#maybe i'll still do first comment commentary too

[reitziluz]

You could put the relevant flowers into the end notes of each chapter instead? It's your choice of course, but i recently read a six year old fic that required the translation of fantasy language words which were put in a tumblr post (similar to how you're planning). The problem was that the readmore somehow broke over the years and the fic writer had vanished at some point, so the translations were lost. That's just my experience though, you do you!

for a short list of meanings, or something as essential as fantasy vocab that's essential for understanding the fic, yeah, that's the obvious choice.

but you can look up flower language(s) (i referenced whatever comes up when you google "[flower] flower meaning]" and also some japanese sites) up on your own, and i would also want to write little commentaries or anecdotes about the plants in question. which would mean several paragraphs of text in the end notes. and, even though i wouldn't consider the flower info spoilers, some people do. being non-essential, making the notes unwieldy long, and counting as spoilers for some is why i've already put the rewrite commentaries in the comments instead of the end notes.

you could argue that there's nothing wrong in putting things like that in the end notes, and honestly, i agree! i just want to use the "more notes at the end of the work" link that appears in the notes on the top to provide people the chance to choose to view or ignore extra content warnings for chapters. and putting aaaaall this other info in the end notes might make people who need the warnings hesitate to access them.

but as i thought about this, i realized an obvious solution. duh, i already have the commentary in the comments! i can put the chapter's flower info in as a reply to that!

though idk, it also makes reading comments maybe a bit more daunting than necessary, if there's just a wall of text at the start...

... but then again, i have a whole unutilized fic just for spoofs and extras of shit-all! so i guess i could move all this there? i mean, i could then also attach the art i'm doing to each chapter's bonus materials!

(again, i could also attach them to each chapter, but i personally prefer reading my fics and seeing my illustrations separately. switching from reading to seeing an illustration can throw me off from a good reading hyperfocus, haha! plus in the bonus work, there'd be more space for image ids and stuff, if i finally were to figure out how to do them...)

lots to think about! thank you for letting me know that the readmores have been broken relativelt recently. i think i'll probably end up doing a hybrid thing, like both having separate listing posts on tumblr, and putting them on ao3 in some form!

if i remember/can be arsed ofc, lol

[meimi-haneoka]

Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Chapter 80 (FINAL): Comments + JP-ENG translation differences

CCS Faaaans!!! Welcome to our last (?) monthly appointment with the analysis, commentary and list of translation differences for THE FINAL chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card!!! 🥹🥹🥹

Aaaaaah, I can't believe that after seven years and a half of serialization, we're finally here!!

I still remember the strong emotions I felt when I had seen the pages of Nakayoshi for chapter 1 in advance, back in June 2016....it seemed like a miracle, to me. Like a "mirage". And back then I still didn't know just HOW MUCH of a precious miracle this sequel would've become to me!

So it's with shaky hands and a trembling, emotional heart that I write this post to you...I hope you can excuse the length of it (maybe take a break in between?), I'll do my best to highlight the translation differences (unfortunately we definitely got some for this finale, one in particular made me quite mad) so you can spot them immediately among the sea of words and feels I will inevitably pour into my writing...

The "Beaver Moon" was big and shiny just a few days ago, and like all the full moons at the end of the month, it brought us a chapter, a very special finale for this series.

And as I usually do, I really cannot skip this silly moment that accompanied me for so many commentary posts, so here you go, my dear readers, the last Gif Of The Month!!!

I had already decided that, no matter the content of the chapter, I would've used this, because it is my intention to give my congratulations to CLAMP for reaching the end of this wonderful story and also thank them for giving me a multitude of emotions over the years. I've been happy, angry, excited, teary-eyed, frustrated, confused, hopeful, in pain, in love. I'll always be grateful to them for changing their mind and deciding to give us a sequel of this beloved series, after so many years of dreaming of it, and for making me fall in love with the new characters, none excluded!

So, off we go, under the cut for this commentary of the finale!!

The Color Page

Oh my heart 😭😭😭 I really wondered if they would go for it, if they would shoot us with feels right from the first pages and they did, they paid homage to the color page of chapter 50 of the old manga!! ❤️ We can see the same bluebirds that were featured back then, still holding in their little beaks lots of ribbons coming from the pink roses bouquet that Sakura is preciously holding... And that also made me realize that these are the same birds that were featured last month for Akiho and Kaito's color page too!!! ✨ They definitely, definitely wanted us to get the message that all of them will be truly happy from now on. ❤️I actually appreciate even more that Mokona-sensei took care in including those birds for the color page of Akiho/Kaito too.

Back in the old manga, CLAMP had given a comment for the illustration of chapter 50, saying that it was created that way to give a sense of looking forward to the future, and the absence of the Star Wand here was a precise request from Ohkawa to Mokona, because Sakura would've tried her best from now on, without necessarily relying on her magic.

Here, in chapter 80, we can somehow see the same theme but Sakura isn't proceeding "forward" towards a specific direction, it seems more like she's floating comfortably, assisted by her loyal Flight Card, embellished for the occasion (it makes it look kind of "upgraded", right?). I get a sense of Sakura feeling way more comfortable with her natural gift than she's ever been.

The blue sky, the ribbons, the bluebirds, the bouquet of pink flowers, the presence of a flying Card, Sakura's bare feet and her beautiful smile are definitely elements common to both illustrations.

Here Sakura wears a longer outfit, more elegant, which of course makes her look more grown up, as it should!

The editorial text on this last page doesn't carry words of thanks like in the color page of the final chapter of the old manga (those this time around were printed directly on the cover of Nakayoshi), but actually "My invincible spell is....'Everything is surely going to be alright' "! I think it was a very nice choice to feature the Invincible Spell in the front page of this final chapter. ✨

Between this and the absolutely divine Sakura on the cover of Nakayoshi, I can feel my heart softening and filling up with lots of hope and comfort, helping me to cope with the imminent "loss" that I'm going to experience.

BUT! It's not time to let us be caught by those mischievous feelings that want us to cry at all costs, and so we're gonna proceed for the actual chapter!!

The Books In Fujitaka's Library

The final chapter starts with Sakura chatting with Eriol and Kaho in a videocall over the phone!! The thing that immediately stands out is that Sakura is still wearing the full-winter uniform, so it's apparent right from the first panel that rather than turning back, the events are proceeding forward from where we left them, exactly as Sakura wished.

It's still winter, spring is almost here and we're almost towards the end of the 1st year of middle school for Sakura & co.

Another thing that I, as a foreigner, couldn't help but doing is calculating what time should've been for Eriol and Kaho, since they live in Europe like me! 😂😂😂 Having followers and friends all over the world, it's just normal for me. Well, if this is early morning, it should be night for the Europeans, so maybe that background at the window should be black?? 😂😆 Who knows if sensei will fix it, in the tankobon?

But enough with the silly things, let's see what Sakura is discussing with these two.

The very first thing we hear is quite shocking: Sakura slept four entire days to recuperate from the insane fatigue after the last battle!!

When I've heard that, my immediate thought was going towards all kinds of realistic, very practical issues like "did they keep her hydrated, in these four days? What about the bladder? 😱" but come on, way crazier things happened in this finale and this is the last thing we should worry about 😂

Eriol sweetly says that everyone waited impatiently for Sakura to wake up (I can imagine that!! Syaoran and Akiho must have died of anxiety). In Japanese, his sentence is somehow left trailing off, it gives me the impression that he wanted her to know that she's cared for, but in a very polite manner and avoiding to make her feel guilty for it. Sakura, as the good girl she is, tries to apologize for making them worry, apologies that Eriol doesn't need, so she ends up thanking both him and Kaho for what they did for her (and we can see Kaho peeking in the videocall! I'm glad she recovered too! As usual she's wearing nice outfits, the transparent veil over the skirt is interesting!).

Kaho, with her usual "maternal" aura, says that seeing her in good shape and hearing her cheerful voice over the phone is more than enough to her, which makes Sakura happy.

Eriol then proceeds to ask a question about the books he saw flying away at full speed after Sakura removed all the spells and the graphics from the artifact (the huge book), which then transformed into said smaller books: he wants to know where they ended up to, and lo and behold, they're nowhere other than in Fujitaka's library, in the basement of Sakura's house! 😱

So we can see a flashback depicting a scene right after Sakura woke up (she's still in her PJs), and her father shows her a pile of ancient-looking books sitting on his desk and on the floor.

Yes, those are all the magical books that Akiho had read and (unknowingly) engraved on herself, which were about to crush her soul. There's really a lot of them, so I don't have a hard time believing that she was really on the verge of losing her soul forever.

As Fujitaka tries to explain himself, it seems Sakura worked so hard and in the end those books ended up landing right at their house!

And then, in a very moving scene, we see Fujitaka being just so happy because finally, after so many years (since 4th grade) of just watching over his daughter going through several hurdles and not being able to be helpful in any concrete way (because he didn't have magical powers, and even when magic was passed onto him, he didn't know how to use it), NOW he can finally be of assistance to her.

He then tells her not to worry, because he already got several "weird" books in his collection (hell we knew, the Cthulhu books were surely a surprise 😂), and that anything goes where it's supposed to go, when its due time comes. He believes these books, too, will reach their new fated destination one day, so until then, he will take care of them. ✨

By the way, you all saw it, right?? YES, it's there again. Fay's tattoo on that book! 😂CLAMP REALLY wanted us to see it, didn't they?

Is this insistence in featuring elements coming from Tsubasa a sign of something in the future...? Or are they just messing with us....?

I bet even this book one day will find its way to Celes country, to have that tattoo used in the way we all know.

Anyway, I REALLY loved this scene because it just shows CLAMP's firm intention to involve *all* the main and side characters in this collective effort to help Sakura solving Akiho and Kaito's situation (Fujitaka was indeed the one missing from the support group!).

It's just so good to know that a tiny frustration that Fujitaka expressed in this arc (how he couldn't be of help to his own daughter) was finally put to rest too, with this new task he took upon himself.

I strongly believe that Sakura, once again guided by her infallible instinct and empathy, subconsciously wished those books into her father's library, because she just knew that her father would be the perfect person to guard them and keep them safe for the time due.

The Cards

Back to the present, Eriol comments that Sakura's father is really dependable, and she can only warmly agree!

But Sakura's got questions of her own, for Eriol. She asks what happened to the transparent cards (note: even this time, Sakura keeps calling them with the japanese term 透明, "transparent", and never calls those cards クリアカード, the English term that gives name to the arc).

Eriol gives his own explanation: the transparent Cards were probably bound into the book of the guardian Sakura met (and not "befriended" like the ENG wrote), and as such, they became magical power used to activate the "forbidden magic".

About the newly created Remind and Blank Cards, Eriol guesses that the last magic that Sakura summoned thanks to those two Cards was so "violent" (the term used 凄烈 means "violent, intense, fierce") that it ended up exhausting completely the Cards' magical power.

Sakura says "so...they're gone", confirming that yes, even those two disappeared after being used.

Eriol asks about the Cards Sakura had from before, our dear Sakura Cards, and she releases them in the room to show to Eriol their current appearance: it seems like they have taken up some elements from the transparent cards, mixing up their designs! They look really cool and empowered, like this! Eriol attempts to explain this occurence as an influence of the fact that Sakura used some of them with her new Dream Staff, hence why their new appearance!

It seems like she'll be able to use all of them with that staff from now on, so this is a first hint to something that will be referenced in a stronger way in a few pages.....

Kaho gets closer to Eriol's computer and says "Don't worry, I can see they still love you all the same, Sakura-chan, there's no problem about it!" and then she spots Flight among the deck. Sakura confirms happily that it's still here and Eriol says "it's a testament to its perseverance!".

And then, Sakura wants to talk to Eriol about Akiho and Kaito too......but we're not allowed to hear it yet, because we only see Sakura nodding and "uh-uh"-ing at the phone and then Kero warns her that she's going to be late for school, so our girl hurriedly hangs up with her friends abroad.

Her dear small glutton guardian tells her to not push herself since she barely woke up yesterday, and when Sakura goes to pick the pin she wants to use today in the jewelry box (it's the pin Yukito gave her as a present in chapter 1!), she picks up the Star Key. And here, unfortunately, I have to point out the first concrete translation difference of this chapter in a scene that many were waiting for:

ENG: "This key....I wonder if it'll leave someday, too. To go to where it should be, to the side of the person it chooses to be with"

JP: "This key, too...I wonder if one day it'll go...to the side of the person it should be with"

Now, what irritates me here is that in their usual need to embellish the translation, they added an unnecessary "the person it chooses to be with", which is something they made up because there's no mention of the verb "choosing" or anything like that in Japanese, and so it makes it seem like the key will one day just go away on its own, on its own volition.

Now, this is a VERY important scene because we all know what this is foreshadowing, the transition of the Star Wand from Sakura Kinomoto to the Reborn Sakura Clone in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle through a dream, that cameo that made us scream all over the world in 2009. That scene was accompanied by a very beautiful and mature speech by Sakura Kinomoto herself, a sign that this "handover" was totally a well pondered choice of Sakura herself, not the key's.

