done love u have a good day 😘

i’d love to answer this one!! thank you so much for loving my little series💕this one’s for you and for the other request i got which i’m combing with this: “Harry is doing a interview on facetime when his kid crashes the interview.” so pls enjoy and yeah enjoy;

oli - 6, felix - 4, belle - 1

The day had finally arrived for Harry Styles to complete the 73 Questions with Vogue.

It had come to be the promo for ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and his schedule was booked with interview after interview after interview, and it wasn’t ideal for this to all be happening months whilst also having to look after three meddling toddlers, one of whom had only recently turned 1 years old.

The house was chaos. Fun, but chaos. And it was also the setting of this interview.

“Alright you lot, this way.” You shoved your children along to your living room, giving Harry the space he needed with Joe Sabia - the interviewer.

“Thank you love, see you later.” He blew a kiss to you and returned his focus to Joe. This interview was the first of many and it was also a major marketing ploy. These types of interviews were so highly recommended for Harry to be involved in and Jeff had thought it was about time for him to do one.

Joe had arrived around 15 minutes ago, just to

run over the script and remind Harry of the pre-determined questions - which reminded him of the answers that you’d run through with him the night before. Now the cameras were set up, the mic people were all at stand-by and Joe was ready it was time to begin. The children had been so fascinated by all these new people, after not seeing anyone for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, which is why it took a lot of trouble to get them to shuffle away from their beloved dad.

A fake door knock arose.

“Harry Styles hello!”

“Hi!” Harry waved at the camera.

“I’m here to do the Vogue 73 Questions, shall we get to it?”

“Of course! Come in!” Harry welcomed Joe into the house and shut the door behind him, not trusting his little ones to not escape if they were running wild.

“Beautiful house! Is it your only one?”

“No, but it’s my only one in London.” Harry made a point of not exploiting how many houses he did have and where they were. In fact, you still didn’t know about the Island that he was currently investing in just for you. You were a huge conservation activist and so Harry thought you could spend your free time helping the fragile ecosystem on this island.

“Did you design it yourself?”

“Me and my wife built the plans, but we go the experts to finish it all off.”

“What’s your favourite room?”

“Um, probably the living room.”

“Why?”

“So many of my favourite memories have happened in there.”

“Could you give us some?”

Harry could give loads, but they were far too precious for him to just give away. The living room wasn’t even a massive room, it was quite quaint with a couple of sofas, a logwood fire and then rugs and paintings on the walls. It was a home within a home. It was where Felix had taken his first steps. It was where Oli had spoken his first words. It was where Belle had fallen over for the first time and given herself nasty carpet burn. It was where presents were opened at Christmas. It was where you and Harry had made love next to the fire. It was where Felix and Oli had had their first tiny argument. It was where you spent family nights. If your house was a map then that room marked X the spot.

It was treasure. Priceless.

“My favourite would probably be when my wife, Y/N, spilt red wine all over the new white carpet and then proceeded to throw white wine over the stain because she’d read somewhere that it helps to get rid of it.” Harry chuckled at the memory.

“Did it?”

“No, God no. The carpet’s grey now.”

Joe laughed, as did Harry.

“I have to say Harry, you’re looking very fashionable today who are you wearing?”

“Gucci.” He blushed, because he knew that everyone would’e known that without question. He was wearing a lilac silk shirt with his name embroidered on it - but really it was to symbolise your last name not his - with a white wife-beater shirt and white shorts. He looked rich.

“Shouldn’t have asked really? Is your wife as much a Gucci avid fan?”

“She hates anything expensive. I think she still wears the same jeans she was wearing at university!” He knew you’d hit him later for saying that.

“So she’s a hoarder?”

“God yeah. She keeps everything and anything.” Harry laughed in admiration.

“Has she always been?”

“Always. When we went on our first date, her bag was so full that she couldn’t find her purse and she was so embarrassed because she thought I would think she was taking advantage of who I was. Anyways I did end up paying that night, but she had actually, I don’t know how, sent me money for her portion of the bill. From that moment I knew it was going to be her.”

“Do you write songs about her?

“Every day.” He smiled at the thought of the one he’d written just this morning.

“Which one is your favourite about her?”

“I don’t know about favourite, but the one I hold closest to my heart is probably ‘Fine Line’.” Harry stopped there, not wanting to share the intimate details of why and Joe respected that.

“Do your children have a favourite song of yours?”

“They go crazy for Kiwi and Golden. Belle loves Treat People and Oli knows the dance to that one actually.”

“Did you choreograph the dance for TPWK?”

“Partially, but I had help from my friend Paul and Y/N helped too actually.”

Harry and Joe had now made it through the house, weaving in and out of rooms, until they had made it to the Garden. Unfortunately, you’d forgotten to shut the bifold doors to the living room and so as soon as Harry came into focus for your children they immediately ran for him. Oli and Felix could run quite well, but Belle was a lot slower. She was only learning how to walk and so she fell a lot, unless she was being supported by you or Harry. Oli reached his dad first and then Felix, to which Harry knelt down to embrace them in ‘super-dad’ hugs as he liked to call them.

“And who do we have here?” Joe asked.

“Trouble.” Harry replied in jest, but whispered something into his boys ears before backing away.

“Hello i’m Oli.” Oli waved proudly to the camera.

“Hi i’m Fix.” Feliz shied into his dads neck, embarrassed of himself. Harry kissed the back of his head and kept a hold oh him around his back for comfort.

“Fix?” Joe asked at the peculiar name.

“It’s Felix, but he can’t pronounce his own name for some reason so we just call him Fix now. Or Flix. Don’t we buddy?”

“Oh my! I’m so sorry about this!” You ran out in panic, knowing your one job was to keep the kids entertained and away from their dad. At least that was the original plan, but both Harry and Joe like this idea so much more. You were blushing red in embarrassment, picking up a fallen over Belle on your way over to everyone else. “So sorry.”

Belle became restless in your arms, reaching forward for her dad. She whined when she couldn’t quite reach and Harry immediately stood up to take his winging daughter from your arms. As he did, he leant into you and whispered in your ear whilst leaving it a warm kiss behind.

“You’re okay love. Don’t be sorry.”

“Hello Y/N!” Joe spoke.

“Hiya! How are you?”

“I’m great, and you?”

“Peachy.” You laughed, leaning down to collect Felix who was making grabby hands at you. Oli was quite happy standing next to both his parents, one of Harrys hands running through his tiny locks of hair.

“So now we have the family together, how do you feel to all be together?”

You looked to Harry smiled to find him smiling back already at you, knowing you both had a very similar answer. “It feels right. It feels like home.” You answered and Harry nodded in agreement, giving Belle a gentle rock in his arms.

“Are you okay with showing your children’s faces publicly?”

“No we’re not.”

“Looks like we have a hell of a lot of editing to do back at HQ.” Joe laughed, but completely understood the reasoning behind yours two decision. If needed, you could re-film scenes of this interview so that it didn’t include your children. Joe had done his best to keep the camera on you and Harry and luckily the children kept their faces buried in their parents necks anyways. “Is that going to be forever?”

“When they are old enough to decide whether they want to be in the spotlight then we’ll see.” Harry smiled, holding onto Belle tighter because all he wanted to do was keep her protected, and his, forever.

“You two seem like very good parents.” Joe spoke sincerely, and it made you swallow down a sob because it was always really lovely to hear such compliments - knowing you’d struggled with postnatal depression.

“Thank you Joe.” Harry nodded respectfully.

“Okay let’s carry on?”

The interview carried on until Harry had answered so many questions. He redid bits, due the children being too involved and he re-filmed answers to questions he found difficult to answer the first time around. He had such a great experience and was happy with the way that the day turned out.

[outerspaceisbetterthannothing]

Public Relations. Pt 3. Fire Escape Staircase [Calum Hood blurb]

Series masterlist

Summary: you, Calum, some alcohol and a dark fire escape staircase. 18+, proofread by @burncrashbromance

***

You’ve never been that much of a fan of the Big Apple. And you definitely weren’t a fan of going on promo tours with Calum. You’ve done it once, spent most of the time hanging around alone and getting your boyfriend only late at night and tired as hell and decided that waiting for him at home or flying out to him for a couple of days every so often was a preferred alternative for you. But when Calum mentioned that he would like you to go to New York for his three-day promo trip with him, somehow you couldn’t resist. You thought that just three days wouldn’t be so difficult and you’d also get a chance to catch up with your college best friend while you’re there. So you said yes. Which, truth to be told, you had regretted the very first day.

Promo was promo, Calum had his work to do and was busy most of the time. For which you couldn't and weren’t going to blame him. And if he wasn’t busy, he was meeting some people he had to meet while he’s in the city. You tried not to get in a mood, constantly reminding yourself you had known what you were agreeing to. But tonight, at a lame home party of some acquaintance of Calum’s you felt bored to no measure. You had met your friend earlier that day, but even this meeting wasn’t able to brighten your gloomy state of mind.

So here you were, bored, moody and tipsy. Calum would say that’s a dangerous combination. You, looking at him opening a third beer, weren’t able to find anything dangerous in teasing your own boyfriend a little. Just a little bit. Only to remind him you actually were here.

You waited till he opened the bottle and turned around to go back to the living room and headed his way. Your ways crossed right next to the kitchen island, in a narrow space, so you had to press into him with your body. And maybe, just maybe you pressed your ass to his crotch a little harder than was necessary.

“Hey you,” you dropped, giving him a shy smile.

“Hey yourself,” Calum replied and sent you a long look, which you felt with your back.

Your plan was working, you noted to yourself, joining other girlfriends at the different side of the apartment.

Quarter of an hour later you got your second chance, as you were standing next to Calum and listening to a guy you’d seen for the first time sharing his opinion on modern art. A group of newcomers were trying to get to the kitchen and their way was laying just past you. You were the first to notice them, so you freed some space, for which you had to stand right in front of Calum. This time you pressed your body into him much harder than was needed and also made sure you had a second to stroke his thigh. Calum looked at you again, longer and more intently, but you acted innocently.

One more drink later you were called by Ashton to sit with them while they were discussing some old school guitar solos. There was a free armchair, but you decided to ignore it and settled in Calum’s lap. And yes, you did wiggle your ass, trying to get more comfortable.

“And what do you think you’re doing?” Calum asked, hiding his face in your hair for a moment. You smiled again and kept drinking silently. Calum chuckled, but didn’t push and switched his attention back to the discussion. At least, he tried to. And he would probably succeed if not for you being so active. You didn’t do much though, just moved a little. To put your cup on a table and then to pick it up a minute later. To unfold your skirt. To give Ash a high five when you were the only one to guess that Rolling Stones song he was humming. And also to do a little dance because of guessing something their musical minds didn’t. And then to put your cup back on the table again.

“If you don’t stop, you gonna be in such trouble,” you heard Calum’s deep voice right over your ear.

“Stop what?” you frowned.

“You know,” Calum pressed.

And that moment, you understood, was perfect for your final strike. You pouted sadly and stood up.

“If you’ll excuse me,” you dropped to other people at the table and headed to the bathroom.

You knew he would follow you, if there was one thing Calum couldn’t resist, it was your sad pout. You could fight, yell at each other, you even spent whole three days not talking to each other once at the very beginning of your relationship. But disappointing you was Calum’s weak spot. You didn’t lock the door, waiting for him. But three minutes later you were still completely alone in this bathroom. You pouted again to your own reflection in the mirror, this time honestly being disappointed. Did he really resist your perfect attack?

You sighed, fixed your lipstick and left the bathroom, having no hope left.

You almost yelled when someone grabbed your hand in a dark hall.

“Please, the bathroom is so cliche,” Calum laughed, leading you to an open window down the corridor.

“You scared the fuck out of me!”

“That’s my revenge,” he chuckled again, pressing you into the wall near the window. His face looked so magnificent in the reflections of light from the street. But you didn’t have much time to examine it, as Calum leaned down to kiss you. His lips felt like a breath of fresh air. It was hard to understand when did you get to miss him so much. A soft moan escaped you when he moved to your neck. “Did you feel love deprived, baby?” he asked, detaching his lips from your skin to take a breath.

“A little,” you admitted. “That’s why I hate doing promo with you. You’re always near, but never really with me. Missing you at home is easier.”

Calum stopped kissing you and straightened up, looking you intently in the eyes. You had no idea what he was seeing there with so little light. You had a feeling he wanted to say something, but the moment he opened his mouth, a burst of laughter from the other side of the hall interrupted your intimacy. Calum looked back at two girls, who disappeared into the bathroom and smirked.

“Let’s go,” he told you, stepping aside and pulling you towards the window.

Before you had a chance to ask where exactly you were going, Calum was already standing at the fire escape staircase, holding out his hand for you. You joined him, trying not to look around. You weren’t that afraid of heights, but standing on the fire escape of a high building wasn’t that calming. You clutched harder on his hand and stepped closer to him.

“I got you,” Calum tried to calm your nerves and took a first step up the stairs.

“You wanna go higher?” you exhaled in terror.

“Just looking for some privacy.” Calum pulled on your hand and you unwillingly followed, taking it was still safer there with him than here on your own. You climbed up to the next landing, where Calum pressed you to the wall again and with a smug “So where exactly did we stop?” kissed you passionately.

Soon everything was forgotten, the height, your gloom. Even cold wind biting on your bare legs wasn’t bothering you that much, your temperature seemed to rise with Calum’s touch. You were lost for air and soon decided you don’t need air at all, as long as you could have Calum’s kisses. His hands were everywhere on you, pinning your waist to the wall, stroking your thighs under your skirt, brushing your breasts, clutching on your throat. You couldn’t help the need you had for that man and pushed your pelvis into him.

