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mask-of-prime · 19 days

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TLG: Final 10 Episodes Sketch Dump

September 2nd once again fell on a Labor Day, like it once did when the final 10 episodes of TLG dropped on WatchTLG (due to its early release on the old DisneyNOW app). The alignment of the exact day, month, and holiday five years later put me in the spirit to sketch away as I rewatched these episodes.

I was there when the countdown on the WatchTLG site had about an hour left. I hadn't seen a full episode of TLG until that point because I at the time thought I wouldn't be into it. I saw the synopses for these episodes leaked somewhere online and was doubtful yet VERY hopeful that the one with Vitani's Lion Guard was going to be a real episode simply because I wanted to see her in new content, regardless of my familiarity with the show.

When I binge-watched these final episodes with a friend, my relationship with the show improved as I went to watch the rest of the show over the next few months. I was so grateful to see so much content and worldbuilding for the TLK universe

Sketch descriptions under the cut:

1. Friends to the End

I've said this before in a review of this episode, but whether or not the writers intended this, their portrayal of irritability brought on by an anxiety attack is astounding. Kion's anxiety is piled up more and more when he's in a hurry to find a cure at the Tree of Life, Bunga repeatedly tells him he's becoming like Scar, and the rest of the group just "blind leading the blind"-in their journey SO badly because they're a bunch of unsupervised freshman-aged kids who are in their "Well I wouldn't go THAT far" or "Can I be the devil's advocate" phase.

This situation of fearing becoming like a shitty family member and being told you are by people when you're already in a vulnerable state is just SO vile and unfortunately so real. I found myself relating hard to this episode due to Kion's valid af anger in this episode, which is why I had to draw Kion claiming his "Don't you just wanna go apeshit??" era.

Kion is basically me throughout this episode and the entire first half of Season 3. It is SO HARD to get through this season sometimes when these same couple of lines keep coming at least once per episode. As soon as I hear Fuli saying "Uhh... Kion?" or "KION!!" I know exactly what's coming.

2. The Tree of Life:

Since we never get to see Sahasi and Ananda's color palettes they had in life, I took what I could make out from their spirit forms as well as some creative liberties, and came up with what they may have looked like on Earth.

Ananda is where Baliyo gets his freckles and dull, dark pelt, and where Rani gets her purple pupils, red nose, and dark tail. Sahasi is where Rani gets her richer pelt and where Baliyo gets his nose gradient, multicolored mane, and lighter tail color.

Fun Fact: According to some email responses from a member of the team who worked on TLG, they said that Sahasi was meant to be Janna's son, which for me, puts an end to a debate I had in my head where I was stuck between either him or Ananda being Janna's child: On one hand, I liked the idea of Sahasi and Surak being the foils of Mufasa and Scar, but also liked the idea of Ananda as Janna's daughter and heir since they looked so alike, as well as it solidifying the martriarchy headcanon I have for the Night Pride. Though the team member didn't straight-up provide Sahasi's relation to Janna and Surak as an absolute fact, rather it was simply the gist they got from the creation of Sahasi's character, it's an answer from a team member at all, which I can absolutely settle with. I decided to give him a similar fur color to Surak because of that.

3. The River of Patience:

I just HAD to doodle eepy Kion. It's like the one part of this episode that sticks with me outside the wholesome therapy dynamics and Kion heroically holding the flower between his teeth. This is basically him but if he fully succumbed to falling asleep waiting for the log.

4. Little Old Ginterbong:

Can I just say that I fucking LOVE Mama Binturong's character?? She's absolutely insane and constantly looks like an addict that needs her fix. She makes me nostalgic for some reason, and I think it's gotta do with her Mama Gunda vibes (which is odd because I wasn't even that young when I saw Tarzan II). I had to draw her doing the thing lol

5. Poa the Destroyer:

All I could think about throughout this episode besides the rare Evil Beshte is how insufferable Pinguino is. I mean it in kind of a good way, his personality is so ridiculous that he's made me laugh a few times.

6. Long Live the Queen:

Surprisingly, the sketch regarding this episode is probably the least expected subject matter out of anything I could've put here: An idea that's been forming in my head for a bit now was the idea of Bunga and Binga continuing the fostering/babysitting business of Bunga's "uncles". Bunga is shown to be a natural with young animals in a few episodes, and it continues in the subplot of this episode where he watches over Varya's cubs.

7. The Lake of Reflection:

The one thing that viscerally stuck with me in this episode was the unbelievably cute design they gave bby Cheezi. Had to sketch him.

8. Triumph of the Roar:

Obligatory Askari sketch because I actually love drawing him and making headcanons of his era. Looking back... he kinda looks like he's looking down at the events of the bottom drawing in slight disappointment.

9. Journey to the Pride Lands:

Drew Azaad (for what I think might be the first time) with the only thing he seemed to be doing throughout this episode -- taking any opportunity he can to comment about how much better cheetahs are at basically everything. He's fun to draw and I'd like to do more art of him one day.

10. Return to the Pride Lands

This is a sketch of what I deadass thought was gonna happen during this scene the first time I saw this episode lmao. At the time, the previous two episodes were fresh on my mind so I thought Kion was once again going to spam his tornado ability, but with Vitani as his subject for his demonstration. She already knew so little of the Roar as it was, given her absence throughout most of TLG's storyline, but could you imagine what she must've been thinking seeing how much Kion's Roar evolved?

#The Lion King #The Lion Guard #TLK #TLG #Kion #Sahasi #Ananda #Mama Binturong #Pinguino #Bunga #Binga #Pasha #Polina #Feliks #Azaad #Cheezi #Askari #Vitani #My Art

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periru3 · 2 years

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I know I’m hella late to the Dragon Prince party, but I have some thoughts

Okay, so I just finished the first three seasons of The Dragon Prince, and it was really good, I really enjoyed it, but there was one glaring issue (or maybe more accurately a handful of closely related issues) that makes it really hard for me to love the show, or to think it quite lives up to it’s reputation as the “new AtLA.” The issue? Pacing. Dear god, the pacing.

*Spoilers and long-windedness below the cut*

The first three seasons take place over about a month, and during this time a handful of things happen, including but not limited to: 1) multiple people travel across what are implied to be huge distances at GoT-levels of inconsistent speeds, 2) Viren attempts a coup, is foiled by the rightful king Ezran, who spends less than a week on the throne before handing the crown back to Viren, 3) Callum and Reyla overcome all of their human-vs.-elves prejudices and fall in love with each other, 4) Callum becomes literally the first human ever to learn primal magic, never having previously studied it, and 5) a bunch humans and elves and dragons band together to defeat the forces of evil despite hundreds of years of conflict that they have not resolved and there being NO WAY most of those people even know like 70% of what’s going on in the plot of the show.

Seriously. That happens. In one month.

I’ve been thinking a lot about why I feel this show was written this way, and I think a lot of it has to do with how TV shows are made now and how that differs from when AtLA was made, for instance. Specifically, most shows these days, The Dragon Prince included, have really short seasons (9 episodes to Avatar’s 20), and are made for streaming (and therefore binging).

Let’s be real, streaming is doing WEIRD things to how stories get told, and many of them are not for the better. With the advent of dropping whole seasons at a time, the art of writing good episodes of TV that are at all distinguishable from one another sort of feels like it’s vanishing. So much of the goal of streaming shows is about getting you to just keep watching, so the episodes sort of intentionally bleed together. It’s all dramatic cliffhangers followed by autoplay kicking in and suddenly you’re picking up in the exact moment the last episode ended on. And there’s definitely a place for that in stories, but when it becomes every episode, the whole thing starts to feel more like one ridiculously long movie than a season of varied stories that form a satisfying whole but still work on their own. Anyway, I’m rambling and I know all of this has been said before.

The point though, as it relates to Dragon Prince, is that when every episode flows right into the next, it’s a lot easier to get rid of something that I think is pretty necessary for most TV shows to function: time jumps. Not big ones, just little, normal time jumps that you don’t really notice that let us cover more time with the characters without having to constantly be with them every step of the way. I think when you spend a week waiting for a new episode, it feels natural for the characters to have also passed some time, and instances of this not happening tend to be reserved for two-parters or near the end of a season when the plot is really ramping up. But while many streaming shows do still do this, other’s just... don’t. And Dragon Prince is one of those shows. We’re with the main characters practically every moment of the month this show takes place over and while that does wonders for getting you in a binging mindset (I watched 3 seasons in 4 sittings), it means the actual timeline of the show is ridiculously short. Also, crucially, it means that if we don’t explicitly see something happen (eg the conveying of crucial information), or if something feels to us like it’s happening too fast (eg a relationship or skill developing), we can’t rationalize that by assuming things happened off screen.

Another huge factor, as previously mentioned, is the nine-episode season, which is simultaneously too short and, weirdly enough, too long. Lemme explain. For all the stuff they are trying to fit in to this show, for the complex political situations and the relationships and the character arcs to all unfold believably, I as a viewer want to be able to spend more time with this story. I want this plot to unfold over more episodes and in more detail, but also I want enough episodes to be allowed a break from the plot. There’s no filler! Filler may get a bad rap, but it’s the filler episodes that give us time with characters and relationships and world-building outside the confines of what’s crucial to the plot! It’s one of the key things that separates TV as an art form from film and often allows us to feel that we know the characters and worlds of TV shows better those of movies. It isn’t just that we spend more time with them in TV, but also that we get to see them in all sorts of situations that movies don’t have time for! Where is Dragon Prince’s “The Zeppo” or its “Lars and the Cool Kids” or its “Ember Island Players?” We need more episodes not only so we can spend more time with the plot, but also so we can spend more time away from it!

But wait, didn’t I also say nine episodes per season is too long for The Dragon Prince? Yes. Yes I did. Because a story that takes place over the course of a single month being told in 27 episodes is straight up bonkers. That is practically one episode per day. See what I mean when I say we’re with these characters all the time? What we really need is for the show (or first three seasons at least) to take place over 6 months to a year with between 15 and 20 episodes per season. Then we get plenty of time to do the plot justice and plenty of time to ignore the plot for a bit and have fun! We also get more time with our beloved characters and they get to spend some time offscreen!

Anyway, I think these issues seriously impact the effectiveness of the show in so many ways, and I know I’ve rambled for a long time now, but I’m gonna ramble a little longer just to touch on some of the things I think would be improved with more episodes and a longer timeline. Let’s go list format just to spice things up:

Callum’s whole arc - He’s the first human ever to use primal magic and he figures it out after I think something like 12-ish days. I honestly really love the idea of humans being able to do magic by attaining a deep understanding of and connection with the primal sources, but this only works if we see, like... lots more work put in than we do. Having Callum really struggle and work and grow in the pursuit of this understanding would justify no one else having done it before and make it feel like he is totally revolutionizing how humans and elves alike even conceptualize magic by thinking about it from a different perspective, and I think that’s rad. As it is, he barely does anything, he does it super quickly, and he has a magic dream give him that final shove, and he comes off as just another chosen one which is way less interesting. Also him struggling with the ethics of dark magic and the decision to use it or not use it and the repercussions of using it could have been just so much more. I mean, I haven’t seen season four though so who knows.

Callum and Rayla’s romance - As far as obviously-endgame het protagonist couples go, I liked them. I really thought there was a lot of great stuff in their relationship and I think the show did a way above average job giving us specific beats that made it feel like the characters really knew and understood and cared about each other. I just would’ve liked it to have more time to get there. Specifically I would’ve loved to see even more of the lingering issues of being from super different cultures and raised to fear and hate each other, as well as some more time on them each realizing their feelings for each other and sitting with that a while before they get together.