The translation of this scene here in Clear Card tampers with the understanding of the events we got from Tsubasa and it really makes me wonder if the translator knows of this reference at all.....

Continuing on, Sakura goes downstairs and meets Touya having breakfast (and omg Kero goes to him!!! I still can't get used to these two interacting in the open), as usual Touya teases her calling her "monster", to which Sakura stiffens, but she shakes it off to thank her brother, to which he answers "no snacks for four days"!

Sakura at that point gets angry asking why, but he diverts her attention pointing out that she's gonna be late, so the girl bolts out of the door......not hearing her brother saying "that's the amount of days you haven't woken up, you silly!" (and Kero goes along with it).

Now, the ENG translation here interpreted this as a "payback", like Touya isn't going to make her snacks for 4 more days as a "payback" for making him worry like that, and initially I interpreted it like that too. But as I checked the Spanish translation, they interpreted it differently, as if Touya wasn't talking about the snacks that he won't prepare for the next 4 days, but actually the ones Sakura didn't eat during the period in which she was sleeping, and I think they're right because Touya calls Sakura "dummy, silly" so he might be referencing the fact that she misunderstood, here! Anyway, it's not a serious difference but I wanted to report it here anyway.

Sakura finds Syaoran out of her house waiting for her, and we see him all happy and embarrassed to go pick his girl up right outside her house to go to school together 🥰Syaoran got contacted yesterday from her (I don't know why in the ENG there's "last night", it's just "yesterday"), telling him that she was ok now, but of course that wasn't enough for our worrywart prince charming, so he's here this morning to escort her to school! Sakura can't avoid commenting "aw, you were worried about me!" and Syaoran honestly but embarassedly answers "that, and I wanted to see you as soon as possible". Omg these two...flirting like crazy in front of the audience even in the finale!! 😂(well of course!!). As one of my friends reminded me, this line was already said by Syaoran before, when he was revealing the whole truth about the Sakura Cards and was explaining to Sakura that he came back to Japan earlier than scheduled also because he wanted to see her sooner.

After a good dose of blushing which is always good for the health in the early morning, Sakura thanks Syaoran not only for walking her to school, but also for all the rest that he's done. She's clearly referencing the events of 4 days ago, and Syaoran answers that if he helped her even just a little, then he's happy. This vague reference to the events of 4 days ago seems lost in the ENG, as Syaoran casually answers that he's happy if he can help her sometimes (?). 少しでも means "even just a little", not "sometimes".

On the way to school, Sakura says that she already contacted everyone to say that she woke up and to thank them, but she seems to be wanting to go thanking Yukito directly at his house later, also because Nakuru and Suppi are there! As Syaoran adds, Sakura can see Tomoyo and Akiho later at school. Sakura says "...yes" with a slightly sad face because she already knows something about one of them.....

We switch to Yukito's house for the last look at our "snow bunny", still in Nakuru's company (when are they going back to England???) and wondering what kind of sweets should he offer to Sakura today, while Nakuru is hellbent on finally having Sakura call her "Nakuru-chan" today (I told you, she's like a 5 years old girl, she sees herself as a kid like Sakura 😂).

Then, turning suddenly serious, she says to Yukito: "Don't you dare doing anything else that requires a 'payment', understood?", which immediately made me realize that Nakuru remembers about Yukito's pact with the Tsukimine Shrine!! Then, they didn't just recover the memories strictly relating to Akiho!!!

Yukito, with a big smile, says "well...I can't promise you that" which understandably triggers in Nakuru a "Yukito, you're really stubborn!!" from the bottom of her heart! 😂

But there's a kitty sleeping on a cushion (or feigning to?), our dear Suppi who thinks to himself "All of you moon-aligned types are stubborn!!" and let me tell you, this arc showed us ALL the proofs of that! 😂(Yes, Kaito, we're looking at you! 😂😂😂).

Brand New World With You

Homeroom is starting in Sakura's class and Tomoyo makes sure that Sakura will take it easy since this is her first day back at school.

The teacher comes in, and she's already got a news for everyone (and here my heart already knew what it was): Akiho Shinomoto will be transferring away in one month! (Yes! it's Shinomoto again!)

The class is shocked, as Tomoyo is, but Sakura smiles and doesn't look surprised at all...

At lunch, everyone is so sad about Akiho transferring and Chiharu expresses how much she'll miss her, but also Naoko who loses a precious advisor for her scripts and a great actress since she wanted to cast her for the next play, seeing how wonderful she was in "Alice in Clockland". Tomoyo says that the chorus club will miss her too, and Yamazaki comments that Akiho lived in Hong Kong before transferring to Japan, so he asks her if she's still going abroad, even this time around. Akiho confirms, and then remembers that she needs to go to the teacher's room. Sakura insists to accompany her even if Akiho knows the way by now (and here we have a sweet, nostalgic recall to the same scene of the first chapter Akiho appeared in, chapter 7! Even the lines are almost the same). Of course, Sakura insisted because she wants to have a private chat with her....on their way there, she says she heard from Eriol that morning that she would be transferring abroad, but she would like to ask the reason why to Akiho herself.

Akiho says that, after all that happened, that same night she talked to Eriol (she calls him "Hiiragizawa-san" ❤️) for the first time.

He told her that he would be supporting her in any choice or anything she'd want to do from now on (the "anything I would choose" is missing from the ENG translation), and support her even with Kaito's circumstances.

Akiho was told by Eriol that Kaito kept hurting himself the more he used time magic, and that he shouldn't have been in a good condition after messing even with the "forbidden magic"....but apparently, Sakura managed to work a little miracle when she used Rewind on him.

When Sakura brought Kaito back to his original appearance, the pocket watch she used was almost completely repaired and its time stopped, and thanks to that, Kaito's time is stopped too.

I had already noticed that Kaito's life seems to be strictly connected to that pocket watch, as the more damage he took on his body, the more the watch broke. Sooooo in this scene we have some important information:

1- Eriol mentions the time magic Kaito used, how he kept using it and also the effect it would have on him, so it's legit to think that even him recovered the memories of the unrewritten timeline, not only the stuff strictly concerning Akiho.

2- Kaito's life is in a halted state (reminds you of someone?) and this means that his life is not flowing like other people's: he won't age, but his physical condition won't also get worse, as Sakura infers right after. The ENG translation suggests that Kaito won't be feeling any pain at all, but that's not the case: Sakura uses the words もっと辛かったり痛かったり, "more in pain and have a rough time (than this)", so he's still going to feel not so well from time to time, but at least his condition won't get worse than this.

Akiho confirms, and explains that because of this, they're going to look for a magic that will be able to heal Kaito and, in addition to that, a magic that would be able to make his stopped time move forward again. This won't certainly take short time and it won't be easy....but Akiho smiles beautifully while saying that she's sure that there is a book that carries those spells she's looking for.

And then....with a sad smile, she says there's another reason.

And here my heart sinked because I wanted to see her so badly and I got the confirmation she wasn't with them.......😭

I'm talking about Momo, of course, and Akiho agrees with me because the other reason they'll travel around is that she wants to see her beloved Momo and even the "Alice in Clockland" book.

This indeed sounds a lot like the resolutions of the characters of Tsubasa in their own finale, but after all, we've been saying for long time that Kaito and Akiho had many situations paralleling those of the SyaoSaku in TRC.

Akiho, with the most radiant and beautiful smile she's ever had, says that she's sure she'll find so many other books she's never read, beside the ones she'll be looking for.

"Because now I can go wherever I want, whenever I want, all by my own volition. Together with Kaito-san"

Sakura points out that books are, indeed, really special and important to her.

And really, Akiho's smile on this beatiful spread was enough to heal my heart from the disappointment of knowing that Momo wasn't with them, because Akiho really looks happy to start this journey with Kaito...she feels free for the first time ever.

No more clan dictating where she should go or what she should read, at her own expense at that, but also the situation between her and her beloved Kaito found its solution, with her stating loud and clear that even if he's her most important person and he did all of that for her, she's the only one who can decide her own happiness and change her own life. Akiho is finally free from all constraints, both from evil and from love, and honestly it's so comforting to see her so confident and happy.

My True Name Is....

And talking about Kaito, we switch to the Shinomoto mansion, where we see him in bed (he's still recovering - also we see his room for the first time!) and Akiho is telling him of how her friends took the news of her transferring abroad.

She was happy to hear that they're going to miss her, I bet this was the first time that people took any interest in her, so much to get to the point of saying "I'll miss you".....which totally explains why she's glad to hear that. She finally made true friends, here in Tomoeda.

Kaito is pleased to see her happy.

Akiho says that she's going to prepare dinner (my heart got warm thinking that now it's her the one cooking for him and he doesn't protest or anything) and she's going to make the no-fry croquettes that Sakura taught her (remember??? They had dedicated a chapter to that, and they were so important because Akiho learned them precisely for Kaito).

But Kaito kind of "interrupts" her, saying the thing WE ALL were waiting for him to say:

Kaito, JP (lit.): "I'm sorry. For having thought (all that plan) on my own and decided things without your permission. Even though I know that you're someone perfectly capable of writing her own chosen future on her own blank book"

Oooooooh. The feeling of puzzle pieces going to their right place, the sense of accomplishment, the satisfaction in reading these words from him. HE FINALLY UNDERSTOOD. And it took almost k*lling himself and causing to the very person he was trying to make happy an indescribable grief, to come to this point.

What a lack of self-esteem and underlying depression can do.

But thankfully, they all managed to save things at last minute and now he's learned his lesson. So the first thing he does when he's able to, is apologizing to Akiho. But not only that.

Akiho says Kaito's name, probably wanting to answer something in return, but he interrupts her again, saying something I've been dying to hear him say (lately I expressed here and on Twitter my wish to see precisely this scene in the finale):

"That's my alias"

Akiho is shocked at hearing that, and he says, with a serious face, "Can I tell you my true name?"

At this point, I was hollering, I won't really hide it or anything.

If you're CLAMP fans, you probably know how IMPORTANT and VITAL is an information like one's true name, especially for a magician. Yuuko in Holic said that if you give someone your true name, they can take your soul.

And I'm 100% sure that even Akiho knows how important true names are in the magic world, this is something that Momo already mentioned in one of the Drama CDs but here she confirms it herself, saying hesitantly: "Are you sure I should be hearing something so important?"

With the next thing Kaito says, I was almost calling an ambulance.

Heh, I know, this is me, what can I do? Their story got me by the throat and coming to this point is such an achievement, for me. 😅

"I want you to know it"

That あなた between brackets is so powerful. "You, above all".

In that "you" there's all the things he's not saying aloud, how unique and important she is to him. How much he trusts her with the most vulnerable part of himself. How much he's willing to give his entire soul, his everything to her, but this time in the correct way, without damaging anyone.

Akiho must be noticing all of this, because Mokona doesn't allow us to see her face, only her closed hand rising up, but from her ".....okay" I'm sure here she was quite touched.

So Kaito finally proceeds to reveal this secret that everyone was wondering about ever since chapter 51:

"Cristaux. That's my true name".

Cristaux is written with the katakana クリスト (pronounced kurisuto) which has already been misunderstood by many for "Christ" 😂, but thankfully CLAMP have put in the furigana the correct spelling in romaji.

Cristaux is a french word used to indicate crystals. Yes, plural.

So our crazy magician was named after crystals at his birth.

Of course, of course. Isn't crystals the overwhelming theme of this arc, after all? CLAMP made sure to feature some in many many color illustration they've done.

Also, while talking to a friend, I realized that now we might understand a bit better why Kaito made a very pensive face, disguised as Syaoran, when Sakura pointed out in Clockland (ch. 66) that the castle of the Queen had foundations made of crystal........

As usual with CLAMP, we've had the solution to the mystery under our nose the whole time! 😂This feels like Tsubasa 2.0, for real! 😂

It is surely an inusual name, but I mean, it seems many of the names CLAMP choose for their characters aren't that common, after all.

With this reveal, Kaito decided to start anew with Akiho, this time around from a basis of honesty and trust. He's never going to put up masks with her ever again (and even though it's confirmed they still talk in keigo to one another -which is something I've always imagined-, we've seen him using his true pronoun "ore" with her in chapter 78). This is the perfect foundation for a relationship based on communication and trust. Bravo Kaito, you did your homeworks.

Akiho places a hand over her chest, as if the precious name entered her heart, and says something that made me completely melt:

"I've written it on the most important page of my book. So I can never forget it".

This line makes me particularly emotional not only because it sounds SO SWEET, on the verge of flirting, but also because it seems to me like a callback to something that was said in a sadder situation.