“You wanna here?” Calum didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Why the fuck not?” You weren’t sure how much of your decision depended on the alcohol in your system, but you also couldn’t care less. You wanted him, here and now.

“Love how much you need me today, baby,” he whispered, kissing you right under your ear and drowning a lustful groan out of you.

“I always need you,” you assured him.

“And that I love even more,” Calum smirked again and pulled on your thighs, trying to turn you.

“No,” you protested. “Wanna see your face.”

Calum sighed, pushed your skirt higher and slowly caressed your pussy.

“Wanna see my face?” he asked.

“It’s one beautiful face,” you replied, losing your breath under his experienced fingers. He caught your lips with his in a feverish kiss, all tongues and teeth.

You decided not to lose time and unzipped his jeans. Calum hummed contentedly and groaned the next moment, when you shoved your hand into his boxers and touched his dick.

You started squeezing as he was rubbing your clit, his hand already in your panties.

“You do it so good, baby,” Calum whispered and pulled your underwear down. You let go of him and overstepped, letting him free you from your panties. Calum pulled his dick all the way outside and outstretched his arms for you. “Jump.”

He lifted you in one swift move and pressed your back into the wall. You felt cold bricks with your ass and his dick right under you.

“Ready?” you managed only a nod before Calum pushed into you slowly.

You bit your lip and hid your face in the crook of his neck, trying to be quiet and failing as the feeling was too intense. Calum gave you a moment before starting to move. He wasn’t that careful as at the parking lot several weeks ago, darkness covering you both from onlookers in the nearby buildings. And his deep steady moves made you see stars in no time.

You moaned once, making him hush you. Then you moaned loudly again.

“If you don’t stop, I will,” he threatened.

He was bluffing and you knew that, you both were too far beyond the line to stop now. But you had to muffle your moans somehow. So you pulled the hoodie on his shoulder to the side, exposing the crook of his neck and dug into his skin with your teeth. Calum hissed and thrusted into you with more effort, which only made you bite his neck deeper.

“Gonna slap you for that so hard, you won’t be able to sit,” he promised, hammering inside.

“Whatever you want, just keep going, Cal, harder,” you pleaded, kissing on the bite.

You didn’t need to ask twice. Calum snapped you up and went faster. The buckle of his belt lined up right with your clit from his sharp move and you barely held back a yell. Cold metal burning on your most sensitive spot added so much to the feeling of Calum’s big dick inside of you that you teared up and had to bite him again to stop yourself from yelling.

And that very moment the unexpected happened. The window right opposite you lit up and you saw a lady in her seventies enter her kitchen slowly.

“Freeze,” you ordered Calum through your gritted teeth.

“The fuck?” Calum lifted up his head from your shoulder and looked at your terrified face. “What?”

“There’s an old lady right behind you. Keep still or she sees us,” you explained.

“I can’t keep still,” Calum uttered, shutting his eyes. “I need to move, fuck, you’re so tight, baby.”

“Shh, consider it a cockwarming pause,” you hushed him and kissed his cheek, watching the lady intently.

“What is she even doing there?”

“Making herself tea, just couple more moments, baby.”

You watched as an old lady poured some hot water from the kettle and picked up her cup and then turned around to leave the kitchen. You breathed out. “I think we’re safe,” you told Calum, who thrusted into you desperately. And that moment the old lady stopped abruptly and turned back.

“No, no, no, freeze again,” you begged Calum.

“Fucking kidding me,” he let out a humorless laugh. “What now?”

“Apparently, she wanted a cookie,” you explained, unable to suppress your laugh.

“Are you shitting me right now?” Calum looked you in the face trying to understand if you were kidding.

“I swear to god, she’s there and is picking up a plate of cookies, Calum,” you kept laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation. Calum groaned and dropped his head back on your shoulder. You had to wait for one minute more ‘till she left her kitchen, a minute that seemed like an eternity, before you let Calum move again.

He went hard on you, almost hitting you into the wall, his cold buckle rubbing your clit. You felt even more turned on by the danger of being caught. You suddenly realized how many windows were there around you and how many people could have stood behind them this very moment. And doing it here in a hypothetical presence of all of them was inflaming the blood in your veins.

“Yes, Calum, right there,” you moaned into his ear when he hit you right where you felt the most.

“Gonna need you to cum,” he told you, banging you faster with every next move. He was so close, holding only for the sake of you.

“Tell me you like me like this.”

He lifted his head again and kissed you hard. “Love you like this,” he whispered in your lips. “So tight for me, taking my cock so good, ready for me any place and time. Love how dirty you are for me,” he kept kissing in between sentences. “My little filthy girl, can’t stay away from my dick, can you?”

The waves of your orgasm swept you away from reality. You felt Calum’s thrusts getting unbelievably deeper and his hot cum inside you. “Yeah, baby, just like this, take it all,” he kept whispering, while you were losing your mind completely.

You came back to reality a minute or a year later. Calum was just holding you on his arms, looking you in the face, his dick still inside of you.

“You good?” he whispered.

“I’m perfect. You?”

“I’m always good if I’m deep inside you,” he said with a smug smile back on his face.

“I’ll make sure to remember that.”

“Yo, are you here?” you heard Ashton’s voice from the below.

Calum chuckled. “Perfect timing.” He carefully pulled out of you and lowered you on your own two feet. “Can stand straight?”

You nodded as Ash tried again, “Cal, where the fuck are you?”

“We’re here, Ash,” Calum replied, handing you your underwear.

Calum hid his dick back in his jeans, looked you in the eye, winked and went down the stairs.

“Needed some fresh air,” you heard him explaining to Ashton.

“Such a stupid metaphor for a make-out session, Cal,” the drummer snorted, making Calum laugh loudly.

And you, putting your panties on, kept on thinking how you should have gone to New York with him even if just for this make-out session.

***

Taglist: @myloverboyash, @calpops, @ukulelecal, @lfwallscouldtalk, @empathycth, @talkfastang, @wastedheartcth, @dreamer-loves-lyrics, @singt0mecalum, @rip-lukes-balsamic, @gosh-im-short, @megz1985, @rosecolouredash, @cal-puddies, @kindahoping4forever, @talkfastromance4, @thesubtweeter, @cassie-sos, @bandsrawesome

[popculturebuffet]

The Loud House Reviews: The Cow-Pie Kid and Saved by the Spell

Welcome back Loudiacs.. I .. don’t know what the fandom calls themselves. And given I dont’ know anyone personally in the fandom and the going into the tag is like living in a living nightmare.. it’s easier to keep workshopping a name till either someone tells me or I find one that sounds right. Loudites.. there we go that didn’t take long. Point is we’re back in The Loud House, In The Loud House for the first regular coverage, i.e. when I cover a show as It comes out of the season. And I was lucky enough to actually see the episode same day this time and with a promo that at least gives me images to work with, so yeah, i’m pretty pumped. And not just because I can cross this one off because SOMEBODY has a birthday tommorow.. no not me, that was last month. 

There ya go. But yeah the show’s back. I’m excited, your excited, i’m scared because nick dosen’t give a clear schedule out ahead of time so i’m left wondering when one’s going to pop up and when to get it on my schedule now I have one... it’s a good time. Seriously though Nick needs to get their scheduling in order. So i’m happy to be back, your happy to have me here, but probably not happy to have spoilers so let’s take this under the cut and we can talk about cow pies, magic, and ... how this block is weirdly almost all lincoln episodes. 

The Cow-Pie Kid:  Yeah.. this was the only bit from cow pie kid I could find. Tons of stuff to mine from for saved by the spell. Nothing for that one. Weird.  Anyways our story opens with Lynn’s baseball team, who we’ve met before.. and include friends who have played other sports with her and that guy she had a crush on for all of five minutes because the writers kinda forgot L is for Love happened for anyone but Luna and Luann. 

Okay look MOST of the love intrests introduced there were not great and while Lincoln needs one NOW, at the time he really did not as the Ronnie Anne thing had not, and still has not, been properly resolved. Still vastly prefer him with Stella and her with Sid, i’m just saying closure would be nice.  Look i’m getting off topic point is one besides Sam, who was great out of the gate and not just for being gay.. though that was a lot of it, and Benny, whose objectively a really sweet kid and damn likeable. Luaggie shippers feel free to boo me, I understand.. dosen’t change my mind or the fact Poly exists to fix that. I mean why not both I ask you.  Besides them, we had Chazz, a loveable chubby guy who Leni was into and worked at clothing store and knew his fashion stuff. and was charmed by her romantic gesture. He just seemd sweet and it was implied via background stuff they were still dating.. but he hasnt’ shown up since despite her working AT the mall and that being her main arc for the last two seasons. 

Just why? What’s wrong with the chubby fashion boy? Why? Did they decide they had too many romance arcs.. at exactly two? I get focusing on sam, because duh, and because that was awesome.. but you’ve had 2 full seasons since then and again Leni and him now work in the same location if not the same store, which in itself is a plot. I don’t ask much from you show.. well okay I do but let me clarify I don’t ask much from you that you could actually do: I know i’m never getting my a diffrent world style spinoff with lori and bobby. I know Zach is going nowhere and i’m just going to have to get over it, I will not, but I DO know you could include chaz and just won’t. So do that at least. I will put up with several more seasons of Zach if it means this adorable love story continues. It’s even easy enough to pick up this late: they are both stupid. Work with that. Gah... coach if you’d please. 

Thanks coach. Okay so one tangent later we’re back to the episode. Point is her team is loosing even though Lynn’s the captain now, and while she’s perfectly encouraging it’s not winning games. Lynn is understandably dejected in the car not helped by the sports commentor guys from the game... commenting about it on the radio...

I mean.. I get sports can have dry spots and all that but who covers a middle school basketball team on the radio that isn’t the middle school radio station. I mean I genuinely can’t decide which is more sad... a radio personality doing a children’s baseball game on his own show, or having so much trouble getting one that he’s apperaing on the middle school radio show. And I COULD say it’s just a guest spot but he’s talking like he knows what’s going on intmatiley> Did his daughter ask him to? I mean I know radio’s fallen pretty far but I dind’t think it was that much in the basement. Do a podcast at least man. 

Okay before I go on another Tangent point is Lynn feels it’s her fault as Captain.. which granted whoever the coach is should be .. but it genuinely looks like they don’t HAVE a coach. Maybe they had to sack him to pay for the newly refrubished av department? I dunno. Point is she feels bad and Lynn Sr vows to cheer her up.. before stopping for farm fresh eggs. Which.. yeah can’t blame him. He’s a cook, and Liam’s family likely has good prices. He can buy for both home and restraunt at once. I mean he has a van and only one occupant at the moment. Don’t judge him.  But this little detour DOES help Lynn’s mood. Her problem is the team lacks a decent pitcher, since Lynn herself was banned for throwing one at a heckling goat. The Lawsuit is ongoing and that made me laugh a lot. But Lynn finds Happy Gilmore style that Liam.. has a really great arm. Granted instead of actuall balls it’s with cowpies because this series really loves a shit joke, hence the title and the new nickname for liam, the cow pie kid.. but compared to some of the series toilet humor it’s a lot less in your face. But with Liam being so good Lynn can’t help but sign him to the team and Liam being a sweetie pie is happy to agree.  I have.. not hid even for a second how much I liked Liam or wanted him, and Stella, to show up outside of Lincoln episodes more often, or even get his own again. That day.. has come. Not only does LIam now have a roll entirely outside his friend group, but this episode’s about him and Lynn together.. not in that way.. yet. Someday.. Point is my boy is in the spotlight and I could not be happier.   And thankfully.. Lynn’s at her best. What I feared would be an episode about her overtraining him and making him not enjoy the game, htat old chesnut instead.. she just genuinely helps mentor him. She’s tough but fair as she helps him get his aim right as he’s used to firing Cow Pie’s, so the weight distrbution is off. So she helps train him and .. it’s really cute honestly, with her genuinely helping him and showing a softer side and later realizing she had him thinking about it too hard and just having him not think.. and going by instinct naturally works for a carefree and easygoing guy like liam. Wouldn’t be suprised if he went ultra instinct eventually.. but that’s for another episode. They also have a pig pile together.. which sounds bad but is just pigs piling on liam and lynn gladly gets on top of the pigs and god that sounds worse. next scnee. 

So Liam gets ahead and becomes the star pitcher for the zanarkand abes.. I mean the Royal Woods Kangaroos, and they just keep wining and wining and wining. Their like glomgold: all they do is win... but probably with less attempted corpse dancing. Problem is as we see during the montage Liam’s arm is slowly but surley getting cramped and while he wins hte next game.. his arm gives out from noodle arm. The good news is with rest, he can fix it, as her injury prone friend Paula, whose somehow allowed to play with crutches despite ALL the legal and moral issues that raises explains. but they don’t have days to rest it. So insane plans it is!  So Lynn goes to her sisters for herlp..specifically lisa int he hopes her mad science can either fix his pain or turn him into the hulk. Neither happens.. yet. I mean LIam is so sweet if he IS a hulk, we won’t know yet. But the green door will.. it always knows. IT ALWAYS KNOWS.  Lynn bemonas her luck.. before Lucy appears!

