#no but why in the first episode was i like ‘hm yknow what would be funny? if gwen and alice had an enemies to lovers arc’

[cindytoast404]

how we feeling over this moment chat

[tea-earl-grey]

the set up for season 2 is SO STRONG and theres a lot of potential and then the season just kind of. fizzles out.#i think the character problems are most evident with Seven imo but it follows with everyone else#that everyone is given like. one or two character traits in the last few episodes#i feel like if the season went for more of a direct time travel plot without the soong side plot and childhood flashbacks we could yknow#actually write the characters well#there are good moments it just. irks me.

See. This is why having two showrunners with different plans for the season and anthology style series DOESN’T work.

Terry Matalas worked on the first 4 episodes of Picard season 2, before he was told to split off and start working on season 3 and then Akiva Goldsman, who has different sensibilities than Terry took over, and quite frankly, I’m not really a fan of Akiva’s storytelling style.

Time travel is Terry’s thing — its how he built 12 Monkeys, going back to move forward is one of the important themes from his previous show.

Also, 10 episodes is not enough for the kind of plot they wanted to do, with the number of characters.

Plus, I’m disappointed after episode 3, Seven barely interacted with the Borg Queen.

The Borg Queen who is particularly possessive of Seven, in any reality. Just… doesn’t do anything with Seven until the penultimate episode.

Imagine if they at least had 13-14 episodes what they have time to do and explore with the characters!

continuing from this post

oh that's interesting! i didn't know Matalas worked as showrunner on the first few episodes of s2 but in retrospect it makes a lot of sense. i do still enjoy season two but yikes it really feels like it was four stories Frankensteined into one season and it makes sense that there wasn't a single showrunner. and yeah i've said it before too but i also just really hope that future Trek shows fade out the anthology season model because it just does not work to create a consistent audience when the characters and tone keep changing (and judging by snw they're thankfully taking the more episodic path). serialization can work well you just have to be confident about where you're going because usually the endings just get convoluted (Discovery also has a big problem with this imo). i also now have a suspicion that since the two seasons were being written at the same time that the reason why Agnes, Soji, Rios, and Agnes/Borgurati weren't in s3 (which is my main criticism of the season) is that none of the writers knew exactly where those characters would end s2. which. hm. i get that the pandemic work was rough but sometimes forward planning is important.

i would have loved a s2 of Picard that:

cemented where the characters were a little bit more in the beginning and deal with the fallout of s1 and implications for the world at large especially following up with Soji a bit since that was her only (and possibly last) episode.

spent another episode in the Confederation universe! evil universes are so much fun and i think can unravel a lot of characters' fears and insecurities by having them see the worst versions of themselves and we really only saw pieces of that with Seven & Picard, not Raffi, Rios, Agnes, & Elnor

have Elnor stay alive for the 2024 episodes! i get that Raffi's guilt around Elnor dying was her big s2 character arc but exploring the way she manipulated him into Starfleet and kept being overprotective of him could have been equally well explored if he was alive. he also could have added a bit of needed lightness to the season and we would have another classic 'Vulcan/Romulan has to disguise themself in present day by wearing a silly hat' moment

cut the whole Soong plot. sorry. i was just not a fan and it took so much time away from the actual main characters.

also without the Soong plot, the Renee plot would have been simplified a bit and left room for slower character scenes instead of just action-action-action

i did like Rios's story (and the way the season grappled with modern politics) but him staying in the past... eh sorry i just don't really see it and i think 'staying behind and leaving my friends for true love!' is a pretty tired trope even if Teresa is very cool.

the Agnes/Borg Queen story is VERY tasty and the concept of there being an ethical(ish) Borg Collective out there is really good but as you said... it really felt like Seven should have been a more active participant in that. her and Agnes could have made great foils of Agnes slowly being drawn in to the Queen's influence while Seven for the first time in her life is free of her. maybe just spending more time building up the Borg Queen as a threat (and without Soong, the main threat) of the season would have been better.

i mean also the complaint that started this conversation with the idea of Seven's arc being really good but then just not being executed all that well specifically wrt how her implants were written out and then written back in and her just never using her science skills.

i do like the vibes of having Picard confront his childhood trauma and explore the reasons why he has difficulty connecting with people but i'm just not convinced by the execution and i still don't exactly understand why Tallinn had to be there (and why she had to look like Laris? thinking about it i'm imagining that she might have been the Confederation universe's version of Laris who joined the Time Lords Travelers but it still doesn't really make sense and it's not really discussed in the text)

we might very well get something exploring this but i would like to know why the Q are dying. it didn't bother me as much as it bothered others but it would have been nice to get something more.

oh no i didn't realize how long this got. sorry you did not ask for my fix-it of s2 but once i got thinking... alas Picard has a great combination of good ideas, great characters, and less than great execution that makes my brain tick.

[riverstardis]

when the whistle blows:

jez slept with elle's son sjsjdjfdjdfg he wakes up to her shouting up to kalen and obviously recognises her voice😭

he escapes out the window just in time and is clinging on to the drain pipe when elle comes in and finds a condom wrapper on the floor and reminds kalen he isn't allowed to bring girls home because it sets a bad example or something and when she's gone the drain pipe breaks and jez falls to the floor😭😭

cal😢😢😢

sam's had to cancel cal's surgical rotation because of the current "staffing situation" so now cal's gonna come round to ethan and alicia's side. he's also cancelled overtime so dylan's been taken off the rota

cal: "i've lost my surgical rotation" dylan: "i think i've lost the will to live!" SJSJDJFJHF

lmaoo elle and jacob laughing at jez bc he obviously had a "good night" and he's limping and elle's like "i am so glad i have boys, imagine your daughter bringing that home" well..... 😭😭

the sexy underwear photoshoot thing Somebody edited alicia's face onto and sent round to everyone... i was thinking about this on saturday's ep actually with stevie yknow. noel's looking at it with ethan and lily and he's asking if it's real and lily says it doesn't look like it and ethan says who would do that and noel's still laughing without realising that ethan and lily are clearly not finding it funny???

cal: "can you believe him? sam?" ethan: "what he's sent dylan home!?" cal: "yeah" lily: "well if there isn't the money" ethan: "first they came for the socialists" alicia: "hm?" cal: "ethan keeps going on about this poem" lily: "the trust has to follow cost improvement programs" ethan: "first they came for the consultants" alicia: "nothing rhymes with consultants" ethan: "and i did not speak out, as i was not a consultant" cal: "then they came for me" ethan: "it's niemoller" lily: "it's pronounced niemuller, and it's just a postponed rotation, don't overreact" cal: "wait until they come for you!" oh like you did cal? cause you didn't care until you lost your surgical rotation?

anyways mann i miss these four so much😭😭 maybe i'm forgetting but i don't think there's been a time since these guys that all the junior doctors have been such a tight group? same with the consultants too actually, even when they don't get on, but i guess ethan becoming a consultant was always gonna change that as i suppose the reason they don't really mix with each other is there's quite a big age and experience gap between the junior doctors as a whole and the consultants as a whole here, and ethan becoming a consultant moved that gap to within the consultants so while he mixed more with connie, elle, and dylan professionally, personally he continued to be closer to alicia, and alicia was noticeably more senior than rash, bea, and eddie, so the lines got super blurred, and they've never really been unblurred since. though actually i'd say the lines probably started to blur when rash joined because then the difference in experience within the junior doctors was like f1 to senior registrar on the verge of consultancy, and then of course ethan became more involved personally (FRIENDSHIP) with connie for a while. anyway sorry for that massive tangent

alicia finding out about the photos :( i think if i didn't know it was gem, i'd probably think it was cal or sam doing it

ah sam's frozen the locum budget. and now lily's coming round. cal says they should be showing solidarity with elle and dylan and ethan asks what he suggests since they can't strike (cut to them striking in the next episode lmao) and cal suggests they work to rule

"the only thing that keeps this place running is our good will" unfortunately real

lmaoo elle having a go at kalen saying he shouldn't be bringing girls home and he pushes her for why until she says she doesn't want him having sex and he's like "were you having sex at my age?" and i think the fact that she gets angrier instead of answering is as good an answer as any sjsjdsjfjk

ah more sam/cal homoeroticism

cal pointing out that the hospital seems to have enough money to pay sam's salary👀

"look, she understands!" "well how understanding was she back there eh?" "she thought you were a girl!" "oh great, but i'm a man, and i work with her? oh that'll be no problem then" sjsdjsdjdf jez is screwed

sam calls cal ethan lily and alicia into the staffroom and they're all determinedly not engaging with him and he's like "i am spartacus is it?" but then he points out how cal lost his surgical rotation which the other three didn't know so they all immediately look at him sjsjdjsdf

cal and sam really couldn't get any closer at this point like they're practically touching🤨

ahh this is the scene from the bloopers where rich and tom start leaning in to kiss SJDSJFDJ

"what's the difference between sam strachan and god? god doesn't think he's a doctor." damn😭😭

LMAOO cal somehow gets even closer to sam and goes "i'm gonna have you." and sam's like "mm?"👀👀👀👀👀👀

"i'm gonna go to the union. we'll organise a strike. and you'll be destroyed." "that's fine. you better not miss." okay sam deffo just looked at cal's lips there😭😭😭

the junior doctors strike sl was so good whyy did it have to end in cal's death😫😫

this is where i ended my rewatch last time but i think this time i'll watch part one of reap the whirlwind and then i'll watch some s32. drama's almost up to alicia's rape sl which i haven't rewatched in a couple of years so i'll pick it up there. i also wanna watch rash's first ep and i might even brave some clinical lead ethan eps. ideally i would avoid leigh-anne completely but unfortunately her appearances cross over with alicia's sl

[icharchivist]

hiii icha!!! a very quick ask tonight (my time) lol. I’ve emerged from the cave of exams only to have… well I still have more exams. but I did take some time to chill and go thru the blazing beachside passion event! i was soooo hype when I realized it was gonna be muku juza centric like FUCK YEAH!!! we did not get nearly enough of that in the main autumn troupe story and like I get why but I’m rly glad they’re delivering here. side note I was rly glad masumi was not a part of this event lol bc it meant that the beach episode was like. normal. ummm but let’s see. I flinched at the shirtless sprites bc I was like guys. that’s hot oil. ur gonna get burned. think it may be bc today I like made enough stir fry to feed 10 people dinner lol. overall I thought this event was real sweet tho! muku as a prince and juza as his knight was a very good pairing—feel like muku specifically would appreciate that kinda setting, yknow? as always tho I have so many Feelings abt juza and this event just made me have more Feelings… he is so <3 like something abt juza makes me want to pat his head I think. like even the way when he’s like not opening up abt why he’s uncomfy with muku and tasuku is like “you trying to start a fight with us with that glare?” I was like jumping out of my seat yelling like “tasuku!!! that’s juza’s UPSET face!!!!” I feel like that’s a really common problem with juza through like so often he is feeling like. Sad or Shy or something like it and ppl interpret it as him being scary which is like. man I get why he’s so reluctant to open up yknow? and I wonder if that’s specifically why juza might gravitate to acting, out of all things—if he’s scary and intense without meaning to… well, acting is all abt projecting certain feelings emotions ideas forth right? it’s all an art of making the audience perceive u in the right way. which is something that I think juza doesn’t quite feel in his day to day life so I like to think acting helps him in that regard… hm. honestly I think I have more Thoughts About Juza than thoughts abt this event in specific lol? tasuku being so blunt with him made me smile tho, it feels like very in character that after being literally forced into a time loop so that the only way out was to reconcile with tsumugi he’d be kinda blunt abt conflict resolution right? speaking of juza I really love his casual sprite like so much bc the posing is just very. it gives this sense of cool aloofness but when u look at it u can also interpret it as him being shy and reserved and I think it like communicates that duality well? hm yeah. muku and juza were cute tho. i think it’s interesting how they both feel the other is like “too cool” for them so they feel inadequate when the communicate with each other… it’s rly interesting bc like it’s not really one person’s fault there i think? anddd closing notes I thought the mention of kyuchan/ku was nice—clearly the story’s prepping for kumon in act 2, AND like I feel with the “citronia” at the end of clockwork heart runaway royalty citron is pretty much confirmed but I’m still so happy that my small theory from Alex in wonderland is shaping up to be correct with like the “for muku’s sake, I had to play the role of a king! it was so unpleasant.” like yesssss. yesss that’s what I want! i also wish since kazunari’s nickname for tasuku is localized as “tax” they could make a joke abt him being a taxi. since he does get roped into this beach trip bc he has a car and can drive lmao. also citron saying smthing was a catwalk and being corrected to cakewalk genuinely shook me bc I thought catwalk was correct… that’s all!

HELLO FRIEND!!! it's so good to see you again

First of all, good luck through your exams, i hope you can manage through it and have a good time still :( and i especially hope you manage to find some time to rest. I am cheering for you so hard o7

Second, you have a TIMING, i was litterally talking about this event to a friend just yesterday evening. I woke up to your ask and i was puzzled for one minute like "wait WHO did i talk about this event TO yesterday" it's incredible.

BUT YEAH FUCK YEAH BLAZING BEACHSIDE PASSION! With how much you love Juza this one must have been a little pearl.

putting under cut bc it's getting long enough as it is DLKJFDLKJF

"I flinched at the shirtless sprites bc I was like guys. that’s hot oil. ur gonna get burned." fun fact, it actually happens in SR!Omi's backstage ( [Omi's House is Now Open!] - "Incident at Omi's House" if you're reading on the Archive). He gets burnt because of the oil and Izumi has to take care of him while he keeps brushing his own pain off, it's very Omi like. (speaking of backstage if you have time/energy for it, Citron's R for this event, [A Chilling Watermelon Split] - "Thrilling Watermelon Split" , is a SIGHT. I love when Citron gets murdery.)

So really you're right and they should all know better, especially you Omi, but i guess the fact it's Omi "i don't take care of myself" Fushimi monitoring the whole group may have added some issues on the careless department.

Anyway the event was great and i agree with you so much! honestly, the play made me cRY. I think it's peak Tasuku to basically talk about processing your emotions via acting and yknow what, it's helping Juza plenty, so good for him, and the play itself was just so soft. The setting of Muku as prince and Juza as the knight was so good and represent them both so well.

