#like 12 episodes and then straight to a movie?

[ddenji]

i think a movie was a good choice for reze's arc!!! i'm literally so excited to see her & denji be whacky on the big screen <3 plus I hope this means good things for the animation overall cuz the anime was gorgeous and there are some really epic moments in reze's arc that i cannot wait to see translated into film. also what a choice to call it reze's arc, bc like yes it is, but also... this is denji's story. they're all his arcs. to me its a good way of reinforcing the ideas surrounding how denji is controlled by his desire for love & the people he chases in pursuit of that love <3 (though also it would be spoilers i guess to show reze and then call it bomb devil arc lol. it serves multiple purposes. to me.) anyways yippee! now we just wait for season two announcement!!

[blueberry-lemon]

An introductory guide to getting into Sonic the Hedgehog...

…if you're a grown-ass adult who is busy and doesn't want to play a bunch of video games but thinks the characters look sorta cool.

If you've ever been curious about Sonic as a series but haven't known where to start, I have some recommendations! I think Sonic is a cool and still somewhat unique thing because it takes cartoony characters (like a Mickey Mouse or Felix the Cat) and lets them jump around in cool action sequences through the lens of a shonen anime. It's colorful and usually pretty light-hearted, and I think the character designs are pretty iconic.

There's two handy places you can start without prior context, to see if it's something you'd be into...

Getting Started: If You Wanna Read Something

The IDW Sonic Comics

There were years of different Sonic comics back in the '90s and early 2000's, but the franchise got a complete reboot and fresh start with IDW Publishing in 2018. If you're looking for the most straight-forward way to get into this world of characters, I think this is a great start. You don't need any prior knowledge whatsoever to crack open issue 1 and get started. All you need to know is "Sonic and his friends protect the world by fighting against an evil scientist named Dr. Eggman, who they just recently defeated after he briefly took over the world."

I love these comics and I feel that the writers and artists who work on it have a really good sense for this series. Reading issues 1 through 12 will get you the first major story arc. If you like it so far, I highly suggest reading up through issue 32, when another major story arc concludes. After that, the world's your oyster! Unlike the tangled web of Marvel or DC comics, IDW Sonic has a very simple and linear reading order. You pretty much just read the issues in order, and occasionally there are spinoff stories that are optional to read.

Getting Started: If You Wanna Watch Something

Sonic Mania Adventures

Maybe comics aren't your thing and you want something even quicker. These are a series of animated shorts that are lovely. Conveniently, they've been compiled together by Sega into one little video right here.

It's a great intro to some of the main characters, and combines cartoon slapstick with some amazing action sequences.

There's also a nice little epilogue short.

Sonic CD's intro cutscene

If I had to pick a single 1-and-a-half minute clip to embody what I like about this series, it would be this very simple intro movie that plays before Sonic CD. Check it out!

Sonic Origins/Sonic Origins Plus Cutscenes

In 2022, Sega released a compilation of the classic Genesis games on modern consoles. In it, they added a few animated cutscenes. You can watch those cutscenes, plus the Sonic CD intro and the Sonic Mania Adventures episodes, all compiled into one handy Youtube video.

Taking The Next Step: If You Wanna Read Something

The Archie Sonic Comics

You might have heard that Sonic had a comic series published by Archie Comics from 1992 to 2016. This was a vast, overarching series that wrote an original story by weaving together ideas from the different Sonic cartoons and games. It went through several different writers, many different artists, and obviously spanned over multiple eras of pop culture.

It's pretty cool! The fact that it was so long-running, and the fact that Sega wasn't very strict with what the writers could do, led to a lot of buckwild lore, new characters, and plot developments. That said, it's also pretty bizarre, complicated, corny, and cringey at times. There is a stretch in the middle that is pretty infamous among fans.

You have a few options for jumping in.

Option A: You can start at the very beginning and read all of it. If you do this, it is going to be like a One Piece / Homestuck / etc. kind of undertaking, and you're going to be pushing through the good and the bad of huge genre and tone shifts. That's your call!

Option B: You can brush up on the main characters on a wiki and then start at Issue 160, when Ian Flynn (who now does a lot of work on IDW Sonic) became the lead writer. More specifically, you can jump in at the start of a new story arc by starting at Issue 175.

Option C: You can start at Issue 252, when there is a universe-altering event that essentially retcons all of the characters and plot threads from the previous writers and starts completely fresh. Easier to keep track of and you won't have to worry about all the previous plot and lore.

If you want something you can read in a single sitting, you should instead read Sonic: Mega Drive, a short-lived miniseries published by Archie that follows "Classic Sonic" characters (aka, the same vibe and art style of Sonic Origins, Sonic Mania Adventures, etc.) It's really great!

Taking The Next Step: If You Wanna Watch Something

Sonic the Hedgehog (OVA) aka "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie" (1996)

This is, essentially, a 1-hour Sonic anime movie. You can watch it in Japanese or in English. I adore it. It makes up its own lore and continuity so you don't need to know anything before going in, besides generally knowing a one-sentence synopsis of who Sonic, Tails, and Dr. Robotnik are. It's action-packed, well-animated, and has great music. Enjoy! Sonic X If you're enjoying what you've seen so far, and you want something much, much longer...there's an official 78-episode anime adaptation of Sonic called Sonic X. It's an original story that loosely pulls together some ideas from a few of the games. It's mostly intended for a younger audience, but I hear if you watch it in the original uncut Japanese, it feels a little less "for kids."

Other Ways To Get Into Sonic

There's some great video essays on Youtube about the series!

Professional animator Dan Floyd did an in-depth video looking at the highs and lows of Sonic character animation in the games starting from Sonic 1 up through Sonic Forces.

Super Bunnyhop plays through the first level of a bunch of Sonic games to compare how the mechanics, physics, and level design feel throughout the games' history.

Liam Triforce has a great deep dive on the franchise's music.

You can play The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a murder-mystery-party themed visual novel put out by Sega. It's nice and short, so you can finish it in an afternoon.

If you haven't seen them already, you can check out the live-action/animated hybrid films Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 featuring Ben Schwartz and Jim Carrey, they're pretty good. That Sonic Prime cartoon that's currently on Netflix is pretty good too.

This may sound strange, but honestly you might enjoy poring over the sprite sheets from the old games. In particular, I really like the sprite animations from the GBA games, like Sonic Advance and Sonic Battle.

Sega is pretty lax about allowing noncommercial fan games, so there's at least a hundred different Sonic fan games out there by hobbyist developers. Check out the Sonic Amateur Games Expo and the Sonic Fan Games HQ.

You can watch LPs or cutscene compilations of the games on Youtube! If you watch Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes, you'll get a crash course on most of the characters.

And finally, of course...you can play the games if you want to! There's a number of them that are available on Steam, Switch, Xbox, and Playstation if you don't have access to older consoles.

There's a lot of different angles to come at Sonic as a franchise, and lots of different entry points. Have fun!

[rotten-corpses-blog]

Billy Loomis Head Cannons because I promised

These are just things I think are true about Billy, nothing really to worry about.

Billy is Bisexual, it's in his name guys. and there's no way this man is straight.

His first ever crush was Angela from Sleepaway Camp, he just thought she was cute. He was like 12-13

He is a snuggler, especially when he's sleepy or drunk.

Anytime he has attempted to grow a beard Stu picked on him, so he stopped trying.

He smells like Old Spice, idk what scent because probably can't commit to one. (like his dad couldn't commit to his mom)

He's a mama's boy, but it's not toxic. If his mom ever came back and said anything negative about you he would believe you.

He has a knife collection, it's obsessive and they are hung up in his room.

He was a cute baby I just know it, he has been cute since birth

He hates the show Glee, he saw one episode and couldn't understand it, so I'm sorry if you like it...

He was a theater kid in middle school, He was tame tho. He really liked the class but, his dad kept calling him the f slur so he quit.

He knows how to play a bit of the piano, not much.

He became a feminist after seeing the barbie movie, but refuses to admit he liked the movie. (you can sometime catch him singing the ken song in the shower)

I have said it before and I will say it again! Billy likes kids, he pretends he doesn't but he does. He doesn't like the mess of kids because they are sticky for no reason and cry at random.

One time he fell asleep on Stu's couch and Stu drew a dick on his forehead. He almost killed Stu.

When he was little he would go out of his way to make his dad's life a living hell. Setting things on fire, trashing his office, screaming bloody murder anytime his dad came near him so his mom would make him sleep outside. he was, and still is a nightmare. And in his mom's eye's he can do no wrong so when his dad tried to discipline him, his mom would get upset and claim he was hurting her dear little Billy.

He works out a bit, but after he killed Sidney (assuming he did) he gets kinda lazy.

He collects your stuff, not anything you care about. It's weird shit like a shell you put in your pocket and forgot about, hairties, old makeup sponges, just weird shit.

If you are AFAB and have periods, he has tampons on him. Don't like tampons? he will get you pads, he will just complain.

He does call tampons pussy cotton balls sometimes...

He won't eat cabbage, or beans.

He will eat an entire bag of salt and vinegar chips in one sitting tho

That's all I got for now

[kisses-from-crows]

Random Campbell Bain Headcanons

(chapter 7 is currently a 5k word inconsistent mess but i can give you this so, ehhh? not sure if these make any sense but in my brain they make perfect sense)

-this mf LOVES halloween

-he will spend will weeks thinking up a bunch of overly complicated costumes

-he spends WAY too much money on halloween decorations (i want you to picture Campbell Bain with adult money….)

-he has gotten tangled in those cotton spiderweb things a million times

-he always gets really enthusiastic about carving pumpkins but doesn’t have the patience to do the super complicated designs. always manages to cut off bits he didn’t mean to cut off.

-has a tradition of smashing the pumpkins to bits in the first week of november. (he likes this part more than the carving)

-will literally beg to get his nails painted and then will IMMEDIATELY smudge them, everytime, without fail

-settles for coloring in his nails with sharpie

-scarily good at mario kart, like frighteningly good

-likes to watch the muppets when he has depressive episodes

-had an intense cowboy phase as a child, until he went to a petting zoo and discovered he’s deathly afraid of horses

-the type of person to go radio silent for weeks or spam you with 50 memes and 12 songs in a matter of an hour. (there is no in-between)

-will respond to an important text two days later with a link to song and nothing else

-has a MASSIVE sweet tooth

-and has absolutely ZERO self control with candy, will down an entire bag of marshmallows (he prefers the mini ones) in a single sitting.

-noticed that Eddie had started to sneakily take his candy so he started keeping secret stashes hidden in various places

-eddie will find a stash and throw it away, only to turn around and see Campbell munching on a king-sized snickers, just gloating

-is ace spec but constantly makes dirty jokes, partly for shock value partly because he finds it hilarious

-very touchy, doesn’t get the whole “personal space” thing

-insists that he loves scary movies and then will go to bed with all the lights on after

-finds a pair of shoes he likes and then wears them every single day until they fall apart, then refuses to throw them out

-his closet is full of converse held together by duct tape and a dream

-is the biggest baby about being sick. this mf will get a tummy ache and just start rolling on the ground whining about “this is the end, get my affairs in order, tell Eddie i love him”

-toes the line between being the dream/nightmare blunt rotation. he has the most entertaining monologues but he’s using the joint as a talking stick and accidentally ash’d in the water cups twice now

-not allowed to smoke anymore because it messed with his bipolar and he didn’t sleep for 4 days straight

-can’t cook for shit, regularly burns soup. is banned from using the oven after The Incident™️

-won’t explain to anyone what The Incident™️ is

-if you ask Eddie about it, he’ll just say “he knows what he did”

-rumor has it that it involved makeshift shrink-i-dinks

-visits Fergus’s grave at least once a month. sets up a blanket and just talks. tells him everything that happened since he came last. what the rest of the crew is up to

-always leaves some sort of bit or bauble for Fergus

-got very upset when they would go missing, until he realized the local crows were collecting them

-now he brings some food and an extra toy for the crows, they’re good friends now

-one of the crows always flies down and hangs out next to him, so Campbell is convinced it’s Fergus

okay that’s all i’ve got for now! (sorry had to make it just little sad at the end)

[joeyclaire]

mutual 1: what if steven spielberg was bisexual

mutual 2: girlrotting

mutual 3: almost fell asleep during the fnaf movie was a 10/10

mutual 4: NEED stan and kyle to kiss on the next episode of south park 🙏

mutual 5: will graham themed collage i’m working on right now!!

mutual 5: PEANUTS MOVIE SKFKSKD2928SKFJSIRKWJFJZJCJSJFKWJFJDJFKDF

mutual 6: worried about dracula (book i’ve read four times)

mutual 7: it’s really beautiful. this is how i imagine lelouch greeting me every day when I get home. no funny business, either. doesn’t have to be sexual. when i’m gone i long for him all day. the time we spend together is beautiful. i wouldn’t trade it for anything (other than the real thing, of course.)

mutual 8: love when gay people watch straight romances like they’re horror movies

mutual 9: 1989 TV??? KARLIE WAS THERE??? KARLIE HAD BRACELETS THAT SAID CHEAP ASS ROSE AND KNOCKOUT?? BLUE 1989 FOLKLORE AND ENCHANTED OUTFITS??? NYD SURPRISE SONG????

mutual 10: take me home. i can never go home

mutual 11: dad rock is good actually

mutual 12: i’ve just been informed the red mnm threw the first brick at stonewall

mutual 13: i miss you 2018

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Last Twilight Episode 3

God, Aof is doing it again, I don't know how he manages to build and build on his narratives, but I spent probably 60% of my time watching this episode with a massive, uncontrollable grin on my face.