Back in chapter 35, when Sakura ended up trapped into Akiho's artifact, she experienced Akiho's past on her skin. The day of the magic ceremony that turned Akiho into an artifact, some people from the clan/Association said "let's engrave all the magical books we can find into this girl's body, so she can never forget them. Just like a blank book".

Back then, these horrible words were used to abuse a poor child, but that child today turned them into the power to choose for herself.

She appropriates the same "book" analogy to turn it into a way for her to choose on her own. Kaito's name is a precious information that she chooses to write on her heart so she can never forget it.

It is a way for her to cope and have a catharsis for her trauma.

I honestly keep getting such wonderful messages from the story of these two characters, and I'll never thank CLAMP enough for creating them.

Kaito smiles softly at Akiho's words.

Then we go back to Sakura, Syaoran and Tomoyo, the "fab 3" who are going back home together, and we get some more information: it seems Eriol called Syaoran too (man, this guy called half the world to give explanations left and right 😂) and told him that he's going to buy Akiho and Kaito's house and look after it for them.

Sakura is really glad to hear that because it means that Akiho's huge collection of books will be safe and guarded in its library.

Tomoyo asks what they're going to do about Akiho's room at the Kinomoto house: in fact, if you look at the first panel of this chapter, you'll see that the additional portion that sprouted on Kinomoto house is still there: this means that Sakura gave everyone back their memories, but that magic didn't affect the discrepancies that arised from the rewriting of their world, hence why Akiho's room is still there.

Sakura talked about it with her dad and they decided they're gonna leave it untouched, as it is, so Akiho can always go back to it at any time. Did I cry at this? Yes, a little, because this is a sign that the Kinomotos will still keep considering her one of the family even if she'll be away, even if she'll have her life with Kaito, and I couldn't ask for anything better, for my sweet Akiho. It is so important for her to keep the bonds she created over time and know that now she's also got a network of people there for her. A second family where to turn to.

Sakura's having a real hard time accepting that Akiho will go away, and her smile becomes sad, before hugging Tomoyo and crying out "But I'll still miss her so much!!" 🥹poor Sakura 🥹I know, it's always so sad when someone that important to you leaves...

You'll Be Together Forever!!

One month passes by, and we can see some sakura flowers starting to bloom, this means we're at the end of March (and so we were in February before, just like I imagined). School year must be over pretty soon.

It's the big day, the day of departure for Akiho and Kaito, and Sakura+Syaoran went to see them off. Have you spotted it, on Sakura's scarf? Yes, that's the pin shaped like a teddy bear, the same Kaho gave her as a present and that she was wearing in the OG manga during the run at the bus stop to tell her feelings to Syaoran!

Akiho thanks Sakura for coming so early in the morning, and Sakura says she absolutely wanted to be there to see them off, actually she apologizes for making them delay their departure due to this meeting. Akiho is dressed with a cute outfit that is very remiscent of the one she's wearing in the color page of chapter 79.

A little separated from them to give their privacy, we see Kaito and his big suitcase, standing next to Syaoran. OMG it's so inusual to see them like that!!

Then, Kaito says "Time magic....I can teach it to you, if you ever want to use it". Syaoran is very surprised to hear that, and Kaito says that when he was still in the dragon form, he heard him apologizing to Sakura for not being able to use that magic because he hadn't learned it yet, remember?? 🥹

And Kaito just offered himself as a teacher, surely as a way to thank him for everything he's done to save him and Akiho.

But not only that: in a very sweet panel, he says he knows Syaoran won't use it in an inappropriate way, and I can totally hear that implied "as opposed to me". Oh yes I hear it loud and clear by the way this is phrased in Japanese. 😁

Then, he happily takes out his phone and asks him to exchange contact numbers, because they can be convenient for any occurrence! I feel like that was a good idea because they're surrounded by magic matters so much, it's always good to be able to count on the experience and knowledge of other magicians.

We see Syaoran being a bit perplexed at the request, but then reluctanctly (?) takes out his phone 😂oh lord his reaction is so funny....and this is also another proof that the characters remember what happened before, because Syaoran could have this reaction only for that reason 😂😂😂

While looking at them interacting so funnily, Akiho takes the chance to get closer to Sakura and whisper a very important information to her (it came!!! it came for her too!! I KNEW IT!! It's not WHAT I imagined but I've been saying forever that this would come 😂):

Akiho, JP & ENG: "My real name...is Cosmos"

What you guys can't see if you're reading the ENG version or any other language, is the duality of Akiho's true name here.

It's actually written in Japanese kanji, but the furigana that tells how to pronounce it are katakana for "Cosmos".

So it's like this:

Japanese name: 秋桜 (pronounced Akizakura, it's how Cosmos are called in Japanese)

Furigana (reading): コスモス (Cosmos)

It's not uncommon to find the Cosmos flowers being called directly with their katakana spelling, in Japanese.

All of this makes total sense for Akiho because her favorite flower is a specific type of Cosmos, the Chocolate Cosmos! They say they really smell like chocolate! So, just like Sakura, she's got the same name of her favorite flower.

But this duality of her name also allows Akiho to say what she's about to say:

Akiho, JP: "When we met for the first time, I was happy to learn I had one same character in my name as yours!"

I'm glad to see that more or less all the foreign translations did their best to explain the trick of the kanji, adding an explanation in the bubbles (they were big enough, thankfully). The ENG for example talked about "sharing a name" but Akiho here is meaning more "sharing a character" of the japanese name.

Sakura is of course really honored and happy to hear that, and thanks her for sharing such an important detail about herself.

And now, hahaha.....comes the part where I laughed SO, so much, because while to some it might sound strange for Akiho to do something like this, to me it isn't strange at all! Cause she's like that, her personality is far stronger than most think...

Our little mischievous Akiho here reveals to Sakura, still whispering, that she isn't going to share her real name with Kaito yet, because she's still a bit upset with him!! 😂😂😂

Oh lord, Akiho....oh dear....you have all the right to still be a bit upset, make him work hard to get such an important information from you!! 😂 I can't believe right now we have Kaito basically in Akiho's hands while Akiho, the one who seemed the most in love out of the two, is actually still withholding that from him! 😂😂😂 aaaaahhh trust CLAMP to always give you something interesting....this is totally in line with how I perceived her personality. 🤭I loved it!

Kaito needs to be really, really careful from now on! She's not gonna take any crap from him! 😂

And now I have to warn you because precisely as we reach the very last line Sakura will say in this arc, there is going to be another translation mistake, which I consider far worse than the other one I pointed out. I think getting it wrong precisely at the most important emotional point ruined a job that wasn't overall so bad, with this chapter (compared to others....).

Sakura, smiling, supports Akiho's idea, saying "Sounds good!", and then, utters the very last line of the arc:

ENG: "After all, we have a long future together ahead of us!"

JP: "After all, you'll be together forever from now on!"

I think you can easily guess why this translation mistake irritated me so much. I've checked the other translations and the Spanish one, the one I trust the most, agrees with me, just like the French one.

This translation is a failure for two reasons:

it failed to convey the fact that Sakura here is using almost exactly the same words she used in the OG manga at the end of volume 12, when she ran into Syaoran's arms, saying that they would be together forever from that moment on. I think iconic lines like these should be translated in the way the readers know them from the previous work, otherwise it's useless. You don't get the reference. In Japanese, back in volume 12 of the OG manga, it was "kore kara wa zutto issho da yo!" while here it is "kore kara wa zutto issho nandakara". And there is a reason for that.

this translation inexplicably made it about all of them, when Sakura was talking specifically about Akiho and Kaito instead. That "nandakara" at the end suggests that this sentence is strictly related to the one that came right before, "sounds good", as an answer to Akiho's plan to withhold her true name from Kaito for a while. Sakura here is simply saying that Akiho's idea sounds ok to her because those two will be together forever from now on, so she'll have all the time of this world to tell him eventually her true name, when she feels ready. Also, in Sakura's words, there's a deeper meaning: it's the last wish of happiness for those two, which comes from her own lived experience. At the end of volume 12 we saw Sakura uttering those same words, in her happiest moment of reunion with Syaoran...Sakura knows that happiness, the happiness of reuniting and be able to stay all the time with the person you love the most. This is the same thing she's wishing for those two right now, with these words. To be together forever and savor that same happiness she's living herself everyday. But if the translation makes it about all four of them, or even just about Sakura and Akiho, this underlying message, this last parallel between the two pairs is completely gone. Also, what's the sense in saying "we have a long future together ahead" if Kaito and Akiho are leaving?? It doesn't make sense to me. They once again managed to remove any hint of Kaito and Akiho being destined to be together for life, and bent the phrase to include everyone, just because they could. I find that quite disrespectful in my opinion.

Anyway, if you made it this far in reading the post, you now know how that line should actually be. I feel so embittered and disappointed that this happened precisely at the end...

But this time, as opposed to the OG manga, there's one more page to bring this arc to a closure: we can see the back of the new empowered Sakura Card (on the Card there's a mix of both the Star circle and the Dream circle), and the text reads:

JP, lit.: "When all the Cards are gathered, that's the beginning that comes from an end. A beginning to move on"

You have surely recognized it , this is exactly the same page that appeared at the very beginning of this arc, it's just that back then we had a Sakura Card's back, a more unsettling background, and lots of blank cards floating. Right now we have the back of the empowered Sakura Cards, a more serene background and instead of the blank cards, we have cherry blossom petals! ❤️

But most importantly, the sentence slightly changed too, communicating to all the readers that from the end of all the tribulations that our characters went through in this Clear Card Arc, they finally managed to move onto a happier life.

I think it's very beautiful how CLAMP decided to conclude this story, with a message of hope that not all endings are necessarily something bad, but they can simply hide behind them the beginning of something new and more positive.

Lord knows how much I needed to be reminded of this, in this moment of my life.

And surely this is also true for the end of this beloved series for many people around the world: after 7 years and half it's so hard to say goodbye to such a beloved story, but CLAMP want to give us one last present before saying goodbye to it for an indefinite period!

On the right side of the Japanese last page (this was not translated in the ENG one) we find the announcement that the April issue of Nakayoshi on sale on March 1st 2024 will bring us a special chapter of Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card! Precisely one month before the release of volume 16! There's no info about how long it's gonna be, but anything is strongly welcome to say goodbye in a more gradual way...I wonder what it'll be about? This can be literally anything!! I would love for them to feature a situation in the future, rather than in the past....

Beware, because I've heard that Anime News Network translated this as a "special arc" in their news and that caused a ruckus...I've already tried to warn people on Twitter that's not correct, "tokubetsuhen" is the same term they used for the special short chapters they have published till now.

And so...it ends. We've reached the end!! Omg! I still can't register it fully....🙈

I will write some short additional comments about the chapter here but you'll have to wait for another, separate post to have my impressions and commentary on the entire Clear Card Arc.

I just want to say that this finale didn't feature everything I hoped/wanted to see, but other things were definitely granted.

It's just impossible to make everyone happy so I completely understand that.

And even though I'm truly disappointed about Momo and the choice to make her leave her two kids like that, I feel overall this disappointment doesn't stain my appreciation for this finale.

The things I wanted to see and got, the general happy and relaxed atmosphere, seeing all four of them so friendly with eachother, Sakura's final blessing with those words are enough to make me feel still quite satisfied with the finale.

Also, this feels so much more open than the OG manga. A lot more open. There are tons of elements one could grasp to in case they wanted to make a spin-off, or feature some of these plot threads as a cameo in another work. Akiho and Kaito's situation in particular, with their travels around the world, seems to be screaming "you'll see us again soon". I don't know if I'm just delusional but I've seen so many people saying the same.

And I have to say that despite my first choice was for Akiho and Kaito to stay in Tomoeda, they gave me enough good reasons to justify them departing again. I did, in fact, predict that an eventual resume of their travels could be plot related (if they had to continue escaping the Squids' radar or if they had to find a way to fix Kaito's situation).

Plus, Akiho seems so happy and free. How can I rebel against that, when they depict her so happy of her choice?

Also, nice of Eriol to step up and help those two. He's the other poweful and experienced magician who can put at their service all of his knowledge.

And then, Kaito's character development. Even here, I felt like I would've wanted him to say more, but then I remembered that Ohkawa in a Space long time ago had already said "I would want the readers, once it's over, to re-read this trying to understand 'why this character acted in this way?' " and it was clear that she was referring to Kaito. So, not exposing in detail Kaito's heart and the motivations that brought him to this point is totally intentional. She wants us to get there on our own. After all, she gave us another huge hint in this chapter, by making him reveal his true name to Akiho. I can only be grateful for that, especially for how he worded it.

Cristaux and Cosmos...while I'm really happy they have the same initials, I'm still trying to get used to those new names! 😂even though I know they'll keep using their aliases so it's not a big problem, we'll keep calling them Kaito and Akiho!

(And yes, I'm a bit disappointed that Akiho's true name isn't Alice! 😂)

It was nice to see SyaoSaku blushing and flirting in this finale, especially now that Touya gave his blessing to Syaoran, he can go pick her up for school when he wants!! 😂 I'm sure we'll get more SyaoSaku fluff in the special chapter, as this finale was mostly used to wrap up other stuff.