AND YEAH HELP, so, when i first read this event i didn't care much for Tasuku so during that scene i was just "wtf is your problem dude", but now that i Understand:tm: him i'm just, oh yeah the guy is just super blunt because he gotta expose what the main misunderstanding is and hope the person in front of him is going to at least do something to clear it if he is to help through it. Learning from Winter! in a way. But me gushing about Tasuku aside (me?? about /winter/???? This is so out of character), i agree that still it's just that It's How Juza is TwT like, Tasuku has no reason to know that he doesn't specifically hang out with him, but like. That's the issue poor Juza's facial expression get misinterpreted all the time!! Tho i think it's really a feat that we, as the audience, can now interpret Juza so well in comparaison. He's just trying so hard TwT

"and I wonder if that’s specifically why juza might gravitate to acting, out of all things—if he’s scary and intense without meaning to… well, acting is all abt projecting certain feelings emotions ideas forth right? it’s all an art of making the audience perceive u in the right way. which is something that I think juza doesn’t quite feel in his day to day life so I like to think acting helps him in that regard…" yes yes yes completely yes, it's about Juza reclaiming how people perceive him, while also learning how to make himself clearer, and, like, i don't think he expected it but it also means people are more used to his actual bodylanguage from working with him which means that it's not just about how he can work through it but how other people are doing the effort to understand him too. It's really so good.

The Tasuku's mention lmao yes this is exactly it. Man has been caught into One (1) Timeloop and just decided to not let building resentment happen again god bless this mass of muscles.

Also agreed on Juza's sprite i really love the dynamic of this one and you're really right about the duality.

and yeah i'm all with you, i really like the Muku and Juza dynamic and the way they both inspire each other and also intimidate each other? Honestly i can't blame Muku for the way he misinterpreted Juza because i feel like his Rejection reaction is just off the charts and he himself has a hard time really figuring out Juza's bodylanguage since he basically go back to thinking he's at fault there (and tbh i feel like, the fact as cousins it's likely Muku always saw Juza with Kumon there was a contrast in personality that made Muku think it was a Him Problem rather than a Juza problem), and i can't blame Juza for struggling to explain himself especially with how people just generally interpret him. But i'm just so happy they both managed to discuss it finally and that they're able to see how much they misunderstood and how much they care for each other.

Also YEAH the Kumon's build was honestly so soft. I genuinely love how the rookies are built up in act 1, i remember getting so excited when this event first came out.

FOR CITRON YES YES YES, god I LOVE Citron in this event. Like i talked about Tasuku because of course but i genuinely think Citron is doing so much like. Like!!! Citron is always going the extra mile for Muku in general, you feel that he's extremely protective of him and that he'd be willing to do anything for this kid. The fact he got really upset at being casted as a King in Alex in Wonderland, yet now is most likely the one who prompted the scenario because he knows how much being a Prince matter to Muku and you know what. If Muku wants royalty, Citron is going to give him the best one he can give him, no matter his own feelings about it. It's genuinely sweet. idk there's just something about the way Citron doesn't even complain and probably just prompt it because he is so invested in making the situation better that just makes me soft. (Citron/Tasuku being driving force about solving a misunderstanding situation tho. muah.) But yeah of course i won't say much about Citron's arc but :3c i do love how the build up is consistant there and honestly it makes it very rewarding when you catch on to it early, which you did which is great :3c

YOU'rE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE TAX NICKNAME… between being the taxi for everyone AND the fact he's constantly carrying Hisoka around, Tasuku should embrace the nickname. "Yo "Taxi" isn't writen on my forhead" while he's carrying Hisoka on his back would be a hilarious situation for everyone else to go "well. actually." and him realizing he's doomed either way.

OH YEAH OMG THE CATWALK TOO i also thought it was catwalk, weirdly enough? like, in French went we say something was easy we do say stuff like "it was a piece of cake" so i understood the idea of cakewalk in a way, but i didn't really see where the walk came from dLFKJDF meanwhile the idea of Citron managing his way through a catwalk in an "easy" way felt so Citron that i didn't question it. Like, yeah of course being on a catwalk is a piece of cake for Citron, have you SEEN Him?? the guy looks like he belongs anywhere that could put his beauty forward. But now that i think about it for normal people Catwalk probably come with more stress than Citron probably implied. Still, cakewalk…

I remember really loving this event, i loved the Muku and Juza arc and i loved the Citron bits, and upon reread i really loved the Tasuku ones too. He acts so grumpy the whole time like he didn't want to be dragged into it but he still gives his everything for everyone around him and that's genuinely soft. I also remember getting soft that he keeps track of the silly things Citron says (there's a scene just before they leave Mankai where Citron is being overdramatic, and Tasuku rolls his eyes, but then Citron refers to it again later by saying something completely different and Tasuku is just "didn't you say it was /that/ instead". King of "i'm dealing with Arisugawa everyday, i will keep of your silliness against my will i'm programmed to do that now".)

In the end i don't have much to say about Omi and Kazu despite loving the fact Omi is probably the one Juza has more reasons to be comfortable around so he can open up more easily (and that i do love that it follows up on the two of them becoming biker buddies like man. Omi i hope you live it well.), and Kazu is mostly here for the hype squad and driving Tasuku more crazy in the car with Citron and Muku but we love that about him.

This event was really good and the feelies were incredible.

Thank you once again for being back at it on my inbox <3 it's always a pleasure to see your rambles and impression on stuff, i love the things you catch and focus on! And i love thinking back about my sweet sons, they're all so great.

A pleasure to see you, and good luck with your exams still :3c

Take care!

[showinalittlelife]

rhea, i'm going to tell you “fuck you” in the most affectionate way because you wrote something that destroyed me but somehow made me so happy. i cried the last three episodes of stravin' darlin' and i thought the mcd tag was for [REDACTED] but i never imagined it was for [REDACTED] and now i can't stop crying.

okay first i want to say thank you so so so much for writing that beautiful ff. second i want to tell you that you're an amazing writer, you wrote something that made me feel like i was watching some kind of coming age movie and i loved every second. and third i have a doubt. when mary gave the bracelet to barty and told him that evan's bad luck was ending, she meant that because he was dying, right? and what would have happened if barty hadn't given the bracelet to evan? how different would the ending have been?

again thank you for stravin' darlin'. that ff will always have a place among my favorite ff xxx!

HI😭😭

gahh you finished it okay…i’m sorry. but fun fact 4 u it was actually supposed to be the other way around! i had that ending planned for the longest time until i didnt. (i think i remember asking @neaverse to pick who dies bc it’s her fic anyway)

and coming of age movies/books are always my favs so this means everything to me u have no idea i’ll go bawllll.

now 2 answer your questions! 1 i’m gonna be so honest with u i have no fucking clue i just woke up and my brain isn’t braining but i do also remember rambling to nea about it so it’s probably buried somewhere in our chat. but! i do like your version a lot sooo if anybody cares anon is right! anon is smart!

and GOD hmmm. how different the ending would’ve been…i have a lot to say so i’ll ramble under the cut yeah?

starting this off by saying that i’m a v superstitious person so i have thought abt this a lot while writing it and hm.

i think barty giving evan the bracelet was kinda? delaying the inevitable? (evan dying. he was always meant to die first) so if barty hadn’t given him the bracelet, nothing bad would’ve even happened to him. he wouldn’t have died. (the he in question is barty. he doomed himself by giving evan the bracelet.)

i like to believe that if he hadn’t given evan the bracelet, he would’ve died when he got shot. that’s actually kinda the symbolism of the bracelet breaking. yknow with jade bracelets how they break when they ‘serve their purpose’ aka just ward off enough negative energy? it’s the same with evan’s bracelet, it protected him when he got shot! that’s why he didn’t die! and that’s why it broke! because (🥁🥁🥁) it served its purpose!

sooo the ending would’ve probably looked like barty killing himself to be with evan. or maybe he didn’t. i honestly don’t know this guy’s brain is so difficult sometimes. but i dont think he would’ve been able to live without evan sooo…do with that what you will!

lastly tysm for ur asks theyve seriously made me so so happy and so so giddy i love talking abt sd and u showing love to her (and me! im not happy with the writing of her at all so u complimenting me on that is so <3) i hope u had a lovely lovely week because you’re such a lovely person ty again<33

[helisol]

dude im not sure you will get it after reading this either, but you Can read it now

okay so first of all do not expect me to adhere to rules of grammar or Proper capitalisation, I am writing from the heart

so it’s been said before by other people but if Quark and Odo didnt look like the aliens that they are but instead like two regular prettybois the fandom would do cartwheels over their dynamic and Not call them a crack ship. because really, their dynamic fucking SLAPS and I’m here to tell you Why.

their surface-level dynamic is “Respected and Talented Security Chief and Cunning Immoral Businessman who are in Love but pretend not to be” and that's just an off-brand version of enemies to lovers! which is excellent and for some people that’s all you really need to get invested in a ship.

but some people look at it and go “Hm, no, that’s not enough. I mean, they work as friends but it doesn’t really have to be romantic.” and to that I say you are Absolutely Valid, not everything has to be romantic.

it just so happens that these two fuckers have one of the most compelling romance stories ever, and it’d be a shame not to explore it.

so before I dive into the internalised homophobia and repression, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Quark as a character.

because if you have brainworms like me you can kind of see that its an honest to god greek tragedy.

this guy comes from a race of people where being kind, ethical and fair is considered Abnormal and Horrifying. and I’m not gonna call Quark out of all people kind, ethical or fair but,,, 

you ever notice how he’s A Much Better Person Than Pretty Much All Other Ferengi?

dont get me wrong, Quark is still a bastard, but every once in a while his True Character shines through. and I say True Character because guys,,, the way he behaves around other people is an Act. he’s pretending to be something he’s not.

he has to try so hard to be a good ferengi it’s honestly painful to watch at times. because he is a SHIT ferengi! 

he loves his friends- because that's what the ds9 crew are. they’re his friends! and it makes him miserable because that's not! normal! for a ferengi!

let’s compare Quark and Rom for a second. 

Quark reeks of self loathing because a lot of the time he just Doesn’t act like a ferengi is supposed to, and this drives a lot of conflict in the show. he knows how a ferengi should act, it’s just that he can’t!! fucking!! do it!! but he still tries and tries to fit into that mold, which straight up ruins his life on multiple occasions.

Rom is also not a Model Ferengi, but he lives without hating himself. and it’s mostly because he doesn’t care about how a ferengi Should act, he’s loved and cared for even when everybody knows that he’s a shit ferengi! because his non-ferengi-ness works to his benefit. it encourages and highlights his abilities as an engineer. the success and love he finds make it easy for him to be content with his true self. Unlike Quark, who doesn’t get unconditional love from anyone.

its so!! tragic!! because you can see what Quark is really like!! his true self!! he’s a nice guy who cares for people!

its right there all the time and it's so blatantly obvious. especially in episodes like “Body Parts”, “Bar Association”, “The Way Of The Warrior” and “Ferengi Love Songs”

his own wiki page literally calls him “a compassionate and generous man by ferengi standards” which pretty much translates to “not really a good ferengi”.

anyway so Quark is a tragic figure or whatever but we’re actually here for the REPRESSED! HOMOSEXUAL! TENDENCIES! that he and Odo both exhibit.

with characters like garak you don’t really need to have brainrot to pick up on those tendencies, because that was something andrew robinson chose to do, on purpose. 

and to be fair, Quark wasn’t intended to be Any kind of representation, not even by the actor. I’m just pointing out that he Does look and act and talk like a little gayman.

I will admit that he is Painfully Straight in the text of the show, but on a meta level he’s just. a dude who has a serious case of repressing his real personality. and taking it a step further- he also represses his feelings towards another man.

and that man is Odo.

a few things on him:

Odo is literally desperate to be a person. unlike Quark, who at least has the comfort of belonging to a society of people with a set of rules and expectations, Odo has never met anyone or anything like him in all his years of life.

like, we all know Odo basically grew up in a lab, right? 

with people who didn’t know anything about him. who he was so unalike that they literally called him “Nothing”

but he still learned to look and talk and act like them (because if he didn’t he’d feel *pain* which is very fucked up by the way?)

so we know for a fact that Odo wants to be recognised as a person- which is why he tries really hard to conform to the ideals of the society that raised him. instead of exploring his nature as a shape shifter he maintains a humanoid form, picks up a job and creates an entire personality around what he wants to be seen as. but not what he really is.

and that's the thing that causes all the conflict between Quark and Odo. the type of person odo wants to be seen as is the polar opposite of whatever the fuck quark wants to be seen as.

In the same way that Quark acts like a Normal Ferengi, Odo acts like a Normal Security Officer.  and in a cruel twist of fate, the Ferengi happens to be the antithesis of the Security Officer.

If you only look at them as the things they act like, and not the things they are, you might say they’re way too different to like each other, right? 

but,,, if you think about the fact that they’re both putting on this act,,, this performance of idealised versions of themselves,,, you can see that they are The Same. They Are Both Gay Repressed Loser Aliens Who Try To Act Like Things That They Aren’t!

Imagine you’re Odo. 

Imagine that you’re Nothing, because you’re not like anything anyone has ever seen- and because you are Nothing you don’t fall in love with anyone for years and years. since who could love something that isn’t like them at all?

But then one day this Thing shows up in your path and you just hate it. Because it’s not like anything *you* have ever seen. It’s disorderly and looks grotesque and it’s criminal to boot.

It’s all the things you learned would make a “Bad Person” It’s everything you aspire not to be, because if you were any of those things you would BE PUNISHED.

But the trouble is, eventually he’s not an “it” anymore, he’s “Quark” and you see him every day of your miserable little life because you live on the same damn station in space and it’s hard to avoid each other.

He also happens to be one of the only things in your life that are constant. He will never leave because he is stubborn and greedy and you just *hate him so much* that you’re convinced he must be doing all of it to spite you. And yet you also can’t seem to leave him alone.

So Odo Must Hate Quark. everything else is a non sequitur for him. he can’t not hate Quark.

because Quark is, and i’m sincerely sorry to apply christian fucking imagery to this, The Forbidden Fruit.