Aof as a director is someone I consider to have one of the most meticulous attentions to detail and it shows. I love seeing all these little moments of how hanging out with Mhok is changing Day's habits.

Since their stray thoughts on Episode 12 of La Pluie, I have been thinking about what @solitaryandwandering said about blind people still turning their heads. And so I have been watching for that in this show, and while I think it could certainly be better, I don't think Sea is just staring straight ahead. I love seeing the little quirks, him leaning in to Mhok a little closer, him looking down at his foot when Mhok removes his bandage, him looking around frantic when he ends up in the center of the market with no idea where he is.

I love seeing Day make these strides in his journey of overcoming the shame and grief he seems to be feeling about his blindness. I love that Day isn't really pushing back on suggestions. He has been leaving the house more often. I loved that in Episode 2, Day was downstairs trying to watch a movie even after he fired Mhok, and I love that in Episode 3, he purchases and wears a shirt that definitively marks him as blind.

This, coming from the man that has been hiding for the last year, been angry for the last year, refused to meet the world for the last year. Day has been coming alive in the sunlight and I love that while Mhok is contributing to that, it's ultimately not just because of Mhok that these changes are happening.

Mhok may suggest they go outside to clean the fish tank, he might buy slippers so Day can walk around the house without stubbing his toe, he may take Day out about the town. But Day is starting to ask for help of his own volition, Day is starting to be visibly blind in public of his own volition, Day can tell Mhok when he needs to take breaks. Like, Mhok is pushing Day out of his comfort zone, but Day has autonomy in this show and I love it.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - just RELAX BL, you're stressing me out

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top. However, I've put quite a few on hold for travel reasons.

Oct 2023 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 10 of 12 - Boyfriends are cute boyfriends. Reconciliation with daddy and then major brother drama. How exciting. Gah but that closing scene, these two are such great actors! 

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 8 fin - A perfectly serviceable final episode. I did love the red Chinese-style wedding to go with the “hia.” Also, just a little Thai 'poke poke poke' at China. 

Final thoughts?

This is a nice addendum to Cutie Pie, but it’s relatively incomprehensible even if you’ve watched that previous installment. I can’t imagine it will make any sense at all if you haven’t. Frankly, the most impressive thing about this show was the makeup team. MaxNat give excellent chemistry, all the high heat is well done, and the friendships are adorable, even if the story is nonsensical. It’s fine, I’m relieved it was only 8 eps. I enjoyed it for the pair but I will probably never rewatch. A weak 8/10

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Lucky Love ep 9 of 24 -Heartbroken (drunk) gay boy meets (fights) sister’s new chef. I love the femme bestie. Adorbs. This one seems pretty good actually. I like all the shots of Bangkok’s actual traffic. POV is a bit of a sad sack tho. 

Absolute Zero (Thai Weds iQIYI) ep 4 of 12 - There is something clever about this narrative in the way that they are each each other’s first and second loves, but also age gap kinda creepy (Thailand maybe leave this one for Japan?)

Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 8 of 10 eps - So much whiny gay drama babies. However, it also manages to be painfully slow, through the simple act of having 90% of the show be boys sitting around staring at their phones. Then it suddenly got way higher heat than I expected. Honestly, this could’ve ended at 8 sps. I don’t see how extending the show is going to improve it in any way.

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 11 of 12 (not a BL but I'm watching it anyway) - I don’t have faith in any couple. One of my favorite things about this show is watching how many boys Mark can kiss. I know everyone is focusing on Neo, but seriously baby boy got game. Meanwhile Boston’s dick must be made of self-lubing steal pipe; I remain entirely uninterested is TopMew; Mew’s fam demonstrate why a gay boy should never take advice from straight women; and the slut-shaming agenda continues. NO SINGING. No character in this show is happy when Boeing turns up, but the rest of us trash-loving muckrakers are thrilled.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

If It’s With You AKA Even If I Fall In Love With You AKA Kimi to nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo’ (Japan Gaga) ep 3 of 5 - Oh it is so cute and so sweet and so aching. I really did not want the confession to happen, even though I knew it had to. There is an element of torture to this one that only Japan can execute with such precise softness.

You Are Mine (Taiwan Fri Viki) eps 7 of 10 - I remain charmed. But while the me of 2018 would have thought this one of the best BLs ever, the me of now is finding it a bit dated and nostalgic.

Bon Appetit (Korea Weds iQIYI) 7-8fin - Romance between an office worker and the man from his past next door who cooks well. It was a very sweet and cute tale of food as love in the All the Liquors family of KBL. I’m not wild about it, I did enjoy it, I was happy to have it show up on my dash, but ultimately it will simply become one of the KBL crowd. 8/10 

Kiseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 10 of 13(?) - another one where they are separated for most of the show. Although the sides are giving win. 

Bump Up Business (Korea Gaga) 1-2 of 8 - from Idol Romance staring OnlyOneOf's Nine & Mill, this released as a movie in July in SK but is now being recut/reissued as a series. Love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity plagued by scandal. After that OmegaX Shoulder bullshizz business I am very wary of this show, but this pair is already better cast.

Out of the mouths of OnlyOneOf (!!!) babes...

As to the show? I don’t know. I mean I love the idea, am nervous about Korea (with that bubble) doing a meta critique of the BL industry, with K-pop idols, using an existing group. It just seems like there’s a lot of mines in this small field, and it could go horribly horribly wrong. I am enjoying it, but also anxious the whole time I’m watching it for culture/market reasons. That said, I did pretty much ask for this exact show. So I can't complain, now can I?  

Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 5 of ? - I honestly don’t entirely understand what is going on. But it all seems to be the Psychotic Pretty Kitty’s fault. Oo caught in the act of drug-induced cheating - DRAMA. Dung should cut his losses and leave - cute doctor husband or not. Lovely kiss from the sides. I gotta say, this cast is hella pretty. I’m not mad that this team is kind of turning into GMMTV Vietnam.

It's Airing But...

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 8 of 12 - I will try to watch 8-12 and do a series review when I get back in November but... not sure I will be able to. Fingers crossed.

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 8fin - completed, my final thoughts in Nov.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until it completes its run.

I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan Tues Netflix-Japan & ????) - in classic JBL fashion, I Cannot Reach You could not be reached. 

Can I Buy Your Love From A Vending Machine? AKA Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? (Japan cinema release in-country only) - This one is a movie from Japan so in customary fashion who tf knows when (or if) it will get international distribution. Salaryman Ayumu Koiwai just can't tear his eyes away from the strong, muscular man as he checks on the stocks of the vending machine in his office.

One Room Angel (Japan Gaga) - Yukinori, a convenience store clerk was accidentally stabbed by a thug and nearly died. He returns home to find an angel waiting for him. The drama is an adaptation based on Harada’s manga of the same name (which I did not like). With only five episodes and a good chance this won’t end happily, I am going to wait and let you tell me how it goes. Binge it when it is complete if it's safe.

In Case You Missed It

GMMTV posted their initial 2024 line up, here's my round up of the BLs. It includes 2 JBL adaptations, 2 KBL adaptations (that they aren't admitting to) and vampires. If you want to know how I did on the predictions that's here and the answer is: very badly indeed.

I am watching the Y Journey: Stay Like a Local series. But they are essentially tourist board long-form advertisements. I enjoy the promo aspect with regards to the food. And seeing some of my favorite pairs do interesting other things is kinda fun. But the whole thing feels disingenuous when gay marriage is still not legal and it’s essentially the Thai government (making these ads) who is stopping that from happening. I have a similar feeling to iQIYI as a content provider. It’s not queerbaiting in the original sense of the term, but it’s pretty gross to use gay for advertising with a nationalistic propaganda agenda, when being gay is still not legal in your country. Yes I struggle to reconcile myself with this on the regular, and it’s an ongoing hypocritical struggle for my tiny withered tired old heart.

All that said, this week's installment, He’s Not Happy, did make me want to rewatch Make a Wish. There’s no kissing in this series but JudoFluke kiss beautifully, so If you haven’t seen Make a Wish, it’s very good and I recommend tracking it down.

Next Week Looks Like This

Upcoming October BL

10/26 My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thai iQIYI) 8 eps - nerd retreats from the world into an online game and makes friends with a little group, they meat in real life, one of them is hot, they fall in love, hottie turns out to be a gangster. Trailer

10/31 SHADOW (Thai Gaga) - this is a horror BL featuring ghosts and other paranormal elements in a high school setting. I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all). It features Singto (who did paranormal BL He's Coming to Me) opposite Fluke N (who's done a couple horror's before). Also Fiat. Dan suffers from sleep paralysis, and in his dreams he sees a shadow that suffocates him. It gets worse when he transfers schools.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

We stan consent and talking about sex during sex. Thank you Venus in the Sky.

I guess Ray's getting his 3some? Only Friends

Dangerous Romance hitting up some old school tropes.

Naughty Babe giving us our beloved domesticity and tiny gay families. @heretherebedork you happy?

(Last week)

[meshlasolus]

The Winner Takes It All

Episode 12

Pairing: Finnick Odair x Tribute(OC)!Reader

Chapter Warnings: this might be the saddest one... or maybe I'm delusional and it can only get worse from here. Anyways, death, canon typical violence, drowning, my sweet baby Lukas is trying his best as always... oh yeah a hUGE AMOUNT OF ANGST

Chapter Summary: This is the endgame, there are four tributes remaining. Who will live, and who will die? The choice has never been up to the tributes.

Word Count: 3.8k

my live action cinderella dress (movie accurate) is finally done so expect me to have a lot more editing time. I will also probably have more writing time so expect some endings to unfinished series.

“He had f-feelings for me?” Lukas was dumbfounded. The poor kid didn’t even get to tell you. He tried to speak, opened his mouth to do so, but froze upon not knowing what he could possibly say in response. Maybe just start with the truth.  “He did,” his head fell when the words finally escaped. “I’m sorry, he wanted to tell you.”

You’d been silent. Not quiet, but absolutely silent. Lukas didn’t try to make you be anything else… but he did have to keep you moving. It wasn’t much later in the day, but the sun was already setting. The minimal amounts of light only being shown through the small openings of the tree canopy. It was harder to tell where you were going. Nothing looked the same as it did yesterday, or the day before. You could swear you’d walked through here to get to the stream, but the path had somewhat changed along the way. 

As drowned in your thoughts as you’d been right after it happened, your entire body, including your brain, had been numbed to Rodey’s death. His blood was still on your hands. Figuratively and literally. You didn’t stare at it too long, forgetting to let your gaze linger on anything except the path ahead, and Lukas, who was three steps in front of you. 

You both were half of the remaining tributes. It was a miracle you both had made it this far, but now that the numbers had dwindled, there were two other tributes left who were hunting the both of you. It was better to keep moving than to sit like a duck and let one of them take their victory. 