I JUST said last month when reviewing 11 louds a leapin that I missed the duo of her and lynn and lo and behold here we are. While we dno’t get much of the two fo them, it is still nice to see Lynn suprised by her scares and Lucy trying to use the dark arts to heal his pain.. which actually works. Lucy’s upgraded from wants to be a witch to full witch. 

So yeah her dark magic works and now Liam is fine just fine as the championship game approaches. Until naturally it isn’t. While Lucy STOPPED the pain, she didn’t make anything better, just numbed it so Liam’s arm’s pretty bad and Lisa suggests there’s a 70 perfecnt chance he’ll wreck it if he does so.. and while Lynn is naturlaly, given one of her main traits is asshole, ready to risk that.. she realizes she can’t. Rusty is on her team following her orders.. and no matter how good a W feels.. she can’t trade in someone’s health for one. Honestly bettter than most sports managers ngl. So Paula subs in and misses, loosing them the game.. but Lynn. takes it in stride, having realized she can win next year and having finally realized what being the leader REALLY means. She can work on paula’s curve, give Liam a break, and win next time... which she’ll have because time dosen’t work normally in this show’s dimension and a solid timeline is just a pipedream, so she probably has another year of being 14 to redo this and has become aware of it. I’m scared and excited for what that means.  Liam celebrates with a pig pile of two and we get a REALLY fucking cute shot of the two being happy and what not before a pig jumps on them still though.. yeah I ship it now. Liam taps into the space where I thought a black void of misery and douchebaggery was but ti turns out is in fact a heart, something few can do with Lynn and Lynn can protect him form bullies and is perfectly suited for his rough hewn farmboy styles. Point is their cut.e And so was this episode. IT was a really nice return to the series and it was again REALLY fucking great to see one of Lincoln’s firend,s and one of the GOOD ones at that, get a starring roll without him. HOpefully this keeps up and hopefully we see more of these two. 

Saved by the Spell:

RUSTY SPOKES IS TRASH (Ring) I don’t have a saved by the spell font that’ll have to do. Point is he is but before we get to Rusty being Rusty, Lincoln is doing magic tricks at the table. 

Point is he’s excited to do it at the talent show. The next day his friends discuss doing something to make them look cool to everyone. WHich.. kids. i’ll level with you. You. are. NERDS. As a massive one in both size and nerdiness myself, there’s nothing wrong with that. 2/3 of you are lovely people. You’ll be fine. But you are geeks, and should be proud of that.. not so proud you evolve into an incel or it’s adjacent form of assholes mind you, but still proud of who you are. You are never going to be that cool by trying to appeal to everyone. Just be yourslef and the cool comes naturaly. Like kool aid, which is naturally made by milking the Kool Aid man. Be you. 

But instead they decide to do a dance routine which..  let’s face it.. is probably just this spread across 6 people...

Point is maybe don’t do that. Also when Clyde does a dorky but endearing dance and says their going to shake their groove things, Rusty pipes in with “But cool”... and while sadly not as glorious as EVERYONE looking enitrely done with him like last time we saw this tool, Clyde clearly still does while the rest of hte Lincrew have no idea what the hell he’s on. I think their just.. numb to his stupidity and ego at this point.  But when Lincoln shows off his magic they all hide him, fearing that magic.. is well for younger kids and this won’t play so well. Which isn’t an invalid fear: this is middle school and from personal experince, middle school can be hell.. and also one of hte best years of my life which shows the vast gulf between the two schools I was in but was also not the point. the point is kids can be cruel and maybe don’t do this. But lincoln gonna do it anyway because he has confidence.. and frankly given there was an ENTIRE episode about being yourself instead of putting on an asshole suit of armor to avoid being hurt, which Lynn finally took off again last episode, he’s right.. but the rest of them all feel THEIR ALL GOING TO LAUGH AT YOU. and since they don’t know if he has latent psychic powers or not can’t risk him getting pigs blood dumped on him so they plan to find some way to trick him out of it.. Clyde of course gets his stomach in nots because he’s not good with schemes or lying ot his best friend, both of which this is and requires. 

Also Stella’s in the lead, as she should be. And she helps as her positive attudie makes what their doing come off as it should: KINDA douchey, but not intentionally so, they just worry about hteir freind getting pummled.. possibly by his own sister but now sh’es possibly with Liam that’s probably not as much of a worry. Or Chandler but frankly he’s going to do that no matter what.. and is probably getting his ass kicked himself by older kids who won’t toldeate his bs, so your clear. But their fears while a bit unfounded are understandable and well inteitoned if misguided, as we don’t know LIncoln’s act at this point or how well it’d go over with a mostly tweenager crowd, who can be the best as we’ve seen in recent tv.. or aboslutel monsters.. same deal. You either get Luz or you get BOscha, the inbetween is rare. 

So cue our usual setup of a bunch of attempts to do something in a row, but like I said while i’m not a fan of reptition if it’s done well enough it works and with it’s rather sizeable supporting cast , LIncoln and Friends episodes usdually do make it work. In this case it does as each of the sensational 6, lincoln and clyde asid,e try their hand at it. Liam, being the golden child, just has the most direct and obvious route: swipe his magic stuff.. and runs off without letting them talk it out but unlike Rusty in the next attempt, his plan was actually viable.. he just gets tangled up in the scarves and taps out.  Rusty is next ....and his idea is to.. show lincoln his killer dance moves to convince him normally. 

Yup pretty much that. And somehow out of the four plans, RUSTY’S is the only one that dosen’t bring up any serious moral quandries. I know i’m shocked too. He just thinks his moves will do it when no they won’t, please stop it hurts to watch and I can’t turn the fuck away. This is my job you redheaded kanker sore! Gah it thankfully ends and is unsurisingly unsuccesful. 

Also unsuprisingly, i’ve been waiting since i got that image to use it on Rusty. And as a third dollop of unsuprise I did not have to force it in any way shape or form. Point is it’s Zach’s turn as during the last two he’s been pushing really hard to use some form of brainwashing on his friend.. yes .. really. 

Thought Rusty would be the first loud house character to get that one but hey if the shoe fits. Seriously I thought rusty was the creep among them but at least you know.. altering someone’s throughts to suit your own isn’t his go to move. Being excetsivly cocky and coming on too strong is but still better to take THAT out of the Zach Morris playbook than “brainwash people into dooing whatever you say because tha’ts not creeptagious.” And unsurpsingly it does not work.. on Lincoln it woroks on Meyrl for some reason. Thankfully it dosen’t though just.. Zach needs no power epsiecally over the mind. 

So UNSUPRSINGLY, Stella has the working plnan.. and also unsuprisingly the last three just did theres by running off, running off and shouting the loudest. Again somehow Rusty is NO LONGER the most obnoxious one of the group. Zach won that title this episode. He’s still the most pathetic.. but i’m the most done with Zach who adds nothing to the dynamic or the planet or anything and I wish would just go away. Your home planet needs you. 

But yeah Stella has the winning idea: pretending to be “Yodel Boy”, a student who was humilated at a talent show last year, proving sh’es not only a decent actress (I mean it’s obvious i’ts stella in a wig, padding and lederhosen, but points for the accent being okay and hey she’s in middle school), but also the smartest of them. Only one of those is a suprise. It works and Lincoln agrees. 

So the night of the talent show they’ve caught him up to speed and prepare to celebrate, only for clyd eto open the wrong locker and reveal the yodel boy suit. WHy it was in there instead of at Stella’s house where this wouldn’t happen?

But yeah the cat’s out of the bag and lincoln leaves, depressed his friends think that little of him and lied to him. Which.. yeah completely fair. They tried talking to him, it did not work.. they shoudl’ve just left it at that. It would’ve SUCKED if he got bullied true, but it was his choice to go out there and take a risk and do what he loves. As someone whose constnatly self concious and had to fight to start writing like i’m doing now, I envy that kind of youthful confidence and thus wholly support him. 

And finally.. so do his friends. Realizing they’ve been kinda crappy, they introduce lincoln instead and work as his assitants.. and.. it works. Stella gets sawn in half, Zach gets astounded by a card trick, and Liam wears a bunny outfit which is just.. precious. Good boy. Best boy. It’s a huge hit.. and we also get to seesome of the new background kids including one with pink hair who looks kinda nb. I’m just saying one of you should take a crack at them, they seem nice. But for now our heroes are haield as heroes, and the other 5 apologize to lincon and they do their now cemented and fucking adorable group hug. Happy ending to a pretty great episode, with decent gags, a good relatable plot, and Rusty being just the right amoutn of obnoxious. Good stuff.  So that does it for this week. If you liked this review like or reblog it, check out my other work and come back later today for some duck content. and every week once the show returns. Until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure. 

[gallavictorious]

I love your insights so I thought I would ask about lip and his terrible plan to avoid getting caught with the stolen goods. I don’t see how he gets out of this and he dug himself even deeper this past episode. I thought the bikes were dumped by Kev in 11x7 and now he has to keep brad from talking. And Tami almost encouraging him to continue with this massive problem. Thank god Mickey isn’t yet aware of what’s going on yet (I guess he knows the cops are involved). Mickey would actually be able to handle this with a better plan if he knew the extent of what is going on.

Hiya, nonnie! I love the compliment, though in all honesty I'm not sure how much insight I can offer on this. But let's see, shall we?

Disclaimer: I love to speculate and entertain a thousand possibilities and have a lot of opinions about how I'd like for things to go down, but as for actual predictions about what will happen... I'm often a bit useless, I'm afraid. Mostly there's too many variables for me to feel comfortable making any definitive statments, and at the end of the day I prefer not to get too attached to any one theory anyway. So unless I have some properly hard data to build my case on, it's all fanciful sandcastles, yeah? Don't take anything too seriously.

That said and while I'm not sure how Lip gets out of this mess, I'm pretty damned sure he does get out of it. Don't really see them sending him to prison in the last few episodes of the series, you know? It's possible Brad ends up taking the fall one way or another – he's a character the show might be willing to sacrifiece for some real consequences, but to be honest I deem it unlikely. One way or another, they'll squirm their way out of this!

As for the police inquiry, it doesn't even have to be all that hard (especially if the show doesn't want it to be). Yes, Lip and Brad are the very obvious suspects, but without any proof of them breaking in (and we know they took the security camera) and without any of the stolen goods tied to them (the bikes have been dumped, and the remaining boxes hidden in Tami's dad's basement) the cops haven't really got shit on them. Unless the police finds something else or one of our amateur robbers crack under interrogation, they're likely to walk.

But that's the rub, eh? Brad will obviously crack, and he can't stay cuffed to Tami's car and avoid questioning forever. What to do, what to do? Well, allow me to suggest several more or less likely possibilities:

1. They pump Brad full of some likely drug that will keep him calm during the interview. This is a risky and pretty stupid idea, since drugs are generally more likely to make you open up than to allow you to lie convincingly, but what was robbing Born Free if not risky and pretty stupid? Also, could lead to Brad falling off the wagon and there can be Drama and Guilt and What-not.

2. Do the cops know what Brad looks like exactly? They haven't met him yet. Can they send someone else in to do interview in his stead (maybe with a very convincing fake ID, provided by one of Mickey's contacts, if identification is required when you show up to tell the police you're there to answer a few questions)? This seems a kind of Shameless way of dealing with things.

3. They convince Frank that he did it, and then allow his conviction of guilt to lead him into suspicious behavior as he tries to deflect blame which in turn makes the police think it was him that did it. That's a very cold use of Frank's dementia, but Lip might reason that he's likely to be let off on account of his illnes – or taken into care, which would arguably be a win for everyone! And Lip's been a bit of an asshole this whole season, I wouldn't necessarily put it past him.

4. For one reason or another the cops decide to drop this lead before they have time to interview Brad, and he gets a message that he doesn't need to come in. Why would the cops ever do that? Well, maybe both the investigators we met in 11x07 catch old 'rona and since they're understaffed there's no one to take over a simple break-in. Maybe there's another bigger crime happening and they're needed for that becaue they have Special Skills and – again – this case isn't top priority when they're low on officers! Or maybe someone else confesses to the crime because of... reasons?

Listen, if the show wants the allegations to go away, they'll go away. Whether or not we'll find it believeable is another question, but as mentioned, I think there's a pretty good case for the case realistically not holding up as long as Brad doesn't get a chance to confess. (Not saying my ideas for keeping Brad from talking are realistic, mind you... )

The thing is, though, Lip and Brad's troubles aren't over just because they shake the cops. We know, from the 11x09 promo and the episode description, that the new owners of Born Free are in the mob. They won't be concerned about actual evidence; if they think Lip and Brad did the deed, they'll come for their pound of flesh. Returning to the cops dropping the case – what if the owners (after getting new instructions from their mobbish overlords) get in touch with the police to say ”whoops, our mistake, we found the bikes, all's good here officer, no crime to report” because they'd rather deal with the situations themselves? I could see it. If forced to pick an idea I'd personally think makes the most sense, this would probably be it (which isn't the same as me thinking this is what will actually happen).

(Maaaaybe Layla's cop is very and understandably annoyed by Lip's general assholery and accidentally on purpose mentions to the owners – whose connections are not unknown to the police – that they do have a pretty good idea who did it, but no real evidence, so sorry, not much we can do here really, I guess true justice will never be served, unless... I'm rather fond of this notion, even though I don't find it very plausible. But maybe she can at least break the news of the case being dropped to Lip and Brad and she's really smug about it and they don't get why until they do get why? I don't know why, but apparently I'm a bit invested in her getting to be mean to Lip.)