If he liked quark he’d admit some kind of moral failing. it would be the end of his act. but on the other hand...it might be a good thing, because at least he could have quark.

but Odo can never go through with biting into this apple because the consequences are horrifying to him. he could never have quark because, according to his performance, he would Never like quark to begin with.

and here’s a take for you: Odo's Brand Of Internalised Homophobia Doesn't Stem From Heteronormativity. It Stems From The Fact That He Was Kind Of Assigned Asexual At Birth.

and the show sort of alludes to this, for real! not just subtext! canon! except the writers used the wrong person. 

because instead of Odo having these Forbidden Feelings for Quark he has them for,,, Kira.

but since this is My Quodo Manifesto you’ll understand that i am 100% willing to just toss that part of canon out the airlock.

so Odo does canonically have that mindset of “no one could ever love me”  for decades he repressed any and all feelings of love to avoid getting hurt. in the show he breaks this cycle of repression when he takes a chance and enters a relationship with Kira. yay?

but we all know that aint it chief. and part of the reason why That Ship Ain’t It is the fact that Quark is Right There. and he is simply the more interesting choice for odo.

he and Odo literally share the same problem and have weird intertwined character arcs! they are both dreadfully afraid of not conforming to the ideal versions of themselves, so they reject everything that could challenge their Performance!

on some fucked up level they hate each other *and* themselves individually. and this hatred makes them reject parts of their real identities for the sake of protecting their image. which. yknow. in gay people. is internalised homophobia!

so you can see that they’re both repressing A Lot even if you view them as Friends, but the most important thing in this kind of romantic dynamic is usually,,, when the characters *stop* repressing.

and the thing is. the thing that Kills Me with these two. They Never Get That Moment. Thats Why You Need The Brainrot To See Them As Romantic.

The Ascent gives us an example of what happens when they both take their act too far. I mean, who could forget “Fascist!” and “Fraud!” That is what odo thinks of quark’s performance and vice versa, but we don’t really hear them adress the fact that they *are* playing these roles to a ridiculous extent.

We also never get an example of what would happen if they dropped their act instead of over-performing it. or rather we don’t get to see both of them drop it.

And the reason why we never get that moment is because there’s this one key difference between Quark and Odo. 

Quark knows that he’s constantly repressing his true nature and his feelings for odo. We pretty much hear him say so in the iconic root beer scene in Way Of The Warrior. he knows that he’s not a good ferengi but he keeps up his act.

So quark is aware enough to feel that sweet sweet self loathing. But Odo isnt self loathing as much as he is just self sabotaging.

and this subtle difference between them is why, at the very end of the show, we get “That man loves me, can’t you see? It was written all over his back!”

this moment is quark dropping his act and asking odo to do the same. he wants to hear a genuine Goodbye from him because they have known each other for Decades and they are Friends. but odo is so unable to express the feelings he’s been repressing all these years. that he self sabotages again and just walks away.

even though this is like. very anticlimactic. considering I just spent 2000 words talking about how Odo and Quark are Most Certainly Gay For Each Other.

The fact that their ending is so Weird is the reason why quodo is so engaging and appealing to me? especially post-canon quodo.

like, the amount of “what if’s” this ship has are Astounding.

What if either of them had dropped their act a little sooner? What if they both did, for just a moment, and it was the straw that breaks the camels back?

What if Odo comes back after a few years? What if Quark comes to get him?

What if, in that moment in the finale where Quark drops his act, Odo had returned the gesture? What if Gag-Reel Quodo Kiss.gif Real?

with the depth that I read into their relationship, those what ifs are really fun to think about.

anyway its 1 am and i’m not an english major so literary analysis is not like, my strong suit. plus most of this was written in a late night screaming session with a friend who has the exact same opinions as me. i just think aliens hot and in love. thats all.

[kuboism]

Bleach Canon Vs. Studio Clown Episode 1

Intro to the series

WARNING: Long read but theres plenty of pictures

The first deviation we’re greeted with is what the anime presents as the arrival of hollows into the human world. With a likely artistic rendition of them forming from the shadows of Hueco Mundo and dripping/bleeding over into the human world like splotches of ink, after which they disappear - unable to be perceived by humans.

A/N: Which, kubos to the anime, is rather neat.

The anime also decided to incorporate the first volume poem which is the thematic beginning and a great establisher of the mood/themes of Bleach, which roughly translates to: 

我らは 姿無きが故に それを畏れ

“We fear that which cannot be seen”

And then they curiously add a line to this poem? 

姿無き故に敬う

”We revere that which cannot be seen"

A/N: Which, initially seems on brand with the spiritualism of that “which is not seen” - the shinigami, DEATH itself if you will. However, unlike the themes of “fear” and “fear of death/the unseen”, “reverence” is not really a theme prevalent or definitive for bleach. Reverence is not particularly reserved for death or death gods, but antagonists with themes of divinity/the Soul King himself, but I digress.

Next off the bully scene has a couple of missing/reworded lines, as well as some of the delivery changed, but overall it’s not significant enough to mention.

I also wish they’d kept Ichigo’s shit yourself scary face from this moment right here, since it really underlines how serious and personally invested Ichigo is in bringing small justice to the souls of the departed, but I can only pray a future remake does include it.

^ I am disappointed in y’all :/

vs.

v Karma delivery, bitch

Then for some reason the next scene is changed significantly:

In the manga, it builds up slowly to Ichigo’s reveal of supernatural abilities with the iconic TM character profile intros (which I can see why weren’t recreated in the anime, but I sure wish they put them in....)

with him spooking the bullies off with the ghost girl right behind him

Versus his scary face doing the job instead.....

It’s a small change, and I can see why it would be opted for - we don’t really know if they even saw the ghost in the first place (then again you could argue that would spook them anyway). There is a tonal difference in the long run though. The manga emphasizes once again *why* ichigo is scolding them in the first place - he sees the people disrespected by them knocking down the vase, he wants them to acknowledge their actions *because* in his mind, there are real victims he knows from it. While in the anime, since the ghost is not yet introduced, it feels more like “you are disrespectful to the dead” in a more generalized way vs. him actually being acquainted with the dead and treating them like the living. 

(Again, not sure why change it so much at all........the suspense and reveal are in the manga just the same.... but ok)

As well as cutting off this small moment where you can see Ichigo’s very human (and cute!) interactions with the ghosts. To him they’re just as real as the living, and he lends them a hand whenever they ask for help.

Also lmfao this 4kids level of censorship.....

It goes on rather faithfully for a while, no significant omissions, then Pierrot decides to randomly replace Yuzu’s lines with Karin??

Manga:

Anime: 

Which is an odd choice, given that not only does Yuzu sense ghosts just fine (albeit at a much lesser level than her family) and that later comes into play with Fishbone & Grandfisher, but Karin literally later admits that she doesn’t even want to acknowledge their presence, so why the change....?

They also cut short Karin’s little talk about Ichigo’s stats, which is a fair change for screentime’s sake, but mentioned for the record.

There’s a bit of a divergence with Yuzu lore, when the manga explicitly states she sees them, but not “clearly”, the anime focuses on her barely sensing them. I guess it doesn’t matter that much in the long run, since she is not that prevalent in the story, but it’s here for the record nonetheless.

Anime: 

vs. 

Manga:A

Also this next bit was removed, probably for the sake of pacing (which, totally fair!!), but it’s funny and I love the Kurosaki family so here it is:

It does make the flow a bit better in the manga, since this talk of selling his talents distracts Ichigo and creates an opening for his father to strike, in the anime, the same is done with Ichigo just randomly saying 

and thats where his father attacks him, which isnt really an issue, just kind of funny of how the manga is like:

Ichigo’s distracted by his sisters plotting to sell him out and hence Isshin has his chance to strike back

vs the anime being like:

Ichigo randomly thinks about dinner mid convo about ghosts and thats what distracts him from play-fighting with his dad 

gfdkhlgfdg okayyyy....moving on 

In the manga this scene is interspliced with Ichigo’s inner monologue about the nature of his powers (with hip jargon like “for real” courtesy of Viz ) 

(but my beef with Viz translations are for another day)

Also the line about “He told me more ghosts than ever have been haunting me” has been given to Karin for some reason, probably to make her feel more included in the scene/Ichigos life.

Notably, Isshin’s response is changed from “What?! He talks about stuff like that with you (Yuzu, singular)” to “What?! He talks about stuff like that with you guys?” as well, again probably to include Karin more into the dialogue. (Mmmm ok....)

Minor detail, but Karin’s lines has been changed to more “boyish” speech structure in the Japanese dub, which may seem insignificant, but ...... that is for later. 

.....

This little exchange

 is replaced with: 

Which, seems innocuous adaptation differences, but Yuzu’s lines keep decreasing and it’s a short enough moment to like....include and establish how motherly Yuzu is acting towards Ichigo.....but ok...huh. 

And now we get into the big boy changes.

So, probably for the sake of grounding the supernatural element of the series, the anime decided to skip time to the next morning and introduce the hollow attacks with a news report.

Which.....is an interesting choice. I am assuming this is addressing how the real world perceives the hollow attacks, which Bleach doesn’t put too much effort into addressing, but very soon after this we learn about stuff like memory replacement and other various technology to keep things under wraps so this is either redundant or implying that shinigamis have not been doing their job, which hm......

Next off is the bizarre choice to paint Isshin out of the picture for the night

Not sure why, but ok

Again, where’s the shinigami with their Kikanshinki (memory replacement devices)??? Pierrot where’s the lore coherence......

Anyway, Ichigo goes to replace the girl’s vase, but suprise-surprise she’s gone-zo. Wonder what happened to her.....

(And....again, people vehemently don’t want a reboot when the anime looks like this? )

So Ichigo hears a scream and a hollow scream and follows the sound (Ok?).

Totally random hollows attack. Which Ichigo somehow has never seen so far? Mind you, this isn’t like in the manga, where Fishbone was sent by Aizen specifically after Ichigo to make him aware of it. These are random-ass hollows attacking people, so how come Ichigo suddenly sees them. Ya coulda played it safe Pierrot, and stuck to the book, but we got plot inconsistencies episode one so let’s party.

The girl is, of course, not eaten and they run away.

She trips at the most inconvenient moment. (can ghosts trip? Ghost don’t even have legs in japanese lore and Kubo draws them floating around so okkkkkkkk)

(ok ok, im just being petty, bUT YKNOW)

(convenient tripping on deadass levelled ground is convenient)

(also God I really want that bag Ichigo’s got on his shoulder, it looks so nice)

Random-ass hollow closes in and 

BOOM

Rukia

(Now, if the rest of Bleach and the manga didn’t exist I would like this moment. We get a glimpse into Rukia’s abilities, into shinigami as a concept and we don’t really get to see her slice and dice hollows that much overall so the moment itself is rad in isolation.

Now, unfortunately for Pierrot’s screenwriters, Bleach manga exists and so does it’s lore, which again, would not be inconsistent with each other if the adapation was faithful. Now, Ichigo sees a shinigami, for some reason, for the first time in his 15 years of life. All of a sudden. 

You could argue, that much like in the manga, this is all part of Aizen’s plan TM, but like, she literally leaves right after leaving Ichigo gaping in awe ghfkjgdf. Why’d Aizen give him an appetizer, I really don’t understand how this change is benefitting the narrative in any way. It’s ....dare I say....generic.)

Rukia yeets the hollow

(why is this kid suddenly not wearing shoes?)

and goes off on her merry way, leaving Ichigo shooketh

ALSO RUKIA MA’AM THERES A FUCKING STRAY GHOST RIGHT AT YOUR RIGHT????? ISNT IT YOUR LIKE....JOB.......... TO HELP GHOSTS MOVE ON??? i know killing hollows is the fun part, but like ghjkfdlgfd ??? are you gonna ignore her???

( his fucking face ghfjdkgdlfgfd)

So after this wholeass pointless detour (you’ll see why it’s pointless in a moment)  we timeskip again (the filler is strong in this one. These 6 minutes were worth not coming up with something cohesive and removing scenes that actually make sense ah yes)

Ichigo is in deep thought TM about who tf is the stranger he’d just seen. Likely mulling over the monsters and how this person was able to slay said monsters. Probably thinking how unusual they are.

and as if on cue

the stranger makes their presence once more

(my God these faces gfhgkldfg)

....

Now let’s briefly address what happens in the manga instead.

Instead of the whole timeskip scene with the fight, Ichigo simply returns to his room on the same day, and oddly enough recognizes the species of the butterfly he sees? (nerdy boi! nerdy!! boi!)

rukia arrives much the same

(With the little text emphasizing how he’d never been aware of soul reapers, which is unsurprising given their secrecy, and makes sense in the long run since their first meeting is specifically orchestrated by Aizen. Two species that werent meant to interact brought together by his schemes.)

Back to the anime:

Ichigo pauses to ponder who tf they are and why the fuck they’re there.

and then the anime has the gall to suddenly revert to sticking to the manga, which like.... Ichigo kicks her for no reason? I guess because she isn’t answering? Even though Ichigo knows she has a sword and can wield it? Reckless boy.

Manga Ichigo thinks she’s a burglar, therefore, unsurprisingly, is comfortable kicking her outta his house. It’s a silly moment, but it also shows how accustomed or stupidly brave he is with the supernatural.

In the anime Ichigo asks her who she is instead of all that, and she responds pretty similarly to the manga

AND THE NEXT SCENE IS WHERE IT CLICKS WHY THEY WENT OUT OF THEIR WAY TO REMOVE ISSHIN FROM THE HOUSE.

(Ichigo and Rukia addressing the pointless filler, this leads nowhere)

Rukia check him out like she’s checking if the oranges on sale dont have mold on them 

slapstick ensues

and Rukia decides to answer his question.

Vs. the manga in which Isshin doesn’t leave his children home alone for some random conference and is actually used very efficient for two reasons:

1) building up on the burglar gag with actually funny slapstick that is based on a previously established joke

2) Instead of Rukia just saying “oh usually people can’t see me”, we get an actual demonstration of it, the reader gets to see “oh Isshin can’t see her - she must be a spiritual entity,” which further clicks with her surprised reaction at him being able to kick her in the first place.

The next scene is the classique Pierrot censorship.

Ghost girl runs away from what I’m assuming is Fishbone.

Aside from not showing her get eaten, the scene is pretty much delivering the same message, 

bUT

BECAUSE OF THE STUPID ASS FILLER WITH THEM MEETING RUKIA BEFORE THIS, I CAN ACCUSE RUKIA OF NEGLIGENCE.

UNLIKE THE MANGA, where Rukia arrives the night before and is specifically seeking Fishbone, therefore having no time to help this girl pass away, 

This vvvvvvv

could have been prevented if SOMEONE DID THEIR FUCKING JOB THE DAY BEFORE VVVVVVV

(I rest my case. Thank you Pierrot for making Rukia either negligent or an idiot. Awesome, And mind you, these changes were unnecessary. The manga’s pacing is fine. They could’ve extended scenes. But nope, had to go for making them meet beforehand.)