As I said, I adored the few panels of interaction between the two Moon Boys, Akiho's mischievous prank to Kaito....yes, I still have lots to be grateful for, in this finale.

I think this post just won the record for the longest one, so let me just take this space really quick before wrapping up to thank all of you who have read my posts, shared them, supported me, chatted with me about the story, and overall contributed with interesting discussions in this little personal corner. I would've never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, that the existence and content of this blog one day would've reached even CLAMP, and this will stay as one of my biggest gratifications, especially cause they seemed to appreciate the effort. I just wish their story was treated better by some official translations.

I tried to do whatever I could to spread warnings about heavy translation mistakes, in addition to my interpretation of the story as I was reading it and analyzing it, since I've seen it helped many people understanding the story better and coming to terms with frustrations they had about it.

Clear Card Arc is undoubtedly more complex and requires a lot more of attention than the OG manga.

But I'm positive that re-reading everything in one go might help A LOT in that regard, maybe keeping my translation posts beside you....so I urge everyone to re-read the story when you have time, because it's worth it. Really.

That said, I'm not going anywhere for the foreseeable future: of course I'll comment the special chapter, but I also have in store the "Clear Card Trivia" series of posts, a post with the timeline of the events and a master post about my own review of the entire Clear Card Arc. And then, there's the season 2 of the anime too! You can bet I'll be here to comment on it every week!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you again for your patience, for reading me till now, and I also want to thank once again CLAMP-sensei for the wonderful sequel they brought to us in these past 7 years. ありがとうございます 🙏

See you soon!!

[do-it-for-the-fandom]

Cloudy With a Chance of Murder.

Part I: leaving the crime scene.

This was... well, it was more difficult than she had anticipated.

They had spent the last two weeks together. With his mother and daughter in Europe celebrating Alexis' graduation, and Kate being forced to serve out her suspension, they'd had the freedom to really dive into this honeymoon stage of their relationship.

Honeymoon seemed very accurate, too. With the exception of venturing out for the necessities - you know; food, fresh air, the occasional spot of sunshine - they had spent almost the entire two weeks behind closed walls of both her apartment and Castle's loft. Their homes were their sanctuary, a safe haven where they could just be; where they could kiss, and touch, and laugh without fear of outside judgement. So quickly, she had grown used to that, grown accustom to living life in Castle's pocket; never more than the flex of a pinky-finger away from him.

That was the first thing she missed; the proximity. He was still right by her side, but there was at least 15 inches of unwanted distance between them at all times. She was also suddenly so aware of how impossible it felt to look at him and not smile. She was constantly having to school her expression, to bite down on her lip to stop it from curling into an expression of amusement as he said something so typically Castle. His commentary about the weather girl's assets should have earned him a disapproving frown, not a stifled smirk, but she just couldn't help herself...

And Lanie was too observant for Kate's liking.

Something's changed, her friend had so innocently commented, setting off Beckett's spiral of doubt.

Lanie didn't know the half of it. Two weeks had felt like a lifetime and - in Beckett's mind, at least - nothing was the same. It never would be. She was equal parts thrilled and terrified.

Beckett slipped into her seat behind the steering wheel and slammed the door shut behind her.

"Woah!" Castle looked at her from the passenger's side. "You okay?"

"You need to cool it," she warned.

Castle frowned, confused and offended and... well, mainly just confused and offended. "What did I do? Was it my comment about Mandy Mich-"

"Lanie is onto us," Beckett blurted.

"Oh." Castle visibly relaxed and leant back into the seat. He chuckled and Beckett turned her head to look at him. "Lanie is not onto us."

"Castle, she noticed something was up within seconds of seeing us."

"Within seconds of seeing you," he corrected. "Maybe you're the one who needs to cool it," he joked.

"I'm trying but you keep..." Her voice trailed off.

"Keep what?"

She dropped her head back against the headrest, closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"God, you're not even doing anything, are you?" She opened her eyes and fixed her posture before raking her nails through her hair. "Okay, you know what? It is me. I need to cool it."

She inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slowly.

"I'm fine," she insisted.

They both knew she was anything but...

"Do I really get you that hot and bothered, Detective?" Castle asked in a low, lusty voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Castle," she whined. "Please don't."

He could see that she was genuinely worried, that the fear of them getting caught - the fear he had spent days trying to convince her was unnecessary - had returned with a vengeance. He wouldn't push it; wouldn't tease her anymore.

"I'll stop," he assured her with a comforting smile.

But goddammit, if that show of solitude wasn't the sexiest damn thing he'd done all day...

^^ how she feels when Castle respects her boundaries without hesitation or childish ribbing. Girl, control yourself!

[ca-suffit]

Do you believe lestat would've saved claudia if he had the strength to save both cause i saw alot of people say that Jacob too

I'm combining this with this other ask too

Did you see Jacob saying that in the trial (where they are gonna die where Claudia is gonna die) Louis hates Lestat but also falls in love with him again? Like what is that... :/

a) re: Claudia. It was not my initial reaction to agree with hearing that when Jacob said that, but having read the books and based on some other things I'll explain in a sec......yes, it's prbly true.

I don't remember if this was a fandom post here or not, but wherever I saw it, there was a post once getting into how someone can care about u but still harm u. This is usually the biggest disconnect between the fandom (and sometimes Sam Reid himself) and the character of Lestat. In his book, he talks about how he cares about Claudia. U do see examples of it in the show as well. But overall how much did *she* rly feel that from him? How much did he explain the motivation of his actions that hurt her? How many times did he chose the cruelest way to do anything? The fandom is ready to always excuse everything away bcuz of whatever reason in his backstory explains it. Does Claudia ever know this tho? What does his trauma matter to her when he's only passing it on to her in different ways?

There's been a lot of good comments I've seen regarding how he defends her in the trial rehearsals too. How he's allowed to abuse her but nobody else is. How he can compliment her there finally bcuz she's under the scrutiny of others and *now* that's his daughter, *now* that's his blood. I mean, he was always seen bragging when she'd "take after him" before too, but u know what I mean. There are multiple ways to look at all of this and I think they all should be considered. That is the point of the show. Book ppl who are only looking to excuse their fav character are missing a lot of commentary regarding patriarchy, race, father / daughter relationships and whatever else.

The trial, to a degree, does follow the books and Lestat *is* shown being distraught at Claudia's death there too. It's not an act but we haven't gotten more of the pieces yet from the show canon. It also doesn't mean he's going to suddenly change to become another character. A majority of what Louis is haunted by regarding Claudia is based in all the ways he feels like he failed her. That will most likely be Lestat's perspective too. A lot of their shared grief is how much they fucked up someone else's life bcuz of their relationship and how she ultimately suffered the most bcuz of it. This is a common struggle for parents to examine as their kids grow up and give feedback on the experiences of being raised by ppl who maybe didn't have their shit together v well.

b) re: Loustat at the trial. This again ties back to their history as a couple and as parents, as well as both coming from abusive pasts. On the surface, it makes no fucking sense why Louis would be sitting there having *any* positive thoughts about Lestat in that moment. But he's been hallucinating him for so long and waiting for him to be real again that some part of it is still a relief. Circumstances being what they were, when they first made eye contact, u can see and feel the shift. It's even timed in Armand's notes.

Louis has always struggled to "hate" Lestat. He wouldn't have been able to kill Lestat if Claudia hadn't been there, u see him struggle in the 70s interview, u see him struggle in the Dubai interview. Lestat is the first real relationship he ever had. Louis comes from trauma and is drawn to trauma and he passes on trauma to Claudia too. This is Lestat too. This is a large part of why their relationship and all of these relationships are so compelling. It's real, it's tragic, it's fucked up. Louis continuously wants to be with Lestat but also kill Lestat and it's for so many different reasons. Some are all about Lestat and some are about Louis and his own self-loathing.

Being raised in trauma makes u easily susceptible to codependency. Abuse can deepen this bcuz it can make a relationship feel more "real," especially if that's what ur brain has associated with "this is what being loved feels like" (which is what happens if ur abused as a kid by ppl u rely on to survive). It's been established that Louis doesn't like "boring," but stuff like this is not sustainable either, even for vampires. We're still in the "idk wtf I'm doing" stage of anything for all of them and we'll have to see where the show is taking us for what direction this goes in over time.

I mean, this scene sums it all up p well.

[rou-luxe]

THEORIES

babe wake up tragic yaoi dropped *THIS ACCOUNT DOES NOT USUALLY POST ALNST FANTHEORIES. IF THAT IS WHAT YOU WANT THIS IS NOT THE PLACE. theories / commentary / spoilers under the cut

I don't know 100% ALNST lore... most of this is speculation I think some people have commented on this already but apparently the one in the couple who wears white dies (Sua, Ivan) Following this pattern, Hyuna x Luka's relationship is complicated but if we go by that Luka is dying next round... But the next round is Till vs Luka, which would be different from the pattern (Sua vs Mizi, Ivan vs Till)... so maybe to complete the pattern Hyuna puts herself in instead of Till. mom pick me up I'm scared On top of that, Ivan wore black before, but switched to white. Does this have to do with something... (Was Till supposed to die instead...) Luka and Hyuna evidently have VERY different singing styles though so that would be interesting def Also the characters look older (not only the haircut man... they're taller) so I wonder... how much time has passed in ALNST??? and is it proportional to irl time (probably not) Not sure about the other videos I need to check but this time there are human spectators amongst the aliens in the crowd for the first time??? is alnst so powerful that they want to watch the showdown too??? Till sounds like he's about to break poor bb Till's lyrics in the beginning start off hopeless, asking someone to hurt him. To dissolve and drown in someone, to become one with them. Definitely Mizi. When Till's master shoves his face towards the newspaper, he's probably telling him to snap out of it, sing properly and let go of Mizi??? Then Till gets his ahh beat and he reaches for Mizi, his one hope in the darkness "Icy lips" - he already thinks Mizi is dead??? Ivan's eyes look empty. interruption from mizisua sponsor /j Even though the MIZISUA video is more of a backstory video, it also suits Round 1. I think it might suit Ivantill as well hold on When Mizi and Sua found each other (refer to MIZISUA video), Sua has lost hope already, but Mizi's love gives her some hope in the dark. Then they are torn apart, but still want to be together. The one who lives (Mizi) is in grief. Ivan's empty eyes look like he has lost hope, just like Sua. Till gave him a reason to keep going (see: Black Sorrow, their relationship shown in Cure <- this video)

Back to the video Till laying there by himself, Ivan moves the (muzzle?) restriction, maybe to help him breathe Ivan's verse reflects Till's but it's different in multiple ways "Cold words" - Referring to Till? (well... till has always been naturally sassy...) Similar to Till's statement in the first part, Ivan is saying that Till can break him apart and build him back again (mend) I guess they fought and became friends 💀 "I'll drown in you" as well. Till would sacrifice himself for Mizi, Ivan would sacrifice himself for Till (CRIES) Ivan feels "seen" by Till, Till wants to dissolve in Mizi's gaze Why does he reach for the back of Till's neck? Till unawares (sleeping)? Are the two somewhat related? Ivan reaches for Till (love) but Till unaware (once again 💀) Consume me + licking the blood from Till's wound. they really want to become one person don't they 2:46 Ivan turns away from the camera is he giving Till a kiss on the cheek or is he whispering something to Till in his sleep we'll never know

"We shall dance", with "our story". TOGETHER. THEY WANT TO BE TOGET- *gets shot* PLEASE LET THEM BE YAOI AGGHGH everlasting memory this moment will last forever THE KISS SCENE I WAS SO HAPPY AT FIRST AND THEN WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENED I rewatched this video too many times the animation just too pretty man 😭 Till pushes him away I noticed this in a lot of promo arts and stuff because yk Mizi

okay back to the video Ivan's expression when he chokes Till kind of looks like him looking down at the camera like he did at the end of Black Sorrow am I reading too into this Till gives up. He doesn't even fight the choking. Normally this would be uncharacteristic but yk Mizi 😭😭 I'm confused how Ivan gets hit??? I think it's bullets but who knows maybe the rain is possessed or maybe Ivan did it himself Like in Till's song (it's been confirmed by the creators that Till killed his enemy to win apparently), if the enemy is killed then you win. Ivan sacrificed himself so Till could win, so Till could live There was also a theory I read that Luka was pissing off Mizi so she would fight back, so she would continue living BUT LUKA IS A WHOLE OTHER STORY THIS ISN'T ABOUT LUKA WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IVANTILL At the end of MIZISUA video, Mizi wakes up crying in the rain. Till stands in the rain staring at Ivan's corpse (but we don't see the body) The light is focused on Ivan, not Till. The light of Ivan's life has been snuffed out, but it also leaves Till in darkness I was expecting Till to make some sort of movement once the lights turned off but nope omg Luka vs Till... Till is gonna kill his ahh for disrespecting Mizi 💀 THE OTHER YAOI DUO!! WHAT HAPPENED TO HYUNA BRO IS MAMA GONNA DIE WHO INTRUDED imagine if the intruder was luka that would be so funny also there is a heavy heartbeat motif in the kick drums for the song omg there is no heartbeat during the music when - Kid Ivan stares deadly at the camera (it stops there) - Ivan enters stage - They build the heartbeat motif again slowly during the backstory part - back to life. Starts with a single kick then double - Ivan is falling insert ivantill my god my universe memes again, Till is literally Ivan's reason for living

thank you for reading my nonsense ramblings it's 3:30 am Ivantill is worth staying up any day THIS IS NOT PROOFREAD I am CRYING 🔥🔥 WE COPE GOOD NIGHT might draw ivantill fanart... doubt I have time though

[kingbryancroidragon]

Darkness Rising Part 4 Commentary

And here we are again. Part Four, lets get started!