As for Mickey... I can see him staying out of the whole thing, because while Brad and Lip are obvious suspects, he is not so there's a good chance he won't implicated. What with the emotinal and practical aftermat of Terry's death, he might be too focused on his own shit to pay much attention to Lip and Brad's, and they might hesitate to drag him into it. On the other hand, maybe not – maybe he gets involved and this whole thing is somehow connected to him headbutting Lip in 11x10.

All right, nonnie, I don't know how that was for insight, but I'm fairly confident Lip will get out of this just fine in the end. ;) Thann you for the ask - I had lots of fun thinking about this!

[hirazuki]

Ooo I'm curious about your hot takes on the Inuyasha reboot after reading your tags 👀

Ahaha, where to start XD Idk if they are hot takes, but here are my thoughts in bullet point form for coherency, I couldn’t figure out how else to organize them. Under a cut, as usual, because it got lengthy... as usual :D

We are 13 episodes in, and I still have no idea wtf is going on or what the series is actually about. And yes, I’m aware that we didn’t know of Naraku’s existence or of the overarching plot until at least episode 16 of that series either and Inuyasha was still very episodic in nature at that early point too, but here’s the thing: Inuyasha did not build upon a pre-existing series. For better or for worse, Yashahime has certain expectations to live up to that the original anime didn’t, by virtue of its being a sequel. Unfair? Maybe, but tough; that’s what happens when you make a sequel. Additionally, despite us not knowing The Main Plot™ of Inuyasha until later, the basic framework for it was laid out clearly by... episode 2? I think? Find and collect the Shikon Jewel shards. Boom, done. Were there distractions or fillers? Sure, but you never got the sense that the characters simply up and forgot about the shards. Even in fillers, the shards often made some kind of appearance. With Yashahime, there’s like three potential storylines going on: 1. The most obvious: most of our main cast from the OG is missing; where are they? Apparently no one in-story cares! :D Inuyasha, who’s that lol. I’m all for a sequel focusing on the new generation with cameos of the old crew; after all, they already had their own series. But this is like... no one cares about them? No one talks about them? And the more characters go about not mentioning them, the stronger their absence is felt. Like, for instance, Kaede knows Moroha is InuKag’s daughter. Moroha grew up on her own, doesn’t know her parents. Kaede doesn’t mention them to Moroha, doesn’t even spare a passing thought about them for the audience’s benefit, Moroha doesn’t ask. Kagome’s family in the present day meet Moroha, recognize her as Kagome’s daughter and... say nothing??? Souta shows Towa Kagome and Inuyasha’s old photos, but doesn’t say a word to Moroha?! Like. It makes no sense. By people not even acknowledging their existence, it makes the fact that they are nowhere to be found even weirder. Also the new gen girls don’t care about their parents or finding out who they were/are... like, okay, it would maybe be in character for one or two of them, but all three don’t give a fuck??? 2. Kirinmaru/the rainbow pearls: Idk how familiar you are with the story, but similar deal with Naraku and the shards here. Kirinmaru is being set up as the villain, still a mysterious figure; our new gen trio is supposed to collect the rainbow pearls that... some of his henchmen have? Or he is after them? Or is that Riku? Unclear. ANYWAY the new gen girls often forget all about the pearls’ existence :D 3. Setsuna’s memories: Setsuna’s dreams have been stolen by the dream butterfly and they need to get them back, because without her dreams she has no memories and is unable to sleep. Cool! Finally a solid, easy-to-follow plot line! Except wait! Towa, who supposedly made it her goal to get Setsuna’s sleep back, forgets all about it! All the time! Like, none of them make an effort to look into this other than being like “oh yeah, know anything about the dream butterfly?” to random folks every now and then. The Inugang back in the day was putting some grad school level research towards their goals, just saying. It just feels like everything’s all wishy-washy and there’s nothing really solid tying the series together. People just remember shit exists when it’s convenient.

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Character development is MIA. I’m not expecting ground-breaking char dev in 13 episodes (though I do know 12 episode series that were phenomenal in that regard), but like... I do expect the series to focus on building the dynamics between the main three characters. So far, the series is more focused on teasing the audience with glimpses and promises of the OG cast instead. The creators are using nostalgia and bait (esp of a certain pairing) to drive interest in the series, rather than developing the new characters as fully-fledged characters for their own sakes. 

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Moroha is was the only thing I actually liked about the series. She is a little spitfire and you can somehow instantly see both Inuyasha and Kagome in her, while she also remains very uniquely herself; I have never seen such a successfully developed main pairing child in any series. She featured quite prominently in the first few episodes -- and unlike both her parents, she’s got a great memory and knowledge of lore -- where she balanced funny moments with badass fighting moments and being the token supernatural encyclopedia. It was great! And then... they’ve like... forgotten her. She’s been left behind so many times by the twins. She’s the butt of every joke. She’s become the type of comic relief that’s, well, insulting. More like a buffoon than anything else. And it’s basically all for the sake of giving the floor to Towa :/

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Setsuna is okay. Not offensive, but unremarkable. She’s got her dad’s personality but like way toned down due to her different growing up circumstances, which is nice, but like... I feel she isn’t given any room to grow or breathe or anything. She’s also basically there as a device to enhance Towa’s development.

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Towa... oy. I tried to like her, I really did, but she just doesn’t work for me. They set her up having a very Kurosaki Ichigo type deal with beating up bullies and getting into trouble at school and shit -- I’m fine with that. That’s cool. Esp if it’s linked to not feeling like she fits in bc she’s a hanyou? Awesome. Except once she travels back in time to the feudal era it’s all “Oh killing is bad you shouldn’t kill people” and “even though they attacked me I can’t possibly hurt them” and “you need to empathize and talk things out” and “friendship is magic” and shit. It feels like she had a personality transplant, it literally makes no sense. Her design is totally nonsensical too -- out of everyone at her school, she’s the only one dressed in a bright white suit? Do protags not wear the school uniform? Someone should tell Kagome lmao. She’s a pro at hand to hand, and she can absorb demons’ powers and fling them back at them like a personified Tessaiga, and she has a lightsaber sword, and she’s immune to miasma, and -- like... you get it. It’s too much. It’s way too OP for the type of universe that Inuyasha/Yashahime is set in. She’s hanyou for fuck’s sake; remember all the training Inuyasha had to go through? When he couldn’t lift his sword? When his sword attacked him? Sango, Miroku, Kagome, even Sesshomaru all had trouble with their weapons and had to work to become stronger. But Towa? Nope. Towa is straight out of the Yas Queen/Girl Boss manual, so she gets a free pass on everything.

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UGH they are doing the VLD/bad writing thing where things happen (like, BIG THINGS) and none of the characters actually react to them. Or stuff happens and there are no consequences. No one ever talks about anything. It’s wild.

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Everyone has amnesia!! :D People either don’t know or don’t remember anything or anyone. People who absolutely should know things all of a sudden magically don’t know them. Like, Kohaku -- traveled with an undead priestess, spent years in the company of demons, traveled with Sesshomaru... and yet had NO CLUE that Setsuna is Sesshomaru’s daughter or that she is hanyou, despite her living and working with his team of demon slayers all this time. Like... how, man. How. And Kaede! Don’t get me started. Since when does she perpetuate random demon-boogeyman type stories as facts? Demon children will kill each other in the nest so that only the strongest one will survive, therefore Setsuna must have killed Towa when they were infants. O_O What are they, sharks? Has she been hanging out with Kisame? Wtf?? And she’s speaking about Sess’s kids as though she doesn’t know him or anything about him, when she has had Rin under her roof all these years. It just makes. no. sense.

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Things that happened in the original series are happening again now! Because that’s the best we’ve got, recycled plot elements wooo! No, but really, characters that died or things that were resolved in Inuyasha keep coming back. Why? What was the purpose of bringing back Kinka and Ginka? To have a foil for Towa and Setsuna as twins? Someone please tell Sunrise they can just create new characters. Like, it’s one thing to have call backs to the original or cameos, references, whatever. But like... this is entire (dead) characters and interactions.

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No one knows how long it’s been since the original series ended. Fans initially heard 20 years from promo material, then “over 15″ and “10 years since” in-series regarding two different events, and now in a future episode summary we’ve gotten 18 years since Hosenki II gave Inuyasha the black pearl. But like, which black pearl? Because the one in Inuyasha’s eye doesn’t exist anymore, but Hosenki II had told Inuyasha that it would take 100 years for him to produce one. So, are we retconning that or where the fuck did it come from? Also, this doesn’t help one bit, it just confuses things even more. Back to the point, though, we have no coherent timeline or real frame of reference whatsoever, and I’m betting it’s in large part to keep the mystery of who is Sesshomaru’s wife going, as it keeps Rin’s age very vague. Everything is vague and mysterious in Yashahime, to the point where no one knows what’s going on, in fandom or in-story even. It’s kinda like how too much plot twist/shock reveal ruins a story, too much mystery does the same. It’s insane that both shippers and antis of that ship can lay equal claim that the “18 years since” announcement works in their favor.

tl;dr: Idk man, Yashahime is a clusterfuck of a series. Even if the mother of Sess’s twins is either of the characters I ship him with, I will still not like the series. There’s no saving this writing. Every episode feels like this:

[thenightling]

Opinion on the rioters who dressed as The Punisher

Opinion on the Rioters dressed as The Punisher:

I recently found out some of the Capitol rioters were dressed as The Punisher from Marvel comics.  Do I blame the character?  No.   However, i have become very cautious in regard to hardcore fans of the character and not merely over this.

First, I admit, I never really liked The Punisher as a character.   I thought of him as an edgy byproduct of comics gradually shifting to being darker and grittier.  He was one of the first heroes to not preach about justice and redemption but instead wanted to kill.  He was not a protagonist.  He started as a villain in the Amazing Spider-Man comics.  Stan Lee had not liked the character. (This is a fact that is easily checked and Googled).

In the late 80s and early 90s he became very popular as comics became darker and so he was given his own comic and appeared more often and often as a protagonist anti-hero.

I never liked the concept of him.  Sure, he had a sympathetic backstory but the “Killing is the only answer” never sat right for me.  The lack of mercy he showed even to the repentant, it always bothered me.  I got that he was supposed to be mentally-ill but in his own comics his behavior was, far too often, justified.

Other media tried to mimic the character.  The Ben Affleck Daredevil behaved more like The Punisher than Daredevil.  Instead of a defense attorney he was now a prosecutor.  And if he lost a case he would hunt down the criminal and kill him, brutally.   There’s one scene where he severs a man’s spine and then gloats as a train comes to hit him, as he lays paralyzed on the track. That’s not Matt.

Ben Affleck again played totally-not-Punisher in his portrayal of Batman.  A gun-using batman that was loosely inspired by Frank Miller.  And all the Zack Snyder Fanboys came crawling out of the woodwork, insisting that this was “realistic” and “more accurate to the comics” and “but look, he killed in these old comics!”   They either were lying by omission or didn’t know about Crisis on Infinite Earths and how main continuity Batman had been anti-gun and anti-killing since at least 1985.  The entire plot of Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke was based on this established lore. 

There’s no doubt Punisher has had a serious influence on popculture and something I called Darkity, dark, dark writing or as others have named it: “Edgelord.” 

It’s a sort of “dark and gritty” “realism” popular among boys between the ages of eleven and fifteen who genuinely think crime would end if we shot every criminal and don’t realize that most real world police officers have never drawn their gun, despite what you might see in the news.  If murder truly was the norm, people wouldn’t still be horrified by it.

Now on to the fans.   There are far too many Punisher fans who think he was and is in the right.  They think he is an aspirational figure to admire and look up to.  A “realistic” hero by Zack Snyder standards, because hope and mercy are what is apparently unrealistic in a world consisting of aliens, Greek Gods, witchcraft, and even the folkloric Sandman (That’s in DC, not Marvel though Nightmare is arguably the Marvel equivalent).

I used to be Facebook friends with a Punisher fan.   He was equally obsessed with The Joker.  At first i just let it be.  You’re allowed to like edgy or dark characters.  There’s no harm in that.  But... he got creepy.   He would quote the Joker in conversation about “SJWs” and “progressives.”   He would say things like “My eyes were opened as yours soon will be.”   

He was convinced liberals tried to ruin The Joker movie and posted pictures of the Joker dancing down the stairs with “HAHAHAHAHA!  Suck my dick, Progressives!” in at least two of the facebook groups I run.  It got embarrassing that when people would search for my Horror Comics group, the sample post Facebook gave was that one.  

He kept talking about how both The Punisher and The Joker are right.  His facebook picture would alternate between the two characters depending on his mood.  He would post memes “explaining” why The Punisher is right.

He would post articles about this or that criminal being arrested and refer to them as “it” and “thing” and how “it should be tortured four hours before someone kills it.”   things like that, about various people who did things that were (admittedly) horrific and reprehensible but he would go into graphic detail about what he wanted to do with them   Very sadistic, Saw-like tortures before “Mercifully” killing them.  

He once casually told me how he wanted to kill all progressives.  I gently reminded him that I have liberal leanings and I got a “You’re different” sort of response.  

As his behavior got more fanatical and disturbing, the more uncomfortable I became.   After the progressives threat I made the mistake of telling someone who was mutually friends with us both that I felt threatened.  Needless to say the one I have just described to you called me a liar, insisted he never said anything threatening.  And accused me of being “one of them.”