The longer you went without finding the stream, your need for freshwater had grown exponentially. It was strange how the past few days it would rain for hours, but now that you actually needed water it ceased to exist… in a literal rainforest. That was the peak behavior of a game maker, to play sinisterly. 

“We can stop here for now. Maybe if I can get up one of these trees I’ll be able to spot the stream again.” 

You barely minded what he was saying, giving a small nod to at least show you heard him. You didn’t care much to speak anymore, not even to the person who you felt the most patience from. He was doing fine without the constant dialogue of the days before, and you knew he’d be fine without it till the end. He was going to win, there was no doubt in your mind. You’d thought that perhaps it could be him or Rodey, but Rodey died saving you. Now you would do the same for Lukas, whenever the situation finally came. 

You sat down, back against a tree trunk and head dropped forward, eyes making an instant connection with the dried blood on your body. Even if you scrubbed at yourself for hours, there was no chance you could get rid of it all. You have the blood of two allies on your hands, now. That’s as many as you’re willing to have. 

Lukas had set down his pack, starting to climb the roots and knots of the tree’s enormous base, when a tiny parachute descended straight towards him. You looked up when you heard the familiar sound it made, watching it fall into the boy’s hands. 

“Head’s up,” he called, tossing you one of two canteens full of water. You took it gratefully, beginning to drink up as much as you could take. 

Lukas smiled before looking down to the note included. 

Talk to her for me, tell her it’s not her fault. - F

He sighed, trying to come up with any ideas on what he could possibly say. There’s no way to know if she’ll even be open to a conversation. There’s no indicator that she even wants to speak at all. But this is a sponsor that keeps them from having to exhaust their resources, and Finnick asked for something simple in return. He doesn’t understand why Finnick is so dead set on coddling you in this arena. It’s not like things are going to get any better from here. It’s an absolute fact that the time can only become worse, until everyone meets their end but one. 

But against his logic, and against what his brain is telling him, his gut wants to follow his mentor’s instructions… So he does. 

He sits beside you at the base of the tree, his own canteen in hand and his pack in the other. 

“Listen, I know you don’t wanna talk about it,” he assumed, given the fact that you’ve literally said nothing since it happened. “But what happened, it wasn’t your fault. You know that, right?” 

You reasoned with the scene over in your head, and the only way it didn’t end the same way is if he didn’t choose to jump in front of you. It was hard to think about, because you feel responsible. He wouldn’t have jumped if you weren’t there. But if you weren’t there, she’d only have him to charge at. It all ends the same every time. He was faster than you, braver than you. He would have stepped time and again, and you couldn’t stop him. 

“He s-saved me. It was f-for me.”

“I know.”

You closed your canteen and let it roll out of your hands and onto the ground next to you, curling your legs to your chest and trying to comfort yourself. You really didn’t want to talk about it, but if he was adamant for you to do so, it was going to be on your terms. 

He seemed to be stumbling for more words, and only came across some having rambled a thought from his head. 

“I wish he’d never told you…”

“T-told me what?”

He hadn’t caught onto the fact that you had no idea what he was talking about. So like a dumbass, he kept going. 

“About his feelings for you. I told him a few days ago it could only hurt you. Then again I also told him it was a good idea so I guess we were both stupid,” his rambling of a response made your eyes widen in both shock and anger. 

“He had f-feelings for me?”

Lukas was dumbfounded. The poor kid didn’t even get to tell you. He tried to speak, opened his mouth to do so, but froze upon not knowing what he could possibly say in response. Maybe just start with the truth. 

“He did,” his head fell when the words finally escaped. “I’m sorry, he wanted to tell you.”

For some reason, this information didn’t hurt you as much as it should. Instead, it angered you. How could he possibly have been so stupid to sacrifice himself in the name of feelings for someone he’d only recently met? How could he have given up a possible win, just to show his devotion. Had it been an instinctual move of protection, you could have accepted it… but no. 

“I s-should be dead r-right now. All these p-people around me, dropping l-like flies. And I’m still h-here.”

“Don’t say things like that. Look, I get it. You feel responsible…”

You nodded, because yes, you absolutely did. Your ally’s blood is on your hands, and no matter how many times you scrub it away, it will always be there. 

“But I feel responsible for you. I’d rather it be any of them than you, understand?” He finished off, his look of seriousness piercing yours of confused emotion. Sadness, anger, guilt. Probably more, but you can’t identify them.

You nodded, but his words didn’t make you feel any better. If anything it just made things worse. He was still trying to protect you, and you couldn’t stand losing one more ally. Especially not him. He had to be the one to make it out of here. You’d been thinking about it so much more the past several hours, now that only four remain. You’ve only gotten this far because of your allies, but now they are almost gone. It’s on the verge of every man for himself, but you know Lukas won’t let you die on your own. If it comes down to the two of you, you have every intention of throwing yourself from the top of a tree so he can go home. You don’t think you’ll survive the other two tributes, however. 

“You’re g-going to win, y’know.”

He sighed, looking at the ground and shrugging. Maybe they are true, the things that you say. He just hopes they aren’t. 

“I’m not so sure anymore. If I were a gambling man, I’d have to put money on you.”

“Well then it’s a g-good thing you don’t gamble,” you smiled, trying to expel every other feeling you had, and only hold onto one emotion at a time. The air was light, just around the two of you. Old friends, fighting for their lives, but they can still make the other smile, or laugh. It’s simply what friends can do. 

Lukas hopes that he doesn’t leave this arena without you. He is praying to anyone that can hear his thoughts that if he watches you die, he’ll die too. It’s not like he has anything to go back to, anyway. 

“Promise m-me something, for when you get h-home?” You asked, his curiosity piqued. “Promise me that you’ll take care of m-my family. My brother, make sure he d-doesn’t ever have his name in the bowl more than it h-has to be.”

He smiled. He hadn’t even thought about his own family, his mother. Probably because he didn’t consider her to be so, anymore. 

“I promise, if I get out of here, I will.”

“T-thank you, Lukas.” 

He leaned against you, his head resting on the tree while your own head was on his shoulder. You’d be perfectly content with dying if you could just drift away like this. Everything now was peaceful, and you’d left no stones unturned. Your family would be taken care of if Lukas lived, you know he’s good on his word. You know that having spoken with him, and even sitting here with him now, you will have resolved everything with him. There’s nothing else you need to know… except-

“Lukas?”

“Yeah?”

“W-why did you volunteer?”

He took a deep inhale beside you, then went stiff as the reasoning coursed through his mind. He could lie and say it was an impulsive mistake. He could come up with literally a million other things that would sound plausible for any kid on why they would do something so stupid. But he wasn’t any kid, and you weren’t just some bystander. You were his best friend. Either of you could die any moment, so he wanted to make sure you got nothing but the truth. 

“The morning of the reaping, my mom and I had that argument,” he recalled. You nodded along, remembering the scene vividly. He hadn’t been himself until he’d gotten on a boat. The water always seemed to calm him down. “I’d been feeling better after work, but I went home to shower and get dressed.”

He stopped for a moment, his brow furrowing as he tried to bring it all back into recollection. The nasty look on his mother’s face, the way she swore at him and spewed her insanity. Thinking back to it now, him volunteering is just what she wanted. It would have been better to refuse volunteering out of spite. 

“She told me I would never measure up to my father, and that there was no point in trying. When I asked her what she wanted from me, she told me she wished I had died in his place.”

Your hand immediately found his in a tight and reassuring grip when you heard this. It was just like his mother to go off and say some shit like that. Something that would scar him the rest of his life and force him to go immeasurable lengths, and for what?

“I told her I would volunteer if she wanted me dead so badly. She said I might as well, because it would be the only way to bring some pride back to our family. The sad thing is, I didn’t regret it until they called your name…”

“I’m s-so sorry,” you whispered to him, barely heard above the humming and buzzing of the rainforest. You clung to him, hoping that this could bring the smallest semblance of comfort in a place that exudes horror and danger. He clung right back to you, being still in your embrace as it was one of normalcy. He wasn’t sure how much longer he’d be able to hug you, or look at you, or talk to you. Even simply being in your presence wasn’t something he was going to take for granted, because he knew that soon, he would never be able to again, whichever way it went. 

-

The day continued on, and the sun was setting much faster than you would ever anticipate. Probably because it wasn’t a real sun, and any glimpse of normalcy was non-lasting. It couldn’t be, because there had to be reminders that this was not the wilderness, and you were not safe. You would die any second. There were only four tributes remaining. You could imagine that things were getting tense back in the capitol. You couldn’t imagine the kid from eleven had garnered much of a fan base with Lukas being the prized tribute this year. You doubted the girl from one was getting any special attention, either. Not that they needed it. Estelle was most definitely the most qualified remaining tribute, a career who has trained for this moment all her life… but still, you’re sure Lukas will win it from her. 

While walking in the marshy rainforest, you’re quickly reminded how easily this game can end. 

You hear a branch snap a bit down the trail behind you, and you freeze. 

“Lukas…” you whisper, drawing the knife from your hip. 

He heard another branch, and turned his head, the boy named Brock from eleven quickly approaching, with Estelle on his heels. Whether or not she was chasing him, no one could be sure, but they both had a determined look in their eye, and all it took was one word for you to bolt ahead like lightning. 

“Run.”

The branches below you snapped in half, the pressure of your rapid footsteps was intense enough to squash any animal or snake that dared slither into your path. 

You could hear Lukas’ hard breath intake, as he was passing you every few seconds, then trailing a step behind, only to look back and make sure they weren’t gaining too quickly… except for they were. This was going to end in a face off, whether you liked it or not. You couldn’t run forever, and it was just a matter of time. You were ready to die, and you would protect Lukas. 

You tripped over your steps, holding your hand out to stop Lukas in his tracks before he fell. 

Well, at least you’d found the waterfall. The only downside is, you were at the top of it, having run onto a ledge that was at least a thirty foot drop into deep waters, raging from the pressure of the falls. There was no way you were making that jump without drowning. You’d probably have a heart attack on the way down and die before hitting the water. 

“W-what do we do?” You turned to your counterpart, and he whipped his head back at the two approaching tributes. 

“We’ve gotcha, now!” Estelle could be heard shouting, the sound getting far too close for comfort. It was now evident that they had been teamed up on this effort. “Nowhere to run!”

Lukas yanked your arm, pulling you beside him. 

“Do you trust me?” he asked sincerely, the look in his eyes made you scared, like he was thinking irrationally, and he was… but it was all he could come up with. 

“Yes,” you nodded, but grabbed his hand which was still on your arm. “Lukas?” 

He didn’t even hesitate. He didn’t answer your call of his name. He didn’t even give you a second to understand what the hell he was about to do. He just did it. 

Within a moment, gravity became your enemy, and you went flying backwards off the edge of the cliffside, arms and legs flailing as you screamed all the way down into the waters. You sucked in a quick breath before being  fully submerged, hammered down by the constant onslaught of heavy water. 

Lukas took off, running away while the others were distracted by your fall into the depths. He ran towards the forest again, trying to jump logs and dodge trees, anything that could make their path to him harder. 

Brock was still looking over the edge, having been surprised by the play of events. 

“Let’s go, we can’t let him get far,” Estelle pulled him by the shoulder, turning him to the rainforest patches again.

“What about the girl?” 

Estelle scoffed, “We’ll hear a cannon in a few minutes, she can’t swim.” 

And with that, they took off.

Immediately being in water, the panic set into your mind. You were clawing around, trying to make it out, reaching out for anything that you could use to pull yourself up… but with the pressure beating down over you, you sank deeper, and deeper, with no savior to jump in after you, now. This was it. This was the moment you had to choose. 

Live, or Die.

Last time you chose to die, but there was nothing on the line. Lukas is on the line now. He is the only person you swore you were going to protect in this arena, and you had to find a way out of here if that was going to happen. 

You tried to quiet your mind, to forget the past and just how much you hated being in this water. You were ignoring just how badly your arms ache while attempting to paddle to the surface. You forgot it all and remembered the boy you’ve known since childhood. You remembered all the times he stood up for you against the kids mocking your stutter. You remembered just how much he’s done for you and is still doing for you… and suddenly, your head breaks through the surface, and you’re able to crawl into the small cavern behind the waterfall. 