Janai and Amaya - Give me so much more of this I am begging you. Not (just) because I’m extremely gay but because it’s so interesting and there’s so much potential and it mostly happens off screen and I want more build up to them trusting each other and working together at the end. I know Amaya saving Janai and later warning her about Viren does a lot of trust building, but I also want the slow burn (hah. burn. get it? Cause she’s a sunfi- never mind). Give me Janai awkwardly learning sign language! Give me them realizing they aren’t as different as they grew up being told they would be! Give! Me! More!

Grief - I know it’s a kids show and we want to not spend toooo much time being depressing, and they have very important things to worry about, but like... their dad died. The scenes where they’re actually addressing this are great and super emotional, but the minute it isn’t the focus it’s sort of weirdly upbeat for two newly orphaned children

King Ezran - Honestly his whole plot of going back to take up the throne and then leaving basically right away is sort of a mess. This is on the writing as much as the pacing. He doesn’t have time to do anything good as king, like we get no time seeing if he can even be a normal ruler at all before suddenly he’s shoved into an impossible situation and he takes a strong moral stance, you love to see it, but then there just... isn’t a good solution so for some reason the solution he chooses is to give the obvious supervillain the crown? And all of this happens so fast it sort of makes you wonder... why any of this needed to happen? Like if Ezran stayed with the others and the initial coup had been successful.... nothing changes.

Villain stuff - One recent trend I’m loving is complex villains in kids shows. Viren is such a good villain, but I feel like he’d be a much better one if we had the time to do a slower ramp up in evil. Like, he starts as the king’s best friend and most trusted advisor, I wish we saw him dealing with conflicted feelings about the king’s death, especially after their last interaction. I wish he spent more time seeming like someone who believes his own justifications and who slowly becomes more ruthless and power hungry and looses sight of what he initially stood for or something like that. As is he’s sort of an instant supervillain.

Evil family drama - This may be the area I think needs least improvement, honestly. I think Soren and Clauda’s arcs and their relationships to each other and to Viren are the most interesting and well-executed in the show by far. They’d just - and I know this opinion might come as a shock to you - be better if they took place over more than the span of a month. Perhaps more than 27 episodes. You know, all that good stuff.

Travel - Okay I know sometimes they’re on animals and sometimes they’re on foot and sometimes they fly and that all impacts how fast they get from one place to another but like..... there are times when that isn’t the case or where it is but it still doesn’t justify the drastically different amounts of time it takes people to travel certain distances. How did a massive army on foot catch up with the protagonists who’ve been traveling for 2.5 seasons in 2 episode? How did Soren get to the mountain so much faster than the main gang? How did the sunfire elves get there before the human army? These are the examples that are freshest in my mind cause I watched it like an hour ago, but I swear to god this is all over the show. This is another half-pacing half-writing issue.

Communication - And yet another “equal blame goes to the pacing and to wonky writing” thing. I literally have no clue how or when so many people found out so many things in this show. I’m struggling with specific examples on this one, it’s more of a constant vibe of “I do not remember seeing this person find out about this situation, there’s no way news of this had time to spread, what is going on?” Like people knowing enough to show up in the right place at the right time, or to suddenly change their stances on centuries-old global geopolitical conflicts even though I swear no one has specifically told anyone all the relevant information for this to make sense and there isn’t enough time for me to buy them finding out some other way. Anyway speaking of global geopolitical conflict...

Global geopolitical conflict - This! Just! Needs! More! Time! How did Viren have time to get this popular? How did How did Lyanna Mormont Queen Aanya know where to go or have enough relevant information to feel this was worth joining a war over, technically on the side that killed her moms? Why is there suddenly a critical mass of humans who suddenly want to end an ancient conflict with people who literally just assassinated their king just because they I guess found out their side didn’t assassinate the prince of the opposite side???? I swear I find this plot good I just need it to go so much slower and so much more... thoughtful I guess? I need to understand why individuals and groups other than the main characters are making the decisions they’re making, and things happening very fast makes that difficult!

Anyway, I swear I really did like this show a lot, despite my ranting. I think I’m so hung up on this because I liked it so much. Like, I think it could be on the level of AtLA if it had better pacing and it really really frustrates me that it doesn’t. I’m also sure these aren’t very original complaints but here I am anyway, extremely late to the party, having basically just mainlined three seasons of a show and immediately sat down to write an essay on it without taking in even a hint of the existing fandom or discourse so.... sorry? If I’m just repeating something many other people have noted? It’s 4:30 am what am I even doing with my life.

TL;DR - Great show, it’d be an A+ if it could only have the “giving TV shows actual good pacing” of a decade ago while retaining the “kids shows are allowed to have gays in them” of today

#the dragon prince #tdp #dragon prince #tdp spoilers #ranting about TV #meta #streaming is killing TV maybe?#tl;dr The Dragon Prince gets an A for potential and a solid B for execution #it's got mad pacing problems what can I say?!?!#callum #viren #soren #claudia #rayla #ezran

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sirtadcooper · 11 months

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I was tagged by: @matbaynton - thank you! <3

Tag someone you want to know AND/OR some of your besties.

This turned into a monster of a thing so I'm sticking it under a cut!

Favourite colour: I am rubbish at this question. I love various colours in various contexts, but at the moment I am really gravitating towards greens. Green is a colour I haven't paid much attention to before, but for some reason over the last few months I have taken an interest in it. I even bought a solid green jumper!

Last song: When Things Explode by Unkle. It's a song I first heard on an episode of Person of Interest and it's now on one of my YouTube music playlists. Takes me right back!

Last movie: I had to check my Letterboxd for this - that's how often I'm watching films at the moment! It was the 1995 version of Persuasion that I rewatched at the end of August. A film I only discovered recently but has become one of those instant comforting favourites.

Currently watching: Oh heck - I'm struggling to keep track, there are so many! I'm watching The English at the moment. Also Outsiders series 2, Taskmaster series 16, New Girl (on season 2), This Farming Life series 6 with my dad on a Sunday morning, All Creatures Great and Small series 4, Fletchers' Family Farm series 2, Schitt's Creek with @phantomviola (on season 5), The Musketeers (series 2) and Black Books (series 3) with @userdjarin and who could forget Our Flag Means Death season 2 which has taken over my brain! Along with all that I squeezed in a Primeval series 2 rewatch which I finished the other night. [slaps roof of my brain] this bad boy can fit so many narratives in it.

Other stuff I watched this year: HAH! I have an IMDb list of TV shows I've watched this year! It's long as heck! Silk, The IT Crowd, Black Sails, The Last of Us, Lost in Space, Endeavour, The Terror, Arrested Development, Community, Vicious, Prehistoric Planet, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, Ted Lasso, Miranda, The North Water, His Dark Materials, And Then There Were None, Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell, The Great British Sewing Bee, The Bear, Blackadder, 30 Rock, Chernobyl and The Expanse. And those are just the ones worth mentioning! And some of these I watched four times! Okay, one thing. Okay, it was The Terror.

As for films, it's a poor show this year - I haven't watched as many (see above for reason why). I have seen the latest Spiderverse film and I've love to see Barbie!

Shows I dropped this year/didn’t finish: The Mandalorian (sob!), Vikings (I think I was maybe an episode or two shy of finishing the first season but... man... I just wasn't having fun), My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (to be fair this might have been last year, I can't remember, but I know I stopped a few episodes into season 2), Fleabag (I watched one or two episodes... wasn't quite for me).

Currently reading: Darwin by Adrian J. Desmond and James R. Moore (about 100 pages in but I'm taking this one slow because I'm not hyperfixating on him) and Dead Famous by Greg Jenner which I am taking even slower. I've read quite a few books related to the Franklin Expedition this year (thanks, The Terror) and for a while I was reading pretty solidly but I guess that's what hyperfixation does to you!

Currently listening to: I'm not really listening to music much these days thanks to YouTube's annoying ad blocker pop-up so I'm typing this in silence, haha! But podcast-wise I'm doing great. Three Bean Salad is probably my favourite podcast at the moment. The humour is just too good, and I look forward to hearing the lads every week. I'm also binging The Rest is History which is a bit more serious but still has its fun moments. I'm also listening to Off Menu, No Such Thing as a Fish, The Bones Booth, Taskmaster: The Podcast, The Mariner's Mirror Podcast, and odd episodes of RHLSTP if I know the guest. I save podcasts for when I'm doing something like washing the dishes, walking or driving.

Currently working on: Now that the puppy I found at the end of August is vaccinated, she can go out and about, and that has led to me abandon the polymer clay for a while to return to a hobby that I haven't spent much time on since early 2020 at the latest. I wanted to make her some nice collars and leads so she looks smart for our walks which I will inevitably be photographing. I know it's kind of hard to see but I made this collar and lead for her.

I was a bit worried that I'd forgotten how to sew the leather but thankfully not. I have a few more straps of leather lying around that I'd like to make into collars and leads as well. And several rope leads that need whipping (you wrap thinner twine around the thicker rope to finish it and protect the end from fraying) but I'm having to take my time with those because the twine is murder on my soft, delicate, feminine hands. I can whip maybe four leads before my fingers are red. It's worth the pain!

Current obsession: Our Flag Means Death has taken over my life once again. Whatever happens in the finale next week, I know I will be a mess. Heck, I'm already a mess.

I'm tagging: some recent mutuals so we can get to know each other, but no pressure! @tigerballoons, @woofety, @jackharkness, @jddryder, @ajcrowleys and @skatingthinandice! <3

#matbaynton #tagged #i have a lot of stuff going on now that i see it written down haha #anyway that was fun! i'll try to get a few more things done that i've been tagged in

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turnaboutwriter · 8 months

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how long is safe travels? how much have you written? are updates once a month??

TLDR: I've finished writing Part 1: In Abundant Relations and Part 3, Johto. Part 2 is in progress. Rest of the story is outlined, though I will take a break mid story to finish properly outlining Part 6, which is not fully fleshed out. Yes, I try to update once a month.

Useless but informative elaboration of my answers under the cut.

Safe Travels, combining all 7 parts and the epilogue, is at 34 chapters, at this moment. This number is subjected to change and you will understand why as I answer your question.

"In Abundant Relations," the Hoenn part, is 13 chapters long.

"Of One Variety," (which I did name-drop in a previous teaser), the Unova part, is 2 chapters long, as of now.

The following part, which takes place in Johto, is just a oneshot.

The region after Johto will mark the halfway point of this story.

I aim for once a month updates. "In Abundant Relations" has been fully written, so I'm using the time in between updates to play catch up so that I am able to keep up with monthly updates. I am almost done writing the first chapter of "Of One Variety," and need to work on completing the second chapter after. Since Part 3, Johto is a oneshot, it has been already completed for a while. As for the rest of Safe Travels... most of the story has been outlined very thoroughly, so I complete those chapters usually the month before I post it.

...with the exception of Part 6, which is still very, very rough. I want to give myself time to work on this, so I have decided that I will pause updates for a month or two during Part 5 (my favorite part, btw), so I can binge watch some of the PokéAni episodes and really dedicate time to fleshing out my outline.

You might ask, why pause in between Part 5 instead of after posting it fully? Admittedly, I have an irrational fear that because I am posting this story in parts as opposed to one fanfic, people will not be inclined to read the next part if it's not already posted - that's why, the day I post the last chapter of one part, I will post the first chapter of the next part and link it at the end of the previous part.