I told him he had been acting increasingly strangely and needed to stop posting the pro-Joker stuff.  And it wasn’t just the film The Joker.  It was the version from Gotham (TV series) he tried to emulate and praised.  A woman celebrity he didn’t like was soon being called “It.”  Then some feminist (I didn’t agree with this person) was saying how The Mandalorian didn’t have enough female characters or diversity and should be canceled.  It was some stupid opinion piece published by a site like Buzzfeed or Io9 during the first season of Mandalorian. 

This guy was very conservative but had a bad habit of seeking out fanatical articles like this to make himself angry.  The only time I ever agreed with him on the matter was when he came to my defense for not liking the 2016 Ghostbusters.  Someone in my own Gothic Horror Facebook group had decided to call me a self-loathing misogynist and insisted the only reason I didn’t like it is because the characters were women.   No, I don’t like slapstick comedy.  I didn’t like that they didn’t bother to use real parapsychology or theoretical physics (as the original had done).  I didn’t like that the “genius” of the group licked her proton blaster and that was the common promo image for the film. I didn’t like that people who praised the film entirely forgot that there was a diverse team lead by a woman in the 90s. (Extreme Ghostbusters).   I didn’t like that they destroyed ghosts instead of trapped them.   That violates the law of conservation and most spiritual beliefs as even being possible. It was just a bad movie.

I agreed with him on that one but when this anti-Mandalorian article came out he went too far.  He insisted the woman who wrote it should be dragged out into the street and shot.  He called her “it” and “thing” and said she didn’t deserve to live . I told him he was going too far, and she couldn’t take the show away, that he was over reacting. 

He then blocked me.   I thought it was done and over with, then the Pandemic hit.

When the Pandemic happened he unblocked me and in a revisionist history of events insisted he had blocked me because I had “lied” and said he threatened me.   No, he had told me he wanted to kill all progressives, knowing that I am one.   And that was not why he blocked me.  It was because I disagreed about his death threats about the writer of a Mandalorian article.  He wanted to fight.  He alternated between insulting me and trying to show how good he was to come to me during a world crisis, like he was doing me a favor.  I blocked him this time.

That night my Facebook account was disabled.  Someone had reported my account as not being a real person, and Facebook wanted photographic proof that I’m real.   It was re-enabled as soon as I sent in a photo but as I don’t have a smartphone (I live in a deadzone) and I’m visually impaired it was a little bit of a pain.  This was not something that had ever happened to me before.  And I had witnessed this Punisher fan report accounts of those he wanted to “punish” before.

And now I find out some of these rioters were wearing Punisher shirts.   So yes, I keep my guard up around Punisher fans.

Do I blame the character?  No.  Not really.   If not him they would have found someone else to try to emulate and idolize.  Getting rid of the character won’t get rid of this mentality.   I never liked the character but I don’t want him banned.  I would be happy if less people were obsessed with him.  I would be happy if those obsessed with the character didn’t all remind me of the man I described here.  I would be happy if fans of the character were more likely to say that they don’t agree with the character’s actions, they just like his story.

There’s nothing wrong in liking a character with problematic behavior.  But if you can’t acknowledge that it’s wrong and instead glorify and romanticize the actions of the character, that’s the problem.   I love lots of characters who do bad things.  I love Count Dracula.  I don’t intend to drink blood and sic wolves on people.   And I have absolutely no interest in impalement.   

I think far too many Punisher fans don’t realize he’s in the wrong, instead want to be like him, and have trouble separating fiction from reality.  I do not blame the character.  They would have found someone else if not him.  But unfortunately, I AM starting to view hardcore / obsessively being a fan of The Punisher as a bit of a red flag considering how many of them behave this way...

[fermented-writers-block]

With the recent developments in Mr. Universe and Fragments, I couldn’t help but be reminded of an old thought I came up with several months ago, back when the fandom thought that Steven’s pink mode was simply a heightened emotional state of some kind, and even though we know now that it actually is a stress response reaction, I can’t help but think it might still be applicable here to Steven’s current situation.

TLDR: Over the course of the series, Steven’s views of his mother had fallen and continued to fall very far away from its original pedestal due to the sheer barrage of harsh realities and troubling secrets constantly being upended and revealed, and the shifts in how he has felt about his mother’s legacy seems to tell a very interesting story. One of a long, rocky uphill battle against a mountain of expectations, and a sudden, sharp plunge into a ravine of self-loathing before finding one’s way out of the darkness.

When the original series first started, he looked up to Rose Quartz the protector of Earth, seeing her as the always kindhearted and perfect person whose legacy he felt like he had to live up to. He tried so very hard to be more loving and thoughtful like Greg and the Gems had told him Rose had been like thus far into the show - like he felt they expected him to be if he wanted to stay useful and thus someone they would actually keep around like In Dreams suggests - and he struggled with his constant failures to match up with such an impossible image, potentially even as early into the show as Laser Light Cannon with his desperate pleading for the titular weapon to work.

In the middle of the original series, as he heard more intimate stories about what Rose was really like in person from his family, found out about Bismuth’s bubbling, and had to be told by a stranger that his mother, someone he had been led to believe had always promoted peace, apparently shattered someone, his image of Rose the flawless hero turned into that of Rose the liar with an unknowable amount of secrets that hurt his family immensely. 

He struggled with the question of whether Rose had made him for some untold grand plan, and he felt like he had to take care of the messes that she left behind, putting such a burdensome expectation on himself even though the Gems no longer expected him to be more like his mother. This culminated in I Am My Mom with his attempt to save his family from harm by resigning himself to sacrificing himself and atoning for his mother’s sins.

For the end of the original series, Pearl’s revelation that Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond were the same person the entire time finally gave Steven a fuller picture of Rose the person, someone who was flawed and still had positive qualities, someone who tried very hard to become a better person. He felt like he had really found his space with the Crystal Gems, and they expected him to be himself.

And yet, with the strange and inexplicable glimpses of Pink Diamond’s memories as well as White Diamond's existential questions either inspiring or bringing such a thought to the front of his mind, Steven struggled with the fear that his mother was still alive somewhere deep within his consciousness, and that ‘Steven’ the person had just been a lie the entire time. 

Post CYM and another of his mother’s secrets coming back to haunt him with Spinel, Steven had stopped worrying about who he isn’t. He now knows for certain that he’s not his mother, that she isn’t living in some dormant part of his gem ready to take back control.

But after years of trying to live up to the ideal of Rose the protector, fixing the mistakes of Rose the liar, and doing better than Rose the person with the way he pushed himself to help others, he now worries about - if there’s no one else left to help but himself - who and what Steven Universe is like if he isn’t his mother.

We’ve seen him struggle to deal with this identity crisis in Little Homeschool and Little Graduation, pushing himself to solve problems that he either couldn’t find a working solution towards or likely projected onto others out of desperation from his anxieties over being left behind. 

He expects himself to already do better, already help better, already be better than all of this. His approach of putting other’s problems above his own has worked before, so he shouldn’t be failing if he’s still doing the same thing he’s done before, but with every inevitable misstep and every doubling down on trying to be more like he expects himself to be and failure, the more those expectations feel impossible to ever actually meet.

I’ve been a longtime follower of the Worm Theory ever since @novantinuum made the first post that really kicked things off for it, and soon after Volleyball aired, a thought had occurred to me in light of Steven’s attempt at managing Amethyst’s program.

With Steven’s expression from his cracked reflection at the Reef, I couldn’t help but wonder if Steven might develop the fear that - while he isn’t his mother - he might just be becoming like his mother, and especially in regards to her flaws and repeating her mistakes. 

Let me be clear, I didn’t and still don’t think that the stress from such a fear would be even remotely close to being a major instigator for Steven to become the creature from the intro from his pink mode stress response, but with these newest episodes - particularly the ending to Fragments - it has felt like all of this had come to a head for Steven, and that we’ll soon see one of the actual instigating fears for his transformation in the finale.

In the promo, Steven looks like he’s trying to assure himself that he isn’t a shatterer, trying to reaffirm what he knows about himself in the wake of his accident with Jasper, but with the shot of him clearly leaving Jasper and the Gems behind, I feel that Steven may be struggling with the fear that he’s become like his mother there.

Or rather, the (apparent) reality that he’s become “WORSE” than her.

Even with all the horrible secrets she kept, Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond had never shattered anyone, and yet here Steven is, having done exactly that.

Never mind the fact that it was an accident, never mind that he is still the same kind and loving person at heart, never mind that he deeply regrets what he did, Steven’s sense of identity has been crumbling for a good while now with losing what he defined his life by in his ability to help people, and the fact that he had shattered someone and that said someone immediately acknowledged him as their Diamond could disintegrate nearly all of what sense of identity he has left.

These last few episodes, Steven’s mental health has been on a nasty decline in struggling with feeling like he either can’t rely on his support structure in Greg and the Gems for advice with his problems or that his support structures in Connie and his friends are drifting away, and because of this and how he might feel about himself after what happened with Jasper, the only place he may feel like he should be is on Homeworld.

Steven has put so much weight on himself to be a good person, to be better than his mother and all the horrible things she did, that this might just feel like a confirmation that he isn’t a good person, that even Rose was a better person than him despite the stuff she failed spectacularly at. There’s no more expectations to live up to on top of him, only what he really is now.

He had abandoned his human side in Mr. Universe, and now all that’s left is his gem side - that is, his Diamond side.

Or at least, that’s how it’d likely seem to him. 

It’d feel like the only point of support and belonging he has left is with the other Diamonds, as the one thing Rose wasn’t and tried desperately not to be in the end was a Diamond herself, and he may feel like he should just embrace his place since he’s “just as bad as them.”

Not only that, but he also tried to emulate Jasper’s mentality, coping methods, and appearance in his struggle to find some kind of ‘solution’ for his ‘diamond powers,’ and as such, there’s one final place where he might just be able to get a ‘solution’ - even though there’s no such thing as a full on solution for dealing with trauma.

With that said, while they most likely won’t initially understand or be that concerned with Steven giving up on his humanity to be with them, I can’t help but feel like the Diamonds have changed enough that seeing Steven act “like a Diamond is supposed to” would shake them HARD.

Acting that way had been what hurt themselves and each other for millennia, and they’ve been able to feel happier and create a relatively healthier dynamic between the three of them under Steven’s guidance, so to see Steven turn his back on all of that could make them VERY concerned for him. 

It’d put up an unsettlingly ugly mirror in front of the Diamonds to the people they used to be, and that for as much as they may have wanted Steven to be with them, this isn’t what they had in mind at all.

Perhaps that might end in an ironic reversal of what happened at the end of CYM, where instead of denying Steven as individual from his mother and trying to force him to be his mother out of a callous and arrogant kind of love, White acts out of a fuller love and genuine concern for Steven, and in the heat of the moment, accidentally slips back into some old behavior.

“I only want you to be yourself! If you can't do that, I'll do it! For! You!”

But whatever their response may actually be, this could very well be the second to last major tipping point for Steven at the very least, as at that point, EVERY person and place he thought he could turn to for advice or just finally belong to would likely either feel to him like they let him down or that they’re scared of what he feels he’s become.

Not even the Diamonds themselves feel like he belongs with them, and with how he felt like Connie had flat out refused to marry him instead of leaving an opening for them to talk about it later, I can easily see him extrapolating from the Diamonds’ reactions that he’s become not only worse than his mother, but ALL of the Diamonds.

Of course, the stress and anguish from this fear of himself and what he’s become most probably wouldn’t be the key factor behind him turning into the worm creature, just one of several major stresses that would likely influence such a transformation. 

Like @faelapis has discussed, most of the other contributing stresses had already been unbalancing Steven for a long time towards this direction in his tightrope act, and this kind of recent fear would merely be the final gust of wind to finally push Steven off. 

As for how Steven could potentially be brought from the brink of this particular fear (since I’m withholding speculation on what the exact other stresses could be until we get there), I can see one way that could help Steven with this and his struggle with holding himself to the standard of always being able to help others.

Mainly, with a potential mixture of something clicking for him to help him fully understand his mother’s choices and the self-loathing that seems to have been behind so much of said choices, and for something to help him with feeling like he’s supposed to always be a hero and fixing things, instead changing it to feeling like he’s a person for whom it’s completely okay to make a mistake, like it’s okay for him to not live up to an impossible ideal.

Like he is a human with both the bad and the good that comes with it. 

That just because he has the power to change doesn’t mean that he should pressure himself to never screw up badly even by accident, and that just because he’s capable of screwing up badly even by accident doesn’t mean that he is incapable of learning, growing, and improving afterwards. 

Whether this is accomplished through a combination of Greg and the Gems acknowledging how, even though they love him, they’ve messed up badly while raising him, Connie relating to his struggle to push himself to be better with her studies as well as the shared experiences they’ve been through, and some help from all the other countless people he’s helped over the years, I can’t claim to know.

But even though it can feel hard to do, even though it feels like you’ll never be able to pull yourself out of the dark, even though it may feel like you just keep failing over and over and over again, you can still always pick yourself up and change for the better.

[duhragonball]

Potpourri

I’ve been thinking about various storytelling things, not really Dragon Ball related, but I figured I could write them all down here and make something out of it.    Yeah, like an old school Livejournal post, except I can’t write a sassy message in the read-more cut.

Okay, first, I’ve been watching a lot of AEW Dark episodes on YouTube, because AEW puts out a new one every Tuesday and it’s easy to fall behind on them.   So it’s like reliving wrestling angles that I watched on AEW Dynamite back in June and July.    One of these angles was a world title match between champion Jon Moxley, and “The Machine” Brian Cage, who debuted by winning a ladder match in dramatic fashion, along with his new manager, Taz.