Just a thought here with Ratchet's comment about Megatron desecrating the resting place of their ancestors, it is too bad that all of the zombies are just generic Cybertronians and that we don't get any big names from past incarnations. Sentinel Prime or Liege Maximo would have been great.

Then we cut to Bulkhead, Jack, Raf and Miko and I just have to wonder, what did Jack think his shielding Raf was going to do? The blasts from the Vehicons could probably kill them both with one shot.

I just love Bulkhead's voice when he opens up his chest and Miko pops up. It is just so hilarious.

Well, guess Bulkhead is going to a... car wash? I don't own a car, I walk or take public transit. Whatever it is, he'll need that vomit cleaned up.

Arcee and Bumblebee to the rescue!

Even after receiving multiple shocks, Fowler still has the guts to mess with Starscream. Good man.

It's not all fun and games when you are a human.

Megatron's comment about Optimus still be at the top of his game just brings me back to the question of how old some of these characters are in terms of a human lifespan.

It is a nice tender moment of Jack and Miko dropping everything to assure Raf everything will be alright, but Raf brings up a good point when he asks how they know. They are in the middle of the enemy base, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead are kind of on a suicide mission, they really don't know for certain if they'll be getting out of there.

And Drunk Fowler has arrived!

It is funny, because Drunk Fowler really is a distraction. Starscream just looks at him as if thinking "What?" It is a hilarious non sequitur.

Miko on one brain cell apparently. What is taking the Vehicon's picture going to do?

I mean, they sort of found Fowler. They just didn't find Sober Fowler.

Is it weird that I am suddenly thinking of the subject of energon transfusions?

Miko whipping out her phone is another thing I find hilarious. The screen is small enough as it is, but for someone of Optimus' size I'm surprised he didn't ask: "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

Yeah, like anyone has simply walked away from something like this.

Just something that came to my mind, but with G1 Starscream having a mutant spark that allowed for him to become a ghost, imagine how much worse the abuse Starscream faced here would be if that was also the case. Unless his body was disintegrated, he couldn't die, so Megatron, if he already knew, would probably be going all out on him.

I just love the scene of Miko coming to see Jack to give him his pep talk. First we have the fact that her cats are named "Chi Chi" and "Ding Dong", the former being Japanese slang for "breasts" and the latter American for "penis" and I just have the head canon that her parents are unfamiliar with a lot of slang and that Miko was aware of this and so named the cats that just to mess with her parents. Then we get to learn more about her and to put things in a different sort of a manner, she was a living ghost, alive and yet at the same time not, a reality and at the same time a fiction. Now, while I do ship Jack and Miko, her giving Jack a pep talk is not when I started shipping them, but in hindsight, it feels a little bit different than if it was Raf that came to see him, since it would have been very little brother coming to encourage his big brother. There might be a little bit of an attraction on Miko's part, but at this point I just think she saw more in Jack than he saw in himself and while he might not see it, he does look up when she leaves, thinking maybe she's right before returning to fixing his bike.

And that is Part Four of the pilot. Very good, I'll get to Part 5 sometime in the next week.

[zelda-cooper]

Thoughts, Headcanons and Comments on Drake Mallard /Darkwing Duck (My AU).

This here is more of a commentary blog and maybe a rant, it can also be considered as a headcanon blog and also for Negaduck fans (which I feel like the majority will curse me A LOT for not agreeing with either group, OG and DT 2017). For those who want to, they can read it as they wish, but I'm already advancing that it's LONG and will have some low-level words (I'll censor it, but it's still worth it). Feel free to leave comments about your opinions... And preferably, the comments should be healthy...

Yeap... From the poll I did... You really want to see me talking about Scarletwing- DARKWING DUCK!... So, ok... The voice of the people is the voice of God. So get ready because today there will be a lot of complaints about Drake from DT 2017.

And finally the day has come to talk about him... Our beloved protagonist, the hero of St. Canarian who flies through the night, the one that many people love... Who is the majority of people who cause a lot of the problems just to get fame and ego and who often goes over his family and friends, and also ends up screwing up the villains more and having a completely self-destructive personality... (IT'S A JOKE, PEOPLE!!! IT'S A JOKE-)

Ok, now let's get serious... By far, Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard is a character that many people like as a protagonist and that is in some way loved by fans. Besides, even though he is very problematic, you can see that he is a good person deep down in his soul (which is difficult to see with so many bad things he has done...). I think a lot of people like him is because he's not exactly a hero, but rather an ANTI-HERO. This is very evident in his actions and personality, he may also do it for a noble reason, but it is because of his ego in the first place that he became a hero. Being recognized, a famous person... That's it... He's an artist... Against crime, but he's an artist... But that's it... There are people who like to exalt him TOO MUCH... It's the same situation as Negaduck and sometimes it mischaracterizes the character a little... I think it's largely due to his personality change in DT 17, where he it became more "sanitised" for political correctness. I'm going to comment a lot on this... Remember that this is MY opinion on the character, you have the complete right to disagree with me and want to give your opinion.

While we're talking about him, let's talk about the Drake Mallard/Darkwing Duck version from DT 2017.

Okay... Where to start? Maybe saying that his introduction was good and the idea too, but my problem is with the character himself. He is introduced as a fan of the old Darkwing Duck series (from the Ducktales Reboot reality) and is an apparently young actor (I guess 20-23 years old). He is presented as someone who is dreamy, a little slow (very slow, actually...), a little mellow and sentimental. He has certain traits of arrogance and self-centeredness, but they are not that alarming... And that's the problem for me! The original Darkwing Duck is supposed to be VERY selfish, arrogant and self-centered, that's the fun of the character. They softened Drake's personality A LOT, I don't know if it's due to political correctness (which I don't believe because there are some current protagonists who have these arrogant traits) or just so that when his Reboot comes, he'll be more relatable to children. I think it's pretty ridiculous...

But there are things I like about Drake from DT 2017. His look is simple, but interesting. The reason he's resistant is cool. His and LP's relationship is good. Gosalyn's too. The fact that he himself is friends with Fenton, but DOESN'T LIKE Gizmoduck is good (although I think he's too slow for not noticing the obvious-). The fact that he is a newcomer to fighting crime is good, it gives "justification" to his likely mistakes. Ducktales 2017 is good, but there are things that I strongly criticize...

Ok, we've already talked about Darkwing Duck from Ducktales Reboot... Let's talk about the classic Darkwing Duck, the one from the old series.

I'm going to explain him in the simplest way possible and that shows the vision I have of him... He's an Anti hero who TRYS to be a real hero, but does it for the wrong reasons. Long story short... Drake may have good reasons to be a hero for the city, the problem is that he is also very egocentric and he was only doing it in the beginning for the fame. He has noble attitudes and you can see that, with the help of Gosalyn and Launchpad, he wants to do good for people. But at the same time he causes SO MUCH PROBLEM that you question whether he really is a hero or an almost villain. And this duality is something I love in characters... It ends up not being black or white, it's grey... Then you ask: "So he's perfect for you?", and my honest answer is... No... There are some moments that make me really angry with him and that I don't like... Moments when he's an @ssh0l& with to Gosalyn, LP, Morgana, Gizmoduck, and the other Justice Ducks. Besides, some villains he creates himself! Example... Liquidator. In fact... Here I'm going to highlight why it wasn't exactly his fault, especially because Bud ends up losing his balance and falling backwards... But the way Drake took his supposed "death" was, like... "GOD, HE DIED!... But we solved the case, so let's go home! - >-"... MAN, A PERSON LITERALLY DIED IN FRONT OF YOU!!! Another would technically be Bugmaster (although I don't remember their episode well so correct me if I'm wrong) and a few others...

Okay... Having said all that... So now it's time to talk about his version in my AU and what I'm going to keep from him.

In my AU, I prefer to use a lot of the classic Darkwing Duck base, because he is this gray character. HOWEVER, the story itself I would base on DT 2017, because it really is interesting. The difference is to put more weight on the character's attitudes, to have real CONSEQUENCES for him. As for his "involution" at certain narrative points and moments when he's a jerk... I have a good justification... And for that, I take two base characters.

Pink Diamond from Steven Universe and Blitzo from Helluva Boss...

For the haters of these characters, I'm sorry... But they are the best examples...

Ok, speaking of these characters... Pink Diamond was a spoiled and tantrum person, but most of all... SELF-DESTRUCTIVE! She hurt people without realizing it, even though she felt weak and defenseless compared to her diamond sisters. She hurt and left many people on the path she walked that she felt they could never change 100%. Blitz, on the other hand, is a completely problematic person because he is also self-destructive and has serious relationship problems. The majority he had always ended up with the person hating him forever and, over time, these ghosts from the past end up coming back to him.

Now combine these two aspects mentioned and put them in Drake... Now you must understand where I'm going and some of you may have heard me say it more than once, but... Drake has serious problems relating to other people , some end up being hurt emotionally or physically. He ends up being a completely self-destructive person and, even though he tries to change, he never feels like he's good or someone's equal. Not even about his family or friends... Which makes him always try to put himself as superior to others to try to hide these insecurities. But he always ends up coming back with problems and questions... And at some point, all of this will end up coming back.

...

...

...

My God, now that I see it, it's a bit depressing...:'³

(Art for @anniesilveratl2 )

But seriously... I still think Drake is a good person, he's just lost. Again, this is my opinion and you have every right to disagree. But I think that's it... Thank you for reading the blog, if you liked it, consider reblogging and liking it. See you next time. BYEEE!!!!

[kix-mm]

G/t build up and break down

Holy shit 54 votes??

Also side note: due to my health I wasn't able to make any art for this post as promised, it'll be released in a separate post and the continuing art will be of what I've made in the past. I'm really sorry but I don't want to keep you all waiting :(

T had always been a sensitive soul, not only to sound and touch but to words too, and yet, somehow they managed to always keep themselves calm and collected, never showing those who would hurt their feelings a single care in the world... they would suppress their feelings, which was already difficult and unhealthy, but it only became harder over time...

G had gotten so used to T being unaffected by their words that G slowly but surely became more and more careless with their teasing, making downright nasty comments about T without actually realizing it hurt their friend, what was even worse is that T also tended to agree with everything G had to say, breaking down any slither of self-worth they still had.

T at this point considered G more of a bully than their friend, but still stuck by them, for days, weeks, months, and a whole 2 years this went on before it finally became too much to handle.

T was emotionally drained and just wanted to be left alone... but unfortunately, G had noticed that T was more quiet than usual, and was being extra pushy to get T to open up to them, G was persistent, too persistent...

"You're so sensitive"

That very last comment made wasn't even the worst T had heard, yet that was what made T finally break into tears, they cried and cried and cried, rubbing the tears away for only more to come streaming down their red cheeks, they just stood there, sobbing profusely. They didn't care what G thought of them anymore, they were hurt, they had put up with G's careless commentary and this is what they got for not being honest about their feelings.

G sat there, completely silent, they had never seen T cry before, and they weren't sure what exactly caused it but G knew that they had probably gone too far... but how? What had happened to T that made them cry this much? Who hurt them so badly that they didn't want to tell their best friend? G was furious at first and was about to persist before T started to spill the truth, how hurt they felt, how the teasing had become more painful than fun after a while, and how they regretted not speaking up sooner...

G slowly picked up the other, gently wiping their tears away with their sleeve and just listening to everything they had to say... this went on for about an hour and T had finally fallen silent like they were before, only this time they looked worried, they had said things that they had never said to anyone before, ever, and the last person they wanted to suddenly vent to was the one who had made them feel like this in the first place... but G didn't get upset for what T had said, instead they were frustrated why T never told G about it until today.

"Did you mean all that you said?" G asked while looking at T, lying curled up in their hand.

"No- I mean- I" T could already feel more tears filling their eyes, and it hadn't even been 2 minutes since they last cried

"Don't backpedal now" G said in a harsh tone and made T face them "I'm not mad at you for saying all that to me, I'm mad that you never said this before. Why? Did you think I would have hurt you? Are you so scared that you would rather suffer in silence than try to communicate with me? Did you think I tried to hurt you on purpose?"