#pokemon #fanfiction #safe travels #ask #answered

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morallygreyyn · 2 years

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my 2022 anime list

disclaimer: please don’t make assumptions about me and my taste in anime based off of this list. this is literally just watch i watched this year.

so i’m really just making this for me to keep tabs on what i watched throughout the year so feel free to ignore this! if for some reason you do read this and see anything here you like i’m always down for a chat about anime!

this is all the anime (new and old) that i watched in 2022 (in order bc i’m that bitch):

the case study of vanitas (6/10):

a solid anime. loved vanitas and noe and their designs were gorgeous. deffo want to get back into it as i fell out of it a while ago

demon slayer (7.5/10):

favourite character(s):

giyu tomioka and zenitsu agatsuma

nah bc the way i was so skeptical of this bc of all the hype so i put it off for aggeess but then i got sick and binged the entire thing within a few days. literally became my life for a solid month and i can’t wait for the next season

blue period (4/10):

such a chill anime that touches on some heavier topics about identity. not the most mind-blowing or groundbreaking anime to ever exist but definitely enjoyable and it did make me want to start drawing even tho i can’t draw for shit

your name (movie) (7.5/10):

i *think* this was the first anime movie that i ever watched and it did not disappoint. animation was absolutely gorgeous and the characters made me want to weep

a silent voice (movie) (7.5/10):

your name kicked off my love for sad anime movies and i’ve never been to close to crying over anything in my life than i was with the main pairing in this damn movie

black clover (9/10):

favourite character(s):

asta, noelle and zora

bro...this one took me by surprise ngl. i thought this was just gonna be another run of the mill shonen jump anime (and don’t get me wrong, it is) but man oh man i wasn’t expecting it to be so funny. literally my sense of humour in an anime. also asta is so inspiring “as long as i don’t give up, i’ll get there eventually” may seem so basic but it struck a chord ngl

bubble (movie) (2/10):

wtf even happened in this movie. the animation was pretty ig

spy x family (7/10):

this deserved the hype, it slapped. unfortunately tho it reminds me of my ex as i used to watch it with them so my memories of it are kinda tainted

neon genesis evangelion (7.5/10):

favourite character(s):

shinji and kaworu

the living aesthetic that is this show. literal perfection until the last three episodes, wtf happened. i also need shinji and kaworu to get together like asap

the way of the househusband (6/10):

sooooo funny. kinda similar to saiki k in terms of humour and short episodes. definitely a comfort anime

to your eternity (3/10):

such an interesting premise! it has a low score bc i dropped it a while ago (idk why) so my memory of it is kinda hazy. will deffo pick it back up again in the future

cute high earth defensive club love (1/10):

don’t ask

one piece (100000/10):

favourite character(s): sanji and then every single other character to exist on the show (apart from the celestial dragons...man fuck those guys)

I was so apprehensive to start this bc it’s over 1000 episodes long but my brother eventually wore me down and oh man, i’ve never been more pleasantly surprised. easily my favourite anime now (which i never thought anything would beat my top two and i’m only 550 episodes in). it’s so funny, the characters are so lovable and the story and world is incredible. it made me cry over a boat. a freaking boat. now that’s a strong story. g8 is canon you can’t change my mind. literally ready to set sail across the seven seas rn. it’s a pirates life for me

idolish7 (tbd):

favourite character(s):

sogo, iori, riku, tenn

started this as a joke but ended up really liking it. haven’t finished it yet which is why my rating is tbd but it’s shaping up to be above a 6! the only con is nagi...god i hate nagi. also secret night by trigger was my third most played song on my spotify wrapped so yeah, this show has some bangers

heaven official’s blessing (it’s chinese but i don’t know the official term) (8.5/10):

favourite character(s):

xie lian, hua cheng, nan feng, fu yao

ah, the show that started my mxtx obsession. hua cheng is my literal aesthetic and i’ve made it my mission in life to dress like him. also him and xie lian are literal perfection. the only downside to this show was the banyue arc/backstory - it was kinda boring ngl but the scene where san lang jumped into the pit.....10000/10. also got covid for the second time a couple of hours after i finished this so it’s memorable for that too lmao. second season when?

the untamed (cdrama) (9/10):

favourite character(s):

xue yang, wei wuxian, lan wangji

riding on the high of mxtx and down bad with covid, i binged this entire series (and read the manhua) in like a couple of days. i didn’t sleep. my only thoughts were wangxian and xue yang. this also made me want to learn chinese....i even bought chinese language textbooks. now i just need to find a teacher and i’m set lmao

classroom of the elite (dnf):

ummm...so this wasn’t for me. decided to start it bc of all the hype but it missed the mark for me unfortunately. the main character is sick as shit and the premise is really cool so maybe i’ll pick it back up again in the future (i probably will) but for now i’d rather watch one piece (pls let me know if this show gets better - i really do think the premise slaps but some of the characters suck)

cherry magic! thirty years of v can make you a wizard? (drama) (7/10):

decided to watch this as i had just read the manga and oml i loved it. the romance between the main pairing is soooo sweet and the actors did such a great job

sasaki and miyano (9.5/10):

fell down the bl hole and decided to watch this.....bro....the way i fell in love with these two is not even funny. i literally adore them. no.1 comfort anime

blue lock (10/10):

favourite character(s): chigiri, isagi, bachira

never thought i’d get so hype about football but here we are. have caught myself saying “i need to watch that goal again” and then reacting in horror as i realise i’m turning into my football loving mother. but can you blame me? their monster modes? isagi and chigiri’s respective goals? literal crack for your eyes. this anime is such a unique premise for a sports anime. fuck team work, it’s kill or be killed in blue lock and i liiivveee bitch

obey me! (7/10):

favourite character(s): levi, satan, belphie

decided to watch this one as i started playing the otome game and fell in love with the characters (levi, satan and belphie specifically) and oh man was this anime hilarious. watched it all in one night. the music in this is also fire. it’s my party, sinful indulgence and on your way? absolute bangers. the bunny boy episode is my favourite for obvious reasons

fruits basket (tbd but shaping up to be a 8/10):

another one i haven’t finished yet but oh lord i don’t know why i put this one off for so long bc its so good. gives me all the fuzzy princess vibes that i want from a shojo and i couldn’t ask for more. yuki one chance please

and that’s it! i didn’t watch as much as i usually do considering one piece is a thing that i started but it’s still a record of everything i watched and what i thought of it! i honestly had so much fun making this - it’s so nice to recap on what i’ve watched throughout the year

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hale-of-stiles-heart · 2 years

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as much as I understand why some people would prefer episodes coming out on a weekly basis instead of a whole season dropping all at once I feel the exact opposite because like a lot of people pointed out when disney+ started and announced that was how they're doing it, releasing episodes weekly means if you wanna keep up with a show you have to pay for a streaming service longer

like you can't just do a free trial and watch it, you have to pay for 2-3 months of the service instead and that's the main reason I'd rather just have all the episodes dropped at once

and i totally understand that means if you're not binging it the day it airs you're probably gonna get things spoiled but the same thing would happen if you wait 2-3 months to watch it all so once anyway

#there's literally no point to this i just kept thinking about it today lol #ignore me

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webnewsify1 · 2 years

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WebNewsify : James Cameron: Don't whine about 'Avatar 2' runtime when you binge-watch entire series

WebNewsify : As his highly-anticipated sequel is ready for launch subsequent month, the 68-year-old director does not suppose individuals ought to complain about its 3 hour and 10 minute run time as a result of so many TV viewers are keen to binge-watch the complete sequence in a single sitting, studies Aceshowbiz.com. "I do not need anyone whining about size once they sit and binge-watch (tv) for eight hours," he advised Empire journal. "I can virtually write this a part of the overview. 'The agonizingly lengthy three-hour film'... It is like, give me a f******break. I've watched my youngsters sit and do 5 one-hour episodes in a row. This is the massive social paradigm shift that has to occur, it is okay to rise up and go pee." Cameron admits the franchise has been "hideously costly" to make - with an anticipated funds of round $1 billion for the 4 sequels - however he just lately insisted the upcoming movie will ship "three hours of a just about insane expertise." He stated, "There are a few issues that I took out (of 'The Manner of Water') that I wish to shoehorn into film three, hopefully. These are hideously costly motion pictures. It was a sketchy enterprise case earlier than the pandemic to make a film that price this a lot. At this level, we simply should play it out to see what occurs. However what I do know proper now could be, we're delivering three hours of a just about insane expertise." In September, Cameron admitted he was involved that 'Avatar: The Manner of Water' would not be related over a decade after the unique movie was launched. He stated, "I used to be slightly involved that I had stretched the tether too far, in our fast-paced, fashionable world, with 'Avatar 2' coming in 12 years later." "Proper till we dropped the teaser trailer, and we obtained 148 million views in 24 hours. There's that scarcely seen however questioned at precept, which is, 'Wow, we've not seen that in a very long time, however I keep in mind how cool it was again then.' Does that play in our favour? I do not know. I assume we'll discover out." Read the full article

#Avatar2 jamescameron movie review TVviewrs launch webnewsify

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octo-cutie · 3 years

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Haikyuu Captains as Dads Binge Watching Kid’s Shows

Genre: Fluff, pure family time Characters: Daichi, Kuroo, Bokuto, Ushijima, Kita, Oikawa Rating: G

Daichi: PAW PATROL

Daichi is a police officer and a big community service man.

When he comes home early from a patrol one day his son drags him into the living room to watch Paw Patrol.

For some reason Daichi is completely hooked and now at 3am, you’re searching for him in your bed with your arm only to feel him sitting up with his headphones plugged into his laptop and Season 3 Episode 7 of Paw Patrol lighting up his face as he praises Chase the Police Dog for his accurate use of traffic cones

“Babe look wake up see how he’s put them in a triangulatory pattern?”

“Daichi that’s not a word... Turn your laptop off and go to sleep..”

Cue grumbling as he reluctantly turns it off and cuddles you back to sleep

When you wake up in the morning, you can hear the TV on even though you guy’s have a ‘No TV before School” rule with your son

“Oh I just called him out today and I took the day off.”

You’re basically raising two sons at this point

And you caught the two of them in your bed at 2am watching Paw Patrol and arguing over whether Marshall the Fire Dog or Chase the Police Dog were better

Daichi was heartbroken to hear that his son loves firefighter boys

Kuroo: SID THE SCIENCE KID

This nerd is trying to get your daughter to be a nerd as well

He turns on PBS Kids to keep things “educational”

He’s one of those parents who only lets their kid watch 30 minutes of TV

So when you introduced PBS Kids to him that went from 30 minutes to 2 hours

Sid The Science Kid became a staple show in your house

You’re daughter isn’t that into it because at seven she would rather be watching Winx Club

But your husband at thirty-two couldn’t be more enraptured

He’s trying to bond with your daughter over Winx Club in order to convince her to do the mini science experiments with him

She kinda gets into it

Until the Home Science Fair disaster

You came home from work exhausted and not ready to clean the kitchen that had been destroyed by pancakes earlier that morning

You almost cried when you saw the mess they had made from all of their experiments and did pass out

When you woke up you were being cuddled by two oversized sniffling kittens who were apologizing and said no more Sid the Science Kid for a while

You all cuddled up in your king sized bed and fell asleep together

Bokuto: WONDER PETS

You had just had your 3rd kid and Bokuto was on paternity leave from the Volleyball League in order to help out with your other two toddlers and this new infant

Your newborn son confused both you and Bokuto due to the sizes of your chest and sometimes Bokuto would tape a bottle to his chest and watch TV with your son while you slept

When he was on feeding duty he flipped the TV on and instead of a rerun of sports he decided to put on a baby show in order to fall asleep with his son.