Anyway, we get to see some actual stakes in the manga

The next scene which is this in the manga 

has two changes to it. Firstly, obviously Isshin being consoled by Yuzu isn’t included since he isn’t home in the anime, and even if he were, I can see why that would be removed, cute as it may be.

And secondly, due to them having met prior Ichigo asks two additional questions:

And Rukia nods at both, which means she acknowledges that she had seen the girl the hollow was after and yet did nothing to help her pass on. 

(Reminder the Bleach anime was in production WAAAAY past the first 4 volumes, which gave a good general idea of the series, which y’know, was fine to adapt as is.

You’ll see these changes add up into becoming inconsistent with further Bleach lore. There’s a reason people call Bleach a hot mess, and I’m afraid Kubo ain’t really it.)

(Volume 14 Note from Kubo where he talks about the anime being announced)

Back to the series

Pet peeve time: Wish the anime was half as expressive as the manga

These scenes are supposed to represent

This panel:

(Nitpicking? Perhaps, but idc)

So uh, this scene is odd

Again, because of the addition of that filler with the hollow

Ichigo has seen her in action

And they even added Rukia trying to convince him 

even though, yknow???

LITerally the previous day???

Anyway  in the manga, where Ichigo has reason to be distrustful of her and her claims since y’know hes never seen her or a shinigami in action, but has enough proof that she’s a ghost bc his dad didn’t see her, he simply dismisses her before she can reply, and instead of just getting angry for being called a pipsqueak

she shows both Ichigo and the audience proof of her spiritual powers by binding Ichigo and forcing him to quietly listen to her explanations.

(To reiterate - Anime Rukia  has to verbally try to convince Ichigo WHO SAW HER FIGHT A HOLLOW THE OTHER DAY that shes no ordinary ghost. And because of that, she has no other reason to use Sai on him other than that shes mad she was called a pipsqueak bc she just tried to verbally convince him shei is a shinigami. When they could just adapt the manga and have her both demonstrate her powers and put him in his place at the same time. Wild.)

Also CRIMINALLY BORING SHOT, WITH CRIMINALLY BORING RUKIA

#NotMyRukia

LOOK AT THE MANGA

LOOK AT HER SMUGLY OWNING ICHIGO’S IGNORANT ASS #FuckYeahRukia

Also the subs may not show it if you’re watching it on Netflix, but anime Rukia says “I am not allowed to lay my hands on humans outside orders,” which like, you ARE LITERALLY DOING THAT. Manga Rukia is fine with bullying Ichigo, but she draws a line at killing him, but man Anime Rukia, you give no fucks about the laws huh.

why so cheerful?

(also Rukia be right tho)

(specifcally compared to hell you could say Soul society is a resftul place lmfao)

Also anime salary man gets to rest in peace, even like, pray and shit

Meanwhile the manga

YEET TO SOUL SOCIETY

(also notice how we’ve been robbed of ichigo’s silly socks

I swear the anime knows how to suck the soul out of the manga 

Get it? Soul! haha ....moving on.)

Really Rukia? One of your jobs?

GUESS YOU WERE OFF DUTY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I’M SORRY BUT LIKE, SEE HOW POINTLESS THIS FILLER IS UGH!!!)

(Again pet peeve but look at how ugly this screen is COMPARED TO THE MANGA)

(What have they done to you, queen)

(also they never mention the name Konso ( or as Viz calls it here -”soul funeral”, thanks Viz)

Next on, not a pet peeve, but an observation:

Anime Rukia keeps her sketchbook in her kimono

Manga Rukia keeps it at the titty

Yep, which you neglected to do the day before,

she literally says “With the konso I did just a  moment ago” like she used the word before. Like you can contextually get it, but why cut that line out of the dialogue if you don’t change the next line it’s referenced in?

There’s also a dialogue change from the manga’s well, Viz uses “vaporize” which is not a bad choice given the specific wording Kubo uses, but the original says 

昇華 • 滅却

sublimate/convert • extinguish

which is a clever little nod/foreshadowing to the nature of souls in bleach and that they can be “converted” in and out of a hollowfied state. 

While the anime just says “to slay hollows”, and albeit it lacks the little nod the manga has to offer, I can’t see how they’d include it in the anime at that stage so I’m fine with them simplifying it to like, an exorcism.

A better question then Rukia - WHY DIDN’T YOU SEND OFF HER SOUL????

also WAIT THE GIRL IS STILL ALIVE?? she’s dead-dead by this point in the manga.

BULLSHIT !!!  YOU LITERALLY EXPLAIN LATER WHY!! ACTUALLY YOU EXPLAINED EARLIER WHY!!! YOU LITERALLY SAID THIS, 1 MINUTE AGO :

Anyway, Fishbone almost grants her the priviledge of escaping this God-awful anime, but is suddenly stopped?

AND CAN TALK??

wait WHY DOES FISHBONE TALK?? GHFJD isnt this supposed to be  a juicy reveal for later when Ichigo realizes “hey theyre not actual complete monsters - but used to be humans!” Hm, ok.

Also leaves her alone? Damn ok...

Reminder:

Moooving on...

Speaking of the manga, this little moment is missing:

Since there is no pointless filler that would make him ask about the ghost girl therefore exposing Rukia’s slacking off of her duty, Ichigo realizes that there must be a hollow nearby bc in the manga he actually has braincells to spare. 

Also wiping off the Baron’s moustache moment is gone 😢

Missing and dearly missed is also this moment, which consolidates how protective Ichigo is of his family. He only needs to hear Yuzu scream to click that the hollow is nearby and his family is in danger. I feel like anime Ichigo should be even more worried since his sisters are alone but ok??

Also foreshadows their dynamic of Rukia trying to stop his reckless attempts at pushing himself to protect his family, bc yknow....she has her own Kaien trauma to process.

Next off....

This is .... a choice....

They were very eager to give Yuzu’s lines to Karin just a couple of moments ago but now this whole exchange:

Where we see a very pragmatic yet soft side of Karin

She doesn’t know what is happening, and doesn’t expect her brother to fight it - he just wants him to be safe, because she loves her family. At least warn him before it gets to him and hurts him.

is replaced with this:

Yuzu, sweetie, what do you think he can do to achieve that.

I guess at least Anime Ichigo tries to get Rukia to do her job as she looks down on Yuzu in silence. 

But compare it to the manga:

#MyRukia stops by Karin to check for a pulse and reassures Ichigo that his sister is alive.

Manga Ichigo is NUMBER ONE oniichan in town and doesnt have time to call out to a stranger to save his family - HES BEYOND READY TO GO FIGHT, RECKLESS AS IT IS, EVEN THOUGH HIS OWN FAMILY BEGS HIM TO JUST RUN. because he cant let himself be unable to protect them. He cant live with himself if he doesnt try his darnest to protect them.

*elevator music playing as ichigo tries to get rukia’s attention but she fucks off downstairs, but instead of doing shit he just does the worm on the floor*

which I guess is more realistic for a teenage boy, but Ichigo is literally traumatized by being unable to protect a family member. Y’all think a ghost he’s never seen before is gonna stop him? 

Yooo, pathetic. #NotMyIchigo

[swordgayist]

book 3 ty lee and zuko

consider an alternate universe where, instead of maiko, zuko and ty lee develop a strong friendship while mai and azula’s close friendship (that might be peppered with some lesbianism) slowly degrades over time. allow me to elaborate.

zuko and ty lee start bonding on the journey back to the fire nation because ty lee is the only one among the people surrounding zuko who doesn’t bully and/or abuse him regularly, and vice versa.

TY LEE: aren’t you cold? what are you doing out here?

ZUKO: i’ve got a lot on my mind. it’s been so long, over three years since i was home. i wonder what’s changed. i wonder how i’ve changed

TY LEE: hm.

TY LEE: we all missed you.

(just getting the ball rolling here)

they talk more when they get to the fire nation, and the usual topic is azula, and how she treats them. they bond over the mean shit she’d do to them when they were kids because that’s easier to laugh at. it’d probably get a little more real sometimes too.

but the thing is, when it gets real, ty lee’s relationship with azula doesn’t sound a lot like zuko’s relationship with azula.

see with zuko, he isn’t actively afraid of her or subordinate to her. he is just competitive with her and she wins, and she also manipulates him a lot.

when it comes to ty lee and azula, everything is subtle. both ty lee and azula know that there is a power dynamic, but neither of them say anything about it. azula clearly hurts ty lee regularly, but they both brush it off afterwards. azula’s abuse of ty lee is just normalized, ty lee doesn’t say anything and the power dynamic continues.

the more zuko hears about it the more it sounds like how his father treats him rather than how azula treats him. 

meanwhile on the mai and azula side of things, mai’s character is going to be done much much differently. because i hate how she’s written on the show so i will change her until i like her who’s gonna stop me

basically, instead of this extremely disjointed idea that mai ...... likes to do villainy things ? but still somehow she only does them because she’s scared of azula ?? we’re gonna scrap that. mai loves doing cruel shit to other people.

we’re scrapping everything about her backstory too. her parents are just two ordinary fire nation politicians who love hearing about people who are lesser than them suffering (not just people from other nations, but people who are less privileged than them etc).

we’re also scrapping the part of her character where she complains all the time because it doesn’t add anything to her story and it’s annoying.

that classism aspect of mai’s character (”you know what’ll make you feel better? ordering some servants around!” for example) is gonna be expanded upon a lot. coming from a rich, politician family, mai is extremely blasé about other people’s suffering and believes very strongly that she just matters more than them and that bothering herself with them is below her. she sees how her parents interact with their servants and how they laugh about what happens in the earth kingdom colonies and the water tribes and she picks up the cruelty they display. 

because of that, her and azula get along well. usually when azula is mean to zuko or ty lee, mai just kinda laughs about it on the side. when she’s helping azula she relishes the distress she causes the people she attacks. she always sees it as fun and games. it provides a stark contrast between mai and ty lee as azula’s friends where mai joins azula out of apathy and love for cruelty, while ty lee joins azula out of fear.

(once again this is already kinda there on the show but then they just ??? ignore it and say that mai followed her out of fear too ??? which makes no sense ??)

then in the beach episode, the conflicts go a little like this:

zuko and ty lee are annoyed at mai for being so cruel and apathetic, mai and ty lee are annoyed at zuko for having all these emotional outbursts, and zuko is annoyed at ty lee for being so at ease and complacent in her maltreatment, while mai is just kinda slut shaming her. azula, like in the og beach episode, is too busy dealing with her own problems to be annoyed by other people.

we finally get a better extended version of this interaction between zuko and ty lee at the end of the beach:

TY LEE: what’re you doing?

ZUKO: what does it look like i’m doing?

TY LEE: but..... it’s a painting of your family.

ZUKO: do you think i care?!

TY LEE: i think you do.

ZUKO: you don’t know me. so why don’t you just mind your own business!

TY LEE: *sighs* i know you.

ZUKO: no you don’t! you’re stuck in your little ty lee world where everything’s great all the time!

ZUKO: ‘i’m so pretty, look at me, i can walk on my hands! whoo!’

ZUKO: circus freak.

zuko is annoyed that ty lee is so reluctant to stand up for herself and instead pretends everything is okay (this really comes out when after everything between them ty lee helps azula flirt), while ty lee is annoyed that zuko sees complaining about it and being angry all the time as “doing something about it”.

meanwhile the beach episode is the first time mai has actually been presented with the idea that ty lee (and also zuko) is not happy with how she’s treated. ty lee tries to hide it as much as possible out of fear for azula, but mai still kind of picks it up. and mai is also developing a little thing for ty lee (also peppered with some gayism).

but anyways, at the end of the beach and in later episodes zuko and ty lee repair their friendship. zuko finally starts to understand some things, and ty lee contributes to that a lot. zuko’s already realizing that he’s not happy, even as crown prince and as a hero to the fire nation. he’s starting to realize that the way his father treats him isn’t okay or loving in any way. finally in nightmares and daydreams he realizes that sitting quiet while injustice is planned right in front of him isn’t who he is. and because of his argument with ty lee in the beach, he realizes that he can’t just know it, he needs to do something about it.

and on the day of black sun he leaves the fire nation ayeeee

but that means he leaves ty lee alone. he was kind of a safe place for her while she was around azula, and by leaving he kind of took that safety away from her. he of course didn’t take her along to protect her, but yeah.

so in the boiling rock, ty lee sneaks away from azula and mai to talk to zuko. she gets mad that he left her behind, and when zuko tells her he did it to protect her, she’s conflicted on whether she would prefer to commit treason and be an enemy to the fire nation or just stay in the fire nation and let it all happen like she always has.

but she sees zuko, she sees how much healthier and more energetic he looks after confronting his abuser and leaving the fire nation (she finds it ironic that he looks happier and healthier as a fugitive in ratty prison clothes than he ever did as a prince in royal robes). and she can’t help but feel like maybe she could too.

and because of this, at the end of the boiling rock, while mai and azula are trying to stop zuko, sokka, suki and company, ty lee comes up to the landing platform and starts taking out all the guards before they can cut the cable holding the gondola up.

PRISON GUARD: what are you doing?!

TY LEE: saving my best friend.

(yknow instead of ‘saving the jerk who dumped me’)

zuko pleads that they should go back and save ty lee, but sokka remorsefully tells him that they can’t because if they don’t take this way out, they might not be able to escape at all. so all zuko can do is pray. rip.

so azula confronts ty lee. azula is confused and angry that ty lee betrayed her because she was sure she had ty lee under her thumb. but ty lee drops *the line*:

TY LEE: i love zuko more than i fear you.

and so azula gets ready to attack ty lee and ty lee gets ready as well.

and this is where mai starts to realize that it was indeed *not* all fun and games. 

mai picked up cruelty but with azula ...... it was built into her. she was taught it, it was all she knew. and in this moment she was actually going to kill ty lee. so in that moment mai had to make a decision. because it wasn’t just ty lee who was in danger, it was her, if she were to let ty lee die ty lee’s blood would be on her hands, because she will have let azula kill someone she loves. she needs to save herself from going too deep and becoming like azula (keep in mind this is *her* mindset, not necessarily reality).

so she steps in, and she uses her knives to pin azula to the wall. 

now, azula isn’t just angry and confused, she’s broken. because she knew ty lee followed her out of fear, but she thought mai actually saw her as a friend. yet even mai betrayed her, reinforcing the idea that trust is for fools because in the end, no one loved her enough not to betray her. and now with ty lee’s betrayal, it seems like no one fears her enough not to either.

the guards come before mai and ty lee can get away, and they are put in prison.

after the day of sozin’s comet, zuko orders for them to be released, and ty lee finally reunites with her best friend again. 

meanwhile, after a lot of introspection and conversations with ty lee, mai starts to see some of the errors in her ways. she doesn’t know exactly how to make up for it, but her first step is to humbly approach suki and ask if she can join the kyoshi warriors.