"Yes... I was scared, I was terrified! I didn't want to say anything in case you thought I was being too sensitive." T said while tubbing their eyes

"I wouldn't have thought that! Maybe you are sensitive, there's nothing wrong with that, please just don't do that ever again, okay? I'll be more careful with my words, I promise you can tell me in the future if I hurt you" G never made promises unless he knew they could keep them, and he did, it took T a long time, a very long time. But they got better, more honest, more vocal about how they felt and their opinion on certain things, they were less afraid of their friends reaction because they felt safer around G.

[azulsluver]

I imagine a cruel ending where instead of escaping finally out of the book, by playing through the stories-- Y/N allows them to escape and now they're part of the real world with them but they're still ghosts 😭✋ and poor Y/n now has to deal with them irl

Or worse ending, after diasomnia, it becomes a free for all battle where Y/N gets transported into a final boss fight w/ the side characters she made friend with VS literally everyone she just tried to escape from (AKA, every dorm) and she has to find the final key, that being Ramshackle 😂

I just find it extremely funny to see how the dead dorm ghosts would interact with each other, the funny squabbling they'd create like with Leona, Vil, and Malleus or Rook with Ruggie or Idia's amazing commentary of everyone while they try to take Y/N for their own XDDD I hope my thought were entertaining

lots of ramblings under here

The first one.... I'm pretty sure they're able to cause harm to you, they hold a grudge. Well except for Kalim, you didn't mean to run away you were scared! But them being ghosts would be very annoying, the idea now that they came into your world is like reliving that nightmare. Some ghosts like Jade and Rook suggest on killing you now so that way you'll be a ghost like them! Of course that plan will backfire from their bosses, they'll stick to teasing with you until you decide to do something. Maybe take a visit to that rundown shop your friend found the book... (teehee spoilers are ez)

The worse ending would be heartbreaking, all the main/side characters aren't special or anything so they'll die quickly if they intervene. They're whole purpose in the book was to die in a gruesome way, you just so happened to help some not meet that fate. You're right about a the boss fight, they all want you back in their world.

And speaking about the key, each was assigned by the house wardens (obviously they're not in here but you get it) who hold the key for safety reasons. Without the key they wouldn't be able to transport to other stories, I wanted it to be similar to the game in the spectral realm. They know how to use the key, you don't. The last comment I made under one of the stories was that they are unable to go to another story because the mirror wouldn't allow them to. Orrr could be because you're occupied in that certain story so they're basically guessing which story you're in now. That could also be the reason but I'll let ya'll wonder. So don't be like Leona or Kalim since they are terrible key holders. And Azul.

Final showdown? Crazy, ghosts are already dead but they could still be using their living body at the moment. It's traumatizing, not like reader has been enough but yea. I don't think Vil wanted any part in the fight, but Rook's and Epel's whining got the better of him to drag you back, barley breathing. You haven't come face to face with Azul yet, the truth was he was cowering because of the magic left behind. "No way they got Leona!?" Floyd and Jade want a little justice return for all the damage you've done, let's just hope you don't end up in their hands.

The whole Heartslabyul wants to keep you too, probably because Deuce keeps crying for you while Cater wants his little friend back. Ace was making fun of Deuce for being a crybaby before getting tired of his sniffles, convincing Trey and Riddle to take some sort of revenge after you/ Trey wants no part in it but if it makes everyone happy then..Riddle wants you dead tho, you made a fool out of him and he won't let that slide. Leona would be the one totally obsessed with you, after gaining information that you surpassed the others? He's like those guys into people who play hard to get. Jack too. Mostly impressed by your strength so he develops an innocent crush, kinda? Ruggie's just there for the fun.

Kalim is 100% sure you did nothing wrong, you need him and Jamil to protect you from the rest. They hurt you intentionally so they aren't fit to care for you! Jamil, is tired. But he won't be able to ignore Kalim's whining and call, you'll do just fine for some peace and quiet. Now for Diasomnia I don't think I can say much until I release the chapter. I just know for certain Malleus' group would win.

What I know for sure is that it won't be the end with them. They're determined to have you, dead or alive.

[phantomuheist]

@iiguess said: 3, 5, and/or 21 for the mun meme!

send me a number and I'll talk about it | Accepting

3. Roleplaying with yourself

I can understand doing it in drabbles and all that or if you're a multimuse (heck, I do it), but by yourself if you have multiple blogs, it's kinda weird? Not to say that you're a loser, but I've seen it happen before and I can't say I understand the point of doing that if you have writing partners. Maybe you're bored, I don't know. Not my cup of tea.

5. dash commentary

It can be very fun to participate in if we exclude the fact that I live in the future compared to US timezones and I almost always miss the good stuff when I'm in Dreamland. It sucks, but when I happen to catch it live, it's the best as long as we're mutuals! It's weird when I comment on someone I don't know, so I tend not to do that and stick to my lane.

21. your current rpc

I've been here for so many years and I don't regret it. I've met some wonderful people. I had my first relationship which ended in failure. I met some toxic people who are now out of my life, but still haunt me to this day and I like talking about them. It's a ball of emotions. I plan on staying until I get too old for it, so you'll have to tolerate me even more. :3

[aqua-dan]

World's Finest: Teen Titans #1 Review

Now that the first issue of the series has been out for a while and I'm less concerned about spoilers, I felt like now would be the time to say a few things about the start of the series and get some of my opinions out there. There's a lot to say, so I suppose I'll split it up into pros, cons, and general commentary.

Pros

On the positive side, it's genuinely nice to see the Fab 5 + Karen together in a group again! No matter how much time goes on and no matter how many interpersonal issues the group has, they're still my favorite team.

It's nice to see all the different little references to the original series -- from one of their fights being against the Separated Man to the picture of the Flips up on the wall of their base, it does feel pretty nostalgic to someone who is a big fan of Teen Titans vol. 1!

The art is overarchingly pretty nice (although I wish I could hit the colorist over the head and scream at them that Garth's eyes are purple! NOT BLUE!)

Despite my nostalgia for the original series, I am finding myself being more ok with the changed lineup than I originally thought I'd be. Now, this obviously messes with some Titans history that I'm reluctant to give up, but it is nice to see Karen highlighted especially! I also think the inclusion of Golden Eagle was nice! He's probably one of the lesser known Teen Titans, so even seeing him show up was surprisingly pleasant.

Despite the fact that I do also have a slight complaint about it, I do think it's nice that they are leaning into popular slang and what is "cool and hip with the teens." To be honest, I think it could even be dialed up a notch! Bring out your inner Bob Haney!!

The ending to the first issue was also interesting! I like that they are setting up the major conflict but keeping it vague for right now. I'm genuinely excited to see how that progresses!

Cons

On the more negative side, there is also a lot to say. Some of it might be nitpicking, but I feel it's worth putting out there anyways. My biggest issue with the series thus far is that it feels too self aware. I know it's only the first issue, and I know that I just praised the references to the original series in the "pros" section, but in many ways I can't help but feel that the series is superimposing later versions of these characters onto their younger selves despite the story-beats that would cause them to act that way not having happened yet.

Just for example's sake, I think the way Batman is acting is a decent showcase for this. Not to say that he entirely wasn't strict before a certain time, but the extremely controlling and closed off way he's acting is far more in-line with post Death in the Family characterization, and not the time period in which Teen Titans vol. 1 would take place.

Not all of the characterization in that regards is bad -- after all, those traits need a base to develop from -- but in some cases it really feels too aware of how these characters would later become. Because of that, a lot of the dialogue and interactions feel sort of hollow and don't allow for much natural or nuanced progression.

Besides that, this series has really made me confused on the DC comics timeline. With the constant mentions of social media, livestreaming, and modern slang, it reads like it should be something set in present time aka 2023. But considering how this is a flashback, shouldn't this be set in the time of, like... Myspace? Shouldn't the slang be ever so slightly dated, and social media NOT be such a ubiquitous thing? Maybe I'm wrong and the current DC timeline is actually taking place in the future, but still, the over-modern nature of the writing feels a little bit jarring to me.

Speaking of jarring, there are a few details that felt super weird throughout the issue. Roy's comment about Ollie "taking him in from the streets" is jarring since I guess that means they're sticking with the N52 backstory for Roy, which.... ugh. The other things I find jarring are honestly just nitpicks. Without going into it too much, there were just a lot of small details that make my brain go, "hey! That's not how that happened! That's not correct!" Regardless, I need to remember that this isn't a part of the old continuity, so changes can be made whether I like it or not.

General Commentary

All in all I don't think it's a bad start to the series. As it continues, I really hope that things start to feel more authentic so that the series is actually able to develop both its own identity and develop these characters further than they have been before without feeling redactive. I sort of miss the small, homegrown feel of the original series, and how going from smaller missions to world ending events was genuinely a big change for many of the Teen Titans. I'm hoping that there are some more small moments going forward that keep it from getting too big too fast.

I think it's too early to judge the series more heavily, so for now I'm just eagerly awaiting the next issue so we can see how it's going to hold up in the long run.

[amplifyme]

@tygertygerfoggybright I'm going to do some more cherry-picking and answer your latest ask here.

First of all, I love that your sister is a Father stan. And your running commentary with her, that you've transcribed for me, is priceless! 😁

More below the cut.

It's safe to say that her preferring Paracelsus over Gabriel is a majority opinion in the fandom. But I agree with your take a few weeks back that Paracelsus was more Father's nemesis rather than Vincent's, and was simply using V as a tool against him. But she's right about Gabriel being "a little man." And as soon as V was face to face with him, he knew it too.

I'm not insulted at all that she's not a V girlie. For some, he's an acquired taste, for others, they never get the appeal. That just leaves more for the rest of us to enjoy.

Vincent and Diana and baby Jacob were the PERFECT ENDING. She watched it twice herself. Jacob gives, and I quote, “PURPOSE TO [Vincent’s]LIFE”-- she loves those types of characters, or any kind of family or platonic relationship/bond. :DDDD 

Your sister is right. Jacob does give V a purpose to carry on. And the show was certainly laying the ground work for Diana to also become that for him.

I'm pretty sure we all started out as Cathy defenders - I certainly did. I didn't begin to question her choices and their impact on V's peace of mind until maybe a third of the way through S2. And that came as a result of many rewatches of certain episodes, when there was a little tickle in the back of my head telling me that all was not well and I needed to dig deeper.

Brb, we’re fighting over Paraclesus vs. Gabriel. Be right back. 

She conceded (volunteered) that Gabriel was “an interesting arc, though.” “Gave a lot of plot drama.” 

You two are cracking me up!

She made me die laughing suggesting he was Simba and John Pater was Uncle Scar (and though it’s not TECHNICALLY canon….)

🤣🤣🤣 Now I'm wondering if the folks at Disney did a bit of pilfering when working on The Lion King! This is perfect! 🤣🤣🤣

“Kick Joe” refers to every time someone came to him with info and tore it away or how he’s generally treated by everyone else around him, including life and us the audience.

Aw, poor Joe. He does get the short end of the stick a lot.

“I don’t think Vincent really has a raspy voice,” she interjects randomly, “I think he just sounds like what a lion would sound like.” I guess that’s a bad thing. “I LIKE HOW HE FLICKED HIS EYES,” she interjects again. I’ve been listening to her eye-flicking praise comments for days now. (“I’ve only said it three times,” she adds.) 

Gotta agree with her on all of this. Perlman based the raspiness of the voice he used on his belief that Vincent's "normal" voice would always sound like it was on the edge of a growl, and that's why he was so soft-spoken most of the time. Just another way to set the people around at ease. But you could certainly hear it when he was angry. There's a set of videos from a con back in the day that features a Q & A with Perlman, Roy Dotrice, and Jay Acovone that's just delightful. All three of these guys are a blast to listen to and watch. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you a link. Oh, and yes, V was an expert at the eye flick!

She’s curious if you’ve ever met the actors and what meeting them was like (she enjoyed reading-- on her own, mind-- about your talk with Roy); and if there were any fandom Winterfest stories you could relate?  

I was lucky enough to meet Perlman at the same con as I met Roy, but the encounter only lasted a minute or two. He was meeting up with some of the actors at the con and just happened to spot Roy at the table with Nan and myself and stopped by for a minute. Lovely, lovely man. And big. Both physically and personality-wise. In exchange for mine and Nan's promise to not tell anyone that we'd seen him (his con appearance that night was unannounced and a surprise to everyone but the cast and con organizers) I got a hug in return. Still makes me grin like an idiot thinking about it, and it takes a lot to frazzle me. I also had a chance to meet and speak to Jay, David Greenlee (a precious cinnamon roll), Eddie Albert Jr. (sooo handsome in person, a real delight), David Swartz (a coordinating producer on the show - funny guy) and a few of the recurring, unnamed tunnel dwellers.