The first thing he found was Wonder Pets and he was thrown back into his own childhood

He cradles his infant son to his chest as the kid starts rooting and he sings “The Phone is Ringing” softly to his son and tapping him gently on the nose.

Meanwhile in your bedroom you stirred hearing your infant son cooing on the baby monitor and your husband’s voice pretending to be the duck

Later that day after your toddlers were dropped off at daycare, your husband yanks the remote from your hand and turns on the Wonder Pets

“Kou what-”

“We didn’t finish the episode with the polar bears so I said that we’d watch it today”

“He’s 4 months old”

“And theres an animal in trouble babe. I’m going to put my duck costume on you get his turtle shirt”

Ushijima: THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE

Ushijima didn’t watch tv when he was a kid but he wants to give his twin boys and infant daughter a better childhood than he had

He wanted them to watch something practical and in his mind, was Thomas the Tank Engine

If he was being honest he prefered the Diesel engienes because they seemed to be working more efficiently but he wouldn’t tell that to his kids

He would tell it to you

“But my love, diesel engines are more advanced and technologically-”

“It’s a show for toddlers and you are a world class athlete. Why does it matter Wakatoshi?”

“All I’m saying is-”

“Sweetheart please its 3 in the morning”

“But-”

He was then kicked out of the bed

That’s fine with him, more Thomas the Tank Engine then

Ushijima bought and built the entire train table set for his twins and a Thomas the Tank Engine teething ring for his daughter to gnaw on on instead of the boys’ trains

He goes all out to decorate their playroom and your living room has every movie disc and vcr tape of the show along with a tidal wave of trains

Your house is just covered in trains

Choo choo

Kita: TELETUBBIES

Kita wants his kids to learn about the world but seeing that his daughter is 8 months old and was just learning how to say words and make noises other than crying and babbling

Teletubbies seemed appropriate

He personally likes the red one (Po) the most

His daughter likes to shake her fist that’s holding a toy and make a noise that sounds like “tum” when the yellow Teletubby (Lala) shows up

“Yes dear that does look like Atsumu”

“Da! Tub!”

“No I’m not a Teletubby Sweetpea

When you come home from the grocery store your husband has the baby on the tummy mat on the living room floor as your daughter shakes her fists towards the screen

It’s the cutest thing that you’ve ever seen so of course you video it and send it to Granny Kita

Granny Kita makes a Teletubby doll for your daughter

Your daughter throws it at Atsumu every chance she gets and shrieks the word “TUM!”

Everyone including Atsumu finds it hilarious and he dresses up as the yellow Teletubby with your daughter for her first Halloween with Kita as the green one (Dipsy) and you as the blue one (Tinky Winky) and your daughter as the red one

Oikawa: DORA THE EXPLORER

You and Oikawa didn’t have your first kid until you moved to Argentina

You were pregnant when you moved there but your son was born in San Juan

He jokes that your infant son was your “House Warming Gift.” when you got home from the hospital.

You hit him with the diaper bag for that

As your son got older he needed to learn Spanish and what better way to have him learn beginner Spanish before actual schooling then Dora?

“Anything else Tooru.” was your answer to him

Your son caught on to most of what Oikawa taught him and you helped him with your language but Oikawa sometimes let him watch Dora the Explorer when he couldn’t practice with him because of Volleyball.

Of course most of the kids TV was in Spanish so it was easy for your son to pick up the language

But Oikawa really liked imitating the little girl on TV with you and Iwaizumi over the phone

Sometimes he’d come into the kitchen and just be like “Hola! Soy Tooru! Can you say “puedes hacerme un sándwhich?” That means: can you make me a Sandwhich in Spanish!”

You dumped your salad on him for that

This was to make up for the angst I posted before this! I hope people like it This again is for my #breadsties! @itsmiyamore @sakusakiyoomishandsanitizer @mybloodydownfall @violentcloudchaser

#fluff #wholesome family #haikyuu!!#haikyuu headcanons #daichi headcanons #kuroo headcanons #bokuto headcanons #ushijima headcanons #kita headcanons #oikawa headcanons #daichi x f!reader #kuroo x f!reader #bokuto x f!reader #ushijima x f!reader #kita x f!reader #oikawa x f!reader #cute octopus writing #cuteness

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gravitydefyingtears · 3 years

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Quan Qiu Gao Kao | 全球高考 | Global Examination

Updated landing page: radishtears.home.blog/global-examination

Global Examination is a danmei novel written by Musuli on JJWXC, complete at 166 chapters, 589+k words (Chinese). For reference, MDZS was around 659k words. There is an audio drama and a manhua adaptation, both ongoing (as of 2021).

“Let us reunite in a world where the gunpowder smoke has dispersed.” —Musuli, QQGK (my translation)

Links

Novel: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3419133

Manhua: https://manga.bilibili.com/detail/mc28455

Audio Drama S1: https://www.missevan.com/mdrama/25032

Audio Drama S2: https://www.missevan.com/mdrama/39622

JJWXC Description (Translated)

Global, large-scale, highly dangerous in nature, standardized examination, shortened to global examination. Real-life questions, pass to survive. Exam parameters refresh every month, occasionally at random.

Main Idea: two badasses flirting with each other.

1v1 (main characters do not have other romantic partners), HE (happy ending), lots of bullshitting.

Approach/Theme: Humans are inherently kind.

Tags: power couple, many themes/topics, 相爱相杀 (lit. “loving each other, hurting each other” aka angst), futuristic au

Main Characters: You Huo 游惑, Qin Jiu 秦究

Side Characters: Yu Wen, Di Li, Shu Xue, Wu Li

Style: light-hearted | POV: shou (bottom aka You Huo)

… … …

Radish’s Description

More Tags: sci-fi, action, mystery, romance, amnesia, enemies to lovers

A global-scale exam system is pulling people randomly into an alternate dimension, forcing them to take exams with varying (read: very high) levels of difficulty and peril. Overseen by the System’s examination officers, the only way to escape seems to be passing your exams with a total score above the qualifying threshold. The System thoughtfully provides rewards for good performance, like extra points or bonus cards for special privileges. However, if you break the System’s rules, you will also be punished accordingly. Not even examiners are exempt.

You Huo finds himself a victim of this ridiculous examination system, along with his alcoholic uncle, Old Yu, and younger cousin, Yu Wen. It’s not been long since he returned from overseas, recovering from surgery and still missing a good chunk of memories. Now, he wakes up in a snowed-in cabin in the middle of nowhere, with a room full of eclectic individuals — elderly, children, hooligans, and pregnant women. And some stupid voice is announcing the rules of an exam? What a headache. He just wants to keep sleeping.

And speaking of headaches, it’s not long before You Huo’s disregard for rules brings the System’s examiners to their door. Leading the party is the main examiner assigned to their exam, Examiner 001…

“Have we…met somewhere before?”

… … …

About the Audio Drama

The first season is complete. However, unfortunately, there was a lot of controversy regarding the quality of the production. So much so that the project switched hands. After a long wait, season 2 has finally dropped!

I translated the new team’s WB announcement post here: link

Season 2 will have 15 main episodes, airing Fridays starting Aug. 13, 2021. Given the length of this novel, I expect there to be a season 3. We’ll see!

VA Leads

You Huo: Lu Zhixing 路知行

Some other roles: Wei Wuxian (MDZS Audio Drama and The Untamed), Xue Xian (TQKS), Duan Jiayan (ILYP), Ji Xiaoli (Your Master is Stupid Rich)

I really love listening to Zhi Zhi-laoshi play a character who is so cold and aloof! And of course it was Lu-laoshi who attracted me to this story in the first place.

Qin Jiu: Zheng Xi 郑希

Some other roles: Bai Changyi (Your Distance / Ni de Ju Li), Xue Xiuzhuo (Qiang Jin Jiu), Ruan Fenghe (Your Master is Stupid Rich), Tang Suoyan (Liao Yuan), Shen Jue (Du Zhu You Bing)

Delicious voice <3

#全球高考 #qqgk #quan qiu gao kao #global examination #danmei #chinese bl #you huo #qin jiu #jiuhuo #musuli #radish translations

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1d1195 · 2 years

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Help me write!

Does anyone have a suggestion of what they want to see next? I have several storylines all over the place.

Here are some of the things that are all half finished if you want an idea of what I’m thinking about:

1. Niall blurb: fluffy drunken love admission, college-level, very short, minor edits needed but could be posted soon. 2. Niall song writing: Broken by lovelytheband (been trying to piece this together since the song came out 4 years ago, still in very early stage and ROUGH) 3. Louis song writing: State Lines by Novo Amor, college-alumni weekend, haven’t seen each other in five years, yada-yada-yada 4. Harry blurb: girls night out, guy openly flirts with her, Niall to the rescue, very fluffy and cute, fairly short, needs a bit of editing before posting 5. Niall blurb: best man at Louis and Eleanor’s wedding. Maid of honor. Used to date, yada-yada-yada... (this is very rough, please don’t pick this one, lol) 6. Harry writing: beach vacation, next door air bnb, beach friends (might contain something sexy, haven’t decided yet) needs quite a bit more but would probably be good given it’s summer where I am. 7. I do have 5 completed check-in blurb extras from my Therapy series. (and one half-finished one) But where I just finished that mini series I feel like it’s too early for a check-in; but you lmk 8. Harry writing: VERY sad context, best friend Harry, comfort, etc. (probably like a quarter finished and could be a two-parter) 9. Harry writing: If you ever read or saw Normal People I recently binged it during my depression episode this month and it’s 100% based on that with some significant departures from the show (I have not read the book so don’t @ me if the show sucks, I still found it moving). This is not even a little done and very disjointed right now 10. Harry writing: teacher Harry, hall neighbors, will be multiple parts, don’t want to give a lot away as I’m trying to work in a little magic that I’ve never really done before. Not done, probably will be multi-part 11. Harry writing: I can do another part of the Physics tutoring series in between something else. 12. Song writing: Louis, Niall, Harry. I’ll keep it a surprise about the song but it would take place in like the 80s/90s or something (not a lot of tech) 13. “Enemies” to lovers: Been watching a lot of these on TikTok lately :)

So let me know what you think. You can drop an ask, send a message, or reply below (but since this is my secondary blog, I can’t reply back directly). I’d love to hear from you all :)

xoxo

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asianhappinesss · 3 years

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Currently Rewatching

Seriously long and some spoilers so...

General and I: Kinda stalled out on this one. I don’t know why, but I keep watching something else instead, probably because I read something about Bai Jei and Ping Ting being separated for a large chunk of time, which I knew going in, but I’m not really in the mood anymore for the angst. Not dropping this one though, but I need some time. Plus, 3310 is more interesting. Knowing myself, it’ll probably take me the rest of the year to finish this.

3 Lives 3 Worlds 10 Miles of Peach Blossoms: As everyone said, this has a slow introduction, but now that the characters are established, the story has picked up and I’m really enjoying the immortal politics.

Buang Hong: After watching episodes of Kluen Cheewit with all the excessive drama, BH can pale in comparison. I love Kim and the match up between her and James is cute, but no where near as powerful as Mark/Yaya. I feel like channel 3 did this show a disservice by putting it on after KC. But the story is still good and I will persist :)

Tunnel: Okay, Choi Jin Hyuk is hunky, but I don’t really like this show. After the drama shifts to the present, I just don’t like how easily he’s moving around in this foreign reality but beyond that I do not like or think it is necessary to see the romance between the partner and the professor. I like that the partner has a connection to the past, but I don’t really like either of these characters. As I said before, I usually have a great experience with OCN and I don’t want to give up on this show, but right now I need to put it on hold. I was in the mood for a good crime/ suspense show so much that I started TWO new shows to fulfill the need.