Taz does a lot of the color commentary for these episodes of Dark, and Cage debuted around the release of Episode 35, so after that, Taz started using his announcing job to promote the upcoming title match and gloat about how his guy Cage was going to destroy Jon Moxley and win the title.   Taz’s main argument was that Cage is absolutely jacked, which made him a success before, but now he’s got Taz coaching him in all the cool stuff Taz used to do in ECW: suplexes, submission holds, etc.    Taz sells you Brian Cage’s world title victory like a lawyer presenting a case to a jury.   At the center of Taz’s argument was his claim that Cage was simply too big, too strong, and too prepared for Jon Moxley’s finishing move, the Paradigm Shift.    Taz predicted that Mox wouldn’t be able to apply the Paradigm Shift properly, and even if he could hit it, it wouldn’t be enough to stop Cage. 

The plot twist came from real life, when Moxley had to stay home because his wife contracted COVID-19.   There was a lot of speculation that he might get sick, and even if he didn’t, that he wouldn’t be able to appear for the title match.   Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, and the match was simply postponed an extra week.    During that time, Taz accused Moxley of ducking Brian Cage, which I wasn’t crazy about, since I didn’t like coronavirus being used in a wrestling angle.   On the other hand, it did give Taz a couple of weeks to run down the champion unopposed.   At one point he reintroduced his old FTW title belt and gave it to Cage because the world title match had been postponed.    Good stuff.  

So finally, Moxley comes back, and he did one promo before the title match, and this was his chance to respond to all the shittalking Taz had been doing.   It was brilliant, because for weeks, Taz had been declaring victory, and he shut it all down in one quick segment.    He brought up Taz’s claim that the Paradigm Shift wouldn’t work on Cage, and Moxley just said “well maybe I won’t try to use my finisher on him.   No, instead, I’m going to target his left bicep, which was surgically repaired last year, putting Cage out of action for several months.”

And just like that, the tone of the show changed, where suddenly it looked like Cage might be in trouble, because his camp only seemed to have a perfect game plan, and here was the champion announcing his own counter-strategy in advance.   “You talked shit about my wife being sick, so I will reinjure your arm.” 

And it was awesome.    At one point Moxley went for a pin, and Cage kicked out, only for Moxley to reverse the pin into a submission move on the arm.    There were points where it seemed like he couldn’t decide which arm to target, and eventually I realized he was going after both of them, switching from one to the other as needed.   It’s smart, because if you go after the good arm, he’s gotta use the vulnerable one to fight you off, and by doing that Cage basically handed it to Mox for his next hold.  

Finally, Moxley had Cage trapped in an arm hold, and the whole time he was looking Taz in the eye, basically waiting for a submission or a ref stoppage, and Taz had no choice but to throw in the towel to save Brian Cage’s career.    It was a beautiful finish because it sewed up the whole story.   Cage never tapped out, so he still looks like a relentless badass, but Taz had to let discretion be the better part of valor.   He mocked Moxley for playing it safe when his wife got sick, so Moxley forced Taz to make the same choice.    Great stuff.   

Second.   I’ve been reading Darth Vader comics since Marvel started publishing new Star Wars stuff again.    Disney bought Marvel and Star Wars, so it was only a matter of time before the comics began to reflect this.   The smart thing they did was to give Vader his own title, which I like because I’m not that into the adventures of Luke and Han.   

The first Vader series was twenty-odd issues featuring his fall from grace after the Death Star’s destruction, and his rise to command of the Imperial Fleet.     Basically it charts Vader’s career between Episodes IV and V, though there’s plenty of room for other side-stories.   

The second series flashed back to the final scenes of Revenge of the Sith, and tracks Vader’s actions before A New Hope.   It doesn’t cover the entire period, but it hits a lot of the important notes.   How he got his red lightsaber, how he trained the Inquisitors and hunted down the surviving Jedi, and how he built the castle on Mustafar seen in Rogue One.   So it handles everything important Vader was known to have done between Episodes III and IV. 

The third series, currently ongoing, starts right after Vader’s final scene in Empire Strikes Back, and I would assume it’s going to lead him right up to his arrival at Death Star II in Return of the Jedi.   I’m really into this, because I feel like this is an especially overlooked stage of Vader’s career.    Starting out, it seems to be mostly about Vader investigating how his son survived Padme’s death, as he seeks revenge against anyone who hid the boy from him.    Of course, nearly everyone involved in that cover-up is already dead, so I’m not sure where this is going to lead.   

All three volumes of the Vader title focus on the utter futility of Vader’s quests for power and revenge.    His hunts for Jedi survivors was just something for him to do in his spare time, since the Jedi were no longer a threat to him.    His castle on Mustafar was designed to give him special knowledge of the Force, but it only revealed truths that he already knew, or had long since rejected.    His plot to regain the Emperor’s favor after Yavin was very satisfying to watch, but also pointless: The Emperor needed him too badly to dispose of him, and Vader’s still a patsy whether he’s the #2 guy in the Empire or the #5 guy in the Empire.    And now this new series sees him chasing ghosts, trying to make sense of Luke’s refusal to join him.     He wants some sort of answer to his dilemma, but the only answer he’s ever going to find is the one in ROTJ, where he sacrifices himself to kill the Emperor, the one thing he cannot bring himself to contemplate until the time comes.

What saddens me, a little, is the realization that there doesn’t seem to be anywhere else for Marvel to go with the guy.   We’ve got an arc of Vader between Episodes III and IV, an arc between IV and V, and now V and VI, and that’s it.    The only way to do another Darth Vader series after this would be to go back and cover one of those three periods of his career.   And I’d be up for that, but the three series Marvel has done seem a little too decisive for this.  Like they purposely planned these comics because they weren’t going to revisit the character again for a while.   At least, not as the star of his own feature.   

I guess I could deal with that.    Maybe Marvel could finally get around to exploring the Sith career of Count Dooku between Episodes I and II, or work out some loose ends with the Emperor between Episodes VI and IX.    The main thing that’s been on my mind about Vader, though, is this idea that the character could just be done, and laid aside.  

This is something I’ve often observed about Cell and Frieza in DBZ.   I still think it’s dumb how they brought back Frieza after Trunks killed him, because there really wasn’t anything left to do with the character after he got turned into a cyborg and instakilled.   There’s nowhere to go after that.    His character arc was to start as the Final Boss of the entire Universe and then to get reduced to a pathetic, minor threat.    You can bring him back, but your only choice, dramatically speaking, is to reset the character, which means putting him back on the same track he’s already covered.     There’s no way to bring back Frieza and not have it be a retread of stuff he’s already done once before.

Cell might have some interesting applications beyond his original story, but he’s too much of a slave to his purpose.    His job was to carry on Dr. Gero’s revenge scheme, and that all ended when the saga ended, so he just seems out of place whenever he appears after that.   This is why I’m glad Toei and Toriyama haven’t brought Cell back, although at this rate it feels like it’s only a matter of time.   The thing is, if they brought him back, what else could they do with him?

With Darth Vader, all of his most important moments have already been covered in the movies, so all that’s left is to produce some side-story content.    The old Expanded Universe tended to steer clear of Darth Vader, probably out of respect for George Lucas’ prequel plans.    Later, the Clone Wars projects gave us more Anakin Skywalker than anyone knew what to do with, which is basically Darth Vader content, but not quite.   That’s why I dig these Marvel books so much, because there’s never been such a sustained effort to tell a Darth Vader story like this.   But once it’s run its course, the only way to keep using the character would basically be to start over.     I have a hard time seeing Marvel do that.  They’d have to get a new writer to retell those years like the first set of comics didn’t happen.    That could be very entertaining, but it doesn’t sound likely to happen.  

I’m not terribly worried about getting my Darth Vader fix in the future.   They’ll keep making stories about him long after I’m dead.   It’s just that I’ve been thinking about the limits of what you can do with one character.    I’ve long thought that you can always find gaps in the narrative that can be filled in with new stories, but maybe that isn’t true.    Maybe at some point, for some characters, there’s a finite amount of things to do with them.    You look at all of the Anakin Skywalker Clone Wars stories, and I’m sure someone could write a few hundred more, but would it really accomplish anything that hasn’t already been covered?   Is it possible to “use up” a character?   I probably won’t know for sure anytime soon.  

[theodcra-blog]

✱  kim  doyeon.  she  /  her.  cis  female.  —  i  know  that  theodora  “  theo  ”  jung  is  one  of  the  roses.  which  makes  sense  because  the  twenty  year  old’s  parents  are  hollywood  royalty  known  for  producing  and  recording  multi-platinum  awarded  albums.  rumors  say  that  they  are  the  quixotic  of   the   group  ,  but  who  knows  if  that’s true.  +  plucking  petals  off  of  daisies  in  the  name  of  a  crush  ,  steeping  teabags  for  too  long  ,  the  scent  of  perfume  left  behind  on  a  pillowcase.

                   hello  !  im  xan  and  im  late  as  usual  but  alas  ...  😔  im  22  ,  from  the  est  timezone  (  even  though  my  sleeping  schedule  …  does  not  reflect  that  sjbdwjkbdjdw  )  &  i  go  by  she  /  her  pronouns  !  i  truly  ...  never  know  what  im  doing  with  intros  they  just  turn  out  long  &  messy  aha  ... are  u  ready  ?  *jungkook vc*  let’s  get  it  !  😋

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     QUICK STATS  !

full name: theodora marie jung.

nickname(s): theo, teddy, dora (  but only by bullies 😠 ).

zodiac: libra sun, aqua moon ( click ! ) 

sexuality: bisexual.

occupation: singer / songwriter, model. 

birthplace: los angeles, california.

current residence: wherever this rp is taking place aha x

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     BACKSTORY ! ( tw: sexual themes )

so her parent’s story was actually a pretty big scandal in the 90′s ! basically theo’s mom was the pretty famous front woman of a band ( think stevie nicks in fleetwood mac ) who was long engaged to the guitarist of that same band....until one day it was announced she was quitting the group and starting her solo career, leaving her fiance, and signing to a new label.....which was run by theo’s father, a young up & coming producer taking over the family business. not even three months later theo’s mom releases her first solo album, produced and co-written by theo’s father, basically detailing this years long affair the two had been having... in a series of really catchy, moving, and wildly successful songs. 

the public went crazy over the drama, especially when rumors started circulating ( through detailed analysis of the lyrics to all of theo’s mom’s solo songs ) that the well known band had actually been quite toxic. basically it was enough to convince media outlets and fans alike to forgive theo’s parents for being cheaters and breaking up the band JSDBWBDJWBD. by the time theo was born in the last year of the iconic decade that launched both her parents into stardom, everyone couldn’t be happier the two stars were getting the happy life they deserved <3

so here comes baby theo.....and the world kind of just immediately labels her as america’s sweetheart. her mom had some minor health issues which just meant it would be safer to not have anymore kids after theo, so not only was she this little angel to the public, she was also her parent’s little miracle baby ! lets just say she had some big shoes to fill bc of all the expectations ..

luckily no one had to worry abt her being a demon child JSBDJWDWJ because she turned out to be a very sweet kid ! she was a HUGE daydreamer since she spent a lot of time alone growing up </3 her mom had retired from singing and was now helping theo’s dad run the label, and the two of them were always busy looking for new talent to sign. she didn’t have any siblings and although she had a really attentive nanny it just .. wasn’t the same ?? so to #Cope JSBDWBSBDJW theo was always creating these super elaborate little fantasy worlds. it wasn’t uncommon for u to find her deeply engrossed playing barbies alone like she had scripts and everything 

by the time she was a preteen her parents were both really pressuring theo into thinking about a singing career, so wanting to please them ( and knowing that it was something she was kinda into anyway ) theo said ok sure ! and that’s where.....things start to take a turn. since she was so young she had this very very clean, innocent, cute image ( think disney stars ) & most of the music she was making was used for kids shows or movies. she didn’t really mind it so much but she noticed that her creative process wasn’t really valued ? or taken very seriously by her parents, because in their eyes like that’s their kid you know she’s still young, she’s always had her head in the clouds, they just really didn’t think it was a big deal if they took control. 

so theo put up with it, but the years kept going by, she kept getting older, and nothing was really changing. she still had a squeaky clean image, little say in the type of music she was making, but on the outside everything looked great. the public loved her, she was a role model for kids ( even though she was a teenager now ), it was all perfect.....until it wasn’t. when she was 16, she had a scandal akin to the vanessa hudgen’s nude photo leak, except it wasn’t as explicit ( not a nude, just a suggestive pic ) and it was way way worse considering theo was a minor. 

legal action was immediately taken by her parents, but once something’s out there you can’t really stop it from circulating, so the photos existed, just not on any official media sites. it was traumatizing for theo having her privacy breached like that, especially because instead of talking about how disgusting it was that someone would leak those photos when she was just a teen, gossip sites & fans alike were too busy talking about how her image was ruined. since she’d had such a clean, innocent reputation, people kinda forgot that... she was an actual person going through life growing up, and that she wasn’t perfect. 

theo, being the optimist she is, was like hey you know what? this is my chance to stop making music i dont love. after what was probably her first truly honest convo with her parents, they agreed she should be free to figure herself and her art out. so for the remainder of her teenage years theo fell off the face of the music world....