Every con that took place over the years always started with a Friday evening banquet, and was considered our Winterfest. Once everyone was seated, the lights were turned off and the Winterfest recitation began. Of course each table was decorated with candles enough for everyone seated, and eventually all the candles were lit and our celebration would begin by candlelight and with the room lights dimmed. I'll never forgot the goosebumps I got when Roy stood at the head of the cast table and began, "The world above us is cold and gray, summer a distant memory. Our world, too, has known its winters, so each year we begin this feast in darkness, as our world began in darkness."

Once the yearly cons ended, Winterfest began to take place online.

Notes: Buster remembered being abandoned as a baby-- would baby Jacob remember being suffocated by Gabriel? And what trauma would that bring (or what trauma did Vincent and the bond prevent?)

No, I don't think Jacob would remember that. I have to believe that V only remembered his abandonment because of what he is. Not only because of whatever species or hybrid of human being he is, but because of his enormous empathic abilities, which I believe Jacob shares, but not to the extent of his father's. And I don't know that their bond would've prevented any trauma, but it would certainly have been dampened the moment Vincent lifted him from the cradle and held him.

Okay, enough for now. I have a fic to work on. Tell your sister I enjoyed "meeting" her! 😊

[inventors-fair]

Ride off into the Sunset: Power of Friendship Commentary

I don't have much to say this week, but lotsa cool cards! thanks again to everyone for putting their all into this silly little contest. I'll see y'all in a few weeks!

~judge @naban-dean-of-irritation

Abraham Desjardins by @bergdg - The Reckoners

An archenemy product like you mentioned alongside the submission would be neat, but if I get into the logistical implications of that I wouldn’t have any room left for commenting on the card. Abraham here is pretty simple- a nice throwback to the battlebond usage of “team”, though in this case you could just say “target creature your team controls”. Abraham’s character seems to boil down to “heavy weapons expert”, which I feel like comes across well here. He arms himself or other characters, and is willing to get his hands dirty, too. I honestly wonder if this might be a bit too much for a partner commander? The vigilance means you can attack and fight every turn cycle, plus the scaling buff (a small one, but still). However, I can’t really say for sure without playing with it. Altogether, fun and flavorful card, but maybe could’ve been a bit narrower.

Batman, Caped Crusader by @hypexion - DC Comics

Batman 1 of 2, both with Hero/Sidekick. There are obvious similarities between the two, but hey, Batman is a well established character. I like the idea of Batman being a toolbox commander, but a lack of repeatable tutor like Zur the Enchanter is probably good. Free playing cheap stuff as a combat trick is quite fun, especially since there’s some decently impactful auras at that cost. At four mana, though, I don’t even think you need the two mana in the ability cost. As it is, it’s kinda just a worse version of giving your artifacts and Auras flash, since you can only do it once per turn cycle. Also, given the flavor, I almost wish it was Equipments instead of all artifacts, and then came along with an attachment clause, though it would be tricky to make that wording smooth. The Sidekick clause is also interesting here- assuming sidekicks are mono-color, this means that you can’t actually have any 4 or 5 color partner decks, which might be for the best. Plus, it creates a pretty clear power structure between them, with sidekicks clearly being a support elements. All in all, neat card, and a good snapshot of Batman.

Batman, Dark Knight by @genericaura - DC Comics

Number two! Also dealing with his utility belt (because, yknow, duh), but taking it in a much different direction. It’s a bit of a hefty paragraph there, but ultimately you can stack these equipments onto your commander to have vastly increased combat flexibility. The power buff isn’t huge, but it’s also not nothing after a few turns. Flying and first strike are definitely good abilities both flavorfully and mechanically, but repeatable indestructible definitely seems like it could get annoying. For five mana, it’s probably worth the investment, but it also seems unlikely that you’d ever pick anything else, and just save up the equipment for cheating death. My last quibble is with the equip cost. Three mana is pretty steep for an admittedly minor effect- I think I would rather see it lowered if the intention is to be able to shuffle them around, or just remove the equip cost entirely if they’re meant to stay on the commanders.

Bruce Banner // The Incredible Hulk by @squeezyboi - Marvel Comics

I’m going to address the Hulk in the room first- as written, Avengers is not a functional ability. Going by even the smallest team size, and assuming this is a small product and not a full set, that’s a minimum of 6 commanders. Even if they all suck, that’s lowering your deck size by a not-insignificant amount, which helps a lot with consistency. However, there are easy ways to tweak that, so let’s look at the rest of the card. Exploring is definitely a different flavor here than on ixalan, but it’s a cute way to show his isolated wandering. Life and damage increments are numerals, so “3 or more life”, but the transform condition is the right cost and again flavorful- he transforms when you get hit/when he gets mad. The back face abilities need a bit of modal templating, but they’re pretty cool, and well costed given the hoops you have to jump through. All in all, this is a pretty neat card, apart from the rework needed on the Avenger ability itself.

Cat Master Joe by @wolkemesser - King City

Adding a pool of unrestricted commanders that were not previously designed to be commanders (or partners) is a dangerous game to play, but cheap cats is... fine? probably? I’m honestly more concerned about what this says about what the rest of the set would look like. What really gets me here is the four-color cost, and how that interacts with the Cat Master ability. There’s no real reason for black to be here (though it does match with the character), but regardless of whether you can use it to add blue, it just seems like this card doesn’t really scream partner to me. Sure, it’s nice to have a cat just chilling in the command zone for a guaranteed play, but the card just wants to be generally cat typal. All in all, the design feels a bit unfocused, and I think each element on its own is neat, but they don’t mesh with each other very well.

Cornelia, War-Princess by @helloijustreadyourpost - Code Geass

Vehicles are a popular choice this week, and honestly, it makes a lot of sense. There’s lots of person-vehicle partners in popular media, and they lend themselves well to evocative designs. Cornelia is simple, but straightforward and aggressive, which fits well with how she’s represented. I honestly don’t know if the once per turn is necessary? If you have ways to untap her, you kinda deserve to double dip on the anthem. At least, that’s my thoughts on it. However, there’s a bit of a sticky rules issue here- as written, it seems to imply that Vehicles that haven’t been crewed yet will benefit from the buff, which will be present as soon as they come online. And I.... don’t think that’s how it works? On the battlefield, uncrewed vehicles don’t have power and toughness, so I don’t think they can benefit from the buff. Counters are a different matter since they can just apply when the Vehicle animates, so if that’s what you’re looking for, might be better to balance around a permanent buff.

Falco, Ace Wingman by @arixordragc - Star Fox / Smash Bros

Another fast and aggressive Vehicle pilot- can Falco fly on his own in the games? I mean, I know he’s usually in a ship, but I wonder if it would be worth it to give him flying on his own. The ability is fine and simple, perfect for an uncommon commander. Hero/Sidekick is apparently a pretty common naming convention this week, which makes sense, but... I would argue that Falco is a sidekick in this scenario? Unless you’re going for a Smash Bros style Fighters/Assist Trophies thing, in which case it kinda makes sense. I guess he is sorta a secondary protagonist rather than a side character, but eh. Not much else to say, deserves another point of power or some evasion, though you’ll wanna use him for crewing more than anything.

Fourth Syllable by @stupidstupidratcreatures - Kill Six Billion Demons

Yowza. This one sent me on a DEEP dive to figure out the mechanics behind the magic system at play here, and... this is definitely a really cool way to represent it, but would there only be seven “partners” in this case? The “or planeswalker” is clever bit of informative reminder text there, though typically WOTC avoids planeswalkers in UB products. As for the card itself, it’s interesting that it’s not restricted by casting your commander like Oathbreaker, but rather scales in a way that makes it useless if you cast it first. It’s a neat concept for sure, but... this is WEAK. Even with a two-mana commander, which is pretty damn cheap, this is asking for a 13 mana investment to... scry 3. The threshold effect is nice, but we’re talking about huge amounts of mana for a pretty weak draw spell. And again, that’s with a very cheap commander already. The scaling effect is quite neat, but definitely needs to be managed slightly differently.

Lift, Defiance Incarnate by @mmmmmin - Stormlight Archives

I definitely laughed at that epithet, cause “defiance incarnate” sure does sum it up nicely. Interestingly, hybrid cards are usually chock full of color pie breaks, but the biggest issue here would be red caring about food- and even that’s a bend, since it’s neither making it nor cares about gaining life. Radiant/Spren is a pretty natural pairing to make for this contest, so I’m not surprised a few people landed on it, but your restriction of color identity is a very nice touch. Would Spren in this case all be mono color, or would there be 2c ones that just have to match with the exact right pair? Anyways, this could make for a nasty voltron commander with the right setup. 2 commander damage starting turn 1 is nothing to sneeze at, and with some food generation, the built-in protection is quite nice. Definitely depends on the rest of the pool, but the design here is pretty solid. My only concern would be that it feels like it’s asking for a very specific partner here, since I assume most of the Spren wouldn’t be making food, except for a very particular one. Ultimately, it would be tricky to have a Radiant/Spren pool that isn’t just cleverly disguised “Partner With”, so that’s something to watch out for.

Lord Xykon, Spiteful Lich by @just--a--penguin - Order of the Stick

With another common (and sensible) pairing of Boss/Subordinate, Lord Xykon does all the lich things you want him to do. Phylactery? Check. Sacrificing minions to fuel his zombie army? Sure, why not. Honestly, I don’t have too much to complain about this card. The phylactery effect is something we’ve seen on a few cards already, and it’s quite flavorful. One qualm with the sacrifice ability is that I reckon it shouldn’t be optional; if you have a non-Zombie creature, you should be forced to sacrifice it. The other part, as I’ve commented on other cards, is that it feels like Boss/Subordinate should have some sort of hierarchy, or mechanic to show off the big dog. I’m thinking of something similar to how Backgrounds don’t actually function unless you control your commander. Then again, Doctor’s companion works similar to what you have here, so this is probably just a me thing.

Mordecai, Cunning Sniper by @nicolbolas96 - Borderlands

Okay, having a spotlight effect on a sniper is really clever, and I’m honestly surprised that this hasn’t been done yet. However, it does run into a bit of an issue with the second ability that would likely be confusing for a lot of players: Mordecai will be able to target something with protection from blue/black, but he won’t be able to damage them. It definitely throws up a weird flag. The other aspect of this is that the damage rate is really good. This is a combination of Niv-Mizzet and Nekusar, despite being cheaper than both, and with more flexibility in what he can target. At four mana, this would make for a really oppressive commander, let alone with a partner alongside. Imagine if there was a Vault Hunter that drew you cards, which I imagine there would be. On a different note, Vault Hunter is a clever and straightforward way of avoiding 4-5 color soup. Outright banning it means you can have two and even three-color partners without worrying about the potential pairs, and it also means you can even plan around partners that would never be able to pair with each other.

Patches the Hyena by @0woah - Dark Souls

He sure do skulk, huh. Anyways, Patches is definitely neat, but there’s a lot going on with him, and he’s trying to pull in more directions than a partner commander really should. You can’t really rely on opponents to have enough equipment to make the tap ability a kill shot, which means you want to be targeting yourself for that part. In fact, those abilities are generally just scaled off of you automatically, though I suppose the choice makes it a bit more interesting? Additionally, an equipment theme with a skulk commander feels weird, unless most of the equipment in the set don’t give power buffs. It’s still a cool card, and does do some fun work with saboteur effects, but I’m having a hard time thinking of a pool of effects that would synergize nicely with him while still being general enough to match the rest of the pool.

Pattern, Seeker of Lies by @certification-wizard - Stormlight Archives

Templating nitpick up first- watch the order of your mana symbols on the bestow. Speaking of, bestow is a really cool way to represent spren, beings which are kind-of people and kind-of slivers of power that offer abilities through their bond. Being able to act as an aura or on their own matches well with their existence. As for the main ability, you don’t need to worry about flash since the ability allows you to cast immediately, which ignores timing restrictions. It also makes for a bit of an interesting build around, since you kinda want to know what’s in their hand first so you can plan your mana around it. My main nitpick is that this is a pretty brutal effect to be on an attack trigger, with a resilient body that can survive a boardwipe. I would make it a combat damage trigger, and probably also pump up the bestow cost a bit- remember, bestow gives you the aura and also the creature when the creature it’s enchanting dies, so you’re paying for the benefit of a second use.

Pikachu, Paradise Builder by @dravidious - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

Pokemon! Everyone’s favorite! Well, it’s a spinoff, but hey. Mystery dungeon lends itself very well to mix-and-match partners, since, you not only get to “choose” what pokemon you are, but also what pokemon your partner is. Human Pokemon is also a weird enough typeline that it basically future-proofs itself, which is also nice. My one concern here is with pokemon being a type; that means that every single creature card in this product would be a pokemon, which makes for some strange typelines and probably weirdness with typal effects. Also, a generic 1/1 white pokemon token just feels... odd. I have no idea what pokemon it’s supposed to represent. Maybe that’s the point, but Pokemon sorta hinge on their individuality and their colorful designs, so genericizing them feels like it goes against that a bit.