(also perhaps while they’re in prison mai confesses to ty lee, and ty lee tells her that she could never fall in love with the person mai was before they were thrown into prison, and that if mai changed her ways ty lee might be ready later in the future.)

after having spent a lot of time with the kyoshi warriors and better learning how to empathize with other people, mai is able to help zuko and the gaang with azula’s healing process.

+ty lee starts to see how mai’s changed and they start talking and whoo pansexualism (officially headcanoning ty lee as a pansexual)

and so on and so forth, this is the basic gist of it this is terribly written but whatever

[romanapologist]

“Half Full” - Moceit Fic

Content/warnings: referenced past manipulation, alcohol, a lot of discussion of things the sides have done wrong, but none of them are intended as unsympathetic. they have done some b a d stuff but they’re learning and we love them all yknow?? (namely warnings for virgil being overprotective/lashing out, and me being on my bullshit anti-roceit agenda)

Notes: You all know I’m not a writer, but I had a thought about a?? Characterization for Janus?? Which as I reread this is kind of very OOC, but idk I just thought it was neat, and I do go crazy for moceit hurt/comfort.

Finding the moral side crying in the middle of the night was, all things considered, not too surprising. After all, Janus knew every time Patton lied about his happiness. However, he had suspected to find him with loud, messy sobs. With a tin of cookies almost finished. Not with a bottle of wine and a blank, tear-tracked face.

He didn’t even seem to notice Janus’ entrance until he cleared his throat.

“Oh,” Patton uttered, gaze flicking to the other side. His face didn’t gain any clarity of expression. He just started putting away the wine and finished off his glass, making moves to leave. “Sorry.”

Janus took a moment to hide his shock at the scene, and at Patton’s reaction to him. (What, had he thought the moral side would come running into his arms for comfort? He was being ridiculous.)

“Give that here, you imbecile,” Janus said, taking the bottle from Patton’s hands and pouring himself a glass. There was no bite behind his words, at least not in a meaningful way. He’d lost his edge. “So, you’re just up for fun, I assume?”

“Hm,” Patton failed to respond. “Are you going to stay up?”

“I’m sure I’ll be back to bed in a moment.”

“That sounds like a lie.”

“How out-of-character that would be for me,” Janus smiled.

Patton half-smiled back. “You wanna watch something?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“A documentary on Greek philosophers.”

Janus frowned at the dry film Patton pulled up. “You think you’ll enjoy this?”

“I think it’ll be boring as fuck,” he said, casually. Janus turned to him in mild shock, while he simply yawned. “But Logan wanted me to watch it. Maybe it’ll be more interesting with you.”

Janus nodded, careful to hide his smile behind his glass.

•••

The movie was, as Patton had so eloquently predicted, boring as fuck. Also, quite hazy by the end, due to all the wine. They had been quiet near the beginning, but by the end they were talking over everything in hushed whispers and even a laugh from Patton, every so often.

The next day, when Janus walked in on breakfast, he swore Patton’s smile changed. From a brittle, stiff form--forced in the tense atmosphere--to something more relaxed. Relieved.

“Oh, hiya, Janus! There’s a seat here if you wanna stay,” Patton patted the chair beside him.

Janus stayed.

•••

“...Janus is right.”

“Of course,” Virgil scoffed.

It was the first whole group discussion they’d had since the… wedding fiasco. And while Virgil didn’t seem surprised by Patton’s words, Janus most certainly was.

“Obviously, I am. I knew you would agree, Patton,” Janus lied.

Patton was too preoccupied to do anymore than hum at Janus’ statement, all concerned glances over at Roman. Ugh, Roman. Still all mopey after the last video, he was currently staring determinedly at the floor. Him and Patton should have let all of that go by now--the past was the past. Hadn’t they learnt about moving on?

“Are you sure, Patton?” Thomas asked. “I’ve always gone to this event before. And, I’ve always made it through--”

Patton shook his head. “You know there will be family members there who don’t respect you. And who choose not to learn. I know I’ve always been the one to say they deserve your love anyway, but… I don’t know if they do.”

All of the sides stood in shock for a moment. Janus schooled away a proud look. 

Logan was the first to speak, slowly nodding. “...Yes, well, Patton does bring up an interesting point. Thomas, you tend to give people the ‘benefit-of-the-doubt’, which can be a good thing, and has led to you improving relationships in the past. However, if the other people are actively refusing to learn, no progress can ever be made. And so the effort would be for naught.”

In no time flat, Thomas was coming to his big realization about not owing certain people certain things, yada yada yada, doing the outro, yada yada yada. Janus was about to sink out, with that new, odd, and decidedly wonderful vindication that he was right, when--

“Deceit, wait.”

Janus sighed, audibly, and made sure to put on his most sardonic smile. “Yes, Virgil?”

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

“You’ll have to be a little more specific, dear.”

“Don’t--” Virgil grit his teeth and huffed out a breath. “With Patton, I mean.”

“Hm. Really, Virgil, I wish I knew what you were referring to, but--”

“Oh, cut the bullshit!” He finally snapped. “I don’t know what you’ve been playing at with him, if you think you really like him, but you’re just gonna do to him what you did to Roman.” 

Janus cringed at that, though he tried not to. Virgil knew just how to get to him. “Well. Thank you for this conversation, Virgil. I’ll be considering it deeply,” he said sarcastically, before sinking out. Though, it wasn’t as much of a lie as he would have liked.

•••

“Janus? What are you doing?”

Patton had found him pacing around the living room. And he hadn’t even had enough time to mask his aggravated expression when the moral side entered.

“Dishes,” he replied sourly.

“Right,” Patton said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“I’ve used that one enough to see through it.” He joked, smiling bittersweetly. It was such a sincere look he was giving, so ready to comfort. Janus wasn’t used to it. Whether the ‘it’ was sincerity or comfort he couldn’t say.

“It’s just--I don’t see why I should have to apologize to him,” Janus spat out.

Patton came over to the couch, motioning for Janus to join him. He did.

“Virgil?” Patton asked. Janus looked away. “...Ah. Roman.”

“He shouldn't have laughed at my name!”

“Yes,” Patton nodded slowly. “We've all done things we shouldn’t’ve.”

“...Are you implying something?”

Patton raised a brow. “Calling two sides evil for the price of one?”

“Oh, please,” Janus scoffed. “You’ve always thought Remus was evil.”

“...Yes. And I’m learning why that’s wrong,” he admitted.

That gave Janus a pause, but he quickly disregarded his surprise. “Well, I already reminded you, Roman started it.”

“No, he didn’t.” Patton looked away. He took a deep breath in, silent for a beat too long. “...I did. A long time ago.”

Janus narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I told him he was dishonorable to side with you. That treating you as more than a villain was evil.” Each word sounded like it pained him. Each a confession, although Janus had been witness to all of it. “It’s all always been my fault.” Tears silently began to fall down his cheeks. He blinked, as if to somehow subtly dispel them, but they only fell harder. 

And, oh.

Oh no.

Janus really didn’t want to do this next part.

It would be so easy to let Patton believe that. He could even comfort the side, tell him he was forgiven, help him through--all without revealing anything. 

Save himself. It was what he was built for.

“Patton… it wasn’t all your fault, per say.” Patton glanced up at him, confused, and it was his turn to look away. “I quite blatantly flattered Roman. I manipulated him, used him--whatever you want to call it. All because I wanted his favor in... that case.”

“Well, I already knew--”

“Except, it wasn’t just that case,” Janus rushed out before he could lose his nerve. “It started when I first revealed myself to Thomas, remember? Really, I just wanted to test the waters, at first. See what I could get away with, and who I could get away with it with.”

Patton had a blank look as he sorted through his memory. “ ‘Love the outfit, Roman,’” he finally quoted.

“...Indeed,” Janus sighed. “It became clear that Roman would be the easiest to get to. Which makes sense from his need-of-praise mixed with lack-of-praise. And he is the romantic side. And I just knew, one day it would be useful if he was…somewhat biased, so if…”

“If you and him were a little… friendly?” Patton finished, sadly. Disappointedly. 

Janus nodded. Then, quickly, he rushed to add, “I mean, nothing that bad! I didn’t kiss him. We were never dating. I just may have implied--”

Patton’s face changed from disappointed, then. To something else. Something worse.“Right. No. Of course,” Patton said. “Not that bad at all.”

That lie from Patton’s tongue ached in Janus’s chest for the rest of the day.

***

Remus wasn’t in their side of the mindscape when Janus returned to it. Which he didn’t make too much of, sulking around and rewatching Good Place episodes, until Remus skipped in covered in… blood? No. Much more unusual--red paint.

“What have you been up to then, hm?” Janus asked, as polite as he was disinterested.

“Painting with Pat! Drawing with Daddy! Look!” He shoved a messy, still drying canvas in Janus’s arms. It was a finger painting of mutilated arm, rather tame for him, but perhaps that was because he made it with--

“Patton?”

“That’s what I said! Geez, who stole your ears? Oh, wait, was it me? That sounds like me. But, of course, it doesn’t sound like anything to you!” He cackled.

“I still have my ears, you gremlin,” he hissed. “But you’re right, there’s nothing for me to be surprised about, since you and Patton are on such great terms.”

“Exactly!” Remus confirmed. “Wow, you heard about it quick, JJ! It was just this afternoon, he came up with those pouty puppy eyes, gushing apologies, asking me to be his wittle fwiend~” he batted his eyelashes mockingly. Heat rose in Janus’s chest at that, and he almost lept to defend Patton, embarrassingly, but luckily Remus continued before he could. 

“Which, was kinda stupid; guy made it sound like he had committed war crimes against me or some shit. Like, yeah, dude was a dick to me; I was a dick to him. That was meant to be our whole dynamic! Now whenever I scare him--what?--I’ll feel guilty, who wants that?! I liked being enemies. But maybe I’ll like being friends more.” He shrugged. “Time will tell, right? That’s a great idea, actually. I’m gonna go make some clocks that just scream every hour. Oo, or every minute! Yeah, that. Seeya, Janny Fanny!”

Janus gaped, left uncomprehending, while Remus sped off.

He tried to imagine it--Remus. With Patton. Chatting, smiling, joking. Remus would, of course, be able to bring much more reckless fun to the father figure than he might otherwise go for. Patton might enjoy some of Remus’s more childish humor. In an odd, backwards way they made a sort of sense.

The image made Janus’s blood boil. He should have been pleased for them. He knew that, but it didn’t help. And--what? Had Janus thought he was special? Fancied himself the singular, blessed demon chosen by an angel? Patton’s new bestest buddy?

No. He should’ve known that was never on the table. As it turned out, Patton was simply being polite to everyone now. That didn’t mean Janus had changed in his mind. It didn’t mean Janus had changed at all.

He was a villain. He had been going about this all wrong, trying to be more than he was made for. He needed to remember that.

***

“How the tables table, huh?”

“That is how the phrase goes,” Janus remarked dryly as Patton took a seat by him. Janus offered him the wine bottle, but he put a hand up and shook his head. 

“Well, at least I’m not crying,” Janus sneered. 

“No, wouldn’t want to ruin your dignity like me, right?” Patton half-joked. Half-joke, half-smile, half-truth. Nothing Patton did went full way. “Wanna talk about it?”

Janus scoffed, and went back to nursing his drink.

“Right,” Patton frowned. “Listen--Janus, I wanted to apologize. ...Again,” he added, with a half-laugh. Half-laugh, half-hurt. Whatever. “I shouldn’t have gotten so judgmental earlier. Morality and judgement tend to go hand in hand, even when they shouldn’t. And I got defensive on Roman’s behalf too,” he admitted. Janus grit his teeth, glaring at the wooden counter. Defensive over Roman. Friends with Remus. “Look--I’ve done bad stuff too. I had no place to judge you now, when it’s clear you have now learned.”

Janus laughed, suddenly, bitterly, at that. “Oh, have I, now?” 

Patton blinked, tilting his head. “...Yes?”

Janus rolled his eyes, and downed the end of his glass. “Listen, Morality, I’m not like you. I don’t need to go on some learning spree, down the path of beautiful ethics and self-improvement. I’m not meant to be a little, lovely side. Maybe learning my name made you forget; I’m Deceit.You heard Thomas yourself--I’m a flaw. So, I don’t do guilt. I don’t plan on too much learning. And I definitely won’t be spewing out apologies, like some sides I know,” he bit out each word. He wanted to make Patton leave. Maybe cry. Make him realize what Janus really was. But he just sat there with that stupid, sincere, concerned gaze.

“I’m not built for it!” Janus continued, growing more frantic at the lack of reaction. “...I can’t.”

Janus shoved his hand to his mouth in an attempt to cover the first sob, but it was too late. Soon his shoulders were shaking, his head in his hands, breaths unsteady. There were warm arms around his back, pulling him against a cardigan-clad chest, soothing whispers in his ears. He realized his hat had been taken off as he felt fingers run through his hair. 

“Janus,” Patton began softly, moving back slightly so that Janus could meet his eyes. “That sounded like a lot of lies to me.”

Janus shook his head firmly, fumbling to pull his gloves off and put his hands up. “Patton, I swear, that is the truth!”

Patton looked at him for a long moment. Then, he reached his hands out, and slowly took Janus’s. Janus let him. “You can lie to yourself, you know,” he said softly.

Janus’s eyes burned, and he had to force himself not to spill over the edge again. He was hyper-aware of their contact, now. The warmth of Patton’s skin against his was intoxicating.

Patton looked down at their hands too. He squeezed them lightly, a 3 beat pattern. “They’re so cold,” he frowned.

“Are they, now?” Janus aimed for sarcastic, but it came out unsteady. 

“Mhm.”

They were quiet for a long time. Unmoving. As if a word, a breath, could break them apart. 

“I’ll apologize,” Janus said finally.

“To Roman?”

“...Yes,” Janus agreed. “And to you.”

“What for?”

Janus looked down at their intertwined hands, waited for Patton to follow his gaze. “The things I want.”