You start heaving breaths, rapidly letting the air tear through your lungs, now that they had access to air in the first place. You smiled to yourself once you were able to get high enough on the rocks to stand. You survived. You’d been dealt a hand that was completely out of your favor and you managed to climb out and breathe the air around you. 

Your excitement was immediately cut off when you heard a cannon sound. 

You didn’t waste a minute in climbing the rocks as fast as you could, albeit a little clumsy from having wet hands and shoes. Your mind raced, and you hoped that your heart pounding would be eased, and you would be wrong about your suspicions. 

“No, n-no,” you shook your head, running into the rainforest and looking around frantically. You took several turns, and couldn’t see anything or anyone, but you had your knife drawn anyway. You were practically panting by now, the heaviness in your breath never dwindling. 

The minute you came to a clearing, your eyes falling on the person in front of you, your eyes watered with tears. 

“Lukas,” you slid down to your knees next to his limp frame, pulling him into your lap to hold him. “Wake up. W-wake up, Lukas, I’m h-here.” 

He didn’t budge, but as you rocked him, you were able to see the source of this tragedy, the trail of blood, streaming from his chest and over his body in gushes. It was all over your hands, and it was all over your arms. It was all over you. You were covered in his blood, just like you were covered in Rodey’s dried blood. You’d let another ally sacrifice themselves for you. You swore you wouldn’t. 

This wasn’t just another ally, and this wasn’t just a tribute you’d met a week ago. This was the best friend you’d ever had. The person who grew up alongside you into a wonderful man. He was the person who comforted you when you felt too embarrassed to go to a family member. He was the boy who’d complimented you when no other boy would dare. He was the one who brought you shells every morning from his walk to the docks. And now he is the boy who’s blood you are covered in, crying over miserably. 

You can’t bring yourself to part with him, to let him go. You know if you do, something different will become of you. Something you have never been before. So you don’t. You cling to him, and you cry, and you let the thunder that begins to rumble above you reflect your emotion. It’s been a day since it’s rained in this rainforest, but even still, the rain doesn’t pour, it only trickles slightly. Enough to remind you that despite this loss, and despite the fact that you will never be the same, you are still in this arena, and there is only one way out. 

You raise your head, and hear another sound of a cannon. You look around, but there is no sign of movement or of other tributes. 

There’s only one left, and despite what you’ve said since the moment you entered this God forsaken place, despite your morals, and despite these tributes not being your real enemy, there is only one thing on your mind, and you will not rest until you’ve attained it…

As you move to stand, you roll Lukas’ body on his back, placing his hands over his chest to be at rest. You hate that this is how his story ends. You want to bury him, you want to give him a proper memorial, but you know this arena will be scrapped by the capitol for next year’s use, and this spot will be desecrated soon after you arrange it. So you’ve decided you will raise a memorial of him back home, when you arrive there. 

Your tears are still running hot, but there’s a new fire under them that hadn’t been there before. There’s an anger you’ve never felt before. There’s a glint in your eyes that will not be satisfied.

You turn your head at the familiar sound of an incoming parachute, the contents of the container seem to be large, as there’s an entire box being lowered in. You watch it fall to the ground, in disbelief at the sheer size of it alone. It comes up to about your knees, and you wonder, what could Finnick have sent me?

You flick open the top, and immediately see the contents of the inside. Rope, lots and lots of rope. Several carabiners are included that could be used for rock climbing, but you know, and he knows, that’s not what you have in mind. 

You pick up the note, two little wet spots appearing from the tears in your eyes, and the rain from above. 

Show no Mercy… - F

-

tags(open): @thepassionatereader @i-voluntears @secretsicanthideanymore @mystargirl-interlude @c4ttheart @lilibrn

[kdrawingblog]

Second part from this year's Inktober.

So, like the first third, these were also fanarts.

11. Wandering _ Seth and Horus from the BL manwha Ennead (Gods of Egypt), featuring Seth's favorite falcon.

12. Spicy_ Rock M. Sakura (Contestant from RuPaul's Drag Race season 12) from her interview on Maddy Morphosis' Give it to me straight.

13. Rise_ Brienne of Tarth and Jamie Lannister from the last season of Game of Thrones.

14. Castle_ interior of Howl's castle from the studio Ghibli movie, Howl's moving castle.

15. Dagger_ Rosiel and Katan from visual key masterpiece manga, Angel Sanctuary.

16. Angel_Trixie Mattel on the photoshoot for her book Working girls. Also contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race season 7.

17. Demon_ Katya Zamolodchykova on the photoshoot for her book Working girls. Also contestant on RuPaul's Drag Race season 7.

18. Saddle_ Mia Wasikowska on the film Stoker.

19. Plump_ Bombur, from BTs of the Hobbit movie.

20. Frost_ Jon Snow on the last episode of season 5 of Game of Thrones.

[doubledyke]

Comparing Edd to Eddy, which of the two you would say gone through the worst shit throughout the show?

(regarding both their homelifes AND all the bad stuff across the episodes too).

putting this under the cut cuz it gets pretty miserable lmao

also, i'm including ed.

as far as the canon of the show and movie i'll go with eddy obviously because of the whole bro thing, and bc he's most often the target of everyone's rage. at least with ed and edd, there seems to be a baseline of decency and occasional kindness from the other kids. as soon as eddy rears his square head, everyone's groaning and patting at their pockets. nazz and rolf are okay towards him a couple times i guess, but it ends in disaster nonetheless.

still going strictly by canon events i'd say edd is next. he's so damn stressed the entire time that it stresses ME out. eddy and ed put him through a lot both mentally and physically. he's so frail 😭 he can't handle all that.

ending with ed just cuz he comes off as impervious to any physical harm, and blocks a lot of the mental stuff as a defense mechanism. he does whatever he can to stay in his happy place and he's gotten really good at it. not saying he doesn't go through anything or that he isn't affected, he's just the least affected of the three.

we don't have a ton to go off of in terms of their home life, which is totally fine by me. preferable in fact. as a disclaimer, it's generally shitty to compare trauma, but they're cartoon characters so i'll compare their *fictional* trauma lmao. all just my opinion etc., etc.

during the run of the show, my opinion is that ed has it the worst at home. i imagine that he's made to feel very much like the red headed step-child. it's his parents and sarah teaming up against him, blaming him for all their problems. belittling, degrading and and if he's lucky, ignoring him. his dad really just reacts to what his wife and daughter tell him, but he reacts just the same. ed is cast to the basement and they all try really really hard to pretend that he doesn't exist. maybe his dad takes pity on him from time to time and buys him a comic or a movie behind his wife's back. or maybe he doesn't. he certainly doesn't want to ruffle feathers and make himself more miserable than he already is. come on, he just got off work. and once again, ed checks out to survive. i think there would be a point where ed and edd kinda look at each other and are like "what the fuck" in response to seeing ed's treatment first hand. we kind of get something close to that in the show when ed tells them they literally took his stairs.

edd is next i guess cuz he's got such a terrible wake up call in his future. realizing that no dude, it's not even slightly normal to communicate with your parents strictly via sticky note. it's not normal for a kid to be expected to take care of every single chore and task around the house. and all the books, all the academic achievements, all the folded socks in the world aren't gonna make them love you. then dealing with his (i always use this word) DEBILITATING anxiety on top of all that? i've said it before but he's straight up burnt out by the end of the show at age 12/13.

edd by the start of bps:

i put eddy last bc at least during the show his home life seems relatively normal. his mom is very obviously doting and his dad is okay as long as he keeps that wrist tight. with bro gone, the immediate threat is neutralized, and he's in no hurry to unpack anything going on internally. much like the other two, there's a major realization and subsequent struggle in his future. but he's slightly more deluded than edd and is actually the last of the three to accept that his childhood was fucked up. even after bps, he kinda knows, but he's incapable of accepting that he was a victim. bruises heal, what's the big deal? bro didn't have to do all that in front of everyone though, geez. his self worth is so low that he doesn't believe his experiences can be considered abuse. he's the one that pissed his brother off, after all. and so on and so forth. anywho, if bro still lived in the house i'd probably put him at the top of the list cuz like... not to get too dark here but idk man "accidents" happen and who knows if bro could've been stopped if no one was around. my personal hc as to why bro left or was forced to leave is that there was a really close call.

so yeah they all have fucked up home lives and day to day lives. they're so miserable 🥺 yes i will compound it 🥹

[ineedahugtm]

Hello! This was into response about someone complaining about Hazbin Hotels (admittedly) pretty bad pacing so strap in for 8 paragraphs outlining the history of television and how Hazbin hotel’s terrible pacing fits into this.

So here’s a little (unneeded but still fun) history of television. So as we transitioned from the Radio Era a full season was 39 weeks (3 quarters of a year) and was preformed live, during the rest of the year that time slot would be designated for replacement shows because show hosts have to vacation at some point in their lives.

Anyways due to primitive recording techniques making reruns virtually impossible, the industry standard of replacement shows continued into television. Although finally by mid-fifties reruns were more possible and commonplace. From this point on the number of episodes began to decline, by the late 60’s the 46 episode standard season became 26 instead. (1ep per week is half the year meaning reruns for the other half so that every show could be repeated once a lot easier than the longer seasons of the past )

Essentially broadcast networks wanted more bang for their buck

Then came the miniseries format in the 70’s. Usually about 13 episodes telling stories week to week that were self contained (Think Phineas and Ferb, the episodes have no impact on each other) Also 13 is half of what a normal season was so networks would use this if a project was on the edge of cancellation.

Also in the 70’s networks would cancel shows mid year (now it’s after the November sweeps) so they’d order shows in 12 episode groups and if the ratings weren’t good enough a new one would replace it in January.

By the 90’s it kept getting shorter ordering shows in either 8, 16, or 24 episode seasons. For almost all new shows that a network isn’t sure about they give 8 episodes to test out the waters and see how fans react and that’s what I believe Amazon Prime did for Hazbin Hotel.

And so after an entire history lesson of television, let’s talk about Hazbin Hotel.

So let’s get one thing straight, yeah the pacing of HH is not great and definitely could be improved upon. From what it looks like, we’re supposedly watching a show that has a time span of about 6 months in between 8 episodes which gives no time to develop almost anything but plot relevant to the extermination. However like I just spent the past 4 paragraphs leading up to, season’s episodes are only getting shorter and shorter, not to mention that it’s up to the networks to tell the show how many episodes it’s going to be getting. So with 8 episodes to tell decades worth of planning a world out for Hazbin Hotel I’m sure that’s a little hard, especially with all of the characters that we love and want screen time for (remember how everyone was mad at Encanto for the pacing as well? The plot was there but the movie was too short for the amount of characters and stories that they wanted to tell)

Additionally it’s been said that the team didn’t know that the show was getting a second season until half way through production (I don’t have any sources to back this one up but I’ve heard it going around a few places) so it seems like this season was planned like it was the only season we would be getting which would explain why everything is so fast paced.

Hopefully with that second season (and maybe more) they will feel more fluid and organic but for now we need to understand that this is just the first season and that the rough start shouldn’t be entirely on the blame of the show itself. If your mad about something sure, I’m down to put the blame on those responsible- but I think instead of being mad at the show, or saying “I’m disappointed in the show” we should shift the blame onto the networks who put such small episode constraints on not just Hazbin hotel- but all new shows! Sure if you have a well thought out story that you can tell in 8 episodes then that’s great! But too many shows are forced to rush through their plot because of greedy networks enforcing restraints on the creativity of the shows their hosting

[teacuptoast]

Homefront

Relation: Young Justice x Teammate! GN. Reader

Warnings: Cussing, Mention of Alcohol

Words: 3.2K

Summary: A reader insert and rewrite of episode 12 season 1. Reader is an absolute smart ass but we stan the sarcasm. They're giving major stiles stalinski vibes.

A/N: Ayyy my first piece so enjoy. Also, I'm having my monthly YJ brain rot.

Navigation

“Ugh, I hate chemistry,” Sighing, I walked out of my last class of the day. Merging into the swarm that was the hallway I adjusted my bookbag as my feet swiftly carried me out of the building. I was practically running to get out of the building, desperate to get away from the place.