only to pop back up in the modeling one ! like most celebrities, social media had a big say in this. since reputation wasn’t something theo had going for her anymore, what she did have was a hell of a following still and two famous parents ( not to mention ... shes tall JSBDJWBDWJ ) she did maybe one runway show before deciding she hated that. tbh she hated any modeling that felt too constricting, which is why she never ended up doing anything for big names & mostly does stuff for foreign brands & magazines. 

she liked how much aesthetics had to do with modeling, and to some extent being a part of shoots satisfied that creative itch she had, but music was always her first love. theo really wanted to go back and revisit it, but she was scared the public’s reaction wouldn’t be what she hoped /: 

so following in her mother’s footsteps, theo’s re entrance into the music scene was an ep ( 100% written, produced, edited, you name it, by her ) she released on the eve of her 18th bday basically explaining everything she went through with art. it was only four songs + an interlude, which would become the most talked about part of the whole thing because it was snippets of various reporters talking about that photo leak.

the public had mixed feelings ! unlike with what happened with her parents, not everyone was ready to “forgive” theo. and since she hadn’t done any promo for her music, or for her career as an artist independent from her parent’s famous label, it wasn’t like she was making crazy money and getting all this recognition. but !! she was insanely insanely happy, and that’s when she realized making music wasn’t something she did for other people, just something she liked to share, so what did it really matter if she could be more famous if she was an artist under her parent’s label ? 

cue present day theo, model & singer, although the labels are pretty loose. although her music is getting way more recognition than it did three years ago, she’s still trying to do things independently from her parents, and she still has yet to become a chanel ambassador or anything crazy SDWBKWKFW. because of that she’s kind of garnered this new reputation for herself as one of those celebs that don’t really feel like celebs, like maybe she’s just like u except let’s be real she’s rich and her experiences are NOT universal even if her cute insta pic talking about ~her feelings~ in the caption makes u think they are

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     PERSONALITY + TIDBITS !

not even gonna lie to u guys....she is baby. i dont mean that in a uwu shes 20 but im gonna weirdly make her act like a child way im not a freak shes just baby ! like i mentioned earlier theo was a HUGE daydreamer growing up, and tbh she still is except now that’s she’s older her overactive imagination can kinda get her into trouble. a good example of that is the fact that since she’s so keen to see the silver linings in life and the bright sides, she can neglect the bad sides of people and situations so things still fit into her romanticized vision /: this was the cause for many heartbreaks in theo’s life, and she’s still guilty of doing this although she’s trying to work on it !

very much the kind of person to treat everyone like a friend ( that means strangers too ) until you prove you should be treated otherwise. it takes a lot for her to not fuck with you, so if she doesn’t like you then you probably did something to deserve it /: she’s always had a curious personality as well so it’s really easy for her to connect with people just because she’s constantly fascinated by what she doesn’t know about a person. sometimes it can make ppl uncomfortable just how casually she can have a deep convo, but she just never had that filter where she has to know you for 5 years before she opens up about her trauma </3 you know how when bp’s rose and red velvet’s joy had dinner for the first time rose made joy cry bc she was talking abt her family and stuff ? JSDBWBDW theo is rose ... she’s out there sharing trauma deepening that bond day 1 of knowing you baby !  🤧

despite all that she’s still kind of maintained this elusive air to her? it’s not like she does it on purpose, or like no one knows the real her, it’s more like just when you’ve learned one new thing about her you realize there’s that many more things you don’t know. it also doesn’t help the fact that she’s constantly romanticizing everything, most of all herself, so she’s really crafted this “dream girl” persona without fully realizing it. im not exaggerating when i say john green wants what she has </3 

a lot of times people see her as naive, not because she often sees the good in people or anything like that ( although she does ), but because she has this overwhelming sureness that everything works out in the end. to be fair though, for her, things usually do. call it good karma, luck, whatever you want, but the fact of the matter is even when it looks like there’s no way a situation can turn out well for her, somehow it does. it’s a healthy combination of money, privilege, and a charming personality but to theo it’s proof that she’s right.

naturally.....as an air sign JSBDJWBJWBD she’s a huge flirt ! the media’s always linking her to someone because she really makes it seem like she’s dating half of hollywood when the reality is she’s just being friendly. when she actually likes someone it kind of turns into a huge deal like she gets infatuated with her crushes, swears she’s in love — and then poof. one day she wakes up & realizes she’s kinda over it ... until the next person comes along of course <3

hates conflict and confrontation.....and i mean HATES it to the point where she doesn’t even confront stuff within herself ( i.e. “negative” feelings like sadness ) until one day it all bubbles over and she’s having a legit breakdown and dying her hair red. 

yes, that’s exactly what happened last year, although if you ask theo about it she’ll just be like aha what do you mean i just wanted red hair luv x 

pictures like these ( click ! ) of theo when she'd be walking around LA in her school uniform used to go viral on twitter. 

desperately wishes she was the type of singer ppl would throw their bras at on stage when the reality is she’s out there making some chill bedroom pop kind of stuff so rip that dream </33333 

knows how to play the piano and the guitar, but keeps joking one day she’s gonna make an album and only use her recorder as the instrumentals.

has a white british longhair kitty named zoe.

is 100% that bitch that can only drink sweet drinks & fruity cocktails and u know what she’s valid for it ! 

if she wasn’t famous she’d be making slime. legit running a slime making insta, those were her guilty pleasure & shes so mad they aren’t that popular anymore JSBDJWBDJW

u know that post that’s like “i hate making tea i always feel so bad about throwing away the tea bag i feel like i should just eat it” ? thats theo 

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     WANTED CONNECTIONS !

BEST FRIENDS: a power duo the public either loves or hates, ride or dies, that 1 person theo would drop everything for no matter what.....yeah 🥺 they’d be the person she’s closest to & vice versa !   

CHILDHOOD / FAMILY FRIENDS: their famous parents were friends, so it’s only natural they wanted their kids to be friends too. just imagine the stories ..... the memories .... maybe they got along really well and are still friends today ! or maybe theo pushed your muse off of the swings ( she claims it was an accident ) and your muse never forgot and to this day they’re sworn enemies.....</3 or less dramatic......they just drifted apart and now it’s like hey we used to be so close aha thats awkward let me just smile at you and walk away ....

LIKE SIBLINGS: someone who sees theo as a sister, and who theo considers her unofficial sibling. most likely she’s gonna bother the shit out of this person as siblings do but they really mean a lot to her because it’s the family she never had /: 

CONFIDANTS: the one person theo keeps finding herself talking about the things she usally keeps inside with. i think it’d be funny if both of them find it weird to do things like go out to lunch or shop together because that’s not what they’re used to !

ACQUAINTANCES: friends who are only really friends when both of them are wasted or friends who only comment heart eye emojis and fire sign emojis under each others insta posts but don’t actually talk much for whatever reason

FRIENDS THAT DATED: maybe things just ended amiably between them, or maybe it’s like an “everyone told us we should date so we tried it and boy was that the weirdest thing we ever did” situation. either way the outcome is they’e still friends <3

CAHOOTS: what is this u may ask ? someone theo can be in cahoots with. she has a dumb idea that no one else is likely to say yes to? she goes to ur muse. ur muse has an idea no one in their right mind would say yes to? they go to theo. these two are in cahoots !  

BAD INFLUENCE: although that america’s sweetheart reputation is gone, overall theo is still seen as a “good girl” by the public. she’s not one to be in a lot of scandals so i think it’d be really fun if your muse is corrupting that ( whether they’re doing it on purpose or not ) and whenever theo’s with them she just somehow always manages to end up in trouble. 

THE BIG EX: theo’s first real relationship, and first real heartbreak. everyone before them had been an infatuation, but your muse was the real deal. maybe the media ruined it, or they ruined it themselves by being too scared of their feelings to stick around, or maybe one of them was willing to try but the other wasn’t. either way it ended badly, and whether those feelings are resolved or not....thats a secret i’ll never tell x

SUMMER FLINGS: give me past & current ( or maybe even recurring ) summer flings where they both know it’s temporary but boy is it fun while it lasts. google their names together and you’ll find paparazzi snapshots on the backs of vespas, on million dollar yachts, holding hands in museums or sunbathing on the beach but by the time fall comes creeping in the romance is over. 

HOOKUPS: friends with benefits and it’s not awkward between them, friends with benefits and it’s super weird between them because they may be crossing over into real feeling territory, one night stands / hookups that were huge mistakes, one night stands or hookups that were or are being kept secret from the rest of the roses for whatever reason, someone who leads theo on but never gets serious about her, or someone she leads on but she never gets serious about, her go-to hookup on a night out when she’s partying, etc. 

WILL THEY WON’T THEY: a friendship that always teeters on the line of something romantic ! maybe they’re both oblivious to the chemistry / tension or maybe they’re aware of it because they get jealous when they hear about the other being with someone else… maybe they refuse to do anything about it because they don’t want to complicate things or maybe they purposefully cross lines when they feel that jealousy…..could be more angsty or it could be more wholesome depending on which way it goes 😈

ARTIST TO ARTIST: i don’t think .... we have any other singers / ppl in the music industry but i could for sure be wrong JSBDSJBDJWD but ! i still would love to have people theo’s worked with before. maybe if your muses has been acting since they were little, theo could have mingled with them back when she was doing music for kids shows & movies. maybe your muse is a model and theo and them have done shoots together before. maybe theo’s written a current song for a movie / tv show your muse was a part of. maybe your muse is a model and theo asked them to feature on the cover of one of her albums. maybe she hired your muse to act in the music video of one of her songs ! maybe your muse can also sing even though that’s not their main thing and theo’s asked them to feature on a song with her. there are soooo many possibilities that could be lots of fun <33

MISC: “we used to party together all the time until that one thing happen that neither of us talk about and now we don’t do that anymore”, someone who took care of drunk theo once and ever since then she’s taken that as an open invitation to knock on your muse’s door at 3 am completely wasted, “we tried to date but the paparazzi caught us on a date and we were too scared / sick of the public eye so we never got far”, flirty friends who say no i’d never sleep with you haha…unless you’re down?, your muse was theo’s first time OR theo was your muse’s first time, stereotypical happy go lucky and grumpy relationship where the grumpy muse pretends not to enjoy the other’s presence, enemies but it can’t be anything petty it would have to be pretty serious so if u want that drama.... 

that’s the end i promise it’s finally over 😭😭😭 i truly just ramble & ramble im really so sorry abt that JSDJWBDJWBDJWBDJW i tried to include as much info as possible to make plotting a little easier for all of us so lets pray this works </3 u can come message me on discord to plot @ seulgi ily ʕ´• ᴥ•̥`ʔ#8172 so give this a like if u wanna .... do that ahahahaha x 

[tenchiforum]

For the first time ever, the Toonami versions of OVA1/2, Universe, and Tokyo are available online! On their respective archive.org pages you can access each episode easily.

Watch now: OVA1/2, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo.

For users who keep up with contemporary anime communities, we also have an upload for the entire run available on Nyaa.

It’s been quite a journey in getting these episodes from analog to digital. If you’re interested in reading about the process of how these almost lost-to-time edits came into our hands and how we’ve gone about preserving them before the tapes rot, then sit back and enjoy the story below!

Part 1: Toonami – A Love Story.

Tenchi Muyo! and Toonami are tied together like the red thread of fate often times referenced in many East Asian myths. For those who aren’t aware, Toonami was a programming block on the Cartoon Network channel. Starting in 1997, it did one thing for anime that no other channel in the English-speaking world had ever done: showcased anime during “PrimeTime” (In North America at least, this was 4pm to 7pm Eastern Standard time). Before the internet, having this block of time meant having the most eyes on your product, meaning exposure was huge. Oftentimes whoever got on this block, regardless of the channel, was “made.”

However, it wouldn’t be until mid 1999, with a soft-rebranding, a new host, and an almost entirely anime-focused block, that Toonami would take over the world.

And on July 3rd, 2000, an entire generation was introduced to Tenchi Muyo! for the first time.

- The now legendary two minute Toonami promo.

Thanks to the efforts of Jason DeMarco, Sean Akins, Gill Austin, Sean Polinski, and the rest of the Toonami crew, the “Toonami generation,” still to this day, is the largest block of Tenchi Muyo! fans. Whether it was Toonami US, UK, or Australia. Tenchiforum is a testament to this fact. I personally would not be here were it not for Toonami, so to say that fans of Tenchi Muyo! hold Toonami in a high regard is an understatement.

I had always wanted to somehow, some way, get the Toonami version of Tenchi up for everyone to see again, but my old Toonami VHS recordings were long gone, and I figured trying to piece together the Toonami version from other people’s tapes would just be too hard with how many episodes were broadcast, that was until… 2012

In mid-to-late 2012, I found out that Pioneer actually released a home video version of what was shown on Toonami. It was simply released as “Tenchi Muyo!” in those big, white, clam shell VHS cases (that most people probably remember for old Disney movies). I felt as though I had struck gold! I was able to get a hold of the first two OVA, and was able to rip them to my computer.

- Vol. 1 & Vol. 5 of “Tenchi Muyo!” – No distinction was made that they were separate series.

Though I was high on my endorphin-induced nostalgia, I ran into a couple of unforeseen problems.

First and foremost, the equipment I was using was not great. I used an old StarTech composite to USB dongle and the software that came with it. While this isn’t necessarily bad at first glance (it doesn’t support Windows 10), I had no experience whatsoever in the field of digital transfer. While I think my rips were okay for the time, I knew even then that they were too low of bit-rate and the quality of the rips suffered for it.