Signal: Show number 1 that I started because of Tunnel. I already finished this one. Actually binged it last weekend instead of watching Tunnel and BH lol. Very emotional. Very well written and acted. I was a bit disappointed by the last 20 minutes because I had been wishing for a reunion from the first or second episode, but didn’t get one. Otherwise, I highly recommend it to anyone that like crime, sci/fi, and sentimental dramas because this one is hella good.

Medical Examiner Qin: Show number 2 I started because of Tunnel. This one hit me in the first few episodes with a gruesome murder but has since tapered off into mysteries that are less gory and more interesting and complex. On episode 10 already, and the friendship has started to blossom between the three main characters as they are called to crime scenes and solve cases together. I like the dynamics of the group, and even though the synopsis talks about Dr. Qin being a bit grumpy, which he can be, the character isn’t needlessly bullheaded. The doctor can recognize and respect the skills of the people around him and it goes to making the series enjoyable.

Chronicles of Shannara: Love fantasy and the lead is cute. So far I’m liking the magic aspect, the costumes and set design but the acting could be better. Not too many complaints, I’m only on episode 4 and with US commercial television, I usually give shows a 10 episode limit before I decide to watch or drop. Cable shows, my limit is 3 episodes. I’m up to seeing where this one will take me.

SKAM 4: I caught on late to the series, but I finished season 3 a little more than a month before season 4 started, and I’m so glad I learned about this show. I love the lowkey vibe of the friendships, settings, and costumes. Minus the drinking, it reminds me of my actual high school experience. I have been waiting for more information about a lot of the characters, but Sana in particular so I’m happy that she’s getting a chance to shine this season. Also, kinda pissed about Noora and Willem. We spent all that time watching them waffle and fight for their relationship, only to have it fall apart in season 3 with no seeming hope of its revival in season 4?? Really? *le sigh* Don’t get me started...

Make It Right 2: It just premiered and our favorite couples are back. From the trailers there’s trouble ahead for Fuse/Tee and Book/Frame. More than anything, I like how honest these romances are about the feelings within the pair. One of the reasons I didn’t enjoy the second season of Lovesick is because there was just way too much show and not enough process between the mains. MIR is more sexual, which is cute but not necessary, but LS was just missing in progress. Phun/Noh, 16 episodes into the second season, weren’t any closer to being together or even truly comfortable about their feelings than they were at the end of the first season. The trailers showed third parties being introduced so I hope we’ll see some pining, but also so honesty from the couples.

Mystery Queen: Tried the first episode. I love Kang Hee but I think I will sit this one out. I’m all crimed out at the moment lol besides I wanted to get some k romance back in my line up.

Suspicious Partner: The first few weeks were good. When it comes to rom-coms I have to honestly say that I don’t normally read the synopses thoroughly. Most times I gloss over them more interested in who is starring and what the poster quality looks like. That being said, I was surprised as sh!t when a murderer appeared and our girl is suspected of the crime. This threw me off for a bit, as well as the time jump from the ending of the trial to the point where they meet again. The fact that she “stalks” him for that time period is odd. The fact that the ex that cheated was a childhood friend as well as the lawyer that was the other man in the cheating scene. This drama, definitely isn’t the typical rom-com even if it still manages to hit the mark on some of the feels and moments that we all expect to see. I think that the two best friends should just get together, since that would at least mean that they didn’t break their long time trust with Ji Wook for a one night stand.Gearing up for episodes 13 -16 J

Ruler Master of the Mask: Now, I wasn’t sure how I would like the new half hour episode format, but at least for this show, I’m really digging it. I get some really good scenes quickly and don’t feel guilty for moving on to something else. Seung Ho, So Hyun and L are doing the damn thing in this show! We need to do a slow clap for L’s acting improvement since his last role. Boy has obviously been putting in work. The other two are just as magnificent as always. Things boiled over last week, with the death of the king and royal concubine, and after MANY tissues and some chap stick to heal my bruised lip that I bit to hold back the tears, I’m ready for another round. One thing though. The grand-daughter of the pyungsoohwe leader, Hwa Gun, is the same actress from Let’s Eat, and although I liked her there, she is giving me so many creepy vibes in this one. I like that she saw someone that she liked (he was a handsome guy and ya know, he said her life) and decided to get to know him better. I like that she didn’t seem to find the need to lie about it to her family, even though it wasn’t a popular idea. What I don’t like, is the feeling of uneasiness that I get from her. I feel like, the moment she realizes that Lee Seon doesn’t/won’t love her, she will turn into his worst enemy. Lee Seon has liked Ga Eun from the beginning and she knows that, but I’m just nervous about what will happen if they are able to really be together.

Princess Hours Thai: Skipped all other Thai adaptations (for now, I intend to watch them), because they were stories that I really enjoyed and had clear memories about. But, Goong has kind of faded from my memory. I remember liking it but I don’t really have any recollection of events anymore. This lakorn is cute and if I’m not mistaken, there is actually less angst between this couple. Kaning is a bubbly artist and Inn is a repressed prince that is actually in love with another woman. Now that the other woman, Minnie, and the scheming ex queen and ex crown prince back in town, I’m expecting the struggles and fights to increase. But for the first 6 episodes there were mostly moments of sexual tension, great scenery, and or Inn being mean to Kaning only to get wrapped up in her cuteness and their attraction to each other.

Seven Day Queen: I will watch the first few episodes, but as time crept closer to the premiere of this show, I think I’ve psyched myself out . I don’t like anyone in the cast except PMY and the concept makes it look as though she’s going to be sad and moping for the majority of the series. I’m going to watch, but my finger will probably hover above the keyboard in order to make a quick exit if I just can’t deal.

Fight My Way: Probably going to pass on this one. If the reviews are really good once it ends, I may think about watching it, but I’m not excited about the pairing.

My Sassy Girl: Only two episodes out and already there are so many mixed reviews. Another show that I will watch with the esc button on the ready. I may have more luck with this one though, for the simple reason that I like Joo Won and Yeon Seo.

Fighter of the Destiny: Very slow going although like all the cdramas I’m currently watching, I have no intention of catching up or even trying to speed my way through the episodes. I like the story and visuals so far, but Luhan’s acting is a bit lacking and to be perfectly honest, he’s just so damn pretty and baby-faced that I’m having a hard time getting into the story as much as I wish I could.

#random facts

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allisonxmoynihan · 4 years

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illicit affairs ~ a. turcotte

Requested: yes | no

Song: this series is loosely inspired on Illicit Affairs by Taylor Swift (you can listen here!)

Note: okay this is my first time writing in months and i’m kind of scared about it, but please let me know your thoughts, opinions, feedback, whatever! Special thanks to @hockeyhughes11 for helping me with this and reading it as I wrote, you rock!

Word Count: 2663

“y/n,” his shaky voice whispers hoarsely on the other side of the phone.

“Hey superstar!” you cheer, an inevitable smile fluttering across your lips, as you turn the tv off so you could hear him better, pressing the phone firmly against your ear as if not to miss a thing he says.

You hear a faint scoff in the background, “wanna come over?” he slurs, sending the butterflies racing in your stomach like the low hum of his voice always did.

You slowly release the breath you didn’t realize you were holding in, “not celebrating the big win with the boys? 3 goals and 2 assists and the superstar doesn’t want to party?” You joke with him while scrambling around your apartment searching for your sneakers and hunting for your keys.

You sense him smiling on the other line, “I got other things to attend to tonight, you know that,”

You feel your face grow hot as your breath hitches, “c’mon y/n, i’m dying to see you…”

~*~

Work was an absolute blur, the grouchy morning rush of commuters flooded the coffee shop and it was nonstop brewing coffee and preparing breakfast sandwiches before they ran out the door to catch a train. You were thankful for the mid morning slump; middle aged women occupying tables and catching up on neighborhood gossip and reminiscing about their sorority days.

You look up from wiping down the espresso machine to see two boys, about your age, standing on the other side of the counter, wide smiles on their faces as they laughed with each other while sneaking glances at the menu.

“Hi, welcome to Aroma Mocha Cafe! What can I get started for you today?” You exclaim, a forced smile overtaking your face.

The dark haired boy steps forward, “hey, can I please get uhhh…” his voice trails off as he looks up at the menu before he looks back down, “uhh, the seasonal iced coffee?”

You smile, “sure thing, our seasonal flavors are lavender vanilla or salted caramel, which one can I get for you?”

You watch his face as he contemplates which one, “oh, you can’t go wrong with salted caramel!”

“Alright, your total today is going to be $2.57,” The boy quickly takes out a $5 bill and instructs you to keep the change before moving over to the pick-up counter.

As you’re preparing the two drinks for the boys you can’t help but overhear the small fragments of their conversation you can make out.

“Bro, c’mon, just ask for her number,”

“Trev, I said no.”

“You’ve been…. All… you… Alex”

“No”

“I will then”

You put the drinks down in front of them, “enjoy! Napkins and straws are straight ahead by the door,”

As you’re cleaning up your station, the dark haired boy comes back up to the counter and you feel his eyes on you before you look up and smile, “can I get you anything else? Our seasonal scones pair nicely with the coffee,”

“I’m Alex,” he says awkwardly, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets.

You nod slowly, “that’s nice…”

“We should get dinner one day,” he suggests, and when he’s met with your silence and a blank stare he adds, “you know, cuz you’re cool.”

“Oh, um, thanks, but I really can’t,”

Alex nods, looking at the pastry display case for a few minutes, “well can I at least get your number?”

You notice a group of moms, the weekly book club group, walk in the door and head up to the counter. “Alex, I’m really sorry, but it just can’t happen,”

Alex nods, looking back up at the menu, “so, uh, how long you work here?”

One of the book club moms offers you a sympathetic smile as she turns to talk with one of her friends, “Alex, I’m sorry, but we have a lot of customers right now, so if you’re not go-”

“What, am I not a customer?” he interrupts, and you breathe out heavily in annoyance.

“What can I get for you?”

“A date,” he offers with a shy, boyish smile, his dimples becoming apparent.

You sigh, scribbling your number down on a piece of paper, “fine, but only because I want you to leave me alone.”

~*~

Cold, faint rain ricocheted off of the windows of your bedroom as you crawl onto Alex’s lap, his lips nipping at your neck bound to leave marks that you’d have to figure out how to cover the next day.

His hands slide underneath your sweater and rest gently on your hip, “no one’s home, right?” he whispers, his lips vibrating against your skin.

You rest your hands on his bare chest, feeling his heart pound against the skin, “we’re all alone baby,” you murmur, pressing your lips to his once again.

He effortlessly lifts you up and lays you down on your bed, suddenly towering over you, “you know i scored the game winning goal today” He smiles cockily.

You look into his dark brown eyes, feeling a blush creep over you, “oh and how should we celebrate, superstar?”

He chuckles softly before leaning down and kissing down your jaw, slowly removing your shirt from your body, “i got a few ideas in mind,”

Within seconds he’s on top of you, one hand kneading your breasts, the other slipping underneath your leggings and collecting your wetness.

“Are you going to be a good girl for me?” he asks, sliding your leggings and panties down your legs as your legs fall open for him and he begins to kiss down your abdomen.