Its only the second week and I already miss summer. AP this, ACC that, I was drowning in paperwork. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the team gets 3 hours off before you. While they’re all playing games and baking cookies I’m stuck listing to Mr. ‘Peaked in Highschool’ tell me how to do a pushup. 

Already in a bad mood I walked deeper into the drowsy city.  A steady drissle turned into a downpour as your student jacked did little to shield you from the rain. ‘I hate this,” I’d chant in my head to pass the time, “I hate this, I hate this so much.” Forgetting an umbrella was a rookie mistake.

Now being soaked and soggy, I huffed before taking a sharp turn into the nearby ally. My boots splashed through puddles as I neared the rundown photo booth. Setting my bag down in a relatively dry sport my hand rummeged through textbooks before pulling out a pair of glasses.

Placing the glasses on my face I took in a large breath before stepping into the booth. After scanning me the voice read, “B0-7 Hawkeye.” Hearing the familiar name I readied myself for whatever weird situation I was about to walk into.

Stepping forward into the room I closed my eyes and spoke into the room, “I think I’ve broken the record for most consecutive minor problems in one day, and let me tell you, its really pissing me off.”

Opening my eyes I looked into open room to find a fireball coming straight twords my face. My mind took its time playing ‘fight or flight’ roulet before it made the last minute movement to doge.

A string of curses left my mouth as I tried to figure out what was going on. Though I didn’t have the time before another fireblast came my way, this one I didn’t miss as cleanly. Feeling your skin burn you let out a hiss before dropping you bag and deciding to run.

Practically screaming I began to talk to myself, “I just had to ask how this day could could get any worse!” Booking it down the hallway I took a steady turn into a small room, barely missing the flames that followed.

Shoving yourself into a storage room was anything but ideal. My rapid breath frilled the room creating a erie eco. Inhaling one more time I held my breath as foot steeps neared. It sounded like the person was wearing metal shoes. ‘Red Tornado’ my mind celebrated, almost making me open the door.

The footsteps stoped at the studden sound, right on the otherside of the door. Rational thought soon kicked in, ‘Whys Red Tornado trying to kill me?’ My face cringe as I relized my stupid mistake.

The tension grew as the steps didn’t seem to move. Almost like a horror movie I held My breath, waiting in anticipation. After what seemed like hours the footsteps began to walk away.

Shakily I let out a breath. Trying to piece together the situation, I couldn’t help but wonder who, where, why, and what the hell was going on here. ‘This must be an attack, or maybe this is just a practie mission right? Right?’

After a short while I left the closet, checking the to make sure the coast was clear. I began to work myself down to the locker room. If I was going to do my job effectively, I first needed to get myself out of civies. 

Heading twords the fitness center I quickly rushed into the locker rooms. I frantically tried to open my lock before it finally released. Out fell my suit and I didn’t wait a second to rip of my soaked cloths. 

To think I was in the rainy streets of Seattle less then 20 minutes ago, gave me the shivers. I didn’t even have time to look at my burns on my arms and face to know I was in some deep shit. Knowing the adrenaline masked the pain, I quickly cover it up the burn. Finally placing my mask on my face I slipped on my toolbelt.

Putting my last knife in its place, I took in the calm that certainly wouldn’t last long. Hearing two pairs of footsteps, I quickly turned to see a pair of familiar faces being thrown to the ground by a flame.

Waving for them to follow me into the locker room, the three of us filed in before the next attack. Before we could even speek a word, Robin was already tring to override the systum. Following their lead I began to twist the showerheads, again drenching my dry suit.

“Can anyone please tell me what the Hell is going on!” I asked though nether responded. Robin procided to tell us that all lines of communication where down. ‘Grate now were stranded,’ I thought to myself.

“At least the waters helping,” he said as we backed into the middle of the room. Soon the clicnking of the pipes turned into growls as the water pressure shot them off the wall.

“Or not,” I added as the room began to flood. Swimming upwards I noticed a red robot sening more flames twords up. We looked at one another before I was taken by the water and tossed onto the hallway floor.

The three of us coughed as we tried to catch our breath. Standing up we quickley headed for the kitchen.

“We need to get lost.” Robin said as we walked into the kitchen. As we all entered I started to catch my breath.

I scoffed and smiled back. “Yeah no shit.”

Artemis looked to me before rolling her eyes, “The sarcasm is not helping Hawk.”

Turning back to face her, I rasid my hands in frustration, “I’m sorry I almost just got my face seareed off by a robot with boobs! I have a right to be a fussy,” stepping twords the kitchen I continued, “Lets head for the vents, so I can have a little fussy breakdown without being seen!”

The twos’ bitter similes soon turned lighthearted. Disite being overly dramatic and flamboyant at times, you were intellectually a genius. No matter the task at hand you always were able to run every possibility to make the best decision for the team and mission. You were flashy but decisive none the less.

As the two of us started our way into the vents we questioned Robin as he downloaded the caves blueprints. Before he could finnish his explonation, the familiar sound of metal boots was heard in the hallway. 

We quickly scurried into the shaft one after another, myself leading the way. Robin shouted directions as we made our way throught the vents. Turning I opened the vent cover as instructed. Sliding down I couldn’t help myself from making a little ‘wee’ sound. 

Braking through the vent we landed on the rafters inside the boiler room; now it was Robins time to lead. Before he could get anywhere we were stoped by a loud thud. Looking up we saw it was the same flame robot from before.

“Hey your a very nice looking robot,” I said to draw her attention away so the others could escape, “But the whole metal thing is kind of a turn off, for me.” She didn’t seem amused as she raised her hands, fire fillling the room as I let out one last remark, “I never said you wern’t hot!”

Jumping onto the growned level I met with my teemates. Seening the machines begin to malfunction, Robin let out a quick word before we moved again. Steem hissed as pipes broke sending us charging by the robot. It aimed for us as we continued to struggle with the blazing attacks. We ran past it quickly, myself brining up the end of the pack.

Ducking behind another engine, Robin pulled up a scene from his hollow glove, “I know that other acces tunnel is here somewhere,” Robin said in distress.

Finding the vent door on the floor I held it up for Artemis to jump into, speaking with a stupid smile, “You mean this one?” Placing an explosive, Robin followed in behind us. Falling into the tunnel, he stoped us before we could get much further.

Plugging his glove into the electrical socket he quickly explained, “Looking out the cave’s motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us.”

Artemis quickly followed up, “And I ask again, who is the enemy?”

“We already know theres a giant red robot lady that can produce fire and unless Kaldur’s gone crazy, we can assume theres another person who can control water. I’m just wondering why they look like Red Tornados divorced parents,” I added as Robin pulled up the screen.

On the screen showed our four superpowered teammates. They were up to their usual shenanigans wile working on Conners bike.

Kalder was the first to ask if anywone was struggiging with their school work, to which I fell back against the vent and yet out a disgruntled yes. As Megann began to ramble about her cheerleading team, I silently wished I went to our own Happy Harbor High school.

It was just some normal highschool, with normal kids who all did normal things. They could do extra cariculors like cheerleading, or swimming. They could hangout without having to risk the lost hour for their homework. It struck a cord of jellosuy inside of me hearing them talk about how easy their personal lives are.

Every morning I’d wake up at 6 in the morning to be greeted by prentious assholes for the 8 following hour. Pine Hills Private Acadamy for Intalectully Gifted, or as I call it, ‘The prerec for becoming a rich dousebag.’ Everyone there was just the same carbon copy Barbie and Ken and it made me want to rip my hair out.

While everyone was worried about surviving the evil robot attack, I couln’t stop myself from stressing over my lab paper due tomorrow.

My attention was soon drawn back as everyone was blasted back by an explosion before the screen cut out. Artemis was the first to pester us with questions about what hapend to our team mates.

“Explosion took out the camera,” Robin responded, “I’ll look for another angle.” He continued to type away as 4 more screens loaded onto his hallow glove. The first camera showed big stretching waves crash into the hanger before one seprate stream deliberately took out the camera. On the second angle, we briefly saw the team get splashed by water, before the camera was cut out again. 

“All four are dead,” Robin spoke as I rolled my eyes at his poor choice in words, “The cameras. I mean the cameras,” ​​Artemis face relaxed, “I’m sure the others are ok.” He continued to ramble on as Artemis leaned back next to me. Before we got the chance to relax, we were already opening the vent to jump down into the study.

Running down the stairs Robin explained that theres was a secret passage opened by one of the books. I jumped at the chace to coment, “Whats next, a trap door that leads to the dongen?”

“You should see the Batcave,” He said as I chuckled. Walking passed the numerous shelves we were surprised by the door opening behind us. Getting into position we quickly retreated behind a shelf. Knives still drawn and ready, we patintle waited as metal clanking walked down the isle.

“Artemis, Robin, Hawkeye.” The voice spoke reminding of us all of a familiar Den Mother. Artemis, though, jumped the gun and moved to confront him. Though who she saw was not Tornado and more like his long lost step father.

Robin pushed her out of the way as I tried to stab the machine in between its mental plating. Hitting its eye I tried to stab the other one before he could react. Before I got the chance he grabbed me by the neck and threw me into the nearest bookcase.

Hearing my teammates call my name I croaked out, “Sorry for flirting with your wife, thats my fault.” Rubbing the back of my head I got up to find the other, female, robot standing infront of us. 

As she shot fire out of her hands I tried to regroup with the others as they scrambled ontop of the bookshelf. Artemis questioned who they were as she covered us from the top of the shelf. Sliding down with Robin the two androids continued to fire. Finding the right book in the nick of time, we entire the secret as the shelf fell overhead.

As we sprinted down the hall Artemis asked, “Did you know Tornado had siblings?”

“Yes! It’s almost like I mentioned this is the vents!” I shouted, “If I had a nickled for every time you all called my ideas stupid and I was right, I’d be more richer then Bruce Wane!”

As we met a cross in the halways she grabed my hand, “So what do we do now? Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League. How are we suposed to take down two of them?” She seemed more distressed as the situation grew.

“They do seem pretty user unfriendly.” Robin responded as I once again let out an obnoxious chuckle.

She told us off before we got to respond, being interrupted by they overhead speaker system. It sounded like the same voice as one of the androids, “Attention, Robin. Attention, Artemis. Attention, Hawkeye. You have exactly ten minuets to surrender or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished.” Turing to face one another we could only assume what danger are teamates were in.

Continuing to run down the halls the androids sounded again, reminding us we only have 8-minuets left.

“We can access the hangar from here,” Robin spoke before we quickly turned around to face another wave of water. Contradicting himself, the three of us began to run away from the wave, only to be swept up by it. Taking in a deep breath, we were quickly submerged. 

As Robin took out his breathing device, he headed towards me first but, I shook my head. Giving it to Artemis I looked around, only to find a red hand wrapped around my ankle. As it pulled me twords it, I grabed a smaller knife from my belt. Griping it I stabed it into his other eye as bubbles escaped my mouth.

Pushing off of it I felt a hand grip my waste and pull me out of the tunnel. As explosions followed behind us we broke for the surface. Gasping for air we quickly caught our breaths before hearing the voice of a familar speedster. 

Quick dodging the incoming fire blasts we quickly swam twords Wally and Conner, who where both trapped in a rock of some sorts. Quickly asking if they were ok, they directed our attention up to the Martian. Looking up both Kaldur and Megan were traped in a cage made of fire.

“Aqualad, is she-” Artemis asked, pleading. Kaldur reassured us that she was just unconscious but, that they were running out of time. The conversation was broke when more flames were sent twords us.  

Navigating deeper under water my body was beginning to fetieege. 8 hours of school on top of running away from evil robots was alot more then your 16-year-old body could handle. Passing Sphere, who was stuck in the wall, we quickly tried to hussle up the stairs. Unfortunately we were followed by the evil step father, and were stoped at the top of the stairs by the evil stepmother.

As Artemis talked about her lack of arrows, Robin called for a distraction.

”Ay Ay Captin!” I responded. throwin a small dager into the flame robots eye. It didn’t seem to faze the it at all. Before she was able to hit me with her flames, I dove into the water. 

The others followed as I looked for a storm drain, which I luckily found. Pulling it off I let the others swim up before I followed in. Once we broke the surface we gasped for air and starrted to climb up a later.