“Oh,” Patton breathed. He rubbed his thumb along the back of Janus’s hand. “I… don’t think the things we want are so different anymore.”

“Hm.” Janus let go of Patton’s grip, just for a moment, in order to pull the other closer. Patton melted in his grip immediately, head laying on his shoulder. Janus returned the embrace. “Maybe not.”

[pinkysfaultorbrainsfault]

pinky and the brain - s1e1: das mouse

dejavu! have we been here before?

episode summary: brain concocts a hypnotic pancake recipe in order to hypnotise the surrounding population into being his loyal minions. however, one of the crucial ingredients is the meat of a specific type of crab, which can only be found in the reckage of the titanic.

the rundown:

we open with the mice attempting to blow their cage open.

SENIOR PRODUCER: TOM RUEGGER. sorry about that, y’all, but the opening credits are in the actual show, now, so nothing i can really do about it. at least they seem to have a water bottle in their cage, this time, which is good.

NEVER MIND I GUESS. IT EXPLODED. literally every frame there is a smear frame - again, nothing i can do.

poor mousie go bomp. ):

apparently, the plan was less regarding explosive force, and more to set off a rube goldberg chain of events that completely disobey the laws of physics to end up picking the lock.

PRODUCED BY RUSTY MILLS

it’s hard to convey without animation, but this spoon flies through the air and just straight up lands in the lock. it’s wild.

“ooo!” says pinky, watching this all impossibly unfold. “good one, brain!”

“they’re all good ones, pinky.” we will never be free of brain’s face, it seems.

as the mice wander along, brain tells pinky that tonight’s plan will "recieve the aid of legions of unassuming humans”, because he intends to hypnotise them all with the secretions of!

“what, a frog?”

yes, a frog. apparently the frog sweats out hypnotic fluid. it is Filled With Peptides. (pinky’s response to this is “naaaaaarf”, which is very helpful.) after they collect this fluid, brain just needs to work out how to get thousands of people to ingest it.

“like a giant pancake jambouree?”

“please, pinky, i--”

“yes.”

so pancake jambouree it is. brain cooks pinky an experimental batch before he decides to release them to the masses.

look at brain’s lil dress! and pinky has his tongue stuck out. everyone here is having a good time and it’s very cute. this is exactly what lori alexander wants marriage to be.

pinky does briefly express his concerns that he might, yknow, be hypnotised, but apparently the concoction doesn’t attain Full Potency until he adds the meat of a fancy crab, and these are just test batches so he can work out how to hide the taste of the Frog Juice.

it goes about as well as one would hope.

but never mind, eh? time for crab.

turns out all the crab is stored in the titanic.

still, brain is pretty convinced that they can just.... go down there and get it. look at his lil scheming face. pinky argues during today’s pondering segment that “there’s still a bug stuck in there from last time” (okay?) and brain cuts him off to insist that they GO DOWN TO THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN AND RAISE THE HULL OF THAT SORROWFUL SHIP.

he does a gay little point and everything.

so obviously, they have to steal a boat.

brain got one taste of crime from stealing that minivan, and it just never went away.

“behold the alvin, pinky. our ticket to the ocean depths.”

“look, brain! a baby sub on the front!”

“that’s the jason junior, pinky. an additional sub carried by the alvin for remote exploring.”

it’s an additional sub because there’s already one on this mission. (i sweat, watching the fbi draw their guns on me, and insist that i definitely meant submarine. what else could that be, right, guys?)

(the fbi put their guns down.)

anyway the mice steal the boat.

in they go.

the first thing brain does is swap out his hat for one that he brought with him, and demand to be referred to as “captain brain”, so he is definitely someone everyone should take seriously.

he just packed that specifically.

the second thing he does is pull out his big map of the ocean and give pinky a whole bunch of co-ordinates to follow. “bowplans at 2-2-9, on my mark!”

“um, brain?”

well that’s a bastard. brain blames “the sub club”, which i’m sure he knows a lot about BECAUSE HE’S REALLY INTO SUBMARINES, MR PRESIDENT, PLEASE WITHDRAW YOUR MEN

and pinky works out that he can dislodge the wrench-- the submarine clamp??? the county council clamped their submarine for overstaying their welcome in the library submarine park???? - enough for them to make right turns, but not left. inconvenient, but doable.

but before they can set off, brain directs pinky to the radar console.

this apparently stands for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and is their special signal that they would use to trace their submarines for oceanographic purposes. brain requests that pinky randomise the signal so they’re not followed.

a difficult job? sure. good thing pinky is a trained sub operator with a good few years of experience.

.....you can literally see him operating the submarine a few pictures up. stop looking at me like that.

with a few minutes of careful handiwork, pinky successfully scrambles the sub’s internal computation, and leaves it probably a little dazed and confused.

good thing ‘narf’ doesn’t actually mean anything, in this universe, apart from being one of pinky’s verbal tics?

oh dear.

turns out that the CIA have found the submarine, and have realised that it is, for the most part, unidentified, apart from the letters NARF.

“have you ever heard of jack mcguire?”

“captain, north atlantic. cold war nut. he was discharged-- always saying that when the enemy arrived, it would be with some mythical--”

“nuclear attack readiness formation.”

“narf.”

“the old man is concerned.”

“the president?”

“no, just some... random old man.”

so dearest “jonesy” (blonde) is instructed to track down jack mcguire in hopes to get rid of the submarine. because nobody can track down a sub like jack mcguire (hm) and “the boys want that thing terminated.”

“you mean the pentagon?”

“no, my two boys, josh and aaron.”

meanwhile, at the sub club, brain plots their course for the titanic.

see they’re here,

and the titanic is there,

but they can only make right turns, so what should be a two hour journey will take, by brain’s calculation,

“seven months.”

“well. that’s a bit longer, then. isn’t it.”

“are you jack mcguire?”

“who wants to know?”

“the cia. got a job for you. there’s a sub in the water, and they want it terminated.”

“ha.”

“so the boys finally saw it my way, huh?”

“the pentagon?”

“no. josh and aaron.”

“hold onto your newtons, desk jockey. we’re going sub hunting.”

“how long have we been at sea, brain?”

“seventeen minutes.”

it turns out that pinky is so bored that if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll die. please, brain. this is also me whenever i have to spend more than half an hour in the car.

brain suggests that he tries to improve his pancake recipe, and pinky can try it out for him.

pinky decides that actually, he’s busy, thank you very much.

no dice.

“i’ve got another reading”, says jonesy, in the meantime.

“go.”

“4-6-0-0-5, bearing 2-2-7.”

“they’re running the nautilus.”

“the what?”

“1943. german boat captain heinz grindelwald evaded destruction by running a circular course, based on--”

“a nautilus shell.”

“so we cut them off.”

“whoever these guys are, they’re good. they’re probably plotting a missile trajectory at the oval office as we speak.”

meanwhile, pinky throws up.

“well? any better?”

i hope that answers your question, brain.

“pinky! are you alright?”

cute!

he does drop him immediately after pinky confirms that he is, indeed, still alive, but it was cute while it lasted.

“why don’t you let me try making the pancakes yummy, brain? my mother fed us very well.”

“please, pinky. you’re practically the poster child for cheese whiz.”

“pleaaaaaaaaaase.”

(he gets to make the pancakes.)

because they have bigger problems now, presumably!

that can’t be good.

it wasn’t!

and neither is that. brain laments that “someone is dropping death charges,” while pinky goes and shuts down the engine.

the sub operator saves the day once again.

“THIS IS CAPTAIN JACK MCGUIRE. IDENTIFY YOURSELVES OR BE DESTROYED.”

“this is..... jacques cousteau.”

“really. can you prove that?”

“here, ze ocean is teeming with life. but everywhere, there are signs of man’s encroachment.”

“darn! it is jacques cousteau!”

unfortunately pinky decides now is a good time to chime in with a “haha, nice cousteau, brain” so jack declares that his “little ruse will cost him.”

“i must admit. i admire your skill. perhaps in another time, maybe we could have been friends. we are very much alike, you and i.”

“i doubt that.”

so mcguire fires another charge, and the mice go down. ocean mice! sink.

):

“haha! yeah! we did it!”

“i get no joy from the demise of another man.”

“....usually.”

“HAHA YEAH WE DID IT YES YES YES WE GOTTEM WE GOTTEM WE GOTTEM”

(”take the jason hr on ahead full, mr pinky.”

“aye aye, captain brain.”)

conclusion:

this is a long episode.

still, now that they have a vehicle that steers properly, the boys seem to make it okay.

“we should be approaching the hull of the titanic at any--”

DONK.

“naaaaaaarf.”

“yes, pinky. soon we will have the white crabs of the titanic, and then,”

WE SHALL HAVE THE WORLD

“about that recipe, brain, and, um, getting rid of that bad taste--”

“not now, pinky.”

“but brain?”

“just cut it out.”

“oh! aye aye.”

hm.

so the mice bodge an air pressure mechanism to yeet the titanic to the surface. as you do.

“but brain, the icky stuff--”

“i said cut it out, pinky.”

hmmmm.

the balloon expands, as balloons do, and the titanic wobbles a bit.

RISE, LITTLE ONE, AND BE FREE

neat!

“our journey is almost at at end, my friend! we release the air and propel the ship!”

that’s a very cute happy face!

so brain does exactly that, and the titanic farts itself over to california.

i’m not exaggerating.

perhaps brain feels vaguely at home on the titanic. he has vague memories of being drunk out of his mind, and bathing in a sink. best not to unpack that.

instead, he decides to crash it into acme labs. for the lols.

“yes!”

(:

the pancakes are jamboureeing. it’s very cute.

jonesey and mcguire are here too! “nothing like a pancake jambouree after blowing up a sub, huh.”

they’re dating now, i guess. i mean, i hope they’re dating. they should be.

“as the hypnotic fluid winds itself through the minds of our friends, they shall return, happy and content to have us rule over them.”

“well isn’t that nice,” says pinky, in a very condescending manner. “narf.”

“but tell me, pinky, about your pancake batter. how did you manage to hide the taste of the hypnotic sapo?”

“well, the hypnotic stuff tasted terrible, brain. so like you said. i cut it out.”

bonk.

anyway this one goes to pinky because he is emotionally intelligent enough to A, understand sarcasm, and B, to know and/or remember what the plan was in the first place. perhaps he deliberately threw it out to make sure nobody had to eat bad pancakes? honestly, i don’t blame him. pinky, defender of the earth.

brain: 4 ½ pinky: 6 ½ outside influence: 10

“here’s our course. heading 3-2-9, depth 100 metres, bowplanes at 15 degrees. any questions?”

“um. if you could be any animal, what would it be.”

“oh, i’d have to say a hawk, pinky,”

“so i could soar through the sky,”

“and grab tiny white mice in my claws,”

“and feed them to my young.”

“that’s just... weird, brain.”

[hydra-collector]

Let Me Go: Chapter 4

AO3 

Chapter 1 Chapter 2  Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

Pairings: Intrulogical

Characters: Logan Sanders, Remus Sanders

TW: suicide mention, cursing, depression, killing

Words: 1450

Summary: Fluffy + angsty chapter with a much-needed discussion.

“That was my sheep!”

“Finders keepers.”

“You didn’t keep it, you killed it!”

Both were laughing, despite the tragedy of Remus’s dead sheep meat. They’d managed to get Logan interested in Minecraft, and now they played it any chance they could together. They’d built a shared house by a lake, possible dreams for their future, though neither of them would say it.

“Wait, Logan, I was mining-”

Logan was kissing Remus’s cheek as he stole the diamonds his partner had discovered, keeping him distracted enough.

“Lo, my diamonds-”

Remus was crushed while trying to keep upright as they desperately attempted to reclaim what was rightfully theirs. Logan toppled over on them, crossed over their chest and face to face with them. Remus was awkwardly laying down on the couch with their legs bent and feet holding on to the cushion, hoping not to fall.

“We’re dating and this is awkward.”

“Not if I kiss you, Re.”

Logan smiled and pressed his lips to his partner’s, practically feeling them melt from the affection. They wrapped their arms around him, holding him close and tight. Logan dropped his controller and dug his hands into Remus’s hair, soft and fluffy. They broke from the kiss and Remus nuzzled their head into Logan’s shoulder, who dug his head in their hair.

“You’re hair looks so fluffy for it to be so oily,” Logan said, muffled.

“It’s my specialty.”

Remus kissed Logan, but this time with the limit of how far their head would turn. It ended up being placed on his jaw, which soon became his nose as he turned his head, surprised. Logan rolled over, giving Remus a chance to sit up a little more and him to look in their eyes. He leaned up to kiss them back on the nose, which they scrunched at.

“You’re adorable.”

“I’m the trash enby.”

“Logan’s trash enby, remember? That means I get to call you adorable.”

“Lo-Lo’s trash enby.”

“I don’t care for silly nicknames, Remus.”

“Yes you do, you’re blushing.”

“I’ve been blushing this whole time!”

“See, you’re blushing more!”

Remus gave him another small kiss on the nose.

“You’re blushing more now.”

“Remus-”

“You’re so fucking cute when you’re flustered, Lo-Lo.”

Logan’s cheeks somehow went redder, seemingly prompting Remus to kiss them.

“How many times will you kiss me before I’m free?”

“Until I can’t kiss you anymore.”

Remus began to live up to that promise, changing position so they and Logan were both lying on the couch. They kissed his cheek quickly a few times before giving him a longer kiss on the lips.

They laid, faces so close, bodies sharing warmth.

“Yknow, the only reason I brush my teeth is for you.”

“I feel so loved, Remus. My partner is doing basic actions for a human just for me.”

Remus’s face fell.

“Lo, I think we need to talk about that. Basic human actions. Taking care of yourself.”

“Remus, it’s fine, I’m going to be fine now.”

They brought their hand up to his cheek, cupping it softly.

“We both know that’s not how it works.”

Logan didn’t have any other response than taking Remus’s hand and rubbing it, avoiding looking at their face.

“Lo, what can I do to help you?”

“I don’t want to be your burden,” he replied softly.

“You won’t be. And if you ever are, I’ll tell you ‘this is affecting my own mental health.’ We’ll work it out. But now, I can help you, so I want to. I just need to know how.”

“You… being there for me is really helpful. I can forget for a little while and it brings me further from… the edge.”

“Why that day? Why did you decide to...”

“I guess it just stopped being life. When Virgil asked me why my leg was bleeding, I should’ve been scared. But I didn’t care. About anything. About my life.”

“Is now appropriate to give you a hug?”