Because I also had no VCR at the time that had S-Video output, I was only able to output from composite, which meant the whopping 240p equivalent VHS tapes look fuzzier than they probably should. (I realize that VHS is technically an analog format, meaning that a 1:1 equivalent digital representation is hard to pin down or that someone might argue that it did technically output 480i over composite, but basically it was 240p.)

Another problem was the software itself, I had no idea about Virtualdub, AmaRecTV, or other helpful capture software, so I only recorded at a lower bit-rate, again producing an inferior quality rip.

I also ran into the problem of showcasing the videos. Funimation (who now owns the vast majority of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise in North America) had finally started really cracking down on people uploading videos to Youtube. Even though my videos were not completely the same, the algorithm immediately flagged and blocked them. This led me to uploading the videos to Facebook. I had to cut them in half because of Facebook’s restriction to roughly only 12 minutes of video. Somehow in the process, some of the videos had audio drop out for a minute or two, and for some the audio dropped out completely.

Arguably the biggest blow though, was when I learned that this set of Toonami tapes was incomplete. Pioneer stopped producing the Toonami version for home video after they finished releasing Universe. Meaning, the only way to get the Toonami version of Tenchi in Tokyo, was hope that someone, somewhere,  had taped it 11 years earlier.

While Tenchi in Tokyo has been getting more appreciation from fans as of late – thanks in part to most newer entries in the Tenchi OVA sucking harder than a vacuum – in the year 2000, it was the black sheep of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. So expecting fans to have recorded any of it, let alone the entire series, was the long shot of all long shots. But even still, I made a post on the forum in 2013 asking if anyone knew anyone that might have anything.

Naturally, no one had any leads, and all of these previous problems meant that this project would, frustratingly, have to be shelved indefinitely.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Part 2: Deferred Dreams Don’t Die.

On April 5th, 2019, a person by the name of Talos dropped into our Discord server, and posted an introduction. Like so many, they had gotten into Tenchi through Toonami, but what would change everything, was this.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading, someone actually had it!

Instinctively, I reached out to Talos via PM to ascertain how to go about acquiring these tapes, and admittedly, to see how legit this claim actually was. Because the fact of the matter is, when you’ve been around Tenchi fandom as long as I have, you’ll quickly realize the best bullshitters in the world come from this fandom.

But Talos was more than the genuine article! They sent over pictures and an incredibly detailed analysis of the quality of their tapes, watching through them all again to prove to me that their claim was valid.

It can’t be said enough that this all would not be possible without Talos, their willingness to work with me and send me their own personal tapes that they’ve kept for almost two decades just goes to show how awesome they are and how much they care about the fandom.

So the deal was struck, and the dream that laid deferred for almost six years lived again.

- A time capsule from another era.

But with dreams from the past, come the demons that plagued them way back when. I still only had the setup I once had, and at this time I was really trying to be tight with my finances for a number of different reasons, but this opportunity was too good to pass up, I wasn’t going to let this dream go, even if it wasn’t perfect.

Talos’ tapes showed up, and I rolled up my sleeves.

So I put in the first tape, the first seven episodes of Tokyo, into the old VCR I used to originally rip the Pioneer tapes, a JVC HR-VP650U….

And static…

Or rather, a tape that would play for 3 seconds, then immediately drop to static.

This wouldn’t work.

I then tried my other VCR, a Sony SLV-N50 from the mid-to-late 90’s that I was able to “fix” by removing the old Android Kikaider tape that got stuck in there many years prior.

It worked!…..but…..not all that well.

While it did actually play the tape relatively smoothly, the colors were completely washed out in comparison to the JVC, and it had this weird color flickering that was particularly noticeable when black backgrounds were on screen. (This was not unique to this tape, it did it with everything I put in there.)

As much as it pained me, there was no way I was going to rip it with this setup.

So the hunt began for not just a replacement VCR, but one that was high quality and recommended among enthusiasts for digital transfer. Which meant research and long winding rabbit holes of non-answers and vagueness, and unfortunately, money.

Without a doubt, the de facto list of best VCRs for transferring comes from digitalFAQ.com. This list is not only informative but gives you a broad range of ones to look for in the event you can’t find an “elite” one. However, this list has also become the de facto list used by people who are hawking their sets on eBay to try and get every penny from enthusiasts and new-comers as possible.

After three frustrating weeks of losing bid wars on eBay, someone finally put up one of the good sets, the JVC SR-V10U. I quickly sent them what I thought was a reasonable but not bank-breaking offer….

And they accepted! The beast was finally mine.

Immediately upon unwrapping and testing it, the quality difference between what I had then and what I was looking at now was staggering. The SR-V10U had beautiful color, while having the incredible ability to stabilize the old tapes with its TBC (Time Base Corrector), as well as onboard Video Stabilization option. Combined with the ability to output video via the superior S-Video cable, I now had something that, despite its age and typical old VHS wear, was way better than I could have imagined.

Part 3: No Need for Nostalgia.

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Dagon, why go through the trouble? The OVA has a beautiful Blu-ray release, and Universe and Tokyo have pretty decent DVD releases. Why would you ever want to rip old VHS tapes of an inferior quality release that was in some cases censored?”

- The now famous Toonami “bikinis”.

Because this version of Tenchi Muyo! is a piece of history. Not only is it a piece of Tenchi history, but a piece of Toonami history as well. Being able to preserve this in the best quality possible is being able to point to future generations and say “This is why I’m here.”

For a lot of us it’s about taking us back to a simpler time, grade school, high school, university. Taking us back to a time before the internet was what it is today.

So now we can, after almost 20 years, re-watch the version of Tenchi Muyo! that brought so many of us joy and wonder.

[multimetaverse]

Andi Mack 3x11 Review

One in a Minyan was a truly historic episode and one of the best, if not the best, episode of the series so far. Let’s dig in!

Positives: 

Cyrus saying the word gay was such an important moment; the kind of moment that will long outlive the show itself. There’s a power in naming things and Cyrus not being allowed to use the word gay was a black mark on the show that has now been scrubbed clean. I never thought we’d see this day until Josh hinted at it last week; we’ve come so far from the days when the Mack chat kids were visibly straining to avoid saying the word gay after Cyrus came out to Buffy in 2x01. I commend Terri for getting this approved which I’m sure wasn’t easy. It will really help a lot of kids and adults to see an openly gay boy on a Disney show say that he’s gay and will hopefully open the door for more moments like this on other shows and networks

And such growth for Cyrus; he was so sad and scared when he came out to Buffy and now look at him

Stellar acting and writing all around. Josh delivered a show stopping performance and Asher did great as well. Jonathan Hurwitz should be commended for such a great script; there were some really sharp lines

Loved the dark humour in this ep. Cyrus saying they just buried Bubbe so she’s probably not coming, to the old ladies wagering on who would die next, and Cyrus telling Jonah that if he died they were set up for Shiva

And some very heart warming lines as well. It’s always nice when Andi can be involved in Cyrus’ sexuality story line as it makes it more powerful when lines on Andi Mack are being delivered by Andi Mack herself. Her telling Cyrus that it was his choice when to come out or to whom but he didn’t need to be afraid as people love and care about him was very moving.

I liked the poignancy of Cyrus regretting not telling his Bubbe. He’ll never get to tell her but he still has a life to lead and people he can tell

Andi hugging Cece and telling her that she still has her Bubbe was lovely, we don’t get to see too many moments like that between them. Loved Celia still not liking being called a grandma in any language

Jonah’s chill reaction to Cyrus coming out to him is very in character. They’ve done a wonderful job of building a deep friendship between Cyrus and Jonah that they weren’t allowed to focus on while Cyrus still had a crush on Jonah

TJ’s scene was brief but very nice, it was a sweet gesture for TJ to bring challah. Having Andi ask if that was TJ was a sly way for the show to direct more attention to his presence there. It wouldn’t shock me if we see a callback to the ‘’You came/Of course I did’’ moment towards the end of the season. I liked the subtle touch of Cyrus smoothing his shirt as he stood up to greet TJ. And interesting call back to have the same music for their scene and there was for Cyrus’ first kiss with Iris though only the most dedicated of fans will know that

It’s subtextual but I’d hope the casual audience would clue in to TJ arriving right after they discuss Cyrus’ former crush on Jonah and right before Cyrus and Andi tease Buffy about Marty not to mention the very fact that he even showed up in this Cyrus focused episode and realize that he’s Cyrus’ love interest

This marks the 3rd ep in a row where a love interest has shown up briefly at the very end of the ep: Walker, Marty, and TJ. 

As an aside it’s noteworthy that they’re flying in recurring characters for such small scenes when they didn’t really do that for S2; a sign of the shows increased budget and a side-effect of Bowie being a main and needing more screen time

I think this ep was probably the most successful at balancing the Macks and the other characters so far this season. The Cloud 10 scene was out of place but otherwise they all fit in very nicely. Bowie’s dramatic exit was funny and I think this may have been one of the eps with the least amount of Bex screen time which worked in its favour 

Celia was used perfectly, I loved the cold open with her and Andi. It really showed how much Andi and Celia have in common; they can both be brusque and can have a harshness to them that Bex and Bowie lack. 

I liked the callback to the pilot with Andi making a lamp out of Bex’s old cd’s. We know that Andi explores her art later on in the season and I wonder if we’ll see her centrepieces at the wedding

It was great seeing the focus on Jewish culture; all the small details were interesting to see and look up later. And I liked that they got the same Rabbi they used for 2x13 back, a nice little bit of continuity

I’m glad that Andi and Cyrus aren’t even pretending that Buffy isn’t interested in Marty romantically to some extent, it’s going to make the dramatic journey from here to Machel sinking in 3x17 that much easier

It was nice seeing Cyrus’ parents even if briefly. They didn’t bother bringing back the step parents which isn’t super surprising; it was great to have Cyrus come from a complex family but having 4 parents makes it way too hard for the show to give them any focus

I’m assuming Bubbe Rose was Norman’s mother since Leslie referred to her as Rose rather than as her mother

Aunt Ruthie being so hetero-normative was realistic and I’m glad they had Andi have that encounter with her rather than Cyrus

I’m glad they went with One in a Minyan as the title especially as it doubles as a touching tribute to Terri’s father it being the inscription engraved on his headstone

Looking Ahead:

I’m going to skip the negatives section for this ep; we all know the restrictions imposed on Cyrus’ story line and there will be plenty of time in the coming months to dig into the price the show paid for what got approved this episode. It’s a shame Cyrus won’t come out to his parents though it wouldn’t shock me if we get a brief mention of it in the show or in the texts towards the end of the season

We already knew from Josh showing that title page for 3x12 that they filmed on the day they also filmed at the amusement park which was in the middle of filming ep 13 but it looks like all the park scenes are for 3x12. I trust Luke’s imdb which has been very accurate so far so I’m inclined to think that him and Raquel were just at the park to hang out once the other kids were done filming

Finally the wish gets revealed; I wonder how much of the audience still remembers it by this point

If Buffy assumes that Jamber is back together then that likely means Jibby is already sunk; we’ll see what the texts mention these next couple of weeks

I don’t think Jamber is back together though I do hope we at some point get Amber apologizing for her mistreatment of Jonah 

The promo certainly makes it look like Andi knows for a specific reason that Jamber aren’t back together and if the wish is Jonah’s and it is about Beck family issues then I could see his closeness with Amber being because they are supporting each other with their family problems

Not happy to see Miranda or Morgan back. I wonder if she causes trouble by trying to plant the seeds of doubt that one of either Bex or Bowie really wants another kid or if she mentions being married and getting divorced

Peyton’s dad guest stars next ep though he had been listed for 3x13. Bex does look like she could possibly be getting cold feet and if the wedding will go awry before being brought back on track it has to happen soon

I think the set up of this ep is close to what we’ll see in the finale; lot’s of small moments with lots of characters mostly taking place in or around the Mack house

It will be very interesting to see if they let Cyrus or TJ use the word gay again or if this was a one time deal. If TJ could tell people he was gay in 3x19 it would make it much easier to get to the Tyrus confession scene in 3x21; presumably Cyrus and I’d hope his friends, would have to have some reason to believe that TJ could reciprocate his feelings 

I’ve never subscribed to the Jonah will figure out Tyrus’ feelings and play matchmaker theory because it’s wildly out of character, his obliviousness has been his most consistent trait. But I do find it noteworthy that they’ve spent all this time building up the friendship between Cyrus and Jonah and also dedicated an ep to having Jonah and TJ become friends. It would be very subversive to have Cyrus go to Jonah for romantic advice; it’s not often we see a straight guy giving his gay best friend advice on guys and it does make some sense with Jonah having had the most relationships of any of the characters. The safest and easiest route is just have Cyrus talk to Buffy about his feelings in 3x19 and there would be nothing wrong with that especially as Terri wouldn’t have had much leverage left when negotiating the final eps with Disney but it does seem like the kind of progressive move she would go for if allowed

It will be interesting if anyone else other than TJ finds out that Cyrus is gay. If Marty and Amber and Kira can never find out then that limits what can be done in the finale

And one last interesting thing is that unlike the Tyrus bash mitzvah scene their scene tonight didn’t get cut and partly that is because it involved other characters in a way that makes it much more difficult to cut or edit. I’m sure the Tyrus confession scene will be just the two of them but I do think there will be some linkage before or after to other characters to make it harder to cut should Disney have gotten cold feet (which I don’t think they will at this point)

Only 10 eps left! There’s really no other show like Andi Mack out there. It’s going to be a wild ride these finals eps