Sitting in the tunnel I looked up and spoke, “You know i’m getting really tired of drowning!” Following my statement was the reminder that we only had 6 minutes left. Placing my hands behind my head, I heaved for air and didn’t bother listening to the two bicker.

“And you,” She looked to me, “For once in your life can you take this seriously? Our friends are dying and you look like you’d rather be napping!”

Between breaths I snapped back, “I think anyone of us would rather be naping then dying Artemis,” taking in another breath I responded to her other question, “And for the record I am taking this seriously. I prefeer to process my emotions with a little bit of sarcastic flare to avoid the fact that I secretly have an inferiority complex,” Watching her face turn in confusion I finished, “Does that anser your question?”

Slowly nooding we followed Robin down the tunnel. Artemis droned on about how none of our   training maters now that we’re without the rest of our teammates. Though something she said sparked an idea.

“There machines,” Robin spoke and looked at me to finnish, “That means one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range. Nighty Night evil robots!”

Artemis was quick to bring us back down to reality, “Great, except you better have an EMP emitter in your utility belt, because I know I don’t have one in my quiver.”

“Nope I’m fresh out!” Robin responded, “But i'm betting we can make one.” Looking dumbfounded I turn my attention to him.

“This isn’t the science fair! We can’t do that in -” I was cut off by the android reminding us we had 5 minutes left, “In five muniets.” 

Pressing my com, I linked to the one deliberately placed wepon, “Hey KF. Correct me if i’m wrong but, theres two vircator in the med lab, on the X-ray machine.”

Chuckling he responded, “I thought you hated practical science?” I hummed in agreement as we made our way into the med lab, before explaining the plan to the others, “You’ll find a small vacuum tube called a viractor, that converts high energy pulses. Reprogram the units microwave conversion from X-rays to EMPs, with a cascading energy vector directed outward.”

Grabbing the cylinder I asked once again, “Alright we’ve re-programed and secured the EMP,” Standing up the others followed my lead, “Hey KF? Again correct me if i’m wrong but if we hook this thing up into the main generator then we win the prize right?”

“You know your really making it hard to be the science nerd on the team,” Sighing he finished, “Once again correct.”

Pressing off my com, we dropped into a nearby airway. Looking down I could see the two robots as well as our teammates. Looking at one another, Robin divised a plan.

“Ok. Make a distraction,” He called into the com. It wasn’t long before the two drowning knuckleheads were teasing the robots to death. Hell, their commets were even making me cringe. Whe Robin asked for cover, the two of us quickly got into place.

As he swung onto the generator, he placed the EMP inside. After pulling up his hollowglove to re-route, he whispered into the coms, “It’s not working, Hawk. Circuits incomplete, I need something conductuble.”

I readied myself for the throw, though I stoped when I heard a yell, “Robin look out!” The boy was soon tackled by a wave of water, nocking him off the generator. Artemis reaied her arrow but whilst trying to dodge the blast from the android, rammed into me.

Losing my footing I tried to regain my balance but, the slickness of my drench boots betrayed me. As I began to fall I gave one last ditch attempt to connect the circuit. Throwing the knife before I hit the water with a large and painfull splash. Relling in pain from the impact I came up to the surface tp find that my dager had only missed by centimeters.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” I spoke, preparing myself for the incoming wave. Taking a final deep breath I excepted my fate, It was all up to Artemis now. With that, I felt my mind slip as I passed out from exhaustion.

***

Long and painfull coughs wrack my body as I began to wake up. I didn’t even have the energy to sit up but I always had one for a comment, “God I need a drink,” I coughed as I heard footsteps walk towards me, “A dirty shirley? Vodka? A club soda? Fuck it i’ll even drink Malabu just something people.”

“Well you definitely haven’t lost your humor.” Megann spoke as the others crowded around me.

Kaldur was the next to ask, “Are you alright? You’ve been out the longest? We were beginning to worry.”

A week chuckle left my lips, “Ah just ask Artemis, I was taking a quick nap. Speaking of which, I would like to get back to that.” Shewing them away with my hands I curled up more into the floor. Chuckles followed but they all decided to let you rest.

The moment didn’t last long though before Wally and Artamis were heard yelling from accros the room. Though when you heard a familiar voice. Deciding it was best yous at up drowsy.

I couldn’t bother to hear the aindriods reasoning, looking over to the two bots you decided to study them. As Red Tornado walked twords you and the drown you began to protest, “Hey I don’t care why you wern’t here but, I think its in all or our best interests if you don’t have a family reunion.”

“There’s no need to worry any more Hawkeye. The leage is here to finnish this.” He said kneeling twords the too.

Trying to stand up I wobbled and tried to separate the group of robots, “Thats not my point. My point is that your clearly linked to these two, making you a person of intrest in the attack. You being here at this moment is quit literally the worst alibi.”

He didn’t seemed bothered by my words but I still tried to convince the android. Before I got the chance Sphere sprung back to life jumping out of the wall. Then the relization hit me, those robots would be waking up anytime now…they just need a spark.

As the others were busy with the laser cutter, I wispered to the android “You walk away right now and no one will need to ever know about this,” He didn’t anser, just simply sreached his finger out, “Don’t!”

Quickly the drons came back to life, panicking you looked back to your friends behind you, trying to tell them to run. Red tornado raised to the sky as it began to suck the air out of the room. Quickly grabing your throat you began to cough. Grasping for oxygen you felt the life being rinped out of you. One after another, their bodys hit the floor. Despite your best efforts, you feel back to sleep.

***

“Hey I know your tired kid but you got to wake up.” The familiar voice was heard above me. I willed myself to open my eyes. Opening my eyes I was met with a familiar face.

“God I need a drink. Do you know the day i’ve had,” I asked him with a lopsided smile, “Like I had a Murphy's law daw. Just wait till Roy hears this.” Patting my shoulder he stood up giving me the chance to lay down once again.

From a distance I could only hear him speak, “Definitely concussed but they’ll be alright.

[meraki-yao]

RWRB Movie: Sequel Series?

Hear me out.

A while back I mentioned that although I desperately want more Firstprince and more of the RWRB universe, I don’t really straight up want a sequel movie because of how complete the movie’s “fairy-tale” ending is and because I can’t think of, and don’t really want a full-on dramatic plot for their future. I kind of just wanna see them live their lives. I said I didn’t really know what’s the compromise between my two thoughts.

It hit me recently:

a series/ mini-series

The thing is, a series doesn’t need to be a continuous storyline. It can and most of the time it is, but it doesn’t need to be. May not be the best comparison but the Disney Junior shows I watched as a kid, while having some sort of overall continuity, aren’t always continuous. Each episode can serve as an independent story: sometimes it’s a flashback episode, sometimes it’s an alternate universe episode etc.

So when it comes to RWRB sequel, the benefit of doing a series instead of a movie is that it doesn’t need to be strictly set in the future, and it doesn’t have to have a dramatic over-arching plot, which leads to two big things we can work with.

One, we can jump around with the timeline, and give enough time to explore events that could only be mentioned in passing in the movie due to time constraints and pacing

@pippin-katz wrote a post about seeing a flashback to their first meeting in the sequel, and yes, absolutely, but with a series, a whole episode can be dedicated to their first meeting, which would be enough time to explore the whole event (i.e. Alex’s nervousness and Henry’s discomfort being at the conference, what happened after) and both Henry and Alex’s perspective. We can see everything from that day.

We could also fill in the gaps, moments that occurred during the movie but wasn’t fully presented. I don’t know if Wimbleton still works with the difference in dynamic and character on Henry’s part, but if it does it would be fun to see. One of the things that was in the book that I wish could have been in the movie was a moment of Alex’s showing his vulnerability and Henry understanding him immediately when they were just friends, so the Christmas phone call in Chapter 3, that can be in the series. Maybe the thing with kid Alex and the magazine photo of 12-year-old Henry. Things like Henry’s meeting with the King during his 18th birthday. Henry’s perspective of the Alex POV events and vice versa.

And of course we could have moments of their future, living together or working out a long-distance relationship, celebrating anniversaries, going on dates, doing public events as a couple, maybe even proposal, engagements, wedding, adoption, all the good stuff.

Two, we can focus on characters and relationships that aren’t Firstprince

Now don’t get me wrong, I love my boys and could never get enough of them

But one critic I’ve heard and sort of agree with is that a lot of supporting characters, and subsequently their actors, were underused. While I completely understand that again, it’s due to the limitations of movie storytelling, it’s still a pity.

With a series though? We can have episodes focusing on certain relationships, past, present and future.

We can have Henry’s relationship with his father, how the whole family fell apart for a few years because of losing Arthur and how much Henry’s grief affected him. (I think Nick would absolutely kill it)

We can have Alex learning more about Henry from Bea and Percy, and forming some sort of unspoken “Henry protection squad” bond.

We can have Henry reconciling with his grandfather and mother, and him introducing Alex to his mother.

And while we’ve seen Henry bond with Oscar, it’d be nice to see more of that, as well as see Henry bond with Ellen.

Firstprince will always be present, but with a series, it doesn’t always need to be the focus, and we can explore other relationships as well! And it’d give the other character a bigger chance to shine

And it can even be independent character studies: we can get a closer look into Henry’s depression and Alex’s ADHD/imposter syndrome (I’m not sure if movie Alex still reads ADHD, someone help me out here please, but if he does it’d be nice to see)

I love the movie so much and I understand that not everything can be translated on screen for it, but if the next related project is something more like “fill in the gaps” instead of “start a new thing” we can adapt certain things in the book that couldn’t be in the movie. Like colouring and adding things in the blank space of a painting instead of starting a new painting. Think about it, even Henry’s bonus chapter is a collection of miscellaneous moments that happen after the events of the book: it doesn’t have a plot.

I literally don’t know if this is a practical idea, and I’m aware this literally sounds like a collection of cannon compilate one-shot fanfics but on screen, but this is the best way to extend the RWRB universe I can think of

It’s more domestic fun and maybe fan service than making a statement/sending a message like the movie did, but the movie already did that, and it would just be nice to watch smaller moments of their lives

(and well, I got myself excited writing this, so please please please please please)

[sapphyreopal5]

I’ve noticed a lot of the fandom attacking Jensen all because a character on the show 9-1-1 was revealed to be bisexual and people are saying that’s Jensen’s a coward and a homophobe which I don’t believe because he was willing to do a sex scene with Tony Starr before they changed the storyline, but Jensen’s homophobic because he didn’t want his canonically straight character to kiss Mr. Chapped Lips? How does that make sense? I was just curious if you had an opinion about this

Hello Anon, thank you for the ask :) Mr. Chapped Lips, HA love it! People have been calling Jensen homophobic for years now unfortunately. This clip from Asylum 3 back in 2009 shows him saying "You know, I would say yes, but then Brokeback Mountain came out, and my desire to do a cowboy film completely tanked" when someone asked if he'd like to do a cowboy movie. In 2013, he also essentially stated in this clip he's going to pretend he doesn't know what the question was when someone was asking a question (partially asked, mind you) starting with "I love your character becoming more comfortable with himself this season. I'm bisexual and I have noticed some possible subtext that you might be..." to which he started off with saying "I'm thoroughly confused" and essentially shoos off the question... It is possible this Jensen receipts Twitter account is a Destiel account (seems to me it is) but the clips do show what was said at different conventions to show you why people believe Jensen Ackles is homophobic.

Of course, us logical people who DID watch the show know it is NOT canon for Dean to be homosexual at all. Why Misha calls it a love confession, pandering to the loud members of the Destiel shippers crowd is 'cause $$$ I found the above GIFs from this post here but thought I'd have the GIFs on here for VISUAL purposes, so these people can have a direct point of reference staring them right in the face. The episodes in question that post mentions where Dean specifically says he's straight in his own quirky ways are Croatoan (Season 2, Episode 9), Jus in Bello (Season 3, Episode 12), and Live Free or Twihard (Season 6, Episode 5). Of course, I don't agree with the original poster this was merely because he was "in danger" and stressed out from it. He likely went with the gay couple scenario with Sam in Bugs (Season 1, Episode 8) as to not "cause waves" with potentially buying a house keep attention elsewhere as far as not looking suspicious with investigating.