“I could use one.”

It didn’t take much effort to move into a hugging position, and once they were there neither ever wanted to let go.

“What does it feel like? What drives you to that. Depression.”

“It feels like… well, I’ve seen it described a lot like a black dog, following you. I disagree. To me it’s like… these dark chains that tug at every inch of your being, exhausting you every day. Your arms, your legs, your mind, but most of all your heart. There’s just that neverending weight that you can revel in sometimes, even, but it’s crawling emptiness like a parasite just dragging you along. You begin to feel like you’re not even you, just a vessel for these black chains. And when it gets too much, death seems just as empty as you already are.”

Logan was surprised to hear a sob from Remus, and leaned back to see their face. He wiped away their tears but they shook their head.

“How do you live with that?”

“You don’t. It isn’t living.”

“How could my presence help with that at all?”

“Well, it does and it doesn’t. When you’re around, none of the weight is gone, the chains are still there, but I feel like you’re there, holding some up for me. That’s why it’s so easy to feel like I'm a burden. I feel like you’re sacrificing yourself to hold me up. I’ve managed this way for, what, four years already? Why should you-”

“Logan, you’ve felt this way for four years?”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“When I first met you, you felt like this? I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. You should’ve told me.”

“...I was scared. But you did know, at least a little bit, right?”

“I guess. You had some obvious depressive episodes, but I didn’t know you actually wanted to- I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Should I kiss you?”

Logan sighed, closing his eyes as he did so.

“You really should.”

They did so, Logan’s eyes still shut. He held on to their hand, just glad to feel them there. When it was over, Remus kissed his cheek and set their head on his shoulder for him to lean against. They were nearly going to fall asleep like that when they were interrupted by Logan’s mother.

“Logan! Remus! It’s eight already, Remus has to go home!”

“Fuck.”

They gazed, eyes just opened, at Logan’s half conscious face. They decided to cup his cheeks and kiss him awake.

“Hmm?”

“Your mother.”

“I bet we could fit in one more kiss, Re.”

“Hm. You complain about me calling you Lo-Lo but-”

They were interrupted by Logan’s lips meeting theirs for a moment.

“Shh. We don’t mention that.”

They both started chuckling softly, ignoring the second “Logan!” for a moment.

“It is time for you to go, though.”

Logan attempted to sit up, but found it more difficult than predicted.

“Oh. Right.”

“C’mon, I’ll help you.”

Remus helping him turned out to be carrying him bridal style and gently spinning around a few times before setting him in his wheelchair.

“Wow, you’re gonna spin me around when I have a medical balance issue?”

“You’ll be fine.”

Logan glanced at the abandoned controllers on the couch and Minecraft waiting for them to return.

“I take full responsibility for not playing Minecraft.”

“I’m not arguing. You stole my diamonds anyway, it was a lost cause.”

Remus and Logan found their way down the stairs somehow to be greeted by Logan’s mom.

“It’s 8:12 already! I’m not angry with you, but Remus has to get home. They live too far away for me to drive them back later than 8:30 or so. I’ll go get the keys, Remus, please get ready to leave.”

“Quick, before she comes back.”

Logan’s mother would approve of him dating Remus, but he still wasn’t out to her as asexual, so she’d likely be worried they would fuck or something. No more hanging out alone. Anyway, Remus considered it to be fun, having a secret relationship.

Remus leaned down and Logan kissed them sweetly and desperately. He needed it after talking about such heavy topics.

“We should have a sleepover at my house this weekend. We could kiss all night, Lo.”

“What if your parents found out?”

“All the more interesting.”

“Re-”

“Well, are you ready to go?”

Logan’s mom had become a bit of a second mother to Remus, whose parents were as LGBTphobic as they come. They couldn’t dream of coming out to them, so Logan’s family was what they had.

Logan felt bad for being so selfish, but it meant he had an excuse to hang out with Remus more often.

Logan blew them a kiss as they waved goodbye.

[glassesandkim]

I hate how grey's wrote Schmico story in season 16! They were such a great coupleThey change nico's personality! Ok nico never was the type of person who talks about his feelings that much and says "i love you" but he does it gestures! I hate so much how they make nico an (possibly) abusive boyfriend. NICO KIM LOVES LEVI AND HE WOULD NEVER BE AN ABUSIVE BF, HE HIS AMAZING, HELPED LEVI WITH HIS CONFIDENCE AND WHEN HE WAS SICK!! Just because he isnt that verbal as levi doesnt mean he doesntLOVEHIM

Yeeeeeep!

Again, I said this a while ago, I see where people are coming from when they say “Levi deserves better!” even though I whole-heartedly and vehemently disagree. 

Grey’s version of love relies on monologues, on grand gestures, and now, I guess, sacrifices. All of which is not a part of Nico’s character, even as a baby character back in s15 and even fanon Nico (at least MY fanon Nico).

Almost every single character in s16 has had to give up or do something crazy in order to tell their respective partners that they loved them. Which is fine, whatever, makes for good tv.

But it also tells me that grey’s is completely incapable of writing a character that doesn’t do that. That is, idk, normal and not fucking batshit crazy???? 

Like Nico said, you gotta be crazy to think he would give up a DREAM JOB and also be crazy to think Nico might just up and leave Levi without a talk or without a concrete trajectory of where Nico was going with his career. (Did Levi even congratulate his bf? I’m too lazy to go scrub through that episode to find out. I know he didn’t really congratulate Nico on getting an interview to San Fran and then just got sad that Nico might be moving). 

And I hate being meta and I hate giving grey’s justification, especially because this falls in line with the “they’re wired differently” bit but Nico laid himself out to Levi way before they started dating. He told Levi he had no time for a bf because of his fellowship. He told Levi he didn’t want to do the gay sherpa thing. He told Levi he wasn’t ready to move in together. He TOLD LEVI ALL OF THOSE THINGS???

It’s not a SURPRISE? 

Yet suddenly Levi’s like Shocked Pikachu face when he pretty much corners Nico with every interaction they have to get him to talk or to get him to agree to things he hasn’t agreed to or to just accuse him of not loving Levi enough. Like.. shit dawg. No wonder they broke up. I’d break up if i were Nico AND if I were Levi. Imagine being in a relationship where you felt like every time you talked, the other was going to criticize you or tell you what you did wrong this time or imagine being in a relationship where you felt that all the other person ever wanted to do was have sex and that they didn’t love you as much as you loved them.

But ALSO don’t forget the complete shit show the writing has been. If this drama had happened maybe before the ambulance, maybe right after the elevator kiss – I’d be for it. I would be like, hm, that makes sense! Nico’s just been a playaaa this whole time! They’re not in a really deep relationship yet for 1+ years and we haven’t seen time and time again Nico loving Levi and doting on him and bringing him up. And helping Levi blossom.

It’s like we REGRESSED, yknow? It’s like, yeah, I know Nico is like that but you’d think he had changed and decided Levi was The One even though Levi is everything he’s NEVER wanted in the first place. That we got past that already??? (Yes, Nico said he’s into nerdy dudes but I don’t think he wanted a RELATIONSHIP back then.)

Is this all making sense? This is why I’m just fucking… annoyed. I don’t like how it makes sense but also doesn’t make sense. I don’t like that I have to wonder why this happened but then THIS happened. It’s MESSY. It’s WEIRD. 

Also Nico has literally zero development or voice and that’s what enrages me the most every time I think about schmico. 

[magical-xirl-4]

Gonna leave a “read more” cause I’m sure most of y’all have seen Party Crasher. I didn’t watch it when it came out cause I wanted to see Desperada first. Read this and you might be entertained. 

Yknow what’s cute? Wayhem and Adrien facetiming

Gabriel harvesting the butterflies is definitely, and unexpectedly funny

“Oh come on man, that’s the only thing you do! Work with me here!” Nino to Kim, about Kim not normally going to the pool on that day

“This has got to be the record broken for the most excuses in a single hour.” Alya omg ahaha

Aw, Gorilla collects action figures! Cute

Is shooting a ball in into the b-ball hoop really the only way to get the piano out in Adrien’s room?

KIM WENT SCREW IT, STRIPPED AND STARTED SWIMMING IN ADRIENS BATHROOM

That’s the gayest record I’ve ever seen (it’s totally parodying YMCA)

MARC AND NATHANIEL!!!! MY BABIES IVE MISSED THEM

Gabriel’s butterfly picking was interrupted and- oh fuck. If the power’s down, what’s going to happen to Emilie?

bUT THE FUCKING VIDEO IM WATCHING WITH THE SUBS IS SO FUNNY. As soon as Gabriel pushed his hands against the elevator and shouted “Emilie!” The subs were like: Next time, on Grey’s Anatomy.

AND WHEN OFFICER ROGER CAME IN IT SAID: “Who’s keeping a corpse in the basement?!” (It caught me by surprise and I thought they actually snuffed Gabriel out 😂)

God this is getting more ridiculous the more dudes keep showing up. I LOVE IT

I’m not even joking when I say this, this episode is reminding me of when I used to make my Barbie dolls have crazy ass parties with a shit ton of characters that were all part of the story - main characters, minor ones, even the backdrop characters. One person would always have their shirt off. This episode feels exactly like that and I love it.

JAGGED STONE SHOWING UP IN A HELICOPTER IS THE CHERRY ON TOP

And Major Bourgeois having make up all over his face is also amazing shit post content. Like I said before, this feels exactly like crazy barbie party perfection

Also happy my bby Luka is here <3

Omg can you believe it’s the same firefighter guy from Oni-Chan?

WHY IS THERE A PERSON IN A BANANA COSTUME IM CRYING

BANANA MAN IS FLYING I REPEAT BANANA MAN IS FLYING

OF COURSE MASTER FU IS THERE AND WE DIDNT SEE HIM COME IN

“We have everyone for StationNation! But.... no el moustachio, the manliest of them all....” (collective sigh)

IM WHEEZING. MASTER FU FELL OFF THE ICE BOX AND THE SUBTITLES SAID *dies*

Subs also said Kim is hot and there’s no lie there

Hawkmoth: I’m not sensing any negative emotions... *cuts to them partying* *cuts back to HM* HM: WHO THE FUCK IS IN MY HOUSE!?!?!$;$:/$@1

NOO, WAYHEM DONT BE SAD! ;-;

Man, Gorilla was just trying to play with his action figures, don’t interrupt him :(

Yo why is Marc on a table 😂 I love this kid

Lukaaaa, I see you behind that car

Lmao we finally got that Ladynoir bridal style carry with LB holding CN

BOI SQUAD IS BACK BITCHES. Even though we haven’t seen Pegases yet I’m just happy to see Carapace and Viperion

IS KIM REALLY STILL FUCKING SWIMMING?! THIS BOY I SWEAR HE DIDNT EVEN NOTICE WHAT WAS HAPPENING. HES THE BEST

Ah yes the dance scene of the ep. god they’re iconic

All of them beating Party Crasher up with dance music in the bg is so awesome

ALL OF THEM DOING THE POUND IT IS SO CUTE. And they’re all cleaning up after the party, aww!

Aww at least Nino apologised to Marinette, and they laughed it off saying it was for Adrien. They’re so sweet

AHH!! DID YOU SEE MARI AND ADRIEN LAUGHING TOGEHTER? MY BABIES

THIS IS TERRIBLE QUALITY I KNOW BUT I CBB TO GET IT BETTER

also HOLY SHIT, NO END CARD?

Oh nvm we just got punked

AWESOME EPISODE, IT WAS DUMB FUN

[aceyanaheim]

What are your Kaiba thoughts for the Send Me a Character ask?

hmm

I’m guessing you mean Seto Kaiba but..imma do all 3 because i can.

Seto Kaiba

First impression

What a BAMF!

( I was a child and very tiny and kinda fairly very bullied and Seto was...well he broke into his own house and jumped out a window. And he could fight. I was sold. I wanted to be like him.) I also sided with him over Yugi on most things...including friendship and speeches.

Impression now

Maaaaaaaaac freakin dork ass curt ass dramatic af  child with anger issues and trauma someone help him someone help him Now.

I also ( obviously) now side with Yugi over Seto on the whole friendship deal. (But I get Seto’s reaction on an almost instinctive level and still love him a lot.)

( Like..dont get it wrong. I poke fun at him because of how much he reminds of me as a kid but...I adore him and I’ll defend him from near anyone. Okay no I won’t because im a coward who goes into fight-or-flight at the mere thought of char-disc-0urse but like still 

I love the kid.  Him good child. Deserves all the happiness and good fortune. I want to see him grow up healthypng.)

Favorite moment

hmm. I haven’t seen him since the show was new so its foggy but..Imma say any time he either shares screen time with Mokuba or snarks at Joey. ( at Joey specifically because oh lord “Mokuba make sure Wheeler’s late” still sends me into a laughing spell. ( mind you I adore Joey too but  uh..yeah. Snarking Seto is best Seto)

Idea for a story

Right now the one I have is a crossover with xmen where Laura Kinney becomes his and Mokuba’s bodyguard. It has ended up becoming 3 separate verses because i couldn’t decide between comic!book Laura and Logan!Laura and also at what time in both their stories I wanted them because I am the opposite of competent and know no hubris.

It’s eking along kinda slow-like tho. Because writing Seto’s hard for me. I feel like a lot of people have done it better already. So I don’t know that it’ll get done.

Also I don’t know how to keep her from killing Pegasus.

I also had an idea for him and Tea becoming friends in like therapy or something but that never kicked off. Although it’s worth mentioning I’d like to explore the concept of what it would take for them to get along.

Unpopular opinion

He’s a good person I guess? I’ve heard that’s unpopular but haven’t seen it. He deserves a shot at a happy life. He’s a good person? He has never ( to my knowledge) been unkind to Mokuba and even if he was being angry in one moment in your life isn’t some kinda morality indicator especially when it comes to children. Especially traumatized to high heaven children who just keep getting traumatized so no Mokuba didn’t “deserve a better brother” or w/e both Seto and Mokuba deserved better period and can people just enjoy the show which is about forgiveness and friendship anyways good golly. 

I mean..yeah I guess I got a few.

 Another one that I think might be unpopular but I don’t know due to not really publicizing it is that Seto and Yugi....actually aren’t that different at the core? Like if you took Seto away from a lot of the Tragic Backstory stuff he might end up..not exactly like Yugi but not that different either. They’d have a lot in common.

Favorite relationship

Him and Mokuba. Hands down.