Qiffrey, Patient Mentor by @batatafilosofal - Witch Hat Atelier

Professor and Apprentice is another take on the hierarchical partner pair, and honestly one that could work with a lot of different media, which is cool. Forgive me if I’m being blunt, but this card... is just Veyran, Voice of Duality. Take away the prowess, add Professor, and remove a color. It just doesn’t feel like a particularly original design, since we’ve seen this exact ability before. There is some depth to it given that it has partner, since your Apprentice could potentially have a magecraft-esque ability to take advantage of, but still. Feels like it wanted to be a bit more of an individual design.

Samus, Chozo’s Legacy by @misterstingyjack - Metroid / Smash Bros.

The big crossover Smash Bros IP you described seems very fun, though admittedly I am curious about which characters would get the honor of being player one, and which ones would be player two. Making Samus care about noncreature spells is interesting? I don’t necessarily see the connection there, but flavorfully, it works. It’s also a huge chunk of text for an admittedly simple ability, but I wonder if there’s any way some of the fat could be trimmed off. Also, since this can only happen once per turn, it feels weird that this will never kill anything with more than 1 toughness? Might be worth having it scale to the number of aim counters so that there’s an incentive to stack them up on one particularly nasty thing.

Shallan Davar by @fractured-infinity - Stormlight Archives

So I almost deleted this entry by accident because I thought it was a resubmission, heh. Good thing I didn’t! Phasing in is something that we’ve seen a bit of a resurgence on, and it’s a great way to represent these temporary illusions. The combat damage trigger is admittedly a bit odd, but it makes sense to give her a way to phase herself out so that she can pick up a new thing to copy. Radiant/Spren mashup makes a lot of sense, so no commentary there. Altogether, it makes for a cool card, and does seem like a good generic partner, without being too crazy strong on its own.

Shallan, Lightweaver by @aethernalstars - Stormlight Archives

Shallan no. 2, with a different take on the Illusion and cloning aspect. This leans more into disguising other things rather than disguising herself, but the Illusion tag is a clever way to be able to see what she’s copied. Stormlight tokens are interesting, but I don’t really see a format where they’re super helpful, unless it’s a multicolor soup-bowl of goodstuff. Especially when it comes to partner pairs, where you’re likely never exceeding three colors between the two, color fixing just seems unnecessary. Nahel Bond is a more clever and clinical way of going about the Radiant/Spren thing, while also allowing it to extend to some of Sanderson’s other books. The lack of sharing a creature type is also good, since it means two Radiants can’t just decide to pair up, though it does mean a careful cultivation of the secondary types for everything in this pool. 

Shinji Kaminaga by @eveydeevey - Shin Ultraman

Okay, so the idea of feeding one commander into the other in order to power it out is fantastic. I love it, and I think there could be a lot of fun to be had there. But 7 mana? Even with Human Offering, that implies that the Ultra Heroes are gonna be crazy expensive cards, otherwise Shinji offers little to no benefit. Additionally, it feels kinda boring that this is all that Shinji does? Like, give me a reason to keep him out on the field for at least a little bit. This also doesn’t tell me anything about what other Ultra Hosts might look like. They’ll probably all have Rise, since it wouldn’t make sense to keyword it otherwise, but will they all just be off-color versions of Shinji? Or will they do their own things, in which case one of them might have made for a better example this week. All in all, this hints at some great ideas that you had here, but doesn’t actually show me any of them.

Shirou Emiya by @curiooftheheart - Fate/Stay Night

Master/Servant is a neat dynamic, and has a clever way of excluding changelings so as to keep the pool to the (assumably) unique creature type. The rest of Shirou is pretty straightforward, caring about equipment in a fairly general way. But uh... what the heck is a command seal? Is it a counter? An emblem? Is this a threshold mechanic, a scaling mechanic, or a resource mechanic? I’m left with a lot of questions, and I kinda wish I saw something that utilised these command seals, or at the very least had some reminder text explaining them. Online searches described them as “manifestations of a master’s control over their servant”, which makes sense, but it still raises more questions that the design unfortunately doesn’t answer.

Suletta Mercury by @bread-into-toast - Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

Gundam is about as classic as you can get with “person pilots big vehicle/robot that is reflective of their personality”, so creature/vehicle pairings is definitely a good call. The ability is definitely a funky one. Vehicles have lots of triggered abilities, and most of them are things you want to double up on whenever possible. I’m curious if the top ability is one that all Pilots will have, or if it’s unique to Suletta and/or a smaller subset of commanders. It could be interesting, but it also means that the Mobile Suit crew costs would have to scale appropriately to make the power feel more like an actual decision again. It is neat to add another variable to tweak though, since you could have a pilot that has much weaker abilities, but is guaranteed to crew any mobile suit in the pool.

Sword and Shield by @deg99 - Monster Hunter

This is the only equipment commander we’ve seen, and Monster Hunter is a great pick for it given the intense focus on gear and improving it. Experience counters also seem like an interesting throughline for the weapons and/or hunters, since it’s a good way of indicating progression and growth. However, I don’t know if this was the strongest example of what you could have shown here. The ability is worded a bit awkwardly, since the first clause is just giving you permission to do something you can already do, and the secondary clause is very narrow. Also, it took me a couple rereads to confirm whether the ability cared about the spell’s mana value or the targeted creature’s. It’s cool, and I love the idea of hunters who gain experience and weapons that make use of it, but this specific example is a bit clunky. Also, consider making it cheaper, since a 6 mana investment for the equivalent of a 1-mana aura definitely hurts.

Tai, Light of Courage by @horsecrash - Digimon

Okay, so it took me a while to pick up on the implication you were going with here, that Digivolve counts as a variant of mutate. I do understand the need to stay true to the source material, but typically mechanic variants have some sort of commonality with the name to make sure the connection is understood. I can see a lot of folks getting confused about this initially. As for Tai himself, it’s a strong but simple ability, especially since he probably drops before your Digivolve commander, meaning they’ll have the abilities right when you play them. Haste is a bit of a strange choice, since mutating won’t cause summoning sickness unless the mutate target also entered on the same turn. Not a huge issue, more of a nitpick than anything. 

[ultraternative]

Muddposting old art 2.1:

Comics part 1 (fixed version)

Commentary under the cut

Fuuuuuck me the first post posted wrong so I gotta do it all over again

The comics started as a way for me to get back into doing art after I forgot for a while. Probably about 90% of them were based on comments from previous posts which is why there's a wide white border. I put credits there at the time but have opted to post blank versions here

The first image was my first drawing back and also a try at a different style, something simpler. It would mostly stick for the rest of everything

The second image is a direct follow up to the first. The spongebob fish guy is there because someone said they wanted to see who cleaned up the mess left by Mudd

The third image puts a rough date on when I was doing all these as deltarune Chapter 2 was still fairly new. I put too much effort into berdly when I knew he was going behind bars anyways (then messed up the cells anyways)

The fourth image is gender talk with Mudd. Direct reference to that one thing because it was funny and nonbinary is cool

The final image was a redraw of a meme because I heard some unfortunate news about a certain pizza. Maybe I'll go and draw that now that it's been a few years and most definitely forgotten about by now

More comics in part 2 because I want to limit how many images I put in one post to a reasonable amount

[zelda-cooper]

Thoughts, Headcanons and Comments on Bushroot (My AU).

This here is more of a commentary blog and maybe a rant, it can also be considered as a headcanon blog and also for Bushroot fans. For those who want to, they can read it as they wish, but I'm already advancing that it's LONG and will have some low-level words (I'll censor it, but it's still worth it). Feel free to leave comments about your opinions...

So... These days I was looking at the Darkwing Duck wiki, more specifically the Bushroot one, until I got to the curiosities... And I came across this...

Then the thought came to me: "Wait wait wait... IS THE BUSHROOT A WORSE KILLER THAN NEGADUCK?!?!?! 0-0"

"WHAT THE F-"

Okay... Sorry... But actually it wasn't like that... I already knew a little bit about it because of Annie that Bushroot was in a way kind of... A bloodthirsty killer... But then a question came to me: How much was that on purpose and how much was accidental? See, I know Bushroot is a villain and is basically insane, but... Considering his personality... Do you really think he kills KILLS on purpose most of the time?

Obviously Disney wouldn't even dream of putting it in a children's series, but... Darkwing Duck tackles death a couple of times like it's nothing! Bushroot itself has "died" a few times and people speak verbally! I don't want to get into how much Disney is very childish to the extreme and how this makes current productions a little worse, but that's not my point... The point is... I don't believe that Bushroot did the murders knowingly or WANTING. And here I get an idea from another cartoon, this time a current one: The Owl House. More specifically... Willow and Gus.

I'm not going to go into the merits of how I love TOH and blah blah blah... But one thing that I found interesting about this series is this characteristic of when the character is having a breakdown or is out of control, the powers apparently get stronger and the eyes of the staff are shining. I particularly like the way Willow looks, basically it's Bushroot. Here comes my Headcanon...

When Bushroot ends up with some extremely strong negative emotion, the most common being anger or fear, he ends up losing control of his powers and this makes him completely lose reason and attack everything in front of him. Be it allies, enemies and even innocent people... And here comes a very heavy question... He may be a murderer, but he's not a sociopath or a psychopath.

Let's face it... Bushroot only killed his Bullies because they harassed him ALL DAY. This one he had a taste for killing them first! The DWD is obvious, the hero was always interfering with his plans (which I honestly think he stopped caring, because Darkwing is not one of the most competent heroes...). But it's JUST THESE people we know he wanted to kill... What about the other victims? Did he mean to kill them or was it an accident?

For me, I think that most of the victims were accidental and, after he got out of that frenzy, if he found out... I think he would go into despair with so much blood. Here is also the question of his remorse and guilt, he would probably cry in despair and Liquidator would be comforting him (although he is not the most emotional person... Then more Liquidator headcanons) or any of the other Fearsome, except for Negaduck, who shouldn't even have feelings anyway.

To wrap up this whole thread... Let's go to Bushroot's weakness... I know everyone knows that this plant zombie is basically immortal in the series, but here I thought of a good weakness for him... Fire.

Reasons? Zombie in most movies is defeated with fire. Plants are easily burned by fire. There are forests that are burned. I think you get the point... It would also serve as something for Negaduck to use as a triumph for him against Bush and could threaten him. This is something from Negaduck, but not giving too much spoiler... Basically the Fearsome Four didn't betray him before in our AU because they were constantly threatened by Negaduck, everything for the negative duck was a matter of having control of everything. He knew the weakness of the four and always used threats and intimidation to get what he wanted. And let's face it... Bushroot didn't have much attitude, so he was easily manipulated by ND. Otherwise...

Yeah, you get the idea... Anyway, I want to thank Annie for the arts and I also want to thank you for reading everything... That's it... Bye!

Arts for @anniesilveratl2

(Tea for the poor guy to relax...)

[brayneworms]

Hey! How are you? Hope you're doing well!

So, I was reading your "Fearful, wonderful" story just now, and it is amazing?! Honestly, I'm probably not the best person to talk about the writing and all of that (since english its not my first language) but I do write a lot myself in my first language so maybe commenting on what I know is best: the way the story flows naturally, the little callbacks to things you mentioned before (the whole yokai/jellyfish is so cute? And the aid/sabotage thing?), the y/n themselves, the pace, and even when you make descriptions of things/scenery mainly it's not too short as to make them unimportant but also not too long, so it sounds boring? And the whole concept itself? Everything is just so beautiful.

I wanted to know if you do a taglist? I didn't see anything in your pinned post that suggested you do it so I'm supposing you don't, but if you do, would you mind tagging me on "Fesrful, Wonderful"?

If you don't do a taglist, that okay, I'll still look pretty much everyday (my bedtime stories are imagines because why not, it's cute, even more when I find gems like you) until the next chapter.

Anyway, love your story, love your writing and I'll definetly read everything else you've written before because I always forget with my favorite tumblr authors.

(Also I recently learned that I sound rude when writing in english so I prefer to establish beforehand that it's not my intention to be rude at any point in this ask: I'm honestly just an admirer of your work and ideas and would like to know if you'd tag a user on your posts with no second intentions/tone)

I wish you a wonderful life💕

- Hunter✨️

hello my lovely !!

i wanna say first of all you didn't come off rude at all, and your english is incredible :) thank you so much for this message it's so kind and thoughtful.

on the taglist thing, the only reason i don't have one is because i only started writing on here fairly recently, and the scaramouche series fearful, wonderful is my only multichapter story, so i haven't had any need for one up until now! but i would be more than happy to start one if you'd like to be tagged in future updates, thank you for asking!!

thank you so much again for your commentary on my writing. i'm so happy you're enjoying the story so far + i wish you a wonderful week <3