As far as the said scene he was going to do with Antony Starr prior to the changing of the story line, I am assuming it is this you're talking about that is in the original comics. I see the show changed it so that Homelander is in fact Soldier Boy's son, which makes sense as to why he refused to do the scene. Instead, we got the "Herogasm" episode in season 3. Now as for why the script changed from the original comics to this episode, I don't know.

My overall opinion is, Jensen is probably tired of people talking about Destiel. It's not canon to the show period. Also, do people realize what phobes are? Genuine yet extreme fears. It is one thing to not like something or to have prejudices or discriminate against something, but it's another to fear it. To differentiate between these things, I am linking this website here and also copy and pasted the chart included in it for visual references. To discriminate is to deny rights, privileges and opportunities to members of a particular group. To have prejudice against something is to have an unfair and unreasonable feeling or opinion of something often formed without enough knowledge or thought. Having a phobia means to have an extreme, irrational, fear of something that may cause a person to panic and is described as being a type of anxiety disorder. Now, does Jensen actively fear or straight up avoid gay people or Destiel fans? No. He has still signed things or taken photographs with Destiel fans over the years, despite saying Destiel doesn't exist multiple times. Maybe not with the biggest smile in the world about it but he has not denied taking photos with any of them or complained hardcore about it.

I said in another post it's possible Jensen is not straight but is bi leaning more towards women. However, I do not believe he will act upon this as far as being in a relationship with anyone who isn't a woman (despite the fact he's still currently married to Elta). As far as a recent clip I saw floating around somewhere that a Destiel fan was told they couldn't ask their question about Destiel (despite Misha saying they can ask), I say that this causes unnecessary controversy and that Creation wants to keep things pleasant for everyone. Destiel fans are straight up too aggressive and pushy about making their ship canon and reality for several years now, despite Jensen and others saying no it isn't. If Jensen were to kiss any man, it honestly would not be Misha. Sorry not sorry here...

Thanks for the ask Anon.

[clairedaring]

Hi, I've seen your blog and it appears to me that you've watched a lot of gdh movies. So I was wondering this: what is your top 5 gdh movie? I, for my part, have only watched two so far: oh my girl ! and you, me and me which is one of my favorite movie this year so far.

it brings me to tears (happily) whenever someone talks to me about GDH films ಥ_ಥ so here are my favorite GDH films (in this order as of this moment, no. 2 to no. 5 interchange from time to time depending on my mood)

1. Bad Genius (2017) and Bad Genius: The Series (2020)

So whenever I'm asked about GDH, the first film I instantly recommend would be Bad Genius. Because not only is Bad Genius imho THE film that puts GDH on the map, I think it has a lot of influence on Thai cinematic works, and to some extent television works.

Essentially, Bad Genius is a story about Lin, a straight A student who team up with her friends to pull off a large scale cheating scheme on an SAT-like exam. It's a heist thriller drama that definitely leaves me feeling stressed out as hell as if I was there in the testing room with those students.

I know it's kind of a cheat to also add this, but whenever I recommend Bad Genius, I also must recommend Bad Genius: The Series which is a 12 episode series that serves as a more detailed+sequel version of the film. I love this series because the young actors of the series gave me a fresh take on the characters I already know and loved so I had a great time falling in love with all of them again. The series fixed a few plotholes/qualms I had with the cinematic version as well as an extensive background story on Bank (played by Nonkul Chanon in film, Jaonaay Jinjett in series), my favorite character from this franchise so Bad Genius: The Series is the one work I cannot recommend enough.

One of the things I love about the series as well is that it also maintained the exact same vibes and cinematography like color-grading, camerawork...

2. OMG! Oh My Girl (2022)

I am a sucker for 'seemingly unrequited love' and 'right person, wrong time' tropes so this film really hit ALL the spots for me at its release.

Stylisticaly speaking, I absolutely love the Wes Anderson-esque zoom-in-from-afar shots for comedic effect. many stellar comedic moments where i laughed out loud. I think the humor in this film is poignant, accompanied by great comedic timing from both leads.

One of the highlights of Oh My Girl aside from the many subversions to romcom clichés, I like how Guy (the ML played by the incredible Sky Wongravee) was a morally grey protagonist and that the film isn't afraid to call out his problematic "nice guy" facade. He's a self-aware jerk and I genuinely love his self-awareness.

3. One For The Road (2021)

So I didn't watch this at release and it took quite a while before I gathered the determination to sit down and watch this on Netflix on a late rainy evening. Little did I know, I would soon be crying screaming bawling my eyes.

One For The Road is about Aood (Ice Natara) who enlists his estranged friend, Boss (Tor Thanapob) on a road trip to return items to his exes before he dies.

If I had a nickel for every time GDH wanted to give me a selfish, jerky male protagonist, I would have like four or five nickels but it's crazy that it's happened so many times (formulaically one would say) and here I am still empathizing and crying over these kinda jerky male protagonists.

The soundtrack was just brilliant. To quote a review I once wrote, the director, the music score and composer were truly out for blood with the soundtrack for this movie and they did it. This film is a good example of how important soundtrack and film scores are to elevate the narrative being told.

There are so many things to praise about the production but if I had to choose one thing, it would be the excellent mise-en-scene of this film. Every shot is dazzling, intentional and fill with metaphors. It was truly beautiful.

4. Not Friends (2023) 

So I went into this thinking it would be Thai take on Dear Evan Hansen but I was so glad that it wasn't the case even though there are similarities.

Not Friends continues to deliver GDH's classic "selfish jerky male protagonist" with Pae (Anthony Buisseret) who just transferred to a new school in his last year of high school. Seeing no chances in getting into university through the entrance exam, Pae decides to enter a film contest by making a film about Joe (Jump Pisitpol), his seat mate who recently passed away.

The film had me bawling my eyes out in theatres by the end. I love that there were a lot philosophical questions like how much we value a friend's worth in the film. If you like Baipor/Anthony tandem in You & Me & Me, Not Friends is a must-watch for this acting duo reunion.

5. The Con-Heartist (2020) 

So for the last spot, I debated a lot between two romantic comedies (both starring Baifern Pimchanok), The Con-Heartist (2020) and Friend Zone (2019). I recently rewatched the former and was reminded by how much I love the zany humor in this film so she gets the last spot.

The Con-Heartist is about Noina (Baifern Pimchanok), who is in debt because of her ex-boyfriend so she hires a con artist, Tower (Nadech Kugimiya) to help her get revenge against her ex-boyfriend by swindling him.

Even though it's billed as a romantic comedy, I think it's more comedy-leaning compared to Friend Zone but I love the comedic moments the two leads, Baifern and Nadech. พี่ไม่หล่อลวง by BamBam is the OST song for the film and it has never left my Spotify Wrapped for the last 3 years 😭

+bonus: How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (2024)

This is the first GDH film from 2024 and although it comes out in like two weeks, I can feel it's going to dethrone one of the films in my top 5 list for sure. If you're thinking of going to watch something at the cinema soon, I hope you consider checking out Lahn Mah this April!

I hope you give one of these GDH films a chance. I love watching GDH films because although they can have different directors/team of scriptwriters, they always end up with certain similarities (be it cinematography or screenplay or characters). While not all GDH films are incredible masterpieces but out of the Thai production houses for films, I would say GDH 559 (and its predecessor GTH) has the most solid record of having strong and compelling cinematic works.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Body Language in La Pluie Ep 12

I told @bengiyo the other day that I didn’t know that I had much more to say on La Pluie, because I thought the show was perfect and when it’s perfect I don’t have a lot fo analysis to write up at the very end. 

“For you, Captain Hands, who writes 20,000 word essays, that is unacceptable” 

But I was truly at a loss for what I could talk about because this whole show was phenomenal and I was seeing such good meta coming out from so many other people, I felt like most of it was covered. So I consulted the clowns and they were like “baby you’re a one trick pony, you know what you need to write about…body language,” and I went ‘oh yeah you’re right!” 

So here is a breakdown of the body language in the two confession scenes in Episode 12: Tien and Lomfon, Tai and Patts. 

Tien and Lomfon 

Judging for the sheer number of gifs of this moment, it appears Tien and Lomfon’s reconciliation and kiss was universally beloved in the fandom. And I can understand why because it is 

So 

Fucking 

Good 

Because Suar is 

So 

Fucking 

Good 

And because Copter is delivering his best performance of the show. 

So let’s just jump right in, I want to start at the very beginning of this confession because there is a lot happening in the classroom itself. The scene opens with the film teacher calling Lomfon’s name, and asking if he is ready to present. The camera cuts to a semi-close up of Lomfon’s face:

Now, generally speaking, I think Copter has a long way to go in his acting, particularly around how mobile he makes the lower half of his face, because he rarely tends to move it. But it cannot and will not be denied, that Copter has some truly expressive eyes and Lomfon’s anxious energy does bleed through in the way he sets his jaw, his shoulders, how his eyes are shining. Up until this point, Lomfon has approached almost every single possible romantic moment completely wrong, and fucked with the lives of Tien, Tai, and Patts for the sake of better understanding his own feelings. He realizes that he likes Tien, he knows Tien likes him, or that he did at one point and that he may have fucked that up. So he has absolutely no idea what this is going to do, if it will help or hurt, but he has to try it anyway, so the movie starts to play. 

Tien, notably, is very intentionally looking at the ground. He will not meet Lomfon’s eye, he will not seem interested in the film, he will not give Lomfon the time of day. Lomfon blew up three people’s lives, and didn’t seem all that remorseful about it. The film starts, and a compilation of Tien’s radiant smile graces the scene, and Tien is for the first few moments, completely unaware. That is, until the rest of the class starts visibly, physically reacting to what is airing on screen. At which point Tien risks a tentative glance towards the screen…

And sees himself over and over and over again, in so many private little moments that Lomfon has captured. And where first his eyes were transfixed on the floor, they are now transfixed on the screen. Everyone in the entire classroom has turned their eyes away from the screen and straight towards Tien, and Tien and Lomfon become the only two people in the room that are watching the movie. 

The film continues, unrelenting clips of Tien as seen through Lomfon’s eyes, and though Lomfon told Tien he would show him he cares through his actions, that is not what Tien needs. And there is a moment, though it is small, where you can see Tien’s anger/frustration click in to place. 

It’s right here, in the inhale, in the setting of his jaw, slightly crooked as he continues to process exactly what he is seeing, exactly what Lomfon has done. And he pries his eyes away from the screen, slowly meets Lomfon’s eye for the first time since their fight, and does not break eye contact until his friend leans over and asks the question “Tien, how come you’re the thing from Lomfon’s heart?” at which point the spell is broken, the anger boils over, and Tien, being the third child who has his head on straight and is used to suppressing his own emotional state, rockets out of the room with a bitter, half-assed “I have to use the bathroom” excuse everyone can see through. 

This is not the reaction that Lomfon was expecting based on the way his body is turned to face Tien, the way his jaw has dropped just a touch, the way his eyes are glued to Tien and following him out the door. Lomfon is clearly surprised and slightly distressed to see Tien flee the room like that, clearly upset, and he is up and running after him within a few seconds, determination setting in his face. 

Tien is hustling, even as Lomfon is running after, even as Lomfon is calling his name hurried and slightly panicked. It is not until Lomfon calls out “Don’t go” that Tien stops, but not for long. He pauses just long enough to decide whether or not he is going to read Lomfon the riot act, or just walk away and hope that ends the conversation forever. Tien spins on his heel and starts swinging right out of the gate. 

“Why did you do that?” and his weight shifts a lot as he settles into place, and Lomfon matches his energy, also shifting around a lot as he grinds to a halt. 

“That’s the topic ‘A message from the heart’”

Tien is pissed now, like well and truly pissed. Even in the rain, even after Lomfon blew apart his brother’s life, Tien was calm, even-keeled, almost withdrawn when it came to his own pain. He was loud and aggressive, and very clearly livid when it came to what Lomfon did to Tai and Patts, but when Lomfon shouted in his face “I want to know my heart. I want to know who I like, what does that have to do with you?” his disappointment was palpable, but he responds in the softest voice ever.

Here though, it is time for him to be mad on his own behalf:  “Then why was I in your video? What are you going to say?” 