You writhe underneath him and let out a gasp as his tongue licks up your folds. You run your hand through his luscious locks as he picks up his pace and begins to work at your clit. You buck your hips up as you moan out with pleasure.

“So good for me you pretty girl,” he grumbles against your dripping pussy, slipping three fingers into you, his calloused fingers pumping in and out of you. You felt a knot forming in your stomach and knew you were close.

“Alex, please, faster,” you moan, only alex lifts his head and kisses back up your torso before placing a sloppy kiss to your lips, sucking on his fingers.

“I want you babygirl,” he mumbles as your hands fumble with the zipper on his jeans, helping him slide out of his boxers. Without any warning alex pushes into you, his thrusts harsh and fast. The room is filled with the sound of both your moans, his thrusts getting sloppier and sloppier. And when you both reach out your highs he slows his pace to drag out your orgasm, pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead.

“Such a beautiful girl,” he hums, sliding off the bed and redressing before looking over at the clock.

You suddenly feel vulnerable and exposed, bringing your blanket up to cover yourself as Alex approaches the door, “I’ll be seeing you princess,”

You wave sheepishly at the closed bedroom door that he just escaped behind, sighing at how foolish you are, how you would consistently drop everything to be there for him. You think back to the hundreds of other nights spent like this, the two of you having your moment, and him bolting as soon as he decides it’s over leaving no trace behind.

You sit in your dark room, convinced alex does love you deep down, that he’s different and not the kind of guy that shows up on your doorstep just for sex. But you’d be lying if you didn’t admit that sometimes, you felt as if you were a pawn in his game.

You think back to your first “date” with him, how you were defiant and didn’t want to go, but how 10 minutes quickly turned into an hour and that hour was suddenly six. He made you feel special, like you were on top of the world, like you could be something more than just a barista in a busy city. You reminisce about the time you and alex once dreamt up a future together: a small cottage in minnesota, three kids running wild in the yard after a long day at the beach. You wipe away tears that happen to fall as you realize what you’ve been trying to fight for months: you were in love with him, and you could only hope that you actually meant something to him.

~*~

The crackling noise of the firewood and the light tunes of your favorite band filled your living room where you and your best friends sat binge watching the latest reality tv episode. You lean forward to grab an oreo off the plate on the coffee table, breaking it in half and eating the side without cream first.

“You know the guy I matched with on tinder the other night?” maddie asks, taking her phone out. You and christine hum in unison.

“So, i was curious and went to look at his instagram, and…” her voice trails off as she scrolls through her phone’s home screen, “here i’ll just show you.”

You lean back on the sofa, running your hands through your hair, “how bad is it?”

“You really gotta get better taste, if i see one more picture of a guy holding a fish i’m going to lose it,” Christine laughs, grabbing an oreo for herself.

“Oh shit,” maddie whispers

“What?” you and christine ask impatiently

“Hey, uh, y/n, isn’t this the guy from the coffee shop? Mr. I want a date and I refuse to leave this shop until I get your number?” she laughs, and you instantly reach to take her phone from her hands desperate for any opportunity to see him, but when you see the picture your face falls and you can feel the color drain. “It was on my explore page…” maddie adds, reaching for her phone but you turn away continuing to look down at the screen.

There he was. Your superstar. Wide grin, dimples present, his hair still wet and curling loosely at the ends, his button down shirt wrinkled and exposing his upper chest. His arm wrapped tightly around a girl’s tiny waist, her pressing her lips firmly against his cheek, cupping his face in her perfect hands.

You swallow the lump that formed in your throat, scoffing as you toss maddie her phone back, “so? He was just a normal customer, never even took me on that date he insisted on” you lie, turning your attention back to the tv.

Your mind is racing and the conversation between the other girls is drowned out by the flood of thoughts running through your mind. Alex was so much more than just the coffee shop boy, he meant everything to you, he was the only person that could make you feel whole and complete. You hated being a secret to him especially when he consumed every single one of your thoughts, you wished you could be the girl that meant something to him, the one to wear his jerseys at his games as you cheer him on, the one who goes out with his teammates after a big win, the one who gets to go home with him for the holidays to meet his family and fall in love with them for raising the man of your dreams. But you weren’t that girl. You weren’t her and you never would be her.

Later that night you go to alex’s instagram, and it’s as if you got fifty punches right to the gut all over again. Alex was happy with her. Hannah. That was her name. Alex was happy with hannah. You continue to scroll down his page and see that hannah first appeared on his page six months ago. The two of them pressed up against each other in the dim light of a bar, him leaning down and kissing her cheek. You laugh sadly at how stupid you were thinking that what you had with him was real and that you were anything more than someone to help fill a void. Your phone lights up with an incoming call, alex’s name appearing.

“Hey superstar!” you cheer, forcing a smile.

“Hey you,” he grins, “i was just thinking about you actually, can i come over?”

You say yes without hesitation, and that’s when you realize that you would continue ruining yourself for his sake as long as it meant he was going to stay in your life. You’d do anything to make him stay.

~*~

Work was a hassle, the coffee shop getting slammed with the drop of the holiday drinks, the city streets constantly bustling with tourists and holiday shoppers trying to find the best deals. You were excited to finally have a weekend off to just relax and have no worries. You approach your apartment door and smell the savory aroma of food cooking, and you're confused since you live alone.

You cautiously push open the door, peeking into the kitchen as a smile blossoms on your face. “Alex!” you cheer, running up to hug him as he peppers your face with kisses.

You pull away from him, setting your bag on the kitchen table, “what are you doing here?”

He turns his attention back to the stove, “well, i know you’ve been stressed with work and school lately, so I thought i’d do something nice for you,”

Your heart swells and you begin to feel all warm and fuzzy, “i don’t deserve you,”

He laughs, “go change and get comfy, dinner will be ready soon. It’s your favorite and I also brought your favorite movies.”

You smile to yourself as you walk into your bedroom, putting on your pajamas and walking back out to see alex has prepared two identical plates, “ready?” he asks, a boyish smile on his face.

The night is filled with the two of you snuggled into each other’s sides on the couch, laughing at all the same parts of the movies, crying at other parts, making jokes here and there, and planning a getaway trip to a small coastal town. After three movies, and the sun long gone, the soft beat of his heart begins to lull you to sleep.

“You sleepy princess?” he asks softly, scooping you up in his arms and carrying you to your bed.

You’re half asleep as he tucks you in and presses a kiss to your forehead, “sleep well baby”

You reach your arms out for him, “you’re not going to stay with me tonight?” your voice is sad, not wanting this picture perfect night to end.

You hear him laugh as he runs his finger up and down your hand, pressing a light kiss to the top of it, “not tonight princess, i’ll call you tomorrow though.”

“Promise?”

“I cross my heart and hope to die,”

“Good,” you mumble, turning over and getting comfortable.

There’s a long silence and you know he’s still in the room since the hallway light is peeking into your room. And you can’t help but fall asleep happy, thinking that life is finally going right and you have the best guy by your side.

“I love you…”

You hear the floorboards shift under his weight and just like that he’s escaped into the abyss of the night, just like he always does.

~*~

“So you coming over or what?” he repeats, a harsh undertone suddenly appearing.

You smile, impatiently pressing the elevator button over and over again because it never seems to come quick enough, “uh, yeah, yeah, I’m on my way. I was thinking, we could maybe watch that movie you were talking ab-”

His deep voice cuts you off, his usually kind and patient tone now stern, “we need to talk.”

You stare at your reflection in the elevator door as your face falls, trying to fight the inevitable tears that spring to your eyes, and you just know tonight isn’t going to be like the others.

#alex turcotte #la kings #wisconsin hockey #ntdp #ntdp boys #ntdp imagine #hockey #USA Hockey #alex vlasic #trevor zegras #cole caufield #ryder donovan #shay donovan #jack hughes #johnny beecher

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miaaartemis · 3 years

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It’s Just What We Do - Sobriety in Your 20s

About 3 weeks ago I decided to give up alcohol for good. Now I know in terms of lifelong sobriety 3 weeks is merely a drop in the metaphorical bucket, but 3 weeks is the longest I’ve gone without a drink since I was 19. I think that’s worth celebrating.

The idea of going teetotal has always scared me. No more partying? No more glossy Summer arvos sipping spritzers in the sun? So much of my social life revolves around drinking - raucous nights at the pub sharing memes over spilt beers, teary DnMs in the bathroom with that girl I just met but something tells me we’ll be lifelong friends, potluck dinners fuelled by equal parts caprese salad, red wine and youthful pretension. Drinking is just as much part of your 20s as signing your first rental agreement or getting your yearly pap smear. It’s just what we do.

Those 5 words have always been the safety brake I pull whenever I’ve doubted my drinking habits in the past. There’s nothing wrong here! This is normal! It’s just what we do. Besides, I’m not an alcoholic. I don’t drink in the morning or on weekdays, I don’t stumble into work missing a shoe, reeking of whatever I was drinking the night before, and I certainly I don’t get blackout drunk. No. I’m normal. I’m just having my deserved fun.

The thing is, when I am having fun, I find it hard to stop. One drink very quickly turns to 6, and before you know it, I’ve instructed all my guests to sit quietly on the living room couch while I perform a 10 minute Irish dancing demonstration to the Riverdance soundtrack, despite being explicitly asked not to. Thankfully, drunk Mia doesn’t turn to abuse or criminal activity as an outlet, only pride wounding antics (side note: this incident is actually what first prompted my sobriety a few weeks ago. I fully intend to keep up my impromptu Riverdance performances, only sober and with enthusiastic consent from the audience). We laugh and drink some more, then finally, once the alcohol starts to put us to sleep rather than keep us awake, the night ends.

The majority of my drunken Saturday nights have ended this way, with only a crushing hangover and cringeworthy memory to overcome the next day. On some occasions however, picking up the pieces of the night before have not been so easy.

Some of you will know that jolting feeling the next morning of remembering a certain infidelity committed, or worse, (and I’m sure all women can relate to this) waking up and remembering a sexual encounter that you can’t be sure you 100% consented to. Waking up and realising you’ve cheated on your partner leaves you feeling like the worst person in the world, waking up and realising you’ve been violated but you can’t quite remember the details and hey you were both drunk so nothing can really be done about it, leaves you wanting to die. Alcohol is the number 1 date rape drug. And yet we all drink it like we’ll have the best sex of our lives.

Aside from these external factors, the internal havoc caused by alcohol should’ve left me giving it up years ago - a family history of cancer, and too many manic episodes or month long lows triggered by a weekend binge. In 2020 I was diagnosed with bi-polar type 2, and you don’t have to be a psychiatrist to understand the damage that alcohol can do to a healthy mind, let alone one that needs a little extra TLC. Now I like to think of myself as someone who is very proactive about my mental health. I regularly see both my psychiatrist and psychologist. I take my medication diligently and am constantly looking for new ways to learn and grow as a person. It saddens me to think that I used to drink so carelessly to excess, ignoring the impact my choices were having on a brain that already needs to be swaddled in cotton wool to be kept safe. If I quit drinking ages ago, would I be strides ahead in my mental health journey than where I am now? I suspect so.

3 weeks in and I’m feeling good about sobriety. Granted, there have been a few times where I’ve almost succumbed but thankfully my willpower has gotten the better of me. Like quitting any vice, it gets easier and easier the more you say no. I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels leaving the pub on a Friday night knowing that your BAC (blood alcohol level) is still at 0. It honestly feels like you can achieve anything. I’ve been reading this book by Holly Whitaker called ‘Quit Like a Woman’ (thank you Sex and The City) and in it she talks about how for the first time in history, we are at a pivotal point where the future truly DOES look female. Imagine, how much more women could achieve if we stopped drinking alcohol and actively oppressing ourselves. It’s a big call to make, but I like her point.