Favorite headcanon

Ohshoot do i even have one hm. This ask covers a lot of the headcanons I have for him..but I guess my favorite is him liking children followed by the one that he does math equations and formulas when he’s bored.

I also share a lot of the ones @iced-blood has posted due to most of my exposure to the character coming from his fic after I stopped watching the show so a lot of his headcanons are up there too.

Mokuba Kaiba

First impression

He’s adorable. Protect him.

Impression now

He’s adorable and tiny. Protect him.

Favorite moment

Either him in the beginning of the Noah arc since we get to see him know how to operate the computers in KC or when he’s telling Alistair off in Awaken The Dragons

Basically any time he’s not getting captured again for the plot tho.

Idea for a story

I have a couple drabbles based on @kintatsujo‘s age swap AU...and her In The Back Of My Brain AU, alot of her AUS give me ideas actually ( which of course id ask for permission before pursuing)  but nothing concrete.

Oh and the xmen crossover mentioned above.  Mokuba’s a fair share of that since in one of them Laura’s his bodyguard rather than Seto’s. ( in another Gozaburo gets Laura as protection for Seto while still being abusive and they both shake him off. Like I said it’s..it’s splintered into a lot)

Unpopular opinion

I..don’t think I have any? I don’t really know what opinions are popular tbqh. I guess if anything i saw here is then that.

Favorite relationship

Him and Seto. 

Favorite headcanon

His hair’s a liability I speak from experience.

I guess I’m a fan of the shared headcanon that Mokuba wears heelys. I like the idea that he’s not a genius like his brother and maybe he doesn’t get HIgh HIGH grades and maybe that’s okay ( as someone who has a complex relationship with academics I guess thats something I wish i saw more often yknow) because he’s smart in different ways.

I like the idea of Mokuba being athletically inclined like skate boarding or parkour or being involved in some sport at school I mean he roped climbed out a window in his intro episode so its not that outlandish.

I actually don’t have that many headcanons for this kid. I should fix that.

Noah Kaiba

First impression

Yikes. What  a freakin loon. ( first episode) Oh no..he’s lonely and abandoned. Oh no oh no oh no. ( later episodes in the arc) Okay but he’s still a mean dude ( when he turns ppl to stone) Oh no...he died...and he turned around at the last minute WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DONT GET TO SEE HIM AGAIN. ( at the end)

( yeah Noah took kid!Me through the freakin wringer)

Impression now

He was a child. And his father left him to rot. 

He deserved so much better. 

I love him. I cry and screech about him needing things monthly and sometimes weekly. 

Favorite moment

When he turned around to fight Gozaburo. Also the scenes where you see Mokuba getting to him.

Idea for a story

I guess-no I know a lot of people have done it better but I like the idea of a canondivergence where he’s spared and/or rescued by Seto.

I also like the idea of crossovers with shows like Digimon or Code Lyoko where you have digital worlds.

I just don’t want to be alone and i want him to have nice things okay. That’s..that’s all i want..from life.

Unpopular opinion

Probs that he was an actual smol child and got a raw deal and Deserved Better. ( tm) ( you’ll find thats..my beat with a lot of characters ^-^:) 

Favorite relationship

He...doesnt have any? In fics where he gets brought back like Paved With Good Intentions ( specifically Blue Eyes Violet Eyes) I like seeing his relationships with the other Kaibas. But as far as Canon goes...yeah there’s none.

Favorite headcanon

He’s very tactile. He liked running his hands through his dog’s fur and it always got to him that digitized it..wasn’t the same.

Following that he used to be very physically affectionate before Gozaburo started discouraging it.

Following that if he was to be brought out of the digital place/rescued I think he’d be pretty clingy. I mean because of the tactile thing and because..he’d need to reassure himself the world around him is real.  

If he had been allowed to live he’d probably think he didn’t deserve it/that he has to Atone for the stuff he’s done.

His whole world was his father and even when he hated him he loved him. He wanted nothing more than to be held by him again. That’s why the abandonment stung so much, there’s nothing like hating and being hurt by someone you love...and still having a part of you love them. A part of him still wonders what he did to get left behind. That’s a big part of what drove him to the deep end.

Character Asks Meme

[8junism]

doing the post gp999 ask because i know i won’t get any and i really wanna answer most of the qs 😅

1. which trainee caught your eyes first?

hm, i only know chebul girls, ruiqi & yujin prior so xiaoting & suyeon!

2. which trainee (eliminated or not) do you think had the most growth since ep1?

honestly not sure i think i’ve always had my eyes on the (constantly) good ones but maybe shana and myah?

3. favourite k trainee?

KIM SUYEON 💔

4. favourite c trainee?

shen xiaoting!

5. favourite j trainee?

may is my chebul bias and my j pick till the one vote system but i also like mashiro!

6. which concept(s) would you like/not like to see kep1er do?

anything but girl crush hopefully 😅 but hopefully more dainty performances? like fate and my sea maybe. or fun songs!

7. how many of your picks got eliminated?

jiyoon…. <//3 also may but she survived till the last elimination and i saw that coming and i dont mind tbh. i’m also sad that jia & doah didnt make it :(

8. how many of your picks remained til the finale?

most of them, actually!

9. how many of your picks are in the debut team?

chaehyun yujin youngeun yeseo xiaoting! (5)

10. which trainee(s) did you think would be more popular based on their initial pr video?

no opinion

11. the best pr video?

no opinion

12. your most unknown pick throughout the show?

i dont think jiyoon is unknown but she was eliminated quite early :( maybe meixiu? shes not my pick per se but i wanted her to go farther </3

13. who do you think was the true dark horse of gp999?

no opinion? maybe doah.

14. how many contestants did you know of prior to this show?

chebul: may jiwon bora, yujin, ruiqi & meixiu! (6)

15. was this your first survival show?

nope it’s my second! i watch chuang 2020.

16. do you think that you'll stan or even end up ulting kep1er?

most probably tbh but depend on their concept? i really am not a fan of girl crush & bad songs lol

17. which popular trainee(s) do you not get the hype for?

no hate to yurina but i think she’s just okay? still kinda sad she didnt make it btw. um i think hyyh is famous too and yeaa.. she has no stage presence & awkward expression to me.

18. would you change anything about the final lineup?

ADD KIM SUYEON T____T and remove hyyh :)

19. which performance do you think was overrated?

uh idk? the eve? which is weird bc i like most of them there but yea.

20. which performance do you think was underrated?

no opinion

21. best stage outfits?

FATE ❤️

22. worst stage outfits?

no opinion. ok or maybe snake just bc i HATE snakes and sxt dress is very uncomfortable to me shes gorgeous etc etc but yknow, snakes. i hate them. (pls tw snakes btw thx)

23. ideal vocal line?

bora JIYOON chaehyun

24. ideal dance line?

suyeon youngeun jia

25. ideal leader?

bora is a v good leader her team always seems to be having fun. shes v kind too ;-; dayeon p good at leading too.

26. favourite cell?

YUJIN & MAYYYYYYY i was surprised when yujin chose may for her cell i was soooo happeeee T__T i dislike cb tho so not sure abt that 😅 maybe yxy too.

27. funniest moment(s)?

hsin wei calling jingoo ugly was p iconic tbh.

28. best vocalist?

jiyoon </3 && bora obviously.

29. best dancer?

jia youngeun

30. best rapper?

youngeun? 🤔

31. do you think that the final lineup was predictable?

somewhat tbh but i’m not complaining. just kinda wish the ratio is more balanced.

32. who should've gotten the planet pass in prior episodes?

i’m happy w everyone. suyeon deserve to rank higher and give doah the planet pass maybe.

33. thoughts on the mentors?

love sunmi & tiffany (& the other mentors too) but what’s the point of them there they’re just criticising their interim & performances? or do they actually teach bc why weren’t we shown that?

34. do you think kep1er will be successful?

no idea.

35. anything other opinion you want to rant about/get off your chest?

hm, maybe the fact that i’m still obsessed w fate stage and ?? and the fact that fyn made it that far lol. also??? man idw get super hateful bc shes a minor but hyyh rly…. :/ so many more deserving trainees (aka suyeon). rly hope she’ll improve in the future.

also on that note, ppl making a big deal of ot9/ot8 stans are weird like. so long as they don’t constantly hating for no reason. some ppl just dislike a trainee and thats ok. your fav debuted and thats what matter? let ppl be bitter lol. yea ANYWAY, still be mindful that they can’t control things and most of them are still minors. 🤷🏻‍♀️

i had fun doing this though i’m sure no one cares. but yay! end of questions. i wanna do more of these if i find them.

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 2565

today i stayed in bed for a while, contemplating death because it was 91 degrees outside and felt like 99. so i stayed inside and texted lisa and freeda that i wasn't going to be at stained glass tonight, because besides the godawful temperatures and my propensity to overheat and sweat to the point where i can't fuckin use my hands, my transmission still hasn't been fixed. james is ordering the part it needs so he can fix it for me.

but also, a listing i found last night (for a potential place to move for me and the eggs) was having an open house today, and james asked if i wanted to go, so i said sure. i was maybe twenty minutes out and james said he wouldn't be able to make it because he was still working at the garage on stuff (probably my car tbh) and i said no worries, i will. so i went and toured the house and looked at stuff and on the way back i called the eggs and gave them my honest opinion of the place. an iffy 6/10. past water damage, the oil tank and furnace and water heater are in weird places. small bathrooms. the kitchen was nice, and the deck was cool and the downstairs would've been a perfect game room, but the rest of it, the little details, the things that matter? no. so we decided to pass. but they still offered to get me ice cream, so i headed over to their apartment to see them.

chelsea and i went and got ice cream. at this point, all i had eaten was two chocolate frosted donuts with rainbow sprinkles. and then i had four scoops of ice cream, also with sprinkles, but they were jimmies this time. joel texted and asked me what was happening and i told him i was hanging out with the eggs. i hope to see him at some point this week. i miss my joel when i don't get to see him. so hopefully, when my transmission gets fixed, i'll be able to go over and stay over for a while. actually get to hang out with joel since my paper is now finished. i do have those few matlab assignments to do, but in comparison it's like going to the dentist instead of performing a frontal lobotomy on yourself. i would much rather go to the dentist.

-> flashback/ADHD brain,

also, before the open house, i got to talk to FF today again! today was their birthday, and they had the day off from work. they were able to do fun things and have a relaxing day and hang out with the dogs, and it makes me happy that they had a good day.

we also talked about chocolate again, so i have more things to try, but i need to try the ones i already have first. i may do that this weekend. but yeah. i like getting to talk to them. ☺️

-> and then, back at the egg's,

i ended up wanting bad burgers so i said "hey i'm gonna go get myself some shitty burgers" and they said "where" and i said "mcnaldos" and they said "get me some" and "i'll pay if you get us some" so i said "ok" because i'm not gonna say no to free food, yknow?? it took a few minutes to determine what i was gonna get for us all and then i grabbed the card and left. made it back with food that wound up being pretty good, actually - the chickie nuggies were hot and fresh and delicious. unfortunately i only got one sweet and sour sauce, and that only goes so far, and chelsea had been chickennapping nuggies from james, so i gave him the last two i had to replenish his nuggie supplies. the burgies were mcnaldos burgies, so i can't really complain. the fries were really good too, they had the right salt content, and as those were passed to me first, i crouched in a goblin position and consumed the fries like the absolute gremlin i am and james got a kick out of it.

shitty burgies and good nuggies later, i came home and watched the last touchdown of the first football game of the season, and then we finished the episode or whatever was on hallmark movies and mysteries, and then it was murder she wrote. i've been on a major kick of it, because there's four episodes back to back of it on HM&M every night, and me being awake to work on my paper late at night has allowed me to watch many episodes of it. sometimes i'll watch the first episode of magnum PI that comes on after, but i usually watch the first five minutes to see the mustache and the bad attitude before heading up to bed.

but not tonight.

tonight is the peak of the perseids, and i was tired anyway, so after the second episode of murder she wrote i turned off the tv and went outside. i saw four meteors! i think, actually, that three were meteors from the perseids, and the other was low-orbit space junk, because it (1) fell from a different direction, (2) was much dimmer, and (3) lasted longer than the others i saw.

it was the first time i'd seen any of the perseids.

also? i was standing in the back yard, and because of the extension between the house and what used to be the garage, the streetlight out front is blocked. i can actually see the sky. you can see the milky way. so many stars. i checked the weather before going outside. it said it was partly cloudy, but i didn't want to risk it, so i checked myself. i was very surprised to see a crystal clear sky. so i was out there for a bit.

it was truly beautiful.

yknow, sometimes i think about what i do and what i'm studying and i feel like it's not what i should be doing, yknow? because i don't feel like i'm smart enough or good enough or that anyone will take me seriously, and other things like that that wear you down and exhaust you with the "what if"s that make your head spin.

but looking up at the sky tonight reminded me why i'm studying to be an astrophysicist. it's because i love the stars. the night sky. the cosmos. all of it. it was my first love, and i don't know if i'll ever love anything as much as i love the stars. it's kind of romantic, honestly; looking at the stars with wonder and awe, seeing things you normally can't, feeling how small you truly are in the scale of the universe. it's amazing. it's terrifying. but i find it's a lot like falling in love.

-> adhd brain strikes again

while i was in line at mcnaldos i got a snapchat from andrew and he said that his wife came up with an idea for a book that we could write. like. and internal monologue for the day. adhd brain: the book. and i'm so on board with that. narrating what pops in my head all day?? fuck yeah.

-> anyway.

looking at the stars tonight and finding myself thinking about the stars like i have reminds me of that one quote:

"i have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

(that's sarah williams, but i don't know who she is but attribution is important)

and it reminds me of me. because it's true. behind my house is a lot of woods. it's dark and there's animals that live there. when i was outside, i wasn't afraid of the dark or of the animals. i just wanted to see the stars. and that was all i needed.

anyway it's almost 2am and i am going to bed so i can get up earlier. and then go to bed earlier. so i can get up earlier. i'm trying to adjust my schedule so i sleep for ten hours and wake up for 7. so i'll need to be asleep by 9. so i'll need to be in bed by 8. shit. i don't like that. but that's so i can get to class on time, because not only does it take 80 minutes to get there, i have traffic to deal with, and then i gotta park and walk to my class. so i'm tryina adjust it. sad i'll miss when FF wakes up their time, but i'll be awake earlier so i can talk to them more during the day.

it's a trade-off. but i need that sleep.

i have a few weeks to get there. it's fine.