And Lomfon does look upset, and slightly vulnerable in this moment in the way his mouth is open, in the way his eyes are laser focused on Tien, in the way his eyebrows are slightly crooked like he is furrowing his brow: “I already told you, I would show you with my actions” because that is supposed to be obvious. I mean, Lomfon blatantly told Tien this before he ever showed the film. 

But that is the wrong answer. Tien, frustrated, turns back around to storm off because as @neuroticbookworm has already discussed, conversation is what needs to happen, not grand gestures. Grand gestures from Lomfon are what got everyone in to the messes they are in, grand gestures are not what is going to get him out. Tien will not entertain grand gestures in the slightest. 

“I did this because I like you!” Lomfon shouts to Tien’s back, and that’s what gets him to pause. 

And my refusal to learn how to make gifs bites me in the ass because Suar absolutely demolishes a micro-expressive face journey in this scene, there are at least four internal monologues Tien is cycling through as he listens to Lomfon’s speech. There is surprise, suspicion, annoyance, and slowly, slowly he begins to soften, and soften, and soften as Lomfon continues to say the right things. Like, legitimately, seriously I feel like I can tell when Tien’s stomach twists and heart picks up from the way Suar is moving his face. 

Which leads us to the best bit of acting that Copter has done the entire show: 

“I know that I like you. I like you very much. I like you so much that I don’t know what to do. I like you so much that I think if I don’t tell my feelings to you, I will regret it for the rest of my life” and he says the whole thing in tears. His face crumpling, his lip trembling, his eyes red. Tien’s back is turned throughout the monologue but he too is fighting back tears, because he can hear Lomfon’s voice, he can hear it waver and crack, he can hear Lomfon sniffling. And the camera reinforces that by cutting to Tien’s turned back twice during the monologue, his face moving almost imperceptibly as he listens, really listens to what Lomfon has to say. 

And when Lomfon falls silent, Tien turns to face him. 

I think it was @kyr-kun-chan who said “I like that when Tien turns around I can’t tell if he is going to kiss Lomfon or punch him” and honestly same. Like, looking at Tien’s face here, his eyes don’t match his mouth. His mouth is soft, slightly open, willing to forgive Lomfon, but his eyes don’t have their typical shine. There is a seriousness in them we haven’t seen that often. Tien is thinking, he is processing, he is calculating, and then the camera pans out to a wide shot.

Which makes me crazy over the costuming and positionality. Tien and Lomfon stand in completely the opposite places as where they sit in the classroom. Tien stands so that his entire chest is exposed to the audience, but closed off to Lomfon. Lomfon stands so that his whole chest is exposed to Tien, but closed off from the audience because Lomfon is pouring his heart out to Tien, and Tien is keeping his own reactions to Lomfon’s confession to himself. 

Tien’s face crumples and he barrels towards Lomfon, and similar to @kyr-kun-chan, Lomfon does not seem particularly certain whether he is about to have lips or a fist planted on him. 

Eyes transfixed on Tien’s face, eyebrows furrowed as he tries to decipher the look on Tien’s face, eyes still red cause he’s been crying, and then BOOM:

I am sure everyone has seen this kiss scene a million times, either rewatching the scene or reblogging the gifs, so I am not going to talk about the kiss, BUT I WILL TALK ABOUT THE HANDS BECAUSE I AM SO INTRIGUED BY HOW THEY HANDLED THE HANDS IN THIS KISS. 

So obviously, we start with the moment above, where the kiss itself is the center/focal point, but Tien’s hand is completely visible. His fingers comfortable and curled, and digging in to Lomfon’s neck to stabilize him from the force of the kiss. Tien sinks lower, because he is shorter, and his hand helps keep Lomfon pressed against him as he settles. And that is all well and good, and I love the shape Tien’s fingers make here. But then we get to some shots that are truly a marvel to me, they confused the hell out of me in the best possible way, in the way that makes me want to question the cinematographer because the next time the camera focuses on something other than the actual kiss, we get close ups, but these close ups are of a shoulder and a back. The only thing truly interesting to look at in those shots, to me at least, is the hands. But the hands are cut off. We don’t see Lomfon’s fingers at all, we don’t see precisely the way that he is holding Tien in the way that we see how Tien is holding Lomfon.

And it is fascinating to me, that the close ups cut off Tien’s fingers, like we see his thumb stroke Lomfon’s back a little, we see Tien’s hand move up Lomfon’s shoulder and further out of frame. And it intrigues me so much, because when Tai and Patts have their kisses, their hands are constantly visible, you can see it when Tai squeezes Patts’ back, you can see it when Patts scratches Tai’s back, you can see it when Patts is grabbing at whatever piece of skin he can so he can steady Tai on his lap while he kisses down his chest. But here, Tien and Lomfon’s hands are rarely completely visible. In fact, when never see Lomfon’s entire hand during the kiss, one is out of frame for most of it, with his fingers flat and therefore barely visible across Tien’s shoulder blade, the other buried in Tien’s hair so deep you can’t see anything.

And Tien’s hand(s) are only completely visible when the camera pans out on the kiss, rather than when it pushes in on their bodies. 

Which works so well for me, because it is so counter to Tai and Patts. As I said, when Patts and Tai make out, their hands are always visible, the camera pushes out to a wide shot and their bodies are making beautiful shapes. But that isn’t happening here, when the camera does a wide shot, Tien and Lom are standing pretty straight, with some distance between their bodies. They aren’t playing around too much with sensation, and with the reveal at the end of a possible sequel, it makes sense that we wouldn’t see a fully formed picture of what intimacy between Lomfon and Tien looks like. 

What we do get to see, however, is how Tien and Lomfon are personally impacted by this kiss, by this confirmation of their mutual interest in one another:

gif by @piningintrovert

GOD I WILL NEVER GET OVER THE LOOK ON TIEN’S FACE WHEN THEY FINALLY PART. The way his eyebrows furrow, the bliss on his face, that Oh. moment when Tien realizes how good it felt. The way Lomfon smiles and the way Tien beams and how Lomfon, having learned his lesson, tells Tien that he’s happy, tells Tien he will have to get used to him smiling, tells Tien he will see that smile every day. You know communicates. 

In summary, this is a beautifully handled, beautifully performed scene and I want to give mad props to Suar and Copter for how they navigated this moment. 

Tai and Patts

Now let’s talk Title and Pee, or rather Tai and Patts during Tai’s confession, which was another beautiful performance by our two leads. A truly underrated moment that I don’t see getting enough love from the fandom considering I have seen a total of one gifset of it, and because it is the most perfect confession Tai could ever give to Patts. 

After spending multiple days looking all over Chang Mai for his boyfriend, Tai finally spots him giving a little girl her kitten back and calls after him. And the look in Tai’s eyes, the way his mouth is agape, Tai looks like he’s seeing a ghost, like he scarcely believes that what he is seeing is real, that Patts is really here, that Tai has really found him. 

And because they are perfect for each other, Patts looks…exactly the same. Just, much more haggard like he has not slept well the entire time he and Tai have been separated. Patts, respectfully, looks like shit. 

As he should because he is fucking heartbroken. Tai approaches slowly, tentatively, like he doesn’t know what to expect, like he is no longer certain of his place in Patts’ life. And even though Tai is moving slowly, Patts is still not fully processing what is happening. Tai approaches and Patts stays firmly rooted in place, but he is leaning slightly away from Tai, like he still isn’t sure this is real, like he needs to get a better look at Tai to be certain. 

When Patts sees Tai his eyes go wide, he blinks, he swallows like he isn’t sure of his place in Tai’s life anymore. He is paralyzed trying to figure out what Tai is doing here, if he’s about to have his heart healed or broken further. 

Tai, of course, immediately bursts in to tears, as is his god given right. And good golly miss molly, Title is fantastic at getting Tai’s tears off the ground. He looks at Patts, the man he loves, the man he has failed, the man he has hurt, his eyes start to well, his nostrils flare, his lip trembles and he starts his confession. 

“You know what? For these past few days I have been looking for you. I’m so terrified that I can’t see you again. I’m terrified you don’t want to meet me anymore.” 

And, I mean, props to Tai for being honest, but goddamn, Patts is already Straight Up Not Having a Good Time Right Now and telling him you were worried that he wouldn’t ever want to see you again has got to feel like a knife is being twisted to him, knowing how much Patts loves Tai. Seeing how haggard he is from being away from Tai for only a few weeks, how close to tears he is just from seeing Tai’s face. 

“You don’t have to say anything,” Tai continues, which is wonderful, because Patts has always been the person to reach out. The first to use the soul mate link, the only one to talk through it for the first two years, Patts was the one who approached Tai in the coffee shop, Patts initiated and stopped their first intimate moments, Patts is the one who tried to face their problems head on after the fight with Lomfon, and to follow up after their fight over how Patts handled the Lomfon situation. But Patts is in so much shock from seeing Tai here, where he thought he couldn’t be found that he hasn’t said a word anyway. 

“This time, please let me say it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I acted stupid, I was selfish, I was too emotional. I didn’t talk to you well, I let it slide until it’s bad like now.” he says through shaky breath. 

And then Tai looks down, gathering his strength, gathering his words, but bearing the weight of the shame and sadness he feels for how his failure to properly communicate has hurt Patts.

“You know, I had not idea that the sound of rain could be so hurtful and lonely,” and I love that when Tai says “the sound of rain” he looks up at the sky. Like he is looking for rain clouds, like he is expecting rain.

“As for all of the soulmate things I was curious about, I know that through myself, Lomfon, my parents. I know that now. Love is about two people, it doesn’t need destiny to pave. I don’t care whether you are my soulmate or not. The most important thing is our feelings.”

Patts nods slightly, and bites his lip. Now, there are a number of ways I think it is possible to read Patts’ face in the next couple of close ups, but I personally read them very much as Patts steeling himself to be officially broken up with. 

“What’s most important is our feelings” Tai says, Patts braces himself to hear that Tai does not feel love for him anymore. 

“Do you remember? There was a time when you asked me whether saying “I love you” was hard?”

gif by @liyazaki

“No Patts, it’s not hard,” and Patt’s face falls, his lip starts to tremble. “So I kept asking myself how I feel about you. My feelings have not changed at all.” 

And once again, Patts nods slightly, swallows hard, and his face falls even more, he’s closer to tears.

“I love you Patts, I don’t care if it rains or not. I do love you, no matter what happens” and before Tai can say anything else, Patts is rushing to embrace him in a hug. Because he finally knows, for certain, for real, straight out of Tai’s mouth, that Tai loves him. That Tai has always loved him, and that Tai will continue to love him. 

And, going back to my conversation around Lom and Tien’s hands and how they differ from Patts and Tai, we get So Much Hand in the hug between Patts and Tai. And you can see how tightly Tai is squeezing Patts, how deep he is burying his head in Patts’ shoulder. Patts is wrapping Tai up as much as he can, he is touching Tai in as many places as he can. Patts’ hand on Tai’s shoulder, in his hair, across his back

On his elbow when they kiss.

gif by @liyazaki

And their kiss is slow and tentative, both certain and uncertain, like they need to re-establish where they are and where they have been. LIke they need to check in with each other and make sure that this level of intimacy after such a strenuous fight and break up is okay with both of them. 

I don’t have any impassioned speeches to give at the end of all of this, Patts and Tai are together, they are happy, we leave them where they always should be, happy in each other’s arms. Tai had some major growth at the end of La Pluie, getting called out by his brother, introspecting and realizing that Tai was handling the conflict with Patts like his mother has handled conflicts with him. Realizing how lonely the silence is, and understanding that the way he feels about only ever having silence in his head is horrible and that he left Patts to feel that way for years. Understanding now, why Patts could not bear Tai’s silence when he was upset at the way Patts handled Lomfon kissing him. 

La Pluie is one of the best written shows I have seen. The script is so smart, it understands the realities of relationships, highlights the importance of communication, gives proper consequences for ill-advised actions, and subverts the traditional soulmate trope by having the soulmate connection only ever act as a barrier between Patts and Tai getting together. It has truly been and honor and a blessing to clown with all of you about this show, it made me so happy to see more and more people getting in to this show, and more and more people writing about this show. It may have taken me a couple episodes to get in to the story, but looking back on it, I have loved every minute. Thanks for reading and I look forward to (hopefully) doing this all again for season 2. 

(tagging @lurkingshan cause she asked me to)