I’m writing this essay as a reminder to myself that lifelong sobriety is a choice that I have made and one that I must commit to, for my own happiness. It won’t always be easy, and there will be times when I question why I’m even doing it all. But in those times I’ll walk away from the freshly popped champagne bottle, pick up my raspberry lemonade, and laugh as someone asks me to do that Irish dance thing I used to do years ago.

Mia Artemis, 2022

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Ducktales Della Arc Reviews: The Great Dime Chase!

Welcome back all you happy people, to my look at the series first arc! I covered the pilot last week and this week i’m going full speed ahead with two more review for this arc, one more for the Lena arc all leading up to BOTH finsihing up next week for DUCK WEEK, my huge celebration of the final episode of Ducktales 2017. So with all that in mind when we last left off the kids moved in, webby gained friends, Donald and Scrooge made the first steps to patching up.. and Dewey found out his mom was also invovled with their adventures setting this arc off.

This is also where the airing order reshuffling started as this episode was pushed up by two replacing impossible summit as the third episode... and where said order reshuffling for both this arc and the Lena arc really bit Disney in the ass by giving fans the wrong idea about the series pacing. See the original idea was to have a few episodes as a buffer, since this arc itself is only about 5 episodes long, so the pacing would be more spread out and fans while likely getting impatient for the della mystery to be resolved, would expect it to take about that long after a while. The same was clearly planned for the Lena arc.

The problem is Disney didn’t give one shit about proper airing order, story pacing or any of that at the time despite their most popular show at said time having the same pacing structure and having been aired in the right order. So as a result and as most of you already know, season 1′s structure was a mess: The globetrotting adventure episodes were off ballance with ones set in Duckburg itself, Scrooge sometimes felt like a supporitng character in the first half due to his two focus episodes being crunched to the back for holidays... it was bad. And it was worst here as by having both the Della and Lena arcs progress pretty quickly in the first 6.. it was thus jarring and grating that there was zero progress for either in the rest of the first half, and they had to move the spear of selene up a few episodes when they came back just to make up for it.. which still messed with pacing as that arc wouldn’t be picked up until the final three episodes solving nothing. This made fans blame the creators for sloppy pacing and for taking too long to get to the Della thing when they’d done nothing wrong and HAD staggered it out. It wasn’t till Frank later revealed the order was a bit bungled we got the message and until a few months into the series being on Disney Plus we got a proper order for the series. And again, the arc has pacing issues we’ll get to without this.. but they were made so much work by Disney blatantly disrespecting and ingoring their creative team.

I will give credit where it’s due though: Disney learned from it. While Season 2 had a few episodes shuffled around, this time it was due to trying out that binge airing strategy they were doing to get shows on Disney Plus faster, airing DuckBombs (Woo-Ooo!) frequently, so they wanted the airing to flow properly with that without screwing up the flow fo the season more than they absolutely had to. They were being careful and delberate this time not to make the same mistake and with season 3, they simply havent’ shuffled the airing order at all> The only two episodes aired out of order were holiday episodes purposefully made to air at the right time and detached from the season as a whole. This stretches to other shows too: Amphibia is two seasons in and Owl House got through it’s whole season with at worst minimal changes to the airing lineup and the arcs all being properly spaced and aired as intended. I give Disney a lot of shit, rightfully so, but I will give them all the credit when they learn from their mistakes and they REALLY did here, learning to trust their creators to know when to actually make an episode and simply having them set aside holiday episodes if they want one.

Otherwise not a lot of lead in for this one: It introduces a bunch of the supporting cast, reintroduces the board in full, and in general is a pretty good episode. Find out why under the cut.

We open with the introduction of the shows go to Show Within a Show Ottoman Empire. And what I’d forgotten was Louie wasn’t always into it but there’s a subtle arc to it: he gets into it, slowly obesses over it, by the end of the season he’s got his brothers into it, it’s not a huge thing but it’s a little detail I can’t help but enjoy a hell of a lot. But him not liking it is part of a larger problem Scrooge has picked up on: Louie’s laziness has reached godlike new levels: he’s opened about 7 cans of PEP! and only taken a sip from each, won’t change the channel because the remote, which is right next to him and would only take him hopping slightly to the left to get to it or incnching over a bit is “too far”. Scrooge finally blows up at the sight when Louie tosses his phone away for not being charged and assumes he can get another one because “We’re rich”. Scrooge corrects him “I”m rich!” and then drags him off by the hoodie with him to the office so he’ll learn the value of a hard day’s work. And really.. the scene is a good showcase for Scrooge: Louie is acting like the embodiment of all deadbeats and Scrooge is still VERY patient with the boy until it’s very clear he needs a wakeup call. Given Scrooge has a temper on the best of occasions it really shows he’s trying with the boys, and only really snapped when it was clear Louie NEEDED someone to snap at him and snap him out of his bullshit.

Meanwhile Dewey sneaks into Webby’s room to read her secret file on the McDuck family only to LITERALLY be caught red handed as she put glitter on her outside.. because it looks pretty. And as a security measure. Given she lives with a trained spy who likely has riffled through her stuff at least once, or would at least solely try to check her files just to make sure their secure, and lives in a place that gets broken into or nearly blown up, both by Glomgold, on a regular basis, i’d expect no less. But she also points out the obvious once he explains he’s looking for information on his family: He could’ve just asked. As we saw back in Woo-ooo! like yours truly webby will gladly go on about things she’s obsessed about at the drop of a hat and has likely been dying for someone to share her vast conspiracy board with. As for why he didn’t do the obvious, keep in mind he doesn’t know Webby well this point, so he dosen’t know what questions he asked might set her off and also doesn’t know WHY his uncles don’t talk about her, so he’s being cautious and it’s a nice foreshadowing for his secret keeping throughout the arc.. and how it’s an inherently dumb and selfish idea that only slows down his investigation.

So naturally given the sequel hook at the end of the pilot, he asks about Della. And after drawing the curtains and making sure Scrooge isn’t around to listen Webby asks what HE knows. Naturally given this is a whole story arc he only knows what she looks like from an old photo of her dunking donald’s head in his birthday cake, and Webby.. knows even less. No one talks about Della and the last time anyone did, a mailmain brought some junk mail with her name on it, Scrooge bought out the post office and they never saw that mail man again. Webby naturally thinks Scrooge murdered him... and while I don’t think he went THAT far, I pity that poor shcmoe and whatever ice floe he’s been banished to. And not a small villiage in the arctic mind you like an actual ice floe scrooge left him on with a lifetimes suply of beans.

This also admittedly answers a question i’ve been griping about for some time that turns out had a logical answer: I thought he’d somehow wiped her out from public record and the internet and then magically put her back. I was wrong and simply hadn’t rewatched this episode and connected the dots. He likely didn’t do.. any of that, but the triplets likely never thought to internet search her with Donald because as far as they knew Donald was an average person, and thus their mom would be too and looking her up wouldn’t tell her anything about them. It still leaves the plot hole of how they knew about Scrooge and not the Della search, I have no answer for that one, but hey sometimes these things happen and it’s a good enough show I can ignore it. Point is they had no reason to research her before then and Donald likely went out of his way to hide anything about her when they visited places. Likewise Scrooge was likely so miserable and consumed with his search, and once that was called off his failure, he likely pulled every archive and artifact for his own personal collection to pour over them in sadness and loss and simply put most of it back into the public once the boys helped him heal by the end of the season and the truth was out there. Likewise while the internet info was likely there after this episode too Dewey, as foolish as he can be, likely wasn’t stupid enough to look up his mom’s name on his uncle’s wifi. While Scrooge likely isn’t tech savy, given how paranoid he is and how much of a sore spot this is, it’s not a stretch to have him ask gyro to monitor his wifi for certain key words. So yeah i’ll admit when I was wrong and there was a logical explanation, if still with some holes, all along.

Anyways Webby has one place she hasnt’ been able to get into that might have the answers: Scrooge’s Personal Archives. And as it turns out, both parties are heading to the bin: Scrooge since, much like the comics, that’s where his office is, and Webby and Dewey for the same reason The bin being Scrooge’s buisness center, where his office is where he has meetings where a lot of his emoployees are is very accurate to the comics, as while the layout was never entirely consient apart from “Scrooge’s office is the only way in and out of the bin itself” and said office having a very consistent and iconic look that the series didn’t change. But as we’ll see they added two extra parts to it that in the comics scrooge would Balk at the expense of but this scrooge, whiel still probably not happy about the extra money, knows are vitally necessary.

Speaking of which the plot splits in two pretty cleanly once we actually get to the bin: Scrooge has no real issue with the kids going to the archives and no glimmer of their real intention, so the plots don't’ meet up again outside of when Louie’s literally crashes into Dewey and Webby’s for a second. There’s some thematic connections, cutaways and an intercut montage, but nothing outside of that. So as is tradition for me i’m covering them seperatly and since it’s both the reason why i’m covering this episode and our B-Plot, let’s start with the archives Webby and Dewey in The Mad Archivist of Scrooge McDuck!

Webby and Dewey head to the archive where we meet Quackfaster. In the comics she’s scrooges long suffering secretary, emphasis on suffering. He barely pays her, takes expenses out of her paycheck and she generally seems once minute away from a nervous breakdown at any given time. What i’m saying is the character and the “gag” have not aged well in any way shape or form so instead here she was revamped. Frank and Matt leaned on Scrooge’s love for adventure more than his greed at first, and had his thrill-seeking be his vice more. It does make sense as greed isn’t nearly as good as it was to people in the 40′s and especially the 80′s, but they eventually clearly realized they made it a bit too subtle, as it’s still an iconic part of the character and played it up a bit more in seasons 2 and 3, to the point two of his worst moments in backstory, both revealed in season 3, come from his greed. They found a nice ballance and I do think having his adventuring also be a vice was a nice change of pace. As such, they came up with the idea that he’d hire people who like him are exceptionally talented but also a bit reckless and unhinged. The kind of people most employers would unfairly shut the door on but Scrooge sees their true talent and worth and treats them with the respect they deserve. People who in most other works would be super villains, but here are kept from that by being given honest jobs for their talents and a boss who has no intention of ripping them off or undermining them. IT’s a great concept and I wish we’d saw more than two people hired with that in mind, but the two we got are great.

So with all this Quackfaster was reinvented with this idea in mind to someone entirely different but infinitely more entertaining: She’s now a ham of the highest order, not literally, and slightly unballanced. She also refuses to help Dewey until he completes some challenges for her, sorting out a code in the dewey decimel system

And in sorting the books to get to know the archives. Webby is all for it naturally as this is a dream for her: she’s likely tried to access the place for years and couldn’t as a non-relative, something Scrooge hopefully relaxes in the future, so a giant pile of books about adventuring, Scrooge (including an apparently 7 volumes on his favorite smells one of which Webby gives a happy “I knew it” upon finding out it was fresh baked cookies), and places he’s been, including a sly nod to Plain Awful. This is a hallmark of the show making smaller nods to the past incarnations without going into them or doing those adventures again and while I was at first disappointed those tales already happened in some form, I now get they simply wanted to tell NEW ONES, and were a big as fan of the olds ones as most of you reading this and myself. Though between you and me I was never a big fan of the square eggs story. Good idea just a weird and not all that funny execution.

Dewey however has the patience of a coked up ferret who also took some shrooms and being Dewey tries simply demanding she tell him. Naturally yelling at the weird hammy lady intrusted to guard the private library of someone whose a certified badass.. is not a smart or correct move and Quackfaster decides if they can’t respect the archives they’ll become PART OF THE ARCHIVES and pulls out a crescent shaped sword to apparently murder them.

So a chase ensues with the two trying to simply throw books at her, escape her and only narrowly doing so for a minute when Louie pops up being chased by a giant robot made by a smaller robot using a giant change machine. I love this show.

Eventually their backed into a corner while Dewey defiantly demands info on his mom. And his impatience and anger is understandable: this is the first time in his ten or so year old life he’s had ANY chance of learning anything on her.. and he’s having to do various fetch quests. While he could use some tact, may not get him stabbed so much, his viewpoint is understandable.

Thankfully it turns out Quackfaster was just doing a Mr.Miaygi and secretly testing them, having chased them to the book Dewey wanted, and said code she had them find earlier is the login for the vault. Granted it also has them put away some books (”How much of this is us just doing your job for you?” “About fiffttty perceeennnt”), but she works for scrooge. While he thankfully pays her a living wage here he still can’t be paying her much. Still they find their way to a secret vault and Dewey gets stabbed a bit to verify he is a mcduck.. and let into Scrooge’s secret room, full of treasures Della likely gathered. As I said, he DID put them aside somewhere, and likely just wanted them to cry over and donald didn’t fight it since the last thing he wanted was the boys learning their legacy. D

The telling part here though, despite accusations later.. is that Dewey’s first instinct upon finding this is to tell his brothers. Keep in mind Dewey’s all consuming need for attention and validiation, all of which he could possibly get and only have to share with Webby. He has every selfish reason for not telling them.. but he wants to. He knows they deserve to learn to. The only wrinkle is webby finding a note saying “Scrooge i’m taking the spear of selene, i’m sorry”. He decides to hide it for their sake right then and there. But while part of this as we’ll get into later in the week is him simply being afraid of what he’ll find personally.. it’s fair to NOT want to tell them. To try and protect them from the horrible truth whatever it may be. He has no way of knowing the betryal was nonexistant here and neither did we. It’s not the right course of action, awful truth or no they deserved to know too and both would say as much later, she’s their mom: good person or bad they know.. but like his uncles he’s not hiding this out of malice but because the truth might genuinely hurt them.. and as we’ll learn.. it will.. oh boy will it ever. But more on that next week and more on the arc itself later this week. What about the rest of the episode?

Louie in The Great Dime Chase! and Scrooge in The Boardroom Full of Heartless Assholes!

Winding back a few hours, Scrooge drags Louie up to his office, where the boy is genuinely impressed.. before naturally trying to take a swim in the money while Scrooge tries to tell him about his number one dime. Scrooge stops him before head injury occurs explaining that yes, even the money thing requires proper training: Louie would’ve just cracked his skull open and this would’ve either gotten really dark really fast or turned into a horrifying and hilarious child death version of weekend at bernies. It’s what Louie would’ve wanted. Scrooge can do it because he’s built up the muscle and resistance over time, strong enough and skilled enough to travel through the solid metal and dive into it. It’s a nice nod to life and times: While Scrooge didn’t necesarily train to swim in money, he bathed in it at first and when he needed to during an adventure discovered he could swim through it going from one barrel of his cash to another. So tweaking that slightly to an earned skill, and one Louie will have leanred by the end of the season, was a billiant move..and a way of silencing all those head injury jokes.

But their soon interrupted by the board, who Scrooge dosen’t recall having a meeting with and likely pull this kind of shit all the time when they can get Scrooge. It makes even more sense after the Della reveal, as he likely has to be forced into dealing with the men who, while as far as he knew were trying to help him, still pulled him away from Della.. and in one case, had a shit eating grin about it. Seriously Bradford you smirked evilly about your nemesis not being able to rescue his daughter how do you NOT get that your the bad guy?

The meeting ends up being boring with Louie asleep and Scrooge almost there, as let’s face it most board meetings probably are, until Gyro barges in! It’s our first apperance of 2017 Gyro and a lot of people were upset by how much more of an ass he was. Me, while I like the kind and gentle original, like the more mad sciency version here and feel Jim Rash did a good job with it, and I only really hate it when he’s around Fenton, and the show eventually addressed how fucked up that was in Season 3 after downplaying it in Season 2 by having them barely interact and have Gyro genuienly show some pride. Otherwise I like my insane prideful version even if I get why some don’t like it as it is nothing like the comics, but as we see with Donald not being a lot like the comics version isn’t a bad thing.

IT’s one hell of a character establishing moment, as he barges in, is rude to everyone and has to read cue cards to properly intro his latest invention Little Bulb, Gyro’s most iconic invention whose made here to help people not do work. The Board is skeptical though as most of Gyro’s inventions have turned evil, a nice nod to the fact that most of Gyro’s robots in the original series, who are in fact on a list of previous inventions.. turned evil and tried to kill people. IT also shows his warmer side as he insists they aren’t evil just misunderstood, or at least half were anyway, and tries to cover for Little Bulb shaking his fist at them and doing a throat slitting gesture... which while Bradford plays dumb about what that means.. he’s worked in organized Villainy for at least 55 years. He knows what that gesture means. It’s Heron’s favorite. And even if he didn’t he’s also worked with Scrooge for around 30. It’s also Scrooge’s favorite. So it’s rejected though Scrooge encourages Gyro who vows they’ll understand one day and they’ll all pay. Really should save that for outside.

Scrooge vouches for the board to Louie who questions such a slam dunk, pointing out he trusts their judgment.. mostly because he dosen’t know they’ve been embezzling from him to fund an evil spy orginzation the whole time but still, he usually trusts them. He would’ve found a way to fire them if he didn’t on the Della thing. But sometimes they overstep and they undermine that statment by suggesting cuts to the Bin’s budget, starting with Magical defenses “Do you know how many curses I have on my head?”. And props to the creators as they apparnetly had the whole Bombie idea in mind this far back, and as Bradford later shows towards the end of next season when he lures Louie into cutting it, he KNOWS where that money goes. He just was trying to feign ignorance to get Scrooge killed if he could. Clever bastard.

So Louie goes to get a drink, and naturally scrooge’s drink machine in his office not only charges but requires an extra ten cents. Louie assumes the dime in his office is an emergency Dime only to walk in on Scrooge giving the full story. As you all likely know, it’s his number one dime, with the origin taken straight from life and times: He was a poor shoe shine, and he worked hard to clean off a ditchdigger’s muddy boots, working himself to the bone.. only to get an American dime which inspired him both to work harder and smarter than anyone and to go to America to seek his fourtune. There’s some extra steps in the original material, and another bit that the show would also adapt later that we’ll get to next week, but point is it’s his symbol of all his hard work.. that Louie just sent into the vending machine. So said great chase insures as Louie follows the dime, as it’s emptied from the vending machine.. by a gull janitor we only see this season. And he’s a really likeable guy I wish we’d learned more. He then faces his and Charles Xavier’s greatest enemy THE STAIRS. There’s a runner about Louie having to constnatly run up and down the massive amount of stairs the bin has as someone else takes the elevator and by the climax it’s been taken out entirely. It’s pretty great. So Louie’s seemingly screwed and instead looks up how to pick a lock on YouTube.. no really. That’s what he does. Frank outright mentioned this in an interview, pointing out they wanted the kids to act like a kid would.. and props to him that’s what a kid would do. Hell that’s what I would do if I were locked out of a place and time was of the essence. Either that or look up a step by step instruction on google. He then runs into Gyro though, and gets the idea to use LIttle Bulb, convinces Gyro he has money and would like to invest and just needs to borrow the little guy and Gyro is happy to agree to it.

Naturally though, Louie’s laziness and a volatile machine who only likes one people just like his daddy, do not mix and Louie leaves sorting the coins to it while he watches Ottoman Empire, actually getting really sucked into it. IN fairness he did start with the Glomgold episode. Little Bulb meanwhile shows just how awesome he is by turning himself into a giant coni sorting mech by rewiring and reconfiguring the coin sorter.. and naturally given who made hi going mad with power. So while he did get the dime out.. he’s not horrifyingly obessed with chasing it and the real great dime chase begins.

Back at the meeting Scrooge continues to debate the Buzzards who now want to cut staff, both of whom Scrooge rightfully defends. While Gyro is a bit unhinged, his inventions have likely made the company millions and saved them billions, and while Quackfaster is the same as we just saw, there’s a method to her madness and her laziness. And given Quackfaster works two additional jobs to afford a nice retirement, it’s clear that while he pays them decently he’s likely still not paying them gobs. With the power of hindsight i’ts very clear Bradford just wants to try if he can to eliminate two sources of chaos and backup for Scrooge and when Scrooge sarcastically suggests just getting rid of the bin, Bradford goes with it with a shit eating grin, but it’s very clear by that and Scrooge’s frustration this is a non starter, and Bradford’s likely doing it just because he frankly knows it’ll piss Scrooge off.

So Louie runs for it working harder than he has in his whole life, with Gyro eventually trying to talk little bulb down, to no avail.. though we do get a nice moment of it registering him as father. Awwww. So the chase naturally eventually leads to the bin and Louie stuck in it, slowly swimming across, until Gyro gets to LIl Bulb, and realizes he’s in the wrong time of wattage and has literally gone mad with power and puts him back in his tiny old body fixing the problem. Gyro also crashed in with the bulb mech earlier, and while it disproves Scrooge’s point he’s stable.. he simply rolls with it and points out his staff is dangerously insane, and would likely swear vengeance on the Board if they were fired. And while he dosen’t say this part of it directly given Scrooge treats BOTH Quackfaster and Gyro exceptionally well, he knows they’ll know EXACTLY whose idea it was.. probably even tell them. So the board agrees to keep things as is to not die horribly as supervillains or not they have limits.

So the day is one, Louie finds the dime, replaces it and passes out with Scrooge none the wiser. it also turns out the Dime isn’t even the real deal, to Louie’s frustration. But Scrooge is proud he clearly worked hard, and gives him the fake dime as his own number one dime, a nice setup for their bond and a nice showing that Louie really has the potential to be as rich as his uncle one day, and it’s clear by this setup there was a lot of potential here for an arc.. which is why we got one. More on that some other time. Louie accidently spends it while Gyro ends realizing if he put himself int he robot it wouldn’t go mad with power.. and thus Project Blatherskite is born. And we all know where this is going.

Final Thoughts: All in all a decent episode. It has great pacing, some excellent world building, and some really good gags. While the series would do better episodes as it went, for an early episode helping set things up including Louie’s charcter arc, Gyro, Gizmoduck and the board as proper characters, it’s still very good and one of the series early standouts.

Next Time on Della: Donald is forced to confront his adventuring past when he runs into his old sorta friend THE INCREDIBLE STORKULES, Scrooge is forced into games of the gods by their resident Douchebag Zeus, and Dewey is forced to confront his own fear of whatever it is his mom did. Confront this review later this week.

Next Time on This Blog: It’s Lena’s Dark Night of the Soul as she and Webby head into “The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!”

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#ducktales #the great dime chase #louie duck #gyro gearloose #emily quackfaster #scrooge mcduck #dewey duck #webby vanderquack #bradford buzzard #F.o.w.l.#reviews #animation #disney channel #launchpad mcquack #little bulb

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